Pews

Okay, this is just a quickie because it's been a long day and it's almost time to put the kiddos to bed.  (Plus, the Sing-Off is on tonight, which Dave lovingly DVR'd for me to watch after everyone's tucked in.)

I forgot to tell you my favorite quote from my Dad (see two posts ago)....

"He who farts in church must sit in his own pew."

HAAAAAhahahahaha....  It still makes me laugh so hard.  I think that's the best pun I've ever heard.

I miss him so much.

For the Love of Words

I know a few people who keep quote books, but does anyone out there keep track of your favorite words?  In the red journal I wrote of yesterday, I've saved several pages in the back for just that.  I'm not exactly sure why I like these more than others.  It might be merely how they roll off my tongue, or perhaps because of an interesting etymology.  Here are a few of my faves:

osculate ~ to kiss: a pretentious or facetious usage

puckish ~ impish or whimsical  (Guess the back story on this one.)

undulant ~ rising and falling in waves OR having a wavy form, outline, or surface

wonky ~ shaky, feeble, unreliable

ennui ~ a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction: boredom

sedulous ~ involving or accomplished with careful perseverance; diligent in application or pursuit

embonpoint ~ plumpness of person (but not excessively overweight)

schwarmerei ~ excessive or unwholesome sentiment

rime ~ frost

potboiler ~ a usually inferior work--as of art or literature--produced chiefly for profit  (The back story here is that it was either so overproduced or so inferior, or both, that its best use was for the fire under the soup pot.)

nepenthe ~ a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow OR something capable of causing oblivion of grief or suffering

There are some words which I loathe as well, but I don't dignify them by recording them in a journal.  I'll write a few here though: slacks, blouse, and cancer.

Which words do you love/hate?

Quotes

I got this pretty little journal a couple of years ago as a thank you gift from one of my homeschool choir students.  I wasn't sure what to do with it for the longest time.  It seemed too nice to be a run-o-the-mill daily diary. I'd fly through it too quickly.  But with "follow your heart" written on the front, I couldn't exactly use it as an address book either.  Finally, it came to me.  I decided to use it to record my favorite quotes.  They might be lines I find in books, cut-and-pastes quoted on Facebook, a bit of poetry, or favorite Bible verses.  Here are a few, in no particular order:

"He who rises late must trot all day."  ~ Benjamin Franklin

"There is no perfect time to write.  There is only now." ~ Barbara Kingsolver

"There must be more to life than having everything." ~ Maurice Sendak

"For of all sad words
   of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these,
'It might have been.'"   ~John Greenleaf Whittier

"There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one." ~ Jill Churchill

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."   ~J.M. Barrie

Do you have a favorite quote or two?  I'd love to hear it.

Emma is 14 & Downhere!

My oldest, Emma, is 14 today!  This past year went by so quickly that even she said she's not sure she's ready to be 14 yet.  LOL.  In honor of her birthday, we're not doing school.  Lots of schools take off for Columbus Day, but we take off for Emma Day.  = )

So, last night was the Downhere concert.  Awesome.  Brilliant.  I hadn't been to a live concert like that in so long, I'd forgotten how you can feel the drums and bass in your chest.  Nice.  They're in concert again on Saturday not far from here.  I wish I could go, but it's too soon to ask for another Moms' Night Out.  When I left last night, Lydia was sitting on the back stoop watching me leave.  She had big tears sliding down her cheeks.  *sigh*  I don't get out very much like that.  Maybe that's the problem.  She's not used to it.  Hmmm...maybe I should go on Saturday....

There were two different guys who opened for Downhere: Aaron Shust and Jason Gray.  Aaron had gotten pink eye from his kids the other day, so when Jason came out after Aaron, he brought out with him a bottle of...you guessed it...hand sanitizer!  Remember the clip I posted yesterday?  Most of the six other moms I went with attend my church, so they'd seen that clip on Sunday.  We laughed and laughed....  Jason put it all over his hands, the microphone, and even his face.  Then he said, "Uhhh...my face is actually stinging a little right now, but you can't be too careful."

Poor Aaron...not only did he have pink eye, but the sound system kept cutting out AND the haze from the smoke machine set off the fire alarm!  He was a trooper though.  He and his band carried on with good humor.

Then...Downhere.  They opened with "My Last Amen" followed by "Here I Am".  Then they did several songs from their new album, On the Altar of Love--which I'm listening to right now.  My favorite song so far is "Rest", which is based on Matthew 11:28-30 and also happens to be my homeschooling verse (the one which keeps me sane through homeschooling, that is).

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

They closed with "Somebody to Love" by Queen.  That may seem odd to you if you don't know the back story.  Marc Martel, one of the lead vocalists, sounds quite a bit like Freddie Mercury of Queen.  Someone (I don't know who) is putting together a tribute band for them, and Marc auditioned with this song and put it on Youtube here.  (Be sure to take note of how many have viewed this clip.)  Marc also appeared on the Ellen show because of this clip a couple of Mondays ago.  If Marc wins a spot in this tribute band, he will go on tour.  Please pray for him, that he'll be able to be a strong light in a very dark world.  

 Jeremy, the drummer, signing my shirt.

 Marc Martel signing my shirt.  I must've said something witty (or embarrassing?).  Look at that smile!  ; )

Glenn (bass & trumpet) and Jason (piano & vocals) are in the background.

Marc, little ol' me, and Glenn

I can't get the video of "Somebody to Love" to upload on here.  I put it on Facebook though.  Unfortunately, my puny camera didn't do it justice.  Around the one minute mark, he sings, "This is the guitar solo!"  The front of the red shirt they're signing (above) has a picture of Marc with that caption.  Yeah, it's corny, but I like corny.  = )

Well, I've got some birthday baking to do!

Sanitized

Well, I did it.  I got up early and swam laps this morning.  It was early afternoon when I went on Saturday, but getting up before the sun means business.  I did 15 laps today--a couple more than last time.  I'm very tired.  Of course, I did stay up until midnight last night watching The Sing Off on the DVR.  I love that show.  (I got goosebumps a couple of times.)

The bad thing about lap swim is that I smell  like a pool for the rest of the day.  I take a shower afterwards, of course.  I even use special shampoo (and yes, it is speshul).  However, a 15 minute shower after soaking in chlorinated water for twice that time does not do it.  I smell bleachy-clean.  I feel...sanitized.  That reminds me of this clip:

They actually showed this in church on Sunday (while the kids were getting dismissed for Kids' Worship, no less).  I've seen this SO many times, but it still makes me laugh.  = )

Well, that's all for now.  I need to get ready to leave for the Downhere concert!!!!!  This is going to be the best Moms' Night Out ever--epic, even.  I'm so excited.  *hyperventilating*

Taking the Plunge

Today there's a street fair on Main Street.  So, not a parade this time, but lots of food, a couple of bouncy houses, and sidewalk sales.  (I love small town living.)  Dave took Samuel for a little while so I could go to lap swim!

Ah, lap swim, how I've missed thee; although, we may have a love-hate relationship in the morning.  Seriously, it's been ages since I've done that.  I mean, I've gone to the beach with the kids, but that's not really exercise--especially when you consider that I sit in my chair reading homeschool magazines while the lifeguard watches my kids.  (I keep an eye on them too, of course.  I used to be a lifeguard myself, so it's kind of hard for me not to watch the water.  I'm just trained that way.  I mean, simply trained that way.  Ahem.)

So, I did 13 laps in half an hour, but five of those were with a kickboard so I could work on my scissor kick.  Whenever I do the front crawl, I either forget to kick altogether, or I kick harder with my right leg than my left and I end up veering off course.  I'm attempting to even things out.  Whenever I can, I try to get a lane by the wall.  That way, at least half of the time, I'm veering toward the wall instead of an innocent by-swimmer.

I "took the plunge", so to speak, and bought a swim pass for the quarter.  Since we already have a family membership, it only cost $33 for unlimited swimming until the end of December.  (A family membership is a mere $60 for the year.  Yeah.  The year.  For the family.  Another reason to love small-town living.)  I need to go eleven times per month to break even.  (It costs $1 per time for a member without a pass.)  So, I'm committed, I guess....  LOL, that sounds so oxymoronic.  "I guess I'm committed."

It is such a gorgeous day here.  I'm thankful it's Saturday, because I would not want to do school on a day like today.  We'd be playing hooky.  It's 82°F with low humidity and a light breeze, and I'm sitting on the front stoop watching golden leaves flit to the ground.  Ahhhhh....  The only thing putting a damper on my bliss is that I can see Hillbilly Hell being constructed kiddy-corner across the street.  Hey, that's what they call it.  There's a sign and everything (with a pentagram on it, no less).  These neighbors go all out for Halloween:  scary mannequins, an old trampoline converted to some kind of spider web with a 3-D skeleton on it, a demon holding a scythe, a clown with red-glowing eyes on a cross, and there's a soundtrack.  So far, it has: howling wolves, crazy drums, painful screams, some "MWAH-HA-HA"s, creepy organ sounds, "Jaws" music, ghostly moans, and "The Twilight Zone" theme song.  (That last one's not so bad.)  Unfortunately, my younger kids can see this from their windows.  It's also lit up at night, all the better to see it at its spookiest.

*Sigh*

I don't get it.  Why?

*Another sigh*

At least they do a nice Christmas light display....

Kilroy Was Here

That's the name of the musical our homeschool group is doing in May.  Auditions were yesterday, and I got to be one of the judges since I'm the musical director this year.  I'm not exactly sure what I've gotten myself into here, but I think it's going to be fun.  Time-consuming, but fun.  And yet, it's nothing compared to all that my friend, Char, has to do.  She's directing the whole thing.

Some of the auditions were outstanding!  I think my favorite one was two high school girls who reenacted a scene from Tangled.  Spot on hilarious!  They also brought us brownies.  (By the way, Bailey, I have the plate.  Is it yours or Lindsey's?)  Anyway, I'm quite excited to work with these talented young people.

I had all four of the kids with me for the auditions.  We were gone for five hours.  While we were gone, Dave made this!

 A train table!

 Dave bought an old coffee table from Goodwill...

 ...and cut and painted some plywood for this part.

 It's on our enclosed porch right now.  I hope the weather stays mild for a while!

I wish I would've taken video footage of Samuel and Lydia when they saw this.  They kept running around the house, telling Dave how "amazing" it was.  They were quite appreciative.  Dave is such a great dad.  

P.S.  Bailey, the bribe was completely unnecessary.