A List

Time for one of those list type blog postings.  A couple reasons for this: 
1. I can't get my thoughts organized cohesively enough to make blackberries segue nicely into ballet, or homeschooling segue into bacon.  Actually, there's a lot of bacon in homeschooling, so that might work. 
2.  I should be making a list of homeschool supplies instead of a list of nonsense.  But I'm not.  And it's getting harder to deny that school is starting soon.  Stoopid back to school specials and sales and commercials.  How am I supposed to bask in denial and procrastination if ad genius' keep throwing it in my face?  Also, I want a Trapper Keeper.  And Sharpies...lotsa Sharpies!

So here are my thoughts, happenings, and desires, posted in a lovely numbered format for you.  Try to keep the excitement to a minimum.

1.  Last night my smurfs (or is it smurves?) picked blackberries on the side of the road.  Today, we make pie.  It's another reason to love Oregon, the wild blackberries.  They are delicious.  Gianni eats them as fast as I can pick them (obviously he can't pick them himself, he's far too busy eating them).  He has a strange fear of "pokies," something I believe his hypochondriac sister instilled in him, so it takes him approximately three weeks to approach a bush.  We also weren't dressed for picking last night (we were supposed to be taking a bike ride but were ambushed by a strange and irresistible jonesin' for blackberries five minutes in) and so I was forced to carry him a bit.  He was nice enough to lay his head on my shoulder and cheer me on by saying, 'you can do it, Mom!  I'm not heavy!  Just a few more miles to go!  Yaaah, Mommy!'

2.  My first column for Home Educating Family came out this month.  I'd love to tell you how great it looks, but I sort of am not a subscriber.  Yet.  I will, I swear!  But the Trapper Keeper comes first.  Budgeting is everything.  Anyway, if any of you readers subscribe would you tear out the article entitled Everything I Need To Know I Learned in Sunday School and mail it to me, please?  Thanks.  It was based on this  original blog posting if you want to refresh your memory.

3.  We have found a house we very much want to rent so I will let you know if the landlady accepts us.  Thinking of delivering fresh blackberry pie to her... It's a super cute 1950s house (yes, very us) in a lovely neighborhood. 

4.  I entered my first writing contest, but alas, did not win.  I didn't expect to, but it would have been a nice shot of motivation.  Ah well.  Still plugging along on the book: 25,000 words!  That's a quarter of the way through!  Yaah me!

5.  We bought a second car from some of our closest friends, which is just another step in the Get Thee Back To Normalcy Project we've been working on since June 15th.  Before you know it, we'll be living like YOU!  Like EVERYONE ELSE!  Joy, rapture, hallelujah, and pass the bacon!  I'm going to dig myself a wonderful rut and never come out.  You'll all wonder, where's that strange girl with the fifteen children and the pink carpet and the crazy lifestyle? and I'll be like, here I am, in the rut down here!  Basking in normalcy and writing a book.  That's me.  I may even, I don't know, get a gym membership or something totally Americana like that.  Or a Starbucks punchcard!!!  Oh yeah.  Totally getting one of those.  And shop at The Gap!!  Nah, I'm never gonna do that.  I went on a date with my LuvahBoy last weekend and we went to see Crazy, Stupid Love (cuz when you've been married more than ten minutes the husband goes to see what the wife wants to see) and there's a scene where Ryan Gosling (who may or may not be married to me in The Movie in My Head) tells Steve Carrell he is better than The Gap.  And then he makes fun of his Great Clips haircut, which made us laugh because we had literally just walked out of Great Clips not two hours before.  With a coupon. 

6.  Nutella has become a food group 'round these parts.  If that's wrong,  Roo and Moose don't wanna be right.

7.  According to my stats if you type in Fondant Preacher in a search engine, you will eventually be directed to my blog.  I find this funny, odd, and weird, since I don't recall ever in my life having written a word about fondant.  I've never used the stuff.  Wanted to, but never have.  I can't buy fondant when I need Sharpies and magazine subscriptions.  Also, silverware, beds, garbage cans, towels, chairs, and all that other stuff we have need of and don't own, but would look great in our 1950s style rental house.  Dishcloths, waste baskets, curtains, pillows, soap, spoons, bowls, water glasses.  Good grief, I should be making lists of other things... Pots, pans, footstools, why did my font just change on me?

8.  I don't actually have anything to say about bacon, sorry.  Except that's it is excellent on potato and leek pizza. 

9.  When we went to the coast a few weeks ago, we all went zip lining.  Great fun.  Gianni had no fear, quite like he is in water.  Segue into...: the little water rat taught himself to swim.  He's only three!  What the??  I don't know if I like it.  Water scares me.  Anyone who knows me, knows this.  I think it goes back to when Cora disappeared during the Episode of Which We Do Not Speak.  She was gone for an hour and a half at the age of four, lost in the mountains and I really thought if the kidnappers didn't have her, then I would find her face down in a stream somewhere.  At least, that's my psychologist take on it.  Maybe I've just seen Jaws too many times.  Whatever.  Anyway, the last thing Moose needs is more confidence in the water, so I'm not sure his doggy paddle is something to be happy about.  If only the water was full of "pokies" he might exercise a little restraint.  Anyway, I would put photos of the little man zip lining but it would make his Gramma toss her cookies, so I won't.

10.  I don't have a #10 but you can't end a list on a 9.  That's be weird.