When I got up this morning, it was thundering. I like thunderstorms, especially when they are a surprise, like on in February in PA.  Strangely enough, I could not sleep this morning, even though I gave it my best shot and lay in bed for an hour just thinking about this and that.  Due to the ordinary trouble I have falling asleep, I’ve become quite proficient at lying in bed awake for hours. I wonder if that’s a resume builder? “Able to be slothful for hours on end.”  Doubtful.

And thus ends the deadly dull update. You may now proceed with your usual lives, at least until the world stops rotating.

To some of the world, it’s Mardi Gras. To Pennsylvanians, it’s Faschnaut Day. Time to eat the donuts!  However, at our house, we had pancakes.   To be honest, the big holiday was an afterthought. I planned dinner and then realized how well it fit in with the day.

Do any of you participate in Lent? As Baptists, we don’t focus on Lent (or actually have it on our radar screens, so to speak).  However, I’ve been wondering the past few years if it would be a good idea for me to give up something for the 40 days leading up to Easter. I think it would help me to understand sacrifice–not to the extent that Jesus sacrificed for me, but at least a little bit. Plus, it would also help me to anticipate Easter and the joy of it.

Unfortunately for me, Lent caught me by surprise this year. (I just realized it started tomorrow about four hours ago.) In these few hours before Lent begins, I’m waffling. I just don’t WANT to sacrifice. I’m happy with all my treats an pleasures. And that is quite telling.  I’ll have to pray and consider. 

Are you observing Lent this year?

  Sometimes, I just feel as if I have nothing to say. I’m sure we all go through fits and spurts of brilliance, and I’m certainly not spurting at the moment (although I will not rule out fits).

We are dog-sitting my “sister,” Molly the beagle mix. Every day, I am happier and happier because I don’t have a dog full-time. After the 27th, I can return her!  Usually Molly is the easiest pup in the world to watch, but at age 14, I guess her digestive tract doesn’t work as regularly.  I cleaned up a wet mess, TGD three separate “double messes,” and one day, I left the house for less than an hour, and when I returned, I discovered she had thrown up on three different couch cushions, the side of the couch, twice on the ottoman, twice on the carpet in one room, and once on the carpet of another room. Hooray for cats!

I have decided to teach AP Language and Composition again next year. I had a four year break (or three years? I forget.).  I’ve been asked many times if I would teach again, and this year I agreed.  If you’ve got any interested AP students, let me know. (I can give you references if you want, or, former students, feel free to gush right here on Xanga–ha ha.)  In some ways, I am not looking forward to it at all. The AP exam has changed since I last taught, so I have quite a learning curve for myself–new syllabus, new essays to grade, new textbook. I’ll have my evenings taken up with grading essays and replying to students when I’ve been used to just lounging around doing nothing. But, I can teach both Wit and LibbyK in my class next year, and I can make new friends.  It’s time for another AP picnic, is it not?

What are you reading lately? I always like to know.

(And please, somebody did get the double meaning of my title, right?)

Because I’ve already got the best one there is! And, I shall attempt a non-mathematical proof.

Postulate 1: Friday night, TGD spoke at the Youth Group meeting on the topic of “Zealous for Good Deeds.”  When he got to the application section of how to practically apply this verse, his Power Point read, “Give your extremely attractive wife two dozen roses.” He went into a back room and came out with two dozen, long-stemmed, red roses and gave them to me to the “Awww!”s of the group.

Postulate 2:  Saturday, I got to sleep in. Then, Wit and I went out to Pizza Hut and shopping all afternoon.  Although this might not seem like a Valentine’s treat, per se, I got to have a lot of fun all day.

Postulate 3:  TGD said we could go out anywhere I wanted for supper, even though we knew it would be insanely busy wherever we went.  We called ahead for seating at Texas Roadhouse, but somehow, they didn’t write down my reservation. So, I had to get another reservation number and a much longer wait. We left for a while, and when I called back to check on our wait time, I was told that my new reservation number didn’t exist!  I got on the phone with someone more in charge, and he said to me, “Are you here in the restaurant?” 
“No, but I can be in three minutes.” 
“Great, come in, and we’ll give you a table right now.”
And he did.
And through all the hassle and empty stomach, instead of complaining, TGD took me shopping.

Postulate 4:  After going to several stores, we made a purchase–a 32″ flat screen TV!  Wheee! Considering the TV it is replacing is a 12″ from TGD’s early college days, I’m pretty excited.   Roses, dinner, and a TV–Ah!

Postulate 5:  Seeing as we got the TV at Best Buy, it seemed only right to cap off our Valentine’s celebration by watching two episodes of Chuck.  And that’s all the more you need to know.

Postulate 6: The sermon in church today was on Hebrews 13:4, “Let marriage be held in honor by all…” Our pastor spoke about a couple who had been married 69 years and still “looked at each other like love-sick teenagers.” He went on to challenge us by saying, “Remember when we were love-sick teenagers?  Remember when we would call for no reason at all? When we would just spend all evening talking and enjoying one another?” He went on to list many other examples of lovesickness, and through it all, my boys rolled their eyes.  He was describing in detail how their dad behaves toward me!

And a funny story from today–My kids are used to TGD and his romantic silliness. LibbyK had a friend over after church today who wasn’t.  After we prayed for lunch TGD referred to me and said, “with her new nickname, ‘Esposa caliente’.”  There was a pause, and LibbyK’s friend tentatively said, “Hot wife?” and burst out laughing.  We do have fun.

Last night, we didn’t sleep so well. The wind was so strong that any moment, I expected a house to fall on me, so I got up and took off my striped socks and ruby slippers.  Just about that time, the power went out.  After a bit of fumbling around (thank heavens for my book light!), we found the non-electric clock and set it. 

The power came back on at 11:30, so we could turn on the lights again, but we found we didn’t want to. It was quite cozy in the gray darkness with the wind while we were cozy wrapped in Grammy Norris-crocheted afghans.

My apologies for referring to something I thought I had mentioned, but apparently failed to do.  Yes, TGD and I have contracts with The Teaching Company.  TGD’s contract is to film an Algebra 1 course, 36 half-hour lectures, which would be independent of a specific text, but should cover most topics in a standard Algebra textbook.

He has submitted his list of topics and the scope and sequence. Once that is approved, he needs to put together his graphics/Power Point things.  Then, the first and third weeks of June, he will travel to the DC area to their company headquarters to film the lectures.

My part of the job is to write the supplemental book to go along with the lectures. I know I have to produce ten problems with solutions for each session, but I am not yet sure if I am to write a summary or explanation of each lecture. 

I don’t know when this series will be available for purchase. Maybe by fall?  Not that I’m suggesting you run out and buy it! Thirty-six algebra lectures aren’t really at the top of most people’s shopping lists. 

I once asked myself, “What would you never have wanted to homeschool without?”  One of those things I thought of was Skip Count Kid’s Bible Songs. It taught all my kids skip counting and made multiplication so much easier.  And, guess who has been trying to teach multiplication without her beloved songs? Yup, me. Little Miss and I made up our own songs, like the nine’s table to Happy Birthday, but it wasn’t the same.  Finally, I said, “This is silly!” and went to Amazon today and downloaded the CD.  4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40 days Goliath had to wait.  (But I didn’t have to wait at all. Huzzah for the MP3 download!)

TGD has been hard at work on the next step for The Teaching Company’s Algebra series. He submitted it today, so he and I are planning a date out tonight to celebrate. And then we’ll watch some more episodes of Chuck online. Three cheers for NBC for letting the hoi polloi watch shows for free.

But now, I have to fetch LibbyK and take her to flute lessons. I might just have to make a trip to Barnes and Noble for the newest Lauren Willig novel, which I hadn’t realized was out yet. Hoo-ray for Christmas gift cards! 

What’s making you huzzah lately?

Yesterday was my grandma’s 89th birthday. The girls and I went to Clearfield to have supper with my mom, grandma, and great-aunt.  We had some good times. She even used her birthday wish to ask that the girls and I would have a safe trip home. Considering that there were a few times when visibility was zero, the snow-covered “Hey, are there lines on this road?” roads, and the fact that TGD and the boys did a 540 (360 plus!) on the way to church that night, I am glad to have her wish granted. Happy birthday to her!

Monday, Sue J and Ransom emailed me:  “There are Jax at Wegmans!”  I scurried over, and I now have Jax again. They are just as yummy as I remember. Life is very good. Happy to me!

The washer repair guy is coming to visit today. Never buy a Kenmore front-loading washer. Nothing but trouble! The warranty expired in January, so this visit I will have to pay for. However, this fellow is our good appliance repair man who is coming not only to repair but to teach me how to fix the washer (take off the panel to unclog the drain), so that I don’t have to call him and pay the fee once every three to six months. Happy to me again!   

This afternoon, Little Miss and I plan to start work on a life-size Egyptian sarcophagus (out of cardboard).  But first, we have to get all our school and chores done. Happy to us both!

What’s making you happy lately?

Like most of the rest of the USA, our TV is tuned into the Super Bowl. We live in Steeler Country, you know, so it would be most unsporting of us not to root on the team. Besides, my grandma is a big Steelers’ fan, and it wouldn’t do to fail to root for Gram’s team.

I’m not watching the game, but I did get to see that fellow run 100 yards and flip onto his head for that touchdown. I love games where people run back from the other end zone or run back for a touchdown on a kick off. That’s why I like lower-level football better.  Snincr asked me in line for our church fellowship meal today about my football affiliation. “The closer it is to my actual house, the more a fan I am. I’m a HUGE Centre Bulldogs fan, a big State High fan, a fan of Penn State, and after that, it dwindles,” I said.  (By the way, do you know the three words in the dictionary which start with “dw”?)

Wit’s surgery on Friday went well. The doctor said that his shoulder bones had already overlapped by 1.5 inches and it was pretty difficult to pull them back into place. I am very glad we did this surgery. Wit looks like himself again–not all hunchy. 

We paid the deposit for Hunter at Penn State. I don’t suppose that means he’s officially enrolled, but it feels pretty official to us. Whee!  It will be a different game in two years when Wit comes around, but for now, this college thing was pretty painless. It helps when your child only applies one place and that place doesn’t require an essay or letters of recommendation or anything.

Now, I’m going to pick up LibbyK from a Super Bowl party and dream of Jax. What did you do this evening?