Thursday: progress?

 Today felt rather unproductive...at least with the metrics that are easy to measure.

I sorted last week's laundry so that the kids could easily find their clothes.  (They ended up putting them away as a chore too.)  I started the dishwasher.  I worked on my next black belt form.

Then I went into Hope to grade.  While I had hoping to knock out a whole bunch of exams, they went really slowly.  I'm not really sure why for most of them.  There were a few that were poorly done and so hard to grade and there was one that involved a quick trip to the computer lab.  Anyway, hopefully they get faster.

I had lunch with the department and did take a nap.  The nap went well.

We bought our summer flowers after school.  It was a fun time as always.  The boys got into it too.  We're going to try watermelons (again) and Joshua found his snap dragons.  Isaac also picked out a sunflower and Joshua picked out an orange flower.

I graded a few more exams and emptied the dishwasher before karate.  There was at least room on the counter to put the dinner dishes, but the process is rather backed up.

Wednesday: rice cooker

We all know I have a problem with the rice cooker.  I frequently remember to get it all ready and then forget to actually turn it on.  It's a bit of a joke in our house now.

Anyway, we were having curry today and I was a bit tired.  So I got the rice cooker going, remembering to actually start it, and put the curry in the microwave to thaw.  I then sat down on the couch for 20 minutes.  I had been hoping for a short rest but the kids kept asking reasonable questions.

I finally got up and looked at the rice cooker.  I had forgotten the rice!  This was the first time I messed up this way.  I told everyone, but Isaac got the best laugh out of it.

Tuesday: busy day

It ended up being a much busier day than I was expecting.  Groceries, small chores, karate, and grading and suddenly it was time for lunch.  I graded at the library today, partially because I needed to pick up some books anyway and partially to see if the environment would encourage me to grade without distraction.  I think it did, but I'm not sure it helped all that much.

For nap time today I got to nap with Grey Bear and Giraffe.  Giraffe really likes to be on heads, but today I learned that he doesn't really like to be on hair for long periods of time.  So I put him on my head with a blanket.

In the afternoon I took Tornado to the vet.  Did I mention yesterday that he's been meowing more than normal?  There was a sudden change Saturday night.  It isn't constant, but everyone has noticed it.  So I ended up taking him in.  He has tapeworms.  This is a bit surprising since he just had his well-cat check and he's an indoor cat, but that was a result.  The vet didn't really think this would be the meowing cause; it just happened it be something that was caught at the right time.  So we also got some blood work done and will see what the results of that are in a day or two.  

That appointment took slightly longer than I was hoping, so right afterwards I needed to go pick up the kids.  I told them on the way back to the car that we had a guest in the car!  Joshua guessed Aunt C, but Isaac guessed Tornado right away.  Since it was a piano day and I didn't really want to go home in between school and piano we just brought Tornado with us.  I'm not sure that he enjoyed the car, but he didn't seem too distraught either.

We gave Tornado his medicine today.  The packaging says to keep children away for 24 hours (but has nothing to say about adults).  So we're going to do Tornado first and then we'll get Horizon tomorrow and they'll have to stay in the downstairs bathroom during their 24 hours.  (Although when we're in the office at night they can also join us in the office.)

Monday: work

It was a rather boring day overall.  I had an exam during the first slot of exam week, and it went fine.  I proceeded to grade until I had to pick up the kids.

I got quite a bit done, but there's still a lot to do.

In random news, Tornado has been meowing a lot more lately.  Enough that I'm going to call the vet tomorrow because it is so out of character for him.

In other random news, I'm sorting the miscellaneous Lego bins into more bins.  We currently have large and small miscellaneous.  After this the small miscellaneous will be small, small/medium, and medium.  I had the small and small/medium bins on the table, and suddenly a bunch of the pieces were out of the bins because people were playing with them.  This is pretty normal because now all the similar pieces are together and easier to find.  It'll be interesting to see what the final builds are like.

Sunday: meh

 It wasn't a super exciting day today.

We did church at home.  Isaac and Joshua tried to steal Ben's seat; it didn't go over well for them.

We continued our Stuffed Fables game; we seem to be getting through this story pretty well.  We've had some really good luck.  It's been fun.

And...I graded.  I really thought my graders were going to come through for me a bit more after some emails/conversations I had with them this past week, but several of them completely flaked in April.  I feel like something needs to change because it happens to some extent every semester, but I'm not sure what that is without micromanaging.  (Oh, I know.  They need to communicate with me better.)  I got most of the stuff graded for the students taking the exam tomorrow morning.  I didn't finish the homework that was due this past Thursday, but I feel ok with that.  

However, there's still a lot of grading in my future.

I also had a bit of a headache this afternoon.  Nothing too bad, but at the same time bad enough to take some medicine.

Saturday: window take two and Giraffe's birthday

I forgot to tell you the funny window story from yesterday!  While I was cleaning the windows they were open and the screen was off, so it was open to the outside.  Horizon was curious and sticking his head out the window.  Then he put his front paws out.  He usually isn't very adventurous, so after trying to move him back inside I just thought I'd see what would happen.  He slowly put more and more of his body outside and then he jumped!  Silly cat.  I went to the front door and he was still on the porch.  Once I opened the door though he came right in; I didn't even have to go outside.

Five minutes later he comes back and again jumps through the window.  By the time I got to the front door he was right there waiting for me though!  I laughed, feeling like a butler.  Luckily, that was the last time.

I am still enjoying my clean windows.  I should probably do it more often, but there are so many things to clean.

On to Giraffe's birthday.  A few weeks ago Isaac decided today would be a great day for Giraffe's birthday.  It's now on the calendar with a recurring notice.  Isaac planned the 'whole' day.

We played Stuffed Fables because it had stuffed animals in it.

We made giraffes out of Lego.  Isaac started over near the end, so his isn't shown (yet).  Joshua, on the right, ran out of time before the picture.  He was trying to make a big giraffe.  Ben had the nicest body and shaped it really well (on the left).  Mine was the middle.  It is a bit blocky, but I used some slopes.  Giraffe gave my giraffe first place, mainly because of the head.  Ben's head looked a little weird.  Well, my head looked weird too but not quite as much.

And we had a birthday dinner.  Isaac made a lemonade pie and we had a yellow curry chicken, pineapple, and yellow pepper.

Friday: window and belt testing #2

Today I spent quite a bit of time on the kitchen.  Unfortunately, I mostly only finished the windows.  The window screen is inside instead of outside and so the screen just gets dirty and not cleaned by the rain.  I cleaned the windows too, but there are still a few streaks.  I also cleaned the windowsill really well and I'm so happy looking out the window now.

I also had black belt test #2.  It was a different crash and burn than the last test.  Basic actions went well, combos went fine.  Forms went ok as a whole.  I had a few issues, but did ok overall.  Then we moved on to self-defense.  I've been making the kids help me practice the self-defense as part of their chores.  So I knew what I was doing.  Apparently there were only about three-ish (out of twenty) people that knew the self-defense and it was so bad that they stopped half way through.  They started by just giving us the name of what we were supposed to be doing.  Then they added on the short description of what we should be doing.  Then they stopped us because it was so bad.  Apparently I'll get to finish up my defense at some point and everyone else will need to finish up next week.  (The official plan was a little confusing.)  But...it means I need to remember my stuff for a little bit longer.  I was able to give them my mile time from yesterday, so I was excited about that.  We finished up with some sparring, and I enjoyed it this time.  I often don't enjoy sparring, but this time was fun.  We got out about 20 minutes later than expected, but that is about what I was expecting.  I did get a special thank you from one of the instructors for knowing my stuff and that was appreciated...and then I knew that I at least did well enough.