Go to this site and test your own "eyeballing" skills.  I've only played twice so far.  This just validates my entire life of decorating!!!

http://woodgears. ca/eyeball/ index.html

 

Many times Matt compliments me on purpose.  Sometimes he compliments me by accident.

 

Tonight he folded laundry and put three items of my clothing in Julia’s pile.  She twelve and a tiny little bean.

 

What a NICE man.  J

 

OK, totally cute … Elena sent my brother -- a new-recruit Marine – a letter today.  This was a fun assignment instead of the usual grammar.  (See how awesome homeschooling is?!)  She asked him if he planned to trick-or-treat, and if so, what he planned to go dressed as.  LOL!

Um … my guess is “no” and if he did go he’d be going as “soldier who’s getting his butt kicked”.

 She also wanted to know if he planned to go anywhere anytime soon.  OK, that would be another “no”.  Thank God he will know her innocence, or else it might look like she was taunting him!  He will get such a kick out of it!

 I miss that guy!

 

It's certainly not where I'd live forever, but I'm loving the idea of space!

 

In our homeschool group, everyone is supposed to organize one field trip per year.  I took the easy way out and organized a tour of the local firehouse because I knew it would be free, very convenient to me geographically, and best of all – my boys would LOVE it.

So, bright and early this morning we arrived at Station 55, with our very own little fire captain in the bunch.  He was wearing clothing underneath his uniform today.  J  These guys are the NICEST bunch of hunks -- I mean firefighters you’ve ever met.  It didn’t hurt that they didn’t pay a lick of attention to me (ok, I might have caught one or two of the single ones looking once or twice), but were absolutely focused on the little munchkins.  These guys put their hearts into teaching our little ones how to Stop, Drop, and Roll and not to think of the firefighters as monsters when they’re all dressed up in their gear.  (They told us that sometimes after a fire is over they find little ones in closets or under beds hiding!!!)

We split the kids up into older kids and younger kids, and let the big kids think they were getting something more.  I stayed with the younger group and got to see where the firefighters sleep and eat, and of course the fire truck. (I must say, my heart beat just a lil’ bit faster when one of the firefighters gallantly helped me off the truck.)  At one point I stooped down and asked Owen through his toy mask if he was having fun.  He was so serious up to that point, but when I asked him about the fire truck, he broke into a big smile and said, “This is MY fire truck.”  I think he was having one serious imagination trip in his head!!!  I asked him if he drove it, and that snapped him out of it and he told me that he could (and would) when he was “big.”  Mmmm … little boys are the MOST delicious of all!

If you’re wondering, yes, Matt knows about my crush.  He knows I’m a sucker for a man in uniform, and it was only compounded by how ADORABLE they were with the kids.  They’re my heroes too, for Heaven’s sake … what girl doesn’t swoon when she’s around these guys?  Hey … it just occurred to me.  I could start some more fires!!

 

I’m going out to night.  La la.  I’m going out tonight.  La la.


It’s been a stressful week and I could sure use the levity of a night out downtown with friends.

I think this moving thing might be starting to get to me.  Either that or PMS is reeeeealllly sticking around this time.  Gotta find a way to chillax.

Some ideas, please.  Here are some things I’ve come up with:

 1. Get a sitter and go out for some laughs: Check.

2. Girls’ Night Out : Got one in the works for next week.

3. Meditation: I have been blessed with the desire to really be alone with God lately, and yet I, ashamedly, have not found the time for it much lately.  Going to really work on that one today.

4. Frequent prayer throughout the day: I have been forgetting to pray for what I need ALL day.

5. Hot chocolate (with mint):  I’ll try anything.

6. Blow off school:  We did that yesterday.  So we’re doing some today instead.  Usually Fridays are our days off.

7. Clean my house: I’m learning that a messy/dirty house can affect my mood.  Sometimes even the act of cleaning it lifts my spirits, as in the actual work.  What is wrong with me???
 
You guys have any other suggestions?

 
Oh yeah, and I forgot.  

 
8.  STOP LOOKING AT THE FINANCIAL NEWS.



 

Well, just in case you’re wondering … no we still don’t have a place to live on November 1st.  We have looked at everything that seems worth seeing, and many, many that didn’t but we gave them a chance anyway.  Nothing makes me jump up and down, and don’t you think a girl should be jumping up and down at this point in her life?

 

That last one just wasn’t going to provide the kind of privacy I’m looking for.  I can’t do aquarium living (that’s what I call subdivision-style living), and even though this one wasn’t IN a subdivision, it was surrounded by them and the back yards abutted the property with very little foliage.

 

So I’ve stopped looking, and have started concentrating on “temporary housing”.  My big fear right now is that Dieter (that’s the name of the guy buying our house … try not to snort) will be unable to secure a loan in these turbulent times.  Perhaps that's why I haven't started packing.  Maybe the fear is unfounded; I’ve heard nothing that would indicate that he will have problems, except that the world is coming to an end. 

 

Speaking of ... How about that stock market, eh?  That's for people with iron stomachs ... we're counting ourselves as one of them.  Gulp! 





 

They have adapted to their new habitat quite nicely, and though I've managed to figure out their special diets quite easily, I am ASTOUNDED by how much they can consume in one day.  One little Monkey was too shy to get in the picture, so he stayed in his cage.

Since then he's become a little more familiar with his surroundings, and has been making trouble all over the place!



 

Please tell me ... If you had a firefighter walking around your house looking like this, wouldn't you be starting fires all over the place just to keep him around?