Weekly Musings

::Weekly Rambles::

I need a magnet for that other GA university, too. The 6-year old sticker is looking shabby!

What’s really on my mind and heart?

Still processing our 2-day orientation and the impending departure of my 4th child for college. Always before, there were lots of little distractions at home to keep me from mourning too much when a child left, though I did mourn. And I still do miss them terribly, but I think this departure is going to be hard. Two kids at our dinner table is too quiet.

What am I thankful for?

I'm very thankful for being on the mend. I was still pretty tired and draggy on Sunday, but noticeably better yesterday. The horrific sore throat seems to be gone. YAY!

What’s going on in school?

Not "in school" so much as "at the Institute". Tom and I spent two long days at GaTech orientation. It was tiring, but I got a lot of convalescing and knitting done. A lot of information to process. The crux of which is that it's a challenging environment for these smart kids who are used to being the smartest one in the room and not having to work terribly hard to excel in high school. They're all going to have to learn to study properly and hone some time management skills in order to succeed. I like that they really emphasized the need to sleep in many sessions----well, not sleep in the sessions, but in the sessions they emphasized the need to sleep. :-)

I'm ashamed to say that I never got a t-shirt for that "other university". I got this one yesterday because I saw another mom wearing it and it was cute. Ladies cut, scoop neck. I'd wear one from UGA if I had one. ;-)

What’s cooking?

No idea. More chicken broth.

What’s on the needles?

My Clapo-ktus grew quite a bit during orientation. (I was the only one knitting, as far as I could see. I don't know how people can sit there and do nothing!) It's a little slow with all the purling and ktbl (knitting through the back loop), and every other row is longer than the last, but when I get to the halfway point where I start decreasing and dropping the purl stitches, it will get faster and more fun. Normally, knitters hate dropping stitches and watching that row run (like pantyhose), but that's the point in this shawl, and it will be awesome!

What’s special about this week?

More braces, car repair, summer camp!

The way to this mom's heart!

What am I reading?

May the Road Rise Up to Meet You on Overdrive. Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wife on paper. Both very different books, but I'm enjoying both of them. When I go to bed, where I read Kristin, I think that I'd rather listen to the other, but I find that I'm perfectly happy to read Kristin well past my bedtime!

What am I praying about?

We're praying novena after novena for our school building campaign. We're not getting as much help from the internet as we need, and time keeps marching us closer to the deadline. 

What’s on my ipod?/

See: What am I reading?

What projects are happening at home?

So much clutter. And school books to get rid of. Maybe, just maybe, I'll find enough energy to focus on some of those things this week.

These 2 were so cute when we were playing Pictionary the other night.

Quick Takes

---1---

omg so sorry!! hope that you can rest up and feel better!! please just call us next week to get r/s when you are better. Hope you get to rest up!! take care, dr.n

I got the above email from my chiropractor this morning. Since I don't have much of a speaking voice due to my bad cold, I opted to send an email canceling my appointment. I was cracking up, thinking that he, uncharacteristically, writes like a 15 year-old girl, when I remembered that his daughter is working in the office this summer. There might be clients out there who don't know that though!

---2---

Also uncharacteristically, I have been sick since Monday! It's Saturday now. I had enough energy to write exactly one Quick Take yesterday-----although Friday seems like daaaays ago from my perspective. Horrible sore throat and congestion. I had a physical scheduled for Tuesday, so they did a strep test which was negative. I look forward to feeling normal again!

---3---

College Orientation tomorrow for me and Tom. That's if I'm well enough. I feel a teensy bit more energetic today, so maybe I'm capable of sitting in a room listening to people talk. Just don't ask me to hike all over campus. My fitbit hates me this week.

---4---

Tom bought a new computer for college, so he gave up his little Chromebook to the family. This is almost as revolutionary to me as my iphone was! Yesterday I was able to work on the AHG treasury from the comfort of my sofa----writing checks and posting transactions to QuickBooks online. It was awesome to have that weight off my shoulders. I've been longing for a laptop for ages---who knew it was right here waiting for me?

---5---

The Polar Vortex didn't last long enough around here. We had a couple of simply gorgeous days that I spent holed up in the house! I did go out to sit in dh's lounger for a couple of hours one day, but that was tiring. Now we are having a heavy, steady rain which is a bit unusual. This time of year is usually afternoon thunderstorms, but this is nice. Everyone left for confession this morning and I was left to walk the dog (who hadn't done his business earlier because it was raining!) who desperately needed to go out. Walking in the heavy rain and deep runoff was kind of fun because it wasn't cold. It's a very pleasant temp. Don't you love walking in the rain?

---6---

These might be the most boring quick takes ever. That's what happens when your world dwindles to the size of your sofa. What do you like to see in the way of Quick Takes?

---7---

It's time to pick up my knitting and my chicken broth now that I've reached the 7th take. I hope your week has been more exciting than mine! Tell me what you've been up to?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join the fun at Jen's for more 7 Quick Takes!

Yarn Along

Thanks to being sick and too tired to do the many things calling my name, I had time to start a new knitting project! Thankful for the little things! ;-)

I'm still reading Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wife, but I can't knit this project while reading, so I checked out this on Overdrive: 

The first two chapters were good! 

My knitting is Clapo-ktus. It is a super-fun knit! The first half is interesting, and I can't wait for the second half where I get to drop stitches and watch the magic happen! Make sure you click over to see what it should look like---it took a while for me to figure out what I was doing wrong (nothing!).

Stop by Ginny's to see the other yarns.  (This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.)

Summer Daybook

::Weekly Rambles::

What’s really on my mind and heart?

First and foremost, the biggest thing going on is a crowdfunding campaign to get the necessary dollars to buy a new building for our hybrid school. The link is here on Causevox. 

We lease space at a small Christian school, but between our growth and their growth there isn't room for all of us. When we started there, they had 40 students and we had 54---it was a win-win situation! Now, they have a new headmaster who has done a great job of growing their enrollment, while ours has also increased to 240 students. They don't need us anymore; they certainly don't want us taking up valuable space for their students, and we can't blame them for that!

After years of searching and fundraising, knowing this day would come, we've found an awesome site that is a bargain and everything we need. We just don't quite have the downpayment yet. Our school operates well in the black, so that with our current enrollment, we have plenty of money to make the mortgage payments once we get the building. Not only that, but once we have it, we will be able to fill a Monday-Wednesday session of classes and double our enrollment. (Since we're a hybrid, lower school students meet only Tuesdays and Thursdays.) We have a great curriculum and excellent teachers for 1/3 of the cost of most private schools in the area!

If you're still reading ;-) will you please, please, please, click the link and watch our video? If you can make a donation of any size, we will be eternally grateful. If you can't, you can still help us out by sharing the link on FB, twitter, and G+. We are committed to using all the money we earn towards the build-out on the bare essentials our students need. Beyond that, we're committed to building strong families, educating children who can think for themselves and have a willingness to serve others.

Would you like to help jumpstart an education revolution!?

Thank you for clicking and helping!

What am I thankful for?

I am really thankful for our school, St. John Bosco Academy. My good friend, one of the founders, asked me repeatedly to join them years ago, but I didn't feel I needed the assistance in the early years, and my older ones were already in private, Catholic high school. Now that SJBA has grown sufficiently to have a high school of its own, I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to send Pip there. I hate to think that they might have to close the high school, at least, if we don't acquire this new property. We love this school.

What’s going on in school?

Pip is working on his AP World History homework every day, and I'm working on fundraising. :-)

What’s cooking?

There's lots and lots of green stuff in the fridge that needs to be cooked!

What’s on the needles?

Just the Sock Yarn Blanket. I'm thinking about starting another scarf if I can drag myself downstairs to look at the stash. 

What’s special about this week?

Not much this week. I'm sick, sick, sick. I think it's from the water park on Sunday and having a hefty dose of chlorinated, germy water forced into my sinuses. Yuck. Conveniently, I had an appointment for a physical today and the strep test was negative. So, when I finish this, I'm going to curl up with my knitting.

What am I reading?

Or my reading. I'm on Vol. II of Kristin Lavransdatter. I loved this trilogy 20-odd years ago when I was a new Catholic, but it seems very different this time. Poor memory may be part of it, but it's very likely that my understanding of the Catholic faith has changed and matured over the years. Reading about Kristin's pilgrimmage to confess and do penance for her sins was very moving.

What am I praying about?

Lots of prayers and novenas for the success of our building campaign! 

What’s on my ipod?/

Not listening to many podcasts these days. 

What projects are happening at home?

Don't speak to me of projects.  :-) They're not happening, either because I don't have the energy, or because I'm busy working on the SJBA building campaign, or learning how to be the AHG treasurer!

***

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

7 Quick Takes - Catching up!

---1---

It has been 2 weeks since I was here! I have a lot of other stuff on my mind. Summer is crazy, in general, and the least little bit of activity throws me off. I'm not a very self-disciplined person, so I do much better during the school year when there are more regular schedules.  Do you?

Anyway, I'm glad to be back---I missed you guys!

---2---

First and foremost, the biggest thing going on is a crowdfunding campaign to get the necessary dollars to buy a new building for our hybrid school. The link is here on Causevox. 

We lease space at a small Christian school, but between our growth and their growth there isn't room for all of us. When we started there, they had 40 students and we had 54---it was a win-win situation! Now, they have a new headmaster who has done a great job of growing their enrollment, while ours has increased to 240. They don't need us anymore, and they certainly don't want us taking up valuable space for their students. And we can't blame them for that!

After years of searching and fundraising, knowing this day would come, we've found an awesome site that is a bargain and everything we need. We just don't quite have the downpayment yet. Our school operates well in the black, so that with our current enrollment, we have plenty of money to make the mortgage payments once we get the building. Not only that, but once we have it, we will be able to fill a Monday-Wednesday session of classes and double our enrollment. (Since we're a hybrid, lower school students meet only Tuesdays and Thursdays.) We have a great curriculum and excellent teachers for 1/3 of the cost of most private schools in the area!

If you're still reading ;-) will you please, please, please, click the link and watch our video? If you can make a donation of any size, we will be eternally grateful. If you can't, you can still help us out by sharing the link on FB, twitter, and G+. We are committed to using all the money we earn towards the build-out on the bare essentials our students need. Beyond that, we're committed to building strong families, educating children who can think for themselves and have a willingness to serve others.

Would you like to help jumpstart an education revolution!?

Thank you for clicking and helping!

---3---

For a little vacation, and since some of our kids needed to keep working, we decided to head to Athens to visit them and do some of the things they've always wanted us to, but we never had time. Meg and Pip got to have the cool sleepover at their sibs' apartment, and the hubs and I got quiet time at a hotel. Ahhhhhh! 

The beer-lovers in the family wanted to go to the Terrapin Brewery where we took the tour and tasted a lot of beer. Some tasted way more than others, IYKWIM. It was fun and the weather cooled off nicely in the evening so that we could play a little catch. I think it was one of those memorable evenings that we will think of fondly.

              

---4---

This guy didn't go with us. He went to the beach with her (and her family) and had fun deep sea fishing, instead.

---5---

Since Brendan didn't have much time off---holiday weekends and movie-theater managers don't equal family time. :-( So we saw him the only way we could: we went to a movie every day where we saw him for 5 minutes before and after! Quality time, people, quality time. 

I know you're dying to know what we saw: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (entertaining, but not as good as the first), Transformers (way, way too long, and still pretty stupid, but definitely better than the last one), and The Edge of Tomorrow (The best of all 3. We enjoyed this one a lot---Groundhog Day meets Source Code).

---6---

Independence Day fun was courtesy of a Barnes and Noble parking lot. It wasn't the best view of fireworks, but there was a lot less traffic, and we had a good time anyway. This is what made it all worthwhile for Meg:

---7---

One of the favorite activities here is walking along, or on, the railroad tracks to the tree swing. It had been cut down when the kids stayed there last, but a city official had a new and improved one put up. It's a lot of fun!

Other than that, we spent a lot of time eating at great, local restaurants. Yum!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join the fun at Jen's for more 7 Quick Takes!