Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Monday, May 24, 2010

A Quick Update

It's been crazy busy around here, but I wanted to let everyone know what's happening in my corner of the world.

Spitfire and Bunny are here for an extended visit. I'm growing so accustomed to them being around that's it's going to be hard when they go home. I think Bunny has grown just since she's been here. How much is she going to grow when I can't see her every day? Sigh. For now, I'm not worried about what isn't getting done while I'm holding my granddaughter. I'm just doing the grandma thing!

As you've probably figured out, between reading challenges and book reviews, I'm seriously into books. My wonderful family has further fed my obsession by pitching in together and buying me a Kindle for Mother's Day. This is something I've wanted since I first laid eyes on it. The idea of carrying a library around with me was too appealing to be missed, but in the back of my mind was this little bit of doubt. What if I got one and it turned out to be just another gadget that lays unused in the drawer?

I needn't have worried. I absolutely love it! The really cool thing is how many free books are available to go on it. In addition to the thousands of books actually on Amazon , there are thousands more on other websites like Project Gutenberg. Anything in Kindle, Mobipocket, or pdf format is read natively on the the Kindle. I went a little crazy (OK, a lot crazy) downloading free books and now I have a touch over 700 on there plus another 200+ archived, ready for instant download. If you don't have a Kindle, you can download free software to read Kindle books on your Mac, PC, iPhone, or Blackberry.

I've made a bit of progress on my reading challenges, but I can't shake the feeling that I would be a lot better off if I could lock myself in my room for about a month and read. Hopefully, I'll get some more reading in this summer.

I'm excited about coming changes in my home. A friend was selling off some furniture to make room for new pieces and I bought her used, but good condition living room furniture for a bargain price. My den furniture is in sad shape and I've been wanting to replace it, but didn't have the means. Now, I can redo the den with more comfortable, better looking furniture and they even plan to deliver it to me when I'm ready! I think I've rearranged the room half a dozen times in my head already.

We're winding down the school year and everyone is excited about summer and camp. My two oldest still living at home will be gone most of the summer working as interns at the camp. Three of the children will be attending camp, two one week, and one another. I'll be pretty tied down while all my babysitters are gone, so I'm hoping to get big things done on the house, school planning and, of course, reading challenges.

In case you missed the introductory post, I'm waging war on frumpiness, that dowdy, out-of-shape, not-looking-my-best, condition moms sometimes find themselves slipping into. The official battle lasts until the end of July. Care to join in the fun and make yourself over?

Monday, December 28, 2009

About Me

Welcome to my blog. My name is Terri (aka thecoolmom) and I live in Texas with my husband and children and a house full of books. There's scarcely a dull moment around here, although I occasionally wish for one. I have 10 children with 7 of them still living at home.

Spitfire is 24 and lives in Georgia. She's married to  Gunlover, who is Air Force and currently stationed in Korea. They have two daughters, Jewel and Bunny. Princess is 22, lives in OK and paints and works in childcare. Conundrum, 21, is currently in college in OK and stays pretty busy with that and his photography. Bookaddict is 18 and a senior in high school and is nearly always either reading or writing. Guitarzan, 16, is in high school and likes guitars, video games and cars, and tinkering with inventions. Horsecrazy, 12, likes working with younger kids and loves anything to do with horses. Slither is 10 and is fascinated by snakes and lizards. Ladybug is 8 and loves reading and coloring. Ribbit is 5, loves frogs, and is learning to read. Sweetpea is 1 and is busy going everywhere and exploring everything.

I am interested and involved in homeschooling, singing, writing, sewing, cooking, teaching, learning, public speaking, and collecting quirky quotes. When I have the time and inclination I also knit, crochet, cross stitch, and I have even been known to do needlepoint now and then. I would like to learn to paint in watercolors and to make quilts. Both are on my to-do list for this year.

I started this blog as a way to document the changes I'm making in my life. I'm setting to make substantial changes in my body, my home, and my day-to-day life. I have had a number of major events in the last couple of years that have caused me to step back and assess my life and try to pin down just exactly how I am and how I want to live.

In the course of this documentation, you may find my own musings, diet and exercise information I stumble across, recipes, pictures of projects I've completed, book reviews, homeschooling tips, fun facts, quirky quotes or thoughts for the journey.