I have the whole day to myself, but I don’t know what to do with it!

I started a new craft project this weekend. It involves knitting, felting, and sewing. So far, I’m getting only fair results, but each attempt is showing improvement. I’ll post some pics if I get something that looks less amateurish. I think I’ll need to invest in a felting needle to get the effect I’m hoping for.

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My dad belongs to a group that holds a family picnic every summer. This year’s picnic was yesterday. Last week, I complained about the water temperature in Florida being too warm. Yesterday, I got the other extreme. The temp outside was only in the 70s. The water temp was in the chattering teeth range. But, being the stupid, water park loving Michiganders that we are, we braved the water anyway.

One of the other activities was a pie eating contest. The prize was a PS2. My boys don’t like pie, so chose not to participate. Two of my cousin’s kids competed though. (The girl on the left, and the boy on the right.) Can you guess which kid won? Ahem.

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My MIL is up from Naples and is staying with us this week. Unfortunately, our weather hasn’t been very welcoming. The forecast is rainy and cold, which changes at least one of our plans.

Just minutes before Rob had his second phone interview for the job in Missouri, he got a call for an interview for a job in Maryland. I’ve never been to Maryland, but there’s something about it that appeals to me. I feels like it would be different, but in a good way. I know very little about Maryland that would be useful to us as we consider moving there. Okay, I’ve checked the homeschooling laws, climate, and the cost of living. Oh, and I looked at Baltimore with Google Earth. But other than that? I’m clueless.

I’m not eager to move exactly. It’s the uncertainty of it all that has me so restless. So everytime Rob gets a lead, I feel the need to find out at least a little bit about the area in which he’s looking. But that’s to be expected, right?

BTW, if anyone can tell me anything useful about the Baltimore area, I’m all ears!

I took the boys to our local teacher supply store yesterday for a few new “school” supplies. Jacob asked for a magnifying glass, and Brendan asked for a miniature globe. I ended up buying the mini globe and a magnifying glass for each of them, you know, so they can read the words on the very small globe.

When we got home, I put all of their new supplies in our school bucket. But somehow, the globe keeps finding it’s way out of the bucket. Brendan has been carrying that thing around like it’s his new favorite toy. In fact, when we went to see a movie last night, Brendan couldn’t find his GameBoy for the car ride, so he brought the globe instead. I jokingly asked if he wanted to sleep with the globe last night. When he paused to consider it, I think he almost said, “yes”.

Ever have one of those “wtf” days? When I pulled into the parking lot of the bookstore today, a pickup truck pulled out of his spot and out into my side of of the aisle, forcing me to stop in the entrance to the aisle. He stopped to let me pass, but another car was coming toward me behind him. So, you know, I had to wait for the other car. But apparently the guy in the pickup truck didn’t check his rearview mirror and notice the car behind him was preventing me from going around him because he got all pissy with me for what must have appeared to be me just sitting there.

THEN…

While leaving a second bookstore (I never did find what I was looking for, btw), I was stopped at a red light on a very busy road. When I glanced up at my rearview mirror, I saw a car several feet behind me with a bike under it’s front bumper. The kid was fine. I, however, was not. I nearly pulled into the next driveway to scream at the stupid kid who was old enough to know better than to ride into traffic on a six lane road.

I have locked myself in my house with no intention of driving myself anywhere for at least a little while.

I spend way too much time looking for cool new things to add to my blog. Today’s newest addition: a movie review plugin. I love this new feature! I have the latest rating in the sidebar with a link to a full page of ratings/reviews from the entire year. You won’t see any reviews yet, but the ratings are there. I think even Rob will enjoy having this new feature.

Rob was supposed to have a second phone interview today for a job in Misery Missouri, but it’s been rescheduled for Thursday. When his employer made their announcements earlier this year, it felt like we had a lot of time until the changes would affect us. Now here we are with September right around the corner, and December not far off. I’m starting to worry a little bit. Many of the people we met in Florida this past weekend are in the same industry as Rob, so we’re hopeful that he can find work through them, if not through his current employer.

I get the feeling that Rob would enjoy having a month or two between jobs. He’s mentioned visiting his family in Florida again during Christmas this year if he’s jobless. I’m afraid to make flight arrangements for such a trip though, in case we’re not even living here by Christmas. And thinking about living elsewhere before the end of the year? It’s a little freaky. The reality is we probably won’t be able to sell our home before the end of the year, so the boys and I will probably stay here for a while. At least, that’s my plan. But it sure would ease my mind a bit to know Rob’s employer’s plan.

From early on Friday until late on Sunday, Rob and I were on our first “adult-only” getaway since our honeymoon nearly twelve years ago. Rob’s brother Jim is turning 40 this week, and to celebrate, his family and friends threw him a surprise party at the Don CeSar Beach Resort on St. Pete Beach in Florida.

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I have a long list of projects I want to try, but they’re going to have to wait a bit. August is usually my worst month for feeling creative or energetic. We’re going to be very busy for the next few weeks though, so hopefully I’ll skip right over my August Blahs this year. Then, I can jump into some of these projects I’m aching to try.

The list so far includes knitting, sculpting, screen printing, a paper craft, and three sewing projects. And at some point I need to return to the ceramics studio and finish glazing one last piece. It’s a good thing the boys aren’t returning to school in September. We wouldn’t be ready!

A solicitor came to my house early this morning to try to sell me a set of study guides. I was a little annoyed because 1) he came before 9:00 a.m. and 2) I don’t like solicitors coming to my home. Because he was selling study guides, his first questions were naturally about my boys’ school. I told him we homeschooled. He wanted to know why.

The questions are always exactly the same. And I should be able to answer those questions by now, but I can’t. Why do you homeschool? Do you use a curriculum? How are they doing? What are they learning? Will they ever return to school?

I’m always caught off guard when someone asks me why I homeschool. My first response usually expresses our negative experience within our local school district, but the reality is that our experience with the schools here is one of the less significant reasons why we’re homeschooling right now. Afterall, my disappointment with the public schools was remedied when I enrolled the boys in the charter school.

I know why we homeschool, but I’ve never found a good way to articulate my reasons without it turning into a homeschooling discussion. Sometimes, I don’t want to have a homeschooling discussion. Also, part of me feels like I shouldn’t have to answer those questions. What I need is a good solid answer that briefly explains my reasons and politely suggests that I don’t really want to discuss it further. That’s not to say I won’t share my reasons with people who are genuinely interested, but t’s not really the type of thing I enjoy discussing at length with people who are just curious.

Why do I homeschool? My children are very important to me, and their education is a job I won’t lightly hand over to somebody else.

It’s a true statement that answers the question, but it comes off a little reproachful, don’t you think?