MY HEARTS' HAVEN DAYBOOK 2008

Hmmm.......I posted this yesterday..........apparently it did not post...........so, here we go.....

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My Hearts' Haven Daybook, August 24, 2008


............Sunday afternoon:

Outside My Window.....warm, high 80*s.......mild breeze through my apple trees

I am thinking...........omigoodness!..........I just fell asleep on the couch.........for almost THREE hours! I guess I must have need a nap. No wonder the kids are starting dinner. They must have been afraid they would not get any if they did not take the initiative. :)

Marty and the kids have kept me up too late the last two nights..........and my body never sleeps in. This morning, the moment I had awakened.........I got asked to come in to work today, for a few hours. I needed rest. I was even wearing half my scrubs still......and I fell asleep on the couch, in the middle of the noise........and it had no effect on me. :)

The perk for working today was I got to hold a homeschooling friend's new baby.....and baby-sit the sweet babe while her mother showered and walked.

I am thankful for........my friend Anne.......she knows why.........see this post, please.

From the kitchen.......I am making pork chops, the kids are steaming green beans and carrots from our garden and preparing some mashed potatoes. Funny thing is, after this decision, Matthew found the same meal on the cover of the Everyday Food Magazine. So, we are trying the new recipe for the pork. The pork chops are broiled for about six minutes and then painted with a dijon mustard/brown sugar mixture........and broiled some more. Sounds yummy.

Update on our meal: Delicious. Simple, but ohsoyummy. Anne made very yummy vegan mashed potatoes.....and we meat-eaters topped them with butter. :) Great seasonings. She has a knack.

I am wearing........oh, sheesh........my camping clothes again.........I like to wear them on weekends.....because where I live IS camping, even if we have all of the amenities in the house. Oh, and because I have hardly any clothes to wear due to inability to find at stores or thrift shops what I need........I save the "good stuff" for when I have to leave the house during the day. Like Mondays............

I am creating........hmmm........dinner? How about a clean garage for my husband? He LOVES a clean garage.

I am going.......to make a big shopping list for my husband, who needs to drive down to the city south of us for a business reason on Monday. We REALLY need a toaster. :) Ours died completely (it had been sorta workin') three weeks ago.........and we totally forgot to replace it on the way home from camping last week.

I am reading.........The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis, just finished Random Harvest by James Hilton........the latest Via magazine from AAA..........cool to see how many of the "must-see animals" I have been able to see in my life time! The once-a-week local newspaper. Just started the Advanced Life Support Provider manual.............as I and my colleagues are being forced to take this class in September. ugh. Please pray I understand! I mean, WE understand.............we all feel kind of lost. :(

For Malachy's first chapter books, I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia aloud at some bedtimes, to him and Garrett. We started last fall. Only two more to go after the Horse and His Boy.

I am hoping.......I can somehow get all of this year's homeschool stuff figured out and to have a VERY REAL productive year, academically. I am also hoping for one of my kids to take the final leap to great reading fluency and for the youngest to just start reading WELL. In this family of consistently late, and sometimes, very delayed readers, I am hoping ONE, will not be like that. I think Malachy is my man. :)

I am hearing......Gollum. My 11 yo boy took a chunk of his flesh out last evening, just above the knee......and just after the medical clinic closed. I talked to one of my doctor friends and we decided to take care of it at home. He cannot walk very well and is resting and watching The Two Towers. (Update: my salve is AMAZING! He is healing so very well! Now, if he can just start walking without pain again...............he has his first soccer practice Tuesday)

Around the house.......so much to do. Especially to get the homeschooling really off the ground this week. I saved these two days to get things done.....only to be needed by my husband for an unexpected chore on Saturday........and Sunday by work. Oh, well.......my vocation: in the service of others. :) I will keep trying.

One of my favorite things.........is watching my kids on stage. They just amaze me. I could NOT do what they do.......except in the privacy of my own home. :)

Saturday night, Matthew recited poetry for the local Arts Council yearly gala. They were the sponsors of his Poetry Out Loud contest that he won county-wide, back in March. He was wonderful.......especially since he had been originally told he needed to recite only one poem. And as the other poet did not show, he was requested to recite another.......and he did, totally unprepared, and a poem he has never recited publically. As it is a comedic poem, it went over well. The title of the poem is THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS by LEIGH HUNT I will try to post the poem in a day or two.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Start teaching my three week childbirth class on Tuesday.......scrapbook on Monday with Louise.......the kids need to prepare for auditions for a play at our local charter school.....my oldest is the assistant director and choreographer.........soccer must be starting any moment for the little boys (just got an email from Garrett's coach......he starts Tuesday.....of course while I am at childbirth class............and hopefully he can walk/run and has not broken anything! Oh, and a phone call from Malachy's coach......he also starts Tuesday.......guess who will be driving! Not me!) ...........I asked if there is a special stamp that goes on our paperwork every time that says: call these folks after practice has started. Sometimes it feels that way...........we always see other baseball or soccer teams starting up before we even get a phone call. Malachy's first game is September 6th.......not much time for practicing! I am back-up nurse on Thursday......on Friday...........who knows........and I am hoping for a free Saturday......this time! No college classes next Monday......yay! But we still have piano.

Special prayer requests on my mind this week: For one of my friends who had a relative help them buy a house, only to be told they only have one year to find a new place to live......for Gloria, Jennifer and Maria, expectant. Also for my other sister who has severe respiratory issues...........and my mom, whose birthday was this last Monday. For a friend's young son just put into a special treatment center, to help him "save his life"

Oh, no.......this just in! Please pray for a local friend and her family. I just found out (though my source is only 8 years old) that her oldest boy (17 or 18), a frequent teammate of Matthew's through the years, has broken his neck in a football game this last weekend. I am SO sad for this family. I have known her for about 17 years, and they have had to endure so much tragedy in their family. PLEASE pray for complete healing.......the only details I have thus far are not real good.

Brief update: I heard through the grapevine last night (Monday) that he had surgery and the surgey went well. I also heard there was no severing of the spinal cord. All hearsay, though.....

I am currently scrapbooking.........got the opening page and the next two pages done on my second "Our Story......continues....." scrapbook.......last week at Louise's house....looking to do more Monday night! Update: got four pages done last night......and four ready to go.

Here is picture thought I am sharing........from our one row of flowers in the garden. This is after the flowers closed after the sun when down. Thus, we must have here a heliotropic flower. I was so excited to see a new flower yesterday!

Simply lovely.

Love and prayers,

chari