one down, thirteen to go

Survived day one of Rich's absence unscathed. Actually, I think the boys must have been feeling sorry for me or something...they couldn't possibly have been more delightful than they were for most of the day. By supper, the rowdiness level had surpassed comfortable levels. But that may have been my fault...we made monkey bread during the afternoon. And of course, it's a well known fact that massive doses of sugar lead to elevated rowdiness levels, right? The rowdiness continued through bathtime, but I have to admit it could have been worse...I didn't even have to change my clothes afterward. Finally, during our chapter of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM, they mellowed a bit.

Gray always feels the need to fight bedtime, partly out of habit and partly out of a true feeling of injustice, I think. But the battle wasn't too bad, especially after my sweet helper, Annie, agreed to go into my room to read. (Gray sleeps on a mattress in our room, because he is petrified of being alone, and of the dark, and of...) Of course, that's when Max reminded me that I said that "maybe" he could sleep in bed with me while Daddy was gone. "Maybe" turned to "yes"...surprise, surprise. So here's who's keeping Rich's side of the bed warm for him in his absence...




On a totally unrelated note:

I have decided to drop out of Becky's Jane Austen Challenge. I know, I know...what a quitter, huh? But I tried. Really I did. I got Sense and Sensibility out of the library last week, and started reading. But I just couldn't get into it. I feel like I really gave it a chance, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I was not enjoying it at all, and figured that there are way too many books I do want to read to make myself suffer through something I didn't like. Not like Jane Austen...I suppose that makes me a heathen, huh?

paper and books

It's been a long time since I've gotten any scrapbooking done. And it will probably be a while longer yet. I can't believe we've nearly hit the end of September already. Which means my papercrafting time (yeah, what time?!!) needs to be spent getting all those Christmas cards made. O.K., O.K., I've been telling myself that for the past 6 weeks, but have yet to do anything about it. I did, however, manage to make a couple of Halloween cards spending 2 minutes here and 5 minutes there.

Might try to make a few more this week...but then I must put everything else away and drag out "Christmas" supplies. Maybe if the stuff is sitting out on my table, I'll actually manage to get around to it. Maybe.










As far as my other mode of relaxation, reading, I'm not doing much better. My biggest problem is that there just isn't enough hours in the day. But I think I may also be my own worst enemy. It used to be that I could only read one book at a time. Or so I believed, anyway. But several months back, I discovered that I really could focus on more than one at a time. And this was great...but I think I've taken it way too far! I'm now reading so many at one time that I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. I'm still trying to finish up A Time to Kill from the Southern Reading Challenge (which of course is long over). I'm reading The Trials of Life for the Non-Fiction Five (which ends Sunday, so I'd better get moving!). I'm reading Frankenstein for the R.I.P. II Challenge. I'm reading Charlotte's Web to the boys (and for the Four-Legged Friends Challenge). And then just to make things even more chaotic, last night Rich, Annie, and I started reading MacBeth aloud together (another for the R.I.P. II Challenge).

Yes, it would be fair to say that I'm in over my head. And yet, what did I do this morning? Signed up for two more challenges! I'm a sick woman, I tell you. Sick. Seems as if I thrive on failure, doesn't it? Anyway, Becky is hosting these two new challenges. Actually, she calls them mini-challenges. And for many readers out there that "mini" title would apply...but for me they are definitely full-blown challenges. They do sound quite fun though...one is a Jane Austen/Masterpiece Theater challenge and one is a C.S. Lewis/J.R.R. Tolkien challenge. Pop over to Becky's if you're interested. I posted my lists over at my "damn...how am I ever going to read all these?!!" blog.