A Day In The Life

6:45 am -- Wake up, make coffee, read newspaper, eat breakfast
7:45 am -- Make beds, take paper to recycle, wash dishes (by hand) more on that later.
8:35 am -- Talk with Jen as I do every day at this time. Abby's bus comes at 8:30.
9:15 am -- Begin school work. Reading lesson. Explode the Code, Writing With Ease lesson.
10:00 am - Athena watches Little Einsteins on TV. Excellent resource for classical music and art
                  appreciation. I start up the Monday laundry and check blogs.
10:30am - Math. Introduction to fractions. Flash cards.
11:00am - Recess.Athena eats some fruit. I switch up the laundry and eat 5 Bacon Dipper crackers.
11:15am - Science. We read a book about vegetables on the food pyramid. She illustrates a page for
                her science book.
11:45am - First lesson in Drawing With Children. I decide to participate in the course with her. We do an
                 introduction and the first part of lesson one.
12:15pm - Lunch time. Grilled cheese, carrot sticks and sliced pears.
1:00pm -- We start on our Art Folders to hold all of the wonderful things we will make. I fold and put away
                laundry and put the last load in the washer.
1:45pm -- School day finished. Clean up art supplies and books.
2:00pm -- Athena goes off to play with her toys. Today it is her Arctic Exploration Set, complete with
                wood dog sleds and teams, igloo, people, polar bears, seals and walrus. Mama head upstairs
                to the yoga studio. Today's lesson: Moderation and Karma, taken from the book Meditations
                From the Mat, which I am really enjoying.
3:00pm -- Athena is playing with modelling clay. I look on the computer for some eco friendly art supplies.
3:30pm -- Athena is playing with some animal toys. I finish up the laundry and sit on the couch and read my
               book. I am reading Love In A Time Of Homeschooling, which I am enjoying so far.
4:00pm - Prep for dinner. Chop, mix, stir.
4:30pm - Back to the couch with my glass of wine. Back to reading the book.
5:00pm- Start dinner. Kung Pao Chicken, Shanghai noodles, (which contains tofu, which Paul will NOT eat)
              so I make rice for him and Athena and spring rolls.
5:30pm - Paul gets home from out of town. There is a blizzard and travel is not recommended. Sigh of relief.
6:00pm - Dinner time. We eat, visit and I have another glass of wine.
6:45pm-  Clean up. Paul washes today and I dry. Read Athena a book.
7:00pm - Run Athena's bath. Paul goes out to shovel snow. I go and begin this post.
7:50pm - Get Athena out of the tub, brush her teeth and get her into bed. She listens to a book on CD.
              I am thinking this would be a good time for Jim Weiss.
8:00pm- Back to the living room with some tea. I contemplate what I should knit. Maybe Athena's
              Christmas sweater? Maybe some slippers for her? Visit with Paul
9:00pm - Paul goes downstairs to watch TV. How I Met Your Mother. I go up to the bathroom and have
               a shower, get ready for bed.
9:45pm- Talk with Paul for a few minutes. Get the morning's coffee ready. Have some water.
10:00pm- Brush teeth. Off to bed. Use Rocky Mountain Soap Factory Foot Butter on my feet.
                Work an easy crossword puzzle. Relax into Reclined Cobbler for several minutes. Then
                do some relaxation Pranayama in Savasana and drift off to sleep. ZZZZZZ.

This is pretty typical of a day around here. I usually wake up a few times during the night and often have trouble falling back asleep. The joys of being a 45 year old woman I guess. What I wouldn't give to fall asleep and wake up in the morning. Even 6 or 7 hours later would be good. Maybe if I skipped the wine?

Sorry for the formatting. I don't know how to fix it!!

Menu Plans

(today's stellar lunch: Lipton Chicken noodle soup

and canned pears)

After a craptacular* week of eating (Paul was in Toronto all week)

I have decided to step it up a notch next week.

I am always so hungry when he gets back from these long trips.

My plans may be rather ambitious but

what the heck? If we are going to have

freezing cold weather, I'll have plenty of time for cooking

now won't I?

Saturday: Wasabi Salmon, Brown butter brown rice and roasted broccoli

Sunday: Barbeque Ribs, Roasted Potatoes, homemade brown beans and veggies and dip

Monday: Kung Pao Chicken, Singapore Noodles and egg rolls

Tuesday: Beef Stew and Biscuits

Wednesday: Crispy Cod with oven fries and coleslaw

Thursday: Chicken and black bean burritos and leaf salad

Friday: Grilled Beef tenderloin steak, Parmesan popovers and Brussels sprouts creole.

And for lunch, in no particular order

Chipotle Sweet potato soup with bacon and cheese muffins

Borscht

Tom Yum Soup (chick and shrimp in coconut broth)

Tuna melts

I love soup, as you can plainly see.You may also see that we are NOT vegetarians.
Not even close.
 I may not make all of those soups this week

but if I do, our elderly neighbors across the street

will be the recipients of fresh homemade soup

at least a couple of times next week.

So you can think of me, slaving away in the kitchen

(which is actually a rather zen experience for me)

in addition to all of the other tasks

Homeschooling Moms have to do each and every day.

*craptacular : kind of crappy, less than spectacular

Update

Oh joy. It is -50 here this morning. I have never experienced this kind of cold in my life!

There is ice on the inside brick of our fireplace. The windows are all iced up as well. I think we'll have our school day huddled around  a space heater. In even worse news, we have to go out this afternoon. It is the only day each week our library gets shipments from around the province and the books we placed on hold will be ready for us.

Hope your weekend is warmer than mine.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr! and Yeah!!!

It is -43 here in Delisle, Saskatchewan (with the wind chill factor)  as I type this. MINUS FORTY THREE people.
Where are you spring?

In other news, my niece, Kenadee Thompson, just won a Bronze medal at the Halifax Canada Games in Judo. She was admitted under an early bloomer clause because she is only 14. She was in the under 20 group and came in third. Yeah Kenadee!!

Quote

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach me, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

                                                                                                                                  -Thoreau

Just thinking about this simple, profound quote today.