In my life this week…
This was a week of crazy weather. Not dangerous weather as in some places, but full of wild variations: snow, rain, extreme cold, unseasonal warmth, and howling winds.
I’m quite organized and focused, but occasionally there’s a big oopsie. I had forgotten to renew my health card, my license, and my vehicle registration! Of course I had excuses, very good ones too, but the fact of the matter is that I had to ask my hard-working husband to take time off work to deal with all of this, which he did very graciously.
But I must be more organized and take the time every week to verify that I’ve done all I should. The trouble is that I’m usually still busy doing the week’s work. But as so many wise people, most notably Stephen R. Covey and Don Aslett, point out: to be effective you must take time to plan and reflect. And they are right.
No matter what else is going on in life, we must try to keep our focus on the responsibilities that God has given us. Doing so not only makes life run more smoothly, but it also will prevent future disasters that could be caused by today’s neglect of our God-given tasks. Because, as our Omnibus study of Return of the King pointed out this week, shirking personal duties always has repercussions on those around us.
In our homeschool this week …
Lots of work, lots of learning, lots of marking, and lots of record-keeping. I’m still trying to fit Mr. 17’s eclectic learning style into transcript-friendly courses. Since we’re quite far behind our goals, I also need to sit down with my teens and discuss what they need to complete this year and how we can get it done.
Some of my favorite things this week were…
- Building snowmen.
- Discovering that our pantry challenge saved us hundreds of dollars.
- Warm weather and waking up to a warm house.
- Eating snow icecream.
- Mr. 17 fixed our broken computer! He diagnosed the problem, I bought the required part, and he installed it…and now it works again.
Questions/thoughts I have… We’re cutting our losses with Mr. 17’s grade 12 work. He’ll never be able to meet the goals we set in September, but that’s OK. We’ll just take a good look at what really needs doing and then set new goals.
Things I’ve been working on…
- Homeschooling, marking, recording marks.
- Managing the home and our food stores.
- Organizing non-traditional schoolwork into ‘standard’ courses.
- Remembering to walk, eat well, and relax adequately.
- Preparing for unexpected visitors and visiting.
We’re watching… Nothing.
I’m reading… 2 Samuel. I finished 7 Tipping Points that Changed the World, and The Tutor’s Daughter. Currently I’m still reading 10 Christians Everyone Should Know, and Winter Solstice, and have just started The Omnivore’s Dilemma which has a fascinating section about how the author spent a short while working on Joel Salatin’s farm. (We admire Salatin, and earlier I reviewed Folks, This Ain’t Normal , and discussed You Can Farm and Pastured Poultry Profits.)
Reading Aloud… With the kids, we’re reading Joshua and Ralph Moody’s Riders of the Pony Express as well as various books for school. For Dutch reading, the Little Misses and I finished Jan Willem by Anne De Vries.
When my husband is home for meals we’re reading Hosea.
We’re memorizing… Psalm 2, slowly.
I’m grateful for … Snow ice cream. Family and friends. Warmth. Homeschooling.
Quote or link to share… This week Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced her upcoming abdication. If you understand Dutch, you’ll appreciate her brief message. Otherwise, here’s an objective article from the BBC and here’s a highly opinionated one, also British, comparing British and Dutch attitudes to abdication. Abdication ties in with knowing what our responsiblities are and meeting them…and for a monarch, that certainly affects many. We pray for God’s blessings on both of our queens, irrespective of how they view their duties.
This post is linked to Kris’s Weekly Wrap Up and to HomeSchool High.
Oh, that’s too bad about forgetting to renew those things. At least you learned your lesson. I love your words of wisdom. Planning is so helpful, yet as you’ve seen, good plans can still need altering. Hooray on saving all that money with the pantry challenge. Have a lovely Sunday!
That’s so hard forgetting things like that. I’m glad that your husband could help out and get the things you needed. What an awesome blessing with how much you saved with the pantry challenge. That is great. 🙂
Yes, I’ve learned a lesson. Hopefully I’ll remember it, too. Sigh.
I’m thrilled with the pantry challenge savings. We have enough in the freezers to keep this up for a while, so we’ll be able to save a lot of money for the next few months too, I hope.