Tag Archives: superbowl

Why my get-away was not so restful

I’m a workaholic by nature. I think that tendency is an innate entity for some people and is just simply in their genes. My grandmother was a hard-worker, my mother is, and then so am I. Being so does not really cause me anxiety. What is does cause,at times, is an inability to stop the wheels from turning. Sometimes the wheels running are beneficial, and sometimes they’re not.
I share that with you because I made a quick trip down to the Orlando area recently, by myself I might add. Being alone and the ability to hear your own thoughts is not common for homeschooling moms. So, how wonderful and relaxing it was for me to fly down by myself for a couple of days to warm, sunny Florida, you would think.
Not so for me. We’ve recently purchased a home in the Disney area, so I needed to fly down to the house to do some work. I found myself in a variety of locations including Lowe’s, Walmart, and a Fed Ex office on both nights. To add to that, the sunny 80 degree weather that I arrived in turned into cold, rainy 50 degree weather, so I didn’t even spend time in the pool or spa. I watched the news on the Atlanta weather mess as I worked in the kitchen. One night I found myself lost while driving and ended up at Disney World at 10:00 at night-nothing wrong with that, though. I love Mickey except that the parks were closed so I did not get to see him. Hubby had sent a box of chocolates, a bottle of wine, strawberries, and Fruit Loops? for me to enjoy. I don’t eat Fruit Loops, but I did eat the entire box of chocolates! I’m hoping the next trip will be spent strictly for R and R.

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Road trip

I was in the city again today with my oldest for a go-see. The weather was extremely cold, and I had not prepared well with my choice of clothing. Who cares, though. It’s New York and have I mentioned how much I love NY? Even the large subway rats are fun to watch. The city is preparing for the Superbowl everywhere you turn. It looked like ESPN was broadcasting on Broadway as we walked by. I’ve no idea really but maybe you saw these guys on TV. I’m doing well at this point to keep up with world news and events. Our waiter at TGIF asked us tonight who we were cheering for to win the Superbowl, and I couldn’t even tell him what two teams were playing! I know that’s really un-American of me but such is the life of a homeschooling mom. My son knew, however, so he saved me from embarrassment as he and the waiter went back and forth about Peyton Manning. How nice when your children make you look good.
As far as schoolwork went, my oldest completed his math, spelling, vocabulary, logic puzzles, and Latin in the morning. I left the bottom 3 kids at home with my in-laws along with a list of schoolwork for them to complete. Long day but well worth the road trip.
I have some upcoming business travel to do, so I’ll be taking a short break from blogging. See you on the return..

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Dreary weekend

I’ve been working with my oldest son this weekend on one of his school projects. That job seemed to take up most of our time. The weather was damp and cold, so it was the kind of weather where you just want to stay home in your pajamas. The kids had a few activities. I ran some errands to include buying school supplies and groceries. I even bought a sweater at TJMaxx and had to ask my girlfriend if she liked it. I couldn’t decide if I did because my fashion sense is nonexistent.

I’m now prepping for the week ahead and am already seeing interruptions in our academic schedule. Trips into the city, extra practices, and a field trip. The kids will love all of these. So will I, but the academics must still be accomplished so there will be stress for me.

I want an eyelift. My son tells me my eyes are uneven-great. I would love to get rid of the excessive skin around my eyes, but then what do you do with the rest of your body’s middle age skin? Can they do a body lift? I really need a body lift. Maybe one of my kids will create that cream-ha! And when is menopause arriving? I’m so tired of mother nature-ugh…
Off to prep….

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Reality

It’s 1:30 a.m, and I’m drinking green tea. I guess that means I’m back to my homeschooling world. Just finished browsing through “The Well-Trained Mind” and came across a math site that was recommended, LivingMath.net. Huge book list on there. I printed out all 76 pages and started a library notebook just for this subject. I’ll be taking that on our library visits along with our reading list notebooks. Up late going over what we’ll be covering tomorrow so better cut this one short so I can adequately function.

www.livingmath.net

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Stuck in Mathmagic Land

A downside to homeschooling for me-knowing when to stop. I don’t mean when to stop the art of homeschooling. I mean when you can punch out for the day like a public or private school teacher can. I could teach 12 hours a day if I wanted to because there’s no boundary or endpoint as in a normal job. That freedom can help you or cause you anxiety. I’ll give you an example…My kids are somewhat limited on how much TV they can watch. I usually offer other options such as asking them to read or play a game or go outside and play. Sitting in front of mindless television shows just hits me the wrong way. That’s likely me just not being able to turn off my homeschooling switch. And, in the back of my mind I know that at that very same moment there are thousands, likely more, of parents around the world who aren’t letting their children sit in front of the tv but are instead having a teaching moment with their kids. And, they want their kids to take our kids’ seats at our universities. It’s a real challenge for me to find that balance. Or maybe the question is, “Should I?” We’ve dumbed everything down for our kids, including their playtime, so I’m not so sure that I should feel guilty about raising the bar a bit. I don’t know…You should be in my head!
Tonight, I actually let my kids watch a movie after dinner (after eating our picnic salad on the floor). You know what they watched? “Donald in MathMagic Land”. I had just ordered the video from Amazon. The kids actually loved this older Disney movie, and I didn’t feel so guilty about their movie watching time.

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No holiday break

It’s midnight, and I’m working on some school materials. I’ve been digging through our Singapore math and discovered there are apps you can download to go with their program. I should assume there’s an app for just about everything at this point. Also, downloaded some random reading apps for all different ages.
Getting ready to watch a few Latin videos. Lately, I have not been ableĀ  to squeeze Latin practice into our daily schedule. Hoping to do better with that this semester.
We are not breaking for MLK holiday. We will discuss him and his significant contributions to our history and culture, but otherwise I’ll be teaching:)

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