a journal of thoughts about everyday life http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:49:00 -0500 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:49:00 -0500 I'm just popping in to let you know I'm still here and still deciding what to do with this blog. My primary blogging emphasis right now is at my writing blog www.encoruagingwordsforwriters.blogspot.com . Agree with me that the Lord will give me wisdom about this blog. Thanks! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/728388/ Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:49:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/728388/ I'm popping in to let my homeschooling friends know that I have a new blog that is specifically geared to writers, writing instructors, and writing students. You can check it out at www.encouragingwordsforwriters.blogspot.com. I'm adding some elements specifically for homeschooling families such as teaching tips, samples of student writing, and some writing assignments as well, so check it out and stay tuned for more stuff for homeschoolers. Stop by for a visit! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/680920/ Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/680920/ I'm still considering what direction to go with this blog and I'm posting so that it won't be deleted due to lack of usage. You can visit me at my new blog at www.bonitalillie.com. New news: -It snowed yesterday and we're headed out to play and make snowmen! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/664114/ Mon, 2 Mar 2009 08:47:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/664114/ If you happen to stop by here, come on over to my new blog the week of April 21-25 to sign up for a giveaway. I'm giving away a copy of my curriculum and a writing book. Check it out here. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/519717/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/519717/ In case you're wondering where I've been, check out my new home at www.bonitalillie.com. I may still keep this blog too, not sure yet, but that will be my primary blog. So, click on over! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/509572/ Wed, 2 Apr 2008 20:49:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/509572/ Life with teenagers is really interesting and getting more so by the day. I don't know why I thought that life would get easier when they were old enough to "do stuff on their own". In ways, I suppose, it did get easier, but it also got a lot more complicated. Take, for instance, my son's new job. I'm thankful that my son is working and he's certainly excited about it, but it has just thrown me for a loop schedule-wise. Generally, I somehow manage to show up where I'm supposed to be when I'm supposed to be there, but this one shift and change has really messed me up. I've narrowly missed showing up to a few events, I've totally forgotten others, and I find myself having sudden moments of panic like, "Oh my gosh, wasn't this the day I was supposed to...?" It makes me seem pretty thoughtless of others. I keep forgetting stuff. Sorry, Big E., that I forgot your birthday that just happens to come the day after mine! My friends and family are constantly saying, "Don't you remember this is the weekend I'm going on my trip to such and such?" or "Remember how I told you that I'm doing thus and such this month?" No, I don't remember any of it! I don't even know my own schedule for yesterday or tomorrow so I can guarantee I don't remember anyone else's stuff. Today my cousin called to schedule a dinner date with our family. First off, I couldn't find my calendar. I had to search through my "Life" book that is "supposed" to house all the vital information for my life. No calendar there. Finally, after searching multiple bags scatttered throughout the house I found it. Then she started proposing dates. No, that's my daughter's softball practice. No, my son might be working that evening, but we won't officially have his schedule until tomorrow. No, that's John's only night home this week. No, Toastmasters night for me. I could not give the woman a date for dinner because our time is that scattered and unpredictable. Honestly, folks, I have to calculate each evening exactly how many of us will be home at the dinner hour or even sleeping in the house for the night. The other night I was lying in bed drifting off when the phone rang. My husband answered it. It was my friend, Tina, calling to say she was coming by to drop off her son. Did I remember that her son was spending the night and riding to co-op with us the next day? Of course not. Had she called any later the house would have been on lock down for the night and her poor boy would have been sleeping outside. This has happened much lately. I come to the kitchen in the morning and discover that I've birthed more full grown teenage children during the night. I don't even bother to count anymore, but just start assigning chores for the day to whoever happens to be at the breakfast table. It's a blur as to who my real children are these days. Maybe I should host a "To Tell the Truth" episode and ask the real Lillie children to please stand up. I'm not sure what we'll do when my son's baseball season starts and when he takes concurrent classes in the fall. By then he will have his license, and though I never planned to get him a car so early in the game, I almost think it will be a necessity. But that's all I can say about the busy lives of parents of teenagers because I just remembered that in less than an hour my friend, Melissa, is picking me up to take me out for a birthday lunch. Did I mention that I'm still unshowered and sitting in my bathrobe? And do you think I wrote this little event on my calendar- that I can never find? Of course not! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/506342/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:18:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/506342/ It's Easter today. HAPPY EASTER! It's also my birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! Do you know what I did on the day these two monumentous occasions collided? I slept and ate high cholesterol. Wooo! Don't you go getting jealous! I got up really early so I could go to church to set up some stuff for the early service. I was so tired I could hardly stay awake during the preaching. When I came home I changed into sweats and went straight to bed. I was in dreamland before my husband could even leave the room. About an hour later Baby Girl came to wake me up because she had made crepes with strawberries and homemade whipped cream as a present to me. I ate and went straight back to bed for three hours! Then I got up and watched a movie with the family as I laid on the bed, of course. I ate KFC chicken and a slice of Little Caesar's pizza for supper, now I'm blogging, and then guess what I'm doing. Just guess! I'm going to bed again. Just can't seem to get enough sleep. I guess this is how people celebrate when they get my age. They take double naps and have a cholesterol fest. Wooo, what a party! Speaking of my age, I'm 44. Last night I decided to look up that number to see if it has any spiritual significance. One site said it meant "suffering". Oh yay, I'm so looking forward to that! Then I decided to stick with just looking up the number 4 and doubling it. That means this year is a double dose of the universal judgment of God. Wow! It just keeps getting better doesn't it? Would it work if we just added 4+4=8? Eight, now there's a good number. It means new beginnings. I think what God is trying to tell me is that when you reach 44 it doesn't matter what it means because all you have to look forward to is napping and high cholesterol chicken.  So, that is how I spent Easter. Jesus rose from the dead, but I couldn't get out of bed. See why I need Him so much?  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/503557/ Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/503557/ In case you're wondering where I've been and why I haven't said much on the blog lately, the reasons are quite simple. First, I'm in the process of building a new blog and my attentions are turned that direction. Secondly, I've been busy living life and haven't had a lot of time to blog about it. Finally, I'm just going through some difficult things on the inside of me and I feel the need to just draw back and get with God by myself and get through it. Thanks for understanding! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/501870/ Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/501870/ Today I woke up feeling...sit down before you read this...domestic. Somebody please revive my mother because I know she just fainted! Yes, folks, this is a memorable day in history, but I have to give credit where credit is due. You see, yesterday Lysa TerKeurst asked ladies to contribute their best organizing tips on her blog. See here. I didn't contribute (wonder why) and I wasn't even that interested in reading the tips because I've read every organizing book in the land and haven't been cured yet so I figured why bother. But before bed last night I checked out a few of the tips and I was so blessed. Finally, I know how to organize my purse which I refer to as The Great Abyss. Finally, I know what to do with that jumbled mass of jewelry in my jewelry box. I know how to organize birthdays so somebody might actually get a card or present on time this year (or at all). I know how to fix my pantry problem so that I can actually find the stuff that's way, way at the back- outta sight, outta mind. Oh, what great tips these ladies had to offer, tips that the average person, who is not domestically inclined, can do. Now all of this got me thinking. I know that some folks were born organized- not me. I know that some folks don't have an organized bone in their bodies- also not me. I've always heard that it's one way or the other, but I believe there is actually a third category of people that are selectively organized- me. You see, if you walked into my office area right now you would think that I don't have a single organizing gene. It's a mass of piles and notebooks and sticky notes galore, none of which are organized in any fashion. Even my computer files have no rhyme or rhythm. However, from all of that chaos I can create well organized articles, devotionals, and even full blown writing curriculums. Thus, the creation is organized, the think tank is not. When I worked in the hospital I was always on time and could manage my time so well, even all of the interruptions and emergencies that required incredible flexibility. In all of my evaluations I was applauded for my time management. At home, however, it's another story. The last time I attempted to make a schedule my kids rolled all over the floor laughing at the thought of it. My "to do" list in the hospital was always completed before I left. My "to do" list day to day at home hasn't seen completion in years, if ever. At the hospital I was very focused and my work area showed it. My patients' rooms were always the cleanest rooms around and I only kept the things in there that were important for the task at hand or that belonged to the patient. I was forever organizing and decluttering. Once a patient even said to me, "I bet your house is so clean and organized." Ha ha ha!!! At home, I can't stay focused and I have the clutter to prove it. As you can see, I'm selectively organized, not a complete hopeless case, but far from "well" organized. That's my big revelation of the day and now I'm off to do domestic duties before the desire exits. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/498870/ Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:22:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/498870/ Yesterday marked a milestone in my son's life and it also marked another snip at the old apron strings that will all too soon be cut away completely. He got his first job and is now an official employee of Chick-Fil-A. Congratulations to my boy, but would someone please pass the tissues? Now I have to admit that if you're going to send your teenage son out into the world to get a job, Chick-Fil-A is probably the ultimate place for him to work. The owner/operator was so nice and encouraging. The other employees were equally so and once the owner told them that my son had been hired they filed out one by one to welcome him. The restaurant was clean, the employees all seemed happy, even when the owner wasn't around, and Christian music was playing in the background. Does it get any better than that? Still, I'm the mama and it was a bit of a sentimental journey for me. I was tempted to let a tear trickle, but then I saw my son's beaming face. He was so excited that I couldn't dampen that shining moment with tears or even the hint of them. All the way home he kept saying, "God did this for me!" Indeed, God did do it for him. We had been asking the Lord where he should apply. He had already applied at a secular place and, thankfully, they told him to come back in a month when he will be officially sixteen. In the interim, we received an email through our homeschool support group from the Chick-Fil-A nearest our house and they were recruiting homeschoolers. The next day he applied and in less than a week- voila'.   This was such a confidence building experience for him too because he got the job on his own merit. I never did anything until the second interview when the owner wanted to meet me and go over some paperwork stuff. My son also didn't mention that my parents used to ride motorcycles with the Catheys (the founders). So, he can rest assured that he got the job based on him and God and nothing else. Unless something changes, he starts on Monday. Snip, snip, on those apron strings. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/498384/ Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilliepad/498384/