LAmom

I'VE STARTED A NEW BUSINESS!

I'm unveiling my new business, ChoirParts.com.  This is a service that provides practice tracks for choir songs -- individual soprano, alto, tenor, or bass tracks that can be downloaded as MP3s or purchased on CDs.

Gospel choirs generally don't use sheet music.  They learn their music completely by ear and through repetition.  Practice tracks from ChoirParts.com make it possible to continue that practicing outside of rehearsal time.

We have a catalog with some songs to choose from, but we also take requests.  Choir directors can tell us what song they want choir parts for, and we'll do the to order.

The site is here: ChoirParts.com

And I made a Squidoo page that describes the service in more detail: What is ChoirParts.com?

IT'S MY TENTH ANNIVERSARY!

Yes, it was 10 years ago today that LAdad and I tied the knot (here's a link to my seventh anniversary post).  We are overjoyed to still be the same ordinary people with the same non-dramatic relationship we had back then.  He never gets on the computer, but I'll pretend that he does and send him this message anyway:  I love you honey, and I'm ready for our next 40-or-whatever years.

Also, happy anniversary to David and Elizabeth Weinlick, who got married the same day that we did.  Their arranged marriage at the Mall of America was the subject of stories on the Today show (and other outlets as well).  Today they were on the show again, and Matt Lauer officially ate crow, as he had predicted nothing but disaster for them.

WHY I'M GLAD TO BE BACK HOME: PART IV

Now that we have a backyard again, we've planted a few vegetables.  We tried to pick the shadiest part of the yard to plant peas, but the recent heat wave has left them looking pretty sad.  Similarly, we got no response from the carrots.  But the squash, sunflowers and turnips are looking great!  We went out this morning for our first harvesting.  JG and I got to discuss which parts of the turnip plant we eat and why ladybugs are our friends.  We picked a huge potful of turnips greens which are now in the crockpot cooking with a chicken.  Woohoo!

WHY I'M GLAD TO BE BACK HOME: PART III

I have a gas stove again.  Very glad.

WHY I'M GLAD TO BE BACK HOME: PART II

Right now I'm sitting at the computer with my kids less than 10 feet away from me.  The only available place for me to put my office was in a little cubby adjoining their room.

This is one of the things I really like about being back in a smaller house.  It's easy for us to be close to each other and stay involved with each other.  The other house was huge.  There was a much greater distance between everyone's rooms.  One of the things BT disliked the most about that place was that sometimes he would call for me and I couldn't even hear him.  For a little 4-then-5-year-old, it can be distressing to call repeatedly for your parents and get no response.  And the prospect of walking from his room all the way to the kitchen was so intimidating that he would ask someone to go with him so he wouldn't be scared.  In this house, he can be heard by anyone from anywhere and he feels comfortable exploring his own home.

Also, my parental responsibility to know what my kids are watching on TV has gotten much easier; their shows are inescapable now!  (Miss Spider is on at the moment.)  Sometimes things get loud, but this is what we're used to and we like it.

WHY I'M GLAD TO BE BACK HOME: PART I

After a year and a half of living in the enormous house in Carson, we are back at our old house in Lynwood.  It really feels good.  One of the things I missed the most at the other place was having a backyard.  Previous owners had converted every inch of the backyard space into additional rooms (except for the little patch where the electric meter was, and that was covered with concrete).

When we arrived back at the Lynwood house (or, as I call it, "home"), JG (he's 8 now) and BT (he's 5) returned to their previous habits of going into the yard to observe bugs.  And we have a great spot back there where we get good sun and very little breeze.  Perfect for warming yourself on a winter morning.

And right now there are huge amounts of mallows growing in the yard!  There's some sow thistle as well, and on the side of the house there is wood sorrel and some of the best chickweed we've ever gotten.  At this very moment I'm eating one of those fantastic free organic salads that I've been missing for so long.

More tomorrow about why I'm glad to be back here.

HOUSE UPDATE

Finally have a stove.  Life approaching normality.  More later.  Really.

I'M BACK

I didn't die.  It was just my computer that died.  For some reason something went wrong with the power supply when I transported it from the old house to the new one.  It's in the shop now and I've bought a new one (so glad I have an emergency fund!).  The old one will go to the kids after it's repaired.

We're getting settled into the new house, but we're still waiting on a stove and a refrigerator (right now we're eating lots of take-out).  The transition was stressful for BT, but he's adjusting OK.

This house is really big (it used to be a group home).  The advantage in that is that you can have privacy when you want it.  But it doesn't feel as home-like as the old place did.  Hopefully some decorating will help.  I'll put up some pictures soon.

WE'RE MOVING!

Exciting stuff!  We got a new house!

It's in Carson, which is going to make my life so much more convenient.  Our church, the school that DL and CL attend (which is also where I work), and my parent's house are all in Carson.  For almost eight years I have driven 12 miles in each direction, with JG and BT in tow, to take DL and CL to school.  But now they'll be able to get there on their own using the local bus.  Our homeschooling lifestyle will no longer be ruled by the school schedule!

Also, the new house in considerably larger than the one we're in now.  JG and BT will have a real bedroom!  Right now they live in what is supposed to be a den.  And I'll have a normal-sized kitchen, one where we don't have to keep the microwave on top of the refrigerator in order to have counter space.

There are two obvious downsides to this house.  The reason it is so spacious is because of some add-ons to the original structure.  Because of this, there is no backyard, which means no garden for me (sigh).  Additionally, the kitchen and dining room, which used to look out into a backyard, now get no sunlight.  The two kitchen windows and the sliding glass door in the dining room are still there, but now they offer a view into a garage.  I've been looking around for ideas on how to perk up a gloomy "windowless" room without busting our budget.  But overall, it's a great house and we're all excited.

 

The big move is supposed to happen on Monday.  More details to come.

IT TAKES TIME TO REALLY SAY STUFF

As my life has gotten significantly more busy lately, I've begun to realize how much time I used to put into writing some of the blog posts that I am most proud of.  An hour or more writing and rewriting my own thoughts until I feel like I've expressed myself the way I want to.  Sometimes taking almost half the day (including life-related interruptions) to research an idea or get good link.

Several times in the past few weeks I've wanted to blog about things, but I didn't do it because I didn't want to write haphazardly about important topics, and I didn't have time to write about them really well.  The result has been not writing anything.

I don't want my busyness to result in not blogging, because I really like blogging.  So my plan is that for the present time I'll be writing about less important stuff.  More kid blogging and garden blogging, less saving the world.  I'm sure I'll get inspired to pontificate now and then, but not as often as before.