Walnut Tree ripe with walnuts.
READING: Nothing educational. I know, I know...so unlike me and now you all will have nothing to roll your eyes at this week and go, "Spare me the details!"
POOLSIDE READING: Abandoning Donna Leon's mysteries set in Venice. I like the Venice part. I like the main character, Guido. Some of her topics, shall we say, are a little not-so-much-me. Enough said. Missed a Diane Mott Davidson book along the way, Double Shot, so am reading that this weekend poolside at the swim meet.
LISTENING TO: Beethoven...the ISO performed Beethoven last week and I have been playing pieces all week...and saying to myself, "This is such a gift to us, this man wrote this as he was going and after he went deaf...how lucky are we?" Listen to Beethoven, even if you think you don't like classical music "all that much"...it is a gift to you, he wrote it for you as a gift to be enjoyed when he could no longer do so. Just think about it: how could someone write music so wonderful without being able to physically hear it? How long could any of us still hear a note in our mind if we had not been able to actually physically hear it for whatever amount of time? How long would we remember even a single note...we can hear a note over and over and remember it, but if we could not hear it, how long would we actually remember the sound of that note and how soon would we forget what it actually sounds like? He was a genius...he not only preserved the memory of one note in his mind, but thousands of note combinations played by all the instruments alone and then all together and then some in tandem and then others in tandem when the others were playing in tandem separately, etc....how long could anyone possibly do that without the constant hearing of a note every day or every week, etc.? How long would the memory of any one note stay with us? I am always just in complete awe of his music. Come on, dust it off, give it a whirl. Who doesn't love at least Ode to Joy? It's a gift...for you from him...it would be rude not to listen, right? Enjoy!
COOKING THROUGH: I have found Ellie Krieger on Food Network and I have to say...I think she is good at what she does with her take on healthy cooking. No fake ingredients so far, and very tasty healthy food...she has a cookbook coming out next year, I believe, but for now you can get the recipes off the Food Network site. Mark loves all that New Orleans Cajun/Creole Jazzy type food, so I made the Jambalaya with Shrimp and Ham this week for him from her recipe and he liked it very much...it was good. (Have probably made a dozen of her recipes, all a huge success around here.) Make the Jambalaya with a nice salad, put on a little Jazz, eat outside sitting around the table with your favorite beverage until the stars come out, and you will feel like you are in the French Quarter...well, almost...good enough for a weeknight anyway!
FAV NEW FIND: Alex thinks I am "sorta cool." (Okay, pick yourselves up and dust yourselves off and continue reading.) Last night on the way home from driving him to his bass lesson, he said, "Well, it is nice to have a mom who has decent taste in music. I mean I would rather be driving around with you and listening to the Grateful Dead and all the metal bands than with other moms who make their kids listen to things like Barry Manilow and Kenny G and stuff like that. You are sorta cool that way." High praise, let me tell you. And, just so you don't think this is way too sappy...within ten minutes he was trying to persuade me to take him and his friends to the Van Halen concert Sunday night, so I figure he was doing a bit of groundwork for his need of an escort to the concert. (Mark's take on this: "Wow, he must have been pretty desperate if he was trying to talk you into Van Halen." I am not a big Van Halen fan, but I will concede that Eddie is probably a master at what he does...VH has just never been one of my top ten.) All in all, I will take it as an extreme compliment that The Cool Dude even thought to ask that I take him and his buddies to said concert...especially since most of the time he tells his friends that I grew up on the set of the Waltons.
FAV THING TODAY (AND YESTERDAY): Getting together with my homeschool chums and catching up with all that is going on in my former circles...it has been really difficult for me to adjust to not being part of all that this year as for so many years we were so active with it. Homeschooling isn't just schooling at home, it is an entire way of life, and it feels a little like going down with the ship by not homeschooling anymore...have faith, I am adjusting. It is just taking me some time to do so. Thanks for the kind thoughts and words while I struggle along finding my way without all of that this year. I had a great time with both ICHSA and FACES friends and catching up with the kids and their activities...thanks for making me always feel valued and welcome...my life definitely wouldn't be as rich and fulfilling without all of you.
SCRAPBOOK PAGES THIS WEEK; Zilch...been too busy...at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
GOING TO: First swim meet of the USA short course season...three days worth of swimming and best of all, only 15 minutes from our house, right through the remaining farmland of Hamilton County. This will be the first time Matt is swimming senior level, age 15 and above, most of the time called Open...a building year no doubt as we start at the bottom and work our way up for the next four years. We aren't looking for star status at this juncture...just improved times that will qualify for the highest relay team possible. Let the season begin!
PRAYING FOR: 40 Days for Life please join me.