Monday, May 03, 2010

Daybook for Monday, May 3

Outside my window... we were supposed to be having a rainy day, but it has been bright sunny and 80something degrees. We did get a brief hard rain overnight, so the ground is damp.. but we sure have missed out on the massive storms that nailed Nashville. Chris's relatives there all fared well, but we are praying for all those who were flooded!

I am thinking... that I am going to start swimming again for exercise along with dieting in some form... I will be cutting back on portion sizes and limiting starches. My mom has been doing the Flat Belly Diet with good success, so I may read the book myself. She says a lot of the foods in the diet are things I eat, anyway. I would really like to get back down to what I weighed when I got pregnant with Caroline!

I am wondering... what I won. I know it is something autographed by Tonic... on their Facebook page, they offered autographed prizes to whoever came up with a clever line regarding their new album that will be released tomorrow. So I came up with one, just for fun, and was surprised when mine was one that was selected! I usually only win things that require no intellect at all, like raffle drawings. Okay, so once I did guess close to how many candies were in a jar in 1st grade and won a stuffed dolphin. ;)

I am praying... for my sister and brother-in-law today, on the first anniversary of the death of their tiny preemie baby, Elizabeth. I am also praying for their sweet baby John, now three weeks old, that he will continue to grow well and thrive... and prayers of thanksgiving for his birth and that he is doing so well!

I am thankful... for my children getting along pretty well overall today and yesterday. A small thing, really, but it is certainly something that I appreciate! :)

I am hearing... my current favorite CD still. I tend to get stuck on one type of music for long periods... like 80s songs a few months ago, remember? Apparently it confuses my children... Caroline insists that Emerson Hart is Rick Astley. She thinks it is a funny joke, actually. I have been playing the CD in the kitchen while washing dishes and in the van some, and she keeps saying it is Rick Astley any time she hears it. When she asked me who it really was and I told her, she wouldn't believe me. But today in the van she told me, "This is Emerson Astley." I said, "Hmm, that sounds like a nice name for somebody." She said if she got married and had children, she would name one of them Emerson Astley Whatever-her-husband's-last-name-is. Apparently Astley can be used as a middle name. But of course, she also told me a couple evenings ago that she wanted to be a nun, but only in a convent where her family could still come to visit her. I told her that would be very nice, that we'd like that. ;)

Learning at home... I was recently informed by Caroline that we have two red strawberries - yum! Our strawberries have taken over a whole garden box this year and look like they will give us a nice crop! Caroline was also experimenting with mixing colors earlier as she painted with watercolors.

From the kitchen... I finally updated my menu on the sidebar - sorry for being so terrible at doing that. There's split pea soup simmering on the stove now and dough for summer squash rolls rising. I made a big batch of granola last night, yummy!

I am reading... the May section in A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families. And the Alphabet Path lesson plans as carried out at Pinewood Castle.

To live the liturgical year... We are still counting the fifty days of Easter using the Garden of the Good Shepherd sticker calendar, and on Saturday we did a "Garden Party" for week four - that was fun! We will be having a May Crowning this weekend after we make a couple little floral wreaths for our Marian statues... we found a Mary garden statue, made out of concrete, at Home Depot yesterday - I was so excited!! These usually cost close to $100, but this one was only $18! I guess it isn't of a very detailed quality, but that doesn't matter - it looks sturdy enough and will make a great addition to our Mary Garden this year, and perfect timing!

One of my favorite things... I can't believe I am admitting to this since it was created by Apple... we are PC people around here... but the Top 100 Songs app is pretty awesome. Chris has an iTouch - not me - and he has a preview of this application that plays the Top 100 songs for each year from 1947-2009. We have been playing "Name that Tune/Artist" with it. I have done 1994-1997, and I did best with 1994 (I did 1995-97 first and then went back to '94). My theory is that there just got to be too many genres and musicians by the mid-90s. Chris is working his way through the 60s. I suspect that 1985 will be my strongest year. I was five then, but the songs from that year are classic and there weren't 93 million of them the way there were in, say, 1999. I do take issue with how they selected the top songs... they apparently used "lasting popularity" and other factors to decide rather than using the Billboard charts or something along those lines. When the song that received the most radio airplay in 1998 gets ranked #94 for that year, then something is a bit off. ;) Chris has noticed some strangeness with some of the songs chosen in the 60s too, but overall, it has been a neat little program, and most of the songs are accurate, even if their numbering is a little questionable.

I am creating... plans for our May Crowning and a rough outlining of homeschooling plans.

Around the house... A few nights ago, I cleaned off the top of the fridge and a shelf in the kitchen. They were really cluttered and gross, and hubby vacuumed all the dust off (after I made a lame attempt at wiping it up with damp paper towels!). It looks much nicer now! This week... shall I dare attempt to organize my desk?

A few plans for the rest of the week... Caroline's 5 year old portraits at Sears today; an OT evaluation appointment for Caroline tomorrow; Mother's Morning Out for Caroline on Wednesday while I meet with my co-Leader and go over our LLL financial forms which are due next week; Join our local college athletic center so I can start swimming there; May Crowning and Dinner on Saturday

A picture thought I am sharing... I am too lazy to get the memory card and upload today's photos from the strawberry patch in our garden, so here is a photo from last week:

1 comment:

Kris said...

Look into an eating plan called The Fat Flush. My husband and I both did it last year, and still do a modified version to maintain. It was really great - good information about certain kinds and food and what they do to your body, etc. It was pretty simple to follow and made a huge impact on how we feel, physically.