Hosted by Peggy

For Today…June 15, 2009

Outside my Window…We’re enjoying a mild ‘almost summer’ evening. The skies are clear, but it’s only about 62 degrees out, and there’s a moist feeling to the air. I notice the foxglove, a native plant here, is blooming. At green, growing times like this, it’s difficult to really remember winter’s chill.

I am thinking…what a welcome break summer vacation is for our busy school children.

From the learning rooms…I attended a behavior management class for paraeducators today. Suffice it to say, many things get in the way of learning for some kids.

I am thankful for…this calm evening. At times like this, I truly believe we are privileged to live in the most beautiful part of the planet.

From the kitchen…I made a spicy vegetarian chili this evening, which was enjoyed by all the family. Condiments were olives, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, hot sauce, with tortilla chips on the side.

I am wearing…long sleeves still. We have had some really warm days this season, but not very many. Summer weather will come to stay very soon.

I am reading…something light and humorous: Norah’s Ark: Love Me, Love My Dog by Judy Baer.

I am hoping…to be done with hay fever soon. I’ve developed a nagging cough with it this year. Blech!

I am creating…this blog post before looking at the bills or doing dishes. So there!

I am hearing…the train whistle off in the distance. Do any of you know the song where the words go something like this: “Train whistle blowing makes a sleepy noise. Underneath the covers go all the girls and boys. Rockin’, rollin’, ridin’, up around the bay, All bound for Morning Town, many miles away.” I believe Peter, Paul and Mary sang that song.

Around the house…My husband has been doing some woodworking. I enjoy the sound of his projects underway, but our dog hates the sound of the power tools. When Rick comes in the house, she walks up to him and stares at him with a sad expression. Poor dog!

One of my favorite things…is the children enjoying one another’s company. Rebecca and Lydia spent last night with older sister Kayla, and today went on a picnic to beautiful Boulevard Park.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week…We are going to a potluck good-bye dinner on Friday for a young man in our church who is going away to begin seminary training. I enjoy those social times.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you…

I finally went sailing with Rick recently, and enjoyed the experience. I think I’ll be able to share this hobby with him.

Hostess Peggy says this about The Simple Woman’s Daybook:

Are you content to linger on the simple things of life…then join me in taking a little look into the day plans and thoughts of those of us who are focusing on simplicity…the beauty of the everyday moments around us. That is my vision for this idea!

Please visit Grandmother Wren to sign Mr. Linky if you are continuing with Simple Woman’s Daybook for the summer. Thanks!

8 Things I’m Looking Forward To:

1. More time to clean the house during the summer.
   
2. More time to prepare meals during the summer.
   
3. Being warm during the summer. It seemed like a long winter this year!
   
4. Attending a Quince anos party for the first time.
   
5. Going sailing in my husband’s little 12 foot Pelican sailboat, strictly as a passenger, though. And, please let it be on a lake, not the sound.
   
6. The children’s help during the summer to declutter the house a bit more.
   
7. I hope we can afford to travel to California to visit Grampa and Gramma Taron this summer.
   
8. Someday, somehow, I want to sew or purchase new curtains for the house.
   

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Worked at the middle school from 9am until 1pm.
   
2. Grabbed a quick lunch at home and visited with my husband.
   
3. Drove to Lynden to pick up my mom from her home to take her for a doctor visit.
   
4. Did some shopping for my mom, and grocery shopping for us.
   
5. Did a Simple Woman’s blog post, after not writing on my blog for a while.
   
6. Played Lexulous, a Scrabble-take off, on Facebook.
   
7. Prepared yummy hamburgers for dinner, which Rick cooked on the barbeque. Yum!
   
8. Did my usual stretching exercises before bed.
   

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. It would be lovely to have the energy level and stamina that I had in my 20s and 30s.
   
2. Someday I would like to get back into practicing a musical instrument. I especially enjoy acoustic guitar and soprano recorder. I no longer have the breath for French horn or flute.
   
3. I would like to get back into sewing, too. One problem is that I prefer to move around rather than sit. Guess that means I won’t get back into doing embroidery.
   
4. I would like to work outside more. I’m focusing on doing inside work first.
   
5. It’s difficult to think of things I “wish” I could do, since I am so very privileged to have already received the desires of my heart: a godly husband, and nine children who love the Lord. I have as well God’s assurance in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to those who love Him.
   
6. I wish to be a useful, compassionate person for as long as God grants me life.
   
7. I wish to be a good gramma who doesn’t butt into her grown kids’ lives too much, but just enough so they know that I care about them.
   
8. I wish to see all our kids make wise, godly decisions as to whom they marry.
   

I realize that my “wish I could do” list changed to a “thankful for” and “looking forward to” list, but that’s what you get.

How about you? Would you like to participate in the Eight Things meme?

One answer that comes to mind is that I am good at spelling. It makes sense that I would choose to do that which I do well when I am relaxing. I would not be playing softball to relax, for example, because I have never been good at batting or throwing a softball.

Another answer is that I enjoy the activity of fitting the words together like a puzzle, sort of like building a word map. This is the same satisfaction that comes from playing a game of Freecell or Spider Solitaire: putting things in order. This is also the satisfaction that I feel from neatening up the house. So when I’m done neatening in reality (or too tired to do it yet!), I enjoy virtual neatening.

However there are other games which involve spelling or finding words, such as Pathwords and Word Scramble that are not so much fun for me, nor am I that good at them. The added factor there is a TIMER. To me, a timer equals stress, and slows me down. So, an attraction of the Scrabble-type games is that the pace is mine to choose; I find this relaxing.

Not only do I enjoy spelling, I love words. I love the look of certain words, the sounds of words, the origins of words. I do get pleasure delving into the dictionary from time to time. So it does make sense that I enjoy playing with words.

Of course I can’t forget instant gratification. It takes more time and thought and creativity to do a blog post or write a poem. I enjoy doing those things, too, but my focus lately must be on relaxation, because word games have been winning over word crafting!

I am competitive. I like to win! This is something at which I win 63 percent of the time presently, but I know I’m getting better. I also feel like I’m being challenged by the selection of letter tiles before me, to find the best scoring word hiding within them. The friends against whom I play are so good; their skill challenges me, and helps me to improve, too.

Another attraction is that I can chat with my Facebook friends while playing, so it’s a social thing as well. It’s more relaxing to talk to someone about this or that while you’re both busy spelling words. The time passes quite pleasantly.

Maybe next time I’ll do a post about some of the other things I could or should do instead of playing word games, but that’s all for now, folks!

In the announcements in this morning’s church bulletin, there was an invitation to an upcoming craft night. Any interested ladies in the congregation are invited to attend.

My initial thought was, “It will be so enjoyable to visit with the other ladies.” I’m sure fellowship is the primary goal of the get-together.

My second thought was (gasp!) I no longer do any crafts!

In years gone by I enjoyed cross stitch and crewel embroidery, some quilting (small items like pillows), and totally LOVED to sew my own clothing, and later dresses for the girls when they were little. I did lots of arts and crafts with the children when they were little, but that doesn’t really count as crafting, I imagine.

So, what happened? I guess I just changed some of my hobbies. I continued on with reading. That’s a perennial favorite. I still go for walks. Very relaxing. And . . . I love to blog and read other people’s blogs! I follow discussion groups. I even read and study my Bible online. This, I think, is the hobby which displaced crafting.

So, I hope maybe I could come to craft night and just visit and maybe help serve refreshments? Otherwise I will have to come up with a quick little craft to do for the occasion.