No subtitles, walking again, "pudding in a cloud"

1. The movie Joyeux Noel -- I had the chance today to watch it without subtitles. I'm looking forward to watching it again tomorrow and over the weekend before I have to send it back.
   
2. For the first time, I took a walk with the girls down by our pond, and then on through the property down to the bridge. I wore my ankle brace, and my ankle is pretty sore tonight, but I feel like I accomplished something. I like the land. There is so much to explore. I'm looking forward to going out again.
3. "Pudding in a cloud" for desert.
   

Progress and another beautiful day

1. I got a lot of work done on my slides for my presentation that's due soon.
   
2. I got a lot of work done on the Christmas gift for my in-laws.
3. It was another beautiful day today. I was outside at 7:00 this morning in short sleeves and not a bit cold. The temperature now is 70 degrees F. It's just been a couple of really nice days. I suppose it could be considered Indian Summer, except that it seems almost too late for that. It will take some time for me to get used to the weather here, I see.
   

Kenny Chesney, another package, and the right movie

1. The CD "All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan" by Kenny Chesney. He might not be exactly my type, but he does look fine. (I haven't heard the CD yet. It belongs to my youngest, and she has to finish all her school work today before she can open it.)
   
2. The last of my Amazon packages came today. This means that Santa Claus is officially ready for St. Nicholas Day on the 6th of December.
3. After a mix-up at Netflix with an envelope not matching the movie inside, we ordered the movie again, and this time it actually came!
   

No more grading (for a little while), cleaner kitchen, two packages from the UPS man

1. I'm officially caught up on grading. There are some things that are difficult for me to grade (not completely objective), and there are some workbooks that the girls keep and I somehow just don't get around to grading them because I don't see them right in front of me that often (logic, for example). But today I'm caught up on everything, both the subjective and the objective, and it's all recorded in my notebook.
2. The roasting pan is clean and put away from Thanksgiving. I had a lot of help today in the kitchen from the girls, both with cleaning and cooking.
3. The UPS truck came today, carrying two boxes with some of my purchases for Christmas, and some books for reading and for school. And because it was only part of my order, it was a little bit like Christmas for me in that I didn't know what would be inside.
   

Cooking without help, nap, favorite sweaters

1. The girls cooked lunch today without my help.
2. A nice afternoon nap on the couch in the sun.
3. Finding several of my favorite sweaters right where I had hoped they would be--packed in the cedar chest. It's always nice when I'm able to find things that were packed so long ago. Even though I found them, I didn't wear one today because it's too warm. But I'll be ready when the weather turns colder again.
   

Vanilla, football, parfaits

1. Suave vanilla-scented body wash
2. Tennessee beat Kentucky in football
   
3. Parfaits
   

Turkey and noodles, a one-car garage again, warm weather

1. The traditional Friday-after-Thanksgiving lunch: turkey and noodles with side dishes of mashed potatoes and peas.
2. A garage clean enough to park a car in, thanks to my husband who finished fixing the basement door and then cleaned up all his woodworking mess from the center of the garage.
3. A beautiful, warm, sunny day---a perfect day for having a holiday from school, great for riding bikes and hiking and just being outside.
   

Thanksgiving Day

1. Three healthy children, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our head---in the United States and not in Europe.
2. Celebrating the birthday of our three favorite stuffed animals: Patchy, Fuzzy, and Cutie.
3. Seeing some of the wild turkeys that live on our property, walking around without a care in the world today.

Wordless Wednesday #3

Sunlight, quiet time, chocolate crescents

1. Sunlight coming in the windows this morning and warming up the house.
2. Having time to read quietly before my husband got home or the kids got out of bed.
3. I mentioned to the girls that one thing I miss from Luxembourg are the chocolate croissants. So tonight for desert, the girls took refrigerated crescent rolls (the jumbo size), rolled chocolate chips inside, and baked them. They weren't exactly like what I would get from the bakery at Place de Paris, but they were really good.
   

Early Christmas cards, joy at piano lessons, spinach lasagna

1. My husband's family sends out Christmas cards very early, and I'm not sure they know our new address. I actually have my first four cards ready to be mailed, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!
2. My youngest daughter is excited about piano lessons again. The key, I've found, is to let her play Christmas songs all year round.
3. Creamy Spinach Lasagna and bread sticks tonight for supper.
   

Quiet time alone, orange Tootsie-Pop, singing tenor with Daddy

1. Quiet Sunday afternoons when my husband is asleep and the kids are playing quietly upstairs, and I have a chance to read or to work, to do what I want.
2. An orange Tootsie-Pop. Someone at church gave it to my youngest, and she gave it to me. I don't remember how long it's been since I had a Tootsie-Pop.
3. We sang the hymn "Count Your Blessings" today at church, and I couldn't remember the last time I had sung it. I have very clear memories of singing that song with my dad. I was too young to read the words, but I would stand on the pew so that I could share the hymnal with Daddy, even though I couldn't read it, because Daddy would point at the notes for the tenor part, and we'd sing higher when the notes went up. He told me back then it was a good song to learn the tenor part on because it was mostly just two notes. Now when I sing that song I'm reminded my dad, and what a blessing he is to me.
   

Migrating birds, fallen leaves, cold winds

1. The songs of hundreds, or maybe thousands, of birds that have temporarily invaded our fields on their way farther south.
2. Trees that have surrendered their leaves to the changes that are coming.
3. Colder winds that keep us inside.

All these things remind me how blessed we are with our big, warm house.

Happy Anniversary!, Around the World in 80 Days, less trash in my office

1. Today is my husband's parents' 50th anniversary. Happy anniversary!
2. The 1956 version of Around the World in 80 Days---really pretty photography.
3. Getting lots of boxes sorted and trash thrown away. Only a few more days, and my office will be clean.
   

Old friends

1. A phone call out of the blue from an old friend
2. An email from another old friend, again, out of the blue, after years without contact
3. Hours by myself to get some work done without interruption from the girls, thanks to a VeggieTale movie, "Lord of the Beans." You would think my kids are too old to let the television be a "babysitter" like that, but they watched everything on the DVD, and then they spent quite a bit of time drawing the characters based on the lessons provided. And the beauty of homeschooling---I got to count that hour spent drawing as their art class for the week.
   

Wordless Wednesday #2

Pickle dogs, My Mother's Hymn Book, Christmas music

1. We discovered that our hot dog buns had "sell by" dates of last week, so we decided to use the hot dog buns for lunch. The girls had hot dogs, but I made myself pickle dogs. I used to make them as a kid with dill pickle spears wrapped in American cheese and heated in the toaster oven. I didn't have any dill pickle spears, so I made them with layers of sliced pickles and shredded cheddar cheese and heated in the microwave. Even though they weren't the same exactly, they still tasted good, and it brought back happy memories of my childhood.
2. I find new treasures every day that I get some boxes unpacked. Today's treasure: my CD of "My Mother's Hymn Book" by Johnny Cash.
3. For our Latin assignments this month, we're learning some Christmas songs in Latin, like "Adeste Fideles", "Veni, Veni Emanuel", and "Resonent in Laudibus". The girls are practicing for Christmas with their piano lessons also. My husband hates Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving comes, but I love having Christmas music in the house, and it's all for a good reason, so he can't complain.

Finishing early, free audio books, long discussions

1. I finished writing my daughter's algebra test before she started asking me for it.
2. I figured out how to download audio books from the state library---very cool.
3. My oldest child and I had several long discussions today about what it's like to go to a public high school. We checked out prices for some of our alternatives to the county high school here. I think she's curious more than really wanting a change. Right now I'm wondering if they'd let her visit for a while to see what it's like. . . .
   

Black dress shoes, piano man, exploring

1. The swelling in my foot is down enough that I could wear my black loafers to church today. For the first six months after I broke my leg, all I could wear was my tennis shoes and my brown crocs. For the past month or so I've been able to wear my brown mules. So now I have four pairs of shoes I can wear, and I finally have some black dress shoes that fit. (I didn't want to buy new shoes because I was always hoping that the swelling would go down. And it finally is!)
2. I found my The Essential Billy Joel CD. How is it that I've gone so long without hearing "Uptown Girl". Ok, that was sarcastic. But there are sooooo many good songs, I can't name them all, and in the riches that are on these CDs, you can forgive a few silly songs like "Uptown Girl." ;-D
3. I had a lovely afternoon with the girls, exploring Nashville a bit after church.
   

In Honor of Veterans' Day

From the Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, Tennessee---

Warm weather, French lessons, apologies

1. The weather was warm today. My middlest child was finished with school and spent some time outside playing.
2. I got out my French lesson CDs, and I've been brushing up on my French.
3. I apologized to someone whom I needed to apologize to.
   
   

Halloween movie, someone else washing dishes, sleep

1. My husband has been renting zombie movies for Halloween, but this week (a little late, I admit) I rented Arsenic and Old Lace so I could show the girls the kind of scary movies that I like. They thoroughly enjoyed it, and I enjoyed watching it with them.
2. My husband cleaned my kitchen for me. So cool.
3. My husband and kids let me sleep in a bit this morning, and I needed it. It wasn't so much the walking from yesterday that had me so tired, it was the staying up late reading the Odyssey.
   

Stones River Battlefield, rainbows hung, working printer

1. Field Trip Day! We went to Stones River Battlefield in Murfreesboro. It was a beautiful Autumn day, and the battlefield was nice. The ruins of the old fort were very interesting. The design reminded me of the forts in Luxembourg, so I suspect that the design of this fort was influenced by Verdun. Very interesting.
2. After forgetting and forgetting that I was going to help her, we finally got my rainbow quilt and my old rainbow kite hung up in my youngest daughter's room. It looks good, and now she has some space on her desk because the kite isn't sitting there.
3. My husband fixed the paper feed on my printer so that I can print and copy again. I'm glad it's working, and I'm glad that I didn't have to pay someone to look at it.
   

Voting, cleaning, and working on slides for courses

1. We found our polling place, even though the address they gave us wasn't on any of the map sites like Windows Live Local. There wasn't a line, but I was a bit surprised at how slowly we were processed. I kept thinking, "They wouldn't be doing it this slow in Northern Virginia or people would complain too much about the lines and the wait." It brought home that the pace here really is a lot slower than in Fairfax County, and that was a big part of the reason to move to Tennessee.
   
2. We picked up in the dining room and took a load of trash to recycle, and then I picked up the living room, vacuumed the dining room, hall, and living room, and I washed a lot of dishes. I also got my husband's work clothes washed. The house looks and smells good.
3. My oldest daughter gave her approval of my slide template for the courses I've been working on for my consulting company. It feels really good to be working toward a goal again, to have something concrete to do to related to my "other" job, the one that isn't cooking, cleaning, and teaching the kids.

More music, in honor of tonight's CMA Award Show from Nashville, TN

1. Martina McBride's "Anyway" (lyrics below, fron an album that I don't think has been released yet)
2. Keith Urban's "Better Life" from the CD Be Here (lyrics from Cowboy Lyrics)
3. Brad Paisley's "When I Get Where I'm Going", with Dolly Parton, from the CD Time Well Wasted (lyrics from Cowboy Lyrics)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Anyway
Martina McBride

You can spend your whole life
Building something from nothing,
Then one storm can come and blow it all away.
Build it anyway.

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach,
And you know it might not ever come your way,
But dream it anyway.

Chorus:
God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good,
And when I pray, it doesn’t always turn out like I think it should.
But I do it anyway, I do it anyway.

This world’s gone crazy
And it’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today.
Believe it anyway.

You can love someone with all your heart,
For all the right reasons,
And in a moment they can choose to walk away.
Love ‘em anyway.

Chorus:
God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good,
And when I pray, it doesn’t always turn out like I think it should.
But I do it anyway, I do it anyway.

You can pour your soul out
Singing a song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang.
Sing it anyway.

Yeah, sing it anyway.

I’ll sing, I’ll dream, I’ll love,
Anyway.

***** I make no guarantees that these lyrics are completely correct, but they are as close as I could come, listening through my tears. *****

Good music

1. "First Song That I Sing" by Sara Groves, from the CD All Right Here (also on Women of Faith: The Artist Collection)
2. "I Will Praise Him, Still" by Fernando Ortega, from the CD This Bright Hour
3. "I Stand Amazed" by Glassbyrd, from the CD Open Wide This Window (also on WOW Worship Yellow)

O Brother, Where Art Thou?, fallen leaves, walking in my closet

1. The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? --- great plot, great writing, great look and feel, great acting, great sound track. (The movie is even more fun if you've read Homer's Odyssey recently.)
   
2. The girls had some time this morning to play in the leaves. It's a beautiful sunny day today.
   
3. I cleaned some in my closet, so I have a big walk-in closet that I can actually walk into.
   

Finishing a book, The Great Gatsby, and a learning attitude

1. I finished reading a book that I wasn't crazy about reading (again, because I'd read at least part of it in high school), Sophocles' Oedipus Cycle. Now I'll have more time to read The Great Gatsby, which I also read in high school, but I enjoy that book more.
2. "A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as the wind does on the sea. The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house." from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. (See my
   review on Amazon.)
3. My oldest child's attitude toward school. She is so anxious to learn, and so willing to do extra work, ideas from her textbooks or things she's thought up herself. She's just such a pleasure to teach, just a pleasure to be around.
   

Morning smoke, music theory, Tender Tennessee Christmas

1. When I wake up in the mornings, all nice and warm in my nice warm house, I can see the shadow of the smoke coming from the chimney. I love wood stoves. I love being warm.
   
2. My oldest child is actually doing her music theory, along with practicing her piano faithfully.
3. My husband found my Amy Grant Christmas album. What a relief! How could I celebrate my first Christmas in Tennessee in 12 years without being able to hear Amy Grant sing "Tender Tennessee Christmas."
   

Wordless Wednesday