Sheesh! A Week Later!

And it's not like I haven't had anything to post about!

For instance, the beautiful cornucopia pictured here could have easily been put together on our trip to Jungle Jim's, which is a wonderful store not far from us. While we were up there, we got serious about looking for another car to replace our beloved Previa, so we stopped by Performance Toyota to check out a couple of cars.

Thursday, I took Eli to a wonderful skate park in Kettering, Ohio. Although 45 minutes away, it was definitely worth it. We will be returning on Friday the 24th for another skate day for him.

Friday, I took a couple of my kids to see the Hannah Montana movie. I was most surprised to find out that I really enjoyed it and found it very uplifting. I didn't realize that she is actually a very good singer and entertainer.

Saturday was filled with car shopping, and the Easter service at Crossroads, which defies description, it was so memorable.

Sunday was the Easter service AGAIN at Crossroads, this time with my family, and then a lovely family dinner at my sister's for the afternoon.

Monday was a PEP-filled day, then car picking up and licensing in the afternoon.

Tuesday was spent in the car, driving here, there and everywhere. American Idol in the evening.

And that brings us to today. Discovered the waterbed has a leak this morning so that adds a level of excitement to the day! Keeping up with taking the dog out, feeding her, training her, keeps me busy. Doing the paper routes with the kids gives me a reason to drive.

Good day. I just wish this twitching under my nose would stop. It's like the twitching you get by your eye that says you need a banana, but bananas aren't stopping this. I feel like Samantha Stevens.

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Recurring Dreams

Do you have these? I have several that recur on a regular basis.

One of my recurring dreams is about school. Lately, the main aspect of them has been the fact that I cannot find my classroom, indeed, I do not even have the information I need. Many of these dreams take place on my college campus, in the main building, and in the dream, there are several flights of stairs that only lead to certain portions of the building. So, you can't go up any old stairs to get up to the room you need to go to. I think that is interesting.

Last night, in my dream, I had finally gotten a copy of my schedule and I was going to be able to have the opportunity to get to the classes and deal with all the work I had not been able to complete due to missing weeks and months of classes.

The funny thing is that I had THREE of my recurring dreams last night and they intertwined. That's got to mean something!

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Lunch with My Teenager

Back when our older kids were gradeschoolers, also known as the time when I knew everything there was to know about parenting, I remember thinking that I had full confidence I wasn't going to have the typical experience with MY teenagers. We would still talk, my teens would still be willing to be seen in public with me, and our tastes would not be diametrically opposed, a la Jeremy and his parents in the Zits comic.

Whatever my plans were, I do not think my experience is typical. My kids do talk to me, they even listen to me ... sometimes.

So today, I invited Valerie to go to lunch with me. For no reason, other than just to spend some time with her. The last time we did this was, like, never. Probably at least two years ago, and maybe much longer.

Greg reminded me of the concept of "carefree timelessness." This is time you spend with someone just for the heck of it, and it is extremely nourishing to a relationship. I could feel today just how rarely I do this with anyone. So busy doing, I often forget just to be.

I love it when I am reminded of the value of something so simple, yet so easy to overlook.

Who can you practice carefree timelessness with today?

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Things'll Look Brighter in the Morning

That's the title of a song by Bill, Bill, Bill somebody. It'll come to me.

Anyway, things do look brighter this morning.

The dog is getting trained.

I am still not organized enough to home school perfectly, but I am organized enough to homeschool imperfectly, which is likely the only way I will ever homeschool.

Even in the midst of a hard day, which yesterday was, I did find the energy and strength to recognize a life lesson in the midst of the math lesson, AND illustrate it clearly, AND be reminded that this is what is good about homeschooling. The lesson had to do with doing the bare minimum vs doing what it takes to do the best job you can. It applies to math, it applies to dog training, it applies to parenting.

So, yesterday was part of the normal ebb and flow of life, with more ebb than flow at that moment.

Still praying.

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The Balance Between Those Who Have Gone Before and Figuring out My Own Road

If only I had a dollar for every time I've heard this: "You HOME SCHOOL? And you have FIVE KIDS? I could NEVER do that. I don't know HOW you do it."

And then there's "No matter what the kids say about taking care of a pet, it's always Mom that ends up taking care of it."

And finally, "I could never be organized enough to homeschool. I admire you."

Well, bwahahahahaha.

First off. I don't know I do it, either. And some days, I don't do it very well. And some days, I don't do it at all.

Secondly, OK, I believe. Yes, it's true. No matter what the kids say about taking care of the pet, don't believe them. It's the mom's job.

And lastly, I'm definitely not organized enough to homeschool.

I know there are womans out there that homeschool even more than five kids. And they make their own bread after grinding the wheat. And they put up quarts and quarts and quarts of homegrown produce so their cupboards are stocked all winter. And they stinking make their own clothes and the clothes their children wear. And their kids don't watch tv; they create programs for NASA to experiment with. OK, maybe all of this isn't true. But I do know there are plenty of people who homeschool even more than five kids.

And I suppose there must be a family somewhere in the universe where the kids PROMISED to take care of the dog, in order to talk the overworked mother into getting the dog, and then they actually took care of the dog for longer than the first three days.

And I suppose there are conflicting definitions of what it means to be organized enough to homeschool.

But the fact of the matter today is that I too don't know how anyone can homeschool five kids, because I'm having a mighty hard time of it these days. I've been praying about it, but don't seem to have a clear answer just yet.

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Crossroads

This is the pastor of the place where we gather with other Christ followers, aka where we go to church.

Back in November, my then-trainer, Mark, told me that he would be appearing via video as one of the two totally built angels in the Christmas program. That piqued my interest and I reserved tickets for my family. Due to a tragedy at the first performance, all the rest of the shows were cancelled, so we never got to see it. Nor, I might add, did I get to see my trainer in wings and angelic wear. My NEXT trainer, Jason, started training me right before Christmas, and during my third session with him, he invited us to visit Crossroads, had such great things to say about it, and personally invited us to meet him there. Well, I decided I'd take him up on it. So, me and the fam met him there for the Saturday night service. My first impression was that it was LOUD. My boys all needed to leave the auditorium because the music was so loud.

We decided to go back, and somewhere not too long after we started going, we were hooked on the place. Greg and I went by ourselves for several weeks before taking the kids back. Finally, we started taking them along, one or two at a time, and eventually we even started putting Kepler into a Kids Club class. Get this. Kepler has a personal attendant (an adult named Matthew) who goes to his class with him, and is paired with him every single week. They do this for every kid with special needs. I think that is awesome. And Kepler? He absolutely loves Matthew, and he loves his class.

At this point, I go to the Saturday evening service either by myself, or with a friend, and then I go with my family on Sunday morning. It is NOT too much to go twice every week. The messages are extremely relevant to me, and they are substantial in their content.

Listen, if you come to visit us, make sure you plan to be here sometime during the weekend so you can visit with us. We would love to have you along.

PS. The music IS loud, but not so loud that the boys leave anymore. My mom wears earplugs during the music, and we have extra earplugs along for anyone who might need that lower level of volume. I personally LOVE it.

Here's one of the songs we've been hearing a lot of lately at Crossroads

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Let's See If I Remember How To Do This

So, an entire month of history has passed by while I've been doing what?

Homeschooling, of course. Now and then.

Going to my fabbo new church, Crossroads Church. More about that later.

Getting a puppy. More about that later.

Buying U2 tickets. More about that.

And, last but not least, working my butt off at my personal training sessions and losing a grand total of, drum roll please, about 2 ounces.

So, it appears that I do remember how to post to my blog. More about that later. Not really.

Welcome back.

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