Seven Quick Takes Friday--volume 88

One.

Here is what I did between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 this morning:  Nursed Gemma at 11:30 and 1:45; was awakened by Adrian at 3:40 because he felt nauseated.  Administered anti-nausea medicine at 3:45, 4:05, 4:20 and 4:40.  Nursed Gemma again at 4:45 right after my alarm went off.  Woke Bret at 4:50 because I was nursing and Adrian was calling me.  Put Gemma back in her bed at 5:00.  At 5:10 I was cleaning vomit off the floor, bed and Adrian.  I threw a load of diapers into the washer at 5:20 or so, along with the yucky bed pad and T-shirt and I killed a really big Brown Recluse in the bathtub.  At 5:35 I poured a cup of coffee and said my prayers, which were pithier than usual:  "Dear Lord, help me to get through this day and please don't let anyone else throw up..." 

Two.

Just looked over the list of things I wanted to get done this week, and here it is, Friday, and I still haven't done what I wanted to do.  Do I have an excuse?  Well, no, other than the fact that I seem to be unable to organize my time these days.  The fact is, I have lived most of my life with schedules and lists, and I seem to be in a state of rebellion the past few months.  I just can't seem to stick to a plan.  I had better get over it and get on the ball, as I am not an "unschooling" type, and I can only use the excuse of summertime lethargy for another two months.

Three.

The heat is appalling and my comfort zone is narrowing with age.  I now declare that I am comfortable when the temperature is between 65 and 75 degrees.  A decade from now it'll be something like, "I'm comfortable when the temperature is between 70 and 72 degrees."  Unfortunately, there are only a few weeks per year when the highs fall between those numbers.  Thank God for iced coffee and air conditioning.  I just wish our thermostat wasn't broken, as I have to turn the AC on and off throughout the day to keep things comfortable and not frigid.  But I'm not complaining!

Four.

We live in a rural area, so we pay a private company for our trash pick-up.  We are on our third company in seven years, as the two previous owners have retired from the trash pick-up business.  The garbage trucks can be pretty amusing, from converted U-Hauls to DIY contraptions on the backs of pickup trucks.  Right now we have a garbage lady rather than a garbage man.  We didn't know this at first.  The kids thought that it was a young man picking up the trash, decked out in a baseball cap and muscle shirt, hurling large, black trash bags into the back of the truck.  Then one morning I was looking out the window at the time of the pick-up and I noticed...breasts.

Five.

I am thinking of beginning our summer break a week early.  Everyone is hot and muddle-brained.  I figure that if we keep up with a daily math drill and reading (me to them and them to me), and I do some letter and number work with the little guys, we can take the extra time to catch up on some of the art and craft stuff I never got around to during the year.  Una is delighted that I am letting her drop the last 15 lessons of Saxon 7/6.  After all, she just turned 11 in April and will be starting Pre-Algebra at the end of August.  Don't you think she needs a break?

Six.
As much as I hate spending time on the computer doing anything other than looking at blogs, blogging and checking out recipes and knitting patterns, I have to go shopping.  I hate internet shopping less than actual "drag-myself-and-six-kids-around" shopping, but only slightly less.  But I need to shop around for used curricula, for something for Dominic's birthday next month, and for a good deal on a laptop.  I don't want to do this.  I want to knit and sew and make fruit smoothies and make things with the kids.  My kids don't believe me, but I keep telling them that being a grown-up kinda stinks sometimes.

Seven.
I'm all tapped out.  It's hot and I'm sleep-deprived.  I think I am going to whip up a mocha frappé or something in the blender.

Now go on over to Jennifer's Conversion Diary for more Seven Quick Takes Friday.