Bethjoy.com

That typically means either A. I am very very very sick. B. I am on a trip where I am very busy and away from power outlets. C. My computer is broken. Or D. I am dead. This time it was none of the four previous options. I am glad that D. has never yet occurred. You see, I thought I would give my eyes a break and try to regain my powers of mental thought so I quit acting like Andrew did when he was recovering from being knocked out to have his teeth removed. It was obvious at first which one of us was less mentally alert(Andrew) but as time went by the distinction became less obvious. So for that and other reasons I decided to be a good little girl and actually do something other than play games and watch movies. On Saturday I read \”Whatever happened to Penny Candy\” which is a book about inflation and other such monetary things. I also gathered together some other books of mental stimulation that were about educational subjects. Sunday was my first day of NO computer. NO computer whatsoever all day that day… And I wasn\’t sleepy for my Sunday afternoon nap. So I did what any bored individual will do when removed from computer usage, I read. And I read educational books. I read and tried to figure out lateral thinking puzzles, I read about sewing, I started reading quite a few books and gathered together some educational reading. And, most impressive of all, I solved a VERY HARD!!! Sudoku puzzle. I knew of three 1\’s and three 3\’s but only of two of the other numbers and yet I solved the puzzle!!! Talk about brain work…

Today I got to go to the library and I checked out numerous books of the educational brain using types. I got two historical fiction novels and books on cross stitching, ribbon work, quilting, beading, and other various things. And today I finished reading the Lateral Thinking Puzzles book, and also a book I checked out from the library on Babysitting.

The book on Babysitting was checked out because on just about every weekday morning my little niece Emma Grace comes over before breakfast and doesn\’t leave until around lunchtime. And it is my very reluctant duty to watch her during part of that time. It wasn\’t until recently when we learned that she liked to watch the Muppet show that I actually began to enjoy her company. But now, I really like her when she sits still in my lap with her bottle and stares at the screen in front of her. I feel so close, so bonded, with her that I\’ve almost felt sad sometimes when her dad comes to pick her up. Almost.

Playing with her isn\’t as fun as watching kids DVD\’s with her. She has a tendency to enjoy games of crawl away and lately walk away and enjoys long promenades about the house. It\’s not quite the sort of play time I enjoy as my attention span with her toys is greater than hers and I also am very concerned about what trouble she is going to get into. Usually Mom is very nearby but today I was left in the house alone with her. Fortunately nothing much happened. She did not choke. She threw up only a little and is was more like, after being displeased with the flavor of what had come from her bottle, the contents of her mouth dribbling out and fortunately none of it landed on me nor did her diaper need changing that I knew of. She didn\’t want to watch Richard Scarry\’s ABC video so I took it out but after a bit of moving about and her trying to open drawers and play with things in the kitchen I decided to see if I could get her to watch something. As she was tired of the kids DVD\’s with songs and I couldn\’t leave her down stair\’s alone while I grabbed a DVD from my collection upstairs I took out one of the DVD\’s already out on the table. Andrew had been watching Star Wars: The Phantom Menace so I put that in.

It probably is a good thing that she wasn\’t interested in watching it. On thinking about it it might be too scary a movie for a little girl. She did occasionally glance at the screen is passing while she was walking about the house, typically when an alien was talking, but it never held her attention for more than a few seconds. It wasn\’t holding my attention either so I soon took it out. I then decided that it was time for the best of the best if I wanted her to be still and watch so I brought out the Muppet Show. She quieted down wonderfully and let me hold her as \”It\’s time to raise the curtain. It\’s time to light the lights. It\’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight!\” and despite not having a bottle we were quite comfortably settled. The Muppet Show is certainly high on my list of attention getting entertainment for toddlers. And I like it too:)

So there you have it. I am currently trying to improve myself and learn new things and not turn my brain into absolute mush. I wasn\’t going to use my computer at all today but I really wanted to write a post documenting my progress and as I was pleased with said progress I have allowed myself access to my computer even though this means that after I finish writing this post I\’ll probably still be using it for a little while. But anyway, I went almost two days without it! And as I enjoyed reading the books I\’ve been reading (Well, maybe not the mouth to mouth and heimlich maneuvers in the baby-sitting book) and I want to actually do some of the crafts in the craft books I checked out I hope to be able to use my computer in moderation, and primarily for writing/learning purposes, while spending the majority of my waking hours in purposeful, useful, mentally stimulating, or aerobic activities.

And I can tell from the length of this post that I have missed my computer. I want to just use it, use it, use it, and it feels sooooo nice to have it where it belongs. I\’ve missed it… Anyway, there now is a nice long post on her now and as writing a post seems to be one of the computer using loopholes my brain created for me I may be writing a few more posts than usual on here. But don\’t count on it. I\’m notorious for not holding true to purposes but I\’m trying to work on that.