The care and feeding of nieces

I've dived back into the land of 'are we there yet' and 'I'm thirsty', reading long bed-time stories and making short phone calls. I'm taking care of my almost-four-year old niece for a couple of days. It's interesting getting back into the routine. I have to remind myself I didn't entertain my children every waking hour and that it's okay if the kids don't finish all the food on their plate but not okay if they walk around with a cup of hot chocolate. At this stage of my life I'm still surprised I did all the sewing/canning/cleaning/preserving I did with three kids at home under the age of four. My life has found a different rhythm since then and it's hard to dance with an almost four year old to the beat of a different drummer. Of course the other benefit of babysitting is that I don't have to discipline or shape and mold behavior. Consequently, darling little niece is now parked in front of the television watching The Lion King, just so her aunty can post to her blog about the adventures of babysitting. There's a lesson here. I just don't know if I have time to puzzle it out. The movie is going to end pretty soon and I'm running out of time.

Pluto - oh no!

I am shocked. Disappointed. Deceived. All these years of thinking Pluto was a planet - over. Gone. Like dust in the wind. Pluto has been demoted. No longer a proud ordinarly planet it is now only a dimming dwarf planet. What puzzles me is this was done at a meeting complete with resolutions and drafts and lobbying. In fact, there was a radical faction that had not only suggested Pluto remain a planet, but that three other celestial bodies, lurking at the outer rim, be also granted entree into our solar system.Now of course we can't let just any old celestial body into our very unique solar system so it was fairly unanimous. Demote Pluto. My goodness, it's high school all over again!

Bummed on Benylin

Reading instructions on bottles of cough syrup is always a good thing. Reading dosages on bottles of cough syrup is even better. Do this and you won't end up like me, wide awake at 4:00 in the morning unable to function or think straight. Yesterday my ribs were sore from coughing. I would periodically lurch out of my chair, hacking and choking pawing through my paper-strewn desk for cough candies, my water bottle, Buckleys - anything to stop me from coughing. I had, or have, a cold. I don't know where I am in this 'cold' time-line because I overdosed on Benylin last night. I was tired. My eyes were bleary from staring at a computer screen trying to edit out unneccesary words like 'it' and 'was' and 'were' and 'that' before I sent my manuscript off to my editor. I was tired of reading and tired of coughing so before I went to bed I pulled out the Benylin, scanned the instructions which is hard to do when the print is fine and the head is shaking from coughing - was surprised to read that an adult would need two tablespoons of the stuff - and down the hatch it went. This morning, puzzled at my wakefulness and headache and general feeling that I will never, ever cough again, or even be able to clear my throat, I re-read the instructions.
Not tablespoons. Teaspoons. It's almost 6:00 and I don't think I'm out of the woods for another couple of hours. My husband wanted me to learn how to operate the tractor today but the bottle said do not operate heavy machinery and I would think a tractor would qualify as heavy and seeing as how I just about tripled the recommended dosage, I think the tractor might stay parked for a couple of days. Let my experience be a cautionary tale. Don't Do Drugs. And use a teaspoon for the Benylin.

filling up space

August and holidays - that's what's been keeping me busy the past month. And, (trumpet blast) deadlines. I've got one galloping toward me as I write this so that's the reason I haven't been posting much here. Actually, this is my first post in August! How sad.

We had our annual Aarsen campout the past month. The aunties set up base camp for five or six days and the kids and husbands come and go. I had three of my kids (and husband) come out to eat pancakes cooked over an open fire, smokies cooked over an open fire, hamburgers cooked over an open fire. And I wonder why my clothes all smell like woodsmoke when we get home! I took my writing along to do some editing - I had to get work done but I didn't want to miss out on the fun especially because the kids were going to be there. Lots of fun and lots of laughs and the discovery of a new obsession game - Blokus.

I discovered a great website that I've been using to help me organize my life. http://www.FlyLady.net . I highly recommend checking this out if you feel as if your house is slowly being taken over by dust, mess and stuff. She recommends 'baby steps' in organization and her tips and hints are practical and, even more important for this slightly chaotic person, doable.

And now, back to work.