Monday, July 2

This 'n That

We had such a productive weekend. We hit a fire sale at the nursery and bought three flats of vegetable plants for .25 per plant. WOOHOO. They were a bit root bound, but we figured that's okay. Better to try than to just let them get thrown into a compost heap somewhere. Of course, it would've worked better if we'd researched just *how* to transplant root bound plants properly before we dove right in... still. You know. We never said the learning curve isn't steep, right?

We finally put the watermelons and pumpkins in the melon patch down by the barn! That felt good. It'll probably feel even better if we can get anything to come up, flower, and then actually produce fruit.

We played ball, walked in circles, read great stories, played video games, and ate well. It was a great weekend. I even cleaned, but without having to neglect the children, since they were outside playing ball with Zorak. Talk about guilt-free time alone! Yeah, that's good stuff.

Tonight, Zorak and I went through all the paperwork, sorted, purged, sifted, purged, and then purged a little more. Oh, I can breathe again! (I hate paper clutter, and yet, that's the sort I seem to collect. Terribly self-defeating. Superman didn't mine kryptonite. Pffttt.) And then, just as I sat down to set up my notebook (July through September - I've actually been keeping this thing up-to-date and good to go, with budgeting, scheduling, lesson plans, book lists, and hometending information!)... the printer no printy. What the--

*sigh*

Toner light is on.

And when this thing says it needs toner, it means now.

So, in a fit of desperation, fighting the sense of utter isolation in knowing I don't have toner and I can't print books, and NOTHING IS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT HERE IN THE COUNTRY (yes, at which point, even I whispered, "um, der!" *sigh* I know...) I signed up for the free trial of Amazon Prime. Because they had my toner cartridge. And it made perfect sense to do that for the free two-day shipping. Yes, things will be open in the morning, but by morning, my panic will have subsided. And the children will be up and expecting food and attention. And... I just don't leave the house unless I have to. Now, I don't have to!

So, no lesson plans or Baldwin reading until Wednesday. But that's okay, we have plenty of other things to enjoy in the meantime. (Right, like math and Latin, you say? hee hee)

No, we have a lot to keep us busy. We've got work in the garden, and soil samples to finish gathering and test. We have the hummingbird feeder up (yes, finally - one flew by yesterday, stopped and looked right at us, as if to say, "What? You think we can't see that feeder sitting in there on the counter? Where's our FOOD, people?!?" Guilt can be quite the motivator.) We have another bird feeder to finish cleaning (who knew you could get that much grime on such a small surface area? Ew.) A birdhouse to hang. Birds to watch, and things to draw.

There's so much to be done, no matter how much or how little we have to do it with, we will always have plenty. And plenty to do, as well. So exciting!

Here's to a fantastic week! Kiss those babies!
~Dy

6 comments:

Bridget said...

Don't you just love those weekends when you feel like you have really accomplished something and you've done it without neglecting anyone. It sure does start the week off well.

Anonymous said...

Dy- just wanted to say I love Amazon Prime! I am on year 2 and I would say I paid for both years in year 1. Nothing like next day shipping for 3.99...
Lisa

Anonymous said...

If you take the toner cartridge out of the printer and shake it and rock it from side to side for a minute or so, you can redistribute the toner and make it last longer. I do that every time the light comes on and it really helps.

Dy said...

Bridget, yes, I do. I appreciate it more than I have the words to convey!

Lisa, thank you for mentioning that. I've had a bit of buyer's remorse this morning, but you're encouraging. (It's also good to see you again!)

Matt, my hero. Well, next to Zorak. OK, you can be my printer hero! First the printer (which I love-beyond-reason) and now - it worked! I have a printed page! Thank you!

Dy

Melora said...

I Loved my trial Amazon Prime membership!! It was lovely to be able to casually order a $5.00 book, rather than wait til I was ready to spend $25 to get free but snail slow shipping. I'm still too cheap to pay for it, though.
I'll try the toner tip next time we run out. That stuff costs a fortune.

Thank you for reminding me about Baldwin! T. has been Such a reluctant reader, but he was interested in reading the monster stories on the Baldwin site. Maybe I'll print one out for him. At this point I don't even care if it is educational or enlightening -- I just want him to get in the reading habit!

Bob and Claire said...

I am the same way about paper clutter--I hate it, it makes me itchy, and yet that is what I collect. Bob and I also went through papers on Saturday. We shredded and put away a ton, and our scary kitchen counter, where the paper clutter accumulates and breeds, looks so much nicer! Unfortunately, I am sure it won't be too long before it fills up again. I just can NOT get a good system down for dealing with it. Most frustrating! : )