Sunday Stealing

 Doing my first "Sunday Stealing" post where the questions are taken from all over the internet.  Enjoy!

1. when did you last sing to yourself

Probably this morning, but I don't typically sing out loud.

2. if you’re male, would you ever rock black nail polish? if you’re female, would you ever rock really really short hair?

I once had an accidental very short haircut - accidental in that I asked for a trim and the hair dresser gave me a pixie cut.  Granted, it was 8th grade, but that was the worst. I looked awful.  No wait, twice -- I had the same thing happen when I was 9 months pregnant and I think it made me so mad I went into labor that night, LOL.  So NO NO NO, no short hair cuts for me.

3. what is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

Raising my five children.  If it has to be something I "accomplished" then I'd say homeschooling my dyslexic/adhd daughter and helping her get into college where she was very successful.   

4. what is the first happy memory that comes to mind, recent or otherwise?

 Laughing with the family over dinner some time during this school break.

5. if you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living?

    I would make more of an effort to travel.  But it is too hard for me now, and not good for me to push myself so much -- I would only do it if my ultimate health wouldn't matter. 

6. do you have a bucket list? if so, what are the top three things?   

I don't really have a bucket list but some day I would like to spend the winter at the beach.

7. how do you feel about tattoos and piercings? 

I think they are ok in moderation.  I have real trouble with those earrings that stretch your earlobes out though, they gross me out.

8. do you feel you had a happy childhood?

  I had happy moments, and anyone who knew me would have *said* I was happy, but honestly I was a really stressed out little kid.

8. when did you last cry in front of another person?

This morning, but only a little teary, not a full on cry.

9. who in the world would you most like to receive a letter from and what would you want it to say?

There are a few sincere apology letters I'd like to receive.

10. what is your night time routine?

Brush teeth, go to the bathroom, get in bed, get out of bed, go to the bathroom, get back in bed, get out of bed, go to the bathroom...LOL

11. when was your last 3am conversation with someone, and who were they to you?

I'm pretty sure it was my oldest who wasn't feeling well.  I think the last thousand 3 AM conversations were the same idea - a kid who needed me.

12. if you were about to die, and you could only say one more sentence to one person, what would you say and to whom?

To my husband - I love you!

13. what is your opinion on brown eyes?

 I like all eye colors but my husband and several of my children have brown, so I particularly like those particular eyes.  

14. pick a quote and describe what it means to you personally.

 Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you, you need only to be still" got me through some rather tough times a few years ago.  It reminded me to wait on the Lord and His justice.

15. what would you title the autobiography of your life so far?

I've always like the line of the Chris Rice song "Lemonade"  -- Life Gave Me Lemonade

If you'd like to join, please follow this link to Sunday Stealing.

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Share 4 Somethings - January 2023

I'm linking up with Jennifer at Overflowing with Thankfulness for Share 4 Somethings Saturday!

 

The prompts are: Something I Loved, Something I Read, Something I Learned, and Something I Ate --in January.

Something I loved:

I have loved -

• Meeting so many nice new bloggers this month - I had thought blogging was dead and I was so happy to see it wasn't!
• having a houseful again with my kids home from college for most of the month
• Watching Battlebots with dh
• Finding a collection of funny things the kids said long ago when I merged blogs last week.
• That the weather has been just perfect here to be the winter coat and sandals wearing woman that I really am, LOL.

Something I Read:

I have read through a few books and audiobooks this January and I would say my favorites were:  All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, and Frontier Follies by Ree Drummond.

Something I learned:

I have been learning a lot about nervous system retraining this month and one interesting thing I read was that too much multitasking can signal to your nervous system that you are not safe and you need to stay on high alert. As a perpetual multitasker (AND someone who is always hypervigilant and needs to learn to just chill) I think I have my work cut out for me here! :) 

Something I ate:

The only food picture I can find from January was of a sandwich I was blogging about making. :)  The sandwich itself was not all that, however.  It's not exactly something we ate, but something we drank:  My sister-in-law sent us a tea making kit for Christmas with all sorts of teas and edible dried flowers to mix together. Fun and interesting - I guess this could be filed under "something I learned" as well - I learned to mix things together to make loose tea. 

Well that is it for my four (plus) somethings for January! Thank you for reading and please link up at Overflowing with Thankfulness if you want to join! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Thankful Thursday

 Things I'm thankful for today...

• new blogging friends and followers
• people who read blogs without a lot of pictures, because adding a lot of photos is just one too many things most days
• my wonderful husband and kids (of course this should be first) :)
• what I am learning about nervous system health - like about multi-tasking (as I am doing now, *sigh*) and how it signals to my body I'm not safe. One thing at a time, Amy! (goes and turns off the podcast I was half listening to)
• Drive up book-hold-pickup at the local library!

• Jo has arrived home safe from Italy!
• Amy Jr. had a safe time at the March for Life (and the multi-hour bus trip to/from)
• people who understand my mind isn't what it once was and are patient with my inarticulate attempts at conversation and compassion, and know my heart is in the right place
• God leading me to several scriptures this week (basically by opening my bible in the right place) that show he is gently guiding me to stiller waters, and reminding me that I might need to "wait on Him" in order to get there (I. am. so. impatient!)

this is from Isaiah 40

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Wednesday Weirdness

a recent pretty sunrise

I heard someone say "the turn of the century" like it was ancient history and I was thinking, "Oh, around 1900" but no, they meant 2000 and now I feel super old.

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A few days ago I woke up and was sure it was some time around 6 AM - I'm almost positive I remember looking at my phone and the time.  It looked super, super dark out though, which I thought was odd.

I went downstairs to fix my coffee and breakfast. The dishwasher was flashing 2:30 like it always does when a cycle is done.  But then I looked at the clock on the microwave and the oven and THEY both said 2:30 too!  Huh?  What was going on? Was it 2:30? Did we have a power outage? But when that happens I thought they would flash, and other things would be flashing too.  Why is everything matching? Is this the Twilight Zone? Do I just need  coffee? And typically I don't sleep through our house alarm going off (which happens when we have a power outage.  Could it really be 2:30 in the morning?  Then why do I feel rested(ish) and feel so hungry? It's got to be 6 AM. But why is it so blastedly dark out?  It was very surreal.  My phone was upstairs and there are no other clocks on the first floor, so I couldn't easily check what time it actually was.

I decided no matter what time it was, I was wide awake and hungry, so I was going to make myself breakfast.  Turns out it WAS six something in the morning, and there WAS a power outage that I slept through, and my husband took care of all the things that beep, etc, except for setting those two clocks.  I had just happened to look at them when it had been 2 hours and 30 minutes since the power outage.  And it was so dark out because it was super cloudy, and I also underestimated how late the sun is rising still. (Boo hiss)

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We have a family of stuffed bears that sometimes have grand adventures around our house. This is some of them dressed like they are coming off the frozen tundra and meeting the others sunbathing.

I may not be able to have fun outside the house, but I make sure I have fun inside the house! Coming upon a surprise new random stuffed animal setup makes all of us smile. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday!

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Tuesday 4 - Home Sweet Home

 

 Welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4

where we hope you will stretch your mind, your imagination and your friendships online by sharing a bit of yourself with others.

This week the subject is Your Home .

1. What kind of home do you have and does it need repair or improvements this year?

We have a single family home and it always needs *something* fixed but at least right now most of it is cosmetic...a shade fell down and needs to be replaced, the windows could use replacement, and we need to replace the carpet in the basement.

2. How do you accessorize your home inside and out?    Plants, art, books, wall hangings, maybe music in the background?

We've been here 4.5 years but I have been sick for most of those so decorating kind of fell by the wayside.  We do have books (less than I'd like after giving most of them away) but need more wall decorations, definitely.  I'm happy we finally have furniture in every room though! :)

3. What objects reside on your coffee table? Night stand? Side tables? Kitchen/Dining table?    

With five kids the common areas usually  have books left around, mail,  and various bits and pieces of whatever birthday had recently been celebrated or semester that is about to begin or end.  My room has way too many supplements, water bottles, books, more books, and more pills, LOL.

4.  Do you like your kitchen organized and with counters cleared off or do you prefer to have  the things you use often out on counters?     Do you mind  what some might see as clutter or do you hate having to dig out tools and appliances  when it comes time to use them?and prefer to have them within easy reach?

I like a little of both, but I do like tools and pots and pans put away.  Most small appliances get left out if there is room. Things that get used multiple times a day stay out and within easy reach like salt and pepper shakers, Vitamin C, etc.   If I lived alone though I have a feeling everything would get left out all the time. *blush*

Well, this was my first time joining, and it was fun!  

Join in Tuesday 4 HERE and thank you for hosting, Annie!

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Blog update

After blogging all over the place for many years, I find myself back on blogger. I just merged several old, old blogger blogs and so the posts here are all over the place in terms of time, topics, and the pseudnyms of my kids.  I've reverted to the Little Women ones I loved so long ago, when I had four "Little Women" of my own. 

Well now they are no longer little! And there is a not so little man in the mix.

I hope to import a few more posts from another blog in the next few days, and continue to post here as time allows.

Merging the blogs wiped my followers list, so I hope if  you like what you see here you give me a follow and not get spooked that I've been blogging for 16 years and have ZERO followers, LOL.

 

 As far as blogging goes, you can occasionally also find me at: 

 HSP Mom and The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler

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Well then

I was playing an online game when the advertisement below was put up on the side bar:

I don’t know about you, but never in my life have I ever said,

“You know what? I want to look like a glazed donut.” 😂

Or put snail slime on my face, for that matter, LOL.

Happy Sunday my friends! May you all have a non-glazed donut glow today. 😉

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Booknotes

Some of the following links may be affiliate links

Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt

5 stars – I thoroughly liked this one, a story about a young girl and a family trying to hide a secret – they can live forever. I can’t quite say loved, as I have loved other books, but I liked it enough to give it five stars. It was very close to love. The authors artistic use of language was complimented by a storyline that had continued movement throughout the book. It is a middle grade novel but that is just my speed right now. I liked the ending , it left you things to contemplate while still having some sense of finality to it.

The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

Objectively, I think many would find this book boring. So much talk of how to properly “butler” (or is it “butle”?) . And yet, I don’t mind, and in fact find it fascinating. I did want to punch the main character on more than one occasion. 😉 Very much a slow burn. The narrator of the audiobook reminded me a bit of Molesley from Downton Abbey which helped. (I just realized I was listening to it on 1.25x speed – it sounds much less like Molesley on normal. 🙂 ) I gave it 4 stars.

Frontier Follies – Ree Drummond

Cute and funny from start to finish, as Ree often is. The only thing that shocked me was that as the star of a cooking show Ree did not know that the only sane way to cook bacon for a large family is in the oven. 😉 It’s not a completely family friendly listen, just FYI. Four stars.

The Sentence – Louise Erdrich

I usually love books by this author. I was enjoying this book until about half way, when it turned into a book on Covid, the lockdowns, politics, George Floyd, and the riots. It read like two books sloppily put together, one fiction and one non-fiction. I particularly did NOT want to be reading a book on the horrors of 2020 Covid while my own son was suffering from it in the next room (albeit a much milder version…but still). I gave it 3 stars in the end – 4 for the first half of the book, 2 for the second half.

A Higher Loyalty – James Comey

Don’t laugh, but I had very little idea who James Comey was when I picked up this book on the recommendation of a Goodreads reviewer. I stay away from the news and politics for my mental health, and I’m horrible with names. I borrowed it because I like non-fiction and memoirs about famous people. I gave this three stars – I thought it was well written enough, so I guess in reality I’m giving the book four stars and James Comey himself three 😉 . Mostly because he spent 70% of the book patting himself on the back while simultaneously saying how upstanding, moral, and forthright he was. He forgot humble, LOL. I wish he would just state the “facts” and let them speak for themselves. Then when it came time to talk about a certain president everyone loves to hate, he makes it a point to mention on various occasions his odd skin color, his hair color, and his hand size. Why? I think a man who is truly upstanding would have left those trivialities out of a book on politics and the FBI. So it all eventually started rubbing me the wrong way, despite it being somewhat entertaining.

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Note to Self

I’m having so much fun with the Magnetic Poetry webpage – I can’t remember who shared it but I will come back and edit when I do. (Edit: It was KL Caley in this post.)This poem was made with the page linked above, but if you look on the Magnetic Poetry page up near the top you will see links for other “kits” with different words. If you give it a try I’d love to see your work!

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Things I'm loving right now

~one~

BattleBots

Hubby is into the engineering and physics of it all, remembers all the details of the teams and fights. I just love seeing the bots crash into each other and fly around the battle box.

some affiliate links follow

~two~

Tuck Everlasting – I’m only a tiny way in but already I love her writing style and can’t wait to pick it up again. I’m surprised that after 20 years of homeschooling I haven’t read this one yet.

~three~

The Conqueror app – even though it is so motivating to me I’m overdoing it (what else is new?) For those that haven’t read my other posts it is an app where you go along a virtual route by inputting the exercise you do in your own neighborhood. You can choose from many challenges/routes including several for The Shire/LOTR! I chose one of the longest at almost 500 miles but you can choose from many levels. There is a charge to sign up but it’s cheaper than flying to France and doing the actual Camino de Santiago for me LOL and you get a cool medal at the end. If you would like 10% off, you can use my link.

~four~

Speaking of the Camino de Santiago I am loving this image I found along my way:

Apparently this is The Virgin of Orisson. (La Vierge d’Orisson) Also known as La Vierge de Biakorri. I could find very little about her, other than that legend says shepherds brought the ceramic statue of Mary from Lourdes, and that this version of Our Lady is a patroness and protector of shepherds and their sheep as well as all who pass by. Apparently, about twenty years ago the stand of stones was hit by lightning, which split the stones but the statue remained unharmed.

As close a screenshot as I could get for La Vierge d’Orisson

~five~

This QiGong YouTube channel and and this trauma informed yoga channel (although I change some of what they say to think and do to be more in line with my beliefs). Both are so calming and get my stiff body moving, and the calming is as important, if not more to me, than the movement.

~six~

And finally, Hey Honey I Peel Good gentle facial peel treatment. Smells so good and leaves my sensitive skin so smooth and nourished feeling, unlike anything I’ve ever tried before. It is expensive but I did find it on a Lightning Deal.

I hope there are lots of things in *your* life you are loving right now!

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