August to December...where do the months go?

I need to make a full confession:  we have not done much at all in the last six months. 

Okay, I lie.  We've done a lot of hiking and leaf-watching as the seasons changed.  We spent an inordinate amount of time out-of-doors just enjoying the weather and each other's company.  We have spent long lazy hours just reading and playing computer games and discussing music and life.  We've contemplated the snuggle to happiness ratio of petting small rabbits (and big Hueys).  There have been days when we didn't bother getting out of our pajamas, 'cause we would have gotten right back into them within hours.  There were days when we only got out of our pajamas to go to VoTech or work or an appointment of some sort...and then came home to return to our previous pajama-clad state. 

In order to precipitate this state of things, I worked mornings again for Sept-Dec.  By the time I came home, I wanted nothing more than to nap and veg.  Very little actual bookwork got done--with the exception of what I left the Manlings to be done in the mornings.  I didn't check most of it.  We didn't even really have Family Reading Time or Devotions.  I did make the added effort to finish "Pilgrim's Progress" (which the Manlings all loved) by the beginning of December.  It was started in August. 

After berating myself endlessly for several weeks about things we hadn't done, I stopped.  Why?

Because I have a camera full of pictures of my sons outside, hiking in the most beautiful fall foliage, and (better still) a heart full of memories of the talks we had during those long tramps.  DH was usually sleeping for work, and we would head out when I came home from work.  Squirrels were chased up trees, deer were spooked (accidentally) from thickets as the two younger Manlings stalked each other through the brush, and we tried to be amateur ornithologists while attempting to identify birdcalls.  I practiced using the different settings in the new digital camera as we looked at flowers and dying weeds and spotted trapped logs on dam-breasts and eyed Scotch pines at Middle Creek.  

So why didn't we rush right back into schoolwork when the long lazy days of fall had ended?

I suspect we really needed a break.  It's been a hectic year, with planning the Eagle Scout project and camp and new leadership at Scouts and just all of the general chaos of the year.  Scott is now an Eagle, and I've still got the ceremony to plan.  Luke crosses over to Boy Scouts in eight weeks, and I need to get that finalized this week.  We even got burned out on reading our Bibles 'cause we did SO MUCH of it this spring. 

So we stopped. 

And it was good.  I plan to spend this week finishing up some odds and ends for the New Year, and we go back to a real schedule the first week of January.  I will be nights again, which works better and is easier on my peace of mind.  I am actually looking forward to schoolwork with the boys again.  And they are BORED with TV and the video games...which is perhaps the best part of all.  

I am looking forward to just being with the boys and not worrying about all the headaches at work.  My focus was getting far too split, and that needs to stop.  I guess this is what some SAHM moms mean when they say, even though it's tempting to get a PT job, they would rather concentrate on their Real Job.  Heaven knows, I understand that.  I've spent far too much time the last six months worrying about what is happening at work.  I'm done doing that.  We're going to finish taking care of our debt, and then I hope to quit.  OR at the very least cut back some until the boys are all grown.  

I also got updated internets now.  We are getting high speed wireless on Monday, so online time will be more productive.  Less time spent waiting for pages to load...more time using what I found.  I like this! 

Time To Get it Together

After a year of working at work AND at home, I'm beat.

We've gotten to the point at work where I'm about as caught up as we're ever gonna be.  Consequently I am now looking forward to having some Real Time to start cleaning up and re-organizing my home.  I've gotten very tired of "knowing" I have something and not being able to find it.  And let me tell you...after almost four years of just trying to keep up, I can't find much of anything!! 

The last couple of weeks of canning/freezing have also been spent taking inventory of what's downstairs in the storage room.  At this point, I can say with some conviction that we will simply NEVER run out of corn...and I'm completely out of Pumpkin Bread.  (Although I made batches and batches of the stuff 3 weeks ago!)  LOL

So some of the items we still need to prepare for the rest of the upcoming winter season are:

• pumpkin bread, pie, muffins, and cheesecake
• tomatoes/zucchini canned together (using up the last of the zucchini and the stray tomatoes)
• homemade ketchsup
• canned ham/broth
• canned turkey/broth
• canned Huey-Rabbit if my DH has anything to say about it!  *EEK*

I'm too exhausted at the moment to go into all the other stuff I need to worry about...but I am going to spend most of this weekend getting my "attack list" together.  Then we'll start Deep Cleaning the house.  First up?  My closet.  Ack.

I also need to get some more quality online time too.  I've got tons of stuff I want to get printed off and organize in my Emergency Prep Binder.