Today…

Outside my window: The sun is starting to come down, the sky is looking pretty grey. It’s been raining most of the day, temperatures in the 40’s. We had a blessedly gorgeous weekend though so I’m kind of okay with the return to grey now.

I am hearing: the hum of the fan and Dan negotiating good behavior with the boy. He’s being nice and sitting with MM while he finishes his supper so mommy can squeeze in some blogging time. I’ve been all on good behavior and productive today to counteract Dan being sick and taking a half day. One of us has to be on our game, right?

I am thinking: that Letter “B” week came to a pretty sudden halt for the day when Mr. Sick came home. I’ve been focusing on chores, getting dinner ready, etc. I suppose I’ll try to do twice as much tomorrow? At least the laundry will be done (mostly).

I am hoping: we all feel better tomorrow. We’ve all been kind of sick for about a week now but Dan got bad enough to come home early today which I’m sure he’s not happy about taking time off when he’s so new to the company. I’ve had this lingering sore throat-ish thing for a week and it doesn’t go away but it’s also not really bad enough to do much about. Just annoying. The kids may or may not actually be sick but both have been exhibiting stuffy nose syndrome on and off.

I am reading: Close Encounters of the Third Grade Kind by Phillip Done. It’s a collection of thoughts and stories on teaching from Done, who has been teaching for 20 years. Very cute and funny. I’m not a teacher but the profession does fascinate me a bit and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far. I think if it weren’t for the whole being in charge of teaching kids stuff part that being a teacher might be fun – I like school supplies and printing cute flyers on how to do stuff and the idea of designing a bulletin board sounds like more fun than you might imagine to me. BUT – I think I’d be a terrible  teacher when it comes to helping kids learn stuff and me being patient. So I’m living vicariously through Phillip Done for now.

I am creating: the first pages of the scrapbook I’m hoping to make MM of our little trip down Alphabet Lane. We finished our discovery of the Letter A last week and he loved it and I couldn’t wait to compile pictures that I took of each little mini lesson. I made two pages for Letter A and will probably do 2 pages for each additional letter. I’m pretty proud of it so far – definitely making up for my irritability and grumpiness and not very Mother of the Year Award-esque behavior.

I am wearing: my favorite blue jeans and a black tee shirt. Pretty standard stuff.

In the kitchen:

• Monday: I made spaghetti with canned meat sauce and some whole wheat dinner rolls – easy peasy and delicious and hubby got the night off.
• Tuesday: I’m planning chicken with jasmine rice and some form of frozen vegetable – hopefully Dan will cook the chicken as I hate raw meat.
• Wednesday: Jen & Vic’s Taco Salad – we’re a teensy bit infatuated with it.
• Thursday: Spaghetti with diced tomatoes & spinach
• Friday: Parmesan Baked Salmon

Around the house: I’ve been trying to get on top of the laundry per usual, and dishes, etc. Also decided that the kitchen table cannot be the home of all of our mail and piles of stuff. I want to be able to sit down and eat without having the clutter all around us. It’s gonna be a pain attending to all that stuff right away but something definitely needs to be done.

Plans for the week: I have a dentist appointment this week ::shudders:: to get some cavities attended to and this Saturday we’re planning to take MM to the local mall for trick or treating. Sunday I’m hoping to jump in on an exercise class at the Y, probably Zumba.

A few of my favorite things: taking the kids to the Zoo’s trick or treating. We didn’t actually get any candy because the lines were crazy but we had fun seeing all the costumes and looking at animals. Also loved our little dive into teaching MM more about the alphabet. Letter A week was pretty awesome and ended quite sweetly with baking an apple pie. ALSO went to Blain’s Farm and Fleet on Sunday and finally found a nice winter coat that is warmer, prettier and fits me nicely – and it was only $30. ❤

A picture thought: