Just Stuff

Life around here has been busy. After recovering from the stomach flu, we are getting back in the swing of school. Hopefully by next week, we will be at the place I would like to be at in our schedule. The housework, on the other hand, is not quite back up to speed. Laundry continues to be my downfall. I thought I was going to get caught up after all the extra towels from cleaning up during our period of illness, and now it seems the washing machine is on the blink . . . It’s usable, but it will now take even longer to get through a load as I will have to check on the washer after starting a load and manually move it from one cycle to the next.

The good news is that the town has lifted the “boil your water order” that it issued last weekend after an e-coli scare. It turns out, there likely wasn’t anything to be concerned about, but the water department had to issue warnings because of some negative test results it had last week. The water supervisor feels sure he contaminated the test.

On the “entertainment” front, I thought I would share that I have finished another LM Montgomery book. This one, Jane of Lantern Hill, is a standalone book that is actually a bit more original than the Anne or Emily stories. I still can’t recommend any LM Montgomery books enough to parents of young girls who are looking for good wholesome reading material.

I also picked up a PBS-type mini-series from the library to watch on DVD last week. It is called The Forsyte Saga. It is very “soap-operaish,” but I’ve enjoyed it none-the-less. It is set in Edwardian England and follows the comings and goings of an aristocratic family over a few generations. For those who have watched some of the Austen movies or other British flicks, you’ll recognize a few of the actors. We watched all three DVDs last week, and Mark returned them and picked up the 2 remaining available at the library today. One last entertainment note . . . I exchanged a birthday gift DVD today (it was one I already had) for Girl With the Pearl Earring. I read the book before the movie came out, and I enjoyed it. Then the producers casted Colin Firth as the Dutch painter Vermeer. So, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of the movie on DVD so I can compare it to the book. Thank you to those responsible for giving me the DVD I exchanged to get this one.

Life Happens

My grand ambitions to get homeschooling off to a running start came to a startling halt on Monday night/early Tuesday morning. After having a fairly effective first day of school with my three older children, the stomach flu hit the 4 remaining family members who hadn’t yet experienced it last week. First the baby threw-up, then it was Mommy and the 2 older boys. Daddy had to stay up to care for the afflicted, since Mommy was of little use. After about 3 hours of sleep, we awakened to the thump, thump, thump of hammers on our roof. The roofers had finally arrived to replace our roof from hail damage it incurred in the spring. Timing truly is everything!

Happily, I can say that we have all recovered quite well by today, and we managed to get back to work on school today.