Oh, geesh.  Is it Thursday already?  These past 7 days have been a whirlwind.  First there was Thanksgiving, which went fine but was 2 days long of relatives.  Not my relatives but my husband's and he was working most of the time.  Saturday and Sunday were full of laundry and packing, obtaining chains for our car's tires and paying bills.  Finding cold-weather clothes for everyone.  And checking the weather.  Is it going to snow on the road to our destination north?  Will the roads be clear.  Should we go or not.  Please, Lord, let us know.  After days and hours of indecision, we left before noon on Monday and headed north into WA.  Now, I'd like to know how many of you have children who behave just wonderfully in the back seat of a car about the size of a Toyota Camry for 6+ hours, with only one stop during that time?  Just curious.  Our kids actually did pretty well, I thought, though others might not share my opinion.  It started snowing during the last hour of travel and temps went into the 20's before we pulled into our favorite inn at our destination.  2 days later, we headed back home.  A traffic jam caused us to drive home inland instead of the coastal route.  2 hours from home, it started snowing and continued for the next 1-1/2 hours.

I hate driving in snow.  Really, really hate it.  We've had some really scary incidents, one resulting in an accident in which we were not hurt but had considerable damage and another one that the Lord protected us perfectly.  I do not wish to encounter another incident in the snow.  Know what I mean?  By the time we got home last night, it was late and I was exhausted.  But, supermom kicked in and I whipped up a quick dinner for my kids and I, got everyone to bed and started going through the mail.  Today was spent recovering from our trip.  And tonight, I'm wrestling with a gourmet food web site that shall remain nameless because I'm furious at it at the moment.  I got more than halfway through my order when it hit midnight and this website decided to shut down for repairs - I wish I could type a really good silent scream but I can't.  

So, now that Thanksgiving is over, our short trip is over, I can finally concentrate on Christmas.  We haven't done any school since last Thursday but we did start up again today.  Speaking of homeschool, at the inn we were staying at, my oldest son was talking with a hotel clerk and I walked up.  He walked away and the clerk and I began talking.  I happened to mention that we homeschool and she said that she had a feeling we did, since my son was a "wealth of information".  Turns out, she has homeschooled her four kids!  I love to meet another homeschooler and I love it when people can tell my kids are homeschooled.  Isn't that cool?  We got several positive comments about our children from people who talked with them and even from people who just observed their behavior in restaurants or whatever.  Gosh, that's such a good feeling.  I'm so thankful to the Lord for my kids.  You can only teach them so much but, mostly, they are who they are ... does that make sense?  I didn't teach my kids their personalities.  Someone described them as being "open", an expression that I love.  I find that I'm able to enjoy my kids' personalities more lately.  Well, not when my middle son is going through his "rude" phase which surfaces at home but not in public, fortunately.  But, you know what I mean.  I think my kids are cool (all Moms should think their kids are!) and it's a joy to hear someone else does too, it's not just looking through Mom's eyes.

These past 7 days have just flown by.  I hope the next 7 slow down a bit - I want to enjoy as much of December as possible.  The Christmas Season has begun!  And, once again, I'll wrestle with that obnoxious website!

Oh, if anyone wants to know what that quick dinner I whipped up was, I thought I'd share it.  My husband does not care for this, which is why I didn't feed him but one of you out there might enjoy it.  Goes like this ...

Boil enough bow tie noodles for a generous helping per person.  Open a can of tuna or salmon and flake (salmon takes longer so tuna is my usual choice).  Chop up a tomato.  Open a can of sliced black olives.  Shred a carrot.  Place all these things in little bowls for the table.  Drain the noodles and rinse in cold water (or hot, if desire).  At table, each plate gets the noodles, topped with tuna/salmon, tomatoes, carrots and olives.  Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.  I served it with microwaved broccoli on the side and sliced apples.  I love meals like this and so do my kids.  You could drizzle a bit of olive oil on the noodles also and toss with some basil if you like.  There's a lot of things you can do with this, which is why I love this meal.  Perhaps you will, too!