Breathing again

Thank you all for your support and encouragement! I know I can always whine here and find a shoulder to cry on.

I am feeling better tonight. We had our Juliette day and it went very well. The girls loved the projects. We got through everything. I stayed calm throughout it. No paint or glue or icing got on anything it shouldn't.

I shouldn't feel obligated to do so much. The other families don't expect it. But they are going to accept invitations when offered. Unless things change, I think I'll just do Cadette programming next year, and invite the Juniors to join us when appropriate. But they'll have to figure out themselves if they apply to any of their badges/journeys. The younger girls really are too young to bump up to Cadettes (one should technically still be a Brownie this year, but I knew enough not to do 3 levels so we bridged her early.)

For the other group this week I'm bringing a package of Oreos for an edible craft project (the other mom is planning the project, making turkeys I think), and coming prepared to teach a song if there is extra time. I can do that easy peasy. Honestly, finding time to run in the store to buy the Oreos is harder than the song. I love Girl Scout songs. (I'm planning on doing "Great Big Moose" - There was a great big moose, he liked to drink a lot of juice... It is a good one, complete with arm movements. Because really, what's the point in singing if you aren't dancing around too.)

Work is work and I can't let them take over my life. I need to shut down my work computer when I've reached my work limit and leave it off. I'm getting better at that.

So, thanks and big hugs back to all of you!

Some day

My list of things to do "some day" just gets longer and longer. And I don't mean my bucket list of wishful things to do before I die. I mean stuff that really needs to be taken care of that I just can't find the hours in the day to do.

Inventory the fridge and pantry and make a real shopping list and go get groceries. We never have anything to cook with so I don't end up making good meals but instead throw in yet another frozen pizza.

Fix my grandmother's rug. I have 5 rag rugs my grandmother made. I think they may very well be the last remaining rugs out of the thousands she made on her loom. I used to sit and watch her weave on the loom as a little girl. The thread holding the rugs together is wearing from age. One was coming apart, then a few weeks ago it got caught as Mr. I was walking over it and it ripped half way across. I'm sure I could mend it. I even have a vague idea of how to do it. But I just don't have the time to sit down and concentrate on it. I know I won't be able to sit still enough and be patient enough in my current frenzy state.

Take Violet to play tennis, go ice skating, bowling, and about 25 other sports/right of passages that she's never tried. She needs a little extra time to tackle sports that other kids just jump right in with both feet and do. She needs privacy and not everyone she knows watching and yelling "come on, Violet" at her. She needs help to learn how. It makes me want to cry to think that I haven't even successfully taught her how to ride a bike yet. I just can't do it all.

The house needs a super deep cleaning. We've lived here over 12 years and some of the rooms still aren't painted. I never got a garden in this year. Houseplants sit dead in their pots. I haven't taught Violet to sew although she asks for help all the time.

I can't do it all. I try. I really do. There's so much I'd love to do for me, that I know I won't get to do again until she's in college. Like exercise and take care of myself and get a good night's sleep.

Sorry, I'm feeling extra whiny tonight. I just don't know what else I can give up in order to be able to do everything that needs to be done.

Saturday

Okay, before I start my post I have to say that Blogger just freaked out on me. I must have hit the wrong key, but it successfully posted my entry before I even started it! Boy, someone switch Blogger to decaf! It is too hyper!

Anyway, I was going to tell you about my day, so here we go.

First, I know you've all be on the edge of your seats wondering, but Mr. Incredible did not win any meat last night at the wheel of meat. He left before the end when they did the second chance drawings with the losing tickets, so maybe one of his tickets won for that. He left them among his table mates. He had 30 tickets in the first round of drawing and didn't even win a hot dog. Just as well.

I liked all the alternate wheel suggestions you all gave. Wheel of Cheetos really has some potential. How about Wheel of Oreos?

So today I worked on cleaning the house and preparing for the Juliette Low birthday party on Monday. I made a sample of a craft project I'm going to have them do: Halloween themed recycled picture frames. There was some doubt among the dads (Mr. I and the sisters' dad) about whether it would work. They were wrong, it turned out pretty good:



You use 2 pieces of cardboard, one with a hole in the center, glued together. Paint it. Then when it is dry, decoupage on candy wrappers. Add your favorite Halloween photo. The basic idea was from the Zoom! website. I came up with the paint and candy wrappers. (The dads were pessimistic that the candy wrappers would stick.) Violet drew a picture for me to put in my sample. Isn't her cat cute?

I didn't want to, but I went to the bank this morning. I couldn't pull in to the bank branch right by our house. The main road in our town has been under major construction for the last 2 years. (It is finally finishing this year!) They were working this morning and blocking the bank entrance from the direction I was coming from. I'm a little afraid we won't be able to turn in from our direction at all when they are done.

So I went to the other end of town. At the drive through she gave me 3 suckers. They had one of those video cameras, so Mr. I and Violet think I must have looked stressed. Since I was on the other end of town, I figured I might as well stop at Walmart on my way home. I called to have them read me the list. Bought the stuff and came home. Several hours later I realized the peanut butter I bought wasn't here. I called customer service and she said yes it was there, was I missing spaghetti noodles too? Crap.

Mr. Incredible drove out to get them while I started dinner. I think he was afraid I'd be mean to the people there. See, I was complaining that the lady who rang me up didn't pull the bags off the spinny thing for me. She handed me my receipt and just started on the next customer. I must have missed one in the back trying to find my bags. So yes, it was my fault, but it is a step I never have to take. And I didn't have my reusable bags with me since I wasn't planning on going, so there were more plastic bags than if I'd had my bags with. I know, no excuse. But they make me feel less foolish.

And to end this post on something completely unrelated. Here's a photo of a recent omelet I made (I found the photo when I took the frame photo off the camera):



I've been practicing them, and they are starting to look pretty decent. That one was just cheese. I never seem to have anything in the house to go in them. To see how far I've come, check out my original omelet post. Be sure to look at my omelet, not Violet's.

Recycling and meat

Don't worry, the title contains 2 different thoughts.

We went on our recycle tour today. It was really good. If you live in an area by a Waste Management facility, give them a call and see if they have an EduCenter in your area. It was well worth the almost hour drive for our visit (keep in mind though, in our area, everything is at least a 30 or 45 minute drive. We're in the middle of everywhere, just not close to anything). We saw a video, watched the recycling process through a big window, and had an educator talk with the kids about recycling. Another small group was with us. That was actually good. Our group doesn't like to answer questions and participate much. The other group did that for us.

The worst part was the drive home. The roads were just packed. They always are. We had to stop to get the cookie forms and it was so busy on the streets near where the cookie coordinator lives. I was frazzled by the time we got home. I told Violet I couldn't do any school work with her. Ugh, it was awful, just bumper to bumper cars.

In other news...

Mr. Incredible just left to attend a "wheel of meat" fundraiser. The family of one of the men in his chamber of commerce networking group is undergoing a terrible health situation and horrific medical bills. There are quite a few fundraisers planned for them. We want to help, but funds are limited, we'll do what we can. Tonight is "wheel of meat." Ever heard of one? We hadn't either. What we found out is that local businesses donate meat and people buy raffle tickets to win it. Mr. Incredible hasn't eaten beef, pork or a whole list of other meat in almost 20 years. He does eat chicken, turkey and fish, but not even much of that. So he's obligated by the business associates to go try to win meat. Yeah, he wasn't too excited.

He's planning on going and getting a few raffle tickets in an amount we feel comfortable with (this is the second fund raiser for this family we've participated in and there are at least 2 more planned), then leaving as soon as he can. He'd like to leave before he wins anything. I'm kind of interested in what will be there. I might like to win something. But I'm betting he'll be home shortly, meatless.

Why couldn't there be a wheel of squash? I love squash. Or a wheel of wine? I could really get into that as a fundraiser. I bet the raffle tickets would cost more for wine than squash though.

Look at me...I'm free!

Woo hoo! Tomorrow I am officially on PTO. I finished up my client loose ends. Took care of some administrative paperwork. I've set my away message. I've shut down my work computer. No checking e-mail, no answering the phone, no work. I think I like this even better than PTO while on vacation.

Not that we'll be home much tomorrow. We have our recycle facility tour in the afternoon. I knew it was a drive there, but Google Maps said it was a little farther than I remembered. I'm going to allow a little over an hour to get there. The worst part is we have to leave just before noon. That sure puts a damper on lunch. We always eat later rather than earlier. But waiting until 2 or 2:30 until we're done will make us crabby. Looks like it is sandwiches in the car.

On our way home we have to stop and pick up GS cookie order forms. They are always available way early around here because the service units like to take December off and not meet. Works for us. I coordinate cookie sales only for our small Juliette group, that's 4 girls these days. No way will I do it for the large group, which is over 20 girls. That's way too many for one cookie mom. I don't think many if any of the girls in the big group will sell. Since we're Juliettes the parents have to play the part of the leader. I doubt any of the other parents will step up to do that even for their own daughters. I could be wrong. But I don't think I am in most cases. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging them for not wanting to do it. I'm the first to say that cookie sales is a big pain in the butt for the adults. Just saying that I don't think most will. Which is too bad because it leaves the girls missing out on a big part of Girl Scouting (you know the 3C's: crafts, cookies and camp).

But cookie sales has always been fun for Violet, so she'll do it again. She never has big sales but she's fine with that. I think her favorite part is sorting out the orders. And the other families who I help turn in their orders and pick up their cookies are so good and so easy to work with. I don't mind doing for our small group in the least.

Today the Cadettes in the park district group finished their Journey. Violet did such an amazing job. The whole journey (Amaze) was completely out of her comfort zone and she did it. They put on a puppet show and did a craft with the Brownies today. The Brownies really liked the puppet show and I think the craft, too. They definitely found the puppet show funny. (Of course, it was on a serious topic of what is a good way to solve an argument with a friend, but hey, they are 8 and 9. The Cadettes did do some funny ad libbing.)

We're hoping to move the Cadettes away from the Brownies and Daisies to another part of the building. We think the Cadettes would really benefit from a more quiet space without the distractions of the younger girls and the brothers who hang out there. I'm not getting my hopes up, but the option that is being explored right now would be a TERRIFIC solution. Fingers, toes and eyes all crossed.

By the way, no one called me on the odd title of my last post. I meant to go back and write a title once I wrote the post but forgot to. I decided to leave it after I'd published and realized it. Gives it character.

One more note - it was snowing here today. Some stuck to the ground for a while. It is all gone now. This is early for our first snow.

Time to enjoy my free time...

name to be determined

Today it was cold and rainy. The good thing was, Violet and I had no where we had to go. No where. No where at all. We thoroughly enjoyed staying at home. Where do these people get the idea that homeschoolers stay at home all the time and don't see anyone? We're never home. None of us. And just try to schedule 2 or more families to get together. Good luck!

Anyway, we were home today. We did some school work. I pulled Story of Science, volume 2 back out. We read the first half last year and are going to finish it this year. Violet hasn't been too thrilled with it, she finds it boring. And I have to agree with her that volume 1 was a snooze-fest. It isn't Joy Hakim's fault, we just couldn't get into the ancient science. But today's chapter caught more of Violet's attention and I hope the rest of the volume will too. We'll start volume 3 next year.

I've changed my homeschool approach slightly. Instead of throwing every subject I can find at her at once, we are only doing a few: Key to Algebra, History of US, Editor in Chief, reading, Microscope study by Kim Wright, and Story of Science. I think this approach is working well. We'll do history, reading and algebra all year, but as we finish things, we'll add other things. We've been going in so many directions lately, it is hard to concentrate on even this much. But it is definitely the right way for right now. I'm hoping this winter we might have fewer activities and can add a few more subjects or workbooks.

Tomorrow we're going to open swim, and meeting up with Violet's best friend. After swimming she's coming back to our house for the afternoon and dinner. So not much time for formal school tomorrow.

I've been working on the Juliette plans today. Monday we're having our Juliette Low birthday party. We're going to decorate cupcakes and work on the Eco-Action badges (Junior and Cadette). The Cadettes made a mad lib for the Juniors to do, all about the life of Juliette Low. That should be fun. This Friday we're going on a tour of a local recycling facility, also for Eco-Action. I'm glad to be getting going with "our" group finally.

It has gotten difficult with getting involved with the park district group as well as "our" Juliette group. Trying to come up with 2 different programs (even in my limited capacity for the park district) for different levels is too much. If I hadn't already committed to "our" group this year, I'd definitely put them on hiatus. But I'm committed, and trying not to need to be "committed." The families in "our" group don't want to join the park district. We'll see how the park district group plays out the rest of the year. But next year I will only do one or the other. It will be hard to choose, I like them both and both are great for Violet. But too much is too much. And if I do too much it will all suffer and not be any fun for anyone. I'll make tough decisions that not everyone will be happy with if I have to. But first I want to see what changes come in the spring.

Violet and I just finished Anne of Green Gables. We both really enjoyed it. We're going to start the second Anne book next. But I am making her wait until Friday. We're discussing Anne in Classic Moms on Thursday. I'm frantically trying to read through it again so the early part is fresher in my mind. Did you know there is a real Green Gables in Canada? It is a national park. I'd love to go.

Thoughts and Ramblings

Here I go again, about to promise to write more. I know, you've heard it all before. You didn't believe me then, you don't believe me now. I got inspired yet again during Classic Moms class this week. I am actually working on a post that is an essay about a book I recently read. My classmates were right, if you don't have someone to discuss a book with, write about it! I'm trying.

Speaking of trying, I'm going to whine for a minute. It is so hard to work, homeschool, volunteer for GS, run the house and help hubby with his new business. I am really tired all the time. Today we went to a school day theater performance: loud show, theater full of kids, great performance by the way, and I was nodding off during it! Sigh. I had to make Violet wait to help her with her math this afternoon because I had a big deadline today and I didn't think I'd get through it - I did, but right at the close of the business day. I just want some time to myself once in a while.

Okay, done with that whine, next stop wine. I'm usually a red drinker, but lately I've been branching out into white.

But first. For all of you who've been jealous of our Juliette groups we have around here, it isn't all roses. I don't want to say much, but too many moms involved and it doesn't work well, not enough moms involved and you do all the work yourself. I have managed to get myself into both situations as the same time. Violet loves both groups. They are both really good for her. The other moms are great, we just all have too many ideas for the available time - now that I think about it, that is a good problem. And I like doing the work to help keep them going. But some days it can be frustrating.

I seem to detect a pattern in my ramblings.

Tomorrow we're going to meet with the insurance agent. We think we can lower our health insurance rates. That would be awesome. His office is back in our old college town. We love to go back. I'd like to take a walk by the lagoon and go to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Not sure how quickly Mr. I. has to get back home though. I'm not working tomorrow. Woo hoo!

Here's some good news: I just realized this week that I have 12 vacation days I have to use by the end of the year! I miscalculated how much time I get. And with my promotion over the summer, I got more days. Nice problem to have, huh? I'm taking the week of Thanksgiving off. And the week before Christmas. And some random days. Maybe that will help me with my dozing off problems!