We purposefully take August and February as our breaks from school each year. Part of the reason is that it is just too hot and summer has usually gone on too long by the time August rolls around, and February tends to be too gloomy to focus on school.
Since I've cut way back on my job I'm having to pick up more time when we take school breaks. This isn't so bad as I still sign up for only a bit of time and go in "extra" at a higher pay rate. (Sounds kind of bad, but I've been in the nursing biz for 20+ years now and know how to work the system pretty well).
So I've been working all this week while attempting to maintain some order within our home.
There has been alot of planning going on for school though. I've never been big on co-ops or the idea of extra-curricular type things, but we are going to try adding them to our school and see how it goes.
One cool thing we are currently doing, sorry no pictures yet, is from our history study of ancient Egypt. I wanted to do it when the Princess was in 1st year but figured I'd wait. Now that the Prince is officially 1st year... we are MUMMIFYING a chicken!
I am so excited, and I hope it works out. Now it is just a chicken from the grocery, no I didn't kill anything, and there are no feathers involved. You basically just go thru the whole process of mummification. We aren't to the wrap it up stage yet, but I'm still pretty excited.
I also made the Princess a much promised mix CD (or do we still say tape?). She has been such a blessing to me on the days I work. She is really stepping up in running the household and TCB.
I also took time to vegetate and make a new playlist for myself. I feel like it's a bit more optimistic than what I've been for the past few months. I don't know if I just hate spring and summer on a subconscious level or what, but I'm excited that fall is eventually coming.....
My playlist (sorry I'm not very original, but most of my songs from here are on it)...
I have to admit that I am not naturally drawn to dogs. We do have a dog that lives in our house, but I've never really connected with him. He has always just been this big lump that laid around.
So after a time of neglect I took my long-haired Sheltie to a groomer. I told her to clean him up....
This is what I dropped off....
This is what I picked up.... (Yes, that is his pink skin showing)
Apparently the groomer felt that it would be best to start with a clean slate and shaved him off. My shock has taken about a week to wear off, and remarkably the dog has energy and does more than lay on top of the air conditioning vents. The kids seem to be giving him more attention... like we got a new dog almost.
The really cool thing is that cleaning has always been horrible with hair everywhere... this week.... nothing. We may just be shaving the dog every year...
Today is the 15th anniversary of when Mr. B and I got married long ago in Anchorage.
We had met at a bar on New Year's Eve, and did the common law thing until our families could all be together for an actual ceremony.
I decided to quit smoking, a 2-3 pack per day habit, the day of the ceremony, and hallucinated on the patch thru out the ceremony. The minister had broken his foot the day before and was on crutches and stoned on narcotics, also.
We also decided that we had enough of the cold and wanted to move somewhere warm. Somehow we decided to move to Phoenix, Arizona.
So we took off with everything we owned the week after the ceremony in a 2 seat car with our cat, Lola, and set off for the lower 48. We camped out mostly along the way.
May I just say that while this sounds like a nice little hippy trip... I am fairly high-maintenance, and have not camped since to this day as the trip was pure hell.
We hadn't known each other very long, and we now had 2 long weeks together.... in a small car... with one person really just wanting to smoke, and wondering what she had gotten herself into.
We drove thru the Liard Hot Springs, Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Las Vegas, just to name a few places...
As we came over the hill one night we saw the lights and sprawl of Phoenix, I just wanted to turn the car around.... but still we trekked on.
Well.... we've been trekking on for 15 years together now. There've been some good times and some not so good times, but (short of moving to Phoenix) I don't think I'd change a thing.
I have to admit that my biological clock alarm is not just ticking, but clanging and telling me that time is almost up.... I realize that this is part of the reason for my frequent hormonal outburst that I unfortunately vent on those here.... but hey, you can take it or leave it...
So... what's a girl to do?
I'm really trying (sorry, I hate this word) to discern what it means to be an older, Christian woman (it's really gagging me to put myself in this category, but it's probably fitting). One project I'll be starting is a little group for some homeschooled girls in our area who are wanting to learn some basic home crafts. Looking at the Bible I keep seeing over and over that a woman should be teaching the younger women to be "keepers of their own homes."
I'm no expert by any means, and I am pretty much self-taught at everything I know. But I do know enough that I need to be sharing and encouraging the next generation...
I guess what my goal is for this group is to make them aware that God does have a plan for their lives... that they may not all be wives and mothers, but that they need to be prepared to function under many different circumstances and to learn to adapt. I think that the basic home arts can only help to raise this awareness.
Also, while the crafts are and should be fun, I also feel the burden that planting seeds can give you. While I want them to have a good time, I don't want this to be just about a craft. I'm just wanting to be careful not to encourage the idea of consumerism. I don't want the girl to think that you go thru life only to accumulate. It isn't about what you make, and all of the "stuff", but about the life experience and what you choose to do with it. We are also planning to spend some time giving back to our community as a group by doing frequent service projects.
Maybe this is why I'm where I'm at right now in life. A baby would slow me down and really limit what I am potentially able to do.
I guess it's time to start listening to something other than the distracting call of the clanging bundle of hormones...
The garden, thankfully, has finally run its course.
I thought that I was done with canning and freezing, but then I got a call that the figs were ready to be picked.
I've never picked or done anything with figs, and I do love to try new things, so I was off.
I came home with just a small stash and then spent a few hours trying to figure out what to do with them. I was going to do preserves and jam, but I had, unfortunately run out of pint and half-pint jars, and the store was also out, so I decided to make some "modified" preserves and some fig bread.
I say modified preserves as I followed the preserves recipe and then cut the figs into pieces with my ulu knife prior to canning them. I was able to find one small jar, and the rest fit into a quart jar.
I then made a couple of loaves of fig bread that are really yummy.
I still have some more in the fridge and plan on picking some more later this week, when hopefully, the muscadines will also be ready....
Guess I need to go find some more jars....
Fig Bread
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups ripe figs, mashed ( I put them thru a food mill)
3/4 cup olive oil
3 cups flour (I used 1/2 hard white and 1/2 soft white)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used kefir)
1 cup chopped walnuts
Beat eggs; add sugar and beat well. Add the mashed figs and oil. Stir together flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the fig mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Beat well. Fold in chopped walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour in greased and floured loaf pans.
Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
I used to believe when I was younger that I had no regrets in life and that I never would.... now I find that they are unexpectedly climbing around me....seeming to grow higher every day.
I think that one of the remarkable things about youth is that things seem so in the moment, but I've gotten to the point where I'm only grasping at youth and what it used to represent to me.... I have the feeling it will soon be out of my reach forever. I'm wanting to go back and reclaim the things I overlooked in my youthful stupidity, but I'm finding I've run out of time...
It's also a load of crap about only being as young as you feel.... I feel young, but the face I see every morning doesn't match what's in my head. The memories I have last too long to belong to someone who is young....
I guess I'm wondering what my purpose holds at this point in my life.... Am I simply waiting for death? Is life over? Is growth still possible? Is God giving me a 2nd (or 3rd, 4th, or 5th) chance to finally get things right?
It's not so much the stupid things I've done in life that I regret, but more the things I didn't do....
I have had a pretty rich life.... I've been alot of places/seen alot of things kind of cliche' but there are still things I wish I had done when I had the opportunity that age robs from us all....
I am tired of summer at this point, and I am trying to anticipate winter thru the current heat.
I was doing a light inventory, so to speak, of my current herbs, and I decided to go ahead and prepare some teas for this winter.
We aren't typically sick, but we do experience our share of sore throats and the like. The Princess also enjoys making her own blends. So this is what we made....
I do keep a pretty decent stock of dried herbs that I rotate thru... I try and prefer to keep them in glass jars, but it is not always possible. Many stay in the containers in which they come for a while.
I hate my kitchen. Just in case you didn't understand, I hate my kitchen!
I hate pretty much everything about it. I live in a pretty nice house that is only a couple of years old and I feel really stupid and somewhat wasteful in really talking about re-doing it. There is really nothing wrong with it other than being on my bad side. So short of ripping out the entire room, I am choosing to focus on some of the smaller cosmetic issues.
So... what can I do?
Initially I taught myself how to put up tiles as a backsplash. They are beautiful tiles, and I was proud that I figured it out and it looked good...BUT it just wasn't the look I wanted. I have since realized that though I love my beautiful, Mediterannean-style dishes, attempting to coordinate the tiles to them has been a failure.
The room is open to the main floor of the house where the colors are pretty earthy, to a degree. The walls a boring taupe (lessons learned from having to repaint last house to sell) with secondary colors of greens and purples. The beautiful light blue just doesn't go.
But then I learn that you just can't take down tile after you've grouted it to the wall. You pretty much then have to redo the drywall, and I hate doing drywall. I'm really not a perfectionist in most of my projects and drywall ends up looking like a monkey did it when I'm thru with it.
SO.... I searched around the home depot one day and ended up in the bath section. I found a thin, plastic sheet that was about 6ft x 12 ft and cost under $15. It has a semi-slick side and a rough side, and is also make of recycled plastics.
I cut this piece to fit over top of the tile. It is easy to cut... I scored it with my knife and then it just pops at the cut. I cut out where the outlets and light switches are located. I did have Mr. B pull out the outlets a bit as the tile and this layer stick out a bit more than normal.
I then adhere it to the wall with a latex kind of adhesive using the caulk gun.
When it is on the wall, I then put up some wallpaper. It sticks well, and matches the rest of the house much better.
I then caulk around the edges to give it a nice, finished look.
If nothing else, it helps my crazy level to drop a couple of points.
This has actually been one of the busier and more productive summers that I have had. Cutting back at work has given me the spare time to get all of the little particulars of life taken care of and sorted into place.
I've learned a thing or two, including, but not limited to....
No one family really needs to plant 24 cucumber plants unless you really like pickles.
24 cucumber plants make alot of cucumbers.
I probably didn't need that many tomato or pepper plants either.
After discussing it with my kids we have subtly determined that we just aren't country people and that we prefer the city.
I haven't done as well this year at harvesting herbs... the garden was the main focus.
......................
So these are just a few of my excuses for not having blogged lately. I'm trying to limit computer time to evenings only when Mr. B is at work. You know... really trying to devote myself to my family in a full-time kind of way.
I also like to present the positives and sometimes my mind lingers in a darker place that I don't care to potentially impose on others needlessly. Basically stuff's been going on, and I'm just trying to deal... just like everyone else in the world does when they have stuff.
This was also a verse I hadn't noticed before and thought was sweet in a way...
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is
than a fattened ox and hatred with it.
It seems that both being busy and lazy have lead to our family's eating to stray from the straight and narrow. The sweets and snacks from places other than nature have started to fill our shelves, and it is time for this to end.
The Prince, Princess and I are doing a cleanse of sorts, nothing drastic, just eating with more awareness as to what and how much. No more treats, or rewards paid in candy.
The thing is, in case you haven't figured it out, is that I tend to be a bit overly obsessed with food... all kinds of food. I will sit and read cookbooks for hours on end just enjoying the possibilities and flavors in my imagination if nothing else.
So, since I am in the land of low-carbs this week, I figured who knows how to make a veggie better than my old friend Julia.... I haven't associated with her much in the past 5 years, and decided that I really needed to revisit her.
Many people, I believe, are intimidated by her and her books, but they actually teach you how to cook, and to cook well. They are not glossy books on the 'art' of cooking, but the actual 'science' behind it that will give you results.
The funny thing is that after reading my copy of Julia and Jacques I saw some amazing similarities between this style and what is discussed in Nourishing Traditions. Many of the same things are emphasized. The message is cooking in a whole foods setting, avoiding the preservatives and artificial things that cheapen food and take away its value. They both encourage full-fat protein, good olive oil and butter, with vegetables. The main differences I can see are that Julia Child doesn't do the whole wheat thing, but then if I'm going to have puff pastry I think I, too, would prefer the white flour and sugar versions.
Lunch today... from the garden: tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant in the vegetable gratin along with a side salad....
This has been a week for treks so far, and since I was already in the mode... I decided to take the Princess on a long promised trip to the American Girl Store. We had visited the store in NYC, but I wasn't sure how this one in Atlanta would compare.
We loaded up our dolls and got there first thing along with 20 or so other people this morning. The store was smaller than the one in New York, but overall very nice.
We then walked around the mall as this isn't our normal neck of the woods.
To end our day we ate at the Bistro at American Girl. Let me just say that I don't get out much, but this was delicious. The waitress was surprised when the Princess didn't order normal kid fare, but had a pretzel bread appetizer, grilled salmon and asparagus with a hollandaise sauce and side salad... very yummy, especially with a chocolate milk shake.
I inhaled the spinach and artichoke dip then had a vegetable quiche and salad...
I also splurged, at the Princess' request, on hand soap from Bath and Body Works... This has been one of the more difficult things on our natural quest... I like pretty soap/detergents with nice smells. They actually, I believe, have brought back an old scent that I used to love, but have renamed it.... I keep washing my hands just so I can smell it.... I think I'll be using the coupon they gave me to get some lotion next week....
I've never been considered cool on any level.... the depths of my geekdom go very deep....
BUT I do go to a cool church... cool in that it is very modern and as street as Cartersville, Georgia can be. The thing is that as modern as the setting is meeting in a movie theater with a band that constantly blows my mind, drinking Starbucks that is offered in the lobby, and a designer jean wearing, cutting edge pastor.... is that the message is strictly from the scriptures.....
I listen to other sermons from men like Michael Pearl who in no way would be accused of running a contemporary church, and the sermons I hear at Oak Leaf each week are identical in their content and direction.... While the translations may be different, the message is the same..... we need to know GOD.
It did surprise me this morning when the band kicked off the service and the bass player starts with a familiar riff.... It took me a minute, but then they opened the Demons message in a series called Supernatural with INXS's The Devil Inside....
I pretty much wasted today being home on call for work reading and playing mindlessly on the computer.
After the heaviness of Into the Wild I felt that I needed something a little more fun.... I had gotten the book, The Ordinary Princess, by M.M. Kaye for my Princess to read and after checking out the first few pages, I was hooked.
It really picks up where the Lang fairy tales leave off and is a quick and enjoyable read. I've not read any of M.M. Kaye's other books, but I'm thinking that they might be worth looking into at the library.
I think sometimes that life gets burdensome and needs some lightening up. This past month has been a series of tests and responsibilites.....
so tonight I'm going to relax with a bottle of wine and think about the real world in the morning....
It's been somewhat miserable here as it always is this time of year. The afternoon has been bringing violent storms that somewhat relieve the heat momentarily.
School continues to go well.... routine has already set in....
But then it seems that monotony also arises.
I've been reading and thinking too much lately.... I started reading Jon Krakauer's book from the movie Into the Wild, and it is depressing as hell at the beginning.... the movie was too, but it was so stunningly beautiful that it made you forget this....
I think that the difficult issue here is that I really identify with the mindset of Chris.... we actually had somewhat similar paths at the same moment in time.... I remember being accused of running at this time in my life, but that never was quite the right word.... I was seeking... My soul was agitated....
When I look back at my 23 year old self I wonder how I made it out alive? Where was my fear? What made me change?
The more I've read of the book the more I think that I may have found the answer. I had some bit of hope. I found salvation. I found Christ.
It's just hard sometimes when you feel the call of a certain life, though not bad, just not possible.
I am generally pretty low tech in most areas of my life. I prefer to use a legal pad and ballpoint pen for my school planning. Initially I figure out the weeks we will be having school (36 weeks/180 days required by GA law) and plan them out on a calendar. This way I can consider when breaks will be so that we don't get in the middle of a subject and then suddenly take a 2 week break.
I was going to do a legal pad per child, but decided that it would be wasteful and combined the two. The Prince on the right, Princess on the left, and combined subjects in the middle. I also leave the first couple of pages blank to write an end of the year summary also per our state law. When the year is over I file away the legal pad to document our progress.
Each page of the legal pad is a week's work with assignments given for the day. The items are then checked off when completed. I also add extracurriculars and field trips... along with my work schedule as those days are shorter on the academics....
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I have included links for most of the items we are using. I have just linked to what was easiest. Many of these books are available free online thru various services as they are in the public domain in the US. Check ambleside for links. I do purchase mainly thru amazon, but I have also found good prices at Rainbow Resource and you can't beat used book prices either....
Just to brag.... I bought used versions of Saxon Algebra 1/2, 1, and 2 for a total of $28!
Today completed our first week of school for the year...
I was actually dreading this year starting, but I can't believe how incredible it is to get to spend everyday with my sweet kids. Remembering to find the joy in my life has been my main focus for the week as it is so easy to forget.
I'll never have this time again with either of them as they are right now. The choices I am making now will determine who these people will be over the next few years and the rest of their lives.... I can choose to think about the could-have-beens and potential regrets or I can choose to live with what I have been given and to nurture what I have and grow it to its best potential.
So often I think about myself, but I will have the rest of my life to ponder that.... my kids could be out on their own in another 10 years or so... that time is too short to just throw away...
I would like to ask those who read here to prayerfully consider supporting Voice of the Martyrs by requesting a free prayer band in the sidebar. I'm not going to go off on a political tangent, but we need to realize that Christians around the world do not have the freedoms we experience in America despite what their propaganda dictates.
Voice of the Martyrs offers many free resources that I have found to be amazing and eye opening. Educate yourself from a Christian viewpoint on what is going on in the world today...
You ever have one of those days/weeks/or months that are just so incredibly busy that you don't have a moment to spare? I'm kind of in the middle of one right now....
I thought that with the significant decrease in work I would have some down time, but I was very mistaken... With all of the stuff we've been doing lately I thought about delaying school, but I decided it would be better to just go ahead and bite the bullet and get started on our 5th year of school...
So far, so good, but then, it's only been 2 days. We've also been working in the garden and I've had what I think is alot of things to put up. I did the canning thing for a while, but it was so time consuming that I finally have started to freeze things. Not as good overall, and I'm going to regret it for sure when our steer comes in, hopefully later this month... but for now it is saving a bit of my sanity.
I tend to get overwhelmed with tasks and forget the big picture often. This is one reason I try to write things down... if I don't it tends to be forgotten. THis is also true for meals as well... I get wrapped up in something and then realize we should have eaten an hour ago and nothing is ready.... If I plan out a menu then I can stay on top of the preparations.... It also encourages me to remember to try new things and not eat the same old stuff day after day.....
I've also started planning out breakfast and lunch as well as dinner as I am in serious weight loss mode. You might notice nothing here is really diet food though.... My issue is that I let myself skip meals and then I binge on sweets/carbs.... So... I'm making myself eat 3 meals a day and an afternoon snack consisting of a protein bar...
I didn't have time to post this Sunday, but I'm backtracking because I feel like it....
Sunday
B... Kefir smoothie with protein and banana
L... Salad with feta and grilled chicken
D... burgers with jojo potatoes and green beans
Monday
B... Scrambled eggs/bacon/fruit
L...Salmon Stack Sandwiches and canteloupe (new recipe, but really good. From Sue Gregg)
D... Homemade pizza on whole wheat with pepperoni and mushrooms
Tuesday
B...Kefir smoothie with protein and banana
L...Salmon Stack Sandwiches (leftovers) and canteloupe
D...Hummus and Yogurt/cucumbers with pitas
Wednesday
B...Eggs/bacon/fruit
L...Tuna salad pitas with veggies sticks
D... Salad with beef
Thursday
B...Kefir smoothie with protein and banana
L... Cheese salad Sandwich (a Sue Gregg recipe)
D.. Crockpot Salsa chicken
Friday
B...Eggs/bacon/fruit
L... Pasta/Shrimp with feta and a salad
D... Nachoes
Saturday...
Kefir for breakfast, and, since I'm working possibly, homemade pizza for dinner with leftovers for lunch...
Living day to day while seeking the truth in life. Finding wisdom through Christ in marriage and my children. Finding beauty in the world in which we live...
(Yes, that is his pink skin showing)
