June Job Updates of the Fern

Phew! What a day Yesterday was! Waking up @ 4 something is not something I have often done on purpose.. in fact, besides waking up at 3am for our flight out of Omaha during Spring break, I can't really think of a time I've done that. 

In summers past, I have been good enough to get up @ 5 on purpose for the sake of squeezing in a good work out before work or VBS. Anyways, maybe that's the first obvious thing the Lord will be doing in my heart this summer... training me on self-control in my sleeping patterns. 

I didn't have to be to work til 6am so i probably could have slept til 5:15 and been fine, but as it was, I've been delighting to sit and read the Word in the morning and thus an earlier wake-up was worth a little less sleep in my opinion. 

It seemed to work out well, I set my coffee pot to start @ 4:45 and seeing that I woke up @ 4:30, I stayed in my bed until the smell and gurgling sound filled my room. Such a pleasant way to wake, if you ask me. However, I learned that coffee in large quantities on an empty stomach at 5 in the morning is not a wise decision that will leave you incredible nauseated for the whole rest of your day. 
That was an unpleasantry, given that I had to step away from my chess and Sorry! games to sit on the bathroom floor and pray that I would throw up and be free of my upset stomach. 
Didn't happen. I just spent my day on the verge of it all day. 

My children were wonderful, though! Plus it was a rainy, cold sort of day. They behaved well and would ask how I was feeling every now and then. The afternoon turned out to be ideal for a movie and couch cuddling and i found that not moving did the best sort of upset-stomach relieving if there was any to be had. 

So what does one do when one works 12 hours? Some of the pictures might give you a clue. :) 
I read my Bible, build blanket forts, and chalk up the side walk. 
I play any and every board game there is to be played as well as card games and word games. 
I pet the puppies at petland and practice my billiard skills.  I listen to the children practice their piano and answer their questions about their grammar work books. 

And on Monday the six year old put 41 bows and clips in my hair all at once. And then I heard a snipping noise and I turned to see her wielding a scissors and telling me she just need to cut out the one she knotted in... 

 It's amazing how much more amazing a free day is when you no longer have them every single day. The idea of sleeping til 8am is absolutely thrilling and so is the idea of wearing yoga pants til noon and sitting on the couch reading the news until you are satisfactorily caught up on everything USAToday thinks is important for the world to know. 

Today I also ventured out to go grocery shopping. I've been doing this thing where I only buy groceries once a month so as to actually eat the things in my freezer that I ignore most days of the week. 

The problem with this endeavor, however, is that it usually happens that I decide the time has come when I no longer have normal food to eat for breakfast and end up eating something like jam on celery or wilted cilantro cooked with cinnamon. Which basically means that I go grocery shopping on an empty stomach usually a week or two after having run out of my favorite thing (like cottage cheese). 

Today I got excited at the idea of using my wilting celery and almonds and plain yogurt for a breakfast smoothie. That is until I opened my fridge and remembered that I consumed the last of my almond milk a couple days ago (crazy that it lasts basically a month) and used up every form of stevia I had as well. 

I'm not one to make lists, usually, but I am one to stick to the plan when I have one. Like.. a grocery list. Usually I just want the few items listed on the paper and then I want to leave. 

Heh, well, grocery shopping on an empty stomach gets a little dangerous because you find yourself with 2 or 3 different bags of almonds or mixed nuts because you're thinking, "I'm hungry. I didn't eat lunch. I can snack on these in the car."

 

And half of my excuse for going to the grocery store was because some of my very favorite bestfriend cousins will be stopping by tomorrow and I'm thinking, "I gotta feed them normal food." Ya know? LIke, I can eat cinnamon covered fried cilantro and cottage cheese for breakfast... but I probs wouldn't offer it to anybody else. 

SO... basically.... I ended up with a few more things than were on the list. However! I was still able to carry it all into the house in one trip. 

Basically... that's my life. Work and Jesus. Jesus and work. It's pretty great!