Monday Monday

Outside my four walls...

Beautiful day today!

Ha! When I wrote that, 30 minutes ago, it was cool and sunny and beautiful. Now I'll have to find beauty in looming clouds and a chill breeze. There IS beauty, but it makes the house dungeon-like, which I struggle against.

In the garden...
Here's some burgeoning beauty... I bought myself some plants for Mother's Day.

Sugar Plum Dianthus

"Carpet of Snow" Alyssum... this one smells so good.

I can never remember what flowers are called, I had to go back outside and look at the little plastic doo-hicky (technical term) with the name on it that I kept with the flowers for just such an occasion.

Nothing, I mean nothing grows well in this area in front of our house. Every year I dig up what died over the last summer and plant something new in the spring. I wish it wasn't such a big area (well, big for a .18 acre lot), right in front of the house! It's what you walk past to get from the driveway to the front door, so everyone sees it in all it's dying splendor. The soil is clay, and this part gets no rain due to an over hang.  I hope by watering every day we can at least get them through the summer. Or spring, lol.  Our Mary statue resides there, so I hate that she is usually surrounded by either dead plants or just dirt. :-P  I'm thinking of trying hanging baskets or something.  I'm just grasping at straws here, I'm really bad at this.  If we are here next year I will pay someone to dig up the whole area, amend the soil properly, and plant something drought tolerant that can live under an overhang with full sun. 

In the schoolroom...

trying valiantly to get back into work, if only to quell the constant bickering. And then there's the kids! 

In other news, did I tell you Seton is looking for a writer with a biology degree and homeschool experience to write a life science text for 8th grade?   **cough** THERESA **cough**   :)    

In my heart...

Here's a gratuitous picture of dd's First Holy Communion. Since I can't show her face, here is her back bringing up the gifts.  There is a plus to being picked for the very last row in the church in the seating lottery!  

Speaking of First Holy Communions, my mom completed a painting based on my now 10 year old's FHC day.  The face looks different because my mom wanted to sell it and not sell a picture of my dd.  :) I think it's awesome. 

Admitting...

That I photoshopped the picture of myself that I shared on FB last week.  Whitened my teeth and got rid of various "spots" on my face. Everything else was real.  I realized how crooked my face really is when my teeth didn't line up with the rest of my face. My teeth are now straight, it's my face that is unbalanced! :) 

That I stayed up late on Mother's Day Eve scouring old yearbooks from the 60's on classmates.com, looking for someone who looks like me.  Needle in a haystsack.  Not sure what I would do with the information anyway, what, write everyone who even somewhat resembled me asking if they gave up a baby for adoption?  Ummm, no.  "Hey, I know I don't know you, but you have brown hair and blue eyes ...at least I think you do because the only picture I have of you is black and white that I stole from the internet...are you my mom??"  :-P

Plans...

Our anniversary is tomorrow!  19 years of wedded BLISS, baby! 

Praying...

~ please pray for my friend's 1yo dd. She broke her femur in an accident at a wedding.

~pray for my brother and dad who are looking for permanent work, and for us as we *still* think about moving (the lack of work for family members plays into it).  Everything seems like a lose-lose proposition.

~for wisdom about co-ops for next year.  The only one I know of that would mostly fit our needs is an hour away.  I'm not much of a co-op type, but my kids need friends!  But...what good does having friends over an hour away do? We'd only see them at co-op, which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid.

~today was the day in the Holy Spirit Novena to pray for patience. Yikes!  I whispered that one and hoped the Holy Spirit didn't hear me. ;-)    I quickly added a prayer for zeal to get over whatever patience-inspiring difficulties the Good God sends my way today.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!