Small groups tend to grow!

We joined a small group from our church last month. They meet on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, so today was our 3rd meeting.

I find myself getting lost every once in awhile. The room is full of loud, A-type personalities, everyone trying to be the center of the conversation. I tend to stay out on the fringe and watch, occasionaly knodding my head, injecting a thought here and there when there's a lull or someone asks me a direct question.

It's a fun group. We all get along. We all like each other. And the kids love it. There are a ton of kids to play with and run around with. Plus, it doesn't hurt that they have a pool and a trampoline.

I think it's going to be a good group for us. We're all pretty much new, and still getting to know each other. That puts us pretty much on the same level. And so far, I'm the only homeschooling, at-home mom. But, the family that hosts the group, is just now a one-income family and mom want to homeschool eventually. Plus I was talking to another mom who's been thinking about it and wants to give it a try but just isn't sure yet. I'm looking forward to getting to know these ladies much better. And the husbands and kids! Can't forget them!

One month maintenance

The dreadies have been in for one month. Today I did some extensive maintenance.

Every week when I wash them, I have to replace broken bands and tighten up a few braids. But today I had to do all of them! My hair is really growing!

So one by one I undid the braids, combed out the natty hair at the root (amazing how much hair I've shed) and redid the braids.

It took a good couple hours to get them all done. But they feel nice and look nice again. I need to get a better cover to sleep in at night. I think that would make a huge difference.

I changed colors last week. I took out the orange and put in neon green. I'm already thinking about putting in some turqoise along with it. :D Eventually I'll have a rainbow on my head!

Making up for used time

I spent my day today making up for all that time I used for costuming. I had a lot of dirty dishes stacked up, a load of laundry to do, the floors needed some attention, and the trash was a little heaped. Too bad no one thought to help me out a bit. {shaking head}

At some point during the day I did find some time to work on school stuff.

I also managed to fill out some prize thingys for K. She's so into these teen magazines and wants to win all those autographed prizes. So we mailed those out today.

Just as I was getting the laundry going it decided to storm. Not just rain, STORM. The black trailer leaks around the door so I shoved a towel around it. When I checked again later, the leak had moved out from the wall about 6 inches and was splashing all over. So I moved the towel around to catch that too. Then I went and sat in the laundry for 45 minutes waiting for the laundry to dry, not to mention the hems of my jeans from slogging through the lawn up to the laundry door.

I managed to get some personal reading time in. That was nice.

Just as I finished folding the laundry a second wave of thunder came rolling through. I got back to the RV before the deluge. I changed the towel in the black trailer, hauled the laundry in, and put my stuff away. Then I noted the pool of water on the carpet under the plastic runner. Why didn't anyone else notice this?

So I pulled up the runner and soaked up as much water as I could with the kids bath towels. It's supposed to rain all night, so who knows what I'll wake up to!

a day to myself

Normally, my DH takes the kids out on Wednesdays. But this Wed. they convinced me to go out with them. I don't like to do that, I prefer to hide out in the safety and air conditioning of the RV! But they convinced my that they really wanted me to go too.

So Thursday, DH took the kids out without me. They are normally only gone about 4 hours. But this time they were gone all day! They went to the water park, went out to lunch, and then to Disney Quest. (Giant 5 story building full of video and interactive games).

So I spent the day all by myself!

I spent some time cleaning, (best to do this when everyone is out of the RV). Then I went through the library books, sorting them, making a pile of the ones that can go back. And then I spent the rest of my day happily stitching, fitting and patterning, poking myself with pins, and making my back ache. :D

DH and the kids were totally whipped when they got home, so it was a quiet night. :) After dinner, they all zonked. I sat, happily stitching away on my sewing project, listening to the snoring and the light drone of the TV.

Life is good.

Gourmet Chef in the making

I've now made my second gourmet meal this week. I'm 2 for 2!

And while J didn't particularly care for the first dish, the second was a slam dunk.

On Saturday I made Pork Chops with Sweet Potato Gravy from Emeril. Fairly straight forward, though I had no clue what I was doing. It went pretty well. I'm not familiar with spices and how to mix them, so I had to ask the hubby how to make some substitutes. J didn't like the texture of the gravy. But everyone else liked it.

Tonight I made another Emeril recipe. This time I made Jambalaya Penne with Shrimp, Chicken, and Andouille Sausage. The smells coming from this dish while I was cooking were amazing. The RV still smells awesome!

And it was a hit! J dug right in. He can't wait to have some leftovers tomorrow for lunch! That makes me feel good. K wasn't thrilled with the meats, but she ate the pasta and liked the sauce.

So I'm adding both recipes to the family favorites box.

It's been 2 weeks!

Two whole weeks of lovely dreadies!

I still love my hair. I still can't sleep on it very well, but it's getting better.
I love wearing it up in a high ponytail. I don't wear it down at all anymore. Probably because they turned out to be longer than I really wanted.

It has gotten much easier to wash them. I've got that down pat. I don't have to do it every other day anymore, either. Every few days I have to rebraid or tighten, but that's normal. My hair is growing faster, I think.

I'm already considering changing out my orange for some neon green. Pink and green are always fun! And then I'll switch out the pink for some turquoise. It'll be cool.

When I change these for new ones, I'm thinking I will try making shorter, spikier dreads. The only problem I forsee is the neckline. I may have to get an undercut in order for this to work. I don't know about that.