Did my last post seem a little... uh... unfinished? Illogical? Not quite wrapped up? That's because it was, in fact, unfinished. I fell asleep while writing it and woke up just enough to hit 'save as draft". Or something. Obviously it wasn't the "save as draft" button I hit.

But I didn't know that until now. Because I was a good girl today and busied myself with more important things, I did not check email or blog. I had no idea that my "draft" was sitting there in plain sight for all the world to see. Well, for my 3.5 remaining readers to see, anyway.

So what's the problem? you ask. Just finish it. The problem is that today, in my ignorant bliss, I decided I was not, in fact, going to finish or publish that post. The "punch line," you see, might be considered to be in bad taste, making light of something that ought not to be made light of. Did you notice that I never came back to the part about tying in history with other subjects? Did you notice that I was leading up to Fuzz saying something and never got that far? That was the unfinished part. The as-yet unwritten part in which she made a casual but oh-so-Fuzz-like comment tying in our history studies with Spaz' animated roller-coaster escapades.

Our history studies included the Holocaust, remember? And Spaz was being the evil roller coaster engineer with his roller coaster of death. So Fuzz made this off-hand observation tying the one to the other, and it was rather funny and made great blog material-- except that it wasn't and it didn't. And the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that there really wasn't any way to finish the story and put in the punchline without crossing the line of poor taste. So I decided today while vacuuming downstairs that I would save that roller coaster bit to work into a possible future post and then delete the post from my draft folder.

Except that, as we have already established, it wasn't actually in my draft folder. Drat.

So I guess I won't be finishing the post. I might modify it a bit after a few days, just so that it makes a little more sense. I'll figure out some way to make a finished post out of the rollercoaster thing without including the "rest of the story".

*Sigh* This is what I get for blogging when I'm tired. So much for trying to actually get a blogpost out there. Should I give up yet?

We've been studying World War II and the Holocaust this fall. We've read and discussed and read some more and made timelines and read yet more and... and that's about it. History is just history this year, which is odd for us. I used to try to integrate various other subjects into whatever we're studying in history, but I'm not doing that so much this year. Why is not the point. The point is that sometimes it happens anyway, in ways I least expect it.

Spaz takes classes on Fridays, and some of them, including his science class, involve homework. That is a good thing. (It is also one of the reasons I am not making great efforts to tie multiple subjects together.) His class is studying physics, and one of his assignments last week was to go to a website where he could "build" a roller coaster and adjust various factors such as speed, friction, and angle until his car was able to run the entire track without coming to a stop or falling off.

But of course, it is ever so much more fun to make the car fall off.

Spaz dutifully adjusted everything in such a way as to let the car complete its run, thereby fulfilling the assignment. That took perhaps four minutes. He then spent the next twenty minutes playing with the controls and adjusting all the factors to provide for maximum spills and thrills. Especially spills.

"I am the evil roller coaster engineer!" he'd cry gleefully as the car plummeted off the track for the umpteenth time and hurtled off the screen. "I like to send people to their deaths! Ahahahahaha!" I know this sounds six-year-oldish, and indeed it is. Spaz is a perpetual child-at-heart, at the moment fourteen-going-on-seven, but someday forty-going-on-nine.

And so it was that the animated roller coaster car continued to plummet off the track and the boy continued to exult in his evilness and the girl continued to look on with interest and the mom continued to say, "We need to turn the computer off now and move on to other things," and the boy continued to say, "Just one more time, pleeeeaaaase?"

If Spaz is fourteen-going-on-seven, Fuzz is eleven-going-on... well, twelve I suppose, or sixteen in some ways, and sometimes thirty or even sixty. But her mind works in mysterious ways. She comes up with the most interesting questions and observations.

And so when Spaz announced for about the fourth time that he had built "the roller coaster of death!"

Does this post seem unfinished? It is. I fell asleep. I do that sometimes. It is not a good idea to hit buttons on the computer when one is falling asleep, or one might hit "publish" instead of "draft". See above post on why I'm not actually going to finish this one.

*Sigh* I don't know how on earth Mr. Bright But Unfocused And Very High Maintenance will ever survive real high school next year. And I don't know how I would ever survive an attempt to homeschool him through high school.

I guess we'll have to shoot him. It's a shame, because he's such a great kid.

That's going to end up being a facebook status update one of these days, but you read it here first. Maybe someday I'll even elaborate on it and turn my frustrations into a real blog post. For now, you just get this. Because my brain is too tired to elaborate, and besides, I am supposed to be doing school stuff right now.

Like trying to figure out a workable structure for our schooldays so that the highly motivated 11-year-old isn't getting shortchanged by the high-maintenance 14-year-old. Like trying to figure out how to help the highly unfocused 14-year-old manage his time and buckle down to work. Like trying to ensure that said  14-year-old gets in the "meaty" learning and skill-building he needs when in fact it is a challenge just to manage what seems like a bare minimum.

And when I'm finished figuring all that out, I'm going to go to Washington and solve the economic crisis.

You laugh. I cry.

Of course I wouldn't shoot my son. Despite the challenges involved in homeschooling him, he's a wonderful kid. No, much as I'd like to some days, I won't shoot him...

...but I might blow my brains out.

That would just solve everything very nicely. For me.

But no, I can't do that either. The stain would never come out of the carpet.

I am a crazy woman. Why else would I do this? What else could I be? I homeschool an attentionally-deficient adolescent because I am crazy, and I am crazy because I homeschool an attentionally-deficient adolescent.

That is about the long and short of it.

And now I must return to my futile endeavors. Thank you for reading. I shall return when I can next muster up the spare brain cells.

Wow. This blog has gotten so boring that even I don't want to read it anymore. That's kind of sad. My headblogs are really interesting, though. Too bad we're kind of missing some key steps involved in getting them from my head to this blog.

Maybe I will just abandon this blog and start a new one. That should remedy the problem, because of course, having a new blog would make me a more consistent blogger. Just like moving into a bigger house made me an excellent housekeeper, getting new shelves in the schoolroom made me an organized homeschooler, finding a new church would render me a mature and godly Christian, and of course, getting a new husband would turn me into the perfect wife.

Right. Well, I am going to switch to blogger at some point, because I have wanted to for a couple years now anyway, but I don't think now is the time. What would be the point of starting a brand new blog to neglect when I am doing perfectly well at neglecting this one? Methinks I need to begin blogging regularly again before I start anything new.

Ceasing to work 32 hours a week might help me be a more consistent blogger. That is already in process. (The ceasing to work 32 hours, I mean, not the consistent blogging. Don't get too excited.) It's a seasonal job, remember, and the season is nearly over. Work is dwindling and even if it were not, I would be cutting my hours, because I just haven't been able to devote enough time & energy to my day job. You know, the one I don't get paid for. The important one. The one I usually think I am crazy for doing but have been doing for going-on 18 years nonetheless (or 22 years, depending how you look at it). Yes, that one. And, huh... who'da thought that working 4 pm to midnight 4 nights a week would have even the remotest effect on our homeschool days? I sort of expected that it would, but I didn't realize how much.

I am rambling again, which is all I know how to do lately.

Here is another sad thing: there have been no madding hordes clamoring to know "the rest of the story" from my last post-- that is, what exactly happened a few weeks back to render my van temporarily undriveable? Apparently you are all "suffering from a deplorable lack of curiosity" (to quote a line from one of my favorite old movies). Although I can think of a few other explanations, not all of them flattering...

1. Nobody actually reads this blog anymore. Although that would be perfectly understandable, it can't be true now that I think about it, because I did actually get some comments on that post.
2. Like me, everyone reads blogs on google reader and is too lazy forgetful totally enraptured by my posts lazy to click over and comment. Then again, see #1, so this can't be true either.
3. Most of my blog friends are now my facebook friends as well, so they already knew what happened long before reading it here. This one gets my vote.
4. Nobody really cares. I don't really like this option, but it's quite possible.
5. Everyone figured it was pointless to ask, since my blogging history (recent and otherwise) reveals a distinct tendency to not get around to posting those rest-of-story things regardless of how many people ask. Sad but true.

Well, be that as it may. My van is once again driveable and in better shape than it was before its unfortunate run-in with odocoileus virginianus stupideus. Too bad we can't say as much for our wallets, since we had no collision or comp on the van. That wasn't my decision, but we're not going to go there now, or ever, thankyouverymuch. Besides, the same day that we received the repair bill, we received notice of a settlement ("internet purchase gone bad") that had been pending for a couple years. That was money we never expected to see again and it will be about the same amount as the van repair bill. And then there is the new unexpected high-efficiency woodburner funded almost entirely by homeowner's insurance, which we have greatly enjoyed every day since its installation and will enjoy even more when we get our rather diminished heat bills this winter. So it all works out, because God is good.

And yes, I was behind the wheel during that unfortunate run-in, and yes it was a horrible experience. thank you for asking. I pretty much bawled all the rest of the way home, partly from shock and partly out of sorrow for the poor creature. (I didn't have kids in the car, so I didn't have to get a grip.) Then I felt like bawling again when I saw what the stupid thing did to my van. Oh well. All's well that ends well.

Enough about that. Totally random fact: today is Rich Mullins' birthday. I miss that guy immensely. I mean, not that I ever knew him in the first place, so I guess what I mean is that I miss his wonderful songs and musings and concert presence and all that stuff.

Another totally random fact: My nutty bar stash has been replenished, and I ate four of them tonight. Well, you know, two 2-packs. Nutty bars are pretty much the meaning of life, you know. Especially now that Rich Mullins is gone. Hey, that was a pretty clever and spontaneous tying together of unrelated random facts!

I suppose that's enough from me tonight.

Going to work nearly full-time after 22 years as a stay-at-home mom has been a huge adjustment. Moreso because my entry into the workforce has come at the same time we are starting a new school year. On top of that, I still have the editing job to finish. (And we're not even going to talk about those unfinished home organization projects.)

The editing job is why I'm at Pahookey Bread* on my night off instead of being at home with my family. As much as I ought to be doing school planning or putting away all those still-homeless clothes (the unfortunate victims, as you may remember, of an impromptu cabinet snatching relocation resulting in yet another of those not-to-be-spoken-of unfinished household organization projects)... anyway, as much as I ought to be home, or at least running errands if I am going to be out, I am instead sitting here at the aforementioned coffee-&-bagel-etc shop. (*Name changed to prevent discovery of this blog by stalkers who actually look at the 373 millionth page of a g**gle search.) Because the editing must be done.

I was going to try editing at home tonight. After all, nearly everyone was gone earlier in the evening, with the lone exception being a 14-year-old boy who would be very happy to play video games downstairs while I worked upstairs. Minimal distractions, right? This could work. So I set up a little table in front of the living room window where I would be free from distractions, grabbed a chair and my laptop, and started to get set up.

Except...

The window was dirty. There was a dead bee on the sill. I could see the planter on the deck with weeds in it and it bothered me, as did the overturned kiddie picnic table that all my kids have long outgrown. There was a book on the sofa. And even though I couldn't see them, I knew the newspapers on the coffee table were messy.

(Funny how those things don't bother me most of the time. I could sit down in my comfy chair to engage in facebook or a good kakuro puzzle and I'd be totally oblivious to all of them.)

Furthermore, the dog was barking. The kid downstairs playing video games probably hadn't set the timer and would go over his alloted time if I didn't interfere. The phone was poised to ring at any second, because it always does as soon as I get involved in something. And as soon as someone walked in the door, even if they went immediately and quietly to another area of the house, my concentration would be shot.

So I'm here at Pahookey Bread.

And I'm not editing. Did you notice that? But I will. I'm good at keeping internet playtime to a minimum when I'm here, if I even engage in it at all. Normally I don't, but I just had to check in with you all.

So I did. Just to let you know I hadn't dropped off the face of the earth or anything.

Now I'm off to fetch my manuscript from its cozy folder. See ya.

After making fun of myself in my last post for the spelling errors in the previous one, I made an even bigger gaffe at the end of that one.

All 3.5 of my remaining readers were too kind to point it out.

*Sigh*

Perhaps I should forget blogging and stick with pursuing an editing career. Or an edioting career, as seems more likely. Although I'm not sure I'd want to be the author with the misfortunate to get me as an ediotr.

Changing the subject without any sort of transitional sentence whatsoever (and would you believe I just typed "snetence"?)...

My schoolroom makeover is finished and ready to be organized! Not that it necessarily will be, since I have learned that reorganized space does not, unfortunately, somehow magically turn me into an organized person. (I can be very organized on paper; with "stuff", not so much.) But having so much extra shelf & cabinet space definitely helps, and so does simply having something "different". We all need to change things up every so often. Although we did not end up tearing out stained carpet other than in the new supply closet, the other changes --closet, "new" (recycled) cabinet & shelving, and furniture rearrangement-- have made a huge difference. My "new" space is much cleaner-looking, more unified, & less cluttered. (Well, until I get my stuff in it, anyway.)

You want pictures, I know. Yes, I have some. It remains to be seen whether I will have time to post them. Besides, I'd prefer to wait and take more pictures after I have everything in the schoolroom & supply closet put away & organized.  (Which means you may be waiting a very very very long time.)

I did get most of my history-and-lit shelf put away already. That was the fun and easy part, since I knew exactly how I wanted to do it. The rest, not so much. I also need to get the lightbulb changed in the supply closet before I can do anymore in there. Funny how that lightbulb worked perfectly fine for years and then decided to burn out a day after we made over the closet.

By the way, unlike my cousin & facebook friend who claims to have "literary ADHD", I think I must have "project ADHD". I really function much better on a one-thing-at-a-time basis, but you wouldn't know it.  Much as I can't stand the idea of starting one project before the last one is completed, I have a tendency to do just that. In this case, I sabotaged my far-too-long-in-process-but-nearly-finished bedroom reorganization project by stealing a cabinet from the bedroom to anchor the schoolroom project. It would just match the schoolroom shelves too too perfectly, so despite the fact that I had just organized it in my bedroom on Monday, I emptied it out again on Friday and had it carried to its new home downstairs. It looks great down there, but I'm not sure what I will do with all the clothing and miscellaneous stuff that used to be in it and is now all over my bedroom floor...

So I've had fun with my new space, but now I need to stop and get to work on the edioting joob. I may even try working in my "new" space rather than my office-away-from-home, aka P*nera Bre*d. We'll see how that works, since it is still out in the middle of everything; our schoolroom is not actually a room with a door but a corner of a large open room. My kids are perfectly quiet & content in their rooms right now, but I'm sure that as soon as I sit down in the schoolroom to do some work, they will be right next to me needing something and then will be back to ask something five minutes later and...

I'd work in my bedroom instead, but there are homeless clothes and stuff all over. See paragraph immediately preceding the last one.

This blogpost is beginning to sound as though I have Blogging ADHD. Rambly posts seem to be the only kind I can write lately. Don't expect any sort of a real "ending" to this, either, because I haven't come up with one. This is it. In fact, edioting hopeful or not, maybe I'll just stop right here, in the middle of a

My previous entry contained two spelling errors. One was in the paragraph in which I told you I was doing some editing and contemplating becoming an editor. I find this very amusing.

And just so you know, it is highly unusual for me to type "beacuse" when I mean "because". Usually what I type is "becasue". Really. And half the time I type my name as "Bethnay". What is really funny is that in the above paragraph, I caught myself typing "ediotr". Funnier yet is the fact that I caught the error before I had quite finished the word, so it came out simply as "ediot". Knowing how offended some writers become at the changes their editors make, I am sure there are those who do indeed think of their editors as "ediots".

I'm not going to tell you what the second spelling error was. You'll have to dig through and find it. Unless, of course, you have a life or something.

Moving right along...

In other news related to the previous post, that big mess in the homeschool/art room --the one that very nearly put me over the edge-- turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Hubz felt so sorry for me that he is enlisting some outside help to make sure the mess is taken care of quickly. (This is quite something, since major messes are rarely taken care of quickly at our house due to our unfortunate tendency to look at them and feel totally overwhelmed and suddenly think of 23 other things we need to be doing... and so it goes for days into weeks...) But that's not all. After he & his Builder Buddy Bruce are done packing up boxes and taking care of everything, the two of them are giving me...

...an Extreme Homeschool-and-Craft Room Makeover! Okay, maybe not extreme, but pretty major to me. They are tearing out stained carpet (we'll just have bare concrete floor for a while since new flooring is not in the budget), replacing some of my mish-mash storage with shelves & cabinets that actually match each other, and rearranging the space. They're also putting more shelving in the laundry/storage room so that the finished walk-in storage closet near our school area can be emptied out and transformed into a school-and-art-supply closet. Builder Buddy Bruce & I designed the whole thing out today. Hubz & I have great ideas for every room in our house, but few of them ever materialize; with BBB on board, this one most definitely will, and quickly. Not only that, since he & Hubz usually just trade labor and we are recycling some of the materials, this is not going to break the budget. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about this project, but I probably don't need to.

As for my new job, the holiday weekend means I have the next 5 days off. While this is rather unfortunate for the wallet, it does give me more time to do stuff around the house work on the editing and do some school planning. And of course I can hardly wait to organize my new schoolroom as well. Funny how a change of scenery can turn a dreaded task into an exciting one.

So whereas yesterday I woke up wanting to either (a) stay in bed all day or (b) spit nails at anyone with the misfortunate to cross my path, today I have been feeling pretty happy. I am rather up and down like that.

Stayed tuned. I might actually post again sometime.

I wrote most of this on Tuesday and finished it now, so read it as though it is Tuesday. You can do that. It's dated as though it posted Tuesday. I can do that.

The less I blog, the more I don't blog. Or something like that. The longer I go without blogging, the harder it is to do it. Besides, all my good intentions get sabotaged by life. It is very sad when life has to impede important things like blogging.

I didn't even blog about Spaz' 14th birthday. But I scanned the old pictures I was going to use, so that was something.

There is no way to get this blog caught up with my life, so I am just going to sort of start in the middle here. Here's an overview of the past week:

*I worked on the editing job I have mentioned. I really enjoy this and would like to pursue it, though I'm not sure there will be more work where this job came from. For that reason, part of me doesn't want to finish it, beacuse... well, when it's done, it's done, and then what will I do for fun? I do obviously need to finish it, probably within a few weeks, and I still have quite a ways to go.

*I trained for and started my new 2nd-shift "boring job to help pay the bills". I am doing data entry for a school portrait company and worked my first full shift last night, 4-12. I will be doing this 4 or 5 nights a week through mid-November and then the job will probably end. This will be a huge adjustment for all of us, since I have not held a job outside the home in 23 years of marriage. Obviously it will have an impact on our homeschool as well. I could write a lot more about this, but I'm thinking I have a decent chance of actually finishing and posting this, so I'll not hinder my odds.

*One of the kids finished a thorough and much-needed summer-long bedroom overhaul-- not redecorating, just weeding out, cleaning, & organizing. Yes, it took all summer to do that. This has resulted in a really nice bedroom that is the cleanest & neatest in the house and a school/craft area just beyond that is now the sloppiest and worst. There are boxes and piles of stuff all over and it just pretty much makes me want to cry. All my delusions hopes of cleaning & reorganizing the already-messy-&-cluttered schoolroom for our new school year have pretty much been flushed away.

*My brother (age 45) had a stroke one week ago and is still in the hospital, though doing quite well. The stroke was in the cerebellum, which affects balance & fine motor. His speech and reasoning were not affected, for which we are all thankful. In my family, losing verbal or logical ability would be like... uh, trying to think of a good analogy here... like an athlete losing a leg, or an artist losing vision, or a politician losing his pork fund, or something. Fuzz and I drove 1-3/4 hours each way to visit him on the second day, which turned out to be the worst day possible to visit. Six hours at the hospital yielded one 4-minute conversation in which I'm sure it was all he could do to not ask me to just leave so he could sleep and get rid of his pounding headache. However, we had a very nice 20-minute phone conversation on Sunday which more than made up for it. He is even posting his own Facebook updates now, which means I don't have to any more.

*A major crisis erupted with one of my young adult kids. Actually there have been crises with this particular kid for about 5 years, and they just seem to get more serious. It ain't over yet, either. Said kid needs to be whacked upside the head with a 2x4 to knock some sense back into that good brain. Said mom needs to cry less and wander around the house less and run the mouth less and pray more.

So that's been life around our house.

I had decided a few weeks ago that we would start our "official" school year (which differs from our "summer school" in matters of quantity, frequency, and structure) on September 1. We wouldn't be full swing until the 21st, but we'd start our structured, school-focused days nonetheless. When I found out sortly thereafter that my job would start not on the 24th of August as I had first been told but on the 31st, I considered deviating from the Sept 1 plan, but decided to go ahead with it anyway. "Time to adjust" is overrated, right? I'm sure people start a new job one night and a new school year the next morning all the time. And it isn't as though I would be tired or anything, since my job would entail sitting in front of a computer for eight hours. May as well just start everything all at once.

So last night --I mean this morning-- when I got home from my first night of work, I wrote a little sign on our message marker board for the kids that said, "Happy 1st Day of School!" I think it was almost more for me than for them. I needed to get myself into the mode and the mood so that when daylight came, I would jump out of bed all ready to start a structured day of intentional learning.

Or not.

Some seven hours later, after about an hour of hitting the snooze button, I dragged myself out of bed. The kids, of course, were not yet up. According to the loose "schedule" I'd typed up, I needed to get them out of bed about 45 minutes later. I made coffee and wrestled with the devil on my shoulder throughout my shower. After said shower and a couple cups of coffee, I still felt dead on my feet.

I looked at my marker board note. I listened to the devil on my shoulder. I wiped off the marker board and wrote a new note:

"Happy Last Week of Summer Break."

Because I am flexible like that.

The kids were rather elated. I was rather relieved. It was a wise move.

Note from Wednesday night, when this was finished & posted:  My 2nd night at work went well and I had tonight off. The kid crisis has been pretty well averted, at least for the time being. Hubz has hired a friend's daughter to come and help me take care of the mess downstairs. I haven't done a lick of editing yet this week. My brother is still doing great. The kids and I are not even doing "summer school" and are  thoroughly enjoying having one last week of summer break.

I think I spent just as long writing this as the original (and much better) post that vanished into the great beyond. So much for not having time to do that. And then I had to add pictures.

So I didn't take time to write an intro this time. Did that, it disappeared, not writing a new one. You'll survive. Let's just jump right into...

Highlights of our visit to our Columbus Cousins

(Yeah, I know, it just makes your heart palpitate, doesn't it?) 

 *Listening to The Land on CD in the van*

I could write up an entire post on why audio books & dramas are an absolutely integral part of any road trip we make, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that being engrossed in a story keeps everyone happy and (key word here) quiet and thus goes a long way toward the preservation of sanity (mine) and tranquility. Anyway, on this trip we listened to The Land, prequel to Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, which we’d read aloud together earlier this summer. The Land, whose main character wrestles with his identity as the son of a slave woman and her white owner, is a tad mature for Fuzz, but still appropriate and well worth the listen. It is also quite long; despite driving 5-1/2 hours each way, we did not get through all 10 hours of it and have yet to finish.

*Stopping at Cabela’s on the way down*

The Cabela’s just north of the Michigan/Ohio border is practically a natural history museum and makes a great stretch-your-legs stop. It was also a good place to pick up some fudge for our cousins and to eat our packed lunch on the vast front lawn. The latter embarrassed Spaz no end; he hurried through his lunch and even eschewed the pudding cup in favor of sitting in the van to wait for Fuzz & me to finish.

*Spending time with family*
Obviously, this was the whole point! Although we grew up a thousand miles apart and barely noticed each other when we did see each other as kids, my cousin ML and I have grown quite close as adults. The shared experience of motherhood does that to you, I think. We decided at some point that we really needed to get our families together more often than just at our bi- or tri-annual family reunions, and sometimes we actually do so. This was one of those times. She has four girls ranging from Spaz’ age to a few years younger than Fuzz, and while the girls don’t always initially know what to do with Spaz (he is, after all, a boy), once we get over that hump they all get along well.

("Over the hump"- get it?)

*Wolverines vs. Buckeyes*

We’re University of Michigan fans at my house, and Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes don’t mix. Yet here we were, venturing behind enemy lines into Columbus, the heart of Buckeye Country. The things we do for family! Our original plan was to have Spaz bring all four of his U of M t-shirts, wearing a different one each day so as to drive our cousins nuts. (Buckeye nuts, to be precise.) Much to Fuzz’ and my disappointment, he reneged on that plan at the last minute, preferring a greater variety of shirts. He did, however, take two of them, along with his U of M toothbrush, chapstick, pen, and fleece blanket. ML’s husband initially tried to banish the latter from his house, but relented as long as he didn’t have to look at it. Good thing; we really needed that to ward off any evil Buckeye vibes.

(I don't know why some of the text isn't conforming to size, but again, oh well. It bugs me, but not enough that I'd spend another hour trying to fix it.)

*COSI*
On Tuesday we visited the Center of Science and Industry, a kids’ science museum that I’d read about but never visited. A great time was had by all…

*Donuts and Popcorn and Ice Cream, oh my!*
We rather unintentionally had a food-themed day on Wednesday, beginning with a box of Dunkin Donuts on the kitchen island. (Don’t blame ML or me; it was all the fault of that “buy 6, get 6 free” coupon.) Then we were off to take a “tour” of a local popcorn factory. ML and her kids had not done this before and thought it’d be fun to try. As it turned out, the “tour” consisted of watching a video and sampling the many unique flavors of popcorn. Quite underwhelming to say the least, but it was fun to try such popcorn flavors as jelly bean, lemon, and pizza. We each picked out a small bag to buy, and I picked up a bag of pomegranate popcorn for Cheez and cookies-&-cream for Hubz. After that it was on to Graeter’s Ice Cream, where we looked through large windows to watch ice cream made “the old-fashioned way” with the “French pot method”. Don’t ask me what that means; I don’t remember. It sure was interesting though, and the ice cream was yummy.

Continuing on our inadvertent food theme, we followed that up with…

*My first-ever trip to Trader Joe’s*

And now I understand why people in our area will drive two hours to get to one. Where else can you get “healthy”, delicious gourmet food at nearly SuperStuffMart prices, and with a pleasant ambience to boot? The kids initially complained about this stop, and we left the older ones in the van to enhance our shopping pleasure. My two were eventually placated with a box of long-coveted Peanut Butter Panda Puffs, which cost far less at Joe’s than at our local health food and grocery stores. I lost some weight in the wallet on this stop. We so need a Trader Joe’s in the GR area.

Finally, there was...

*Just sharing in the everyday stuff*
One night we ate burgers on the deck, after which ML’s hubz got most of the kids engaged in a rousing game of backyard volleyball while ML and I talked and talked and talked some more. Another night we helped ML’s 2^nd daughter celebrate her 13^th birthday. She was not happy to have to share her special day with the President, even though we pointed out that it had been his birthday first. One morning ML had to go into work for a couple hours (after several years of homeschooling, she is now a guidance counselor at a Christian high school), which gave me an opportunity to work on my editing job while the kids read, played games, and hung out. Later I enjoyed accompanying her to worship team practice at her church. We have not been to each other’s churches and I am not highly familiar with their denomination, so it was fun to see that their worship is very similar to ours. I had taken my editing along to work on, but didn't get very far because I was singing along from my perch in the back. And in between all these doings, while the kids played Wii and board games, ML & I leafed through a scrapbook... and went online to look up possible locations for our next family reunion... and commented on each other's facebook posts from right in the very same house... and mostly just talked. 

That pretty well wraps up our visit to the Columbus Cousins, except for one final highlight…

*Making peace with the GPS*
And that one could almost be a blog post in itself. I think I'll save it.

(Yes, I know- the conclusion to this post was every bit as fabulous as the introduction. That's how it goes. You shoulda seen the post that got away. Too bad I can't remember how I ended it. Oh wait, I can. ZAP!)

Conversation with Biz over lunch yesterday:

Biz: "So when are you guys going up to (our friends') cabin?"

Mom: "August 42-45."*
      (*not the actual dates) 

Mom again: "Why? Do you want to go with us?"*
      (*rhetorical question whose answer is already presumed to be No.)

Biz: "No, I just wondered when the house was going to be empty."

Um... should I be worried about this?

Mom: "You wonder when the house is going to be empty? That's a rather disconcerting statement.'

Biz: "That's not what I meant. I just wanted to know when, if I stop by, there wouldn't be any food."

Oh, Okay. That does make me feel a little better. It also rather confirms my suspicions that he stops over not so much because he likes to spend time with us but because we feed him.

But I'll take having my son stop over for any reason at all. And I still like that explanation of the "empty house" statement better than the obvious one.

In other news, Biz showed up for our lunch date wearing a button-down shirt. He did not text anyone the entire time we were together. He seriously debated between salmon and tilapia before settling on a steak. (Lest you wonder, we were doing L*gan's 2-Fer deal; it was still a cheap date.) And one of the sides he chose was skewered vegetables.

They really do grow up.