yet again, i cannot sleep. i just saw a police cruiser go by with a light shining on the houses (that’s what made me peek out the window, that and the car was going pretty slowly). i don’t know if they do this every night or if the officer was looking for something specifically. it was kind of weird. sometimes when i just get up instead of tossing and turning for hours, i find that god has a reason for getting me up. sometimes it’s not a pleasant reason, though, so i’m always a little wary when i get up. maybe that’s why the police car weirded me out.

i was trying to read an investment book but it’s in a part where it’s explaining what all the different kinds of investments are and i just couldn’t concentrate on that (but i am bound and determined to finish it someday) so i picked up “the horse and his boy” and finished it. i find lewis’ comments about education in the narnia series to be most amusing! anyway, i guess i’ll go take some benadryl and see if that puts me to sleep.

i was hearing the first notes of that song during my son’s guitar lesson today. then my younger son started working on “crazy train” in his lesson. fun stuff!

we went to this place for the first time saturday night – it was bustling! i’d never been before so i had no idea what to expect. there is a sign that requests you place your food order before getting a table. it was very crowded so i wondered if we’d get a table at all (and it was just the 2 of us, my mom was home with the boys, bless her!). then we realized that they were making sure a table was available as people ordered; it turns out they wait to take your order until there is a table for you, but we only had to hold about a minute.

it is not large inside, but they were handling the crowd well. i ordered shrimp fried rice, he ordered chicken teriyaki. the servings were large and we had enough to bring home for his lunch at work on monday. there are plates on the table so you can share entrees more easily. there were chopsticks on the table, but i opted to use a fork to get the food into my mouth with more efficiency and less embarrassment. we were also served a complimentary order of crab wontons – they were delish.

i was glad to see they have brown rice on the menu as an alternative to white – yum and better for you! it was quite loud in there, lots of families. we would have waited longer for a table if we’d brought our family of 6, i’m sure – but it was very family-friendly. i recommend it!

i finished reading “marley and me” last night (glad schweers mom recommended it!). although we don’t have a dog, i enjoyed the story and cried at the end.  i also shed some tears when i was reminded of my own miscarriages… and the loss of innocence that they cause. i should be celebrating an 8 year old girl’s birthday in a few days but instead, it will be just another day with maybe a bit more longing for heaven than usual…

I think I posted the lyrics before, but the video is good, too. This link says that Tom Chapin and John Forster wrote the song to express their disappointment in the lack of arts education in public schools. Maybe there is some arts education in public schools, but it seems to take a back seat to “the test”, at least around here.

… a new washer and dryer. They aren’t the Wild Cherry Red (I just couldn’t see paying the extra money for a washer and dryer that sits in the laundry room), but I am looking forward to them. We are getting frontloaders. I love that I can look at the owner’s manuals today online so that when they get here, I can start on the laundry right away. I also love online owner’s manuals because I tend to misplace the hard copies. The internet is great for that!

They are by Bob Schultz. I discovered them at Timberdoodle, one of my favorite homeschooling catalogs (and they have a website, of course). I’ve probably mentioned him before but I just learned that he has a new book called Practical Happiness – A Young Man’s Guide to a Contented Life. His other books that we have are Boyhood and Beyond and Created For Work. They are collections of short stories, each with a great message and a few discussion questions. It takes us about 15 minutes to do one story/discussion so it’s great for after lunch or dinner while we’re still at the table. I highly recommend them for families raising young men (and they are not just for homeschoolers!)

it seems like every time my husband flies for work, we get some crazy weather. i was tracking his flight at flytecomm.com when i noticed the little airplane had done a 180 and was facing the wrong direction. then i updated and saw that they appear to have landed in lubbock. i got up before 5 this morning to take him to the airport and now i’m barely functioning. i’m going to figure out what caffeine-laced product to keep me awake until i have to pick him up. my eyes are about to close. zzzzzzz…..

the ants are back. well, the ants never really completely left. but they’ve kicked up the activity to a new level and are in new territory. tomorrow i’m phoning the exterminator. this could get ugly.

Our Suburban’s third row seat is removable… but the last time we tried to get it out, it was STUCK! So when we took it in yesterday for some maintenance, we asked them to see if they could figure out why the seat wouldn’t come out. It took 2 guys about an hour, but they finally got it unstuck and said we can blame a LEGO. So that little piece cost us about $98!

i’ve had a revelation… getting older has this advantage, at least for me. i forget stuff, it seems like a lot of stuff, which isn’t normally an advantage. but when it comes to re-reading a book, or watching a movie? let’s just say it’s almost like reading or watching for the first time. things are vaguely familiar but for the most part, i have forgotten enough to make it enjoyable. if i watched tv then the writer’s strikes wouldn’t impact me much because they could play reruns from years ago and i’d be fine. now i understand why my mom can watch “the waltons” over and over, lol.

my eyes are getting older, too. i was reading something in my son’s magazine last night and i turned on a lamp. the overhead light was on and he couldn’t understand why i needed the lamp on (which cast light directly on the page). i told him my eyes were getting old and that one day he would understand. “in 30 years when you’re about my age, and i’m 73, maybe you’ll say ‘mom, you were right about eyes getting older.’” he said he would probably have forgotten the conversation. “me, too,” i said, but he’s more likely to remember than i!