Not Quite Ordinary Observations

For Today...Wednesday, January 23, 2012

In the great outdoors...sunshine! Lots and lots of wonderful sunshine! It’s also a very mild day – in the mid 50’s.

Within our four walls...an attempt to really get back into routine, even knowing that the next few months will not see a single fully normal week. Or maybe they will – maybe a full, uninterrupted week is abnormal and at least one interrupted day is our norm. Maybe if I approached life with that reality in mind I would be better off!

A heart of thanksgiving...for a church of people who love my children. Because of them, I have been able to participate in ministry opportunities like never before. I love it!

A heart of prayer...upcoming projects; several friends/children of friends recovering from illness or surgery or chemo or…; Doug as he continues to fight through a couple of very challenging classes.

Random observations...when I am diligently following my daily routine, I post here more. Can you tell how diligent I’ve been lately. Yeah. Week before last was great, but in the months before that and again last week, I neglected that routine. It is as simple as making a plan, even if the plan must be flexed or changed. If I start with a plan I am more diligent. If I have no plan or if I neglect to pay attention to the plan, I flounder. The things I enjoy the most fall through the cracks, like writing on this blog and sewing. I’m determined to restore discipline to my life. My friend Lea Ann put it into words quite well as she shared her struggle with the same thing. Here’s her post: One Big Fat Resolution.

My silly children...have dotted the whiteboard (which is back up after a long absence due to what I thought was a broken easel – it just had a loose part. YAY!) with “I love you Mommy!” I just discovered it today because I had a piece of felt draped over it to use with our felt fraction pieces. They lifted up the felt, wrote their message, and then covered it back up for me to find. I’m such a blessed mama!

Oh, and Angie just walked in to ask permission for a snack. I gave it, and then she said, “May I also have a hug?” Um, OF COURSE!

And there’s Steven, bringing me an offering of four M&M’s. Too sweet.

Thoughts from the kitchen...teriyaki deer today with the last of our homemade egg rolls. Guess it’s time to make another batch. I love having them in the freezer.

On my bookshelf...new organization. Okay, so it’s a couple of weeks old now, but it’s still neat, so I guess that’s the awesome part! My desk shelves now only contain my personal “want to read” stash, extra journals, and resource books. All of my review books now have their own bookshelf! Well, except for the bottom shelf which has magazines and some craft stuff. Several other bookshelves are squeezed tight to allow this delightful phenomenon which will hopefully allow me to keep my review stuff organized.

Projects…I’ve had some extra writing projects lately, so that’s where most of my focus has been.

Sounds of the moment...Olivia practicing the piano. I wish I could really teach them how to play, but at least they’re learning the foundations of music theory.

A favorite thing from last week...freezing rain was actually helpful last week. I missed getting to go out on Tuesday with the Gleaners for this month’s lunch, but the extra time at home was helpful. Then that night, Doug was supposed to go to a meeting. It ended up being cancelled. That was REALLY nice!

The planner...school and home the rest of this week. Catching up.

Because visuals are fun...Jack found a new favorite place during the cold days of last week.