Catching Up

Over the last week or so, I have been steadily working on my summer list.  My summer is rapidly approaching the end, so I have been working, working, working!  Here are a few highlights of what all I have been doing.

• Running:  Finally.  I had a 20 mile week.  Actually it ended up being 24 miles, and I couldn't have been happier.  I planned another 24 mile week for this week, but since I missed my run yesterday, I am not sure if that will happen.  I'll know by Saturday.  If I can run 8 miles today on my treadmill (it's raining), then I'll be back on track.  We'll see!
• Homemaking:  I have canned three batches of salsa, and I need to can another batch today.  Each batch produces 6-8 pints of salsa.  I can whenever I get 30 or so ripe tomatoes from our garden.  I also made strawberry fig preserves using the figs from our fig tree.  I used chia seeds as the gelling agent.  So the preserves are 100% all natural.  And organic too I guess since I used our figs and fresh organic strawberries from the grocery store.  I have been wanting to make homemade laundry detergent for some time now, and last Saturday, I did!  So far I like it.  
• Homeschool Planning:  I have not done too much in this area.  I do have each child's books in their work bucket or work area, but the actual planning of their daily schedule and preparing their materials is on still on my list.
• Cleaning Out and Organizing:  I have completed all that I am going to do at this time!  Even though I love cleaning out things and organizing what's left, I was weary by the time I finished my list!  Actually, I still have a few minor areas left on my list, but I will just get to those areas later.  My schoolroom, kitchen, office area, and storage/craft room are all in order!

Last week included a visit to my new niece, Millie Janalee.  We also shopped at Costco while we were in the Memphis area, and Clay had a dental appointment with my brother, our dentist.  At the beginning of the month, I shopped for what I hope is a month's worth of non-perishable groceries at Kroger.  I completed my monthly WalMart shopping, and I bought 3-4 months worth of Costco items.  I still need to buy my Sam's stuff for the month, and I should be done with shopping for August except for weekly produce and milk from Kroger.

On a very, very sad note.....our sweet dog Lucky died yesterday.  Our whole family is heartbroken.  I plan to write a post about Lucky and the wonderful dog that he was, but I can't right now.  Many, many tears have been shed here for the last few days.  Lucky came inside our house Monday night (he is normally an outside dog), and he never stood up again.  I am so glad that he came inside for the last couple of days of his life.  He was surrounded constantly (and I mean 24 hours a day) by members of our family until the end of his life.  We will be grieving for a while.