I like forms.  I like lists.  I like lists of forms.  And ... I like forms for lists.


About 2 years ago, I created a grocery list form.  I'd seen several online, but most were fill-in-the-blank forms.  Well, I can use a sheet of paper for that!  I wanted a comprehensive list - a list with virtually everything I might need already written out, with a few blank spaces for extras.  I also wanted the flexibility to use my list at multiple stores and to note if I had a coupon for the item(s) needed.

This is what I created:

Grocery List

I use it for my monthly grocery shopping.  I will, on occasion, print a menu planner on the opposite side.  Feel free to print and use as needed!  Comments and suggestions are welcome!

[Note:  The .pdf version available has alignment and format issues I can't correct in Google docs.  The three small columns at the top of each line are store, coupon, and buy.  Sorry about that!]

I've been wanting to work with yarn for a long time.  I was torn between crocheting and knitting.  After doing some research, I decided I wanted to learn to knit.

It seems as though knitting uses less yarn and there are so many things you can make.  But then...

I settled on crochet for a number of reasons:

My grandmother crocheted.  My grandmother passed away a little over a week ago after an extended illness.  Granted, I started teaching myself about a month ago, but I'm glad this was my choice; I suppose I think of it as a bit of a legacy.  She tried teaching me when I was around 10 or so, but all she taught me was the initial chain.   Nonetheless, I chose crochet.  Grandmother = Reason 1.

Needles.  In crochet, you only use one.  This may not be a selling point for many, but it was for me.  Needles: 1 = Reason 2.

One can crochet a variety of cute, pretty, and functional things with crochet.  Reason 3.

Finally, while at a large chain craft store, I had knitting needles and yarn in my basket and ideas in my head.  I strolled over to the knitting/crocheting books.  I thumbed through a few "how to" knit books, but it looked so complicated:  cast on, knit, purl, cast off; if you mess up, you need thread, yarn needles, and a crochet hook; etc., etc.  Not to mention, the books for knitting patterns were far outnumbered by the number of crochet books; and I liked the crochet creations better.  Reason 4 is based on books - books I have yet to buy, and given the wealth of information online, I may never buy.

So, thanks to several well-made instructional videos found online, I've learned some simple stitches.  I've made a blanket (4' X 5 1/2', weighing almost 6 pounds), a few headbands, and I've started another blanket.
 

Oh; I learned this weekend, while doing the physics lessons with the kids, that crochet is French for hook.  See?  I'm even learning about crochet while doing science!  ;)

At the end of 2011, the year I (almost) read a book a week [I missed my goal by 2 books], I decided that in 2012, I would rediscover my crafty side.  That said, I tend to burn out on crafts quickly.  Every 5 years or so, I cross stitch.  I'm not a sampler kind of person; instead, I choose a HUGE project, work on it diligently for 6 months, get it framed, then I don't touch DMC thread for years.  What I'm saying is, I don't know how long my craftiness will last, but for now... 

Okay...so, it's been a while.  I knew this would happen.  I get involved with other things (like reading 1,000 page books [World Without End by Ken Follett]) and I neglect my blog (and Facebook, too).  However, just a few weeks have gone by rather than the one year hiatus I took a while back.

The kids have been busy - playing some, learning a lot, reading like mad, and immersing themselves in music.  Will has really blossomed - in his piano playing, reading, and singing.  (His voice teacher LOVES his vibrato!)  Casey is reading everything she can get her hands on, and Tricky is learning to read (she wants to be able to read to Chaucer).

Last weekend we went to visit family in Louisiana.  I had hoped to take the kids by Vicksburg, Mississippi - since we just studied the Civil War Battle of Vicksburg - however, the weather had other plans for us.  [Traipsing around a national park battlefield in the cold rain is not my idea of fun, so we skipped Vicksburg.]  We did get to go to the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge!  So. Much. FUN!!!  There were booksellers, authors, publishers - storytelling, children's writing workshops...  All in front of the Louisiana Capital - which we went into and went to the lookout at the top.  One of the exhibits was called What do you GEEK?  If you wrote "I geek _________" on a wall, they gave you a t-shirt, bookmarks, backpacks, etc.  I said that I geek homonyms.  I do...

All of my life, well since I was about 10, I've been wanting to keep a list of homonyms - so  I finally started.  (Yes, I'm realizing one of my life's dreams... I tend to dream BIG!)  My list is kept in a spiral notebook and is in alphabetical order, mostly to avoid homonym repeats.  The kids have been constantly giving suggestions; Tricky's are some of the best:  "Mommy, how about cookie and cookie?"  "No, Trick, that's the same word with the same meaning."  My recent additions (because this is something I tend to obsess over and have scraps of paper everywhere with list possibilities) are:  grease - Greece; tacks - tax; pedal - petal.  Yes, I give an allowance for colloquial pronunciations; I do have some (but not many) proper nouns; and I have various self-imposed restrictions, such as I can't research homonyms, they must come naturally.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks.  Enjoy!

Chaucer participating in the voice lesson warm-up.


Decorating cookies (otherwise known as Making a HUGE Mess)


Hard tack.  Part of our Civil War study...so they could see what the soldiers subsisted on.  It was actually pretty good with the chicken soup I served with it.


A Physics experiment:  inertia

Our nanny picked up my camera one day this past week and took this picture of Chaucer's hands. It's just so sweet, I had to post it!


I decided to throw in a picture of Casey at karate. I had my camera in the car when I took the kids to karate on Tuesday, so I brought it in. I got some great shots, but this was my favorite.


Not a complete recap, but just enough...

Nothing warms my heart more than seeing a look of understanding flash across my children's faces when they truly get something. I can almost see the cartoon lightbulb clicking on over their little heads.

Recently, I had my own "a-ha!" moment. I have finally begun to truly define my strengths and weaknesses. I read blogs where women describe their home schools, their days, their lives with beautiful, flowing prose and possessing a command of descriptive language I wish I could master. My discovery about myself is that I write in more concrete, black and white terms. My forte is legalese. On a daily basis - well, on a workday daily basis, I bandy about such phraseology as, "The parties having come on for hearing and the Plaintiff having been represented by counsel and the Defendant having acted pro se, and the Court having heard and considered the evidence presented thereto, finds and concludes as follows," or, "Please see a copy of Exhibit A which is attached hereto and incorporated as if fully set forth herein". You know, lofty language drilled into me by three years of law school, three years of writing for judges, and six years of private practice. And, no, I didn't copy that stuff out of a book; it oozes from my fingertips at least three days a week.

So, as much as I wish I could flourish adjectives about as if they were rose petals donning my nook on the internet (hey, that wasn't too bad for a Black's Law Dictionary junkie), I will settle for my lackluster but (hopefully) grammatically correct entries.

My four year old, Tricky, asked a question this evening: Who do you like better, Guy Fawkes or Justin Bieber?

[What?!]