Soapy Day

Good morning! It has been so far another of those similar and yet completely different mornings. I got up at 5:00 as usual to make sure Amena was up. Because Misty heard me, she had to get up and go about. I let her out. I used the bathroom. I let Scooter out and Misty in. I fed Kitty and let Scooter in. I went back to bed. I wasn’t quite ready to go back to sleep so I read a couple of chapters (revisiting the Old Testament—reading about Gideon, one of my favorites) and then attempted sleep. It must have worked because my 5:55 alarm actually woke me up from a dream. I checked on Amena and she was still in bed. Oh my gosh! Seems to be happening fairly regularly as of late. You can check for me and let me know because I don’t feel like it.

I went to the kitchen and looked out the window and beheld the gate to the goat pen . . . open!? Are you kidding me? “Seth, did you let the goats out already?”

“No.” Of course not, why would I think he had?

Well, I had to get a lunch ready for Amena so I did that quickly and then got ready to milk and help Seth with the goats. While I was doing that, Seth was supposed to shut the gate; I found him on the front porch carefully putting on his boots so as to not hurt the kittens. That’s fine and good but when a gate needs to be shut, a gate needs to be shut.

Libby was by the crate where her kids were, Leroy and Zoey were behind the house, everyone else was in the goat shed. That was easy enough. Leroy and Zoey went back in, I discovered that one of the hinges for the gate is broken. Well, not quite broken but certainly not working correctly; it can be fixed.

I milked and let the kids out and Seth finally appeared. We got the goats out although it took several trips back and forth because they didn’t all want to go out at once.  Snowflake didn’t like the change in routine but everyone else went along the way I wanted them to go rather nicely; just not all at the same time.

While I was getting ready to milk, Misty came out. She was sniffing around for something and it wasn’t milk. Last night when Seth brought the goats in, I decided that since it was still light, I would trim someone’s feet. Goldilocks was the first one who was interested in getting some grain so Goldilocks got her feet trimmed. I should have done it quite some time ago and they are going to need another trim in the next day or two but they’re much better now than they were. Because I’d been neglectful about trimming feet, I took of pretty good-sized amounts of nail or whatever you call it. Misty was out helping as she is wont to do and she developed an interest in these discarded pieces of goat toenail. Dogs are disgusting. Anyway, that is what Misty was searching for this morning: more goat toenail to chew on. Yuck. We won’t even talk about where those nails had been or what they had stepped in. Just yuck. Dogs eat crap, literally, and then we let them lick us. Humans are disgusting, too.

And at this point, I will be back because boy lunches need to be finished up and I need to change my clothes because my wet pants are making me cold.

Compare this to when they were teeny tiny. No wonder she's hungry all the time.

A bit of a delay there. I went to get changed and there was an emergency. Once that was taken care of, I went to get changed and there was another emergency. At that point, I decided to wait until the boys were on the bus before attempting to get changed again. And when I did, the book I’m reading called to me and I had to read a few pages.

Have I told you about the book I’m reading? It is Tales of a Midwife by Maria Anderson. I have to say that the first couple of chapters I found rather . . . different. I guess I haven’t spent much time reading memoirs. It isn’t at all like a novel or nonfiction book. And it isn’t much like autobiographical books I’ve read, either. Still, in the third chapter it’s getting better or I’m getting more used to the style. And a few pages really eighteen.

I just think this one is cute.

Yesterday. Yesterday was a soapy day. I made four batches of soap: Who Needs a Spa? Bars, Papa’s Own, Outrageous Grapefruit, and Lavender Green. For the last two, I tried a new technique I read about in a soapmaking blog. The tutorial I read showed how to do bars with three (or four) colors swirled together but in order to do that, you really need three hands. Since I had only two at my disposal, and the soaps I wanted to make really didn’t lend themselves to three (or four) colors, but only two, I did two but used the same idea of a divider.

The first one was Outrageous Grapefruit. I used a glass 2-quart measuring bowl for half of the soap and to each half I added the different scents and colorants. Then, using one of the plastic pieces that go on the bottom of the mold secured at the top with tape, I poured first one and then the other. That worked but not so well as if I would have poured at the same time. However, pouring from a pot and a bowl simultaneously would not have really worked. So, for the second, Lavender Green, I poured each half of the soap into a separate 2-quart measuring bowl (I’m really glad that I have two) and added to each the different scents and colorants. Securing a divider as I had the first time but pouring both at once worked much better. Now I am looking forward to the unmolding and cutting of these bars. And while I’m thinking of it, I’m thinking of other ways to do this with different molds. Oh my.

In between making soap, or actually while waiting for oils and lye solutions to reach the same temperature, I folded some clothes. I need to do more but currently the boys did not all get their clothes put away so the couch is a messier mess than I’d like to begin with and I’m not going to redo what I already did. Due to this, I am going to wait until the boys are home from school and they are going to help with the folding of the laundry. I will do towels before they get home but that is all.

Otherwise, yesterday wasn’t terribly eventful. We shall see what this day holds.

Have a wonderful one!

Beautiful Day!

Good morning! And we have a lovely day going on thus far. A bit out of the ordinary but pretty darn good and fairly routine for the most part. I can even handle the 92% humidity because it’s mostly fog and I’ve always liked fog (except when driving in it) and it’s 42°. The fog is actually going away by now and leaving a mostly sunny sky.

I got up at 5:00 in spite of the fact that I did not want to and went to Amena’s room to make sure she was awake and getting up. I let Misty out and used the bathroom and began my journey attempting to call the hospital. I tried my phone three times. I kept getting, "Welcome to Verizon Wireless. Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number and try your call again." I checked. I looked online (which was a whole other experience but I was able to see that the number I was calling, which is stored in my phone and I’ve called many, many times before, was the correct number). I tried again. I went to see if I could use Amena’s phone but it wasn’t charged. I went to see if I could use Joanna’s phone. I got the same message. I went upstairs and used Paul’s cell phone. I got the same message. I attempted using his phone for work but didn’t remember what button to push to make a call. Finally, I called the other number I have stored which I knew came from the hospital but wasn’t sure where exactly. It was the main number and I was able to get through to the operator who put me through to maternity. I figured by this point that surely there would be someone there in labor or scheduled for induction because I was running out of time to get everything done that needed to be before I could go. But, no, no one in labor or scheduled for induction.

Well, at least I could get Amena’s lunch ready. So I did. And I could get ready to milk and take the goats out for the day. Honestly, though, I don’t remember if I went out to milk before the bus came for Amena or after. In either case, Libby was milked and because she was in all day and the boys didn’t get put to bed until after we got home from church last night, she didn’t have all that much milk.

Amena got off just in time and I went out to move the stakes. What fun that was. I went and got a new stake and cable because I figured it’s time to stake Libby out with the other goats because it’s nearing time for the kids to be kept apart from her during the day as well (and, no, I don’t know that my ideas on raising kids are ideal but under current circumstances, they work for me) as at night. Misty went to the basement with me and was rather startled when the furnace kicked on.

Anyway, first things first, we (Misty and I) put the new stake in the garden. Then we went to the field and collected the five that were there. Some of the grass is so tall that someone little like Misty could be lost forever. I should have soaped her up for a bath. We put two in front of the garden and the other three we put along the side of the garden. By the time we were done, Misty was shivering and my pants were wet half way up my thighs. I think most of the 92% humidity was condensing on the grass.

Then we went in and I think Misty stayed in while I helped Seth take the goats out. I thought it would be easiest (for us, anyway) to take them out in front of the barn. However, goats being goats, they decided that they should go the way they always go and went the other way. It worked, but meant walking through more tall, wet grass. Good thing Seth had on his rubber boots and hadn’t gotten dressed yet. Bailey, as usual, didn’t come with the rest of the goats; he went the easy way.

It was getting pretty late by the time we were done even though the goats mostly cooperated and went where we wanted them to go once they were out and taking the long way. Because there are six of them it takes a few minutes to get them all done and because they took the long way, it took an even longer few minutes. Seth just had time to eat, get dressed, and get his lunch bag out of the car. Joseph just had time to finish eating and get dressed. Cedric, of course, was ready but he didn’t have to take out the goats. I just had time to finish getting lunches together.

Yesterday was a day. Not terribly exciting or anything. Emily came to pick up her dress (and reports that it fits well—I hope she wears it to church soon so I can see). I got some soap cut which was an adventure because one of them was Mom’s Mint Shampoo and I’d forgotten how long it stays softish. It cut just fine but then didn’t want to come off the plastic insert at the bottom of the mold. Fun times. I finally just stuck it in the freezer while I ate lunch and then it came off with slightly less trouble. I’m thinking I might use the wooden molds for the shampoo bars because they take longer to cure. I’m pretty sure that’s a better option than using more lye although I might play with the recipe because it really would be nice if they cured at a rate more comparable to the other bars.

I got some laundry done but not as much as there was to do. Today while I make soap, I’ll fold clothes while I’m waiting for the initial lye solution to cool. I’m excited about that prospect, let me tell you.

We really need to get more organized for YW on Wednesday nights. We made scones last night and while I think it turned out well, I think it would have been better had it just been the Laurel’s rather than all the girls. Sunday we have presidency meeting before church and this is one of the things I would like to address.

Cedric loves the kittens. I think he’d live out on the porch with them if he could. If we could bring them in the house, I’m quite sure he’d be happy to have them all on his bed all of the time. He reports that his teacher, Jackie Chabot, would like one of the kittens. I know this will be disappointing for Laura because she really wants one but it is possible that she won’t be able to find an apartment that allows cats. However, if she does, it is also possible that Joanna won’t get Kitty fixed before she has another litter. I hope that is not the case, but it is possible.

I don’t think there is anything else to report at the moment. Soooooo, have a spectacular day!

A Different Day

Well, this morning is not like yesterday morning. For one thing, when I got up at 5:00 to wake Amena up, I did not want to be up and I had no trouble going back to sleep. Cedric didn’t really want to wake up either and I wasn’t about to navigate the bedroom floor to do more than tell him it was 5:00. At 6:00 when I got up, Amena was still in bed and so was Cedric.

I got Amena’s lunch ready and got grain ready to take out to the goats and got ready to milk. It was almost time for the bus to arrive and I figured it wouldn’t hurt any boys to be up six minutes earlier than I usually wake them up since sometimes they manage to get up much earlier so I did those rounds. Cedric, for wanting to get up at 5:00, was still in bed pretty asleep at 6:24. Then the bus was here and Amena was still upstairs. She managed to get out before it left her which is a good thing because there isn’t enough gas in the green car to do any chasing of the bus.

And now it’s 7:36 and Joseph is just now getting his lunch and folder in his backpack. And the table isn’t cleared off—there is a bowl, a saucer, a spoon, a fork, and two boxes of cereal. One is empty but still should have been put away. The bus could be here any time and Cedric, who is usually the one out waiting for it at least five minutes early, had to come in and get something.

The goats are staying in today because it’s supposed to be rainy off and on all day. With that in mind, I cleaned out their water bucket and filled it, they got extra grain and extra hay, plus some yummy onions and peppers.

Altogether a day completely unlike yesterday.

 And there are always things that I forget to mention. For example—

Yesterday morning Joseph asked me, “How big is your tongue?”

What? “Hmmmm,” I said, “let’s take a look at Stan.” I pulled the plastic off and took his head off and showed Joseph the jaw and the area that is taken up by the tongue. Then I got out my A&P book so we could look at a picture.

We looked and he said, “Wow, it doesn’t seem that big. You can only see this part,” and he stuck out his tongue.

I thought it was a good question. And I think it’s really awesomely cool that we have our very own skeleton to consult as well as an A&P text with really cool pictures.

So, in a manner of speaking, yesterday morning was unlike any other as well. Which just points to the fact that every day is different from every other day. They may be similar in one or more ways, but they are always different in one or more ways as well.

Yesterday I stripped Joseph’s bed and washed bedding and sheets. That was pretty exciting. After school, Seth gathered all the dirty laundry off their bedroom floor. Also exciting. It certainly brought to light all the toys and such that need to be put away. That will have to happen today after school because it is dangerous to walk in there right now. Especially at night or when it’s dark and the light is off.

I finished Emily West’s dress yesterday. She wanted to wear it to an event tomorrow and so I got to finish it. That’s nice in a way but I think I will miss these times of sewing. I also got a few other things done like mailing the letters to Quabbin Regional Middle and High Schools, registering for a couple of workshops next Thursday, making bread, washing and drying lots of laundry.

We had the sisters over for dinner yesterday and Cedric couldn’t get a ride with Dominic to scouts so he wasn’t able to go yesterday. We mentioned to Paul that Thursday really would work out better, at least for me, so we’ll see how it goes. I know that Blair is used to him going on Tuesday now but I think I’m just going to start taking Cedric to scouts when he has it and going to the meetings that I’ve been missing and see if that doesn’t help get our dinner dates changed to Thursday. It’s basically Blair or my family and I don’t really care what Blair thinks about Paul leaving—I think he has somewhat unrealistic expectations anyway. If it’s out of consideration for what he is used to, too bad.

When I woke up at 5:00 I wondered why my right arm was sore. Then I remembered the tug of war with the goats yesterday. Maybe I should have a tug of war with the goats every day and alternate which arm I use. It would be good for my arms. Not good for the goats though, so I think we’ll pass.

And that’s it for now. I hope you have a splendiferous day!

Can I go back to bed?

Good morning! So far, it is a lovely day. There are some clouds and there is some blue sky. Libby is milked (have you ever really thought about the world ‘milk’), Amena is off in time, the boys are in various stages of being ready, the temperature is nice (63°), the humidity is tolerable (66%), no dogs pooped in the house. Yeah.

I think I pretty much covered Saturday since I kept writing throughout the morning. Louis Valdez helped Paul with the kitchen sink and they were in and out all day getting things for it (including a new sink). When they were finished for the day, which ended due to the late hour, the drains were still leaking so we were still basically without a kitchen sink.

Seth is about to take the goats out and I’ll help him so there will be a bit of a time lapse in here somewhere. The funny thing about that is that you won’t really notice. Even though I’m telling you now, and will probably say something to the effect of they are out, there will be no time differential for you.

See what I mean? It is now twenty-eight minutes later and I had a good enough workout to skip walking today. And if I hadn’t mentioned it, you would never have known. Now I’m thinking the humidity is no longer tolerable. As soon as the bathroom is available, we’ll have another time lapse, unless I’m done here first, while I have a shower.

Anyway, Sunday was Sunday. There was a scout hike in Barre at 1:00 that I would have loved to go on but it was at 1:00. The very earliest we can do anything on Sunday is 2:00, 2:30 would  be better so we can eat first. Saturday would be better yet but I guess the world is too busy on Saturday’s to do anything like that. Church was church. For our lesson in YW, we watched two videos and discussed them. Then we chatted about what the girls have liked about Young Women and what they’d like to do. I love getting input from them because they definitely have a lot to contribute and by now they know what they like and what they don’t, they know what works for them and what doesn’t.

After church, since we were without an operational sink, I didn’t want to do a lot of baking or cooking because that would mean more mess to clean up. So we had something. Ham steak, leftover baked potatoes, and grilled broccoli. Pretty exciting. Paul left to go see Glen Orzel who was in the hospital. He was gone for quite some time and we didn’t have time for Family Home Evening when he got back. We did have family prayer and read a chapter plus a bit of Mormon.

Yesterday we had a pretty laid back day. Paul got the sink operational which included replacing a valve under the sink. It rained off and on and I wondered if the parade might get cancelled but it didn’t. The boys played games most of the morning after we had pancakes with rhubarb sauce and sausage for breakfast. Seth helped pick rhubarb from the garden Sunday afternoon and that is what I used for the sauce. I made two apple rhubarb dump cakes; one for yesterday, one for today.

We got ready to go to the parade and left. I took the boys; Joanna and Zak took Amena. Joanna brought Misty which was quite interesting. She was a big hit because everyone thinks she is cute. She is cute, she’s just also a dog. Anyway, one little boy wanted to know if he could pet her and Joanna said he could. His grandmother (I think), the music teacher who is retiring asked how old she is. Joanna said, “I think she’s about five.”

The little boys said, “I’m five!” It was pretty exciting.

Joanna said that there was a Corgi that liked Misty and she thought about asking the owner if they’d be willing to trade.

I’ve thought of another reason I like cats more than dogs. Dogs run for fun; cats run when they need or want to. Anyone or thing that runs for fun is crazy.

We stayed for the program at the end of the parade for the first time since we’ve been here. Always in the past, we’ve wanted to get to Goguen’s but this year I don’t think they had anything going on at their house due at least in part to Rich’s recent knee surgery. It wasn’t bad at all. There was the national anthem, three recitations (Flanders Fields, Response to Flanders Field, and the preamble to the Constitution), a couple of musical numbers by the Quabbin High band and the main speaker. One of the Boy Scouts, Charlie, led in the Pledge of Allegiance and I was somewhat disappointed by the number of people who actually vocalized it. Still, not bad and not too long.

After the parade, Joanna took Amena out for ice-cream. I would have taken the boys in the car but the car is so low on gas I don’t want to drive it anywhere until I take it to the gas station. When they got back, she ended up taking the boys out, too. And then when they were back from that, they went hiking at the gravel pit with the cliff. That didn’t last very long because Joseph was tired (Joanna and Zak both reported carrying him part of the time) and it was so buggy out.

For dinner we had macaroni salad (I would have made potato but we are currently out of potatoes), rhubarb lemonade, and three kinds of sausage. We have all this sausage in the freezer, we need to be using more of it. For dessert we had one of the apple rhubarb dump cakes. Then it was time for prayer and scriptures and bed since today everyone had to get up for school.

The bathroom is available but I want to at least finish typing; I can post when I’m done in the shower. I’m almost done, anyway. In fact, I was only going to mention the goats and maybe milking.

The goats. Oh my. They were not cooperative at all this morning. Seth went out with the bucket of grain and we opened the gate. They didn’t want to leave the rocks to begin with and then Seth slipped and dumped the grain all over the ground so they didn’t want to leave that behind either. We got Zoey and Leroy out but the rest were just not cooperating. I waited for a while, moving pieces of a greenhouse that had been left out in the field last summer. After I’d moved four or five pieces, I decided to go back and see what was up with Seth and the goats. Snowflake was being particularly difficult. I put a leash on her and we had a tug of war the entire way out to the field. At first, I was tugging and she didn’t want to budge. I won and then once we were out in the field, she was tugging but I didn’t feel like letting her have the bit, so to speak, and I won on that, too. Then we had to go back to get Goldilocks. She was easier but wanted to run once we got out in the field. I didn’t want to let her because I didn’t want to have to chase her down to get her tied out. Then we had to go back to get Bailey. He wasn’t anywhere in sight and Seth said that he thought he was in the barn. Sure enough. He was. So we had to get him out of the barn and then take him out to the field. I moved the rest of the pieces of greenhouse I could lift relatively easily and then came in. There are still some out there but they’re rather heavy and I’m not going to attempt moving them on my own. Besides, the bugs are awful and I didn’t want to spend any more time outside.

And milking. Milk is an interesting word. We drink milk. We milk the goats and cows. Although related, they are different and conjure up very different images. Libby is finally getting into the routine of being milked in the morning. I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to happen so I am quite happy that it is.

And that’s all for today. Have a wonderful day!

I hope you are ready for this!

Friday

May 23, 2014

7:04 am

Good morning! It is a bit dreary looking outside; rather wet and threatening rain. Still, a nice temperature even though I’m sure the humidity level is too high.

Yesterday morning Amena was not here because she spent the night at the triplets’ house so they could all go together to the school for their trip to New York City. I thought it would work out really well for her to go with them in the morning and then I could pick them up when they got back. Good idea because then I wouldn’t have to get up super early and stay up later than I like to. I figured they would need to get up around three in order to be ready to leave no later than four. Guess what time I woke up? 3:00 am? Right on! And I never really went back to sleep.

At five I got up and called the hospital because if there was any need, I would have to get up then to get ready. No one in labor, no scheduled inductions; “It’s quiet in the valley,” the nurse said.

“That’s great,” I answered. “Except it’s been that way all month for me!” So I went back to bed. But not to sleep. At 6:00 I got up and got ready to milk. Then I helped Cedric take the goats out. Such excitement.

Because there was no reason to go to the hospital, I texted Julia that I would be home and therefore able to go to Auburn to That $1.99 Fabric Store. Then I got lunches ready for the boys and did all the normal morning stuff that needs to be done with the exception of making sure that Amena was up and getting out for the bus. It was kind of strange being outside when the bus pulled up and there was no Amena to get on it.

And right now I’ve got to go get ready to take Seth and Joseph to the dentist.

Saturday

May 24, 2014

7:32 am

Good morning! You will get two good mornings today since I never got yesterday’s posted. After the dentist trip was done, there were so many things to do that I really did not have time to get back to this. And this morning I’ll have to go at some point to get ready to take Amena to the eye doctor. Her appointment is at 9:15 so we’ve still got a bit of time. However, since I didn’t every have time for a shower yesterday, I need one today. Before we go.

So, back to Thursday. The boys got off to school. I got ready to go fabric shopping. Julia’s plan was to go to the RMV and then stop by to pick me up. She got to the RMV, discovered that it didn’t open until 10:00 on Thursday, saw the line snaking around the building, and decided to leave and go back later. Her goal at that point was to be back to the RMV by around 2:00 because she had a nurse pinning to go to in the evening.

I honestly do not remember what I did while I was waiting for Julia. When she arrived, she looked at the kittens and we took off for Auburn. The That $1.99 Fabric Store is pretty cool. There is a lot of fabric there and it is all $1.99 a yard. You have to buy a minimum of a yard, but for $1.99, that’s no problem. They have patterns, buttons, etc. as well but they are all regular priced. I got three pieces of fabric and some buttons for fixing a pair of Paul’s jeans.

There was an Outback right next to the fabric store and Julia really wanted to go there. I’d only ever been to one once. The food was good but not spectacular and other than having a lunch price for salads, all the prices were the regular prices. I had a crispy buffalo chicken sandwich and water. Julia had a bowl of clam chowder and a Cesar salad with shrimp.

I hadn’t really made a list of things to do for Thursday because I wasn’t sure if I’d be home or not. That’s really not a good idea because I end up wasting time. So, after the boys were in bed but before I had to go pick Amena and the triplets up, I made a list for Friday. Then, because I had time still, I sewed a button on Paul’s jeans and started in on the laundry. There were five or six or seven loads to do and I managed to get them all done before time to go to the school.

I wasn’t sure how much I was going to get done yesterday because Seth and Joseph had dentist appointments in the morning and there was a concert at school in the afternoon.

And now I am going to get ready to take Amena to the eye doctor.

8:30 am

I am ready; Amena is in the shower.

In the morning, Seth, Joseph and I left early for their dentist appointments so that we could stop by John’s Sports Shop in Gardner. I wanted to get Seth a new shirt because his was really just too small. I had Seth’s old shirt, thread scissors, thread, needle, and patches that never were sewn to his shirt. Unfortunately, we were too early for John’s. I think had we waited or not left quite so early we would have been fine but waiting when I don’t have to has never been one of my strong points so we ended up 45 minutes early for the dentist. And that did us absolutely no good because the boys didn’t get in until it was time anyway. I did get the patches cut off Seth’s old shirt and he helped pull the threads out of them so that they’d be ready to go; that was actually kind of fun.

We stopped at John’s on the way back and got Seth a shirt and a belt. They don’t have rank patches so I wasn’t able to get Seth’s Bear (turns out he needs his Wolf as well). Then I took the boys to school and went home.

At home I needed to make cookies for the concert and sew patches on Seth’s shirt. I got the cookies mixed up and baking and got to work on the shirt. Everything was going well but the 1 and 2 for his 12 were very crooked so I stopped sewing them and decided if there was time, I would go back and do them over. I only did two batches of cookies because we only needed to take two dozen. Amena decided to go to the concert and put cookies on a plate for me. I redid the 1 and the 2 and it was time to go.

I don’t think Amena understands the concept of ‘time to go’. When she knows there is not much time, she will still do whatever she thinks has to be done. Yesterday I don’t know what she was doing but she wasn’t ready until five minutes after the latest time I wanted to leave by. We finally left, finally go parked, and finally got in the school. Joseph was already with the other scouts getting ready to do the color guard but Seth wasn’t. I guess I could have had him paged but by the time he’d’ve gotten down and his shirt on, the whole thing would have been starting later than it already did.

The concert was the concert. I like the singing. The kids (oops! I meant children) are cute. I like looking at the artwork that is always on display and think in the future that I’d like to get there at least half an hour early to have more time to look. However—I am not so crazy about all of the recorder solos and duets and songs that students have composed on their own. That part goes on and on and on forever and is almost beyond bearable. In fact, for the special needs students, it was beyond bearable; they had to leave before it was over. I’m sure all the parents of the students who composed their own music and played solos and duets are proud of their gifted and talented children. Quint frankly, I’m glad mine haven’t been interested. Based on some of the comments I saw on Facebook, it appears that I’m not the only one who has similar feelings.

After the concert I brought Seth and Joseph home. We dropped Amena off at the triplet’s (because you know she hadn’t spent enough time with them already in the last few days) for a few hours. Cedric went home with Max to spend the night again.

The boys and I didn’t do a whole lot. They played games and played with the kittens. I got some soap ready to send to Grandma. That was a fun project. I printed labels which included tweaking one to make it fit the new size bars (which came about because of the new slightly different dimensions of the new molds. Once they were all printed, I realized I’d tweaked the wrong label. Once I realized I’d tweaked the wrong label, I also realized I hadn’t changed the phone number or email address on most of them. I decided not to retweak any labels; they’d all work as they were. I did, however, decide to print a bunch of correct labels just of contact information. On sticker paper so I could just stick the new ones over the incorrect ones. Much easier that way than gluing them on.

I got the soap done and in a box (sorry about the packing peanuts, by the way Grandma—I didn’t have anything else that would work) and taped up and went online to print a mailing label and pay postage (it costs less doing it online than it does going to the Post Office). I kept putting Grandma’s address in and it kept telling me it wasn’t a correct address. It isn’t like I was making it up; I’ve sent things there before and Grandma’s mailed us plenty of things. I know it works. But the USPS website didn’t like it. After attempting a couple of different things, I took a look in my ‘address book’ on the USPS site. What should I behold but an address for Grandma and Papa (it’s been a while since I used it, obviously). So I clicked on that and used it and it was fine. Now the package is sitting on the table waiting for me to take it with me to Amena’s eye doctor appointment which we need to leave for.

11:08 am

And here I am again. Amena was only thirteen minutes late for her appointment. She does need a new prescription for her glasses but we knew that because she failed the vision test at school and she was wearing her glasses at the time. It appears that the astigmatism has struck as well as the nearsightedness. Cedric and Joseph are thus far the only ones spared of needed vision correction. Is 25% of offspring good? Is 75% bad? I don’t know. I kind of wonder what the average is, though.

The girls.

The soap is in the mail. Three bars each of five varieties. Hope you enjoy, Grandma! After Amena’s appointment, we went to Hubbardston to the PO even though we were close enough to the one in Gardner to walk. I like the people in Hubbardston better and I really do like to support local business even if it is just the Post Office and not something else.

This morning Seth and Joseph helped me with the goats. Seth watered while Joseph brought out the scraps for them while I was milking. Then Seth put the kids in the pen and I gave them their scraps. Then Seth and Joseph each took three armfuls of hay to the shed because they needed it and because they might have to stay in the house today because it was supposed to rain. So far, it hasn’t but the day is not yet over. Before they go out next the stakes need to be moved anyway and I’ll do that when I’m done here. If I ever get done.

Seth, Joseph and I just finished going through all the shoes on the front porch. We can give away a big box and we filled up the equivalent to three normal sized plastic grocery bags full of ones we can throw away because they're either worn out or done’ have a mate. Don’t ask me how so many of them don’t have mates but they don’t. The goal was to see if there are any that Joseph can wear because the ones he currently is have holes in them and are generally unsightly. There might be one pair but there is a kitten asleep on them and I don’t remember what size they are so we’ll have to wait for the kitten to wake up.

Kitten in the shoes.

And that gets us pretty caught up.

Have a wonderful day and a terrific Memorial Day weekend!

Jump Start

Good afternoon!

Somehow, in the morning the following day, I manage to forget to mention things that I spent time thinking about the previous day. For example, since we got Misty, I’ve been thinking about dogs and cats and people. Misty is super cute and had a good day yesterday with no messes in the house. She follows me everywhere and even likes to sit with me on the couch if I’m reading (I finished the book I wanted to, by the way). Right now, she’s under the table as I’m sitting here typing this. She loves to play but not alone. She likes to be outside, but preferably with someone. Anyway, she’s a pretty good dog but she is a dog.

It seems to me, and if you don’t like my overgeneralizations, that’s fine but I won’t apologize for them, that dogs are, in general, high maintenance, and cats are low maintenance. The people who love dogs, have very low tolerance for people who would be considered to be high maintenance. The people who love cats have more tolerance for people who are high maintenance. Overgeneralized, I know, but I stand by it.

What a beautiful day!

The boys and I had a good time replacing flags at the cemetery this afternoon. I picked them up from the school and we drove to the cemeteries just south of Hubbardston (technically just south of the center of Hubbardston—I still have a hard time with the way towns and cities are set up in Massachusetts). I didn’t take any pictures but it was just beautiful out and the boys really enjoyed doing it. Of course, I could feel the tears just wanting to come when I saw people who were born the same year as Papa or served in the same war. Mom, there was one guy who was born just 17 days before you; he served in Vietnam, as one might guess. I just love cemeteries; they’re so peaceful.

And now I need to go to Barre to pick Amena up.

The flag Seth put on Daniel's grave.

And tomorrow morning, if there is someone in labor or due to be induced, I won’t have time to get anything written. But if I do it now, I should be able to post it quick in the morning before I go. Good strategy, eh? I could even go so far as to have it already saved as a draft on the blog and then actually do the posting in the morning. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! (Now tell me what movie that’s from.)

The kittens getting adventurous.

I decided to just for fun and because I really didn’t feel like dealing with dinner to take the boys to Friendly’s to eat. Well, and to give Joanna a nice tip. So, we went. I’d already decided to not go to church due to Amena’s not going to be there and Cedric’s having Scouts moved from last night to tonight. I really enjoyed doing the flags this afternoon and that’s what the Boy Scouts are doing tonight at the cemetery behind the church in the center of town.

Sooooo, at 5:00 the boys and I went to Friendly’s armed with one of my coupons for a free three scoop, two topping Sundae. Wednesday you can get two children’s meals for $1.99 with the purchase of an adult entrée so it really is a good day to go if you’re going to. And, going anywhere with Cedric, Seth, and Joseph is bound to be entertaining as long as you remember to take the right attitude with you. And especially since they are growing up a bit and are less likely to act like 2-year-olds. I was not disappointed.

We were sitting there with our drinks and Cedric was talking about you don’t know who sat there before you did. He said, “Someone could have had a nuclear fart right here. Or someone could have picked their nose and wiped it on the table like this (he demonstrated wiping an imaginary bugger right under the edge of the table) and you could go like this (he slid his hand along the table) and get it on your hand.”  I should have recorded the conversation, or at least written it down. He told Joanna that Friendly’s needs a couple of big televisions for people to watch. Joanna told her manager and she said to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. Then he asked if the volume for the music could be turned up and Joanna said, “No.”

“Well, does that mean they can’t turn it up or they can but they won’t?”

I told him it meant that they could, but they won’t. That, of course, stinks and is ridiculous.

Picking ice-cream was interesting. Seth and Joseph were supposed to get a one scoop, two-topping Sundae but Seth wanted two kinds of ice-cream. It just went on and on and on and was very entertaining. AND I got two survey things to fill out. I always do them for Joanna because she’s the best server there. And the cutest.

By the time we were done, we needed to get straight home to pick Amena up and drop her off at the triplets’ house so that we could get to Hubbardston and drop Cedric off. We did fairly well. Cedric wasn’t more than ten minutes late. I decided to not go to church. It really wasn’t a hard decision which is unfortunate but it is what it is. Once Cedric was dropped off with instructions to call if he needed a ride home, Seth, Joseph and I came home. I dropped them off at the bottom of our hill so that they could go pick up an item that needed to be returned to the house or barn (items such as bicycles, shovels, wagons, etc.). Then when they got up to the house they could watch a movie or play a game. Seth chose game, Joseph chose movie. I hope it’s about done because it’s half an hour past bedtime right now.

And I’m thinking it would be better for me to write posts in the evening rather than the morning because I’m thinking more about what happened during the day instead of what needs to happen during the day. I’m not sure it will change anytime soon because mornings typically work better but maybe I’ll give evenings more thought than I currently have. We shall see. The cool thing is that if no one is in labor or due to be induced, I’ll be all done and will have time in the morning to do things I wouldn’t if I wrote. And right now rather than folding clothes like I ought to be, I would probably be wasting time on the internet so it seems like a pretty good deal to me.

And since the movie isn’t over and I still have some time, I can tell you more! This is so awesome and groovy!

This morning Paul asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. I almost said, “As long as there isn’t a dog at the end of it,” but I controlled myself. It was to the barn to measure things. He is planning on working on the barn to get it ready for the goats. None too soon either, because although the door of the goat shed is in need of being replaced, the whole shed really could stand to be thrown in the burn pile; the floor is getting bouncy in places. Anyway, I’ve figured out a floor plan that will take up almost a quarter of the barn not counting hay storage. It will be nice to have the hay and grain all in the barn instead of in the house. The bucks are going to go one way or another and we will keep one of the young ones as a buck and the other as a wether. I think it’s all good and am curious as to how long it will take to implement everything.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed, or at least are upstairs, and Libby is not a happy goat. The kids are in the crate finally tonight so I don’t expect Libby to be a happy goat. I’m not sure why I insisted on having the kids in the crate because if there is someone in labor or an induction scheduled, I’ll have to milk before I go. Oh well, no one said anything I do has to make sense, right? Tonight might be a good night to sleep with ear buds in.

Other than everything else I’ve mentioned, I planted some flowers in pots this morning and planted some on Daniel’s grave this afternoon. There are more down by Daniel’s grave but the bugs were not really fun and Misty on a grave site is like the proverbial bull in a China shop. Not fun. So tomorrow or Friday I’ll finish that project. I also deposited in the garden a bunch of celery and avocados that Paul brought home from work. Blair bought a bunch of both and quite a bit went bad. They were all so far gone that the goats weren’t interested at all (and I still don’t understand why people think goats will eat anything—they actually tend to be somewhat picky eaters in my experience).

And tomorrow I’m on call. If no one is in labor or due to be induced (are you tired of reading that yet?), I might go to Auburn with Julia to the $1.99 fabric store. Otherwise, I’ll fold clothes and plant flowers and maybe come up with some bug spray using essential oils.

Have a splendiferous day!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Good morning! It is a beautiful day! It is currently 49° with 68% humidity. It always amazes me how differently  49° can be at different times of the year. In the winter, it feels positively hot. In the summer, it feels rather chilly. Right now, it feels just right. Actually, I hadn’t really considered 49° before but I have 50° and there isn’t a whole lot of difference between the two.

Today is Papa’s birthday. It was always fun when Alisha was little to watch them interact. Because Alisha’s birthday is May 31, Papa would always tell her that he was only ten days older than her. She would get big eyes and say, “Really?” And she was so proud of the fact that Papa was only ten days older than her. I’m not sure how old she was when she realized that he was sixty years and ten days older. Really, what a nice birthday present for him: his oldest great-grandchild born only ten days after his birthday.

Yesterday I got some things done but not everything. I got the floors finished (and of course a dog pooped and peed in the library during the night or this morning) and the dining room slightly rearranged. I took Seth to get his glasses in the morning and then to school. He’s happy to be able to see again. I did not get the crate out for the kids. I did not pick up Amena’s papers and drop off the other one she needed, but Joanna did. I called the pharmacy so that we can get a new inhaler for Amena.

Joseph said, “Please pass the milk.”

I had a bite of cereal and typed a few words and gave him the milk: “Here’s the milk!”

“I asked for it ten years ago.”

I looked at him and said, “So you’re 17 now?”

“No, I’m eight.” He won’t really be eight until August but then he said, “How old is Daniel?”

“Daniel would be 17 now.”

“So I’m older than him because I’m 18.”

Hmmmmmmm. Okay.

Conversations tend to be somewhat interesting around here most of the time.

Since Laura dedicated Nightfall to Daniel, Cedric thought that she should dedicate one to him. So yesterday afternoon Laura said that Cedric, Seth and Joseph are in the book she’s working on right now. Cedric wanted to know if they have their names and Joseph thinks it’s pretty cool. Laura said, “Nah, they don’t have their actual names. Cedric’s person already had a name, so I gave him two younger brothers and I just wrote the first part with them in it.”

So of course Cedric wanted to know what his name is. It is Eneko.

And hold old he is and if he acts like him. Well, about the same age and he doesn’t always act like Cedric.

I think Cedric’s cool with it all. I think he really likes the idea of being a character in a book. Not everyone gets to be, after all.

Today I have much laundry to fold. Other than the stuff all over the floor in the boys’ room, laundry is all washed and dried. I will probably go get some of what’s on the floor and get it done today but probably not all of it. I also need to get that crate out. And call the pharmacy back to see if there is an inhaler for Amena to pick up. She’s going to New York City tomorrow for school and it would be nice for her to have an inhaler if she needs it.

Yesterday afternoon I went out to get rhubarb from the garden and when I brought it in, Joanna asked if I was going to make strawberry rhubarb pie. Well, I hadn’t been planning on it because I didn’t have any strawberries but Joanna had gotten some at the store so I said I could. I used up all her strawberries and about seven cups of rhubarb and made a 9x13 inch pan size ‘pie’. It turned out pretty well but not until too late for the sister missionaries to have any before they had to leave.

For dinner we had macaroni salad, bread, and sausage. I cooked some sweet Italian and some hot. Paul wasn’t thrilled because there were no peppers and onions to go with it. Not having grown up with much of the food to which he is accustomed, I still do not know everything that he likes to have with certain things. There is almost a ton of bratwurst in the freezer and I have absolutely no idea what to do with it. He loves it but the couple of times that we’ve had it, I wasn’t thrilled. I don’t remember what the children thought of it. Never when I was growing up did we have sweet Italian or hot sausages so there is no way that we had them with peppers and onions. I’m not sure how crazy I am about the idea of having sausage like that anyway—it just seems like it ought to be cooked up like hamburger with beans or spaghetti. Anyway, such is life.

Other than the other things I need to do today, I would like to get the book finished that I wanted to finish whenever it was I wanted to get it finished by. It’s a short book and I think I’m at least half done so it shouldn’t take long. And if today is a good day to pick up a rototiller from the Armstrong’s, I’d like to do that as well. Plus I need to pick Amena up from a friend’s house in Barre this afternoon and take her to the triplets. She is staying the night because they have to leave from the school at some ridiculous hour like 4:30 in the morning and it just made sense to do that. I’ll pick them all up when they get back at around 10:30 tomorrow night.

And I think that’s about it for today. Have a wonderful one!

Spring Cleaning

Good morning! Today is rather lovely out if you can ignore the bugs. The sky is blue, Amena was ready for the bus, the goats are out and it currently is 50° with 54% humidity. I can deal with that. The only kink in my day is that Bailey and Leroy were being boys last week and Bailey has an owie on his head that needs some attention.

Another annoyance for today is the fact that I think Joseph got up on the wrong side of the bed. He got up while I was out moving stakes and helping Cedric with the goats and he has done nothing but whine since I got in. Now he’s eating so we’ll see what happens when he’s done. It seems to be annoy-your-brother day. Seth had on one of Joseph’s socks which is one of the reasons why Joseph was whining. Seth was going to brush his teeth but Cedric wanted to get in the shower. I wonder what will be next.

This morning I am going to take Seth to the eye doctor to get his new glasses. We also need to stop at the doctor’s office to pick up a couple of papers for Amena, drop one off for her, and get a new prescription for an inhaler. And while I’m thinking about it, I think I want to call the Pediatric doctors in Westminster and see about taking Amena and the boys there.

So, yesterday. It was a day. I wanted to get all the downstairs floors mopped, excluding the back room, and I started in the living room. I moved everything to the end farthest from the door and swept and mopped. Then I folded clothes and other fun stuff while I was waiting for the floor to dry. Once it was, I moved everything to that end other than the corner hutch, the cabinet with old stereo stuff, little desk and chest, swept and mopped. And then I did laundry and other fun stuff while I waited for it to dry.

The sister missionaries came over so they could turn a couple of dresses into skirts and shorten the sleeves on a top they’d gotten. I showed them what to do and they did it while I cleaned the downstairs bathroom and got furniture out of the way so I could sweep and mop the hall by the bathroom and part of the library. I didn’t move the stuff by the bookshelves because I really have nowhere to put it yet. Amena got home and took the three chests to the attic that I’d taken from the library to upstairs.

The sisters left and I mopped the hall and half of the library. Then, as you might expect, I did other things waiting for the floor to dry. The boys got home and were boys. Only Joseph had homework. Seth helped him with it. The boys were sometimes helpful, Seth and Joseph did quite a few things that I asked them to; Cedric did his best to get out of doing anything.  Kim and Sarah Trivett came over to bring pictures of the dress that Kim likes and so Sarah could see ‘her’ kitten. They also brought Ryan with them so he could see the kittens. Sarah has already picked out a name for the kitten but I don’t remember what it is.

I got everything moved from the rest of the library area I was planning on doing and about a third of the dining room and got that mopped and that was the extent of mopping. We waited for that to dry.

Seth and Joseph cleaned a little cupboard that I brought up from the basement. I put it in the dining room where there had been a little table that is falling apart and most of the paint has fallen off of that Cedric took outside down by the basement door. I actually wanted it in the basement but it’s in such a state of disrepair that I don’t care. Paul at one point told me that people pay for things like that; I’m not sure why anyone would. People, I guess, will buy pretty much anything in New England because I never knew anyone who had anything like that in their house before.

By the time everything was put back, we needed to get the table cleared off so that I could feed children while I took a shower. When I was done, the singles were already here and Paul arrived shortly after. Kenisha is excited to read Laura’s book and is going to order one when she gets her first pay check at the end of the month. There was Ruth and Wendy and Clair and Jay Cabanillas as well as Kenisha. They mostly ate, talked about others to call about coming, did some general planning and had a short lesson. Pretty exciting.

The kittens are getting so cute. They’ve started playing with each other a lot and wander around all over the porch. Yesterday afternoon I went to look at them and couldn’t find the grey girl. She was hiding in the blanket that we cover the crate with.

Up for today we have our trip to Gardner this morning. Other than that and cleaning Bailey’s head, I would like to finish the sweeping and mopping. I am going to get the crate out for the kids and start separating them at night from Libby so I can milk her in the mornings and get more milk. It will be easier to put the goats to bed at night as well. Since I need to get busy with some of these things right now, I will bid you good day.

Have a wonderful one!

Weekend in Review

Good morning! I thought I’d get started on this because I thought I had almost ten minutes until time for Amena to get on the bus and waking boys up. I obviously forgot that the clock in the dining room is off by five minutes. Amena just left on the bus and now it is time to get the boys up. Still, it is a lovely day out; a bit cooler and it feels like quite a bit less humidity. I’ll check as soon as the boys are awakened and I’ve got their lunches under control.

Yep. The temperature is currently 42° and the humidity is at 64%. I can’t even say I like Kalispell’s numbers better because it’s 50° and 80%. Over the mountains it looks like 48° and 93% in Bonners Ferry. Holy crud, guys, is it raining?

Saturday morning the breakfast was pretty good. There were three or four kinds of muffins, three or four kinds of breads, sausage, pancakes and fruit. My only complaint was that most of the fruit was melons. Amena got two awards for art which was really cool. Amena wanted to sit with her friends Jayden and Abby. That was fine. When Amena got her awards for art, Jayden’s mom commented on Cedric’s artistic abilities (she was his 3^rd grade teacher). I think Seth has some as well and it’s hard to tell for Joseph yet.

A couple of cute former Tiger Scouts.

Seth is having a terrible time getting up this morning. He often does but today is ridiculous. It’s already after 7:00 and he isn’t up, hasn’t gotten dressed, hasn’t eaten. He might be going to school in his pajamas today. I guess this is what happens when they get to stay up until 9:00 to watch Despicable Me.

On the way to the school Saturday morning, we had two unusual occurrences. First, we saw Sam and her mom standing on the side of the road; it looked like they were having some kind of conflict. Their vehicle was on the other side. I looked at Amena and she shrugged. The second thing was a near miss. As we were nearing the Stetson school, a car was going to turn. This car was in front of us and did not have a turn signal on and we came within inches of hitting it. Fortunately, the brakes were working well and we missed not only the car but the rock wall on the side of the road. I told Amena that was our excitement for the day.

Building the bridge.

As we were leaving, the art teacher had the winning artwork for each student who won an award at a table. It probably was there when we were on our way in as well but I know I didn’t notice it and if Amena did, she didn’t say anything. Anyway, on the way out Amena picked up the two pictures she had there and the art teacher was telling me about the silver key that Amena won; I guess it’s not a common thing and she’s never had a student who has won one or it’s been a while or something. I mentioned that Amena has a brother in 5^th grade who is very artistic as well; I think she’s excited for that prospect. I turned around and asked her about Daniel because he always said that he didn’t like art and that he wasn’t very good but the things that he brought home were really rather good I thought. She agreed.

Bridge finished.

Amena and I were talking as we were walking out to the car and as we drove away, an idea began formulating in my mind. I think it’s partly because of the books that I’ve been reading; I know that the author of Swallowed by a Snake mentioned a project that someone did although I don’t remember all the details. My first idea was to interview Daniel’s teachers from 7^th grade. Then, as I thought more about it, I thought about interviewing classmates as well. I think it would be a really cool thing to do and would give me a better idea of what life was like for him at school; more than his patented answer of “Boring” to my question, “How was school today?” anyway. I like the idea. I might write a letter to the principal today if I have time. If not, it is something that I definitely would like to get done this week. I’d need to write a letter to the high school principal as well, since the students I’d want to talk to are all in high school now. I fully expect it to be a painful experience, but I also expect it will be a good one.

Cedric moving up to Boy Scout.

In spite of having a hard time getting going this morning, the three boys managed to get ready and were out for the bus. It just took off with them.

Misty out with the kittens.

Today is the first day of a Biggest Loser competition that I am doing so I need to think about what I’m going to have for breakfast. I don’t want to eat until I weigh; the problem is that I like to do that as I’m getting ready to shower and I won’t be doing that until later because I need to do some cleaning today. Maybe I’ll go weigh with clothes on and then weigh them later. Not that they make that much difference but I like for all the conditions to be the same every time.

The grey girl.

Devon came over and helped Paul with the lights on the truck Saturday. Paul explained what was wrong with them but other than fuses and wires, I don’t remember any specifics other than the plow had something to do with it. The important thing is that they work now so Paul just needs to get some body work done and the truck should pass inspection. That will be a good thing.

This little guy was chasing Amena's feet.

I spent the afternoon making a potato salad and cutting up rhubarb and apples. The potato salad was for the Pack Meeting and the rhubarb and apples was for a crisp for Sunday. The salad was done and the boys got ready and were very anxious to go. Amena wanted to spend the night at Abby’s house but there was no way I could take her over at 5:00 since the boy’s thing started at 5:00 and we needed to be there early. We ended up not being very early because I couldn’t find my planner (it was on a basket full of towels on the couch) and I really do not like to drive without my license. Other than Joseph disappearing for about 20 minutes, it was all good.

Joseph disappeared after we ate and I couldn’t find him anywhere. A couple of other leaders helped look and finally he turned up in the outhouse. He’d had an accident because he didn’t know where a bathroom was. We got him situated and I sat with him in the very back so that no one would see him. By the time it was his turn to go up, he was pretty much dry and the only way you could tell anything was off is if you were close enough to get a good whiff of him.

They started out with the Webelos 2 crossover ceremony. That was pretty cool. Then they started at the youngest and worked up so Joseph was in the next group and Seth was in the last. I didn’t get any pictures of Seth or Joseph because I had to be up with them and I didn’t think to ask anyone to take pictures until too late. The whole thing took longer than I thought it would and we got home after 8:00. Still, not a bad evening.

Yesterday was pretty good. I had to pick Amena up from Abby’s house. I looked it up on Google Maps before I left and it didn’t look to be too hard to find. However, between the time I looked and the time I got there, I’d forgotten one critical part and therefore couldn’t find the road. Since Joanna had taken her over Saturday night and neither Amena nor Abby was answering a phone, I called Joanna to find out how she got there. I’d just forgotten one road. Once I had that piece of information, it was a piece of cake.

 It being Ward Conference yesterday, people from the Stake taught. Our lesson in Young Women was really good. Pat Burdick, the Stake YW President taught and she’s really good. Before she joined the church she was Catholic and was going to become a nun. What a change. She led the discussion about testimony and there were some really good points brought up about how they grow and develop.

After church there was the potluck that I’d made the crisp for. Since there was potato salad left over from the Pack Meeting, we took it as well. They were both gone by the end but I forgot to get the dishes from the kitchen. On the way home we saw Paul offering Jared a ride and then he didn’t get home until around 5:00. He did call but the volume on my phone was still turned off from being in church so I didn’t hear it. We did Family Home Evening, had family prayer, read scriptures, and then the boys went outside to play. It was a beautiful day. It was about 7:30 when I told them it was time to come in and as Paul had just started Despicable Me, they all wanted to watch which is why they didn’t get to bed until around 9:00.

We also Skyped with Laura in there. That was fun except I really do not like the way I looked. Looking in the mirror isn’t so bad but on the phone I thought I looked awful. Laura looks good though. And Joanna ended up working all day. She worked in the morning in Gardner and then in the evening in Tewksbury because they didn’t have enough people there. I think they need to plan better. Joanna didn’t mind too much, I don’t think, because Zak was closing.

And such is the story of our weekend. I just went upstairs to get my phone so I could get the pictures off of it and I weighted and got dirty towels out of the bathroom instead. Oh my. Anyway, Scooter seems to be coming out of her funk over having another dog around. Misty was having a terrible time doing her poops and pees outside but I didn’t find any in the house this morning so hopefully things are improving. Misty went out earlier when I helped Cedric with the goats. Scooter went out too but she went to scavenge in the goat pen for anything she deemed worthy of ingesting. Misty went out in the field with us and was running around. Kitty actually followed as well. When we were done, Misty finally pooped. Much better outside than in.

So, I have my phone now; I can download pictures. Before I do, I’m going to go outside and take some pictures of the truck and maybe the kittens.

Have a fantabulous day!

1,257 Words on a Rainy Morning

Good morning! Yes, it is 6:29 and no I did not think I would be up doing this at this point in the morning. However, how often does life turn out exactly the way we planned?

This morning looks much the same as yesterday but slightly lower temperature and humidity (58° and 93%) but with lots of rain which is supposed to stop around 8:00 this morning. I hope it really does because the goats need to go out.

Last night she had a semi-formal dance. Joanna took her and a friend there and picked her up after. Because we weren’t home yet when she had to go pick her up, she took the boys with her (smart girl, she is) even though it meant they didn’t get to bed until 9:30. I saw on Facebook last night pictures of some of the girls and I have to say that I really am not impressed with the way ‘fashion’ is going. All the girls in the pictures had strapless dresses and the length could be added to without hurting anyone.

The principle send out an email to parents stressing the fact that this was to be a semi-formal dance, not a 7^th grade prom and that any student wishing to leave early would have to be previously approved as leaving early in order to get ready for the dance (hair, make-up, fingernails, etc.) was not allowed. Why on earth is such an email necessary? Are students and parents that ridiculously nonsensical? Don’t parents complain about their children growing up too fast? And we then attempt to foist off on them things that make them grow up faster than they ought?

It brings to mind a cartoon I saw on Facebook of a mother and daughter. When the daughter was a young child, she was dancing and the mother praised her lewd movements. When the daughter was a bit older, probably 10 or 11 or 12, they are shown shopping and the mother is holding up an outfit and says, “The boys should really like this.” Next it shows the daughter very pregnant and the mother is crying, “Where did I go wrong?!”

And that brings to mind the whole issue of the way girls dress and the way guys think about the way girls dress. I read an article/blog post about a girl for whom her prom was ruined because she was asked to leave because some of the men (I’m guessing they may have been fathers of some of the students there) acting as chaperones were having ‘impure’ thoughts about her because of her dress. According to the article, her dress conformed to dress code for the event and one of the organizers of the event approved it. In spite of this, she was asked to leave because of the thoughts of others.

I do have some thoughts on this. First, are men really that weak-minded? The sight of a girl in a short dress (it didn’t show the dress so I don’t know what the top looked like but it did say the code for length was ‘fingertip’) leads men to have ‘impure’ thoughts? Really? They must not be able to control themselves very well.

Second, why do girls think they have to wear next to nothing? Fingertip is really an arbitrary length. Some girls have long arms, some have short arms. Personally, I would never have worn a skirt or dress that was fingertip length although I must admit that part of the reason I wouldn’t is because I don’t like my legs and that is another issue altogether. What is the attraction with strapless dresses? Or even spaghetti straps? Do girls really think so little of themselves that they have to show as much as possible? Does society think so little of girls that they have to show as much as possible?

Anyway, a dance last night from 6 to 9 and this morning Amena has an honors breakfast at school at 8:30. We will need to leave by 8:00. Was that bad planning or what? Maybe students who do well aren’t expected to go to dances. Maybe students who do well are less likely to be up at all hours of the night partying like it was a prom when it really wasn’t.

I’d love to say at this point that homeschool sounds better and better all the time but guess what? That girl who was asked to leave was at a homeschool coop prom. The problem permeates our society.

In other news, Cedric spent the night at Max Ladroga’s last night. I am not entirely sure how he is getting home because Amena and I will be at the breakfast until whenever it’s over.

Yesterday was an okay day. It being Friday, Seth and Joseph didn’t have any homework. I always like that. Emily West came over to do some sewing around noon. She thought she might have Elizabeth with her because she is staying with them for a week but Elizabeth didn’t come. Adelaide thought Misty was pretty funny. It was pretty funny seeing how funny Adelaide thought Misty was.

Joanna and I did some cleaning in the morning. I picked up and swept the dining room, took care of the mess on the brown couch, picked up and swept the library. I got some laundry done but there is much more to do today. I hate laundry. I really do.

The morning when I got up, every light that could be on, was other than the one in the boys room. The upstairs bathroom, the hall, the living room, the downstairs hall, the downstairs bathroom, the kitchen, the dining room, the library—they were all on. Seth was up already playing a game on the computer in the library but he didn’t turn on all the lights and didn’t know how they got turned on. Wow. Must have been a ghost. I think the ghost has a name and it is Seth.

Misty and Scooter are no more companions now than they were when we brought Misty home. Misty is cute and she loves to play and run around. However, it is interesting to note that a dog got into the garbage in the upstairs bathroom during the night and emptied the trash can all over the floor. Scooter doesn’t do that; Trista did, but not Scooter. There was poop at the top of the stairs. I can’t say that Scooter has never done that but she hasn’t that I am aware of (although I understand she used to pee in Adam’s bed when he lived here). And there were two puddles of pee; one in the living room, one in the hall by the downstairs bathroom. This needs to come to a quick resolution because I am not pleased.

This evening the boys have the last pack meeting of the year. When Amena and I get home, I need to make something for that in the way of side dish or dessert. Tomorrow is Stake Conference and all members of the Ward Council and their families are invited to a pot luck lunch after church so I need to make something to take for that as well. I am not sure what I am doing for either one. However, other than doing those things, I would like to get more work done in the cleaning department. I especially would like to get the floors done but that might wait until Monday morning.

For now, have a great day!

Catchy Titles are Escaping Me

Good morning! Today I can hazard a guess as to the temperature and humidity and then check because we do have internet today. I am going to guess in the 50’s and about 80%. Let’s see how close I am. A little off. It appears that we are at 60° (which is on the high end of the 50’s) and 95% humidity. I should have known; it rained last night and I had to open three windows to make the house tolerable already. Our forecast indicates we will only get about five degrees warmer and the humidity will only lessen to the low 80’s. I’m not excited. And be prepared: I intend to complain about the humidity and heat just as much as everyone complained about the snow this past winter.

The boys yesterday morning.

Yesterday was a day. Other than not having internet, it was pretty much like any other day with the exception that I was on call and nothing was happening and I never got a call.

One of the kittens.

I finished reading Empty Arms. It was an incredibly easy book to read and I am done reading books, for now anyway, that deal with death and how to cope. It is a very Christian book. I don’t mind that at all but I really would like to read a book that is geared toward people who do not believe in life after death. How do they deal with it? I know that if I did not believe that I will be with my loved ones again, I wouldn’t bother living; how must it be for those who don’t have that faith? I really can’t imagine. But I can imagine that there might come a day when I may work with someone who doesn’t; I would like to know how best to help someone in such a circumstance.

One of the boys. Just after this was taken, he fell over backward onto his siblings. They're so cute and so much fun!

So, my morning was spent mostly reading and I decided to go to the library after lunch. I don’t even remember what I had for lunch—must have been pretty exciting. Anyway, I knew that I had a book waiting for me at the Hubbardston Library so I took back the books that needed to go there and got it: The Nurturing Touch at Birth: A Labor Support Handbook by Paulina Perez. It is another short book, only 84 pages, and so far an easy read. I’d like to finish it today because I would then be done with all the reading I need to do for the Birth Arts certification.

Seth and his fraction mobile.

The afternoon was afternoonlike. Joanna was on her way home when I was on my way to the library. Amena got home not long after I did from the library and it wasn’t long after that that she and Joanna took off to buy a pair of shoes.

When the boys got home Cedric really didn’t have any homework and Seth and Joseph took almost forever to get going with theirs. Once they did, it didn’t take long to finish. Seth was adding fractions and Joseph has been working with shapes. I imagine Seth will be doing fractions next week as well but a different way. He still hasn’t mastered multiplication facts and that, I would think, ought to be more important. Even Cedric hasn’t completely mastered multiplication facts. I think it was in 5^th grade that I finally caught on and I still struggled with six’s, seven’s and eight’s for some time.

The boys had macaroni and cheese and hotdogs for dinner because there wasn’t enough taco and burrito stuff left to do a whole meal. I had a steak cut up and cooked in a hot sauce. It was okay but the meat was overcooked. Still, it was better than macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. I have no idea what Joanna and Amena did because they were on their way home when we were on our way ‘out for a drive.’

Paul called around 6:30 and wanted to know if I wanted to go out for a drive. Well, okay. The boys could go if Joanna wasn’t home yet so that was good. So, when he got home, we went for a drive. We went to Fitchburg. It was pretty exciting. We took a very roundabout way to get where we were going and when we arrived, Paul told the boys to stay in the car while we went for a walk. The walk consisted of walking up some stairs. At the top of the stairs what should we see but a woman and . . . a . . . dog. Oh no, really? A dog? I don’t want another dog. But this one is a cute little brown English Cocker Spaniel and she could be a companion for Scooter who has never been alone in all of her doggie life until Trista died. I’m not sure how excited I am about it—no, wait, yes I am sure. I’m not. She is cute and she is younger so she is more energetic but because she’s more energetic, Kitty doesn’t like her. I’m not excited. Even though she is cute. She already piddled in the kitchen (Cedric cleaned it up) and she started to poop at the bottom of the stairs. Anyway, her name is Misty. Hopefully the messes in the house were just the excitement of a new home and so much going on this morning because honestly, I’ve cleaned up more dog pee and poop in the house in the last five years than I ever cleaned up cat messes in my life. And no, I’m not exaggerating about that and I’m not being sarcastic. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes. And we will not be getting another dog. And when Scooter goes, we will not be getting a companion for Misty. So far, they aren’t being very companionable. We’ll also see how that goes. And I think I have decided that keeping a kitten might not be such a bad thing after all.

Misty.

Have a spectacular day!