It's that time of year again! It's time for my blogoversary and for a media fast. My blog will be completely updated, all links tested and the ticker will be up and "running" by Sunday night, March 29th. Last year I posted my final blog in March and took a break from "media" for the month of April...media for me being tv, radio, news, forums, blog posts, etc. I will still have to check e-mail and I will listen and make Godly music and listen to preaching and teaching. My last post in March from 2008 is here:
I went to the store with my sons a few mornings ago and I told them to make sure to walk inconspicuously through the store, because most other kids were in school. I joked that if anyone asks why they aren't in school today, just say "Spring Break!". Of course this doesn't work as well in November, but if you say it in passing, people may not realize what you said until you've already passed by and gone into another aisle.
Speaking of spring break, we will be taking a break next week and heading out on our big trip up north. It's pretty much the same trip we took last year, but of course it will be even funner! Be back soon!
As I mentioned in my last blog post, I'm updating my site after a long time of fits and starts to try and get on the computer and keep the site up to date. I had some broken and outdated links in my sidebar and I have some blog posts that are waiting on deck to be previewed, edited and posted. I don't think I got rid of anything important, but I did do a lot of moving things around. If anything is missing that you are looking for, let me know.
BTW, above is a picture and link to a homeschool curriculum that we are trying this spring. The link is in my sidebar, but I have added it to this blog post and you can click on it to go right to the website for Tapestry of Grace. I'll be posting more info about our experience with this curriculum in the future, so check back if you are interested.
I have bunches of stuff I'm doing that isn't noticeable to anyone but me, here. I'm adding some new links and taking away old links and finishing the bible study I started and reviewing places and activities and reading material. I'm making sure all past blog posts are categorized and trying to fill in some of the gaps. I have all kinds of digital material that belongs on my blog, but I have neglected to put everything together. New stuff happens every day and I try to capture as much as possible on paper or with pictures, but I'm fortunate to get the pics up on photobucket or on the hard drive before we start a new adventure.
Recently, we had a doozy of an ice storm. We were without full power for weeks. It was a fun time and yet a not so fun time. The picture in the header of my blog is of one of our trees. It was beautiful, as you can see. The kids played a lot out in the snow and we did our cooking over an open fire. But without electricity, we got behind on a lot of stuff. I was already lagging behind on my blog, because we were struggling along with only one computer that had internet. It was a frankenstein monster of a computer, as I have all kinds of junk in there that I added when it needed to be "upgraded". Now, it is riddled with conflicts and won't even turn on, so we had to finally buy a new computer. Buying a large ticket item like a computer is another one of those fun times and yet not so fun times. But going without internet isn't the big tragedy that we make it out to be, now is it?
We need a new computer. We used to have 2 computers that didn't work very well, but at least we could work out the usage time among the 5 of us. I'm thankful that we were able to get one up and running very, very well. I have enough time on the internet to check my e-mail, pay bills and take a brief look at the news, but I haven't had much time to spend on blogging....
As I mentioned in December, we lost our one pet. We miss him very much and often at the end of my work days, I wish I could come home and sit on the couch with Smokey in my lap and pet his paws. When we moved here to this new house last summer, although he got very sick on the car ride, he loved his new home. Next door, there was a black cat named Rerun. Rerun used to come over and eat Smokey's food, so we had to bring the food inside, but the two cats seemed to become friends. Many times I would call for Smokey and I would look next door and see him and Rerun lounging on the porch stairs or they would be laying around under the bushes in the front yard to keep cool. The day after Smokey was killed, I looked out the front door and saw Rerun sniffing around on our front porch.
About a week before Christmas, I was out talking to our neighbor and he said, "Well, our cat met the same fate as your cat." I suddenly realized how sad their little girl was that day. The night before, Rerun had been hit by a car, but they rushed him to the vet to try and save him. It didn't end well. I told the girl how sorry I was and I told them how Rerun had come looking for Smokey on Thanksgiving and the father said, "Well, I think he found him now."
We've talked a lot about getting another cat, but I don't think we're going to do that right now. We are thankful that we had Smokey for 4 years. He's buried in our backyard and we're going to plant a tree out there for him. I suggested we plant a flowering dogwood!
I took an unintentional break from blogging in November. We had planned to join the whole family for Thanksgiving, but I was scheduled to work and couldn't get out of it. So, we chose to all stay home instead of having everyone go except me. We had some special family visitors come on my days off, and we had such a nice time playing games and talking and eating.
There was some sadness, too. Our kitty was killed in the street right in front of our house, just a few days before Thanksgiving. His picture is now heading this blog. His name was Smokey and he was our only pet. I miss him so much.
We've had some other company as well and we've gone out and done some visiting of our own. We've had some friends over for a movie night and grandparents have come for a visit. We've gone here and there and now we're looking at an extended time of being home, being here in town and facing more defined choices. We've had one foot in our old neighborhood and one foot in our new neighborhood, committing to nothing in particular, but now it's time to face a new year and new disciplines.
Christmas is nearly here and each day we set out new decorations as we do our Advent Jesse Tree devotions. Rather than activity levels increasing closer to Christmas, I feel this year that things are quieting down. For each night's devotion, we read the devotion and hang the ornament in front of the fire and then we pray and sit quietly for a time, meditating on God's word and the devotion. I am surprised at how difficult it has been for us to do this. We are not a quiet family, I guess. But it's gotten easier and we look forward to it.
Take a look at the link above for the Advent Jesse Tree book. Our homeschool group has done this together this year. 25 people committed to making 25 of one style of ornament. Then, we all exchanged ornaments so that we now have 25 different ornaments each. Starting on December 1st, we read a devotion from the book and hang the ornament. If you want to do this yourself, you don't even need the book. You can search online for Advent tree or wreath projects.
Right now, I need to get off the computer and go get more Christmas decorations from the basement.
I was going to start blogging again on September 1st. The calendar was supposed to be clear, we were supposed to be settled into our new house and I was supposed to be all ready to start school on September 2. We started school, but we weren't ready. We have boxes everywhere and we're unpacking as quickly as we can, but every box that is opened creates new decisions and dilemmas. I knew I had a lot of books, but really didn't realize I had this many. And I don't need school supplies this year. I could open my own store...but we will probably go and pick up a few new items anyway, because school supplies are fun. (It's the REAL reason we all homeschool and you know it)
Anyway...we live in a new house now. It's new to us anyway. It's actually 94 years old, and although it's in good condition for 94, we are definitely having to learn some new habits. We've had a couple of rails come off in our hands and a porch swing fell out of the beautiful old ceiling, after hanging it in a manner that was unnatural and needed a carpenter to begin with, and I knew better, but I was just so anxious to get it up there, so now I have a bit of a crack in the old wood up there and an opening that I can't fix and I'm so mad at myself every time I look at it, but I guess I just have to stop looking at it and sit down in my porch rocker and... enjoy... the... birds....
We will be looking for a new church and new places to do new things. We didn't want to leave where we were, but "circumstances" brought us here. I remember the first time we moved far away from our hometown. I looked up at the night sky and knew how silly it was to wonder if God would find us there, but I wondered it anyway. We've finally moved to a place that we consider more settled rather than transient, but I often miss all the places we lived that we called home. We took time to find our favorite things to do and stores to shop.
I miss all of that stuff, but we have to start all over again.
It's okay, though. At the moment, we are distracted by our beautiful house and the delightful donuts from the bakery around the corner.
It's been a long time since I posted to my blog. I've been working full-time and I'm just too busy to spend much time on the computer.
Anyway, the last two weekends in a row, we've been attending the festivities at the Mystery Writer's Festival in Owensboro, KY. We saw Gene Hackman and had him sign our copy of the vhs movie, The Firm, and we bought his book and had him and his co-author sign that, and our 12yo son had him sign his deck of playing cards. Also, the picture above is just one of many. I didn't have him sign anything, but I thanked him for coming to Owensboro and he said "You're welcome"...I'll never clean out my ears again!
The rules are:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6 unimportant, useless things to know about the writer of The Curious Cottage Schoolhouse Blog
1. I don't have a favorite number...never have.
2. Tonight, I wish I had a Giordano's pizza
3. Vacation to me, means doing NOTHING of significance
4. I love the sound of the frogs on evenings in the early spring
5. I'm planning to pitch my wardrobe and fill the closet with 7 of the same outfit
6. I'm like the Bermuda Triangle for goldfish and plants
But it's gotten easier and we look forward to it. 
