Gardening

Yesterday the sun was shining, the birds were singing and, though I'd cleaned it up on Saturday, my garden still needed work. After everyone else was off to work and school, I went to the nearby nursery, got a few plants, then the local Meijer to get a few more, but cheaper. I also got a bird bath that the birds and butterflies can enjoy. Then I went home and spent two hours moving, trimming and planting. I watered them all and went in for lunch. Then I went out in the back yard and worked on planting in the planters we had put in last summer on the patio. After watering those newly planted planters and pots, I went back inside. Throughout the gardening, I worked on laundry. Since our trip I felt behind in the laundry room, feeling like I couldn't catch up. With track practice, track meet, soccer game and running clothes added to our regular mix, I had a few large piles at least. So, I did several loads of towels, comforters, blankets and sheets and hung them to dry on the patio. So, that helped! :) My arms were tired from the work, but if felt wonderful! :) So much better than the blizzard weather... Although the blizzards help us to appreciate days like these when the sun is warming and the plants are beautiful. Hope you're enjoying your spring days!

Spring!

I sit here to enter my latest post and notice the sun pouring in the windows. It's a beautiful and welcome sight. Our landscaping that was put in last summer is alive with blooms and I look forward to more days of enjoying it. Our daffodils have been blooming for about a week, my grape hyacinth are popping up all over my front garden... my front garden which needs so much work this year... In our area we can still get frost into May, so I try not to dig anything up to move it, or plant anything new, just in case. These warm days of spring have people rushing to the stores and buying plants... then, inevitably, a cold snap comes and things blacken! We've had a flurry the last two Aprils. It is hard to resist the planting urge, though. I have some small plants mixed in with tall ones, then they lack water, sun and they're hidden, so I need to move them more towards the middle of my garden spot.
I spent the last few days, as there were no subbing jobs for me, going through old paperwork. We've saved old bill receipts, old insurance policy statements, etc. for too long. It felt good to purge them, shred them and put them out with recyclables today. Four trash bags worth. I checked some websites for what I could dispose of and what I should keep for a year, 7 years and indefinitely. Those leftover papers I reorganized and moved to a different location. I previously had some of the important papers in the basement, some in my den and some other places. So, they're all in one central location now, in a nice little folder cart, which also has a drawer on it.
One of my tasks for today is to scan the girls' papers and artwork onto cd's. I have a HUGE box, because I like to save everything they do because they are fabulous students and artists. (I'm not biased. :)) But, now that our oldest is in 7th, soon to be 8th grade, and our youngest is in 3rd, almost 4th grade, plus their two years of preschool, each... we've run out of room in the folders and boxes keep all of their paper items. I'm sure it will take a LONG time, but it will be so nice to have it done. We can keep some paper items, like books they made, that would be easier to store than scan. I just think that they'll like to look back on it someday-but I'm not sure what they'll like to look back on. I may just scan the artwork and keep the paper copies of the papers, like grade cards, as well. I will see when I am knee-deep in it, I suppose! :)
I will be reading my last week of the Beth Moore Bible Study this week, as well. Last week was so moving. On Tuesday, our group met and it was so incredible that I cried... there and on the way HOME! After it was over. It was amazing. God is good! :)
Our oldest daughter had an appt. with an ear, nose, throat doctor this week. Yep, her tonsils are huge, just like youngest daughter. They are scheduled to have their tonsils and adenoids removed on June 13... Yep, Friday the 13. They've never had any kind of surgery, let alone an iv putting them out for half an hour and surgery! I'm a bit nervous and we still have two months. I know it's a routine surgery, but I'm still a bit worried! Maybe it has something to do with the Dr. saying the only problem that could occur is "bleeding out and requiring a transfusion"! UM-that's a big problem! He said that (knock on wood) he's never had that happen before. I trust him, he's great, and I'm sure he'd be careful with our girls, but ugh. Great way to start their summer vacation, hm? But, they'd miss 7-14 days of school if we did it during the school year.
We aren't planning on taking any big/long summer vacations, either. Just a wonderful summer here in the Midwest. We are embarking on a "postcard quest", though. The girls and I have already sent out emails to friends and relatives around the country, gathering addresses. We will be writing a letter, together, and sending it at the end of May requesting postcards from all 50 states and other countries, as well! We will be getting maps, one of the world and one of the U.S. The maps will hang in the basement, I think and the postcards will be, as well. It will be a fun summer project! :)
Running... nope, I have not been running. I have been doing a bit of walking, though! :)
That's it for me, for now. I hope you are enjoying the spring!

Time to Update

It is time again to update. I was posting so regularly, and then life got in the way! :)
Our oldest daughter started track, having her first meet last Wednesday. For her first track meet/mile she ran a 7:21 which I was pretty proud of! :) She was very nervous the night before and the morning of! Both girls are still in piano lessons once weekly and play for "judges" on Friday afternoon.
Our youngest begins soccer games tonight, with practices in full swing last week. Our youngest also has her "father-daughter" dance on Friday and she is very excited. The theme is Hollywood, so her dress has a few sparkles, and her jewelry does, too. We didn't go crazy spending tons of money, but we did get something new and special for her dance with Daddy. :)
I finally got a subbing job last week, my first assignment since the long-term. Then I have two and a half days scheduled this week, for the class I long-termed for. I'm excited to see them again.
I started running and exercising again on the 31st of March. I got three days of four mile runs in and 50-60 sit ups, with push-ups, as well! I did stairs in our house on the blah weather days-15 sets, so my legs were burning. :) Felt good to get back to it. I always say that, so why do I let myself get back out of shape again?? :) The weather is supposed to be beautiful again this afternoon, so I'm thinking of shooting for five miles. I walked with the hubby yesterday, after church, and it was wonderful.
Since I have been off work, I have been cleaning and organizing around here. Spring cleaning feels so great! We ended up with six trash bags of stuff out on our porch for give away and four for throw away! We worked on the girls' rooms on Saturday, rearranging furniture, major cleaning and organizing. Always fun to see the finished products... until they make them messy again! :)
We had a wonderful time with my parents over spring break. The beach house was perfect, right on the beach to the ocean. We had lots of relaxing time, although the swimming was nonexistent. The water was like ice, and hurt your feet when you went in. Although kids don't mind as much. :) We spent a lot of time in the sand, make pyramids, etc. :) And we saw some fun sights, as well.
I plan on working a bit in the garden, today. It needs some more "clean-up". The weather will still be a bit too harsh for them for the rest of this month-we had a snow last April or the year before, so I don't want to buy plants and kill them! :) I also have bird/animal feeders to fill and laundry to do today. The rest of the week is quite busy again.
I hope you all are well.

So Sorry!

It's been quite a while since I last posted. Updates on last information:

• Our dear friend with breast cancer is doing well. She is so positive and relying on her faith and prayers. She's had two sessions of chemotherapy and her hair has fallen out. Sometimes we see her with "Sally" (the wig) on and sometimes a cute bandanna. Her cancer is softening up a bit, so that's good. Two treatments down and four to go, for this phase. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers for her!
  
• The Bible Study is going well. I am thoroughly enjoying the learning I'm doing, about the Bible and about myself.
• My parents are on their way here (hopefully safely through some slick weather!) And we take off tomorrow for a week's vacation with them. The weather where we're headed isn't supposed to be great, but should be fun, nonetheless. We haven't done a trip longer than 2-3 days with them since I've been married (13 1/2 years!)
• Still no scrapbooking and not much running since the last post. Hoping to remedy the latter on the trip!
• No subbing jobs since the longterm, because of the spring break vacation coming. I do have one for the Friday after the kids return from break.

I received an email from a high school classmate: 15 year reunion is being planned for this summer. Hardly seems like it's been 15 years. Interesting, though, how some things haven't changed....
I have appreciated catching up on fellow bloggers' posts! I'm sorry I haven't updated until now!
I will post more when we return from our trip. I have also updated links and my photo, tonight, but have to rest as we leave at 3am for our long drive Southward tomorrow. Fingers crossed that the kids do well!! :)
Thanks again for all your comments and well-wishes. They are greatly appreciated!
Happy Easter!

Randomness and lots of it!

I have a lot to catch up on! It's been almost a month since I posted. I apologize to the regular readers. Been a lot happening here. My husband says I need to break things up into small posts so people can find info better, but... I don't. :)
First, I'm still subbing. My job has been extended until March 7. The teacher who has breast cancer is doing great, but still tired, and the kiddos wear you out, so she needs to get more strength before she comes back. I am definitely still enjoying my job!
Other things I have enjoyed:

• Church: We have been greeters in the mornings (for all of February). I like starting other people's day off with a smile and warmth. Also, I have been attending a Beth Moore Bible Study on Tuesday nights. It is called Jesus the One and Only. It has been pretty good so far. It has daily homework, which has been hard to keep on, but the study has been good! We have also started a life group (the hubby and I) where we meet with 7 other adults and talk about the week's sermon. Our church is encouraging this study through Lent.
• Speaking of Lent, our church did an Ash Wednesday service, even though it's not a Catholic Church. It was a very reverent evening with much peace. I felt very moved throughout the evening.
• Deciding on my "one little word". I chose Faith. I need to have faith in myself as a teacher. I need to work on my relationship with God to grow my faith, I have to have faith in His decisions... You get the idea. Faith is my word for the year. I got a charm from Etsy that says "FAITH" on it a while back as inspiration, also. Any of the regular readers choose a word?

Things I haven't enjoyed:

• Let's start with the easy things...Running... well, I did a nice three mile with my daughter and dog and it was great-no soreness, although the lungs were tired at the end...and that's it. Sad, hmmm?
• The hubby went on a business trip last week. Everytime he goes somewhere the kids get sick; our oldest got the flu. Yuck! Luckily none of us got it, other than her. Also, he went somewhere warm and we were stuck in the winter storms, which made it tough for all of us to appreciate. :)
• I haven't done any scrapbooking, either. Just not enough time, although I'd love to! :)
• I had two moles removed on Martin Luther King, Jr. day and they came back pre-pre-cancerous so I had to go back today and have more, deeper outer lying areas removed, too. Ouch. They said to prevent my moles getting worse, wear long sleeved, shirts, hats (even when I run), 50SPF sunscreen every hour when I'm out between 11am and 3pm, and gt check-ups every 6 months.
• However, I can't do too much complaining about simple moles. Our worst news is that one of my dear friends found out last Monday that she has breast cancer (invasive ductal carcinoma). Long list of details, but she started chemotherapy today to shrink the tumor. Then they'll do surgery (after 6 sessions of chemo-one every three weeks) and then radiation. Her oldest daughter is my youngest daughter's best friend, which is how I got to know her. She's been on my mind, heart and prayer list and hopefully things will go positively. Keep her in your prayer, as well, if you can.

That's all from here, from the minimal to the scary. I hope all of you, readers, have had a good weekend and a good start to your week.