Sweet Saturday

What a gorgeous day today has been!  If the weather were like this all year long, I would be very happy :-).  I believe the high today was 73 degrees.  Humidity was low, breeze was cool but not cold, the air smelled sweet...it was the perfect day to be outdoors.  I wanted to be outdoors.  Alas, I never got further than the mailbox.

I had a load of laundry in the dryer since Thursday, and floors that had only gotten Swiffered a few times during the week.  I was so absorbed in school and meals and grocery planning/shopping, that I didn't give a whole lot of attention to the condition of the house.  It was dirty, ya'll.  There was doggy drool marks on the floors, all kinds of fingerprints on the glass tables, and dust piling up on the furniture.  I could not let this continue.  I had my breakfast, did my study in Daniel, then got to work.  I cleaned, dusted, vacuumed and mopped for 3 hours straight.  I even told my kids (the two younger ones; my oldest was at work) that they were in charge of lunch.  My daughter was not in the mood to be in the kitchen while I was whipping through the house like a white tornado, so she and my youngest son ran over to Publix and picked up some hot wings and frozen pizza.  You'd think today was Superbowl Sunday.  I didn't care: I was hungry and tired.  So long as I didn't have to prepare anything, I'd eat anything.  I had a great feeling of satisfaction, till I looked out at the patio.  It's gross.  And it's gonna have to wait.  I need the pressure cleaner for that, and my oldest son has to set it up for me - it's heavy and hard to start up.  I may get to it this week, otherwise it'll have to wait till next weekend.  Hey, at least the inside of my house looks fabulous.

After lunch I put away the laundry (finally!), then gave myself a manicure and pedicure.  I did my pedicure in a glittery bronze, then I did my manicure with the milky matte beige I bought at Target yesterday, with only the ring fingers in the glittery bronze like my toenails.  I like it, but I don't love it.  I think because the beige color is so similar to my skin tone, it looks like I've only done one nail on each hand.  It's not ugly; it's just not the best combination I've done.  I'm gonna keep it, but I think next time I'll just do the beige and leave the accent nail for when I use darker colors.

I'm pleased to say that this morning when I woke up, I could barely feel the pain in my eye.  The stye is almost completely gone, Hallelujah praise the Lord!  It itched terribly this morning, though.  That was bad, because obviously I couldn't scratch it.  Thankfully the ointment did stop the itching, and now the swelling has gone almost completely down and my eye feels normal again.  Thank You Jesus!

So even though it was a beautiful winter day in South Florida, I kept busy indoors.  Tomorrow is church.  I'm hoping it's equally as beautiful so I can enjoy being outdoors!  Hope everyone has a blessed evening.  Good night, sleep tight, pleasant dreams.

Finally Friday

The end of the week is finally here, and you know what?  It's been a good week.  I'm glad I was alive to enjoy it :-).

I woke up with a puffy eye.  The stye was still there, still hurting, still causing me great annoyance.  I took a look at it when I got up, and it wasn't pretty.  There is a zit on the inner part of my lower lash line.  I gently pulled my bottom lid back to put medicine on it, and I could actually see it.  It's no wonder the dang thing hurts so much!  I put the medicine on after washing my face.  I'm not a huge fan of this ointment.  It's messy and makes my eye greasy and teary, but it also helps with the soreness, so on it goes.  I texted my best friend IV, who is a pharmacist, and asked if there was anything else I could put on it.  I was kind of hoping there was a new miracle drug that would instantly heal this thing, but she said no, it would go away on its own.  Great.  I have to admit, it isn't quite as sore as it was this morning, so maybe it's finally going away?  Let's hope so.

My son had algebra and Hope today.  That was it.  The Hope class was an hour long, but the math was a lesson with a video, and we dragged that one out.  I especially went over the difference between mean and median, and we did all the practice examples provided.  He got a 90% on today's quiz, much better than yesterday's 70%.  He got one question wrong, but when I went over it (figuring he'd done the math wrong or copied a number incorrectly), it was right.  At least, according to the way the teacher in the video had explained it, he'd done it correctly.  So I've emailed the teacher about it.  That's one thing I'm not liking about this curriculum: too many times, the computer has the wrong answer, and if we don't catch it he'll get a lower grade.  I'm waiting to hear from the teacher; after all, maybe we both misunderstood the procedure.  It doesn't seem likely, but I'll give the computer program the benefit of the doubt.

Today was grocery shopping day.  I spent 2 1/2 hours in 2 stores.  Walmart was so packed today, you'd think there was a giveaway!  I tried to get everything and get out of there quick, but it was almost impossible.  I was able to get everything on my list except for the pads for my microdermabrasion system that I got a few months ago.  I went to Costco to pick up a few items and to put gas in my car.  I had a quarter of a tank of gas in my car, but I figured I'd go ahead and fill up the tank since I was going to be at Costco anyway.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I filled up the tank with just $27.40!  Just a few months ago, this same amount of gas would have cost over $45!  Gas has gone from almost $4 a gallon to $2.03 today, and I'm doing the happy dance!  Praise Jesus!  I finished my grocery shopping under budget too, even after buying a couple of pizzas at Little Caesar's (I was too hungry and tired to cook).  That made it an exceptional shopping trip.

My son R had his friends over while I was shopping, and they managed to get the computer working.  Just as I'd suspected, there was something that should have been connected that wasn't, and some other minor thing that I didn't understand.  I think he was tired and frustrated, and that's why he couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong.  A couple more pairs of eyes and he's a happy camper.

My daughter and I went to Target so I could pick up my microdermabrasion pads.  I wanted to look around at the makeup, but she quickly reminded me that I have plenty of makeup and didn't need anymore.  (Kill joy).  I did find a nail polish in a neutral beige color; it's almost the color of my skin, a milky matte tone that will look really pretty and go with everything.  It was under $2 so she didn't make a fuss.  I wanted to find something to help my nails not be so brittle, but I like to take my time and she wanted to get something to eat.  I suppose it's for the best.  I saved money, after all.

That's pretty much it for today.  I have to figure out what my son is going to do tomorrow, since he still needs 2 more hours of school to finish off the week.  It's a pain sometimes, getting 25 hours of school in for the week when he finishes his work in less time, but it's a requirement, and it's worth it to have him at home.  He's happier, I'm happier, and that's what matters.  Have a pleasant night ya'll.  

Thoughtful Thursday

God has given me much to think about, courtesy of our women's bible study.  The book of Daniel is fascinating, but hearing it taught by Beth Moore is just plain mind-blowing!  I still have goose bumps!

My day started off slow.  My son had no live lessons today, so he was taking it nice and slow.  I had a list of things I wanted to take care of, but my focus was elsewhere.  I've got a stye on the lower lash line of my left eye, and it is driving me nuts!  It itches, but when I touch it, it hurts.  It's not extremely swollen, and since I wear glasses it isn't very noticeable.  But I notice it, because I feel it constantly, and it's annoying!  I tore the house apart looking for the ointment I'd bought awhile back, but it was nowhere to be found.  I decided, since today is Thursday, and this week is grocery shopping week, I'd just take myself over to Winn-Dixie, check out the sales, and pick up some medicine for my eye.  So that's what I did.  Thankfully, I was able to find the ointment.  Sadly, the sales weren't as easily found.  I was hoping they'd have some good meat sales, but there was nothing.  I got a large package of ground beef, then went back for a smaller one so that we could have tacos for lunch.  I did buy a few things we needed, but I'll have to figure out the menu for the next two weeks based mostly on what's in the freezer now.  That was a bummer.

E worked on music, leadership, and algebra.  We went over the algebra lesson after he watched the last two videos.  He's studying statistics now, which can be tricky.  When the teacher had taught the lesson, he was totally confused, but after hearing the videos it seemed like he was understanding the material.  I guess I was wrong.  He got a 70% on his test.  It was especially upsetting because there were only 10 questions, and he got 3 of them wrong.  All three were on the difference between the mean and the median, so that's what we're gonna have to go over again.  I'm really glad that there's online tutoring available, so he can go to the tutoring session and ask about these examples.  The resources available to homeschoolers is greater than what was available to him in public school.

My son R put the computer tower together, but for some reason it's not working.  It's off the dining room table for now, but he's gonna take it apart again and try to put it back together, which means my space will be taken over again.  He's so frustrated, because he doesn't know what he's doing wrong.  His buddy is coming over tomorrow to help him out.  I'm betting it's something really minor that he missed.  It usually works out that way.

So after school I showered and got ready for bible study.  I put on a pair of khaki green jeans, thinking it would be cold out again like it's been the past few nights, but it wasn't that cold at all.  From the forecasts it looks like our temperatures will be going up and down the next few days.  I had to be really careful with my makeup so I didn't irritate my eye more than it already is.  The ointment is helping but it's still sensitive.  All the ladies who came were on time - a pretty unusual feat!  The study today was on Daniel chapter 3, where Daniel's three friends are thrown into the fiery furnace.  When Beth Moore started comparing being thrown into the fire with our trials, and how God sometimes will deliver us from it, sometimes He'll deliver us through it, and sometimes He'll deliver us to Himself, I had to put my jacket on.  I was shivering!  At first I thought I was cold, but then I realized it was the teaching that had me trembling!  I took plenty of notes for my study this week.  At the end all we could say was, "Wow!"  Every woman there was feeling the same way.  It was a powerful study, with plenty to meditate on during the week.

What else happened today?  Oh yes - I ordered the Complexion Rescue, and the shade I settled on was...natural.  As pretty as the tan looks, it's too dark.  Not by a whole lot, but even a little bit isn't going to look right if it doesn't match the rest of me.  I ordered from Ulta with my discount coupon and reward points, so that the $29 tube ended up costing me $21.62, tax included (shipping is free for this product).  I'm really looking forward to adding this to my collection.  I love the way it looks and feels, and for a "no makeup" makeup look, it's perfect.

Well, it's just about time for bed.  I'll be praying for my poor eye to feel better tomorrow.  Have a blessed evening, and pleasant dreams.  Good night.

Middle of the Week

It's my goal to try and appreciate every day.  I don't like the whole "I hate Mondays" attitude that is so popular today.  I feel like every day is a gift, and we should enjoy each moment of every day.  Wednesdays are my challenge day in this respect.  I have to make it a point to look for the good in my busy Wednesday schedule.

I knew I had to be up early today.  My son had his first class at 9:30, and he doesn't move very quickly in the morning, so I had to make sure I got him up and running as quickly as possible.  He had a good morning of classes: music history, science, an hour to work on his science portfolio, and algebra.  Because today is Wednesday and we have church at night, I focused on him getting his time in, and getting as much work done as possible before it was time to get ready to go.  He managed to do his music reading, finished and sent in his science portfolio, and watched two of the four videos his algebra teacher assigned.  He was pretty confused during the class, but once he started watching the videos he seemed to get it.  The videos were more broken down and detailed.  Tomorrow he can finish the videos and take his first algebra quiz of the semester.  I'm sure he's excited.

Today I decided to try the Complexion Rescue sample in tan.  I figured it was probably too dark for my skin, but I wanted to see how it looked anyway.  Well, it looks amazing!  I had a nice, healthy glow to my skin without having to put on any other product.  I'm confused now - do I go with natural, which is a perfect color match for my skin, or do I pick tan instead, for that JLo glow?  I'm gonna have to try the natural again tomorrow, this time with nothing else on, and decide which I like best.  I didn't think it was gonna be this hard!

I made fried chicken for lunch and dinner.  I love fried chicken, but I hate the mess.  Thankfully I was able to keep it all under control.  After lunch I showered and washed my hair, then worked with E on his science portfolio for a bit before I put on makeup and fixed my hair.  It seemed like my day was rolling along well.

Awana went smoothly as well.  The girls in my group are wonderful, always prepared and always excited to learn.  The only part I didn't like was having to go outside.  Oh my word, it was cold out there!  Temperature-wise it wasn't cold; it was 64 degrees.  But the wind was blowing, and it was a chilly wind, too.  It made it feel lots colder than it actually was.  I was shivering!  My kids say they love it, but even my son E was shivering (he claims he likes to shiver; gimme a break).  We left on time today - usually we leave later because my son is hanging out with his friends, but today he wanted to get home early, which I was thankful for since I was freezing.  When we got home, we realized no one else was home.  That was strange; I thought for sure my oldest son R would be home from work.  We walked in, and the evidence of his coming home was all over my dining room table.  R has decided to build his own computer, and he's been purchasing the parts as he finds them.  Well, today was the day he chose to put his masterpiece together.  On the dining room table.  There's boxes and computer pieces all over the place.  I thought I might have a heart attack.  But then I remembered: be thankful.  For the good, the bad, and the ugly.  He'll finish putting this together, and it'll go in his bedroom where I won't have to see it.  It'll be okay.  Deep, calming breaths.

My daughter got home from work, then R got home a few minutes later.  He'd had to go back to work because he'd forgotten his phone.  Funny, when I was growing up no one had cell phones so no one missed them.  Now, you can't walk two feet inside your own house without the cell phone within arms reach.  My, but we've become dependent on those things!

I'm gonna wrap up this post.  I'm in a little corner of the dining room table, and my son has control of all the rest of the space.  Maybe it's best that I go to bed.  You know, before someone takes over that part of the house too.  It's been a good day.  A really good day.  Thank You Jesus.  Good night.

Tackling Tuesday

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine...I'm sure Mr. Rogers would have loved to be my neighbor on a beautiful day like today.  The high today was 69 degrees.  The sun was shining and the sky was the perfect shade of blue.  This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Living in South Florida means we don't get to be a part of the severe winter weather hitting the rest of the country.  And that's okay with me.  But it doesn't mean we don't get our share of cold.  Homes in South Florida aren't built for cold, or even cool, temperatures.  Our homes are built of concrete block and stucco.  They're made to hold in the coolness from the air conditioner.  There's very little insulation in our walls because for most of the year, we don't need it.  That means that whenever it's cold outside, it's even colder inside.  My house felt like an icebox today.  The windows were open so the air would circulate and the breeze would keep the house feeling nice.  I stepped outside a couple of times and it was warmer outside than in my home.  My hands were cold, my feet were cold, even my nose was freezing.  It was a reminder of why I love living in Florida, and why I would never want to live up north again.  Ever.

Both my son and daughter got up early today to get ready for work, which meant both bathrooms were occupied at the same time.  I could have gotten up and started breakfast, but it was cold in the house.  At least that's the excuse I'm using for having gotten up late.  E had his English class and collaboration at 10:00, so that's when his school day started.  It was nice to have that done and out of the way.  Afterwards he had his leadership class.  They went over one of his assignments for next week, so he's a bit ahead of the game.  He was able to get all the work for school done in 3 hours.  Thankfully we went for our evening exercise, which also counts for schoolwork.  One thing I'm also working on is finding a place where he can get CPR certified, since that's a requirement for his Hope class.  I found one city north of us that has the classes at the fire department, but I'm going to keep looking for something even closer.  I'm really glad he gets to learn CPR; it's one of those things you hope you'll never need but should always be prepared for.

I received my order of eyeliner pencils from Bare Minerals today.  I really like the colors, especially the green pencil.  The colors are not very pigmented, but that's fine for me.  I don't want anything that is too harsh or too bright; it doesn't work for me at this season of my life.  What I was really excited about was the samples of Complexion Rescue that were included with my order.  They sent 4 samples in 4 different colors: vanilla, natural, tan, and chestnut.  I didn't even look at chestnut - that one was clearly too dark for me.  Vanilla is probably too light, but my daughter wanted to try it out.  She uses a lighter shade than me in the liquid foundation.  She also needs something with a yellow undertone to offset the rosacea, and it looks like vanilla has that.  I tried both the natural and tan shades; tan is a bit darker but not so dark that I can't wear it.  Natural, however, looks perfect.  I put it on and found that it's light but also hydrating.  It feels really nice on my skin, and while it doesn't provide a whole lot of coverage, it does seem to be buildable.  It gave me light coverage which is what I need on days like today when I want something that I can put on quick.  I went ahead and added a little bronzer, and it went on smoothly.  I didn't put any blush or powder on; frankly, I didn't need it.  I'm gonna try tan tomorrow before I make my final decision.  I'm sure I want to use my 20% off coupon to get this wonderful tinted moisturizer, but I want to be absolutely sure of the color before I place my order.

Our running group was dressed warmly tonight; I myself was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie over a long sleeved shirt.  My son, on the other hand, wore a light hoodie and a t-shirt and insisted it was hot out.  And I thought I was supposed to be having hot flashes!  Anyway, we were out about an hour and a half.  It was fun, even when we walked past the cow pasture and "enjoyed" the smells (yuck).  All part of life in a small town.

That's it for today.  I'm gonna clean up the kitchen, then get ready for bed.  Goodnight ya'll.

Monday, Monday

The cold weather continues here in South Florida.  It didn't get above 67 degrees today.  (I can just imagine my sister's face as she reads this; it's 25 degrees in New York where she lives, and there is a snow blizzard coming through).  We should be having this kind of weather all week.

Today was the start of the second semester of homeschooling.  My son has a new teacher for his Hope class, and a new teacher in Algebra.  His previous algebra teacher is still his "official" teacher, but she has a new teacher that she tag-teams with to do live lessons.  It was a pretty easy day today; he had his Algebra lesson along with a couple of videos, music, Hope, and science.  Music and Hope were both intros, and science was a pretest which doesn't count towards his grade.  He did some reading as well.  We were sitting in the dining room going over his Hope lesson, when E says, "Oh look, it's raining."  I looked out the window but I thought he was joking.  It was kind of cloudy but I couldn't see any rain.  Then he said, "I think you should close the windows, Mom, it's raining."  I looked again but couldn't really see anything.  Then I got up and noticed that it was indeed drizzling, and the wind was picking up, so he and I went around closing windows.  We got done just in time - it started to downpour with a vengeance!  The wind was blowing hard, too; a couple of palm fronds came crashing down from being blown off the trees.  It lasted not more than 15 minutes, then stopped as quickly as it started.  Within a half hour the sun was out, the sky was baby blue and all the clouds were gone.  It did its job, though; it was cool and windy the rest of the day.

While my son watched his videos and did his live lesson, I folded laundry, tidied up the house, then made some spicy beef and black bean chili with cornbread.  Those types of hearty comfort foods are perfect on days like today!  E finished with his schoolwork at 3:30, and I took myself out to the jungle known as our backyard.  It doesn't take a whole lot of rain to get the yard overgrown.  I had cleaned up the garden area, but I hadn't had a chance to mow the lawn or get rid of some of the branches.  I didn't even think I'd get a chance to do it today, what with that sudden rainstorm, but everything dried up pretty quick.  The weather was perfect for being outside.  I cut up a few palm fronds and put them in the trash bin, then moved the remaining ones behind the shed.  After that I got to mowing, then sweeping up some of the leaves in the front yard.  All in all it took me 2 hours to get all the yardwork done, but it looks a thousand times better.  There's still some trimming that has to get done, but I was tired, dirty, and hungry.  Besides, two hours of cardio is enough exercise for this lady for one day :-).

I got myself cleaned up, then decided to give myself a manicure.  My nails grow, but they are so thin and fragile that they break constantly.  Even with me taking vitamins everyday, they still chip and break easily.  I'm thinking I have to look for something that will strengthen them good.  I've tried Sally Hansen but those products tend to make my nails brittle, which in turn makes them break even faster.  Maybe what I need is a nail oil or something.  I'm gonna have to look into that.  Anybody got any suggestions?

The day is just about done; well, not quite, it's only 8:30.  I've cleaned up and all, so I think I'll take it easy the rest of the evening.  Goodnight ya'll.  Pleasant dreams.

Simply Sunday

Today I did something I don't normally do.  Something completely out of character for me.  Today I went to church in pants.

I should clarify that I'm not against women wearing pants to church.  I don't believe that women wearing pants are any less spiritual than women in dresses or skirts.  I just prefer going to church in a dress.  It was ingrained in my head as a child that one should always look their absolute best when going to church because that's where you worship God, and God deserves our very best.  My best clothes are dresses and skirts; well, actually, most of my clothes are dresses and skirts.  I have a few capris that I wear around the house or to go exercise, and a couple of jeans that I wear when we go to concerts, but for the most part I wear dresses and skirts most everywhere.  Today, however, it was cold outside.  Fifty-two degrees with a cold breeze blowing.  I know, for the rest of the country that's summer weather, but when you've had temperatures in the upper 70's and low 80's and all of a sudden they drop down to the low 50's, you feel it.  When I let the dog out, I felt it for sure.  I'd looked through my clothes last night and had chosen a dress to wear, but I was not about to wear anything that didn't protect me from the cold.  Thankfully, I do have a couple pairs of dress pants left over from my work days.  These pants are probably 8 years old but they are my favorites.  A couple of years after I'd stopped working, I gave almost all my dress pants to Goodwill because they were sitting in my closet and never getting used.  Some didn't even fit me anymore, but most were just taking up space.  I kept two pairs of dress pants: a navy blue pair, and the ones I wore today.  They are a dark tan with a very light burgundy and gold pinstripe.  Both pants are neutrals, so I can wear them with anything, but most importantly, if I need to go somewhere dressy and it's cold out, I have something nice to wear.  I paired the pants with a brown long-sleeved button down shirt, and a beige argyle sweater over it.  I also wore a very, very old pair of brown pumps.  I've loved those shoes for years, but after wearing them today I realized I'd kept them way too long.  They were falling apart on the inside, making them extremely uncomfortable.  Once I got home, they went into the trash.  They weren't even good enough to donate.  It was a shame, since the rest of the outfit looked great.  Those shoes were a fail.

My makeup turned out so nice!  I decided to wear the new warm colors I'd gotten from Bare Minerals because they were neutrals, making them perfect for the outfit.  The colors were on point!  It was a very soft look, totally appropriate for daytime.  This could become my go to look for everyday.  It was that pretty.

Church service was absolutely beautiful.  Pastor spoke on the importance of prayer, then called up several people in our church who are sick, to anoint them with oil and pray over them.  One was a young girl who had been in my Awana group.  Today is her 13th birthday.  She has been battling leukemia since last summer.  The cancer is in remission, but she's still having to go through the treatment protocol.  She is doing her last chemo this month, then must go in for maintenance for several months.  We have been praying for her daily, and it was a joy to see her with her family in church today.  This child has been talking to her doctors, nurses, and other patients in the hospital about her faith and hope in Jesus.  She is such an inspiration!  We also prayed for one of the boy's Awana leaders who has terminal cancer.  This man loves The Lord and serves Him with such passion.  He is a great husband, wonderful father, devout servant...it's a privilege to pray for people like him.  There were many others that were prayed for, and the presence of the Holy Spirit was felt so strongly that I could not contain the tears.  When I think that this world holds over 7 billion people, yet God hears each and every one of our prayers, it fills my heart with such comfort and joy, that I cannot express it.  We serve an awesome God!

I started my study of Daniel for this week - chapter 2, the first 12 verses.  It's one of my favorite sections of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.  I've studied this before in church, but I'm really enjoying Beth Moore's breakdown.  She is such an incredible bible teacher!  Definitely my favorite Christian author.

Other than that, it's been a quiet sort of day.  I did a couple of loads of laundry; one is still in the dryer.  Tomorrow the new school semester starts up, so it'll be a busy day.  I am once again thankful that God has seen fit to allow me to homeschool my son.  I cannot thank Him enough for His unending love and grace.  God has been, and continues to be, so good to me.  How I wish the entire world would appreciate His goodness!

That's all for this installment of Life At My House ;-).  Have a blessed evening folks.

How Quickly Things Change

Hello, and welcome to another installment of, "Where the heck am I?!"  Yesterday temperatures were in the low 80's, and I had the air conditioning on because it was so stuffy and humid out.  Today the morning started out cloudy; not just regular clouds, but big, ominous clouds that threatened rain, and lots of it.  I checked the weather channel, and sure enough, they promised lots of rain and thunderstorms.  We braced ourselves for what was to come.  It didn't.  We got a drizzle, with no thunder whatsoever, no even in the distance.  Then the temperatures started to drop.  The humidity was replaced by a chilly breeze.  Right now it's in the low 60's, and we might get into the upper 40's by tomorrow morning.  My kids say that Florida is the Bi-Polar State.  It can be hot and sunny one minute, cold and rainy the next.  It's amazing how quickly things can change.

Take me, for instance.  I felt awful yesterday; I spent the day doing absolutely nothing.  I had no energy and no desire to do a single thing.  This morning I got up feeling way better.  So much so, that I dusted the furniture, vacuumed and mopped the floors in the family room, dining room and kitchen.  I was on a roll!  It was like my battery had been recharged, and I could keep going, and going, and going...till my kid's father came over.  It's amazing how that man can drain all the happiness out of whatever place he steps into.  He was bringing some papers over, and I thought he was picking up E to spend the afternoon with him, but he about a half hour later.  I think he was wanting me to feed him, since he got here as I was whipping up some mashed potatoes.  Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.  It's like he still doesn't get it; we've been separated for 3+ years, and it hasn't been pleasant.  To this day he has not admitted that he's done anything wrong, or that he is sorry.  I'm not going to pretend it's okay, like his family has done.  What's wrong is wrong, and he's gonna have to face that reality, here on earth or before the Judgment throne.  For his sake, I hope he does it here.

I finished week one of my Beth Moore study, so now I'm kind of caught up with the class.  This study is different than any other video bible study I've done.  Usually we study the material, then watch the corresponding video and discuss it that week.  With the Daniel study, we watch the video first, then do the daily workbook assignments.  Since I'd missed the first week I had to get caught up.  I was there for week two's video, so now I can start doing the homework for it.  I have Sunday - Thursday to work on it, but Monday starts a new school semester, and Wednesday we have Awana, so I'm going to have to take that into account and make sure I do my workbook assignments in the mornings.  It's a really interesting study; I won't have any problem picking up the book and getting into it.

It's my turn to bring breakfast for my Sunday school class tomorrow, so I decided to bake a cake.  It's an applesauce spice cake, one of my favorites.  The house smells of cinnamon and nutmeg and absolute yumminess.  I won't frost it till tomorrow morning, but I did my hair today because I won't have time to do it in the morning.  Sunday mornings are busy enough; I don't want to have to get up at 5am just to blow dry my hair.  I'll still have to stop off at Winn-Dixie to buy rolls and probably some ham spread, so we can have a complete breakfast.  What, you don't consider rolls and cake to be a complete breakfast?  Don't worry, there'll be coffee too ;-).

It's Saturday, so I'm going to go exfoliate and moisturize my face so it's squeaky clean and beautiful for church tomorrow.  I like looking my best for worshiping my King.  Oh, I should mention, I've continued with my water drinking experiment.  My skin is most definitely more hydrated; I've always suffered from dry skin, but now I notice it's become more normal to dry.  Actually, my t-zone has become slightly oily, an oddity now that the humidity has gone down.  It might be hormonal, of course.  I'm going to keep drinking and increasing my water intake to see how my skin is affected.  Obviously I don't want oily skin either; no one wants break-outs at my age.  But it sure is nice not to have skin as dry as the desert either.  This is one change I'm enjoying.

So, that's it for today.  I'm hoping this change in the weather will last.  I'm hoping the change in my skin will be for the better.  Mostly, I hope the changes in my life will only improve me daily.  Good night folks.

Finally Friday

Fridays are usually filled with activity at our house.  Whether it's school, shopping, laundry, or cleaning, something is always going on.  But not today.  Today I may as well have filmed an episode of Veggie Tales because that's all I did all day.  I vegged.

I wasn't feeling well; not sick, just yucky.  My head was achy, my back hurt, and I felt nauseous all day.  No, I'm not pregnant.  Quite the opposite.  There's certain times of the month when a girl just doesn't want to do anything but sit around.  So that's what I did.

The kid's dad came over looking for his mail.  He had the nerve to ask why the kids hadn't approached his mother at the funeral.  The same man that ignored his children the whole time we were there, wanted to know why his kids hadn't gone over to his mother, who has basically ignored us for the past 3 1/2+ years.  I told him that, and said we weren't there to make a scene, just to honor his grandmother.  He quickly changed the subject, but it irritated me even more than I already was.

Thankfully, I have my Beth Moore bible study to lift my spirits.  I'm already on week 1 day 3 and I only just started the study yesterday.  I'm certain I'll be caught up by the time Thursday rolls around if I keep up this pace.  It shouldn't be too hard - this book is almost impossible to put down!

My friend IV was extremely excited today, because she found out what artist is going to be performing at the Dade County Youth Fair this year during Christian music night.  It's Brandon Heath!  We love us some Brandon Heath!  I loathe going into Miami (the traffic is exasperating) and I'm not a fan of the fair, but I will put up with it just to go see Brandon Heath.  It was some much needed good news for the day.

Another highlight of the day: I got a 20% off coupon from Ulta.  This is great, because it means I can buy the Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue with this coupon and the $3 off I have on my membership card.  A sample is supposed to be included with the eyeliner pencil order that shipped today from Bare Escentuals, and I am really excited to try it out!  I've used a tinted moisturizer sample that I got from Ulta and it works well under my foundation; Complexion Rescue is a tinted moisturizer, but it's also a BB and CC cream, and it's supposed to be hydrating.  All the things my skin is craving!

I put a nice piece of London broil in the crock pot with some onions, carrots, and beef broth.  This is set on low to cook overnight.  It takes anywhere from 10-12 hours to cook a roast in the crock pot.  The nice thing is, when we get up in the morning, the whole house smells delicious!  Heck, it's smelling wonderful already!

That's gonna be it for today.  Hoping for a better day tomorrow; trusting God for all my needs.  Good night ya'll.

Thursdays Post...On Friday

Yep, I'm late with my post again.  I was pretty busy yesterday, and by the time I remembered to blog I was already in bed, half asleep.  It happens.  Certain times of the month, it happens.  Girls know what I'm talking about.

No school yesterday or today - teacher service days, meaning my son's teachers are still grading papers and getting calls made.  My son still doesn't know his algebra grade.  He's got A's in all his other classes, but I suspect he got a B in math, just because he had an 89% before midterm finals, and he got C's in 2 of those.  We don't know what his score was on the last portion of the exam, but whatever it was, it wasn't going to be high enough to bump his grade back up to an A.  Still, I'm pretty satisfied.  His grades are improved from last year, and I'm sure they're better than they would have been had he been in public school.  His science teacher called him to say he'd gotten one of the highest grades on his exam: an 87%.  He was so thrilled about that; he'd always worked hard in science but his grades would never reflect it.  Last year his science teacher was very disorganized, and she had zero control over her class.  She spent 70% of her time disciplining or yelling at the students, then the end of the grading period would come and she was behind in all the lessons.  I was the one that ended up teaching him from his book.  She was always behind in posting grades in his grade book, so I didn't know what areas he was having trouble with.  I would email her but her answers, when they came, were vague.  It was so frustrating, because I wanted to be involved in his schooling but it seemed some of the teachers were working against me.  Not the case anymore.  His teachers are on the ball, even though they have more students.  And I'm his primary learning coach, so I have full access to all his lessons and can help him better.  Homeschooling may not be for everyone, but it's been a win-win situation for us.

Since there was no school, my son asked for a haircut.  E had initially said he wanted to go to a hair stylist and get his hair styled, but in the end he realized he doesn't want his hair to be too long.  Most styles now are fades, with the hair on top of the head long and the sides short.  The problem with that for my son is, he has wiry hair.  The hair styles that are popular for men now are for straight hair.  He'd have to let his wiry hair grow out long enough to blow dry, and he's not going to do that.  He can't stand how it feels.  So I cut his hair, then cut R's hair as well.  My boys appreciate the fact that I'm cutting their hair: E because he can jump in the shower right away afterwards, and R because it saves him money.  Another win-win.

I made jambalaya in the crock pot.  It was spicy and delicious; so much so that there were no leftovers.  After lunch I went to pick up some dried up coconuts and branches from the yard, and saw that my little pepper plant, which looks more like a weed than a plant, had 4 more peppers on it.  I haven't even been attending to these plants, but they're producing.  I figured it out: this is the time to plant in Florida, not in the summer or fall, but in the winter.  So I cleaned up my garden area (which had become overgrown with weeds), threw away everything that had dried up, and moved my pepper and tomato plants closer to the house.  I then got some of the larger containers, added more soil to them, and planted green beans, green peppers and cucumbers.  I was going to trim the raspberry bush, but I saw a bunch of buds on the branches.  Who knows, we might finally get some raspberries from this bush!  I'm excited to see if I have better results from my garden this time around.

I was debating whether or not to go to the ladies bible study at my church.  The group started up again last week, and I missed it because of midterm finals.  My son E was actually encouraging me to go, so I did.  Boy, am I glad!  We're doing Beth Moore's study of the book of Daniel, my favorite Old Testament book.  Let me just say, this is not a study for wimps.  She goes into this book deep, both biblically and historically.  I'm super excited now!  I have to catch up in my workbook since I didn't attend last week's class, but I'm determined to do 2 lessons per day so I don't miss any of the information.  Can't wait till next week for our next class!

After that I came home, cleaned up the kitchen, then went to bed.  I had a slight headache, which hasn't gone away yet.  I'm gonna take some Tylenol, then get started with my day.  Catch up with you later!

Wednesday Mid-Week

Today was a slightly more relaxed day than yesterday.  I like days that are even the slightest bit more relaxed.  I'm a relaxation loving gal.

I awoke to the sounds of my daughter coughing up all the nastiness that has been plaguing her the past few days.  It reminded me of her brother just last week.  That Mucinex-DM really does work, let me tell you.  Her voice is slowly returning though she whispers most of the time just so she doesn't strain her throat.  That's been the hardest part for her: my daughter the chatterbox doesn't know how to "not speak".  She went back to work today because she had to, not because she wanted to.  Her boss at the tutoring place told her that she'd had to cancel two of her students because there was no one to replace her.  My daughter felt bad, even though this is the first time in a year and a half that she's missed a day of work.

Since today was the last day of the semester and my son is completely done with all his work, I just asked him to do some reading for the day.  It made no sense to try and figure out something for him to do.  I did a bunch of cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, laundry...basically kept busy with all the inside housework.  I'm thinking tomorrow I'll work outside; there's plenty to be done, and the weather has been nice, though today it was pretty hot out.  Apparently it's supposed to cool down over the weekend again.  We've had temps in the upper 50's and lower 60's during the night and in the mornings, and 70's in the afternoon.  Today actually got up to about 80, but that's not supposed to last.  I'm glad; it's much easier to do yardwork when it isn't too hot outside.

We had Awana tonight.  One of the leaders told me my makeup looked really nice, which made me happy :).  I'd taken my time fixing my makeup and hair, and it was nice that she noticed.  When I got home I cleaned up the kitchen, then prepared the jambalaya for tomorrow.  I prep everything and put it inside the crock pot, then leave it in the fridge till tomorrow morning when I set it on high for about 5 hours.  That's why I love the crock pot so much: it takes about 10 minutes to prepare everything, and the crock pot does the rest.

So that was pretty much my day.  Nothing exciting, no big adventures, just a quiet, ordinary day.  Well, quiet when my daughter wasn't coughing :( .  I'm desperately hoping I don't catch this cold; she hangs around me a lot, and I hate telling her to keep away, but I really, really don't want to get sick.  Here's to hoping!  Have a blessed, restful night everybody.

Tackling Tuesday

It's late.  Like past 11:00 pm late.  Like, I'd already gone to bed and remembered I hadn't posted, late.  It's been one of those days, to be sure.

I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail (at least I hope not) because I'm pretty tired.  I got a text from my daughter this morning (who was in her bedroom) asking me to take her to the doctor because she hadn't gotten any sleep all night due to the pressure in her head and how miserable she felt.  So I got up early, ready to take her to urgent care because I figured she was in that much pain.  When I asked if she wanted to go to urgent care, she indicated that I should try the regular doctor first and see if they had any available appointments.  They did - at 1:15 pm.  She chose to wait and go to the doctor, since urgent care has a much higher deductible.

I took advantage and made food early, bourbon chicken with rice, so that we could eat before going to the doctor.  I was sure we'd be there for hours because that's how it always is with doctors, but I was pleasantly surprised.  We were called in right away, and within about 20 minutes the doctor was there to see her.  They took blood, did a strep test, and a nasal test too.  No infections, but she has a lot of fluid in her left ear, which explains her earache and all the pressure in her head.  Her sinuses are pretty swollen and congested as well.  The doctor says she's pretty much headed towards an infection in that ear, so she went ahead and prescribed antibiotics and a host of other stuff to help her feel better.  We were home by 3:00, which in doctor's terms is record time.

I didn't really do much else today.  Since my daughter's voice is gone, I had to go with her to the doctor to explain what she had, then to the pharmacy to pick up her meds.  At 7:30 my running buddy, son and I went for our evening exercise with our running group.  We didn't actually run; we walked for 2 1/2 miles, but it's exercise all the same.  Once I got home I took a shower, then gave myself a manicure and pedicure.  And that's pretty much it, in a nutshell.  I could go into more detail, but I'm too tired.  Maybe tomorrow.  Good night ya'll.

Monday, Monday

I feel like I'm starting off the week right.  I'm getting back into my groove.  It's a good way to start the week, especially on the day everyone hates.

I woke up once in the middle of the night, and prayed that God would take any unnecessary thoughts out of my head so I could go back to sleep.  It worked.  I dozed off till 6:00.  I got up at 7:00, after spending some time with the Lord, and got my day started.  My cousin was bringing the kids over today, since there's no school (Martin Luther King Jr. day).  I figured they'd be here between 8:30 and 9:00, so I had to get moving.  I had already decided what we were gonna have for lunch/dinner: spaghetti with meat sauce, breadsticks, and salad.  I needed to get the sauce in the crock pot early.  I don't care for sauce in a jar, so I make my own.  It's so simple, yet so much better (and healthier) than anything in the stores, and it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.  A couple cans of crushed tomatoes, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, one dried bay leaf, sofrito (made with onion, green pepper, garlic and cilantro), olive oil, salt and pepper.  Throw all the ingredients in the crock pot, and in 3 hours you have sauce.  Done.  The meat gets added later.  For breakfast, I decided to make pancakes.  I like buttermilk pancakes, again from scratch, because in my opinion they are just as easy to make as the boxed version, only they don't taste like a cardboard box.  I made a batch, along with bacon,  Oh, my kids love me, and now you know why.

As I was finishing whipping up our breakfast, the kids arrived.  They were actually late; it was after 9:00 when their dad dropped them off.  They brought bags of cereal that they had for breakfast, as we sat down to our pancakes.  Once I got the dishes in the sink the kids immediately asked to play a board game.  They brought Monopoly Jr., which they'd gotten for Christmas.  Over the summer I babysat them everyday, and we played at least 2 board games daily.  They loved coming over to my house because I took the time to play with them and teach them games.  I believe board games are so much better than video games; they're more interactive, and require more thinking.  While video games can be good for motor skills, so can card games.  The best part is, with board games you're looking at your opponent in the eye, rather than at a television screen.  I'm not opposed to video games; I just think there's better stuff out there.  So we played a game of Monopoly Jr. (totally fun), then my son R came out and started playing on his Wii U.  And they were gone.  For the next 2 hours.  Oh well, at least I was able to keep them focused for a little while.

I took advantage of those 2 hours and got some cleaning done.  Yesterday, as I was folding laundry, I tried to plug a light into the wall and accidentally knocked down my Dyson vacuum cleaner, the one that's been out of commission for the past few weeks.  I'd tried taking it apart to figure out why it wouldn't stand upright or work properly, but to no avail, so I had it in my room as I tried to decide whether to get it fixed or not.  As I picked it up to put it back where I'd had it, I realized what the problem was.  A piece, conveniently located right in front of another piece that I had taken apart and put back together, was out of place.  I moved it back to where it was supposed to go, and voila!  The vacuum cleaner was upright again.  Since it was already late at night I hadn't tested it, but I did try it out today.  It works like a dream.  To think I'd done so much to try and fix it, yet in one split second it was up and running.  All I could do was shake my head.

My daughter stayed home from work today.  Her throat is sore, her voice is gone, she had a low grade fever, and her sinuses are hurting.  Sounds just like what her brother had.  The good thing is that she's been able to nap during the day.  The bad thing is, she's gotta work tomorrow.  Hopefully she'll feel better in the morning.

After cleaning up I browned the ground beef and added it to the sauce, then made the breadsticks and spaghetti.  I like Pillsbury breadsticks; they taste good and are less messy to make.  As I was pulling the salad fixings out of the fridge, the kid's mom came and brought them pizza.  It's easy to see what their favorite food is: they went at it like piranhas.  I made the salad with a few sweet peppers from my garden, and my one lone tomato which had finally turned red.  It was a tiny little thing, but it packed a lot of sweetness!  I'm hoping it won't be the only tomato I get from that plant.

As I sat down to eat my lunch I took a look at the Bare Escentuals website to see about my order.  I hadn't gotten an email yet but I kind of hoped there would be an update about it shipping (there wasn't).  What I did see that caught my eye:  10% off everything on their website, and free shipping.  Why do they do this to me???  It's like they knew there was something I'd wanted to order but hadn't, so they enticed me with an incredible offer.  I have to admit, I debated back and forth whether to place the order or not.  I went through my makeup, reviewed my budget, and ultimately I got it.  It's a set of 5 eyeliners in different colors: bronze, green, taupe, plum, and gold.  This set normally sells for $29; one Lasting Line eyeliner on its own sells for $16.  This particular set was already on sale for $13; with the discount and tax I ended up paying just over $12.  That's about $2.50 per pencil.  I couldn't let a deal like that slip away!  Besides, I currently have 2 black eyeliners and 3 brown ones.  I also have one called Forever Brandy, which is a sort of burgundy/purple shade.  One of the brown ones is a bronze color, but that would be the only repeat.  I'm excited about having pencils in different colors because, at my age, black is harsh against my skin.  I'll still wear it, because I love black eyeliner, but it's too dramatic for anything other than special occasions.  Lighter colors are more flattering, and these colors will be a perfect fit.

As I was putting the lunch dishes in the dishwater, I asked my 8 year old niece if she'd gotten homework over the weekend.  She said that she had, and that she'd done all of it except for Reading Plus.  Reading Plus is a computer program the kids in public school use to improve their reading skills.  She knew she was supposed to do Reading Plus at my house, but she hadn't mentioned it to me.  When I asked her about it, she said, "I was going to tell you."  Uh-huh.  Like 5 minutes before her grandma picked her up?  Yeah, right kid.  I had her sit down and get to work.  She could have finished quickly, but she's so easily distracted!  Her brothers played on their tablets to keep them quietly occupied (as if it's possible to keep two little boys ages 5 and 7 quiet), and she was almost done by the time her grandma came to get them.  It was sad for me to see their grandma; she had been grandma Maria's primary caretaker for almost 30 years.  Her mother had helped her raise her daughter, and she in turn had cared for her mother in her declining years.  While she smiles and loves on her grandkids, there's definitely a sadness in her eyes, and I'm sure an empty spot in her heart.  We all know grandma Maria is with Jesus and she's no longer suffering.  It's the one comforting thought we have.

Once they were gone I fed Molly, then went to the front yard to trim some trees and bushes that were getting overgrown thanks to last week's rains.  Tomorrow is trash day, so I wanted to get as much debris inside the garbage tank as could fit.  I filled it up but good!  It took me an hour but thankfully the weather has been superb, in the low 70's with a nice breeze, so yard work was actually pleasant.  I had my dinner and rested a bit before taking my shower.  I cleaned up, picked up, and now I can try and plan tomorrow's school day.  Honestly, I have no clue what we're gonna be doing.  E has finished all his assignments; unless there's something he needs to change or correct, he's done, but he has 2 days of school this week.  I'm pretty sure his teachers won't be having any live lessons, since they have to finish grading everyone's final exams.  I'm waiting to see if I get any emails from his teachers, otherwise we're gonna have to figure something out.  Shouldn't be too hard, right?...

With that I will bid everyone a good night, sweet dreams, rest well, and remember, Jesus loves you.

It's Sunday

A "good" day is classified as a day when all news is good news.  A "not so good" day is one where the news is bad, sad, or anything other than "good".  So what do you call a day with a little of both?  I call it, Everyday.

I got to Sunday school late.  That's because I got up late.  I got up late because I kept waking up last night.  I don't get it; I went to bed at my regular time, and I was tired.  Why did I have such a hard time sleeping?  I've never had trouble sleeping unless I have something on my mind, but that wasn't the case last night.  I just kept randomly waking up.  Is it the whole pre-menopause thing?  'Cause if it is, I ain't liking it.

Anyway, I got to Sunday school late, and it was almost a cheer-fest.  I'm usually the first or second person in class, making coffee and setting up.  They all figured I must be sick or something because I'm rarely ever late.  It felt really good to know my church family cares that much about me.

We're looking into a curriculum for our Sunday school class.  Last week we finished an intense study into the book of James, and now we're looking for something topical, something about living out our Christian life.  I'm hoping we can find something on discipleship, which is what the pastor has been teaching on since the beginning of the year.  If a curriculum can be found it would be great, so we can tie everything in, but we're trusting God to lead in what He wants us to study.

We went to service, and Pastor Ralph was teaching today.  He talked about what it means to be a real man.  It was a great teaching, but it's what happened afterwards that really moved me to tears.  For the past few weeks we've been praying for a sweet lady in our church.  LS has had cancer twice in the past, has had to go through chemo and all the ugliness that comes with it.  Recently she went to the doctor and was told her levels were high and she'd have to go in for more tests.  This was presented to the whole church so that we could all pray for her.  Today she announced, citing Psalm 115:3, that it pleased the Lord to keep her cancer free.  The joy in my heart was overwhelming!  I'm not a crier; I personally hate to cry in public, but I could feel my eyes well up with joy and happiness knowing our prayers had been answered.  Before I left I found LS and gave her a huge hug.  She is one of the most loving, kind, humble human beings on the face of this earth, and she prays for everyone.  It was a most satisfying feeling to know that I had the privilege to pray for her and have my prayers answered in such a wonderful way.

My son E and I left church quickly; E was complaining of a stomachache.  We ate leftovers for lunch, then my oldest son R's friends came over to play video games.  My daughter A got home shortly thereafter, not looking good at all.  I don't know how she was able to lead worship today - her voice is shot.  She's obviously caught her brother's nasty cold, and she's feeling pretty miserable.  She's also being very clingy.  My daughter is not a small child; she is a 25 year old adult.  But when she is sick, she wants hugs from mom.  Mom, on the other hand, wants to stay clear and NOT catch what she's got.  I don't know how we're gonna manage that.  She's pretty whiny too; all she's had to eat is soup, but she's complaining that she's got too much liquid in her stomach, making her stomach hurt.  Her throat is sore, her ears are hurting, but when I told her to go to bed and get some rest she gave me the "I don't wanna go to bed" look.  *Ugh*  Just when her brother was feeling better, and I thought we'd gotten through this with only one person catching it.  Yeah right.  I'm not getting off that easy.

I happened to go to the school's website to see if any of my son's teachers had posted his final semester grades.  I almost fell out of my chair.  My son's English grade had gone from a 96% to an 87%.  What?!  How could that be?!  She hadn't graded his thesis or his final exam the day before; had he done that poorly?!?!  I checked the grade book and saw the grade he'd gotten on his thesis.  1%.  When I clicked on it, I saw the note the teacher had left for him: he was supposed to have sent in his thesis with a Turn It In report.  Turn It In is a website that checks their work for plagiarism.  Without that report, the highest grade he can get is 1%.  Thankfully, his teacher was kind enough to let him submit the thesis to TII and email her the report, so that's what we did.  The actual grade she gave him is 100%, so that should bring his grade back up.  I'm glad I went in to check that; the semester ends on Wednesday and that's when the final grades go in.  It would have been the difference between getting an A and getting a B.

The rest of my day has been pretty ordinary.  I finished the laundry and put it away, watched an old episode of the Tonight Show, then cleaned up the kitchen.  I think I'm gonna go take a shower now and relax the rest of the night.  Maybe I'll even get some sleep :P.  I'm gonna need it - I'm babysitting tomorrow.  Board games, here we come!  Have a blessed night.

Satisfaction Saturday

Don't you love those days when you get to scratch stuff off your to-do list?  When everything you had planned actually gets done?  Those are satisfying days.  Today was one of those days for me.

I got up early but decided there was no need to rush.  The room felt chilly - it was 55 degrees and the breezes were keeping the house nice and cool, even with the windows closed.  I got up and started in the kitchen by taking some pork chops out, then making breakfast.  My son left for work before I got to the kitchen, and my daughter got home from dog-sitting shortly thereafter.  Once breakfast was done I called my youngest son, E.  Today was gonna be the day he finished the semester.  We had reviewed his science notes the day before, checked and double-checked, so I knew he was ready.  He wasn't so sure; just the thought of taking a test that was 1 1/2 - 2 hours long was enough to get his head spinning.  I encouraged him and reminded him he wasn't being timed, he didn't need to rush, and we had reviewed so he should be okay.  It took an hour and a half, just as the teacher said, and so far he has an 85%.  There are 3 essay questions that the teacher has to grade, but I think he did well.  Finally, he has turned in all his semester work and we can both enjoy the rest of this three day weekend.  Hallelujah!

Once he'd finished I started vacuuming the floors.  Two girls from church were coming over to practice for tomorrow's youth group worship, and once again my floors looked like they were growing fur.  I got the floors cleaned, then changed the bedding on all the beds.  With my son R having had pink eye, it was imperative that his bedding be washed, so I went ahead and did all the bedding.  Then I made pork chops, sauteed in tomato sauce with mixed veggies, along with white rice, black beans, and fries.  After having eaten pizza or Tyson chicken for the past couple of days, I was looking forward to real food :-).  My kids even complimented the meal.  I haven't made pork chops this way in a long time, and they were happy to have it again.

After lunch it was time to color my hair.  My roots were starting to take over.  Every time I look at my roots I'm astounded at how many grays I have towards the crown of my head.   I bought the same hair colorant I'd purchased last time, Clairol Age Defy, because I did notice that it covered my grays really well, and the color lasted for over a month without looking dull.  I think it also has to do with the fact that I'm using a shampoo that has no sulfates, but I still loved the way the color turned out the last time.  I'd been using 6R which is a medium auburn, recommended by my hair stylist, but when I bought my hair color the last time they only had 5R which is dark auburn.  Now when I went to Walmart to pick up my hair color, I noticed they had the 6R, but I chose to stick with the darker shade of auburn.  I love the way it looks, the way it covers my grays, and how it works with my skin tone.  From the moment I start mixing the color till it's time to wash it out takes just over an hour.  The box says to leave the hair color on for 35 minutes: 30 for the roots and 5 for the rest of the hair.  My stylist recommended I leave it on for 45-50 minutes on my roots and another 10-15 minutes on the rest of my hair.  This is because my grays weren't being completely covered when I left the color on for less time.  So for me, it's a mission getting my hair colored, washed, and styled, but I was determined to do it today and not go to church looking like a skunk head.  It turned out beautiful, and it was another item taken care of.

I decided to play with my makeup a little, too.  I have lots of eye shadows, and I wanted to try using a couple of them to see how they worked together.  The first combo I didn't like; there was too much shimmer going on and it was overwhelming.  The second one looked much nicer.  I used lavender with shimmer on my lid up to the crease, then a matte brown shade above the crease.  I lined my lash line with a purple liner, and it looked soft and pretty.  I didn't have anywhere to go, but I still enjoyed being able to do something just for myself.

We had dinner, then I decided I wanted to watch a movie.  I'd gotten three DVD's over Christmas and my birthday, but I'd only gotten to see one because, now that both my sons have Wii U's, they are on them every chance they get.  Tonight, it was my turn.  My daughter was on her Wii in the living room, and E was on his computer playing a game with his friend.  R wasn't home yet, so the family room television was free :D.  I grabbed the movie Mom's Night Out, a hilarious comedy, and proceeded to laugh my little heart out.  That felt so good!  I'd been wanting to sit down and watch this movie for a while, and I'm glad I finally got that done.

I couldn't believe the time when I finished watching the movie: it was just 7:30!  It was so dark outside I was sure it was after 9:00.  That's the problem with wintertime: short days.  I went ahead and cleaned up the kitchen.  My son went out with his friends, so the food I'd saved for him got put away in the fridge.  I'm sure he'll appreciate the leftovers for work tomorrow.

On a very positive note: I've been drinking lots more water everyday for just over a week, and I have to say I'm noticing a difference in my skin.  It's not as dry as it was before.  It's not greasy either, but it is glowy.  I'm sure my skin regiment is helping as well, but I changed my skin care regiment back in November.  Yes, I've seen improvement, but since drinking more water it's like my skin was bumped up a notch.  I'm liking this quite a bit!  I plan to continue with this little experiment and see how my skin looks at the end of the month.

I have to go do my microdermabrasion now, so I think I'll say goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite.  God bless.

TGIF Ya'll!

This day started off a little earlier than the past few days.  It wasn't because of me purposing to start my day early, though.  My daughter slept over at a friend's house because she's dog sitting for them, but she forgot to turn off her iHome alarm.  All of a sudden, at 6am, I was awaken by a loud buzzing sound.  Interestingly, it never wakes up the boys :P.  I went back to bed after turning it off only because it was so dark out I thought I could get another hour of shut-eye.  No such luck.

I grabbed my phone and looked at my emails, the weather (63 degrees this morning, woot!), then I went on the Bare Minerals website to see if there was anything interesting going on.  There was: Beauty Rush!!!  If I wasn't awake before, I sure was fully awake after that.  I had my prayer time, then got up and started getting ready for my day.  I knew I had to go grocery shopping, but I also knew I wanted to be home by noon.  Beauty Rush starts at 9am Pacific time, and I know that, once it starts, it gets bombarded.  I also wanted to try some of the new makeup I'd gotten yesterday, so I was gonna have to get a move on.  I had a bowl of cereal and coffee for breakfast, then started getting ready.  I used the new Stroke of Light brightener first.  Note to self: a little goes a long way.  It really did brighten up my eyes, but I think I went a little overboard.  Three dots should be sufficient.  I was able to blend it out, though, and it took a few years off, I'm not even joking.  That stuff is great!  Then I tried the Matte foundation by Bare Minerals.  I got a nice size sample of it, in the same shade as my Original foundation, and I was curious to see if it was gonna be any different.  Honestly, I didn't notice.  I needed more of the Matte to cover the redness on my cheeks than I use of the Original, but as for the actual look, I couldn't see where it looked more matte.  It still looked great, and I've noticed as the day progressed that I had less shininess come through on my forehead, so that part was nice.  Overall I think it's a good alternative, especially on days when my face seems oilier.  I did my eye makeup, then I tried the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer.  What I like most about this bronzer is the scent - it smells like chocolate!  Oh, it is scrumptious smelling!!  As far as the look of the bronzer, I do like it.  It's similar to Bare Mineral's The Skinny Dip except that it's matte.  It's a good color for me, not too dark, and again, anything that smells that good on my face is a keeper.  Next was the mascara.  I put it on more carefully today, and it didn't transfer.  More importantly, it didn't cause my eyes to itch.  That has been my problem with mascara for years: they cause my lashes to itch, and then the lashes start to fall out.  I would rarely put mascara on for that reason.  The only mascara that didn't bother me was Bare Minerals Flawless Definition, and I love it for that reason.  I can now say that Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara also makes my lashes look long and full without causing any itchy reactions.  Still don't like the name, though.  Lastly, I put on the liquid lipstick again, a bit heavier this time.  The color, Peony, is a very bright pink when first applied, but it dries matte.  My first issue with it, was that it settled into all the lines in my lips.  It made my lips look wrinkly.  Once it dried it didn't look as bad, but it was really dry.  I didn't put on any lip gloss because I wanted to see how it felt and how long it lasted, but I've determined this lipstick cannot be worn without lip gloss.  It is too drying on the lips.  The lasting power is great, though.  Once it was on it wasn't budging.  I just didn't care for the feel of it. 

I finished putting on my makeup and getting dressed, then I checked the time.  It was already 10:00 and I hadn't left the house yet!  I put on a yellow tank top under a yellow jacket that a co-worker of mine gave me years ago but I rarely wear because it's too hot out.  Today was gonna be in the 60's so I figured I would take advantage and wear this bright pretty jacket.  I was in the bathroom finishing getting ready, with my daughter chatting away.  I got some hand cream and was rubbing it on my hands when suddenly...POP!  I popped the burn blister.  The big one.  Since it didn't hurt I'd forgotten all about it, and I rubbed a bit too hard.  The nasty part was, it was full of fluid, which went all on my jacket.  The fluid was clear, which is good because that means the burn isn't infected, but I wasn't about to wear a jacket with burn ooze on it.  I had to quickly change and get a bandage on the burn, because of course now it was starting to hurt.  I finally got out of the house at 10:15.

I had already figured out my budget in my head.  To stay at the $300 mark, after having spent $122 at Winn-Dixie and calculating that I needed to spend about $91 at Costco, I made it my goal to stay at or around $87 at Walmart.  Mostly what I needed to get were staples: potatoes, carrots, onions, breakfast foods, milk, that sort of thing.  I did my best to stick to my list, and after giving the cashier my $3 off coupon for my hair colorant (yep, time to color my hair again), the total came to $88.06.  I was so happy with myself!  I then headed to Costco, again keeping in mind that I wanted to stay at or around $91.  I was super happy to see that bacon had gone down in price; the last time I'd bought bacon the 4 lb. box cost me $20.  This time the price was $14.  I'd got almost everything, and was on my way to pick up the last item on my list, when I spotted my kid's great uncle.  He's a very nice gentleman, but he's a bit of a gossip.  After having attended grandma Maria's funeral and the family pretty much ignoring me, and their dad not calling E for over a week and a half, I didn't want to have to answer any questions.  I turned around and went straight to check out.  Because of that, I was able to keep my bill to $71, so I was able to save $20.  I figured, God wanted me to keep that extra money for Beauty Rush ;-).

I got home at 12:15, and my daughter was already loading up her cart with goodies.  All I was interested in was skincare.  There were some skincare sets I was hoping would be on Beauty Rush so I could get a good deal on them.  Sure enough, I scored a full size facial cleanser, full size moisturizer and full size eye cream, all for only $28.  Just the eye cream alone sells for $32, so that price was wonderful!  I couldn't resist a beautiful set my daughter pointed out to me called Day and Play - 6 products for $18.  I tried to add them to my cart, but I kept running into transmission problems.  Ugh!  I thought it was my computer, because my daughter was on her Mac and she had no issues.  I tried logging in on her iPad but it wasn't cooperating either, so I went on my phone.  That worked fine, and boy was I glad!  There were two other sets I'd seen that I really wanted - Touch of Sun and Bare Guide To Color Warm, both neutral kits and both under $20.  My daughter decided she only wanted the Day and Play set, so I added it onto my order, that way she wouldn't have to pay shipping.  I'm glad I was finally able to get my order in, because shortly afterwards they ran out of the skincare set.  I would have cried if I'd missed that deal!  Later on I read on Bare Escentual's Facebook page that lots of people were having problems with the website crashing, so it wasn't my computer after all.  I guess I'm not the only one who thinks Beauty Rush is amazing!

By the time I'd finished placing my order and putting away the groceries, it was past lunchtime and I hadn't made anything.  What's more, E had two finals to work on and he hadn't started either one.  I put some Tyson chicken and fries in the oven (staples in my house) and got to work organizing his science notes for studying.  He asked me how many questions were on the science final, so I went to check.  I realized then that there were two exams he had to do: his unit test AND his final exam.  I thought the poor kid was gonna pass out!  We ate lunch, then sat down to study and review everything.  That took an hour.  I decided that, rather than have him get overwhelmed, he could take the unit test today and the final tomorrow.  He still had to finish part 3 of his algebra exam which was shorter, so that way he'd do two exams today and finish the semester tomorrow, hopefully more relaxed.  He went ahead and did the science exam, and to his surprise he got an 88%.  There are still 3 essay questions the teacher has to grade, so that isn't his final grade, but it's good so far.  His algebra teacher emailed him today - the question he'd gotten marked wrong was actually right.  She corrected the score, but he still ended up with a 75% on part 2 of the test.  I'm really hoping he gets 100% on part 3.  I had my son R double check his work, and R found a mistake.  He made his brother go back and review.  It was something so simple: a greater than sign where there should have been a less than sign.  If he gets a perfect score he'll end up with an 82% on his final; not the A he wanted but a B is still a very good grade.  

I'm hearing the kids in the park - it's 9:00 at night, which means there's a soccer game going on.  I think it's time for me to shower and get ready for bed.  Good night folks.  God bless. 

Thoroughly Thursday

"One of the most important things we adults can do for young children is to model the kind of person we would like them to be."

Carol B. Hillman

My kids aren't young anymore.  My youngest is 15, a full-fledged teenager, and the other two are adults.  Still, I think it's important that I be the person I ask them to be.  Kids can spot a hypocritical parent a mile away.

I tell my kids that I'm a morning person, but this week I've been anything but.  It has been so hard getting out of bed in the morning!  I was going to bed at about the same time, and I couldn't figure out what the problem was, till this morning.  I actually woke up at 6:00, but it was so dark out I just rolled over and dozed off again.  The mornings have been dreary, cloudy and foggy.  Who wants to get out of bed on days like that?  No one.  At least not me.  I've been dragging myself out of bed at 8:00, then wishing I'd gotten up earlier.  Maybe tomorrow I'll make a bigger effort?  Maybe.

It was cooler out today; 63 degrees when I got up in the morning, and it's supposed to follow that trend the next few days.  Yippee!  Even though it was still kind of humid, it didn't feel nearly as bad thanks to the cooler temperatures.  As I went to the cupboards looking for what I was going to make for breakfast, I remembered that I have grocery shopping to do this week and I hadn't worked on the menu.  I hadn't worked on the menu because I had no clue what I was going to make.  I had no clue what I was going to make because I couldn't find any good sales in the circulars.  Since E didn't have any live lessons to attend today, I decided he could start school in the afternoon and I'd stop by Winn-Dixie and see meats what they had.  I like going to Winn-Dixie on Thursdays for meats.  Since it's almost the weekend, they need to stock up the freezers.  They don't want anything in there that has a sell date of that weekend, so they reduce the price of meats to about half just to get them sold.  I got to the meat section just as the butcher was stamping the new prices on.  I didn't want to hover around him too much (don't want to look like a stalker) so I checked around the store for some other items I needed: canned and frozen vegetables, canned beans, Gatorade, and canned tomatoes.  When I came back I had a field day.  I found one pound packages of ground turkey, buy one get one free.  They had the same deal for chicken tenders and chicken wings, so I was set with poultry.  Then I checked out the red meat.  I got a nice piece of London broil which I like to make in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots, reduced from $12.99 to $7.21.  There were also a couple of packages of steak, big thinly sliced steaks, at $3.95 and $4.81.  The last thing I picked up was a package of boneless pork chops, 10 chops for $5.92.  I spent a total of $122.33, and saved $73.28.  Now I can prepare my menu!  There are still staples I need to pick up at Walmart and Costco, but that'll be tomorrow's adventure.  I'm very satisfied with my grocery shopping trip today!

After getting all that food, what do you think I made for lunch?  Frozen pizza and breadsticks, LOL!  They were on sale as well, and my kids like them.  I ate, then kept repeating the food over, and over, and over again.  I finally had to take a couple of Tums to try and calm my stomach because the taste of the food was not better the second time around, believe me.  

After lunch I sat down with my son to go over every review class his algebra teacher posted.  We took a million notes on every example she did, pages and pages of notes, so that he would be ready to take part 2 of his test.  He felt ready; I felt he was ready.  He took the test and got a 72%.  There are still problems the teacher has to check, but I was floored.  I was sure he would get a way better grade.  I looked over the exam, and noticed one problem that he'd done.  He'd done the math and it looked right, but it was marked wrong.  I sat there and did the math myself.  I got the answer E got, which the computer says is incorrect.  We've had the computer mark things wrong before that were right, so we emailed the teacher.  I know she probably won't answer right away, since she's grading tons of papers, but I was so upset at seeing that score because we had just spent 3 1/2 hours going over everything.  I voiced my frustration, but remembered how important it is to keep my cool.  After all, it's my responsibility to be a good role model (see quote above).

While we were studying, my Ulta order came in.  I'd ordered some primer because mine is running low, and the Stroke of Light eye brightener, which is a concealer as well.  Ulta was having some promos and I was sent some pretty nice extras.  I was most curious to see the Too Faced samples I'd received.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that two of the items were deluxe samples, and the third looks like a full sized lip product.  They call it a melted liquified long wear lipstick (though I don't think it can legitimately be called a lipstick once it's melted, but that's just me); it comes in a tube with a sponge applicator.  The color is called Peony; it's a light pink sheer color.  It's very creamy, but I didn't put enough on to determine if it's really long wearing.  I'm gonna test it tomorrow when I go finish my grocery shopping.  The two deluxe samples are a mascara and bronzer.  The mascara is called Better Than Sex; rather awkward, in my opinion.  My daughter doesn't care for the name either.  I will say this: it made my lashes really long and curly.  What I didn't like is that it transfers to my upper lid and under eye area, which my Bare Minerals Flawless Definition mascara doesn't do.  Still, I did like how my lashes curled up.  I'll have to try it with eyeshadow and see how it looks.  The last item, the bronzer, is called Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer and it's a light to medium shade.  I feel like it's a bit light, but I have to try it out.  I like the fact that it's matte, because along with my order I got a sample of the Bare Minerals matte foundation to try.  It's a good sized sample, too, and while I like my Original foundation for its luminosity, I'm curious to see how I look in a matte foundation.  Who knows, I might like it even better.  

I'm hearing my daughter exercise.  She's trying the Daily Burn app for a month to see if she likes it.  I believe its $13 a month and they have all kinds of daily exercises, recipes, and other stuff that she's still looking into.  Her leg is still sore at times, but she has an appointment to see a sports doctor next week to see if maybe what she has is shin splints.  In the meantime she's working her abs and upper body, and it sounds like it's quite a workout.  I can hear her huffin' and puffin'.

My son R got medicine for his pink eye, and already today the difference was noticeable.  I am so thankful for the doctor that cared enough to tell him what he needed to do and saw him the very next day.  Praise God, he is feeling much better from his cold too.  He's started purchasing components to build his own computer.  It's his new project, and he's really excited about it.

Well, that's been my day.  I'm looking forward to the end of finals tomorrow: part 3 of algebra, and science.  It's been a good semester, but I'm so glad he's got 3 days off next week.  Time to get caught up on other projects - stay tuned!  Good night and God bless.

Middle of the Week

It's Wednesday.  Only Wednesday.  Why does it feel like Thursday?  Why is this week taking so long?!

I woke up at 6:00 but it was so dark out I just rolled over and went back to sleep till 7:30.  I didn't know why it was still kind of dark, then I checked the weather on my phone.  Dense fog for our area, it said.  I looked out the window; it wasn't what I would call dense, but it was foggy.  I had wait for my son to get out of the bathroom, so I spent some time in prayer.  Once he got out I went in, then I heard him leave shortly afterwards.  Turns out he did go to see the eye doctor that saw him at the store yesterday.  Pink eye, both eyes.  Who would have known?  Oh yeah, an eye doctor :P.  He still had to work, though, because there was no one to cover for him.  I don't think he even told the store manager that he had pink eye.  R is very responsible at his job and he always gets good reviews because of it.  I'm really hoping he'll get hired full-time.  It would make a world of difference for him.

I let my youngest son E sleep till 10:00.  I thought he had to report to his science class, but it was a collaboration class and he's already done the two he needs for the semester.  He started school at 11:00 with his algebra lesson.  While he did that I cleaned the master bathroom and put away laundry.  Lunchtime came and I hadn't taken anything out.  Honestly, I had nothing on the menu for today.  I guess I messed up when I did the menu planning for the two weeks, because I have nothing planned for tomorrow either.  There's stuff I can make but I'm running out of staples quick.  Friday will be a grocery day for sure.  I just have to plan out what I'm gonna need.  Anyway, I made E a frozen pizza (no problem for him, he loves them) and I had some Tyson popcorn chicken with fries.  My daughter took the leftovers from yesterday so it wasn't an issue that mom took a day off from the kitchen.

After lunch I had E watch an algebra review from last week, then he did part one of his final.  He scored a 72 so far, with a couple of questions still needing to be graded.  Two of the questions he got wrong were silly errors; not reading the question through or copying the equation wrong.  I feel bad for him because I know how hard he's trying, and because he has an 89% in that class.  He wants to get an A so badly.  I'm praying he scores higher on the next two parts of the exam.  Part 2 looks like it's gonna be the hardest part, but we'll have to see.

Oh yeah, that burn on my hand?  It blistered.  Like, ugly.  There's this big old blister on my hand that I'm afraid of popping because I know the minute it pops it's gonna hurt like crazy.

Tonight was Awana.  I love my third grade girls.  They are a bit competitive but in a good way; they want to excel, but they're willing to help each other too.  They are so sweet!  I showered but didn't blow dry my hair because according to the weather forecast it was supposed to rain and be muggy tonight.  I figured, why straighten my hair just to get the frizzies the minute I walk out the door?  So I left my hair in its natural form, curly like a rat's nest.  I stepped out the door and wouldn't you know it - it was cool and dry out :P.  As a matter of fact, it seems the temps are going down tonight.  I was so upset, because I absolutely hate wearing my hair curly.  Of course I got 100 compliments on how great my hair looked.  Go figure.

I got home and went to the bathroom to change into my jammies and wash the makeup off my face.  The minute I turned on the bathroom light I saw it.  In the sink.  A palmetto bug.  Any Floridian would immediately know what I'm talking about: they are giant cockroaches that fly.  Now, I usually take care of these myself, so long as I have a can of Raid handy.  This time, however, the odds were stacked against me.  The can of Raid was in the cabinet under the very sink where the palmetto bug was, and I was not about to take a chance at that thing flying on me.  I'm not "afraid" of them, but I am ridiculously disgusted by them, like sick to my stomach disgusted, and I was not about to have it get on me.  Ugh!!   So I called out for the boys to get the other cans of Raid from the garage and come take care of this ginormous bug.  My son R came and I told him to look in the sink while I stood outside the bathroom (where I was safe).  He didn't see anything; then I saw it on the wall inside the bathtub area.  When he saw it, even he said it was huge.  He had to stand on the bathtub rim to reach it because I have a garden tub, so the bathtub area is deep.  The moment he sprayed it, it flew towards him.  He almost fell off the tub, poor kid!  Once it landed on the floor he was able to spray it directly and it died almost instantly.  This thing was about 2 inches long, I am not even joking.  It was totally gross, and I couldn't even be in the bathroom until I knew for sure it was dead and I could sweep it out of there.  I guess I could say that was today's adventure.  I can also say I'd be happy to live the rest of my life without another similar adventure, though I'm sure that's not likely in Florida.

I finally did get ready for bed, so I bid everyone a good night, pleasant dreams, and blessings to all.

Tackling Tuesdays

I don't understand why people complain about Mondays so much.  Seems to me, Tuesdays are way more dramatic than Mondays.  Everyone's too tired on Mondays to start any trouble.  Tuesdays the energy level is back and the weekend is far off.  That's when I usually expect the unexpected.

Today was a less hectic day than we should have had, considering it's semester finals week.  We couldn't do any of the exams until after class, and his first class was at 10:00, so E didn't even get out of bed till 9:45 (I woke him up at 9:30 but he went back to sleep).  His first class was English: a review for their final.  The teacher explained everything that they could expect to see on the test, and was very thorough.  Afterwards was his leadership class, and that was pretty exciting.  The class read the book Of Beetles and Angels by Mawi Asgedom, and he was skype'd in to the class to talk to them.  That was so neat!  Like I told my son, he wouldn't have had that experience in public school.  The kids were able to ask questions, and be both inspired and encouraged by the wonderful stories he told.  My son also used this book when he did his book report for English.  I highly recommend this book, especially for teens.  Mawi Asgedom's story is incredible, and it teaches that with faith and perseverance anything is possible.

While my son listened to his classes I kept busy.  I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floors (I was amazed at how much dog hair was on the floor again), did a load of laundry, cleaned the hall bathroom and started lunch.  Today's menu was meatloaf patties with mashed potatoes.  Meatloaf patties are basically meatloaf that, rather than being baked in the oven, is made into patties and fried.  They look like Salisbury steaks but they taste like meatloaf.  My kids love meatloaf patties.  I prefer to make regular meatloaf because it's less of a mess, but to please them I made the patties.  As I was stirring the gravy, it bubbled and landed on my hand, on that flesh under the thumb.  It hurt so bad!!  I now have a blister there after hours of putting an ice pack on it because it was burning so bad.  I put aloe lotion on it too, to help it heal faster and to soothe it.  Cooking can be hazardous.

After lunch I had my son take his English final.  There were 24 questions: 21 multiple choice and 3 short essays.  There was a lot of reading comprehension questions but I think he did pretty well.  I say I think, because usually when he takes a test, the program will tell him how many of the multiple choice questions he got right, and he has to wait till the teacher checks the essay questions to get a final grade.  This time when he finished the test, he simply got a message that said, "Responses Saved."  Apparently the teacher set the exam so that she has to review it completely.  He's still waiting on his grade for his thesis.  His English teacher told the class she would work as quickly as possible but it would take some time to go through all the papers and get them graded.  So I don't know when E will get his grade, but for now, he's finished with 4 finals and has two left:  science and algebra.  The two hardest exams.  Lord help us.

When he was finally done I sat down to relax a bit, then decided I should go ahead and do my nails.  I took my old polish off, then remembered today is Tuesday.  Tuesdays are running days.  I knew the pastor that leads the group wouldn't be there; he's out of town at a conference.  I also hadn't heard from my running buddy, so I thought I'd just continue doing my nails.  I'd just finished painting them when my running buddy called.  It was 7:00, and she wanted to go out at 7:30.  I knew my nails would be dry by then, and I also knew E needed an extra half hour of school to finish off his day, so I told her we'd go.  I huffed and puffed on those nails till they were pretty much set, then changed into my running gear and we left.  We actually didn't run; we walked for 2 1/2 miles.  It was breezy out, which was good because it's also muggy.  I was glad I went.  I haven't been exercising as regularly as I should, and I really need to get back into a regular routine.  Right after finals.

I showered once we got home, then I checked to see if Shelbey had posted anything on her blog about a new Bare Minerals product I've been interested in called Complexion Rescue.  She had!  Since Shelbey works at a Bare Minerals retailer, she sometimes gets access to products before the public does.  She did a great review on this product.  It's a combination BB cream, CC cream, and tinted moisturizer.  So it gives some coverage while also being good for the skin.  I love this idea for days when I don't want to wear a lot of makeup but I also don't want to go out looking like a troll.  Complexion Rescue is supposed to be released in stores on January 22, but it looks like Ulta already has it.  I plan to wait till it's available on the Bare Minerals website.  The lotion costs $29, but I have a $10 off coupon from Bare Minerals, so I can get it for $19 if I order it from the website or purchase it from one of their boutiques/authorized dealers.  I'm willing to wait if it means getting a bargain!

My son R was feeling pretty bad again today.  Not sneezing, like before, nor even coughing so much.  His eyes, however, were red and swollen.  It looked to me like he'd popped some blood vessels from coughing so hard.  He texted me from work, saying that an eye doctor had stopped at the store, took one look at him and told him it's pink eye.  She wants to see him at her office tomorrow, but he has to be at work tomorrow at 9:45 am.  I don't know how he's gonna work that out, but if it is pink eye he needs to take care of it right away.  I really don't think he should be working, especially since he deals with the public, but the guy that is in charge of the liquor store is on sick leave, and the only other people that can work in the liquor store are my son and another lady.  I hope the store will be understanding and let him go see the doctor.

I guess that's it for today.  Hmm, now that I think about it, it wasn't such a dramatic day after all.  Well, except when I got burned.  I'll admit, I was pretty dramatic.  But it hurt, it really did!  I think I'll go get some rest now.  Good night and God bless.