Middle of the month

We are in the middle of August already!  Whoa!

School started yesterday in Santa Clarita, and if Amos and I still lived there, I would be in junior high right now, taking notes for Pinkie.  (I just typed Pinkie into my blog search bar, but I accidentally substituted an O for the P: Oinkie.  Oh dear!)  However, I am NOT in California, so I'm not in school yet, but I will be soon!  I'm signed up as a substitute teacher with three school districts and a Christian school.  I should start working in September; hmmmmm, I should probably find out where all the schools are...If you prayed for us, thank you very much!  The Lord showed us just in time 1) that I needed a job and 2) where to get one. :)


Today I am doing several things...

- reading this post from Mike Gaston about a mutual friend with a brain tumor (Our friend went back to work yesterday, teaching high school history!  Talk about a good recovery so far, thanks to the Lord!)

- making tapioca pudding using Amos' mom's recipe

- burning a nice pumpkin-somethingorother candle

- eating Aussie Bites!  I adapted this recipe a bit (vanilla, some chia seeds, a little regular flour), and the cookies/fiber muffins/whatever-they-are were really good. Amos likes them, too!

- listening to Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (Anne was a nut!)

- cleaning vegetables out of the sink and washing dishes

- looking up books via Modern Mrs. Darcy's August twitterature post (check out her website; I like all her posts about books and reading)

- investigating new places to live.  Our lease is up in six weeks!

Books and snacks

When you have lots of books on your "currently reading" pile, sometimes you pick the one that lies the flattest so that you can read and have a snack with minimal effort.

Hint of Lime chips, guacamole, water, and
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

I was reading The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy.  The title is great, and cute little pictures are sprinkled here and there in the book, but it was just ehhhhh.  The climax was anti-climactic, the characters were interesting but not inspiring, and the ending was cliche' (one of the characters basically says, "I'm going to write down all our adventures and turn them into a book!").  I picked it up to see if it was appropriate for Gio and Luke, and it's probably fine, but, ironically, The Hero's Guide definitely wouldn't spur them on to be better young men.  Oh well!  Better luck with...


The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames by Kai Bird (biography of a CIA agent working in the Middle East)

One Vision Only by Carolyn L. Canfield (biography of Isobel Kuhn, including Isobel's abridged, unpublished Vistas; must get the unabridged version from Wheaton College)

Elisabeth Elliot: Joyful Surrender by Janet and Geoff Benge

My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme