That is the sound of a happy woman. : ) We are the new owners of a Mac and couldn’t be happier so far. After umpteen years of battling with pc’s this is blessed relief. I wish we had taken the plunge sooner.

This lent, like most of our lents, has been full of unexpected challenges and redirection. The children and Allen are plugging along with their meatless season. I had to return to the diet my Dr prescribed for me. Guess he knew what he was doing. I have an uncommon form of arthritis that responds to little else but a no-starch diet. Long story. Its related to a starch loving bacteria which is molecularly similar to the genetic blood marker for the disease. Odd. Apparently vegetarianism is not for everyone at any rate. Spent a week not movin’ well. : / All is much better now and we are getting back to normal. Whatever that is.

Allen’s grandfather passed away and he is planning to attend the memorial service. A blessing for the man but nevertheless sad for those left behind. We are hitting the point in life where mortality is impossible to avoid. Our day will come and if the speed with which recent years have passed is any indication it will likely surprise us. I remember reading once that most likely one of us (in a marriage) will eventually be burying the other. It is a sobering reality. Makes you look at each day a little differently. (go send your husband a love letter!)

The children have been making good progress in school. They are loving the Story of the World Volume II and seem to be retaining the stories remarkably well. They have made lovely notebook pages and narrations which I will upload as soon as I can figure out the new printer/scanner. Not millions of them, but some very nice work. I am very pleased with the care they have taken. We also picked up some Spectrum workbooks for one of them and I am as happy with those now as I have been in the past. Cheap, effective, user friendly. The writing series seems to have exercises very similar to those we have seen in Calvert School’s curriculum. They have been a good addition to our program, leading the writer from elementary categorizing exercises to graphic organizers to topic sentences etc rather painlessly.

I haven’t been online much but that has been alright too. There has been lots of time to read, both with the children and on my own. I realized that had fallen by the wayside – relaxed, kicked back reading replaced by snatches of online articles. This has provided a good balance. I hope to share some bits and pieces of that in coming days. Balance is a good thing.

M is nearly ready to publish. Expect that Funschool entry this week.

What else? Lots more and nothing more I suppose – the minutia that makes up our lives and commands our attention from day to day. Daily chores interspersed with the occasional major speedbump. Waking up with resolve and vision, falling into a well-earned sleep at day’s end. Hopefully the new machines and continued organizing and decluttering will translate into more crafting soon. That is one weak link here. It has been a very hands off many months art-wise and it is taking a toll on my morale. It is definitely time to make something. Meantime I can honestly say we have had many restful moments together tucked in between the rest of it all and cherish them more than I can say. I hope the same is true for you. : )

Ok off to start the day and will try to share more before long. God bless.