Ok, I actually spent 3 hours (off and on) trying to cut the huge weeds that I would like to call a yard. I don't even have a quarter of the front yard done...but the summer lies ahead of me (and Zack...my 14 year old...gets home from camp tomorrow). I started to get discouraged after working and not getting much done. Then I realized that it takes a long time to get ourselves in these weeds...why do we think in one afternoon we can get them cleared from our lives?
That's how life is. It took me years to become overweight...I'm not going to get thin overnight. It took me months to stack up all the disorganization in this house...I'm not going to organize in one day. Etc. Etc. I just have to plug along...that's what life's all about.
Today I'm taking a DAY OFF with a really good friend. Jimi and I are going 20 miles to her lake house (on a very small lake). It's going to be just us...eating, giggling, fishing, and just relaxing! I'm not going to think about my house or my yard or anything else hanging over my head right now. I'm going to enjoy a beautiful day by the lake with a really great friend.
Hope you all have a GREAT day!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
SUMMER
It's SUMMER!!! The sun is shining...the birds are singing...I slept in until 8 (after getting up at 5 for the last 9 months, that IS sleeping in)...and I am ready to go out in the yard and start "weed whacking". I have been putting it off for three days now.
Monday I dropped Zack off at the church for a week of camp, then came home and literally got off of the couch only to eat, go to the bathroom, and get more to eat. Yesterday I went back to school to clean out my room. For some reason, I had it pegged as a one to two hour job...6 hours later, I had the car completely packed and was ready to come home. So, today, I face the yard.
This shouldn't be so daunting...but it is. When we moved here in December, the yard was in bad condition. Front part was about 6 inches high and nothing but what looked like small twigs of something...back yard looked like a very wet wheat field...of course, can't do much of yard work December through at least March and April. Then we had snow in March AND April (really unusual for the Pacific Northwest unless you live in the mountains)...so, by the end of April when it started drying up, I knew we had to get to it soon. Of course, being a renter, I have no lawn mower or anything. I did ask the landlord several times if they could loan us a mower...needless to say, it never happened...so now I am looking at a wheat field surrounding my house. A mower wouldn't be able to get through it. I am getting ready to begin "whacking" a quarter of an acre so that we actually can begin mowing again. I guess I could save it for Zack...but I'm getting embarrassed by the looks of people driving by, as well as the neighbors. I have taken to putting up my hoodie as I leave the house and trying hard not to return until after dark. Since sunset doesn't happen until after 9, that is getting harder and harder.
I have to "get er done". I am taking this as a life lesson...when we don't take care of things that need taking care of...they get to a point that makes the task look impossible. I'm thinking of several issues in my own life. My weight...instead of handling it when it started getting out of control (how many years ago was that?)...I just keep letting it go. Now I am facing the fact that I HAVE to get rid of extra weight for numerous reasons...most of them health related. My house...another area that I have let go. It's not "dirty" dirty...just unorganized dirty. The condition of my cluttered house makes my head get cluttered. I could go on...but, at this point I am just avoiding going out there.
My lesson for today will be to quit avoiding and start mowing things when they need mowed. Off to the yard!
Monday I dropped Zack off at the church for a week of camp, then came home and literally got off of the couch only to eat, go to the bathroom, and get more to eat. Yesterday I went back to school to clean out my room. For some reason, I had it pegged as a one to two hour job...6 hours later, I had the car completely packed and was ready to come home. So, today, I face the yard.
This shouldn't be so daunting...but it is. When we moved here in December, the yard was in bad condition. Front part was about 6 inches high and nothing but what looked like small twigs of something...back yard looked like a very wet wheat field...of course, can't do much of yard work December through at least March and April. Then we had snow in March AND April (really unusual for the Pacific Northwest unless you live in the mountains)...so, by the end of April when it started drying up, I knew we had to get to it soon. Of course, being a renter, I have no lawn mower or anything. I did ask the landlord several times if they could loan us a mower...needless to say, it never happened...so now I am looking at a wheat field surrounding my house. A mower wouldn't be able to get through it. I am getting ready to begin "whacking" a quarter of an acre so that we actually can begin mowing again. I guess I could save it for Zack...but I'm getting embarrassed by the looks of people driving by, as well as the neighbors. I have taken to putting up my hoodie as I leave the house and trying hard not to return until after dark. Since sunset doesn't happen until after 9, that is getting harder and harder.
I have to "get er done". I am taking this as a life lesson...when we don't take care of things that need taking care of...they get to a point that makes the task look impossible. I'm thinking of several issues in my own life. My weight...instead of handling it when it started getting out of control (how many years ago was that?)...I just keep letting it go. Now I am facing the fact that I HAVE to get rid of extra weight for numerous reasons...most of them health related. My house...another area that I have let go. It's not "dirty" dirty...just unorganized dirty. The condition of my cluttered house makes my head get cluttered. I could go on...but, at this point I am just avoiding going out there.
My lesson for today will be to quit avoiding and start mowing things when they need mowed. Off to the yard!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Students speak
Mid-winter break is over. We've had a whole week off and I always love coming back and hearing some of the wonderful statements the students have to say.
"Do we have to have the test tomorrow? We haven't really had a lot of time to study."
(Yeah, I know, the fact that I told you 2 days BEFORE a week off...who would have time to study?}
"Do we have to do anything today?"
(No, let's all just sit here and recover from a week off.)
"I didn't have time to do my current event."
(Oh, poor thing, couldn't tear yourself away from the Wii?)
"I'm so tired. I can't wait until Friday."
{Well, don't let me spoil your naptime.)
"Did you have fun over break?"
(Yep, I did lesson plans, cleaned house, cooked for a change and watched a couple episodes of Oprah)
"I wasn't here the Friday before break. Did we do anything?"
(No sweetie, we just sat around wondering what you were doing.)
"When's our next day off?"
(Take yours now...it's 4 weeks away.)
Have a great day!
"Do we have to have the test tomorrow? We haven't really had a lot of time to study."
(Yeah, I know, the fact that I told you 2 days BEFORE a week off...who would have time to study?}
"Do we have to do anything today?"
(No, let's all just sit here and recover from a week off.)
"I didn't have time to do my current event."
(Oh, poor thing, couldn't tear yourself away from the Wii?)
"I'm so tired. I can't wait until Friday."
{Well, don't let me spoil your naptime.)
"Did you have fun over break?"
(Yep, I did lesson plans, cleaned house, cooked for a change and watched a couple episodes of Oprah)
"I wasn't here the Friday before break. Did we do anything?"
(No sweetie, we just sat around wondering what you were doing.)
"When's our next day off?"
(Take yours now...it's 4 weeks away.)
Have a great day!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Where did it go?
I wrote a really good blog the other day...too bad I didn't save it. I pushed the "publish post" button and got some message about something being down. (techno lingo...I don't get it) Anyway, the post disappeared somewhere out in "blog-land" and now I don't even remember what it was about. Probably had to do with ALL that I was going to get done during Mid-winter break. Maybe it's a good thing that it didn't get published. So far I have done a lot of NOTHING during mid-winter break. Now, here it is, the last three days and I have about 6 days worth of work to do.
This is all part of my new years resolution (remember those?) to not sweat the small stuff. This is actually BIG stuff...but I'm not going to sweat it. I have to put together 4 weeks worth of stuff for school. No biggie (she says with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice). Actually, when I get on a roll, I can get it done. I'm in the midst of a roll now and have to stop to go have brunch with ex-roomie. Hopefully I won't come back home ready for a nap...but instead, inspired to write lesson plans that will inspire 120 students who are actually going to be counting the days until spring break.
I spent the last 2 days on the other side of the mountain...went to Yakima to watch our girls basketball team play at State Tournaments. It was fun to be there to cheer them on. If they win again this morning, they are guaranteed 8th or 5th in State. That's pretty cool for a team that has NEVER won at state at all before. It was fun to see our kids rally around other teams in our league who are usually the opposition. We all just want to see teams from our league make it big over there. Our cheerleaders even stepped in for a small tribal school that doesn't have it's own cheerleaders. They got in front of their crowd (mixed with a lot of our crowd) and led cheers during a double overtime game. The team we were cheering for won and we like to think that we helped somehow.
So, off to brunch and then back to the books.
Have a great day!
This is all part of my new years resolution (remember those?) to not sweat the small stuff. This is actually BIG stuff...but I'm not going to sweat it. I have to put together 4 weeks worth of stuff for school. No biggie (she says with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice). Actually, when I get on a roll, I can get it done. I'm in the midst of a roll now and have to stop to go have brunch with ex-roomie. Hopefully I won't come back home ready for a nap...but instead, inspired to write lesson plans that will inspire 120 students who are actually going to be counting the days until spring break.
I spent the last 2 days on the other side of the mountain...went to Yakima to watch our girls basketball team play at State Tournaments. It was fun to be there to cheer them on. If they win again this morning, they are guaranteed 8th or 5th in State. That's pretty cool for a team that has NEVER won at state at all before. It was fun to see our kids rally around other teams in our league who are usually the opposition. We all just want to see teams from our league make it big over there. Our cheerleaders even stepped in for a small tribal school that doesn't have it's own cheerleaders. They got in front of their crowd (mixed with a lot of our crowd) and led cheers during a double overtime game. The team we were cheering for won and we like to think that we helped somehow.
So, off to brunch and then back to the books.
Have a great day!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Foley Flu
I would not have made a good nurse. When I was very young, my mother started plying me with nurse's stuff. I got nurse's kits for birthdays and Christmas (all I really liked were the candy pills). I got nurse books (I still remember "Nurse Nancy"). And I even had nurse's costumes for Halloween. It had been her dream to be a nurse...it never grew on me. I'm seriously not great around sick people. Had I been a nurse, I would have been the type that said "Oh, you really aren't that sick." or else I would have crawled in bed beside my patients feeling their pain with them.
So, I married a man who took sickness to a brand new level. He stayed in bed 3 days once because he stepped on a nail (through big work boots) and finally got up ONLY if we could go buy a cane to help him walk. He kept asking me if the "wound" looked infected. I never actually saw the wound. My son could easily follow in his dad's footsteps. This child has had more aches and pains than any kid I know. Nothing serious. As a matter of fact, he's 14 and Saturday was maybe the third time in his life he's gone to the Dr. because he was actually sick. Even then (Saturday) I was really just taking him to shut him up. (I know that doesn't sound motherly at all, does it.)
Well, Monday morning at about 3:00 AM, whatever he had hit me like a ton of bricks. For the next 24 hours (plus), if I wasn't asleep, it was because I was up "spewing". Yesterday, when I finally ventured from my bed, I felt like I had been hit by a truck.
Never again will I roll my eyes when he tells me he doesn't feel well.
So, I married a man who took sickness to a brand new level. He stayed in bed 3 days once because he stepped on a nail (through big work boots) and finally got up ONLY if we could go buy a cane to help him walk. He kept asking me if the "wound" looked infected. I never actually saw the wound. My son could easily follow in his dad's footsteps. This child has had more aches and pains than any kid I know. Nothing serious. As a matter of fact, he's 14 and Saturday was maybe the third time in his life he's gone to the Dr. because he was actually sick. Even then (Saturday) I was really just taking him to shut him up. (I know that doesn't sound motherly at all, does it.)
Well, Monday morning at about 3:00 AM, whatever he had hit me like a ton of bricks. For the next 24 hours (plus), if I wasn't asleep, it was because I was up "spewing". Yesterday, when I finally ventured from my bed, I felt like I had been hit by a truck.
Never again will I roll my eyes when he tells me he doesn't feel well.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Whoosh
That's the sound my weekend made as it zipped past me. Where did it go? Saturday I had the whole day ahead of me with no plans, no basketball games...just me, my lesson plans and a messy house. I think I actually slept in until 8:30. Somehow it was noon before I got around to the house cleaning. I figured if I did that first I would be ready to get to the lesson plans. I did actually accomplish something there...rearranged my room, thoroughly cleaned Zack's room and made the rest of the house passable. I decided at 6:00 pm to watch a movie while I ate dinner and then get to the lesson plans. I ended up finding a 2 part movie (about Sally Hemmings the slave/mistress of Thomas Jefferson) so it didn't end until 10:00. At that point I decided to go to bed and get up early.
I actually got up at 5:30 Sunday morning and worked hard on lesson plans until time to leave for church. I came home, worked another couple of hours, made an appetizer, and left for a Super Bowl party. At the party, I ate as if I would not see food for a few days...cheered on the Giants (no reason, just picked the underdog), picked up Zack, and came home to work a few more hours on, you guessed it, lesson plans. I didn't finish until 2:00 am! The bad news is, I have each class covered until Wednesday. Sometime in the next couple of days I actually have to figure out what to do in 4 separate subjects on Thursday and Friday!
Zack went to bed mad at me. Why? Because I don't want him to get a tattoo while he's with his Dad in Oregon during mid-winter break. I really believe EX sets me up for this stuff. He wants to ensure that Zack and I have something to fight about. He (EX) doesn't see the reason that Zack can't get one since in Oregon a kid can get a tattoo with his parents' permission. I'm sorry. I'm not really anti-tattoo (except when there is more tattoo than actual skin)...but he's 14. I can't control his mind, but surely I can still control what he does to his body.
This week is going to be crazy. Wednesday is the ONLY night this week that we will actually be home before 10:00. 3 basketball games and an Open House. But, there's light at the end of the rainbow. Two weeks from today I will be sleeping in and looking forward to a week off. I'm not leaving this house until I have all my lesson plans done for the rest of the quarter, as well as every box unpacked and put away.
Somebody remind me in two weeks that I said that.
I actually got up at 5:30 Sunday morning and worked hard on lesson plans until time to leave for church. I came home, worked another couple of hours, made an appetizer, and left for a Super Bowl party. At the party, I ate as if I would not see food for a few days...cheered on the Giants (no reason, just picked the underdog), picked up Zack, and came home to work a few more hours on, you guessed it, lesson plans. I didn't finish until 2:00 am! The bad news is, I have each class covered until Wednesday. Sometime in the next couple of days I actually have to figure out what to do in 4 separate subjects on Thursday and Friday!
Zack went to bed mad at me. Why? Because I don't want him to get a tattoo while he's with his Dad in Oregon during mid-winter break. I really believe EX sets me up for this stuff. He wants to ensure that Zack and I have something to fight about. He (EX) doesn't see the reason that Zack can't get one since in Oregon a kid can get a tattoo with his parents' permission. I'm sorry. I'm not really anti-tattoo (except when there is more tattoo than actual skin)...but he's 14. I can't control his mind, but surely I can still control what he does to his body.
This week is going to be crazy. Wednesday is the ONLY night this week that we will actually be home before 10:00. 3 basketball games and an Open House. But, there's light at the end of the rainbow. Two weeks from today I will be sleeping in and looking forward to a week off. I'm not leaving this house until I have all my lesson plans done for the rest of the quarter, as well as every box unpacked and put away.
Somebody remind me in two weeks that I said that.
Monday, January 28, 2008
SNOW DAY
This has to be one of the top ten pleasures in life. Waking up at the usual 4:45 am and finding about 3 inches of new snow on the ground. Now in some areas of the country, it would be a typical winter morning...but in the great Pacific Northwest it means a SNOW DAY. I turned on the news and watched with anticipation and sure enough...no school today! And I hate to take credit...but this was another answer to prayer.
Friday was the last day of the semester. Tomorrow is the first day of the new semester. I have two new classes this semester (Civics and 10th grade English). I am not prepared for either one. I had a busy weekend...basketball games Thursday night (Zack scored 15 points, by the way), Friday night and Saturday (from 2:00 until 9:00). After church yesterday I went to a friend's house to do laundry ( I MUST get a working wash machine) and graded papers while I washed and waited. Came home at 9 and continued grading until 2:00 AM. I HAD to get them done. As I was heading off to bed, I heard the weather saying there MIGHT be some precipitation between then and Tuesday. I whispered a prayer, "Please let it be tomorrow". THANKS GOD!
So, I will now record all the grades I graded and have time to plan some lessons for this week. I might even get a couple more boxes unpacked while I'm at it! And all of this will be done in sweats. What could be better?
Have a great week.
Friday was the last day of the semester. Tomorrow is the first day of the new semester. I have two new classes this semester (Civics and 10th grade English). I am not prepared for either one. I had a busy weekend...basketball games Thursday night (Zack scored 15 points, by the way), Friday night and Saturday (from 2:00 until 9:00). After church yesterday I went to a friend's house to do laundry ( I MUST get a working wash machine) and graded papers while I washed and waited. Came home at 9 and continued grading until 2:00 AM. I HAD to get them done. As I was heading off to bed, I heard the weather saying there MIGHT be some precipitation between then and Tuesday. I whispered a prayer, "Please let it be tomorrow". THANKS GOD!
So, I will now record all the grades I graded and have time to plan some lessons for this week. I might even get a couple more boxes unpacked while I'm at it! And all of this will be done in sweats. What could be better?
Have a great week.
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