Since spring has really come now, I'll post a couple of late winter photos.  This is one of my favourite places.


I am way behind on regular blogging again.  But that is life.  And life has been getting in the way.  Since I don't usually use blogging as a way of de-stressing, I haven't had the inclination or energy to put into a post.

This week has been busy.  The spring-cleaning itch has hit, so I cut lessons to the minimum and have spent the week working on some deep cleaning and organizing of our bedroom.  Actually, the deep cleaning hasn't really happened yet--that comes tomorrow.  I did rearrange my husband's workspace.  Now the book piles are off the floor and up where they can be easily reached.  That necessitated some rearranging of my stuff, and I took the opportunity to pull everything out of my closet and try to put it back in so that I can get to stuff more easily.

Other than the regular cooking and laundry, I have paid minimal attention to the rest of the house.  Again, I hope to get to that tomorrow.

On top of all that, there is some yardwork begging to be done.  I had planned to do that today after cleaning the church, however I was
too tired when I got home, and didn't figure I had enough time before making dinner.  Dare I say "tomorrow" again?  There is a lot of green and a few crocuses showing in the spot where our bulbs are planted.  I am hoping for a good show of flowers this year.  But the rosebushes and other evergreen bushes at the front of the house desperately need a cutting back.

The children have spent every spare minute running and playing outside.  I am glad.  It is good for them.

I just remembered I was going to use up some apples in a dessert this week.  At 4:50 p.m., do I have time to do it before dinner?  I would have to work at lightning speed.  Hmmm....I don't want to push that to tomorrow because likely I won't get to it, and Saturday is booked.

Guess I should post this and get moving--to make supper if nothing else.

I just looked at my last blog and it was more a moan than anything else.  A lot has happened since then, and tonight I'm moaning again.

My Mom ended up back in the hospital, and this time she was admitted.  But no beds available on the floor, so she spent two nights in a cubicle in Emerg, and the third in a very nice private room on a unit.  Fortunately, we have come home with a diagnosis that isn't too scary, and she is doing better on medication.  But during all that, they needed me, so I went down on Friday and spent the weekend with them.

Somewhere along the way, I picked up a sore throat.  I woke up with it Monday morning--the day my family was coming down for a visit to Grandma's and to take me home.  The throat is still sore, but I haven't developed too many other symptoms, (unless you can count extreme fatigue), so I continue with the vitamin C and lozenges.

We drove home yesterday--I drove most of the way because I felt like it when we left, but about 30 minutes from home I knew I was too tired to drive the rest of the way.  So I handed the wheel over to DH.  We got home and unloaded, and then I checked email and fell into bed.

Today we did a bit of schoolwork, I put away stuff, got a start on the laundry, and worked on cleaning up the house--not deep cleaning, just tidying.  While I was gone, my new desk came (guess I forgot to write about that), so I am enjoying it when I can.  I also worked on budget stuff, and a menu for next week.

Then late this afternoon I went down to rotate the laundry and found water leaking into the basement from the area under the kitchen sink and the dishwasher.  Water always leaks into our basement, but this was an unusual spot.  AAAAGH, it is leaking from the dishwasher somewhere (discovered that when I started it up tonight)!  Not onto the floor, but under it who knows where...from there it finds its way into my basement.  And I was planning to do school tomorrow....all day.  Now it looks like I will be doing dishes at least part of the day--and probably cleaning up the kitchen the rest of the day.

I guess I shouldn't fret.  It takes a while to get back into routine after being away.  Throw in a cold/sore throat, and decompressing from the strain of last week, and maybe I just need a bit more time.  DH thinks I should go to bed--I think that is a good idea.

Today started out fine and stayed okay until I got lessons done this afternoon.  Then it went downhill from there.  Truth is, I was feeling out of sorts this morning too, but I think the routine kept me in line.  Some days though, I am completely at loose ends after we finish lessons.  Today was one of those--to the nth degree!

I was planning to clean the church and pick up a few groceries to make soup tomorrow.  However, my DH was out and got held up (not literally--lol), and when he got home it was too late to go and get back in time to make supper.  Instead I browsed my recipes for a different soup recipe--one for which I had most of the ingredients (can one substitute white kidney beans for pinto beans in soup?).  It turns out that this recipe makes a lot so that is bonus--especially since my menu is not working this week.

We had planned to visit the city this week, however Boo was sick, and my Mom spent Sunday night in Emerg.  (She is fine now, except for a bug that has had a tendency to drain her fluids.  Her trip to the hospital caused a bit of consternation in the family and we are very thankful that she is doing okay!

Anyway, my Costco list is long and may be longer by next week when we hope to go again.  In the meantime, I hope I don't run out of sugar and a few other things.  Because we were planning to be away, I hadn't made a menu for the first part of the week.  Now it is made, and has been changed a few times already.  I am so glad for my program that makes it easy to change--otherwise my menu would be completely unreadable.

You know you're having a bad day when your Sonlight catalogue arrives and you can't summon up the energy to be excited about it.  We did order before the catalogue came out, and our box arrived last week.  The books are now neatly on the shelves--waiting for us to finish our current core.  Oh and don't get me started on the state of our dollar vs. the U.S. dollar.  OUCH!  And it isn't because our economy is doing badly at the moment, because compared to some others, it is very stable.  That is as political as I get on this blog...

I think I need a walk--I'll try for one in the morning--knowing my luck it will be raining.  But I want to get some photos.  Our snow is nearly gone--although we may get more soon.  I could see buds on the crocuses yesterday.

I think today is the first day since October that we have been able to open the windows without the furnace kicking in during the first few minutes.  I've washed all the sheets and remade the beds (a routine chore--believe me, I've done it more than once this winter!), and somehow the feeling of spring is definitely in the air!

It gives me the urge to get into some real spring cleaning.  Unfortunately I am still having some trouble with my little pain, and doing lessons all day doesn't exactly give one the time needed to tackle a big project.  So here I sit, trying to decide between blogging, knitting a row, or doing a bit of cross-stitch.  Maybe if I keep this short, I will have some time to do one of the other things.

The children are taking advantage of the mild weather and spending as much time as they can outdoors.  It is so quiet in here right now!  While there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground, I believe the "wellies" have come out.  Boo told me "I have to keep my toes curled up!" so I guess we will be shopping for a new pair soon.

Which reminds me of another funny of the day.  Boo is always asking math questions at the table--sometimes at the expense of eating his food.  Today after yet another problem presented, Daddy says "What does Boo plus chicken equal?"

Boo's immediate response?  "Cock-a-doodle-BOO!"  I'm still laughing!  I think he has inherited his Grandpa's ability to "Pun".

Ah Spring!  I am ready for it!  At the same time I dread it a bit--it will be so hard to keep the noses to the books when outdoors beckons...do you feel the same way?

I'm still having trouble with this little problem of mine which isn't seeming to go away--at least not quick enough for me.  Because of the discomfort, I was back at the doctor this week--resulting in more lab work and another ultrasound to be done this coming week. 

After several days of barely getting through, I had a much better day today.  Maybe the bright sunshine has had something to do with that.  At 5 p.m., the skies are blue and the snow still lies in patches on brown ground.  The big piles are still there--looking grey and dirty.

The bright sky at 5 p.m. is about the only good thing about Daylight Savings time that I can come up with.  We've had a week of disrupted schedules--waking up too late in the morning to start lessons on time, and eating dinner too late in the evening to have evening time before the kids go to bed.  And the kids have had a lot of trouble falling asleep at night.  I blame it all on the time change!  We have our routine, and like to keep it the same.  Since my husband works mainly at home, his time is flexible--to a point.  I don't like it when the clock doesn't match my body clock.

Good things about the week--I sorted kids books into piles to keep, give away, or put away (for littles who come to visit).  I also ordered my next Sonlight Core.  I am starting to get into Spring Cleaning mode--my windows need washed in a big way.  I just hope I have the energy to do it when we plan our next days off.

Right now I need to go away and make supper--grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.  Then a boy needs a shower, and a girl will probably pass on it tonight as she has a bad cold and will most likely be staying home tomorrow.

It hasn't been the greatest of weeks.  I've been not feeling well, and when Mom isn't feeling well, things tend to slide--and not uphill either!  Suffice it to say that I probably should have spent more time in bed, and less time just trying to keep things going.

I am still tired today, but after a nap this afternoon, I felt more "chipper" than I had all week.  I just hope the feeling lasts, and that I am up to my usual Saturday doings tomorrow.

Between doctor visits, and life in general, lessons were irregular at best.  But we did get something done every day, and probably I shouldn't feel bad, because we did more than the absolute minimum most days.

The children helped a lot with things like the laundry--carrying baskets up and down stairs, and folding it all.  They helped with the dishes too.  I was so glad that I could keep the cooking to a minimum, thanks to a few meals in the freezer.

I am behind on some things, but I hope that I will catch up next week.  Felt like I should blog, because I haven't much lately--but I also haven't got a lot to say.  And come this time in the evening, I am pretty useless.

At least now the snow is melting, spring seems to be around the corner, and the days have definitely gotten longer.  I am enjoying the increased light.

Today was the first time I felt awake enough at 7 am to go for a walk.  I took my camera (may or may not get around to posting photos tonight), and took photos to mark the occasion.  It was a very cloudy day, so I doubt I got anything spectacular.  I was happy to note that my usual route--a path that was basically turned into a road last summer when the main road was under destruction/construction--has not been plowed through the winter.  I have hope that it will be back to a path this summer.  Last year I could hardly walk on it for fear of being run over, and anyway, the vehicles scared most of the birds away so there wasn't much to see.

I had much thinking to do.  I've been listening to and reading things lately that have brought much to my mind the need for total dependence on the Lord.  In my own experience I have found myself to be pleading for strength to meet the needs of each new day.  Many days I think of the next day with near dread when I think of all that must be done, cooking, laundry, lessons for the children, training the children, cooking, more lessons, preparing lessons, more cooking, house-cleaning, church-cleaning, finances--of which I keep track.  You get the picture.  Each morning I have awakened with the energy to tackle the tasks ahead of me.  Each afternoon, I feel that energy waning, and many times I struggle with getting the dinner on the table without a Mommy melt-down, or worse, just the feeling that I "can't do it".  Each evening, I look back on the day and know without a doubt that I didn't do it all in my own strength.  The Lord has met my needs, not with an excess, but with enough to get through the day.  And each evening I ask Him again for strength to get through the next day.  Oh me of such little faith!  Why can't  I just believe that He will?

I think it is because I have the tendency to try to do it all in my own strength and in my own way.  And I need the constant reminders that I can't.  Maybe that is why I am finding many things a struggle right now.  I need Him!  All the organization, planning, things to make life easier and more efficient cannot substitute for the fact that I need Him.

I am hearing the bats move in the walls tonight.  They seem to be reacting to the click of the keys on the keyboard.  In reality it is because the temperatures have risen.  I just hope they stay within the walls and do not venture to the basement or the rest of the house.

And now the preparing of lessons, the movement of the children upstairs (Daddy is out, and they really want Mommy to come sit upstairs with them), and a book on Heirloom Knitting are all calling to me to cease this blogging and attend to them.

I can't be bothered to get today's photos off the camera, so I will give you one or two of "my walk" in the summer.
 

I don't actually remember when I last blogged.  Life has just been hectic lately.  I think I may borrow from my sister and blog in bullets.

*Both children have colds, and I am looking at my second Sunday away from church so as not to expose others to their germs.  Belle got it first, and now I'm not sure if it is just persisting, or if she is on her second round.  Boo came down with it about three days ago.  Both started with sore throats, and then a lot of congestion.

*I spent most of the first three days of the week down in the city with my parents.  I got a call for help getting them settled last week, and went as soon as I could.  It is tough to move at any age, but when you are in your seventies, I think it must be hardest of all.  Mom has trouble with her memory, and it is very confusing when you are trying to adjust to new living space.  I had a good time with them in spite of the work.  We rearranged, hung pictures and got rid of lots of stuff.  Downsizing from 3 bedrooms (or 1 and 2 offices) to a 1-bedroom place is not easy.

*The ride home from the city on the bus was interesting.  It was snowing very hard in places, and it seems like the driver was having a hard time staying on the road at times.  We were nearly an hour late getting home.  I knitted, or read a book, until he turned the lights off (I think he must have had trouble with visibility and the lights must have bothered him), and then I listened to my iPod.

*It has taken me a couple of days to adjust to being home again.  I spent the first day home nursing sick children and doing laundry, and it wasn't until yesterday that I felt somewhat on top of things again.  We did a bit of school work, but mostly the children listened to audio books or worked on crafts.

*The day before yesterday, winter came back again.  We'd had quite a thaw about a week or so ago, and one was beginning to think spring might be on the way.  Then we got dumped on again--I think we got over a foot of new snow.  There was a lot of drifting due to the wind, so it is a bit hard to tell how much we got.
 

*I'm planning out my curriculum budget for new books for next year--and where to get them.  I'll have orders for two of my usual places, and a few books to get at the conference coming up at the beginning of April.  I have mixed feelings about new books.  We are not quite halfway through the last history core, but I want to purchase the new one before the new catalogue comes out and the prices rise.  It is hard to get new books when you have a bunch of old ones to finish.

*I think I'm done.  Hopefully I can get back to blogging more regularly next week.  Planning to head to bed for an early night tonight, in hopes I can get up with enough energy to do my early Sunday morning duties--getting dinner in the crockpot, and making breakfast.

It was a busy Friday.  We managed a bit of an Art lesson and a bit of Home Ec. this morning (making pizza), for our Friday fun day stuff.

This afternoon we went to skating where the children did very well--both skated on their own without a chair as a prop for most of the hour!  I was so pleased--and I need to take my camera.

Following skating we went to another town where somewhere around 30 homeschoolers had been scheduled to get some special swim training.  A program for the P.S's had some extra money available, and we were able to get in on that.  45 minutes of swimming with an instructor X 2 weeks.  The kids had a great time, and I was delighted that they were able to spend some time in a pool in the middle of winter, reviewing stuff they learned in swimming lessons over the summer.

The way home was pretty quiet, punctuated by loud yawns from the children.  They were tired, and so was Mommy!  And I didn't have to do anything except be there.  We picked up dinner from the grocery store on the way home, and now the children are in bed.  I went upstairs a few minutes ago and found them both still awake.  Despite heavy comforters, both had cold feet--and I KNOW from experience that it is impossible to go to sleep if your feet are cold.  So I bumped the heat up a notch in hopes that they will soon succumb to slumber.

Now I am sitting here wondering what to do--not bored because I have nothing to do, but wondering which of the million things I have to do would best be done with a tired brain.  This usually happens in the evening.  Sometimes I then get a second wind and start on something--forgetting to go to bed on time. Posting one of my usual unrelated photographs--this was taken around 7:30 a.m. one morning last month, as the moon was setting.

I woke up with a bad migraine today--the worst, and maybe the first I've had since November.  I made the mistake of not treating it aggressively at the beginning, and paid for it later when it didn't respond to the medication I did take.  Somehow I managed to get up, make breakfast and get lunch in the crockpot before it got unbearable.  Most of our morning lessons I conducted from a horizontal position on Belle's bed.  This morning I wasn't tired enough to be able to relax and just sleep it off.

It got better around lunchtime, and I managed to tackle some of our afternoon lessons, but I cut it short when the headache started to come back.  I did manage to get dinner in the oven before taking to the couch for the remainder of the afternoon.  Dinner now out of the way, and another dose of medication down, and I am coping for the moment--as long as I don't move my head suddenly.  I sincerely hope it is gone by tomorrow.

The children are very sympathetic to my plight, and of course didn't mind having more time to play today.  I am delighted with the fact that they can do more of their work semi-independently, just coming to me with questions.

Sometimes I wish I could just take a sick day and not worry about stuff piling up later in the week.  I felt I had to keep functioning for most of the day, because otherwise I'll be "behind" for the rest of the week.  I should feel fortunate because this isn't a busier week.

Here's to a better tomorrow!

I can't believe it is after 9 pm and I have just sat down at the computer for the first time this evening!  I am sitting here blogging and trying not to feel guilty because I haven't folded the laundry, planned the lessons, made a menu for next week, looked at my art curriculum for the children, written some cards or tidied.   What have I been doing?  Well, the children weren't in bed until almost 8.  Then I called a friend and talked to her for 20 minutes.  Then I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher (I'm a bit behind), and then proofread something for my husband.  Finally I stared at the new cell-phone--that managed to arrive in two days after I called because I had waited for two weeks!  (See previous post)  My dilemma is whether to make that phone my own, or to swap with my husband, who also has a relatively new phone of a different kind.  He rather fancies mine because it has a slimmer profile.  I like his, but the new one seems to fit my hands better.  Ugh!  What to decide?

Today was a day when I was scheduled to be at home all day, and was supposed to get a lot done here, right?  Well, I made a big load of soup for lunch--started prep before lessons, and finished before lunch--and did a full day of lessons.  Then we had a visitor for a while.  I made tea for he and my husband, and had a cup myself before making a quick trip to the post-office to pick up my phone. (I had to sign for it, so DH couldn't pick it up when he went for the mail.)  I also worked on laundry, carried on some conversations with my siblings on Messenger, and called my parents.  Then I made dinner, with help from DH--I wasn't managing too well by 5:30--moving slower than molasses in January.  We didn't get done eating until after 6:30.

Do you ever have days like this?

It has been a crazy and weird day, and it isn't over yet.  I feel both productive and unproductive....

I guess I can start with the end (so far anyway).  I have spent ages on the phone with my cell-phone provider trying to track down a phone that was supposed to have been sent over two weeks ago.  I have searched my mailbox daily, to no avail.  Well I was probably on hold for over 30 minutes in total today.  (I ended up reading a bedtime story to the children while listening to the music tonight.)  The very helpful man tonight discovered from the "Tracking Department" that my order has "just been sitting there."  He said that I could expect my phone within 3-5 business days, and EVEN gave me a number to call if I don't get it.  Lovely!

The next issue is that I've been looking for a good electric skillet--to buy with some of my Birthday money.  I found one, and even found that it was sold in Canada!  But alas, the local store that sells that brand (two phone calls and a visit) cannot get it.  Why?  Despite the fact that the name is one that exudes a quality product, and that all the reviews I've read have been excellent....they have DISCONTINUED it!  In all my searches, I have found ONE store that has it, and they want more than I want to pay, plus shipping.  Now, I can get it in the States--in all the usual places, and for a much more reasonable price.  But alas!  No trips to the US are in the plans in the foreseeable future.

This experience with the skillet reminds me of the one I had when I was enquiring about my breadmaker (also a quality product) which I brought with me when we moved up here.  I had a problem with the pan, and needed a part--or a new breadmaker.  I was told by my local dealer that this particular breadmaker is no longer being produced or sold in Canada.  This despite the fact that he sold every one of those breadmakers when he could get them, and people even bought a new one when the old one wore out.  Have I mentioned the fact that my breadmaker bread has won first prize at our Fall Fair two years in a row?

On to other things.  I was driving home from the post office today (I took the van because I needed to get milk and thought there might be a phone waiting for me, thus giving me too much to carry home safely), and slowed down before making the turn on to our streets.  To my intense surprise, when I put my foot on the brake pedal, not much happened except for a groaning noise and the feeling that there was no connection between the pedal and the brake!  And the next thing I knew, I was face to face with a snowdrift!  Fortunately the brake did connect and I stopped before I hit it.  I felt pretty silly because the van was right across the intersection at a funny angle.  Fortunately, I live in a small town.  And there wasn't any traffic behind, in front, or in the intersection.  I reversed, made the turn, and rounded the corner to our house without further incident.

This brought to my mind the fact that yesterday I had a similar occurrence of a noise and the feeling that the brakes weren't working as I came to a stop.  Belle remembered it when I told of the episode today.  It was a shorter episode than today's though.  And again there was no traffic.

So I came into the house and phoned our local garage.  You have to know the characters around here...the man lectured me on driving too fast!  Said the ABS makes a pulsing noise when it is engaged, and that it would engage on slippery roads.  I informed him that this was not a pulse, but a "GRRRRRRRRR", and I was not (said quite tamely I thought) driving too fast.  I am taking the van in tomorrow.  It probably won't perform for him, but I was somewhat reassured when my husband mentioned a similar episode which he had forgotten.

After all that, or rather before, we had a lovely day of lessons.  Boo has informed me that his favorite subjects these days are math and grammar!  Imagine my surprise when he got out his math book again before dinner and did another page.  I am loving the teaching right now. But I have a feeling that this might be one of the few full days we get this week.  Tomorrow I have an appointment in the afternoon.  Thursday might be a full day.  Friday, if the van is okay, we expect to go skating again.

Skating is becoming a regular event.  It makes an excellent PE course.  Monday and Friday afternoons for an hour at a time.  Both children are nearly to the point of skating without support.  I am so proud of them!

Guess that is all my doings.  I'd better get off here now and do something else.

Today was our first day back to a full day of lessons since we ended our Birthday weeks holidays.  We purposely don't take a lot of days off in December because I know I will take time off in January.  We took just over a full week off, and it was really nice to get back into it today.  The children worked well, got all their stuff done in a timely manner, and even enjoyed the new subject--Easy Grammar.  It was a wonderful way to start back into things.

I practised being efficient (which really means staying off the computer most of the day), and got laundry on the go--three loads washed, soup made for supper (we had leftovers for lunch), and the church cleaned.  My body is complaining tonight.

When I look at the state of my house these days, I wonder what I did during my week off.  I just can't seem to get on top of the clutter.  Maybe part of that is due to the fact that our bathroom is being renovated off and on, we've had two birthdays in the past week and the clutter from those is still around, and I got a new pantry cupboard for my kitchen yesterday.  It has more space than what we were using, but some things still need to find a new home.  I could be tidying right now, but my feet are refusing to allow me to move.

Boo has reached the ripe old age of seven!  He had a nice birthday I think--presents in the morning, and his first chance at ice-skating in the afternoon.  (I think the ice-skating may end up being a regular thing for us.)  Boo took to that like a fish to water--although he used an upside-down chair to support himself on the ice, and fell down regularly, he was moving quite rapidly pushing the chair in front of him within the hour.

Belle is gaining confidence on the ice as well, being encouraged by friends to let go of her chair at intervals and trying to go on her own.  As for me, well, I enjoyed watching.  I haven't been on ice skates since I was about 12, and I don't intend to try again at 40.

I haven't knitted or cross-stitched since before my birthday, and looking at the time now--it won't be happening tonight either.  I am in the mood to do something, but it is too late tonight, and tomorrow evening we will be busy too.

 


 Both of these photos were taking early one morning a couple of weeks ago.  The sky was spectacular!  And so was the storm we got a few hours later!

Well, I turned 40 yesterday, and we're in the deep freeze today!

I think the only time I have truly felt warm today was when I was standing in the garage looking at the gaping hole in the plastic tote that houses some of our bird food.  The last time I went out, I found the lid shifted off and a trail of sunflower seed shells.  Needless to say, I made sure that the lid was on securely when I finished.  The hole in the lid today was the response--and bits of green plastic littered the floor and the inside of the box.  And boy was I hot about that!  Grrrr.....not brrrr....!  Whatever critter chewed up my tote--which has been used to store seed for at least three years!---sure did a good job.  And last I checked, you can't just buy lids.

The rest of the day we seem to have been tormented by an easterly wind, which blows all the heat out the west side of the house and leaves us shivering in front of a pathetic wood stove.  The kitchen, at the northwest corner of the house is a miserable place to be on days like this.  So I type a little and blow on my hands to warm them, while the laptop warms my knees.

I had a lovely birthday!  My husband and children invited people over to help us celebrate my 40th birthday, and our 12 1/2th Wedding Anniversary.  That is significant both because it is halfway to 25, and because my husband proposed to me on my birthday, 13 years ago.  He saved himself a gift that year--bought me a ring instead.  Now, mind you, the forecast for yesterday was for "snowsqualls"--that is blowing heavy snowfall.  And they came anyway.  My husband made delicious soup to feed folk, and batches of scones during the day.  In the evening we had crackers, cheese and pieces of sausage in barbeque sauce, and cookies.  The only things I had to do were to be there, and clean up after they all left--I did have help from the children on the clean up.  It was such fun to visit with people!

Today we tidied up a little more and did bits and pieces of things around the house.  I really don't know where the day went.  I don't think I accomplished a lot besides getting meals on and off the table and filling bird feeders, searching for our outdoor thermometer in the snow (knocked down by a squirrel attempting to rob the window feeder), and backing up photos onto CD's.  And trying to stay warm.  Oh, and a haircut, and I don't know what else.  And my To-do list for tomorrow is long--I hope I wake up with a lot of energy.

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends, and others.  Yes, I know I'm a day late, but since this is my first blog of the new year, I am allowed, right?

We don't take a long lesson break in December--just a couple of days around the holidays.  The reason for that is that January is a big month for birthdays in our family, and it doesn't make sense to me to take a bunch of days off in December and then another bunch of days off in January.  So it looks like I will have most of two weeks off coming up--although the kids won't.  They will just have one full week off.

I plan to go and help the Grandparents sort and pack up their house to get ready for a move to a retirement apartment.  I went for a few days last month, and I am going again.  I am the nearest sibling to them these days, so it is possible for me to be of help.  My husband will be holding down the fort and keeping the children in line and having them do some schoolwork while I am away.  Mostly that will be math, and a few learning games, and lots of PE if the weather cooperates.

That is the plan.  This week we worked on finishing up some subjects and getting ready to start anew when we start again on Monday.  Boo finished a math level and is ready to start the next one.  He even took his final test on New Years Day just to be finished!  He has also begged to be done with Phonics and move onto spelling.  To say we are both a bit bored with phonics lessons is putting it mildly.  His reading level is way beyond a second-grader's and I just don't think he needs a lot more phonics beyond what he can get with spelling.  I was a bit shocked when I tested his spelling level and it came out to around a grade 5 level!   I am hoping that spelling will be the challenge that he needs.

So I had some rearranging of books to do today.  It is all done now, and I am ready to plan for Monday.  Hope to do that tomorrow.  I am too sleepy tonight.  Isn't it funny that when we take days off of teaching, our schedule remains just as full with other things?  I would have a hard time detailing everything I did the last two days, but I was busy all day both days.  I am beginning to think that I have a hard time just relaxing at home--there is too much to do.  All the same I wish sometimes for time to just relax.  I hope I can do some of that during Birthday week.

We woke up to temperatures above freezing for the first time in weeks, and a dense dense fog.  The snow is melting like crazy, but the only places we can see the bare ground so far is in the driveway and road.  There is still enough snow to more than cover the ground.  My husband dug snow away from the drains on both sides of the street last night, and today you could hear the water running down the drains.  It rained today too, so that has contributed to the wetness. 

My favorite little cafe in town, at which we nearly always lunch on Saturday, was closed this weekend.  Lunch out on Saturdays gives me such a break after cleaning house in the morning.  I really really missed it today.  Fortunately for me, my husband cooked lunch--omelettes.  Yum!  (My spell-checker says it should be "omelets".  Am I that British in my spelling habits?)

So I cleaned house, had omelettes/omelets for lunch, did my usual bookkeeping and lesson planning in the afternoon, knitted a bit, and made pizza for supper.  And I still felt down in the dumps a bit.

When I went out to the garage freezer to get the turkey for New Years I felt like I hardly needed my coat.  It would have been lovely for a walk but my pizza was on the timer and I couldn't go then.  Now it is dark and I don't want to go alone.

On the bright side of things--since I've been turning the computer off at night I've been enjoying an audiobook while cross-stitching on a project I started a couple of years ago.  It feels good to be working on something.

Today was the first day in over a week that the weather improved enough for us to go anywhere.  I was desperate for groceries and didn't want to get them at the little store in town, so we traveled fifteen minutes away to the nearest big store.  The roads were okay, some drifting and icy spots, but mostly were bare.

For a Boxing day when sales are supposed to be wonderful, I didn't see much that was great--unless you are shopping for Christmas gift wrap and decorations.  Since we neither decorate nor give Christmas gifts, there wasn't much that interested me.  In fact I was glad I had a list because the stores were so crowded with shoppers that I didn't have space to think.

I did get my magnetic fridge calendar and blank CD's and a new hoop for my cross-stitch ( my old wood one broke last night).  I was just glad it broke last night and not tonight AFTER I went shopping....

Well I've made a decision to turn off the computer right after the kids go to bed, and they have been in bed about 15 minutes, so I'd best be away. 

And I thought Friday's snow was immense!  You should see it now!  Standing on the driveway after it was blown out this morning, the snow at the side of the cut was up to my hips.  The new stuff that I stepped into to go and dig out the compost bin was up to my thighs--big fluffy soft stuff.  I shoveled big scoop after big scoop full off the deck so we can get the back door open if we need to.  I shoveled around the van, pushing all the snow into the driveway where it will get blown out tomorrow if the plows come through again.  I didn't bother cleaning off the van today as we can't go anywhere anyway.  And it was snowing nearly the entire time I was outside, and continued to snow this evening.

Incidentally my scoop looks a bit like this one:http://lawn-and-garden.hardwarestore.com/84-521-snow-pushers/ergo-sleigh-shovel-630408.aspx  And after I came back inside I took a dose of an anti-inflammatory.  I had a feeling the stiffness would be setting in soon.  I wish I could show you a recent photo of the snow but I didn't take the camera out, and alas it is dark now.

I had a few questions about what I decided to do on Friday.  The Caramel/Scottish/Millionaire's Shortbread won out.  My dear husband walked downtown in the snowstorm to buy me milk and digestive biscuits.  I usually have a problem with my caramel turning out too chewy, but this time it was just right!  And the chocolate was just right, and the biscuit crust was just right--are you getting hungry?  There is some left.  Want to visit?

Saturday turned out cold and sunny.  Instead of spending my morning doing my usual cleaning around the house, I had errands to run, and a church to clean.  So I had to clean house in the afternoon.  It was lovely being out in the morning, but I rather had a melt-down in the afternoon.  It was early to bed for me Saturday evening.  I hope to get errands run earlier this week.  I need Saturday to clean house.

Sunday turned out to be both snowy and very blowy--resulting in cancellation of the evening service.    Most folk made it into the morning service, albeit slowly.  We had to shovel a path from the driveway to the house when we came home--our path was obliterated by the wind and snow.

Ah, life in wintery Canada.  How goes life for you?

(This is NOT our current weather!)

As I sit here and watch the snow come down again I wonder what I can do this afternoon that will be fun and pleasant.  For being our "fun" day, Fridays lately have been too busy for us to have much fun.

Don't get me wrong--I do like snow.  It is very pretty to watch as it comes down, and the kids have a ball playing in it.  But when the plow has just come through--after lunch, and our neighbourly snow-blower has not, it does rather cramp one's going-out style.  I was planning to clean the church and pick up a few needed groceries.  That plan looks like it will be out of the question unless I want to shovel a foot of snow plus the hard stuff the plow left behind.  I could walk to the church to clean, but I need too many groceries to make walking down a hill and back up again in a snowstorm much fun. 

Somehow spending the afternoon in simply rotating loads of laundry holds no appeal.  I have an abundance of things to do--I could work on a cross-stitch project--one of many.  I could even get out one I haven't worked on in a while for something different.  I could work on a knitting project--of which I have two.  Neither of those are progressing rapidly. (I do not knit very fast yet.)  I could see if I can manage to make Scottish shortbread without going to the store first--that is doubtful I am afraid.  I could organize my craft stuff--nope that one is out--I do not want to do that!  I could play a game with the kids--they would like that....but then they might rather play on their own.

Anyway, next week's menu is made, the big grocery list (hope the weather lets up enough to go to the big town early next week) is started, the laundry is working on its own--I am so glad for modern conveniences when I picture my grandmother running the clothes from the washer through the wringer into the rinse water, and bringing in frozen clothes from off the clothesline.  I don't have to do any of that.

I'm off to check my pantry for Scottish shortbread (aka Caramel Shortbread) ingredients, and if no luck there, I will find something to do.  I promise!

I can hardly believe it has been a whole week since I blogged last!  Seems like I haven't done much but watch the snow come down--lots of it.  It is snowing hard again tonight--great big flakes of it.

Both children developed bad colds this week.  Boo got it first, and by the third day he had it, Belle was feeling ill too.  This one is a doozy!  Everything but fever.  Belle has had an earache too.  I've kept them inside almost all week.

Fortunately for me, I got out--first to walk with a friend, next to do the grocery shopping (in a bit of a rush because snow was expected and DH didn't want me out when it started to get dark), third to get haircuts,and finally, to clean the church.  I've been in most of the time since.  I did go outside to play in the snow a bit--shoveling off the back deck a bit, filling our bird feeders, and uncovering the compost bin lid so I could dump the scraps in the compost.

We got our lessons done every day except Friday, which I put down as a sick day.  I spent that day catching up around the house.

Next week the plan is for me to take the bus down to the city to help my parents pack for a move.  I expect to be gone for nearly three days.  I am trying not to think about how much I will miss my husband and kids.  But their Daddy is a good cook and is quite capable of looking after them for a few days.  What I am looking forward to a bit is three whole hours on a bus, which usually isn't full, to relax and knit or listen to my iPod, or read.  And I hope to make some memories with my parents as well.