Laundry, blueberry cereal, Halloween tradition

1. A great day for laundry, so I got tons done, including a large batch of sheets. (Tomorrow will be another great washing day, so I think I will try to get all the towels done, and the rest of the jeans.)
   
   
2. Blueberry Muffin Tops cereal for breakfast.
   
   
3. Our annual Halloween tradition: Arsenic and Old Lace with the girls after supper.
   

Comfy couch, beautiful driving weather, zombie movie

1. New room for Spanish class, and I got to sit on the couch!
   
   
2. A beautiful day for driving into Belmont.
   
   
3. Tonight, my middlest and I watched Sean of the Dead. Our favorite movie about the zed-word.
   

Wordless Wednesday #56

Awake for class, chatting, sushing

1. After a weekend of getting more sleep, class today went much better than it did last Thursday when I was such an airhead. And to make it up to my classes, I brought in M&M's again. (Very statistical candy.)
   
   
2. After several weeks of not connecting, my middlest and I had a chance to chat today during my office hours at Belmont.
   
   
3. And then, my middlest and I spent the evening watching Madagascar. We think that I'm a lot like King Julian: "Shh! We're hiding. Be quiet everyone. That includes me. Shh! Who's making that noise? Oh, it's me again. . . ." We giggle every time we hear that line, and then I have to sush us. :-)

Warm slippers, friend, pizza buffet

1. Warm slippers on a cold morning.
   
   
2. The girls and I worked at the youth group's pumpkin patch today. I had a chance to talk to a friend of mine from church. It's nice to feel connected.
   
   
3. To celebrate a new week of school and a new contract for my business, the girls and I ate out for supper. It was really nice not to have to cook after being out in the cold all afternoon.

Handbells, Christmas music, gasoline prices

1. The girls played in the handbell choir again this morning: "Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above" by Jody W. Lindh
   
   
2. We sang over 30 minutes of Christmas music in adult choir practice this evening.
   
   
3. I payed $2.379/gal. for gasoline.
   

Zinnias, green grass, movie time

1. We've had several hard frosts now, but I still have zinnias in the flower bed close to the house.
   
   
2. We had a nice gentle rain most of the day yesterday, and bright sunshine today that makes the grass almost glow green. I'm sure that the trees are happier, too.
   
   
3. My middlest and I had been wanting to watch the movie Chicago again for some time, and today we finally had the time.
   

Good week, graciousness, constant reading

1. My in-laws left for home today, after a week of concerts and no big arguments. And my house is cleaner now than it was at this time last week.
   
   
2. I made a mistake about the research paper that my oldest has to write for school this year. Even though she was disappointed, she was so gracious about the whole thing. I love her sweet spirit.
   
   
3. I'm having trouble getting my youngest to stop reading so she can help around the house. It's not often that I don't have to nag her to work on school, so this is a nice break for me.
   

Graded tests, creative writing in Spanish, poker face

1. I finished grading all the tests in just two days, even after going to the Opry show on Tuesday night. No one cried during the test or after I gave them back, so I will chalk this up to another successful test.
   
   
2. The oldest read a story that she wrote in Spanish to our Spanish teacher this evening. He had very little to correct in her grammar, and he said her pronunciation was excellent. (He's a native of Mexico.) I'm so proud of her!
   
   
3. Grandpa Ernie taught the girls to play poker this evening, and I could tell by the smile on the face of my middlest that she had more Monopoly money that Grandpa had.
   

Wordless Wednesday #55

Tuesday Night at the Opry

1. Luke Bryan
   
   
2. The Whites
   
   
3. Jesse McReynolds & the Virginia Boys

Sleeping in, warm and breezy fall weather, the trio

1. A chance to sleep in after a really busy day yesterday
   
   
2. Beautiful fall weather---just warm enough and breezy enough to hang out laundry, but still really feeling like fall
   
   
3. Listening to the girls sing trio music for their grandparents
   

Sunday music

1. "Jacob's Ladder" played by the Youth Bell Choir
   
   
2. "Wings of the Dawn" by Linda A. Spencer sung by the High School Choir
   
   
3. "The Gift to Be Simple" sung by the Junior High School Choir
   

Cleanliness, Iowa football, Belmont's Christian Music Showcase

1. My house is fairly clean after days of sorting through papers in the office, and some time spent in cleaning my room and bathroom.
   
   
2. Iowa won their football game and were even half-way impressive.
   
   
3. We drove into Belmont this evening for the Christian Music Showcase. I really enjoyed the show, and it was nice to finally see something inside the Curb Event Center that I've been hearing so much about.
   

Organization, more organization, and autumn weather

1. A successful day of cleaning. I love it when I really make progress of not only getting the house cleaner, but also getting things organized and unpacked.
   
   
2. All my scrapbook supplies and tools are in the office on my scrapbook table, with space to work and everything organized.
   
   
3. Cooler temperatures and clear blue skies---perfect autumn weather today.

Gustar, Kit, rain

1. Learning about "gustar" in Spanish class today, and being ahead of the rest of the class because of my music collection and learning about conjugating "gustar" from the song "Me Gusta Tu."
   
   
2. Playing our new "Kit Kittredge" CD for my students at Belmont.
   
   
3. Lots of much-needed rain.
   

Good report, pumpkin patch, employee of the week

1. The girls got a very good report today from the dentist.
   
   
2. We had fun working at the pumpkin patch (raising money for the church youth choir trips) and seeing all the little kids get excited about seeing so many pumpkins.
   
   
3. I had a great check-out lady at the grocery store this evening. She was both friendly and efficient.
   

Alone time, supper time, school time

1. Some time alone in the car, listening to good music and my French language lessons.
   
   
2. My baby girl made supper for us, which is usual for days I'm teaching, and very appreciated.
   
   
3. The girls worked hard at school today even though I was away.
   

Columbus, Charles de Gaulle, conquering my office

1. In honor of Columbus Day, we had fried rice for lunch. And my husband made us a pound cake yesterday that we ate for desert.
   
   
2. The girls and I watched a documentary on Charles de Gaulle. I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but after watching this movie, I feel that I understand the French mind much more than I ever did when I was living in Europe and working for a Frenchman. After learning about de Gaulle, I see why the French are so much like Texans. Yes, it's true.
   
   
3. I got a lot done for several clients and for the girls. Quizzes and tests are ready for my Belmont students for the coming week. However, I still need to sort through some papers and patch a bean bag chair before I can go to bed. I'd like to see either Columbus or de Gaulle juggle what I have to juggle. A mother's work is never done. :-)
   

Organ music, hash brown casserole, friends

1. "Praise and Thanksgiving" by Dale Wood for the opening voluntary on the organ.
   
   
2. New-comers lunch today at church with lots of hash brown casserole.
   
   
3. My girls are all happy to have a full day a the church after a week of "friend withdrawal" while the county schools were on fall break.
   

Drying weather, clean kitchen, Iowa football

1. Beautiful weather for finishing up the laundry and getting it hung up outside.
   
   
2. My husband cooked breakfast this morning, and he cleaned most of the kitchen while he was cooking. Awesome!!!
   
   
3. Iowa finally won a football game and did so decisively. My husband is always in a better mood when that happens. (However, he actually looked up the words to the Iowa Fight Song, and now he knows that I've been singing it wrong all the years. He's on a campaign to get me to change, but I think my words are better than the official words, so I'm hanging on to the old words. "We gonna fight, fight, fight for Iowa . . .")
   

Fall colors in the sun, laundry weather, a tall tale

1. I really enjoyed watching the shadows of the clouds roll across the hills today. The leaves are orange and yellow mixed in with the cedars, and I love the way they shine when the sun hits them.
   
   
2. I got tons of laundry done and hung out to dry today. I love this weather: warm and breezy. And I love my washing machine. I did a load with at least a dozen pair of jeans in it.
   
   
3. My oldest and I had to make a quick run to the local market for cheese and some other necessities. It took us longer than we expected, so I made up a completely ridiculous story about a snapping turtle the size of a Mini Cooper that was blocking the road. I was raised on tall tales and fish stories, and I'm always happy when I can invent something that my dad would have been proud of.
   

Back to Belmont (after Fall Break and Debate 08)

1. The fences were coming down at Belmont today after the debate, and finding a parking space was a piece of cake. My oldest came with to Belmont today because we came straight from Spanish class, so I explained to her how to walk downhill both ways from and to the car.
   
   
2. Today was "e-day" for my Belmont students. I love tell them about the mathematical constant "e" and about my freshman-year roommate Kathy from Texas. My oldest said that she loves to hear me tell stories and feels lucky that she gets to hear my stories more than once (unlike my Belmont students).
   
   
3. Each Belmont faculty and adjunct got a left-over press kit today. Inside a sort-of nice bag was some junk about the Nashville area, etc., but it also had some food from Tennessee (Goo-goo clusters and Moon Pies, just to name a few), some flower seeds, a nice long-sleeved t-shirt, and a thumb drive.
   

Rain, water in the creek, curled up on the couch

1. Beautiful, steady rain all night long. This should help the trees as their leaves begin to change. I can already tell that the water table is better than last year because we've got some color to the leave already instead of just turning brown like last year.
   
   
2. The girls went down to the creek today and there was actually some water there ("almost half-way up our calves"). Not so much water as in the Spring, but a nice change of pace for an autumn school day.
   
   
3. And what's better on a raining day than being curled up on the couch? While the girls were at the creek, I spent the morning watching old movies (and working on X-12 runs for a client).
   

Getting done with school, Latin, Debate Bingo

1. My baby is having a good week at school. I think it helps that I got to be home today instead of going to Belmont.
   
   
2. Time to work on Latin today on my own to get caught up with the kids.
   
   
3. Debate Bingo! And it wasn't McCain or Obama who won. It was me!
   

Progress, rain, mindless movies with my middlest

1. After weeks of trying to get some answers from the Census Bureau, I finally talked to the right person, and realized they had changed the web site, and now I'm making some progress on a project for a client.
   
   
2. We had a little bit of rain this evening, with more promised tomorrow and Wednesday. The leaves are just starting to turn, and some rain could really help the trees.
   
   
3. My middlest finished school early today, and my workload is light, so we watched a very bloody, completely mindless movie this evening. It's fun just to hang sometimes with my girls and have some one-on-one time.

Trumpet duets, my church, family movie night

1. Our organist's husband and a friend of his were playing some trumpet duets with organ accompaniment for prelude, postlude, and during communion. Some of the pieces were for piccolo trumpet. Very cool.
   
   
2. It felt good to take communion at **my** church. It was a really good feeling.
   
   
3. Because of fall break, no evening activities tonight, so we get to hang out at home with my husband and watch movies.
   

Scrapbook day, Sinatra, Illinois football

1. Scrapbook day at Rita's house. I'm working on a scrapbook for my mom with pictures and notes from a trip that our family took to California in 1973. I went without the girls so I could really focus on working.
   
   
2. Listening to Sinatra all afternoon.
   
   
3. I really enjoyed watching the Illinois football game (oh yeah, Michigan was supposed to be there, too) on TV this evening.
   

New music, LA Confidential, beautiful weather

1. I downloaded a couple more songs today, and I burned several new CDs. I enjoy creating good song lists, and it's nice to have new music mixes for traveling to Belmont and to church.
   
   
2. Watching LA Confidential. I enjoy the story, the acting, and Russell Crowe doesn't annoy me too much with his bad American accent.
   
   
3. The weather this week has been so beautiful---warm days and cool nights, sunshine with puffy clouds, and beautiful sunsets.
   

Coolness in Spanish class, parking space, vacation time

1. My oldest and I got to sit at the "cool table" today in Spanish class, which means that I got to speak French with Frank when we were bored. (The lesson was about direct/indirect object pronouns, and it's very similar in Spanish to how it works in French.)
   
   
2. We found a great parking space at Belmont today, the last day of parking worries (knock on wood) this semester, because today was my last day at work until after the Belmont debates.
   
   
3. My oldest two were finished with school, so we decided to watch the debate together. On line today I found several variations of a drinking game, but since it we don't drink alcohol, and caffeine that late is a bad idea, we decided to play "debate bingo" instead. I was amazed that some of the phrases on our cards, like "drill, baby, drill" were actually said out loud during the debate. Who knew that watching political stuff could be so much fun.
   

Bell choir, Bible study, ready for work

1. The girls had orthodontist appointments in Tullahoma today, and we listened to a new CD that I downloaded last night---the soundtrack from the Kit Kittredge movie. We love the tunes, especially Josh Turner singing "Don't Fence Me In" and Spike Jones's "Pack Up Your Troubles."
   
   
2. Lunch at Fazzolli's after the ortho appointments.
   
   
3. The girls proof-read a new song in bell choir tonight, and they all did well. I'm so happy that they are enjoying both singing and playing bells.
   

Time for vacation to end

I've been taking a break from a lot of things the past two months. I was working very hard to get ready for school to start, and with my youngest in junior high now, and two high-school-aged students, I had a bit of a meltdown. I seemed to really be missing my dad again, and not finding time for scrapbooking or independent research, then kinds of things that keep me sane. When I get like that, I've discovered that it's generally best to keep to myself, and then once I had gotten out of the habit of blogging, it was difficult to get back into the swing of it. But I promised myself I would start again on October 1, so I'm back and going strong.

The biggest changes over the past two months are that we finally settled on a church home after over two years of living in Tennessee. We joined First United Methodist last Sunday.

Also, the girls have started school: 7th, 9th, and 10th grades this year. They are all active in youth activities at our new church. I'm still working at my consulting business and part-time for Belmont University.

We also had one minor incident: my husband was in an accident last Wednesday. He was riding on his motorcycle, doing the speed limit of 45, when he was hit head-on by a car. He flipped over the hood of the car and landed on his back, but all his protective gear seems to have done its job because he walked away from the accident with only bruises and muscle aches. Now we are just going through the process of dealing with the other guy's insurance.

I look forward to sharing our lives with you all once again.

ttfn,
Catherine