Circling Through This Life

I’ve been very quiet on my blog lately. I’ve got several post ideas and lots of rough drafts started but I’ve found it difficult to make the the time and sit down and blog as frequently as I would like. It’s a simple reason:  I’m consumed with health and nutrition. My health has been slowly declining over time but I’ve ignored it. I thought if I pretend the symptoms aren’t there then I could pretend I wasn’t really facing major health issues. I’ve been lying to myself.  It was ok.  It was just me. It was just my health. Not the health of my husband or my children. Sure we’ve been dealing for 17 1/2 years with a family member with chronic illness and a life-threatening cardiac condition. She pretty much came that way so I think I just accepted that this what it is. Yes in some respects the journey to thinking about the connection between what we eat, nutrition and health began with understanding that this little bundle has an immune system that doesn’t quite work like th...

I know today is already seven days into August.  (Say what??!!!  August?  No. No. No. I do not want summer to end. We’ve had some hot days but not so hot that I wish them away!)  Ahem where was I? Oh yes seven days in to August but it’s not too late! For what?  To join in on this really neat decluttering challenge that my friend issued. Bethany is a minimalist already. This is is just one more great character quality that I admire about her.  She’s laid back, generous, has a great attitude when faced  with those bitter lemons of life, and on top of it all doesn’t allow things to take over her life. I could learn a lot from her.  Hey wait.  I’m supposed to the be the older woman. Oh well.  Anyway Bethany posted about the Minimalist Game on her blog, The Land of Curly Hair . I decided to join her. So What Is It? How Does It Work? So there is this blog called The Minimalists and they encourage people to play the Minimalist Game . I t...

Here we are in the last month of the year.  Time for me to think about the goals I set for myself in 2013.  Were they realistic?  Did I meet or exceed expectations? If I failed to accomplish the goal, why did it fail?  What could I do differently?  One of the things I learned as the parent of a special needs child is that a goal should be measurable so that you can gauge whether or not you met the goal.  Over the years we’ve (therapists and I together) written many goals for Supergirl such as will open screw top container 4 out of 5 tries.  I do not always succeed in writing goals with such specific outcomes but I did set out with a very measurable Reading Goal for 2013 .  I re-evaluated the goal a few months into the year but I still haven’t come close.  I haven’t written a Reading Goals post since April. I had a blog goal of posting an average of every other day.  Some months I did great.  Other months (oh like this month of D...

My husband’s recent heart attack serves as a clattering, clanging, wake up call. Lifestyle matters. I’m not necessarily learning anything new with my research but rather I’m confirming and affirming things I already knew but chose to ignore. This alarm bell doesn’t have a snooze button anymore. Honeybear and I are fully awake now. This isn’t just his health.  It isn’t just my health.  It affects my children. I wasn’t motived to start taking the little steps to eating better for me but now, realizing the impact on my husband and children, it’s time. One Little Step at time. These Little Steps must be small and manageable because otherwise I’ll give up before we even start.  Just thinking of how far backwards we’ve gone overwhelms me.  How far backwards?  What does that mean?  It means that I used to do these things: grind my own grains (mostly white whole wheat berries but also some kamut and spelt) bake my own whole grain breads made whole grain f...

One of my fellow home school bloggy friends, Jennifer, shared about an April Cleaning challenge that she plans to participate in.  She blogs over at Conversaving .  MoneySaving Mom is hosting the 30 Day House Cleaning Challenge and it is based on the 31 Day House Cleaning Routine from Fresh and Organized. I am hoping/planning/striving to post weekly updates about our progress.  I’m looking at this house cleaning challenge as a “getting ready for Pascha” since Pascha is May 5th. Each day at 9am Eastern Moneysaving Mom is posting the daily challenge.  She takes what the 32 Day House Cleaning Routine lists and breaks it down into tasks.  (Check out the above link to see what I mean.) I actually didn’t jump into this until April 3rd but it fairly easy to pick some things from Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.   Generally speaking those days were “Surface clean Kitchen and Living Room”   Washing the dishes was one of the tasks.  This made me giggle...

I’ve been feeling sorry for myself quite frequently lately.  Lots of things going on; some are big and some are little. Then a friend posted today’s date on his FB status as a “date funny” or something like that.  It made me smile.  I like things like having the date be three consecutive numbers. And then another friend posted a Thankful Thursday FB status update.  Hmm Thursday.. Thankful.. and it’s 10-11-12. So I’ll just make a list of things I am thankful for and maybe that will tame the inner toddler tantrums.  (That inner toddler really threw some nasty tantrums yesterday and she reared her ugly head again this afternoon.  She really hates being told no!) So what am I thankful for: Allergy Medication.   I do have some symptoms today but I am so thankful that I am not having the issues I was having in mid-to-late July.  I only wish I had known sooner that it was allergies and not a never ending cold! Tea.  Though I am out of Ea...

Recently my friend Debra, from Footprints in the Butter began a reading aloud challenge for herself .   I want to join her in that challenge. There are lots and lots of great reasons to read aloud to and with our children.  Sometimes I need to be reminded of those reasons.  I’m looking forward to reading Sarah Clarkson’s Read for the Heart so I can be reminded of those reasons and have a book list to help me choose some great literature.  (Look for my review of this book on May 27th) I believe Reading Aloud is an essential component to home education.  We used to read aloud about  1 1/2 to 2 hours a day from history, science and literature selections.   This past school year, I have really dropped the ball. Part of the reason we chose Sonlight Curriculum was for the great books.  I would spend about 45 minutes to an hour a day reading Science and History and in the evening, as a family, we would read for another 30 minutes to an hour...

I’ve posted before about Meal Planning and challenging myself to use what I have.  I’ve learned that necessity really is the mother of invention and that so long as I didn’t really *have to* get creative I would avoid exercising my brain and fail to really use up what I have on hand.  I would justify those little things like “oh I really need a can of mushrooms to make this recipe so I’ll pick up a can of mushrooms. With less money coming in and more money going out, I have less available to purchase groceries.   I actually went two weeks without going to the grocery store.  Yes I usually shop once a week and sometimes in between those weekly stops, my honeybear would stop for me to get that “one little thing” that I had forgotten that I just simply had to have to make a particular recipe. Guess what?  This week, when I had NO mushrooms, I still made the recipe!  I just didn’t include mushrooms.  I did have celery and bell peppers (neither of ...

It is so hard not to take things or people for granted.  Though we all know that all it takes is a blink of an eye everything changes we don’t really *know* it until it does.  It’s like we think “yes my loved ones could die tomorrow or my husband could lose his job tomorrow” but underneath runs a current of “but really that only happens  to OTHER people.  That’s not going to happen to me.  But it does happen to [me] and to those I love. The past 14-15 months have been very difficult as our family has been touched by death so much.   What makes it harder for me is the realization that I struggle with keeping in contact with those I love.  It’s extremely difficult for me and I can not explain why to myself let alone anybody else.  I dislike talking on the phone and I feel I have changed so much and I wonder if I even have anything in common with my friends or relatives. I don’t spend the time writing letters or even email but I don’t know why....

I sit staring at the computer screen and I wonder what to write.  It’s day 11 of the Gratitude Challenge hosted by my friend Brenda at Garden of Learning . Should I write about my oldest daughter and how thankful I am for the young woman she is becoming?  Should I write about my second oldest daughter and how much we appreciate life because of her? Perhaps I should write about my only dark haired daughter?  I could write about how thankful I am that she comes to me when she needs to talk. Then there’s my youngest daughter.  No one can make me laugh the way she does.   How can I not be grateful for laughter? I could write about my husband.   I don’t always appreciate him though, the way I should.  I often take him for granted and expect so much of him, but he loves me anyway.  I give thanks that he loves me enough to put up with me. It’s getting late and I still haven’t decided what to blog about.  Maybe I should blog about the...

Over at Garden of Learning , my friend Brenda is hosting a blog challenge for the month of November.  Participants are asked to post something they are grateful for each day this month. Today is day 9.   You may notice that I did not post a gratitude post yesterday.  I found myself in a funk.   I just didn’t have the desire, energy or motivation to find the silver lining in my dreary day.   Today however, I am inspired and motivated to write about my gratitude for the freedom to home educate my children.  Yes, FREEDOM.   I am grateful that I live in the USA and that I live in a state that recognizes the efficiency of home education.   The law recognizes that home education may take less time than traditional classroom education and states that we are to provide instruction “equivalent” to 1000 instructional hours. We started investigating home education 14 years ago.   It is not without it’s limitations and li...

Brenda at Garden of Learning has issued a Gratitude Challenge for the month of November.   The challenge is simple, write about what you are  grateful for each day. Today is Day 7 and I am thankful for Sunday School.  Now if you know me, you’ll know that is a 180 degree turn from where I was at just 18 months ago.  I do still believe that parents are responsible for passing their faith to the children.  But I’ve also come to view the church as a community; as being truly the body of Christ.   Sunday School (or Church School as some call it) is a community effort of passing on the faith to the children.  It’s not that I “pass the buck” and shed my responsibility more that I join with others to share the burden.    Sunday School doesn’t replace parental responsibility; it joins the parents to the community building the Body of Christ. am grateful for those who have walked the path longer than I have who are willing to come al...

My Friend Brenda is hosting a Gratitude Challenge on her blog, Garden of Learning . It is very simple; post something you are grateful for every day for the month of November. For Day 5, I am thankful for computers.   When we were first married we had a computer but it was a simple machine and we had no internet access.   14 Years ago we entered the online world with our first email account.   We were in Germany and we decided to get internet access with an email account so that my husband and I could communicate electronically while he was deployed. We had “dial-up” access for many years but switched to “dsl” maybe 3 years ago.   I love being able to have access to my phone *and* access to the internet at the same time. Today we have 4 computers: two laptops and two desktops.  We have a wireless router home network and all four computers are networked with access to the internet.   I really didn’t think we would need so many c...

My Friend Brenda is hosting a Gratitude Challenge on her blog, Garden of Learning . It is very simple; post something you are grateful for every day for the month of November. Today is November 4th.  Well at least for another 2 hours it is.  On this day, 77 years ago, my grandfather took my grandmother to be his lawfully wedded wife.   Both of them have gone from this world, but I am so grateful for them. I once asked my grandmother how she met my grandfather.  She was a storyteller and I was sure I was going to get a story this time, but she only smiled and said “I don’t know.  I suppose we was just crawling on the floor while our mothers talked.”    She and my grandfather grew up together.  They were childhood sweethearts. I miss them both so much and I am grateful that they got married 77 years ago.  If they had not married, my father would not have been born.   Thanks Papa for rescuing me from the snakes and makin...

My friend Brenda from Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge during the month of November. Today is day 3 and I am thankful the van did not start. That sounds strange doesn’t it. The girls were disappointed to miss piano and I was sorry they missed their lessons but I am grateful I did not have to go anywhere today.  I was able to get some things done today that I needed to do and wouldn’t have done if we had gone to piano.  If the van had started, Honeybear would have taken it to work and we would have had the car.  We’d have gone to piano and I would have stressed out about the things not getting done. Tonight I am also grateful that we have two vehicles and that my husband was able to take the car and go to work. I’m thankful he has a job.  With so many people out of work and the economy the way it is,I am grateful that he has a steady job with benefits. (This post links to Garden of Learning’s Gratitude Challenge Day 3 ) What are you thankful f...

Today I am thankful for God’s provision through the TOS Review Crew.   I wrote about how I came to be on the crew here .   I was excited then to see how God would work and I am amazed at what he has done and is doing. Every product that we have received to review, so far, has either been exactly what I needed (at the exact right moment!) for school *or* has been used by God to cause me to grow.  Today, I received a writing curriculum.   I’ve only spent about 45 minutes looking through it this afternoon but I am so excited.  It seems so perfect for the girls right now.  The timing is incredible.   I’ve looked at this vendor in the past but just couldn’t bring myself to purchase the product (we could not afford it) and here God has given it to me through the Review Crew.  (You can look for the review in May!) I don’t really have the words to express how loved I feel by God right now.  I believe He works through people a...

Brenda from Garden of Learning has challenged her readers to a Gratitude Challenge.   I’m going to post one thing that I am grateful for each day for the month of November. On this first day of November I have much to be grateful for and I am grateful that I have 30 Days to post about it!  <grin> Today I am thankful for my Church.  I’m thankful for Orthodoxy and I’m thankful for my Parish that strives to live out the Faith. We had such a wonderful time last night at the Spaghetti Dinner. Tonight we are enjoying some of the cake Supergirl won as well as the cake I won. Speaking of winning, I am grateful to Debra at Footprints in the Butter for posting the What’s in the Bible Give-away which I won!  Thank you so much Debra! (This post links to Gratitude Challenge November 1 ) What are you thankful for today?

  I have not been blogging about this Bible Day Challenge and tonight I was ready to give up.  Though I started on July 5th with everyone else, I quickly slipped behind.  I am so far behind by now that I just didn’t think it would be possible to continue.  I’m not sure why but I decided to head over to Mom’s Tool’s Box and I read tonight’s check in.  Wow!  I feel very encouraged to keep on trying.  Maybe, just maybe I’ll actually finish the challenge!   Are you participating in the 90 Day Bible Challenge?  Perhaps you are doing a different reading challenge?  I’d love to hear what you are doing and you don’t even have to share if you are right on track or, like me, seemingly hopelessly behind.

For the second time in two weeks, I'm feeling pretty miserable. Two weeks ago I came down with some sort of cold/flu/virus. It worked its way through the whole family, *except* for Honeybear. Just as Supergirl was starting to recover, Honeybear came down with a nasty head cold. So now this virus is working its way through the whole family. Yuck. So since I feel pretty clogged up and miserable and unable to focus and concentrate on things like Algebra and Physical Science, I decided to play with my blog background. BooBear helped picked out a couple of designs to try out. Now a challenge update. Since I was feeling good last weekend and he hadn't got sick yet, Honeybear and I went with $20 cash only to the grocery store and spent only $18.00! I'm sure we made quite a spectacle standing in front of the frozen lemonade debating between the Ritz crackers and Pink Lemonade. The Lemonade won! We did get a box of saltines though and the girls were happy to have crackers. ...

Now that I've posted about my rotating meal plan, I'm posting about a challenge that I've given myself. I've named it "the Debra game" in honor of my friend Debra who inspired me. She had not done what she called "real grocery" shopping for something like 6 to 8 weeks (I'm sorry Debra, I couldn't remember how long it had been). I like challenges. I like being told something is hard, difficult or just not done and then setting out to prove that I could do it anyway. So I've challenged myself to see how long I can go without doing any "real grocery" shopping. And to add to the challenge I want to see if I can stick to my rotating menu plan. Can I be creative and stick to the menu plan? I do intend to buy things like milk and eggs but at the moment I am blessed with a full chest freezer and a fairly well stocked pantry. Would anyone (besides Debra *grin*) care to join me in this challenge? Let the Game begin.