Tomorrow being the big day of "going back" to school/Seminary/lessons, meant that today was a get-er done kind of day! Shopping, laundry, and the like.
On top of that, I had to drive in the evening to Frederick, a town 30-40 minutes southeast of Altus. Dusten is my home-study Seminary student and he wasn't at church Sunday for me to give him his supplies and get him started, so I did today. I am so grateful for my GPS! Otherwise, all roads look the same - fields of corn, wheat, cotton or sorghum (I think) or cattle. Also, driving through (because here some highways intersect small towns) unknown little towns on the way. I get so lost without help!
I arrived at Dusten's grandmother's home where our lesson was to take place. Sadly, I think if I have to go again we'll have to find another venue. Why? 2 dogs, 1 cat. I have enough allergies to deal with.
We're supposed to meet every Sunday after church in the Seminary room to have our weekly discussions. He's not super excited about doing Seminary. He's starting high school and is nervous about the workload, but I told him that my other students faced that their freshman years too. I reminded him that he had an advantage - he could study any time of day he wants! My other students come at 6:30 in the morning!
Also, he has vision issues and ADHD, so he doesn't focus well. But we're going to give it a try. His mom and grandmother are going to help him with the weekly lessons. He's fairly newly baptized, so it is good for him to learn the doctrine more firmly. We'll see!
Did you know you can buy hay at your local OK gas station? Yep, deer corn, too. That's what they use to lure deer to certain spots for hunting in the fall. Gotta love this place!
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
It begins again! No Jonathan, he's graduated (sad face). Megan and Aurora now have a year's experience under their belts. And we have a new student - Will, Aurora's brother. He's a round-faced helpful chap (remember, their mother is from GB) and is very excited to begin this new adventure. I hope I can keep that level of interest up.
I had to run home quickly (after dropping Megan off at school) to take Jonathan to the airport. This year he goes all day - from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. - so I had to hustle to get him there on time. This makes my punctual boy a little nervous.
After that it was home to start Analiese off on her new year of lessons. We had to go through (almost) everything because she had several new subjects or curriculum. Not only is she doing math online, now she does Spanish, science, and language arts on the computer as well. She's enjoying the language arts because they're doing poetry and having her write some of her own!
We paused around eleven to go to someone's house for a Relief Society "back-to-school" brunch for the moms. I figured they wouldn't mind Analiese, some sisters brought little ones. It was nice to just sit back and chat a bit...though sitting down all of the sudden made me sleepy!
Home again for the rest of lessons and me studying for tomorrow's Seminary. Then, pick up Jonathan, home to make dinner, etc. Jonathan went off with a group of YA to go to Lawton to play games (I guess they had a water balloon fight). Put me to bed early, I am tired!
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Day two and I haven't lost anyone yet! Ken was home to take Jonathan to school, luckily, so I didn't have to worry so much about getting home quickly from Seminary.
Here in the summer, big trucks will park in store lots and sell fruit out of the backs, especially watermelon. Well, in the Dollar Tree lot a truck is selling peaches. I love peaches! I could not resist and bought two boxes. Because I figured I'd cut them up and freeze them for later, I got a super deal on some bruised peaches - half off! They gave me a piece to try - it ran juice down my arm as I moaned over the perfect sweetness. Gosh, I love summer fruit!
So Ken & I spent the evening peeling (not so hard - dip in boiling water for about a minute, then in cold and the peels pretty much just slip off!), pitting, slicing and bagging. Oh, the aroma was heavenly. Jonathan had a piece and said that, while he wasn't usually a big fan of peaches, these were really good! They were so big, they fit in my hand like a softball! We bagged 24 cups of sliced peaches (3 bags). A little was left in the fridge for me to indulge in as I see fit. What will I use frozen peaches for? Just wait until my birthday!
Thursday, August 13, 2015
I took an onion today to Seminary. It was my object lesson. The gospel is multifaceted and deep, you have to dig into the layers to learn more. Then, I said, really it wasn't like an onion, because an onion gets smaller with each layer you get to. Instead, it was more like the TARDIS from Dr. Who - bigger on the inside! My kids are all into that stuff, so they appreciated that!
Ken took Jonathan to the airport again today. I wish he could every day, but it isn't going to work that way and eventually he'll get another job that will take that time away from him. Jonathan is just going to have to sweat it out and I will endeavor to leave as soon as I can from the church.
Jonathan went to Institute in Lawton this evening...and forgot his keys! Not only that, but he ran late, too. I was just in bed trying to get to sleep when he texted me with this lovely news. Ken was fast asleep - he was going to Walmart at 11 - so I (grumbling) hauled my carcass out of bed to wait up for him. I wonder if a night sleeping on the front steps would teach him to remember?
Friday, August 14, 2015
Last day of Seminary this week - we made it! Well, it was a short week, but still. I hope little Will has found Seminary to his liking. He certainly is helpful. He lets Megan in to the building (I keep the door locked for security purposes), erases my chalkboard for me, and takes things to the library.
I had slept poorly the night before (see Thursday) and so Ken kept an eye on Analiese and the laundry while I took a nap. Still, she insisted that I read to her, so that had to wait. Oh well, Momma's special job. We're finishing up Anne Frank's diary for history (leftover from last year) and have started reading "A Study in Scarlett." She's had the desire to read some mysteries, either Agatha Christie or "Sherlock Holmes." I had the complete Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, so we started there. We've watched the BBC's "Sherlock" with Benedict Cumberbatch (under supervision, I realize there's some "interesting" parts), so she chuckles a bit at the persona of Sherlock. The BBC people kept pretty well to the books!
Saturday, August 15, 2015
I am the unlucky soul who seems to not be able to get a full night's uninterrupted sleep. This time it was my brother, Niles, texting me from Alaska at 1:30 in the morning - my time. We're three hours apart, and I'm not sure he realized that. Mind, I was in bed at 10:30 Oklahoma time, too, so I still wouldn't have appreciated a text then! Time for a little talksie!
I went to a RS sister's house for about an hour this afternoon to learn to make homemade toothpaste. Basically, it's coconut oil (melted), baking soda, a packet of stevia (to offset the saltiness of the soda), cinnamon (anti-bacterial) and some essential oils (I used spearmint - yum!). I had to take it home and put it in the fridge to bring it to paste-y condition. It really didn't take long, but - of course - I had to stay and chat a bit. Do you think we ladies can get together and NOT talk?
The major part of my day was Seminary planning for the week and, in particular, tomorrow. With Dusten, my homestudy student, I now have six days of lessons instead of five. Right now, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by it all, but I hope to get into the swing of things and have it be a little easier and more smooth over time. The nice thing is, that the homestudy lesson is kind of a blend of the week's lessons for the regular class, so I've done a bit of the prep already. It's pretty much reviewing and thinking what will work for him and what needs a little altering.
My intention for dinner was chicken rice bowls. The chicken was cooking happily away in the crockpot with the beans, corn, salsa and spices (yum!). But the rice...rice and I have a long and troubled history. It's not that I dislike rice, I like it, but I have the hardest time in the cooking process. I know, me! The cook! Rice is my albatross, my thorn in my side. Underdone, overdone, spilled all over, you name it! Once I had a microwave that cooked it to perfection, but alas! No more. My current microwave is a behemouth that is a little too powerful for rice. Anyway, tonight's issue dealt with my electric burners on my stove. I have not adjusted well to electric burners...you can't see a flame like with gas and it's hard to adjust properly. Well, I had the rice boiling and was going to turn it down...and instead turned the burner on behind it! So, the high heat actually burned the rice down to the pan - what a mess! SIGH. We ate our chicken (still yummy) on tortillas.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
I can't be tired just going in to church, but I am. I was stupid and stayed up later last night. When will I learn?
After meetings, I was supposed to have my first class with my homestudy student. Unfortunately, the bishop has scheduled Bishop's Youth Committee meetings the 3rd Sunday of the month, and Dusten is supposed to be there. There went that! I had to wait anyway, Analiese is Beehive president, so she was in the meeting, too!
I asked my son today how the ordination of a new deacon went in Priesthood today. You should have heard the scandalized "Mama!" (imagine it dripping and scornful) "You know I go to Elders' Quorum now. I've been going for months." I tried hard not to laugh (the Mama was too much) and told him, "As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." No apologies!
No comments:
Post a Comment