Valentine Monday

Did my nails red last night in honor of Valentine's Day. Yeah, a little late, but that's ok. I NEVER do red on my fingernails - totally out of character. Suzy's first words to me this AM were, "Oh, you did your nails!" in such a shocked tone. lol Then she promptly asked me to do HER nails.

Valentine's Day Bowling party was nice. LOTS of people. Will post pix of the kids' Valentine boxes on Cornerstone as soon as I have a chance to download them. James won first prize. I got to sit and talk to my friends!

Afterwards we went to Walmart and 3 libraries. So, no lessons were accomplished today. When I made out the February lesson plans, I didn't know about the V-Day party (though I should have guessed it would be today), so I made today a regular school day. Today's work will move to tomorrow and so on. Which totally messes us up unless we do lessons on Saturday, which we likely will not.

Signed the contracts today making me officially an independent consultant, subcontracting through the Butler Hill Group. So, there you have it. I start training on the 22nd.

Weekly Preview

This week is going to be a busy one! Something every day, but at least some of them are relaxing events.

Sunday - Valentine's Day, Church, Northanger Abbey on PBS!
Monday - Lessons, Valentine Party (no Spanish)
Tuesday - Lessons, Keepers field trip (E,S), Homeschool Support Meeting (L)
Wednesday - Lessons, Essay Class (D,L), AYSO Board meeting (L)
Thursday - Lessons, Movie with a friend (L)
Friday - Lessons, Youth Game Afternoon (E,D), RR Movie Day (S,J)
Saturday - Something together as a family!
Sunday - Church, Youth Group (E,D)

For Valentine's Day, I bought candy for the kids and will give them Valentines. We will attempt to make it to church. For dinner, we will create heart-shaped pizza. We did that once before and it was fun. There is no youth group and Northanger Abbey is on PBS - one of my FAVORITE movies.

Monday is the homeschool group's bowling party, which seems to have a low turnout this year. Hmmm.... I wouldn't bother with it, but the kids have been looking forward to it for WEEKS already and the three youngest have created Valentine boxes. Pix coming soon!

Since I now have a job (!), I think my friend and I are going to go see Valentine's Day on Thursday. My self-imposed moratorium on spending money on entertainment is over! I really want to see Sherlock Holmes, but that's only playing in one nearby theater and it's not so nearby. Maybe when it comes to the cheap place?

This past week, I once again did 3 Tae-bo workouts - one long, two short. I find it's too hard on my knees to do any activity two days in a row. I am ok with alternating running with tae-bo, but I can't do either one on consecutive days. And since I can't go running.... Well, I guess I COULD, but I am not inclined with the weather and the snow.... Wish I had a treadmill. I lost two pounds since I weighed in last week!

Working twenty flexible hours a week shouldn't be too much of a challenge, but I will need to streamline things around here a little. Meal prep can be handed over to the kids and Bob will have to take up the slack on his days off. Hey, maybe I can teach the kids to do laundry this week!

Hands-on Bible, Hornblower, Happenings

Hmmm... What have we been doing?

Sunday I taught with my new Sunday School curriculum - Group Publishing's Hands-On Bible. LOVED IT and so did my class. The lesson is scripted (meaning it tells me exactly what to say. OK, call me lazy, but I love it!). It is chock-full of hands-on items like chopsticks, sticky darts, and atom balls. There is no silly lesson paper with ugly illustrations or confusing crossword puzzles. What else is there? Lots of Biblically-based concepts, reading from Scripture, and a Bible point repeated through the lesson so the kids "get" it. I am geeked! I was about ready to quit, but with these exciting materials, I think I can keep going until summer!

Monday I wrote 3700 words and Tuesday I achieved 3000. Wednesday was a No Writing Day since I was gone all day and then I was exhausted. The muse did not visit. I hope to write 3000 today and tomorrow and maybe that will wind up my plot! Then it will be revision time.

Bob took all the kids to Chess Club on Tuesday and I had the house to myself to write. When they came home, we went for a 25 minute walk. The weather was lovely - mid-50's and sunny. Lots of squishy grass and mud puddles, but I so loved being outside!

Yesterday was our homeschool Valentine party at the bowling alley. Suzy chose not to bowl (she said she doesn't like bowling), but the other 3 bowled with their friends and had a great time. Then we had snacks together. Check Cornerstone for pix of their Valentine boxes.

After the party, we visited friends for a few hours. The kids played and the moms chatted and watched part of Return of the King. NICE downtime. Not sure why I was so exhausted when the day was finished! LOL

Watched Horatio Hornblower for the first time last night. LOVED IT. Highly recommend. (Dad would like this! Mom, see if you can get it!) David and I started with the first one - The Duel. It's a BBC series (based on books) that takes place around the time of the French Revolution and is about, obviously, a guy called Horatio Hornblower who starts as a British Navy midshipman and eventually makes his way up the ranks. Exciting and noble! Plus there's Ioan Gruffudd. lol (Did I spell that right?)

Got David Left Behind on audio at the library. I'd like to expand his horizons beyond the Eragon and Twilight books. He's listened to all the Eragon books and the first two Twilight books multiple times. And when I say multiple, I don't mean three. lol

We are getting some more gravel for our driveway, supposed to come today. We got some last spring and it's spread out a bit. Not quite the whole driveway is covered now. We have some muddy squishy bits - thus the need for additional stones.

Time to go scrounge up some lunch for the kiddos!

Feeling Puny

Still feeling like something scraped off the road. Bleh. Trying to decide if I should go to work or not.

I'll probably medicate myself and go. I have never missed a day, except for the week of camping. If I miss, I get my first demerit, and that means no merit pay.

So, instead I'll go and spread my germs. Yeah.

Well, where do you think I got the germs in the first place? I'm just putting them back! :-)

Bob is taking the kids to the Valentine party and I'm going to stay here and rest until it's time to go to work.

A little tip to the family yesterday proved useful.

Me: You know, tonight you're going to town. And tomorrow [insert meaningful pause] is VALENTINE'S DAY. (said with gravity)

Bob: [says nothing, stares]

Me: You do comprehend what I'm saying, right?

David: She wants something for Valentine's Day, Dad!

Bob: I know, but what?

LOL

So anyway, when I got home last night, there were sweet homemade cards from each member of the family, a mini potted rose, some chocolates and a scented candle. :-) Color me cheerful, even if it's a pale tone of cheerful due to my general malaise.

I had treats for my family as well, and I made them little Valentine letters.

Oh yeah, and we're supposed to get 1-3 inches of snow tonight. Yippee. (Was that me that used to complain we never get snow anymore? :::grimaces at my ignorance:::)

Croak

:::tries to speak::::

:::tries again::::

:::tries harder::::

Croak emerges from throat.

Oh lovely. Laryngitis. Sore throat.

My speaking voice is about two octaves lower than normal and breaks like a teenage boy's.

Driving home in MORE SNOW last night was just as joyous, yet uneventful, as last week's drives home.

Tonight the kids are rollerskating with church and tomorrow we have a Valentine party with the homeschool group.