Monday, August 11, 2008

Simple Woman Monday, August 11th

Peggy at The Simple Woman hosts this lovely excuse for visiting kindred spirits. Run over there to catch up on a cornucopia of Monday morning thoughts!

Outside my Window.... Sunny and fairly cool today! Everything is moist from the thunderstorms here over the weekend. Our trees and shrubs are dripping with happiness! Our high prairies suffer from a scarcity of rainfall through periodic drought years and we're hoping these weekend storms are a sign of a turn toward wetter weather, in general through the end of the summer.

It's so funny that it was cool and rainy here over the weekend (SO not the norm!), while it was cool, sunny and dry in Virginia (the reverse of usual I'm told). We told Paul we brought some Colorado weather to Virginia for him in celebration of his graduation ~ and it would appear that Virginia weather came to fill the gap here.

I am thinking... We loved visiting the beautiful and historic Washington DC/ northern Virginia area this past weekend, but we are soooo glad to be home in Colorado. (How do y'all in the DC area stand all that traffic!?)

From the kitchen... Got the BEST cookbook on sale at Borders over the weekend. It's called Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen and I'm very excited about using her ideas and recipes! I highly recommend this book for anyone who hates the word diet, but knows they need one...

I am creating... snowflakes with Catherine (7) today ~ Don't ask why; Cathy just thought it would be a fun thing to do...

I am going... to bed early tonight. I'm pooped out from our non-stop weekend on the east coast! Stay tuned for a few pics of the sights we squeezed in while we were in the DC area...

I am wearing... Total comfort wear today: black stretchy capris and a long white t-shirt that says "I child proofed my house... but the kids keep getting in!"

I am reading... The cookbook mentioned above, plus curriculum information for starting the schoolyear in a week or two.

I am hoping... Paul gets settled back into his daily routine with relative ease. He still has a couple of semesters before he graduates from college, at which point he chooses whether or not to sign on as a second lieutenant in the Marines. Having graduated from OCS, he has their welcome; now it's up to him.

I am hearing... the swamp cooler humming, occasionally tickling the chimes in the dining room... Cathy and Anna at the table cutting out snowflakes, Anna wanting to read a book with me ~ which we'll be doing here in just a minute.

Around the house... The children left the house so nice and clean for us when we got home from the airport last night, that the only thing I have to do is catch up on laundry. Thanks, kids!

Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Getting our sophomore and our senior boys ready to head off to Omaha for school this weekend. Gearing up for homeschooling with our four girls in kindergarten, second, fifth and ninth grades.

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you...
A happy reunion! ~ Paul and Nicole right after Paul's graduation from OCS on Saturday. That ten week separation was way too long!

7 comments:

EC Gefroh said...

What a wonderful photo!

A Bit of the Blarney said...

Hope your trip to DC was grand...It is one of my favorite cities and I really love going to mass in the Crypt Church at the Basilica! The campus of Catholic U is really beautiful! Cathy

Laura said...

I can't believe you were here so close to my home. Where did you go to Mass? The Shrine? (my college campus). St. Patricks? (my church) or St Matthews?
C'mon!! I was born here. You gotta tell us what you did.
And yes, the traffic is annoying but I LOVE MY TOWN.

Anonymous said...

Really nice picture. Great daybook. I just love the daybook sharing, it is so nice to get a glimps into other women's lives.

Shosannah said...

I love the picture!
Thanks for sharing a these lovely pieces of you day.
Enjoy the rest of your week:0)
Blessings
Suzy

Lisa said...

Esther, Suzy, Darcee ~ Thanks! Can't you see the joy in that pic? &:o)

Cathy ~ We LOVED our visit, just wish we had more time!

Laura ~ We were right in your back yard! &:o) We went to Mass in Vienna, and had a good visit with old friends there. Later in the day, though, we drove right by St. Patrick's, and if we'd had a place to park, we would've stopped by to have a look-see ~ If I'd known it was your home parish, I'd have looked harder and walked longer to see it!

My family lived in VA until I was 14 years old, so have many happy memories. The trees! The history! Ahhh... I really do wish we could have spent more time! I never did get any crab cakes, daggonnit. We HAVE to plan another trip back east! I'll post some pics of the sights we did get to see on Friday.

Donna said...

I don't think Nicole stopped smiling that first day, or even on Saturday once they were together. They are such a nice couple. I do love Nocole so much too!