Saturday night

Chillin' and downloading a BigFish game online.  Sixty minutes for free, and that's all fine by me.  Gary bought another one, and he's playing on his laptop with the 3 youngest.  They're hanging all over the sofa, where he's lying down with the heating pad squished against his back, and the least one has her lap full of pugs. 

Tomorrow is middle daughter's 12th birthday, so after church, she's the star.  She'll call her pen pal on the telephone in the afternoon (which is as good as a special present!), and dinner's tortilla soup with chocolate cake for dessert.  

Just family stuff, but all is cozy.

Not sure why I'm sharing all of this, but I do enjoy hearing the ordinary things that folks do.  I find it very comforting and settling.  No worries, just plain living, you know?

Just back from going to McDonald's with the 3 girls.  It was an early birthday lunch for middle daughter who turns 12 on Halloween Day.  Then a trip to Target for Barbies---realizing that going to that store is a huge mistake on Saturday. 

Groceries bought, house needing a bit of a tidy, and me needing a rest-time. 

Birthday-ing this weekend with middle daughter turning 12 on Sunday.  Went to the grocery store and bought her dinner fixings (tortilla soup and chocolate cake ingredients), and oldest daughter and I will take the two little girls out for lunch at McD.'s tomorrow. 

Just family stuff and not much else.

Slightly dizzy this morning, so I made an egg on toast. Took my iron and will just cool it a bit today. Sometimes this is just what happens. It's chilly in the house, besides, and while I'm not of a mind to turn on the heat yet, will just cozy up in a chair with pugs for heat.

Middle daughter turns 12 on Sunday, so need to plan the shopping this weekend for her dinner and all. Have already bought her most important present, a Fashionista Ken, and he's called Hottie, which I think is a laugh. Like the hat, though. :)

Glad I got part of the house tidied up yesterday.  With the kids at my mom's it was nice to clean and talk to myself.  Needed to do that.  As for today, there's navy bean soup for dinner and maybe something to bake to warm up the house.  Not much else going except for taking two of the boys to work.  I think I can handle that.

Gonna take it slow.  Oldest daughter told me on the phone from work that the only thing I have to do is figure out what movie for us to rent this evening.  Simple pleasures.  The best kind.

Needing quiet

Kids lunching and doing schoolwork at my mom's, plus helping her around the house (mopping, dusting, vacuuming).  I'm now at home with dogs, Violet the pug in my lap, with the afternoon ahead of me.  Honestly I've felt like a pole in the middle of a room being hit repeatedly with those bumper cars.  The cars being driven by my noisy children and neighbors.  Man.

And it's interesting...I made a comment to our oldest daughter about how fast some of these kids talk.  She says it's because everyone's trying to fit a word in edgewise, so to speak, so they have to talk quickly so as to be heard.  Drives me nuts.  I feel like someone turned up the speed in the room. 

Even my mom asked me today if they always talk at once.  I said that she either has the option to tune into one conversation, or to just mentally turn all of it off.  I choose Plan B. :) 

Think I'll putter around the house, and maybe re-arrange things a bit.  That's always settling to my overworked brain. 

Book lust

Must've read about The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier (which may or may not be a winner) at a blog recently (even before I saw it mentioned this morning), because when I went to the library's site online, it pulled up when I began typing in the search box.  Apparently they recently got it in.   Just called to reserve it and was told by the librarian that they had a lovely copy to put back for me.  Such a book lover type of comment. :)  Have Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1 on hold as well.  Oh, happy day.

I think my excitement level just shoots up when there's a new book dangling in front of me---or even if one's just out of my reach.  And my side of the bed looks sort of pathetic with the piles of books staring me in the face.  It really is an addiction. 

Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman last night, and couldn't recall if I'd read it before.  After finishing it, I know I'd have remembered it.  My goodness, good stuff.

A wonderful day

Rainy, soggy, with the front yard full of our sweet neighbor's pretty tulip poplar leaves.  Windows up here and there, where they won't take in too much of the drips, and children behaving nicely.  Trying to think of something cozy for dinner, and am enjoying all of this with a settled mind.  Truly the rain is so good for my mental health.  With a dry, dry summer behind us, this is ultra-dishy.

It was sort of scary windy last night, though.  The gusts were way up there, but not sure what that exactly means.  Had a hard time getting to sleep and it was likely near 2am before I could rest.  As I told some friends, with our old Oak in the backyard, I get sort of antsy when we have much wind.  All is well, though.  No limbs down and just plain old good rain.

Now it's time to bake. :)

The book idea

So, I've been bellyaching about the need for a book about housekeeping, but with a spiritual spin to it.  That's putting what I've been looking for in a pretty basic category, but it's what I want.  My goal is to attempt to write it myself.  Ha.  We'll see how this flies.  I'm already signed up for the NaNoWriMo writing challenge for the month of November, and hopefully that'll get me to quit just thinking about writing it, and actually get on with it.  Fourth son (who's 17) also writes, and has already finished a novel to send out (and he bought me a new Mead notebook today as well, as encouragement---they're my favorite!).  He's on the hunt for an agent and turns out, is my greatest fan---outside of Gary.  They both push me to write, and I get busy doing necessary, yet mundane things (that's what I'm talking about).  Maybe my focus can be better since I'm admitting my goal to you all.  You think?

That said, there are two books out there that I really love, those being: 

• The Pace of a Hen by Josephine Moffett Benton
• The Quotodian Mysteries (Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work) by Kathleen Norris

They're similar to what I want, but I have something slightly different in mind.  Maybe as I jot down ideas, it'll come to me.  Maybe I'll know it when I see it.  But at least I'll try.

And as Gary's uncle who passed away on Saturday morning said a few days previous to the weekend---"if you'd just pray me through"---I'll say the same. And if you could say 'atta girl' from time to time, I'd appreciate that as well. :)

It's raining! :)

A slow day

Jingling money in my pocket for the weekend's groceries.  For those of you who are self-employed, the dinners get creative when the client is slow to pay, don't they?  But frankly, with the larger bills of the month already paid, this isn't a biggie.  We always eat, though sometimes the meals are a bit more rustic and odd than I prefer. :)  But I'm tooting an old horn. You've heard this before, and will probably hear it again.

And planning on spreading some pine straw that Gary and oldest daughter grabbed from a nearby house.  A perfect mulch.  I need to get it on the flower beds because my head's throbbing a tiny bit and I hope it's in anticipation of the rain that's forecast in a day or two.  Some of us get that way when the barometer drops.  The only advantage of this particular headache is thinking ahead to a storm. 

Will putter around with outdoor stuff and settle down to read for a bit...this time it's Laurie Colwin's Family Happiness, which I read years ago.  It's an easy book to get into and that suits my mood.  Nothing hard...my brain can't handle any heavy thinking just now.  With Gary working so hard this week, it's transferred over to me being tired as well.  Go figure.  The magic of being married and sharing burdens, eh?

Friday morning at home

Just finished cleaning the kitchen---wiping down the cabinets and counters with diluted tea tree oil (smells pretty dishy), opening the window over the sink a bit wider, dusting the pictures that hang on the walls, doing about five loads of clothes in the washer, and the eternal cleaning-up-after-the-dogs sort of tidying.  Son #4 bathed the pugs, so now they smell better.  There's something about pugs and while they're not stinky dogs, they do get a bit musty when they've not had a bath in awhile.  Well honestly, who doesn't?!!

Next on the list is a good dusting and vacuuming of the living/dining rooms and the kids are supposedly doing their rooms.  Housework is holding sway over schoolwork at this moment and we're calling it domestic science (thanks for the idea a bit ago, Bonnie).  I do like the house to be clean for the weekend, since all cleaning up seems to fall apart once Saturday comes.  

All housework to be followed by movie night with Gary and we'll eat apple pie.  Glad I hijacked his possible plans of working a bit late.  He rarely does stay longer on the weekends, but he wants to get paid, so work late he must.  Now to get the client/designer to pony up.

Enjoy your day!

(painting from currier and ives)

Laurie Colwin's legacy

Just finished reading Laurie Colwin's book, Home Cooking, while lying down in bed and eating a bowl of cream of wheat with the bedroom window open.  Perfection in both the book and all the other stuff that was going on.  The only downside was the thought in the back of my head in remembering that she died 4 years after this book was written, plus the fact that she left an 8 year old daughter behind.  Kept doing the mental math of her age then (48) and my age now (51).  She died unexpectedly.  Just kept me sober while I was reading, which was quite a task since some of the book is laugh out loud funny.

Some things just don't make sense, do they?

Must live in the present.  There's time enough to vacuum the house tomorrow, teach the kids, drive 2 boys to work and make a seasoned rice and pinto beans dish for dinner.  If I had some yeast in the house, would make Colwin's bread.  As it is, I have 2 cans of pie apples, so will make two steusel-topped pies for after dinner.  I need a bribe to get Gary to come home early from work.  He's been staying late to finish two jobs, and needs forcing to quit early, you know?

Take care.

'The Twelfth Imam' by Joel C. Rosenberg

Joel C. Rosenberg's newest book, The Twelfth Imam, is just as engrossing as his other Middle Eastern-themed books.  His characters are believable and the pace is consistent through the whole book.  

From the back cover:  "As David [Shirazi] begins to infiltrate Iranian government circles, news spreads throughout the region of a mysterious cleric claiming to be the Islamic messiah known as he Mahdi or the Twelfth Imam.  News of his miracles, healings, signs, and wonders spread like wildfire, as do rumors of a new and horrific war."

My only concern is that Rosenberg has a gift/knack for being mildly prophetic.  Many times his books foretell events that actually happen, or come close to happening.  Very chilling, and considering the prophetic topnotes of this story, I hope this book doesn't come true.  To tell more would be giving it all away. :)

Oh, and by the ending it appears that there's more to come.  Good news for Rosenberg fans.

(this book was provided free to review by tyndale house)

A Sunny Wednesday

Just got back from taking the majority (6 of them) of the kids to the library.  My favorite part is getting home, seeing them wolf down their lunches, and then looking around the house at all of them with their heads stuck in books.  I do love that.  The washer chugs along, clothes are hanging out in the sunshine, the dogs nap in various spots, and all is quiet.  Good stuff.

And I'm so enjoying Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking that arrived in the mail yesterday.  I paid pocket change for it over at Ama*zon, and surprisingly, it's a first edition.  Robert Farrar Capon's The Supper of the Lamb was engaging as well, but I like Home Cooking more.  She's very approachable in her writing, and her humor and ability to cook with make-do utensils endears her to my heart.  I'm not a gadget hound either, so her book appeals to my oftentimes slapdash way of doing things.

Deep breaths.  Feeling a tad anxious and I need to relax.  Be thankful for this day and focus on that.  No real worries, and even if there are some issues that prick my calm, surely if the Lord allows certain things into my life, then it's alright.  He's God and I'm not.  Remember that (talking to self).

Naptime.

(painting is lady in a garden by victor gabriel gilbert)

I need a day to tidy up the house without interruptions.  The kitchen sinks (enamel) are looking weary and the living room badly needs vacuuming.  And I long for some time to putter around and make things look pretty. 

About that rain...

Well, it sprinkled in a manly fashion for several hours, and the grass said thank-you,  but the trees just shook their heads.

More, please.

Doing my Indian dance

OK, so the rain is just on the other side of the Mississippi River, but anyone who lives here will tell you that the river DOES interfere with the weather.  When tornadoes are hopping it in Arkansas, sometimes the river acts as a buffer and prevents us from getting hit.  And being that we live on the river, I do care, just not now.  But today, I hope and pray that the rain comes no matter what.  When I look at the weather map, it doesn't look as if we can avoid being rained on.  

And look.  I'm putting things in the dryer because they'll get wet if I hang them out.  

Feeling slightly maniacal in my preoccupation with the possibility of rain but it's only because it's not rained at our house since August.  Makes a person feel a tad crazy, you know?

Dusting off the art supplies

Spent an hour or more watching the first video that goes with the art class (mentioned below) and had such a good time.  The kids, for the most part, left me alone and I was able to have on my headphones and delegate their behavior from my seat of power in the dining room.  All went well. :)

Today I've spent a bit of time doing the assignment, arranging the art supplies I already have---a 5x5" hand+book journal with yummy paper which I'd already done some watercolor pencil/ebony pencil sketches in, my drawing/watercolor pencils and other bits.  I've got enough to get started.  Wish I had some gesso since she uses this right off the bat (but here's a recipe to make something similar, yet non-toxic---or you can just make homemade plaster of paris as a substitute which is water/glue/flour), but will have to hold off buying anything until Gary's current jobs are finished and paid for.  Think I'll just spring for a simple drawing pad (larger than I have) and some watercolor crayons.  Bet I can come up with a Michael's coupon for those.

Anyway, my brain was so happy after I'd had *me* time.  Note to self:  must do it more often.

Free 4-week art course begins today! :)

Critters

Church this morning (which was wonderful), then Gary got a bee in his bonnet about cleaning out our bedroom closet.  Our bedroom is the former now attached one-car garage, and the closet has been home to some strange being(s) at some time or another.  The past two nights we've heard knocking in the walls, and last night's sleep was just wretched.  I was even convinced that something was galloping across our floor.  Ick.  

The strangest thing he found in the closet (I was scared to look...truly) was a tiny dish with a tiny cloth in it and on that scrap were some pieces of dog food and some acorns.  I kid you not.  Do we live in a Beatrix Potter existence here, or what?  

Anyway, cuteness aside, the closet looks a winner now and he set traps.  Life living in a garage...you just never know what'll happen. :)

In the 'hood

Sitting here with Daisy the pug in my lap, with her head balanced on the edge of my arm and the table.  Oldest daughter is baking brownies, husband is lying on the sofa fiddling with his laptop, boys in their rooms excepting for the two at work at the restaurant, and little girls are getting bathed for Sunday's church.

All's quiet and good.

I've been thinking about how difficult it is to be satisfied.  Not so much in a material way, but more of an inward sort of fashion.  My over-fretting is an example of my lack of faith, yes, but also my inability to be satisfied with what's in front of me.  I want to be sure of things, but am learning to rest more in my heart and not HAVE to have everything nailed down.  Does that even make sense?  I told my husband today that I'm so sick of things and so tired of worrying.  He suggested that I put the worries aside and work on enjoying life---his theory that the irritating things will be there, no matter.

Plus it's hard to find a quiet place to even think about stuff.  I'm struggling with our noisy neighbors and their continual overflow into the street, along with their music and arguing.  I'm amazed at how folks will compliment our neighborhood and say that they moved here for the coziness and safeness of it (that at present being questionable)---then they'll be the ones charged with domestic violence.  Just doesn't figure, does it?  The police were there again, last Saturday, and that's not the first time---sadly won't be the last time either.  It really gets old.

It's what's on my mind this evening.  And I'm thinking I'll just give into the rest of the weekend and enjoy it, avoiding my true desire to throw things across the street---eggs being my first choice.  Yes, I will control my temper. :)

Stuff

Trying to get into a weekend sort of mood and not fret about bills that are due next week.  As my husband says, if there aren't things in front of me to worry about, I'll dig until I find some.  Not something I like about myself, let me tell you.

Anyway, will buy groceries when I drop the boys off at work, and then will figure out what's next.  Gary downloaded Harold and Maude from iTunes last weekend, so we have a movie to watch.  Can't tell you how many times we've watched this and enjoyed it each time.  It's just so ridiculous.

But nothing hanging fire this very minute.  Have trouble living *in the moment* if you know what I mean, and it seems that I have a strong need to know what's up days in advance. 

Today.  Just do today. 

More books, please

Finished my first book on the Kindle called Married Life by May Edginton (and many thanks to Alison for recommending it on her BrocanteHome blog).  This one was first published in 1920, and I found it amazing how modern the thinking was back then.  I mean, we're talking 90 years ago.  The thing is, the reader gets a taste of the world with the characters, and being that both sides of my family came from small towns without the pressures of the big city, there's a bit of a void in stories I've been told regarding my own ancestors versus the lives the characters play in the book.  Women in our family were more country-like and not very sophisticated.  Ha.  Sort of like now!  Just kidding. 

Anyway, enjoyed it and found the ending very suitable.  Always want them to end happily, and have heard that Americans tend to be drawn to that.  Count me in.

Now have several more to choose from.  Think Stephen Leacock will be next.  One of my brothers told me about him back in college and I laughed and laughed reading his books.  This was around the time I read The Princess Bride by William Goldman for the first time.  Guess this was a period of my life when the laughter was closer to the surface.  Both authors caught me off-guard and caused me to be a bit more vocal in my appreciation than many times since.  Life wasn't so serious way back then. :)

About the Kindle

Yeah, the Kindle's fun.  And before unknown to me, it's got a web browser, tiny though the pages appear in it.  But still. You can increase the size, but with my 50+ year old eyes, sometimes that's a challenge.

The coolest thing was using my laptop to find books (there are TONS on Amazon that are free, plus many other websites), click on them and have them wirelessly transferred to the Kindle.  I forgot at one point to turn on the wireless and was afraid that the books I'd ordered (all of them free) had been lost in space.  Turned on the little beggar and they immediately began uploading.  So cool.

I will say that at one site I saved the files to my laptop as Kindle-friendly and then moved them into the appropriate folder---then they showed up on the reader.  So easy either way.

I'm liking it.  A perk to what was a dull day (and no, it didn't rain---only go the barest sprinkle at our house).  Had told my husband, last week, that I needed something to look forward to.  Wasn't aware that he'd already ordered the Kindle.  He likes me to have gadgets.  Lucky me, eh?!! :)  And funny thing was, last night he didn't even ask to play with it.  'Course he's got a jail-broken iPhone and can read e-texts that way.   I would've figured that he'd want to mess with it, but controlled his urge, I guess.

Thankful for good work, lately, that allowed him to treat me.  He is my greatest fan. :)

A book glutton

The day began in a mildly mundane sort of way, with me fussing about, being cranky and not lifting a finger to clean the house.  Slogged through the morning and at 2:30pm left to take third son to his job.  Then fourth son and I had several errands to do:  post office for him to mail a book he'd sold, drugstore for oddments, library to pick up some books on hold...then on to home.  He went into each place for me so I could be a slug in my wrinkled clothes.  His reward was a soda, so that worked. :)

Noticed the kids had mild smirks on their faces when we got back home, second son handing me a box that had arrived from Ama*zon.  My first thought was that someone had ordered me a Bible, since that's what the size of the box indicated to me.  Pulled the cardboard tab and inside was a brand-new Kindle for ME!

Yes, I do have the best husband.  This was a complete surprise, and not something I'd asked for.  I've been very outspoken on being a hardnose in regards to real books versus digital versions.  My mouth is shut now.  This gadget is amazing.  I especially love the ability to download free e-texts.  

Told my husband that it was so illogical, though, to buy a gadget like this for someone who's a book addict.  He's not helping my accumulation, no matter if it's a hard copy or not!  Oh, btw, ordered Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking tonight as well with my gift card.  This one will be real. :)  At twenty-one cents plus shipping, who could argue?

(many thanks to Alison at Brocante Home for telling the story about her boyfriend buying her this toy...had related what happened to her to my own husband...and look what it got me!)

Later on Monday evening

It's interesting how life can be all dishy, and then out of nowhere, it gets all tiresome.  The little girls are needing more than I'm able to give to them, and even though I'm here with them all the time, it doesn't seem to be enough.

Will keep the least one at home with me while the others have lunch with my mom later on this week.  I'm thinking she just needs uninterrupted *mom* time.  Hard to know how to balance all of these kids, but sometimes I'm on the right track and yank one back beside me for some special treatment.

And I need to focus, to stop wasting time and apply myself to something creative to do.  We'll take another day for fall break tomorrow, and hopefully I really will have an opportunity to tidy up the house, wash the covers we throw over the furniture and maybe we'll have some rain.  We're so parched.  A good ol' thunderstorm would put most things to rights, I'm thinking.

On my Monday

Nice to have a day off from schoolwork.  I'd not been aware of it being Columbus Day today (the mail  lady had said on Saturday that she'd not see us until Tuesday), so was tickled to tell the kids that we'd take a mini vacation.  Well, as vacation-like as it gets around these parts.  I'll be taking two of the boys (the ones who both work at a restaurant) to buy Crocs to wear.  Their feet get so wet in the restaurant's kitchen doing dishes and moving to and fro and cleaning tables, that these shoes are the most practical solution.  And happily, I'm not buying them!  They've made so much money with this job and are proud to buy their own stuff.  Plus, one son is buying me a drink at St*rbuck's!

As to other stuff, will make homemade spaghetti for dinner.  And after I come home from taking them to the mall, will read more of my new book.  It's Walking Home by Gloria Goldreich, and I'm really, really enjoying it.  Really. :)  It's about a successful business woman whose parents were survivors of the Holocaust.  The story revolves around the deaths of her parents (in present-day and unrelated to the fact that they're concentration camp victims) and how she copes with re-creating her life afterward.  She goes from being very successful in a worldly sense, to totally changing her values.  As a result, she takes over some friends' dog-walking business, and the way her mind works just fascinates me.  It's definitely a keeper.  

Must go now.  Have been in my skivvies and now it's time to get ready.  Happy day!

• a day off, it being Columbus Day
• spaghetti for dinner (which will last two days)
• reading a really good book (so far) called Walking Home by Gloria Goldreich---really enjoying it
• planning on a puttery day, and going to the drugstore for excitement
• tidying up, dusting, re-arranging and the like to settle my brain
• hoping the neighbors across the street will be quiet---police visited there again (but we weren't the ones to call this time)
• 
  

FYI

Taking a few days off. :) See you in a bit.


(and then again, sometimes a person becomes a bit antsy, gets online anyway, and fiddles with their template!)






(young girl reading by carl holsoe)

Our Friday

Just got the errands done. Had a book to mail (that one I griped about the other evening sold the very next day!), and had to visit two post offices before finding one open. They've cut their hours something fierce in some areas, so it's more of a challenge to post things with an actual human. Then went to the grocery for fixings for chicken pie for dinner. Now home and about to do schoolwork with the kids. The boys have book-work, but the girls are going to sew instead. We're going to make felt monsters. :) Or something along these lines...the tutorial is cute nonetheless. I borrowed the photo on the side...it's on several websites.

Then after my mom duties are done, will take a nap with my new library books. But first, will open the windows!

Have a good one...as you can see, we're just doing mundane things around these parts. But with nothing hanging fire, that works fine with me. :)

The finished clock

Tah-dah! :) See this post to visit the case when my husband had almost finished building it---before my brother put in the works.

A free art class :)

Will be participating in this beginning October 18th! Please come. And many thanks to Sharon at PlumRoseLane for the heads up. :)

Sitting here at the dining room table with the windows open.  It was quiet until our neighbor drove up and parked in the street, went into the house, yet left their car running with the music on loud.  What's up with that?  And she's having to holler at the door in order to be heard.

Our lives are way too noisy.  Well, right now mine is unintentionally. 

The majority of the kids are at my mom's for the afternoon.  Oldest daughter is at work, and oldest son is laid out in bed after having a wisdom tooth pulled yesterday.  The doctor broke a drill bit in his mouth, and our son said it took as much time to fish out the metal from his mouth as it did to pull the tooth.  And no apology either, but I guess that would be an admission of guilt on the doctor's part, putting him in a liability situation.  (man, I'm fussy lately)

Must go hang out clothes, or do something restful and quit lashing out at the world.  I'm just wicked today!

To Emily :)

Not the books I was expecting...

I find it frustrating to buy a book, sight unseen, yet after extensive research, being excited about the book only to be hugely disappointed once it arrives. Last week I ordered Margaret Kim Peterson's book, Keeping House---A Litany of the Everyday, and just don't like it. But, by golly, the reviews online are glowing. I hate it when I'm one of the lone dissenters.

She has a quote at the beginning in reference to housework and she says:

"Where are the books about this [housekeeping]? Where are the books that might describe and unpack and explore the significance---both practical and spiritual---of this kind of work?

I couldn't find many. The more I thought about it, the odder it seemed."

Guess she thought that her book would fill that void. I disagree. It comes across as an intellectual address pointed toward housekeeping, with lots of facts relating to the history of keeping house, but with very little homey content. I felt like I was a student in a class on domestic science in college. I wanted this book to be engaging, and honestly, I didn't find it to be so.

And I think that the title is misleading. In my mind, the subtitle of The Litany of Everyday Life doesn't come close to what she's relating. She makes good use of her chapter headings, but doesn't seem to flesh out more intimate details. There's plenty of research apparent in the book, but not much of an everyday comforting sort of sharing.

My copy is going up for sale tonight. :(

Oh, and by the way, the book Just Think by Nancy J. Nordenson fits into the same non-fulfilling reading category. That book's subtitle is Nourish Your Mind to Feed Your Soul. More details please, and less chatter. I want books related to homemaking that inspire me to do a better job, and yes, to feel snuggly about it, not necessarily to make me feel more educated.

Maybe I'm looking for more of a sensory thrill. Obviously I'm searching in the wrong places.

What's in the workshop today

The grandfather clock case my husband is just finishing. The wood is mahogany and Spanish cedar with mahogany and birds-eye maple veneers. So pretty. My brother is restoring the works for it---found in the client's attic. Will be fun to see it all put together. :)

This and that

Yeah, me changing the header again.  It's my female prerogative, yes? 

Went out with oldest daughter for a bit this afternoon, after dropping third son off at work.  She and I went to, what we call, the hippie store where we buy our China Rain scent.  My first mistake was picking up a tester bottle and spraying my wrists and Daughter's neck.  The scent had spoiled and we ended up smelling like wet dog!!!  Not easy to back up and rectify a mistake like that.  Yuck.  Quickly picked up a lotion tester of the same scent to try to mask the smell.  Thankfully it worked, but it put us so off of shopping that we walked out without buying anything.  It was a shame that they'd increased the prices quite a bit as well.  Oh bother.

Considering a bit of an Internet break.  My brain is dealing with too much noise, you know?  Must put stop to at least some of it.  Will get back to you on that, but if I seem absent for awhile, you'll know why.

Time to lighten up

Getting a feel for this Halloween header. Our family was one of many homeschooling families that fell 'hook, line and sinker' for staying away from certain things. And while my husband will stand by his view of the 31st being a wicked holiday, I'm tending to loosen up in my old age. I have so many happy memories of trick-or-treating. 'Course it's not the same nowadays, but still, the dressing up and going door-to-door was always fun.

And with middle daughter having her birthday on Halloween, that fact alone puts a festive air to the day. We carve a pumpkin with her name on it and turn out the overhead light in the dining room in favor of candles. Pretty.

I've done my share of fussing about Harry Potter in the past, but have ended up being a fan. I go to the movies when they come out with our older children. I enjoy vampire movies, and am a Twilight junkie. Edward makes me smile.

Call me a wanton woman, but I do love many things that some of our acquaintances and friends have chosen to move away from. That's all fine. But for me...I choose to live dangerously. :)

A cool and breezy Saturday

There's nothing that I *have* to do today. Ahhh. A couple of the kids went with me to buy the weekend's groceries last night, and all I have to do today is make dinner. Literally. And even that is a breeze with tuna salad sandwiches and pasta salad as a side. Not autumn fare, but easy, yes?

Hope to keep in mind the thought processes behind Capon's The Supper of the Lamb and not whip through my preparations, but to actually enjoy the event of making a meal. Honestly, after cooking in a hurry for so many years, it's an adjustment to slow down my mind. And this needs to apply to everything I do around here. With so many children, the habit is to do every task in double-time, and then hurry through the next thing, and then collapse into bed at night.

Not very satisfying.

And as I've read before, things don't get done any quicker or really any better when they're rushed through. An ironic truth, I guess.

So, here's a toast to pumpkin-scented candles and pink pansies in small pots. Simple joys. :)

On Friday

It's cool outside, and feeling very fall-ish. So wonderful. I don't like to fuss about the present weather because it's so dishy, but with such dry conditions, we even had a fire warning last night. Not that there were any fires, but with it being breezy and crispy outside, guess the warning was necessary. Can't ever remember us having one of those. Was it July when we had the last decent rain at our house? I remember it being a gully-washer, but my memories have gathered dust in the meantime.

Trying to get into a weekend-ish sort of mind. Friday is supposed to feel festive, isn't it? :) Trying to plan menus in my head in anticipation of going to the grocery store at some point. Thankfully, it's cool enough to have the oven on without whining, so I'm thinking something baked would be a good idea.

Not much else to say....but going to the library today and looking forward to getting a book Bonnie mentioned called The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon. Bonnie brought up this book in a lengthy chat we had this week (via email...wish it'd been in person!) and I have to read this book. Found a review about it earlier this morning and was so engrossed in what the writer had to say. Will likely be spending more of my gift card on this book later on this afternoon. A library book probably won't satisfy my book lust. And, btw, my copy of House Keeping: The Litany of the Everyday has been shipped out. Hopefully it won't take too long to get here. I'm on a roll now!

'The Dead Rise First' by Ragan and McLaughlin

The Dead Rise First--Rapture Countdown by Alton Ragan and Robert McLaughlin is an interesting read. I started it one evening and finished it before bed, so obviously it's an attention-getter. But, with their emphasis on the possibility of those believers who are already dead actually walking and talking among us (citing Matthew 27:52-53 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14) at the time just previous of Christ's return, well, I don't buy it. I think they've trivialized a holy event. The focus in the book is more on those who died and returned, and isn't on the Lord Himself. I'm afraid I was reminded of zombies in a horror movie. Their appearances are just a tad too eery. And while I will applaud these writers for their enthusiasm and hard work, I disagree with the direction the book takes.

That aside, while none of us can know the events that will transpire in the future, I would like to address some more practical aspects of the book.

It is self-published, and I'll be one of the first to admire anyone who successfully attempts and achieves that goal. But, no matter how powerful a message the writer has to get across to the reader, the grammar and punctuation need to be correct. Anything less isn't acceptable. Unfortunately, Christians are notorious for allowing mediocrity to creep into their work. We don't always strive for perfection, seeming to believe that 'just good enough' will do. Or that folks will understand since we make such a hearty effort. The impact of this book (and regardless of whether I like the outcome or not) would be greater if more time had been taken with proofreading and editing. Something to remember with the follow-up book.

(this book was received free to review---for anyone interested in purchasing it, the address is here)