Just Thinking...

Today was the start of my 2nd week at U of L and Lovely's 2nd week of school.  Reactions:

Me:

•  I have way too much reading to do.  Not like "Sam went to school today" kind of reading.  Here is an example of what I've been reading:  "Underpinned or at least burdened by the whole history of psychoanalytic theory, Campbell's use of the term participates in a depth hermeneutics that posits an irreducible essence inhabiting the subject and a tropology of the psyche that writes presence as consciousness, self-presence conceived within the opposition of consciousness to unconsciousness" (Beisecker, 146).  Ya, my thoughts exactly.  Amazing how you can love to write so much, but reading about writing.....uggghhhhh
• The writing center is pretty lax as far as hours working and time spent.  We'll see how it continues, though.
• I like the classes I was fearful of and dislike the one I thought I'd like.  Well, I take that back.  I love the information I'm learning in it, too.  History, you know!  I really should just live in an ancient library.

Lovely:

• School is fun.  She likes her teacher.
• She has several new friends, none of whom she can remember the names of.
• Handwriting is kind of boring because she's done it so much before, but she's getting better!
• She gets to play on the computer.
• She's going to have "lab coats" that are literally hand-painted--I can't wait to see those one day! 
• She's learning blends already, which isn't new to her, but pretty speedy for her grade, so I'm impressed.
• Her teacher is "cracking down" on discipline this week--I'm amazed at how strict they are, and very pleased. 

Overall, it's been a good day.  If only I didn't have all of this reading....lol

The First Week of School-School

The first week of Lovely's new school ended today and as she put it, it was "another fun day."  She is now up to six friends, she won a pretty pink pencil for a game they played, she has come home everyday this week with a behavior paper that declared a "super duper day", a card that had 20 stickers on it for good deeds she did while at school (such as opening the door for others, etc.), and she got a special treat of "suckers" for her behavior, and a popcicle because it was her teacher's birthday.  Whew!  She's had a big week!  But she still loves going, which I am so thankful for!

I think I'm going to continue doing handwriting and the First Grammar Lessons with her (when time), and let her continue ClickNKids phonics on the computer, just to keep her moving forward.  I'm so proud of my big girl! 

A New Direction

Pictures are to come, but I haven't had time to wash dishes let alone edit pics, so you'll have to wait.

First, thank you for all the homeschool support everyone has offered me.  I'm going to direct most of my new posts to this blog from now on, though, because we have just stopped homeschooling this year (mostly), and so I don't want to use my homeschooling blog right now.  We will be praying about resuming again next year, so let me explain why:

I was extremely stressed about all I was about to take on, and reality hit me that I was so stressed that I wasn't helping Lovely learn anything, or at least not much.  I didn't want to cause her to cry (or let's face it, myself), so I began to pray.  The charter school I submitted an application to was filled for 1st grade, but I continued thinking about it and reading up on them. They follow a 40 D list of character development traits, so they are very strict on teaching children to think of others first, etc.  No profanity, they wear cute uniforms, they make parents promise to be involved...all things I was looking for.  I was worried about mean kids (from my own experience), so I believed these school goals would cut down on that. 

Anyway, I found out my husband's cousin had to remove her twins from Kindergarten because she couldn't get her son in the same school.  That left two spots open.  I began to question whether or not it would be better for Lovely to have learning reenforced while allowing her more time to develop as a social little person.  I had started her in school early, afterall.  With as timid/shy as she acted, I was a little worried she might have a slight case of Asberger's (sp) syndrome, but I kept pushing thoughts like that out of my mind. 

I called the school and low and behold, there was ONE spot left.  I took her to the school and enrolled her that day, knowing that after talking with Hubby, if we changed our minds, I could simply call and not drop off the final paperwork Tues.  However, Lovely begged to go to school...literally begged.  The child who was scared of anyone under the age of 15 begged to go to school!  I bought her uniform (one skirt to last the year at that price!), her backpack, and supplies, and got her ready for the next morning.

I had to go to work the day she started, but I called and asked how her day went.  "Mommy, I love school!  I made two friends, but I can't remember their names.  I learned to count backwards, too--10, 9, 8...," was her response.  Wow!  Oh, and that night she showed me how to make a proper B--apparently I hadn't been strict enough when teaching her! lol  So why is it it took 2 yrs to learn to count w/o skipping numbers, but 1 day to count backwards perfectly?! 

Her second day went pretty well, too, although she didn't like a game they played, but we can't love everything, can we?  She painted a turtle and petted a real one, and she gets recess with other grade levels, so she's still exposed to various ages/learning development, which I like.

School/work for me should end in May, so we'll reexamine everything around then. 

Well, that's all for now...

Busy, Busy!

Life has been soo busy since Monday!  I started work at U of L, which amounts to sitting around chatting right now until we get students coming in for help.  I also have at least one class M-F, Tuesday being the worst day ever created because for this week and next, I have to go in at noon and I don't get back to my mom's house to pick up the girls until 8:45 p.m.!  Yick! 

Amazingly, I'm not as stressed today.  Today has been much better.  I've said a lot of prayers on the prayer front, and it has been amazing how the Lord has opened an unexpected door.  There have been some new developments with school for the girls, but I'll share those later.  All I know is that I've prayed, and I continued to pray, and I've seen amazing changes, so that even though my human side is all nervous and filled with butterflies, I know we're doing the right thing.

I am excited about one of my class projects, that will hopefully turn into the final project for the class, and then the culminating project for graduation as well.  It's been extremely difficult to think of a final project for graduation, so this is actually my first opportunity to get really excited about it! 

Mango Bummifications

So bummed am I!  A few months ago I discovered mangos--a yummy, good-for-you food.  I only ate part of one because I was cooking with it, but after a while, I got a horridly upset stomach.  I wondered if it was the mango itself, so I did a computer search and came back empty handed.

This week, I decided to give it another go.  I made a peach-mango smoothie, which was pretty good.  However, after about 45 minutes, I started getting really nauseated.  A little while later, my stomach felt absolutely terrible!  I lay on the sofa for a couple hours, and my stomach is still a little upset.  So, I decided to do another internet search and here is what I found...This guy seems to have the same allergy (I know nothing else about his website, but this article was useful to me), but he's "taking it back" and working up a tolerance for mangos.  Sorry, bub, but I don't have the time.  The allergy is caused by the Urushiol found in the mango (it's also found in poison ivy).  This article just speaks of a rash, but since the other guy got a rash after becoming ill, I'm guessing it's the same problem.  I'm just thankful I didn't eat an entire mango! 

Last Free Friday

Today is my last Friday of freedom...for a few months, at least.  And technically, it's not even free, with the abundant items on my infamous To-Do list.  Oh, well--I will make the best of it!

Yesterday was my orientation at U of L's Writing Center.  I'm actually pretty excited about working there!  I'm not crazy about all my hours, but I hope to get some time between work & class to study/write, so I don't have to do so at home as much.  I really like my manager/instructor, and I already knew one other person there (in addition the PhD mentors).  I am not crazy over the health insurance, but at least it's insurance.  If I have to go to the hospital that's frequently featured on the news as reporters discuss the latest gun shot/stabbing victim, then so be it--at least it will be paid for. 

I will admit, I dropped off an application at the charter school yesterday morning and felt oh-so-good about it.  I know they're full and they have a waiting list, but at least I'm making the effort so if the Lord opens the door, we can walk through it. Depending on how school goes this year, we may send the girls there next year (if they have room, of course)...it just depends.  I don't want to work away from home that much, but you never know what's going to happen! 

I've decided to just concentrate on phonics, spelling, and math with Lovely.  She does phonics online, without help, and does a super job.  Spelling....uggh...it took 5 tries to get an 87%, but honestly, the only thing I'm upset at is she needed me to do the typing for her in order to get that score.  Not that she can't find letters on a keyboard--she just told me I needed to be with her in order for her to do it.  So much for self-reliance in 1st grade! lol  Math went pretty well last night and she gave me a huge hug and kiss after the lesson because she had "so much fun."  Well, that was after she had a break down of "I can't do THIS!!!!" but I made her power through. 

As for all my other thoughts....pshhhaa....I am pushing them away.  Perhaps I should try yoga!  lol

Wow! It's Been a While!

Obviously, I have been trying not to think about the weight thing.  Obviously, that is impossible, but not impossible not to write about it!

I have been bad...very, very bad.  My brother & family were in town for a while, and we went out to eat A LOT and had some family dinners as well. Now, I'm nervous about starting my new job and classes, so my mind hasn't been on cooking, and we've still been eating out a lot...not good.  I did find I hate Stevie B's--- can I just have grease on a platter, please?  But I also learned I LOVE Moe's--I can't believe I didn't try it sooner!  Fresh & yummy, and fast! 

Now, today is my 7 year wedding anniversary with Hubby, so we are headed to the Melting Pot.  I've never been, but I've always wanted to try it.  Hopefully, I won't over-do anything, and hopefully, he'll realize fondue isn't a bad thing. 

Now, time for some random thoughts....

I want to move to a bigger house, but I feel like nothing gets done around here to make that possible.
I feel we have no $$ to make that possible.
I know ALL things are possible, but I wonder what's in His perfect will.
I wonder if I'm done having children and should sell every baby thing I've stored in my mom's basement.
I wonder if I'm a bad mommy for thinking about sending my kids to school.
I wonder if other people will think I'm a bad mommy if I send my kids to school.
I wonder why I care if other people will think I'm a bad mommy.
I wonder why I'm so torn about homeschooling lately. 
I wonder how I can better organize my house.
I wonder how often I'm going to cook during the next 10 months of work/school.
I wonder how I will face my dirty house day in and day out.
I wonder what the ultimate outcome of my degree will be.
I wonder if I should take a couple more classes just to become high school teacher certified, in case we send the girls to school so I can teach at the same school.
I wonder why I have this incessant drive to work, to try to control my circumstances, when I know who is really in control of everything and that it's better that way.
I wonder if it all stems from when my father passed away....which is what I'm sure any good therapist would say--if there was such a thing---lol
I wonder how I was able to write "lol" at the end of that sentence.  Just another sign of my twisted sense of humor...

Ok, I think I see why I'm a little distracted of late.  Keep me in your prayers!