Motionless Monday Musings

I know. I know. Another stretch. But I'm hoping...and praying...and eagerly anticipating...a quieter week this week. Sigh.

I don't know how our lives get so busy, but it happens, and then we're left spinning wheels, trying to keep up.

Happy happy happy Monday to you! The beginning of a brand-new, spanking-clean week. Yeehaw! And Happy Spring to you, too! Finally! Now maybe it'll warm up a little?

Last week was a blur at times, to say the least.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had PSSAs, which in and of themselves aren't much but require us to go to another site for drop off and pick up. When you homeschool, you don't usually go anywhere for schooling so we're not used to the loading and unloading and reloading of the minivans throughout our normal day. The social side of Emily enjoyed herself immensely. She has made some really nice friends through these tests and that really helps ease her anxiety about taking them. (Well, seeing all her friends added together with all the treats we slip into her backpack...) Next year, Edward will join her in taking the tests.

I still had to teach my journalism class at our homeschool co-op on Wednesday, at a facility about 30 minutes from home. Since drop off for Emily was 9 a.m., we skipped the beginning of co-op and drove the half-hour to teach for an hour and drive back home. Edward made his own newspaper while he visited my class. Emily's done the same thing before when she's sat in on my class. They're amazing kids, really. Naturals in the newspaper field.

St. Patrick's Day was a hoot for us. Even though, Stuart is pure-blood English and, according to my dad, there isn't any Irish ancestory on my side -- despite the few Scots who fled to Ireland during the persecution of the Covenanters in the 1600s (I think) -- we celebrated anyway. Any why not? Stuart came up with the idea of corned beef tacos with "Irish" toppings such as cabbage. They were very yummy and enjoyed by all. We all wore green and listened to Irish music all day, too. Very memorable for all involved.

Another new 24 tonight. Each episode has been nail-bitingly exciting...so I'm sure this one won't disappoint us. Stuart and I have a new tradition to combat the rising costs of wings: pretzels. We now season our own hard pretzels and bake them in the oven...just like the wings. It's perfect. Much cheaper and very tasty. Plus, the crunchiness of the pretzels helps to save our fingernails as we watch the varied adventures of Jack. *wink*

Saturday found us at the Greater Reading Expo Center for the annual Pet Expo. We'd never been there so it was an interesting experience. We took four of our rabbits to share at the Berks County 4-H Rabbit and Cavy Club exhibit. The bunnies got lots and lots of pets and strokes and pats that day. I think they enjoyed it though they were more than ready to get back to the quietness of their usual surroundings. Still, it was fun to share our love of our cute, furry friends with the visitors at the expo. We're looking forward to doing it again next year. While we were there, we did a bit of wandering and saw some of the other creatures on display. There was an exhibit of rescued tigers and nearby our booth, a corral of alpacas, amongst the many other animals you could see. Well-worth a visit if you're in the area next year.

An Emily-ism: I love when the kids use words incorrectly -- not because I like them to get stuff wrong -- just because I think it's cute to see how hard they try to use "grown-up" words. The other day, Emily was explaining about an article she'd read telling of a dog that could smell a person and know that he/she had cancer. "I think it's cool that the dog was psycho," she said in amazement, meaning, of course, that the dog was psychic. We chuckled. But then again maybe it was both? Our dog can be pretty "psycho" at times...especially with all this Spring fever stuff going around.

Enjoy your Monday!