Where I Come From

I have to admit as a homeschool mom I'm always hoping for a snow day so my older kids can stay home.  I miss them even though I know I've done the right thing sending them to school.  Tricky thing about snow days in Michigan, is living in Michigan.  We see a lot of snow.  It's always cold (try swimming in the lake in July).  We are tough and used to this, so school never seems to close.  Except for the last two days.  Wow, that's weather to make Alaskans shrug their shoulders enigmatically.  I don't care.  It meant two more days of having my big girls home.

Unlike wimpy Indiana where driving in such weather is illegal, Kurt went to work, and it really felt like the old days.  We slept in, but the big girls jumped in upping my homeschooling manpower so that we could finish the essential work in a couple hours.  It was fun, and I mean that non-homeschoolers.  It was really fun.  No such delight expected tomorrow.  We're back to the usual, well, as usual at it gets in a world where throwing boiling water out your back door is a science experiment.  If I didn't have such wonderful friends I'd be moving to Florida--then again, they didn't get a single day off.  

Hanging Up My Straight Jacket

There are things I've committed to doing in order to break free from the internal prison of fundamentalism.  

1.  I reserve my primary energy for my kids.

2.  I write both for my novel and for my personal blog.

3.  I take my friends wherever I find them.  I don't check ID, political affiliation, or theological preferences anymore.

4.  I make time and means for growing in my relationships, most importantly with my husband, but also on Shepherd's fish and in my local 3D life.

5.  I work on projects to make the world better, currently raising funds for St. Martin DePorres Orphanage in Tanzania.

6.  I read the Great Books for my own enrichment and to teach at the Homeschool Cooperative.

7.  Last but most important, I grow in my Catholic faith.

Over and Above My Wishlist

Earlier in the season, I posted a list of books I'd like and wished for the time to read them.  The books came and I'm making the time.  I started with Myths from Mesopotamia by Stephanie Dalley.  She includes so many details and end notes that my interest was stirred beyond the story of Adapa, and I found myself thinking of ancient stories in new ways.  Practical matters like missing bits and lost cultural assumptions.  I wanted the kids at our homeschool cooperative to have the same experience, but I knew it'd be difficult to acquire sufficient copies of the text.  "Ye have not because ye ask not" is a piece of ancient literature I was taught well.  On a whim I looked up Ms. Dalley and sent her an email asking if I might copy the pages for the kids.  To my great delight she replied the seven pages I needed were an allowed amount to copy.  It felt so good to send out those pages to my students.  It's going to be such a great class.  

Ms. Dalley also suggested we watch her documentary on finding the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  You can see it HERE on YouTube.  It is exactly the kind of thing we want the kids to be watching.  The careful detective work, the critical contributions and leadership of a woman, and the terrible losses we are suffering because we'd rather fight instead of fight for peace, these are all values every kids should be exposed to.  Sometimes it's not just a book, sometime's it a new world or a new hero.  Sometimes it's all of the above.

Musical Toothbrush

There is always that one cool toy you buy your kids, but wish Santa had bought one for you.  This toothbrush is my secret wish this year.   Sure two minutes seems like forever, but you don't notice as much when the music is going straight into your brain.  The things they have for kids these days.

See it here. 

Early Christmas Present

I am proud to announce my oldest daughter has been accepted by The University of Michigan, her first choice.  We are all so proud of her and her accomplishment.  She'd like to study neuroscience even though she is an amazing writer.  Whatever she does, she does well.

god is in the details

I've been working on this tree topper for years.  I want it to express my beautiful faith, and it does.  The Crown of Thorns reminds us of this baby's destiny.  The lilies sing of the beauty and sacredness of the death whose clock starts ticking now.  The red berries proclaim the power of his blood both in its origin and in its purpose.  I loved it until I took a picture and looked at the details.  I left the price tags on.  One unattractive stem is simply hanging out there.  The top of the tree is still visible.  I immediately stopped seeing the meaning allowing minor details to rob me of this moment of faith.  My god shifted from the Christ to the details.  It was all about me, maybe it had been all along.  Bringing my heart back to purpose has been today's challenge, to remember who I am celebrating not how.

Intersection

I went to my first reconciliation service Sunday.  I've been to confession at the regularly offered time before, but this was my first group confession.  Not that we confessed as a group, there was half a mass and then we all lined up to get down to business.  Five priests who had joined with Father Dan were sprinkled around the church.  It was interesting that some priests had more fans than others.  I picked mine because I used to live in that priest's parish.  

I'm always surprised at how different Catholics approach these moments differently.  Some of us stood there making some small talk.  Some were nervous, constantly making little motions.  Some were bored.  I was trying to remember all my sins and making sure they were represented on my Mea Culpa App.  Some sins are easier to remember than others.

I liked the group experience.  The honesty of all that steaming shit I didn't know the details of, and the embarrassed relief as each person finished their penance, made me feel more completely part of things.  We were all in it together.  It was a good thing to know.