7/52 weeks

52 weeks of daily life in pictures: trials and celebrations,
the extraordinary and mundane -- 
whatever is unique to the week. 
Join me if you like.

It's certainly been a week of;

  paperwork, filing, writing, reading and doing.

• It's income tax time, and we have two teens who are required to file, thus the mentor learning sessions are currently underway.

• The good ole kitchen recipe box is in dire need of having beloved recipes rewritten for being so worn, food splashed and wrinkled to bits. 

This will be a week to polish up and use those penmanship skills, all hands will be on deck to complete the once-in-a-many years type of task this has proven to be in our home. 

The worst part though, is knowing I recall a recipe by it's colored paper, shaped paper, or the writing of ages old copywork. No one told me when I became a bride that much of the ink used so long ago would fade and become unrecognizable (like my famous Caesar salad recipe above, twice rewritten already on this teddy paper), thus also needing to begin to save so many beloved recipes. 

• Also included in this task will be; copying recipes from torn pages of magazines heading to our recycling bins, or those hastily written while waiting at the dentist or doctor's offices.  We'll just be taking our time with this way overdue project, having allocated moments here and there over a cup of tea. The dining room table can remain loaded, and we'll pluck away little by little through the week until all is complete.

• For my birthday my clever husband gifted me with a new red purse, NOT my usual black color in winter.

With so many additions to the interior the past few days, it was high time to get this baby all organized once again. No more receipts, pamphlets, gum papers (from children who robbed my stash the day before yesterday :), a pair of gloves and light scarf (it warmed up the past two days here), and best of all no more cell phones awaiting delivery to another cause in there.

• ... collectively we had three former cell phones we never knew exactly what to do with until we found out about "Cell phones for Soldiers", a nonprofit organization which began by two siblings, ages 12 and13 years whose only goal was to lend a hand to assist those fighting for our freedoms overseas. It's such a great way to donate and recycle used cell phones.

Here's how this service works:

Cell Phones For Soldiers collects the used cell phones you send in and they in turn sell them to a company called ReCellular. ReCellular pays enough for each cell phone so that Cell Phones For Soldiers can provide an hour of talk time for soldiers abroad in the form of a prepaid calling card. Soldiers can't directly use your donated old phone, but they can benefit indirectly by being able to use these calling cards to call home for free! This is a tremendous blessing you are providing for them and it comes from something that most people just throw away!

When we found out there was also a Canadian version of the same with a drop off in our own city nearby, it was high time to dispose of these cell phones to pay it forward for another purpose. Happy to report these websites to you in case you are also running around like a mad woman purging the dickens from your home's possessions like I am. (LOL)

Cell Phones for Soldiers - USA

Cell Phones for Soldiers - Canada 

• Anyway, back to the purse...

It came with his choice of separate (sort of, but quite canny) matching red wallet, a wallet that also had an accompanying card sorter to make my life even more organized when having to carry around extra medical cards, emergency medical portfolios, library cards, and additional
items our children require while away from home. 

With two separate organizers, it's so easy to use, and my actual wallet feels so slim, I forget it's even in my purse as it no longer weighs five pounds! I can tuck the card holder into the side pocket as it isn't a frequently used item, and maintain some semblance of a good "simplicity type of order" in the center zipper section with only the following; wallet, keys, sunglasses, cell phone, camera (not seen here, hiding on you...). 

I love my new (out of my comfort zone colored) red purse, so vibrant and wonderful! P.S. He asked me to pick it out for him, so it's a fairly joint decision because he likes it too. 

"It's so me", he says.

• All four of our children's/teen's passports are about to expire. 

Has it already been five years? Whoosh! Now instead of acquiring four children's passport applications, we are down to two children and two adults here. :)

Yes, we want to renew them, allowing for travel over the border, or even across Canada on Transcontinental flights on their way through to another country after a stop in Vancouver. Whenever I've traveled within our own country alone with a child or two, and depending on which security guard I've encountered, there have been times when I've been hassled less for having passports instead of only the minimum requirement of a photo I.D. and birth certificate.

Always with me too during such trips is a signed letter and business card of my husband's, one giving consent for me to have the children without him for the trip. Such an important detail! 

One also never knows when or where we'll truly end up someday should there become an emergent issue and we end up in the USA for my husband's medical care instead. I want everyone available and not having a current and valid passport available is just not an option here.

• History comes in four year cycles in our home, learning timelines and events along the way. Finally our son is currently involved in his last cycle towards the commencement of high school, mostly as he has now walked through most of Ancient Egypt (well almost) and has been able this past week to cross over the threshold into the early beginnings of Ancient Greece. 

Loving his history and poetry reads

Using plenty of "living historical reads", and being well beyond the free-time reading of the  "Magic Treehouse" series books. These shown above he's reading have captured his full attention and absolute focused interest. It's been a real pleasure to see how he reacts when narrating back to me what he's read, especially the details while I am able to observe his facial expressions or body language on exciting parts of the stories. And all assigned map work has been complete without any nudges along the way so far.

THIS is how history should be!

Exciting and terrific! 

• And for all those hoping for a weather report, here it is;

While I sat in the viewing area of the barn on Monday watching our daughter's riding lesson, I darned near froze half to death in an average of -20C plus an additional wind chill factor. My toes never seemed to want to thaw, all, night, long! 

By Tuesday afternoon the sun was shining brightly (as usual here) and this was the scene I was able to take photos of around our larger back deck.

Yesterday, this was the scene in our driveway at approximately 3:30pm. camera time, along with a warmer climate of 7C throughout the day. 

We could see the snow begin to melt, and when awaking this morning after a rainy night, the thermometer picked up to 11C and the remains of the driveway were pure mush, plus a factor for getting stuck in one's own driveway. Snow has melted from our roof, thank goodness as it was getting to all time high measurements last week of three feet deep! 

• Today our son was able to get out and play in the snowy white remains, in the balmy and sunny moments this afternoon. 

He created a lovely snowman, which is just perfect with the cooler weather returning at the time of this posting, with gusty 50mph winds and more snow falling with expected lows of -12C through the night!  Is that a snow squall out there?

Shhhhh, I'm thrilled for more snow, as we have a few skiing sessions and snowshoeing one to get to, and you know, it's true having an abundance of snow really helps to make the activities all more wonderful you know...

• Finally, as our son frolicked about while creating his snowman, our older daughter lay recovering from having three of her wisdom teeth removed this morning. 

Behind the nurse's back, this was how she really felt!

But just moments before she was all sedated, here's what she gave to all in the room...

Yes, she was deeply terrified of having anything dental to her mouth, a child who thus far has had zero cavities and no fillings to date, thereby not knowing what could be entailed in anything surgery wise. 

The idea of having a needle in her arm gave her additional alarm, plus the idea of the doctor's silly explanation for the drugs left a this young adult perplexed and seriously wondering about it all;   a "rum, tequila and vodka mix" is what he told her she would think she had just been given, which in turn had her worried about saying something really dumb for a time afterward.

And - she did. 

Tonight we are giggling over the whole thing videotaped by her younger sister with camera in hand who tagged along just for that express purpose.

She knows of this surgery herself you know, as she too had a baby (stuck between two other teeth) tooth chopped into four pieces just before Christmas for a complicated extraction process. 

Happy to say, all is well now. 

Nighty night to all...

Head on over to Barbara's to check out the invitation to join the 52 week photography link-up party.