1/18/07: What a Busy Week!

I'm sorry I haven't been actively posting, but this week has been crazy-busy. Here's what I've been up to:

Mountain Empire Creative Arts Council meeting: I'm secretary, so I have minutes to keep, type, print, as well as artists to contact to be the Featured Artist (will write a separate post about this -- Artie's work deserves its own entry). And whatever else I get volunteered to do. :)

Lady Berean study at Lake Murray: This week we studied Judges 15 -- Samson and the jawbone and all that. With our leader down for ankle surgery, I facilitated the group, which of course means a little more preparation for class that usual. I love studying, but it can be tiring. I caught the gist myself and then studied some of the Hebrew words and also read Wesley's Commentary. I was bowled away by the depth and symbolic meaning behind so much in these seemingly straightforward twenty verses.

Doctor's appointment: After seeing Dr. Howe, I can now reduce chelation treatments to once per month -- yay! It's bad enough to be hooked up on an IV for two hours, but it's even worse to have to pay $95 to do so. So that saves our beleagured budget nearly $300 per month. I am also to check with Dr. Adema about starting on cortisol, which means I may possibly have Addison's Disease. He gave me a note to drop off to Dr. A this week and see if he agrees.

Mountain Empire Creative Arts board meeting: We discussed adding our organization to the Southern California Center for Youth, Nature, and the Arts which is based in Alpine. This move would give us immediate 501 (c) 3 status with no work on our part. We can remain autonomous and only have to pay a little toward liability insurance each year. Stephanie Wells, the founder of CYNA, attended our board meeting at Myrna's home. Myrna made us a lovely lunch of split pea soup while we discusses the many pluses and few minuses of joining this larger organization. We're also planning an art contest and a summer youth program.

All this is in addition to the usual things of my life: homeschooling four kids, grading papers and assignments, mothering, chiropractic appointments, library visits (multiple!), piano lessons for the boys, and etc. Tomorrow T and J go to Sheri's for California History, and all three boys have a painting class at the library.

So that's why I've been a bit scarce this week. Next week I have a Brave Writer deadline to meet; I'll be writing about an Alice Walker short story and the famous Herrick poem, "To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time." ("Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...") for the high school crowd. I hope to get online a bit more as this week I've been cuddling under the blankets on the sofa in the evenings, trying vainly to stay warm in this unusually cold weather.

It SNOWED in Malibu and Venice Beach yesterday ... right on the Southern Cal beaches. On Sunday morning, our low was 9 degrees above, with a wind chill of 1 below zero. That may sound like nothing to people back east, but please remember that this is San Diego County where 60 degrees is a cold snap and 80 degrees is a heat wave; basically if it isn't 72, then everyone freaks out in a major way.

When I woke up on Sunday at 7:15, the thermometer on our front porch read 12 degrees. Until this week, our lowest temperature of the five years we've been here was 17 degrees. The HIGH on Sunday was 26. Again, remember -- this is San Diego, where the weather-wusses dwell. Pipes have been bursting everywhere, not only in the mountains but "down the hill" (in the San Diego suburbs) as well.

Brrrrrrrrr!!!! Crazy, crazy cold!