Slackness, more slackness, green

1. Another day of almost complete slackness. The biggest event of the day was running my middlest daughter to the post office to mail a drawing for a contest. We did put away some of the suitcases so that my husband would think that we had done something.
   
   
2. The rest of the day I spent napping, watching movies, working in my puzzle book, or some combination of the above.
   
   
3. I was kind of sad when I was on vacation because everything looked so much greener everywhere else. But while we were gone, the rain came back, and things are green here, too. Almost all the damage from the very late, very hard frost in April is gone, and the rain has made everything green again. It just goes to show you that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence---sometimes it rains when you're not looking.
   

Relaxing, comics, a movie with the girls

1. A little bit more cleaning today, but mostly, still, sleeping in and relaxing to recover from the trip.
   
   
2. We watched the first three episodes of Last Comic Standing tonight. I really enjoy that show, especially jokes about other people's kids and other people's parents.
   
   
3. My oldest had a chance tonight to go to a movie in town with her friends. She doesn't get out much, so I thought it might be a good opportunity for her. There are so many things that I have always done for the kids, like buy movie tickets for them, and I think it's good for her to be out with a group of girls and be more independent. (Though not totally independent because I still had to drive her into town.) The plan was to see Evan Almighty, but they went to Ratatouille instead. She had a great time and enjoyed the movie. (I looked up rattatouille on the web, and the main ingredient is eggplant. I think I need to learn how to cook this.)
   

Laundry, lounging, new job

1. After sorting through all the laundry with the girls, I realized that getting caught up on the laundry isn't out of reach, even though it's raining off and on here.
   
   
2. Even though we started on the laundry, and unpacked some, the girls and I mostly just lounged around the house today. It was nice to not do anything for a change.
   
   
3. My husband came home with a long story about how much he doesn't like this one guy, but the big news is that he got the new job he wanted. It's still at the same company, but this is a driving job, and he likes to drive.
   

Home

After a long trip, it's always nice to be back in your own bed. Tonight will be especially nice because

1. it's cool outside, and there is a breeze coming in my bedroom window
2. the sound of a gentle rain on the leaves
3. every now and then I can hear far away thunder echo down the valley

It's good to be home.

Trip North

The girls and I are heading north for a conference for me in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. My husband, unfortunately, has to work. I will be away from my computer until Wednesday, 27 June.

The hightlights of our trip:

1. Camping near Plymouth, MA and seeing the sights in Massachusetts.
2. Visiting six new states: Connecticutt, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
3. Seeing friends in Northern Virginia and Maryland.
   

Laundry, weather, deer

1. We are on schedule with the laundry and packing for the trip tomorrow.
   
   
2. The weather forecast looks good for our trip.
   
   
3. The weather here has been cool, and I've been seeing more deer than usual during the day. I love the deer.
   

Hymns, gas prices, time off

1. We sang several good hymns today in church.
   
   
2. Gasoline prices are going down, just in time for our trip this week.
   
   
3. My husband was able to come to church with us because he didn't have to work this weekend.
   

Camp, Snappy Scrappers, deer

1. My teens had a great time at camp. The highlight, they say, was getting to sing in front of everyone up on the stage. They sang their duet from the Fine Arts Festival.
   
   
2. Today was the first meeting of the "Snappy Scrappers", a new scrapbook group meeting just down the road from my house. I had a really nice time, met some new people, and I did six pages (though they still need some writing on them).
   
   
3. Lots of deer in the meadow this evening.
   

Phone calls, musicals, 18 pages

1. I had a long phone call from a dear friend. It was fun to talk to her.
   
   
2. My baby and I have been watching movie musicals like crazy this week. It's so much fun to have someone in the house who likes to watch the same movies I like.
   
   
3. I finished 18 big scrapbook pages this week.
   

Crazy stories, dark chocolate M&Ms, spring cleaning

1. My dad used to send me crazy letters when I went away to camp. I've had a great time this week making up crazy stories to send to the older girls.
   
   
2. My baby and I have been working on our scrapbooks all week, and without any chocolate. Today we bought some dark chocolate M&Ms to help us celebrate our week of scrapping.
   
   
3. More perfect weather for drying clothes, so we washed all the sheets and blankets in the house and hung them on the lines. Nothing like spring cleaning when it's almost summer time.
   

Wordless Wednesday #22

Fresh towels, scrapbooks, "I Doubt It"

1. The weather was perfect for drying things outside, so now we have lots of nice, fresh, clean towels and sheets.
   
   
2. My baby and I are making great progress on our scrapbooks.
   
   
3. The three of us who are at home played "I Doubt It" tonight. I can't believe that I hadn't taught this game to my kids before, but better late than never. It turns out that my baby is a natural at it. She's so cute when she asks, "You're doubting me?"
   

Party time

My two youth left today for youth camp, and my baby and I had a wonderful day

1. scrapbooking
2. cooking pasta for supper
3. singing along to Taylor Swift during a slumber party in my room
   

Friends, cooler weather, TV without the girls

1. We've been at our church now for almost a year, and I felt today, for the first time, like I was finally making some friends. I think organizing the scrapbooking is really helping me to meet people. (I've been going to a Wednesday night Bible study also. It's another reason I'm meeting people, and I'm really enjoying the study---Daniel by Beth Moore.)
   
   
2. The weather was cooler today, with a nice breeze, and we even had some rain overnight.
   
   
3. My husband and I had a chance for some time together to watch TV, just the two of us. I don't remember the last time we were able to do that.
   

John Wayne and buffalo stampedes, reservations, scrapbooking

1. We watched the movie How the West Was Won. I had forgotten how much I love the music in that movie, but it all came back to me when I saw it again. I remember seeing John Wayne in that movie when I was little, and I remember the buffalo stampede. Seeing the movie again really reminded me of my dad.
   
   
2. I made reservations today for campgrounds for the trip in June.
   
   
3. I was able to finish up a couple of pages in my family scrapbook.
   

Pirates, papers, planning

1. A trip to town to see Pirates 3 on the big screen.
   
   
2. I finished both papers for the June conference, and even after a very late night, I'm still really happy that I agreed to do the conference. It's been good for me to work on research again.
   
   
3. Plans are almost set for the trip to the conference, and I'm starting to be excited about that also.