Great Day

Today is such a lovely day:)  It's warm out, all the neighbors are piddling on their Saturday at home.  Luke and I raided a few yard sales this morning and I picked up some yarn and sequins, some zippers and a canning jar. Luke got a book about dogs and a new video game and I got Nadia some clothes.  Everybody's happy!

After we got home we chowed down on some homemade chicken nuggets (even Greg liked them) and as we speak the aroma of freshly baked cookies is calling my name.

I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my day at home sitting on the couch between loads of laundry.  Aaahhhhhh!

Past tense

There are so many times where I just want to move out in the middle of nowhere and do things my way.  But I would miss so much of city life.  I love walking down my road in relative assurance that I won't get bitten by a dog (which has happened to me).  I like that I can run errands in a short time, and food is still hot if I get takeout.  And I don't spend as much gas or time doing things away from home. 

I can just imagine my husband now, getting irritated about a chicken coop and having to help in the garden:)  Mental pictures say it all...

As I've written before, I plan to actually grow things we'll actually from a garden next year.  This plan would be a lot less complicated if I didn't work.  I know a lot of people work and still get everything done, but I just can't function that way.  I definitely need a more leisurely pace and a lot more money!  HA!

I miss my old life; the one where I had two small children to take care of and school to teach, and lunch, and what I miss most of all is having real conversations with my children.  These days they just want to play with their friends or play video games--when they actually come inside.  I never realized how many times we ended up talking about important stuff just because we spent so much uninterrupted time together.  I miss homeschooling.  I miss my kids...

You like my pun in the title??

Ode to Harvest

I have been dreaming of apples.  Applebutter, applesauce, fried apples, dehydrated apples, apple jelly....  I am so glad that you only deal with a type of produce once a year!  It stinks that most of them ripen back to back or even at once.  Wouldn't it be so much easier if we could garden year-round.  If the trees would produce a bushel or so every month-no more, no less.  Instead, you can think of nothing else except what else you can do with all that produce, until it is mercifully all preserved in jars, freezer or bags. 

I have determined it's a really good thing I don't have room to grow too much.  I can't imagine what it'd be like if I grew all the wonderful food I wanted.  We would be overrun, but our friends would be happy!!  As I am to be the grateful recipient of organic, local food. 

I decided to actually pull out my dehydrater this year and decide if I wanted to keep it.  It was given to me a long time ago, and has sat lonely in a corner just waiting for me.  Well, that thing is worth it's weight in gold!  I am actually looking for more trays so I can use it more:)  They're round if you have some-about 13 1/2 inches across.  I have dried apples, blueberries, spinach and basil so far.  I plan on drying more next year, and this year I should be able to get some raisins done.  I've seen recipes for fruit roll-ups, too.  That sounds interesting, providing it's easy.  I'm planting some herbs to grow indoors now, so I can dry those anytime of year.

So exciting!  I have already begun plotting my garden for next year.  It's small, but I'm hoping to do great things with it.  Right now I'm growing pumpkins, and if my zucchini comes up I can look forward to those.  I can also propagate some grapes, blackberries and cherries.  I guess there are things to do all year; you just get all the food in a couple of months' time.  Will it all be worth it?  We'll see.

ADD and Me

I got to talk to a wonderful woman last night about our mutual problems with ADD...and it was amazing how similarly we deal with it.  For those of you who have never struggled with it, let me explain.  You know those days when you feel constantly interrupted, constantly pulled away from your tasks, you have ten million things to do and little time to do them in--days where you feel like you just have way too much to do to keep it all straight?  That's pretty much every day for me.  It's like having your plate full and just not knowing what to do with it all.

Frustrating--that's what it is.  For most of my childhood years, I just thought I was dumb and flighty.  Now I realize that had I been able to focus, I might have been a great student.  I guess it says something that I passed all my classes without ever really studying and not being able to fully concentrate on tests.

My friend and I were discussing the fact that our environment seems to influence our abilities to deal with things.  She agreed that when things around us are messy or crowded (cluttered or haphazard) it's like visual noise.  It's similar to trying to go to sleep with a radio blaring.  My environment can make my brain shut down--too much going on.  Not that I am a perfect housekeeper, but I can definitely tell a difference when my house stays clean (you know, the impossible task:).  I feel much more content and able to focus on other things.

We also talked about lists.  I know a lot of people make lists, but this is essential to my mental well-being.  I can't go to the grocery store without one because I just can't focus on all the aspects of the job and remember anything on that list.  I make lists for everything--what I want to accomplish for the day, projects around the house, things to look for when I go to yard sales...  And my calendar-WOW!  I have to write down everything-when the oil was last changed, when I last shampooed the carpets, errands, e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.  But it's for my own good:)

It's always nice to talk to someone who deals with the same things you do, and talking to her made me feel like I would be okay.  Isn't it funny how different yet how alike we all are?

Perspective and Priorities

I got to talking to a friend the yesterday about what we do for others.  Apparently, not enough.  I can't help but remember a time when I was super-involved in church.  Making dinners for other families, giving a ride here and there to another member, visiting the nursing homes.  Then we started homeschooling and things slowed down a bit.  When I put the kids in school (after many stomach problems made it difficult to multi-task) I thought I would have more time to volunteer...yeah, right. 

I yearn to be that giving again.  But working part-time but on-call full-time, mixed with the kids being older and needing to go, go, go...I can barely keep my head on straight.  I feel accomplished when I balance the checkbook these days;)  Perspective, I guess.

I miss those Preschool days of long naps and crayons and singing lullabyes.  The kids loved to talk to me and kiss and hug.  They still do their obligatory amount of loving on me, but it's not the same.  I guess my job of preparing them for the "independent" future is what's the priority now. 

Perhaps the days of giving to outsiders slowed down as the necessity of giving to my own household took over.  Food for thought...

I guess the question is, Will I look back on this time in regret over not being generous to others, or pride that I served my family?

Random Thoughts

Well, I feel like I'm out of the hurricane.  The whirlwind of emotion and instability seems to have died down.  I really needed that.  I don't know what has caused this change back to "normal", but I'm grateful.  I still feel a little irritable toward the kids (and sometimes Greg), but I can definitely tell that I have become more tolerable:)

On a side note, I really wish there were more four-day weekends in the year.  Like, once a month.  Those are the best! You get one day to relax, one day to just enjoy family/friend time, a day to work hard around the house, and a day to catch up on Netflix.  It stinks having to fit all that in two days.  Definitely not enough time. 

I had fun hitting the yard sales and antique shops with my favorite sister this past Saturday.  I really do love a good bargain!  I remember when my kids were small and would go with me.  It was like Toys R Us, but where Mommy said yes:)  They had just as much fun as I did.  Of course, they still like to go.  But sometimes it has to be MeTime. 

I finished making my purse!!!!

My fingers are still a little sore:)  And I promise it's symmetrical in real life.  I can't wait to start on the next one. 

On a bad note, a piece on my sewing machine broke, so I can't make Luke's towel-quilt until I get that fixed:(  I know he'll be happy when it's done.  And I will not be sewing that by hand!

Well, I'm off to run my errands and see some friends.  More random things.  What random things will you get into today?

Another month goes by...

It's amazing what can take up my time!!  I do love puzzles and Netflix, but what happened to that afternoon I had wide open?  Wow.  Oh right--bills, receipts, budgets...

So I've finally had to begin telling my (usually very active) children to get off the couch and turn the TV off.  I'm disgusted by how much time a person can waste watching that thing!  I admit that I get sucked in to Netflix and its amazing world of TV shows, but only for a little while.  I swear, I could go a month without looking at a show or movie and not even know it.  And then there are those people (yes, Greg-you) that can't seem to relax unless it's on.  But I guess he can't sew, so...

Anywho--I've been trying to get the kids and myself back into our "daily maintenance" schedule.  AKA chores.  Necessary but bo-ring!!  I need to figure out how to spice things up a bit. 

I have been to several houses recently where I look around and see *nothing*.  No blankets in the Living Room.  No toys--anywhere.  Nothing out of place.  Nothing anywhere.  I don't get it.  I work pretty hard to make sure we don't have a lot of extra stuff in the house, but the stuff we use has to go somewhere.  Where is all this stuff at other peoples' houses?  Do they have one of those closets that you don't dare open?  My mantra is "there's a place for everything and everything in it's place".  It's exhausting and I only truly acheive it about twice a year.  But it's a good mantra to have, right?

My goal for today is to get the basement storage reorganized.  We have no closets downstairs, so everything has to be out in the open.  I plan to make it look good and function superbly.  So I won't be going anywhere tomorrow.  See you Thursday!