Deep Breath

Mr W and I picked up a month’s worth of groceries this evening. Los kiddos stayed home and watched a Wishbone episode from Netflix. I’m glad everything is going quietly this week.

Tomorrow after church we’re having leftover pizza, and the elbows are already cooked for Crock Pot Mac-n-Cheese dinner.

Mr W has separated the cooked turkey into 4 portions and the broth into 2 tupperwares for the freezer; tomorrow he’ll do the same with the ham that is simmering in the oven overnight. That should keep us half into March.

If I can escape the After Church Nap Attack, I’ll fill out the tax forms, grade some English papers, and pray over all my various students. Los kiddos will gladly disappear into the back bedroom and the 2 new computer games while Mr W and I take over the kitchen and dining room.

No trucks pulling out our electric lines. No strep (for the 14th time). No job hunting, no ill pets, no surgeries or broken brake lines.

Thank You, Lord, for a quiet weekend at home.

How Does He DO It?

Mr Wonderful called on the way home from his night class: “I’ve had dinner.”

OK, the serving will do for tomorrow’s lunch, think I. “How’d that happen?” I wonder aloud.

“The ladies in class who are coming back from retirement to work as teachers again shared their dinner in exchange for me teaching them how to use Google.”, says he. “By the way, one of the ladies had a jar of caviar she was trying to give away- she doesn’t like caviar. You do like caviar, right?

Last year it was a free bottle of champagne from the flight to Ireland when he helped the flight attendants calm an irritating passenger.

Wonder who’s about to give him a lamborghini?

Off-Set

Got to stay up last night until 1 a.m. and watch “Mansfield Park” on Netflix Instant View. Yum! It was a British version and did a fine job of maintaining the original.

I must admit that I like Austen movies once I know it’s all going to come out “right” in the end. (I’ve been avoiding Great Expectations and Nicholas Nickleby for that very reason!)

Period pieces always look so nice. One of the blessings of TV is that there is no smell, and one can cut-scene past unpleasant bodily functions.

Mr Wonderful and I found a series of Reality Shows in which the unpleasantness wasn’t cut out. The shows had names like “Texas Ranch House”, “Edwardian House Party”, “Manor House” and “World War 2 House”. Modern families were trained, supplied, and sent to live for months in houses that had been refurbished into history.

I won’t forget the tears of the mom in WW2-style ration who dropped the dinner on the kitchen floor. “You don’t understand”, she told the camera. “There isn’t any more!”

And the flies that invaded the Texas Ranch House when the mom didn’t sweep well enough after the horses that were “parked” by her front porch each day. Gives huge incentive to my housecleaning!!

Wonder what the next generation will remember about our time?

Lemonade

The AlarmCat woke #3 this morning with Bodily Malfunctions. I’ve never seen #3 move so fast, with such purpose, as when he threw the cat out the front door at 5:30 a.m.

Maybe Asperger’s Syndrome could be cured with the right pet….

Anyway, putting sheets in the laundry pretty much precluded the “more sleep” option, so I went into the kitchen to zap a cup of Joe.

Not that my mind isn’t partially stuck in the new Chocolatier Game, or anything, where you invent coffee recipes as well as chocolate recipes, and the first coffee recipe is Cup of Joe……

How soon did you say Mother’s Day (and the accompanying self-gift) comes?

I did have enough brain cells at 6 this morning to remember that I have all the ingredients for Rootie’s Fried Pickles.

And no kids to lean over the pan asking, “What’s that good smell, Mom?”

Never, never would I have thought to mix sweet pickles, Bisquick, and ranch dressing flavors for anything other than a Volcano Science project. My hat is off to whichever Toot (#3?) invented this, though- it’s awesome!

Fried Pickles- it’s what’s for (my) breakfast.

No, I’m not pregnant.

Are You Smarter Than an American?

Our local co-op posted this link:

According to a study performed recently, over half of the citizens sampled failed the American Civics quiz with only a third being able to even identify the three branches of govt. Give the test a try and see how you do!

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

(I got 87.88%, missing questions #10, 31, and 33.)

How did you do?

Modern Times

My flaky artistic sister used to want to live in the early 1900s.

Not so the JerseyChick! Except for an odd weekend or 20 spent in the Middle Ages (oh, those 20 weekends were odd, indeed!), I love technology too much to give up the 21st century.

Vans with passenger doors that slide open on both sides.

Oh, the blessings of an Personal Computer: WordPress, Facebook, and Pandora for keeping up with friends and making new friends. Wikipedia and edHelper.com for homeschool. Amazon and eBay for shopping. Netflix when everything else is done.

Mr Wonderful and #2 went out Saturday morning to the thrift store and picked up some bath towels, dinner plates (I’ve broken a couple in the past season), and a FryDaddy.

Granted, you could get stuff in a General Store in Little House on the Prarie Days, but was there another store right down the street that sold used versions for 1/5 to 1/10 the price?

Central heat and air. Microwaves. Readily-available ethnic cuisines. Starbuck’s.

Hmm, this is rapidly degenerating into a trip to the kitchen for a second cup of coffee. What’s your favorite 20th-century invention this morning?

Masticating

Beware: This is another of those “JerseyChick is trying to sort out her thoughts” posts.

It’s easy to imagine myself a cow, since my post-30’s shape is slowly devolving and my thought processes are becoming more bucolic.

This week I’m ruminating over the idea of Science. But perhaps I’d better begin a bit earlier in the process…

We have about 25 days left of this school year. For the first time, the oldest 2 kiddos (5th and 6th graders) will be required to pass final exams in order to be promoted to the next grade.

Just as I do with my high school students, we will have review time in class, take review notes, have personal study time and team study time, and then the finals. So they will learn some study techniques whilst preparing for a review of this year’s material.

It is highly likely that #2 will then move to 7th grade. Junior high, oh my.

In our fair state, it is possible for 7th and 8th graders, if they do high-school-level work in high school classes, to get credit towards graduation.

To be specific, if #2 sits in on my local co-op English class and/or Latin class, she can get high school credits if she passes the classes.

Limb of thought #2: There are a certain number of required courses towards high school graduation, but also some options. An example: 4 units of science are required. 2 of those units must be Biology (with a lab) and Physical Science (with a lab). The other 2 are open.

Now, we are aiming #2 at college. She is capable of any state university, or even Ivy League.

Although we could do Gum Chewing Science and Nail Polish Science and still graduate high school, no respected university would accept her.

So the 2 Science openings are getting smaller.

Thought limb #3: Why bore the child unnecessarily? If she loves all things plant, why not a Botany course rather than a general Biology course? If her favorite passtime is photography, how about 1/2 year of photodeveloping and printing Chemistry and a 1/2 year of general Chemistry?

So I begin to dig around, pencilling in courses for 7th and 8th grade that will cover enough Science groundwork so #2 can have a bit more enjoyable specialization when she takes her 4 requirements in 9-12th grades.

Thankfully, we’ve got the English, History/Social Studies, Language, Math and Writing covered already. For our family, Science is the only real tangle. I can only imagine what other homeschooling families go through!

Also thankfully, we’re just pencilling stuff in as 7th grade appears on the horizon. One family we’ve helped in the past had to start homeschooling in 8th grade, and they had huge family changes to cope with that year as well.

So, the brainstorming stage is almost finished and the research stage has already gone through a couple of baby steps. I’ve been talking with #2, praying, and hoping there’s a boxed curriculum somewhere that will be a perfect fit, frankly.

So far it seems like most Science for homeschoolers is divided between “Fun!Gumchewing for 1st-3rd Grade Kiddies” and “10th Grade Intimidating General Biology”.

To put it succinctly, (and thank you for your patience as I sort the thoughts out) I am looking for a 7th-8th grade general life science and a physical science at about the same level so that 9th-12th grade Science can be specializations that #2 will enjoy instead of dread.

I’ve checked about 6 curriculum publishers so far and will give myself another 6 or 8 hours of Web research time before I narrow it down to 4 and talk it over with Mr Wonderful and #2 again.

I dislike long projects with little or no short-range visible progress. Myopic, that’s me!

Don’t Worry

Where’s the line between worry and concern?

#2 has a b-ball game to cheer for tomorrow morning.
Will she make a smartaleck comment to the coach again? How do I teach her not to be so bratty? Will she cheer well and/or have a good time?
Am I connecting enough with #2? She keeps talking about wanting more friends, and looking to me for acceptance. Am I encouraging her enough?

At the same time, #3 and Mr Wonderful are off with the AWANA boys and dads for bowling.
Is the AWANA boys’ leader irritated with me about all the questions I had? He always seems so distant -Does he care at all about #3?
Will Mr W get #3 back home in time to change for #3’s b-ball game, or will Mr W get caught up in a conversation with somebody and blow off #3’s game?

Thankfully, we’ve got leftover pizza for lunch…
Is there enough dough left to make sandwich rolls for Sunday breakfast for all 5 of us? Will the sandwiches be filling enough to keep our stomachs quiet in Sunday School and church?
Will I remember to remind Mr Wonderful that he and #1 have nursery duty? Will #2 and #3 behave if I focus on worship?
Will I remember to call my mom after church, making lunch, and making a snack for Home Group?
Should I call the folks who have #3’s AWANA book (he left it at their house last weekend) and remind them to bring it to church? Will he be able to pass a couple of sections Sunday night? He’s 6 sections behind now- will he get the book finished in time to stand with his group on Awards night?

Tonight it seems as if nothing is simple. As I look up from the details, though, I see God’s grace over me, and I remind myself that these details are part and parcel of caring deeply about the people I’m so glad to have in my life.

Pajama Day

Officially, Mr Wonderful is busy 5 nights a week for the next 6 weeks.

Los kiddos and I are hereby taking Wednesdays off for the next 6 weeks. There is not a chance in the universe that I could homeschool, housework, prep tutoring, and field social lives as a single mom, even for 6 weeks.

Yep, that Win-Everything Type-A 20-something has gone over the hill. I don’t mind nearly as much as I thought I would when I was a 20-something, either! “Relaxed” is a very good thing, too.

Anyway, we are having Pajama Day for the first time in a year or so. Homemade wheat donuts for breakfast, waffles (with squash blended in, Do Not tell los kiddos!) for lunch, omelettes for dinner.

Sadly, 3 of us will break tradition at about 5:30 and head out to AWANA in Real Clothes. Somehow, I don’t think the JV would understand if I showed up in my blue bunny slippers…

Romance

On Thursdays, I have about 15 minutes after my last class to browse the New Small Town Library. Last Thursday, I noted and grabbed 2 off the shelf: Parenting Your Asperger’s Child and Just Chillin: The Middle-School Years.

Rational Thought: Important Topics for the Guiding Adults in Our Home.
Emotional Backthought: I Need Help!

Turns out Mr Wonderful has about an hour before his night class on Mondays, and he swings by the Bigger City Library and tries to find something wholesome for each family member.

For he and I to share, he brings home (drumroll, please)
Teach Yourself Zulu.
Yes, Zulu- that language spoken by about 10 million people, in South Africa.

And they say Mr W and I have nothing in common.

Actually, it looks pretty interesting…