Musing, mostly

Well, my lesson in Nursery went a lot better than last week.

I should say LESSONS, since they split the Nursery class up into two groups: the ones moving onto Sunbeams (they'll be 3 before January 1) and the ones who'll be in Nursery until Jan 2016 (or longer, I'd suppose. Haven't done the math).

I was able to keep the attention of all but two of the first class.
One boy and one girl ... are challenging. The girl was trying to stay under the table the whole time. Oy.

Then we gathered everyone together for snack time ... and I taught my lesson (abbreviated) again.
Not nearly as many kids (percentage-wise, that is) were totally with me ... but it was a lot better.

We've got a new Nursery leader ... one of the girls that I was friends with back when I was serving as YW Ward Camp Director and then as YW Secretary. I knew that she'd moved back into our ward. And, before Sacrament Meeting (thus, before they announced that she'd accepted the call and for us to sustain it), I thought to myself, "Well, we'll be losing our other Nursery leaders ... It'd be cool if we could get C called. ... But, well, maybe she needs to attend Sunday School and Relief Society. Hm. But it's a thought ... if they ask me." ... LO, AND BEHOLD ... Yeah, I'm excited that she's been called. I see us being a good team.

Do you recall me mentioning a friend who's sick ... and has been sick for a while?
Well, she's currently on life-support.
We're praying. If you want to throw in some prayers, good thoughts, good muju, whatever, ... well, I'd take that as a kindness.
She's got a family ... and they need her.

Bruise and Bucket have some school friends coming over today. Our families are friends. And, a few days a month, I'll watch their kids. It's pretty chill. (It's nice that they don't care that my house is NEVER as clean as I'd like it.) I made pudding for them today. Last time, we had brownies. That first time they came over, we had chips. ... Not totally healthy, but ... well... it's a snack.

Bruise, Bucket, Bubbles, and I are still going strong (knock on wood) with our before-school schedule. At least, the kids are getting up and dressed. I have their lunches made. they get SOME chores done (though Bucket has, lately, been either really tired and sleeping in OR trying to read books instead of getting ready/getting chores done). And (important part), we come to the table to listen to a hymn, read the scriptures that go with it (in our hymnals, there are scriptural references at the bottom of the page. Sometimes just one or two. Today's song, though, had FOUR.), and read the history about it and its author/composer. Then we say a prayer together. Then, IF we have time, we also read and discuss good manners.

At least this way I can start to feel that I'm sending my (older) kids out with some spiritual preparation ... and improving their social graces. My main goal for them is to help them to be self-sufficient and ready to make their way in this world. To do that, they need an education, their own testimony of the gospel, good manners, and good habits. Money (e.g., a nest egg) is good, too. But, well, they can make it regardless.

I've been feeling really tired. (No, not pregnant.) And rather useless.
(1) No matter how much I do clean, when I can work up the motivation, the house is always cluttered and messy.
(2) No matter what I try, I can't change the fact that my friend is sick. And has gotten worse. And I KNOW that praying is good and can make wonderful changes ... but, well, it's nice to have something a little more concrete with immediate effects, you know?
(3) When I do get a nap, I wake up feeling ... not refreshed or rested. But more with an attitude of, "well, I'd better get up. Things need to be done."

Things like that.

I had an interesting dream last night.
I don't recall all the particulars, but the main gist was that Michael wrote Weird Al Yankovic a letter ... and he came to visit us. And he stayed at the YMCA. But he came to church with us and my friend Jennie and I were passing notes. Then Michael, the kids, and I were walking through a park where there were tons of homeless guys sleeping under bushes and puking, since they all drank too much vodka or gin (it was clear, that's all I know).
But Weird Al Yankovic was VERY nice and funny ... and he KNEW me, like RECOGNIZED me from some past emails (that I've never written). But it was very sweet of dream-Michael to get a celebrity to come visit us.

So, yeah, if you want to try and decipher what my subconscious is trying to tell me, let me know.

So, last week, I was playing with Vesper as I changed her and got her ready for bed.
Michael was on the other couch. He just looked over and said, "You're off your period." All matter-of-fact and all.
"Yeah. how did you know?"
"You're happy."

... Well ... but I don't know that I totally FEEL happy.
I know that worrying doesn't really do anything. And Nursery DID go so much better this last week ... but, well ... I don't know.

I'm still acting as the Compassionate Service Leader for RS, though I've been released.
And maybe that's part of it. It is strange to be doing something when you don't have the calling (and the blessing of being sustained and set apart and all).
Not that there's a ton of things to be done ... but there are some things. Thankfully, someone else has volunteered to take over making sure that meals are taken to a gal who'll be having her baby any time.  We have a really wonderful ward family.

My cat still has issues ... she's been licking/scratching between her shoulderblades. Poor thing has a bald/semi-raw-looking patch. I've been treating it. Almost thinking of getting her an elizabethan collar (i.e., "the cone of shame).

There's a fly zooming around in here. I'm not a fan of that. At least I was able to terminate one of them. Ugh.

We went to the renaissance fair this weekend. Bucket got another little dragon (she has a rainbow sparkly one with glow-in-the-dark bits. Her new one is sparkly green with blue. Also glow-in-the-dark). Bubbles picked out a pink cloak. I got a sandalwood fan, some wonderful goats-milk lotion and soap (Lovespell scent). We also got some lavender lemonade after watching the joust. Bruise really wanted to get a new (wooden) shield and maybe a new sword and a cloak ... but nothing really stood out to him. I'll need to make him a cloak, since his sisters both have one now.
After that, we went to Mom and Dad's to celebrate Grandma's birthday.(She's 88 now. But just say that she's 49, okay?)

Earlier this week, Bruise and Bucket had a bicycle/scooter rodeo for a combined Cub Scouts/Activity Days ...activity. Bucket came home with a scraped knee (and ripped leggings). Bruise lost his LEGO water bottle AND his kerchief clip there. Oh well. He does need to take responsibility for taking better care of his stuff (and it's not like there isn't a water fountain where they were at ... so, oh-freaking-well).

Bubbles is talking a bit more. I ordered her a set of BrainQuest cards made for 2-3-year-olds. We go through them and talk about Max the monkey and what he's doing and all that. Pretty nice. I'll have to get the rest of them (We have first-fourth grades now. We've established quite a collection, haven't we?)

When Bubbles and I went to get the mail today, we got a postcard from my Grampy and my step-grandma. That's sweet for them to think of us. It sounds like they're having a great time in Oahu. (Apparently, Grampy hadn't been there since 1941. J last visited about ten years ago ... but she says that it's changed quite a lot since then.)

Well, I don't know of anything else really worth bringing up for right now ... I have about two hours before the kids all get home from school. I should fold laundry and sweep the kitchen (spilled rice yesterday) and clean a million things.

At least the kids' room is looking better ... last week, I finally just got fed up and bagged all the crap on the floor (besides clothes to be hung up). The kids can work their way through those bags ... and, in the meantime, the floor looks about a hundred times better. So, yeah.

And I'm thinking of instilling a rule for the next while, ONCE their room's clean, that for every toy on the floor, they go to bed one minute earlier. For every article of clothing on the floor, that's five minutes earlier that they're headed to bed. This way, they'll keep their toys put away, laundry will go where it belongs, and they'll just have to worry about shoes and books.
I hope.

We'll see.