All Is Well...

It's late.

My kids have sufficiently tortured each other enough and thankfully are now asleep in their beds. My wonderful DH is snoring peacefully next to me as I type on his laptop. I'm watching the early morning baboons and zebras on the Africam. I just love that thing! Am I a dweeb or what? No, just a homeschooling mom. Check it out. There is also an Eaglecam, Hummingbirds, Bears and a new Woodpeckercam (click on wildlife for the other cams).

Update on my last post. Not sure I'm ahead of my behind yet *wink* but I am getting things done. Between DH and I, we're catching up on laundry. I think I've folded about 8 loads today. Pulling out summer clothes as well. A guy is coming to charge up the air conditioner this weekend. Summer is coming!

Haven't had a moment to work on the basement for my art room. But I will get to it soon.

DH and I went to a homeschool conference on Saturday. Didn't buy anything but I got to touch and look through almost all the curriculum I had been trying to decide on. I think I'll be doing a nice big order this weekend. It's so hard to plan a year for a highschooler. It's just a new experience for me. Luckily I have wonderful homeschool friends to guide me. God is good.

I've been tagged by a new friend who visits my blog apparently. lol I'm supposed to come up with 7 weird things about myself and then tag 7 friends. Not sure I can think of that many weirdnesses, although I'm sure my family would disagree.

1 - I have a thing about hotels. It doesn't matter if we're staying 1 or 20 days, I have to unpack. My DH says 'I'll just get out of your way, I know how you like the room to be.' I have to line things up in rows, in drawers, in the closet, on the bathroom sink. But I don't do that at home. It's chaos here. I'm sure a psychologist would have a hey-day with that info! lol
2 - I pick my lip. Seriously. Down to the next layer. Until it is brittle and dry. DH says he always knows when I'm thinking or planning because I'm picking my lip. Maybe that's not such a weird thing and other people pick like people bite their nails?
3 - If I could get away with it, I'd never wear a bra. It's the first thing I take off when I come home. If my family sees me with one on, their first question is 'where are we going?' lol I'm sure I would have fit in SO WELL in the 60's. Burn Baby Burn!
4 - I have a thing about edges. My cheese has to be to the edge of my pizza, my spreads to the edge of my bread, the cream cheese filling my entire length of celery. I think I have a thing about completeness. Haven't figured that one out yet...
5 - I have a problem with movie quoting. It's pretty bad. I do it all the time. It's so bad, I'll quote a line and ask 'do you know what that comes from?' and DH or DD will say 'such and such a movie' and they've never even seen it! lol Favorite Movies to Quote: Steel Magnolias, French Kiss, The Money Pit.
6 - I'm not really a girly girly. I hate clothes shopping. I only own one pair of shoes at a time and I wear them until they die. Birkenstock clogs or their knockoffs ONLY. I don't wear much makeup or jewelry. Except, I'm a stickler for lipstick, it keeps me from picking. (see #2.)
7 - I usually have 100-120 library books out at a time. This isn't really a weird thing for homeschoolers, but for normal people, yeah. And we read most of them too!

Okay, I'm tagging some friends. Can't wait to see your answers!
Audrey - Small Creations
Kathy - Altered Antiquity
Felicia - It's a Jungle In Here
Anita - Mundane Ramblings
Cynthia - I'm A Coconut
Shawn - BonaramaMama
Angela - Just another family Blah Blah Blog

Okay, I'm hungry. Don't ask me why. I don't know. But its late, so instead of stealing into the kitchen for a brownie, I'll go read Cream Puff's blog. Care to join me? I'll bring the coffee. *wink*

Times a-wastin'

Do you ever get that feelin'? That you're falling behind. But not just on one thing. It's all a game of this-begets that-begets that-begets this! I feel so behind but I can't just pinpoint one thing that would get me back on track.

If only...
I could catch up on my laundry, I could
straighten up the basement, then I could
have the guy come to fix the air conditioner (so we can be cool this summer!), and I could
also have my art room moved downstairs.
If only I could catch up on homeschool, I could
clean my art room and
organize my bedroom and
list all that homeschool I have to sell.
Then I could have money from the sales to fund our much needed summer vacation.
If only...

It's all a catch 22 really. *sigh*

Okay, enough moaning. I've been sick for almost a week now, except for a surprisingly good-feeling day on Friday when I artsied (is that a verb?) with a friend. I paid for it on Sat/Sun with being ill in bed. That is probably why I feel so behind. I did start some ATCs then that I finally finished up today while the kids were doing spelling words and taking a science test.

Saw Audrey's gorgeous work in the May/June Somerset Studio (p. 101). Also saw another favorite artist of mine, Misty (p.12 & featured on 37).Have you picked up your copy yet?!

I'm drooling over these new stamps sheets I've seen around:
Oxford Impressions Bird Sheet
Invoke Arts Blackbirds, Build Your Nest
Do you sense a theme to my envy? lol

Okay, back to cleaning my art room. I finally saw a corner of my long buried table today! Hurrah!

Book Club Picks

I just love book club. The ladies are wonderful and the books and discussion really stimulate my brain in a life of repetition and responsibilities. I love reading. There are only a few places where my breath quickens and one of them is a book store. I feel this overwhelming urge to read all the books. There is not enough time in the day to do all that I want, but I think if you MAKE TIME for things that bring you pleasure, you are a much more content person.

I went to book club tonight. We chose books for the next 8 months. There were some doozies to choose from! I can't wait to get started reading!

Here is what we picked from:
A Redbird Christmas - Fannie Flagg

Clover - Dori Sanders
Life Without Water - Nancy Peacock
Angels Rest - Charles Davis
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
The Eight - Katherine Neville
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
Captains & the Kinds - Taylor Caldwell
March - Geraldine Brooks
Bee Season - Myla Goldberg
Friendly Persuasion - Bob Woolf
The Mud Dauber - Marion Bolick (I recommended this one)
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield ( I recommended this one)
The House of Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne ( I recommended this one)

Chosen books:
May - No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
June - The Mud Dauber
July - The Eight
August - The Thirteenth Tale
September - The Glass Castle
October - Captains & the Kings
November - Gilead
December - Clover

After book club (held at the bookstore), I spent an hour looking through the store and found yet MORE books to add to my ever growing list I want to read:
The Rebels of Ireland - Edward Rutherfurd
The Memories We Keep - Walter Zacharius
Forgivin' Ain't Forgettin' - Mata Elliott
Family Tree - Barbara Delinsky
Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs
The Reading Group - Elizabeth Noble
The Road From Chapel Hill - Joanna Catherine Scott
An Irish Country Doctor - Patrick Taylor
Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-gazer - Sena Jeter Naslund
The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick
Blink, the Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell
Overcoming Life's Disappointments - Harold Kushner
Repotting, 10 Steps To Redesigning Your Life -Diana Holman and Ginger Pape
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
Wife of the Bastard - Hilda Davis
Wife to Charles II - Hilda Davis
Harlot Queen - Hilda Davis
Cold Sassy Tree -Olive Ann Burns
October Song - Beverly Lewis

What have you read lately? Share!

Altered Book Club

This weekend I attended my 2nd altered book club meeting and had to bring my own for others to work on. Ran out of time, so I didn't get my own pages done, but the outside is started...

(the lace strip is where they 'sign in' by pinning or clipping something to the lace.)

The book's theme is love.




Yesterday was easter. Beautiful service at our church. One thing that really was wonderful; a lady played the piano during the offering and the easter story played out on the screen on the wall. Jesus' death (she played hymns that talked about that, in a somber tone), Jesus' burial and then him rising again (lively hymns about he is risen.) It was so moving. I loved it. Reminded me why we celebrate.

Hope everyone had a wonderful easter. God bless.

April Fools

So, did anyone play any tricks on you today? I only had one and it was weak. DH came home frmo picking DD up, came in the door and said 'we were in an accident'. Since they're walking and talking and didn't call me from the road, I didn't really believe them. Now, if it had been a call from the road, I would have freaked. Men! *eyeroll*

Today was a gorgeous springy day! We took a walk after lunch and could see all the leaves changing, flowers budding and it was all beautiful! I'm so ready for spring, although I could skip the tornadoes and be ecstatic.

Spent a little time tonight working on a project for ScrapAddict's April Altered Activity. I'm in charge of it this month. I decided to alter music CD cases that my friend Rhonda gave me. Just the clear covers. I slipped pics in and designed around them. I put holes in the middle back and plan to hang them on my wall. I have another 20 to go or so. I want a big wall display.

Feeling productive today. I'm off to finish a layout and an altered kit for ScrapAddict as well. Did you alter anything today? I wanna see! Link me please.