Odds and Ends and Things Not Of General Interest

If you are familiar with the book "Cheaper By The Dozen", you immediately recognize the reference in my title. I feel like I have nothing of great importance to say -- things that Frank Gilbreth would have marked 'not of general interest' -- but I'm gonna give you a hodge podge anyway. 

We've spent a good bit of time the last few days peeling and cutting up peaches to put in the freezer. This was a fun book to listen to while we worked. 

We listened to it on Libby, read by the author, which made it very entertaining. She has fantastic, practical tips for decluttering and we all enjoyed her humor. Highly recommend. 

I also highly recommend having a husband who brings these home and sticks them in the freezer for his wife. 

I'll generally decline ice cream, and I'm not that much of a candy fan. Like my mom, I usually can't resist a candy bar, but these? These are over the top. I love them. 

It has rained and rained and then thunder stormed again in Ohio the past two weeks. We thought we might need to borrow the Amish neighbor's boat directly. 

Our grass was looking like we should invite the Amish neighbor's horses over for a free smorgasbord. Isaac finally got a bunch of it mowed today. 

I don't listen to podcasts a lot. I'm not particularly a fan of them, honestly. Every once in awhile I'll listen to one and actually love it. One that I do listen to fairly regularly is Couple Things with former Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson and her husband Andrew East. They are kind of the most unlikely people for a little ol Mennonite mom like me to listen to -- wildly different backgrounds and lifestyles, but I think that's why I find it so interesting and intriguing. Their faith and commitment to their marriage are not so very different from my own and it's eye opening to listen to people with a different world view. They host a wide variety of couples on their podcast and, while I don't always agree with all of their beliefs, I have come away inspired many, many times. 

Next week, school starts. It still does not seem real at all that I will be home alone five days a week again and I have a lot of emotions about it.  Pretty sure I will sit down and have a good, long cry and then I plan to sit on my recliner, put up my feet, and eat the silence and solitude with a spoon.

* * * * *

And now, I will leave you to decide if this hodge podge was of general interest or whether, like Mr Gilbreth, you are bored stiff. 

'Dad was the one who decided what subjects were of general interest. Since he was convinced that everything he uttered was interesting, the rest of the family had trouble getting a word in edgewise. 

"Honestly, we have the stupidest boy in our history class," Anne would begin. 

"Is he cute?" Ernestine asked. 

"Not of general interest," Dad roared. 

"I'm interested," Mart said. 

"But I," Dad announced, "am bored stiff. Now, if Anne had seen a two-headed boy in history class, that would have been of general interest." '         ~Cheaper by the Dozen