Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman

Outside My Window…the backyard is covered with orange tree leaves and oranges due to the days of freezing weather we had just a week ago.

I am thankful….that today is a holiday for Mr. John and Miss Sam. We had quite a busy weekend and they are of the nature that a ‘down day’ is definitely a necessity to maintain harmony ’round these parts. However, I don’t have that luxury. It’s class as usual this evening.

From the kitchen…it’s sandwiches for dinner tonight. Absolutely no cooking was done in our home this weekend. On Saturday, my mother-in-law was gracious enough to take us out for an early birthday/anniversary dinner at our favorite seafood place…Red Lobster. Then on Sunday Mr. John’s sister had a get together…and their get togethers  ALWAYS involve food that is out of this world. Yesterday was no different…pulled pork, homemade mac ‘n’ cheese, hashbrown casserole, hotdogs, and of course strawberry shortcake for dessert. So nope, nothing going on in this kitchen.

I am continuing to create…Mr. John’s birthday present. It’s a secret until Thursday.

From the learning rooms…busy setting up Miss Sam’s annual evaluation. A dear friend, who is a certified teacher, has agreed to evaluate Miss Sam’s progress over this first year of homeschooling. Thankfully, she is going to do a ‘pre-evaluation’ and then she will do the one that goes into her portfolio. Last week I purchased the Saxon Math Curriculum. Miss Sam’s third grade teacher was granted permission to teach Math via the Saxon Math method. Miss Sam did awesome with this. Sadly, her fourth, fifth, and sixth grade math experiences were not with Saxon and she got so screwed up. I am really impressed with the curriculum and am looking forward to increasing my math skills right alongside Miss Sam.

I am going to already did…cleaned out my closet of all the clothes that are not in line with the new ‘risks’ that I am going to be taking with dressing the way I have always dreamed of dressing. I have already ‘whispered’ about this in a previous post and as promised I will be writing about it this week.

I am reading…Breaking Dawn….supposedly the last book in the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. Have I mentioned before that this is an awesome series?????? I don’t believe that past the first book it is appropriate reading for middle schoolers but that is just my opinion.

I am hoping…to get an estimate in the next week or two on re-doing our bedroom. It is the last room in the house that has not undergone a transformation.

Around the house…there is more space. This Saturday I donated some excess furniture (a couch and two recliners) to a local abuse shelter. I love how open our home looks and feels…now if we could just afford hardwood/laminate floors.

One of My Favorite Things…are my ‘outside’ shoes.These are the shoes that I use when walking into the backyard to be entertained by Mutt and Jeff (aka Marbles and Snickers). I love. love. love. them. However, anyone who has ever seen them on my feet can’t help themselves by exclaiming “OMG those are some UGLY shoes!!!”. But I don’t care. Did I say that I love.love.love them????

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

• teaching
• counseling
• ordering photography supplies
• working on photo/quote book
• researching ‘electives’ for Miss Sam
• doing our taxes
• and the list could go on and on

Here is a picture thought I am sharing…

Today’s ‘Around the Square‘: is Tasra from Lessons from the Scrapbook Page. I have followed Tasra for a few years and am always inspired by her energy, ambition, and her love of all things beautiful. It has been awhile since I have ‘visited’ her place in the blogosphere but I am never disappointed each time I stop in and say hello.

Today I am grateful for: Turbo Tax. We have used them for several years now and are completely satisfied with how painless they make filing taxes.

Today I am going to simplify my life: by continuing to transfer posts from The Bipolar Diaries and The Whippoorwill Chronicles to Acres of Diamonds.