Monday, February 10, 2014

Grasshopper Days


Grasshopper Days


For today, Monday, February 10, 2014

Outside my window...  dark, cold, and rainy.  We had a bit more snow in the night (it was beautiful at 1:30 am ;D ) but the temp is just above freezing now, so bye-bye snow.

Hearing...  the wind blowing, rain spattering on the window, and the furnace coming on.  Oh, I'm thankful for central heating!

Pondering...  just how "mandatory" a meeting is... 

Praying...  steady work for Kerry (maybe even with health insurance - what a bonus), for a peaceful and productive week, and for (continued) good health when there's so much sickness floating around.

Thankful...  but for one boy with a cold, we're all healthy, Kerry has a bit of work for this month (!), and I may even be able to make a much-needed run to Costco.

Wearing...  layers.  It may have "warmed up", but these just-above-freezing rainy days somehow feel colder than snow days.  Blue jeans, white t-neck, and navy/indigo stripe thermal shirt... faaaancy ;D

Creating...  in between projects right now, with a busy week planned.

Going...  to do a bit of tidying around my work room.

Reading...  still plodding through The Victory of Reason.  I just can't get excited about it.  When I told a friend how much I enjoyed and was encouraged by Vishal Mangalwadi's The Book That Made Your World, he recommended Victory, because he thought the authors were saying the same thing... but I'm not as enamored with it.  Mangalwadi shows cross-culturally the impact of the Bible on civilization - how worldview shapes culture.  Victory of Reason seems to be focused on capitalism above all else.  Sure, I'm all in favor of capitalism, but so far (and I'm not very far into the book, so I'll give it another chance) it seems that the author views Christianity as a means to an end... capitalism.  Blah.

Learning...  I have to work a lot harder to focus than I used to!  Good grief, I used to just devour books when I was college-age, and beyond.  Now?  Is it too many distractions, or just plain age?  I'll keep working on my reading...

Looking forward to...  Gunnar's Disneyland trip in June, when he turns thirteen.  Mostly I'm excited because he'll have such a good time and he's so excited about it.

And also because he talks about it
Every.  Single.  Day.

In the kitchen...  leftover elk roast and mashed potatoes for dinner tonight.

In the learning rooms...  reading about WWI, the Panama Canal, multiplying and dividing radicals (square roots), acids, bases, and salts in Chemistry, writing a book report, Eleanor of Aquitaine and feudal society, and interjections, conjunctions, and prepositions.

Around the house...  boys reading :D

The Mother Load...  gather info for taxes, rotate school-related books in the book basket, go by the bank, make a doctor's appointment, tidy my work room, go for a walk with Gunnar, clean the shower (ugh!), make a plan for this year's family b'day gifts (start early this time!), etc.

Noticing that...  one thing I love about our little chapel is the singing.  I don't always love the actual songs, many of which are unfamiliar to me, but at least they have good words - good theology.  They're meaningful.  And everybody sings.  There's no over-rehearsed "team" up in front, performing for us.  We're worshipers, not an audience.



Something to remember for later...  though the bunnies can stay warm in cold weather, their water does not.  Even if the whole water bottle doesn't freeze solid, it doesn't take long for the water in the little metal nozzle to freeze.  Tate has been very diligent about checking the bunnies several times a day, and thawing out their water bottles so they'll be able to drink.

Something fun to share...  I wish you could hear Wyatt.  He has a fabulous ear for imitating voices and accents.  I love his rendition of Gru, from Despicable Me.  And he does a great Sean Connery/Marko Ramius from The Hunt for Red October.

One of my favorite things...  hot mint tea on a cold morning.

A favorite quote for today...  God's discipline of His children always hurts and never harms.

A Bible verse...  Jeremiah 20:12-14
Then you will call upon me and ocme and pray to me,
and I will hear you.
You will seek me and find me,
when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, declares the Lord,
and I will restore your fortunes
and gather you from all the nations and all the places
where I have driven you, declares the Lord,
and I will bring you back to the place
from which I sent you into exile.

A few plans for the rest of the week...  homeschool, choir rehearsal, Civil Air Patrol, babysitting two of my friend's kids for one (long) day, and Valentine's Day... what to do?

A peek into my day...  my little Christmas poinsettia is still hanging on... just right for Valentine's Day!

3 comments:

LISA said...

Haha, laughed out loud at your pondering the "mandatory" meeting. Every year my children show animals in the county fair and every year they are required to attend the "mandatory" meeting. Last year our house had the chicken pox and we quickly found our that even "mandatory" has limits.
The fair board asked that none of us attend the meeting, even the children that had the chicken pox 14 years ago. Too funny.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Too funny, all right!

This was a "mandatory safety meeting" for volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, that was scheduled right during our choir practice. And - hello - the "mandatory safety video" is about ten minutes long and easily found on youtube.

We went to rehearsal. ;D

sara said...

I prefer the more complex songs too - they are so rich with meaning. But I was just sitting on my couch winding a ball of yarn while one of the kids does his school work and the other two act like little weirdos when Psalm 136 came into my head and I thought, "Well, there's some repetition, but it isn't vain." I wonder if the difference between repetition and VAIN repetition is the idea of "selah." Y'know? Listen, pay attention, meditate on this. I don't know. But I thought it was funny that this is where my mind went when I was trying to think of nothing. :)