with the end of the Labor Day weekend. Boo hoo! 8 days of school down, only 172 more to go!
Now, I know school began before Labor Day, BUT, those first four days hardly count as real school. Those are the "getting to know each other" days where not a whole lot of "school" happens. Textbook distribution, locker assignments, reading of the rules, etcetera, etcetera-those are the things that happen in those first few days. Unless you are in high school. Like my older daughter. She had homework after the first day. Those math and science teachers are tough! I suppose when you are on a block schedule, ya gotta cram in all that teaching and learning in just one semester (I'm not particularly fond of block scheduling. However, it does have advantages. I'll leave that musing for another time).
Labor Day weekend ended our Summer of History. Our trips this year were all historical in nature. And all of them took us back to the settling and founding of our great nation, before, during and after we became the United States of America. And we shared time with many incredible people along the way. Check back and I'll have pictures, stories and links to share with you.
Summer Projects 2010
I have managed to finish a few projects this summer, despite all the time I have wasted on FB.
I expanded my garden.
I put in a "creek."
And I finished the steps. (see 2009 summer projects)
I expanded my garden.
I put in a "creek."
And I finished the steps. (see 2009 summer projects)
As usual,
It has been months since I posted. What can I say? I've been busy! Not really. I have allowed Facebook to take over my computer time.
As wonderful as Facebook is for finding old friends and classmates, it can be just the opposite. All of the other "stuff" there is available to do while logged in to FB, sure can suck the life right out of a person. It is amazing how much time I can waste playing games and looking at all of my friends postings and pages.
School will be starting again very soon and FB will be put on the back burner again. At least for me. Having only one computer for four people and two of those people will need to use it almost daily for schoolwork, I will be the one giving up the computer. I suppose it will make me a better person. : )
As wonderful as Facebook is for finding old friends and classmates, it can be just the opposite. All of the other "stuff" there is available to do while logged in to FB, sure can suck the life right out of a person. It is amazing how much time I can waste playing games and looking at all of my friends postings and pages.
School will be starting again very soon and FB will be put on the back burner again. At least for me. Having only one computer for four people and two of those people will need to use it almost daily for schoolwork, I will be the one giving up the computer. I suppose it will make me a better person. : )
Middle of November Already?
Yes, it is November! Where has the year gone? It has flown by so quickly. Soon the time will be here to reflect on the past months; to celebrate the blessings God has provided and strive to correct the things that have disappointed Him. I hope to find the former a longer list.
Since school has begun, I have been keeping busy. I substitute in our school district and have been helping the mother of a friend sort through 40 years of life in her former home. She moved out of the house a few years ago and is ready to move on. It is not an easy process to purge one's life. She must decide what she needs and what she wants and what must be passed on to others. I do not envy her position, but in order to peacefully move on to the next phase of her life, it must be done.
I continue to be amazed how "things" seem to accumulate. We must train ourselves to prevent things from piling up and becoming clutter. It is easy to toss mail or the children's school papers on the counter and think, "I will go through those later." Later doesn't always come as soon as it should and bills are left unpaid, permission slips left unsigned and the stack gets higher. Instead, plant the seed of action in your brain. 5 minutes is all that is needed to quickly go through the mail and separate the important from the junk; to see what papers need to go back to school with your signature and which go on the refirgerator. As those things enter your home, just take those few minutes to take care of them. Soon it will become a habit and you won't have days of mail and papers waiting for you to sort through. A good thing to help you along is to set up a space on your desk or near where you pay bills or whatever space you designate as your "office." Use that space to place your bills and other important papers with separate categorized slots. If you aren't sure how to get an office space set up, I'll be glad to come to your home and create one with you.
Magazines and catalogs have a way of amassing. Ones you read, ones you intend to read or browse through and ones you are not sure why they are still showing up in your mailbox. Take the time to review those glossies. Decide which you read regularly or purchase items from. Cancel subscriptions to magazines that seem to just pile up and never get read. Register with a mail preference service to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive. Or call the company sending you the catalogs to have your name removed from their mailing list. Here is the Federal Trade Commission's web-site to start that process. It includes information on telemarketing and e-mail as well. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt063.shtm
If your household is like mine, books fill shelves in your home. As my daughters have gotten older, I have encouraged regular trips to the library. Rather than buy every book that interests them (and myself), books that can be checked out and returned are a great way to go. It saves space and money! We still buy books, but not as many as we did when they were much younger. Children's books take up less space than the thicker young adult and adult books. Every once in a while, we purge the bookshelves and donate books to the library for their annual sale.
Taking the time to reduce the amount of "stuff" around your house will keep the clutter down and relieve you from the stress that inevitably crops up when surveying your domain. Not seeing piles of papers on your counters, desk or coffee table creates a great feeling. Knowing you don't have to battle a clutter monster, zapping your time and energy, is so rewarding. Don't you feel your tense muscles relaxing already?
Since school has begun, I have been keeping busy. I substitute in our school district and have been helping the mother of a friend sort through 40 years of life in her former home. She moved out of the house a few years ago and is ready to move on. It is not an easy process to purge one's life. She must decide what she needs and what she wants and what must be passed on to others. I do not envy her position, but in order to peacefully move on to the next phase of her life, it must be done.
I continue to be amazed how "things" seem to accumulate. We must train ourselves to prevent things from piling up and becoming clutter. It is easy to toss mail or the children's school papers on the counter and think, "I will go through those later." Later doesn't always come as soon as it should and bills are left unpaid, permission slips left unsigned and the stack gets higher. Instead, plant the seed of action in your brain. 5 minutes is all that is needed to quickly go through the mail and separate the important from the junk; to see what papers need to go back to school with your signature and which go on the refirgerator. As those things enter your home, just take those few minutes to take care of them. Soon it will become a habit and you won't have days of mail and papers waiting for you to sort through. A good thing to help you along is to set up a space on your desk or near where you pay bills or whatever space you designate as your "office." Use that space to place your bills and other important papers with separate categorized slots. If you aren't sure how to get an office space set up, I'll be glad to come to your home and create one with you.
Magazines and catalogs have a way of amassing. Ones you read, ones you intend to read or browse through and ones you are not sure why they are still showing up in your mailbox. Take the time to review those glossies. Decide which you read regularly or purchase items from. Cancel subscriptions to magazines that seem to just pile up and never get read. Register with a mail preference service to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive. Or call the company sending you the catalogs to have your name removed from their mailing list. Here is the Federal Trade Commission's web-site to start that process. It includes information on telemarketing and e-mail as well. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt063.shtm
If your household is like mine, books fill shelves in your home. As my daughters have gotten older, I have encouraged regular trips to the library. Rather than buy every book that interests them (and myself), books that can be checked out and returned are a great way to go. It saves space and money! We still buy books, but not as many as we did when they were much younger. Children's books take up less space than the thicker young adult and adult books. Every once in a while, we purge the bookshelves and donate books to the library for their annual sale.
Taking the time to reduce the amount of "stuff" around your house will keep the clutter down and relieve you from the stress that inevitably crops up when surveying your domain. Not seeing piles of papers on your counters, desk or coffee table creates a great feeling. Knowing you don't have to battle a clutter monster, zapping your time and energy, is so rewarding. Don't you feel your tense muscles relaxing already?
Summer Project #2
Project # 2 was this:
.JPG)
My dream was to have boulders as steps leading down this steep hill to our backyard, but the cost was way over my budget. So I decided to look around our property to see what I could find. The stones are not huge, but heavy enough and big enough for steps. It turned out pretty well and blends in with our woodsy, natural landscape. It is also much better getting down that slope. My husband is not fond of cutting the grass around the steps. There is almost always a trade-off though, right?
For each step, I custom dug the hole, filled in small stones and placed the stone. Then I "shimmed" each step using more small stones to secure the step for a wobble-less tread. I don't know about anyone else, but my ankles and knees thank me every time I walk down the steps!
.JPG)
My dream was to have boulders as steps leading down this steep hill to our backyard, but the cost was way over my budget. So I decided to look around our property to see what I could find. The stones are not huge, but heavy enough and big enough for steps. It turned out pretty well and blends in with our woodsy, natural landscape. It is also much better getting down that slope. My husband is not fond of cutting the grass around the steps. There is almost always a trade-off though, right?
For each step, I custom dug the hole, filled in small stones and placed the stone. Then I "shimmed" each step using more small stones to secure the step for a wobble-less tread. I don't know about anyone else, but my ankles and knees thank me every time I walk down the steps!
Summer Projects #1
I was a little more motivated at the beginning of the summer and finished a couple of projects. My first was to make a bin for our kindling. Previously, our kindling was stored in a couple of unused trash cans. The cans worked well, keeping the kindling nice and dry, but they had to be moved seasonally.
I had a good idea of what I wanted and found different plans to guide me on this project. I ended up using deck materials to make a simple box. I gave it short legs to get it off of the ground. That helps with air circulation and it gives us another flat surface for a table or a place to sit.
I did some pricing before I settled on the decking materials. I purchased eight 8' planks and one 6' 4x4. The 4x4 was cut into six 1' legs to support the box. The planks were cut into 4' lengths for the width and 2' lengths for the depth. Each wall has brackets to secure the planks together. The lid is hinged. I only had one 2' length of decking left over. Total cost of project was just over $100. This bin is sturdy and solidly built. It will last a long time outdoors and maybe even longer than most decks. It sits under our deck in a recessed area, so exposure is less than a deck. It is full and ready for the fires we will have this winter!
Wow!!
Has it really been since January for my last post? Facebook can be blamed for the most part, although I did end up working more than half of the days the second semester of school. And I've managed to keep myself busy this summer.
A small garden went in in spring, my older daughter worked at camp and has had quite a few babysitting jobs and my younger daughter has kept up practicing her flute and learning to play tennis. We were also lucky enough to take the time to head back to the Midwest to visit our families and friends and celebrate.
For the first event, my older brother put together an open house celebration for our parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Not only did all 6 of us make it back to KC, but all of the grandchildren and several relatives we had never met were there. Many other former neighbors and church friends showed up as well. It was a great way to celebrate 40 years of marriage.
The next big event was my class reunion. It has been 20 short years since I graduated high school. We had 3 functions over a Friday evening to Saturday night. Other than now having jobs and families to show the passage of time, it felt as if we had only parted ways 5 years ago, not 20. Everyone seemed at ease and had a great time together.
Later, I will post pictures of the garden and tell you about my summer projects. I had a couple this year that turned out pretty well.
A small garden went in in spring, my older daughter worked at camp and has had quite a few babysitting jobs and my younger daughter has kept up practicing her flute and learning to play tennis. We were also lucky enough to take the time to head back to the Midwest to visit our families and friends and celebrate.
For the first event, my older brother put together an open house celebration for our parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Not only did all 6 of us make it back to KC, but all of the grandchildren and several relatives we had never met were there. Many other former neighbors and church friends showed up as well. It was a great way to celebrate 40 years of marriage.
The next big event was my class reunion. It has been 20 short years since I graduated high school. We had 3 functions over a Friday evening to Saturday night. Other than now having jobs and families to show the passage of time, it felt as if we had only parted ways 5 years ago, not 20. Everyone seemed at ease and had a great time together.
Later, I will post pictures of the garden and tell you about my summer projects. I had a couple this year that turned out pretty well.
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