today i helped a neighbour harvest the apples at her orchard...it was a gorgeous day to be outside...sunny and warm, and very bright...it was the perfect autumn day....
it was nice to visit with her and the other helpers she had and it was nice to just be out in the fresh air....
i also had a day where i didn't do much of anything, school wise...i did print out some different directions/instructions for rain sticks and i'm going to spend some time tomorrow looking them all over and figuring out which i think i like the best, and going from there...
i've decided i'm going to try to make it out of a poster tube, and i'll probably be able to find one at the post office...i need to go there anyways and mail out a few things...i'll more than likely do that on monday, which is when i go for my hearing test and allergy testing...
tomorrow i am planning also on getting a lot further in the book "wasted" as well as working on my academic journal entires...
....
i've really been trying to de-stress as much as possible lately, but i know i need to find something to help fill up my days some....
when my next check comes in from the babysitting i had been doing, i'm going to apply for sub. teaching jobs...i think that'll be a good place to start....and then from there, i'll see what happens...
....
i'm rather sleepy...(and it's only 9:00 at night?...yikes!!...) so i think i'm going to head to bed....
happy weekend, everyone...
-ramona anne
one good thing that happened today: i found out that aidan & brenna's new baby brother will be named kieran...and my heart just opened up and really took that news happily.... :-)
Friday, October 06, 2006
Thursday, October 05, 2006
i didn't pick apples, but i did babysit...
today i had a rather interesting day....i was supposed to go pick apples for the neighbour, but she didn't get home before i had to leave to go do something in town tonight, so i missed that...hopefully i'll get some good apple picking time in tomorrow, though!...
i babysat tonight at the head start because there was a meeting going on and they needed someone to watch the kids, so i said i'd do it...it was pretty neat...this one little boy told me he loved me before he left...it was funny, i'd never seen the kid before in my life...it melted my heart, of course... :-)
....
i started poking around a little and looking at the things we needed to do for my experiencing the arts class....one of the assignments is to make a musical instrument...i looked around online for a while and found this one site that had some instruments you could make out of PVC pipes...but that looked like way too much work, and power tools, and things that could spell serious trouble for someone like me who can break a bone in her foot while bridge fishing....
so, i'm probably going to make a rain stick....i really wanted something that was kind of like ... "out there"...while rainsticks may not be as "out there" as a clarinet made of PVC pipe, they're still a little more "out there" than your standard wax/tissue paper and comb harmonica or your quaker oatmeal canister turned into a drum, or your shoebox, ruler, and elastic guitars....
so i'm going to work on that tomorrow...i've got different types of tubes around here and i want to fool around and see what gives me the best sound, i guess...
....
anyhow, it's been a long day, i'm sure there are a million things i could write about but i'm tired, so i think i'm going to head to bed...
have a good friday, everyone!!...
-ramona anne
one good thing that happened today: i heard a barred owl vocalizing this evening...a few times...it's always a thrill to hear them...and even more of a thrill to know what birds i'm hearing!!...
also, jim called from alaska and told me that brenna & aidan were going to have a new baby brother in the spring of 2007!!!....we knew they were going to have another baby, we just didn't know what gender it was going to be...
i babysat tonight at the head start because there was a meeting going on and they needed someone to watch the kids, so i said i'd do it...it was pretty neat...this one little boy told me he loved me before he left...it was funny, i'd never seen the kid before in my life...it melted my heart, of course... :-)
....
i started poking around a little and looking at the things we needed to do for my experiencing the arts class....one of the assignments is to make a musical instrument...i looked around online for a while and found this one site that had some instruments you could make out of PVC pipes...but that looked like way too much work, and power tools, and things that could spell serious trouble for someone like me who can break a bone in her foot while bridge fishing....
so, i'm probably going to make a rain stick....i really wanted something that was kind of like ... "out there"...while rainsticks may not be as "out there" as a clarinet made of PVC pipe, they're still a little more "out there" than your standard wax/tissue paper and comb harmonica or your quaker oatmeal canister turned into a drum, or your shoebox, ruler, and elastic guitars....
so i'm going to work on that tomorrow...i've got different types of tubes around here and i want to fool around and see what gives me the best sound, i guess...
....
anyhow, it's been a long day, i'm sure there are a million things i could write about but i'm tired, so i think i'm going to head to bed...
have a good friday, everyone!!...
-ramona anne
one good thing that happened today: i heard a barred owl vocalizing this evening...a few times...it's always a thrill to hear them...and even more of a thrill to know what birds i'm hearing!!...
also, jim called from alaska and told me that brenna & aidan were going to have a new baby brother in the spring of 2007!!!....we knew they were going to have another baby, we just didn't know what gender it was going to be...
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
brenna, monarchs, and mice...
this is my neice, brenna...aidan's big sister...in this picture, she is watching a monarch caterpillar spin it's chrysalis...also, on the lid is a chrysalis that has been spun....
every summer, this is one of my projects -- the monarchs...(as you probably have already figured by now...) ....
this picture was taken last summer when they came down for a visit, after i had spent a month up there....
there are only a handful of chrysalises left on around the house...two inside that have yet to hatch and two or three outside....
i am greatly saddened by this, becuase i know that it signifies a change in seasons...plus, when i'm working with the caterpillars and then the chrysalises, i feel a very strong connection to my dad, whom i love dearly and miss terribly, even more now that i am an adult...
....
today i started reading a book called "wasted" for my addictions class...it's written by a woman who developed eating disorders at nine years of age....so far, it's an interesting read....i like it much better and find it much easier to read than "chemical dependency a family affair" was...
.....
also today when i woke up and came out to check my email i caught a whiff of the unmistakable smell of dead mouse...apparently one of the traps we had set in the celing (we have suspended celings in parts of the house...) had caught a mouse and we didn't notice it right away....i had to take care of that this morning...it was rather unpleasant....
thank God for lysol disinfecting spray!!....
.....
later this evening i'll be going to home fellowship group, or to put it a bit simpler, bible study....i'm looking forward to that...i really enjoy the people in my group, and i love the small group leaders, tom & sydney...so, that'll be a nice thing to do...
....
have a super day, everyone...
-ramona anne
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
sox and mice in bed...
i missed posting yesterday because i was busy finishing up homework...i wrote a paper for my addictions class, plus did my two academic journal entries...i tended to some things around here and then got ready to head out to class...
i got home late from class, and even though i wanted to blog, i really didn't have the energy...
but, a funny thing happened yesterday morning....
my cat, sox, whom i love dearly, decided that she needed to interrupt my precious sleep with some of her own affairs...she does that from time to time, and i generally think nothing of it, becuase usually she just wants one of three things -- to sleep in the bed with me, some attention, or some treats....and of course, she has certain ways she acts for each of these things...i've had her for over ten years, i know her little routines...
well, this was a new game...she was on my bed and she was walking very quickly and she was jumping and meowing in a way that she doesn't usually meow in unless she's trying to catch something...
i sit up in the bed to see what is happening and there's a mouse on the bed....i waited until she caught it in her mouth, moved her to the floor and said "take that stupid thing downstairs..." i then promptly fell back to sleep....
when i woke up for real later on yesterday morning, my mom told me about all the fun she had watching sox chase the mouse...i said "really?...i bet it wasn't as fun as watching her chase it across my bed?.." and we both had a good laugh....
this makes the third mouse in two weeks that we've had...i think it's time to set some traps...
also, yesterday, i had another monarch butterfly hatch...that must have been like, the 75th one this year, i swear...
.....
today, i slept until about 8:00, and spent the day doing not a whole lot of anything, which i really think i needed to do....
i did spend some time watching a thing on tv about plastic surgeries that went horribly wrong...that was actually kind of interesting....
my brother tony came up and spent some time checking out things on my car and says he thinks it's an easy fix, so that's good...
.....
i need to find something else....later this week i plan on applying for sub. teaching at some of the different schools in the area, and then seeing what happens from there...
.....
i guess there's really not too much happening here....
i did have two more monarchs hatch from ones i've had inside...and there was one more chrysalis outside that i have been watching that hatched today as well....
have a great day, everyone...
-ramona anne
i got home late from class, and even though i wanted to blog, i really didn't have the energy...
but, a funny thing happened yesterday morning....
my cat, sox, whom i love dearly, decided that she needed to interrupt my precious sleep with some of her own affairs...she does that from time to time, and i generally think nothing of it, becuase usually she just wants one of three things -- to sleep in the bed with me, some attention, or some treats....and of course, she has certain ways she acts for each of these things...i've had her for over ten years, i know her little routines...
well, this was a new game...she was on my bed and she was walking very quickly and she was jumping and meowing in a way that she doesn't usually meow in unless she's trying to catch something...
i sit up in the bed to see what is happening and there's a mouse on the bed....i waited until she caught it in her mouth, moved her to the floor and said "take that stupid thing downstairs..." i then promptly fell back to sleep....
when i woke up for real later on yesterday morning, my mom told me about all the fun she had watching sox chase the mouse...i said "really?...i bet it wasn't as fun as watching her chase it across my bed?.." and we both had a good laugh....
this makes the third mouse in two weeks that we've had...i think it's time to set some traps...
also, yesterday, i had another monarch butterfly hatch...that must have been like, the 75th one this year, i swear...
.....
today, i slept until about 8:00, and spent the day doing not a whole lot of anything, which i really think i needed to do....
i did spend some time watching a thing on tv about plastic surgeries that went horribly wrong...that was actually kind of interesting....
my brother tony came up and spent some time checking out things on my car and says he thinks it's an easy fix, so that's good...
.....
i need to find something else....later this week i plan on applying for sub. teaching at some of the different schools in the area, and then seeing what happens from there...
.....
i guess there's really not too much happening here....
i did have two more monarchs hatch from ones i've had inside...and there was one more chrysalis outside that i have been watching that hatched today as well....
have a great day, everyone...
-ramona anne
Sunday, October 01, 2006
quitting jobs, kids and snakes...
i'm really tired, so this might be a short post...
i decided today that i had to leave my job, effective uhm..immediately....it was a tough thing to do, but for many, many, many reasons, i had to do it...
it had to be a clean break, which i hated also to do...i wanted to try to do a two week notice type thing...but right now i'm under so much stress and pressure with these classes, that i really have to focus on my studies first and foremost...
my mom stands behind me in this, and has said that if it comes to the point where i need to totally give up my job so i can just focus on schooling, then she will be behind me in that...
it's going to be hard, i do love those kids so very much...but i also need to be able to step back and say "this isn't working..." .... i felt like i was becoming burned out among other things...(dare i say i even wondered a few times about my mental health?!...)
i have been stressed, irritable, shorter on patience than normal, running on not enough sleep, and really just feeling like i wasn't well -- physically, emotionally, and even spiritually...
so maybe now things will be a bit easier for me...time will tell, i guess...
....
anyways, i'm exhausted and i desperately need sleep.... tomorrow i'll be finishing the book and writing the essay... wich me luck, everyone...
....
then i've got class, and with that more homework (of course!) .... interesting how that happens, eh?...
also, this week i'll be starting to prepare for my experiencing the arts class...that meets the weekend of the 13th, 14th, and 15th...i've got lots of reading to do before the first class meets...
and then some discussions will be taking place that weekend on what had been read... i'll be in enfield that weekend, which i'm really looking forward to....
i do so enjoy visiting family down there...
....
that reminds me -- one good thing that happened today -- i saw julia at church today (she was up from enfield visiting her mom's mom)...and she was very glad to see me!!...
and, she told me all about her new baby brother, and her new baby sister....(her mom & her boyfriend concieved right around the time of her dad & his girlfriend...the babies were born within a week of each other, i do believe...)
....
there's a picture i took of julia one evening in my back yard...it was when her dad (who is my first cousin) was home visiting from iraq, and we had him, julia, my aunt & uncle, my other uncle, and a few of my siblings over for home made bread & biscuits, baked beans, and hot dogs....it was a great time...
i was showing pete (my cousin) my garden, as he wanted to see it, and i noticed a garter snake crawling around...i picked it up and asked peter if julia liked snakes....
he said "i'm not sure if she's seen any yet?..."
so i showed her the snake and she asked to hold it...
i asked her dad and he said "well, it can't hurt...if it bites her, she'll just never want to touch a snake again, which wouldn't bother me any..."
well, the snake did not bite julia...even though julia kissed the snake...i missed that shot, but i did manage to capture this one here....
isn't that a great shot?....you can see the first row of corn in my garden in the background of this picture...
julia has grown and changed so much since this picture was taken, but i still absolutely adore this shot of her...and no, not because i took it...just because it's a really neat "little kid" shot...
....
anyhow, my pillow's calling my name... i'm off to bed...
good night, all...
-ramona anne
i decided today that i had to leave my job, effective uhm..immediately....it was a tough thing to do, but for many, many, many reasons, i had to do it...
it had to be a clean break, which i hated also to do...i wanted to try to do a two week notice type thing...but right now i'm under so much stress and pressure with these classes, that i really have to focus on my studies first and foremost...
my mom stands behind me in this, and has said that if it comes to the point where i need to totally give up my job so i can just focus on schooling, then she will be behind me in that...
it's going to be hard, i do love those kids so very much...but i also need to be able to step back and say "this isn't working..." .... i felt like i was becoming burned out among other things...(dare i say i even wondered a few times about my mental health?!...)
i have been stressed, irritable, shorter on patience than normal, running on not enough sleep, and really just feeling like i wasn't well -- physically, emotionally, and even spiritually...
so maybe now things will be a bit easier for me...time will tell, i guess...
....
anyways, i'm exhausted and i desperately need sleep.... tomorrow i'll be finishing the book and writing the essay... wich me luck, everyone...
....
then i've got class, and with that more homework (of course!) .... interesting how that happens, eh?...
also, this week i'll be starting to prepare for my experiencing the arts class...that meets the weekend of the 13th, 14th, and 15th...i've got lots of reading to do before the first class meets...
and then some discussions will be taking place that weekend on what had been read... i'll be in enfield that weekend, which i'm really looking forward to....
i do so enjoy visiting family down there...
....
that reminds me -- one good thing that happened today -- i saw julia at church today (she was up from enfield visiting her mom's mom)...and she was very glad to see me!!...
and, she told me all about her new baby brother, and her new baby sister....(her mom & her boyfriend concieved right around the time of her dad & his girlfriend...the babies were born within a week of each other, i do believe...)
....
there's a picture i took of julia one evening in my back yard...it was when her dad (who is my first cousin) was home visiting from iraq, and we had him, julia, my aunt & uncle, my other uncle, and a few of my siblings over for home made bread & biscuits, baked beans, and hot dogs....it was a great time...
i was showing pete (my cousin) my garden, as he wanted to see it, and i noticed a garter snake crawling around...i picked it up and asked peter if julia liked snakes....
he said "i'm not sure if she's seen any yet?..."
so i showed her the snake and she asked to hold it...
i asked her dad and he said "well, it can't hurt...if it bites her, she'll just never want to touch a snake again, which wouldn't bother me any..."
well, the snake did not bite julia...even though julia kissed the snake...i missed that shot, but i did manage to capture this one here....
isn't that a great shot?....you can see the first row of corn in my garden in the background of this picture...
julia has grown and changed so much since this picture was taken, but i still absolutely adore this shot of her...and no, not because i took it...just because it's a really neat "little kid" shot...
....
anyhow, my pillow's calling my name... i'm off to bed...
good night, all...
-ramona anne
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