Thursday Random

i'm finally finding the decorating me.  no.  i cannot decorate.  but i'm finding, finally, what i like.  and it's a lot of color and maybe a lot of color that doesn't necessarily go together and i'm sure anyone who comes over after i've finished doing what i want to do to the place will think i've lost any marbles i may have had.

i have zero sense of style.  zero.  i don't know how to put anything together.  i'm always asking my friend Melissa if i can put such and such together.  thank God she can put stuff together.

we did not keep up with school throughout the summer the way i intended.  this doesn't bother me in the slightest.  it did.  now it does not.  i ordered books yesterday for Spice who just turned four in may.  she'll start some kindergarten work, not because i'm pushing (i learned with my first one, don't push - wait for your kid to show interest) but because the kid loves to sit and write and i think it will be fabulous for her.  we'll be starting with Get Ready for the Code, Book A.  for Sugar, we'll finish up last year's books and move on to this year's books.  i asked Josh if he was concerned that we hadn't finished last year's.  "nope."  talked with another homeschool mom friend of mine who has kids older than mine and she tells me they've never finished a book.  oh the relief to know life doesn't end if a book isn't finished.

i'm thinking school will start on Sept. 10.

i read on Pinterest the other day that putting eucalyptus oil (or Vick's) on the bottom of your feet stops coughing.  Spice came home from Mt. Rainier with a cold and i rubbed it into her feet before bed, put socks on her, and she slept through the night without a cough.  sweet deal!

i rushed my cat to the vet the other day because his cheek was swollen and his eye was watery.  my kids can be puking, fevery, rashy, and i don't take them in.  but Clifford?!  it's just nothing ever happens to Cliff.  Cliff happens to everything else.  he's fine.  they shaved part of his face, he just stood there.  they gave him a shot, he just stood there.  never has there been a more laid back cat.  i love that dude.

til 4 am when he's standing on my chest meowing in my face because he wants out.

watched where the red fern grows the other night.

the end of the movie, the mama said, "i guess God doesn't want families separated."

no.  no, He doesn't.

sometimes that's in our control.  sometimes we can choose our family to be whole and we opt not to.

and other times it is out of our control and all we can do is rest assured God's got us covered.

i've seen both lately.  both hurt my heart.

there was a hailstorm here recently, i dunno a few weeks ago or so.  just got the quote back for the damage on my van.  4 grand!  crazy, huh?  we have a $500 deductible and i don't really feel like shelling that money out to have the van fixed.  it's not a big deal to me.  i don't know why i even took it in in the first place.

speaking of my van, i took that bad girl apart the other day.  i took my seats out and you know those little runners where all the fishy crackers and McDonald's fries go to live forever?  i took those runners off and i vacuumed and i vacuumed some more.  she looks new again.  i have to mix it up with my van.  make her feel new so i don't wanna go out and buy a new rig.  it's so hard.  i love me a new car.  we have no debt.  no car payments.  no credit cards.  a ridiculously low mortgage payment.  we could afford a new car.  well, we could afford PAYMENTS on a new car.  but it's not gonna happen.  we've agreed to never put ourselves in that position again.  the next "new" car i get will be used and paid for with cash.  like 20 years from now.

today is thursday and that means yoga and Bern's.

and yoga and Bern's makes my heart happy.

oh.  and my mom is moving back from Vegas.  so there's that.