Outside my window......it is cold and snowing.  It's a funny thing all the talk about global warming and yet my relatives in Virginia and the Carolinas have had more snow this winter than they ever have and we are having a long string of very cold weather.  It's not warming here that I can tell.  No reason to go out today though so in the immortal words of the Christmas song, "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

I am thinking.......that I really should start my school work.  I overslept this morning, puttered around before starting my day, and now I am putzing on the computer when I should be working on my paper for English.

I am thankful for.....a husband who loves me like mine does.  There are no words to describe this man except to say if anyone out there wants to know how to love, truly love, the way that God means us to, come and watch this man for a day.

I am wearing......jeans and an orange carhart tee shirt.

I am going......nowhere, I sincerely hope. 

I am currently reading......nothing.  I am waiting for the books that I ordered from Amazon to come before Lent starts.

I am hoping.......that whatever this virus that I have had since Christmas goes away soon since I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

From the kitchen.....Doug has a big pot of pasta e fagioli simmering on the stove.  I think that and homemade bread will do for both lunch and supper.

Around the house......Matthew is studying, Melissa is reading, Doug is stirring the soup, the washer is going and all is right in my world.

One of my favorite things........looking up from my work and seeing the man that I love so much standing there.  After years and years of his being gone for 14 and 16 hour days I feel spoiled to have him nearby so much.

A few plans for the rest of the week.......work on my English paper, learn more about radicals and square roots, and good old pythagorous.  The usual round of classes and holy hours and plans must be made for the beginning of Lent.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you......

Ian and Doug playing Texas Hold'em.  My non-gambling, very serious husband won!  Think I should send him over to the casino to see what he can do for us there.

Today I took my math mid-term.  I won't tell you all the grade since some of you actually think I'm smart and I don't want to spoil the illusion.  But my grade wasn't so great.  Then I finished my final paper for one of my courses.  I think it was pretty good for someone who hasn't been to school in a lot of years and who hasn't had a teacher grading her writing for that long either.  Time will tell about that.  I turned it in to Turnitin.com to make sure that I didn't plagiarize and got a 17% approval rating, well within the acceptable range.  As if I didn't know that it was free from plagiarism, but well you have to do what you have to do. 

So part of me wants to celebrate that the paper is done and I am three credits closer to my degree and the other part wants to feel sorry for myself that I didn't do better on my math.  But I know that I am no mathametician. (I can't even spell it)  To quote Old Hat, "Algebra I was the worst three years of my life."  I'm with you Hat, and here I am doing it again.

Think I'll pop the top on a Guinness Extra Stout and drown my math sorrows and celebrate my writing abilities all at the same time.  Cheers!!!!!

Outside my window......it is dark.  I haven't a clue about the weather but it had better cooperate with my NEED for a long walk today.  That's need with all caps.  Yesterday was my birthday and I indulged in all kinds of ways and today I pay. 

I am thinking......there is nothing like the love of family.  I don't think that I would have chosen any of then for myself but I am without doubt thankful that God chose them for me. 

I am thankful for........big baggy tee shirts and long johns, fluffy pillows, old worn quilts to wrap up in, the ticking of the clock, and Christmas tree lights in January.

I am wearing........jammies.  It's not yet 5 AM what do you expect.  I may be up early but that doesn't mean that I am alive and kicking.  There's time for that later.

I am going.......nowhere today.  It's Monday after all.  For anyone who knows me at all it means that the house needs to be recovered from the weekend, the laundry needs to be reduced to a manageable entity, and a new week of scholastic endeavor has begun.  I also got my big paper back yesterday and I need to rewrite it and resubmit it.  The grade was awful!!!!!!!

I am currently reading........textbooks folks, textbooks.  I am trying to expand my horizons and fill my mind with such knowledge that will round out my personality.

I am hoping........the weather cooperates with all our plans for the next couple of days.  MK has to return to school either tonight or tomorrow morning.  I don't want her to go back.  It has been a joy and a comfort to have my daughter with me all these weeks since Christmas.  I think that is my favorite gift.

From the kitchen........leftover fried chicken and fixins from yesterday to satisfy this crowd.  Thank goodness that the cakes are all gone!!!!!!

Around the house......all is silent as the house seems to wait in anticipation for the rest of the family to get up.  I hear the ticking of the clock, the tapping of my computer keys, and the distant hum of the pump in the basement.  Even the dogs aren't stirring yet. 

A few plans for the rest of the week........the usual round of classes, studying, holy hours, get MK back to school, and keep this place running smoothly without her.  I don't know how I shall manage without MK to keep me going.  I think that Melissa will miss her too.  They have become fast friends.  Mary-Kate taught Mellissa how to knit and they sit so prettily in the livingroom chatting quietly and knitting whatever it is they are making.  It is truly a good thing for both of them.  One needs the healing of love and the other desires a sister.

One of my favorite things.......snoring dogs, humming appliances, warm fires, singing kettles, and softly murmurring households.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you.......

I downloaded the proof of the portrait that my soldiers and sailor had taken for me for Christmas.  The big guy has a word across his face but he still looks handsome.  Just looking at that picture floods my heart with pride and stings my eyes with tears.  They are some damn fine young men.