Ingleside 6/13/14

I snitched this from Dad's house.  I think it started life as a bedspread, and then when I was little we used it for a picnic blanket, and now it's a nice dark busy tablecloth that doesn't show the mess.  Sisters-let me know if I need to give it back.  :)

I think Abby's taking Anna's twin bed to college.  I figure if it's leaving in August, there's no sense moving it to the basement for two months, so we're just living around it.  Sometimes lazy=happy.

Anna's been changing the greeting every few days.  I think we're on "Guten tag" today.  

I had to read this for my children't lit class.  So many ranty things to say about it.  At the very least, I don't think filthy language is necessary, just lazy, and kids deserve original plot just as much as the rest of us.  What makes me crazy is that when people list their favorite books, they are always the great ones-Little House on the Prairie, Anne, Around the World in 80 Days, Ramona, The Boxcar Children-and none of these resorted to using hot button issues in the news to be controversial and "interesting" to the kids of the day.  So why do we underestimate kids now?  I wish I were a writer sometimes, but I don't want to be one.  

Going to town for the day involves so much planning!  And six bags.  If we have something in town in the morning, and something else in the afternoon, it doesn't make sense to go back and forth so--  We need the swimming suits and towels, the library books and all of the papers for Summer Reading, and jammies to change into after lessons, and any papers for errands that need to be run, and a textbook to read during naps, and blankies for naps...  *sigh*  You'd think with all of this practice, I'd start to enjoy thinking ahead, but not yet.  It just makes me feel crazy.  

But then we go to the pool, and everything is beautiful.  Golly, I love Summer.

Six years

Six years since I first woke up in a world without my Mama.  I think all of the people who said all of the things were mostly right.  It does take a long long time, and you have to be patient, and eventually thinking about her makes you sad and happy and not just sad, and through some mystery, the missing increases but hurts less.  

And I still think I see her, across the park or the church, but it makes me smile now, and reminds me that I'm always looking for her, still.  It takes some of the pressure off of being a Mom, I think.  Because I know she wasn't perfect, and I know nothing could matter less.  She's everything because she's my Mom.  So I just have to do my best, and I really can't screw it up.  I'm everything anyway.    

And someday I'll look across the clouds and there she'll be.  For real.  

A poem from Dad

 What Is So Rare As A Day in June

AND what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days;

Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,

And over it softly her warm ear lays;

Whether we look, or whether we listen,

We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;

Every clod feels a stir of might,

An instinct within it that reaches and towers,

And, groping blindly above it for light,

Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;

The flush of life may well be seen

Thrilling back over hills and valleys;

The cowslip startles in meadows green,

The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,

And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean

To be some happy creature's palace;

The little bird sits at his door in the sun,

Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,

And lets his illumined being o'errun

With the deluge of summer it receives;

His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,

And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;

He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,-

In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?

Now is the high-tide of the year,

And whatever of life hath ebbed away

Comes flooding back with a ripply cheer,

Into every bare inlet and creek and bay;

Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,

We are happy now because God wills it;

No matter how barren the past may have been,

'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green;

We sit in the warm shade and feel right well

How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell;

We may shut our eyes but we cannot help knowing

That skies are clear and grass is growing;

The breeze comes whispering in our ear,

That dandelions are blossoming near,

That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing,

That the river is bluer than the sky,

That the robin is plastering his house hard by;

And if the breeze kept the good news back,

For our couriers we should not lack;

We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing,-

And hark! How clear bold chanticleer,

Warmed with the new wine of the year,

Tells all in his lusty crowing!

Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how;

Everything is happy now,

Everything is upward striving;

'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true

As for grass to be green or skies to be blue,-

'Tis for the natural way of living:

Who knows whither the clouds have fled?

In the unscarred heaven they leave not wake,

And the eyes forget the tears they have shed,

The heart forgets its sorrow and ache;

The soul partakes the season's youth,

And the sulphurous rifts of passion and woe

Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth,

Like burnt-out craters healed with snow.

James Russell Lowell

Victory and Defeat

In Goodwill related news...here's a great victory for the part of me that says "If you love it, you should get it, you'll figure out a use for it some day" and a terrible defeat for the rational "stop buying stuff!" part of me.  

I bought this blanket years ago, it's one of those old, hotel sort of strange bedspreads with the weird polyester on the back, but I just loved this bright summery flower pattern.  I had no idea what to do with it but it made me smile.  I walked away from it several times but kept going back.  It sat in the basement in a sack for a long time.

But then MJL and I were discussing how the down comforter was really way too warm for the summer and I wanted to make a quilt but I don't have time right now to make a quilt and besides I couldn't get it done that fast anyway.  I remembered this blanket and it fit!  So now my happy blanket makes me happy every day and we're not alternately roasting and freezing as we put the comforter off and on all night.  Hooray!

Where do you fall on the spectrum?  When in doubt-buy it or leave it?

Almost a Librarian

My last class started this week!

I take the certification test this weekend.  I took the practice test online and got them all right but this one:

4. A library media center uses parent volunteers
to perform a variety of tasks relating to the
school library program. Which of the following
considerations is most likely to ensure an
effective result from a parent volunteer
program?

(A) Volunteers are expected to be present on
specified days of the week at specified
times.
(B) Volunteers are assigned staff members
to work with who supervise their
activities and provide direction.
(C) Volunteers are permitted to take work
off-site in order to complete it.
(D) Volunteers have prior experience working
in a library-related field.
(E) Volunteers are given the freedom to
select or reject duties at their discretion.

Here's a hint-you have to remember not to answer like a normal human, but like a librarian (very concerned with detail and getting things exactly right).

Cover Ups!

I found this fabric at Goodwill this Spring and instantly knew I wanted to make cover ups out of it.  It's kind of a super light terry cloth.

But that's crazy!  Who has time to make cover ups?  Not the girl who was behind on everything, including her class and her job and her house and her life.

But I got it anyway because it was $2.00 and dreams are important.

I spent the next few bath times perusing patterns and tutorials online and thinking about what to do.  (I mostly play on Pinterest while the kids are in the bath.  I look forward to it so much!)  

And somehow, after the class was done and the office tidied, I started cutting and sewing and a week later they were all done!

We tried them out last week.  They all have hoods, but Anna's is sleeveless.  Not quite enough fabric, and I didn't think she'd be as cold as the little ones.  

 Lately when I ask Katie to smile she says "Let's make a sad face instead."  

I used this pattern for all three, just lengthening and biggering for Anna's and kind of fudging on the hood.  

Yay for Summer!  

IMHO

I have a lot of opinions.  While I'm loading the dishwasher or brushing my teeth, I like to think about the world, and come up with reasons for the way things are.  I come up with grand speeches about any number of things.  I'm tempted to list them, because then you might ask me about them and I could try one out-but I suspect that's not actually good for me, or good for anyone else.

I found this quote last week, and it's been rolling around in my mind ever since.

(In English-"The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.")

I just really love that.

Have you found anything lately that hit you right between the eyeballs?

Library Wrap Up

Year two of being a librarian and I think that I can say (though it feels disloyal) that I like being a librarian even more than I liked being a Spanish teacher.  I can't decide if that means it's a better fit, or if it is just that it is much easier to teach children when you are all speaking the same language.  Anyway, I love it.

This semester we circulated 30,085 books!  We had amazing parent volunteers who came to the school in the afternoons to shelve books and have a checkout time for kids.  I even had two parents who came and helped me do inventory of all 8,000 books in the last week of school.  I was nervous about losing our Para this year, but our parents really filled the gap.  

I read 603 picture books and 36 chapter books.  I learned that I need to have a concrete goal or I won't find time to read.

The Spring Reading Party was "Origamirama" and 36 kids earned a ticket.  We made Origami boxes with lids and made candy sushi to put inside the boxes.  The kids loved it.  One 2nd grader even showed his box the next week at 4-H for his project talk because he thought it was "the coolest thing he had ever made"  because "it didn't even use tape to hold it together".    

I saw the Roald Dahl's Miss Honey Social Justice Award when it was announced at the end of March and decided at that moment that we'd figure out some kind of project to enter, and since I have wonderful teachers to work with, we did a month long festival of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory activities that culminated with a week of making blankets for babies in Ecuador.  A rowing friend from KSU lives and works in Ecuador, and she allowed us to partner with her.  She works with women who are in jail, who keep their children with them until they are two years old.  Our kids got really excited about making blankets for these babies, and made 13 tied fleece blankets and 22 embroidered flannel blankets.  Even if we don't win the fabulous prizes, the kids learned how to embroider, how to think a little about the rest of the world, and some little babies got something soft to hold.  

And now HERE'S TO SUMMER!!!!!

Jimmy and Katie play nicely for a moment

Insanity: Summer 2014 Edition

I've been frustrated in my attempts to make a Summer Schedule because there are so many variables, so I thought I would try a weekly schedule instead.  

It just made me feel crazy!  Here's the first week:

Summer 2014 Schedule:  May 25 - June 1

6:00 -- Up, Shower, Dress

6:45 -- Breakfast, prep day, kids breakfast, Anna work animals with Daddy.

7:30 -- Kids up, dress, eat, clean up.

8:30 – Go to Pierceville VBS

          Mama and Jimmy run errands in town.

12:00 -- Make lunch and lunches, eat and deliver

1:00 -- naps K and J, A free time.

3:00 -- Up and pool clothes

3:30 – Swim

4:30 – Sno Cones

6:00 -- Home and dinner/dinners

7:00 -- Chores and piano

8:00 -- Play outside

9:00 -- Kids Bed

10:30 -- Bed

Monday:  Memorial Day-Concert at 12:00 at Cemetery

Tuesday-Thursday: VBS

Wednesday:  Piano Lesson 6:30

Thursday:  Anna to TX with Grandma. 

Friday:  Municipal Band 7:30

Saturday:  Betsy and Anna go to Church 5:30

Sunday:  Betsy and Anna 4-H Concession Stand 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

And the second week isn't better at all!

Summer 2014 Schedule:  June 1 – June 7

6:00 -- Up, Shower, Dress

6:45 -- Breakfast, prep day, kids breakfast, Anna work animals with Daddy.

7:30 -- Kids up, dress, eat, clean up.

8:30 – Garden, mow, play outside.

12:00 -- Make lunch and lunches, eat and deliver

1:00 -- naps K and J, A free time.

3:00 -- Up and pool clothes

3:30 – Swim

4:30 – Sno Cones

6:00 -- Home and dinner/dinners

7:00 -- Chores and piano

8:00 -- Play outside

9:00 -- Kids Bed

10:30 -- Bed

Sunday:  Betsy and Anna 4-H Concession Stand 10:00 am - 12:00

Monday:  Betsy’s Class Begins

Tuesday:  Anna Archery 10:00 am Big Pool,  Sign up for Summer Reading, Water Aerobics 6:15-kids to Poppa 6:00.

Wednesday:  Piano Lesson 6:30

Thursday:  W. A. 6:15-kids to Poppa 6:00 

Friday:  Municipal Band 7:30

Saturday:  BETSY PRAXIS TEST 7:30 AM BE EARLY!!!  Double check ID, etc.

AND it occurs to me that I ought to schedule in when we're going to work on Anna's 4H projects, because she picked such hard dresses to make....  I don't know what to do.  It's not like we follow these closely, but it really helps me to remember things like dinner if I have a schedule.  I got completely stuck on week 4, there's no time for dinner in there at all!  :/

Is this normal???

Rain

I heard this song on the radio last week and it made me cry.  We need some of this.



I keep listening to it.  Like a prayer.

Nine

This darling girl is nine years old.  

Parties have been big in her class this year so she asked if she could have one for the 3rd grade girls.  

We did it at the arts center, where the girls all got to make a 3D sculpture and paint it.  It was really fun and I think everyone had a fantastic time.  

She's always smiling in the chaos.  Nine years is halfway.  It makes me ache.  We're so thankful for our precious sweet big girl.  

Matchy Matchy

Anna picked out this fabric for her Birthday dress and oh so generously allowed me to use the same pattern I've been using to make her dresses for the last 6 years.  Simplicity 5226  I think I've made it almost 10 times now.  

But it's perfect and lovely!  I made dresses for both girls.  

And a tie for Mr. Jimmy using this tutorial.  Here he spotted a tractor driving down our road.  

I had to get pictures right away.  MJL was busy working so these are mostly taken with me standing on a ladder throwing a ball up and down with one hand while trying to take the pictures with the other.  

He looks like such a little man here.  

I remind myself to be happy with anything that works, picture wise.  I don't know how much longer I'll be able to dress them up in matching outfits.  I know there are 4th graders whose parents still do, so at least one more year, right?  Aren't they sweet?

Serger victory

A few years ago MJL got me a serger, but then at some point children messed with it and it got unthreaded and crazy and it made me frustrated and sometimes I cried and it just wouldn't work and I was really upset about it.  I was going to take it when I went to see my aunts at Christmas, and then again at rescheduled Christmas, but we had sicky children.  

But my very favorite napkins in the whole world were falling apart, and not just looking bad, but actually fraying to bits because the serging had come off and I had to fix them.  (As a side note-if you ever see a set of Vera napkins (like this) at a thrift store-YOU SHOULD BUY THEM!  I got these at Goodwill and I think it's not an exaggeration to say they'd been washed at least 500 times before the serging started to come out. (10 years, twice a week?)  They never wrinkle, they don't stain, they're just lovely and perfect. If you don't want them, buy them and send them to me.  

Anyhoo-It was hard and scary to cut off the frayed edges and the remaining serged bits, and it occurred to me that I was hurting their "value" by doing this-and then I rolled my eyes at myself and sternly reminded ridiculous Betsy that their "value" was in being used and loved every day.  Sheesh.  

And I sat down with the book and the serger one more time and went through each and every step slowly and carefully and I fixed it!  I got it working!  So exciting.  

Here they are!  I didn't buy yellow thread but the white is just fine (she reminds herself with another eye roll).

Hooray!

 

Mending Basket

I finally finished the mending basket!  It really only took three days, but it took over a year of procrastinating, so it seemed like longer.  I cleaned the office and then tacked the basket, taking pictures to keep myself motivated.  

I taped up this tractor book which was destroyed.  

I 

I realized that I needed steam to fuse the fleece to these little pants I was fixing, but I didn't want to go upstairs.  So I used ice from my juice.  Isn't that lazy creative?

Here are the little pants.  Part of a set of jammies my Mom made for Anna.  I wasn't sure how to fix the three holes, so I just fused some fleece patches on the inside and then zig-zagged over the tear.  It seems to be holding for now.  

These pajama pants ripped the very first time they were worn!  This is a terrible fix but honestly-they're jammies.  There were more projects too, but I didn't think of the motivational documentation until the third day.  

And it's not mending, but I also got EVERYTHING that had been accumulating to be mailed and got it boxed up and sent out.  I always forget that the Oklahoma kids finish college early, so their box missed finals week, but I guess was a good "You're all done!" kind of present.  

Getting that all done feels so good!  Only one more class this summer!  I wonder if having the extra time will always feel nice, or if I'll get all used to it and forget what it was like to have to take classes in my "free time".  I hope it's a lasting thankfulness, like I have for the working washer and dryer.  

Bed in Summer

 

I remember pulling the book "A Child's Garden of Verses" from the shelf and reading this poem when I was in bed and it was light outside, just to console myself that it was a universal problem.

Every year at this time I wish I had it memorized so that I could recite it to Katie when she explains to me that it can't be bed time, because it's not dark yet.

I have it hanging up this year, and I'm working on it...

Beautiful Christmas

I have been trying to figure out why dozens of strangers started following my Beautiful Christmas board on Pinterest and then I got this email.

Good news! Your board is now being featured onPinterest.

Hi there, One of your boards has been picked to be one of the recommended boards for new Pinners to follow when they first sign up for Pinterest. What this means: we think your board is amazing, and it really demonstrates what Pinterest is all about! Also you might notice a bunch of new people following your board for the next little while. Thanks for Pinning with us, - The Pinterest Community Team Get back to Pinning

It makes me giggle.  I think that this board is the silliest and least practical of all of my boards.  It's just pictures of old cards and other Christmas things that make me smile and sigh a happy sigh.  

The internet is a funny place.  Here's the board if you're curious.  

Follow Betsy's board Beautiful Christmas on Pinterest.

B-B-B-Budget

We going to try to be big kids starting this month.  We've never had a written down, categorized, stick to it kind of budget.   Partly because it's very hard with a farm, and partly because we didn't want to have money be the driving factor in our decision making, and partly because we have very heartily resisted growing up in all forms and hang on to any kind of irresponsibility we can get away with.  Look how cute we were 14 years ago.  Do those kids look responsible?

I've kept track of everything in Quicken for years, and so I knew where our money was going, and in looking at everything closely, it seems like our general policy of "just be frugal but don't be crazy" has worked pretty well.  Our one extravagance, which is no surprise to anyone, is eating out.

We eat out a lot because it's MJL's favorite thing to do and my favorite thing is when he's happy.  And because of the perfect storm of living 20 minutes from town, having people in the family who MUST EAT WHEN THEY ARE HUNGRY OR ELSE (that's not me.  I easily forget to eat when I'm on my own.)  and the fact that I'm super bad at planning ahead.  So instead of looking at the day and thinking "OK, we have to be in town at 6:30, so we need to leave the house at 6:00, so we need to eat at 5:15, so I need to think about dinner and get started right after school"-I look at the clock at 5:45 and think "Good job, Betsy!  You thought about leaving the house WAY early!  We're totally going to be on time! (no we're not)  And then I remember about food and we're sunk and end up eating in the car on the way to or from something.

But we sat down and made a budget and we're starting small, with just a little cut here and there.  I mostly just want to try to think ahead a bit more.   Just a touch, because I love living here by the seat of my pants.

This post is boring.  Here are two things I saw online today.

A post about wind and drought.

Making rope from fabric scraps!

Ingleside 4/26/14

So much going on around here!

I think I've finally decided to quit being so crazy and let these two watch a show while I make dinner.  I remembered the other day that Abby watched TV all the time while Mom was in the kitchen, and look how she turned out.  

My favorite way to clean up the kitchen is to ask MJL to make some cookies.  I don't mind cleaning up if I have company, and he doesn't mind making us treats.  This week it was Grandma Anna's cornflake cookies.  

This girl has been unbelievably helpful lately.  Almost 9.  

Looks like we forgot to water the basil.  We'll try again in the summer!

This little girl changed her mind about going potty.  "I'm not big, Mama."

She also broke the doorknob and can get out of the house on her own.  She goes to visit the goats or find Daddy and agrees that she NEEDS to tell someone before she leaves the house, but doesn't actually do it.  

Anna's banner!  

We got these flowers from church on Easter Vigil.  Does anyone know what they are?  They don't have a little tag or label or anything.  They're really pretty.  

I like blogging-but rarely find time to get down here to my computer these days.  Happy Easter!

Good Friday

Holy Week

It's Holy Week!

I'm excited because this year we're going to all of the Holy Week services, starting with Holy Thursday tomorrow night, and then Good Friday, and Easter Vigil on Saturday night.  Easter Vigil is my favorite thing ever.  It's so Easter-y!

We finally made it to Stations of the Cross last Friday night.  I'm always glad when we do, it's a lovely meditation--here's a nice virtual one, about 30 minutes long all together.

Do you follow @hiphopaugustine?  He makes me laugh so much.

Holy Week comin soon 
I be like BOOYAH 
joinin the angelic choir 
beltin ALLELUIA

This story about a sweet baby in the NICU and answered prayer made me happy cry.  And MJL got me her book, which means I got the free download of the ebook and I LOVED IT!  He rolls his eyes a lot at me now because I keep making the family talk through the "action steps" in the book-but I love thinking through things and building systems!  And I love having goals!  And I love being intentional instead of just floating through!  It's really a perfect book for me.  

And did you catch these pictures of my adorable babies?  Thanks Sarah!

Hampshire Jersey

I stopped following the Free Range Kids blog because most of the stories were negative examples of why the world is going crazy, and while I very very much agree with the idea that kids should roam around and do stuff, I'd rather see examples of the positive.

A week or so ago I read (OK, skimmed) this article about "The Land" a kind of wild junkyard playground in North Wales.  The whole thing is strange and fascinating.  I'm drawn to things like this-stories about the trouble and adventures that kids used to have.  Kids love things like this-My Side of the Mountain, the first Boxcar Children book, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, all of these are fantastic books about kids on their own.  Oh!  And Roxaboxen!

That's one of the reasons I don't go into Hampshire Jersey, the secret land the children are creating behind the chemical tanks in the cedar trees.   I'm sure there are lots of wonderful and dangerous things happening, and I choose to believe they're not REALLY that dangerous.  They haul old metal and bits of treasure from the junk piles and build things and have fights and compromise.   

Also whenever I go in there I get jabbed in the head with branches.  It's really just the right size for little people.  I had "The Shop", a place under a big tree in the back yard which I was constantly rearranging and changing into new things.  Some of my best childhood memories are from cleaning up the shop.  How about you?  Did you have a place to call your own?  Do your kids have one now?  Do you think I'm just asking for trouble?

Happy Birthday

It's my Birthday!  Here are some ridiculous things that I may be hoping for this year.

1.  Zentangle Kit:  Have you heard about zentangles?  Little paper tiles that you fill up with doodles, repeating designs and colors.  This kit is ludicrously expensive, and I think could be put together for much cheaper by buying the individual pieces.  Doesn't it look fun and relaxing?


http://sarasoulsister13.deviantart.com/art/Teardrop-Zentangle-Doodle-348814784

2.  Betsyann.com  Did you know my name is a chocolate website?  Wouldn't that be a fun treat?

3.  Long naps-for Katie and Jimmy-so that I can do some projects.

4.  The time/money/wherewithal to redo my pantry.  I suspect that there is a lot of wasted space there.  I dream of hard shelves, and many of them, and a step stool and beautiful matching containers.  Not super de duper fancy-not this


http://www.shorewest.com/blog/4-smarter-ways-to-remodel-your-home/

Just some hard shelves so things don't fall through, and some additional shelves for stacking on the shelves, and no more things stacked on the floor and falling over and making it hard to shut the door.

5.  The pre-order for Something Other than God by my favorite stranger blogger, because then I also get the free e-book The Family First Creative.

6.  But mostly mostly mostly, just happy and healthy family and friends, and an appreciation for this beautiful life.  I want to "realize life as I live it" as Emily says in "Our Town"--This homily brought tears to my eyes, and an ache to live as much as I can while I can.

Happy day to me!  And to you!  And to life!

graze box

I can't remember where I saw graze.com-something somewhere advertised a free box and it sounded like fun.  They send snacks through the mail.  You can get on the website and pick the things that sound good to you and nix the ones that don't.  It's a subscription service-they want you to get a box every two weeks, for $6.00 a box.  

It's expensive and there's no way I can justify anything more than the free box, but the snacks were SO GOOD I thought the least I could do was plug them in case one of you has a larger snack budget than I do.  I took mine to school and I have really enjoyed all of my snacks. 

These are the snacks that I got -  the "garden of england" and "hot cross yum" both had dried fruit and candied nuts.   Honestly super delicious, and just the right size.    

Sorry, graze.com!  Maybe someday I'll be richer.  :)

Grrr *sigh*

I bought these three books because they were on sale and since we're a country school, I think it's important we have a good agriculture section.  The kids love ag books. 

They claim to be informational books, but the slant in them is incredible.  Everything about farming is very negative, with no balanced opinions or solutions presented, other than this one small inset saying that one study found that organic farming could feed the word. 

It gets worse!  Can you read the last line of this snippet about GM crops and seeds?  A complex issue involving emerging technology, intellectual property, copyright, etc.  

"This is so that the companies can sell more seeds and become richer."

Gah! 

 Our farm families will definitely take issue with this.  If it were a balanced portrayal I wouldn't mind so much but this is pure propaganda.  I didn't read the books until they were already stamped so I think I'm stuck with them.  I'm glad they were on sale.  I'm considering putting a note in the front of the book describing the bias and asking students to look for it, at the very least then I would have stated that I know it's slanted and that they should not read it as truth. 

I can't read every book before I buy it!  How do I avoid this problem in the future? 

Or do you think I'm overreacting?

TV TV TV and being old

We've been really loving watching The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.  He's so funny! And nice!  I know, we don't really know him, but on the show, he SEEMS so genuinely nice.  And so I choose to believe it.  That he's really actually truly nice and anyway it makes MJL laugh before he goes to sleep and there is nothing in the world better than that.




But we're too old and tired to stay up that late to watch it so we've been taping it and watching it the next day, earlier, and then going to sleep.

Both things; watching the Tonight Show, and going to bed early, make me feel old, but in a happy kind of way.

Do you have anything that makes you feel old, and good about it?