All night long I listened to wave after wave of thunderstorm come through.  In the morning, we started getting freezing rain, then some light snow.  Then a lot of sleet and some more snow.  It was very pretty to watch and I was glad I had nowhere I needed to go.  And I’m glad I was wrong. 

I don’t know how they get there, but when I’m composing a post, in the upper right area of the screen there are these sweet little quotes that change whenever I save or refresh the page somehow.  Stuff like this:

~Keep it simple.

~Plant flowers every spring.

~Be forgiving of yourself and others.

~Avoid negative people.

~Be there when people need you.

~Don’t expect life to be fair.

~Keep your promises no matter what.

~Watch a sunrise at least once a year.

~Always accept an outstretched hand.

~Sing in the shower.

So, whoever you are, little quote fairy - thank you.  You make me smile.  And this could go on for a long time because every time I click “save and continue editing” there’s a new quote to add to the list.  Now I need to find the fairy that fixes the timestamper thingie on these posts because it’s showing an hour later than it is. 

But I’m still skeptical.  I am quite sure it will be cold, though.  Sounds like a good day to stay in with hot chocolate - better go check and make sure we have the supplies! 

It’s the middle of the night again, just like it was in part 1.  I’ve been pondering the movie we saw on Sunday night, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.  In it, the father has a “drinking problem”.  When he gets drunk he becomes extremely violent.  My father had a drinking problem, too.  But when he drank, he became extremely happy.  It was when he was sober that he was violent and his temper flared.  I wonder if that’s normal - are some people “happy” drunks and other people “mean” drunks?  I’m not sure if one is preferable over the other, but if a person is sober more than they are drunk, then perhaps a mean drunk is preferable to a mean sober person.  But I don’t know.

Also in the movie, the father would cry after a violent spell.  My father didn’t cry at all, at least not that anyone ever saw.  Well, that’s not true.  He cried on my wedding day, but not for too long.  And I heard he cried at my baby cousin’s funeral way back when I was little.  My aunt forbade anyone from bringing children to the funeral so I didn’t see it firsthand, just heard about it when I was grown. 

I don’t drink alcohol.  It’s not a religious statement; it’s more of a “I’ve seen what it can do to a person, to a family” thing.   I would be scared to see what would happen.  Just not worth it. 

weather.com is my homepage.  Does that make me a geek?  A nerd?  Well, it is what it is.  Tonight it’s telling me that we’re under a “Winter Storm Watch”.  Growing up in Texas, this was always an exciting time.  Would school be cancelled?  Would there be enough snow to make a snow man?  How about just a snow ball?  Oh, the anticipation!

It took me a long time to figure out, but it appears that when the weatherman (excuse me, meteorologist) says it will snow it doesn’t.  They totally jinx it when they predict it.   It’s such a letdown.  However, when the computer models don’t predict it… THAT’s when we get it.  It’s a fun surprise, even if it’s all gone by the next day. 

So although I *know* it won’t happen on Thursday like weather.com says, there’s still this kid in me that will have my face pressed to the window searching for flakes. 

We watched 2 movies yesterday (thank you, Coke rewards - guess drinking all that coke pays off, ha).  First up was Eight Below.  We all enjoyed it - it was predictable but that doesn’t bother me in a movie like it seems to bother other people.  I like happy endings.  And the dogs were great! 

After church we watched The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.  I had heard of the book a year or two ago, but our libraries didn’t have it so it slipped from my mind.  The book is subtitled, “How my mother raised 10 children in 25 words or less” - referring to the mother’s entering and winning contests to keep her family afloat.  When I was in Blockbuster, I saw it and decided to give it a try.  I must add that we have a DVD player with built-in TV Guardian, so a lot of the father’s dialogue was blocked.   The movie was darker than I thought it would be, but it did spark some good conversation with the boys.  I would like to read the book to see how it compares - although I prefer to read the book first!  I thought it was a nice touch that they showed the real Ryan children (all grown up) at the end.  Overall, I enjoyed this movie. 

What I want to be, what I want from others.  This sums it up beautifully:

Oh, the comfort,
the inexpressible comfort,
of feeling safe with a person,
having neither to weigh thoughts
nor measure words,
but to pour them all out
just as they are,
chaff and grain together,
knowing that a faithful hand
will take and sift them,
keep what is worth keeping,
and then, with the breath of kindness
blow the rest away.

~George Eliot

Recently we painted the living room (it’s Luxurious Red from Sherwin-Williams; I love it!).  In order to do so we had to dismantle our bookshelves.  There is a stretch of shelves about 9 feet wide and almost 7 feet high.  They are Skandia from The Container Store (best shelving ever, IMO).  We also have another ~3-1/2 feet of shelves in a different spot.  I think being a homeschooler goes hand-in-hand with being a bookaholic, at least from the people I’ve talked with. 

Anyway, I have been attempting to get all the books back on the shelves but purging things as I go.  Having children ranging in age from 3 to 14 makes for a varied collection of books and makes it difficult to part with any of them.  Board books, picture books, chapter books, Bibles (12 of them at last count!), do-it-yourself books, cook books, parenting books… it just goes on and on and that doesn’t even include the curriculum.  

Thanks in part to Five In A Row, I’ve developed a deep love for children’s picture books.  I don’t believe I’ll ever let my picture books go, even when my nest is empty.  Maybe then I’ll invite children over and read to them so they can enjoy the books as well.  Maybe my house will look like Elizabeth Brown’s in The Library!

I am working on contentment right now. I have these ratty recliners in my living room. I also have a new-to-me couch (bought it off of craigslist over the summer). The recliners look awful with the sofa; they look awful with the freshly painted walls. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have…” While I was looking at that this morning, I also noticed 3 verses up in Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Oh dear. I am embarrassed about my furniture and messy house. So I don’t invite people over. I’m missing out on the angels! On Sunday I noticed I had tucked in my bible the essay by Erma Bombeck, “If I Had My Life To Live Over”. One line in it says, “I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.” I have much work to do.