Tuesday's Putterings
Topics contained herein:
An autumn thunderstorm, a calendar that puts my mind at ease, a cat-inflicted injury and the foiling of the Mazda’s anti-theft system (with the help of some well-spotted tool-type guys).
Weather / Phenology:
We enjoyed a gorgeous thunderstorm tonight. Clear skies dominated the day despite the forecast which suggested that rain would fall by late afternoon. As we returned from a mini-field trip to the library, a few raindrops pattered onto the windshield. We had time to settle in at home and watch the daylight fade before the winds went gusty. Sometime around eight or nine o’clock, we saw flashes of lightening. The storm lasted until midnight or so and never became severe.
All the leaves are off the maple near the patio. Oddly, its sister-tree -- only a dozen yards further into the yard -- still wears many gloriously colored, rusty-red leaves. (Or at least it did before the night and the storm came.)
Mood Summary:
I’m feeling accomplished and tired. After several days of intensive work, I’ve set up Ch-‘s daily lessons for the rest of the year. I know that things will change and I can only count on my fabulous calendar as a guideline, but I feel much better now that I’ve confirmed for myself that we have time to manage all the lessons within our deliberately shortened school year. We’re going with 154 days rather than the more standard 180. We want to confine formal classes to the time between Labor Day and Memorial Day and we want to keep our family holidays free. No one should have to worry about school on Groundhogs’ Day :D
Last night Toby-Cat decided that the bridge of my nose was grubby. He diligently cleaned it with his sandpaper tongue until R-- stopped him. (I thought it was funny so I let him go on too long.) I'm regretting my tolerance because my ridiculously sensitive skin did not stand up well to such intense cat-love. He exfoliated too many layers of skin and now my nose looks like it used to after the repeated sunburns of my childhood. It hurts too.
My husband stayed home from work today. He was avoiding a silly commitment that would have been really unpleasant for him. Sadly, he didn’t get to relax as much as he might have liked. He offered to go to the store and bring home some lunch while Ch-and I worked on our normal lessons. The Mazda did not cooperate. There’s an “anti-theft system” installed that went all haywire. We ended up disconnecting the battery in order to scramble its brains. It worked but we won’t be trying to lock the car anytime soon.
I should write about my ability to spot two men capable of fixing my vehicular problem in about 30 seconds but I’m just too darn tired. ‘Still have to bathe and I’m half-asleep.
Five Gratitudes:
1) The storm.
2) Mrs. Field’s milk-chocolate chip mini cookies and cheesecorn. :D
3) The photo organizing program that R- found.
4) A wonderful, full-body hug, with my husband, in the kitchen, for no reason.
5) The lovely icon that my daughter made for me.
BONUS GRATITUDE:
The men in the parking lot that looked like they had tools …
Because they did :)
Accomplishments:
I’m on my third day of successfully addressing ALL of the daily-dozen tasks.
I finished the pre-plotting work for the novel.
I finished an incredibly organized calendar for school.
I rescued my husband from the parking lot of Cub.
I had a good and productive day.
Daily Dozen
My Mission 101 List
My Evil-Twin Mission 101 List
Start Date: July 27, 2006 10:00 pm ---- End Date: April 24, 2009 10:00 pm
Goal Level Behaviors
Routines
Cleaning: zones & weekly schedule
An autumn thunderstorm, a calendar that puts my mind at ease, a cat-inflicted injury and the foiling of the Mazda’s anti-theft system (with the help of some well-spotted tool-type guys).
Weather / Phenology:
We enjoyed a gorgeous thunderstorm tonight. Clear skies dominated the day despite the forecast which suggested that rain would fall by late afternoon. As we returned from a mini-field trip to the library, a few raindrops pattered onto the windshield. We had time to settle in at home and watch the daylight fade before the winds went gusty. Sometime around eight or nine o’clock, we saw flashes of lightening. The storm lasted until midnight or so and never became severe.
All the leaves are off the maple near the patio. Oddly, its sister-tree -- only a dozen yards further into the yard -- still wears many gloriously colored, rusty-red leaves. (Or at least it did before the night and the storm came.)
Mood Summary:
I’m feeling accomplished and tired. After several days of intensive work, I’ve set up Ch-‘s daily lessons for the rest of the year. I know that things will change and I can only count on my fabulous calendar as a guideline, but I feel much better now that I’ve confirmed for myself that we have time to manage all the lessons within our deliberately shortened school year. We’re going with 154 days rather than the more standard 180. We want to confine formal classes to the time between Labor Day and Memorial Day and we want to keep our family holidays free. No one should have to worry about school on Groundhogs’ Day :D
Last night Toby-Cat decided that the bridge of my nose was grubby. He diligently cleaned it with his sandpaper tongue until R-- stopped him. (I thought it was funny so I let him go on too long.) I'm regretting my tolerance because my ridiculously sensitive skin did not stand up well to such intense cat-love. He exfoliated too many layers of skin and now my nose looks like it used to after the repeated sunburns of my childhood. It hurts too.
My husband stayed home from work today. He was avoiding a silly commitment that would have been really unpleasant for him. Sadly, he didn’t get to relax as much as he might have liked. He offered to go to the store and bring home some lunch while Ch-and I worked on our normal lessons. The Mazda did not cooperate. There’s an “anti-theft system” installed that went all haywire. We ended up disconnecting the battery in order to scramble its brains. It worked but we won’t be trying to lock the car anytime soon.
I should write about my ability to spot two men capable of fixing my vehicular problem in about 30 seconds but I’m just too darn tired. ‘Still have to bathe and I’m half-asleep.
Five Gratitudes:
1) The storm.
2) Mrs. Field’s milk-chocolate chip mini cookies and cheesecorn. :D
3) The photo organizing program that R- found.
4) A wonderful, full-body hug, with my husband, in the kitchen, for no reason.
5) The lovely icon that my daughter made for me.
BONUS GRATITUDE:
The men in the parking lot that looked like they had tools …
Because they did :)
Accomplishments:
I’m on my third day of successfully addressing ALL of the daily-dozen tasks.
I finished the pre-plotting work for the novel.
I finished an incredibly organized calendar for school.
I rescued my husband from the parking lot of Cub.
I had a good and productive day.
Daily Dozen
My Mission 101 List
My Evil-Twin Mission 101 List
Start Date: July 27, 2006 10:00 pm ---- End Date: April 24, 2009 10:00 pm
Goal Level Behaviors
Routines
Cleaning: zones & weekly schedule