tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83435849287728130242024-02-21T05:38:08.974-08:00Winchester AcademyJuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.comBlogger930125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-51804532586106105132022-12-31T13:13:00.001-08:002022-12-31T13:13:10.355-08:00Years later<p> I got an iPad for Christmas and need to start writing my story. It is going to be a learning curve because this iPad is fancy and I need reading glasses to see most close things but computer/ipad distance is farther than reading but closer than driving (which I can still do fine) so it is a challenge. Today is the last day of 2022. There is a lot to unpack about this year specifically the birth and death of our first grandchild Luca Joseph. It is not fair and I’m still pretty mad about it. For now I’ll just say that after 4 years of not writing more than an instagram post I plan to dust off this blog in the new year. I am also going to read much more than I scroll, do the Catechism in a year with Fr Mike Schmitz, and hope to spend 1000 hours outside in 2023. </p>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-35784278917044963522019-01-05T11:42:00.001-08:002019-01-05T11:42:52.121-08:002019!It has been years since I have been here. Facebook surely killed my blog, and Instagram has severely wounded Facebook. But even with all of that, I have returned to the place where my head might literally explode if I don’t get some of the words out so here I am. Life is drastically different than what is says in my current “profile” and it will take a while to get all caught up. We have lived many books worth of material since the last time I was here, and time will tell if I keep this up enough to get some of it out there. Jonathan is grown and living in Pennsylvania with a sweet girl named Kylie. He is a front desk supervisor at the Westin Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Madi is only months away from graduating from USF with her BSW. She is in LOVE with a great guy from CHWC. Our life has been an endless stream of initials... BSP, FTC, FPEA, FPMA... most of them no longer apply and new ones have taken their place. Jake is the only child left at home (sometimes...more on that will surely spill out eventually), and he is a publicly schooled sophomore who plays the trombone. He is not far from getting his license. When I started this blog a decade and a half ago, I had to type from the stationary desktop through the dialup internet. I am currently lounging on the love seat typing this frantically with the thumb of my right hand from my phone. If I actually revive this thing thoughts on us currently inhabiting the dystopian world where we all live inside of our “devices” will surely come out. Other topics will include the fine line between giving young parents the advice they want to hear and the information I have actually gleaned from 23 years of parenting (and 38 years of scrutinizing families); why I hate politics but am prouder than ever to not align with either major political party; an epic saga about 10 siblings and the reasons some of them sometimes live at our house; lots of stories about why parents need to actually have a relationship with their kids that encourages them to make wise decisions instead of relying on random adults to police said children (depending on when I get back to this I might have no earthly idea what this even means, but it was currently the impetus for me to dust off this old blog and spew words out into the atmosphere); and a plethora of why I could get so much more accomplished in life if I didn’t live so much of it in my head where I try unsuccessfully to apply logic and reason to situations that defy those things. Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-46313890250562173382016-05-06T10:37:00.000-07:002016-05-06T10:37:08.652-07:00Rough Draft RamblingI guess if you are going to write you need to start somewhere. I was going to start this the way I've started every post in the last year and a half and be like, well maybe I'll write something, but that's getting a little old. Like all the other times I've written lately (by all I mean about four) (by lately I mean about a year and a half), I just found myself with the computer on my lap and an abundance of thoughts in my head so I figured I'd give it a shot. Like everything else, you just have to jump in. If at first facebook killed the blog, texting, especially group texting, has put the nail in the coffin. When I have something that might be considered interesting to share I have different group texts and share with the people who I think will find that most interesting. For instance as I'm typing this, I am also in a group text with friends discussing the most popular up and coming baby names. For the most part they aren't names at all but a collection of letters thrown together intermixed with a couple words that how now become names like Briar, Wilder, and Ridge. I could send the screen shot of these names that I've shared with my friends, but that would involve sending the picture to my computer via email and all together too much work so sorry, you'll just have to google it yourself.<br />
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The day before yesterday was Star Wars Day, I texted a different group of friends a couple of Catholic/ Star Wars memes (that word looks like the name my kids call my mother, but it doesn't sound that way). Again it would be too much trouble to share them here, so again you've out of luck. So what am I here for? I'm not sure exactly. The only readers I ever had were friends anyway I usually see this people in real life and I can tell them my thoughts the ole fashioned way you know, with words. Or I can text them or facebook them or instagram them (or even snapchat or twitter Both of which I have, but do not communicate with), so why blog? <br />
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That is the question isn't it? I spent a while a few weeks ago looking through old blog posts for the days were parenting was more physically hands on. I guess a good reason to keep blogging might be to show that even as parenting becomes much less physically hands on, there is still plenty to say about it. Jonathan is quickly approaching 21. He still sleeps at home each night, but between work and school (and sleeping) he's not around that much. Madi is all done with school and officially graduates in 23 days. I'm doing my best to not cry every second. She will be living at the University of South Florida in Tampa in the fall. She is raking in the scholarships, has a nice boyfriend, and is living the dream life right now. Jake and the two boys we carpool to school with are in our backyard playing basketball right now even though it's only 1:30. Jake only goes to school for two periods of band, one of the other boys only goes for three periods and does the rest on virtual school. The third boy usually goes all day, but came home at 11:30 today, just because. Come to think of it all my kids are living the dream life right now. Jonathan gets to work at the happiest place on earth, Jake does a lot of band, a little theatre, and one lesson of math each day and that's pretty much school. Having tow "grown and done that" kids I know that this is enough for Jake right now. We talk all the time so the rest of his education is of the "talk schooling" variety.<br />
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I still haven't written much here regarding the passing of my brother, Rob, in September. Two weeks ago my friend of seventeen years, Pam, joined Rob in heaven. I'm having a hard time with that one too. Most of the time I'm "fine" and then will randomly "lose it". Like the other day when the computers were down and I was unable to get my free salad a chick fil a. I literally almost cried. There was more to the story, but we'll leave it at that. (Maybe I texted you about it.)<br />
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Well I don't want to overwhelm you with too much information so I'm going to end for now. See you later. Maybe...Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-66623738730828508722015-11-05T06:49:00.000-08:002015-11-05T06:55:12.257-08:00Well it's certainly been a long timeAs usual I have been thinking about writing without actually doing it. This morning I needed my computer to print out bookclub discussion questions (more on that soon). There are five windows open on my computer right now. Only this one is mine. I don't want to close any of them because I'm not really sure who needs what. There are so many ways that this could be a metaphor for my actual life. Not the least of which is "only one is mine". This morning I woke up to the sound of the garbage truck. A quick look out the window confirmed what I'd suspected...our garbage was not out. And so the garbage will stew another week. The turkey carcass (doesn't everyone have turkey as soon as November hits because you just can't wait for Thanksgiving?) and the carved Halloween pineapple (Madi's doing) will not be driven away in the big truck until next Thursday. So to recap, the garbage did not get picked up, I was supposed to tutor this morning and now I'm not (maybe more on that too, we'll see), Jake usually has band at the school from 9-11:30 (Advanced band and Jazz band) today he does not, instead he will play for a pep rally from 3-4 (4ish, we're a little unsure, he is currently visiting neighbors and making phone calls trying to figure out how and when he can get a ride home). Speaking of phone calls, Jake now has an iphone (go ahead, judge away). <br />
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Ok let's get back to bookclub (I like that to be one word like breastfeeding and homeschooling --blogger is not too fond of that, but it does accept breastfeeding and homeschooling as one word (well not all together)-- you're welcome!) Jake and Joe (and Tiffany and I) have a little bookclub where we try to read all the sunshine state recommended books. Today we are meeting to discuss three of them. Here's another metaphor for my life, we can't seem to get it together to discuss them one at a time, so knocking out three at once is the best way. I'm pretty sure Tiffany and Joe are done with a fourth. We are not. <br />
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Jake is now back in the house, he does have a ride home, he's got music and talking going on and I had to move to the next room to even be able to concentrate on writing this desperately pathetic blog post. There are too many windows open in my brain remember? Sometime in the near future I might write a tribute to my brother, Rob, who lost his fight with melanoma two months ago. That will definitely need more focus than I have right now, but I felt like I couldn't blog at all until I at least mentioned it. Eventually I might write more about Madi being in the throes of college admission/ scholarship applications etc and how I am trying desperately to not lose it every time I think about how she will not actually be living at home this time next year. Now "living a home" is of course a relative term around here because while Jonathan does indeed still live at home, what that means on many days is that he gets home from working at Disney at 3am, sleeps until noon, and leaves for work again around 3pm. There are many variations on this, but that is a fairly typical day. Yesterday Jake and I went to Disney after band. In the evening we met up with Jonathan (who had just gotten out of work on a rare day shift) and Mike (whom Jonathan "let in" with his employee privileges) for dinner, then we met up with friends/ relatives visiting from Connecticut. Madi had left home at 7:30 for all day dual enrollment classes at Lake Sumter. After about 30 minutes at home in the afternoon, she had theatre and then a class at church. She ended up getting home at about 10pm, so really living at home is kind of a relative term for her as well. <br />
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While I am not really getting anywhere with anything actually going on around here, I'd like to think I'm doing a fairly good job at describing how I'm not really getting anywhere with anything actually going on around here in reality. Time is flying so quickly and I'm just barely trying to keep up. Because so much of Jonathan and Madi's lives go on outside of the house and away from me, I do have physical time to do some other things (mental time is a whole different story). I have been tutoring a girl that is doing full time virtual school due to a medical condition. It can be a challenge, but the financial compensation is significant. She isn't feeling well today, so I am not there right now, but remember how I mentioned that Disney dinner last night? Well I already spent the money I was supposed to be making today. Bad idea! I have also had a little time to try to figure out what I might want to do when I am no longer a homeschooling mother. I really like learning stuff and teaching it to other people. That's what I want to continue to do as I "grow up". I am thankful every day for Jake and that I don't have to make any "career" decisions right now because I am not done with him yet. Jake is 13. Thirteen, in the past, has been a rough year. Jake and I are in a good flow right now and spend a good amount of time with just each other. I told him thirteen was going to be a good year for him. I plan to remind him of that everyday. He's been enough of a challenge most of the rest of his life. He owes us a good thirteen. <br />
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In addition to the tutoring, I am involved in quite a few things at church. A typical week will find me there on Monday evenings, Tuesday evenings, one Wednesday evening a month (not including if I have to bring Jake there for his Wed class and Madi can't be there {as opposed to last night when Madi was there and Jake was not}), Thursday evenings, and of course Sundays. Oh and one Friday morning a month for a mom's group. (plus occasional mornings for daily Mass) Yes, we are still Catholic. I know that schedule doesn't look very Catholic. Maybe someday I'll blog about some of the things that I am doing there some of the time. <br />
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My computer with all the open windows just told me to plug in to a power source. Do you think that also might be a metaphor for my life? Or yours? Think about that one for a while. Maybe I'll be back with more words of wisdom in another four months. Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-84942032047049440962015-06-10T11:55:00.000-07:002015-06-10T11:55:22.418-07:00It's summerI'm sitting here in my newly painted front room (we did it ourselves), a storm is brewing, and I've got my laptop in my lap and I had the strangest thought...maybe I'll blog today! I just got the time hop app (is it app or just ap?) on my phone yesterday. Today it told me that two years ago today Madi was on her way to work her first day of summer camp at the rec. (that was incidentally also the last time Madi has eaten meat, the app didn't remind me of that, she did) The app told me that two minutes after Madi had stuck her head in to my room to say she was on her way to work (same place different year, different color shirt). Time hop also told me that one year ago today Jake had his first day of band camp. This was what I was looking at when Jake came bounding into my room to remind me that we needed to take a ride down to Orlando to pick up the book he needed for band camp today. More incidentallies... We had ordered the books we needed online, but one of them was the wrong version. On Monday someone told Jake that he could have theirs from last year, on Tuesday that girl didn't show up. By Tuesday afternoon Jake was sure he was going to get kicked out of two bands if he didn't have the right book on Wednesday. He called two music stores looking for it. Let me say this again HE CALLED TWO MUSIC STORES LOOKING FOR IT!! Jake has no problem playing a funny character on stage in front of 200 hundred people or leading the psalms as a cantor in a full church or even singing two solos completely in Latin as was the case this weekend, but calling someone and asking about a music book...watch out. He was pretty nervous about such a vast endeavor, but he did it and survived. We got to the music store just before they opened and the $15 book only cost us $5 because I had some kind of a coupon on my account. All that to say, Madi's still working at the rec and still a vegetarian two years later. Jake is still in band camp one year later. Time hop wasn't done yet. It also reminded me that last year and the year before we were celebrating our little buddy, Dawson's birthday. He is three years old today and we celebrated with him on Sunday. Lastly, it reminded me that three years ago on this day we had just gotten back from California. Eustis Rec...check, band camp...check, Dawson's birthday...check, but sadly we are not in California right now. We will however be heading for an Alaskan cruise around this time next year, so that's something. <br />
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I picked up a live chicken today. That is surely something I wasn't doing last year or the year before that or ever in my life. Friends of ours are away and Madi and I are tag teaming checking on their chickens. When I went there today one of them jumped out of the coop when I opened the hatch to collect the eggs. It's a long story and would have made a really funny video that may have even involved a stick and a shovel, but I eventually had to bite the bullet and pick up the chicken with my bare hands to get it safely back into its house. I swear to you no chickens were actually harmed in the making of this blog post. <br />
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There's the little guy on Sunday.<br />
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Maybe I'll be back with pictures from one and two years ago, or maybe I'll be back to blog again in five months. Right now, I've got to go get Jake from band camp.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-41321741787058542812015-02-28T18:18:00.001-08:002015-02-28T18:24:44.611-08:00LAAZZYYI got a bad cold last week. Friday night we went to stations of the cross at church, and my nose did not stop running. Thankfully I had a couple of napkins in my pocket, but it was not a pretty picture. By Saturday, I was down for the count. We were a part of a big youth room re-do at church while our youth minister was on a retreat (Madi was there as a leader and gave a talk on prayer). Anyway, I didn't make it to the cleaning and reorganizing of the room or to the theatre to house manage that night. Sunday I did everything I was supposed to do including church, and picking up Madi etc, more church, and then the big reveal of the now clean and organized, no thanks to me, youth room. By Monday I was out of commission again. Now coughing. Since Tuesday (my FORTY FIFTH birthday), I've been functionally better, but still super lazy tired. This brings me to right now, Saturday night a week later where I am laying in my bed, under the covers with my laptop... it is only 8:03pm. This cold, or more likely 45, has hit me like a ton of bricks. I've read 3 books this week. They were <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Escape-Lemoncellos-Library-Chris-Grabenstein/dp/0307931471/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425172010&sr=8-1&keywords=escape+from+mr.+lemoncello%27s+library">Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Libray,</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Time-Novel-Jodi-Picoult/dp/0345544927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425172087&sr=8-1&keywords=leaving+time">Leaving Time,</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mistletoe-Promise-Richard-Paul-Evans/dp/1476728208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425172161&sr=8-1&keywords=the+mistletoe+promise">The Mistletoe Promise</a>. I am now reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Left-Tell-Discovering-Rwandan-Holocaust-ebook/dp/B00IEKS6GI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425172627&sr=8-2&keywords=left+to+tell">Left to Tell</a> which I have been borrowing for almost a year and finally finally picked it up today. (I think I've been a little afraid of reading it.) I have taken three hot baths today and I'm still sucking down cough drops like they are candy. I am a limp noodle. I originally pulled out my laptop to attempt to watch Parenthood on Netflix, but the computer was being too slow. I've never watched any of that show, but have heard enough good things about it that it has landed on my "someday I might watch" list. I am thinking The Fosters might also be on that list and maybe Blue Bloods or Breaking Bad. I am not a Netflix TV watcher generally. I am more a dvr-ed reruns I've seen a million times watcher. Jake has gotten me started on Once Upon a Time. I am almost done with season 1, but I don't think we've watched any of it for two weeks, and considering this has been the laziest week of my life and I still didn't watch that, I'm guessing it'll be slow going. One bit of good news for my tired old soul is that Jonathan is miraculously only working until 9:15 tonight as opposed to the oft ending times of 1, 2 or 3am. This is definitely exciting for me. Madi is also out right now, but another bit of good news, she is just babysitting about 7 houses away, so no late night driving for her. These are happy times! <br />
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So aside from laziness, what's new? My father averted a heart attack two weeks ago. He had a few episodes of chest pains that culminated in a major episode that involved him "white as a ghost" according to my mother, sweating and in intense pain. They called 911, and both parents spent that night in the hospital. The next morning I joined them. My father had a heart cath and they inserted a stent. The cardiologist said it was not a heart attack (because there was no permanent damage), but angina (which has two acceptable pronunciations). My father went home the following day. He is back to work and as good as new. Speaking of as good as new, my brother is doing fantastic at the moment. Please keep praying for him, but he's better than he has been in way over a year (even for a long time prior to his diagnosis). Their family is planning a trip to Florida in April and we could not be happier. They have not been here since 2006! Jonathan is going to hook them up with some good Disney deals. <br />
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Jonathan is graduating again this year. He will get his Associate of Arts degree on May 1st. His further plans are up in the air. They will involve work at Disney and a Bachelor's degree from somewhere, but then whens, wheres and hows are not set in stone. He has gotten quite involved in the theatre productions at Lake Sumter including programming and running lights for their latest show, auditioning for a future show, and even late night karaoke at Applebee's, where he didn't sing, but did witness a bar fight. A girl who rode space mountain three times the other night gave him her phone number. Upon hearing the story both Mike and I asked if he was going to call her, and all three kids rolled their eyes because "of course you would never call someone in that situation, but you might text them". <br />
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Madi is perfect at everything except completing her Algebra 2 in a timely manner (well and maybe history and chemistry too), and keeping her room clean. She is kicking butt in her college classes. It is so much easier to stay on top of classes when you see the teacher weekly and they are not a virtual person inside the computer (or your mother). She is such a leader in youth group, such a good babysitter, such a good singer, such a good actress, such a good friend. A man on her retreat this weekend told me she is "a leader and an encourager".<br />
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Jake went on an all day field trip yesterday with the band for a ten minute steel drum performance where he didn't actually get to play the steel drum just some kind of maraca. From there he went to the down town Georgefest carnival with friends. Following in his siblings footsteps, he left the house at 8am and returned home at almost 11pm. This morning he and I got up at 7 so he could have a good breakfast, get all dressed in his band uniform for his first experience as a marching band member only to find out when we got to the school that they were canceling due to potential rain. The parade went on sans Jake and the marching mustang band. Since Mike and I were on our cruise during the fall concert, I have yet to see him perform in the band. Hopefully nothing interferes with the spring concert. He is unsure about band next year. In some ways he really loves it, but we are spoiled enough that we are not big fans of all the school rules that are a part of being in a school band. For example we were told he could bring any kind of back pack on the field trip, but then he had a mini anxiety attack over getting out of the car in the drop off line with a back pack that wasn't see through. He was afraid the car line security would make an example of him. Thankfully he made it into the bandroom unscathed. Also school things like 6th period sometimes being the 6th period of the day and sometimes being the 1st period of the day, with little to no warning, or getting yelled at by said car line security if he tried to get in the car and the car in front of me has just left so now I HAVE TO pull up asap as opposed to Jake just jumping in. These kinds of things don't happen at drop off for theatre or youth group or whatever. We like loose rules, not tight ones. <br />
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Prior to Jake's birth and when he was really little, we used to travel a ton with Mike for work. Part of why we homeschooled from the beginning was so the kids could take advantage of all those trips. The summer I was pregnant with Jake we went on a six week business trip to the northeast, came home for two weeks, and then went on a two week trip to Texas. Changes in Mike's job as well as bigger kid commitments like theatre meant that by about 2005 or so we were no longer traveling much. Well now Mike has a different job and Jake is the one with slightly looser commitments so he will be able to take advantage of some travel coming up. In a couple weeks Mike, Jake and I will hit the road back to New Orleans (Mike and I spent 4 nights there last month). Thankfully we were able to convince the big two to lighten their schedules a little and fly out and join us for the second half of the week, I am excited about that. This summer will be Jake's 13 year old trip to NYC. Mike's father takes all the grandchildren to New York for their thirteenth birthday where they can more or less do whatever they want. Jake will be seeing Aladdin on Broadway. (Madi saw Wicked and Jonathan saw Phantom of the Opera.) That trip will involve all of us in New England where we are planning on less Connecticut and more New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Then the farther in the future trip that we are planning is an Alaskan cruise for the summer of 2016. Yay!!<br />
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Well I haven't moved from my spot under the covers, but now at least I can feel like I more or less accomplished something today. It's all about low expectations.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-85643665048323856702015-02-17T15:28:00.001-08:002015-02-17T15:28:41.469-08:00I'm still here...maybeI know I'm a broken record (that only seems to play about once a month or less). Sometimes I really think, yes...I am going to write. Then I think... about what? A lot of popular blogs have ongoing themes around cute things their kids say. That theme doesn't always fly when your kids are 12, 16, and 19. I read a fair amount of Catholic mom blogs, and am involved in a lot of real life Catholic living, but a lot of that also doesn't translate so well to the blog. Went to confession on Saturday, Madi sang like an angel on Sunday...not really a page turner. Some blogs have a lot of pictures of their kids' sports. Jake's outside shooting hoops right now, but that's about it for that. Theatre is our "sport", but most of the time I don't even get show pictures or videos up here anymore. If facebook didn't kill the blog, instagram may have. This blog started just before a major family illness (Mike, go back and see, I don't want to talk about it). My father ended up in the hospital last week, and that played out a little on facebook to the tune of dozens and dozens of people praying for him, and only one person (on my fb and another one on my mother's) thinking it was all about them instead of about my father. But I don't know that that is really big blog business. I like to write. I might have time to write, but what? for whom? Those are the questions. I just realized that it is raining and Jake and the neighbor are still outside playing basketball (it's also pretty dark), maybe that would make a funny story, but I don't think I'm going to hash it out now. Jonathan just texted that he is on his way home and it's Taco Tuesday...at least for 3/5 of our family. I'm going to go make tacos and eat my weight in tacos and junk food cause it's also Fat Tuesday!! Maybe I'll be around during Lent...we'll see...<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-40605804922775490252015-01-09T14:34:00.002-08:002015-01-09T14:34:47.768-08:00Dual enrollmentEvery time I start a blog post, I am tempted to say, "I am thinking about writing about...blah blah blah..." I can never seem to write about something, I'm always stuck just thinking about writing about something. I imagine this is because I'm generally torn between I'm not really a blogger and will probably never write again and I'm almost ready to write that book. Today I've had a few different conversations that sent me down the path of I might have something to write about. So here goes. Jonathan is a homeschool graduate who will finish his associate's degree in May, a year ahead of schedule. He will eventually get his bachelor's degree, but his plans for when and where are a little up in the air right now. Madi is a homeschooled junior in her second semester of dual enrollment. Let me say I am a huge fan of dual enrollment. I am also a huge fan of the local state college where the dual enrollment (or in Jonathan's case enrollment) takes place. I think we're well beyond the concerns of not saying our last name or giving away where we live in this space. I'm pretty sure the three of you that will be reading this already know those things. So <a href="http://www.lssc.edu/Pages/default.aspx">Lake Sumter State College</a>... I love this place. My kids do too. One conversation today was with a friend over the merits of AP versus dual enrollment. The local public schools seem to tell kids that AP is far superior to dual enrollment. I am pretty sure that as far as classroom rigor goes, this may indeed be the case more often then not. On the other hand, consider the source. If you stay at the school and take the AP class (and pass, and pass the test) the school looks good. If you leave the school grounds to take a class elsewhere, not so much. I know that there are very good AP classes at the local public schools and I know of plenty of kids to have taken them and will excel in their big name university educations because of it. I don't deny that. We have not gone that route. As homeschoolers dual enrollment makes much more sense and because it is the direction we've chosen I'm here to praise it. If you google dual enrollment versus AP courses you will see all kinds of pros and cons for each. Dual enrollment goes more with homeschooling in general. More freedom to choose the classes you want, when to take them, when to study, etc. Some local state and community colleges may not be as rigorous as comparable AP classes (lots of online material points to the fact that AP students are usually at the top of their class while entry level college students are not necessarily), but you know what dual enrollment certainly prepares you for college because, guess what? it is college! One of the websites even said that AP makes more sense for high school students because that class is often taught over a whole year instead of a semester. Um well in college the whole thing is done in one semester so dragging it out doesn't really sound so superior in my book. Here's the thing. This is my same old argument about maybe mastering the more basic material is a better idea than doing harder work and not really "getting it". Information is out there. We pretty much all walk around with a small device in our pockets that can give us any information at any time. Did the Union or the Confederacy win the battle of Shiloh? I don't know, but I know how to find out really fast. I do know who won the war though and I know factors that led up to it were around since the founding of our nation, my kids know those things too. They've read and listened to many books about the Civil War and about lots of other things too. They know about the battle of Gettysburg and they can almost word for word give the Gettysburg address, they know how long four score and seven years ago is, and they know how to look up any other battle or general or whatever they might need to know about. Today when Madi and I were discussing her American History and it was time for a quiz, I had her do the matching of the people's names to what they did (who was John Wilkes Booth... kind of important), but had her totally skip the which battle was what part. When a question of battles comes up on trivia crack, she'll have to make an educated guess and then google it later. I seem to have gotten off track, but in my mind it is actually the same thing. After lots and lots of years of homeschooling and turning out some pretty cool kids, I have to say that harder classes are not necessarily better classes. And dare I say harder classes don't necessarily make you smarter. My high school physics teacher was a genius. I don't think I learned anything in that class. There must have been some kind of a curve though because I must have gotten either an A or a B because that's all I ever got. I've blogged before about how frustrated I've gotten when people have belittled something that I find worthy educationally because it isn't at a high enough grade level or reading level. Does something have to be hard to read to give good information? I don't think so. I've also blogged at length about how conversation has been one of our main methods of education over the years. This way of learning is carried out at Lake Sumter. Jonathan is definitely an auditory learner, it is serving him well in his college classes. He has been invited into and has joined an honor society phi theta something based on his excelling in his classes. This is my blog and I've been his main teacher for most of his life, so of course I can say this makes me proud. But really it's not my thing anymore, now it's his thing. I really have a grown kid now and another one coming up right behind him (and before I know it that last one will be there too). Jake at this point is thinking his high school learning will mostly take place inside the school building, so I am in no way saying that our way is the right way or the only way, I'm just saying I feel a little more at liberty to say what worked for us because we can now see that it really did work for us. And since another one of my conversations today was with a public school mom who is pulling her 10th grader out of school next week, I was able to tell her the ways these things have worked for us, and how this once unconventional way of doing things has now become the thing that so many people want to know more about. Our early homeschool days would probably be called delayed academics (with a heavy dose of talking), our middle years might be considered a little closer to the school model (but again with a lot more talking), and our later years will definitely be classified as pro-dual enrollment (and yes lots of talking). Take it or leave it, I have no need to convince anyone of anything, but if you want my opinions on why we do what we do, I'm happy to tell people and maybe even sometimes write a little about it here in this very neglected place.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-45543468722282945442014-12-30T13:38:00.001-08:002014-12-30T13:39:43.704-08:0012 in 2014I've read a few of these 12 pics year in review posts and they all seem to have beautiful pictures with the month somehow written right on the picture, and links to numerous blog posts written in that month. That's not going to happen here. Last year at this time I had grand plans to blog about each month of the previous year and of course that didn't happen. If I've learned anything lately it's to aim really low. I'm pretty sure I can find a picture from each month of 2014, so that is the way this is going to go, no links, no sweet stories, but a picture for every month.<br />
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January...<br />
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February...</div>
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March...</div>
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April...</div>
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May...</div>
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June...</div>
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July...</div>
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August...</div>
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September...</div>
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October...</div>
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November...</div>
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December...</div>
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And that's all she wrote.</div>
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<a href="http://www.houseunseen.com/2014/12/12-in-2014-link-up.html">Link up with Dwija</a> for more 12 in 2014 posts that have more content.</div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-87144974452110896442014-12-09T15:57:00.000-08:002014-12-09T15:58:44.212-08:00quick updates in facebook formatAfter many years of grinding my own flour, I have opted to use cheap white flour for Christmas cookies this year. It was a good idea!<br />
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Madi just texted that she got 100 on her Sociology (dual enrollment at LSSC) paper. I texted back, "hopefully your Algebra 2 (FLVS) teacher will take that into consideration."<br />
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Jonathan and Mike have grand plans for outside Christmas lights every year (think Christmas vacation). Here we sit in the second week of Advent with nice subtle lights outside. I'm not complaining.<br />
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We got a droopy Christmas tree this year. Here we sit in the second week of Advent, and I might be complaining a little. It's still drinking water and not brown yet, but it's kinda sad. For the last three or four years we've had trees that were still like new on New Year's Day, so I think we were overdue for this one. I also think I mentioned that we had done so well with trees lately we might be due for a dud and I think this one heard me.<br />
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A dear friend had a stem cell transplant yesterday and was walking on the treadmill today. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been to the gym this year. Mike is ready to pull the plug on the family gym membership, and in spite of my terrible attendance, I'm not ready to let it go. Jake is now old enough to go too, and I know he and I really need to get into a gym routine, yet I can't seem to make it happen. Maybe saying it here will motivate me to take the plunge. If we don't use it, we'll lose it.<br />
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It is the Feast of Juan Diego today and we had tacos for lunch. I knew it was the Feast of Juan Diego and the boys and I talked about it this morning. The tacos for lunch was unrelated, but as Sheldon Cooper would say, was a happy accident.<br />
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We have gotten 7 Christmas cards so far. For a while we seemed to be getting one a day, and had the same number of cards as the date in December, but now we'll fallen behind. Sent me some cards!!<br />
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I mailed mine today. <br />
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I also mailed 3 Christmas packages.<br />
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Jake has the opportunity to go to two different dances this week, but will miss them both because it is show week at theatre. <br />
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This really was my facebook status yesterday...<br />
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Our family's favorite musical, Once on this Island, is this weekend!! Madi is Ti Moune on Saturday at 7, and Jake is Agwe on Friday at 7 and Sunday at 2. Reserve your tickets today. This is one you won't want to miss!</div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-91863006579922205352014-11-15T06:21:00.001-08:002014-11-15T11:32:56.996-08:00It's Saturday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Linking with <a href="http://teamwhitaker.org/2014/11/week-life-2014-friday/">Kathryn</a> once again for what I imaging will be the last time this week. Tomorrow is the day we've been planning for...cruise!! Lots of packing and preparing to do today. In the meantime here's a short review of yesterday and a preview of today.<br />
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Hmmm, yesterday, what was yesterday? Mike and Madi both had dentist appointments. I did a little History with Madi, a little reading about northern Europe with Jake. There was a point for a little while when the whole family was in the kitchen (actually that happened for a little while in the evening too). Late morning Madi and I went to pay her traffic ticket. Jonathan took Jake to Target. Mike was at a meeting. Madi and I picked up pizza for lunch, the boys brought home soda and we had a little party. The Duggars joined us on the TV. Then Madi did math, Jake did a little more school work, Jonathan talked a lot, and before we knew it it was time for Madi to go to work and Jake to go to band. I sat in the car line during band listening to the Busted Halo show. Then took Jake right to theatre. While he was at theatre I went to the Verizon store and got my upgrade. My 2 year old iphone 4 was on it's last legs. Now I have a fancy 5S yay! This week in review with new phones and pedicures is not at all typical of a normal week, it just happened that a week in my life also fell on the week before the cruise. Mike and I were scheduled to house manage for the current main stage show at the theatre at 6:30. The show is A Good Old Fashioned Redneck Country Christmas. I convinced Madi to dress like an usher and help us out. Good thing because as of the time of the house opening I only had two ushers and one of them was brand new. I was supposed to have 6 or 7. I pulled Jake from where he was sulking upstairs because he really didn't want to be there, and he sat people in his athletic pants and Aeropostale tshirt. Finally three more ushers showed up 35 minutes late. I quickly put them right to work. Jonathan had been working on tech stuff there since about 4, and he and Jake decided to just go home and not stay for the show. The show was pretty cute and touching. It is a nice short show (my favorite kind of nonmusical) and we were all home (and back in the kitchen) before 10:00. Then I got in bed and watched the end of Forrest Gump. The end.<br />
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Today we are packing, and cleaning, and I personally have nowhere that I have to be. Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-80186177833753170912014-11-14T05:00:00.003-08:002014-11-14T05:02:44.800-08:00Thursday on Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For the second night in a row I closed down a coffee shop. (both times I was drinking tea) Now it's Friday morning and I'm not sure I'll remember all the things that were Thursday, so I'll just try to hit the highlights. I made pumpkin chocolate chip scones for breakfast. Jake had borrowed the steel drums so even though he didn't have band in the morning, we had to be there bright and early to return them. Jake and I made the first trip and some of Jake's friends came out to help him with the second round. Then I waited a pretty long time because Jake sorta forgot he was a homeschooler and did the middle school hang out in the court yard thing. He's really got the best of both worlds that kid! Apparently he and his buddies were discussing changes to Sesame Street (no more Big Bird because kids are afraid of him? no more Burt and Ernie because people thought they were gay?), I'm not sure any of this is true, but it makes for riveting middle school conversation. By the time we got home Madi had already left for her art class and Jonathan and Mike were already in Orlando (separately) (Jonathan had brought a broken light from the theatre to the lighting place and Mike had a meeting.) Jake did some (I use that term loosely) school, I tutored, then for lunch we headed to chick fil a for our mother-son bookclub. (ie Julie, Tiffany, Jake, and Joe eating chicken, fries, and milkshakes discussing Doll Bones, a pretty creepy book.) Tiffany took a picture, but it's not appeared on her blog or instagram yet, so it won't be here either. Madi met us there after her class and had lunch with Hannah. Then it was back home for a little while, Jake to band, a quick stop at the library (where I saw a friend and we were asked to be quiet), and then I got a pedicure as part of operation prep for cruise. Then it was home again for another quick stop, made myself a grilled cheese, ate it in the car, and picked up Jake from band/extra steel drum band. Jake and I then headed to church where he had choir and I have a group thing. The room we usually use for said group thing was occupied because there was going to be a symphony concert last night at the church, so we found something else. I got to use my newly minted key to one of the church buildings, I guess I can effectively say we spend a lot of time there, since we actually now have our own key. The keys to the kingdom so to speak. Anyway that ended and it was off to another night in a coffee shop with friends. Solving the world's problems takes a lot of time in a coffee shop and a fair amount of tea. When the place was closing and we were sent away, we spent about 45 more minutes talking on the sidewalk. Jonathan was not working last night, but had gotten hooked up by Amanda (theatre director by day and Tinkerbell who flies from the castle by night) to spend the evening shadowing the tech crew of the fireworks display. I stayed out late talking because I knew I was going to be up late waiting for Jonathan anyway. He actually got home before I did, and he was so excited about his night he talk talk talked about it for a long time. Then finally it was bed and a little Big Bang Theory.<br />
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Twenty nine years ago on November 13th my closest friend at the time took her own life. I think it's not an exaggeration to say I've thought about her every day for 29 years. I didn't say this out loud to anyone all day yesterday, but I felt like it wasn't right to not memorialize it in some way so there's that.<br />
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You can <a href="http://teamwhitaker.org/2014/11/week-life-2014-thursday/">read about other people's Thursdays here.</a><br />
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-30074956943668635672014-11-12T13:43:00.001-08:002014-11-13T06:33:53.910-08:00Wednesday, another day, another blog postToday I again got up around 7:30. I had pumpkin chai tea to drink (and a pumpkin muffin to go with it). Jonathan had to be up and out the door for an earlyish class. Madi and Jake had to be up and out the door because it was St Vincent de Paul food pantry day. Madi and I did read a chapter of history though. We always toss Chemistry under the rug cause... CHEMISTRY! But we always make history a priority because we both like it (I was going to say love, but let's not get crazy!) Mike was again working from home for the morning. I spent a little time trying to get the loft to not look like the pig sty that it is (I have a long way to go), we moved a bookshelf from the loft into the corner of our room now known as Mike's office. I started looking in my closet as a pre-packing experiment re: upcoming cruise. I am missing a dress. Where could it be? I tutored from 9:45-11:45 and also touched up paint on that outside shelf. (lots of shelf things today) <br />
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At 11:45 I brought my student home and went to meet my friend Pam in the park for a picnic lunch. Pam has cancer (Hodgkin's lymphoma) and is preparing for a bone marrow transplant. (Pray for her and my brother Rob {stage 4 melanoma} they share a birthday, different year.) From the park, I stopped in at the library. I checked out a couple of Norway books for Jake, Uncle Tom's Cabin for Madi, and a young adult (kids?) book for myself, Savvy. <br />
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When I got home Mike was on his way out the door, Jonathan had been home and gone again, and Jake and Madi had just gotten home and were eating lunch. Very soon it was time to bring Jake to band because early release Wednesday means band is an hour earlier. I sat in the car line listening to the Busted Halo Show on the Catholic Channel and checking social media. I also read the latest issue of the local made by kids for kids magazine. Madi has a picture in the photo contest.<br />
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When we got home it was just after 3:00. I encouraged Jake to get something like schoolwork done for a little while, but of course when boy next door rang the bell, I told Jake he could go out and play. Packing food for people in need for 4 hours and then an hour of band will be school for today (and an hour of religious ed tonight too!) I noticed that one of our many pumpkins was getting a soft spot, so I cut it up and popped it into the crock pot. We already have two large containers of freshly cooked pumpkin in the refrigerator. While I was doing that, Madi had me quiz her on vocabulary words for her art class (she is dual enrolled at the local state college taking Sociology and Art) (She has an art quiz tomorrow). I also made her a grilled cheese because her "lunch" was carrots and pretzels and she will not be home until 8:00 tonight. <br />
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Now it is 4:30. In an hour Jake and I will head to the church for a meeting about an upcoming fundraiser for Pam. (maybe Jake will do some schoolwork then) Then I will teach 9th grade religious ed. As soon as it ends I will head to Starbucks where Mike will take Jake from me and I will visit with one of our first friends from here who now lives in Colorado, but is here helping her elderly mother. <br />
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Again, no pictures. I am due for an upgrade on my phone and desperately need it, but I have to make the time to go to the Verizon store. My current phone camera is pretty bad and only works about half the time. I definitely want a new phone before the cruise...maybe tomorrow.<br />
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To read about other Wednesdays<a href="http://teamwhitaker.org/2014/11/week-life-2014-wednesday/"> go to Team Whitaker</a>.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-33342513624619972002014-11-11T17:16:00.001-08:002014-11-12T13:45:19.664-08:00Tuesday on TuesdayWell this one should be a little easier because now I'm going to write about Tuesday and it is still Tuesday. This morning I also got up around 7ish (maybe closer to 7:30). I had hot chocolate/coffee and attempted to race Mike in a #1 (easy) Sudoku. In my attempt to actually beat him (never happens) I messed up and scrapped the whole thing. I ate a piece of sourdough toast, and got Jake started on his math. I know it's Veteran's Day but we have all kinds of "days off" around here, so some school was going to get done. Did History with Madi (we're in the 1850s right now and were reading about abolitionists). From 10-12 I tutored (still in my jammies) while intermittently yelling at Jake to get something done. Jonathan (whose college classes were canceled for Veteran's Day) was talking to him too much. While my "tutee" (as in the girl I tutor) was working on math I quickly slapped some paint on a little shelf that we garbage picked this summer. It is going in our front yard with some plants etc on it. I did my lesson plan for my 9th grade religious ed class. I like the curriculum we are using, but it is planning heavy and not the kind of class that it read aloud and answer questions. Jake got some map work and some spelling done. Madi went to the gym and did some Algebra 2. Jonathan joined the college honor society that he was invited into. Mike worked from upstairs (interestingly enough also still in his jammies...ssshhh). I showered, ate lunch, and debated whether to go shopping for shoes that Jake needs (Kohls coupons) and some food (Aldi coupon) (there are 5 Aldis around here, but all of them about 30 minutes away). Opted to go to the farther Kohl's because it was near an Aldi where the coupon would definitely work (might not have worked at the slightly closer one). Madi decided she'd like to come too. This trip would bring us near Plato's Closet and she had some clothes to sell to them. Drove to far Kohl's (Madi read Chemistry on the way) (Jake may have done some Language Arts). Found exactly the shoes Jake needs for his band concert (that we will miss...cruise) and his Christmas Tour performances (that we will see), even on sale the shoes were NOT CHEAP. Walked to the checkout area only to find every other person in the greater Orlando area to be in line in front of us. Apparently Kohl's wasn't expecting that extra coupons plus a federal holiday would mean more people should have been scheduled to work! A nice manager (Janice) told a group of us in the back of the ridiculous line that we'd get an extra 10% off. $5 off plus $10 off plus 20% off plus 10% more off made the cost of the shoes almost reasonable. Time was getting away from us as Madi needed to be at choir at 4 and Jake to theatre at 4:30, but we made an executive decision to drop Madi at Plato's closet while Jake and I would run into Walmart to exchange a too small shirt that he got for his birthday. A Walmart fan I am not, but somehow I find it easier to go into other Walmarts than I do my local one. Well sadly even though we had the shirt with the tag that says Walmart, the customer service lady informed us they did not sell that shirt at that Walmart and therefore we could not exchange it (or just get credit). No shirt for you, Jake! We will now look for a Christmas angel tree with a 10ish year old boy who needs a new shirt. While we were striking out at Walmart, Madi was striking out at Plato's Closet. It was going to take them at least 45 minutes to get to her clothes. 45 minutes we did not have. On to Aldi. We were successful with our coupon from there and stocked up on staples (ketchup and tortilla chips) and got food for church Thanksgiving baskets. No time to get all the way home and for Madi to get to choir, so I had to drive Madi right to choir, come home and throw the groceries in the house, have Jake pick up his script, and get him to theatre (with not a minute to spare). Decided to stop and get my eyebrows waxed (may have actually let them do my upper lip too, but I'll never tell). Then tried to go to the library (fail...duh...federal holiday). Back to the church to pick up Madi. (also tried to get the mail...again...duh!!) Visited with Mike for a few minutes while he, Madi and I ate leftovers. Talked to my father for Veteran's Day. Sat down to look at blogs. Mike left for a meeting at the theatre. Made a couple phone calls and texts trying to make sure Jonathan was going to be bringing Jake home from the theatre. Found the links about the week in the life posts and spent the last hour blogging about yesterday and today. Mike will be at the theatre for about 2 more hours, but all kids are home safe and sound and I'm going to read, possibly watch TV (still not caught up on DWTS and there's a new Duggar episode on tonight), and I will be going to bed early. During all of this I've had hundreds of conversations with Mike and the kids, they have involved theatre, church, Disney, and a myriad of other topics. At one pint this morning Jonathan said something to Jake and I answered him from two rooms away. Jonathan said, "mom, you have ears like a hawk," and Jake replied, "no Jonathan, you just have a mouth like a howler monkey."<br />
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To read about more Tuesdays go<a href="http://teamwhitaker.org/2014/11/week-life-2014-tuesday/"> here.</a>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-46898887232760613392014-11-11T16:28:00.003-08:002014-11-11T16:28:32.600-08:00Monday Monday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am (perhaps foolishly) considering joining some bloggers for a week in my life series of posts. This week won't necessarily be normal (mainly because there is no such thing for us), but it may give a snapshot of what normalish might look like around here. <br />
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We're supposed to start with Monday, that requires me to recall yesterday. While it is no problem for me to tell you what I wore to my 8th grade graduation (or all of the birthdays of my 8th grade classmates), remembering yesterday will be a little bit of a challenge.<br />
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Hmmm. Let's see. Mike mostly worked from home yesterday (gotta love the new job). I got up at 7ish. Had some coffee/hot chocolate and a pumpkin muffin, took Jake to steel drum band (middle school, Monday mornings 8:00), called my mother on the way home to say hi (next Monday morning she or Jonathan or Madi will be doing the steel drum run because Mike and I will be on a cruise). (pretty sure that sentence was more than long enough even though I don't think I really ended it) <br />
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Did History with Madi, talked to Mike, may have done some laundry, and then it was time to go pick up Jake. Did some school with Jake. We are 'in Norway' in Exploring Countries and Cultures. Jonathan (who had worked until about midnight the night before) got up and played a homemade Norwegian game with Jake (I think it's called fox and geese). <br />
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<em>If I continue doing this for everyday this week, I will definitely need to do it the day of because I'm sure I'm already forgetting stuff about yesterday</em>.<br />
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Anyway, at some point Mike asked if I wanted to go out to lunch (yes), so I finally took a shower and got ready. First we went to the bank to cash in two very old savings bonds. One was from my First Holy Communion in 1978, the other was from our wedding in 1994. The 1978 one was a $25 bond now worth $87!! (cool huh?) The 1994 one was $100, now worth $110 (not nearly as cool). Either way...cruise money! So after the bank, Mike ran into the theatre for a minute. We attempted to go to a newish BBQ place by the lake...closed Mondays. We ended up with Italian (well actually I think it's Greek). We split a salad and a calzone. It was raining and pretty chilly when we came out. We went to Walgreens to pick up a few things including travel size toiletries (did I mention we are going on a cruise?) <br />
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When we got home, Mike left to go into the local office of his new company for a few hours, and I really can't remember what I did. I might have spent some time on the computer and did a little bit of laundry and dishes. At 3:00 I took Jake back to the middle school for regular band. I came home to start making some cookies, visited with Madi, Jonathan, and Chloe for a little while, then went back to get Jake (long car line). Jake had asked for permission to take his steel drums home for a few days, he plays a triple, so he had three girls helping him carry everything to the car. We now have a triple steel drum in our family room. I brought Jake right from band to theatre, and came home to finish making the cookies (pumpkin chocolate chip). While they baked, I folded laundry and watched some of Dancing with the Stars from last week and the week before. I had known who went home, but didn't see some of the dances. Mike came home and we ate left over chicken (he had some salad too). Then it was time to get Jake from theatre and head to our <a href="http://www.renewintl.org/ARISE">Arise Together in Christ</a> group at church. When it was already past time to go, I remembered I needed something resembling dinner for Jake. Microwaved hot dog (terribly bad I know) to the rescue. Picked up Jake, said hi to Madi (who was on her was home from theatre), and we drove to church. Half way there we got the text that Madi was home (always a relief), and then when we were about 2 minutes away I got a call from my brother. Early on in the conversation I told him I only had a few minutes because we were almost to a meeting at church, but he was so talkative, I ended up standing outside talking to him for about 15 minutes. My 40 year old brother has stage 4 melanoma, he has been terribly sick, but is doing remarkably well right now. He's been driving the car, raking, grocery shopping, cooking and doing dishes. From March until recently he was unable to do anything but go to the doctor and lay on the couch. Please keep praying for him, the prayers are working. I joined my church group already in progress. We were discussing the gospel of John. I wasn't the only one who brought cookies, it was almost like an impromptu cookie exchange. While the adults (and my two year old Godson, Kolbe) meet in one room the kids meet (bang and make loud noises) in the room next door. Last night they ate a lot of cookies too. When we got home every kid was home, I read for a little while in the tub and went to bed. <br />
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It seems crazy that anyone would be interested in reading this, but as a person who loves reading about other people, I'm going to post it. You can also go to <a href="http://teamwhitaker.org/2014/11/week-life-2014-monday-2/">Team Whitaker</a> for links to more Mondays.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-5058483746033712882014-11-05T14:41:00.000-08:002014-11-05T14:41:21.444-08:00Popcorn, meatballs, and cookie dough ballsNot sure if that title will have anything to do with what I might say on here, but it would adequately answer the question, "what's cooking?". We are having meatballs (and some kind of pasta) for supper and they have been cooking most of the day in the crock pot. I made cookie dough balls for the first time in a while today and they are nestled nicely in the freezer, but I keep finding myself over there grabbing one or three. I hear Jake popping his second round of popcorn as I type this. After 4 plus years of having braces (yes seriously, he wasn't even 8 when he got them), he got them off yesterday. Yes he ate popcorn frequently with braces, but now he can do it guilt free. <br />
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I'm tired. Madi was in a car accident Sunday and it's aged me ten years. She is fine, her car, not so much. Mike's in contact with all the appropriate insurance people etc to figure out what happens next. <br />
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Jake, Madi, and some friends performed at a local elementary school this morning. It is one of the few local schools that they've never performed at before. It went really well and they had a little Q and A afterwards. The first question a little girl asked was, "How can all of you sing so beautifully?" Later a little boy asked Kirk (a 14 year old boy who had sung the love song that Jake also sang in Dear Edwina) if he always has trouble getting the girl. It was so funny! Kirk responded that breaking into song doesn't always work to get the girl, but it's worth a try. A group of little boys with autism sat in front of me and one little boy who sat quietly and kept to himself the whole time moved his arms (as if directing) all through Jake's solo (Naughty from Mathilda). Good thing it was such a good morning because I feel like we've not really accomplished anything else since then.<br />
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Madi is currently at rehearsal for the Florida Theatre Conference which is this weekend. Jake went to band (and is now eating popcorn and watching Back to the Future 2...if pressed I could come of with some educational points to that movie), I am teaching 9th grade religious education tonight, so all those things should count for something. Madi and Jake are also eagerly awaiting parts for Once on this Island, auditions were Monday and Tuesday. It is pretty much our whole family's favorite musical. It will be Madi's third time doing it and Jake's second. <br />
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Could this post be more boring? Probably not. <br />
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Madi, Jake, and I are on a pretty big Duggar kick right now. We eagerly watched Jill and Derrick's wedding (and I cried) and last night was Ben and Jessa's engagement (cried again!). We know that in real life Ben and Jessa actually got married on Saturday and we mentioned it a few times throughout the day. Yes, a little obsessed. The other night when I couldn't sleep (due to Dear Edwina songs shouting in my head) after prayers didn't work, I resorted to try to recite all the Duggar kids in order. I can mostly do it, but like the presidents, I get a little jumbled up in the middle.<br />
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Jonathan is at school right now taking an astronomy test. He currently has a 4.0 college GPA (with 30 credits). He's got 15 more credits this semester, but is feeling like it will be the end of the 4.0. He has been invited into Phi Theta Kappa a collegiate honor society with special benefits and scholarship opportunities so that's pretty cool.<br />
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I keep leaving this blog to check facebook and see if parts have been posted yet. I know it is very unlikely since Amanda is actually directing the rehearsal that Madi is at, she will most likely not be posting parts at the same time, but I can help it, I have to keep checking. Madi was the lead when they did this show 6 years ago, but she really really wants it again, and I really really want it for her. Jake would be happy with either one of two "Gods". Actually, they'll both be happy eventually with whatever they get, but they'll be happier (and happy faster) if they get what they want.<br />
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Jake's band class is back to the afternoon (but will change back to the morning shortly). I often sit in my car in the car line (that has already formed before 6th period starts) listening to the Busted Halo show on the Catholic Channel. I might be as obsessed with those people as I am with the Duggars. When I was little I thought Sonny and Cher were my parents' friends and Chastity was my BFF so this kind of thing is nothing new for me. When I was middle school age I was genuinely obsessed with The Guiding Light, so as you can see my taste has gotten considerably more innocent and humble. Actually in 3rd grade I distinctly remember writing sentences for my spelling words that were about the Guiding Light... "Vanessa and Ross are friends" for example. These days when I give Jake a spelling test I often use Seinfeld references. "George asked, 'is she socially awkward?' " Actually last week one of his words was 'maul' and my sentence was, "Don't maul the deer you jaguar." which made us both laugh a lot. Too bad the humor probably won't transfer so well on here ;). <br />
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I think it is officially time to get the pasta cooking, I've wasted enough time today, and parts are still not up yet.<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-55037578880304767902014-10-30T07:58:00.001-07:002014-10-30T07:58:32.774-07:00Timely articlesYou know the saying about how once you have a child, your heart is walking around outside your body? Well when two of those hearts are driving, it takes parenting to a whole new level. One of my favorite bloggers ever, <a href="http://www.elizabethfoss.com/">Elizabeth Foss</a>, said it best in <a href="http://catholicherald.com/stories/November-grace,27447?content_source=&category_id=80&search_filter=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=stories&town_id=">this article right here</a>. I spend so much time waiting for those texts that tell me that they have safely arrived at their destination. I frequently hear sirens 5 minutes after a kid pulls out of the driveway, I constantly wonder how all other parents before me (and before "I'm here" texts) have even survived. I talk to St Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) every day. I do spend a lot of time in gratitude too, but there's definitely room for more. I'm definitely going to work on that in November.<br />
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And speaking of working, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/m-blazoned/the-default-parent_b_6031128.html">here's another good article</a> about the work of the default parent. This one made me LOL a lot, and even brought tears to my eyes because it is so true. For some reason this default job seems even bigger now with bigger kids, with their own cars, own jobs, own plans, and own lives. When I carried them inside my body, fed them with my body, slept with them pressed up against my body, and was literally never more than 10 feet away from them for days (weeks, months) at a time it was physically tiring, no doubt. But in those days there was a lot less to keep track of. Now the constant who is where when stuff, makes my head spin. Make no mistake, Mike is an awesome husband and father, and is clearly the default (read only) earner, lawn mower, and manager of those rental houses that I didn't want to buy to begin with, but all the other default stuff goes to me. It is not just with regard to Mike either, the kids are also constantly asking who is doing what when and I am the one who is expected to know. Sometimes I still have to remind them of their own commitments not to mention everyone else's. <br />
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Thank you to these two great writer for writing what I am living. <br />
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.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-45079339778933338232014-10-25T14:09:00.000-07:002014-10-25T14:09:00.173-07:00Teenagers etcI'm starting this post without a title and not sure where I am going. Mostly I wanted to stop by here and say how cool teenagers are. At least mine are, and I'm pretty proud. And it's my blog and I'm going to brag. Jonathan and Chloe are going to Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween party at Disney tomorrow night and guess who they're bringing...Jake! Granted he paid for his own ticket (yay birthday money), but still isn't that nice. It is not unusual for Jonathan (and Chloe) to do this kind of thing, but it is pretty unusual for teenagers in general to do this, and I want to remember that.<br />
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Also, Madi does indeed have a boyfriend as well. He seems really sweet and I'm looking forward to getting to know him. Their dates mostly consist of meeting in one or the other of the local downtowns and walking near the lake, in the midafternoon because...busy schedules. But today they had a real live afternoon date where he picked her up at our house and everything. Guess where they went... to Mellow Mushroom and then to <a href="http://www.americancatholic.org/features/special/default.aspx?id=32">reconciliation!!</a> Isn't that the best?? And he's coming to the theatre tonight to see her perform.<br />
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My house is nice and clean (well parts of it) because Reese was going to be coming to the door and we needed to make a good impression. Now I can bask in the (semi-cleaness) which is a rare treat on a Saturday afternoon of show weekend. Plus it is my favorite time of year with the windows wide open, so not only is it cleanish in here, but there is a cool breeze blowing in from the open window. <br />
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Speaking of show weekend. Jake and Madi are in two different casts for this because... (once again) ... busy schedules. Madi has an opera like song (someone actually asked me if she had taken up opera), another cute song, and she does a split in her cast. She is also ensemble in Jake's cast. In Jake's show he falls in love with Chloe (yes, Jonathan's girlfriend) and truly steals the show with his song near the end. Videos may or may not ever make it on here. I'm a million years behind on that kind of thing. My excuse is I'm busy enough living in the moment, and I'm ok with that.<br />
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I started this school year looking for opportunities to make a little money while doing my favorite thing (homeschooling). It is really working out. A very close friend who I've known roughly since her birth, comes over 2 hours/ day 3 days/week and we work on mostly math and language arts (that sentence may or may not be grammatically correct). It is so awesome to see the progress she is making. I'm as excited for her accomplishments as I am for my own kids. I want to be a professional homeschooler when I grow up!<br />
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I've also had long (LLOOONNGG) phone conversations recently with two different moms (one of whom I've never met in real life) who are both contemplating homeschooling. I really feel like I have significant credibility now that I've officially homeschooled a kid to completion. My general mantra to people is that it doesn't have to be nearly as hard as you might think. On the other hand, one thing that I'm not sure how to relay to others is how to naturally talk to your kids about life all the time. I know that a lot of families do this, but I'm pretty sure there are also a lot of families that don't. While it might start when they are babies in the grocery store (like "that is a red apple", "oh this aisle is cold") it shouldn't end once they know how to speak. (Just like reading aloud shouldn't end once they know how to read.) I get a fair amount of compliments on my kids (and sometimes, like today, I'm the one pointing out their great qualities). Plenty of people would say I got lucky (and maybe to a certain extent I did), but an awful lot of thought has gone in to this parenting thing and probably the biggest part of it has involved lots of talking. Talk talk talk talk talking. <br />
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I'm starting to sound a little like those blogs I don't like that only show all the good stuff, but I'm going to trust that the handful of people who might show up in this little tiny corner of the internet know that I'm not really like that. We are far from perfect, we are real believe me!!<br />
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<em>Next time I might be back here with news like Jake is still sniffing like a pig and it is driving me insane or Jonathan and Madi's bedrooms look like they belong to hoarders. </em><br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-17416503965206226832014-10-20T06:51:00.000-07:002014-10-30T07:16:39.096-07:00Not sadOh my goodness, I just had half a screen's worth of a blog post that just disappeared. Somehow in one second I highlighted and deleted the whole thing. That might have been the Holy Spirit protecting me from myself because I was getting as controversial as I ever do on here, but I'm a glutton for punishment so I'm going to press on. This morning I read a popularish blogger's post refuting another blog post/ article about homeschooling. One of the reasons given to not homeschool in the comment section brought up homecoming and prom. I find it so peculiar when people with single digit aged kids use this excuse to not homeschool. I mean I don't think anyone really uses it as an excuse not to homeschool, but to even throw it into the mix seems terribly odd to me. I am not one of those "I didn't go to my prom anyway" kind of people. I LOVED that stuff (still do actually). When we were juniors, my friend Cindy and I referred to our upcoming junior prom as "the biggest night in our lives up to this point". Interestingly my teenagers have each attended at least a prom or homecoming (and they each plan on more), Jake, likewise will be all over that stuff. But number one, they've had tons of nights in their lives much bigger than those events and number two, this isn't even my point, it's just a segue (I looked that up, it should be right even though spell-check is telling me otherwise). My actual point is this... a facebook friend who I actually haven't met in person yet (her son and Jake are in band and theatre together and she kinda does for the band what I kinda do for the theatre) posted last week that she is considering pulling her middle schooler out of public school and homeschooling him. A mutual friend (who I actually know and love in real life) (who is firmly entrenched in the public school camp) commented "how sad". Um, no, not sad! A presumably well thought out decision of a family trying to do what they see as best. This is certainly not a one-way street. When Jake went to public school last year, there were plenty of homeschoolers (or at least one really loud one) who had the same "how sad" reaction. Um again...NO! Have we really come to a point in our society where if people don't make the same decisions that we do it is sad? Really?? There are all kinds of sad things out there. Sickness, poverty, war, etc... How a loving family prayerfully chooses to educate their children is not one of them.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-82133195035578901912014-10-15T04:45:00.002-07:002014-10-30T07:20:57.409-07:00Good morning!It is 7am and Madi is already off to take the PSAT/NMSQT. I was a little nervous that she'd be a little nervous last night, but she's got it under control. Her feelings..."I'm not going to be a national merit scholar anyway" and "driving a friend that's more nervous than you are is a great way to not be nervous." She took it last year too, she's not this! I mean probably not the national merit scholarship part, but she should ace the part about going there without throwing up.<br />
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My young son, you know the one that's not yet 12. The kid that knows every Seinfeld episode by heart (literally by heart...he replays episodes in his mind when he's nervous {like at the dentist}). He is also very well versed in even less appropriate shows like Big Bang Theory and Friends. You'll never guess what show he is hooked on now...Telly Tubbies!! It is now available to stream on Netflix and he's hooked. He's even convinced Joe to at least pretend to like it (sorry Tiffany). I can relate a little bit though. Guess what book I am currently reading...Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself! Yes I do this thing where I reread most Judy Blume books once a year or so. Silly, I know. Sometimes adult life (or adolescent life) is hard and we have to go back to feeling like a child for a little while. There could be worse coping mechanisms I'm sure.<br />
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Like for example the coping mechanism by which I stare at my phone like a wild woman until I get the text from the teenage driver (s) that says<br />
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or this...</div>
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That "or this..." was supposed to be in the middle of the two, but whatever!</div>
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Also now my mail photos save in downloads instead of pictures (no time or patience to figure that one out), so I almost put this picture from last year at this time on here by mistake...</div>
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Another thing...this is guy now NINETEEN!!</div>
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What I've been doing while I'm not blogging...</div>
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Teaching my kids (and talking to them every chance I get)</div>
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Spending time with Mike who is liking his new job which has him sometimes traveling and other times working from home in his jammies all day.</div>
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tutoring</div>
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taking a friend to chemo/dr appts</div>
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leading two different small groups at church, plus teaching 9th grade religious ed, plus another group thing</div>
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laundry</div>
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not cleaning my house</div>
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driving Jake places which sometimes involves waiting in long car lines</div>
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praying for my driving kids</div>
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praying for hundreds of other intentions</div>
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and a thousand other things</div>
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We spent 48 hours on the road for a day and a half in Albany, NY to attend my cousin Patrick's wedding and captured the moment with this...</div>
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And finally today is take two (or sorta take three) of maybe Jake will be getting his braces off...</div>
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we don't have our hopes up... </div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-60080416131417243702014-09-16T20:43:00.000-07:002014-09-16T20:58:22.062-07:00bad stuffI've got a kid who's working for another hour and a half and then has an hour long drive, and my brain is swarming with all kinds of crazy, so here I am to get some of it out. Recently I was at something at church, a specific event for people to help each other in their Christian walk, and there was this older woman going on and on about all of the bad stuff in the world (persecution of Christians, dangerous storms...) this end of the world stuff is not common in the Catholic church. This particular woman doesn't even go to my church, and I think she's got some senility issues (and more), but was basically on a tirade..."what are you doing about this?" kind of thing. It was awkward and uncomfortable. I kind of asked myself what am I doing about that? Praying! That's about all I can do about A LOT of the terrible things that are going on in the world. More recently a similar thing happened on my facebook page. Someone more or less criticized me for not doing anything about a bad situation that has happened locally. Like the loud woman at the church, this person clearly has her own baggage, but sheesh! I am not a fan of confrontation. So often confrontation just comes up out of nowhere. In this case I was totally blindsided. I really don't want to come across hypocritically so I really analyze these kinds of accusations even when they are completely unfounded. How can I sleep at night when there are people being beheaded? When there are kids being abused? When there are wars? When there is so much suffering? etc etc and WHAT AM I DOING ABOUT IT? Well like I said, praying. At least most of the time I'm praying, sometimes, like today it's more of a whiney fist shaking conversation with God. Sometimes you have to put your own oxygen mask on first. After that you have to put the masks on those loved ones who are closest to you. Sometimes that uses up all you have and you just have to pray that the rest of the world gets their oxygen mask. It cannot all depend on me. Tomorrow I am going to a funeral and a dermatology appointment. Jake and Madi are going to hand out food at a local food pantry. Tomorrow night I will teach religious education to 9th graders, while my three kids will be volunteering at the theatre (well one of them might be getting paid). On Thursday I am taking a dear dear friend for cancer treatment. On Thursday I will also be praying for my parents who are going up to CT to be with my brother (who I pray for constantly). Am I tooting my own horn? Maybe, but my point is, my dance card (or prayer card or service card or whatever) is a little full. If most of my day is spent tending to things like this, I'm kind of thrown for a loop when people accuse me of not doing more. Maybe there is more I could do. Maybe writing this is not the absolute best use of my time. Maybe instead of watching reruns of comedies before bed I could do something more worthy. But maybe those comedies are helping me to function or I'd be able to do even less than I'm doing now. <br />
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PS I've lost track of how many times I've cried today, sometimes THAT is all you can do.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-49145419220627350732014-09-06T22:30:00.000-07:002014-09-07T05:40:38.010-07:00Photo dump and brain drainI drank poison (aka diet coke) twice today so I'm awake in a quiet hotel room at almost 1am. The funny coffee story about tracking down Night of Joy tickets after they were sold out involved only finding tickets for last night. Even though we didn't order tickets in a timely manner (the no job thing) we did reserve a hotel room for two nights (the free points thing and new job means some traveling and more points so we don't have to hoard the ones we have). Thus tonight I find myself in a quiet hotel room where Jake and Mike are sleeping. Madi is sleeping at home (where Grandma is also still sleeping), and Jonathan is still working crowd control at the tomorrowland galaxy stage for another 17 minutes, then should have about a 15 minute trip to his car and 25ish minute drive to this quiet free hotel room. By the time that transpires the diet coke will hopefully have worn off and I can get some sleep. In the meantime, I'm making use of my wakefulness by loading all my phone pics onto my computer and maybe transferring some of them to this (maybe resurrected?) blog. In doing so I might also clear some of the thoughts from my head, we'll see.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11C_GnVk8pUdafkhH2C9mbcizC5sOogmXAWDGuRUxeOgVviStwcXPTzTO7mic1IlmwKLznrHweG39N4mwHTidmLVKDhHxWl4yGH6AvSyH9wXGz68hIljvlwPrfSj3fyXan2g1UzedMrsn/s1600/002.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11C_GnVk8pUdafkhH2C9mbcizC5sOogmXAWDGuRUxeOgVviStwcXPTzTO7mic1IlmwKLznrHweG39N4mwHTidmLVKDhHxWl4yGH6AvSyH9wXGz68hIljvlwPrfSj3fyXan2g1UzedMrsn/s1600/002.PNG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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Madi got to play a lead-ish role in the final production of Legally Blonde way back in July. Here's a glimpse. (Incidentally, she rocked it!!)</div>
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Then there was Aladdin (or Jafar as it may be).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMMuTztexzT9S1txvzpx9SM8Hqi0H9SzUdb82xGUoOml4g_Q6zZr_sU6z4_eFagWAc_NL2WYimreF1cbM2r_pU_CRSYT2kyeBYMOvSVR5A7qFfkE5DqE7L-YpwVVB8xHBg9eIM2EHAcPy/s1600/026.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMMuTztexzT9S1txvzpx9SM8Hqi0H9SzUdb82xGUoOml4g_Q6zZr_sU6z4_eFagWAc_NL2WYimreF1cbM2r_pU_CRSYT2kyeBYMOvSVR5A7qFfkE5DqE7L-YpwVVB8xHBg9eIM2EHAcPy/s1600/026.PNG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
and an old favorite from Jake's first Aladdin<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHjF0rGQ9ePNzsp0Oa6bQfDF5Uy-wqBiaJKeCIkxv3dua_oOfboNfhUNwiIMC6pxFvQJA6fky80LbmR3Kj9-285RRArLvoIzosu-4MaXT-WgjO75TD9USJYC6bEzO6nTUzNUoAMslUTBk/s1600/032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHjF0rGQ9ePNzsp0Oa6bQfDF5Uy-wqBiaJKeCIkxv3dua_oOfboNfhUNwiIMC6pxFvQJA6fky80LbmR3Kj9-285RRArLvoIzosu-4MaXT-WgjO75TD9USJYC6bEzO6nTUzNUoAMslUTBk/s1600/032.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1wwbZMSOuMuwThSSix7z9HM06GYgNgzc3uuvEVdrS2qLJinYIjgSeuiBHMksSIZBe6hZsI77ZS-cwyYBND6epWuXjdbs_5kGddWaSHV3agMMo55kh2JjVWpIfEv7SnWJiQOVj74zAwii/s1600/033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1wwbZMSOuMuwThSSix7z9HM06GYgNgzc3uuvEVdrS2qLJinYIjgSeuiBHMksSIZBe6hZsI77ZS-cwyYBND6epWuXjdbs_5kGddWaSHV3agMMo55kh2JjVWpIfEv7SnWJiQOVj74zAwii/s1600/033.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a>Jonathan had some pretty fun hands on projects for two of his summer classes Weasley twin fever fudge for his Harry Potter class and the Globe Theatre for his Renaissance class. (he got As in both) (the projects and the classes)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBoWCfgj55djQL4XvBAjWV5AW1OnvHxoZfOiaOsa7vVSRC88bBbBHUrXmp9v289ETcQ_6Q2es0kcySWHAHEs6oPMZf54daohyNnlOtzWFbJlKvf53H90QQtwc6wFic2nhULnflMv2zjv3F/s1600/036.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBoWCfgj55djQL4XvBAjWV5AW1OnvHxoZfOiaOsa7vVSRC88bBbBHUrXmp9v289ETcQ_6Q2es0kcySWHAHEs6oPMZf54daohyNnlOtzWFbJlKvf53H90QQtwc6wFic2nhULnflMv2zjv3F/s1600/036.PNG" height="320" width="213" /></a>A little more instagramed Jafar.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitN5KIUm4_z-sAe0tt8L3blT_jtF2yZM7D48G6N4A9Gnmj4vHurXygrJYRGVliZZR4z3_FthyXWLiHYMy-Y7xbEGRsx9mpVWrPfSEsjI8Xv-xNuXnAg3hIjtupKPNQRynCUUc0qPjVAeYp/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitN5KIUm4_z-sAe0tt8L3blT_jtF2yZM7D48G6N4A9Gnmj4vHurXygrJYRGVliZZR4z3_FthyXWLiHYMy-Y7xbEGRsx9mpVWrPfSEsjI8Xv-xNuXnAg3hIjtupKPNQRynCUUc0qPjVAeYp/s1600/042.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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A prayer shawl made for me by a special lady at church. Also known as the before hairdo.</div>
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The current hairdo, disregard the wideness of me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5iDgdftbORbj4QsjQc_eBSAkm31pjrOWnoJ0WxAA5j7ZVBEyeaxl0TlGqzwAbOVDXkB21c_Rs73rtdVYhcz19HCuXBucxN5uuD45PnZqjXbV9s1EW85yyxEKVyU7gPSZVskcRxwJYjXa/s1600/052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5iDgdftbORbj4QsjQc_eBSAkm31pjrOWnoJ0WxAA5j7ZVBEyeaxl0TlGqzwAbOVDXkB21c_Rs73rtdVYhcz19HCuXBucxN5uuD45PnZqjXbV9s1EW85yyxEKVyU7gPSZVskcRxwJYjXa/s1600/052.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAavH3nCRz-XaAPOu5pksipy9C97Oh8W7EWDXWQCaHkyO-OcRBarwtStGwB9O3jaH9vUFg9GWkbviG-3IoIwGNWBpzyrN1UpQrrvNN2vgnGwYUnghSv6JjJ7dViUubNsfgY3dncZvT8JfH/s1600/053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAavH3nCRz-XaAPOu5pksipy9C97Oh8W7EWDXWQCaHkyO-OcRBarwtStGwB9O3jaH9vUFg9GWkbviG-3IoIwGNWBpzyrN1UpQrrvNN2vgnGwYUnghSv6JjJ7dViUubNsfgY3dncZvT8JfH/s1600/053.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJy8dBp75xkZs8ZzSvH10VXVlnYE8_Hl1rjzMFXRpAdNIyBn1YXZTGurU0TSP3xr2UEyS1i6uquW_ux1BMYL8jt2AXjj38W8f4gWQ_HpmSIGe6KOy4tbaQw0hr2EF-Wqf8SRoQl9aSUjQ/s1600/054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJy8dBp75xkZs8ZzSvH10VXVlnYE8_Hl1rjzMFXRpAdNIyBn1YXZTGurU0TSP3xr2UEyS1i6uquW_ux1BMYL8jt2AXjj38W8f4gWQ_HpmSIGe6KOy4tbaQw0hr2EF-Wqf8SRoQl9aSUjQ/s1600/054.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
Couples at the Dolly Awards.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKa-RF7MkyOAiRCIS2UUHj_mDmDCWgJZXWzX7ZdDKY9NDmY-QGThjgZELzuPH6TKKhrwVbftTEXPX5uB88y6RhoyHv46p9vtmOSB7gUmI7pvz6Nvoxt04ogm2nZbO0Rll5FFhZWy1UjHf/s1600/060.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKa-RF7MkyOAiRCIS2UUHj_mDmDCWgJZXWzX7ZdDKY9NDmY-QGThjgZELzuPH6TKKhrwVbftTEXPX5uB88y6RhoyHv46p9vtmOSB7gUmI7pvz6Nvoxt04ogm2nZbO0Rll5FFhZWy1UjHf/s1600/060.PNG" height="320" width="213" /></a>The Dolly girls!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0jAtmMNy-2lBEVk_5fVGtaTZpPCdUI2yTrBlX1mTolGTowVnCDjq6Hsg5aEnSEYKjdnR85tuIy_2UGZnuMpe8zEfMzTnoP5YwtcosA-qKSgppuGfOXnir3Q_mkgoBeVLWl19l_-IkUx2/s1600/092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0jAtmMNy-2lBEVk_5fVGtaTZpPCdUI2yTrBlX1mTolGTowVnCDjq6Hsg5aEnSEYKjdnR85tuIy_2UGZnuMpe8zEfMzTnoP5YwtcosA-qKSgppuGfOXnir3Q_mkgoBeVLWl19l_-IkUx2/s1600/092.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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Jake's world cake for week 2 of exploring countries and cultures.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68UmHgRSuUUUCLkH89ZnvAbhRBrCR26Hh5wJzNDQQ7MyvYZWe9z783YhXcD3VYRNqpeQUCbZ8uNuFxzHT13TT2K_XPWHLbXksuadSLgpwx9Ux60nCmDffotVvZdgRt3LN_WaOjHS0KB0L/s1600/064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68UmHgRSuUUUCLkH89ZnvAbhRBrCR26Hh5wJzNDQQ7MyvYZWe9z783YhXcD3VYRNqpeQUCbZ8uNuFxzHT13TT2K_XPWHLbXksuadSLgpwx9Ux60nCmDffotVvZdgRt3LN_WaOjHS0KB0L/s1600/064.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a>A chemistry matter experiment for the first day of school.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8HbKvLidClSLjrpoAwsOrHDXsBEiNxGjpwAjkS2MQw_J8FAk-hcQno5rtFZHsCmLm2ZGekaiPlukd3MED_eoEpmAcva32g2i4D2ceuEIw34IPykkrEZILYoEUy8fC51Xrh9y_w1VYFbT/s1600/105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8HbKvLidClSLjrpoAwsOrHDXsBEiNxGjpwAjkS2MQw_J8FAk-hcQno5rtFZHsCmLm2ZGekaiPlukd3MED_eoEpmAcva32g2i4D2ceuEIw34IPykkrEZILYoEUy8fC51Xrh9y_w1VYFbT/s1600/105.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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Jake made delicious corn chowder for week 3 of exploring countries and cultures recipe from that book. No filter my phone, camera lens is actually missing and this is as clean as I can get the nonlens part so dirt is the filter.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKkFdNxVyCwWTzcW66dxbbaEmUZ0zx5lv_j4I38d3SzL2JwJF62ivBAJ3M9x0WHdncI4Ha3LG1ixHJAQeu23hOc0hoXWM6Q43fa2_AOnpHZWcpEya6bNvL5m1hOOW7g_J6AH1l6-8Els_/s1600/108.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKkFdNxVyCwWTzcW66dxbbaEmUZ0zx5lv_j4I38d3SzL2JwJF62ivBAJ3M9x0WHdncI4Ha3LG1ixHJAQeu23hOc0hoXWM6Q43fa2_AOnpHZWcpEya6bNvL5m1hOOW7g_J6AH1l6-8Els_/s1600/108.PNG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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Jake and Joe's first bookclub discussion for this book.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXswbuOKtUtAWAFI2vI1Sigu2nQ5nJOkHviFC-wz40N4WZpYeXxBI33qklej_H71o6Wh_RL47PCqYevyblYyt1KI4YAHc9DyZPcradwbwS2R6XRgblleDQ3MXwizXt9vQ8wWVlZvk1VX-M/s1600/51LjBCjcWuL__AA160_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXswbuOKtUtAWAFI2vI1Sigu2nQ5nJOkHviFC-wz40N4WZpYeXxBI33qklej_H71o6Wh_RL47PCqYevyblYyt1KI4YAHc9DyZPcradwbwS2R6XRgblleDQ3MXwizXt9vQ8wWVlZvk1VX-M/s1600/51LjBCjcWuL__AA160_.jpg" /></a></div>
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Tiffany's right, that's what Thursday was.</div>
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Which brings us essentially to the present. Jonathan has texted that he's left and should get here in give or take 20 minutes. I did a fair job of photo dumping, but was a little weak on the brain drain. I'm guessing the diet coke is wearing off because I'm getting a little sleepy.</div>
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Madi bought a car (not sure if I said that already). She may or maynot have had a date-ish thing with a (Catholic) boy I haven't met yet at Starbucks. (she also might read this)</div>
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Jake is running lights for two weeks of a mainstage show. Everyone in charge trusts him. He still has this terribly annoying sniffing tick that he can't seem to stop. Before that there was the blinking tick, and before that the weird faces, not to mention the licking of his lips (and half his face) with his monstrous tongue. I've joked (or half joked) that it's Tourette's. He even told kids in school last year that he had Tourette's (when they asked about the tick du jour). Our pediatrician who I trust immensely doesn't think that's what it is. He doesn't do the sniffing in his sleep and he had it checked out at his physical (no sinus infection or anything), but eastern air tea and natural silver shield and western nasal spray have not touched it. And my screaming about it doesn't seem to do much good either. This is a long way of saying I'm concerned about his sniffing in the tech booth carrying down to the patrons who pay $21 to see this show. That and he's my kid so I'm concerned in general. (A tick like that might be spelled tic, I don't know, but it's technically tomorrow morning already so I'm not going to look into it right now.)</div>
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In a dark quiet hotel room my computer screen is exceptionally bright. I'm not sure how to adjust it.</div>
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I think I'm out of things to talk about. Thanks for keeping me company in my dark quiet hotel room. Goodnight!</div>
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<em>I "published" this at 1:30 am so it is technically Sept 7 and my godson's 13th birthday, but blogger thinks it is only 10:30 and still the 6th. Maybe it had too much diet coke too.</em></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-61259504931575190972014-09-05T11:48:00.000-07:002014-09-05T14:12:36.738-07:007 QTs that should deserve their own postYears ago I posted one specific week in July that felt full enough to be a Christmas letter (I've used the blog as a Christmas letter analogy many times). These days we've found ways to cheat on a Christmas letter by writing a short poem and finding picture cards that have a little space for a short short write up. I guess I do a lot of cheating in the blogging division as well. Sometimes living life is so full it's hard to take time out to chronicle it. Anyway one week in the summer years ago it felt like we had a whole Christmas letter's worth of material, first mission trip for the kids, first exchange students, new car for Mike and probably more that I am forgetting, I'm sure there was a show thrown in there somehow. Well this week could likely be considered one of those weeks as well. for starters..<br />
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1. Mike got a job!! Technically he got offered two jobs this week after a very slow summer in the job availability department. <br />
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2. We have gone to Disney's Night of Joy for the last 6 years. We had all intentions of going this year as well, and Mike's brother from Connecticut was even going to be joining us with his new girlfriend. They bought their tickets weeks ago. We did not. Between no job etc, we knew at least some of us would go but hadn't gotten around to buying tickets. Plus Jonathan works there so there was the whole should he pick up shifts for that night? Does he get in free? etc...etc... anyway... he picked up support shifts which means he should be working near one of the tomorrowland stages and maybe meet some performers...cool! We didn't attempt to buy our tickets until the 2 job offers were on the table and guess what...sold out!!! EEnyway... we have connections (and a funny coffee story for you, Ann Marie!) and we got tickets at least for tonight. In the meantime here's a little stroll down memory lane...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhMOLLJAgouoKxYrw0VaCMAJp61BLiMUxPwN3Bf3qfig9X83n_EBIIGYdnV-cO49dA2jW8y_sUG7PpoGRVOVfolIDcpXFHgHFJ5Zhe59Aa78pgpNGxxnkLCQk03CbRZMfS1Bkyj4HCbE-/s1600/0906081950.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhMOLLJAgouoKxYrw0VaCMAJp61BLiMUxPwN3Bf3qfig9X83n_EBIIGYdnV-cO49dA2jW8y_sUG7PpoGRVOVfolIDcpXFHgHFJ5Zhe59Aa78pgpNGxxnkLCQk03CbRZMfS1Bkyj4HCbE-/s1600/0906081950.jpg" /></a>NOJ 2008</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfcHzQrHmdLsZmMBl8JRKfXj_3dr5vcq1muXsyLNycXhJrqnosiX8VKqfVpit-IW_IVilXxWwGdkhooRifmzwRLIiFlc-kZ66FfI-3vpTWI5FuzFhp7SnzsUuwGaZ7V1-uuVq1vkIhyphenhyphen80/s1600/sept+09+032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfcHzQrHmdLsZmMBl8JRKfXj_3dr5vcq1muXsyLNycXhJrqnosiX8VKqfVpit-IW_IVilXxWwGdkhooRifmzwRLIiFlc-kZ66FfI-3vpTWI5FuzFhp7SnzsUuwGaZ7V1-uuVq1vkIhyphenhyphen80/s1600/sept+09+032.jpg" /></a>NOJ 2009</div>
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NOJ 2011</div>
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3. Why do I always blog when it's almost time to get Jake to band? Time to speed things up a bit.</div>
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4. Rob has been doing so much better on his new treatment, but this week has been really rough, he's had a fever and had to go off the treatment for a few days. Prayers are always appreciated.</div>
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5. We had two awesome weeks of school and then this week happened. The first job offer (the one he is not taking) brought me and Mike to Atlanta on Monday-Tuesday which meant less school happened without mom. Then Wednesday Jake and Madi joined other homeschooled youth from our parish for some food pantry work...better than school, but still leaves school undone.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUOzx2JThu5tpPLQloEYoqKIdcOS5dbS9edVD2zwH-fd4uOk_NBuS1DjVnnooMywb6q13lWp2e4fVuvuvPI-116IUaGJF7wwhhgvTjVD8_l8CEMOtWgJ2AQBIQz3QMuQ5tFDOBNWozxRzF/s1600/10407071_10201622835012809_4822067142040700649_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUOzx2JThu5tpPLQloEYoqKIdcOS5dbS9edVD2zwH-fd4uOk_NBuS1DjVnnooMywb6q13lWp2e4fVuvuvPI-116IUaGJF7wwhhgvTjVD8_l8CEMOtWgJ2AQBIQz3QMuQ5tFDOBNWozxRzF/s1600/10407071_10201622835012809_4822067142040700649_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Thursday was I don't even know what and today Madi and her coworkers took their boss out to lunch. We won't fall behind, we won't fall behind...say it with me.</div>
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6. I have big plans of at least documenting some of our homeschool year on here, but time is running low so that won't be today.</div>
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7. "Grandma" (Mike's mother) moved down here last month (she bought a house down here two years ago), her house is getting all kinds of fixed up (tile, paint...), but we are on day 36 of her sleeping at our house... 'nuff said.</div>
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Join <a href="http://www.conversiondiary.com/2014/09/7-quick-takes-about-dog-whispering-fails-a-hilarious-interview-moment.html">Jen who's going to have her own show on The Catholic Channel</a> for more takes.</div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-63529102799398711952014-08-28T12:02:00.000-07:002014-08-28T12:02:00.713-07:00Five FavoritesWould you look at this, I'm here on a non-Friday. I just finished a week of gratefulness on facebook where I listed three things per day that I was grateful for. I'll keep the listing going with a linkup of the five favs variety. As a side note sometimes I think it makes more sense to list five things in the same category and other times I like to go crazy and just list five random things. Jake has to be in the band room in under 15 minutes, so we're going to go wordless for the rest of this post...<br />
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3.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75Zdj6G3-Tq7CYsFHd9V4HgZg-1j7SP8z8KZ5c1f245L9Ej4rDOhVQpVY_WkQ1_dSPWr35xLj8ldBOK5RcN-ltMWnDkJ42EkHBxdjdzwQVCXLsugOAqBdFfoSPtd03yeSiTB7rXsqiDLG/s1600/bbt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75Zdj6G3-Tq7CYsFHd9V4HgZg-1j7SP8z8KZ5c1f245L9Ej4rDOhVQpVY_WkQ1_dSPWr35xLj8ldBOK5RcN-ltMWnDkJ42EkHBxdjdzwQVCXLsugOAqBdFfoSPtd03yeSiTB7rXsqiDLG/s1600/bbt.png" /></a></div>
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5.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju71QOIpraIvuP9FOzowaaGx2YJqpS702OQWoaiaHEgCcHoHUPpbEpSNd2bU03qx8J3hCUo3cNby8PovjjPugHKv1Uu1ereRWTj6Fwp4hLkt2Q8vt81V8Xqr9tO0UNLULXa_FBLo-6IOdB/s1600/iphone.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju71QOIpraIvuP9FOzowaaGx2YJqpS702OQWoaiaHEgCcHoHUPpbEpSNd2bU03qx8J3hCUo3cNby8PovjjPugHKv1Uu1ereRWTj6Fwp4hLkt2Q8vt81V8Xqr9tO0UNLULXa_FBLo-6IOdB/s1600/iphone.png" /></a>For more favs go here.<a href="http://www.mamaknowshoneychild.com/2014/08/five-faves-late-but-great-school-favorites/">http://www.mamaknowshoneychild.com/2014/08/five-faves-late-but-great-school-favorites/</a></div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343584928772813024.post-26676883066226319832014-08-22T11:53:00.000-07:002014-08-22T16:28:38.252-07:007 QTs first week of school1. We had a great first day with two eager homeschoolers. Madi managed to finish the never ending world history class last week and is already ahead in Algebra 2 on FLVS! We've had a great week with Notgrass American History and we'll survive Chemistry.<br />
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2. Jake and I are contemplating dropping his FLVS Language Arts class. There are pros and cons of each option. He doesn't need to take it for any reason, my very well spoken teenagers didn't even "do language arts" in middle school, the material so far seems arbitrary, with questions that aren't really a part of the lesson, I know it has something to do with the whole common core issue that I refuse to engage in debate over, we could spend the time that the class would take actually reading (silently, aloud, and audiobooks) really good literature, facebook is filled with grammatical errors and everyday I could have him correct some of those for practice, etc...etc... Those are all reason to drop it. Reasons to stick with it include: the teacher is really nice, and it doesn't matter what his grade is anyway (it is middle school) and it's not really going to hurt him to have more work to do. </div>
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3. Speaking of great books...Jake and I are finally reading the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Vey-3-Battle-Ampere/dp/1442475129/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408748097&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+vey+book+3">third Michael Vey book</a> aloud and we are listening to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Giver-Lois-Lowry/dp/B00AHG3UYA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408748158&sr=8-1&keywords=the+giver+by+lois+lowry">The Giver</a> (Jake's first time). The Giver is seriously my favorite book of all time! I'm nervous about seeing the movie because I think I'll be disappointed. I have lots of thoughts percolating about The Giver and life in general, but for now they will have to stay swimming around in my head.</div>
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4. My first take and picture have been sitting up on my blog for the better part of the day, somehow it posted earlier when I hit enter, I was vaguely aware of it, and I continued on with takes 2-4, then it was time to take Jake to band (and what is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the day) the carline. I'm not even being sarcastic here, I like the carline. Basically people begin getting in the line one hour before school gets out. Since Jake is only at school for one hour I generally drop him off and get in line to pick him up. The carline is a good place for quiet time, daily readings, regular reading, and a little Catholic Channel on satellite radio. If I were to not get in the line then I could potentially go home and get in line much much later, but I'd wait until most kids were picked up because waiting in a stagnant line is peaceful waiting in a long moving line is borderline torture. I can't wait that long on theatre days anyway, so for now I am enjoying the carline. (I've made carline one word in the same way that I believe homeschooling and breastfeeding are one word). Eventually we will probably carpool with theatre people on theatre days and neighborhood people on other days, but I'm not ready to figure all that out yet. In the meantime if you're looking for me between 3:00-4:00, I'll be in the middle school parking lot.</div>
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5. I'm getting pretty good at commenting on the local homeschool group facebook page. Remember a couple weeks ago I discussed sharing the wisdom I have gleaned from years of homeschooling with those just starting out. Today there was a question about how homeschoolers handle birthdays and socialization, and I didn't know where to start with that one so I didn't respond. I can only do so much.</div>
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6. Jonathan has worked until o'darkhundred four nights in a row, getting home between 1am and 2am each night. It is killing me. I can doze when he is at work and on his way home, but cannot sleep soundly until I know he's tucked in his bed. Tonight he is not working and I plan to be asleep before 10.</div>
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7. My mother-in-law is still staying with us (I've said that before right?), she bought a house 10 minutes away two years ago and moved down from Connecticut last month to live in it. She's not ready to sleep there yet so for now Jake is once again misplaced, as she is sleeping in his room. Twice she's bought bags of Hershey's nuggets and left them on our kitchen table...I cannot stop eating them!! After the first bag I apologized and said we'd buy another one because the kids and I ate so many of them, but she said no that it was for us and the next day there was another bag. If you're looking for me and I'm not in the middle school carline or in bed fretfully waiting for Jonathan to get home, then I'll be in my kitchen with my hand in a bag of Hershey's nuggets.</div>
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For what are sure to be more interesting quick takes, <a href="http://www.conversiondiary.com/2014/08/7-quick-takes-about-vintage-dresses-hiphop-wedding.html">go here.</a></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06086635290946274033noreply@blogger.com1