Daybook

Daybook for Today, February 11, 2010

Outside my Window... It is just barely daybreak and the snow is almost glowing white.

I am thinking...and praying and hoping for a big prayer intention coming up.  We are in the process of trying to get approved for a First Time Home Buyers FHA loan and are looking at houses!!!  I am so excited.  We've been living in such expensive places the past several years and the past year had been so difficult that it seems like a dream that we're even able to do this right now. What an answered prayer.

So. Please excuse any lapse in blogging lately and in the next several weeks!  It seems like all of my online time these past few days has been taken up with real estate searches, finding a new favorite every day, than researching and thinking about how we could fix up a house and plan a garden, etc. so all of my time has been doing google searches for such random things like "black and white kitchen tile floors," or "climbing rose varieties" or "farmhouse porch design" or "refacing a brick fireplace," or "tips for buying an REO house."  My mind is swimming.  I know I have several comments and e-mails to get to, but you might have to wait a bit before I'm able to respond!  I read them all!  I really love them!  And I appreciate your patience!

I am wearing . . . Jeans, black three quarter length sleeve shirt and socks.  No makeup yet, no earrings.  Cup of coffee in hand.  
 
From the school room... Lloyd has been sick the past week or so.  What was a long-term sniffle has turned into croup which means lots of DVR-ed "Max and Ruby" and "Little Bear" while snuggling on the couch.  And lots of books and puzzles.  He's also been into play dough a lot lately and always wants to help me "make dough."  whenever I am making bread or muffins.  Which is probably happening again today.

I am thankful...for coffee.  With two sniffling little ones and staying up late talking and dreaming with T., and then my mind racing with ideas even when I lay my head on the pillow, coffee is a major  part of my morning routine.

From the kitchen... I haven't been very good at meal planning the last few weeks.  Either I make a huge batch of something and we eat on it for days (some of my Super Bowl chili is still in the fridge) or I've just been grabbing some frozen meat out of the freezer and throwing something together at the last minute.  I haven't been sleeping well and that affects my ability to do or think about anything, I think.  I do have two new recipes queued up to post in the next few days, if you follow me on Twitter you might have seen a clue or two, but I'm working on some new inspiration!

I re-read Nina Planck's Real Food for Mother and Baby this past week and was inspired anew in regards to feeding Luke.  I'm also loving Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home: Cook your Way to the Good Life.

I am creating... lists and bookmarked ideas for a new house.  A "Priorities" list for when we look at houses (one of these priorities is, "room for a (future) piano," another is "fireplace"), a "remember to look for" list for when we look at houses (like, say, electrical outlets in the bathroom and kitchen, coat and linen closets, garbage disposals, etc.  Things we have lacked in previous homes we've lived in.) and a "Questions to ask" list depending on the property (we're looking at some rural-ish properties so this city girl needs to remember to ask about things like heating oil, wells and septic systems along with when was the furnace replaced, does it have central air and how old is the roof?)  Any suggestions to add to my lists? 

I am reading....A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (which I am LOVING.  I feel that we had similar backgrounds growing up and I find myself laughing out loud here and there.  The recipes are fantastic too.  Maybe we'll be making her ginger, banana and chocolate chip bread today.  We'll see.), The Backyard Homestead and the New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman.  I'd like to say that I'm reading through Signs of Life by Scott Hahn, that I picked up this past weekend, but with this new "buying a home" thing, I've been inspired to re-read some favorites in the hopes of a garden this year!  My goal is to read Signs of Life over Lent.

Speaking of Lent, keep your eyes peeled for a few posts about this upcoming season in the next few weeks. . . several of us Catholic Mama bloggers are working on some good ones, so I'll be linking to others for inspiration too!

I am hearing. . . Max and Ruby.  Lloyd has woken up.  And I am trying to appease him while frantically finishing this post.

Around the house... Luke is getting into everything lately.  I think some well-placed baby gates are in order.

One of my favorite things... is spending time with my husband once the boys are asleep, talking and dreaming about our life.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

• Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.  Please pray for us!
• Hopefully visiting with a new friend over coffee within the next few days!
• We're going on a road trip this weekend - checking out the communities and houses that we're looking at in and around Omaha.  I'm actually really excited.  I love mini road-trips.
  

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