Delay of School Called Because of Warm Weather

40 degree weather is just an hour away, so the kids are outside swinging in their pajamas, making the most of the 70 degree weather while it lasts.

I love homeschooling.

The (Supposed) Death of a Beloved Part of Our Home

We went out for awhile this afternoon and when we got home, I noticed the house was a bit, well, warm. The air conditioner (yes, we run the a/c year-round in Houston) was on, but no cool breezes were wafting from our vents.

Bummer.

When Griff got home, he took a look at it and discovered the fan is not working. We are hoping that it is the motor, which Griff can replace himself. (I have a very handy husband.)

BUT, the good news is, we have a bit of time to solve our problem. Take a look at our weather forecast.


Check out tomorrow. High of 70. Low of 37!!! Wowza! Think a cold front is coming through tomorrow?

Now we've just got to get through the warm evening and we'll be okay. It sure beats the time the a/c was out for 3 days in June.

Early Morning Wake-up

I have a stop watch. This stop watch has an alarm. It is set to go off at 5:00 am. I have no idea how it got set. I have no idea how to change the setting or turn it off. For several years, this stop watch has been stored in a cabinet in the laundry room.

A couple of weeks ago, this stop watch made its way out of the cabinet. I'm not sure how it happened, but it did.

It is now in our bedroom. Somewhere in our bedroom. I have no idea where. I have looked under, over, and through everything.

Every morning, the silly thing goes off at 5:00 am. I wake up and try to find it. However, it only goes off for one minute. So, I have one minute to wake up, remind myself I've got to get up and find it, and quickly (ha!) follow the sound. No luck so far. All I've succeeded in doing is stumbling out of bed in a daze and kind of staring around the room. I have managed to open a few dresser drawers to see if the sound gets louder, but that's it.

The whole thing is pretty comical and we have been able to laugh about it, but I really do need to find it.

I think I'm going to have to set my alarm clock earlier than the stop watch alarm so I can be completely awake when the thing goes off.

Lucky me.

Things I Have GOT To Get Done

I have a few things that I really need to get done. They will not stop swirling around in my mind, so I'm going to post them here. I find that I can relax a bit once I've written things down. Let's see if it holds true for posting.

1. Get my passport.
Did I mention I'm going on a cruise in February? No? Well, I am! :)

2. Make Ruthie a black skirt for her orchestra concert.
She has to wear a skirt, and rather than search from here to Timbuktu for a black skirt long and full enough for a girl playing cello, I decided I'm going to make it. First stop is find the pattern! Her first concert is next Saturday, so I need to get busy!

3. Get tuxedo shirts for both kids for same concert.
Luckily I know exactly where to find these. - Hobby Lobby!

My Friend Monica

When I was in 2nd grade, a family moved in down the street. They were Hispanic, and living in a very Caucasian (read white!)-heavy town, I had never seen a family of that skin-tone before and I remember thinking they must be black. (That's not really important to the story. I've just always remembered that for some strange reason.)

None of that mattered, though. They had 2 girls! The family who lived there before had boys, and while we did all play together, I was thrilled to have girls living so close. Their oldest girls, Debbie, was 2 years older than me. Their other daughter, Monica, was a year younger. We were all friends, but Monica and I were especially close.

I spent a lot of time at Monica's house growing up. I can remember her mother growing peppers in their backyard. I had fajitas for the very first time at her house (this was WAY back before every Mexican food restaurant in town had them on the menu). We used to lay out in her backyard. Her dad used to laugh at the pair of us - Monica with her beautiful brown skin and me with my whiter-than-white-never-tanned skin.

They had a lot of extended family in the Houston area and they were often over at the house. I got to know her family very well. They often joked that I was the adopted daughter. I loved Monica's family as much as I loved her.

Over the years, we have not kept in touch much. We were in each other's weddings. We went to each other's baby showers. Our kids went to each other's birthday parties when they were young. Monica and her parents came to my mom's funeral. But the day-to-day communication hasn't happened much. We talk to each other about once a year.

Monica called me this week to invite me to a Southern Living at Home party at her house. (She knows I've always enjoyed those type of things.) I am so excited to go. Not only will I get to see Monica, but her family will be there. I can't wait!

Oh, Those Tricky Old Testament Names

So, Ruthie is narrating her Bible story to me today.

Ruthie: Ahishothel told Absalom...

Me: Ahithophel

Ruthie: Afifofel told Absalom...

Me: Ahithophel

Ruthie: Athithothel told...

Me: Ahithophel

Ruthie: How about we just call him "Mr. A"?

Weekend Plans

We are going camping this weekend. Robert's cub scout pack is having a family campout this weekend and, after 3 years in scouts, we are finally going on one. We have been camping twice in our married lives. Once in Arkansas pre-kids, and once at Guadalupe River State Park with my sister's family when the children were small. I think Ruthie was about 18 months old.

Being the non-campers that we are, I have been borrowing all of our camping gear from friends and family. Luckily my sister Alicia and her family LOVE to camp, so I was able to borrow quite a bit from her. A couple at church offered us their gear when they found out we were camping this weekend, so I was able to round out our supply needs after finding out what dear sis was missing (or, rather, couldn't find).

I am really looking forward to this weekend, and so is Ruthie. Griff and Robert - not so much. I am so looking forward to getting away and really relaxing for a couple of days. It's supposed to be cool this weekend, too. "Cool" being a relative term, of course. Highs in the low 70's. Lows in the 50's. Ahhhh...

I hope to come back with fun stories and lots of pictures!