no rest for the weary

and to think, i used to be annoyed by my husband's 'loud' acoustic guitar playing...

school daze

the other day i was on the elliptical at the gym and i noticed a situation through the window beside me. school had just gotten out and all the Abercrombie and Hollister covered kids were making their way to the afternoon hangout at the Y. one of the kids had some art work that he was bringing home from school. it was made with construction paper and some sort of translucent paper that made it look like a detailed stained glass. i noticed on the back bottom corner there was the emblem of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo art competition. you could tell the kid was proud of it, and he had every right to be.

i watched as he stood and visited with his friends who were all about my oldest son's age, then one of his friends started razzing him. he snatched the kids' creation, laughed at it, and held it up out of his reach and verbally ridiculed him. finally he handed it back, but the look on the artist's face told it all.

i think everyone who grew up in public school had a similar incident. doing things well is sure to bring the scorn of your classmates.

i felt really sorry for the kid and the whole situation got me thinking. how much of my personality was shaped by a vicious peer-group? generally i didn't fall into the group of kids getting bullied because i was somewhat rough (because in an animal-like environment, one can be mean or be eaten), but i can still remember trying to find ways to be cooler or funnier or more stylish. i can remember being so concerned with what others thought of me that it hurt. i remember the ends of summers spent planning how i was going to 'be' that school year. how horrifying was dressing out in gym class? how mortifying was the ill-founded rumor? remember all of the things and ideas one needed to be 'acceptable'?

my parents formed me, but my peer-group raised me.

all these things in mind, what sort of people are my children going to be? they may have 8 hours a week in their peer group, not 8 hours a day. the vast majority of their communication is with adults. there is no pressure to be anything they are not. i honestly can't get my head around the whole thing. their experience is going to be so opposite mine.

they are fortunate beyond reason.

random braggadocio

it's getting hectic around here. with the onset of soccer season plus my normal busyness i'm feeling a bit like a push-me-pull-you. luckily spring break is next week, hopefully i can regroup.


here are some random things, cause i feel random.

-i've lost 30 pounds! i'm really into the detox and health aspect of this thing now. normally i diet until i'm not disgusted with myself (which is where i am now) but this time is different. this time is for fitness. i'm aiming for optimal health of body and mind. Sunday i received quite the heady compliment...'you look so much younger!'...which i daresay has stoked my fires.

-Daylon is becoming kinda cool. i can't believe i said it, and don't tell him, but there it is. for example, the other night my neighbor (see previous entry, pardon me while i burst into flames) had a drunk husband arrive home from work. she is trying to stop drinking and in a jealous rage, provoked her husband until he was hollering and being a general ass. she got scared and ran out of her house with the baby screaming for help (eye roll extraordinaire) and brought all the drama to my house. after the situation had calmed down and she went home, Daylon said, 'man, i think they need to watch Fireproof again!' among other things, it gave me hope that i'm rubbing off on him in positive ways. ;}

-soccer season is on! Asher scored 5 goals this weekend (which he was disappointed with, he really wanted 6). there was an Irish grandmother on the other team and after she determined Asher was mine, she said in a thick Irish brogue, 'Ach! he's a little bruiser!' which just tickled me. Daylon played even though he had the flu...and managed to score! my dad gave me crap about letting him play sick, but i assured him that we value a warrior mentality over coddled sickbed crap. ha! i was really proud of Daylon's team, they were down 4-0 at the half and came back top win it 6-4! there are some really good kids on his team which is pretty surprising to me out here in the land of plenty.

-i'm getting Galilee off soymilk thanks to the fear mongering on the OR board ;} and i tricked her in to drinking goatsmilk this morning...she liked it!

-we went to Washington on the Brazos this Sunday for Bryan's birthday. Texas is so damn awesome. the bluebonnets were getting started and it was just really lovely. i always fantasize about moving to somewhere beautiful like Utah, but when it comes down to it i just regret that the economy of Houston ties us to this place. i couldn't live anywhere else. i think i'll give up on Utah and the Faroe Islands and set my sights on the Texas Hill Country. everyone knows the cows think Brenham is heaven, and i'm inclined to agree.

the school room

since i cleaned and organized the school room today, i thought i'd share some pictures. a clean school room?!? i just had to get some documentation! i know most homeschool families are painfully organized and their lives are full of baskets from Pottery Barn and shelving from The Container Store, but we aren't one of those families. i feel like the gods are smiling on me if i can find a pencil sharpener from day to day.

when i started homescooling my oldest son almost 4 years ago we did school at the breakfast table and stored our supplies on the kitchen island. so yeah, i like it pretty good.