Whew, that was a long climb...

It's been a long climb back up out of the pit I fell into. But I'm back-ish. Blair is home, summer is over, the new school year is well under way, the Thanksgiving bird is eaten and Christmas is approaching much, much faster than I had hoped.

Part of what's been keeping me so busy is my new blog: Local Nourishment. I'll link to it from here, but I won't link back from there to here. Too much personal info here for the general audience I'm hooked up with over there. It kinda grew out of a dietary experiment and has become a fascinating, educating thing.

So, let's see. Where did I leave off? Goodness, but the finances were miserable there for a while! Still no regular "job", and none on the horizon, but we're still hanging in there. Hubby actually just signed a contract with Apologia (you might know them from their amazingly excellent science curriculum.) We finished book one of hubby's worldview series:

and we've started working on book 2. Here's a link to a much better picture and description. It was a lot like being pregnant. Exhaustion, swollen ankles, nausea, headaches, followed by several months of waiting, a final push and an exciting delivery. But, UPS brought this one, not the stork.

That's the biggest news.

And what did YOU do today, dear?

I listed about 100 new books on my Amazon store site. I still have about another 50 to go. Drop by if you like books, I've got some pretty neat stuff up! Better yet, wait until Monday so you can see it all. But don't forget, okay?

Hubby's due for another smackin'

You know, I don't ask much. For a girl, I'm pretty low maintenance. (And no, I'm not "the worst kind - the high maintenance kind that thinks they're low maintenance," but thank you anyway, Harry.) But by golly, I'm a busy lady, and if there's something you can do that's more easily done by you than by me, then don't be so disrespectful of me that you insist I do it because I'm "home all day" and you "work for a living."

Example: Here's what my schedule looked like the last two days:

6:00AM I'm NOT a morning person, but Christy and I have eye appointments at 8, so it's up-and-at-'em and making breakfast way too early.

7:00AM Typed out Kate and Blair's schedules for the day. They will stay home and sleep in while Rose, Christy, hubby and I go to the eye doctor. John is up and grumping at me.

8:00AM Eye doctor. Christy is still too young for contacts. Bummer, because she only needs correction in one eye. Hubby helps me find a pair of glasses he doesn't mind looking at me wearing and takes off for work while we finish up the appointments.

9:30AM Home, but only momentarily. Blair needs a ride to her nanny job. It's not far and there's a Starbucks on the way. I also grab Kate and bring her along with the rest of us. We have a spelling bee in the car on the way, and everyone is silent while they do their math on the way back.

10:15AM What is THAT!? While filling the car up with gas, I notice there is a slit on the sidewall of the tire! I'm regaled with stories of hubby's trip to the gas station during which he doesn't see a curb and goes up and then down with a slam. The tire isn't losing air or forming a "bubble," so it'll have to wait to be examined by an expert.

10:30AM Kate has an orthodontist appointment. Finally, a bracket is put on a wayward tooth to rein it back in. This is the part of the orthodontia Kate's been waiting for - the part that will make a visible difference.

12:00Noon Home for a quick bowl of soup and Bible devotions. I find some ground turkey lurking in the fridge and fry it up, then refrigerate it. I'm sure something will need ground meat in the next day or two.

1:00PM Blair calls, the 3-year-old girl she is sitting for is showing signs of becoming ill. She calls the mom who cuts short her shopping time and comes home. I do a very quick lunch dishwash and run to pick her up while Kate watches over Rose and Christy.

1:30PM Blair is looking decidedly not good. Tired? Sick? Hard to say. She goes off to take a nap while the rest of us clean the bedrooms, Tuesday's job. But that means she won't be available to do a quick job this afternoon and I'll have to take John after school. I call the school and leave him a message to not take the bus home.

2:45PM Blair is still snoozing, so I leave Kate in charge while I go pick up John. I have packed him a snack and we go clear to the o-t-h-e-r side of town for a quick job. Job takes 10 minutes, travel there and back nearly two hours. Oh, how I dislike city traffic!

4:45PM Blair is up, but grouchy. She calls my cellphone and wants to know what she can make for dinner. I had planned a tortilla soup with refried bean burritos, but know this is probably beyond her patience level, so I ask her to boil some noodles and make a tomato sauce to throw the already-cooked ground turkey into. She handles that, plus makes a lovely salad for dinner.

5:30PM I'm home again, and pacing the floor. I have a job to perform between 5 and 8PM, but hubby's late getting home. He's not at the office and his cellphone is turned off. I can't reach him to ask him to get home as soon as possible. I ask Blair if she can keep an eye on the kids while I run out, but she says "Only if you lock John in his room." Clearly they're not getting along well. John will NOT stand for that, so I wait for hubby.

6:00PM Still waiting.

6:30PM Still waiting.

7:00PM If I don't leave now I won't get the job done before 8PM, so I ask John to please come with me. He does NOT want to come. I do NOT give him a choice.

7:10PM As I'm driving out, hubby drives in. John leaps from the car to go back inside and I ask hubby about the tire. "Oooh, you'd better have that looked at tomorrow!" he says. Tomorrow is my day off. Off. As in laundry, school and chores, but no running hither and yon at all hours. I am late so I run out and complete the job by 8. Barely.

8:45PM Home. Collapsing on the couch, promptly followed by collapsing on the bed and snoring before I even get my glasses taken off. zzzzzzzzzz

7:00AM Why am I being shaken awake on my day off? What do you MEAN you missed the bus?!? Ask your father for a ride in - he has to leave about that time anyway. No? Okay. I'm up. Grumble grumble.

7:45AM Home from the school run and ready to enjoy my leisurely day of laundry, cooking, school, chores, making menus and shopping lists for the next 7 days and other relaxing hobbies. I ask hubby if he wouldn't mind taking the van to work today and dropping it off at that Firestone just up the street from his office so they can fix the tire while he's at work. No? Even though it means I have to take all the kids and sit in the Firestone's waiting room for who-knows-how-long when you could just drop it off and walk a block? No? Even though it was YOU who wrecked the darned tire? NO? Fine. Yeah, you have a nice day, too.

I spent three hours at Firestone between taking and picking up Blair. On my day "off." Tomorrow I'm scheduled again from 8 to 8. But at least the car is safe. I need a nap.

Where's my rolling pin? I have a man to chase and threaten.

Other "beg offs" this week: All the birthday shopping for Kate has fallen to me. When it was time to take his mother's car in for an oil change, I spent two hours at Walmart waiting for it. His dry cleaning needed picking up (even though they are open 6AM to 10PM, he couldn't manage to get there to do it personally.)

It wouldn't be such a big deal, except that I'm working crazy hours, dealing with five children that require homeschooling (and attention!) and am expected to spend my day off doing things that are more convenient for him to accomplish than me. And I have one child who can't be left home alone or in charge of others!

But I don't want to complain. Any more. I think I got it off my chest now. Thanks.

Okay, an edit for hubby's sanity

Hubby insisted that I post a "day in the life" so you can see that there really isn't any educational neglect going on. The kids really do learn a LOT even though I'm not teaching them a lot.

I've changed our names for this blog. Rosie is my youngest, at 7. Her next older sister is Christie, 10. Next up is Kate, 12. John, age 15, isn't home much, he's our only public schooled student right now. My oldest at home is Blair, age 17. I do have a grown, married, wonderful son, Marty (27), and his wonderful wife Raye, WAYYYYY on the other side of the continent.

6:00AM What luck! (and what a great alarm clock!) It just happens to be one of my 6AM days! So, I won't put off blogging this particular day. There are ginger cookies for breakfast today, and they only take 20 minutes to bake, so John can have some before he heads off to the bus. Perhaps with enough butter and cinnamon sugar on them he might even eat one. One of my favorite trick-myself-into-making-breakfast tricks is to stir together the dry ingredients for muffins or cookies in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. I refrigerate the wet stuff and leave the dry stuff on the counter with the muffin tins or cookie sheets already pan-sprayed. In the morning, I just combine the two bowls' contents and scoop out batter into the tins. Not nearly as dangerous as really cooking in the AM.

6:45AM Cookies done and cleaned up after. Can I go back to bed now? No, no, I'm fine. I'll hop in the shower before hubby gets up to leave the bathroom available for him to get ready for work. Kids aren't up yet, except John, who leaves for the bus at 7:05. While I'm in the shower, I think about a dear friend who I want to encourage via email today and what I can say to her that will bless her.

7:18AM Out of the shower, hair more-or-less done, makeup on and readyish for the day. Another couple cups of coffee and I'll be coherent. Hubby wants to know if I made juice with the cookies. No, but I made him a quick cup of cocoa. It's chilly here today! YAY!

7:40AM Ah, that last cup of coffee downed, and the girls are starting to stir. I remind them to do their before breakfast chores (make bed, brush hair and teeth, put away PJs and bedtime books) and come up for food. Hubby decides to work at home today because he's not feeling tip top.

8:15AM Girls all fed and cleaned up after, they are doing their morning chores. I sit down to check the email. I have four books from my Amazon site to ship and one eBay sale. YAY! Prep all that shipping stuff and run it out to the mailbox.

9:00AM Done with shipping, email and other business-related work for the morning. I sit down with a cup of coffee (just one more?) to make the menus and shopping list for the week.

9:10AM Yikes. Forgot the laundry. Fold a load, washer to dryer, dirty to washer. Back to the menus. Rose is practicing the piano while Blair works with Kate on her costume for the Fall Festival at church tonight. Christie is having floor time with the guinea pigs after doing a quick clean of their cage.

9:30AM I have a basic idea of menus for the week and have written most of the ingredients I need for them, so it's off to start lunch. We're having steamed cauliflower and broccoli, chilled, with a yogurt dressing. Blair starts working with Christie on costume. Rose bakes sardine-wheat germ cookies for the neighbor's cat who just had kittens. Kate does "PE" on the trampoline.

10:15AM Blair works with Rose on her costume. Christie does "PE" on the Gazelle, Kate makes a "Sorry, no candy" sign for the front door. I check the grocery list against what's in the pantry, subtracting what we have and adding staples we need.

10:35AM We have a snack of leftover muffins and Emergen-C. Rose asks how to count "less than zero," so we have an impromptu lesson on negative numbers while Christie listens in. Kate finishes snack and goes to get a jump on her afternoon chores. Blair showers.

10:45AM All cleaned up from snack now, the kids run downstairs and grab their schoolwork they did at bedtime last night. They love working at night when it's quiet. I take a look at math papers, creatively written stories, their "Books I've Read" lists, and ideas for a science scavenger hunt.

11:10AM I compile the scavenger hunt list and send them packing. All four girls go and check off interesting things they find on their lists, collect leaves and rocks, and sketch birds they see. While it's quiet, I catch up on my home business and sort through my in box. If I can get the filing ready to do, Blair will do it during her afternoon chore time. It's also payday, so I check the account to make sure our automatic bill payments are set up and working.

12:15PM The girls come back ravenous from their adventure. We sit down to lunch and polish off the veggies. A couple of them go in search of more food (it's not lunch without a sandwich, they insist) while I help Christie do dishes. Another cha-cha-cha with the laundry and we're off to finish off the afternoon chore list. Today is "small room" day. We pick up, sweep and mop or vacuum, dust, and organize the entry way, schoolroom, laundry room, halls and stairs.

1:45PM I locate the leftover breakfast cookies and make some cardamom tea for the girls' snack. The chores are all done and we are ready to play! Blair plays on the Wii, which looks more like PE than games to me, swinging a bat, tennis racket and golf club and throwing punches. I determine the next set of plants I want to grow and hybrid in my game of "Plant Tycoon." Kate is downstairs on her computer, writing her plan and plot summary for Nanowrimo. All the kids will participate this year and it will probably take a huge chunk of our time each day.

2:15PM Blair wanders off to work on my computer, the only one with internet access. She is a forum administrator of a website for fans of a certain author's books. She also frequents a forum for young writers, and is quite active there, sharing lots of plot ideas and editing tips. Kate has gone with Rose to visit the new kittens in the neighborhood and bring a treat to the new mama cat. Christie works on her Nanowrimo plot on her computer downstairs. More laundry for me!

2:35PM Kate came home alone after dropping Rose off at her friend's. She wants to play on the Wii, and all her chores are done, so I consent. She likes to play Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and Wii Sports, but will occasionally play Lego Star Wars or Spiderman. I gather up the contents of the hermit crab cage (but not the crabs themselves!) to wash and boil and return to their aquarium. Then sit to rest my knees with a cup of tea.

3:38PM John is home from school now, ready for a bite to eat before he goes off to work mowing lawns in the neighborhood. We've had such a horrible drought that his income was near zero all summer. But now that the autumn rains have started, there are a few jobs here and there and he's glad to have them! He saves his money to spend at the local magic store where he is learning tricks very quickly and making quite a name for himself. He has applied to be a demonstrator at the mall this holiday season for the shop. Blair is done online and gets to work filing. Kate's friends are also home from school, and she goes out to the backyard to jump on the trampoline and visit with them. Hubby pokes his head out to say he is going to shower now.

4:15PM Well, we had planned to go to the Fall Festival at church, but Rose has come down with a runny nose and looks pale. John says he'd rather not go anyway, and Christie didn't like the costume she worked out with Blair. So, we'll stay home and have a fun night in.

4:45PM I just walked in the door from Wal Mart. I picked up Meet The Robinsons, a movie we enjoyed this summer. We'll eat some Taco Bell, watch a movie and pop some popcorn later. Rose is looking a little worse and doesn't feel like moving from the couch. I made her a bed on the couch where she's comfy cozy. Christie asked me to teach her how to crochet, so I showed her how to make a slip knot and single crochet. That should keep her busy a long time.

6:15PM Dinner is over and cleaned up, we watched Jeopardy, which is one thing we do every single day as a family, and it's time to start our movie. I just did a quick check and one of my eBay auctions ending tonight is up over $500. Hello, Christmas Money!

7:30PM Taking a short break from the movie to pop the popcorn. Rose fell asleep on the couch during the movie, and I don't think I'll wake her to put her to bed. Christie is practicing her crocheting while she watches the movie, but now that there's popcorn she'll have to take a break!

8:30PM Movie over, popcorn gone and vacuumed up. The kids say their goodnights and go to their rooms to read, do schoolwork, talk or play quietly. We turn the computers off when the sun goes down, so that's not an option for them at night. But I hear some nice, quiet music playing and no arguing, which is really nice for a change! At 9:30 I'll holler down a "lights out" and head for bed myself, but for now, hubby wants to watch another movie.

11:17PM That's enough day for one day for me. I'm ready for bed. Oops - tomorrow is Christie's portrait, and I want to get to Wal Mart early to pick up candy and costumes at half price while they last. I'd better go make sure Christie's pretty dress is clean and pressed before I turn in. Good night!