I had yogurt for breakfast and after class got myself a late--how do I get the ' above the e, anyone? Came home for lunch and had chicken salad on a whole wheat pita and drank some water. I had about an ounce of super dark chocolate then had two bowls of oatmeal with blueberries and flax for dinner. An hour later I was still hungry so I had some of the other kind of chicken salad. I'm now drinking a glass of red wine and REALLY want to get in bed. I was up last night working on a presentation I gave in a class today and then just couldn't sleep. So I've been running on 4ish hours all day.

A note about the Dickens project. I'm taking a break. My buddy and I got three books in and I realized to pull decent grades this semester I really need to be studying stuff for school. I was having fun, too much maybe, looking up random works and places and names from the stories, reading reviews and commentary...yes, I'm a geek, but I like it. :) SO when school is out for this semester I will have a Dickens laden summer, at least I hope to! I'm fortunate to have an understanding friend taking this literary journey with me. :)

Page 6

My friend Heidi and I went to a piano recital Sunday and I guess it played over into the page I did later that evening. Still 6 for 6...I hope I can keep it up!

This weekend is going to be awesome! The ladies who have been doing the Artists' Way this summer and Walking in this World currently are going on retreat!! It will be chilly, but we can bundle up and I know it will be a blast.

I should post pictures on the garden. I've let the okra get ginormas and the zucchini are gone...and onions that the birds killed early in the season are coming back.....weird. I harvested all the annual herbs to dry for use and am going to transplant most of the perennial herbs so we can turn the beds...and we'll be putting two boxes out!!! Next year will be great!

I have to go to the dentist later today. Life is crazy this semester. All the papers and project to do. And I'm working on a Bach fugue in piano and loving it, but also realizing it is a challenge and hoping I'm up to it. It really helps to have a patient and diligent teacher!

I want to post pictures of the things I've been knitting, but as they are Christmas presents, I will wait. Maybe I can take a group picture of all of them before I wrap them....that's a good idea. I've been a knitting fiend. And am about to be a quilting one too!

Keeping it busy, Peace.

Stress is fun Not

I did this page last week. This one i did two weeks ago after being in VA.

I turned a paper in today that I was ashamed to put my name on.....it was bad. But by turning it in on time I can shoot for an A with the rewrite. Late and the best it could have been would be a B. Yeah, didn't plan well on that. Working on improving planning for the rest of the semester, and will be cleaning the study tomorrow. I worked hard core on a altered book....which I should have taken pictures of for this....anyway. The study is a mess and I don't function well in this sort of chaos. So, I'll do this weeks page and get back with you.

Peace.

Growing

Aiden with the Guano, chillin', There's a caterpillar in the dill and Serenity wants to keep it. That child is fearless with nature! This is a fraction of the collection, they went through all of them before it was over and Jason came up with a structured game for them to play, I'm so proud of him! Happy 4th of July! Iris looks SO MUCH like Joella, it blows me away. And she's become quite the adventurer, wanted to go as far in the cave as she could, further than Aiden! WOW, been a month, that's no good, no way to have a blog. LOL. OK, We had the children last weekend, pictures above, and are only just now getting caught up. Jason basically worked 10 days in a row, silly man. I am so lucky and blesses and all the rest to have him. He is so good for me. He makes me excited to live the rest of my life with him. This is a nice peace. Other good news, I've lost 19lbs!!! Lost it pretty fast, three weeks, so I'm thinking it will slow down soon, but I'm not giving up. I want to be able to enjoy the rest of my life with him, and to do that I must be healthy. Much healthier than I am now. It's hard. And stinks. I don't like being hungry and I don't like not making and eating cookies whenever I want, but the trade off for not doing those things is HUGE. So, here I go!! I've been doing a lot with the crazy quilts and am so grateful to Linda, Jason's mom, for the fabric and notions she was able to get for such a crazy discount! I will post about the sewing and some other things maybe even later today. School has been great. I switched teachers and am so much happier. I told Jason last week that every morning should begin with Dr. Murray. I guess it helps to love the subject too. Music history of the 19th cen. :) Heaven! You can KIND OF see the garden in the picture of the girls with their sparklers, it's huge!!! Overflowing actually. Need to post about that too. Would have taken pictures this morning, but the rain nixed that. It was great to work out there in the rain. Ah, life is very good. :)

I Might Be Crazy

This is what I walk into and away from while gardening...when the windows were all open he'd sit in one and meow at me. He doesn't want outside as much as just wants to be where the awake one is. As you can see, we've experienced some growth. Jason thinned the onions a bit and we ate the yummie little ones with a fish and rice dish he made. It was delicious! I like to do companion planting to cut down on the bad bugs and such, it's a very organic way to garden. (On a side note, when I first heard of organic gardening I about flipped. Isn't gardening organic by nature? But then I learned more about the pesticides and plant foods used and how they are so bad for everyone....it always helps to try and get the WHOLE story before getting all up in arms about a thing.) One of the things about companion planting is the use of marigolds. I used to HATE them. Mostly their scent. It's harsh, and there was a time when I thought orange was about the ugliest color ever.....times change, there are 30 marigolds in our garden. They are edible, the flowers taste peppery, or so I've heard. Jason's folks came for a visit earlier and I went to my first baseball game! I've been to basketball games and played softball--sort of-- and volleyball, but this was a real first. We had a great time, Jason, Joe and Linda were great about making sure I knew what was going on and we had a very nice time....even if the local team was having it's ass rather thoroughly kicked. HA! So, why I might be crazy. I'm in a graduate level course for five weeks. I'm liking it so far, and excited about the projects, just nervous that there won't be enough time in the day. I know school comes first, but there are so many projects I want to work on!!! So I'm working out an hourly schedule for the four days a week I'll be in class and babysitting. I think that will help. Below is a picture Jason took. I guess he couldn't resist. I hadn't even brushed my hair! But the dough needed to start rising, we do what we need to do!