Weekly Preview and Review

Last Sunday Suzy was invited to a birthday party that included several hours of swimming at the rec center. When I picked her up later that evening, I hung out for a while and watched #3 of Downton Abbey on PBS Masterpiece theater. I missed #2 so I was a little lost, but it was good to hang out.

David had two drivers ed sessions this past week and he was supposed to drive Saturday morning. That was canceled at the last minute due to snow, so he has yet to actually get behind the wheel. I think he will be doing that this week.

UPDATE - David mentioned to me sometime on Saturday that he was signed up to drive on Sunday! lol So, yes, he had his first 'behind the wheel' session on Sunday afternoon. And he loved it!

This was a nice quiet week here. I worked just the normal 20 hours and had a lot of time to get a few things done. I visited a couple thrift stores - found those gorgeous bowls I posted on facebook, a few shirts, some glass custard 'cups' and a lovely long skirt that I will add to Emily's costume as an overskirt for her gown.

Thursday night, Emily and I went to movie night for our Austentatious class. We watched the 1999 Mansfield Park (Frances O'Connor as Fanny, Jonny Lee Miller as Edmund and James Purefoy as Tom) which I like much more than the 2007 version with Billie Piper as Fanny and Blake Ritson as Edmund. Neither one matches the book exactly, especially in their characterization of Fanny, but we enjoyed ourselves. I am so happy with how this class is turning out! We have moved on to Emma now, and just have Persuasion left after that!

I planned to spend Saturday working on getting to know my 'new' sewing machine and starting the alterations for the kids' outfits. But the sewing machine needs a bobbin case holder that should have been in there. It's not there. So, the bobbin case just rattles around inside. Dangit! So, I've done some hand sewing instead of starting with the long seams I planned to do. A friend is lending me a machine so I will have that to work with and I think we'll try selling the machine with the missing part.

James went on a field trip Friday to the chocolate factory. I've been on that field trip 3 times and didn't really want to repeat it a fourth time. The other kids didn't care about it, so I asked someone to take James for me. He was thrilled and then he spent the night and all day Saturday with his friend.

We had a few inches of new snow that made everything look pretty. I guess we're in for a blizzard tomorrow night and Wednesday. We shall see if that comes to pass. If so, Tuesday night and Wednesday's plans will look a lot different than they do here.

Sunday - Church, Suzy to a party
Monday - WORK 4 hrs, Lessons, Gymnastics, D-drivers ed
Tuesday - WORK 4, Lessons, Movie Night (FREE at the theater! to see Sound of Music)
Wednesday - WORK 4, Lessons, Art class, D-drivers ed
Thursday - WORK 4 Lessons, D-drivers ed
Friday - WORK 4, Co-op
Saturday - No plans!

Stay warm and safe during the blizzard if it affects you!

Weekly Preview and Review - DOUBLE edition

Well, I didn't get a post up last week, so this is a double.

LAST WEEK:
Saturday - SCRAPBOOKING!
Sunday - SCRAPBOOKING!
Monday - WORK 5 hrs, Lessons
Tuesday - WORK 5, Lessons, E-eye dr., D-drivers ed
Wednesday - WORK 5, Lessons, D-drivers ed
Thursday - WORK 5, Lessons, Bob dr., D-drivers ed
Friday - WORK 5, Co-op
Saturday - Book Club, D-painting

This was the last week of being able to work 5 hours a day. I was able to earn quite a bit extra during these last two months when we were able to work extra without having to speak up for the hours.

David started drivers education. I made him pay for it himself, which he mostly did by ebaying stuff. He was apprehensive about this, but has settled in, I think. He will begin getting behind the wheel probably the week of the 24th. His is a large class, so maybe it will be the week after. His class goes 2-3 nights a week until Feb 10th and then I can take him for his learner permit. He has to rack up hours behind the wheel before taking Segment 2 of drivers training later in the summer.

To earn the last of the money to pay for his drivers training by doing that for me, David did some painting in the kitchen on Saturday and Sunday. Eleven hours got most of the cabinets and all of the trim. I think there are a few more hours in that job and I will pay him cash for that. I don't know when I would have found the time and I KNOW he did a better job than I would have! James wants to paint for money too, but I am not sure he's ready for that. We do have lots more trim to paint!

Scrapbooking weekend was lovely! I organized it with my friend Darlene as a fundraiser for the Regency Ball. Emily earned the money to cover her hotel room and gas money. We had 13 women come for all or part of the weekend and 5 girls to help with the meals and carrying things. We are already thinking about repeating the weekend next January!

THIS WEEK:
Sunday - Church, Suzy to a party
Monday - WORK 5 hrs, Lessons, D-drivers ed
Tuesday - WORK 4, Lessons
Wednesday - WORK 4, Lessons
Thursday - WORK 4 Lessons, Bob dr.
Friday - WORK 3, D-drivers ed
Saturday - No plans?

I have yet to manage adding any exercise back into my routine. I guess that the extra hour of work each day sort of eats that time. But I have been successful at eliminating sweets from my diet. I have had no desserts or candy or anything sugary in the last 3 weeks. It hasn't been too hard. I don't plan to eat like this forever, but I felt something drastic was in order to break the habit and to jump start the weight loss again.

Maybe if I only get my normal 20 hours this week, I will be able to add in some kickboxing. It's WAY too cold to do anything outside. I have not had any regular exercise since maybe November. I do still plan to train for a 10K, but I don't think I will be able to commit to that training until we have warmer weather and no slippery roads. Maybe next winter I will have a treadmill....

Bob had his pain doctor appointment again last week and they did a different sort of injection. It's outpatient at the hospital and I have to go since he is not allowed to drive home. If this works, then the doctor will explore further. The first two kinds they tried didn't help his pain.

Emily and James had friends over after co-op, Suzy went home with a friend for a couple nights and David spent Friday night at a friends' house too. Busy social night on Friday.

I've been doing a lot of swagbucks stuff lately - searching and surveys. I've earned enough for $30 of amazon gift certificates and have started redeeming them. I will just let them pile up in my amazon gift card balance and use that for Christmas gifts. If you aren't earning swagbucks, you really should be! It doesn't really add anything to your day, if you are already on the computer. And if you sign up under me, I get bucks for each buck you earn, too.

I cleaned out the back room on Saturday; that was satisfying. I've reduced my stuff back there by a whole file cabinet full! Downsizing! No point in keeping all those files since I always look online first nowadays.

Weekly Preview and Review

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

So here this is a day late. Or two, depending on how you are counting. But maybe you're not counting at all!

Actually I had the dollar. But I needed $4 since I was sending David up to the gas station for a gallon of milk. Since I went out TWICE and neither time remembered to get milk. So, I raided the stash of quarters and sent him out into the cold. Fresh air is good for him, right?

Saturday - Baby Shower & Thrift shopping
Sunday - Go to church, SOF planning meeting, and watch Downton Abbey
Monday - WORK 5 hrs, Lessons, Gymnastics
Tuesday - WORK 5, Lessons
Wednesday - WORK 5, Lessons
Thursday - WORK 5, Lessons
Friday - WORK 5, No Lessons, SCRAPBOOKING
Saturday - SCRAPBOOKING!

Everything is all back to normal - no Christmas decorations in my house. The lights are still up on the porch, but that's not my domain. I love getting it back to normal.

Last week I went to Bob's doctor appointment with him. I used to do this regularly, after his accident. But once he was able to drive, I didn't go anymore. Maybe I should though. He never seems to know what the doctor told him. So, this time I went and asked her to give him some dietary guidelines for his high blood pressure. She said, no more than 4000 mg of sodium a day. Try counting that yourself sometime. lol

The kids had art class on Wednesday and after I dropped them off, I hit the Christmas clearance at Rite Aid. Got some LED lights we'd been hoping for and a few other odds and ends. I always look for clearance wrapping paper that doesn't look Christmas-y. I scored a few rolls of that.

Friday was co-op, but my co-teacher (and good friend Darlene) was teaching this week so I didn't have to prepare anything. We are reading Mansfield Park and it is SO MUCH BETTER the second time reading it. I enjoyed it! The girls like reading Austen too, which is so gratifying! We are well underway in planning the Regency Ball.

Saturday, I went to a baby shower for a book club friend. Suzy and Emily went with me and some other friends were there, so that was a nice time. And I didn't eat any cake.

I have not eaten any sweets in a week! That's amazing. And I lost 5 lbs from my high on New Year's Day. ACK - that was a shocker on the scale, seeing the number so high! LOL I still need to lose 20 to get back to my lowest weight. I hope to get back into the exercise routine this week.

I got all my pictures printed out for scrapbooking - the year of 2007 should be all scrapped after this weekend. I am working on powerplanning it right now to make it smooth as silk! Emily is going along as a teen worker - she gets to scrap too and she is over the moon with excitement!

Re-visited a church on Sunday. The kids all like it. I'm not so sure. Bob is probably going to take a while to acclimate wherever we go.

David has made dinner - brats and rice, so I better go eat it! Suzy set the table and picked a veggie. Wonder what it is? And James and Emily get to clean up! LOL

Weekly Preview and Review

Saturday - New Year's Day & Thrift shopping
Sunday - Relax & De-Christmas the house
Monday - WORK 5 hrs, Lessons
Tuesday - WORK 5, Lessons, go to dr. with Bob
Wednesday - WORK 5, Lessons, Art Class
Thursday - WORK 5, Lessons
Friday - WORK 5, Co-op
Saturday - Baby Shower

Let's see - I posted about Christmas, so let's move on, shall we?

Monday my friend Darlene hosted a movie day for our Austentatious class of teen girls. We invited our book club ladies too, so we had a good turnout for watching the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. It's a long movie - almost 6 hours, so it is definitely an all day event. We had a great time! I got up at 5:30 to get a jumpstart on my work hours, so I was able to still fit in 5 hours of work - before and after the movie day.

Tuesday I also got up at 5:30, though I didn't need to. I kinda liked getting so much done so early. So, when Darlene invited people over for an impromptu sledding day, we were able to take advantage of it since I had a head start on my work hours again. We spent the afternoon there - the kids did some sledding and some socializing, and the moms mostly just hung out around the dining room table and chatted. Alex came home with David and spent the night.

David turned 16 on Wednesday! Can you believe my baby is now 16? He invited a few friends to come over and watch the 1982 Tron movie and have pizza before we headed out to the Imax theater to watch the new Tron: Legacy movie. I was rather unenthusiastic about watching this movie. 1 - I haven't enjoyed 3D movies. 2 - The 1982 movie was very cheesy with dumb dialogue. 3 - I didn't have good expectations for the music and sound.

BUT - I loved the movie. The 3D was ever-so cool and the soundtrack was AWESOME and the sound was not too overwhelming. I did have trouble with my left eye. I don't think my prescription is correct as I have trouble with it daily. But that's not the movie's fault, nor the fault of the 3D effects. Anyway, I loved Tron: Legacy and I will see other movies in 3D, I think.

I had to work very late on Wednesday to get my work hours in, around David's activities. And I was not able to do my extra hour. Bummer, eh?

Dinner out with the leadership team of SOF was on the agenda for Thursday night. I got my hours done easily during the day since the kids had no lessons to work on. We were supposed to meet at the nearby steakhouse, but there was a long wait. So we went to a family restaurant instead and it was not a good experience overall. I had a really tasty chicken quesadilla, but the appetizers were cold and several of my friends got cold fries. The room was freezing too. But we had good conversation!

Friday was New Year's Eve. I slept rather later than normal - feeling the effects of three 5:30 AM days this week. Got the work hours in and then headed to Maryann's with the kids and one extra friend for a New Year's party. We had a very fun evening - games and movies and food! Stayed up very very late chatting with Maryann, but had to turn around and get up at 8 am on Saturday to drive home because I had plans to.....

Go thrift store shopping with friends to take advantage of the 50% off sales! We are all going to the Regency Ball in March and we hoped to find appropriate dresses in the Regency style - empire waist, floor length, sleeves. All of us were successful! I love my dress - it's plum colored and I like the neckline, though it's not square as it probably should be. I may end up modifying it somehow with ribbon. It's also quite lowcut, so I'll probably use some lace as a coverup. Now on to the accessorizing! I still have to find a dress for Emily and some appropriate clothing for David.

Today we slept very late and then de-Christmas-ed the house. THANK GOD! That's pretty much all we did, except try to eat all the sweets left from the holidays.

Because.... I am going on a No Sweets fast until Valentine's Day. And since I am on the fast, pretty much everyone else is too, at least while they are at home. I'm not making them promise to follow it, but I'm not providing any sweets during the next 6 weeks. :-)