FALLing Fast

Whooosh...that is the sound of fall speedily transitioning into winter.  It is also the sound my mind makes as it is boggled by the lack of time around here. 

Lovely is now taking violin lessons and she is playing basketball.  Perhaps I am pushing my childhood desires for extracurricular activities off on her, but she seems to be enjoying it.  I had always read that extra activities such as this can boost self-esteem, so let's see how it works.  Snugglebug is in basketball as well, but because of her age, she won't start playing until the actual games begin in December. 

My first three classes at a real university are swiftly coming to an end.  I still love teaching; I'm just disappointed to only have one scheduled for this spring.  Because of this, I'm once more desperately on the job search.  And because of this, if I get a job with a conflicting schedule, I will be forced to take the job that pays more.  (sigh).  I've been subbing an the girls' school as much as possible lately-- seven days this month alone, and this is during a month with a holiday break.  Also, I am only available 3 days/week, so I only have the possibility of subbing 12 days max. 

Needless to say, my house is atrocious.  Seriously, horrendous.  And I want to decorate for the holidays.  However, it is difficult to reason decorating a house when the house is so dirty I've lost the dust spray.  Yes, it's that bad.  Any cleaning volunteers? 

I've also been thinking of starting a new blog-ish site that I can use for my CV, but I'm wondering where I can dig up the time.  Also, I'd like to design some writing classes at the community center for this spring--one for homeschoolers and one for adults.  Oh, and did I mention I need to work on getting published myself?  Every time I see my culminating project on my flash drive, guilt shoots directly from my eyes through my body to my toes, which are buried under the mass of papers, clothes, and other debris inhabiting my house. 

Maybe I just need a clone?  What do you think?  If you could clone yourself for one day, and one day only, what would you have your clone do? 

Out Sick

Just a quick note to let you know I'm still alive...barely. 

I've been sick.  For two weeks.  TWO WEEKS.  Yeah, not fun.  I've been sounding like all the patients combined in an old-fashioned TB sanatorium.  Iron lung, anyone? 

So, I finally got to the "Express Care" yesterday and stopped at Meijer for some meds.  Did I mention how much I HATE Meijer now?  Twenty minutes turned into thirty, which turned into fifty.  Fifty minutes to fill my prescription.  Yeah, I coughed on everything I could find in a passive-aggressive rebellion, so make sure to wash your hands the next time you visit that store. 

Now, during my slow demise and even slower return to the land of the living, I've had some very interesting (and strange) thoughts run through my mind:

1.  What does the cough of a mute person sound like? 

2.  Why is the pharmacy usually located at the back of a store?  Are the stores really equipped with medical personnel to resuscitate local TB patients?  Next time you head to the pharmacy, take the most indirect route--someone may have coughed all over everything. 

3.  Is milk really necessary for cereal?  I mean, it's usually at the back of the store, too .

4.  What can really be classified as dinner?  If you serve your children healthy fruit, can that be a meal?

5.  A vaporizer that quits working right after you replace the filter, fill the tank with water, plug it in, and climb in bed should be smashed into tiny pieces and the manufacturer should receive individual pieces in the mail every year, delivered directly to their home address, until their backyard looks like a scene from Narnia's icy kingdom. 

6.  Do people really notice how many days you wear the same outfit?  I mean, I usually can't remember what I wore yesterday, except for the strewn remnants across my bedroom floor. 

7.  I really don't have a number 7.  I just don't like the number 6. 

Have a cough-free day, everyone!

The Perfect Post

I just noticed the date of my last post.  I...just...didn't see it until now?

Ok, I avoided looking until now.  Why, you ask?  Because I want to write the perfect post, of course.  You know.  The side-splitting, laughter inducing sentences with a contemplative undertone. 

Problem is, those just don't come out of my little (big) mouth...nor are they formed from the tiny keys overwhelmed by the pressure by my fingers.  Bumm-er. 

So, instead of prolific prose or giggly zingers, I'm going to make a to-do list for this week.  How many of you make to-do lists?  I make them, and then I realize everything I left off of them.  Then I make a new one.  Then I forget where I placed both of them (old-timers strikes again).

Here's my list for the weekend (that is, until Tuesday because that's when I'm actually required to wear clothing that half-way matches as I speak coherently (hahahaha) in front of 40-some college freshmen.

Source:  vi.sualize.us

1. Rework syllabi calendars--obviously, I thought I had no life when I planned the originals.  Oh, wait.  I don't. Ok, maybe I just want to sleep more.
2. Grade essays.  Grade essays.  Grade essays. 
3. Wash, iron, hang, & tag clothing/toys for a kids' sale. 
4. Call about a couple more job opportunities (how many others can I infect with my grammar par-tic-u-larities?)
5. Write some lesson plans.  Yep, I actually write this stuff down before it spews out of my mouth.  
6. Clean the bathroom.  I'm waiting on my gas mask and commercial-grade plastic suit to come in, which is a perfectly good excuse for shutting the door and ignoring what may be growing inside (ewwwwwww).  
7. Re-design my daughters' doll house before they redecorate the entire thing with colored markers, tiny pieces of toilet paper, and chewed-up straws.  As we all know, one person's trash is my daughters' treasure.  

What's on your to-do list this week?  

Source:  free-avatars.com

 

MIA

Yes, I've been MIA for a few days, so here's a brief run-down on the low-down (or whatever)...

Can I just say, I teaching?  I spent so many years doing jobs I coulnd't wait to leave, so I'm still in shock that I've found something I really, honestly enjoy!  Ok, so not all my classes are the greatest, but I had another really great class tonight and I glided to the parking lot on an adrenaline rush after it was over. 

On the sleeping front, the little gals have been a bit better in bed--perhaps first-week-of-school jitters has worn off a little?  On my next problem front, Ms. Snugglebug is having issues with the truth, as in, she doesn't like telling it.  While I was away tonight, she drew with pink marker all around her mouth and told my mom, "Nooooo.  I didn't do it."  And yet, it was all over her hands.  My mom's reaction?  I think she had difficulty containing the giggles. 

Oh, before I end this "life in brief,"  I have to tell you about the giveaway on Allison's site.  To celebrate 400 posts, she is giving away several skeins of yarn...woot woot.  Definitely check it out!

Vacation 2, Pt. 3

While on the Heritage Trail, we stayed at Das Essenhaus, a name that I pronounced differently an infinite number of times.  It was a very nice hotel/conference center, but large, so if you are looking for the little quaint getaway, this won't exactly meet your expectations.  However, the staff was extremely friendly, we were given a room on the first floor directly down the hall from the pool & exercise rooms, it was very clean, and there was a nice breakfast included the next morning.  There were quilts everywhere {including a quilt show}, a classic car show every Thursday in the summer, and several shops. 

This was in our room {I tried to take a pic of each quilt I saw}:

View from our room:

Snugglebug snugglin' with her new sock monkey...that I already had to sew once we got home.

Lovely being lovely {and showing off her new froggy watch}.

And last but not least, the travesty that occurred in my arteries from the abundance of home-cooked, family-style dining: 

Thoughtful Thursday: Getting Kids to Sleep

Not the girls' room..but cute :)

I have a secret to share with you...and a pet peeve.  My daughters don't sleep.  Ok, they sleep when it's really, really late...into the late morning.  But, they just don't like going to bed.  What's the secret, you ask?  I don't like going to bed, either. 

Since school began for the girls, they have to get up much earlier than normal.  This results in me gently saying, "Wake up for school," to tickling, to throwing the covers back, to pulling their warm bodies toward the cool edge of the bed, to bouncing the bed, to finally yelling, "GET UP!  YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

Now, I know all you homeschool moms don't have quite the same issue {luckies}, but my question for today is: how do you get kids to sleep?!  And then how do you get them up in time in the morning? 

These are the issues I'm facing:

• We have a small house, so the girls share one bedroom
• We have small rooms, so the girls share a double bed
• They talk, tickle, fight, and cry for at least an hour after I put them to bed
• If I put them to bed earlier {no matter how early they got up that morning}, they talk, tickle, fight, and cry for more than an hour after I put them to bed

This is what I've tried:

• Placing a body pillow between them.  Result:  Pillow is pushed/kicked/folded/climbed on
• Putting the girls to bed horizontally instead of vertically.  Result:  They complain because their legs now hang off the bed.
• Removing stuffed animals that they sleep with.  Result:  They never sleep with anything and are no longer allowed to sleep with anything.

Here is our routine:

• Restroom trip
• Goodnight kisses for Daddy
• Prayer
• Goodnight kisses for Mommy
• Bible audio plays on my iPod (and yes, I've explicitly warned them not to talk over God.  It works to start with...)
• Continual warning outside their door to be quiet
• Opening door, walking over to bed, and telling them to be quiet
• Threatening them with anything I can possibly hold over their head {figuratively} to entice them to listen

I'd like my bloodpressure to stay down tomorrow night, so have any thoughts, tricks, or tips? 

For more information on kids and sleep, I found this NY Magazine article really interesting. 

I Talk To Everyone...Whuuut?

Snugglebug surprised me yet again yesterday.  We went out for an early dinner with my mom since I had the first of two orientations last evening.  When someone was leaving, she started talking to me about twins, asking (as just about everyone does) if my girls are twins.  When she left, Lovely asked who that was and after I told her I didn't know, Snugglebug dropped a bombshell and said, "You talk to everyone." 

Whuut?  I have never, never, ever been accused of that.  I am the shy person who {im}patiently waits behind everyone else to ensure they are finished talking before I begin.  In fact, I looked around when I arrived at my orientation last night and wondered who on earth I would talk to, or if I would talk with anyone (I did, by the way--after a while).  Yet, I'm happy Snugglebug thinks I talk to "everyone."  I don't want my girls feeling as uncomfortable in crowds as I felt growing up, nervous about going anywhere because there would be "people."  Now, I just hope I can keep this "talkative cover" going ;)