A Week of Thunderstorms

We had a week of rain forcasted. It is proving to be an accurate forecast. Late every afternoon, at about four o clock, the thunder begins and we get some rain. We also had thunderstorms late tonight with plenty of rain. Tonight the thunder started out being distant. It keeps seeming to subside then rumbling back to life, closer and louder. It seems like we've gotten more rain lately than in a long time. It's quiet now. I'll wait a few minutes and see if I can go take a shower. I just heard thunder again. I've done this three or four times. The thunder seems to be moving off in the distance though. I'm looking forward to sunnier weather because it seems to energize me but rainy weather makes me want to sleep.

Back-to-School Sales

I love back-to-school sales! I got three spiral notebooks and four spiral bound memo books for two dollars. I also got a Pink Panther "Think Pink" purse size journal with an elastic flap to keep it nice and tidy, for only a dollar. I think the five subject spiral bound notebooks are way cool-- I don't really see where I would need one though. I'm glad there will be back-to-school sales for weeks and I'll be checking out the best offers at the sales!

Notebooks bring back memories of studing for tests and all the important facts my notebooks contained. I love learning. I envy students but I don't really have a reason to go back to school. The notebooks won't go to waste because there are always random things that they are useful for. But I still would like to put my notebooks to some sort of nifty good use even though I'm not taking classes. I just haven't thought of what that is yet.

I like to keep a spiral bound memo book on my desk for making various kinds of lists. I've noticed that these don't get lost nearly as easily as a card or piece of paper would. It can be quite interesting, to me, to read through all the entries in an old spiral bound memo book.

When I was a child my cousin and I used to gather together office supplies and play "secretary". Now, as an adult, I love browsing through the school and office supply section of stores.

I've Been Bitten By the Dieting Bug

Mom invited me over for lunch today. We had baked chicken and she also made the best fried eggplant, green tomatos and portobello mushrooms I think I've ever put in my mouth. I'll try to make oven fried eggplant. This afternoon I went to the bake shop to get a cupcake and when they didn't have what I wanted I ended up getting what must be the most fattening thing there-- a brownie tower. But the good news is that now I think the dieting bug has finally bit me. This is the only way I know how to describe it. I've been wanting to diet again. However there's nothing like being enthusiastic about it, which helps me to be zealous and successful. I weighed myself yesterday and I've gained about ten pounds. I hope I can stay on this diet for a long time and avoid regaining any weight. It's so needed and would be wonderful for both my health and appearance. I hope I break my pattern of mistakenly thinking that I can get off of my diet for a meal and get right back on it. What happens is that being off my diet for a meal, turns into being off my diet for days and weeks or longer-- in other words good bye diet. This is so sad because the dieting bug doesn't bite often and when my good dieting mode is lost I just can't seem to recover it. So I end up not losing the pounds I so need to shed and even putting on more weight. I think it would wise for me to just not get off my diet.

I took a short walk late this evening. It seemed like I had more pep in my step. I'm glad for this and think it's due to walking more regularly, at least a few times each week. It's so nice that it really cools down in the evening before the sun goes down. This is such a nice time to take a walk. It's amazing to me how significantly the the length of the days changes throughout the year. A few months from now I'll be taking evening walks about three hours earlier, an hour of which is due to daylight savings time.

Two things that really stand out to me at this time of year are hummingbirds and the last of the good watermelons. My mom and stepfather have hummingbird feeders in their yard but I haven't seen any hummingbirds myself yet, but my mom says she has seen them. I'm looking forward to seeing them too. We had some really good watermelon this week--the best of this summer. Half of it is still in the fridge.

Springing Into Action

I'm in a good decluttering-organizing-cleaning mode. I'm pretty happy with what I've gotten done today but there's still plenty to be done. At least the more I get done the better I feel about it and I'm even getting kind of excited about it. I want to get it to where I'll be able to whizz through and clean without so much decluttering. Often decluttering involves a lot of deciding what to do with your stuff, which my brain cells can be very hesitant to do, even though I'm a smart person. I'm glad I sprung into action today and it makes a difference. I took lots of breaks because my stamina isn't that great. During my breaks I played Parcheesi on the computer, which I love. I didn't get on the internet though, because it always seems like there's always something else I want to see on the internet which can keep me from getting things done.

I discovered a really great way to wash shower curtains. Take the shower curtain outside and lie the curtain on it's unprinted side or on it's dirtiest side. If someone can assist you with this folding of the shower curtain (described next), it will be a lot easier and quicker. Turn down the top third of the shower curtain, then fold the the top fold of the shower curtain to the bottom of the shower curtain (kind of like you would fold a letter to go into an envelope). This exposes the dirtiest part of the shower curtain and protects the printed side. It also makes it fit into the washer really well. Before putting the shower curtain in the washer, add about 1 cup of white vinegar and and let the water agitate to disperse the vinegar. Put shower curtain in the washer. Let it agitate for about five minutes, then soak for about 2 hours. Then let agitate some more and finish washing cycle. My shower curtain got really clean.

Mid July Countdown

Today's been a nice day. I've been kind of tired from yesterday's swimming, shopping and busyness. Today my mom and I cooked lunch together. We had baked chicken, broccoflower with cheese, and baked potatoes. I love brocoflower but hadn't had it in years. After lunch I took a long nap. This evening I couldn't believe how hot it was when I walked to the laundry room. At least we're already almost halfway through the month of July. I'm always eager for September to arrive, not only because it's my birthday month, but also because sometime during the month of September it cools off, at least a little. My mom said she hopes we'll have a long mild autumn--me too and I'm praying for an early autumn like last year.

I made some liquid soap this evening. I have trouble finding liquid soap that won't dry my hands. I liked Dove hand soap but I can't find it anymore. So I grated two bars of Dove Cream Oil soap and melted it a gallon of heated distilled water. I hope it turns out good. It's quite thin and watery right now but it should thicken up in a day or so. The last time tried making liquid soap it solidified.

Liquid soap making instructions:

http://greenliving.suite101.com/article.cfm/diy_make_liquid_soap

Glowing Twilight

We got some much needed rain last night. The weather today has been nice and cool in comparison with the triple digit temperatures last week. There are things delightful about each season. The cool weather today whetted my appetite for brisk autumn weather.

I decided to go to the book store this evening. As I was driving home I noticed that it appeared half way between daylight and night and that there was such a pretty golden glow to everything. I didn't get any books today. I love books and buying new books always makes me happy. I can usually get access to any book that I want through the library though. I do have lots of books of my own. When I go to the library I wish I had a list to go by. I'd like to find some more mystery authors that I really like and I'm kind of picky. Most often in my free time at home I surf the internet and I don't even have television. Most of the time I really don't miss it. For some odd reason it's when I'm away from home that I tend to love perusing a book or magazine the most, unless it's a book so good that I can't put it down.