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?

Off the Rails

So far this year is not going according to plan. My plans are completely off track. I was determined to get back on track this month, but so far some unexpected events combined with getting sick have pretty much tanked any efforts so far. Right now hot tea and tissues are my constant companions. I am getting a little reading done and a lot of online research, so it's not a total loss, but I'm looking forward to being healthy again, so I can start my new exercise program and get back to work on my workroom rearrangement.

The First Monday of the Year

Okay, so it's a Monday and you know how Mondays are. However, as Mondays go, this one was pretty good. It's been a productive day. The daily readings were done early. The writing was accomplished. There was definite progress on the house. The den is cleaner and I even got in some work on my workroom (not a lot, but there is some forward movement). The kids' rooms are looking better and we've weeded out an entire garbage bag full of clothes to go to Goodwill. I did a bit of reading on the Art of Home book and I've read another chapter in the journaling book. I also went through some of the stuff that came from my mom's kitchen and found pots and pans and seasonings and a few kitchen tools for Spitfire's new house. How cool is it to declutter your house by helping other people provide for theirs? Love that!

Interesting times

Yesterday was amazing. We got news that two different friends that had been wanting to have a baby just found out they are expecting. I got to see an old and dear friend who is happier than I have seen her in years. I saw my next to oldest dd (henceforth known on the blog as Princess) off headed back home and back to work in a job she loves.

I'm still trying to get menus made, but maybe I'm not supposed to. At lunch today, I went in and looked at my pantry and started pulling things out and combining them together. We ended up eating a fairly tasty pasta dish that had broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and squash mixed with whole wheat penne in a rich tomato sauce. It was served with brown and serve rolls dipped in garlic butter. Tonight I'm making chicken pot pies for my oldest dd (aka Spitfire) who will be heading home in a couple of days. Pretty soon it will be down to the usual crowd here at home. Still up to date on my daily readings, but not making much progress on the regular reading list.

Day One...So Far, So Good

I started my reading program today. I did all the daily readings and even got the writing exercise completed. I had a lovely lunch out with my husband and ran a few errands while we were out. It's been a nice, relaxing day which I really needed. I've weighed and measured to track progress (and, no, I won't be posting all those numbers on the blog just yet). I'm starting with small changes that I hope will add up to big ones. Time will tell. Today at lunch I divided my meal in two and ate one portion. The other portion came home with me for lunch tomorrow. When I finished eating, I realized I had eaten plenty of food and didn't really even want any more. Tonight I've probably eaten too much while grazing snack food during the football game. Oh well.