Castlemonty Country

Castlemonty CountryMonday, September 25, 2006
So that those of you new to the blog (EVERYONE since the blog is new!) - Monday morning humor, sorry - too much caffeine, too little protein, probably ...as I was saying, for those of you new to the blog and to those of you who are not caught up on our doings, here is a sample of "Our Typical Day" - my mom always loved hearing details from our everyday lives. I really miss her and hope she is looking down on us and appreciates this entry. The rest of you perhaps will tolerate it only, but - it's US!

Our schedule is about like this - I got up at 5:10 and got kids up, packed lunches(ham sandwiches NO mayonnaise for K.A., a wee bit more for the rest of us, o.k., a LOT more) baggie with cornflakes, apple.I had my usual weekday breakfast of cereal and milk - have been doing badly at adding fruit to it -there were apples and bananas, neither appealed to me - why do I crave bread and BUTTER or tortillas and BUTTER or BUTTER and BUTTER instead of fresh fruit and vegetables???? Gotta reprogram my brain, I guess.

We were out the door at 6, walked the ten minutes from our house to the highway to catch a bus. The car needs some repairs, so we are going by bus everywhere -sometimes it feels like a bother, but actually I get in at least 20 minutes of walking every day this way - if I do just a bit more, I have added HOW many years onto my life? according to latest studies? Plus I get a lot of reading and thinking done on the bus, not to mention people-watching. If I buy a few bags of groceries I get my weight-bearing exercise in, as well! (I am saying this only slightly tongue in cheek!)

I arrive at school and boys go on to their school (K. goes in at 6:45, D. at 7:15),I clean - mop classrooms, entrance and lobby, dust all surfaces with "beach-scented" Fantastik (appropriate, I think, since we live in a beach town), wash cups and quick-clean bathroom. This is the second part of my exercise routine for the day. I am up to 45 minutes of exercise and it is not even seven o'clock! I have multi-tasked and, if I do say so myself, I have been extremely efficient. Should I take my message to the millions of people who watch Oprah? Should I publish a book or magazine article about "Everyday Exercise" ? Why pay to go to the gym when you can easily slip your workout into your day, just like I am doing! If I carry a pedometer with me, I can actually document EXACTLY how many miles I am walking, hmmm - I will need a notebook to register all the minutes, and adding weights to my arms and legs will pump up the calorie burning...I must think about expanding on this idea.

Next I make coffee and students arrive at 7 a.m.

Another teacher is giving class this morning, so I am free to check my emails, catch up on correspondence, clean my email boxes (get rid of all the junk!) and read some of the newsletters I subscribe to that I don´t always get a chance to read. Hah! I am also working on my fine motor skills (all this typing) and USING my brain (there may be differing opinions on that!)

Later today I will be calculating costs for books that we will be using at one of our companies, planning my classes for tomorrow and making changes on my webpage. I am so pleased to have started this blog. Is once a week doable? Yes. Is it valuable? We shall see! Will I have fun? Yes!

H. has an appointment at 10 to see a woman about selling her apartment. After that, he will come in - we will eat our lunches together and plan for the week. He will stay here at the school and do our accounting and translating work, do his own real estate work, answer phones, give information to people stopping in and have everything ready for our two evening classes (7-9 p.m.)

At three I will go home with the boys and have dinner (my helper, Socorro, comes today and she will make a batch of chicken soup for lunch with fried Mexican rice (made with canola oil) and salad on the side.

I want to help D.(age 10) with his French lessons today - he is now expected to count all the way to 100. On Mondays I take a stab at speaking French at home in the afternoon and evening, sometimes successfully! K.A. (14) has actually had two years now and will be fluent by the end of high school, at this rate. D. took class last year but did not get too much out of it - I think he needs a bit more help at home to become enthusiastic. It is interesting to see that he has NOT been thrilled about taking French, even though he speaks, reads and writes Spanish and English equally well. French, he says, he DOESN'T understand and therefore DOESN'T like! I am hoping to change that! All the rest of the family, from H. Sr. on down, LOVE French! H., H. Jr.(23) and Big Sis(22) have all been fortunate enough to visit France. Momma, K. and D. are still waiting their turns!

H. will be home by 9:30 and we will have a late supper; boys will have had theirs earlier and, hopefully be in bed by the time he gets there, or close to it, anyway. This late schedule is typical in our shipping city of 150,000 on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. NOBODY works from nine to five. NOBODY gets enough sleep!

Last night we had a spectacular storm - H. was up until three making sure that water was not coming in under some of our windows, which it tends to do if the wind is blowing just right. We have tried various ways of fixing this problem, but none has worked, not even building a concrete step right at the door to the outside service patio (water still seeps under, apparently THROUGH the step!) The normal rubber weather stripping on bottom of windows has not been effective, either! The best way of keeping the water out so far has been placing old comforters and bedspreads or towels at bottom of windows. Tips?
Would anyone like to visit and try our your handy-person skills? Welcome!

Well, I really should get to work. This has been play. I wish all of you a wonderful week and look forward to hearing from you.

I leave you with a verse from Genesis 2:15:
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

May you work happily and well in your own Garden of Eden this week.

J.