It's Tuesday, And I'm Back!

Surprise!  Two days in a row!  I haven't done that in a while.  Shame on me.

My day started pretty early.  At 6 am I heard my oldest son get up to go to work and I wasn't going back to sleep, so I spent about 45 minutes with the Lord.  My morning routine is prayer time, devotion time, get ready for my day time.  Some days prayer time lasts 30 minutes, sometimes an hour or more.  It's my special time with God that makes the rest of my day go smoothly even when my circumstances don't.

My oldest son R left for work before I got to the kitchen.  He showed back up about 15 minutes later.  He was complaining about a stomachache and nausea, headed to the bathroom, then went to bed and slept for about 4 hours.  I thought it was a fluke, except that my youngest son E was also complaining of a stomachache.  He didn't feel as bad as his brother, thankfully, since he had plenty of schoolwork.  Maybe it was yesterday's pizza...

I checked my emails and found that my son had yet another live class to attend on top of the two already scheduled.  I wasn't too thrilled about that, since he had work from yesterday to complete.  When he went for his second class, he realized no teacher was there.  Come to find out the class had been rescheduled for next week, which was great because we got started on algebra.  He finished his  morning classes before taking a much needed break.  Doing school at home means he can make up his own schedule, so long as he does the required 25 hours per week.  He usually takes a 2 hour break for lunch; his buddies are so jealous!  He was able to do another hour and finish English, but when he tried to do his algebra work, the internet started acting up.  It tends to do that on rainy days, and today has been on and off rain all day.  I figured he could leave it till tomorrow; really, he didn't have much choice.

At breakfast I typically do an online codeword puzzle, but today I watched my favorite youtuber, Shelbey from www.loveshelbey.com.  I'd been pondering makeup products for myself and my daughter, and seeing as how my hair stylist always looks so pretty and her makeup looks fresh no matter what time of the day it is, I asked her what brand she used.  She told me she liked Bare Minerals.  I told her I was looking for something new that would be gentle since I have sensitive skin, and that my daughter with even more sensitive skin can use.  She asked the esthetician on staff and she also said she liked Bare Minerals - or Mac, of course.  I had heard of both, Mac being the expensive brand, but I was unsure about Bare Minerals, or any powder foundation.  Living in South Florida's humid weather, it would seem like powder foundations wouldn't be the best choice, but I trusted my hair stylist.  I went on Youtube looking for tutorials and product reviews and found Shelbey, a 21 year old makeup artist who works at a Bare Minerals store and who explained the step-by-step application.  She made it seem so easy, that I had to give it a try.  Once I did, I was hooked!  I still enjoy watching her videos and learning more techniques.  Just goes to show, a 50 year old mom can learn from a 21 year old girl!

Today was haircut day.  I've been cutting my boy's hair for, oh, probably the past year at least.  I'm not a hair stylist or even a barber; I'm just a lady with a machine ;-).  I bought a Wahl's haircutting system from Costco a while back, and after watching some tutorials I started cutting the boy's hair every other month.  I was mostly concerned about my youngest, but he enjoys getting his hair cut at home where he can immediately jump into the shower when I'm done.  My oldest likes the fact that he saves money; even a $20 haircut isn't as economical as mom's free one.  I don't even mind the mess much.  It's easy to clean up, and we save money.

I got some more presents in the mail today.  This year I've done about 75%, if not more, of my Christmas shopping online.  What with homeschooling and everything else I've had going on, I haven't had time to go to the stores or malls.  The internet makes shopping easy, and since we have Amazon Prime I don't pay for shipping.  By Thanksgiving I had all my Christmas shopping done, and everything I'd received I'd already wrapped.  The only thing missing was my son E's birthday present.  E and his sister share the same birthday, two days after Christmas.  I got A's present but I didn't know what to get for E.  His dad made it easy:  he took the two youngest kids Christmas shopping this past Saturday (R was at work and couldn't join them), and Dad went ahead and got E the Wii U console system from Game Stop that brings a couple of games.  I knew my son wanted some other games for the Wii U so I went ahead and ordered them on Cyber Monday, before the electricity went out (see yesterday's post for details).  Those should arrive tomorrow, and with just a few items still awaiting delivery I'm pretty much done.  Yay for no procrastination!!  We have a tradition in our home - the day after Thanksgiving we start decorating the house for Christmas.  Once everything is done inside the house, I will put one present under the tree for each of them every night.  Even the older kids go over and check to see what mama has stashed underneath the tree every morning (though R tries to play it cool, like he's not really interested.  He doesn't fool me).  I love those kinds of traditions that we look forward to each year.

I did a load of laundry this morning; it's still in the dryer.  E and I were watching A Muppet's Christmas Carol and I was dozing off.  It's been a busy day, and I think it's time I started winding down.  Today I'm thankful that my Christmas shopping is done, that I have no Christmas shopping debt, and I'm especially thankful for the relaxed schedule of homeschooling.  What are you thankful for?