Whew!

I am so happy May is here! Co-op is over, the children's chorus concert is over (it was fabuloso!) and testing is over, so we are free to enjoy the beautiful weather. We'll be doing math and other miscellaneous things through the end of May, but no one is complaining about the lighter schedule- in fact, the kids seem to prefer having the structure of at least a *little* schoolwork.

It took me two full days to recover from post co-op stress last week, and I got nothing of value accomplished. But on Saturday, my mom and I got up early, loaded up the unwilling kids who had to be at choir practice at 9:30, and hit two neighborhood yard sales. After a full morning of yard-saling (and a stop at Kohl's), she found a few things, but I was pretty discouraged until I found this:

an almost-new tiller for John! Our very generous friends have graciously let us borrow their tiller for the past three years, but now John can till at will, and he is most pleased. His pleasure over the new tiller mitigated his displeasure over the call he received when my van lost power steering that afternoon in the K-Mart parking lot, which he had to come and repair (fortunately, it was a fast and inexpensive fix). After we got back home, my mom and I decided to stop back by a moving sale we had visited earlier. An interior designer was moving into a new home and selling the furniture she wouldn't be needing any longer, so here is my find of the day: a new sofa! It was still sitting in her garage, and she was ready to drop the price.

The new TV (The Precious) began all this, because it required a new entertainment cabinet which required a new sofa which required new lamps which require new drapes which require new recliners. I'm up to the drapes now. Of course, John's list goes something like this: the new TV which required the new PS3 which required the new controllers which required the new games and Blu-ray movies which require the new surround sound speakers. He's up to the speakers, but he has agreed to wait until after the recliners, whenever that may be (but thank-you-very-much, President Bush, for trying). Anyway, I love my new-used sofa, even though my living room is beginning to look like Kirkland's, which I find a little disturbing because, while Kirkland's has very pretty things, it really isn't me. But since the real me would make an interior designer throw up her hands in despair, I guess I'll just enjoy my pretty new things and keep shopping for drapes.

SO, the yard sales did the trick: I am refreshed and renewed and have undertaken the many projects which have been piling up around here: redistributing school books to their proper off-season shelving, cleaning bathrooms long neglected, washing mountains of laundry, and shopping for next year's curricula (I found John Mark's math on ebay- glory, glory!)

In other news, Daddy D (my stepdad) has planted the garden, John grilled spare ribs tonight (mmmm!), Copper the Dog is officially ours because she has been to the vet and I have spent money on her, and tomorrow, JM and Becca are going to Tennessee with GranMartha and Daddy D to see Daddy D's family for Mother's Day. It's been a lot of fun having my parents around. It's going to be a good summer.