My office is coming right along and I am totally loving the results!  I may just stay in here all the time… 

The hard work is done – painting, carpet stretching (yes), setting up furniture, and cleaning, and now remains the fun task of shopping and decorating.  I wanted a print above my work station that would allow my mind something to think on, but not something to make me wander so far away in thought that I don’t do a good job.  I think this print Windows of Burano by Catherine Archuleta is perfect.

The print’s windowbox theme ties in perfectly with the roses on the curtains and the plants in and just outside of my large office window. 

Above the plant stand is an old print that I’ve had put up for several years now.  I bought a mat today which I cut down to fit this old frame with some peeling paint.  This pretty and prim gardener is perfect above the plant stand.

While in Tuesday Morning today, I spotted this little cast robin (so heavy!) for just 4.99.  What a steal!  She’s guarding the mail tray.

I also picked up a new blue planter at Tuesday Morning.  It picks up the blue in the Windows print, the blue in the curtains, and the blue in this little gem by Marjolein Bastin…

It says:

A nest filled with eggs — a gentle reminder that nothing is more beautiful than a new beginning.

So appropriate, don’t you think?

I did make a new cover for the pillow in the chair.

The stripes look a bit wavy in the picture, but I promise they are just straight and cute little pinkish-red stripes. 

The office has a vintage feel and the theme has certainly taken a turn towards roses and birds.  I am still not completely done.  I am haunting the thrift stores for the perfect cheap rug and I still have an antique wooden box to spray paint and set up to hold some of my reference books.  I’ll also be moving around and adding some computer equipement.  Sigh. 

I did remember to slow down this evening and spend some time with Princess of the Universe.  I bought her some new crayons (what’s more better than new crayons???) and five new coloring books.  So we colored and drank hot chocolate, and tomorrow I have a doll house treasure to share.

My daughter’s hair is twisted up in the cutest little top-knot.  Mine won’t all go, so part of it is twisted up and part of it is hanging down.  Hubby smiled and said I looked like the queen of some ancient tribe.  Thanks.

Lynn

I woke up this morning realizing that life has changed — again. Yesterday was my last day at Whole Foods. I have the next couple of weeks to do some old-fashioned spring cleaning and to finish up the office and then I will start my new job at home. 

It’s a wonderful feeling and it feels like the timing is right.  I will miss my coworkers at WF, especially the beautiful friend who bestowed upon me this delectable cake! 

 
I understand now why someone would eat three pieces of this cake. 

She and I were the “dream team” and I was told again last night how much we were appreciated there together as “the dream team.”  (It’s a long story.) 

I wanted to share something we are doing for school right now.  Anyone who reads my blog or knows me at all knows that I am a very eclectic homeschooler, and I do see benefits of all the various homeschooling philosophies:  unschooling, classical, unit study, boxed curriculum, Charlotte Mason…

We have never chosen to fully adhere to a classical education, but I love the depth of history that’s taught with a classical education.  The last time I was at The Homeschool Gathering Place, I purchased this:

Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times Audiobook CD: From the Earliest Nomads to the Late Roman Empire, Revised Edition (7 CDs)

It flows.  Jim Weiss has a voice like silk — though it’s a deep voice, it’s smooth, clear and engaging. I love the way he reads. We’ve been listening to this as a family while we drive. I can tell you that it’s engaging enough that my youngest remembers it’s in the van and says “put in The Story of the World.”  That’s saying something.  And it’s not just Jim Weiss’s voice.   It’s Susan Wise Bauer’s writing — how she has taken history and created characters that my children can relate to, even though they lived 5000 years ago.

We plan to listen to all the volumes in this fashion, at least once, if not several times. I will be providing cut-outs for our timeline notebook to paste in as we hear the story of historical events.

On a gardening note, I pulled the first radish from my little container garden on the front porch.

It was very good.  Yes ma’am.

Lynn