Happenings 12/8 - 12/14

We finally got our decorations up this week,(we as in J.J. with "help" from Claire - Paul took the totes downstairs for me which did make it easier to get them up, but that was the extent of his decorating) and it took doing a little each day for it all to happen. We put up the tree on Monday for home evening, and then JJ and Claire put things up during the week. It was very cold all week and it rained a lot, so we waited until it warmed up a few degrees on Saturday to put the outside lights up (He did help me with these) We are no longer “Scrooges” as JJ likes to say.

It was Finals week at school, which means for me that I do all of my final grading because I don’t have classes that have final exams. There are always a few students who ask for extra time to turn something in to move from a D to a C and I give them a few extra days. Some take advantage of it, some don’t. A couple of situations like that kept me waiting until Thursday to finish my composition classes’ grades, and then Friday morning I finished my technical writing class grades. I turned them in before going home on Friday, and it’s funny, because even though I know it is the end of the semester, it isn’t until those grades are turned in that it really ends, and the small wave of relief goes through the mind. That relief used to be larger, but there is a great deal to do during the break, and even though the break is a month long, it is actually a short time to do some writing and research, prepare for next semester, and read about 8 books, all on the 2-3 days a week when JJ is not working. But I really look forward to that work, along with the time that I get to spend at home with the girls since our babysitters are home for the break.

After a really busy week last week, we stayed home as much as we could in the evening, only going out for dinner on Friday to a chinese buffet. We worked on Christmas cards, watched some of the Christmas shows on TV, and enjoyed the warm house.

Saturday was the busiest day for us, and it was nice that the weather warmed up to the 40s. In the morning, we all went to Breakfast with Santa downtown, where Santa was there for all the kids and then there was a continental breakfast and fun crafts for the kids to make. Claire loved all of it and Rachel liked all of it except the part where she was supposed to sit on Santa’s lap. (It really was a fun time - breakfast was even good.) We came home and Rachel took a nap and I began working on cleaning up the garage so that the cars can fit in for the winter. I built a few more shelves, which got some things off the ground, and got everything organized for one of the cars to fit in. I also bagged some leaves that have been sitting in piles in our yard for a few weeks. I was almost finished with the largest pile, and out of bags when the neighbor began mowing his lawn. He has a big mower with a bagger and he came over and sucked up the rest of the leaves, and then did the smaller piles for me as well. That was nice of him. Since we live outside the city limits, the city doesn’t vacuum our leaves up. The neighbor’s help was nice, because what I was doing was tedious, but it wasn’t hard. I was trying something different from last year because I took all of our leaves last year and dumped them in the land behind our house, and this year I was worried that if I did that again I would have a huge pile of leaves that wouldn’t get smaller. The rain and the cold made it hard for us to take care of the piles. The thing that I have noticed a lot is how people go to all lengths and costs to avoid work. The neighbor thought I was crazy for using only a rake to do the job. I mentioned to one of my composition classes how satisfying and theraputic chopping wood is — not that I do a lot of it, but it seemed a good example of how hard work feels — and they thought I was crazy. They made light of that comment throughout the semester. One student wondered why someone would chop wood when there are perfectly good wood splitters out there. I mentioned how much they cost, but they all thought it was worth it. Anyway, I have my lazy streaks, but when I have time, hard work around the house feels great.

Saturday afternoon Claire and JJ went to a Princess Tea Party, (this was really fun - we went to the Magnolia Tea House in Hazel - just south of here- and they taught the girls all a little bit of tea etiquette and we ate little tiny sandwiches and desserts along with drinking some fruit tea. IT was yummy. We went with Bridget and Katey and Claire and Katey got to bring home a little tea cup and saucer for a souvenir.) and Rachel and I stayed at the house. While she napped, I did some more work, and then in the evening we had soup and rolls for dinner. We were all tired so we went to bed early. Sunday evening the few young single adults came over for their home evening and we played dominoes with them after a short lesson. (I like them coming over because I like to play games and it gives me the opportunity to do so without feeling guilty about all the other things I need to be doing -plus they are a nice bunch of kids - there are only about 4 or 5 that usually come.)