Simple Woman #19

Simple Woman

Today's "Simple Woman" is being posted on the "Installment Plan", which is to say that I'm posting the blank form and will fill it in as I have spare moments... which might be today, or maybe tomorrow. *sigh*

I'd love to sit and ponder now, but the natives are awaiting lunch and getting very, very restless.

FOR TODAY May 18, 2009

Outside My Window... I feel like I am sitting inside a cloud. The white dogwood is fully in bloom outside both windows of my office :0)

---- afternoon, back from Moms In Touch... ----

I am thinking... that life is ridiculously complicated. Good grief. It's been a day...

I am thankful for... a bike for Tate! He is way too big for his bike, and Gunnar really should be using it. But I couldn't justify spending very much on a luxury like that right now.

When - "wa-WAH", Kerry's brother called and offered not one, but two bikes his boys have grown out of. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

From the learning rooms... we got through about two thirds of what I'd hoped for the day, but we were somewhat interrupted. We started the day at the orthodontist's office, since one of Wyatt's brackets came off over the weekend. I think he fidgeted it to death. We've had a contractor working here, (more on him later), with an air compressor cycling on and off, and a nail gun. And then we had Moms In Touch, which is a very welcome "interruption" :0)

From the kitchen... the elk roast I was going to put in the crock-pot this morning is still in the fridge. Oops. Oh well, that'll be tomorrow's dinner. For tonight? Taco salad - that's quick.

I am wearing... ever the fashionista *eyes roll* ... jeans, t-shirt, purple hoody

I am creating... more plans than I can juggle in my brain. Ack. Finishing, sorting, cleaning, selling, end-of-homeschool-year-partying, etc.

I am going... crazy? Maybe, but before that... Tate and I are going to visit a nearby deaf school on Friday. He has been the least interested of the three boys to learn sign language. It's like pulling teeth. Ridiculous. We're hoping that being around other kids, many of whom, do not speak or read lips, will encourage him to actually try to use what he has learned.

---- evening, after dinner ----

I am reading... "The Joe Moser Story - A Fighter Pilot In Buchenwald", with the boys. Kerry and the boys went to a big Father/Son event and heard Mr. Moser speak, about a month or so ago. I'm not sure how much he covered in that group, but the boys were fascinated and Kerry bought his book. I'm so glad he did!

I've only read the first couple chapters with the boys, but stayed up last night and read to the end myself. I did that, in part, because I like to know ahead if there are any parts I should skip or paraphrase for reading aloud, but mostly because I couldn't put it down. I recommend it - especially to families with boys. Now, I will be "glossing over" some of the details... information that Wyatt, and probably Tate, could handle, but would be too heavy for Gunnar. (When he got home from hearing Mr. Moser speak, and I was putting him to bed, he was just sobbing over the sorrow of the camps.)

I don't know if you can find the book in bookstores yet, so I made a link on the title. At least, I thought that was the title, but really it may just be, "A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald", by Joseph F. Moser, as told by Gerald R. Baron.

(Bear in mind that I'm judging the book by the story, rather than as a piece of literature.)

We'll probably read it again when we study WW2.

I am hoping... to finish well, as we come down the homestretch of our second year of homeschooling.

I am hearing... the boys, consulting each other on details, as they try to set up an account on "Lego Universe", rain dripping on the roof and down the gutters, but no birds... the rain has quieted them down.

Around the house... wood and MDF trim. We remodeled the upstairs of our house in 2005-2006, but didn't do all (or much) finish work. The four bedrooms and hallway all had painted plywood floors (because we're high-class that way, though we did lay industrial strength vinyl in the bathrooms), there were no closet doors, and no floor-, door-, or window-trim.

Not that I'm complaining! Really! Those things are not affecting my quality of life ;0)

Summer of 2007 we put down laminate floor, which I love. It's much easier to keep clean than painted plywood, (so I am without excuse *sigh*), and it looks a million times better.

Now, 2009, we're finally getting around to some of the trim. Well, honestly, it may seem kind of odd that we're doing it now, when we're rather... ummmm... broke-ish, but circumstances compelled us.

The vinyl floors, which were glued down, were beginning to curl up around the edges. They really needed the trim to hold them nice and flat and smooth, or we'd have to re-do it.

So, my living room and dining room have stacks of trim in piles, throughout. Apparently the trim has to "acclimatize" to the house. I made Kerry wait until after the party on Saturday to bring it in. (Use your imagination... piles of trim you don't want scuffed, and 11 boys.)

There are still no closet doors, and - honestly - I like it that way. Well, I wouldn't mind having closet doors in the hallway, ("Hello! And welcome to my accumulated belongings!"), but in the bedrooms... I'm tempted just to buy some pressure rods and cheap shower curtains. They don't take up space like closet doors do.

But I'm not sure if my architect-husband will go along with that.

One of my favorite things... a contractor who not only doesn't mind the boys being around and pestering him with questions, but seems to actually enjoy them. Not to mention, he fishes, and brings us delicious treats from time to time, like fresh tuna, and smoked salmon.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: AWANA is done, freeing up Wednesday night :0), Wyatt still has a few more weeks of piano lessons, Tate and I will be visiting the deaf school, and... ??? Oh! I'm glad I checked the calendar, because Wyatt has a check-up tomorrow morning!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Grandpa (a retired electrician) and the boys on a PTO day, playing with their Snap Circuits kit. Big fun!