Day Off

So.... I bet you're wondering what our "day off" of lessons actually looks like.

This week, I scheduled our "day off" on Wednesday since I knew that would work best with the schedule. Usually it's a Friday though.

David was asked to do some computer networking at a small private school. A friend volunteers there because her daughter attends. This is the 3rd day David has worked on their computer lab. He is getting all the computers in the lab connected to the internet. So, that's David's day. (He reports that the computer lab is all set up now. And yes, he got paid!)

Emily had a field trip today with some other teen girls. Her "beautiful you" class at co-op had free makeovers scheduled and then lunch out! This is great for her - time out with agemates and practice with life skills (choosing food and ordering for herself in a restaurant).

James and Suzy had a lazy morning. We dropped Emily off, then they watched a Bionicle movie James had requested from Netflix. Then he was recruited to pick some butternut squash from a local farmer's field to be donated to a food bank. He was gone for several hours doing that. He was treated to a McFlurry and pizza while he was gone. He brought back a whole bunch of squash that I have been challenged (yeah, you know who you are!) to cook and eat.

That left only Suzy at home with me. That happens so rarely I was taken aback. Then we decided to have SPA DAY. She had gotten a manicure/pedicure science kit. I know - sounds weird. We had to mix up all the components for the hand soak, scrub, and lotion. V. cool. We did our hands and feet, buffed our fingernails and painted our toenail. I also curled her hair. She loved it all!

I also got 4.25 hours of work done during the day, scrubbed the stovetop and cleaned under it, scrubbed a wall, hung out 2 loads of laundry and brought them in (they dried in record time due to the wind). I read a couple chapters of Gone with the Wind. Then I got dinner ready and headed out to a book sale with a friend, picking up David on the way.

Now I'm home with my box of books, settling in to do my last 45 minutes of work for the evening.

[Oh yeah, forgot to say that I also made three phone calls that I have been procrastinating for a long time. One of them since JULY. lol]

Tailgate Sales and Thrift Stores

Today I headed south with my strong sons to a tailgate book sale. The sky looked threatening and, since the tailgates are attached to our vehicles, I hoped for no rain! It sprinkled slightly as we pulled into the parking lot, but that was all the rain that came. I sold a few things and bought only 4 books - one of which I needed for David and was a huge bargain. (Apologia Biology for $3!)

David needed some jeans, some shoes, and a winter coat, so we headed over to the thrift store. It used to be my favorite, but the last couple times I went, I noticed the prices had skyrocketed. Today, everything seemed way out of my price range. There were NO jeans in David's size among the eleven or so pair on the huge rack filled with dress pants and khakis. 17.99 was the price on one pair of tennis shoes. USED shoes, need I point out?

So, we left empty-handed and drove to another, more reasonably priced thrift store just a few miles away. (Same kind, lower prices - odd, huh?) I found a couple pair of Levi jeans for David and a shirt, as well as 3 Bibleman videos James wanted and a couple books (an RSV Bible and a book on menu planning by Emilie Barnes - not pictured, oops!).

Then on to Walmart for groceries. Now the pantry is well-stocked, the son is well-clothed, and he can learn Biology.

I bought a one year Spanish program as well, and I think I'll teach it to David and Emily this year. I know he wanted Japanese, but that's just not happening right now. lol

Tomorrow? Another book sale. Then I'll regale you with the amazing total of my sales.