I haven't written in over a week...

...because I've just been too tired, and had nothing to write about. Well, that's not really totally true. The being-too-tired part is, but not the nothing-to-write-about thing. I have so many things that race through my mind each day, but finding time to sit down and actually address them in writing is nearly impossible. I would say I've had nothing to write about when I've had the five or ten minutes to sit down and stare at the "New Post" screen. There's honesty.

This week I'm going to try just writing a little bit each day.

Yesterday I was out of the house for most of the day, which I don't like to do on a Saturday. I really need to clean the house! From 8:30 to 12:30 Mary and I were gone to an American Heritage Girls event. We got home, ate lunch, and then I had to go get a few groceries to last until tomorrow afternoon when I can do a big grocery shopping trip. At 2:30 we had to leave to go down to the Historic District so Mary could participate in a scavenger hunt with our homeschool support group's high school group. The mom who organized it used a local company that sets up scavenger hunts in one area of the Historic District. There were about 16 kids there, and they all had a blast. Mary wound up on a team with 3 teens she didn't know, but that didn't phase her. She made three new friends, and their team won!

During the scavenger hunt my friend Cindy, (whose son Aaron is Mary's age and also went on the scavenger hunt) and I went to Panera and hung out having a cinnamon crunch bagel with honey-walnut cream cheese, chai tea, and excellent conversation. She's always so much fun to be around, and we talk about everything together. I usually talk to her on the phone every couple of days, anyway, but it was nice to have about an hour and a half to just sit, have a yummy snack, and discuss life. The weather was gorgeous, there were tourists everywhere, and I was impressed again with what a blessing it is to live in such a beautiful city.

Once Mary and I got home I had to make supper, clean up from supper, and then prepare to make food this morning for our fellowship.

Tonight I still have to write up Mary and Bobby's schedule of lessons for the week.  So off I go.

I read two books recently....

....that really shook me up a little.  I got them both from our local library. The first was Making Supper Safe, by Ben Hewitt.

It's about our food industry and the lack of oversight which leads to food contamination. A good read, but also a little frightening. The only way we can ever be truly sure that our food is not contaminated is to grow it all ourselves, something which in our society today is nearly impossible to do. It makes me wish I had enough of a backyard to have a huge garden.

The other book was American Wasteland, by Jonathan Bloom.

This one is about the massive waste of food that goes on every day in our country, mostly due to the fact that we Americans want all types of food available at all seasons of the year, and we want it to look pretty and seem fresh-picked. Stores throw out thousands of dollars' worth of food every week. This book, more than the first, made me really stop and take stock of our own food consumption.  There isn't much I can do about food contamination in the supply line before we buy the food, but there is a lot I can do here at home to prevent wasting perfectly good food.

My current non-fiction read is The Smart-Aleck's Guide to American History, by Adam Selzer.

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law gave it to me for Christmas.  It's hilarious, but also a seriously well-researched book on American History. I'll blog more about it when I'm finished reading it.

I knew my kids were having an effect on the world.....

Things For Which I'm Thankful

(This is only a partial list and may be expanded later....)

My salvation. The Holy Spirit. His comfort and peace. His conviction of sin.
My wonderful husband. A good marriage. Laughter. Love.
Having grown up in a Christian home. My excellent parents and their patient wisdom.
My sweet children. Bobby's cancer is still gone. The girls are healthy and beautiful.
My great in-laws. My mother-in-law may very well be the best one ever. (I don't know all the mothers-in-law everywhere, so I shrink from making an absolute statement about how great she is....)
My allergies have abated somewhat, and are under control with Claritin and Flonase.
We have electricity 24/7. My washer and dryer work. We have heat. We can drink water straight from the tap.
Our church. What a blessing!
Good friends.
Chocolate.

In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I Thess. 5:18

I Cant' Resist Posting This

This picture is from a link sent to me by my friend Renata. You can tell she knows me very well. "And that's all I got to say about that!"