Saturday morning journal

What I want to do today:

• write 1600 words for NaNoWriMo.
• finish sewing a small quilt wall hanging in fall colors and get it on the wall before fall is over.
• watch a Jane Austen movie with my girl (my boy is away camping.)
• figure out how to get spaces between these bullet points so it's not all squished up.

What I need to do today:

• go to a going-away party for someone who doesn't want a going-away party, and to which I don't want to go.
• bake chocolate chip cookies and prepare snacks for church fellowship time tomorrow.
• fold and put away the huge pile of laundry that is on my couch.

What about you? Look, here is Mr. Linky again!

Saturday morning joural

Piles of papers and books. Baskets of miscellaneous stuff.

That's what I'm focusing on this Saturday morning.

All this week I've gotten up at 5:45.  Today I slept in:  set the alarm for 6:15.   I love this getting up early.  It had been so hard for me for a couple of reasons.  First, it's just hard to get out of bed.  I wanted to be up early, but I didn't want to make an effort to do it.  It's like my kid wanting to know how to play piano, but not being willing to actually go through the effort of lessons and practice.

But then there's the spousal unit.  He doesn't have to - or want to - get up really early.  I didn't want to set the alarm and wake him up unnecessarily.  Sometimes I would pray that God would wake me up when He wanted me to get up, but that didn't always work.  I'd wake up, maybe, but tell God to go away, that I was just kidding. Not a good way to start the day.

Then I discovered the alarm on my cell phone.  It's quieter than the clock alarm, and easier to deal with when it goes off.  I just pick it up, slip out of bed, and leave the room.  It wakes him up a little, but not enough to be troublesome.  He can go back to sleep.  I can be up!  Reading, writing, sorting papers, walking the dog.

Today the dog was anxious to go out.  It was still completely dark outside when we left for our walk. The darkness of early morning is so different from the darkness of night.  We walked quickly - it's finally cold! - and he romped in the leaves.  We saw two people on our walk:  the newspaper delivery lady, and an ancient-looking man out picking up his paper.  I get the feeling he was waiting for her to show up.  He didn't notice me, and I didn't speak.  It was so beautifully quiet; all I heard was the slight hum of the Turnpike and the rustling of the leaves when the dog jumped in a pile.

Do you look forward to the morning paper?   Or do you skip it and get your news elsewhere?  

Look, here is my first "Mr. Linky" for your blogging pleasure. Tell me what you're doing today.  

Saturday morning joural

It's a girls' day here!

The men are out camping so in a minute my girlie and I are off to pick up a friend for brunch. We had to squeeze this little social event into a few hours this morning so we arranged a brunch date. Pancakes, raspberry syrup, tea.

After we take our friend home we're going in search of some new yarn. I finished a scarf last night and wanted to wrap up in it. It was so cold in the house. So I want to make a shawl.

Yes, I am getting old.

What is happening at your house this morning?

Saturday morning joural

Mornings have been a mess around here.  I've been sleeping too late and feeling rushed every day, even if we didn't have any place to go.  (Though stay-home days are pretty rare right now.)  I'd let the kids sleep until the moment I felt like they should be up and ready to be productive, and expect them to jump when I called them.  It wasn't working,  They wanted a little time in the morning to ease into the day.  Why shouldn't they?  I always do.

So we made a deal:  on "school" days their time is mine at 8 am.  (Yeah, I know, pretty late by some folks' standards.)  If they want free time at the beginning of the day, they need to be up earlier.  They asked me to call them at 7:30.  I did, and it worked.  We actually ended up having a nice breakfast together with a lot of discussion.  It turned out to be a pretty productive day.

That shouldn't have been so hard to figure out!

They asked me to do it again this morning even though it's Saturday and we have no agenda other than chores and watching Shane.  So I have about three minutes to finish this up.

This morning I've been reading about a golfer who was born male, went through the gender-reassignment process, and now is suing to compete as a female.   Wow.

From that I skipped over to an article about the new "Democratic Free School" that is hoping to open in Philadelphia soon.  I was talking about that with a friend over coffee last night (actually I had hot cider with way too much whipped cream); she is a fellow homeschooler and has more positive feelings about the concept than I do.  I feel even less enthusiastic about it after reading this:

Loucas said the Free School would begin its pilot program in January. He said all students enrolled in the program would receive additional schooling each weekday from a separate certified education program. The students will be homeschooled, take online courses, or be enrolled part-time at a public school so they meet their legal requirements.

So, the parents will spend $9 - $10,000 a year but still have to homeschool or otherwise acquire classes for their kids to meet state requirements.  Doesn't sound like this program is going to be very helpful for the typical Philadelphia public school student.  

Oh, my three minutes are up!  What are you reading about and pondering today?

Saturday morning journal: Fall is finally in the air!

I am so happy:  I had to put on a sweatshirt to stay warm on this morning's dog walk.  Oh yeah.

No relaxing this Saturday for me.  In 15 minutes I'm off to fulfill my soccer mom volunteer duty at the snack bar. I expect my day will be pretty similar to last year's.  It's only 2 hours, and I'll get the see the end of my girlie's game.  I will also be my own first customer, as I have not even made coffee yet. 

I did take time to dip my toes into Inspired to Action's Maximize Your Mornings Challenge.  All I have done so far is use the prayer calendar to focus my prayers for my children.  I hope to get into it more before the month is over!  Check it out.

Then it's off to a local community festival where I will help in my church's booth. We just hope to talk to people about the gospel.  I am a little nervous as I've never done this sort of thing before.  But my job is mainly to hand out flyers and talk to people, so it shouldn't be too hard.  For as long as I can remember people - including strangers - have felt the urge to spill their guts to me. So I expect to be busy.

I hope to have some time to do a little yard work late this afternoon, in the cool, cool, fall weather!

What are you doing today?  Leave a comment; including a link to your own post about your Saturday.  

And I'm off!  Have a wonderful Saturday.

Saturday morning journal

It's a bit random today.

The men are camping with the Boy Scouts.  I slept surprisingly well last night for being the adult in charge.  Usually I am restless when the man is gone.  Maybe reading my new devotional book right before attempting sleep helped.  More on that later.

The girl and I are going to try to get to Costco to get new tires put on the car.  This could turn into a rant so I will just say we've been trying to get tires for two weeks.  We had our strategy planned, then found out that today is soccer picture day!  So we are trying to readjust.

Sure is hot around here for autumn!

I wanted to get a sunrise photo for this post but honestly?  My backyard trees are not so pretty, even with the sun peeking through them.  Maybe I'll get up before sunrise and go someplace beautiful one of these days.  

 I'm going to attempt a "Mr. Linky" here soon. Maybe even a button.  I want to stretch my blogging and computer capabilities.  It took me a long time just to get a profile pic up!  But today's not the day for that.

You can still join me in the comments and tell me what's going on in your world this Saturday morning.  Leisurely or busy?   Work or rest?  Hot or cold?   Leave a link to your own post if you like. 

Saturday Morning Journal: Fall is in the air

The sun is just coming up. I love the way the light looks, filtered through the trees. The windows are all open and it's cold in the house!  Fall may finally be coming here.  My family is ready for cooler - even cold - weather.  We aren't summer people.   We wilt in the heat. We prefer cool-weather clothing and cool-weather food.

It's a good morning for a long walk with the dog.... or reading till everyone else wakes up... or doing some baking.  Even though I am a morning coffee drinker I feel like making some tea right now. 

We do like summer fruit, though.

You can find this blueberry cobbler recipe here.

Today we are going to check out a local Renaissance Faire.  I have great memories of Faire at Black Point in California which I attended for years.  I won't be in costume this year but I can't wait to introduce my kids to Faire. It'll be a perfect day, sunny and just warmish. 

Join me this morning.  How are you spending this Saturday?  Are you ready for fall, or wanting more summer?   Would you prefer coffee, or tea?  Or maybe some spiced hot cider?

 

Click on the photo for the recipe.

Saturday Morning Journal: September 11

Fall is in the air, and that means soccer early on a Saturday morning. Today is my girlie's first game of the season.  Other than a week-long skills camp, she hasn't kicked a soccer ball since last season. She is not a serious player.  I prefer it that way. Our family is not cut out for serious sports.   No travel for us!

This is also a solemn day, one to remember.  We lived on the west coast when the planes came down.  It was a horrible day, but not really real to us.  When we spent our first September 11 on the east coast, 6 years later, it became a little more real.  People here take it more personally, whether they knew someone who died or not. 

You can find some reading to remind you  here.  A picture that should make you cry can be seen here.

Still, we go on with our days.  What will you be doing today?

Saturday morning journal: Labor Day weekend

The sun isn't even fully up yet this morning.  The alarm was set for 6:30 but I woke up early and decided not to wait for it.  When I think of the days I used to sleep in till 10 or later, I have to laugh.  I can't stand to stay in bed late anymore.

The alarm was set so I can get my boy up and out early today.  This morning he is off to work on a fellow Boy Scout's Eagle project.  I love these projects; I love seeing young men working together.  I love my son engaging in some good physical labor, during Labor Day weekend or at any other time.

This week I received a nice surprise from my friend G at Explorations in Learning:  3 blog awards!  Fun!  You don't see them yet because I am having trouble getting the images over here. My lack of technical skill is amazing! I will persevere (and seek help) so they should be up later.

One of the challenges of living in a small house is the need for quiet.  I enjoy being up while everyone else is asleep but sometimes I don't spend my time well because I don't want to wake everyone else up.  My natural inclination in the morning is to start banging around in the kitchen!  Or starting laundry.  All noisy.  So I read, pray, knit, blog.  Sometimes I slip out for a long walk with the dog.

What do you do when you're up before everyone else?   Join me this Saturday morning!

Saturday morning journal

It's 7 am here in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the sky is bright blue and cloudless.  It's going to be hot today but the morning air is cool and the grass is wet with dew.  The only reason I know that - the only reason I'm up and about so early this day - is that my dog needed to get outside.  My dog is pretty good, but he barks at the squirrels that taunt him from the trees.  So if he has to go out early in the morning, we take him out on his leash. .

Usually he and I go for a fast walk around the neighborhood, but his need appeared urgent so we just strolled around our back yard.  The grass needs mowing!  But its wetness felt good on my feet.   It was very quiet; other than birds I heard only the hum of traffic from the Turnpike.  No one was out and about; not even the squirrels were making noise.

This is the first day in weeks that I have no early-morning agenda.  The first morning I didn't wake up with a burden of things to go:  get the kids to soccer camp, call the health insurance company about new coverage, go to VBS.  My only pressing task today, other than catching up on laundry and supervising house straightening, is to make a batch of cookies for a picnic tonight.  My schedule is pretty much my own.

I hope to make a nice breakfast this morning and linger over coffee rather than choke something down quickly before running out the door.   I hope to be productive today, but not frantic.


What is your Saturday morning like?  Is it a time to sleep in and catch up on rest, or is it just as busy as the rest of your week?   Is it a time to clean the house in a frenzy because there's no other time to do it, or is a lazier time?

Leave me a comment and tell me about it, or put a link to your own post.  I've been having fun linking up to blog memes lately; maybe it would be fun to start my own.  But I need you to jump in!