November 30, 2013

I overslept this morning, due to our late gig last night. We got home at 2 AM. So I had to skip my walk. I ate my oatmeal and went to Kim's to help her get a new project ready to weave.  That took two hours. 

When I got home, close to 1 o'clock, Charlie was still sleeping. Nina's band was at their gig. I folded laundry, had Garrett package a keyboard case so it was ready to ship, and made bread.  I taught Tommy how to roll out the dough. 

I practiced fiddle with Charlie. I hoped to give Garrett a piano lesson but there wasn't enough time. I'll try again tomorrow.

We left at 4:30 for tonight's gig at Schooner Wharf. I finished the embroidery on dress #4 and hand pieced the top and lining together. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the skirt attached. I also want to made a Christmas tree skirt that's all ruffles.

Tommy and I left the gig at 10. Rob showed up just as we were getting in the van. I was so tired though, so we didn't stay. Tommy hurt his hand playing frisbee and was sitting in the van crying. I listened to the book, "The China Study," while driving home. It's the third time. 

I got home and went straight to bed.

November 29, 2013

Slept in today and still went for m walk. Then went to Winn Dixie for berries and vegetables. 

Took it easy today. After I put the groceries away I ground wheat berries so I can make bread tomorrow. I made chickpeas and dumplings for a late lunch.

We left at 4:15 for our gig at Schooner. Nina, Ariel, and I walked to Duetto's for affagato. The show was fun. Toko sang with Nina. The crowd loves that. i got to hang out with Zona and Billy. Then the hour ride home at 2 AM.

November 28, 2013

Went for my walk. It was 58 degrees! That's cold here!  I made pancake batter and Ed cooked the pancakes for everyone. Kurt had 3 friends sleep over last night I kind of took the day off. Nina did dishes without me asking her to. :0)

Kurt's friend's mom came to pick them up and stayed and visited a while. She is teaching Tom some yoga stretching to help him with his back and neck.

Kurt decided to set up the tree. He and Ariel put on all the ornaments. We also found a little lizard in the tree. He's still there, somewhere.

At 4:30 we tried to leave. Kids were late. Two kids were fighting over a pair of pants.  :0(

We made it to the gig. Zona was there. We hadn't seen her in a long time. She was our waitress.

Nina's band played tonight. The night went slow for me. I embroidered and then for the last hour I held sleeping Ariel so she wouldn't fall over and get hurt. We left for home at 11:35 PM, and had to pick up Kurt. 

I can't wait to get home and go to bed!

November 27, 2013

Busy day today. I went for my walk. I had Garrett peel many sweet potatoes and put them on the stove, ready to cook later. Then Tom dropped me off at Kim's studio and I worked with her for 2 hours. Tom went over to Kim's house, where he is working on the other duplex, getting it ready for TJ and Angelica to move in. Then Tom and I went home. 

I made the candied sweet potatoes (my favorite) and when they were ready, about 5 o'clock, I took them and the little boys to church. Our church had a "Night of Thanks," in which they feed 500-600 people in an hour. Then there was a concert by some of our worship teams, with our kids and Doug playing the last four songs. Kim needed me to watch Stevie and I thought I might miss the kids playing, but he settled down and went to sleep just in time. Then they served dessert.

I dropped Kim and Stevie off at her house, then Charlie and I went home. I spent the rest of the night relaxed in my queen's chair in my room, embroidering and listening to a book. I had to put two blankets on the bed. The temperature was dropping. 

It was a great day! :0)

November 26, 2013

I woke up to my alarm at 7. Went walking at 8. To Kim's at 9 and finished threading the reed. Winn Dixie at 10:30. Then home. 

I made a huge batch of candied sweet potatoes and a salad. Packed everyone up (18 of us) and drove to Duck Key to our friend's house for our Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great, relaxed time. The younger kids went swimming.

Home again at 6:30. The boys went to play roller hockey at the park. I cleaned the trashed kitchen that I left earlier. I also redid the leftovers from earlier and got them ready for the oven. I cut up a watermelon.  I ordered 4 pizzas, since Tuesday is pizza night. I didn't want anyone to be disappointed. Next week we are going to start alternating weeks with spaghetti. 

I picked up the pizzas and laid out the plates. We ate. The kids couldn't get the hockey game up on the screen so they went outside to play frisbee, at 11 o'clock at night. I was the first one to bed.

November 25, 2013

Hmm... I can't remember this morning :0)

I went walking. It was very windy. I bumped the running part of my walk up 30 seconds. I did it!

I let everyone sleep an extra hour, till 11. The kids did some chores and started school. I went to Kim's house for an hour, then back home. I made mushroom burgers, a double batch for lunch/supper. The kids will eat at Sloppy's but Tom and I won't. We try to eat healthier. I put the burgers on my salad, with BBQ sauce and horseradish mustard.

I also did laundry and folded three loads.

We brought a friend with us to Sloppy's. School is out this week in the Keys. 

Sloppy's was packed, because it was raining, and because of the awesome band. :0) I took the younger kids to Duetto's during a break. We walked in the rain. My feet are still wet, 4 hours later. Ariel fell asleep during the show. I made her a bed on Nina's keyboard case.

We drove home with 4 more friends added into the van. I have a feeling it's going to be a noisy night.

November 24, 2013

Church. Planted some lettuce seeds in pots on the porch. Practiced piano. Embroidered. Sewed 3 tucks in the bottom of the baby dress skirt. 

Towards evening, the boys went to hockey, some in Key West and some on Big Pine.  Went to Winn Dixie and bought watermelon, pears, and broccoli. Cut up the watermelon and baked the pears. Did most of the dishes. Embroidered some more while the boys watched hockey. 

Went to bed. 

:0)

November 23, 2013

I went for my walk this morning. I have tomorrow off. Yay! Two very friendly dogs greeted me on my way to the park. They escaped from someone's house or yard. No collars. One was a Dalmatian and the other little dog.

I did some bookkeeping. 

Nina's band played at Sunset Pier this afternoon. The rest of us went to a memorial service at church. Next, I went to Kim's and threaded the reed for an hour. The band headed to Hogfish with the little boys, and Kim and I met them there. It was Kim's first gig since she went on maternity leave. I watched Stevie there while she played and sang the first set.  I was going to go home when she left, but Tommy and Aaron wanted to go home, and there wasn't enough room for them and the little boys and me in Kim's car. Plus Rob was there and I didn't want to take off if he was going to stay for a while. So Kim left with Tommy and Aaron. I stayed till the last set and then headed for home with Charlie, Ian, and Ariel.

I did a little more bookkeeping and then had the boys start getting ready for bed. Tommy was being a pain, arguing with Garrett, so I had him go to my room and fold a basket of laundry. We put it away and then I read "Sweet Betsy from Pike" to Charlie and Ian. It's one of my favorites. It was almost midnight.

November 22, 2013

On my walk this morning I saw this amazing rainbow. It's the brightest one I've ever seen. 

TJ and Angelica are moving back to the Keys. We are so excited, but they were trying to find a place to rent and line up work. I did not want to force things, or take things into my own hands, so I was praying that God would make it happen. I was also praying that I would not get discouraged if it took longer than I wanted. On Thursday, everything came together. Unbelievably better than I could have hoped. This morning's rainbow meant a lot to me.

After I showered, I let Kurt drive and we went to Winn Dixie for milk and lettuce. Then stopped at Walgreens and the post office. Some of the kids went to a gig at Blue Heaven. 

Breakfast and chores. School. Charlie got picked up for his fiddle lesson. He's doing great! I went to Kim's and wove for 2 1/2 hours. Charlie was dropped off there. Then I took him to movie night at church and dropped him off.

It started pouring and I went to the 2nd gig, at Bistro 31. It was fun. I even ran the sound for a few songs. I left halfway through and went home to clean up the kitchen. I had Tommy fold a basket of laundry. I did some tatting and then the band came home. Then I had to crack the whip to make them all go to bed.

November 21, 2013

I slept in an hour and then went for my walk. I didn't really like my two minutes of running yesterday and today, but I did it. My toe hurt yesterday and last night but this morning it was finally better.

Everyone was slow again but we finally made it through chores and started school. At 5 PM I left with Ed, Nina, and Ben to go to their gig at Blue Heaven. 

I made some new friends, ate my favorite dinner, and had a great night. I was going to go back with them in the morning for breakfast, but I ate so much I decided to stay home and do school.

November 20, 2013

I took a different route on my walk this morning. There are several dead end streets near us that end at the ocean so I walked down one of them and then went to the park. It is so peaceful by the water.

Kim needed help at the studio. I normally go at 3 on Wednesday's, but today she needed me early. I put Ben in charge. I told him to wake up the boys, make them eat breakfast, and start school. I went to Kim's. 

I got back at 1. Chores weren't done. Tommy was playing video games, and Garrett was watching a movie. That made me grumpy, and I had a hard time losing the grumpies all afternoon. 

It was a late start, but I made them do chores and we did math and history. Then Tommy and Charlie rode their bikes to the park for art class. 

I made Buffalo cauliflower and a salad and Ed, Nina, Joe, and I ate. Then we went to church. 

When we got home I made baked pears. I was getting into bed when I heard something familiar. Ed and Nina were watching "For Richer or Poorer," an old favorite of mine. So much for getting to bed early.

November 19, 2013

When I got back from my walk I made a 5 times batch of pancakes. Just my sneaky way to get them out of bed--food. The kids picked chores and things were looking good. 

We started school and I paid some bills. Before I knew it, it was time to go to gym class. But first, I had to go over to the church and switch the GMC van for my favorite vehicle to drive, the 15 passenger.

Today we took 3 extra kids, Aaron, Jaden, and Nevaeh. Tom texted me with an invitation to go on a sunset cruise on Randy and Micky's boat. When I got home and was making lunch, my Tai Chi teacher called and cancelled today's class. I put Nina in charge and met Tom on Little Torch where we got on the boat.

It was a great night. The water was calm. We saw some dolphins playing in the water.  We ate some food and watched the sun set. Then we visited for a while. We saw some cool glow-in-the-dark things in the water. There were a lot of them. It was like fireflies in the water.  There were also tons of stars out tonight.

On my way home I stopped at Winn Dixie and bought two watermelons, bananas, and grapes. When I got home I ordered 8 pizzas. I cut up both watermelons and made a salad.

By then the pizzas were ready and I went to get them. When I pulled in back at home, the troops were getting back from hockey. We ate and I did the dishes. The boys watched hockey and I went to bed.

November 17, 2013

I had a good, relaxing day. We went to church, and I came home and embroidered. Nina's band had a gig in Key West.

The church gave us a lot of food so I didn't have to make supper. The big kids went to play hockey in Key West, and the younger ones played in Big Pine. I made chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread because Rob asked for them. I cleaned up the kitchen and went to bed.

November 16, 2013

I went for my walk. This past week I ran for 1 min and 30 seconds each day. I will take Sunday off and on Monday I will bump it up to 2 minutes. I have never been a runner and hated running, but now I almost look forward to it. I think because the time is slowly moving up and I can see success in these small increases. 

After I ate I went to Kim's to weave. The band went to their first gig. I wove for 2 hours and then went home for lunch. I planned the menu for this coming week, made my grocery list, and went to Winn Dixie.

When I got home I was happy to see Garrett and Tommy; they carried the groceries up the stairs for me. I put the food away, cleaned off two shelves in the fridge, and ground 4 cups of wheat berries. I also made coconut  milk yogurt, which I haven't done for at least two months. I then made mushroom burgers. I've been wanting to try it. They were made out of whole wheat bread, mushrooms, navy beans, and spices. I thought they were yummy. I will make them again. 

The band stopped at home on their way to their second gig, at Salty's, in Marathon. I had the burgers in the oven, so I couldn't leave with the band. Charlie stayed with me till the burgers were done. Then we walked over to church, where Tom had left the car. I'm not sure why he left it there, but that's where it was. We drove to the gig. We brought Ed a burger because he didn't want to eat pizza. I wish I didn't want to eat pizza. I did eat only one slice, and only a few bites of Charlie's piece. 

Some of the home schoolers from our group came to the show, so the younger boys had friends to run around with, and I got to hang with the moms. Garrett went to a musical at the high school with a friend.

When the gig was done, I drove home with Garrett, Tommy, and Charlie. The boys took too long getting ready for bed. I had Tommy soak his feet in Epsom salts. I think he has ingrown toenails on both feet. I've been holding off but I think I'm going to have to take him to the doctor. I don't know what else to do to get rid of them. Tommy accidentally spilled the water all over the bathroom floor. He cleaned it up himself and was crying when I came back to my room. I had been folding a basket of laundry.

Today was humid. I'm laying here sweating. I need to move my fan so it blows on me all night long. All the big boys are watching a hockey game. (It's 1 AM).

November 15, 2013

Friday

Slept in till 8 this morning! Woo hoo! Walked. Made polenta out of purple corn meal for breakfast. We all agreed we like the yellow cornmeal better. The kids picked chores and we started school.

Charlie got picked up for his fiddle lesson and I took Joe to the doctor in Big Pine for blood work. When we got home, Tom and I got ready to take Tommy to Marathon for a spelling bee. He was on a team with two other homeschoolers. Garrett went with us too.

The original plan was to go on a date to the spelling bee, but then Kurt wanted me to help him with a surprise party. Kurt, however, never came home to help, and I never made it back home to made a cake.

We dropped Tommy and Garrett off early so the team could study and then we went on errands. We went to Walgreens, the gas station, and Taco Bell. Not my idea of a date. That's usually how our dates go. :0( This was our third Friday off in a row, and our first date in forever, and it was off to a bad start. By then it was going on 6:00 so we decided to go to the spelling bee and watch Tommy, and Kurt would have to fend for himself. Then we found out the spelling bee didn't start till 7, so we decided to go for ice cream while we waited for it to start.

We found a bakery/ice cream cafe close by. My friend Dahlia happened to text me and then call and she and her daughter met us at the ice cream place. We visited for a bit and then we all went to the spelling bee.

I thought it would be kind of stiff, and maybe boring, but it wasn't at all. Everyone was in good spirits. Some teams were in costume. The MC was fun, joking, and friendly. It was really fun. Tommy's team was the only kid team. All the others were adults. There were 13 teams and the homeschoolers came in 5th! They were awesome! Some of the words were so crazy. (They stayed in it even longer than a team of three teachers!) The spelling bee was a benefit for Habitat for Humanity.

When we got home, Kurt's friends were over, Their mom too. We sang happy birthday and the kids went to the studio about 11. I did dishes while we visited with their mom, and then she taught Tom some yoga stretching exercises. She teaches yoga. She can bend over and touch her forehead to the floor!

I got ready for bed and had to text Ben to bring Charlie and Joe home. It was going on 1 AM. They came home. Charlie snuggled with me, and then we went to bed.

November 14, 2013

Thursday

Walked. Made a triple batch of apple muffins for breakfast. Woke everyone up at 10. We got chores done, but I wish they would move a little faster, and without me prodding them.

School was going well, until the government schools got out early for a half day. Four, and then five extra kids came over around noon, and they just couldn't keep quiet. 

I had Garrett take two mattresses out to the road, and a dresser. They will get picked up tomorrow. Always happy to get rid of junk.

We left for Schooner Wharf at 4. I wore my new cowboy boots, since the temp was to be in the low 70s and 20 mph winds. Our waiter was great. I spent 2 hours doing embroidery. After  Tommy and Charlie sang, I took them home. The ride seemed extra long. It was over an hour.

It was late and I was tired, but I had to have a talk with one of the teens at our house. I really did not want to deal with it, but I had to. So I made it short and to the point. It went better than I thought it would.

November 13, 2013

Wednesday 

Walked and made chocolate zucchini muffins for breakfast. They were very good. I had the boys do a little school but this week seems to have us doing the clean up that I wanted to do last week.

I pulled out a box from the cupboard that was here when we moved in. I thought someone might come looking for it, but we have been in this house for two years now, and no one ever came. It was filled with china teacups and saucers, so Charlie had a tea party. 

At 2:30 we headed to a home school birthday party. The kids had a blast and we adults had fun too. It was super windy and low 70s and at the end of the night, a few of the kids went swimming. It was fun to go to a party with almost the whole family. Garrett had to stay home because he had to work at church, but we had 6 of our kids and 2 Newtons.

November 12, 2013

Went for my walk and watered my plants. I made apple turnovers for breakfast and some of the kids did their chores.

We left an hour early for gym class so I could go to Home Depot first. I'm going to try planting lettuce and spinach in window boxes on the porch. 

When we got home I ate lunch, then hurried to Tai Chi. I was the only student who showed up. Private lesson for me. :0)

Home again. Made pizza dough and then went to Winn Dixie. Back home the boys were getting ready for hockey. I carried 8 grocery bags up the stairs in one trip, including a watermelon. I made the pizza, made a Greek salad, and cut up the watermelon. I ordered 6 pizzas and then picked them up. 

I was ready for them when they came back. Ben got hit with a hockey stick over his left eye. So great foul for JC and his mom, who put Ben back together again. I wish I was nurse-like when it comes to bad boo boos, but I'm not. 

We ate, the boys watched hockey, and by 10:00 I was getting ready for bed. I read a Curious George book to Charlie and then went to bed. I think I'm always the first one to bed.

November 11, 2013

I went for my walk. Three of Kurt's friends spent the night, since they had the day off school today. That gave the kids a late start. The girls made us muffins for breakfast. Yum! We finally got to chores at noon and started school at 12:30. At 2:30 I packed Tom's and my lunch and at 3 we were out the door. It's a good thing we left early today, because we were just about to Duval, when traffic was stopped. Parade! We were lucky for a lull in the paraders, and a policeman let us cross. Then we had to cross back on another street to get to work. Another lull and a kind policeman let us cross. 

There were a lot of people at the show, and a group of about 50 bagpipe players came into Sloppy's and played a few songs. That was pretty cool.

We met a couple getting married tomorrow. They said we made their night. They bought a T-shirt and I gave them a "Live in Key West" cd. I also met a group of women from Springville, NY, our hometown. :0) We met some great people tonight. 

Thank you to everyone who came. Make sure you come over to the cd table and say hi next time you are in town.

Oh, my new cowboy boots came today. I will need them when it gets too cold to wear my sandals. I love them!! What do you think?

November 10, 2013

I woke up at 5:50 am and went walking at 7:30. The kids were leading worship this morning so we all went to the 9:30 service. After church, I started the embroidery on the next baby dress. Tom worked downstairs, taking apart bunk beds and taking down shelves, in order to paint.

I went to Winn Dixie for supper fixins and then made supper. I made spinach spaghetti noodles with broccoli in the sauce and we had ice cream, which I don't normally buy.

Tom and I hung out with Rob in the kitchen till he went home. I had Aaron, Garrett, and Tommy take care of the dishes.

November 9, 2013

I slept till 8. Yay!! But that left me no time for walking. I did walk to church though, to help roll plasticware in napkins for the Night of Thanks at our church. Then I walked home.

I was thinking about just Tommy and me going to the beach, but we didn't go. I went to Winn Dixie and bought subs and corn chips for lunch. Before I left I had asked Garrett to bring in the garbage cans and cut down some super tall grass that grows around one palm tree in the yard. When I got back, he hadn't done it, so I told him he couldn't have any food until it was done.

At 3, I went to Kim's. One loom is at a standstill. She ran out of yarn and we are waiting for it to come in the mail, hopefully Monday. She wove on the other loom. The pattern is too complicated for me. I started winding a new warp for the next wrap. Then there just wasn't much for me to do so I came home. 

I finished taking out dishes and bedding from downstairs from when the Goldwing crew stayed there. I brought it all upstairs but there's no place to put it. I piled the pillows in my closet, but it was already too full. I'm going to have to get rid of some stuff. Bobby's clothes are in a huge duffle bag on my closet floor. I want to get them out but don't know where to put them. Tom rented out TJ's apartment, and the girl is going to paint tomorrow. I was hoping we could spread out down there, but Tom wants the extra money.

Right now I am angry, that houses here are so small and so expensive. And no yard. I am so tired of moving and starting over. I don't want to move. Even when I consider it, I have to ask myself where we would work. And I don't want to leave our church. So here is the best place for us. I just wish we had more room (and a pool). 

We ended up with a different teenage girl here yesterday. She rode her bike here. Apparently she stayed a little longer than intended, and didn't want to ride her bike 5 miles home in the dark. It's an easy ride, everything is flat, but it's dangerous at night here for bikes on the road. So I gave her a ride home. A very nice girl, friendly, talkative. She, Mason,  just moved here in June from Vermont. They had never even been here before but her mom was sick of being cold. 

The kids texted me from their gig, just two blocks from our house, that Ariel was bored, so Tommy and I picked her up after dropping the Mason off. I brought her and Tommy home. Garrett was back from working at church and Aaron and Naomi were home. Then I walked to the gig. I stayed for about 2 hours. The waitress never came over so I never ordered any food. I left and walked home. I sat out on the porch and ate corn chips while listening to the book, "The Help," for the third time on my phone.

After a while, I came in and went to bed.

November 8, 2013

I had an early start again today. I was back from my walk and showered by 9 am. Last week I started running for 30 seconds during my walk. This week I bumped it up to 1 minute. I've always disliked running. Next week I'll add 30 more seconds. 

 I made pancakes for everyone and the kids picked chores. Then we started school. Garrett and Tommy did a good job today but Charlie whined and complained. It makes it not fun and makes me wish someone else was teaching them and I could spend the time doing other things I want to do.

I packed for Charlie to go on a 3 day trip with Mel and her family. Bobby went too. They are going to a water park and ice skating I think. Anyways, Charlie watched a scary movie at Mel's house last night, and today he was scared of the vents in the house, which are in the ceiling. As we were getting his clothes from my closet, he looked up and started freaking out and ran from the closet. I thought he was just being dumb from the movie again, but I looked up and there was a cockroach on the ceiling of the closet. I will never get used to cockroaches. :0(

After Charlie was all packed, I hugged him goodbye and I went to Kim's. We got another wrap on the loom and she started weaving. I went home, hoping Tom and I could do something together. I texted him earlier and he never answered. Today was a rare Friday off. Charlie was gone. Garrett and Tommy were at church. The big kids were in Key West. Tom wasn't home, and I was home alone. Not what I had in mind. I should have stayed at Kim's.

I laid down for a while but couldn't sleep. I finally got up and cleaned off the kitchen table and the island in the kitchen. I did not want to spend this little bit of free time cleaning, but I didn't have anything else to do. I was just grumpy.

I finally did some knitting, folded a load of wash and put it away. Then I went to bed. Not the night I hoped for at all.