Sunday, September 11, 2011

tidbits...

*Great first half-week of school all-around. Annie likes her classes. Max said it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. :P And his teacher called just to let us know that he's adjusting to fourth grade wonderfully--"He's great at following directions and listening. He works extremely well with others. And he's just an incredibly sweet kid." Awwww...way to melt a parent's heart. And Gray, the one I was most apprehensive about, did wonderfully! Better than I could have asked for.

*My week ran soooooo much smoother than I'd anticipated. I was really worried that homeschooling two, plus the requirements that go along with active participation in Max's schooling would be more than I could gracefully juggle. I know that there will be weeks (probably many of them) that won't be as bump-free, but I'm so grateful for the start we had. It gives me hope that we can all manage this.

*The work it took to make this week go smoothly (not just lesson-planning, but meal/snack/packed lunches planning and execution, canning, scheduling of outside stuff, etc.) took its toll on my body. By Friday evening I was so physically miserable I just wanted to crawl in a cave. I've not yet learned how to pace myself. How does one do that? Seriously, how? *sigh* And of course, there was loads of cooking to do (partly for the week ahead), cleaning to catch up on, more lesson-planning, laundry, etc.--you know "life"--to get done this weekend. Sleep, as usual, is evasive. All this leaves me currently hating my body...and my body hating me. But I know there's a learning curve here, and over time I'll manage to make what I can better and to accept what I can't. Life is always a work in progress, right?

*Possibly the most amusing/most not-amusing thing to happen this past week occurred last night. We'd all settled in to do a little RIP viewing. After much debate (mostly involving the boys try to convince us to watch movies that are way too gory), we decided to try out an episode or two of Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes. We successfully made it through the first episode and were about to start the second, when from outside we heard Bacon barking/whining. It was obvious that something was wrong with him...and well, all it took was opening the back door to find out what it was. Silly dog went and got himself sprayed by a skunk. :(



Rich whipped up some "skunk shampoo" and Annie helped give the goofball a bath.

*Now that I've gotten over the back-to-school-end-of-summer funk, I'm starting to enjoy all those signs of fall. Geese honking away on their way south, goldfinch feeding on the coneflower seeds, even the first leaves starting to change.

10 comments:

Amanda said...

Aw, poor dog! Skunks are no fun!

I'm glad your week mostly went well!

Jean said...

I am glad you survived the week but sorry to hear you were so wasted by its end. Thoughts: Look at my daily blog post yesterday. Unless your dust bunnies are the size of mine, you may not need to clean as often or as strenuously. And can the kids perhaps help with the laundry, at least with the folding, hanging up, and putting away. Invite everyone to come get their clothes from the pile! You do so much, but you do not need to do everything. This is a lesson I have still only partially learned, by which I know it won't be easy for you. But try. Again, I wish we lived closer, but darn it, we don't. I go now to check that the duct bunny has been fed (you did see that I had "pets" as one of the labels) and figure out what to put up for today's entry.

Kailana said...

I am glad your week went mostly well! You do seem to do way too much. I hope you can find a balance soon!

And, that's terrible about the skunk. I had a long-haired dog who found a skunk twice. It took me forever to really get the smell out of her. It was terrible!

chrisa511 said...

I still can't help but laugh at Baker getting sprayed by a skunk :p LOL…I'm so glad to hear that this first week went so smoothly!! I hope it keeps up. AND I hope that you DO learn to not push yourself so much :( Breaks my heart for you to be in so much pain.

DesLily said...

hooray for schooling going well.. boohoo for *pacing*.. and a BIG boohoo for the skunk spray! The Serval cat I was living with in CA got sprayed by one and at 4 am I had to leave the house from gagging! my then girlfriend who owned the serval and I had to burn incents for well over a month!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Debi. Debi Debi Debi! How did I not know you were blogging here?!?!?! I feel so sad that I've missed you. I've been following your tumblr but had no idea.

Thank goodness for BBAW today and my discovery!

kreed said...

Ahhhhhhh...skunks...poor Baker! Can't say I miss the constant eu de skunk my loving husband carried around with him for so many years!

I am glad school is going well for all. Please make sure you take a little downtime for you sometimes, too, though, OK?

Eva said...

I'm happy the first week of school went well!

As far as pacing yourself, I would say just be kind and gentle...don't keep going just because you feel like you can at the time. Stop while you still feel well! And don't feel guilty about scheduling rest time: if it were a different illness, you'd take a pill or something. As it is, rest & relaxation is your medicine, and it's super important. :) (I know, that's all v abstract.)

Unknown said...

Hooray for relatively smooth-sailing weeks!

I'm so sorry to hear about the skunk. TWICE we've come close to having one enter the house via the backdoor. I've learned to keep it closed, no matter how lovely the night is. ;-)

My Gallery of Worlds said...

Oh noooo skunk!! What's in that shampoo Rich whipped up. If it works you should market it...we have loads around here too...lol
Me thinks pacing and Mom don't mix, but remember you can only be good to the ones you love if you give yourself a little TLC along the way as well <3