SL Core 100 Week 15 "C" May 13, 2018 Mother's Day/Dd sang Duet/Strings Group Performed

SL Core 100 Week 15 "C" 

May 13-19, 2018

Last week of Grace classes, I was sick, Dh home

Hello, Friends!

We picked up Dh at the airport Sunday (5-13) from his trip to Bologna, Italy, at 7:30 pm.  We stayed up until after 10 pm getting our little travel trips, necklaces from Venice, black licorice, cheeses, balsamic vinegar's (5), pasta, newspapers...and hearing his stories! Fortunately, Dd was allowed to stay home on Monday and rest up from all his travels.  He was very tired and so happy to be home!  Unfortunately, I had a vomiting migraine so he had to take Dd to her violin lesson while I stayed home.  Thankful he was home to help again, being a single parent is so very hard.

Happy Mother's Day!
 Dd has been working on an oil painting of an owl for my MD gift, but it isn't done yet.  Dh plans on making me Whoopie Pies (dessert) for my MD & birthday treat next week.  He also gave me a pretty necklace from Italy.  

Last Grace Classes:

Dd's Grace classes ended this week.  Dd spent a lot of time preparing for her final on Friday.  She really wanted to get a good grade in her Geometry class; although I would have been very pleased with a 'C,' her final grade in the class was a B+.  

Grapevines doing well!

Hummingbirds and Owls:

The two Barred Owls are back and hanging out in our yard a LOT.  I use to be so excited to see them, but now fear for my chickens!!!  I just can't look at them with the same joy now that I know they want to eat my chickens.  The Hummingbirds are also hanging out in our yard too!  

Hummingbird Nest~

Dd found one of their nests near our outbuilding on Saturday!!!  YaY! I will be able to watch the progress of that little family during the summer.  So interesting to see her sitting on her eggs.

Church: Dd Duet with FaithAnne:

Dd and her friend, FaithAnne sang a duet in front of the church before our Strings Group performed for Mother's Day.  The girls sang: I Heard My Mother's Call My Name In Prayer, and did a lovely job.  It was such a nice Mother's Day gift for me.  Then around 7:30 pm we picked Dh up from the airport, he was home from Bologna, Italy!  It had been nine L-O-N-G days away from us.

Migraines, and Kidney Troubles:

 Looks like eating a bag of sugar wasn't a very good idea, it totally broke down my immune system.  There is a good reason I don't normally eat it!  Sunday and Monday were the last two days of my migraine series, with Monday being the worst day with vomiting and misery.  Wednesday I mowed the front driveway and pushed my weakened body too hard and that put my kidney's out of wack, and made me really nauseous and LOW. I drank and drank and drank, cut out meat and sugar, for the most part to try and prevent a doctor visit and ugly antibiotics.



 I really couldn't do a lot beside my 'have-to's as I really had very limited energy.  So far, I have been able to very slowly improve again.  Now that Dh is home again I am hoping I will do a better job taking care of myself and keeping my immune system up.  

Amitriptyline:

  I have been trying to slowly lower my doses of my migraine medication, Amitriptyline, since I've just recently found out the side effects are problems thinking and dementia.  My doctor hasn't been helpful so I've done internet research on how to best wean myself; they suggest only dropping 10% of your dose each week, but with one pill being 50 mg's, it is hard to cut the pill in less than four pieces.  I went from 150 mg to this week getting down to 75 mg's.  The side effects from lowering this medication, *for me*, has been headache, head in a tunnel, insomnia, very blurry eyes, and feeling generally very off.  



Last week I tried to go from 100 mg to 50 mg and that is what set off all my migraines, so I cut my pills into fourths and switched to 75 mg's, which seems to be much more tolerable.  Next week I'll try to go down to 50 mg again.  I can't wait to be done with this medication and only wish I'd known earlier that it affects my brain's abilities short and long term.  I saw a new migraine treatment coming out this week and looked online for its side effects and it also affects the brain detrimentally.

Mowing:

I got the mower going this week, and tried to do too much for the tough job of mowing on our property with a rickety push-mower.  All our neighbors have their fancy riding mowers, but I'm getting a free work-out along with mowing my yard!  At least that is what I tell myself when I am sweating up a storm!  Dh wants to get Dd doing a lot more of the mowing this year and I look forward to the help!!  I'm glad it is warm enough to mow and another confirmation of spring, but it is another chore to try and fit into a very busy schedule!

Garden:

The Hoop House (mini-greenhouse Dd made to enclose seedlings with a plastic cover) is doing a great job of growing the seeds we planted.  Some of the seeds we planted were old and didn't sprout, but most of our seeds have sprouted!  I've planted a few more rows of lettuce, kale, spinach, etc. in the garden beds this week, since the frost warning is over, but the seedlings in the hoop house grew faster and better.  

Saturday I moved a bunch of seedlings from the Hoop House to the regular beds.  I've put in some more new seeds to sprout to get a jump-start on the next batch of spinach.  I planted the green beans against the back fence of two raised beds.  I can't wait to start back eating fresh green beans again! 



 The asparagus is doing well and growing fast, if only we had more plants to make more of a batch. 

Chickens:

The chickens had a good week, thriving from the abundance of green weeds I'm feeding them throughout the day. 





 I didn't get them into the tractors this week, but, I did feel good enough to weed/harvest greens for them a few times a day.  



One of the benefits of living on a few acres and not mowing a lot is the tons of available dandelions!  They like quite a few different things and I enjoy pulling up greens for them.  

Last Girl's Club at DeVries:

Thursday was the LAST Girl's Club of the year at the DeVries house.  They had a bone-fire to roast hot dogs and played games.  Dd asked me to drop her off at 3 and pick her up at 9pm, which meant three hours of driving for my day since they live so far away, but I'm glad to drive so she can keep up good friendships with the girls she has been BFF's with the past three years.  Come to find out they had switched the starting time to 5:30, but we didn't get the memo!  Of course, Dd was happy to get more time with her friend, Lexi.

Movies: The Avengers: Infinity Wars

Saturday we took a break from gardening and yard work to go see the new Marvel movie with Dd.  Dd and Dh are big Marvel fans, especially Dd, and she had wanted to go earlier in the week with her girlfriends but I had said 'no.'  It was really nice getting to go to the local theatre again and see a movie; such a treat!  I have to say I wasn't nearly as impressed with Infinity Wars as I was with Black Panther, which was such an awesome movie.  

Academics of the Week:

Dd really wanted to study for her math final that I told her she could spend most of her homework time on math to ensure doing the best she could at the final, so she didn't move on the Week 16 in our Sonlight Core 100.

Dickens helping with piano practice

Bible:

Church, Sunday School, Olympians-volunteer Games 

Entrusted Bible Study by Beth Moore.  We went over and reviewed a few of the lessons Dd had completed this week.  

Math: Geometry: FINAL GRADE: 87 or B+

Saxon Geometry with Grace: Practice Questions from Lessons 77-107

FINAL Test, Dd was the last student in the classroom, and the teacher was so kind to wait for Dd to finish.  Dd texted her teacher on Saturday to find out her final grade and was overjoyed to get a B+ for the year of Geometry!!!!  Yay! for her PERSEVERANCE!  

SL History:

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis: Ch's 1-7

Eleven-year-old Elijah is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit. He's best known in his hometown as the boy who made a memorable impression on Frederick Douglass. But things change when a former slave steals money from Elijah’s friend, who has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the South. Elijah embarks on a dangerous journey to America in pursuit of the thief, and he discovers firsthand the unimaginable horrors of the life his parents fled -- a life from which he’ll always be free, if he can find the courage to get back home.  *Review by GoodReads online.

Art Classes:

Painting Studio: 2 hours

Botany Art Class: 1:30 hours

Art at Home:

Oil Painting

Polymer Clay: She made a tree trunk and a ring and baked them in our oven.

Cooking:

Various "wraps" and Brussel Sprouts

Fun Audio:

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowlings (In Process)

Music Lessons:

Monday: Violin Lessons with Christie 30 min

Wednesday: Piano Lesson with Wendy 30 min

(No Strings Group this week)

Music at home:

Dd had another piano week again this week.  She is doing better practicing her piano, that new music book has really given her something new to work on.

Next Week:

Monday and Tuesday Dd is scheduled to do the IOWA Test in Grand Rapids so it will be another week with our focus being pulled in different directions.  Wednesday, another drive to Grand Rapids, will be her LAST piano lesson of the year with Wendy March.  It will be our LAST Olympians night with the kids and it will be an awards night! 

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