This Week (and Last)
I'm afraid I've gotten in the habit of putting off posting until I have something nice and coherent planned out in my head and time to write it down. Guess what? That never happens. Plus I've developed a bad habit of sitting down to the computer, zoning out, and surfing through random pages until my brain oozes out my ears. Oops.
So, what have I been doing the last two weeks? Working, for one. Going to work all day seems to make time speed up. The fact that it's summer has made me be more lax about bedtime for the kids, and while that means I get more time with them it also means that they aren't usually in bed and asleep until nine. I'm not sure if I like this or not. I have been putting the toddler to bed and then reading the first book of Harry Potter out loud to the older kids. Little Dude checked it out from the library the other week, but I realized that it would probably be best as a read-aloud for the family. S-Boogie read the entire series recently, but frankly I'm not sure how much she comprehended.
Speaking of Harry Potter, the other day at Barnes and Noble I almost bought the series as a box set because we don't own them. But they were too expensive; I know I can get a better deal on Amazon. I got a generous gift card as a parting thank-you from my old job, but I delayed spending it until now. I actually rarely purchase books anymore. I felt a bit embarrassed at the book store to realize that I could see many books I wanted to read, but not many I wanted to own. I have more thoughts on this, but I think I'm going to develop them into a post for one of the other blogs I write for. I did end up buying the fourth book in Shannon Hale's Goose Girl series, because I own the first three and the bookstore had the nice hardcover that matches my others (and is not the ugly paperback--I hate those). I also bought the regular version of the game Blockus. We have the travel version, but now more people can play together. S-Boogie, Little Dude, and I played a few rounds today while a certain game-wrecker was napping and we had a lot of fun.
Last weekend my mom came to visit so we went up to see the Kennecott Copper Mine. The kids liked seeing all the big trucks, and we got to learn all about how copper is mined and smelted. This weekend I was by myself and I got a lot done. I've been trying to get the garden going and have spent a lot of time putting in plants and pulling out weeds. I can tell that we're not going to have as nice of a garden this year, partly due to my laziness in doing what I needed to earlier in the season, and also because of an unusually dry winter coupled with an early and hot spring. So far the spinach and peas are doing well and the kids enjoy eating them. At least I can be grateful for that.
I'm grateful for so many small mercies lately. The extra summer church shoes I forgot about until S-Boogie found them in her closet and discovered that they fit (trying to keep kids up to date with clothes that are seasonal and fit is a challenge!). Good friends that invite me and the kids over for dinner because they like hanging out with us. My visiting teachers who noticed the Relief Society president talking to me in the hall and came over to say "please don't reassign us--we love visiting her and we can just come in the evening." Free tickets for an outdoor play at a neighborhood park. The list goes on. Friday night I got home from work with my takeout dinner (if you don't eat at Noodles, you really should) and my house was empty and a little lonely. But then I opened up my new Ensign that came in the mail and was truly spiritually fed. I loved the candid essay from a woman talking about the lessons she learned about relying on the Lord after her husband stopped believing; I could have written that a few years ago. I particularly loved Elder Uchtdorf's message this month that reminds us that we are always 'in the middle' of our lives. There is still so much more to come in the future; I just need to keep reminding myself of that every day and remember that nothing in my life is really over yet.
So, what have I been doing the last two weeks? Working, for one. Going to work all day seems to make time speed up. The fact that it's summer has made me be more lax about bedtime for the kids, and while that means I get more time with them it also means that they aren't usually in bed and asleep until nine. I'm not sure if I like this or not. I have been putting the toddler to bed and then reading the first book of Harry Potter out loud to the older kids. Little Dude checked it out from the library the other week, but I realized that it would probably be best as a read-aloud for the family. S-Boogie read the entire series recently, but frankly I'm not sure how much she comprehended.
Speaking of Harry Potter, the other day at Barnes and Noble I almost bought the series as a box set because we don't own them. But they were too expensive; I know I can get a better deal on Amazon. I got a generous gift card as a parting thank-you from my old job, but I delayed spending it until now. I actually rarely purchase books anymore. I felt a bit embarrassed at the book store to realize that I could see many books I wanted to read, but not many I wanted to own. I have more thoughts on this, but I think I'm going to develop them into a post for one of the other blogs I write for. I did end up buying the fourth book in Shannon Hale's Goose Girl series, because I own the first three and the bookstore had the nice hardcover that matches my others (and is not the ugly paperback--I hate those). I also bought the regular version of the game Blockus. We have the travel version, but now more people can play together. S-Boogie, Little Dude, and I played a few rounds today while a certain game-wrecker was napping and we had a lot of fun.
Last weekend my mom came to visit so we went up to see the Kennecott Copper Mine. The kids liked seeing all the big trucks, and we got to learn all about how copper is mined and smelted. This weekend I was by myself and I got a lot done. I've been trying to get the garden going and have spent a lot of time putting in plants and pulling out weeds. I can tell that we're not going to have as nice of a garden this year, partly due to my laziness in doing what I needed to earlier in the season, and also because of an unusually dry winter coupled with an early and hot spring. So far the spinach and peas are doing well and the kids enjoy eating them. At least I can be grateful for that.
I'm grateful for so many small mercies lately. The extra summer church shoes I forgot about until S-Boogie found them in her closet and discovered that they fit (trying to keep kids up to date with clothes that are seasonal and fit is a challenge!). Good friends that invite me and the kids over for dinner because they like hanging out with us. My visiting teachers who noticed the Relief Society president talking to me in the hall and came over to say "please don't reassign us--we love visiting her and we can just come in the evening." Free tickets for an outdoor play at a neighborhood park. The list goes on. Friday night I got home from work with my takeout dinner (if you don't eat at Noodles, you really should) and my house was empty and a little lonely. But then I opened up my new Ensign that came in the mail and was truly spiritually fed. I loved the candid essay from a woman talking about the lessons she learned about relying on the Lord after her husband stopped believing; I could have written that a few years ago. I particularly loved Elder Uchtdorf's message this month that reminds us that we are always 'in the middle' of our lives. There is still so much more to come in the future; I just need to keep reminding myself of that every day and remember that nothing in my life is really over yet.
Comments
I myself felt like I was reading my own story in that Ensign article and that it could have been written by me.
And I used to eat at Noodles & Co. at least once a week when I lived in Illinois.