Productivity

I am getting a lot done on my mental to do list. I am shocked that this list remains mental this far into summer vacation, but i am sure it will soon be written down. And i am even more sure that i will write down the items i already got accomplished just so i can promptly cross them off. I cleaned out, vacuumed, and armoralled by beautiful Saturn. I love my car.

I also started clearing off our porch and putting the plants from school on it. We had a bunch of junk, nothing like a couch or anything, but things that looked cluttery. It now looks better. I watered our hanging baskets and now i am going to go weed the day lilies on the side of our garage.

Later we are going to the Starr's for a cookout. Yum!

I haven't started chapter 2 of my thesis yet and it is due June 22. I scrapbooked yesterday with some friends. One of them got their masters last year with the same professor. She said when she turned in her chapter one it got ripped apart. She had to turn it in three times. That totally made my day. She is someone that i totally respect and is super organized. It makes me feel good that mine was accepted first time through, but it also makes me very nervous for chapter 2.
I need to read about 20 articles that are sitting in a pile in our office. The thing is. . . there is a good possibility i might be getting a mac laptop. If that is the case, then i will not be handwriting all of my index cards. I tried typing the first batch on our desktop once, but it was very uncomfortable and didn't really work out. I have been writing them out by hand since then, which is fine. We are going to GR tomorrow to play with office a little bit to see if i can handle the differences on a mac. I am really impressed with some of the stuff the laptop comes with. . . like i can watch a DVD in the bedroom and it comes with a remote, i can record my students doing their johnny appleseed readers' theater and then do little things like credits and titles for when i play the move back for them and parents, i can do end of the year slide shows complete with sappy music, instead of just hooking the camera up to the tv, which is what i do now. One goal i totally would have if i got the apple is to write. I need to consciously set aside time to write. My good friend Yram has done this and is in the process of writing an unbelievable novel. I have always dreamed of writing a children's book. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head. Over years and years i have written very little in terms of children's stories. Setting is everything for me to get the creative juices flowing. A laptop would help me to go where i write best. TJ said it could be my birthday present and since he isn't taking a class this year it all works out to be the same price. It is one of those things. . . will i use it when we have kids? I think the answer would be yes because i wouldn't be tied to the back of the house when using the computer. I don't know. It seems so frivolous at times.

Some trivia i learned while waiting for our breakfast at Toast and Jams

• The blueberry jelly bean was created for Ronald Reagan
• 56% of the time you use your left hand for typing
• There are 293 ways to make $1.00 using change
• The strongest muscle in your body is your tongue
• The animal with the largest eyes is the giant squid
• Russia is the country with the greatest land area

Some of these i actually got correct!