A Wordy Wednesday... The Bad & the Good...

The Bad...
Yesterday was terrible. I felt like I had hit absolute rock bottom, and couldn't see any way out. Finances are, well... for lack of a more polite phraseology, absolutely screwed at the moment. We've scraped by the last couple of months, but won't be doing even that much longer. M has worked two temp jobs recently, but they were just that, temp jobs. The employment market is awful right now. Yesterday, I felt fearful, and resentful.

Today, although finances are certainly not improved, I am trying to feel more hopeful. A local restaurant is holding an open house/hiring fair with on-the-spot interviews, so M is going to that. I have applied for weekend (supplemental) work at grocery stores as a clerk. With 8 years experience in that field, I am hoping I can get in two good eight hour days a week, which will help ease things a bit.

I hate this.

Some people have suggested we relocate, but looking at rental prices and the cost of living elsewhere, I am not sure that would be a worthwhile option.

And I still don't know for sure what is going on with my current job. The woman trying not to take my job has an interview tomorrow, for a position she wants, so I am crossing fingers, ankles, anything and everything! If that fails, I have a job interview next week for a part-time secretarial position. Still nerve-wracking though.


The Good...
"Summer school" is off to a great start! I eased back on documentaries, after I had a complete duh moment, and realized we have all summer to get through them! In the meantime, we're enjoying each day... the kids went swimming with their Nonna and aunt on Monday. They're devouring The Dangerous Book for Boys and The Daring Book for Girls, picking out games to learn and activities to try.... Chinese jump rope, table football, Morse Code, 50 Latin phrases everyone should know, and so on, and so forth. I read a little aloud from one or the other each day. Cassia reads to me too. And they are loving The Four Story Mistake!

They are also working on supply lists for their summer projects.

I am still loosely, and all in my head at the moment, thinking out next year. Do I want to just do the what if approach and see what happens, or do block studies? The only thing I have planned is a calendar for next year! (Well, okay, two versions. Version 1) six week block, week off; six week block, week off;two-three week block, two-three weeks off; seven week block, week off; seven week block, week off; seven week block, week off; ten weeks off. Version 2) the same to start and then five weeks on, one week off after the winter holidays, with four blocks instead of three). Hmmmm.

We'll be doing a summer crash course in Shakespeare. This was unplanned, but then I found out about this event and decided to seize the moment! We'll be reading a story version of Romeo and Juliet first, to familiarize them with the story line. Then we'll watch a movie version, or two, and maybe read through some of the actual play.

And, I wrote on Monday, but then deleted (sorry, I chickened out) about my issues with food. I am currently following the Food Addicts Anonymous food plan, and have been for three days now. I am not weighing myself at the moment, though I did the first day (and no, it was not good) -- I'm trying to keep off the scale more than once a week. Yesterday, I physically felt very tired (maybe that's part of the problem?) and out of sorts. I feel a bit better today, so I am assuming though I ate a fairly clean diet before that I am detoxing a bit from sugar and flour. I think I'll see if I can talk The Girl and M into an evening bike ride while The Boy is at fencing.

So... wish us luck on the financial front, and I hope you are all having a good week!

End of 2012 Reflections...

I can hardly believe this year is almost over! It went by so very quickly. I was inspired by this post today to make some reflections, on homeschooling among other things.

We're not quite halfway through our "school year", but there are minor adjustments to be made, beginning with scheduling. I think I have my husband and kids talked into more or less homeschooling year round, with breaks when we need them, like right now! And a good bit of a break in summer, though not as much as previous years. I'm trying to think how to best approach this for my particular children, maybe doing project based learning primarily during June and August--I have the month of July off so that will definitely be vacation time, with swimming, and field trips, etc.

What I am looking for is that still elusive balancing point...

You know, the point between more rigorous schooling and interest/child-led exploration (unschooling), as well as between housework, college, work, etc. It is not an easy balancing act, which is why I am actually taking fewer units in the spring, 6 instead of 8. And why I am trying to get the kids (and M) to help out more around the house.... and yes, I am starting to see progress in that area! For example, I came home yesterday to a sink clean and empty, dishes all put away!

We've made some good progress in finding our path for this year, although we still have some weaker areas to shore up. Math is going quite well, and language arts are good, history and science could be better. I re-read the following recently (excerpted from a homeschooling forum post), and it's got me thinking about other ways to approach science...

We begin with the rabbit trails. We keep a question board strictly for science and write down any and all questions. These questions can be posed anytime throughout our day but I deliberately solicit them at the beginning of official science time. Questions also emanate from our readings, which are often intentionally planned to provoke the dc's thoughts about certain timely subjects (gardens in the spring, ice in the winter, etc.). We then decide whether our questions are research questions (can find the answer in a book) or testable questions (can design an experiment and find the answer for ourselves instead of looking up the answer in a book). Then we act accordingly. (I tend to follow the dc's lead on this unless they are just not seeing something easy and obvious because I realize that there are many questions we could technically design experiments to answer but they would be too challenging for where we are--measuring the earth's circumference springs to mind!)

I'm going to be reading Nurturing Inquiry over my winter break to get some ideas for this field! I'm also going to re-read The Writer's Jungle, because more than using a written curriculum for language arts, I would love to be living the Brave Writer Lifestyle!

I'm also working on a nice, inclusive list of the "good books" I really want my children to be familiar with, for our Afternoon Basket, regardless of historical period, or any other associations. Rather than having a particular "study" to go through, I think if I just have a list to work from, I can choose whatever fits at the moment. One invaluable source for ideas is Ambleside Online, and another is the 1000 Good Books list, with plenty of great historical fiction/non-fiction suggestions available at A Book in Time.

Recently, the homeschooling forum I visit most (dedicated to Classical Education by and large) was down for several days for retooling. Strangely enough, rather than really missing a board I visited nearly every day, I found myself relieved. And I realized that reading about what so-and-so was doing, and how it was much more in some sense than what I am doing, put pressure on me, or rather, I put pressure on myself... for not being a Classical educator, for not teaching my kids outlining (yet) and Latin, and on and on. Not comparing myself to that gave me more confidence to relax. When the forum came back up, I visited, and I still do, but not every day anymore.

In other reflections, I had the nicest realization yesterday, that for the first time in probably 25-27 years, I do not have a planned New Year's resolution to lose weight! I'm not quite at my goal, but close. Of course, now I have to maintain the loss! But that is such a different feeling. Of course, there will be other resolutions/goals, mostly relating to finances and household stuff, but for once, not weight loss, and frankly, I am hoping that is a resolution I never have to revisit!

So, a quick re-cap...
Books to read during my month-long break between semesters:
Nurturing Inquiry
Project-based Homeschooling
The Writer's Jungle
Plans to work on:
My Good Books list
How to implement the Brave Writer Lifestyle

In the meantime, I've taken down my page on what we're using, while I make some adjustments, reflect, and discern where we're headed now!

Are you taking a winter break? Re-planning/retooling anything?

Homeschool Boot Camp Update & Ramblings...

So this week I signed up, a wee bit late, for the:

Now, you might ask, how am I doing with this challenge? I'd say mixed results... so far. Yes, we have "hit the books" a bit more this week, but again, we should be doing it a little more.

I did have parent-teacher-student conferences this week! And I have reinstituted my checklist, although I updated it to include weekends, and a place for "notes". I do have goals - math 4 times a week, writing at least twice, history at least once, etc., but we don't do well with actual schedules. Sometimes, we'll get really excited about a topic, and we'll want to spend more time on it. Other times, it is not interesting, and we hurry through, or set it aside for something else, so no, scheduling doesn't work for me.

Overall, we're doing better this week, and I hope we continue to improve.

Thinking about homeschooling has gotten me reconsidering our goals, and whether we are working toward them. What do I really want for my kids in homeschooling? Earlier this year, there was a big thread (many pages) on a homeschooling message board I frequent about pursuing truth and beauty in homeschooling. Then there was a resulting spin-off Yahoo group on pursuing a classical, liberal arts education, and while the others in the group are far more religiously minded than I am, I still benefit from the depth of connections and ideas they share. My BA is in Liberal Studies, and I feel very fortunate that it was through the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies. We were encouraged to explore topics more deeply, to build and foster connections, and to discuss our ideas and thoughts. Ideally, that is my aim with homeschooling - deeper exploration, building connections, pursuing truth and beauty, fostering discussion. Are we reaching those goals, those ideals? Sometimes, when we get into the whole workbook-do-the-next-thing rut, I feel very far away from it. Other days, when we have a good history lesson, great literature, art, and living math, I feel as if we are stretching in the right direction.

I've gone from a mental image of at-the-table homeschooling... the kids answering questions, filling in the blanks, to an image of cuddling up on the couch or under the apple tree, perhaps sipping tea or lemonade, and discussing whatever book we are reading. I want our homeschool filled with good books, fine art, lovely music, a sense of the flow of history, and an appreciation for the scientific wonders of the world.

Now, how do we get there?

In other news, I decided I needed a better goal for myself in fitness. So (very late to the game), I am challenging myself to....  

I know, super geeky, aren't I? While I doubt I'll participate in any online forums, etc. with this, I do plan to track my journey with a Middle Earth map. I'll keep track in my sidebar too. It'll take a while!

Tuesday Tidbits... Hello again!

It has been a little while since I blogged, but we have been busy, busy, busy.

~ I did it - I cut down my resources for homeschooling this year. I finally found a book (or two) that I really like for a science spine. I dropped American history so that we can really get into ancient world history. I did add in Writing Skills (from EPS) for The Boy, to help him with sentence/paragraph structure and all that. I wrote a schedule, and set aside an official time each day for homeschooling. Now to see if it actually works!

~ What have we been busy with? Fishing, camping, a field trip, and more! We took last week off from homeschooling, in part because of all that was going on, and in part so that I could refine my plans for the year.

~ Goal this week: to get all the pictures of the above activities off my camera! Look forward to a Wordless Wednesday post tomorrow!

~ I admit, I am very stressed out lately. Stressed enough I've put back on 5 pounds, so I am down to a 45 pound loss. We're still waiting to here if M is actually getting unemployment... we should find out by the end of the week. I'm not anticipating any real problems, but I still worry.

~ So to combat the 5 pounds (and the rest I still need to lose) I am implementing the "rules" from Bob Harper's new book (albeit with a little more [good] fat in the diet). I'll let you know how it goes!

Hope you all have a good week!

Weekly Report... Where Did the Week Go?

I cannot believe it is Friday already! Another week has flown by, and I know I didn't quite get through my goals for the week...

~ Establishing a routine.... About halfway there
~ Getting my project/experiment book basket set up
~ Switching out some books in my Afternoon Basket
~ Finish cleaning the kitchenand get the living room done (I am deep cleaning one room at a time)
~ Go swimming at a pool with friends!
~ Try to get out hiking again over the weekend, or maybe even mid-week
~ Get geared up for the big airshow that happens around here next weekend!

Well, not too bad, since we did make progress this week! Additionally, we:
~ read from The Wright Brothers
~ finished reading both Smoky House and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great
~ watched some nature documentaries
~ ate lots of tomatoes and zucchini from our garden
~ had The Boy give The Girl an art lesson
~ decided where to start in history in a couple of weeks!

I also shopped this week, which I generally loathe doing. I had to finally buy some new pants, at M's insistence, having gone from a size 18 at my heaviest to a size 10 now. As a "reward", I also got the bulk of our homeschool shopping done for the year... a new math book for The Girl, some fun history supplements, and a bunch of science equipment from Home Science Tools. We're really looking forward to trying out biology this fall! I consider this purchase a great investment...

Pretty spiffy, isn't it? I'm hoping it will at least get us through the next few years of science - it should!

Anyhow, it has been a good week, though it really went too fast. Next week, we'll work more on adding in subjects/establishing our fall routine, and having some end-of-summer fun naturally. I think more swimming and some blackberry picking are tentatively on the agenda.

Hope you all had a good week too!

Monday Menu Plan and Frugal Notes...

We recently watched Forks Over Knives, yes, even the kids. It is a documentary I would highly recommend in today's world of fast food, bad school lunches, genetically modified foods, general poor health, and obesity. I then started listening to Dr. Fuhrman's book, Eat for Health on audio cd, and am waiting for Eat to Live to be available at the library. Like the documentary, Dr. Fuhrman recommends, very strongly, basing one's eating primarily on plant foods. Armed with my increasing knowledge, I am trying to make more of our meals just that, plant-based, though we do still eat meat, eggs, and dairy. Our eggs and (raw) milk come from a friend's farm, and so does much of the meat. I'd honestly rather eat less meat of higher quality than lots of cheap meat.

Anyhow, here's the run-down for this week...

Sunday: Pasta with roasted tomato marinara, though I had spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Mixed greens salad.

Monday: Tex-Mex Potatoes (recipe is about halfway down the page); green salad with orange and avocado.

Tuesday: Sloppy lentils over whole-grain buns; homemade broccoli slaw.

Wednesday: Asian-style salmon, with stir-fried veggies on the side: green beans, mushrooms, red bell pepper, and sweet onions.

Thursday: Asparagus Frittata; crudites (cucumber, carrot, sugar snap peas)

Friday: Potato-leek soup; whole-grain baguette with some yummy cheese, though I think I'll have salad instead of bread and cheese.

Saturday: St. Patrick's Day! So yes, we're having corned beef, cabbage, potatoes & carrots. I might even make a loaf of fresh Irish Soda Bread!

Other: I also made up a batch-and-a-half of this delicious roasted tomato-eggplant soup for my lunches this week. I went ahead and used my immersion blender in it rather than leaving it chunky.

Smoothies: The kids, M, and I are enjoying our daily smoothies. It is a great, tasty, and very easy, way to get extra fruits and veggies in. For M and the kids, I use frozen bananas, frozen mixed fruit, fresh baby spinach or other greens, raw milk, yogurt, a little raw honey, ground flax seed, and peanut butter. For myself, it's pretty much the same, only I use almond or coconut milk (the coconut milk in the carton, not the can!) and almond butter instead of dairy milk and peanut butter, and I skip the yogurt and honey. Yum!

Frugal Notes: I have noticed that it is definitely cheaper to shop for mainly fruits and veggies. This is the time of year that I start watching eBay very closely for sandals for the kids, since their feet just keep on growing! My advice for eBay shopping is simple, figure out how much you are willing to pay including shipping! Too many times I have heard complaints from people who think the price is great, until they add in the shipping. I always figure what I am willing to spend, subtract shipping from that, and then I have my maximum bid. My kids are always pretty well dressed thanks to careful shopping and my mom's sewing skills.

I'm also setting aside a few dollars here and there for myself. My clothes are getting baggier, and I eventually will need to buy some new ones, at least pants. I plan on shopping second-hand as much as possible for my new wardrobe. And many of my tops can be taken in - this will be a summer project for me, with the assistance of my mom.

Weight Loss Notes: Somehow last week was overly busy, and I didn't exercise like I should have. However, my weight held steady - phew! Back on the exercise bandwagon today!

Have a great week!

Monday Menu Plans & Other Notes...

Sunday: Miss Cricket's Birthday! We had a special dinner of smoked ham, salt potatoes (little potatoes cooked in very salty water, then tossed with melted butter and fresh minced herbs - yum!), and roasted broccoli & cauliflower with sharp cheddar cheese. We finished up with homemade devil's food cake with strawberry whip cream.

Monday: Omelets with mushrooms, spinach, mozzerella, red bell pepper, and leftover ham.

Tuesday: Salmon, baked with lemon and herbs; sauteed green beans; Israeli (pearl) couscous pilaf

Wednesday: Pasta (spaghetti squash for me) with an Italian turkey sausage ragu; green salad

Thursday: Taco salads with all the fixings!

Friday: Split pea soup with leftover ham in the crock pot; homemade cornbread

Saturday: Roasted chicken; and I haven't quite decided on side dishes yet.

Frugal Notes: We did a good job of shopping for Cricket's birthday this year. I bought a couple of things on sale, and actually remembered coupons for some items too! I also remembered to use coupons when grocery shopping, for a few things. I don't make much of a habit of coupon clipping because so many of them are for things I would never buy. But, the buy-one-get-one free organic salad mix was nice!

Weight Loss Notes: A stalled week, due mainly to eating too much over the weekend. Back in the saddle today though, and waiting eagerly for Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred dvd to get here (Netflix). I am on week 4 of the Couch Potato to 5K running plan as well. The running is 3 days per week, and I plan to try out level one of the dvd the other two weekdays, or something like that.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Menu Plan & Frugal Notes Monday 2/27...

Trying to be more organized about this, though I missed last week!

Sunday: Kedgeree (without the yogurt and milk - we had smoked trout on hand from M's fishing trips); raw veggies. Note: the kids liked the kedgeree so much that they're having leftovers for breakfast as I type!

Monday: Pasta with pesto shrimp and broccoli , though I'll skip the pasta part and just have more broccoli.

Tuesday: Homemade chicken tortilla soup, since I have some leftovers from a roast chicken a few days ago. Toppings of crispy (homemade) tortilla strips, avocado & chopped cilantro will be available.

Wednesday: Vegetarian Tamale pie; green salad

Thursday: Swiss Steak; mashed potatoes for M and the kids; sauteed green beans

Friday: Ndole (a Camaroon stew with tomatoes, tofu, peanut butter, greens, etc. - I got the recipe from The Jungle Effect); homemade cornbread

Saturday: Homemade pizza with various toppings; salad

Frugal notes: I made a lot more foods from scratch this last week, including corn tortillas. The tortillas turned out to be really easy to make, and super delicious! I also baked rye bread (from the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day). The kedgeree was a quick dinner that I threw together since we had everything on hand. I realized that I used to be really good at making yummy meals from random ingredients had on hand, and somewhere along the way I lost track of that ability. I am glad to see it resurfacing now! I am down to grocery shopping every two weeks, except for some fresh veggies and fruit.

I've got the kids on "energy patrol", and our electric/gas bill was $50 less this month than last month. With the lovely weather we're having, the kids are spending more time outside, which is good for them, and our bills. I also discovered that by combining my cell phone, home phone, and internet bills, I save 5%!

My goal for March is to pay off at least one of the smaller debts we have. We're on top of all the bills right now, and I've been trimming grocery costs. Unfortunately gas prices are back up, so I am trying really hard to combine more errands.

Weight loss: I started exercising again, making good use of the treadmill M got me for Christmas a year ago. I can run at a decent pace (4+ mph) for 10 minutes straight now, which is a definite improvement. I've lost a total of 34 pounds now, since Thanksgiving, almost halfway to my goal! I found a great way to motivate myself on the treadmill, by watching reruns of Biggest Loser on Netflix while I exercise.

Have a good week!

Weekly Report... 1/30-2/3...

Language Arts

Cricket worked through another few lessons in ClickN'Read Phonics, specifically lessons 21-24. She's doing well with this. Supposedly this program teaches phonics up to a 3rd grade level, so if I can get her that far, I'll be quite satisfied! After that, if she needs additional phonics work, I downloaded Funnix 2 this week, since it is free through the 16th. She read 4 more stories to me - we're doing review using Bob Books to build fluency. She also completed 6 pages in Explode the Code.

Bug worked on spelling. This week, I simply used printouts from a Scholastic spelling book I downloaded sometime back, during their dollar days sales. He liked the crossword puzzles best! This was a unit working with syllables. He also finished up Homer Price, re-read Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, read Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Movie Diary, and started reading Boy.

His writing this week was... well, spotty at best. I just purchased The Writer's Jungle, and am reading through it to get him up to speed. So next week we'll have some actual writing going on.

Math

We kept math simple this week, just using Math Mammoth. Cricket worked on multiplication, as groups of objects, as an array, and with number lines. (Note: please ignore the occasional backwards "2" in the sample below!)

Bug worked on division, and got introduced to remainders (or "leftovers" as they are called in Math Mammoth).

Science

We read from The Magic of Reality this week...

and added in a couple of books to explore ideas in more depth...

Both these books were a big hit. The kids liked the clear explanations in the one on DNA, and the whole story approach of the Gregor Mendel book, although they were very sad that Mendel's work went unrecognized in his own time. I have a couple more books on DNA to read aloud, and then I want to do this project to separate out our own DNA with the kids, after which we'll read more in our main science book, and then explore Darwin.

History
We switched gears for a week, and read about some American history.



The kids enjoyed it so much that we read 4 chapters in one sitting! I must say, I've never thought much about Columbus before his travels, and realized after reading this week, that the years prior to that could not have been easy, with him being made fun of on a regular basis. I think we'll continue to read from this here and there. The kids did give good oral narrations after I finished my reading.

I am also curious about this vintage book on American history. I have it as a pdf from Google books, and just need to transfer it to my Kindle.



If you've read either, or both, of these, which did you prefer, and why?

Art and Music
Bug is continuing to work hard on his piano lessons. He is continuing with one song from last week, working on the timing (I think we need a metronome!), has some scale work to practice, and a second song.

They kept themselves quite busy with art. Cricket made about 10 watercolor paintings this week and here is my favorite:


Bug is working on a series of cars and trucks, with perspective and shading. He loves working with inking, and I think he's doing a very good job!


Literature
Bug was so busy reading this week that we didn't get to any of The Hobbit! Instead, at bedtime, he read to himself, while I read animal fables to Cricket. She absolutely adores animal stories, and we have had fun reading through these stories from different countries/cultures.

Next week I hope to get back to our regular bedtime reading. We're also between audiobooks, as The Phantom Tollbooth hasn't come in yet!

In Other News
We deep-cleaned the family room this week, having already done the living room. I am trying, desperately, to get rid of the clutter and get more organized, as per my New Year's Goals. I am doing well with goal #1, as I just passed the 25-pounds-lost mark! And we're making progress with the other goals too, although I need to work harder on #3.

We also discussed and have settled on changes to our current curriculum, which we'll continue through next year as well. Our sort of relaxed, Charlotte Mason approach is working well for us - the lessons are short, the books are good, and we're appreciating the process of learning these days.

Don't forget to go by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more weekly wrap-ups... the exact link isn't up as I write this, but I'm sure it will be soon!

Wishing everyone a...

I am looking forward to starting a new year! We've decided on one more week of vacation (gotta love homeschooling flexibility) to give our library time to re-open and all our holds to come in. Plus, we have a lot going on with friends this week!

Yes, I have resolutions for the New Year, although I prefer to think of them as goals.

1. Keep up with the diet and exercise I've been doing. Today, I haven't been too careful, but it is a once-a-year holiday! Back to South Beach tomorrow. I did do my exercise though - I'm using the Couch Potato to 5K program, and just re-started this week. I'm roughly 17 pounds down since Thanksgiving, which is the absolute best I have done in years! I find that the whole family is eating more healthfully with me watching everything so closely.

2. Keep the housework up. I tend to live in what the FlyLady calls C.H.A.O.S. - "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome", so before Christmas, I cleaned like a maniac! My goal now is twofold: keep it clean, and then tackle another part of deep cleaning once a week.

3. Focus on saving money and paying down debts, which means actually sticking to the budget. We're trying to follow Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace plan in 2012.

4. Getting, and keeping, homeschooling more organized. Since we're trying a more structured format once again, and I work, we have outside commitments, etc., organization is key. I'd like to have a weekly plan, know where all the supplies are, know where all the library books are, and things of that nature. This goal actually ties in nicely to the housekeeping goal.

5. Focusing more on Cricket's reading. We're having her assessed for some issues sometime in January/February. Maybe this will help with her reading, maybe not. Either way, I want to dedicate myself more fully to getting her really reading.

I figure these five goals will lead to a lot of other good things. For example, just 17 pounds lighter, and I have a ton more energy, enough that I played baseball with M and the kids for an hour and a half this week. Having more energy means I can do more. Healthier me also seems to equal healthier family! Having the house cleaner means I can organize it better, which in turn means we will know where that exact art supply is, and I will have time (and the place) to make homemade play dough, or these cool trilobite cookies! Financial peace will allow us to build more of a savings account, and getting more and more out of debt all the time is a great feeling. We can also teach our kids financial responsibility. With homeschooling more organized, we'll be more likely to follow through with it, and we may even get to all the fun projects I am always planning! And if Cricket could really read, I think she'd enjoy it a lot more, plus it would just make so many things so much easier.

I think my goals are pretty realistic. I don't plan to lose a million pounds, do a triathlon, re-make my entire home, or get Cricket up to a college reading level in 2012. Nor so I plan to be completely debt-free, or have a gigantic savings account. Of course, all that is a bit exaggerated, but then I have tended to exaggerate my goals in the past!

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?

An award!

I am thrilled to get the Versatile Blogger Award, so thank you Pam over at Everyday Snapshots! Now, in accordance with the rules, here are 7 things about me, and then 7 blogs (new to me) that I'd like to nominate also.

1. We don't have cable, so I watch TV through Netflix. I had heard a lot about the show Glee when I still worked at a grocery store, and was constantly bombarded by magazine headlines, but never watched it. Now I've finished season 1, and I'm hooked! My other "embarrassing" show is Grey's Anatomy, which I watch online each week.

2. In winter, my fingers are always cold. Through a co-worker, I discovered these lovelies, and now my hands stay remarkably warm! I wear them all the time. It is honestly an addiction.

3. I am a terrible housekeeper. I am a great cook, and I think a very good mother, but housekeeping? It tends to fall by the wayside far too often. I am one of those people that rushes around cleaning like a mad fiend when people are coming over. And I dislike it very much. I wish I were a better housekeeper, and I strive to be... I just get so busy with other stuff.

4. Coffee is my all time favorite beverage, with tea coming in at a near second. I love coffee... the way it smells, the way it tastes... I drink it strong, with no sweeteners, just a dash of half and half. I am loving a couple of new-to-me teas that I discovered though.. both from Stash - the Meyer Lemon (so, so delicious with a little stevia!), and the Licorice Spice, which is like dessert in a cup (without having to add any sweeteners).

5. One of my favorite things about the holidays are all the pretty, twinkly lights. I love Christmas lights (my favorite term for them is fairy lights). The kids and I love to get in the car with a thermos of hot chocolate for them, and a travel mug of tea for me (sometimes coffee) and just drive around to look at all the pretty lights.

6. I've been on a fairly strict diet for just over three weeks. No grains, no gluten, almost no dairy, very limited fat, and very limited eggs. Partly to clean out my system, but as a side benefit, I'm losing weight. 16 pounds right now to be exact. I plan to start incorporating more foods at the end of the week, now that my system seems pretty well cleaned out. That way I can see what my trigger foods are - those that make me gain weight, or simply not feel as well as I should. For some reason, this diet is easier than I thought, and I'm sticking to it better than I have to any diet in years! I feel tons better too.

7. I go through phases where I don't read a lot, and then I read heavily, like a book a day. I am one of those people who can't set a good book down. I would rather read sometimes than sleep, although I usually regret that in the morning.

And now for the seven blogs...

1. The Firefly Files - while it hasn't been updated in a while, it is truly a lovely blog, and is new to me!
2. Sage Parnassus - I like the tone of this blog, and the variety of resources used, plus it is very pretty!
3. A Small Tribe - fantastic photography (and more)!
4. Fairly Odd Mother - I like her humor, and her honesty in writing.
5. Freeflowing Ways - I like the relaxed approach, and all the lovely photos.
6. Almost Unschoolers - I like this blog because of all the hands-on, and well, because we're almost unschoolers!
and finally,
7. I Capture the Rowhouse - an eclectic blog that is fun to read!