Last week...

...was a full week and here are some pictures of our adventures.

Monday was my cooking demo night. This is Debbie's kitchen not mine. This was SO much fun!!!

Tuesday night was the last scout meeting of the year with a crossover and advancement ceremonies.

Wednesday night was the end of year band concert with a special jazz combo done by section leaders. So cool!!!
The trombone player on the left and guitar player on the right belong to me. :)

Thursday was a bit slower and I got a night at home after our first swim team practice.

Friday at Inky's playing Rock Star! Em is a natural drummer!!! LOL

We finished the week with a flag planting ceremony and a trip to see Prince Caspian (awesome!)

We stopped by to take a picture at Dan's grandparents grave site.

Tomorrow is a day off from school for everyone in our house and it will be a relaxing day with movies, swimming, maybe some naps and good food.

Have a great Memorial Day!!!

Motivation... or the lack thereof.....

Honestly, I just have no motivation lately. There is much to do but I am in a funk. Dan and the boy have less than three weeks of school left and the temperature outside is 101. The pool opens on Saturday for the summer and we are already feeling like we are in summer mode. The afternoons are lazy and the morning are about getting the basics done. It gets so hot here in the summers that we often eat a bigger lunch and a smaller dinner and will spend the afternoon in full siesta mode.

All of this is making it hard for me to really want to do much of anything. I have done three days of walking in the last week and a bit more cleaning out of things. I worked in Em's room toward the end of last week and into Saturday but it is still not great. She had a real mess going on in there. I was just delighted to get rid of the bag of clothes she had outgrown.

My computer still has not shipped and so I have not set my ipod up. I would have to load Dan's computer up with my music to do it and I just would rather wait than do that to him. ;)

This week has been crazy already. I did my first cooking demo for friends last night and it was so much fun! We have the end of year Cub Scout meeting tonights, Dan's end of year band concert tomorrow night (with the boy on first trombone), our first swim practice Thursday and the end of year band party on Friday and then there is the weekend.

I should take some time away from the computer this week, too, and get back on track. I have been on far too much today.

Oh, and did I mention that we found another snake in the garage? I gotta call the bug and pest control guy again. Scary!!! Maybe I should tackle the garage next so we can avoid the attraction that is our clutter for all these critters. (remembering the other snakes, mice and black widows that claim a home there from time to time over the past 6 years) I promise we are not dirty people.... just a bit of clutter that must go and go soon. *sigh*

I also need reading time... I am in a reading funk and need to just get my teeth into something delicious and enjoy!

I will get through this week and get that new computer here and in order and then the whole summer plan will unfold before your very eyes. I actually have 15 weeks off with 2 weeks vacation in the middle of that so I have a few days before I need to get very serious. I think doing nothing for a few days has helped me to rest and recover from last semester. At least I hope it has... ;)

Ahhhhh.... (as in a long content sigh)

It has literally been MONTHS since we have seen any rain. I woke to dark clouds and just closed my eyes and said "thank you Lord!" It has currently been raining at my home for about 2 hours and I pray it continues all day... maybe even several days. My yard is so very thirsty.

With that I bring you the things that make me happy on this day...

* A long rain...

* Cooler weather break from the high temps lately

* Cheri is coming!!!

* Time to breathe...

* Lentil stew

* Baking bread

* a call from a sweet friend

* A summer plan

* a new ipod - waiting for new computer
to set it all up but I am still happy to have it.

* a computer coming soon

* hot tea and Mitford

List making...

This is about 45 minutes long but I think it is worth a watch if you have the time. It is on better productivity in your life and I do believe I will be finding this book...

Couple of things.... GTD is David Allen's book Getting Things Done
He talks about why list making and a system for scheduling and organizing is great for the brain. Good stuff... :)

More summer plans...

I am still thinking through everything but have some more ideas together now.

Study Time...

We had our last Bible study session yesterday and we all went out for lunch afterward. The kids got to stay at the church and have a picnic while we (the moms) got a whole 2 hours away. It was very nice to just be girls together without the kiddos for a bit.

With that being over I was left with a quandary of what to do for the summer in my study time. I spent part of my morning today working on a new plan. In between shuffling more laundry, watering plants and cleaning the kitchen this is what I came up with...

I will be reading in Hebrews - that will be our study for the fall but I have been asked to be on the teaching team for next year so I am starting early to give myself some more in-depth time with this book. I have a Max Lucado study guide I can use to help keep me on track. I will also be putting together some personal notes on the whole thing as I go, too.

The second thing I am doing is reading a book that I have not read since college but have been meaning to read for quite a few years. I am going to read Knowing God by J. I. Packer. I also have a study guide to go with this one so I can journal my thoughts as I go.

This should make for a full summer of study. :)

Personal/Physical Goals...

I have also been quite neglectful of my physical state since before my surgery. I got an ipod for Mother's Day to spur me forward in my daily walking/running plan. I am hoping to start with five days a week and three of those will be running time.

I am also getting more serious about eating more vegetarian, too. I have been good to eat that way about four days a week but want to incorporate more variety and more days with some raw food stuff being added, too. It will be easier to do the raw eating and such with more time in the kitchen, more fresh food choices this summer and not having to be in school.

Early bedtime and early rising will play a huge role in these changes, too. The problem is that I have night owl people in my house and they want to start movies at 10:00pm. I cannot do that... ;) Maybe they can watch movies together while I go to bed with the younger children. That might work.

Oh, one more thing...

I am getting a new computer... ordered it on Mother's Day! It is PURPLE!!! LOL So, that means transferring stuff and setting up a new bunch of files and such. I am also going to be finishing the transfer on all my files from my old blog to here so that it is all in one place and then backing everything up. That will take some time but I have the time now. I want to get it all done before school starts in August so that I am good to go for a new school year for me and for the kiddos.

I will detail more things as I go and share things I am learning over at my book blog with my reading and, of course, you will get the food stuff, too. I am still winding down from school this week so everything is still not on schedule and formal. Next week will be different.

I also have a cooking gig on Monday with my Bible study peeps... we are cooking together for our fellowship and I am in charge of the menu and instruction stuff. That is going to be A TOTAL BLAST!!! I have to write it all out in the meantime and will share pics and info on all of that and maybe, just maybe, a video segment if I can record some things as I go.

BIG QUESTION...

So, now, for you... are you planning a big summer? Are you remodeling or doing the purge or some other thing? Please let me know and share it all with us. I tell you what... if you share with me... I will link you here and share it with all that read here, too. Let's make our house a home together... Our families deserve a safe and clean place to land and that is my hope for our home and for your's. It's time to make a refuge for those we love and call it home. :)

Plugging away.... slowly...

I want to share this little Meme thing with you guys... I know it is not Monday but I just investigated it enough to know I like this. I have been reading it at Stephanie's but went to the original site today so here goes...

FOR TODAY
May 13, 2008...

Outside My Window...
The kids are playing. The sunshine has drawn them out today
and I am thankful for the bit of quiet inside while they play.

I am thinking...
how awfully tired I feel and ready for bedtime soon.
Some days I still feel like I just had surgery yesterday
but it has been nearly 6 months. *sigh*

I am thankful for...
for the summer break ahead. The last day for Bible study was today
and even though I will miss the ladies
I am thankful for the time we had this year
and the planning months ahead for next year.

From the kitchen...
the evening holds some more leftovers so we can
clean out that refrigerator but there is bread
and salad and that makes me very happy. :)

I am wearing...
A cute pink blouse, my capri denim pants and
cute pink sandles but the
best thing is the necklace my darling daughter
made for me for Mother's Day.

I am creating...
nothing very important today... but give me time.

I am going...
to bed early tonight but I just came from a day out
with the kids to Bible study and lunch with the ladies!

I am reading...
Light From Heaven by Jan Karon

I am hoping...
for more energy for tomorrow so I can get back
on track with my house purge this week

I am hearing...
a recording my daughter made of a song from a
Star Trek episode called Picard's Song.
She plays it on her fife and it is lovely.

Around the house...
I am working on the big purge a little each day
and with each purge I feel lighter and lighter

One of my favorite things...
a new purple ipod and computer which arrives soon

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
more toy purging, book purging, and kitchen cleaning

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Dinner is quite the simple pleasure in our home. Wanta share it with us?

Hitting the Proverbial Wall...

The day has arrived... the one where you have spent the last 5 months, or 2 years as the case may actually be, working toward a degree and taking classes every single semester and even through the summer and running on fumes many days of that period of time just to get it all done and learn all the information and bake all the product and cook and work restaurant and run to Bible study and shuffle kids and teach kids and get to scout functions and get dinner on the table and spend endless hours doing accounting on the computer when you would rather be playing word games with your friends and checking e-mail and... and... and... so forth and so on

and then you stop...

The quiet is deafening...

...but so very sweet and needed...

That feeling of utter exhaustion and collapse is upon you...

There is no pressing responsibility for the first time in ages....

...no choices to be made and no papers to be turned in...

and all you want to do is sit on the couch and watch movies....

or take a nap....

and your eyes cannot even stay open to read a book once you are still and quiet...

it's here....

that is me.

Oh, and before I forget....

Happy Mother's Day to you all...

enjoy your families tomorrow. :)

....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................