tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44274109715516423152026-08-30T02:48:02.909-05:00I'm the homeschooling mother of two, novelist, perfumer, and an avid crafter who can't leave recipes alone. This is my diary.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.comBlogger497125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-88087801727244981192016-04-25T06:00:00.000-05:002016-04-25T06:00:21.674-05:00

As much as I've loved this blog over the years, it's time to close it down. Now that we've begun vlogging on YouTube, it's become redundant. Half the posts I've written in the last month have been rehashing the same things we vlogged, and to be quite frank, it's time I could put to better use writing short stories or novels, creating articles on writing for my author's blog, writing DIY

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-269300826067883462016-04-21T06:00:00.000-05:002016-04-21T06:00:13.697-05:00

The past several weekends have been rainy, cold, windy, or some combination of all three. Because of this, it took almost a month longer to build the last section of our garden beds and fill them than we would have liked. However, this past Saturday dawned sunny and warm, so we grabbed some breakfast, got dressed, and headed off to the local Lowe's to get the chicken wire, topsoil, and compost

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-61979648712533339222016-04-18T06:00:00.000-05:002016-04-18T06:00:09.079-05:00

Monday before last, I talked about having the goal of reading and writing reviews for two books before the end of June. Why am I doing that? There are several reasons behind this decision. 1. Reviews are important. Whether you're an author or a reader, reviews are helpful. Especially when you're considering a book by an author you don't know anything about, reviews can help you decide

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-39632253788054534972016-04-14T06:00:00.000-05:002016-04-14T06:00:16.890-05:00

Hubby and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary last week. We're coming up on fifteen years together as a couple come September, and it dawned on us that we'll meet that "half our lives" together milestone in just a few years. Taken Thanksgiving of 2002. We'd just announced our engagement. How time flies! Hubby and I met when I was twenty and he was nineteen, so come late 2021

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-76253502132736601672016-04-11T06:00:00.000-05:002016-04-11T06:49:02.648-05:00

I've spent the last several years looking for a way to increase focus and productivity in my everyday and work life. I've tried daily, weekly, or monthly goals and gotten overwhelmed. On the other side of things, I tried making yearly goals and forgot about them. I'm going to shoot for a "happy medium" and try implementing quarterly goals. I mean. I get some stuff done, but I need to do more

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-69128208943734424722016-04-07T06:00:00.000-05:002016-04-07T06:00:02.006-05:00

I'd hoped we'd have more of a garden update for you today than we do. Between inclement weather and finishing up the last of the catch up work this past weekend, we didn't get to finish building the beds or filling them the rest of the way. We have our fingers crossed and are praying we will be able to get that done this weekend. Here are our seedlings as of Saturday, April 2. We did plant

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-31832921151729657452016-04-04T06:00:00.000-05:002016-04-04T06:00:11.627-05:00

It's no secret we've allowed the girls to use what electronics we have over the years. I've talked about "tech schooling" and the girls' computerized lessons off an on. I think I even might have mentioned vintage video game family nights a time or two. We've always tried to place limits, but still, the electronics call to them like the Pied Piper of the modern day, and we'd occasionally let them

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-59584366543554837972016-03-31T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-31T06:00:12.984-05:00

Between a two day cold following the Expo on the 19th, a migraine that set in Tuesday afternoon and lasted into Wednesday, and just a lot of fatigue and pain the rest of the week, not much got done during our spring break. I'd planned to take care of the post event inventory and write last week's Flash Fiction Friday on Sunday. I was going to inventory my supplies and place a restock order as

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-27330703102165298922016-03-28T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-28T06:00:14.650-05:00

Long time readers will know our family takes a yearly trip to the local botanical gardens every summer around the girls' birthdays. It's usually the only time we can afford the ticket price plus gas plus time plus snacks for the day. However, I lucked out and won a Twitter contest held by the gardens a few days before this year's spring break for Hubby's school. Here's a pic from our first

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-39687226058037385182016-03-24T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-24T14:04:04.989-05:00

Two weeks ago, we built the frame for our garden bed this year. Well, we built the main part anyway. We ran out of chicken wire before we started on the last 4 x 4 bed because we'd ordered a 4 x 12 bed, and we didn't realize it would come with enough materials to build a whole other bed. Anyway, we decided to start a few plants from seed last week. We decided to start our beans indoors since

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-50730291335134128312016-03-21T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-21T06:00:12.552-05:00

Last Tuesday, I was still dragging after the time change. We got a late start, and the girls and I never managed to catch back up. Then I realized I'd made a big mistake in my business model while we were eating lunch. I still needed to get a bunch of household chores done and writing time was supposed to start an hour and a half later. But I know myself well enough to know I'd forget if I

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-30929836457076924362016-03-17T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-17T07:38:02.748-05:00

I've written before about perfectionism and the problems it causes, specifically for the girls. I'm not so sure if I've touched on my own struggles with it, but in this case, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I've been a perfectionist for as long as I can remember, and until recently, it's killed my productivity. As long as I remember, if I started something, I wanted to finish it and

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-47106714722926415512016-03-14T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-14T08:32:51.831-05:00

If you were around last year, you might remember we spent several days building a patio garden only to have an unusually wet year drown everything. You see, Alabama summers are notoriously hot and dry. So when we picked out pots for a patio garden, we thought having ones with solid bottoms and putting drainage rock in the bottom would be our best bet. Things didn't turn out so well, and this

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-40699050784142619082016-03-10T06:00:00.000-06:002016-03-10T06:00:12.870-06:00

Have you ever felt like your body betrayed you? I have. I know decreased strength and aches and pains are normal parts of aging, but I never expected to feel like I was falling apart at thirty-four. And it's not the morning stiffness or feeling achy in the evening that bothers me. It's the alarming increase in clumsiness and seeming inability to hold onto anything some days I find frightening

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-29105174330053218082016-03-07T06:00:00.000-06:002016-03-07T08:31:37.861-06:00

How do you encourage a child to make the right decisions? Some parents are fond of using the carrot, and some seem to prefer the stick. I'm not going to touch on the "war" surrounding which "stick" measures are preferred or even allowable. Instead, today I want to look at the different methods of "carrot" one can employ. Goal oriented, Sneak's never been afraid to work for what she wants.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-52434286288536042132016-03-03T06:00:00.000-06:002016-03-03T06:00:14.681-06:00

This winter's been a bit warmer than it has been in the last few years, but it's been much wetter. We've had the occasional nice day. However, most have been rainy, windy, bitterly cold, or a mix of the three. Typical winter weather actually, when you look at it on the whole. It just makes you want to stay inside under the covers, and after nine or ten weeks of it, you can't help but begin to

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-38111928731104554772016-02-29T06:00:00.000-06:002016-02-29T06:00:32.319-06:00

The local symphonic orchestra and ballet company held a free, first come/first serve family event this past weekend. The concert didn't start until 11 a.m., but the doors opened for family friendly activities at 9:30. Music has always been a big part of my life, and the girls have been showing interest in musical instruments and learning to play. So Hubby and I thought we'd get everyone up early

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-61883447158328327332016-02-25T06:00:00.000-06:002016-02-25T06:00:22.294-06:00

This past week I saw a Forbes articles from last May going around Facebook. It's titled "11 Things Ultra-Productive People Do Differently." Feeling like I've been nowhere near as productive as I need to be of late, I decided to click on the link. Judging by the website where it was published, I wasn't sure how many of the "things" would be applicable to my life and small business. I was

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-13635266455528956172016-02-22T06:00:00.000-06:002016-02-22T06:00:04.518-06:00

Ever noticed how it seems sensory integration and attention deficit disorders have increased as we've cut back on recess and the amount children play outside? I'm not saying a lack of physical activity causes these problems, but it certainly doesn't help the symptoms. Childhood is a time of intense physical as well as mental development, and the body not only needs but demands all types of

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-68044307822990184622016-02-18T06:00:00.000-06:002016-02-18T07:41:35.076-06:00

So last week I talked about how I stink at keeping up with the books, a.k.a. the not so fun part of running a business. Today I'm coming back to talk about the steps I'm taking to try and improve on that. First off, I finally got started putting all of last year's information together and compiling it. While I was at it, I started one for 2016 as well. We're only six weeks in, so there's not

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-6541817006853023752016-02-15T06:00:00.000-06:002016-02-15T06:00:08.957-06:00

Everyone's been talking about Valentine's Day lately, and there've been heart shaped boxes of chocolates and whatnot on shelves almost since December 26. Am I the only one that just doesn't get it? Valentine's Day confuses me. If you enjoy the holiday and like celebrating it, more power to you. But it's something Hubby and I just can't get into. It feels too manufactured to actually be

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-51477403193378868552016-02-11T07:00:00.000-06:002016-02-11T07:00:29.777-06:00

We all have things we aren't good at, and for me, that's keeping up with my bookkeeping. You'd think I would have learned to keep on top of my accounting throughout the year by now, having worked freelance off and on for nearly a decade and running a small business since January 2011. But I'm that stubborn, or lazy as the case may be. Our booth at Yomu_Con 2015 in Tuscaloosa, AL. I'm

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-47927799702603046902016-02-08T11:14:00.000-06:002016-02-08T11:14:23.998-06:00

I've started dreading this time of year. It's not for any concrete reason, just that for the past seven or eight years, I always seem to end up in a funk towards the middle of February on into late March. I know there's such a thing as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), but I'm not going to say that's what it is. I don't know if it's so much the season itself, dread of things I've come to

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-11966533458989006032016-01-21T07:00:00.000-06:002016-01-21T07:00:11.946-06:00

So, I wrote about how I wanted to increase focus in 2016 at the first of the year. Here I am just three weeks later writing about my frustration in keeping that goal. Okay, so it's not like I've given up. I haven't. I'm still trying, but the new schedule is proving harder to keep to than I'd like. When it's working, it runs like a dream. However, if you get even the slightest bit behind on

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4427410971551642315.post-797988181816110572016-01-18T07:00:00.000-06:002016-01-18T07:00:20.025-06:00

Now that the girls are approaching ten and have the attention spans to match, we've decided to swap from doing a whole slew of small projects throughout the year to one big, cross curricular project. This isn't to say they won't still do some small, short single subject projects. They'll always have short essays, papers, and experiments going on. No, we're talking about a group of smaller

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994166093036923967noreply@blogger.com0