Random thoughts-

I always feel like I should only blog when there is a particular story to share.  I'm changing that for now. I just want to write.  Here's what's in my mind:

1- I really like nibbling on Emmentaler cheese with a home made roll when I study. I also like nibbling jerky late at night.

2- Daniel had his first day of keeping himself completely dry! He wore a pull-up today and kept it clean all day! Wahoo! There's light at the end of the tunnel!

3- Nathan and I recently acquired a free chicken coop from a neighbor and we renovated it for our flock. We carried this massive wooden THING across two streets to our house. We received some strange looks on the way. We found cheap cabinet doors at a Habitat for Humanity Restore location. We installed the cabinet doors to use for collecting eggs. It was a fun project.

4- Even with a new water-proof, warm home, half of our chickens still prefer to roost in our peach tree and wisteria vines and sleep in the rain. Go figure.

5- We recently did family pictures. We hadn't done them since Matthew was a baby, so Daniel wasn't even around in those. We were long overdue. Thankfully, we caught a bunch of decent pictures, and I can feel like it was worth the $125 photographer fee.

6- We did the pictures in a 100-acre pecan orchard that is over 100 years old. We love to go camping and picnicking there as a family. If you ever visit (if anyone ever reads this....) then we'll take you there. It's so breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful. I get a spiritual boost from being around big trees.

7- I feel like I type all these posts and no one reads them but me. I've seen that T-shirt that says, "More people have read this shirt than read your blog." I agree. I don't mind much, I'm more of an introvert anyway. Still, it would be nice to know anyone is interested.

8- I started a book club a few months ago. This month we read "The Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis. It's definitely a book to read with a pencil, because you'll fill all the margins with notes and insights. If you could only read a dozen books in life, I think this should be one of them.

9- The next book we're reading is "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything your American History Textbook got Wrong". It's amazing. You'll never look at history the same, and it will open lots of new horizons for you. It did for me. It made me much more proactive in teaching history to my own children rather than rely on something else. It was amazing what I learned. The most important thing I learned was to rely on primary sources, like journals of the people from events.

10- I've been very busy with studying and tests. I'm tired of memorizing pharmacology drugs and side effects. Rote memorization isn't valuable and I feel like I'm wasting my time.

11- I write my class notes on 3x5 cards and take them with me everywhere in my purse. I memorize while I'm waiting in the line of cars to pick up my kids from school.

12- I'm running a Math Pentathlon club for Kindergarteners and First graders at the school. We learn math games every Thursday. The National Competition is in Austin this year, so we won't have to travel if Sarah and Matthew care to compete. Nice.

13- I hate competition. I hate the way public school compares all the kids and declares 'winners' and 'losers'. It's not healthy for anyone. The winners get arrogant and the losers feel worthless. I don't like it.

14- I'm so thankful for church members who share their talents. I really appreciate it when musicians share their skills in Sacrament Meeting. It's such a powerful way to lift our souls and invite the Spirit. We have our first musical number this Sunday...the first EVER for our ward. I'm so excited!

15- I'm thankful beyond measure for the gift of sight. I have a blind friend that I drive to church on Sundays. My heart goes out to her so much. This is the single affliction I pray that I will never have to endure. I love drinking in the sights of clouds, landscapes, my family, smiling children, etc. I can't imagine life without it.

16- I'm so thankful for my best friend, Nathan. I had a really rough day yesterday, and he knew it from the moment he walked in the door. I'm not very good at hiding emotions sometimes. He cheerfully cleaned the entire downstairs, did the dishes, took all the children grocery shopping for an hour while I read a book, then came home and gave me a wonderful foot rub. I didn't do anything do deserve it. He is such a priceless friend.

17- We started a Halloween tradition of the friendly spider. We made a purple and black spider out of glittery pipe cleaners. Someone has the spider and gets to go do a good deed for a member of the family. They leave the spider at the site, waiting to be discovered by the recipient of the service. It's like tag...if you have the spider, you are 'it' and to get rid of the spider, you must do an anonymous service. It's been really fun. Sarah made me a beautiful card and made my bed.

18- The city is building a real dam behind our house where the earthen levee used to be. Sarah and I mourned the death of the hundreds of berry bushes that used to line the edge of the lake. There used to be a path that hugged the edge of the water, and we would walk through there and harvest tubs of wild dewberries. Now it's all becoming concrete.

19- We've been playing Christmas music since August. I can't wait for December. It's so hard to resist putting up my Christmas tree now. I love the old Christmas songs, sung by the 'classics'- Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Karen Carpenter,and played by Canadian Brass. My heart just swells within me, filling me with nostalgia and wonderful feelings. I love it. I'm afraid our kids have no idea that "Christmas music" should be associated with a particular time of year.

20-I hate the monotony of laundry. It never ends. It beckons to me every day. It requires so much time for something of no long-lasting value. Erg.

21- The same can be said for washing dishes.

22- For our family Christmas exchange I have two missionaries (one boy, one girl) and a 21-year-old brother. What on earth do you give these people for Christmas? I had an idea for homemade art, but what if I don't have time to do it? Then what?

23- Nathan and I have enjoyed dates at home lately. Instead of paying a babysitter, we use that money to buy exotic cheeses, gourmet crackers, fine chocolates, or sushi (our grocery store has a sushi-counter). We put the children to bed and then watch a fun romance or comedy, or read poetry together while we enjoy the fun food. It's so much cheaper than going out to dinner, and usually the food we get at a restaurant is something Nathan can make at home anyway.  I've really loved these nights together.

24- I love watching the birds migrate at this time of year. It's such a great time to live in Texas. Almost all the birds from the entire continent migrate though Texas on their way to Mexico/Central America. It's beautiful. One night there was a flock of literally thousands of birds covering hte massive parking lot of a grocery store. They were all just singing and resting on the pavement. I slowly inched my car through them, marvelling as hundreds of brids would lift off the ground and fly over me in very close proximity. I coudln't help but grin and laugh in pure delight. I've enver seen anything like it. I stayed in that parking lot for 30 minutes with my windows rolled down so I could enjoy their music.

25- The butterflies migrate right now as well. There are butterflies of all sizes and varieties flitting around the neighborhhods. I love it! On a single two-mile drive, I counted 125 butterflies that crossed my path. That must be good luck for something, right?

26- This is the busiest time of year for my face painting business. In quick succession there are parties or festival for Back-To-school, Fall Fests, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Winter Fests, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. I've been booked almost every weekend for a while. It's been nice to have extra revenue so I could fix up our home a bit.

27- I finally replaced the ghetto blinds in our living room. You know the venetian blinds that die a horrible, twisted death whenever a child is near? Our blinds have been twisted and broken for over 2 years. I finally replaced them with solid oak blinds. Hurray! We don't look like we live in a trailer anymore!  I've wanted to replace those for years!

28- People often tell me I'm a great mom, but I often don't see what they're talking about. I think everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. They don't see how easily I get depressed or overwelmed. One of my weaknesses is in stressing out over little things. It's a quick recipe to take the fun out of an activity. Nathan is so great to be my perfect foil. He's so care-free and cheerful all the time. His laughter and enthusiasm is contagious, and I drink it up every day like a parched mouth.

29- I hate superficial interactions. I detest small talk. There is a quote from Elder Groberg that says somthing like this: "90% of conversion is meaningless. Only 10% of what people say has any real value."  If it's not important, I'd rather not talk. The problem is that you can't unify the ward without doing the obligatory small talk in order to get to know someone for the first time. It's like some sort of ritual. After talking for 10 minutes about drivel you can finally find something valuable to discuss. Erg.

30- I've been reading the autobiography of Parley P. Pratt lately. Regretfully I can only read it in spurts here and there. I have too much homework or family obligations to meet. The book is incredible though. I have relished every page of it. I recommend it. I love reading about history's noteworthy heros. They strengthen my own determination to be great. It does not matter if I am great in the eyes of the world or my neighbors. I just want to be great in the sight of God and myself. I think it's interesting to observe that the things that make one great to God are often the things ridiculed or ignored by the world. Did I mention that I don't care much what people think about me? (Execpt Nathan.)

31- I think it's liberating to not care about people's opinions. The hype regarding fashion trends make me so frustrated.

32- A friend recently gave me 5 designer purses from her collection. I don't know what to do with them. I am still using my 5 year-old leather Fossil purse we bought when we graduated from college. The other bags were just not functional enough, and I don't care to accesorize my outfits with hip purses. It's not me.  They are all sitting in the back of my closet.

This has been therapuetic for me. I've just spent the past 3 hours cramming Pharmacology lecture notes and I really needed something to wind down my mind. This was more relaxing and fulfilling than I expected.