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

Tuesday Toodles (ok it's corny)

I feel better today.

Finally finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which I liked very much, but it wasn't a light read at all.

I am going to read something fluffy before going on to Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. At least I think it will be fluffy. It has a picture of a cupcake on the cover. lol Can't remember the author or the title.

I went to Walmart with David last night. Lots of school supply clearance! I bought a lovely notebook in which I will be writing fiction, as well as some brightly colored felt pens that I'll have to hide from my kids. lol David bought duct tape and then proceeded to annoy me happily all through the groceries section. I thought there was a RedBox movie kiosk in our Walmart but if there is, I don't know where. Anyone? Anyone?

We also went to Home Depot and got 5 more gallons of Melted Butter. Or paint. :-) It was on sale! That was a lovely surprise! (I'd even say serendipitous, if I didn't think I'd get teased for using big words. lol)

I have boxes of stuff to sort from my girls' room and I am going to go help Bob paint in a little while.

Finished Mansfield Park & Rain Rain Rain

I've posted my daybook at Cornerstone blog. I've been posting there quite a bit actually.

I finished reading Mansfield Park (Austen) yesterday - took me a while, but I liked it better than Emma or Persuasion. Also watched the last half of the 1999 film adaptation on youtube last night. Wow, that movie was a LOT different from the book. It's not the differences in events or the missing parts that bothers me so much in film adaptations; it's when the filmmakers change the characters' motivations or their inherent qualities. For instance, Fanny Price, the heroine of Mansfield Park, is quite a shy, quiet, morally upright 18-year-old girl in Jane Austen's book. In the film, she was bubbly, defiant, adventurous, and appeared far older than 18. This may make for more interesting or more modern film, but is not an accurate representation of the character. Ah well.

It rained here for 3 days straight. The basement flooded yesterday and we used the sump pump to drain it. The yard flooded as well, and the storm drain on the corner, which hasn't worked right since the village DPW worked on it several years ago. It's all better today and the rain has ended, though there is no sun just yet.

I need to let one of the kids get on the computer to do typing, so I'll stop.

My Austen.... Stupid .... Male Character

Jane Austen Humor Quiz created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Mr. Collins If you must be friends with one of Austen's stupid male characters, then Mr. Collins is your man. Though he is superficial, silly, and too obsessed with Lady Catherine, he will still provide you with a glimpse of Rosings Park! Sir Elliot 67% Mr. Collins 67% Sir Lucas 50% Mr. Elton 33% Mr. Rushworth 33%

My Austen Hero

Since I haven't yet read or seen Sense and Sensibility, I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. (Hopefully Hugh Grant's character isn't too much like Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones's Diary - lol. Surely not. Right?)

Who is Your Jane Austen Boyfriend/Husband? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Edward Ferrars Your husband/boyfriend is like Edward Ferrars of Sense & Sensibility. He is quietly impulsive, with an understated hint of romance. But once you get to know him, he's very affectionate, caring, and faithful. The two of you enjoy a calm, joyful life. Edward Ferrars 75% Col. Brandon 70% Darcy 70% Captain Wentworth 60% Edmund Bertram 40% Tilney 35% Knightley 30%

Austen Heroines

Take the Quiz here!

Catching Up

Packed up the campsite this morning and got home around 2pm. Stopped off at the library for some movies - nothing we haven't seen already. Their small collection of DVD's doesn't hold many surprises for us anymore.

Picked up the mail - my business cards are here! YAY! Also the 4GB memory card I bought for David's PSP. (Yeah, it was a bribe. I'll admit it!) Add in a couple of paperbackswap books and some bills too, of course.

I've caught up on most of my blog reading. (I think I posted more than y'all even though I was gone. lol) I didn't do much commenting though, in the interest of saving time. However, rest assured that if I normally comment on your blog, then I've read your recent entries.

The laundry has begun and everything is out of the van and most of the stuff is out of the camper. Tomorrow we'll pop it and clean it out properly.

We went to the waterpark around 5pm - it was hot and sticky here today and we haven't been there in almost 2 weeks.

I'm reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and enjoying it far more than any of hers I've read yet, except Pride and Prejudice. I've also found the new movie version on youtube and have been watching bits of that as well.

Manic Monday

The family picnic was awesome!

Whoa, I just had some major deja vu! Yikes. OK, I am apparently doing stream-of-consciousness posting here tonight.

We spent all day Sunday with my family. Will have photos and a report later. Since mostly my family reads this, they were all there and don't need a report! LOL

Monday we hung around my parents' house until nearly noon and then headed home. Got home to unpack the car and head out again for the kids' dental appointments.

No cavities! YAY! One orthodontic referral. One oral surgeon referral. Boo!

Headed over to get David's new glasses - 2 pair! He loves them!

Headed home. By now, we've logged almost 4 hours in the car today, but it's not over.

Had PBJ and pea pods for dinner and then headed out to our homeschool group's fundraiser at DQ - yep Dairy Queen! It was so nice to see so many people there! Then we had a kickball game together at a local park. A nice evening!

Total hours in car: nearly 5!

This is a busy week. The local fair, a night of VBS, beach day, co-op registration, the Jane Austen Book Club. I want to get some work done too. Plus there is BREAKING DAWN to read! lol

Emma and Persuasion

Went to the first meeting of our Jane Austen Book Club tonight. A good friend hosted it at her house. We had 10 women there; actually 2 of them were teen girls! We started by discussing our impressions of the book. That sounds kinda high-falutin', but actually we just chatted about it! Then we had snacks (yum!) and watched the recent Masterpiece Theatre version of Emma, chatting through the whole film! LOL I know that would drive some of you nuts, but I love doing that!

Our next meeting is in July and we will be reading Persuasion.

If you want to read it online for free, click here.

I've wanted to read Persuasion since seeing The Lake House. Below is a youtube video of one of my favorite movie scenes ever. It includes one very long uncut scene. The relevant part (re: Persuasion) begins at 1:10 and goes through 2:54. But if you keep watching, you get to view one of the most romantic dance scenes I think I've ever seen!



And now you know why I love that song by Paul McCartney. :-D

Polka Saturday

Went to some garage sales yesterday and some today. Stopped at the grocery store and am heating up some frozen pizza. After we eat, we are going to the water park for the first of many visits this summer.

Tonight is the first meeting of our new Jane Austen Book Club. I have not finished our first book choice - Emma. I am finding it very slow going. I have heard from others that they are feeling the same way, so at least I won't be alone. I have rented the DVD of Emma (with Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role). I have seen it once before, but it was a while ago. I had hopes of watching it in preparation for tonight, but it doesn't look like that will happen.

There is polka music playing, which is very trying to my patience, but apparently is to the liking of the male adult in the house. They play it all afternoon every Saturday. Happy happy joy joy.

We have something new. If you are on facebook, freecycle, or Seeds of Faith, you may already know about it. The rest of you will have to wait a bit. And then, you'll think I've lost my mind. ROFL

Profound... or not

I have lots of profound thoughts. The problem is they don't usually come to me when I'm sitting here all strung-out from my hectic days. Profundity usually comes when I'm staring at the same plastic part as minute after endless minute turns into hours of dullness.

Lately my assignments have either involved working with another person closely or rapid tasks that don't allow any time for note-taking. The upshot is that my astuteness is locked in my brain and doesn't get to come out and play. Then again, maybe that's for the best! :-)

So, once again you just get the play-by-play.

Co-op went well. Only one more and then we're done for the school year.

I've been buying up some used curriculum in preparation for next year, going on faith that we'll still be able to home educate.

Three soccer games today. (David did not have one scheduled.) All the teams won. Suzy scored two goals and made two assists. She loves playing! Such a change from the first year she played. James played solidly - one quarter he was goalie and blocked the one shot that came at him. Emily played. She runs and runs but doesn't take many chances. I want to work with her on aggressiveness.

We went to a rummage sale, two libraries, a playground, and the post office. We did some cleaning up around the house and outside. The weather is mid-70's and has been sunny and overcast alternately. LOVELY!

David is sick today with a fever and headache. He is feeling better now, but that may just be the ibuprofen. Thus, he did not go any of the above places with us. He stayed home by himself for a while, and for a while Bob stayed with him. It's a good thing he did not have a scheduled game, because he would have either had to forego playing or he would have played sick. What a choice that would have been at 7:30 this morning.

We're going to have pizza now and soon we'll watch a movie. I borrowed several from the libraries - Sense and Sensibility (Austen!), Carrotblanca (Bugs Bunny!), Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Barbie Birthday Party, The Nanny Diaries.

Have been waiting FOREVER for Dan In Real Life to come through interlibrary loan. What are some other good movies that may have come out recently on DVD?