Miscellany

Hi, Mare Bear!

1) Can I please recommend a REALLY good book? It’s called The Book Thief and it’s excellent. Look at the bottom of my left toolbar on this page and you’ll find the Amazon link. I listened to the audiobook version and it was outstanding.

2) Cootieboy tried out for his school choir this morning and he feels he did well. They had him sing “Row Row Row Your Boat” once and “Happy Birthday” twice, and they told him he did a great job. He does sing well – nice pitch, stays in tune, enunciates clearly – so I’d be surprised if he doesn’t make it. And before you say, “Sure, you HAVE to say that – you’re his mom,” let me just say that Cootiegirl did not try out for choir despite her love of singing. Do I need to say anything else? *lol*

3) Speaking of Cootiegirl, her first soccer game got rained out this past weekend, so her first game will be this coming weekend instead. This is good because it gave her another practice so she’s not just randomly running around the field in her first game.

4) I’m taking Friday off from work in order to act as chaperone for a field trip that CB’s class is taking. They are visiting the fire station, police station and Mayor’s office. Stupidly, I decided to make use of the day off and get things done instead of planning for a nap. So on Friday I’ll be 1) taking the pets to the vet, 2) taking my car in for an oil change, 3) chaperoning the field trip, 4) attending a parent-teacher conference with CG’s teacher, 5) making dinner (which I normally don’t do), and 6) the whole family will be going to a play at the Children’s Theater that night. WHAT AM I THINKING? Days off are supposed to be RELAXING and I think the only relaxing bit of the day I’ll have is between 4-5 p.m. Blerg….

5) This month marks the month that Denis and I officially became consumer debt-free. Yep, the last credit card was paid off last week. I began the journey to become debt-free in November 2007 and after much diligence (and tax refunds, and financial gifts, and freelance work, and some inheritance money) it finally happened. The last payment. And so now Denis and I move into savings mode in order to get money in the bank in preparation for building a house. WOOT! But even as we dump money into savings, it’s also the continuation of “Operation Fix-It” around the house. We’re in the process of having the front lawn reseeded, and we’ve been looking at granite countertops. The hope is to have the new countertops in before Christmas. And then we do the myriad of other projects that need doing.

6) As for getting my kids to try new foods, they are doing well. CG is the most adventurous and has added quite a few foods to her repertoire. I managed to get CG to try brussel sprouts a couple days ago and she didn’t like them. Oh well, we can’t win them all, I guess. But at least we’ve been able to add pork chops and chicken kiev as “yes” foods, and vehemently ruled out cole slaw for CB (that was a drama filled night, believe you me).

I think that’s it for now. Netflix delivered “Jane Eyre” to my house today, and Mr. Rochester is calling out to me, daring me to pick him over Mr. Darcy anyday. And based on how he does in tonight’s flick, I just might! Sacre bleu!