Saturday Smiles

[Harriet]

((Harmony)) I just worry if you are taking care of you.

dd wants to recommend the youtube video,"Simon's Cat in The Box", especially to Mr. BookSaver.

grey cat and Twins', I appreciated the input on universal breakfast and early high school start times yesterday.

Twins', I'm sure you're right that the total bus schedule for elem/mid/high is the big factor in the "rude awakening" every student here receives at start of 9th, when their family alarm clocks start ringing 2 hours earlier. Probably the school system just has to place someone outside in the Oh-Dark-Thirty more dangerous conditions, and they decide to do it to the oldest.

grey cat, that's right that what is served is so important. I do fear that a bunch of sugar and white flour is going to be all they can come up with some mornings - they may be overwhelmed. As for the attempt to help dd with the reality of circadian rhythms out of sync, I am truly hopeful about the blue-light-blocking bulbs in the evenings, and the glasses if she just has to stay up on the computer until late. We'll see.

We have still never been given time to rebut the arduous schedule her guidance dept has given her. We agreed to a few tough courses but then they just put her in for all honors, and then their computers went down. That was last year.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Back from the plant sale. Stayed about 90 minutes. Didn't buy any plants but did pick up 4 cucumbers. Will make a Danish cucumbers for dh and I for dinner tonight and tomorrow night. Leave the remaining ones for ds to eat up (he eats them as if they are chocolate bars.)

Grabbed the camera and took the photos of the house and a video of 360* (2 videos of 180* each) walking around the house. If we have to put the place on the market in the winter, it will give a good sense of the trees and yard, but hopefully blurry enough that people won't see how bad a shape the lawn and gardens are! (Just checked the videos and they are too jumpy. Sigh.. will do that another day, maybe from the bike or car.)

That's an item off my to-do list. Put things back in place (had to move the bbq and some silk flowers on the front porch, took the covers off the outdoor living room in the back.)

About high school hours: if the kids get home from school earlier, there are more hours for them to work after-school (or they are home to babysit siblings.) I think that's why we have such an early start here.

[CathyS]

More smiling as dh is giving birth to a new song. A few tentative strums on a guitar, then he went to the piano and played a few notes. It sounded rather unlike him as he usually just sits and goes right into a song. I knew I was witnessing another new song being born. Within a moment or two the uneasy notes became a stream of notes that sounded so lovely and then the tempo quickened and the volume started to increase and there it was. The words aren't there yet, but he has been sitting and writing on and off this morning.

As I've been typing this and sitting just listening he has finished the new song and sung and played a couple of others. The laundry is sorted but I don't want to interrupt the thought processes for him by walking nearby.

He's tinkling the keys again and whispering some words.

~swoon~ I'm happy that we decided to stay home. I think he needed to get this started even if he didn't realize it himself.

[Nancy]

About the movie h. had already said we could go this weekend. He did not have to work late that made me smile and getting the 2nd lg. crock pot at a yd. sale and I had it going with chicken for dinner last night and peach cobbler with eggs from our hens and peaches from our tree in the recipe! What a treat for breakfast.

H. went to the jet boat races I decided to stay back, too smokey, I wanted to go to the park like we did last year and he wanted to watch from a diff spot bathrooms around would be iffy. But I've been plugging away at some things I did not do yesterday b/c I finished reading a book. Plus I watched the Seahawks game!

Counters have been spiffed, bed is made, got a crumb topping ready for the next batch of what ever I decide to "bake" in the crock pot. Laundry is dry and folded. I'm watering the back yard. H's work stuff has been rinsed out and is hanging to drip dry now. So a productive morning it some thing to smile about here. Plus I'm feeling better so that helps.

Re: school hrs. At high school here the girls had drill team practice and we were 15-20 min. away girls had to get up 5-ish to be there; with only one gym at the time the boys had it other time slots. I did not encourage that activity.

Granola bars are great for breakfast. Grand kids were talking about pop tarts and toaster oven waffles & home made pan cakes dd had frozen. Our kids had news paper routes and went to bed early to be up by 4:00 a.m. were ready for lunch earlier than most!

[helia]

Oh, I missed the school start discussion. I think bus schedules are the main reason behind start times here. I'm actually OK with our start time, but we don't start ridiculously early. High schools here start at 7:40. Because we live close to the school, we don't get bus service, but the girls can leave at 7:15 with dd17 driving and get there in plenty of time. Actually, they were leaving around 7:20+ by the end of the year and cutting it close. . . Also, with all the extracurriculars dd15 does, I'm glad the high school doesn't end later. With 7 hours last year, she was out of class at 3:30, and we couldn't start lessons (oboe, sewing) until 4:00 pm at the earliest. That start time would put her home around 5:20 pm. The same was true with dd17, though I think she only had 7 hours one semester. Both girls only have 6 hours first semester, though both didn't get some requested elective courses. I'm hoping those will come 2nd semester.

If dd15 can do the work and get good grades, keep her in the honors courses, Harriet. Universities like to see that - as you know. Dd15 has a pretty rigorous schedule this year too. Unfortunately, she does not have the super Latin teacher this year, so that class may be sort of low-key, and she's not sure how she feels about that. Maybe that's OK since she's going to be a busy kid. She is in symphony band, the France band, and drumline. She has 5 rehearsals/practices (2 hours each) + a game to march at within the first 2 weeks of school. Plus oboe lessons. Synchro won't start until later and I think she'll put sewing design lessons off until she feels her schedule can handle them. . .Dd17 has all AP and honors courses where possible. Humanities is honors, not AP, but it is purported to be college level and supposedly prepares students for 4 AP exams. Art classes here don't do AP/honors, but she is planning on prepping a portfolio for AP credit anyway.

I am s2s-ed and sat down for bfast with the girls and dd17's friend. Kitchen has been cleaned up and dw is running. I'm off to putter in the house before puttering outside. I know - I'm a day behind.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Dh helped me with another item on my list, the travel insurance claim.

I'm going to take it to the post office in market village now (ours is closed) and will drop off his drycleaning at the same time.

The kitchen table is getting cleaner and cleaner as I deal with paperwork.

[Ivy]

I'm having Saturday Smiles because Kathryn said she was moving and my immediate thought was, "To where?" Like you were moving to another Province, etc.... Then, I realized it was because you were puttering around moving.

DH got dgrson-9.5 up to use the bathroom at 6:15 a.m. Previously, last p.m. we all decided to get up at 7 a.m. so DH could drive 100 miles to take the 2 grsons home. I immediately woke up at 6:15 a.m., turned off my dawn simulator, without looking at the time, and took a shower! Boy, was I surprised it wasn't 7-ish! I got my coffee, DH got his shower, we got the boys up and instead of DH leaving at 8 a.m., he left at 7:27 a.m. exactly! I emailed Ddil/Dson a.s.a.p. to let them know the time of departure and they'd be there early.

In the meantime, I worked straight, for 90 min.- at least! I wiped the table, dried it, wiped place mats, dried them, dewrinkled a tablecloth, put it on, put on fresh place mats, washed and dried them, put out my olive napkin holder with my Thanksgiving Angel. When I saw kitty cat "eyeing" the table, I just knew she would never in a zillion years leave my fake Cornucopia alone if I had it on the table- hence the Thanksgiving Angel. The Cornucopia's on the china cabinet in the entry way.

I took all green decor, green and white rugs, etc... and put it into the boys' guest bathroom, swept the floor. Then, all the blue decor with lighthouses, blue rugs, etc.. from the boys' guest bathroom went into the powder room. Whew! We're back to "normal", whatever that is.

I forgot... Before doing these last 3 rooms, I stripped the bed, started sheets on a Biz soak, and washed the sheets, dried them, and DH and I just made the bed fresh. I'm washing towels now, there are more towels to wash next, blankets, but I think I'll stop there, for laundry, and relax.

I'll miss our boys! Happy Saturday Smiles, Everybody!

[CathyS]

On one of my tables (a round one) we have a soapstone walrus. He looks so beautiful on the wood. I finally cleared that table off last weekend because a friend of Mike's was coming over and he likes that table. (It used to be Mike's parents kitchen table when he was a teen, so memories for his friend who comes up from the States once a year.)

The dining room table has 4 wooden placemats from Cuba. The wood is native woods of Cuba. In the middle of that table is a huge milkglass covered dish. The only thing on that table is the current phone bill. Tables look so much better when they are cleared of junk.

I need to get off the computer and finish the laundry. Bedroom is almost completely dusted. We have sooooooooo much wood in this place.

[Twins' Mom]

I think I'm done with my Saturday running around. Got dMacs to PT with good results. Managed to schedule next week's Sat PT on the following Tuesday so dog sitter won't have to wrangle him there. He can be quite a handful - he needs help getting in and out of dkids car, a Toyota Corolla and he doesn't always accept help gracefully. Also if he's standing in the back seat, one must drive slowly so he doesn't fall, and once there, he has to not see other dogs. So I'm glad that's rescheduled.

I took an hour nap after his PT, then took stuff to alterations, did a return at the mall, and got the headlight in my car taken care of. Also talked to dfriend who is joining us about some trip logistics.

I'm having trouble getting started again...

[BookSaver]

Major failure on the yard work here. DH and I just got back from a run to the post office and lunch at the Tiny Town diner. Just going from the buildings into the car and driving home in the high heat/humidity was exhausting. No way I can be outside working now. I'll see what it feels like late this evening, but may have to wait for early morning.

Harriet's DD ~ Simon's cat is very cute & funny. And yes, our Eric the Boy Cat has been known to chew off bits of cardboard boxes. He sometimes will bite on a plastic bag, too. Does that make him part puppy, that he needs to gnaw on weird stuff? There is something else he does that sometimes earns him the nickname Eric the Dog ... can't remember what it is right now.