Monthly Musings: November 2013, Plus

I started this Monthly Musings idea last year in August.  Off and on, I kept it up, but never got a chance to post it.  I like to keep all of my writing....because in the end, it is just a form of personal journaling, and I don't like to waste the words that I write.  For me.  I did remember to use my iPhone to keep my thoughts in my Notes app in this last November.  And I found a few leftovers from earlier in the year as well.  So, here I am, just rambling.

Here is what I wrote, to introduce my Musing idea back in August of 2012.....

  "I am so excited. I finally figured out a good way to keep track of my random blogging thoughts and how to post them.

      I am using the " notes" section of my iPhone to jot them down and then I will post them on TUAR at the end of the month......or, like this......the beginning of the next month......or, whenever......

      Or, maybe whenever they are long enough. Either way, it is nice to have a plan. :). And, since my phone is always with me..... I can take advantage of the spontaneity of my thoughts. For my own edification, of course.  ;)

     It will be like journaling and writing one of those lengthy letters to a friend, combined in one place. I hope this idea works. So far, it does........and I have already started on the next month's Musings...."

Thanks for reading along with me!

 

March 2013

When I ran home to pick up Maddelyn, almost 18 years, to take her to piano, she got into the car and immediately said:  Mama, would you like to pray the rosary with me while we drive?  Sweet blessing.  Love that girl.


April 2013

I love that I can take my breaks at work out in nature. Birds chirping. Gorgeous views. Trees, flowers, natural grasses, streams. Blessed.




Pretty cattails!......in an upper pond

There are even a couple of ponds. One of the ponds does reflections well and with a little bridge-like spot can often resemble a Monet-style painting.




This is the view from the front of the hospital.......the Mozart pond

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I have taken to a habit of bringing my spiritual reading to work and spending my breaks reading our book study. It has been so good for my days. I really feel more refreshed after each break now: nature and spiritual uplift. Excellent combo.

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I have been telling all of my patients that April is the best month to have a birthday. Diamonds, sweet peas. What more do we need?


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August 2013


I have been watching surf movies. Especially documentaries.

Because I miss the ocean in Hawaii. And I want to keep seeing waves.

I am watching the waves. Not the surfers. :) really.

Took this in July of 2013, on North Shore of Oahu

And some of the movies.....are too stupid to even just watch the waves.


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November 2013

I adore the fact that all combinations of my children read aloud to each other.

Various groupings of two sisters.....sisters and brothers......brothers and brothers.

There is currently a second reading aloud of Dracula this fall. My middle son is reading aloud to his eldest sister.

Last fall, the youngest and oldest girls read Dracula together.

When they were little, the oldest girl read Nancy Drew aloud to her little brother who could not yet read.

There have been various Little Women readings, between the girls.......and so it goes.

I love how they love literature and each other.  So endearing.


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Recently heard at my house from my 12 year old son......

"Mama, where is Tom Sawyer?


It's time for our annual listen to Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn."


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My little guy is diligently and carefully picking out Christmas gifts for his siblings. He just earned some bucks raking his little heart out for a friend of mine.......and as soon as he gets home, he starts setting aside the funds for each gift.

He brought $25 in to me, and said:  Here. Save this so I won't spend it.  That is how much Anne's present is. 


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Well, when Erin thought she had a lot of posts in her drafts, I never got a chance to tell her:  Yeah. We have 207. Yeah. That much. Really. To be fair to Willa, most are mine. I start stuff so I won't forget......and then new stuff comes into my mind.  And even more amusing....is that she gets more blog posts written than I do. (Okay....there are really 217 now.....since I wrote the 207) I do believe that for every draft I complete, I may actually make up to three more.

In November, I knocked eight off. I deleted most of them because they were not really drafts. But, it did bring our number of drafts to 199. :)

Also, I am going to try to whittle the number down a bit more. So, if you see suddenly random posts or posts that seem to be outdated, this may be the reason.

Even this post has outdated Monthly Musings.   :)

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Hey! It turns out my writing style is not conversational. The proper term is narrative. Not sure why it took me this long to figure that out. Actually, I didn't. I read a note of Willa's describing my style. Duh. I should have realized. Yeah, I am a storyteller.

Well, on reflection.....maybe I already knew that.....but never applied it to my own style of writing.


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Thanksgiving weekend, my five year old godson says:

"I was dead."

I replied:  "Well, I am glad you came back to life to come over to my house."

He says:  "I wasn't dead, like by a sword (pretending to stab himself in the abdomen with a sword). I was just dead."

I just adore five year olds.

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Advent Blessings,

                         Chari

Monthly Musings, from the Past......

I had started a Monthly Musings posting in August of 2012.......and was continuing what I had started........until my iPhone was damaged....and became unusable.  So, temporarily I had lost my notes.....because that was where I was storing my musings. 

Luckily it was all recovered in December when I hooked up the new-to-me iPhone I was gifted by my sister.......because I had been backing up my iPhone regularly and had done it only days before I lost the use of the phone.  Phew.

Since I do not like to waste the words I write........I am going to just post them here.......for posterity's sake.


Here is how I introduced the Monthly Musings last September:

  "I am so excited. I finally figured out a good way to keep track of my random blogging thoughts and how to post them.

      I am using the " notes" section of my iPhone to jot them down and then I will post them on TUAR at the end of the month......or, like this......the beginning of the next month......or, whenever......

      Or, maybe whenever they are long enough. Either way, it is nice to have a plan. :). And, since my phone is always with me..... I can take advantage of the spontaneity of my thoughts. For my own edification, of course.  ;)

     It will be like journaling and writing one of those lengthy letters to a friend, combined in one place. I hope this idea works. So far, it does........and I have already started on the next month's Musings...."

Monthly musings:  September 2012

A couple of funny things about that Google Search in the blog stats:

Two people found their way over when searching:

"Emergency room parking lot"

And "funny woodstove cartoon"

What the heck???

And........."Husband on computer meme"



Ever since Willa posted this meme about World of Warcraft...... It has been our most popular Google search site...... Like quadruple the next most popular. Bizarre. And most amusing. I am sure that the average World Of Warcraft follower has no interest in a Literature-based blog of two Catholic homeschooling moms. :)

Our second most popular Google search topic is Willa's Printable Litany of Humility.   I guess that was very much needed. She was right about that.

And now, this present post will now get lots of hits for both those topics...... Simply because I mentioned them. :)

One high point:  a handful of people made it to our blog searching for "homeschooling older kids". Yes!  Now they will have a place to land:  the High School Carnival.

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I simply have to try to figure a way to make it a priority to see my local friends who are also my dearest.

My friend Cindy and I have lots in common.....well, I think we have almost everything in common, except our political leanings. She is a hospice RN....  I help them
Into this world (labor and delivery) and she helps them out of this world.

Shawna.

Louise.

Maria.

And Patty, too!

(Seriously.......I wrote this in September 2012..........and it has definitely not improved.  At all.  I did have a lovely birthday lunch......one with Shawna and one with Louise......need to work on this more!)

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I found one thing to be happy about this cooling weather......brrrr......

Stash's Christmas Morning Tea!

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Toñia blessing me......

So, I am about to start my day at work....it looks to be very busy and crazy.  My co-worker, just getting off from nightshift, comes around the corner and she blesses me with Holy Water from our little Chapel.  Such a sweet, unexpected blessing.  I LOVE having a Catholic co-worker who prayers the Rosary for me  :)  I do the same for her......

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Isn't it great how a summer of no reading, either to himself or aloud can improve someone's reading?

 Love non-schooling. ;)

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A terrible thing happens at our house when we run out of Kleenex.

                               We get colds.  Almost.every.time.  So predictable.

                                                                 So...you know we avoid running out.  As much as possible.


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Some of these musings become long enough to become their own blog post.


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Easy to impress public school teachers. Music. Dance. Straight As

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Cuddling in my bed in the morning with my little man, I realize:  I may not have much of this left. Right? He is ten years old at this moment. Next month he will be eleven. Do twelve year olds still cuddle? I am pretty sure that eleven year olds are still willing. This may well be my last year.

(yes.........almost 12 year old boys still cuddle.  But I knew that.  Heck.  16 year old boys still cuddle.  Heavy, though, especially when they lay on top of you after you climb into bed.)

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First ambulance ride with a patient.
Carsick ugh.

Riding in the back of an ambulance down a curvy mountain pass.  Ugh.......I was spinning for hours afterward......

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I just knew it!  I knew if I posted that picture of Colin Firth, we would get Google search hits right away for his name. It only took one day. Haha.

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Ah. A yearly "Fall Update" is on my mind......since Willa and I introduced our family last fall, I am thinking a quick family update each year about the same time would be nice, for memory's sake. just to update the small...... Or big......changes.

(well.....we did not do that........and oh, so, many changes since two years ago for our offspring......maybe this Fall???)

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I take a bath and one by one they come in for a visit. ALL five of them. I am sure it was spontaneous, but it could have not been planned any better.  So much for peaceful and quiet.  I knew I should have locked the door......

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I am such a martyr this semester. It is wearing me out.

(I have no idea what this means.........what was I thinking about????)

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Wow. I almost never carry a book anymore.  Is this a modern thing?


Of course I have reading material.....just not always hardcopy out the door......

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On our long way from Mass, I jokingly complained that I had not received one text in the last twelve hours (unusual considering my sisters)...... Within moments, I received two texts:

"I love you" from the eldest offspring and "Hey. I love you" from the 15 year old boy. Sweet.

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Summer Blessings,

                        Chari

My Monthly Musings: August 2012

    Yes.  I realize it is September, not August.......but these were my musings in August, not September.....as you will see below.

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     I am so excited. I finally figured out a good way to keep track of my random blogging thoughts and how to post them.

      I am using the " notes" section of my iPhone to jot them down and then I will post them on TUAR at the end of the month......or, like this......the beginning of the next month......or, whenever......
Or, maybe whenever they are long enough. Either way, it is nice to have a plan. :). And, since my phone is always with me..... I can take advantage of the spontaneity of my thoughts. For my own edification, of course.  ;)

     It will be like journaling and writing one of those lengthy letters to a friend, combined in one place. I hope this idea works. So far, it does........and I have already started on September's Musings....

      And, here is the first entry, written while watching the sun set on the lake. A perfectly lovely summer evening:

      I took advantage of a kayak sitting next to me on the lake shore. It was a little awkward for my uncoordinated-self, like I expected. I just sat in it in the shallow water for a bit and then finally braved to venture out into the lagoon. I loved it. I paddled all around the edge of the lagoon. It was so fun to be on the other side. I have always wanted to see what was over there. It was just like a nature walk, but I was floating in the water. I really wished my camera could have come along for the ride.

 I can't wait to go again. I might even be brave enough to wander out into the big lake.

     So, while I an sitting here.......there is a moose call.  At least it sounds like a moose......but, there are no moose here.  Maybe a Roosevelt elk?  Those are in our county somewhere....and then finally it dawns on me.  A bullfrog.  I had no idea they sounded like a moose!

What does a bull frog found like??  Click play below and find out!

Is this your first time hearing a bullfrog?  In the lagoon where I was sitting, when we heard our bullfrog.....the sound was a lot bigger than any frog could have been!  I have heard the sound before....just never gave the credit for it to the right creature.

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Oh, my. I have added yet another book to my bedside reading stack. I need to stop. I must stop.

The books are actually beginning to explode off of the shelf.  Yikes.

Really. They just get in the way of my trying to eat up the classics.

I think I have added more to the stacks than what I have read this year.

So much for The Bedside Table Reading Challenge......

Someone scold me, please?

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The BeeGees???  Seriously?  This was moved to its own post......


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A couple of funny things about that google search for our blog......

2 people found their way over here to TUAR when searching:

"Mountain subterranean storage"

What the heck?  Two did that???

I wonder what post it brought them to.....

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Let the driving crazy begin.

It started in the middle of August with soccer practice in the some of the evenings for one kid......increased the following week with daily evening soccer for the next kid.

On the twentieth, we added another drive, this time to the junior college....... A twice daily drive from
Now until......whenever she gets her license....for five days a week.

On the twenty -first. Another kid is off to the JC for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The following week, we added a weekly Tuesday drive for meeting with a teacher.

And later that week.......MWF driving of a teen to his drama class.

And, the same week, we added weekly Saturday soccer games.

Of course, there are three adults here, who drive, and have work schedules as well.

Sigh.  Be sure to call before you stop by my house.......

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Thanks for musing with me.......

 

     Blessings,

 

                      Chari