Good morning! The kids did not get put
in the crate last night so I did not have to go out and milk this morning.
Amena, however got up late and is going to have trouble getting ready for
school and taking the goats out. Actually, I’m not sure that they need to go
out because the day looks verily like it might rain. It is taking too long for
weather.com to load so I am not able yet to see what it says about rain. I know
that yesterday it said we weren’t supposed to get any so maybe I should look at
a different forecast. The other says up to about a 30% chance of rain so we’ll
see how it goes. Currently, it is 56°, cloudy and windy.
Yesterday was definitely an interesting
one. I went to kindergarten and got to listen to about three quarters of the
class read. That was fun. They had 10 or 12 books to choose from to read and
most of them picked Jack Be Nimble so
it was very nice listening to the few who did not. Tomorrow I get to go to the
Ecotarium with them. I think it is safe to say that most of them are pretty
excited. I know Joseph sure is. While I was there, I could tell that Vinny
wanted to say something to me. I was pretty sure I knew what because Joseph has
been asking on a daily basis if he can go to his house. Sure enough, Vinny
finally said, “I want Joseph to come to my house.” I asked him if his mom was
going to the Ecotarium Thursday (Joseph had told me she was so I figured it was
a good guess). He said that she is so I told him that his mother and I can talk
about Vinny and Joseph spending some time together soon.
Before I left, I had a few minutes so I
wrote my list of things to do and got some things together for some of the
things on my list. One of the things on the list was to pay the electric bill. Well,
when I got home, there was an envelope stuck in the door with Paul’s name on
it. I thought to myself, “Great, they turned it off.” Sure enough, they had. So
I called National Grid with my cell phone which was at 48% and was on hold for
about ever and took care of that. I guess the magic trick is knowing the last
four numbers of his social security number. When I didn’t have that before, I
wasn’t able to do anything other than make a payment and they wouldn’t tell me
even how much the bill was. This time they told me how much was due, how much
was past due, and they read the address to me to confirm. The woman I spoke to
said that the electricity would be turned back on within the next 24 hours so I
prepared myself for not having any electricity and a guy showed up within an
hour to turn it on.
At 1:30, I had an IEP meeting at school
for Seth. Because there was no electricity until nearly 1:00, there wasn’t
really time to take a shower and I couldn’t do Pilates because I use a DVD. I
could have ridden the bike but I got busy doing the other things on my to-do
list and reading. Seth has been making good improvements but there is still
room for more. In so many ways I would love to bring him, and everyone else, to
homeschool. However, all in all, I have to say that I’m generally pretty happy
with Hubbardston.
When I got home from that, I was working
on the rest of my to-do list and then reading and making corrections on Ana’s Story. That is always fun. I
finally took a shower just before the bus arrived. When I was done, I sorted
and folded laundry. There was, as is often the case, a lot. There were five
baskets (I’m not sure how it accumulates so quickly, but if I don’t get it done
as soon as it comes out of the dryer, it surely does) already dry so I did one,
Joseph put away his (complaining that there weren’t enough piles—go figure),
Cedric and Seth folded and put away theirs. Then I did other things and did
another basket, and did other things and did another basket and so on until
they were done and we did the one in the dryer as well. It is a good thing that
Seth and Joseph had gotten their drawers straightened up the day before and
Joseph and I took four bags of shirts out of his that are too small or that he
doesn’t wear.
Today I think I’ll just sit at home and
read and eat ice-cream all day. Just kidding. After school we will have a
couple of loads of laundry to take care of. It seems to work better if I do it
when the boys are home rather than doing it before they get home because I can
make sure the clothes actually get put away rather than stored somewhere they
ought not to be. Supper is under control because I took sausages out of the
freezer in preparation for not having electricity last night. We’ll just have
them tonight. We had burritos last night and they were good but I don’t think
there are enough beans left for an entire meal. They’ll make good lunches and
maybe be used for breakfasts though.
Really, today I plan on doing a little
more housework. I really hate cleaning house but if I just do a little every
day, it does get done eventually, even if I have to start over as soon as I’m
done. I’d really rather do it this way anyway until everything gets done that
needs to be (like the library emptied of things that are just sitting there,
the back room is finished, etc.). Once everything is properly organized,
cleaning won’t be as huge an ordeal.
I have two cups of corn that I soaked
(and drained last night) that need to go out in the garden. This morning would probably
be a good time to do that since the world is still wet from the rain yesterday
and last night. The pollen shouldn’t be too bad, anyway. The leaves that have
to be moved in order to plant the corn will be soggy and therefore heavy. This
is good in a way because it will provide a better workout.
Laura is home and I told her I’d take
her out in the red car for a driving lesson. She needs to learn to drive a
stick. Before that happens, I need to put gas in it because it is still bone
dry.
I would like to get some reading done. I’ve
started a new book about women’s life during colonial days (Woman’s Life in Colonial Days by Carl
Holliday). This is because I’ve really been bitten by the writing bug and I
want to get working on a couple of my stories. One of them partially takes
place in the 1700’s so I need to learn more about everyday life, especially everyday
life for a woman since the main character is. I’m really quite glad that I didn’t
live then. The religion would have driven me crazy, I’m afraid. I’m also
reading The Complete Book of Pregnancy
& Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger. That is for doula/midwife stuff. I
started it a couple of years ago and never finished so I’m going to start over
because I don’t remember where I was and I probably should review anyway. Other
than that, I have seven chapters left to review of Ana’s Story before I email them to Diane.
I will most likely start with some
breakfast and then bike and/or Pilates before moving on to the garden. Then
shower and get gas. Then the rest can happen as it happens.
I have also been working on a scathing
opinion piece on DCF in light of our dealings with them as well as the
nation-wide focus on all similar departments. We have all most likely heard of
Baby Sammy in California and there are numerous other stories similar as well
as those where children are being abused, reports are being made, and nothing
is being done. In some cases the children in these situations are actually
dying. It breaks my heart that these children must suffer and it infuriates me
that the system that should be helping them goes instead after the children who
do not need their ambiguous ‘help.’ You can kind of tell what direction my
thoughts tend toward, I’m sure.
Before I go for today, I want to thank
all of our family and friends who keep us in their hearts, prayers, and
thoughts. It means a great deal more than I can hope to communicate.
And now, have a wonderful day!
No comments:
Post a Comment