7 Quick Takes Friday

---1---

Wow. What a week. Crazy stuff has been happening around here. I thought summer was supposed to be a more laid-back season. Uh, yeah. Not so I've noticed. We have been going non-stop with no end in sight.

---2---

Bookaddict has graduated high school. Four down, six to go. She's planning to take a year off to pursue her writing. She's one of the most disciplined people I know when it comes to her writing. Almost every day, she's up before anyone else, working on it. My novel would be finished by now if I was that disciplined. Hmm. Something else to work on.

---3---

Bookaddict and Guitarzan are serving as interns at our church's summer camp. They are leaving Sunday and will essentially be gone until the end of July. We've been running hither and thither to make sure they have everything they need to that time. It's a wonderful program that provides leadership training and the opportunity to utilize what they've learned.

---4---

I have so many things I want to accomplish this summer. I have major house shoveling out, er, I mean, decluttering,  projects to do.The first one on the schedule is redoing the front room to make it a highly functional office/workspace. I have boxes to go through, bookshelves to assemble, craft and sewing stuff to organize, schoolbooks to shelve and supplies to organize. Oh, and I also have several boxes of papers to sort and file or shred. Ugh. It's going to be glorious when it's finished, but right now it just looks like a lot of hard work.

---5---

I have piles of reading to do. I already had a lot with the various reading challenges I entered and then I got into book reviewing. Now I have books arriving in the mail that are starting to pile up. I definitely need to carve out some time this summer to get some reading done. Perhaps I should declare the hottest part of the afternoon to be rest and reading time.

---6---

Spitfire is still here visiting and we are having adventures. We've done some fun shopping and she's been a tremendous help with getting the interns ready to go.  She's also keeping me well supplied with makeup, skincare and cologne. She sells Avon and is constantly running across something for Bookaddict and I to try. She's helping with the War on Frumpiness. Now, if I can just remember to use all of it.

The other day we had car trouble and it took us almost two hours to get home (normally a twenty minute trip). At one point we were stranded on an overpass with big trucks zooming around us. Not fun. Fortunately, after the car sat a bit, we were able to get off the overpass and out on a less-traveled road.

---7---

Speaking of the War on Frumpiness, it's been a slow painful battle with many casualties. Some of these include my collection of baggy t-shirts and some lazy habits. Both keep trying to resurrect and creep back in. Old habits die hard. Let's face it, the reason it's such a battle, is it's easier to throw on some mom jeans or sweats and a baggy shirt, run a comb or brush through your hair and stick it in a ponytail and go along your merry way. Skincare and makeup and fixing hair take time and effort. Looking for cute , stylish tops that fit in your budget takes time and effort.  When those things become habit, it's gets easier. The time has been carved out and you just do it. It doesn't take any more time to put on a cute top than to pull on a baggy T.

A small victory was scored yesterday when I found two tops, in the exact colors I needed for choir performances next week, hanging on a clearance rack. They are both a flattering style and a nice, inexpensive addition to my wardrobe. This is great timing. We have a major skirmish coming up next week, when our church is doing a week-long conference flanked by weekend church days and I have to look put together every day for nine days straight. Help! Send reinforcements!

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I hope you have had a wonderful week. A special shout-out goes all the Home Sanctuary Coffee Girls stopping by. For more of 7 Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary. Have an awesome week!

7 Quick Takes Friday

---1---

It's been a crazy busy week like most, but this one seemed especially nutty, probably because I've been out of the house a lot more this week than usual. I'm such a homebody that I get completely out of sorts if I have to be away from home very much. Hopefully, next week will be better.

---2---

I've been taking advantage of my miles logged in the passenger seat to get a little reading done. I've managed to finish two books that I'll be reviewing in the next couple of days as well as one just for fun. All three of these count toward various reading challenges.

---3---

Speaking of reading challenges, I'm horrifically behind on mine. I'm planning to finish my current stack, which includes the latest Alexander McCall Smith book. Then I'm going to focus on the smallest challenges first and see if I can get some of them knocked out. Then I won't have so many uncompleted ones staring me in the face.

---4---

This coming week I plan to be in major decluttering mode. My workroom/office is pretty much unusable at the moment because there are so many boxes stacked up in there and other things brought from my mom's house. I've got to get it cleaned out before I get any more behind on my writing and sewing. I've got to get some clothes made before summer hits!

---5---

I've been researching antioxidants this week. It seems that people increasing their antioxidants lose weight, have better looking skin and more energy. This sounds like a pretty attractive package. One of the easiest ways to do this is to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat. We are entering the easiest time of year to accomplish that, so I'm ready to give it a go.

---6---

Sweetpea is really keeping us entertained. She loves music and loves to dance. If anyone plays music on the computer, stereo, or even starts a television show with catchy theme music, she starts dancing around in the middle of the floor. Our favorite is her Jeopardy! dance. When the Jeopardy! theme starts, she twirls around, rocks back and forth and waves her hands in the air. It's her favorite.

---7---

I'm working to get on more of a schedule with my blogging. I'm getting more things going so I have things posting all week. Things currently in the works or under consideration are book reviews, a weekly cookie recipe, some homeschooling info, more photos and, if I get #4 finished, sewing project info. I'm also considering other types of recipes and freezer cooking info. Let me know what you'd like to see more or less of. I love your comments (even if life gets too crazy to respond right away). I do read and cherish them all. Hope you have a peaceful weekend and a productive week ahead.

7 Quick Takes Friday

Welcome Company Girls! Come in and welcome. Pull up a chair and help yourself to iced tea and lemonade and sugar cookies.

---1---

The highlight of my week was the birth of my second granddaughter on Easter Sunday. So far I have been limited to pictures and hearing her on the phone. I can hardly wait to hold her and see her in person.

---2---

Easter has come and gone for another year, but I'm still pondering the resurrection. I have one book in progress and another sitting in the queue. I wonder what it is that's going on right now that is making this subject so very compelling?

---3---

I'm dreaming of gardening. The fever is strong this year. Every time we've passed some place selling plants, I have the urge to stop and look. My first priorities are: (1) buy plants to do the planters that now flank my front steps, (2) buy hanging baskets for the holders hanging on my porch that are empty right now, and (3) get some tomatoes going. I have already purchased seed to grow some herbs on my kitchen windowsill. I'll be posting some pictures as some of these are accomplished. Are you doing any gardening this year (or dreaming about it)?

---4---

 One of the low points of the week has been a brief battle with a stomach virus traveling around the area. Two woke up vomiting in the night two different nights and a couple had unsettled tummies, but I think it's run its course. I hope all of you have been healthy.

---5---

 This month I am taking a good look at a cookbook that has been languishing on my shelf. I bought it after reading rave reviews. I've never made anything out of it, because it just didn't suit our lifestyle at the time, but seems to now. While we were testing new recipes last month, I kept running into issues if it was a day I was gone or really busy. I discovered I have lots of recipes if I have hours to cook, but not so many if time is short. This month I'll be cooking out of Desperation Dinners. Every recipe is rated at 20 minutes or less, but may take me a bit longer because I will be doubling or tripling everything. I'm looking forward to adding some new quick and easy meals to the lineup.

---6---

Tonight Thecooldad and most of the kiddos will be at a Christian concert. I'm hoping to get some reading done. I feel like I'm way behind on reading challenges. I currently have four books in progress. I'm determined to finish at least one of them tonight.

---7---

My head is so full of future plans it isn't even funny. I'm working on gardening plans, spring cleaning plans, next year's school plans, menu plans and spring/summer wardrobe plans. Can you tell I'm a planner? Hopefully, I can get some of my plans finished up this coming week and post some of what I come up with. What are you working on?

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine and flowers blooming!

7 Quick Takes Friday (Welcome Company Girls!)

Welcome Company Girls! Come in and take a load off. Help yourself to iced tea and lemon cookies because I'm in a decidedly spring state of mind today.

---1---

No matter how many great explanations I read about how we don't need to spring clean anymore, there's still something about the warmer weather and sunshine that makes me want to open the windows, air everything out, knock down the cobwebs, dust, declutter and scrub everything down. Perhaps I should go lay down until the feeling goes away. Or not.

---2---

My spring fever isn't limited to indoors, either. I'm ready for green, growing things again. I'm currently trying to decide what I want to grow this year in the planters on either side of my front steps. I'm taking inspiration from Katherine's $50 landscape scheme. I love seeing what others can do on a shoestring! My scheme is complicated by the fact that my front yard is on the north side of the house and most of the yard is in full shade all day. What do you have growing on the north side of your house?

---3---

As much as I want to go play in the dirt, I'm resisting. While my heart and mind firmly say "spring and sunshine", the weatherman is saying "snow and cold". What's up with that? This is Texas, not Minnesota or some other frozen northern clime. My apologies to those who live in those more frozen areas who are still staring at the cold white stuff outside instead of green grass and wild plum trees in bloom and think I'm a whiner. Sorry.

---4---

 The sewing bug is catching up to me too. I'm starting to think about sewing kitchen curtains and making a spring quilt for my bed and some spring dresses and skirts. So far I haven't gotten past thinking about it, but I am thinking about it.

---5---

 We've been enjoying our foray into trying out new recipes. We've added several recipes to our normal lineup. However, I found myself growing restless and avoiding the cookbook and couldn't figure out why. It hit me last night. I've been trying all the recipes that are different from what we usually eat and I'm suffering a serious withdrawal from Mexican food. I may have to stop and make some enchiladas or something and then get back to the new stuff. Maybe I'll check out some of the Mexican food recipes in the cookbook. I've been avoiding them because I don't really NEED any new Mexican food recipes. But you never know...

---6---

We have a busy week coming up and a busy month ahead. We have the usual church and school and house stuff to deal with plus several upcoming youth events. With all the craziness to come, I finally reached the conclusion that we don't have a slow season. I have so many things I keep putting off until things slow down and they never really do. This is my life and I'm learning to deal with it.

---7---

Speaking of dealing with it, I'll be helping out with a funeral dinner at the church on Saturday. This is bringing up a lot of memories and feelings. My mother and grandfather both died around this time of year.  I was so blessed by all the folks that rallied around us during our time of grief and shock. Now it's time to pay it forward. What kindness has been shown to you that you could pay forward sometime soon?

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, whether it's filled with sunshine or slush!