Traveling the Old Fashioned Way

Last night Ollie measured our new trunk area and put a blanket down on the floor the same size as our trunk space. As we pack we are placing everything on the blanket. The pile is getting higher, it's going to be a tight squeeze. It doesn't help that we have to pack all of our camping gear as well. I managed to pack for two weeks in a backpack. We've also decided not to take our TV/DVD player that has been our traveling friend for years. We will have my laptop for movies but we are mostly planning on not doing much movie watching. I have a big ol' stack of books on CD for the kids and bags packed with lots of activities. They can also do what I did on road trips--play the alphabet game, look for license plates from all the different states, color and just watch the world go by out their window. I think it will be good for them. Let's see how I feel about that after a couple of days on the road...

The Shelf

Here's my new shelf all loaded up and ready for school! I am using the dishpans to hold each kid's daily work. That way I can just grab their "buckets" and have all their stuff in one place. See the top shelf? That's all of our Science stuff. I am hoping to make our way through all four of those kits this school year. We'll see...

I Went a Little Crazy at the Hairdresser's...

...and let her talk me into parting my hair on the other side. I did. Really. She said it was a little thinner on one side than the other so it would help to even it out. I know, just slap nuts I am. Here's a couple of pics for you Cris...

Word-Full Wednesday

• You haven't lived until you've had a Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter and Fluff sandwich.  I just had a half for dessert after my big ol' plate of salad.
• I have a new salad that I love--green leaf lettuce, spinach, little bit of cilantro, tomato, cucumber, black beans, olive oil, and vinegar.  It's really good and filling.  And, if you eat a lunch that healthy you don't have to feel bad about your dessert.
• I am getting interrupted about every third word and it's annoying me but I will press on and finish this even if it results in me screaming at everyone.  Because I'm a finisher y'know.
• I got the shelf thingy all organized but haven't taken a picture yet.  I love it!  It holds everything.
• I got our evaluations done yesterday and all the kids' school stuff from last year packed up.  I store each school year in a priority mail box, label it, and stack it on my closet shelf.  I keep all of our lapbooks out though because it's fun to look back through them.  Also in the box I include a piece of paper with a list of all they did that school year including field trips and special projects that wouldn't fit in the box.
• For my birthday this year I asked for (and got) the fancy planner offered by This Old Schoolhouse.  You can read about it here and here.  It is wonderful and terribly intimidating!!  I have printed out what I need for now but have yet to do anything with it.  Not sure where to start.  I'm still glad I bought it, no regrets there but I need some focused time to put it to good use.  I have always wanted to put together a household notebook and this planner comes with all the forms to do that too.
• It's about time to turn my focus towards getting ready for our trip.  We leave Friday and are traveling in a significantly smaller vehicle (with a great radio, have I mentioned the radio?) so there is no room for extras.  I hate packing, hate it, hate it, hate it!!!  
• Did I mention that I hate packing?
• Hannah has her own e-mail account and has been e-mailing  me.  Just asking questions like "what are we doing today?"  It's cute.  She'll be 10 August 9!  Where did the time go?
• I dyed my hair today, that is a royal pain!  I am hoping to get a haircut tomorrow to go with my new dye job.  It's dark auburn again but I thought about being crazy and going blonde.  My sister's blonde and we look a little bit alike so I think I could get away with it.  I'd have more fun so they say.
• Well, I need to go get the living room picked up.  That's on the list for today and it won't take long, it's half done already.  I can't pack in a messy house.
• I finished this without screaming at anyone, just so you know.

A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...Sunday, July 26

Outside my window...it is dark and a cool night thanks to the rain.

I am thinking...that if I do this daybook tonight maybe I'll be less tempted to waste my morning on the computer. I need to be productive tomorrow since I was so lazy today. I wouldn't trade that 2 hour nap for anything though.

I am thankful...for a restful day and for a husband who seems to have found a new hobby--making dinner!

From the kitchen...tonight we had steak, Alabama white peas (my favorite!!), and a butternut squash dish that Ollie made that was unbelievably good. The rest of the week we will be eating leftovers and simple meals made from whatever we have on hand. No grocery trips this week!

From the learning rooms...Hannah needs to read the books on Japan that I've had out of the library for almost 6 weeks thinking that we were going to do a couple of weeks of My Father's World. We did get the other reading done but that was it. Our last VBS of the summer is this week--Crocodile Dock. I am hoping to organize our school area and do some planning during my mornings this week.

I am creating...an organized school area.

I am wearing...a sundress

I am reading...this is always my favorite prompt--I am in the middle of "Julie and Julia," I have to say that I'm not that into it. It's okay but there is a whole lot of swearing and some other "poop in the brownies." I'm going to finish it because I almost always finish every book that I start even if I'm not crazy about it. On my bedside table I have, "Pretty in Plaid," and "The Time Traveler's Wife," both of which are due in the next couple of days and I can't renew either one so they will have to go back unread but I will definitely check them out again as soon as I get back in town. The "Pretty in Plaid" one is supposed to be funny. I also have, "Survivors, True Stories of Children in the Holocaust." That one caught my eye as I was checking out the other day. Sounds sad but interesting, I am fascinated by that time in history and the atrocities that people allowed to happen. The next three were ones I picked up randomly so that I could put my name in the box but all look like good reads. They are "A False Sense of Well Being" by Jeanne Braselton, "The Godmother" by Carrie Adams, and "One Perfect Day" by Lauraine Snelling. After I finish these I need to start on another book for Take a Chance Challenge.

I am hoping...to feel somewhat organized and ready to go out of town by Friday when we leave.

I am hearing...Grace and Joe's tape--"The Enormous Crocodile"

Around the house...it's pretty picked up, all except for the big mess I've made in the school area.

One of my favorite things...time alone in my house

I am going...on a road trip to Chicago and VA at the end of the week.

A few plans for the rest of the week...kids are going to VBS every day, I'm tutoring, the kids have their end of the year evaluations on Tuesday, hoping to see "Oklahoma", and packing once again.

A picture thought...

We had a great time at Scott's show last week--the highlight of the Thursday afternoon library shows!

How About Some Pictures?

Here's the new car!

And here's the cuban sandwich we had to celebrate. I have always wanted to stop at this little place but it is never open when we pass it. Today it was and today I had a cuban sandwich. It was awesome!!

The dash shows that there are 23 miles on the car. This is probably the only time we will ever have a car with so few miles on it.

The kids checking out the car. They love it.

Here's Joe in his new "suit." He wanted a shirt, tie, nice pants, and belt. He insisted on the gold tie and the outfit started from there. I think he looks quite handsome. He got it yesterday and wore it to church today, he was so proud and just knew he had it going on. This kid never ceases to surprise me. Predictable he is not!!

Tyler is over playing today and I just had to get a picture of Joe eating lunch in his "suit" with his little buddy.

I Really Should Post About Our New Car...

but that is so yesterday.  I have a great story too about how the Honda is now the Maggotmobile and I am now the Maggotmomma but that's not what I feel like writing about right now and this blog is all about me so...I'm in the mood for some bullet points to help express all the bloggy thoughts swirling around my brain this afternoon.

• I woke up today grumpy and overwhelmed.  There is too much to do and not enough time to do it.  I really could use a week alone in my house to try to gain some sense of control.  I am (was) hoping to use this week between trips to get really organized in the school area so that we could start no later than a week after we get back from Chicago.  So far I've gotten almost nowhere.  I did get the big shelf thingy put together this morning but not until I screwed it up, got really frustrated, cried, and Ollie came to my rescue.  It's up and running now though and already full of all the school stuff.  As I took stuff off of my redneck bookshelves and then put it on the new shelf ideas were flooding into my mind of all we could study this year.  I have a lot of stuff!!!  I also am realistic and know that there is a good chance that much of it will still be sitting there unused this time next year.  I can always dream though, right?
• I didn't go to the library today to get my name into the box.  I am not feeling so optimistic that I will win even though my name is in there umpteen times.  They only pull one name out and it could easily be the old geezer that came in there to get a new Lewis Grizzard book and on a whim put his name in the box.  But, I am still hoping, just not optimistic.
• Allright--I'll tell you about the new car.  Thanks to Mr. Obama and his "Cash for Clunkers" deal we traded in our van (blue book value $500) and bought a brand new car.  We are now the proud owners of a VW Jetta Sportswagon.  It's pretty fancy and my favorite part is that we get Satellite radio for 3 months.  There are some great channels on there!  So far I am most excited about the book channel where they read books all day and night and the blue collar comedy station and the 80s Alternative station.  So far that's the only one Ollie and I agree on.  
• Now the Maggotmobile story--I drove the Honda to GA and was transporting a crock pot of pinto beans to my sister's for Mexican Fiestsa night (Ole`!).  Well....I turned a corner a little too fast and spilled beans all over the back floor board.  When I got to my sister's I unloaded and sort of cleaned up the mess--best I could do with some paper towels and figured I'd deal with it later.  Well, later didn't really come until Sunday (they spilled on Tuesday).  The Honda STUNK seriously bad and something needed to be done.  I go to lift up the mats and guess what is under there??? Maggots.  Yes, maggots.  Didn't expect that.  So, I cleaned it with Windex, some Simple Green, and sprayed it with Raid Spider Killer.  That wasn't good enough though because they were back the next day--more Raid Spider Killer and half a bottle of Febreeze and the smell was no better nor were the maggots gone.  We made it home in the Maggotmobile and after a good scrubbing with Oxyclean the maggots are now gone but the smell...not so much.  
• What's funny about this story and the new car is that when I confessed to Ollie on the phone while I was still in GA he told me that if we ever got a new car it would not be mine, I was just not careful enough and didn't take care of things.  I figured that was an empty threat because we don't buy anything new especially cars.  We take everyone else's hand-me-downs.  Then, on the way home from SC he tells me that he's buying a new car.  Well, wonders never cease!  Maybe someday I'll get a new couch...and if I'm lucky and careful I'll get to sit on it.

Pictures--South Carolina!

We spent the morning at the Columbia Zoo. It was a great zoo--the animals are in really nice habitats and they were very active. This bear was the first animal we saw and he was pacing and pacing right here where we could see him.

This gorilla just laid here watching us, he was kind of pitiful actually but it was neat to see him so up close.





Feeding the giraffes was a huge highlight of our morning at the zoo.




We taught them how to play Whoonu and played a few games with Bobo (Susan's mom) and more games that night with Susan. If you have never played Whoonu you need to go get the game and find somebody to play with you. It is so fun!

The diving board!

And we ended the day making cookies--really good cookies. Chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips--yum!




On the way home we stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch and a golf tee game or two.

Pictures--lunch and a trip to SC

Here is my first McD's mocha of the day! I stopped on the way to lunch and got one for me and one for the kids to share. We met Aunt Lane, Joanne, and Chandler for lunch. Last time I saw Chandler he was about 10 years old! He's about 6 foot 5 now and a lot bigger than I am. Other than that he looks just like he did as a little guy. We had fun catching up and the Mexican food was really good too! After lunch we headed east but not before stopping for my second mocha!

And then a bathroom stop and more mochas! We all got one this time.

Pictures--The Lake

On the way to the lake we stopped for lunch at "Five Guys Burgers and Fries." I absolutely LOVE that place!! They have amazing burgers and the fries are pretty good too although I'd take McD's fries over these any day.

There is the back of the lakehouse and my mom coming down to the dock. I loved the screened in back porch, it was perfect!