Mish-Mash Day

It's already Wednesday, isn't it? I forget just how crazy things are when not on holidays. I have to admit to having dropped the ball with my PrayFit--I am so exhausted these past few days, I just have not seemed to care in the morning and by evening, I'm sooo tired. The change to a busy routine makes me long for the days in the past when things were so much slower!  Or maybe it's just where I live. I love watching House Hunters International on HGTV and very often, there is mention of how someone moving from one area to another notices the difference in activity levels. I live in such a high-paced, almost frenetic society; I'm sure I would do much better with a slower-paced life. (Mind you, wouldn't we all? A chaos-free life would be super nice!) Even some period flicks, like Little Women, are showing me the kind of slower-paced life I would love to have.

This Wednesday morning [woops, it was morning when I started this] babble is leading somewhere, I promise. :) Today, my 15-year old has an appointment for blood work. We saw the doctor last Friday and she is going ahead with celiac testing, thyroid testing and some other things. I can't wait until we have things confirmed about the wheat/gluten because for now, she's supposed to keep eating gluten items so that all the tests reflect how she is on gluten. But she's definitely like how she was before her week and a half of gluten-free eating and has been like this over the entire holiday: sluggish, tired, more emotional, stomach complaints here and there... We may have to wait two weeks before we hear back about the blood work. If she has to do a biopsy to confirm celiac... it could be quite a while. And she's supposed to be on gluten before the biopsy because they are looking for damage--and if she goes off, things could heal up and diagnosis will not be accurate. I have learned a lot about potential celiac this past month! "Why do the testing?" That's what I was asking. I'll answer that question in another post soon.

My mind's on all that but also on tomorrow. As of tomorrow, my Thursdays are going to be crazy: one student will be showing up at 8:30 for French class (which I haven't yet planned and prepped), I'll get going with her (and hopefully my daughter; we'll see if she can get herself up and dressed by then), at 9 am the other student will arrive, I'll teach the three girls until about 10:15 am, then drive them about 20 minutes away (I think) for a homeschool program they are all attending, drive back home, eat lunch, have an afternoon French class from 1-3, leave right after that to pick up my nieces and nephew from school, but my nephew doesn't get to my nieces' school until about 3:45, at which point I then need to drive to the homeschool program (an estimated 30-40 minutes away from that location and at that time of day) to pick up my daughter--who is supposed to be done at 4:10. By the time I actually get there, it could be closer to 4:20, then we have to get back home during high traffic, which means it could very well be 4:45 or later by the time we actually get home. And then I'm supposed to start supper. Oy. One of my intentions (not resolution) for this year is to develop a weekly meal-planning habit. I haven't started. Not sure what stopped me on the weekend, but it didn't happen. I do need to decide now what we'll eat tomorrow. I'm trying to get us off completely from all the super fast, processed foods and may resort to it for tomorrow but I don't want it to become a regular habit again! I have a crockpot and a pressure cooker... I will have to do some recipe hunting! And I still want to keep some gluten-free meals in the mix so when we do go back to at least wheat-free for my daughter (and probably me; I feel better when I'm not eating wheat), it won't be a big deal. Maybe Janae over at http://bring-joy.com/ will have a recipe idea for me for tomorrow evening!

This "talk" of wheat-free has reminded me about going soy-free. I know I consume various products with soy in them, but when I eat full out soy, like in my best.ice cream.ever post, I react. Sometimes it's skin issues. This time, clear that the estrogen-like things in soy definitely affect me and not in a positive way! As delicious as that ice cream was, I have finished the tiny carton and won't be getting more. :( (However, if you are not soy-sensitive and love ice cream like I do, definitely try it! :D)

And other than that, I've been exploring different ways to make a reasonable income at home through online options. I really want next year to be a French class-free school year. I'm loving teaching the kids, but the amount of time it takes from my week to plan and prep and then how it affects our homeschooling, how it takes away from a simpler, slower pace... My two Thursday morning girls are heading to school next year anyhow, so I'm definitely going to be losing students. I had looked into doing online tutoring and real time classes, but that ends up controlling my schedule, too, which isn't what I'm yearning for. If you are making money from home through some sort of online means, being boss-free and controlling your time, I'd love to hear about it! (You can email me if you'd prefer to not post about it here.)

Is that enough for today? lol