I’m of the mindset that one should work hard and get things out of the way just as quickly as possible. Ward is a fan of procrastination. One of his favorite sayings is “hard work pays off eventually but procrastination pays off now”.

I worked my tail off to get the work done for my math class. I wanted early access to the final study guide. I feel like I need all the study time I can get. I finished the last requirement last night about 10 p.m. and e-mailed my instructor. He immediately e-mailed back and said he would love to grant me access however he’s on a cruise and can’t upload the necessary software to the ship computer. No study guide for me until Wednesday night when it was scheduled to go live anyway.

Its stuff like this that makes the hard work ethic a tough sell to our children.

Saturday morning Lori and I met for a lovely time of Starbucks coffee and chatting. The weather this weekend has been perfect. We sat outside and enjoyed the cool breeze and sunshine. Later in the day, we met my parents and brother at Caesar’s Creek. We geocached and enjoyed the gorge scenery. I have pictures but am just too lazy to upload them right now.

This morning was church as usual. With such a small church, I (and everyone else) wears multiple hats on Sunday morning. Several people bailed me out today and did my work for me so I had time to drink a leisurely cup of coffee and chat with my neighbor about the wacky school bus schedule.

We don’t know yet what classes Son has nor what time the bus will pick him up. School starts in two weeks. Ward suspects the school doesn’t know the schedules yet either but I thought there was a chance they were holding out on us just because we’re new. Ward was right. My neighbor’s freshman daughter doesn’t know anything yet either. Good to know. Disconcerting for a planner like me but still good to know that we have’t missed the boat (or bus)!

When we got home this afternoon, I worked on math. I’m on a mission to finish this class early. I worked all afternoon and am down to just one on line quiz. I took a break at 5:30 and attended a short church meeting. I came back and did another lesson before throwing in the towel for the night.

We have seven people signed up so far for Financial Peace University. We expect that four (possibly five) will sign up at the preview next Sunday evening. This is a perfect sized group and way beyond what I ever dreamed. I was praying for five people. Ha! This week I’m going to start pulling together some of the fun ideas I’ve gotten from the coordinator portion of the FPU site.

This week should be slower than most so Im looking forward to having time to pull together some loose ends around here. I’ve got what feels like a million little details floating around in my head.

We are of course busy as usual but mostly I just haven’t had anything to say. I sitll don’t but here we go!

Last Friday we took a trip to the Creation Museum with Ward’s parents. I was kinda dreading it knowing how packed the museum has been the last few times we’ve been there. It was a perfect day. The crowds were hardly noticeable. We had a lovely picnic lunch in the picnic shelter. It was hot that day but the breeze made lunch very enjoyable.

Yesterday I met with the Dean of department I’m applying to. I have two prerequisites necessary for admission to the program. I planned to take one in the fall and the other in the winter. The Dean suggested I take both classes this fall so that I’m guaranteed admission to the program next fall.  The program accepts 45 people per year. If I wait, I may or may not get a spot. Also if I wait, I’ll have at least one quarter where I won’t be able to take any class at all because I will have taken everything I can before program acceptance.

So eight credits. Oy. I’m thinking long and hard about how to streamline life around here. I do a lot for my kids. Too much. Its mostly an issue of “I can do it faster than explaining it”. I’m realizing as we prepare Son for school that he’s been oh so very sheltered. He’s never had a house key. I of course met him at the bus stop for K and 1st grade. He’s never operated a combination lock or had to get up on a schedule. I’ve made half hearted attempts over the years at a schedule but I’m not disciplined enough to stick to it. Therefore we start school when we get around in the mornings. I wrote down a schedule the other day. Its going to take a lot of discipline from the whole family because there’s no way we’ll arrive on the other side unless everyone steps up to the plate.

The listing contract on our house expires October 1st. I can’t fuss with that mess while shuffling eight credits so we’re going to pull it off the market. We’re debating if we should do it now or wait until September 7th (classes start on the 8th). At this point, I’m afraid if we let it go, we’ll get a buyer and then I have to deal with packing and classes.  Previous experience says that’s unlikely but hey you never know.

Son’s 15th birthday is October 2nd. We originally closed on this house on his 8th birthday. At the time we told him most kids never get a whole house for their birthday. I told him the other day that seeing the end of the listing contract will be a gift for both of us. He can trash out his room again and I’ll happily ignore it.  After the sign comes down, I may or may not clean for a month. I’m starting early though. I told Ward last night that I keep moving my pile from the table to the TV stand and back again. I have a good sized pile of coupons, schoolwork and FPU stuff that I’m actively working on. Because its all a work in progress, its not worth really putting away.

Daughter has an ortho appointment at 11. We’re having lunch out and then running some errands. I better get moving! I want to work on my pile some before we leave…heehee.

Today my math professor e-mailed me the access code necessary to take the next test for my class. Daughter’s birthday is tomorrow, both sets of grandparents are coming over for dinner and Ward’s parents are visiting for a couple days. I really wanted to get this test behind me.

The previous quizzes and tests were not timed. The test I took tonight was 50 questions and had to be completed within two hours. Some where in the dark recesses of my mind, I knew about the timed aspect of it but it didn’t truly sink in until the test started. The ticking time in the sidebar totally flipped me out. I couldn’t remember squat and felt myself getting more and more flustered. Somewhere around question 30, my brain kicked back into gear and I finished the test in 1:55. I ended up with a final score of 80%. Because I did some extra credit work, I’ll get ten points added to my score. Yee haw! Son thinks I’m crazy to do more than is asked of me. You can be sure I’ll point out to him why extra credit is your friend.

Our Kroger stores are having “super mega” deals this week. Buy any combination of ten of certain items and get $5 off. You can do this three times in one transaction. I bought thirty items yesterday and got the full $15 off. I went back today for another thirty items and another $15 savings.

My kitchen looks like a small grocery store. I also hit the Meijer sales pretty hard this week. Between Meijer and Kroger, I got somewhere around $308 worth of stuff for $160. My freezers are packed to the gills.  The pantry shelves are groaning.

I’m exhausted and don’t care to see the inside of a grocery store again for awhile.

I had my doubts at a few points this weekend but we made it through

1. birthday party

2. open house

3. tons ‘o math homework

The birthday party seemed to be well received. Daughter had a good time. Everyone left by 9 and then Ward and I got to work on the cleaning for the open house the next day.

I got up early Sunday morning to work on more cleaning. Ward and the kids went early for worship practice and I came later. The house was spotless. There wasn’t a carpet fiber out of place. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am a perfectionist.  The family is not so I knew to get the house to my specifications, I had to do this alone.

The realtor called this morning. We had five people come to the open house. Our realtor is thrilled with that response and we’re shocked. We expected that no one would come. Everyone was very complimentary about the house. One couple was especially interested but weren’t sure they liked the way the lot is situated. The lots run diagonally.  We looked at a house yesterday that had a retaining pond in the back yard. It was a turn off to us but like our lot, there’s not a whole lot we can do about it. You’re either OK with it or you’re not. Our realtor is planning a realtor open house for early next week. She’s calling on the other realtors who sell in this area in hopes that after they see it, they might have a buyer in mind. She said and I agree that a Saturday open house from now on will be better. She gets a better response in this area and for us Saturdays are easier to manage. We have too many obligations on Sunday mornings.

I spent the rest of the day and evening working on my math project. I have kept up with all the due dates but everything came down to a crunch this week. Its been really tough. The project is done though and its on its way to my professor.

I’m happy all this stuff is behind me. Now if I could just get a really good night of sleep tonight, I’ll be a new woman tomorrow. Or at least a woman without dark circles and bags under my eyes. I’ll settle for that.

Daughter and I went up to the church building today to supposedly help my Dad in the office. I say supposedly because Daughter snacked on a bag of potato chips and left greasy fingerprints on the desk. My inner English teacher came out and nit picked the bulletin and newsletter Dad was working on. He might not want us back again! I cleaned the auditorium and restocked the coffee/donut table with napkins, cups and mints.  After I was done, Dad reminded me that the auditorium gets used on Thursday nights for worship practice.  Oh well. I fiddled around with keys until I found the one that unlocks the file cabinet. Our church inherited this building from another church in May so we’re still finding odd bits here and there.

We have a new great nephew. He was born about 2 a.m. this morning. He’s a good sized little guy at 8 lbs 4 oz. His Mama is calling him a miracle baby. His cord was coming loose and was knotted quite close to his body. It makes me catch my breath to think about what could have happened if her doctors didn’t induce him.

I found out last night what my acceptance into the pre HIM community means. The college has set up a virtual community for those of us waiting to satisfy the prereqs and waiting for the next round of acceptance letters. I had a question about my class schedule and within a couple hours the Dean responded. She suggested I make an appointment with her to discuss my next steps. I think I’ll take care of that before Son’s school starts on 8-25. Otherwise I’ll need to track down a sitter for Daughter. The main campus is an hour away so a trip takes a little preplanning. I’m looking forward to it though. I attend classes now at the satellite campus and its just not the same.

I thought about pulling weeds today but decided that job should probably wait until closer to the weekend since the weeds pop up so fast.  I would rather weed than do algebra….

I got the DVD of Amazing Grace at the library yesterday. I watched maybe 45 minutes of it last night and fell asleep. Maybe I wasn’t in the right frame of mind but it felt like watching paint dry.

We had two bad storms roll through last night. Our power blinked on an off a couple times. The wind was especially bad. We saw quite a few down limbs and trees on our way to the orthodontist today.

Daughter finally figured out how to ride her bike without training wheels. She’s still pretty wobbly but she and her Dad are making progress. She had a minor accident last night and caught her foot on the pedal. My Mom asked if the injury would scare her off trying again. I don’t think so. She seems anxious to try it again tonight with Daddy.

Later tonight (or early tomorrow), I’ll be a great aunt again. His Mama is being induced at 5 p.m. today This little guy will be Number 11. We’ll welcome Number 12 (also a boy) in early September.

We’re having an open house this upcoming Sunday. Yes, I’m also hosting Daughter’s friend birthday party on Saturday. Its shaping up to be a perfect storm sort of weekend. The way things have been going thus far, this might be the only opportunity to actually get someone to see the house. It would be great if we actually got a real buyer from this but I’m not pinning any hopes on it.

The houses I really like are still on the market. As Ward pointed out, so are we. Ha!

I got e-mail today saying that I’ve been accepted into the Pre Health Information Management student community at the college. That’s it. No explanation of what this means. The person whom the e-mail came from is the administrative assistant for the department. The word community makes me think I’m supposed to be doing something. I have two classes I need to take before I can be considered for acceptance into the program in the spring. I’m taking one class this fall and hopefully the second this winter.

The 100 Calorie Pack miniature fudge shortbread cookies they sell at Deals are really good. Better than the name brand.

Yesterday we had a guest preacher speak. He used Proverbs 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

I woke up this morning with my day planned out. I was going to do two loads of laundry, take Daughter to the library and then watch last night’s episode of Army Wives. Just after 9 a.m. a church friend called. Her husband has been experiencing vertigo since Friday night. The urgent care doc on Saturday didn’t help so they were going to their family doctor. She asked if I would watch her girls-age 5 and 3.

No problem! The girls and Daughter love playing together and its not like I had anything big planned for the day. We met at the library just after 10 a.m. We picked up some books and movies and then dropped a package at the post office. The girls played quietly for the rest of the morning and then we had lunch. The 3 year old is hysterical. I think she ate her weight at lunch. Daughter is not a good eater so I’m always amazed when kids so much younger than she can really pack it away. After lunch they played some more and then we popped popcorn and put a movie in about 2. Mom came to pick them up about an hour later.

Its one of those situations where no matter how long the kids play, its never quite long enough. There were tears when they left but promises to see each other on Thursday night when we have worship practice for the following Sunday.

I’m glad I was able to help out and glad that the girls are such good friends. Sure my plans for the day changed but it was a good change if that makes sense…