*yaaaawn*
I'm taking a break from work in order to post. I have been editing reviews of homeschool products for the past three hours or so. My job is to turn sentences like this into clear, grammatical English:

"This up-beat CD will provide enjoyable practice learning useful vocabulary words and expressions designed to greatly increase comprehension and improve pronunciation of the language. While listening both the French and English will be repeated. The CD reviewed contains 500 words and expressions plus related conversation. The music is upbeat and helps to involve both the right and left brain for optimal learning."

Note the two uses of "upbeat," one hyphenated, one not. Note the passive sentence. Note the way the first sentence causes you to stop halfway and go back in order to be sure you have all the words in the correct mental order. Note...

Some homeschool moms should not be writing reviews. That paragraph was actually pretty good compared to some of the phraseology I have to deal with. Hehe, but I love my job. I get to delve into our database of thousands of homeschool companies, find out who has bought whom, and scan their websites for up-to-date pricing. It's a unique experience.

I am very physically sore, however, which means that I become stiff when I sit still for any period of time. Like, at a computer, editing homeschool reviews. My upper chest, shoulders, and triceps are screaming from a weights workout yesterday. My hip flexors aren't too happy from Tae Kwon Do class last night, and my calves feel tight from running this morning. It is a lovely pain that sets my mind more at rest; I am doing something to remove my extra 10#. :) Starting yesterday, Magda (sister, age 20) and I dove into more regimented workout program.

That's why the yawn at the beginning of this post, too. We're switching all at once from sleeping until 9am in our regular summer fashion to getting up at 7am to exercise. We've planned three weights and three cardio workouts per week, on alternate days. In addition, I have TKD class for an hour in the PM on Monday and Wednesday. Oughtta be good for us.

Yes, I'm settling into summer. I am more a morning person than anything else. Having my mornings back means that I have finished exercise, breakfast, and quiet time before work begins at 10am. It removes pressure. Besides, I love the cooler, fresher air of mornings in the summertime.

TKD helps too. It is such a staple of my home life. Some of my best times were spent kicking people around the mat. I spent hours perfecting my poomse (choreographed forms; pronounced "POOM-say"), sending more power into my roundhouses, and drilling, drilling, drilling. The repetition and constant honing just suits my mind, because it harmonizes aggression with a sense of beauty. The endorphins don't hurt anything either. :)

I am very happy today. Mentally and spiritually, I am at peace. I almost hesitate to post this, because no doubt it is quite obvious to many of my friends, but I think having my quiet time early in the day makes a tremendous difference. At the end of the day, of course, it sends me restfully to sleep. But in the morning, it sets me off on the right foot. I think both morning and night would be ideal; that's probably why Psalm 1 says "and on His law doth he (the wise man) meditate day and night."

What have I been praying? Well, for my friends, natch. And I have been asking for excellence in writing. As long as I am capable in most things, I am happy. In writing, however, I want excellence more than I want anything. It's a need, actually. I need to do this, to write excellent books, because so few people are doing so. I think writing may be one of my special callings.  ¶ 10:51 AM