Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 1

Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 2

A good tip I learned from a banker

It's a good idea to have a 2nd checking account with a debit/cash card and a small balance.  This is the card to carry to the zoo, a bike ride, etc.  It's also the card to use when ordering, say, pizza, where you wonder if they are writing down your number somewhere, and if they are safely disposing of the number.

This way, if someone were to get a hold of the card or the number that person has access to maybe $100 or $300 or whatever you keep in there, rather than the amount you keep in your regular checking account that you may use to pay all your monthly bills.

Small Successes

1.  Flexible!  Took my kids to Underwater World a the Mall of America this week since we could get in for home school days for $24.50 (otherwise it would cost $84 and we would NOT have gone!)  The day got totally off schedule since I planned to arrive at 9 am to give us enough time to enjoy the sights before leaving at 11 am for a nearby appointment.  But, I hadn't planned ahead, the place didn't open until 10 am.  I was getting frustrated looking around the MOA (I seriously dislike the constant background noise of this mall).  I saw Nathan there with sort of a sad look on his face, and he had been so excited to come, I realized my attitude was ruining it.  So, I decided to forgo all my afternoon school/cleaning plans and come back after our appointment, pay the price of mall lunches for 8, and get home at 4:00.  It was a good choice.

2.  Found my Righstart math manipulatives.  I've been working around them for a week and was actually on my way to order them when Terese asked me to help her with a math question.  I sat down to help her and there it was - the box of manipulatives and cards - someone had cleaned and shoved it under the desk hutch behind the CD's).

3.  Filled out my home school form and accompanying letter to send to the school district this morning.  It's due before tomorrow.  I'd been putting it off because I need to have a letter notarized to go with it. I have NEVER been this late with the form.  I guess I'll be heading to get the letter notarized and then directly to the district office to hand deliver it.  Oh joy.  

I seem to be stuck in an "always behind" rut the last year or so.  I used to have this stuff done way ahead of time.  Sometimes so far ahead of time I actually had to set things aside because it was  too soon to mail them ( and...I didn't lose them in the process either).  I know I'm adding extra work (like driving to the district office today) and extra stress.  I am working hard on changing this.  Maybe a couple cans of Jolt will give me an extra 8 hours (overnight) to catch up a bit and get ahead.  No, that always ends badly.  Maybe a 2 hour movie some night for the kiddos, yeah, and that will help my 9 year old get his 5-7 hours of TV time that we find so hard to find  (OK - eye patch time - but unless he is absorbed into TV land it's really bothersome for his weaker eye to work so hard - and it was the ophthalmologist's suggestion).  Or...I could have spent this last 5 minutes organizing my bills instead of blogging...nah...it's enjoyable and I only spend less than 10 minutes a day on it.

Small Successes

1.  Took all kids, except our 5 year old,  to Mass Monday morning when my ds served.  And...I didn't complain that I spent most of Mass in the hallway with my 2 year old.

2.  Packed a lunch and schoolwork for the kids when we had an appt. across town over lunch time.  Usually we grab fast food to eat in the van on the way home so we don't lose more school time at home making a late lunch (yeah yeah... I could have had the kids pack the lunch except they were busy doing their schoolwork and I was listening to one of my kids read his reading lesson to me.)


3.   Read an entire book in one week!  Insomnia has a way of making time.  It was a child's book (hey...when I have insomnia I am so not into reading something that takes effort!) about Albert Einstein.  Did you know he played a key part in WWII and without him the outcome could have been significantly different?  I'd have my kids read it but I was so excited to share the information with them this morning I am sure I spoiled any interested in reading the book.

Tagged?

OK - but I expect Crunchy Mama to chime in with her list too.

10 odd things about me most people don't know:

1. I have my very own pair of 2 buckle boots
2. Early to bed and early to rise (unless I have insomnia!)
3. I would rather scrub toilets than grocery shop (I do both)
4. I have always lived within a 20 mile or so radius
5. I am not a cradle Catholic.  I was baptized, received my First Communion, and was confirmed on Easter Sunday when I was 18
6. I married my high school sweetheart and have 7 kids on earth and a bunch in Heaven
7. I have a BA in Math with a minor in Quantitative Methods and Computer Science
8. I was thrilled when my oldest started Algebra - she wasn't
9. I played Cymbals in our high school marching band and marched (backwards) in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Mackinaw Island, and Canada
10. I don't understand writers but love them anyway

Writers...who knew?

So, I am driving Anna home from soccer one evening along with a guy  from her team.  Little did we moms know when we set this carpool up strictly for our convenience that both of our kids were writers.

It's been interesting listening to the conversations back and forth.  In fact, on our very first ride home this kid was telling me about a Catholic trilogy he is writing.  Seriously.  The reason this is so shocking is because my Anna is nearly done with the massive editing faze of her Catholic trilogy (she has many editors).  Next faze?  Trying to publish!

But the best conversation by far was this...they were talking about how the story just progresses as they write.  They don't always know where they are going but the characters lead them there.  Then Anna says something about how the characters in her story fell in love....and that made her so mad because she hates it when characters fall in love in stories and it messes up the whole plot line.  And...this other kid totally agrees.  Seriously.  In fact, he just scrapped a story he had been working hard on because the characters fell in love and that was NOT in the plan.

You think I am making this up?  Seriously...this is what happened!  At that point I looked over and said something apparently very stupid, "um, guys, if you are writing the stories how can it just happen?  They aren't real.  YOU are writing it.  Change it!"  They both looked at me in shock.  "But it just happened.  The characters are so real it just happened.  We can't change that!"

OK - I guess I am seriously NOT an author.  I'll stick to algebra.