What I'm Up To

School is about to start which means that Chris (Wild Man) is about to go off to college (although I expect he'll be home a lot of weekends) and Patrick (PWM) will be back to teaching. And, I'll be home with the cats during the day. What's someone with chronic migraine to do?

What will I do with myself? I thought about taking a seminary class on Genesis or New Testament Survey. The problem is that my headaches tend to show up at inconvenient times - like when papers are due or when online discussion groups are scheduled. I might try it another time, but I've got a few other things to keep me busy until then.

It turns out that I have a bunch of books that I've purchased or that have been given to me that I haven't read (or started and haven't finished) yet. This fall seems like the perfect opportunity.

• The Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight (almost done)
• Hearing God by Dallas Willard
• A Fine-Tuned Universe by Alister McGrath
• C.S. Lewis: A Life by Alister McGrath
• Confessions by St. Augustine (Lydia and I are reading this together and getting together for discussions every month or so.)
• The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight
• Serious Dangerous Religion by Iain Provan
• Darwinism and the Divine by Alister McGrath
• Ancient-Future Time by Robert E. Webber
• black and white bible: black and blue wife by Ruth Tucker
• The Heaven Promise by Scot McKnight
• The Epistles of St. John by F.F. Bruce

Now that I look at the list, it seems a little daunting. It might take more than the fall, especially since I plan to continue to reading some fiction from the library on the side. As always, friend me on Goodreads (Catherine Martin) to see what I'm reading and what I've thought of my recent reads.

Of course, I'm going to knit. I've got a few projects planned for the next year or two.

• Christmas presents - No, I won't tell you what they are. Some of the recipients read this blog.
• A Fair Isle sweater from a kit from Knit Picks. I actually made this sweater several years ago in XL. Unfortunately, when I was washing and blocking it, I thought I could get away with spinning it in the dryer for a couple of minutes to get a bit of the water out of it. No. It felted. I ordered a couple more balls of yarn and I'm working on another sweater. I've got the sleeves almost done. I'm much more confident on this sweater now that I know how to knit and cut steeks.
• I love modular knitting. I found a cool pattern in a book that I have and I actually have enough yarn to make it!! It's a short sleeved sweater, so I'll probably try to make it for spring.
• I'm working on a double-knit scarf. I wanted to enter it in the County Fair this year, but I've only got six inches done so far and the Fair is next week. I'm on row 70 out of 500. Yeah. I'll enter it in the Fair next year. But, I'll work on it this year.
• For when my head aches and I don't want to think, I'm making a blanket that's mostly garter stitch.
• When I get another itch to organize something I'll organize all my works-in-progress (WIPs).

Other things I want to do between headaches

• Coloring! I've got my coloring books and pencils that are great for a rainy day.
• Pokemon Go! I am having a great time with this game. I've changed my walking routine so that I can stop by a couple of PokeStops for PokeBalls a couple of times.
• Internet Monk (www.internetmonk.com) is doing a study on the book of James that I'm following along with.
• Clean out the basement. We have stuff that needs to be given away and stuff to be thrown away.
• Clean the upstairs closet. This will take all of 30 minutes once I set my mind to it. I hope.
• Re-organize my room. When we made Lydia's room into a room for our exchange student, we emptied her desk's contents into a box and left the box in our room. I need to deal with that box along with other stuff in our room.

Right now, though, the Olympics are on, so I am going to watch the Olympics and knit.

What are your plans for the Fall? Anything interesting?

CCM

Spiritual Growth

Let's start off with the fact that I'm not an expert in spiritual growth, OK. I'm trying to walk with Jesus the best that I can, but I'm pretty sure that there are times that he's dragging me along and shaking his head. But, a couple of things about spiritual growth came up that I want to explore. So, here we go.

Al Mohler is quoted as saying, "Our spiritual maturity will never exceed our knowledge of the Bible" by Tim Challies (which I saw on Twitter). On the face of it, this seems like a reasonable statement. After all, the Bible is how we know about Jesus for the most part, so it seems like it's needed for spiritual growth.

On closer inspection, though, the argument breaks down. From a logical and historical point of view, there are problems. It follows from this statement that seminary professors and other well-educated people would necessarily be spiritually wiser than those less able to avail themselves of such knowledge. Yet, I dare say that we all know that this is just not the case.

It also doesn't work biblically. According to scripture, the way to grow spiritually is through trials. James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (See also Romans 5. And Job. And Lamentations.) Our walk with Jesus becomes closer and deeper with the more life that we live, particularly the hardships of life.

This brings me to the other quote I came across this week. "It is spiritually formative to be dissatisfied and unable to resolve it." Dallas Willard. Stop and read that again. He doesn't say that we learn something through resolving it. Rather, his point is that the very state of being stuck and not being able to fix it is the place where God wants us to be. That is the point where Jesus meets us. 

Yes, the Bible is the foundation of our faith. Yes, we study and learn as much as we can about Jesus. But, our spiritual maturity comes not from books and computers; it comes from experience and time with Jesus. When we are dissatisfied and can't do anything about it, it's time to get real with Jesus.

This is why that statement by Mohler was so elitist. It assumes that every Christian has unlimited access to scripture. Many believers have limited access to Bibles and even less to commentaries, etc. Yet, they are not lacking in faith. They are living their faith and walking with Jesus with the scripture they know. I have a feeling that God's OK with that.



CCM

So It Was Good That I Planned

I woke up yesterday morning with a rip-roaring migraine. I sat down at the table with my Imitrex and PWM read to me a Facebook message that a dear friend of mine had tried to commit suicide the night before (Sunday night). After a nice, long cry, I took my Imitrex. Which didn’t seem to help much.

The good thing about the day was that I had planned out Wild Man’s schoolwork, so he could just do what he needed without much input from me. It was also good that I had planned out meals and made a grocery list, so PWM went grocery shopping. I wasn’t up to making the meatloaf like I planned, so Rosie Girl ended up making some delicious Chicken-Asparagus Soup. Yum!! But, I now have the ingredients for the rest of the week.

I was feeling better today, so I took the laundry to the laundromat and got it all started, but then my headache came back just as bad as yesterday. PWM, Wild Man, and Rosie Girl all worked to get the clothes done while keeping the shop open, so I could come home and take my Imitrex and sleep the rest of the day. ACK!

As far as I know, Wild Man kept up with his schoolwork today since he had his list. And the three of them worked together to get the kitchen cleaned.

My friend is in the hospital and doing better. I got to chat with her on the computer a little bit tonight and am feeling more optimistic about her situation.

And I have no fixed engagements for tomorrow. I’m just praying that I get through with minimal headache. It’s seriously time for the Botox to kick in.

How have things been in your part of the world?

Looking At The Week Ahead–April 7, 2013

I’m not very good these days at planning for the next week. I haven’t quite gotten the hang of planning flexibly so that I’m not completely thrown off course by the inevitable migraine or two. Tonight, though, I’m having to plan at least a bit because I have a Botox appointment bright and early in the morning.

So, tomorrow morning is my Botox appointment. Since I haven’t been proactive enough to get a school schedule ready for Wild Man, I guess I’ll do that when I get home from the neurologist. The weather isn’t supposed to be too bad, so PWM and Rosie Girl will probably go car shopping (more on that in another post) after I get home in the van.

PWM got a bunch of strong guys to help move the rest of our big stuff out of the old house. Yay, we have a sofa!! Boo, the school room is full of stuff again!! I’ll spend some time this week putting things away and probably get the pictures up on the wall.

I’m have Wild Man take his first practice ACT tests this week! I’ve been very glad that the state doesn’t require that we test our kids. Standardized tests are a very poor indicator of anything except subsequent school performance (i.e. more tests). Rosie Girl is naturally a good test taker. I’m not sure about Wild Man. I’m concerned he may need more practice because of his dyslexia. He can read and understand things and do math problems, but I’ve seen him switch digits in his head before he writes them down. I wonder if he will have trouble getting the correct answer from his head onto the bubble sheet. Well, we’ll start to find out this week.

I should finish the pair of socks I’m working on within a day or two. Then, Rosie Girl and I need to choose a pattern for the messenger bag I’ve promised to make for her to take to college.

Having all the big stuff moved over here means that the piano is here!! I cleaned a ton of dust and pollen off the keys. Not only has it been in the empty house for several weeks, but Rosie Girl generally practices on her keyboard. Now I need to get it tuned. Not only does it sound out of tune, but I know that it doesn’t like to be moved.

But, first, time to watch “Chopped” and then get a good night’s rest.

Weekend Update

I’m kind of starting to feel like this house is home. Kind of. Having boxes everywhere is making me a little crazy, but PWM and the kids are cleaning up right now.

While the East Coast has been getting pummeled by Winter Storm Nemo, we had a much less intense, but icky, nonetheless, storm. Our area had rain and freezing rain. I had a migraine. Very symmetric.

While I was worrying yesterday that my children were going to be warped because I sit around with headaches instead of doing “real” work, PWM was at the shop working, Rosie Girl was working at the cheese shop, and Wild Man was busy clearing ice and snow off the sidewalks at the next door apartments (his new job). Maybe they’ll be OK.

And, in the meantime, I finished Rosie Girl’s socks (pictures soon) and started some slippers for my mother-in-law and a wrap for myself. I’m back up to having entirely too many knitting projects.

I missed church this morning because of the headache and because I’ve also developed some lovely low back pain. I’ve spent my day knitting while intermittently putting a heating pad on my low back. Beyond fun.

We got the living room completely clear of boxes. Whenever we get the piano and sofa in here, we will have one room completely done! Tomorrow, after I plan schoolwork, PWM and I will be organizing the kitchen. Yippee!! Slowly, but surely, we are making this place “home”.

How was your weekend? Anything exciting?

Works For Me Wednesday – 3/30/2011

It’s springtime, and I’m itchy to get our house decluttered and simplified.  Not only that, we are actively looking for a building downtown where we can open a yarn shop on the main floor and live in another portion of the building.  That means we’ll be in a much smaller space.  To get started, yesterday I cleaned off some bookshelves and made piles of books to be given away.  I think the give-away piles include about 40% of our books.  We’re going to take them to our local library, but there are lots of other places you can give books.

1. Library – check and see if your library is interested in your books.  Our library puts what they can into circulation and then sells the rest at their annual book sale.

2. Used bookstores – We gave our last bunch of books to the local used bookstore.  They price the books at 50% of the retail price.  They give us credit for all the books that we bring in and then we can use our credits for up to 50% of the cost of our next purchase.

3. Jail – A friend suggested this on Facebook.  They are also happy to take some of the easier-to-read books because the inmates have varying levels of literacy.

4. Goodwill or local thrift store – I’ve bought some of my favorite books at Goodwill.

5. Homeschool group or convention – Many homeschool groups have used book sales near the end of the school year where we can sell our old books and get used books for next year.  Our state’s homeschool convention also has a used book sale where people can buy and sell books.

Any other ideas?  Where do you take your old books when you are Spring Cleaning?

Check out Works For Me Wednesday for more great ideas!!

Christmas Simplicity

I talk a good line when it comes to simple living, but I have a much harder time actually “walking the walk”.  I want our family life to be calm and relaxing, yet find myself encouraging the kids to be involved in lots of activities.  During the Christmas season, I find myself trying to “do” all the Christmas traditions – baking, decorating, going to parties, etc. – even though it goes completely against my dream of a more “simple” holiday.

This year, though, I think we finally had a simple Christmas.  Yes, it was largely brought about by a very long-lasting headache, but the end result was good.  I wasn’t involved in any Christmas cookie exchanges, so I only baked a couple of times during the holidays, and then just for our family.  I had started my Christmas knitting very early, so the packages were all ready to send a full week before Christmas.  This left me with more relaxing projects right around Christmas because it wasn’t critical that they were done by a certain time, thus lowering my stress level.  We certainly didn’t spend any more on Christmas this year than we usually do, and I suspect that we may have spent less.  PWM, Rosie Girl, and Wild Man did all the wrapping of gifts that were being mailed.  I only wrapped one present for the four of us here at home.  Otherwise, we used gift bags or Christmas boxes.  (Note: We don’t put our Christmas gifts out until after the kids go to bed.  I’m not sure they are old enough yet to have the temptation of an untaped box or gift bag for several weeks set before them!)

Overall, we had a great Christmas.  On Christmas Eve, Rosie Girl and PWM played with the worship team at church and Wild Man just generally helped out.  I went to the first Christmas Eve service and then had some extra time to finish straightening the house before everyone got home.  Christmas morning started at around 7:30 (I love that my kids are getting older).  We spent all Christmas Day just hanging out and playing with our Christmas gifts.  Wild Man took most of the day to put together his Lego Hogwarts.  Rosie Girl watched some movies while I read my books and PWM used his new carving tool.  We planned to go to the assisted living facility where our former neighbor now lives (as of a couple of weeks ago), but when I called to inquire, they said that he was out for the day.  Yay for him!

Tonight, we had our Christmas dinner.  I made a roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing (savory bread pudding), and shredded and buttered carrots.  PWM made sure that the table got cleaned off and the food put away and I finished cleaning the kitchen.

I think we succeeded!  We met all our holiday commitments, but managed to stay relaxed and not overly busy.  Now, to do this next year without having a headache to force it on us!

Being Doctor Mom

I enjoyed working as a doctor.  And I think I was pretty good – at least a lot of people said they missed me when I was gone.  When I was working, I tried very hard not to diagnose and treat my own kids.  This actually wasn’t too hard when they were little because they were hardly ever sick. 

But, there was the time that Rosie Girl had Salmonella that didn’t get diagnosed until it had been going on for 5 days and I took her to the ER on a Sunday night because she was dehydrated!  Wild Man, being so wild, had the bottom of his chin glued together once by the ER doctor and once by me (on a Friday afternoon).  He has been less sick, but more injury prone.  When he broke his collarbone, I had him see the Nurse-Practitioner with whom I shared an office and hallway (while I tried to finish seeing my last few patients and not hyperventilate!).

Things are more complicated now that I’m not part of a medical practice and have let my licensure lapse.  My biggest frustration is trying to sort out when to take them in to the clinic and when to just treat at home.  About 2 years ago, Rosie Girl had a sore throat that ended up becoming severe exudative tonsillitis by the time I finally took her to the clinic.  I’m so sure that most things are caused by viruses and so determined not to contribute to antibiotic resistance that I treat them at home as much as possible.  But, I’m still paying for that bit of “maternal malpractice” in not-so-funny jokes and remarks from Rosie Girl!

And we had to deal with the same issue again this week.  Wild Man has been sick until Tuesday.  It looked like just a virus until yesterday (Thanksgiving!) when it was clear he had tonsillitis and bacterial conjunctivitis.  Ugh!  Well, it was easy enough to diagnose without any special equipment and we had some leftover antibiotics (yeah, I know, you should throw away unused antibiotics) so I started him on Zithromax.  Wild Man is improved today, but still thinks I should have taken him to the doctor today and that I’m once again guilty of maternal malpractice!

What’s the lesson here?  I have no idea.  There is a balance between running to clinic for every sniffle (I’ve seen these families) and not taking them to see the doctor until they are very ill (and I’ve seen these families, too).  And I think we all end up on both sides of the line at various times.  I guess I’ll use the information and skills I have (which are more than moms who aren’t doctors) and take them to the clinic when they need something I don’t have (otoscope, XRay machine, prescribing ability!).

Nonetheless, we had a lovely Thanksgiving day – more about that later!  So, how do you handle sick kids?  Is one parent or the other “responsible” for dealing with the illness?  Are you able to call your doctor’s office for advice?

 

7 Quick Takes Friday

 

Ah, Friday!!  Now that we’re “doing school” again, we all look forward to Friday!

1. I have a cold.  As all of my Facebook friends are aware – and probably tired of hearing about!  I was the last in the family to get it, but it has hit hard.  Today is day 5, so I hope I’m on the down side of it.

2. My mother-in-law and her friend drove from the deep, deep South up here and arrived yesterday.  They actually drove into Michigan and then took the ferry across Lake Michigan, then visited Door County before getting here.  Wild Man is thrilled to have Grandma around again!

3. Fall has fallen around here!!  The leaves are changing, it’s in the 50s, and it’s windy.  A definite fall day.

4. Night before last, I had the front door open with the screen door window open.  The local neighborhood outdoor cat came by and started meowing at our cats.  And our cats when berserk.   Again.  This time, though, we closed the door and got Silver and Sassy separated.  Wild Man and I each sat with a cat and fed them canned food.  We were able to reintroduce them yesterday afternoon and all has been calm since then.  We will not be leaving the front door open anymore.

5. Wild Man needed a clean shirt for school the other day.  Instead of putting in a full load of laundry (and let me assure you, he had plenty of dirty clothes), he decided to wash 4 items.  4 items of clothing in one load.  Yikes.

6. PWM is making Zuppa Toscana for dinner tonight.  Yummy.

7. I’ve been knitting quite a bit this week, mostly because I’ve been feeling so icky.  One of these days, Wild Man and I will actually read his science book.  Maybe.

Check out what others are saying at Conversion Diary!

Plans and Lists – 9/20/2010

The persistent migraine has kept me pretty unproductive today.  I did have Wild Man watch some DVR shows and do a map activity.

My plan for tomorrow – to not have a migraine.

My list for tomorrow if I don’t have a migraine:

1. Cook dinner
2. Lots  of school with Wild Man
3. Learn Mobius cast-on.

Yeah.  We’ll see how it goes.

Vocation

I was reminded last night about the importance of our vocation as part of our spiritual development after reading this from Internet Monk.

So often Christians separate vocation (work)  from their spiritual lives.   We think that the only people who are supposed to have those connected are the clergy.  But that’s not the case.

The Bible is very clear that work is to be a normal part of life.  We were made to be useful (but not to let our work become our idol).  Even before the Fall of Adam and Eve, God gave them work to do.  When they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, part of the curse was that our work was to become much more difficult.  The book of Proverbs is chock full of exhortations for us to not be lazy and to do the work that is before us.  Paul says, in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lords, not for men, since you know that your will receive an inheritance  from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” 

Later in church history, Luther reminds us that domestic work is serving God.  In his essay, “The Estate of Marriage” (1522), he commends to both men and women the work of taking care of children, including washing diapers, as part of serving God.

When I was working in medicine, I felt sure that I was in a vocation where I could serve God.  I did my best to take care of patients, to pray for them, and to refer them for spiritual care when needed.

Now I’m a stay-at-home mom who has trouble keeping the house running, much less getting the kids educated.  I have a bad habit of looking into the future and thinking about when I can have a “vocation” again.  Yet my vocation is here at home.  Raising and educating children is an important job.  If this is where God wants me to be right now, then I need to accept that joyfully.

Occasionally, I run into people who think that I’m wasting my education.  Education is never wasted.  In fact, my high level of education makes me an ideal home educator.  There is a lot less looking stuff up in biology and medicine because I’m already familiar with the  information.  Besides, learning is never wasted – it expands our horizons and encourages us to think.

Today, when you go to work or stay at home to work, remember that you are serving God.  There is no wall between our spiritual lives and the rest of life.

7 Quick Takes Friday – 9/17/2010

 

Here’s what’s up!

1. This has been a rough week on the headache front.  Earlier today, I used my TENS unit on my neck.  The downside, though, is that the electrodes and tape pull hair from the back of my neck.  Ouch!

2. We went to Outback for dinner tonight.  And we can call it school!  Because we’re studying Australia!  I love their food soooo much – and we got a free dessert that the whole family shared.

3. I’m loving this cooler weather.  PWM and I took a nice, long stroll on Tuesday and enjoyed the coolness.

4. One of the advantages of having my kids take a class at the public school is that they can have school pictures done with the rest of the school.

5. Yesterday, Silver (one of the two gray cats), who is usually MY cat, acted like she wanted to get on my lap by jumping from the piano bench.  I tried to get her to come in front of my chair and jump up on my lap.  Instead, she went and got on Rosie Girl’s lap!  How dare she?!  Yes, I was hurt, but she made up for it later by sitting with me while I read on the sofa.

6. While we were watching the Top Chef finale which was held in Singapore, Wild Man shouted out, “Hey!  Did you see the statue?  The one of the lion just like in the book?”  So, he is paying attention when we read!

7. On Monday, we find out the results of Wild Man’s Vision Therapy testing along with the recommendations for therapy.  I really hope they have something that can help his dyslexia.

Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others have to say!

Menu Plan Monday – 9/13/2010

 

Menu planning helps our week go better, even if we don’t completely stick with it.  Just having a plan makes me feel like I’ve got control of the week.

1. Roast with cornbread and shredded & sauteed carrots and kohlrabi – Rosie Girl’s night

2. Meatloaf with fried potatoes

3. Chicken divan

4. Homemade pizza – Wild Man’s night

5. Jambalaya (Zatarain’s mix)

6. Homemade Mac and Cheese

We’ve got salad makings that we can have with any of the meals.  I’m also planning on trying to make a butternut/acorn squash soup sometime later in the week.

Check out what others are planning this week!

7 Quick Takes Friday – 9/10/10

 

1. It’s 3:30 and Rosie Girl is done with all her schoolwork for the week!  Either she’s getting more efficient or I’m not giving her enough work.  She assures me that it’s the former!

2. Wild Man measured volume with different containers this morning which gave him the idea for a video.  Apparently, we’re going to be treated to some “mad scientist” video later tonight.

3. We ran out of black ink for the printer yesterday.  Our last printer used to start giving us “replace ink” messages a good month or so before we actually had to replace the ink.  And, we could print until it was obvious that the ink was gone – i.e. the words were gray instead of black.  Our current printer is not at all usable until we replace the ink.  The frustrating thing is that I thought for sure that I had bought extra ink a few months ago.  Oh well.

4. Next week is the big week – when piano, dance, and youth groups start back and when Wild Man gets signed up for martial arts.  Our schedule is definitely going to be more busy!

5. We’ve all started using Wii Fit again on a regular basis.  The kids are both using it for their Physical Activity (PE) and PWM and I are back to using it more regularly.  Well, PWM is.  I’m trying to do a little bit of Wii Fit whenever I don’t have a rip-roaring migraine.  In any case, it’s a lot of fun, partly because the rest of the family makes sure to sit and watch the person’s progress – or lack thereof!

6. PWM made faux beignets for breakfast this morning.  He used refrigerated biscuit dough cut into little pieces and deep fried them and coated them in powdered sugar.  Yummy!!

7. Wild Man’s turn to cook dinner tonight – spaghetti!  He still needs a little help, mostly to tell him which spices to use.  Otherwise, he does a great job making the sauce and the pasta!

Check out Jennifer’s blog to see what others are saying!

Menu Plan Monday – 9/6/2010

 

I didn’t get around to planning menus last week and I really felt it later in the week!  I’ve got a migraine right now, but I know that getting the planning done now will help with how our week goes later.  Here’s what I’m planning for this week.

1. Spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread – Wild Man’s cooking night

2. Cheese soup with salad and bread – Rosie Girl’s cooking night

3. Roast beef, rice and gravy, spaghetti squash

4. Chicken Divan

5. Chicken Divan 2

6. Sandwiches

7. Leftovers

Not terribly exciting, but it will help me plan a grocery list!!

Check out Menu Plan Monday to see what others are up to!

Lagniappe – 9/5/2010

 

1. LSU won last night – barely.  And the other team was missing half it’s starters because of an NCAA investigation into academic misconduct!  Those Tigers need to get things together – quickly.

2. There is a lot of Lego Star Wars playing going on in this house.  Wild Man got the full Lego Star Wars game in the mail this week.  It includes all 6 episodes, not just the first three.

3. PWM read the latest Artemis Fowl book to us this last week.  I love family reading time!

4. Ice is one of the best non-medication treatments for my migraines.  It makes quite the fashion statement.  (Besides, I figured that if I posted a picture of PWM in Wild Man’s clown stuff, I’d better post some of me looking silly, too!)

5. Today at church, everyone got clapping on beats 1 & 3 instead of 2 & 4, which is when we usually clap and which sounds better.  I was telling Rosie Girl about it and saying that it made me . . . Rosie Girl supplied “twitchy?”  Exactly.  Clapping on the “wrong” beats makes me “twitchy”.

6. The weather was cool enough today for me to wear a light sweater to church, but not boots.  Unfortunately, the sanctuary was a little chilly and I wished I had worn my Uggs!

7. Lee Strobel is coming to Waupaca High School a week from Saturday and will preach the sermon in our church on Sunday.  Little rural Waupaca!!  Totally exciting stuff!  Please pray that many will be reached by his story.

8. It’s time to start working on Christmas presents.  I’ve gotten most of them figured out – except for my closest family members – PWM, Rosie Girl, and Wild Man!  Ideas?  (Remember, I’m a knitter.)

9. Wild Man stayed overnight at a friend’s house last night.  On the way home from church, I heard all about their gun battles.  He’s such a boy!

10. I got my yarn ball winder and swift (the wooden thing that holds the hanks of yarn while I’m winding) this week.  I wound a couple of balls on the first day and then Wild Man wound several more while PWM was reading one night.

Ten is a nice, round number, so I’ll stop here.  There’s always more excitement than one family needs around here.  I’m sure I’ll have more later. 

So, what’s up with you?  Comments make me happy!!

School Preparation . . .

. . . is just not happening right now.  Actually, right now is 1:40 on Wednesday morning and I’m sitting in my little nest with an ice pack on my head and large amounts of migraine meds going through my system, so I’m definitely not getting school stuff prepared.

I just visited a blog with lovely pictures of their school areas and I think I broke the 10th commandment (you know, the one about not coveting – although, I didn’t covet her manservant or maidservant, if she actually has those things, just her school areas).  We have a painted dining room now, which is beautiful (thank you, PWM and family!).  Our schoolroom is somewhat organized, but Rosie Girl’s desk still looks like a bomb detonation area.  Wild Man’s desk is in the sunroom and doesn’t look much better than Rosie Girl’s.

Of course, desks aren’t actually for school work around here.  Rosie Girl tends to work on the sofa or on her bed.  Wild Man  generally tries to avoid work, but if I can pin him down to do something, it’s quite often at the dining table.  School books often get lost around here because there’s an entire house (not huge, but still a whole house) where they could be.  It’s amazing how many end up under the sofa.  I think the cats put them there to mess with us.  I occasionally end up with duplicates because I buy one that’s been lost and then find the lost copy.  Bookstores love us.

I took out Wild Man’s Sonlight Core 5 paperwork today.  So far, I can’t find 5 books – books that I know that we own and don’t recall giving away.  One of them I think I wanted to skip anyway, so we’re down to just 4 that I can’t find.  I did manage to correlate the pages from the DK Geography book that we’re using instead of the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer with the correct weeks.  Of course, when I realized that he’d be doing 2 pages of the DK book instead of 10+ pages of the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer, I started to worry that he’s getting cheated out of a good education.  After a short hyper-ventilation session, I got over it.  Especially when I realized that I have two different, but overlapping grammar books to deal with.  And science.

Thankfully, Rosie Girl’s Core 200 requires very little effort from me.  I just need to put it in the notebook.  Sadly, though, the notebook is currently in the bottom of the previously mentioned bomb detonation area.  If all goes well, I’ll get the notebook right before school starts.

I told the kids I wanted them to clean their desks tomorrow.  That’s not looking promising because desk-cleaning is one of those tasks that require Mom (that’s me) to be standing right over them and reminding them to continue cleaning and not to get distracted when they take something to the trash can or the other room.  Since Mom (that’s me, remember) currently has an ice pack on my head, I doubt I’ll be up to desk-cleaning supervising.

We start school on August 30.  In a pinch, I’ll put on educational movies and throw books at the kids. 

I’d better go ask forgiveness for coveting someone else’s school room.  Then check on my stock of Imitrex.

 

P.S. You didn’t actually think that this was one of those organized and “perfect” homes like you see on the front of the homeschooling magazines, did you?  If you did, your bubble has been burst and I’m sorry – kind of.  This is our reality.  Thankfully, we have fun despite the messy house!

7 Quick Takes Friday – July 30, 2010

 

 

1. My kitchen and dining room are finished!!  Well, they need to be straightened up, but the real “work” is done.  PWM and the kids painted the dining room/kitchen/back hall for me last week.  Just about everything is back up on the walls.  PWM took the baskets off the top of the cabinets while he was painting and tonight we pulled out all the china and put it up on top of the cabinets.  I have several plates set up so we can see the pattern – it  looks so nice!  And the china is easier to get to, so we might actually use it!

2. One set of china is my wedding china.  I only have a 4 piece place setting of this with 4 goblets.  However, I inherited my aunt’s china that I used to see in her china cabinet whenever we visited.  It’s not as high a quality, but I have at least a 10 piece place setting, and the colors match my kitchen perfectly.  And, I’m reminded of my aunt (who died about 10 years ago) every time I see it.

3. I’ve learned a new knitting technique – the sliding loop.  I’m making a pair of socks using it.  It’s pretty nifty and I’m always glad for another technique in my arsenal.

4. My parents and brother with his family are all coming to visit in 2 weeks.  We have rented a house on a lake nearby and are really looking forward to a week of fun and family.

5. I finished the sweater I knitted for Mom, except that it needs to be blocked.

6. One of my other projects this week was to clean the schoolroom – and I actually did it!  The local half-price book store and Goodwill got lots of stuff from us this week.

7. As I clean and organize, I’m trying to actually get things out of the house and not just rearrange where they are.  So, I moved the china to the space above the kitchen cabinets, but I got rid of the baskets that were originally there.

So, what’s up with you this week?  Check out Conversion Diary to read what others are saying!

Today, I . . . . (July 26, 2010)

Today was an incredibly productive day for me.  I . . .

• finished purging books and getting them ready to take to the half-price book store.
• (with help from the kids) moved books around so that we’re ready for the Core 200 books along with any other school books I need to buy in the next few weeks.
• decided which geography book to buy for Wild Man.
• organized the science boxes – which involved getting rid of stuff we never will use and consolidating other stuff.  We now have a general science box, a biology/dissection box, and a microscope supply box.
• finished organizing both closets in the schoolroom.
• vacuumed the schoolroom.
• filled the back of the van with tons of stuff to go to Goodwill (in addition to the books).
• moved the old crib/bassinet (was handmade for my dad in 1940) from the upstairs closet to the schoolroom.
• organized the linens that used to live in the old crib and gave them new homes as well as getting rid of lots of them.
• brought my entire yarn stash down to the schoolroom, put all the yarn in Ziploc bags (I’ve been getting paranoid about the possibility of bugs in my wool), and then put the bags into the antique crib.
• ate Rosie Girl’s yummy homemade Leek Soup (from her Williams-Sonoma Soup cookbook).
• dealt with Wild Man’s inability to manage the limits we’ve imposed on media.  Let’s just say that the parents are going to be more involved (and take possession of his computer for a while.)
• watered the tomatoes and cucumbers.
• visited with my mother-in-law while I was taking sheets to her house (and I still can’t find her pink flat sheet – even though I’ve gone through all the linens in the house!!)
• made a batch of brownies (with Wild Man’s help).
• finished Mom’s sweater, except for weaving in ends and blocking.  She’ll be up for a visit in a few weeks so I can give it to her.
• Took a nice hot shower and pulled the shower head off the pipe trying to make the massage part of it work!  I finally got it all figured out, but the ceiling got rather wet in the process.

Whew!!  I haven’t been this productive in ages.  I think I may sleep till noon tomorrow and do nothing but read books and knit socks!  So, night, night!!

7 Quick Takes Friday – July 23, 2010

 

Friday evening again and you know what that means!!

1. We’ve had so many storms lately that I feel like I’ve been going from one migraine to the next.  Not so fun.

2. I’m organizing the schoolroom.  I’m not really sure why we call it a schoolroom, since no one actually does schoolwork in there – they tend to do it in the living room or dining room.  Nonetheless, the school and craft supplies are all stored there.  Right now, they are on the floor, but eventually they will all be stored neatly.

3. Of course, the key to true organization is to get rid of extra stuff.  That is my current obsession.  I’ll have lots and lots of stuff to take to Goodwill in the next week or so.

4. I harvested lots of leaves from my herbs – basil, mint, dill, and catnip – and dried them.  The basil isn’t completely dry, so it’s still on a cookie sheet on top of the microwave  oven.

5. I’m trying to make my own mint extract this year, too.  I put chopped mint leaves in a jar with grain alcohol so I’m waiting 4-6 weeks for the mint oil to be extracted into the alcohol.

6. My addiction to cooking reality shows continues.  I really enjoy Next Food Network Star, Top Chef, Chopped, and now 24 Hour Restaurant Battle.  I used to watch Iron Chef and Food Network Challenge, but I’m not as fond of those nowadays.

7. My current knitting project is a sweater for my mom that is just like the one I made for myself for Easter.  I’ve also ordered yarn for a few pairs of socks.

Check out Conversion Diary to see what others are saying!