Dollar Tree Therapy

I bet you think I'm going to write about shopping.

That only proves
you don't know me very well.  
Um....no.

I'm not a happy shopper.

That is, unless I'm finding some great stuff 

in a thrift store.

Which goes back to Dollar Tree. 

In this store, everything is only one dollar.

But...therapy?

Yes.

Miracles in the Journey

Uphold my steps in Your paths, 
that my footsteps 
may not slip.

psalms 17:5 nkjv

Teach Me to Number My Days...

Teach me to number my days...

because they are flying faster than the 

speed of sound...

Getting Something Done

Yesterday, I spent most of the day

 on the computer.  

That is very rare.

 Usually during the school year, 

the kids are on the computer all day

 doing various assignments.  

Waking Up

 

It has been a long winter. 

 Your kindness and encouragement 

have helped me through it.  

My journey to find the source and conquer chronic, severe headaches led to answers,

 but no real solutions.  

In the meantime, 

I've had a very interesting journey through the strange and unsettling side effects of some powerful prescription meds.

Remember Pearl

A friend had a book proposal returned

 with the explanation that, 

"People today, would not be able to relate to her stories of growing up in the 1940's". 

This did not make any sense to me. 

If that is true, then what does that say about those who have followed what has been dubbed 

"The Greatest Generation"? 

When I mentioned that today was 

"Pearl Harbor Day",

my daughter said, 

"Oh." 

I realized then, that I needed to make sure the youngest of my children understands

 what that means.

Winding Down, Gearing Up, or Just Plowing Straight Ahead

May is nearing an end. 

Co-op is over...

field trips and gym days, nearly so....

graduations are happening......

book sales have started. 

My school room is spilling into the dining room as I clean up and clear out and try to figure out what to keep and what to store.  Intead of feeling the excitement of nearing the end of a school year, we will have to keep going a bit longer with a shorter break this year. To me, it feels like October...and I'm still unsure of what I'm doing.

He Who Has Ears, Let Him Hear

I received an email from my third-born, 

recently married college daughter. 

She sent photos of a project that she and some classmates did in Biology II about the ear. They made a clay sculpture and had drawings and a paper to accompany it. 

As a teacher, I was impressed. 

As a mom, I was encouraged.

She was my first to be "totally homeschooled". 

A Needed Word

The weekly physical therapy appointment gives an hour to catch up on grading papers.

 Not much was done last week because I was not here to oversee it.

 Not much was understood because I was not here to explain it. 

Instead, my time was diverted by a child whose needs seem to be growing every day.

The Power of Words

For the past month, I have been thinking about the power of words. Encouraging words, discouraging words.....we all know their power. 

But what I have discovered is the odd way in which it sometimes does not matter where the words originate.....and in others.....

well, it makes all the difference.

A Sense of Place

This is the house we lived in for two years...

It was a humble farm house, but it was

 my dream house.  

It was one of those funny old farmhouses that was added onto again and again as it was needed. 

What Does Age Have to Do With It?

     The last few weeks have been very hectic in my household. 

I mentioned earlier that my children were participating in co-ops this year and that this was really something we had not been able to do much of over the years.  

All of this running around is beginning to tell on me. 

 I'm feeling it and I'm not liking it.

      Last night we had two committments back-to-back. They were both quite fun, but I was definitely feeling the fatigue of it all. 

Then a conversation about the fact that I was wearing my contacts instead of my glasses 

(no-line bifocals.....did I really just admit that?) 

was the cause of not being able to see what I was doing, 

led to one of the mom's mentioning that she did not want to get bifocals yet, 

which led to another mom saying something that caused me to say.....

"You're not even thirty yet are you?" 

"Not 'til next year"....and then the first mom mentioned that she would be forty soon..... Sigh.  

I'm the old mom. I'm forty-six. One of them said, "Oh, but you have so much wisdom!" 

     This morning the thought came to me that when I had my first child, 

this "not 30" mom was 4 years old and that

 when I began homeschooling, 

she would have been about eleven! 

Yikes! 

Why does my mind insist on conjuring up these facts for me?  

 Forty-six doesn't really sound too old, but I can remember when I was the youngest mom in nearly every social situation.

 I started my family in my early twenties and I kept it up.....so, now my "littles" are the same age as these mom's "olders". 

It's disconcerting to me, especially since I feel older than I suspect that I should.

     The fact is, eighteen years is a long time to do anything (especially homeschooling) and I am finding that sometimes it is just a matter of will to get this gal to keep going. 

At the same time, my "babies" are not babies at all, they are "tweens" and teens......geesh! 

Am I that old? It's weird because I'm doing things with other moms whose "oldest" kids are the same ages as my "babies".

     I understand that I have emotions that want to surface when I see these young moms with their "littles"......

What do I call my "littles" since they are no longer little?

I realize that I'm in a new "stage of life" (I really don't like that phrase at all) and that it won't be too long until I get to the "grandma stage" and all the wonders of grandchildren.  

But for now, I'm still one of the homeschool moms driving her kids to homeschool group activities and wanting nothing more than a long uninterrupted sleep.....for say...... a week for starters.  

For example, this last week alone we have left early in the morning and not returned until late at night several days in a row which has led to another time-tested reality that I'm really beginning to feel the full force of its existence.

      I have stated and will re-emphasize that I am a Homebody.....

I like to be home. 

It has been a long and established fact that when a person is not at home all day, little faeries enter the house and wreak havoc everywhere.  

They unmake beds, throw dust all around, pile up trash and throw clean clothes and dirty clothes in baskets together and dirty up the sinks.  

You would think that the old stories about elves finishing the shoemaker's work were true ones, but I'm sorry to say they are not. 

There are only wicked faeries who come in and mess everything up especially when you have to be gone for several days in a row. 

Of course, they also eat all the good things in the pantry and fridge knowing that you will be too exhausted to shop for groceries and will settle for toast or whatever odd thing you can concoct.

     I did find the energy to make a list of all the cleaning duties that need to be accomplished to get things back in order. 

But, I'm afraid that is as far as I've gotten. 

 I know all about the wonderful websites that will organize your life in 15 minutes a day, but I am not wired that way. 

I have to go all out and get it all done or it will nag at me. 

I'm not talking about entering the dark recesses of the closets in this house, 

oh no, 

I'd just like the clutter to be out of sight and I don't have the stamina to look at it much longer.

     It is another known fact that clutter is simply "visual  noise".  I don't tolerate noise well these days and everything in my line of vision is 

simply screaming.

 It must be stopped! I suspect that much of the fatigue I'm feeling is the actual drain of seeing so much to do and trying to muster the energy to attack it. 

Talking about what needs done is not always helpful, but writing about it in a public forum just might do the trick. 

 I seem to work better under pressure.  

If you'd like to come over for coffee,

 I am sure that I'd find the energy to clean it up in a heartbeat.......

but I'd still be exhausted and pay for it with aches and pains later.

     I know that I have to come to terms with this "stage" of life.....

I'm in my forties......

I haven't been the young mom in the group for a while.......

I know that I may have more wisdom now than when I was younger, but I can't always remember exactly what it is and I definitely don't want gray hair to prove it.  

I know that like every other stage of life, there are survival techniques that must be implemented.... and for now, I have to work out a better arrangement for staying on top of things if we are to be running hither and yon all the time. 

I know that you have to grow your own "good faeries" who will help you keep things in order and training them young is of vital importance. When my good faeries grow up and leave I will be in big trouble!

 Along with age comes health issues. We can't ignore them. We can't wish them away. We have to learn to work with them and try not to be bitter about what they take from us, like our feeling of youth. But such are common to Man. 

So we have to push on.

     Thankfully, the activities for this semester are winding down. I am glad. Because we all know what is lurking coming up around the corner.....Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

     I think  it is time for Home Ec.....where are those dusting rags??

Hey Mom, I'm Going to the Moon Today

     Today, my eleven year old, 

the astronomer, 

is going to the moon.  

Actually, he is going with about 20 of his fellow homeschoolers in our Co-op to the 

Challenger Center. 

The Challenger Centers were developed after the tragedy of the Challenger Space Shuttle which carried, along with the astronauts, the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe. 

It has a flight simulator and hosts many school kids to learn about science and experience space missions first-hand.      http://www.challenger.org/

 They have been working very hard for the past six weeks or so to get ready for this trip. 

Every Thursday evening, they have been building rockets, rocket-propelled cars, doing experiments and even building a habitat out of plastic sheeting and a box fan. 

They have been divided into groups, both large and small, and the night they made the "house" out of plastic, they worked together as one large group and were not allowed to speak for an entire hour. 

That's right, no talking for a whole sixty minutes. They did it.....well, the house had a few leaks and technically, they would have died for lack of oxygen, but now they know what to do. 

I believe the objective for this mission is to build a permanent station on the moon for habitation.

Maybe we can take a family vacation there some day??

I have, at different times in my homeschooling career, 

wanted to be part of a homeschool co-op. 

For one reason or another, it has not worked out. 

There were either time conflicts, or age conflicts, or a waiting list and we never seemed to get in. 

Now, in our 18th year of homeschooling and after moving 800 miles "back home", 

my youngest three kids have the opportunity to participate in a co-op. 

Everything has it's time, as the Bible says.....so this year, they are learning to play hand bells and band instruments.....

and one is going to the moon!

I will let you know how it turns out and

 if you will be able to make vacation plans 

to the moon in the future.