From "Eat, Love, Pray"

"Learning how to discipline your speech is a way of preventing your energies from spilling out of you through the rupture of your mouth, exhausting you and filling the world with words, words, words instead of serenity, peace and bliss."

-- Elizabeth Gilbert (p. 190, 2006 ed.)

Tired

I haven't slept through the night since June 16th. I blame the trip, the hospital stays, staying up with the sick kid, and the dogs barking at the fox in the backyard.

I love sleeping! I hated naps as a kid, but I loved the process of going to sleep at night and I still do. I usually read and relax myself to sleep. Right before I fall asleep, I catch myself turning onto my stomach and pulling my right leg up at an angle. My mother always said I must have been that way in the womb and my baby pictures show me on my tummy, right leg angled up, and my left thumb in my mouth.

Nights full of dreams aren't relaxing. I dread those nights. My ideal sleep night is going to sleep and waking up on my own (no alarm clock!), fully rested and ready for the day.

I guess there is too much going on in my life and my brain can't relax enough to get into that deep sleep mode I'm missing right now. A few days this week relaxing on the water and in the sun will hopefully be the recipe for some great sleep!!

I think I'm going to go and sleep now. :)

Air Condtioning

We are members of an rural electric cooperative. We were eligible for a huge rebate to replace our heating/ac unit last winter, so we kissed the 20-year-old unit goodbye and thought we had eliminated our problems for a while.

Last night at 11:30, our air conditioning stopped. When the repairman arrived at 5:30 today, it took him only 10 minutes to determine that a piece of wire was to blame. It had shortened out and gotten against some other wires, causing the horrendous smell that made us think something was on fire. And apparently, we came close to having that happen!

Tyler, Jake and I were here today with no air. No a.c. makes for a very cranky mother and crankier sons!

Until 3 or 4 years ago (time is getting away from me), my workplace was UN-airconditioned. I remembered today that my favorite complaint to my principal was that "it's 9:30, my underwear is soaked through... it's time to go home!"

I would rather be cold than hot. I kept saying this in Paris as we "froze" in the sixty-degree temperatures. My theory is that you can always put more on if you're cold, but if you're hot, there is eventually a limitation to what you can remove!

The AC vent is right beside me here at the table... brrrrrrrrr.... loving it!!!

"Blog Light"

If you are looking for deep thoughts in this blog, look elsewhere.

My friend is using her blogging for lengthy, introspective discussions... she's doing a fantastic job and I enjoy taking time to pause and study what she is saying... but my personal blog is my writing surface for whatever crosses my mind as I sit at the computer during a lull in my day or when I'm getting ready for bed.

I think the blog is my newest "doodle" page. The blog replaces:

the notes I wrote on notebook paper during class and then folded into some origami shape to pass along when the bell rang...

the doodling I did during college classes when the "lectures" became endless parades of sound going in one and out the other...

the "notes" I take during faculty meetings and share with my colleagues seated near me ("ask your PERSONAL questions on your OWN time!!!")

Deep thoughts are reserved for the other blog that I write. This one is "blog light". LOL!

Jake has come in and joined me at the table with his watercolors. He's painting a house. Without the ability to read/write, he uses art for expression. It's a great way for me to know what is going on inside that brain :)

Backgrounds

Besides his baking skills, Rentel is also handy when my mind doesn't understand my computer (which is often).

Thanks to Kevin for saving my backgrounds from "The Cutest Blog on the Block".

He has my username and password... if strange blogs that don't sound like my bits of wisdom start showing up, he's hacking my pages :)

"I don't want to be on 'Hoarders'!!!"

I think that was what I said today when I explained that some serious purging needed to be done in the "master bedroom".

I sacrificed... I put 12 bags/purses in the "go away" sack.

The biggest purge was makeup and lotions whose expiration dates have long passed. They were taking up valuable space and I was amazed (and thrilled!) by the space that we gained with all that removed from the shelves!

My ancestors were hoarders... my grandma... my dad... so it's only natural that I would become a hoarder, but fortunately my OCD-tendencies make it impossible for me to be comfortable in chaos. This gene bypassed me but has landed squarely in my oldest child who refuses to part with anything and has the bedroom (basement, garage, truck interior) to prove it.

Who knows what I will find in the next round of purging??? I found some pictures tonight that I was missing. I was glad to see them again. :)

Rentel's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Those of you who know me well know that I do not concede defeat very easily.

I concede defeat to Kevin Rentel's baking abilities.

Kevin has this INCREDIBLE chocolate chip cookie recipe. He makes the cookies and brings them in to school. There are actually audible heart palpitations among us when he whispers "I brought cookies!" (He has to whisper it b/c if the students heard him, they would storm his desk area searching for them. He can/does reward the kids with promises of baking cookies for them.)

They are like little puffs of heaven with chocolate chips delightfully distributed through them. They literally melt in your mouth like every proper chocolate chip cookie should. I got one warm from the oven tonight... fabulous!!!

(Another blog will have to be devoted to his Lemon Blossoms, aka The Cupcake Bastards, but the recipe for those can be found on Paula Deen's website. Kevin has altered it a bit. )

Once upon a time, he gave me the cookie recipe and I attempted the chocolate chip wonders. My husband, who had been previously gifted with Kevin's baking, said "Leave the baking to Kevin".

Apparently, Kevin has the magic touch with his culinary skills. :)

It's good to work with younger and talented people!!!