More Saturday thankfulness
J. and I spent some time wandering from room to room around the house making a master list of everything that needs to be done. This is the absolutely essential list, and not the it might be nice to.. list. There were many of the same items for each room, things such as new paint, lots of boxing up, and new blinds. You know, those things you get used to and don't notice until you see them with the eyes of someone seeing the house for the first time, and then you are appalled at your own filth.
So, despite the filth and the work, I will look at the thankful parts of the day instead. My list includes...
Less screaming
Yesterday, we started patching R.'s eye in the hopes that it will strengthen her weak eye and help her to use it better. We had great success patching H.'s eye after she joined our family, and we're hopeful this will help R. just as much. Well, R. has never been quite as compliant as H. was, and when I put the eye patch on her it was a shock. At first she started yelling at me that she couldn't see, which was a bit alarming. Well, alarming until I watched her navigate the perpetual mine field that is the kitchen to go and get a coloring book. When she realized that I wasn't taking it off, I then was shouted at in Mandarin for a while. That eventually settled down to a quieter, but constant stream of unhappiness. She patches for four hours.
Today, we put the patch on and got to skip the screaming in Mandarin part of the festivities, and instead went to the constant low whine of, "No good. No good. No good." I know it's not fun. I know she doesn't see as well with her good eye patched, but it is also so important to do what we can to get both eyes working as well as possible.
Poblano chilies were on sale
It's not as though poblano chilies are outrageously expensive at any time, but there is something about having them cost less and seeing a great big pile of beautiful chilies there that makes me want to buy them. So I did. Which means we are having chile rellenos tonight for dinner. Oh my goodness! Have you ever eaten homemade chile rellenos? They are incredibly good. They are also incredibly bad for you and take a ton of time. Did I mention they are so good? Right now, I have the sauce simmering, the stuffed chilies are down in the freezer doing their half and hour freeze business, and I am about to get up, start the rice, and then fry the chilies.
Husbands who take masses of people to big box stores for me
I don't enjoy doing the necessary shopping at the big box stores, but sometimes you just have to go because you are running low on things such as toilet paper, light bulbs, and chopped garlic. J. and I divided and conquered the weekly shopping today. I took the two grocery stores and the pet store. He took the two big boxes. One for paper products and the other for home related repair type items. I took one girl. He took five other people. I think I got the better deal.
Don't you love having the grocery and other related shopping done for the week? It's that nice feeling of knowing your house is stocked with what you need, and you can relax a bit before having to do the next round of hunting and gathering. I also often think to myself, "OK, now would be a great time to have a short blizzard. We have supplies." This statement probably shows my latent prepper tendencies... that need to be prepared for all contingencies at all times.. than it does anything else.
Church is an hour later tomorrow
This is pretty exciting. It means we have a chance to actually be on time and still sleep in just a wee bit. But in reality what it means is, we will sleep in a wee bit, take more time than usual getting ready because church is an hour later, and then still be late. The reaction of our children to this tendency varies. Some don't seem to realize that we have difficulty arriving to church on time. Others are resigned to the fact that it happens more often than not. And a few are driving absolutely wild by our pattern of lateness and sometimes threaten to walk so at least they will be on time. I feel a real kinship to the family in Speechless over this. (You all have seen this show by now, yes? Please do watch it, because then we can discuss it and share our favorite parts.)
So, despite the filth and the work, I will look at the thankful parts of the day instead. My list includes...
Less screaming
Yesterday, we started patching R.'s eye in the hopes that it will strengthen her weak eye and help her to use it better. We had great success patching H.'s eye after she joined our family, and we're hopeful this will help R. just as much. Well, R. has never been quite as compliant as H. was, and when I put the eye patch on her it was a shock. At first she started yelling at me that she couldn't see, which was a bit alarming. Well, alarming until I watched her navigate the perpetual mine field that is the kitchen to go and get a coloring book. When she realized that I wasn't taking it off, I then was shouted at in Mandarin for a while. That eventually settled down to a quieter, but constant stream of unhappiness. She patches for four hours.
Today, we put the patch on and got to skip the screaming in Mandarin part of the festivities, and instead went to the constant low whine of, "No good. No good. No good." I know it's not fun. I know she doesn't see as well with her good eye patched, but it is also so important to do what we can to get both eyes working as well as possible.
Poblano chilies were on sale
It's not as though poblano chilies are outrageously expensive at any time, but there is something about having them cost less and seeing a great big pile of beautiful chilies there that makes me want to buy them. So I did. Which means we are having chile rellenos tonight for dinner. Oh my goodness! Have you ever eaten homemade chile rellenos? They are incredibly good. They are also incredibly bad for you and take a ton of time. Did I mention they are so good? Right now, I have the sauce simmering, the stuffed chilies are down in the freezer doing their half and hour freeze business, and I am about to get up, start the rice, and then fry the chilies.
Husbands who take masses of people to big box stores for me
I don't enjoy doing the necessary shopping at the big box stores, but sometimes you just have to go because you are running low on things such as toilet paper, light bulbs, and chopped garlic. J. and I divided and conquered the weekly shopping today. I took the two grocery stores and the pet store. He took the two big boxes. One for paper products and the other for home related repair type items. I took one girl. He took five other people. I think I got the better deal.
Don't you love having the grocery and other related shopping done for the week? It's that nice feeling of knowing your house is stocked with what you need, and you can relax a bit before having to do the next round of hunting and gathering. I also often think to myself, "OK, now would be a great time to have a short blizzard. We have supplies." This statement probably shows my latent prepper tendencies... that need to be prepared for all contingencies at all times.. than it does anything else.
Church is an hour later tomorrow
This is pretty exciting. It means we have a chance to actually be on time and still sleep in just a wee bit. But in reality what it means is, we will sleep in a wee bit, take more time than usual getting ready because church is an hour later, and then still be late. The reaction of our children to this tendency varies. Some don't seem to realize that we have difficulty arriving to church on time. Others are resigned to the fact that it happens more often than not. And a few are driving absolutely wild by our pattern of lateness and sometimes threaten to walk so at least they will be on time. I feel a real kinship to the family in Speechless over this. (You all have seen this show by now, yes? Please do watch it, because then we can discuss it and share our favorite parts.)
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