This week has been one of keeping the head down and putting one foot in front of the other. Each day was much the same:
- My mornings usually began before 5 or at least by 5:30. I’d get up, work for a while on some reading or other, get tired enough to go back to bed and rest for another hour.
- Paul would get up and go to daily mass at the nearest parish to our house, St. Augustine’s. Some days he took one or two girls along with him.
- On the way home he would pick up our bonus student and they would arrive back here by 9:30, by which time I would be up and have had my morning jolt of caffeine, the breakfast would be finished and the books out and ready to begin.
- Then we would attempt to concentrate for a couple of hours while the 2-year-old ran around screeching and roaring and chattering and clattering his toys and his popper and demanding as much attention as he could get. Laurent did a little matching practice with his stacking game (lower left corner of the photo), and I even tried some bean sorting at one point, but it devolved very quickly into taking the bean between his finger and thumb, shooting his fist high into the air, and with a graceful arc, plunging it down into the bowl till his fist was totally buried. And then he poured half of each jar out, and then mixed them up and tried to put them back… so that was fun and entertaining for everyone. Not sure how educationally effective it was, but we’ll keep the sorting stuff on the back burner for future reference. 🙂
- Some time around mid day we would see the temperature rise to 50°F and that was our signal to head out for a walk around the neighborhood for some fresh air and exercise.
- Back at home there would be lunch of some sort (except on the couple of days when we walked to McD’s and lunched there and then walked back – pure luxury, even if it was all value-menu!).
- Some afternoon school work (much easier to focus once the munchkin went down for his naps), an episode of Planet Earth, and some quizzing on the day’s readings rounded out school.
- Then it was time to rummage up some supper, after which Paul would take Cisco and head either back to his house to drop him off (if it was Tuesday, Paul’s SVdP night), or back to his house to pick up his siblings for church, (on both Monday and Wednesday).
- Evenings were getting the wee tot to bed, and then working on internet shtuff: getting Megan up and running with her new and improved website and Facebook page, helping mom get started with her new blog, and working out the kinks in WordPress to everyone’s satisfaction. I get loads of satisfaction from helping my peeps with their blogs. Which is good, because it takes me a lot of trial and error getting to where I actually KNOW what I am doing! Lol!
- I’d get myself to bed finally sometime around 1am, and the cycle would start over again.
One of the things that made this week unusual was having my sweetie around all day, every day. His company put everyone on unpaid furlough before Christmas, and the return to work date keeps getting pushed back; thus, as you might imagine, there is job hunting afoot. There has been one interview, several calls from headhunters, and a bank that tried to have him come in for an interview (which he was suspicious about, and finally got them to reveal that the position was for selling some kind of insurance. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with selling insurance, unless you have 20 years of experience in software engineering and none in sales. I’m thinking somebody in HR didn’t read the resumé very carefully before making that call!). Anyway. There are some possibilities percolating, and we’ll just have to see what next week brings.
Just when you’ve gotten comfortable and begun to think your adventures are over, along comes something unexpected. Feeling a little like Bilbo right now, I am! Adventures are always surprising, usually a bit uncomfortable, and invariably give you a marvelous story to tell when they’re done.
Remembering this scripture as I ponder not only our future, but the trials of many friends and family struggling with significant health challenges, and knowing that whatever the road may look like, however rough or unpredictable the journey, we are walking hand in hand with our good God.
Jeremiah 29:11 (Douay-Rheims Bible)
For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, to give you an end and patience.
