Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman

Outside My Window…it’s dark. I am up very early this morning having been up every two hours letting Snicker’s in and out. She really has her days and nights mixed up, much like an infant. Any suggestions on how to remedy this????? I let her out when she ‘whines’ because  it is difficult to determine if it is a ‘play with me whine’ (which is a no-no at two in the morning) or a ‘I have to pee’ and I will have to change all the linens if an accident occurs. I am considering putting her back in her crate at night…but since she has not stepped inside it in over two weeks this may not work. HELP!!!

I am thinking…that this Chocolate Silk I am drinking is quite a delicious replacement for my morning coffee. To symbolize how serious I am at quitting coffee (even though I did drink decaffeinated) I gave my mother-in-law my four cup Mr. Coffee maker.

I am thankful that…Applebee’s has changed their menu. Usually this aggravates me because my ‘favorites’ are generally the ones that disappear off the menu. However, they have started this new ‘mix and match’ stuff and actually now serve baked potatoes!! Although that is not what I ordered yesterday. I had the spinach dip, dynamite shrimp and steak towers. Today I will feast on yogurt (grin) and salmon (see next topic).

From the kitchen…Miss Sam has been wanting to try salmon for several months now. Since it is apparent I am no Emeril in the kitchen I have been turning a deaf ear to her requests. Today I am going to take the plunge. I bought a salmon filet yesterday and we will be having it for lunch today with rice. I am a little nervous.

I am wearing…my pajamas. However that is because it is not even seven in the morning yet. I agreed with a ‘certain someone’ (aka my therapist) that my summer routine of staying in my pajamas well into the afternoon may play a part in my not being able to get energized and motivated. I was showered and dressed yesterday by nine in the morning. If you continue reading you will know that I accomplished much yesterday. Perhaps there is something to this getting dressed and showered and stepping away from the computer by nine (grin).

I creating…a new routine. School starts next week for both Miss Sam and myself. Since Miss Sam has been voicing her opinion about not having a summer vacation school work free summer, she has been enjoying an ‘unstructured learning’ environment for the past week and for this week. Then it’s down to business as we are quite a bit behind in my academic goals for Miss Sam in regards to the ‘structured’ portion of our curriculum.

I am going…start making parent conference/intake calls this week for those clients that are returning to Head Start this school year. I have four ‘roll over’ clients from the last school year but anticipate a full schedule once the screenings begin and the mental health referrals get approved. I have to be very discerning about my client load. The need is great and therefore the agency I contract with may very well have to consider hiring another therapist to cover the ever increasing needs of this county.

I am reading…Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe. It is a quirky and very funny read. I have been finding it difficult to ‘settle down’ with a good book these days. Many don’t hold my interest past the first three pages, even my favorite psychological thrillers. If you have some ‘can’t put down’ fictional reads that are not too ‘deep’ please be sure to tell me about them in the comment section. I can’t stand not having a book to lose myself in.

I am hoping…that the third class the college has asked me to teach will ‘make’. So far, with one more week to go before classes begin, I have six students. There has to be at least eighteen signed up for a class for it to ‘make’. My other two classes ‘closed’ several weeks ago with the max amount of students registered, which is twenty-five per class.

I am hearing…my favorite radio talk show Bob and Sheri. They always manage to give me the giggles in the morning.

Around the house…the chores are pretty much done except for the rest of the linens that need to be ‘boraxed’. I wrote a post yesterday (and then deleted it for no reason) about my battle with ticks and fleas this year. Mainly ticks. So yesterday was spent bathing dogs, medicating dogs, sprinkling/vacuuming the carpets with Borax and then working my way through the pile of linens that need to have Borax added to the wash cycle. I even managed to dust the house. I decided to get with the 21st century and join the ranks of the ‘Swiffer’ generation. I must admit that my ‘dusting’ time was literally cut in half!!! I mean, if you must dust this is the tool you need to make it less painful and less time consuming.

One of my favorite things…is having a clutter free house. Although I have not been participating in My Simpler Life’s Declutter Challenge via my blog posts ( but be sure to keep a look out for a random post here and there), I have definitely been using her free 2008 Declutter Calendar. I began my journey of ‘simplicity’ several years ago and have found it to be quite ‘freeing’. However, there are still areas that seem to constantly require a ‘routine’ decluttering….like the garage, the junk drawer and my ‘to read’ book shelf.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

• Planning a photo field trip
• Taking my mother in law to MacDill to get her new ID card
• Organizing the ‘counseling’ corner of my home office for the coming Head Start year
• Taking Miss Sam to meet Taco (the horse) to begin learning how to care for him and perhaps one day ride him
• Mail my membership dues for CCHEA.
• Cashing my birthday money check and going to Lowes to get some pavers to place off the back patio in an attempt to stop a ‘certain little dog’ from digging to China and to prevent a continuous trail of black paw prints through my office and into the main house.

Here is picture thought I am sharing…

 My ‘used’ swiffer dusters. Ewwwwww….nasty.