A Garden It Will Be!
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We've decided to have a professional landscaper transform the small hill in
our backyard into a raised garden with a retaining wall, a couple of tiered
wal...
13 years ago
Saturday, June 28, 2008
This week in review
Two weeks in a row now, I thought I would post a 'week in review' because I hadn't gotten aroung to a Friday 5. But last week, Lorraine beat me to the punch with her Friday 5 and this week, I thought of one I wanted to post (albeit on Saturday morning). However, I still like the idea of a week in review, so here goes.Highlights from the week of 22 June- 27 June 2008
1. Saturday, I went to a class at Beaver Creek Reserve and built a Leopold bench. All the benches made in class turned out great and what a nice group of people! The power tools made me a little nervous, so I think I will leave most of that kind of stuff to Dan, but I am very proud of my bench.
2. Sunday, the boys and I sang 'Farther Along' at church. There are many different verses to this song, some quite down in the mouth. We chose to sing the more upbeat ones and took it at a pretty fast clip. It was well received. Abe has been bugging me to pull out my autoharp so I dug aroung and found it. Couldn't find my books or tuning wrench, though, which means I really couldn't play it.
In the evening, Mose and I drove to church to drop off a salad for a big funeral there the next day and then drove to the van parking lot so I could sign off for a few days. We parked the car there and walked around town, admiring some beautiful older homes.
3. Monday, I drove in to work with Dan. His day now starts 1/2 hour earlier than it used to which means we had to get up at 3:30 am. That was very grim.
After work, we stopped at a Linder's flower mart nearby to take advantage of their 50% off sale, one of my favorite events of the year. We bought a Goldflame Honeysuckle and 3 cranberry cotoneasters. We'll plant the honeysuckle where it can wind around the lattice under our front porch and the cotoneasters are for the area between our driveway and (new) front sidewalk.
We didn't linger long though so I had plenty of time when I got home to plant my garden. Yes, I put everything in the ground. The mosquitoes feasted on my pasty white flesh, but I was on a roll and they didn't bother me.
4. Tuesday, I drove in with Dan again (the boys were at their Dad's). After work, we drove to REI in Bloomington where we found a couple bear barrels (not beer barrels) for trips to the Boundary Waters (never again will we go there without them). I had thought we'd take mainly freeze dried meals this time, but on seeing the outrageous prices, decided we'd make our own again, but less extravagant, less smelly stuff. I still regret the dark chocolate ginger candies that the bear got to before I did **sniff**.
We stopped at Gerten's, too, another favorite place for plants but, alas, not known for having fabulous sales. We bought two Sea Green Junipers there.
5. Wednesday, we just came home and stayed home. Whew.
6. Thursday, Dan had to get to work by 2:30 am. Needless to say, I didn't go in with him that day.
Dan was exhausted that evening and went to bed right after supper. The boys and I watched Friendly Persuasion, recommended by Lorraine.
7. Yesterday, I worked from home. My boss has a policy now where we can work from home on Fridays, if we don't have to be in the office for one reason or another. 7 people on her team COULD choose work from home and 5 of us HAVE chosen.
I put in a long day. We had Domino's pizza for supper and watched From Here to Eternity, which we loved.
It was a good week. We continue to have really nice weather. It was a little sticky yesterday, but we still haven't turned the A/C on. It rained last night and freshened things up, so I don't think we'll need it today, either.
Friday 5: Jobs
Mose has a job! He's working at McDonald's and liking it all right so far. He told me that when he left yesterday, the manager told him, "You did a h*** of a job today." I had a good laugh when Mose told me about it, since I could say with certainty that it was the first time he'd ever been told that.
So, what about jobs and you? Tell me:
1. Have you ever had a job with a uniform? Describe it. Did you like or dislike having to wear one? 2. What was your first job? Would you recommend a similar job to a first-job-seeker?
3. What was your worst job? What did you learn from it?
4. What is your current job? How long have you been doing it? What do you like and dislike most about it?
5. What would you like to be your last job?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Friday 5: Classics
A little late.
1. Do you like classic movies? (For our purposes let's say made before 1960)
2. Why or why not?
3. Which movies from that era are your favorites? Why?
4. Who are your favorite stars from that era?
5. If you had the chance to do a really good remake, which movie would you choose, and which of today's stars would be in it?
1. Do you like classic movies? (For our purposes let's say made before 1960)
2. Why or why not?
3. Which movies from that era are your favorites? Why?
4. Who are your favorite stars from that era?
5. If you had the chance to do a really good remake, which movie would you choose, and which of today's stars would be in it?
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
When your kids are smarter than you
Reading a post here, got me thinking about how often lately I have stopped to ask myself, "Who is the adult here?" And heard the answer back, "Not you."
Here's one recent example: As Mose and I walked to the car after a trip to the grocery store a couple weeks ago, I let drop some snotty, thoughtless remark about the young man who had rang up our purchases. He had done nothing wrong, I simply didn't like "the way he spoke to me" or "his tone of voice" or some equally uptight nonsense. Mose quickly spoke in the cashier's defense, not putting me down, but explaining how he (Mose) interpreted the interaction. He spoke gently and reasonably and I was silenced by the fairness of what he said and my own smallness.
And another: Abe often asks me to watch or listen to something he finds on the web - either a song he likes or a video clip or picture that makes him laugh. Sometimes, the timing is good for me but more often it's not or I think it's not. On Saturday, he said he had something he wanted me to see at a moment I felt very stressed out. But instead of graciously declining and thanking him for wanting me to share his enjoyment with him, I launched into full blown pity party the theme of which was I wish I had time to sit around all day and surf. He didn't get caught up in my stress but he didn't let me off the hook either. He patiently explained that he knew that I had a lot more responsibility than him, but all I needed to tell him at a time like that was 'No'.
This had never occurred to me before. You mean, I can just say, 'No'? Just give a simple response, rather than one laden with enough emotional baggage to sink a whole afternoon?
It's times like these that I admire my boys most and am awed by God's grace in shaping them into people who are often kinder, often wiser and always less complicated than I am.
Here's one recent example: As Mose and I walked to the car after a trip to the grocery store a couple weeks ago, I let drop some snotty, thoughtless remark about the young man who had rang up our purchases. He had done nothing wrong, I simply didn't like "the way he spoke to me" or "his tone of voice" or some equally uptight nonsense. Mose quickly spoke in the cashier's defense, not putting me down, but explaining how he (Mose) interpreted the interaction. He spoke gently and reasonably and I was silenced by the fairness of what he said and my own smallness.
And another: Abe often asks me to watch or listen to something he finds on the web - either a song he likes or a video clip or picture that makes him laugh. Sometimes, the timing is good for me but more often it's not or I think it's not. On Saturday, he said he had something he wanted me to see at a moment I felt very stressed out. But instead of graciously declining and thanking him for wanting me to share his enjoyment with him, I launched into full blown pity party the theme of which was I wish I had time to sit around all day and surf. He didn't get caught up in my stress but he didn't let me off the hook either. He patiently explained that he knew that I had a lot more responsibility than him, but all I needed to tell him at a time like that was 'No'.
This had never occurred to me before. You mean, I can just say, 'No'? Just give a simple response, rather than one laden with enough emotional baggage to sink a whole afternoon?
It's times like these that I admire my boys most and am awed by God's grace in shaping them into people who are often kinder, often wiser and always less complicated than I am.
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