Pressing On

Doesn't everyone feel the pull of a fresh new year? The urge to sit down and plan a change towards a better life because those magic numbers 01/01 will make it so? Goals are important to me. They motivate me, they remind me, they free me, they really do make me a much better person. All that said, I have realized, much to my shock and awe, that they are not for everybody. In fact some people find them threatening, stupid, even unbiblical. But since I am not one of those people I embrace another year, another excuse to dream about what could be in the form of a beautiful, impossible sheet of goals for 2019. I read a book  sometime ago - I wish I could remember what it was - but the big take-away was the "brain dump". Write everything down that is lurking in the corners of your mind, taking up productive space, and attacking you at the least convenient moment. Just put it ALL on a piece of paper. ALL of it. What a fantastic experience. The instruction was to set a t...

At this moment I realize how much of my life has been dictated by temperature. My existence, by which I mean my activities, my vacations, my friends, my food, my health, my exercise, and even my family have been determined by temperature.  I despise being cold - cold and damp to be exact. (At least I live on an island in the mid-pacific where it's neither of those things - BWAHAHA.)  My life, my lifestyle, has been so entirely formed by climate that I don't think I would recognize it if it had been lived in another place. What a different person I would be if I could tolerate the weather or, rather, if the weather would accommodate me. I love the outdoors - when it's warm, I love wading in the ocean - when it's warm, I like sleeping outside - when it's warm, I like walking, eating, playing, reading, gardening, talking etc. outside - when it's warm. A balmy 75F suits me JUST fine. I LOVE to feel the sun beating down on me, I LOVE finding shade because the sun...

If you had never heard of homeschooling, how could you prepare yourself to do it?  If you could have never imagined a reason to use Algebra after escaping high school, how would you be prepared to teach it?  If training up a child was one of those bible verses meant for someone else, how do you make it your all day/everyday job? Exactly. Schooling children at home hit me like a Mac Truck on a dark night. And not only did I know nothing about homeschooling, but children were a complete mystery to me, too. When I consider where I started and what I envisioned, I give myself a little grace. One by one my expectations have been demolished: firstly because they may have been unreasonable, secondly because, although reasonable, I did not know how to make them happen, and let's not forget thirdly-- children are their own persons. Some things are never going to happen with some people. Nevertheless, even starting a few miles behind the starting line has not ended in complete...