Sometimes I feel the way Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice feel. At one point in that excellent story one of them comments that neither one of them likes to say anything unless it's extremely witty and would get the attention of everyone in the room. I forget the exact wording, but when it comes to blogging, I hesitate to write anything unless it's of extreme interest or might make people laugh. But I've noticed from reading my friends' and sisters' blogs that I enjoy just knowing what's going on in their lives. So, assuming you all might feel the same way, I'll just tell you what's going on and how we all feel about it!

Today has gotten off to a happy start, since we got to sleep in. Evan is always up by 4:30, but today, in honor of the holiday, he slept till 7:00! The kids were in and out, but the VCR kept them mostly out. Then we had a waffle breakfast. Now, at 9:15, Evan is upstairs hanging a new light fixture in the boys' room. He is going to be puttering around the house all day--oh, happy day! I told him at breakfast I think he needs to retire and just hang out with us all day. That would probably get old fast as the cupboard got bare and our clothes fell apart, but it's nice to pretend for a day that this is the norm.

This afternoon some friends are coming over for a barbecue. I think I'll be brave and make shish kabobs. The other families are bringing the rest of the stuff. At 7:30 Amy Partin, Derrick and Wesley... are coming over for our first young adults' Bible study of the season. We did it last year and we all got a lot of good out of it. So we're starting up again tonight. We'll be holding it at our house every other Monday. Lindsay comes too but she's off in the Bahamas right now getting all tanned and rested and stuffed with exotic foods. Hope you're having a wonderful time, Lindsay!

I have become aware that Jed is old enough to help with chores, so borrowing from several different people's ideas, I came up with a chore chart that so far has been wildly successful. Getting Jed to brush his teeth and get dressed and do other things around the house has been a major battle, but human nature is such that we all like some kind of reward for our work, right? So I created a chart that lists all of his chores on one side and then for each day of the week that he does those chores he gets to put a sticker in the appropriate boxes. At the end of the week if all the boxes are filled he gets a quarter, which he can save up and take to the dollar store once he has a dollar. You should see Jed getting all excited about emptying the trash!

Our biggest news of late is that we got rid of our pug, Maxi. He was a wonderful, sweet dog but a little too much for our family with three little ones. Pugs need a lot of care and attention and you have to stay on top of their training. I really didn't have the emotional energy to train a dog AND three kids! So we found a home for him the other day with a loving couple that's going to spoil him rotten. The kids were a little sad at first but are doing remarkably well about it.

I've started working for Barbour Publishing again. Had to take a break for several months while we moved and settled in and then went on vacation. Some of my girlfriends who know I do it think I'm crazy. Why would I want to add one more thing to my already very full days? All for the very simple reason that it's therapeutic. I have perfectionistic tendencies that have an outlet when I get a manuscript in my hands. It's exciting to get a call or e-mail from JoAnne, the assistant managing editor at Barbour, asking if I can take a project. She tells me what kind of book it is, what the ceiling is (how many hours they've budgeted for a proofreader to work on it), and when it's due. If I say yes, and I almost always do, she'll ship it UPS and it'll arrive the next morning. I eagerly rip open the package to examine the manuscript. I can usually tell right away about how long it'll take (it usually doesn't take me anywhere near as long as the ceiling--they give generous amounts of time) and what kind of shape it's in. If I'm the first proofer to see it, there'll be a lot more errors than if I'm the last. But since the proofer sees the project AFTER the copyeditor, my job is fairly easy. So at the first opportunity--during the kids' quiet time or after they go to bed--I get comfy on the couch and get to work. Essentially I get paid to read! I look for errors in spelling, usage (stuff like clamor vs. clamber--does anyone know the difference?), punctuation, typesetting, etc. It's extremely satisying--especially when the check comes in the mail! And Barbour is a Christian publishing company, so the books are uplifting. Occasionally I'll get a Heartsong book, a frothy romance with little substance. Those are my least favorite, but sometimes there will be a really good devotional or somewhat meaty novel. My latest project was called The Quilter's Daughter by Wanda E. Brunstetter. I highly recommend it--for the female readers among us anyway! It should be out in print sometime this fall.

Evan just came downstairs and informed me the vacation is over. As I've been writing this blog all the kids have been upstairs watching him hang a light. Now they're all thundering down the stairs getting ready to watch Daddy hang a light here in the dining room. That means interruptions galore. Guess I better sign off. :-) Have a lovely Labor Day!