Bullet Bits

• I started an end-of the year school shelving re-organization project. (LONG overdo.) Organization projects, always make MORE of a mess before a nice and tidy end result. At the same time, I decided I needed to sort through books from the overflowing bookcases in the library and get rid of some. (If children have no SPOTS to put books in the cases, they won't. They will leave them on the floor. Every single day. Every single HOUR of the day. NOT fun.) So I started. THEN I decided maybe if I got some of the "educational" books off the school shelves and onto the bookcases in the library, that would free up some much-needed space for the upcoming school years' supplies. That is about when mass chaos ensued. That is also about the time I lost my steam. So for three days the house has been in an emergency aftershock from Hurricane Bookshelves. I kid not. I stayed up until midnight sorting the schoolroom enough to actually be able to walk on the floor.

• Andrew declared that he is going to marry a girl who has my color hair. (Just when I was thinking of lightening it, too! hehehe) This, a few days after he said...

"Mama. If you didn't gwone up and married Papa, and if you didn't have Qwin and me and Adyay and Smooch fo yo childwen, and if I were gwon up to be a man, den I wud marry you because me dink you are so sweet."

• I am going to be shooting (with a camera, that is) a wedding on July 3rd. Trying not to think about it too much lest I pee my pants.

• NONE of the seeds I planted a few weeks ago came up. No lettuce. No beans, peas, spinach, carrots or cukes. It is beyond depressing to get your big baby belly heaving over soil on all fours-with nothing to show for it. In fact, the 50 tomato plants nearly died. All the flowering plants I had planted in my cutting garden DID die. The peppers were stunted. Talk about discouraging! My guess is that the cow manure was too strong for everything when I first started planting and, if it didn't kill the plants entirely-it maimed them pretty good. Thankfully, the tomatoes are starting bounce back. After all that, I decided I was going to go easy on myself and just plant PLANTS instead of reseeding. It would cost more but I could ensure they were already established and I wouldn't be that much further setback, so I waited a few weeks and tried again. No peas for us this year. Or carrots. :-( The good news is that the cukes, zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, pattypan squash, butternut squash, cosmos, zinnias, cantalope, watermelons, broccoli and brussel sprouts that I planted the last two days seem to be doing well and haven't been shocked to death this time around. I did try to plant more spinach, lettuce and beets. I NEED me some beets this summer! I don't like buying plants from greenhouses because of the cost, but I figure, it is still economical to get a plant for $1.49 and get plentiful squash from it all summer than to buy ONE squash at the store for the same price. Mental note: manure needs to cure-for a LONG time. Lesson learned.

• I haven't stepped foot in my craft room in weeks. My sewing machine, after being sent out twice, was returned in a state that could sew as long as you wore hearing protection for take-off. Sending a machine out three times?!?! This is getting beyond ridiculous and is killing any desire I have to stitch a lick. But I have noticed the gorgeous golden sunlight my craft room has been sporting. I think she misses me and is trying to lure me back in.

• I know the perfect Father's Day gift for Matt this year. If I were to tell you, you would laugh. MAYBE roll your eyes. But HE, that crazy, quirky and sometimes insufferable man of mine is going to L.O.V.E it. (And no, Mattie, I am not going to type it here. thankyouverymuch)

• I finished this book recently and was actually sad it was over.

What Our Mother's Didn't Tell Us: Why Happiness Eludes the Modern Woman
by Danielle Crittenden

I ditto every one of the great reviews on the back cover of this book. It is a MUST read for all women or aspiring women, for the sakes of our children, our husbands and ourselves.

Not an ounce of religion anywhere (so non-religious feminists ought not to discount it), this book is full of the practical, common sense, well-explained ramifications of the feminist movement within the realms of sex, marriage, love, politics, age and careers.

It brought a lot of lightbulb moments and Amen's and got me thinking seriously considering some things I hadn't considered before. I found her current mindset to be lacking a bit of fervor and ought to go even further, so much that I will be expounding on this book in a seperate post, but all in all-I think this book could seriously change the lives of women who have bought the lie.

• Baking an angel food cake is on the agenda for today. And then maybe lemon curd and banana rum custard with the leftover yolks. And some homemade mayonaisse, because Matt has been begging. If I am brave and find myself with enough time, tomorrow I may try to make some lemon-filled donuts after being inspired the other day. Of course, also on the agenda is cleaning the church, getting groceries and getting a Hurricane Bookselves clean-up crew in here. Don't ask what we are having for supper. I haven't one iota.