Gloom, Despair, and Agony On Me-e!

Remember that old Hee Haw song?

Gloom, despair and agony on me-e!

Deep dark depression, excessive misery-y!

Man...it felt just like that today.....

Isn't this depressing?


Whatever happened to the beauty of yesterday? It's but a memory on a blog now...

This wasn't/isn't even one of those fun spring rains..kind of warm and friendly. Blows in quickly and leaves just as quickly after entertaining us with flashes of lightening and the sound of thunder.

Nope. This is a cold, wet (duh!) icy rain, threatening to wreck havoc on the early morning commuters.

Look at it. Doesn't it just wreak of gloom?

Thank goodness we're not Abraham Lincoln living in a 3 walled log cabin in this weather. We are blessed with a nice, warm, cozy dwelling in which to endure the schizophrenic Indiana weather.

Such a hard working boy...still in his jammies....(one of the many joys of homeschooling).

This one has the ability to focus to the point where the house could explode and he wouldn't even realize it... My brother has that ability and it has served him well over the years. Look at him deep in thought....concentration...soaking up pearls of wisdom....

Ok. That's a little over the top, I know.

He's actually reading a book that is on his reading list, but he's been stalling all year....

It's Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter. He just started it today and he's almost finished. He really liked Freckles, also by Gene Stratton Porter, so I don't know why he didn't want to read the Limberlost book. Probably because of that "Girl" part of the title.... Gene Stratton Porter is an Indiana author by the way....

This one has me trapped. See how her chair is right in between the two tables? I'm back on this side, stuck between the cabinets and the table. It's the reason there are so many Twitter entries on my sidebar today. I couldn't get out to clean, do laundry, stuff like that....so I had to sit at my desk and twitter and surf (poor me) while I waited for her least little plea for help with Math, English, all that fun stuff....

You can't see them very well, but she has Esther cradled in her left arm and Muncie underneath the covers keeping her legs warm (another benefit of homeschool - the dog lap warmer).

You can see a little better in this picture.

What an exciting life we lead....(don't' fall asleep, ya' here?)

Gloom, despair and agony on me-e!

Deep dark depression, excessive misery-y!

Books..LOTS of books

I

LOVE



BOOKS



I do



NOT



Have too many books




Is it possible to have too many books?



Well.....




Maybe.....




Rule of thumb: If you have books sitting on the floor lining your hallway, you MAY have too many books.

Yesterday, a friend of mine invited my children and me over so the kids could play while she and I worked on her books. One of my favorite things to do...

"I need a little bit of help organizing them."

"OK."

I can do this. I love to organize books.

"Um....do you have a plan in mind? There are alot of books on the floor."



When I organize books, I start by sorting them into categories.
History in one, Religion in another, Health and Nutrition in a third and on and on. You get the idea. Just like a library has their books organized by subject.

My friend had other ideas.

Does anyone vacuum their books but my friend?

Come on - let's organize these babies! Then we'll clean each pile as we look at what we have here!

"Wait...you said there are more in the garage?"

"What? Another book on History? Did you know this was out here?"



After you have your piles of books organized by category, you can see what you have.

"Did you know you have two of these? Um, can I have the extra?"

Hint: You also don't need 5 Middle Ages Encyclopedias. One or two will do. You also don't need 25 books on character training. Pick the best, one or two that you know are good, that you would like to use. Put them on your bookshelf.

Sell the rest, give them away, or if you really can't part with them, box them up, label the outside of the box with names of the books in the box, and place them on a shelf in the garage, attic, wherever, with the label facing outward so you can see it at a glance. Too much is not always a good thing (unless you are talking Zenia seeds!). Too much leads to paralysis. Too many choices results in an inability to make any choice at all.

Well, after about 6 hours my friend and I had made a good dent in her stacks and stacks of books. The good news is that she discovered she has all the resources a homeschool mom could possibly need for history, geography, character training, biblical devotions. It was just like Christmas. She found books she "had always wanted" but had forgotten she had.

And, she has 3 or 4 HUGE boxes of books for the next book sale or to sell on eBay.

My last piece of advice? When you buy a book, immediately upon bringing it home, put it on the bookcase under the proper subject heading. If you no longer have room on your bookcase, then you'll need to pull another book off the shelf and pass it along to a good friend........

OR, you can do what I do....

Buy more bookcases.