Yearly Archives: 2010

Family matters

A little elvish magic goes a long way

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Dear Keebler: Please don't sue me.
Dear Keebler, Please don't sue me.
Works-for-Me WednesdayI love to read.

My kids love to read.

My kids are homeschooled.

I hate to spend money.

This adds up to one thing: I check out a lot of library books.

I’ve tried all sorts of techniques to stay organized with them, from having a designated Library Book Basket to writing down the due dates on the calendar. Somehow, though, these things never seem to stick. And so I end up with library fines.

My local library doesn’t cut you off until you’ve racked up $20 in overdue fines, so I generally wait until I reach that milestone to pay. The last time it happened, the librarian told me about what has become one of my very favorite internet services: Library Elf. You need your library card number and PIN number to set it up, and then it sends you emails to let you know when your books are due. I haven’t had a late fee since I signed up a few months ago!

So! Library Elf works for me. Check this list of libraries to see whether if could work for you, too!

Family matters

A realtime snapshot of my day

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I am in the recliner, feet up. Pete should be in bed. He is not. He is trying to pull off my blanket so he can dislodge Marsha, who is hiding from the Toddler Menace.*

“No Marsha! That is not for you! That is not your blanket,” he says. “I’m gonna get you!”

Instead of getting up and taking him back to bed, I am typing this. It’s been a long day. He yanks a bit harder on my blanket.

“Marsha!” he says again. “That is not your habitat!”

*Is he still a toddler? Wikipedia says yes. For a bit longer.

menu plan Monday

‘This is the start of a difficult day’

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menubutton“This is the start of a difficult day.” Poppy has told me that at least four times this morning. She’s only been up for four hours. There’s some truth in what she says, though. Last night my throat started to hurt. And this morning I woke up with a full-blown cold, complete with a vocal range that moves from Very Croaky to Entirely Nonexistent. I don’t know that her day’s been all that difficult, though. The kids get to watch far too much TV when I’m sick.

On the bright side, at least now I kind of have an excuse for not going out into the broiling hotness that’s been our weather lately. Anyway, it’s a good that I’d already planned The Laziest Menu Plan Ever for this week. Here ’tis:

Monday: Breakfast for dinner.

I had an omelet for breakfast this morning. I’ll probably have another tonight!

Tuesday: McAlister’s Deli.

Tuesday is Kids Night at our McAlister’s, which means the kids will eat free. If I’m still feeling rotten tomorrow, we’ll probably get take-out.

Wednesday: Undecided.

We’re supposed to have dinner at a friend’s on Wednesday, but I’d rather not infect them. So we’ll see.

Thursday: Fish sticks and mac & cheese

The kids will undoubtedly be excited about this one.

Friday: Pizza.