at this moment...

*I am elated at having finished quarterly report. We'll be starting the fourth quarter on Friday, but next week is spring break. In other words, I feel like I can actually freakin' breathe at the moment!!! I've got time to regroup and hopefully make a dent in the final quarter of the year. Will be soooooo nice to not feel like I'm constantly playing catch up. :D

*I am listening to "The High Road" by Broken Bells. Yes Chris, I am *still* more or less obsessed. :P

*I am fighting off thoughts of worry. Because I don't want to deal.

*I am debating curling up on the couch with my sick little boy and doing some fun reading before beginning to organize for the next quarter.

*I am ignoring that fact that there is laundry awaiting my attention.

*I am craving Granny Smith apple slices with coconut fruit dip...but will have to settle for just the apple since I don't have the fixin's for the dip.

*I am truly hoping that everyone is having a lovely, lovely week!

busy, but happy

I had high hopes for 2010...that I was going to keep myself more organized and not let myself get behind on things. Yeah, not really working out that way. ;)

Does anyone else feel guilty when they can't keep up with their blog reading? Especially with the blogs of your very favorite people? *sigh* I hate it!!! I mean, in a way, it seems silly to feel guilty about it. Everybody goes through overly busy patches. I know I certainly don't feel offended or hurt when someone doesn't read my blog...so why do I worry that other people will feel that way? Just silly, I know.

On the homeschool front, I managed to get a lot of work done last weekend, but I'm afraid it just wasn't enough to make up for how unbelievably far behind I got in December. So I'm still sort of in overdrive here trying to finish up all that needs done before the end of this quarter. (The quarterly report is due next Friday.) After that, life will hopefully calm just a bit as new deadlines will be off in the distance. :) Yep, after I get that report written next week, I hope to regroup. We'll try for a little more organization then, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm not complaining. Just explaining. Hopefully, I will then be able to get my act together and make my "good stuff" lists on a daily basis, actually finish some of the many books I have going finished, catch up on what's been going on with everyone, get some creative projects finished...

*****
the last few days of "good stuff"

*Having my own personal music picker-outers who introduce me to awesomeness I would never discover on my own. Ana, I finally listened to the I Am a Bird Now CD. *hanging head in shame that it took me so long* Already I'm in love. Antony's voice is pure heaven. And I just know that I'm only going to fall more and more in love as I have a chance to better soak up the lyrics. Thank you again! #luvana #luvchris

*And also in the #luvana #luvchris category: Having friends you trust so completely that you can discuss touchy issues without fear, make awkward confessions knowing you won't be judged, and share goofy little anythings with the knowledge that they won't think you're a complete idiot.

*Feeling optimistic about getting a "new start" after this quarter is over.

*Thrifting with Rich yesterday. Damn, but I love hanging out with this guy! :D We hit three thrift stores, and found lots of great stuff, including a new coat for Gray. His winter coat was sort of falling apart (not a good thing in upstate NY), but we found him a wonderful one that looks practically brand new. And I found some great stuff for Annie. She's so awesome in that as much as she loves clothes, she never feels like she has to have new, brand-name stuff. We buy nearly all our clothes from thrift stores, and we secretly worried that someday that would start bothering Annie. Bad me...not giving her nearly enough credit.

*And speaking of Miss Annie, she got her grade from her last college course. Another A. So proud of her. Not because she's "smart"...that's the luck of the draw. But because she works hard and she tries new things even when she's nervous about them.

*The boys both gathered up their money...they didn't have much, but they scrounged up their change and whatnot and each came up with almost $5...and donated it to the Walk for Kenya fund raiser Gray's class is hosting. And Annie gave each of them $5 as well. Rich and I were of course already sponsoring both boys, and we never asked them to donate their own money; they all just did it on their own. It just makes me very happy to see that their hearts continue to be caring.

*Anticipation! It's just soooooo wonderful to have awesome things to look forward to, isn't it?!!
--Mom and Dad gave Rich and I a "coupon" for four days/three nights of babysitting in February. They've been doing this for the past several years, keeping the kids for a few days over winter break. Rich and I always have sooooooo much fun! Going wherever we want, whenever we want. Eating whatever and whenever we want. Staying up as late as we want without having to worry about the munchkins getting us up. Yes, it's positively heavenly!
--Hopefully getting to meet Amanda in May! Still working on this one, but am very hopeful. #luvamanda
--And ZOMG...the cat is already out of the bag, so I don't feel like I'll jinx it anymore by talking about it, but one of my very bestest friends in the whole freakin' wide world is coming to visit in August!!!!!! Giddy, yeah, that doesn't begin to describe how this has me feeling! And I've got a houseful of people here sharing the giddy, too! #luvchris

good stuff...a babbling version

January 8th "Good Stuff"

*Finding out that the intersession class Rich is teaching doesn't meet on Fridays...I'd thought it was Mon.-Fri. Such a happy, happy surprise!!!!

*Silly me should have mentioned this before...Rich is not in the Bahamas right now. :) Okay, I honestly never begrudged him his January trips to the Bahamas. Really, I didn't. But on the other hand, I'm not going to complain that he turned down the opportunity to co-teach the marine biology class there this year. I like having him here with me. With us. And seriously, not just because I don't have to shovel the daily snow we've been getting. ;)

*And speaking of snow...I know I say it all the time, but oh how I love it! And we've really been in the typical lake effect pattern since the end of December, and this just makes me so very happy! We usually only get a couple of "big" snows (as in 18+ inches) per year, sometimes only one big snow a winter. But thanks to living so close to the Great Lakes, we do get snow most every day for a few month stretch. Not a lot of snow per day...generally one to four inches. Enough to keep things looking beautiful all the time because there's always fresh snow to cover the ugly brown stuff from the snow plows, but not enough to cause problems to people who are used to it. Yes, I do believe I am utterly spoiled. :D

*Songs that make me cry. Every single time I listen to them. Like Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens. Thank you, Ana!

*Documentaries. And the fact that I get to watch them for school so often. :) Yesterday, Annie and I watched World in the Balance: The People Paradox. (Actually a NOVA episode, I think.) So good. Also yesterday, we watched the third lecture of AIDS: Evolution of an Epidemic, a four-part lecture series by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Yeah, see, despite my bitching about all the work that homeschooling is, it really is a pretty good gig, huh?

*An added bonus to watching movies for school...I get to crochet! Watching TV is usually the only time I have to crochet and knit. And I really have very little time for watching TV. So "having" to watch it for school...well, you can't beat that, can you? :D


*This guy. Officially Lucky. Though we tend to call him Luxray. Of all the non-human animals that share the house, this guy is definitely the life of the party! (If we were including humans, it would be a tough race between Luxray and Maxidoodle.) Lux is such a character. Playful as all get out, rascally as hell...and yet so damn affectionate. Yep, we're all so grateful that this fellow came to be part of our family. Even Aldo, though she'd never admit it. (And in the wee hours of each morning, when he's woken me yet again for some pampering, I'm loathe to admit it, too.)

Sheesh, it's still morning. This babbling might just make novel length if I don't just hit "publish." Not that having a mile-long list of good stuff is a bad thing, of course. :D