Springtide Daybook

For today… Monday, May 18, 2009

Outside my window… It is a gorgeous, crisply-cool morning! We’ve already felt summer temps here, but a cold front came through…with yet more rain…and it was 44 degrees here this morning. Brrrrrr!

Our blue jays seem abundant and Rob and I are enjoying seeing them everywhere. Our family of crows still come for a morning nibble, but Mrs. Milly Mockingbird is most seriously displeased with their proximity to her territory and is vigilant about scolding them. It is such a sight to behold. We wonder if she has a nest nearby, but we haven’t been able to find it. There is no shortage of entertainment from our feathered neighbors these days!

I am thankful for… a few weeks of summer stretching out before me. I’m delighting in some plans for my oldest daughter that I’m writing with a friend…they seem to have taken a life of their own in a way that says they have always really been written, have always meant to be collected together, they just needed someone to connect all the dots for them. It’s a joy to be a part of its unfolding, and I can’t wait to live them.

From the kitchen… leftover steaks, baked potatoes and salad from yesterday! Rob outdid himself on the grill last night – those steaks were like “butta”!

I am wearing… A khaki skirt, sky blue cardigan sweater over matching shell, brown Mary Janes, and hair swept up in a clip.

I am reading… Transformation in Christ by Dietrich von Hildebrand … again. I’ve forgotten so much of what I’ve read of this book – and it is reflected in my attitudes of late. Why do I do that? Thank goodness the Holy Spirit is ever-faithful in offering course corrections!

I am hearing… Peanut playing just a little bit away from me. He’s happily and quietly pretending/role playing with his little lego men and a speeder he built. Of course, he is role playing about shooting bad guys…so don’t envision too gentle a scene. 🙂

Looking to the rhythm of the liturgical year… the Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord is coming up this Thursday and I’m thinking of all kinds of ways to live that.

I’ve gotten sort of lost in the everyday schedules of late – laundry, meals, activities, closing out the school year, sick little people – that I have lost our rhythm with the liturgical year. I’ll sheepishly admit that my Feast Table is still set up with Easter decor which I rationalize **does** apply every Sunday at least. But, surely you must know how I love the month of May and its dedication to Our Lady. It just will not do to not crown her! With an eye towards the reality of our schedule right now, and an effort not to overwhelm me, my goals are to get back to the beautiful simplicity of reading along with the liturgical year using our picture books, crown our Lady on a Feast Table decorated for May, and a simple mini-playet to illustrate Our Lord’s Ascension on Thursday.

In our learning spaces… you would find stacks of completed books and files tidily assembled with records of another year passed. We have finished the official year, and I have granted the children a short mini-break from all work as I tidy the room, move books, rearrange shelves and table spaces. I already have plans in place for a very simple summer schedule. I much prefer to just eschew all lessons and enjoy a delightful summer break, but my children self-destruct with no direction at all, and all momentum will be lost for Sweet Pea who has just embarked on a study of Algebra I. So, we will enjoy a very relaxed pace of light math and reading this summer.

Around the house… I have finally been able to catch up with my routine cleaning chores this weekend…after one of my sons put his foot through the ceiling of my closet…from above. It’s always something, isn’t it?

I managed to get to a complete overhaul of my kitchen. I can’t tell you how badly in need of this my kitchen was! I tidied the pantry, cleaned the fridge out (which was a sticky trap of juices and spilled gumbo), AND!!!! ….. I was finally able to empty all of the drawers in my kitchen and purge the ridiculous number of utensils I was storing down to a workable amount of always used utensils. Why do we keep the useless number of things we do? For instance, I never use an egg separator, I just do that with the shells…why did I find 2 in drawers? Why? Ridiculous!

Before I reloaded all of my kitchen drawers, I wiped them out thoroughly and added a pretty red gingham drawer liner. They all look so pretty and inviting now!

I will claim a moment for myself… I’m determined to read more during these summer days…

A few plans for the rest of the week… to finish up tidying in the learning room and set up some summer learning spaces for my restless crew. I cannot do any planning when there are piles of books above my head on tables…so I need to tend to that! And, I need to take a good look at my shelves – our local homeschooling group’s used book sale is coming up and I need to make space!

There is a school board meeting tomorrow night – I always look forward to those and seeing what’s being planned/in the works for the next year. And, we’re so excited about the end of the school year picnic at our friend’s farm! That should be absolutely delightful if the rain holds off.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing…

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