Simple Woman's Daybook

I've seen this many times, on many blogs I love to read. I've always considered playing along, but its usually Thursday or so before i read the daybooks on other people's blogs. But now, its only Tuesday, I have my act together enough to follow the link, and I think I'll give it a whirl. :)

So...

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY (Tuesday, January 14, 2009)...
Outside my window... it's dark. The neighbors across the street still have their Christmas lights up. Personally, I hope they leave them up all winter. They have strands of delicate white 'icicles' hanging from the roof line of their ranch style home and a light sprinkling of colored lights atop the evergreen bushes that run along both sides of the house. Its simple and understated with just a touch of color and light. I need that during the long winter nights when both the evenings and the mornings are dark.

I am thinking...that I should be working on my grocery lists and coupons. But I woke up early this morning, and so I thought that deserved a little extra "me" time.

I am thankful for...the kisses the Jedi gave me just before he headed out the door. He never forgets to come and give me a kiss before he leaves for work. Even when I'm still in bed, he comes back to the bedroom, leans over, and kisses me lightly. He is so my prince charming.

From the learning rooms...Toa of Boy can read sentences like "The dog was hot and sad in the van." Sweetling can use a compass and straightedge to construct the bisector of any angle. My big goal is to get 5 chapters of her history book read before co-op tomorrow AND to get my note cards done for the research paper the composition class is working on. (Ok, technically that's two goals. But I could say 'my goal is to be prepped for co-op tomorrow.' That makes it one goal with two parts.)

From the kitchen... my oven currently has a yellow post it note stuck to the door which reads "Do not turn on oven!" I'm completely serious here. I baked fish on Saturday, and I put the fish on flat cookie sheets with no rim. The fish oozed fish oil (who knew?) which ran right off the cookie sheets and puddled and sizzled and became burnt pools of goo at the bottom of the oven. So, monday morning I grabbed the spray can of oven cleaner and READ and FOLLOWED the directions for use. Preheat oven to 200 degrees, but do not exceed 200 degrees, read the can. I carefully put my oven on 200 degrees, its lowest marked temperature setting. I waited a few minutes. I put on the rubber gloves the spray can told me to wear. (See, I can read and follow directions.) I held the can 12 inches from the surface of the oven. I depressed the spray nozzle while gently morving can in a horizontal direction parallel to surface of the oven. I thought I would pass out from the noxious fumes that erupted with the cleaner hit the oven surface and vaporized. I slammed the oven door shut and stumbled into the other room, vision distorted through watering of my eyes, gasping and choking and coughing for air. (See, even when I read and follow the directions, I'm doomed, so I may as well do things my way.) When I could breathe again, I opened the oven door slightly to let it cool down. Maybe my temperature setting was just a little too high, despite the fact that I had set it to 200. After my oven had cooled for 15 minutes or so, I tried it again. Same results.

Plan B was to go with the overnight cleaning method in a completely cool oven. I left my oven alone for several hours. This didn't break my heart any. I sprayed the toxic waste container into a completely cool oven. I still coughed and sputtered, but didn't feel that my life was in imminent danger, so I perservered. This method required leaving the oven closed for 6 hours while the holy terror I had just unleashed upon its interior did its work. Fine by me. I slapped a post-it not on the oven door, and there we are.

Now, don't get me wrong. I've cleaned my oven out many times. It has a habit of collecting pools of burnt goo along the bottom. I don't know why. But I've realized that paying the extra money for the name brand FUMELESS oven cleaner is totally worth it. The generic nerve gas was not a bargain.

I am wearing... fuzzy bunny slippers that Sweetling has named "Flip" and "Flop". White socks, cause despite my heated waterbed and feather down comforter and extra blanket on top of that AND a Jedi that is he's own heat generating wonderfullness, my feet get cold at night. A pink nightgown that has totally seen better days. I don't think I'm a restless sleeper, but the busted seams on most of my nightgowns claim otherwise. And I was going to say more about that, but Sweetling reads my blogs. The tears aren't there from fun times. I said it anyway. Moving along, I am also wearing a heavy burgandy bathrobe. It's like a portable blanket and I love it. Now, normally my goal is to get up by seven (and when I say normally, I mean, every few weeks I reset this goal for myself. I do it for about a week, then I fall of the wagon. Then a month later I decide, I really need to get up by....) So, ideally, my goal is to get up by seven and to get a shower by seven-thirty. Today, Mom was up (well, she's always up) but today she decided she wanted to get her shower early. So as soon as the Jedi left for work (just before seven) Mom got in the shower. Now its 7:25 and she's out, but I'm blogging.

I am creating... a mess? That's always an accurate answer. Actually, my current 'work in progress' is a character history. I'll post some of it later.

I am going... to pink up Pinkie this afternoon if both girls get their school work done. Then we have church tonight. I need to step down from children's ministry for a while. I got burnt out last spring and I just never recovered. I'm not excited about going to church tonight. And it used to be that I was excited. Oh sure, sometimes I got overwhelmed and busy (ok, often), but it still brought me joy and pleasure in the midst of my business. Now I'm not overwhelmed with children's ministry, but I'm not joyful either. I refuse to speculate that the two go together. They totally don't. I do NOT need to be overwhelmed to feel fulfilled, thank you very much.

I am reading... Diddly squat. I have a stack of library books AND a stack of books Nora loaned me and they have been sitting here all fall. (Well, not the library books, but that's a rotating stack. I take them back unread and bring home new ones that will sit unread.) Normally, I'm a book-aholic, so I'm completely baffled by this behavior pattern.

I am hoping...that's a good question. What am I hoping for? I'm hoping for pleasant and productive weekdays.

I am hearing...Mother bustle around getting ready. This is alternatively accompanied by whispered mutterings to herself and quiet humming.

Around the house...it is dark and quiet. The Jedi is gone. The kids are still sleeping. Mom is down the hall and I can hear her, but the light from her bedroom or from the bathroom is stopped by their closed doors. The living room is dark, the stairway behind me is dark, the picture window beside me is dark. It seems like only the kitchen light is on as I sit at the table with my laptop.

One of my favorite things...Ghiredelli brownies. I had forgotten how good they were. Mother had a meeting after work yesterday, and everyone was to bring a dessert to share. On Monday, Mom decided to go to Walmart and just pick up a ready made something. She asked me what I wanted, since she was planning on getting something to take with her and something to leave at the house. I said we needed eggs and I would like a 99 cent brownie mix please. She said, no, she didn't want me to have to make something. I said the brownie mixes were way yummer than the premade store bought brownies. She agreed to that and came home with 18 eggs and four Ghiredelli brownie mixes. I made one to keep with us, one for her to take to work, and put two boxes in the pantry. (I also took the batteries out of the smoke alarm, cause the brownie baking was happening after the fish baking had occurred.)

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Church tonight. (Hey, I just realized its really Wednesday, not Tuesday. I'll have to adjust what I wrote earlier.) We have co-op tomorrow and we're going to try to launch our new 'get most of the errands done on one day' plan after co-op by hitting walgreens, cvs, and the library that afternoon. Then Sweetling has Tae Kwon Do at 6, Toa of Boy takes a bubble bath on Thursday nights, and the Jedi and I have Tae Kwon Do at 7:30. On Friday afternoon, Pinkie and Equistrian are coming over for God's girls. I think we're gaming Friday evening, which means I need to finish my character write up, update my character, and vacuum before gaming. Saturday is blissedly free of plans (except that I'll be helping Mother get her classroom portfolio worked on). Sunday morning is church. Sunday afternoon is cleaning and laundry day. Sunday evening is Extreme Makeover Home Edition. And that brings us back to Monday. Monday afternoon Sweetling has a dentist appointment (they found a cavity at her check-up yesterday.) Monday evening is free. It's the only weekday night that is free. Unless the Jedi has an elder meeting. Tuesday we'll go to Meyer in the afternoon, Sweetling has Tae Kwon Do at 6 and I have dance at 6:30 and then Tae Kwon Do at 7:30. And that's our upcoming week. Plus, you know, homeschool during the days.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...





This is my character sketch of Aimee. I did the drawing quite some time ago, and made a character from the sketch. But I never had a clear history or story for her, so that's what I'll be working on this week.

Now it 7:55, and I'm off to get a shower.