January 2011 Archives

After homeschooling the Zman all the way through high school, I thought that my homeschooling days were over. And I was sad about that. It was an adventure that I loved and that I think served our whole family very well. Zman did well in college (graduating summa cum laude, thank you very much) proving that I probably didn't ruin him or his life. And I'd say that Zack was pretty satisfied with the process as well. Not that it didn't have its bumps and hurts. Nothing is without them. But overall a good decision for us.

But, it was over and time to move on to the next thing. Until this school year, when my sisterfriend asked me if I would halp her with Algebra and my nephew. Sure.

And that turned into more. Three days a week of helping homeschool my niece and nephew. Putting together ideas and curriculum (my favorite hobby!).

Then McKid's mom started thinking about adding the McKid to the mix, and I was more than willing. So, after six weeks or so in 3rd grade public school, McKid came home, too.

So now, 5 days a week with a 3rd/4th grader, 3 days a week adding in 7th and 9th graders. It's different--the Zman was an only child and my only full time student (though I did tutor others through the years).

Whew. It's more work than I remembered. But it's so very wonderful. At the moment I have 3 kids in my backyard, screaming over a lizard they found, trying to decide what to do with it. LET IT GO! says the aunt/grandma/teacher. Lord knows all I need is a lizard to add to 2 barking dogs, pile of books, math sheets and a potato growing on top of my water dispenser (don't ask).

But to have kids running and screaming again in the backyard, after discussing simple machines and Lao Tzu?

Priceless.

I have rejoined Weight Watchers after a couple of years of doing my own thing--and doing it to the tune of gaining back almost all that hard-won weight loss that I started a few years ago. Bleah.

As a part of my commitment to eating healthier, I have decided to begin the process of giving up diet Cokes. I'm not foolish enough to try this cold turkey. I tried that last time, and my husband did NOT thank me for it.

So, my goal is this for the month of January:

Week 1 of month (which began today): No diet coke until after McKid goes home. That ieaves relatively little time for ingestion!

Week 2 of month: The dreaded substance only 4 days per week.

Week 3 of month: The golden nectar only 3 days per week.

Week 4 of month: A treat once a week.

I'm not aiming for complete abstinence. I will fool around with it once a week and call that good enough.

And why?

Because I think it is most definitely NOT helping in my weight loss/maintenance efforts. I'm not even sure there's a good chemical reason for it, though you can certainly read plenty of bad stuff about artificial sweetners and weight loss if you look around for, oh say, 5 minutes.

But mine is more a psychological thing - I think having the sweet taste in my mouth all the time makes me want moreandmoreandmoreandmore to eat.

But don't let anyone tell you this stuff isn't physically addicting. My whole body aches. My head hurts. And I am SLEEPY from lack of caffeine.

Yeah, an addict. For sure.

Happy (oh, really, are we so very sure about that?) Monday, ya'll!

What a nice blog!

|

Go here and check out Posy Gets Cozy. So beautiful!

I know that it is all chic and everything, or maybe hip and cool, or maybe *something* to pooh-pooh the whole New Year's Resolution thing. "I never keep 'em anyway" or "What's the point?" or "What does turning a calendar page have to do with anything? I'll just change myself as I go along."

And I say, yeah, right. How's that working for you?

I tend to think that New Year's Resolutions, when honestly thought about are an interesting discipline. You know, kinda like the discipline Holy Mother Church imposes on us by making every Sunday a Holy Day of Obligation. She knows that, left to my own devices, I would say things like, "Oh, I can worship God just as well in a park as in a church." (Which can be true, certainly.) BUT, and here is the big BUT: Do you?

I don't. If I didn't get myself up, dressed and off to Mass on Sunday mornings, pretty soon I'd be drinking diet coke and eating toast and not thinking about God at all. Oh, I'd think, I'll get around to my prayer time (drumroll, here) pretty soon.

Yeah.

What I know is that for me, and I suspect millions of people like me (I'm not prideful enough to think I'm all that different), no discipline, no set time, no "arbitrary date", no review, no introspection, no change.

It's like Reconciliation. When we don't make it a REGULAR part of our lives, it gets away from us and we turn around a POOF! it's been 6 months and we haven't been. Not 'cause we don't need to go. Because we haven't sat down and set up an unchangeable, fixed time to do it.

So, too, New Year's Resolutions. When I get out my new calendar, I spend a little time reviewing my old calendar. Seeing what went on. In the past, I've also reviewed my blog entries--looking at what caught my attention, things I wanted to remember, books I've read. And I think about what I wish I had done differently. It's not a time that I beat myself up. But it IS a time for honest introspection.

And then I think about what I need to change, and try to figure out how to implement them. If I don't, then my wishes just stay that, wishes and never turn into anything more.

Oh, and by the way, I don't just make resolutions on Jan 1. I usually do a check in at the beginning of Lent. Then again at the beginning of the long, green tunnel of ordinary time after Eastertide. Then a mini-look at the beginning of Advent.

Some years I have had great success. Others, not so much. But at least I am still trying. I guess that's the point--the effort. It's hard to change, and not much fun. (Ask me next week when I am in the throes of Diet Coke withdrawal syndrome--they ARE addictive, you know!) And I know that's why I have to make the resolutions. Without 'em, I'd be the same next year, or worse, than I am now.

And I can't afford that.

So, what are the first resolutions of 2011? They're pretty tiny. I hope I can have 'em under control by the beginning of Lent, 65 days hence. Then I'll add on. Here they are:

1. Get up 15 minutes earlier for morning prayer.
2. No computer 'til after #1.
3. Kitchen bar cleaned off every evening before bed.
4. Dishwasher loaded, extras washed every evening before bed.
5. Bed made every morning before leaving or before the McKid gets here.

That's it, to start. I think it will begin bringing an order to my life that I have sorely lacked the past year or so. Once small order is put into place, then it'll be time for bigger projects.

So, how 'bout you? Any resolutions in mind?

Happy Sunday, ya'll!

Happy New Year!

| | Comments (2)

Hmmm. I suppose 6 months is a long time to be away from a blog, isn't it? Probably no one is still looking for us. I've been sucked into the vortex that is Facebook, and contrary to others who decry it, I kind of like it. I like seeing the little snips of other peoples' lives. But then, I'm the kind of person who likes to walk and glance into other peoples' windows as I walk. I like seeing their dining rooms all lit up and wondering who eats at their tables. I like seeing families in living rooms, talking to one another. I like wondering who those people are, and if they are happy. Imagining lives for them. And yes, even praying for them. Even for the guys on the corner who are resolutely unfriendly and odd. (And what DO they do for a living, anyway? Do YOU know?)

Anyway, that went off in a strange direction. Ahem. Back to the main thrust of the post. I'm coming back to blogging on a regular basis. I need a place to write about the things in my life: the books I've read, the movies I've seen, the things I create, the things that make me happy and sad. I'm not a prolific picture taker or journaler or scrapbooker, so I need somewhere to jot down my life. To preserve little bits of it--so that I don't forget. And if you want to peep in and see, then I'm happy for you to do that.

Lots of changes in my life over the last few years. I've lost both my parents. I've moved. My beloved son has married (a wonderful girl!). I've rejoined the homeschooling fray with my nephew, my niece and the McKid. And now, as the cherry on top of the "my how things have changed" sundae, the Zman and TBC (his wife) are going to have a baby. Yep. Coming in May. Color me EXCITED!

Half a year of not-blogging has meant that I had to rethink the whole blogging idea. And I'm still rethinking that. One of the changes is that you will probably see very little of the other SummaMamas. We're still here. We're still close friends. But the Smock has 7 little 'uns, spread out over 3 schools. Oldest in high school all the way down to 2 in kindergarten. One at home full time. She doesn't have much time to think, much less blog regularly!

And LaMamacita is expecting baby #4 in March. She also homeschools the other 3, so between that and carrying around an increasingly large chiquita-to-be, energy levels don't leave much extra for blogging. And when the 4th baby hits the ground, all bets are off!

That said, both of the other Summas will still be encouraged to post, but we can't expect it. It's not a time in their lives where daily writing, or even *weekly* writing can be expected. So when they pop in, we'll be THRILLED. But we won't *expect* anything in particular. Then it'll be like a happy gift when It happens.

So, what you'll have, mostly, is just me. And I'd say that's a drawback for you. But I'll report on the other Summas doings and fill you in where I can. And otherwise? Let's start looking to make 2011 a year of love, peace, grace, repentance, forgiveness, work, and play. And let's talk about it a little. Shall we?

Happy New Year, ya'll.

Categories

Pages

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from January 2011 listed from newest to oldest.

July 2010 is the previous archive.

March 2011 is the next archive.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.