Another Day

Good morning! I discovered yesterday that I’m not entirely over my attitude but it certainly isn’t as bad as it was. This is a very good thing.

I finally finished my accounting homework last night. I emailed the professor about a question I had but neglected to give her pertinent information so she could only give me general information in return. That was interesting. I never did figure out the answer the way we were supposed to but at least I did figure it out. If I feel like it, I’ll attempt figuring it out today. If not, I’ll just take the extra time to do it the other way on the exam when I take it hopefully tomorrow.

I actually accomplished everything yesterday that I wanted to school-wise. That was for the first time in almost two weeks. Having an off spring break does me no good whatsoever. My list for today is short and includes only two things for school. I will probably add to it but currently there are only four things:

--         send soap to work w/Paul

MGT work on SOAP

            look @ Capsim

--         call Dr.

I also get to go the chiropractor. I need to eat breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, I mentioned my new morning routine of biking and Pilates. Someone suggested using myfitnesspal.com and I thought, as I often do, ‘Good grief, what a pain, I don’t think I’ll bother.’ Then I looked at it and thought I’d give it a try. You can track your daily caloric intake and your exercise and it changed your calories according to how much and what type of exercising you do. It’s actually quite nice. I was going to say fun but ‘fun’ is definitely not the right descriptive word. I really wish that I liked to run because I know that running would help take some of the pounds off that I am working to shed. However, what I’m doing seems to be working fairly well at the moment as I did lose 3 pounds in the week from the 19^th to the 26^th (and I don't care what people say about only losing one pound a week). The amazing thing that I’d somehow managed to forget is that you can actually eat a lot of food and keep the calories under control. And I do mean a LOT. A couple of days I was hard pressed to get the minimum without taking into account the exercise.

Paul keeps telling me that the carbohydrates are more important than the calories. There is some truth to that but the sugars are as important and I really think that it is the combination as well as the types. For example, the sugar in an apple is better than the sugar added to tea and the brown rice is better than the white rice. It is true that carbohydrates and sugars turn to fat in the body but if the total caloric intake is at the right level, the body is using them rather than needing to store them. I’m certainly not going to majorly change my diet (such as an entirely raw food diet or vegetarian or vegan or whatever) but it is good to know how much of what is in the foods we eat so that we can get the nutrition we need without the added garbage. It is simple enough to return to brown rice and whole wheat flour and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Anyway, Cedric had soccer practice yesterday (in Gilbertville). Laura took Amena to the concert she had at Quabbin (that’s in Barre). Joanna was supposed to be home with Seth and Joseph from the time Laura left (at 6:00) with Amena until the time I got home (at about 7:10) with Cedric. When we got home, no one else was (unless you count the canine and capra girls). It turns out that Joanna had taken the little boys to Chuck E. Cheese (in Leominster). That’s fine except that I didn’t know where they were and they didn’t get home until after 9:00 (which explains why they were having a harder time than usual getting up this morning).

And so it goes. Have an absolutely spectacular Friday!

Attitude Break

Well, nothing like skipping AN ENTIRE WEEK!!! I have to admit that I have been struggling with a bad attitude and I did not want to share it. So, rather than thinking of it as having missed out on our last seven days, think of it rather as a blessing not to have had to listen to my rantings for the last seven days. I am not entirely sure I’m over the attitude, but I do feel much better.

In the last week I have been riding the recumbent bicycle in the livingroom at least 12 miles every day other than Sunday. When I’m done with that, I do my Pilates workout. In usually less than 75 minutes, I’m ready to get on with the rest of my day. Tomorrow, since I’m going in to kindergarten, I will have to start maybe before the kids leave on the bus to be sure I have time to shower, but I’ll still get it in. My new morning routine is also part of why I haven’t had time to write in the mornings and later in the day I’m usually busy with other things and/or don’t feel like making the effort.

Other than school and other related things, the last week was just a week so there really isn’t much to say about it. Friday Paul and I went to the Mexicali Grill in Spencer with the Dusty’s. That was nice. It gave me lunch for the following day which was also nice. Amena really really wanted to go to a Girl Scout overnighter at the Boston Science Museum but because it was a Saturday overnight, she did not go. She gave it her best shot right up to the last minute possible; if there is one thing to say for Amena, she is persistent. Laura is still working at Staples and Joanna is still working at Friendly’s.

Joanna had a bad day yesterday. It seems that there were lots of higher up management there as well as mystery eaters. She got one and everything was fine except that they’ve got a new policy of saying, “I’m sorry, it’s my fault,” when an order is wrong which I think is ridiculous if it wasn’t really your fault. It’s fine to accept responsibility if the fault lies with you but if it doesn’t, I think it should be okay to just fix the problem without blaming someone else. I guess the problem is that many servers will blame grill even when the server was the one at fault. Anyway, Joanna said the guy wanted no walnuts in his salad and wanted a different kind of dressing than what comes with it. That’s fine, she said she put it in the computer just like he wanted but when it was ready, her manager took it out to him because Joanna was busy. Joanna was at the next table and heard the exchange and knew that the dressing was not what he’d ordered. When she went to check on him later, he was picking walnuts out of the salad. Seriously? She was not a happy camper when she got home and I don’t blame her. Grill couldn’t read the order and neither could the manager. Joanna’s upset because now corporate is going to think she’s a sucky waitress and the reality is that she is one of the most conscientious ones there. Maybe the most. She owns up to her mistakes so I think she is justified in being annoyed about yesterday.

Cedric had soccer practice Tuesday but Laura took him and they ended up being very late so Cedric wouldn’t go in so they came home. Today he has practice as well and I’m taking him so all will be well.

I think that’s about it for now. I’m hoping I’ll have time to post some pictures soon because they’ve been collecting but I don’t know if that will happen today.

Have a wonderful day!

Oats

I have been negligent as of late. Joanna had to come home Monday rather than Tuesday due to the snow. She was not happy but the kitchen got cleaned and she attacked other problem areas.

Tuesday there was no school due to snow. That was fun. I ended up helping with the kitchen because I knew there really was no point in even attempting to get any school work done with everyone home. Even though they spent most of the day occupied with Lego’s and Harry Potter, I couldn’t’ve sat at the table while Joanna was cleaning.

Yesterday morning I was busy in the basement. I had no idea we had that much rice. Holy crud. I brought up a can of real, regular, as in not quick cooking, rolled oats before Paul left and he said that we need to use up the stuff we have in bags first. I am not quite sure he understands the difference between quick cooking and regular. Quick cooking are suitable for making cookies and bread. That’s it. They are absolutely disgusting eating as a cereal (although they can be okay in granola) which is why in the four years we’ve been here, I’ve had rolled oats twice. If they were regular, I’d’ve had them many more times than that. Talk about inferior food.

Yesterday was a half day at school so I didn’t get any school work done yesterday either. I didn’t get my project in the basement completely finished either but that won’t take too long since right now it’s a matter of putting things back on the shelves. I can tell you that our basement is not the greatest for keeping canned goods. One can I opened yesterday because the lid, where it had been labeled, was in such bad shape I couldn’t read it thinking if it was something I didn’t want I’d feed it to the goats. It was dehydrated onion. I do use those so I put them in a new can with a plastic lid. There were cans of TVP which is absolutely disgusting. Not to mention soybeans are the main ingredient and I avoid soy products. The goats love it so that’s where it’s been going.

On tap for today is a lot of reading and finishing the basement.

Have a wonderful day!

Two

Good morning! The rest of our yesterday was pretty nondescript. Laura, Amena and I played Clue while the three boys watched the third Work and the Glory. Paul went to visit the Fullers after his nap. The brownies turned out alright but I’m not quite sure if they’re good enough to become a staple.

Right now I’m drinking hot chocolate and typing this. Children 13-years-of-age and younger have been taken away by the bus. Joanna is at Cape Cod, most likely still asleep. Laura is upstairs wishing she was still asleep. Paul is waiting for his breakfast to finish before he eats and runs; he has a dentist appointment this morning at 9:00 in Shrewsbury. After my hot chocolate, I am going to eat one of the bars I have upstairs and do my easier Pilates DVD. Then I’ll shower, put some clothes on to wash, and take my accounting exam.

Laura has work today at some point. She told me hours yesterday but I don’t remember.

Last night, Amena showed me her closet. She said something to the effect of, “I made Joanna’s clothes beautiful.” She’d organized them so that all long sleeves are together, short sleeves are together, skirts are together, etc. “And back here are the crappy things.”

“Why does she keep them if they’re crappy?”

“I don’t know, but she never wears them.”

“If she never wears them, why does she still have them?”

“I don’t know. She just doesn’t want me to have them.”

Girls. I tell you.

Speaking of girls, Joanna packed, get this, TWO suitcases to go to the Cape for two nights. When Paul and I went to New Hampshire for two nights, I took a backpack.

Have a great day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Hope you’re having a very green day!

Yesterday was a day. A Saturday, nonetheless. I finished reading all the chapters for Management that I wanted to and took two quizzes. We are allowed to take them as many times as we would like with the goal of getting 100. The first one took three tries, the second only two. Anyway, it was fun and not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Now all I have to do for that class this coming week is work on the business simulation and work on my soap stuff. Not bad.

Amena went to a youth conference in Weston with the Armstrong’s and ended up staying the night because they were supposed to get home rather late. Laura and Joanna went to work and got home. Paul went out shopping. The boys drove me crazy as we were taking Amena to the Armstrong’s and coming home.

Today we went to Ludow for our conference that wasn’t a Stake Conference. It was nice but nothing out of the ordinary. We had steak tips and salad for lunch. In the oven right now are some Red Velvet Swirl Brownies. I was taking pictures of them in progress and Paul wanted to know why people would want to see pictures of part-done food. I don’t know. You tell me.

Currently, Joanna is on her way to Cape Cod. She’s been wanting to go to the Cape and so now she is and now we’re expecting more snow while she’s there. Paul finally went upstairs; he’d been falling asleep sitting in his chair so hopefully he’s going to take a nap now.

Other than that, not much to report for today.

Tomorrow I have an accounting test to take. Other than that and Management stuff, I have some questions to do for Economics and then to read the next chapter so I can work on my part of our next presentation. I also get to go to kindergarten Tuesday and go to the chiropractor twice. Paul has work. Joanna has work (once she gets home Tuesday). Laura has work. Amena, Cedric, Seth and Joseph have school. Tuesday Amena, Cedric, and Seth get to start taking the MCAS tests. Just the dumb standardized testing that is required and I think is extremely stupid and pretty much pointless.

So, have a wonderful rest of the day!

Cast Iron

Well, it’s a beautiful day out there in spite of it being only 24°. AND, I got to sleep in—didn’t wake up until sometime around 7:00. That’s something. Bonners Ferry, ID, looks to be about 36° while Yreka, CA is 32°. Dublin, Ireland, is 43° and Lima, Peru, is 70°.

Up for today is some reading for Marketing as well as other things. We might go see a play this afternoon. If so, we’ll have to take everyone who is home because Laura works from 11 to 5 and Joanna works from 11:15 to 8. Unless we want to go this evening, in which case Laura could babysit. Other than that, I have no idea what’s happening.

I hope you all have a splendiferous day!

Catch Up

Well, good morning! The last two mornings I was a bit on the busy side and didn’t really have time to sit and compose much of a message. Wednesday morning I was busy making banana bread and finishing grasshopper bars to take to school with me for a bake sale yesterday sponsored by ABG. Yesterday morning I needed to go early so that Tiffany could do our business simulation and then stand around for the bake sale before actually going to class. The grasshopper bars went over very well. I might have to make some for our next presentation in Economics.

Wednesday after class I did not go to the ABG meeting because I needed to get home and get a little homework done before going to the chiropractor in the afternoon. My goal was to finish an accounting problem and that is what I managed to do. Going to the chiropractor was nice except he told me I might have some arthritis in my neck. I’ve decided that it doesn’t matter, just because he says it doesn’t make it so. Mind over matter. Plus, there are things I can do to mitigate the problem. Laura and Joanna both had work in the afternoon so the boys (Amena had Girl Scouts) got home about three minutes before I did.

Yesterday I came home after class in hopes of getting another accounting problem done before I had to leave to go to the dentist. No such luck. Before I left class my computer was telling me not to power down or unplug because it had updates to finish. I didn’t have time to wait so I shut it. When I got home, it was taking forever. In fact, when I got home from the dentist, it still wasn’t done so I unplugged and took the battery out. When I put it back and plugged it back in, it took only a few seconds. Anyway, I didn’t get an accounting problem finished until after Paul and I got home.

This morning Paul needs to go to the doctor. He actually needs to leave about now and he hasn’t eaten yet. It sounds like he’s about ready other than that. I haven’t seen Amena since she came down a while ago to use the bathroom but the boys are all just about ready. It really would have been nice to stay in bed for a while longer but it didn’t happen.

I have another appointment with the chiropractor this afternoon. I have lots of homework to get done. I am planning on going to kindergarten this morning.

Nick came over yesterday afternoon. Paul took Laura’s car which meant she needed rides to and from work. Joanna took her to work, Paul and I picked her up when we were done eating. Joanna was going to bring Kyle, the guy she likes, over but he was sick or something so it didn’t happen. She had to go have her blood drawn yesterday since she hadn’t been in all week to have it done. Laura worked from 5 to 9.

Today Joanna works but Laura has the day off. She is going to Boston today with Trevor, the guy she likes. After Boston, they’re going to watch a play and hopefully bring Amena home if she ends up going today.

And there you have it. Have a wonderful day!

Wet!

This will be short but—Good morning! It’s a wet one out there.

Yesterday was a pretty good day around here. Class was good. Brought up some interesting ideas that I don’t want to discuss here at the moment because it will take too long. After class I was going to go to a PTK meeting but remembered that I was going to meet Tiffany at the library to work on our business simulation. We got that done.

Laura picked Cedric up from school and took him to his dentist appointment because she ended up not working due to the network being down at Staples so she couldn’t get her employee number. Hopefully soon—like today?

I accomplished everything on my list for yesterday in spite of the fact that I forgot that I needed to get going on my accounting homework for the week. The boys started cleaning their room and for the most part finished it this morning before school.

My walk this morning was two miles—I walked down Pitcherville to 68, which is one mile exactly, and back. Very wet. I really should have taken soap.

This is looking down the hill I already walked up.

One of our swamps. 

Have a wonderful day!

Time Will Tell

And what sort of a day will today be? Only time will tell. Currently it is relatively quiet as the bus has come and taken half of us away (half being, of course, a relative term), a quarter of us are still abed, an eighth of us just got out of the shower and the remaining eighth is sitting here listening to the dryer which has a pair of shoes in it.

Joseph couldn’t find one of his shoes so his morning wasn’t that terrific—filled with tears. Cedric and Amena are bearing away many dollars for music related things. Seth had a relatively good morning once he decided that he could actually wear a pair of jeans. Before that he couldn’t find any pants.

I am going to go get dressed to go outside and will likely be back once I am inside again.

This is one of the many potholes along my walk this morning.
It is full of ice at the moment and is a good example of what our tax dollars are NOT doing.

This is the creek I walked over.

This is the other side.

Well, I am inside again and it is about 45 minutes later. I had a nice walk of about two miles. I really wish sometimes that while I am not opposed to the idea of running that my body (mainly the hips that have been out too many times) would cooperate. Still, walking is in many ways better and I just have to go farther. Which means that two miles won’t be far enough but for today it will do.

I have class this morning and Cedric still has a dental appointment this afternoon and I forgot to send a note to school. If Laura is okay with it, I am going to have her pick him up from school and drop him off at MWCC on her way to Leominster. He’ll have to be bored for a bit before we leave but I’m sure he’ll live.

Have a wonderful day!

We Shall See

Good evening.

Friday turned out to be a pretty good day. I accomplished much that I wanted to including spending most of my remaining financial aid money. There was no school for my younglings due to the weather (we had about a foot) so it was not easy getting any school work done but I almost did all of that that I’d hoped to.

Funny thing about that—I started reading what I thought was the next chapter I needed to for Economics and then looked at the questions we need to answer and it turns out, I was reading the wrong chapter! It’s too bad, too, because the chapter I was reading I understand. The one I needed to I read yesterday and it’s okay but not as easy as the other. Not a problem, though, because it is all read as of last night and I’ll get the questions done tomorrow.

One of the things I wanted to do was pay the dues to join Phi Theta Kappa and I did that. The only problem is that the first meeting I can go to is tomorrow from 12:30 TO 1:30 and Cedric has a dentist appointment at 2:00. I cannot do both and Joanna will be at work and not able to go get him and bring him to the school. Laura might be able to get him and bring him but she needs to be at Staples in Leominster at 2:00 (she’s actually working tomorrow—Friday she didn’t due to the weather). We shall see what is to be.

My chiropractic appointment that I thought was Thursday was actually Friday and it was rescheduled due to the weather. I now go in on Wednesday. That actually turned out to be for the best because yesterday I ended up cleaning out the goat shed. I would not have been happy to go to the chiropractor one day and then throw everything out again by cleaning the goat shed. It hadn’t been done for about ever and there was a LOT of old hay and nanny berries and sawdust compacted in there and it was HEAVY. I really thought my back would kill me but it turns out that my legs are what hurt. I had a hard time getting to sleep because of them. Anyway, I got five cart loads of stuff out. Cedric and Seth dumped three in the garden and two in the driveway or whatever you call it down by the creek. Paul helped dump at least one in the garden and ended up losing a shoe in the snow.

Today Joseph had a talk in Primary. He ended up not giving it so I did it for him. This is what he was going to say:

I love my big brother, Daniel, and I know he loves me too. I know that he wants me to make good choices so that someday I can be with him again.

Sorry, caption is not part of his talk.
I just want to apologize because it's so small--
any larger and it just doesn't look good--all pixilated, you know.

Jesus Christ is my big brother too. He is everyone’s big brother. He loves all of us and wants us to make good choices so that someday we can all live with him and Heavenly Father.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I think it would have been good if he’d’ve said it but it turned out okay.

Next week, we do not have church in Gardner. For those of you who might not be familiar with our church, we have wards or branches (typically fewer people than wards), which are local geographic areas that meet in a fairly central location. Then we have stakes, which consist of wards and branches and kind of help out the wards and branches as needed. We have stake meetings every six months and call it Stake Conference. Next Sunday, we are having a special stake meeting. Everyone is careful to say, at church, that it is just a special meeting but some think that what is happening is a realignment of stake boundaries. It does happen sometimes as people move and populations change. It will be interesting to find out. I want to go. I don’t think Paul does. It is my understanding that Worcester has a stake meeting as well (we are in the Springfield Stake, Worcester is in the Boston Stake—what I’d like is if there were a Worcester Stake because it would be so much closer). Anyway, once again, we shall see what is to be.

And that is all for me tonight.

Somber Morning

Scooter deciding if she wants to go out in that or not.

Good morning. In spite of the fact that I know happiness is a choice, I’m struggling with it today. I found out yesterday that I only got a B for my phlebotomy internship. I also discovered that while I got the balance of my financial aid, it was not as much as it looked like it was going to be. This morning I discovered that my blogs do not qualify for advertising through Google so I’ll either have to start a new one or go some other route for that. The chiropractic appointment that I thought was today I wrote down as being yesterday and when I went the door was locked. Then this morning they called and it was today but because of the snow, they are rescheduling.

The tree in front of the house.

Laura and I went to the bank to have the papers I prepared for reissuing the bonds (or just sending checks) and discovered that each signature is $25. Well, quite frankly, I do not have $100 for four signatures at this point in time. I do not know when I will have. We currently have more bills due than we have income so it might be a while.

Down by the creek.

It is a beautiful day out. It is still snowing. We have more than six inches accumulated out there. Cedric and Amena are in the living room playing clarinet and saxophone. Seth is the only child who has ventured outside.

Snow on the rocks by the steps.

Paul and I went out last night since Joanna will be working this evening and Laura might be. As well, Paul needs to go to Gardner to the bank and to take care of some insurance business before he goes to work and he needs to plow before he leaves so it will be a late day for him. Right now he is procrastinating.

Seth: the only adventurer thus far today.

It was beautiful out last night. I really wish I’d’ve had my camera or my phone. Both were at home and my phone was languishing from a dead battery. On the way home, we got about half-way down Pitcherville Road when there was a snowplow ahead and it appeared to be stuck. We went around the long way via New Templeton, Cross, the end of Ragged Hill, and Birches. I think we’d have gotten home about two minutes sooner had we waited for the plow.

Seth attempting to get Scooter to go out for a walk.

Have a wonderful day!

Milk jug.

Boys and Homework

Good morning! Yesterday was an interesting day due partly to something that happened the day before. You are familiar with the fact that I have eight children. And even if you have never met them all, you probably can understand that they are individuals and as such have their own strengths and weaknesses. There are also forces working on us over which we have no control. People have attitudes and beliefs and they tend to act based on them. Often our attitudes and beliefs are shaped by others but, in the end, we are responsible for our own and only we can change them.

An article I read recently (http://www.today.com/moms/boys-classroom-behavior-impacts-grades-study-finds-1B8308131) indicates that boys may be hurting academically due to their behavior. I can tell you first hand that there is a difference between boys and girls and it goes deeper than any superfluous outward appearance. It’s deep. It is individual but it can be generalized because most boys have certain characteristics and most girls have certain characteristics. I know that the line seems to be blurry right now and that is the way it is but it is not something I am concerned with right now. I will, however, agree that while boys are boys and girls are girls, some boys have what you might call ‘girly’ attributes and some girls are tomboys. (And I never did understand why it was okay for a girl to be a tomboy but not cool for a boy to have a doll.)

Returning to the article, it bothers me that my boys may be struggling in part because they are boys. They are all smart. Daniel proved this by being on the honor roll and achieving good grades unless he didn’t care about something (such as English). Cedric and Seth and Joseph are smart as well. They don’t fit into the neat little square holes that the public school system has designed though. I’m pretty sure that Daniel was a circle and that Cedric is an oval, Seth is a triangle, and Joseph is a rectangle. I have never hidden my feelings about public school, which now I think probably hasn’t helped my school-age children who happen to be in public school. To this day, I do not believe that forcing children to read at an early age does them any favors. Cedric was struggling. He still is with reading but he is so much better now. I really wonder how much he would be struggling had I not put him in public school. Laura is an avid reader and I didn’t push her to read until she was nearing eight. Joanna isn’t an avid reader but she does read and I didn’t push her to read until she was nearing eight. Daniel loved to read and I didn’t push him to read until he was nearing eight. Amena loves to read and I didn’t push her to read until I put her in public school when she was almost eight. I hope I haven’t maimed my younger boys by putting them into a system where they are forced to learn to do something that they might not be ready for. Cedric is coming around as is Seth. But if they’d’ve followed the pattern of older siblings (I feel I can compare because one of their older siblings is a boy and followed the same pattern), they would have made a leap rather than the slow steps they’ve made.

Returning to the article, it still bothers me that my boys may be struggling in part because they are boys. And boys they are. If you know them, there is no mistake. And what one of them does, the others are likely to. And what one of them doesn’t think of, one of the others will. They can get along fabulously and the next minute they can be trying to kill each other. They are boys. Which isn’t to make excuses for them. It is still my job to be sure they grow up to be responsible, respectable, and self-sufficient.

Last year, Seth really struggled. I volunteered in his class and I saw that his poor behavior (and that of a few of his classmates—all boys, by the way) was mostly ignored. Until it was decided that Seth would take things. One day when I went in to volunteer, the schedule was messed up and the class was doing art in another classroom or looking at books because it was the Scholastic Book Faire. Everyone except Seth. It had been decided that he had taken some money from another boy. When I arrived, I questioned Seth and I believe that he did not take the money. From what I gathered, he had seen it and had picked it up but then had put it down and had not kept it. I do not think he handled the situation as he should have (we discussed that he should have given it to his teacher or another adult) but neither do I think he took the money. I know without a doubt that he did not bring it home and he did not have it on him (or in his backpack) when I was there at the school.

Last year I was called into the school because Seth and Will had traded notebooks and Seth had drawn an ‘inappropriate’ picture. I was full of dread and trepidation as I drove to the school thinking that I was going to see pictures of naked people or something along those lines. When I got there, Seth and Will were in the principal’s office and I was shown the ‘inappropriate’ picture. It had tanks and little stick people and guns. Not only did it have guns, they were firing at the tanks and helicopters. I almost laughed. Seriously? Guns? In a picture? Inappropriate? He’s a BOY for goodness sake!

Last year was a hard year for Seth. This year has been better. However, he developed this habit last year of ‘forgetting’ his homework. He has begun doing that this year. I got a phone call from his teacher saying that his homework hadn’t been done Monday. Tuesday he was supposed to bring home a letter about homework club but I never got it. I got another phone call Tuesday. Seth had told his teacher that the reason he didn’t do his homework was because I had gotten home late the night before and he said that I wasn’t home that morning either but they called anyway and guess what? I was home. I hadn’t been anywhere the night before either. And guess what else? He couldn’t do his homework yesterday because he didn’t bring any home.

I am not going to have him go to homework club when the problem isn’t that he needs help with homework from someone at school. The problem is that he needs to bring it home so he can do it AT HOME. It isn’t called ‘afterschool work,’ it’s called ‘homework.’

Anyway, such is life. As long as Seth brings his homework home today, it will be done. And although I have a chiropractor appointment this afternoon and will not be home when they get home from school (only because they get out early due to the weather which isn’t supposed to get any worse than it currently is), I will be home by 3:00 or 3:30.

I think there is more to this story than just the fact that Seth is a boy but that chapter will have to wait for another day.

In the meantime, have a wonderful day!

Do or Do Not

I sat down here to do this a few minutes again and then got sidetracked with laundry and then got sidetracked here rather than finishing the laundry. The laundry needs to be done so that I can have a shower and get ready for the day so I’ll be back shortly.

Okay. Clothes in the dryer drying. We are set. Or we will be as soon as they are dry.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I am loving Dr. Greenwood. I really wish that I’d’ve taken classes from him previous to this, my last, semester. Yesterday we had to write down three personal goals for Economics. Mine are:

Learning goal 1: I want to know as much about trade-offs as possible because LIFE is about budgeting time and I want to be the BEST soapmaking midwife EVER and in order to do, I need to effectively budget my time and resources.

Learning goal 2: I want to learn as much as possible about equilibrium—competitive equilibrium—because I need to know how much soap to make and how many clients to take and how much to charge.

Learning goal 3: I want to know as much as possible about financing because I don’t want to just meet the needs of myself and my family today, but forever (more or less).

You know what’s cool? On the paper we wrote these on, Dr. Greenwood has my favorite quote of all time: “Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” –Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back.

In order to be the best midwife ever, what do I need to do? Well, it might help to apply for the program. So, that’s what I decided, yesterday  morning before class, to do. I didn’t get it done yesterday but I got the writing part done so now I just need to transfer the information to the application. Then all I have to do is find $50. Somewhere. Somewhere.

Right now my four youngest babies are gone. My second oldest son is being influenced by something that is not a full moon. So is my youngest daughter. Life has been rather interesting around here lately. I sometimes wonder exactly what it is that goes on at school because I know I don’t know the half of it. In spite of the fact that it is easier to send them to public school, I often wonder if it is the best choice.

Laura and Joanna are still abed. Paul is making his lunch. I am sitting here. We are expecting Elizabeth sometime in the next approximately 30 minutes.

Laura got a job! She went for an interview yesterday at the Staples in Leominster and was hired on the spot! So cool! It’s just part-time but it’s a job. She applied online (because that’s the only way to do it for Staples) for a job in Gardner but when she went in to the Gardner store to talk to the manager, she wasn’t impressed. I told her she should go to Leominster and talk to one. She did that last week and got the interview for yesterday and now she has a job. So exciting!

I hope everything is well with all of you and that you have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Good morning! It’s a nice day outside—some clouds but some sunshine. Funny thing about the morning, there’s a dusting of snow from yesterday/last night. Just like there was in Oro Fino the morning one happy little baby Daniel was born. Which brings me to this:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANIEL!!!

We had a birthday party for Daniel yesterday which I already posted about last night and you should have gotten. Just in case, here is the link: http://mywindingroadtomidwifery.blogspot.com/2013/03/daniels-16th-birthday-party.html

I won’t add to what I already wrote there; I think it was covered well enough.

We had a good weekend. The Boy Scouts from church came over Friday and camped out in the back field. There were quite a few boys which was really nice. Neil Beaudette came over as well so he could spy on the Scouts with Cedric and Seth. I know the three of them and Joseph ate out with the Scouts Friday night but I don’t think they did much spying. They went out Saturday morning as well.

I let the four boys sleep in the back room and watch a movie. They didn’t fall asleep during that but they didn’t stay up much past making noise either so that was good. Saturday morning Neil’s dad called and we decided that he could pretty much spend the day. They had fun in and out. Out in the snow, in playing with Daniel’s Legos. Nick didn’t want to go home so he stayed after the rest of the Scouts had left. That was actually a good thing because he was able to make sure the fire was out.

Paul had taken the Jetta to be inspected and then called to see if I could bring the van RIGHT then. Ah, ah, ah…. I had these four little boys. I had Nick out in the field. Joanna had already left for work. Laura and Amena were out getting oil for the white car and going to the bank. What a quandary. I sent Cedric out to tell Nick to come to the house and left in the van. It turns out that the guys at the garage had said that they’d take people until I got there with the van so they were hoping that I’d get there soon. When I did, there were three cars ahead of me; Paul was in with the Jetta which had just gotten finished. I took the Jetta home which was interesting because the seat was stuck and I couldn’t get it to move forward. Paul’s legs are longer than mine so driving was interesting, especially considering that it’s a stick.

And that brings us to yesterday which was a pretty good day.

Today I have Economics and Seth, Amena and Joseph had or are having rolled oats. Cedric had already eaten when I came downstairs. I made tea for Seth and Joseph because Seth said his tummy wasn’t feeling well and when Joseph hears tea, he wants some too.

And there you have it.

Have a wonderful day!