OK, so I’m late to the party. I binge-watched this show. First on Netflix streaming, (I swear Season 1 and 2 were available, then all of a sudden, season 2 disappeared). My neighbor had Season 2. Finally, I ordered season 3 disc by disc and had a marathon. I loved the show so much after season 1 that when my friends in the know mumbled under their breath about the happenings in season 3, I truly thought it wouldn’t have affected my enjoyment of it one bit. I was wrong.

I am staying away from all chit-chat, preview speculation and teasers for season 4.

Let me just say………..

Mark has a cough. No fever. No runny nose. What started as a hoarse voice on Saturday progressed into a dry, irritating cough.

He is reluctant to drink tea with honey (though that remedy has always seemed temporary to me). He couldn’t stand the taste of the cough drop I gave him one afternoon, even though it stopped his coughing fit temporarily. I try to avoid over-the-counter cough suppressants because unless they’re gonna knock you out, they aren’t that reliable and I don’t knock children out. (I have no problem knocking myself out when I have a bad cough with an OTC cough medicine that starts with an “N” and ends with a “quil”)

I have an organic “healing vapor salve” made with olive oil, beeswax and a variety of essential oils which smells ok. I rubbed it on the bottom of Mark’s feet last night and put a pair of socks on him. That’s about as close as he can stand it to his face.

He had a few fits last night and the night before. I’ve researched natural cough suppressants before and don’t tend to keep “star of anise” and/or organic, unrefined honey around. Though, I’m sure those things are helpful, my natural remedies cupboard is lacking.

Finally, I remembered my NO FAIL NATURAL COUGH SUPPRESSANT! 

I rubbed his back. For some reason (which I suspect has something to do with nerve signals), it always works to calm a coughing fit when nothing else seems to work. Rubbing his feet had the same effect later in the night when he woke up again.

This rarely cures the cough all night but usually allows a tired kid to stop coughing long enough to fall asleep for a decent amount of time.

Well, a lot of life has been happening here.We’ve had birthdays, home sales, broken bones, injured shoulders, yard sales and much, much more!

Kate and Luke have finally gotten through the ATROCIOUS waste of time that was the “introduction to cyberschooling”. That was seriously hellacious. Sorry for the swear word.

After 10 years of homeschooling, my tolerance for time-wasting is ZERO. So, no, I don’t have the patience for a 3 hour “introduction to online learning” class which is mandatory (that doesn’t count toward school days-just sayin’) then in the first week, nearly every teacher has a series of graded activities that repeat that information. Tears everywhere. I was literally running up and down the stairs and completely abandoned Mark for the first 2 weeks. He’ll be fine, he’s plugging along in math, reading real books and practicing spelling and trying his best to care about cursive. His cursive is award-worthy….if only he could do it without a model….please don’t tell him. I’m not freaking out about it because he can sign his name and I’m told by a lot of parents that elementary schools aren’t really even teaching cursive anymore or considering ditching it. That’s a big BOOOOO from me. I really believe important brain connections are happening when pencil or pen meets paper, I think those kids will be cheated.

Fall is here. My patio was carpeted with leaves for a few days and it was bugging Mark (little). We cleared them today but looking at the beautiful tree that is responsible, I’m not sure our work today mattered.

As I do yard work, I seriously envy my neighbors that can make their yards look so clean and manicured, spend about 1 minute wishing I was like that and then I realize that MY life doesn’t work like that. I have a constant goal to purge and simplify to make maintenance possible and enjoyable but we’re not there yet and life is happening, so I don’t get upset.

Congratulations to Hannah. The kid has worked so hard to make tennis and school coexist. She’s gotten a little ink here and here and she deserves it! But the press doesn’t really even phase her. One of her good friends from tennis was the “cover girl” for a feature article today about athletes who play more than one sport in the same season and I actually think she was more excited for her.

Maybe I’ll post sometime about the whirlwind that has been our purchase of investment property in our neighborhood for my mom to occupy. That’s been fun.

 

….these photos of the sunrise that is. We went to the mountains after Thanksgiving and Saturday morning, I woke up to a wierd orange glow through the blinds. I looked out to see the craziest sunrise I’ve ever seen. I knew I couldn’t capture it with Hannah’s camera so I woke her up. I thought she’d be interested but would have totally understood if she had opted out of this photo opp. So glad she captured it. The other wierd thing was how warm it was when we stepped outside.I know these look enhanced or edited but really, they’re not. It was breathtaking and awesome.

Internet Addiction TestThat was wierd. I tried the widget-type thingy on the website and it just published its own post. I clicked on this through Elizabeth Foss’ blog. Took it and my only objection to it is that there’s no option on ANY of the questions for NEVER. I thought that was odd and maybe makes it a little inaccurate.

Just to be real, I scored a 25. Honestly, I think I would have scored lower but there was no option for “NEVER”. I never think about being on the internet when I’m not. My horrible habit is checking my email. If I could curb that, I’d be fine.

I check 2 blogs nearly every day in the morning (yes even before my prayers) while the coffee is percolating because I usually find them to be interesting or inspiring. That’s about it. On Thursdays and Fridays, I look forward to 3 blogs that host “linky” parties for people who post DIY projects or recipes. I admit, they inspire me and I’ve acted on that inspiration.

I’ve been pretty negligent in posting on my own blog(s) only because I haven’t organized the time. If it meant more to me, I’d organize a specific time to make it more regular. I like writing and I like the record but I rarely would rather do that in the place of reading or being with the kids or actually getting something accomplished in the house. Believe it or not, I take photos of most of the things I accomplish in the house but then don’t feel like posting about it. That’s totally fine by me for now. There may be a time when I derive satisfaction from that. Probably when all the kids are more independent in their schoolwork or spend most of the day in school.

I could probably go nuts in thrift stores and yard sales but that goes against my inclination to purge and simplify.

Take the test. It probably will give you a decent picture.

 

I have mixed feelings about remembering that day 10 years ago. Partly because it was Hannah’s 4th birthday and partly because I think I’m still traumatized. I wish Hannah didn’t have to share her birthday with that madness.

I have avoided talking a lot about 9/11 with the kids over the years. It’s impossible to explain it in a way that doesn’t scare them. It’s difficult to convey the magnitude of the events without showing them a video and quite frankly, I can’t watch. The same panic begins to surface when I think about the clear blue skies, the calm of that morning and how it changed in an instant into chaos.

I remember feeling that life as I knew it was over. Like everyone else, I felt like planes were falling out of the sky and they were. When Flight 93 went down in Somerset, I called Mark to come home.

I called all of my family members just to hear their voices and to make sure they were all o.k. I was on the phone with my brother when the towers collapsed. That’s something I wish I hadn’t seen live. A friend in New York City was unreachable for hours but we finally got word that she and her husband were alive. She had almost reached her office not far from the towers when the first plane hit and she turned around to go home. It took her hours to walk back since transportation was shut down. She was pregnant but miscarried not long afterward. All this while little Hannah was happy as a lark because we would have cake and presents that night.

I avoided malls for nearly a year. I was too anxious to allow Mark to go to a conference in Florida the following January. Not only was I worried about him flying, I worried about being home alone with the kids if terrorists attacked our town. Do you remember that school in Russia not long after 9/11? I know I’m not alone in my reaction, I’m just explaining why I feel badly that I’m not up to revisiting it. I do want to honor the people who died senselessly, I’m just not capable of doing so publicly. I will fly my flag and answer as many questions about that day as the kids have but I won’t be chatting about it with my friends. I hated that day. So, tomorrow, I will pray for the repose of the souls of all those lost on September 11, 2001, I’ll pray for the families and everyone affected personally, I’ll pray for peace and then I’ll come home from Mass and celebrate Hannah.

Well, today wasn’t the first time I’ve barrelled through a fear since I first decided not to allow fear to hold me back. But it involved a few fears or reservations.I attended the first of a six week series at Mark’s new club which introduces different mind/body classes that are offered. Fear #1 was overcoming a dread about commitments. I’m a real baby if I’m locking myself into something-especially on a Saturday. I’ve always disliked recreational commitments for myself. Even when I was in a tennis league, before children, I did not like the weekly obligation.The second fear was actually committing to trying something new. The six samples are pilates, yoga, personal training, spinning (SCARY!), zumba (SCARIER but it looks like fun) and BOOT CAMP (AAAAHHHHHKKKKK!) So that’s a whole bunch of fears. I’m afraid of hurting myself in about 5 of those 6 because I’m so weak and inflexible. But I’ve committed. I hope this will kick start me into taking time for fitness. It would be a shame to waste the value of our family membership at that beautiful facility.