Achy

I am tired. I feel like I'm coming down with something. But I've been feeling like this since Saturday, you'd think I'd have it by now. I have a headache and my muscles ache. For a short time yesterday I had a scratchy throat, but that went away. Sigh.

Maybe it is time change syndrome. Or it could be allergy-related and have something to do with the daffodils poking up and a few buds forming out there. Whatever it is I wish it would go away.

I'm not sick enough to say I'm sick. I just don't feel good. I tried to sleep in this morning but the snore-alarm next to me started going off. It is so hard to get the snore-alarm to stop that by the time I do turn it off I'm too awake to go back to sleep, so I didn't bother trying. I just got up and had a cup of tea and a bowl of oatmeal. That helped, but I'm still not myself.

At least I don't have anywhere in particular to be today and there's not a lot of work to do. I think I'll make the snore-alarm cook dinner tonight.

Maybe I'll be perky again tomorrow.

Reader

I finally set up my favorite blogs to come to me via Google Reader. Yeah, about time. I'm so behind on my internet life. Wish I could say my real life were more interesting, but it is not.

Here's what I've been up to: work, Violet aced decimals in school, I'm still knitting, Girl Scout cookies were ordered, delivered and life has gone on (have I mentioned I hate cookies?), I filed our taxes, my state is corrupt, weather is cold and blustery but at least most of the snow has finally melted.

This week Violet has an American Girl book club meeting and is taking a crochet class at the library. She agreed to take the crochet class as long as I promised that she didn't have to teach me to crochet afterward. In Classic Moms class we will be discussion The Chosen by Chaim Potok. What an awesome book, I completely recommended it!

Hope you are all having a good winter!

Sending up a flare

The blizzard hit. Boy howdy, did it hit. I think we got somewhere around 2 feet of snow. It is hard to tell because of all the drifting. We have a 6 foot fence in our backyard, you could probably step over it in spots. I only remember one other snow close to this big and I've lived here all my life. This was a doozy.

Schools, libraries, businesses, government offices, all closed today. Many have already announced they will be closed tomorrow too. Even the sledding hills are closed due to too much snow.

Okay, the sledding hills really are closed, but it is because they can't get the parking lots by them cleared out and a lot of the roads are still impassable.

Even the local groundhog, Woodstock Willie, called in snowbound. And on the only day of the year he works. I hope this doesn't mean we won't get a spring. If the groundhog can't even get out of his hole to make a prediction, spring will still come, won't it?

I don't have any photos yet. I'll try to post some. Just picture lots of white, that's what it looks like.

Our homeschool decided not to close. We voted to be off in June, rather than today and tomorrow.

Tonight the deep freeze is hitting, but at least the wind has died down and the snow is over. All that's left is the digging.

The Patchwork Scarf

Here it is, my first ever knitted scarf:



It is uneven, there are a few holes, I was just figuring out how to change colors. But it is the best scarf I have ever knitted. I'm going to wear it proudly. I think I did quite good for only having had one 45 minute informal knitting lesson less than 2 months ago.

Freakmom's note: if you don't like it, keep it to yourself. Freakmom doesn't post to please you, nor does she knit to meet your approval. Freakmom is 44 years old and doesn't have to put up with that crap any more.

In other news: I'm still reading my magazines. I'm almost done. It was my own little self-indulgent venture. For those of you who've known me for a while, you know I've had a lot of changes crammed down my throat the last 2 years and I've lost a lot of control over my life. My free time is almost non-existent, some days I'm doing good to have time to have proper personal hygiene. I'm trying to take back my life and let go of some of my anger. Getting the chance to go through these old magazines has been fun, relaxing, and a taste of the old life. Time well spent if you ask me.

Happy New Year everyone!

My End of the Year's Resolution

First a confession: I've got a magazine problem. I subscribe to quite few. I love them. My mom is an enabler, we trade magazines when we're done with them. She has her addiction under control, she actually reads and keeps up with them. I have stacks around the house. The stacks tip over. I say a bad word.

I go on a business trip and stick a couple in my suitcase for reading in the hotel room. I get about half way through, the magazine gets bookmarked and set aside. In a pile. That tips over. I say another bad word.

I counted this morning. I have 48 unfinished magazines in the house (47 actually, I finished the September-October 2009 issue of Home Education Magazine just before I sat down to write this post.) That's actually not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but I have read quite a few in the last 2 days.

So back to my resolution. I resolve to get completely caught up in my magazines by the end of the year. I can even use January 1st and 2nd if need be, since they are the holiday weekend. I think it is doable. I just have to read 6 magazines a day. Work is really slow, we have no family plans, homeschool is on break. I should be able to do it.

I'll let you know how it goes. But I can't stick around online all day, I have magazines to read.

The knitting is improving

I finished my first project: a cozy for my new GPS (an early Christmas present - I'm constantly getting lost!). I didn't want to put it straight into the glove compartment, so I figured out a way to make a cozy for it. I made a long rectangle, sewed it into a pocket with a flap and added a long string to loosely tie it.







Whadda think?

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

Violet and I just finished reading The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum and highly recommend it for your family holiday reading list. It tells the story of Santa Claus and how he came to be who he is. Do I need to mention it is completely secular? I would classify it in the mythology category, although I'm not Dewey Decimal expert and it may be a folk tale.

L. Frank Baum is the author of The Wizard of Oz and the next 13 Oz books. We've been working our way through all the Oz books, and are now in the second set, those written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. Santa Claus is of one Baum's non-Oz books that I really wanted to read. Violet consented that we could step out of the world of Oz briefly to read this book as the holiday approaches. I think she is glad we read it, as it does answer some age-old questions, such as how does he get down those skinny chimneys? She's long wanted to know that.

The book was written in 1902 and like the Oz books written by Baum, it has really stood the test of time. The book is easy to read. Hidden throughout the book are good morals about being a good person. Actually the Oz books are filled with good morals that are rarely "in your face." Baum was a man ahead of his time. He wrote of diversity and acceptance in the early 1900's, topics that still plague us today.

So if you've tired of A Christmas Carol or want something besides Olive the Other Reindeer to read for the two thousandth time (or heck, in addition to), check your library and see if they have a copy. It was re-released in 2003, so if you find that version you'll get to see Michael Hague's awesome illustrations.

My commercial is over. You may now resume your regularly scheduled reading.