Thursday, August 27, 2009

the rewind button

Well it has happened...I am the mother of a teenager. Today my oldest daughter, Eloise, turned 13. It is so exciting to see her blossom each day. She loves fashion and makeup, adores movies and music, and carries on great conversations about most any topic. There are times she reminds me so much of myself that it feels as though God has given me a glimpse backward into what my mother saw in me.
Then I see her uniqueness...the way she still loves dressing dolls, how she signs her name in different little monograms practicing for when she becomes a fashion designer, her care and concern for everyone else's pain or struggle, how she loves to swing on her tree swing in the backyard. I watch her and am in awe of her!
In school Eloise is studying French. Every day she comes to me with new words, struggling with the pronunciation, and I can see the pride shining in those hazel eyes. She loves to read as well. After finishing her newest book (usually a historical novel about a young woman in another place and time) Eloise gives me a full report on all the character struggled with and all she admired. Those are the moments that fill me with love and show me my purpose for each day.
If the world could just take a moment to look back on those little accomplishments; the ones that now seem so small and insignificant like learning a new foreign word or putting together the perfect doll outfit, finishing a really good book. I think we would see it all differently, be more confident of ourselves and those around us, and have more of the cheerleader mentality. As adults we tend to forget that each step is goal reached. We look too much toward the next thing before we've even finished what we're struggling with now. Our thoughts constantly run to a "that's over, so now what?" pattern. Maybe we all need to take a minute to think like a child... treat each accomplishment as a feat defeated, one giant leap forward, or as though we are crossing our own finish lines with the trophy in sight. This single homeschooling mom is in search of the rewind button!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Homeschooler's Friend

Hi everyone! I won't be really blogging tonight. I got in late and then got the facebook page for our group, The Homeschooler's Friend up. The meeting was great. There is so much planned for this year and everyone is so excited. My daughters are just thrilled at the activities I told them about. So I am just now getting finished up there and still need to do several things before bed. What is this single homeschooling mom in search of tonight? Members for this fantastic group. See the link to your right....

Monday, August 24, 2009

A new body

Today was Monday...definitely a Monday. Started out with school work and not enough coffee. I knew that Eloise had a dr appt today, so I did not get to go walking. Of course with mom sick, I have not gone walking in a week. I feel it too! My body craves a good bit of exercise...and coffee. LOL Mom is beginning to feel a little better though, so I think we are going to get out tomorrow morning and enjoy some fresh air. yippie!
The dr appt went well. Isn't it funny how after leaving a check-up you feel as though it was a waste of time? Here were Eloise's results... She is 5'3" and weighs 1o1lbs. Her BMI is 18 which is just unreal. The nurse teased her about being "Miss Perfect" and told her that she hated her. ha ha Eloise got the biggest kick out of it. Of course the nurse and I then talked about how much we would love to trade in our metabolisms for Eloise's. Life is just not fair. Men and women/girls that can eat anything, not do anything strenuous, and still have a svelte figure should all be rounded up and quarantined away from the rest of us normal people. ;-)
Tonight was a scrapbooking workshop. The layouts were beautiful, but the cutting was tedious. I know it will all be worth it when the pictures are inserted and the result seen. Until then, I hate cutting out little buttons! Now my back feels as though I have been run over by a truck and then trampled on by an elephant. I could soooo use a good back rub!
Now that Monday is coming to an end, Tuesday begins. Funny how that works out, huh? The girls have quizzes tomorrow in a few of their subjects and I am going to try to organize the new scrapbook room a little more. It needs a lot of help! Hopefully I can make a dent in it before my home school meeting tomorrow night. I am looking forward to all the events to come this school year. Again I cannot stress how awesome the ladies in this group are..they are planners and organizers that get it done. But as for me...this single homeschooling mom is in search of a new body...or a really good masseuse...Oh and don't forget the coffee..decaf please!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Spray-on handcuffs for touchy-feely dates

Happy Sunday! I hope you have had a blessed day! Mine was quite good. After church my mom and I went and bought the decorations for my oldest daughter's 13th birthday party. I love that the stores now carry Sweet 13 decor! It is hot pink and light pink with hot pink marabou boa accents. Too cool!!! On that note, I must tell you that my daughters will now be referred to as Eloise and Olivia. The oldest being Eloise, who was not too crazy about referred to by a letter rather than a name. Teenagers! ;-)
This evening I did get a couple of scrapbook pages finished and am now beginning a Tinkerbell birthday series using Olivia's 8th birthday party pictures. I'm currently stuck, so this may take a while. Don't you just hate it when you start something then look at it and think to yourself "nah!" Well that is my current thought of the Tinkerbell page I just began today.
My week looks busy. Tomorrow is a dr appt for Eloise, followed by a scrapbooking workshop in the evening. Tuesday will be a delivery day and I have our next homeschool board meeting that night. Wednesday will be filled with work. By Thursday I should be able to concentrate more on the birthday party this weekend and getting the house all clean. Through all this our mornings will begin with a cup of good coffee and schoolwork. Coffee for me, school for the girls. I have stressed to the girls how important it was for cooperation to be at a peak this week with such a big day coming at the end of it. Keeping fingers crossed, toes crossed, hair crossed....
Mom is feeling a little better now. Thank you for all your prayers! Hopefully this week will see her completely recovered and ready to brave the fashion-themed party this Saturday. After all, we have a cake, cupcakes, and cookies in the shape of shoes to get made. LOL (I should mention that my mom used to make cakes, amazing cakes, for weddings and such. She is the cake guru around here.)
So how are things with Mr. Dream Date? Fantastic! Spoke to him this evening after her got home from work and it just makes my day. He is such a sweetheart. Mr. DD even reads my blog and does not mind at all that I talk about him (of course not, it's all good ha ha) or about my past dates. Funny since as the girl he is dating, I soooo don't want to know about his!! :-)
Without further adieu, here is the scoop on my 2nd internet date Mr. Hands (that should give you a clue right there).
After my date with Mr. Tall, I waited a little while before climbing back onto the dating horse. When I did decide to try again I met Mr. Hands. Good looking guy, engineer, close to my age, attended church, had two sons. We decided to meet for dinner at a local Italian restaurant (I was smart enough to drive myself this time). Dinner went well. Conversation was smooth. After dinner he asked if I would like to see a movie. I figured why not, it was early and he was a nice guy....at least until the lights dimmed in the theatre. ugh!!!
I have to admit that for the first half of the movie he behaved himself. Then about half-way into the 2 1/2 hr movie all bets were off. I began to notice that he was staring at me so I finally asked him if everything was ok. He simply replied, "You are just so beautiful." I had heard this over and over again while he stared at me for about 30 minutes. (Now I have to interrupt my story here to tell you that all girls love to be told they are beautiful, and I'll admit I am no slouch. My family is filled with attractive women; it runs in the blood. But this was ridiculous!)
That was about the time that his hands began to wander. I think I readjusted my position about a hundred times to avoid the tentacles. We had just met...I am not that kind of girl...and furthermore geesh! I finally folded my arms, crossed my legs, and leaned into the vacant seat on my other side. He caught the hint and was not happy about it.
Before the credits even began rolling, he was out of his seat and storming out of the theatre. I followed and thanked him for dinner and the movie. My thanks was given the clipped response, "Well I knew there at the end that the date was over." Smart guy, huh?!
I then proceeded to walk to my car, hoping he would not escort me. He did. I though the date was over. LOL I opened the door with one hand, holding my purse in the other and avoiding a potential kiss or hug, slid in the drivers seat. Thanked him again and cranked the car while closing the door. Quick getaway!
When I arrived home that evening, I had an email waiting for me. Mr. Hands had emailed to thanked me for the date. He tossed out more compliments on my appearance and then proclaimed that he had a wonderful time and hoped we could go out again sometime. Do you think we did? NOPE!!!
I laughed that night with disbelief, now I laugh with relief...relief in the fact that I only had the one date with Mr. Hands. That night this single homeschooling mom was in search of spray-on handcuffs for touchy-feely dates!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

A look back...

First of all, I would like to apologize for not writing last night. I ended up going to pick up my daughters, B and L, from a friends house late last night. By the time I got home and got them all settled I was exhausted. I was called on missing my daily blog, so here I am. LOL
I promised to review my internet dates leading up to Mr. Dream Date. There have been some good and some bad, some funny and some sad, and a few that were a little frightening.
I guess I should start with my first internet meeting/date. We will call him Mr. Tall. Mr. Tall and I emailed back and forth for a while. He seemed nice and had a good sense of humor. I finally gave him my phone number and we talked a few times before deciding to meet.
Our date started out well enough. We had dinner at a casual restaurant and then went to see a movie. He was courteous and opened doors and paid the bill. Dinner conversation was what you expect of people meeting face to face for the first time. Talk of jobs, kids, etc. The movie was one I had wanted to see for some time. It had a good storyline and was intriguing with no "uncomfortable scenes." A decent first date movie.
The downfall of the date...I was brave (ie stupid) enough to let him drive. The entire ride home was filled with him telling me all about how the world was going to end. I was lectured on how we are all sinners and deserve to die. Ok, now not that the Bible does not state this fact but I am a believer in the redemption of Jesus. Are we all sinners? Yes. I lie to my girls constantly about things like loving their favorite tv shows, losing their old worn out shoes, and the tooth fairy. Lies are sins, among other things. No one is perfect, but do I want my first date to end with a fiery death and brimstone lecture? No way!!!
Of course we must have hit the Twilight Zone on the way home because I have never had a 15 minute drive seem to last all night long. God must have been laughing at me the whole time because He and I had some major one-on-one time in my prayers that night. That man terrified me like no preacher I've ever heard. Maybe he had missed his calling. LOL
So that was the end of my first internet date. I can't help but give a little shudder remembering his speech of death and damnation on the way home. I also have to chuckle at my fervent prayer at the end of that night asking God to please not let all my dates be that way.
As I logged onto the dating sight tonight to read some emails sent to me there, I saw that I have less than a week left on the site. Am I renewing? No. I really like Mr. Dream Date and I want to see where it goes and just enjoy the time getting to know him with no distractions. Did I meet him through the site? Yes. I actually met him online when I very first joined and then we had to cancel our first meeting, he moved, and we both dated other people. We did finally find each other through Facebook/Myspace and began chatting again. That brought us to now. But that is another story...or hopefully a lot more stories :-) As for my past dates...I don't think Mr. DD will mind if I share a few more....What was this single homeschooling mom in search of tonight? I think I found it...A few lessons learned, a good laugh, and thanks for my sanity and well-being after a look back...

Friday, August 21, 2009

Sleep

I hope this blog find you doing well and enjoying life to the fullest. My day has been a whirlwind. Homeschooling this morning was a disaster! My oldest tried to do her day's work on her dying laptop on the kitchen table with our cockapoo wanting her undivided attention. Meanwhile, I was on the desktop I moved into her room yesterday trying to set it up for her to use tomorrow. Computers hate me...just so you know! I ended up calling tech support this afternoon and spending over an hour and a half just transferring data from one computer to another. ugh! Another thing...did you know that in the eighth grade you now learn Egyptian math? Well you do. It is not only a series of triangles and other symbols that all look almost the same with different numerical values, but you also have some half-crazy way to find what their product is. Madness!!
My oldest daughter was not the only one to have issues with her schoolwork. My youngest girl had a test on Spanish explorers. I tend to agree with her that after about 5 questions their names all look the same. LOL She did do well, it just took a good few bursts of laughter over the names and such to get her through it.
How did the meeting go? Fantabulous! Those ladies are incredible. Lots of ideas, plenty of good conversation, and ladies ready to work with a clear cut goal in site. I am so excited about this year! Local homeschoolers we are locked and loaded...beware!
As for Mr. Dream Date, well he read my blog this morning and was quite "smiley" when he picked me up today. We had yet another great date....dinner, walk on the beach, coffee, and then the movie "The Time Travelers Wife." One of those hopeless romantic movies that just makes you sigh continuously.
I come through my front door tonight to see my girls sleeping soundly in their beds. They look beautiful and peaceful. What an amazing sight to behold.
After all this what is a single homeschooling mom in search of? SLEEP!!!
One last thing... I made a promise to someone that tomorrow I would start sharing some of my past dates. Oh boy! ;-)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A Respite from the Craziness

I hope this post find you all well. My days have been crazy lately, so I am trying to think of what to write without it being a four-page blog. So...where to start...I'll give you my last few days in simplified form:
Monday - First official day of being 36. Started second week of homeschooling. The girls were amazingly cooperative and did a great job! Left after schoolwork to go deliver some books and the car computer decided that it did not like me anymore. The entire dash lit up like a Christmas tree and then the car cut out. Thankfully it did crank again and was driven straight to the mechanic. Then the rain came and I was unable to put out books due to rain. ugh!!! Started my blog and my search for a new direction.
Tuesday - Second day of blog met with email from past date asking about said blog. Brings back memories of past dates and what they would think of my blog. Homeschooling today was tougher...the girls decided school is harder this year. Who would have guessed?! Spoke to mechanic to find that the ignition switch was near death in the car and had to be replaced...went ahead and began to plan memorial for the $300 it would cost to repair car.
The evening did end wonderfully...had a great date night. A guy that I actually went out with for the first time about a week ago and had known for the last few months. Incredible dinner followed by fried strawberries (can you say amazing!!) This was our second date and happy to say will not be our last. More blogs to come on this guy for sure :-)
Wednesday - Wake up from blissful sleep filled with sweet thoughts of my wonderful date the eve before to find my mom sick as a dog. Schoolwork was a nightmare..."School is hard" "I'm tired today" and other mumblings ensue but are met with my determination that my children will be schooled. LOL Have a great birthday lunch with one of my best pals, and leave my girls with her for the afternoon. Talk mom into going to the dr to find that she is as sick as she feels and then off to fill her rx. (See moms aren't always right! This time the daughter was...she needed to see the dr) End the evening with an IM from another past date (now good friend) to find out where he ranked on my scale of men. He informs me that I must have left him off my list. Hmmmmm...Oh yeah, and my oldest daughter's computer decided it was sick of schoolwork and is on the verge of a revolt. To quote a friend "I think I'm cursed."
So what does tomorrow hold for me? A meeting to prepare for another home school meeting, take the girls to the library, placing an almost non-existent order for my clients (no shopping for me any time soon), and then home to get ready for my 3rd date with Mr. Dream Date.
But what is this single home school mom in search of tonight? A respite from the craziness...computers that work, cars that love me and use less gas, schoolwork that is engaging and fun, a tidal wave of cosmetic orders, a well mother, and a meeting that shows us home school moms stick together and enjoy what we do!
P.S. And another great date :-)