A Simple Woman's Day Book~July 27, 2009

While Peggy is taking a summer vacation from her daybook, Grandmother Wren will be hosting so you can post your daybook there until Peggy’s return.

Normally to join in focusing on the simple things and pleasures of your daily life or to read other people's entries, you would click here.

So, For Today...Monday, July 27, 2009

Outside my window...I can actually see a star shining very brightly even though the dawn is breaking. The last few weeks Jim has been sleeping an extra hour due to feeling fatigued, and so the alarm has been going off at 5:00 instead of 4:00! Hallelujah! This has been wonderful for me as I cannot fall and stay asleep as early as he does at night. He seems to be feeling better so I think the new plan may stick. Fingers crossed anyway! It is very still outside which means it will be a warm day. I hope we get our new air-conditioning before summer's end.

I am thinking...I am feeling better after a restless day yesterday. Things always seem better after sleeping.

From the learning room...I am learning a lot about early American history lately. It has been interesting to get a better idea of the personalities of our founding fathers and what each contributed. I had been unaware of all the troubles between them and how they got resolved. From the get go politics has been strained in our nation.

From the kitchen...I need to make a big pot of steelcut oatmeal and put it in a gallon ziplock for early morning breakfasts for Jim. This works so well and saves so much time each morning. He loves it and it is so good for you. I wish I could get more enthused about eating it like he does. When we were in Scotalnd one time we visited a friend and learned of the oatmeal drawer that many have there. You cook your oatmeal and put it in a tin lined drawer, it dried out and becomes in a big slab. You just tear some off as needed. Ahhh, no thanks. But in the bag it stays nice and moist and the microwave saves the day.

I am wondering..what I will do on the weekend when Jim is gone. He is driving to LA with my brother, Steve, to help our niece move to Salt Lake City. She is going there to get her PhD in math. She will be at the U of U for five years. Her Dad, my brother, Gary, is not feeling well and so Jim and Steve are filling in and driving her things. Her mom will fly out to help her get settled but the guys will do all the unloading. She is brilliant, beautiful and in for a great time. Salt Lake is a beautiful city. I am glad she will be close to her cousins since at this point, she does not know a soul that lives there.

I am wearing... a blue nightgown. I don't know why but my two nightgowns are both blue and I am not a big fan of blue...so I am not sure why they are both blue??

I am reading...The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox and a few other books.

I am creating...trip plans and formulating new ideas for our bathroom remodel. I also need to think about landscaping changes in our front yard. This is not my forte. It seems the minute I walk outside the four walls of a house, any design talents I may have seem to vanish.

I am praying for...heighten spirituality, a better world, health for us all, peace, order and enlightenment.

I am hearing..You Are So Beautiful...Kenny Rankin

My spiritual thoughts include...the miracles that we all experience daily. I am thinking about how when the Lord wants us to do something he prepares a way.

Around the house...we are ready to get back to our projects. Soon I will be hearing the buzzing of a saw and the dust will be flying again as new windows go in. I will be ordering some today. Our hope is to have them in and the exterior of the house painted before we go to Italy. Then if all goes really well, we will also have the addition we are doing in the main bathroom skinned in and enclosed before winter sets in again.

Today I miss..my blogging friends and those that live close by as everyone has been vacationing and traveling and gone. Come back..I miss you!

I am hoping... for another good house to work on soon. The consult I did last week was a house I did not want to do. The people were delightful but the house...not so much.

I have been procrastinating...getting our tickets for Italy and this is the week it will be done!

One of my favorite things...a bright, shiny, clean car. I don't care about the make or model I just like it to run well, and be clean. It must also have a good air-conditioner. No exceptions on that one.

A few plans for the rest of the week..work in my warehouse a little, get the tickets for Italy, luncheon for a friend's belated birthday celebration, bridal shower on Saturday, some mall walking, and getting some food together for Jim and Steve's trip. If I can squeeze it out of the budget I want to get some tickets to see Diana Krall in San Francisco at Davies Hall in a few weeks. We haven't been to a concert or play in way too long.

Here is a picture and a thought I am sharing with you...

Our kids went to Bari, Italy to the Zoo Safari a few weeks ago. Laura took this video from the front seat so didn't get much of Spencer in this one but I think it is pretty cute of Ross and his daddy feeding some BIG camels.