Absorbed in Minutia

Most people vacation in the summer, but we typically don't. We pick the oddest times of the year to travel. In the fall, Pamela and I will join Steve for his high school reunion with lifelong friends in Central America. (Don't feel too sorry for poor David who will be holding the fort and caring for pets when he is not attending school: he went with Steve two years ago.) Since Steve has a mandatory meeting in Chile the following Monday, Pamela and I will join him for that trip too. He really had to twist my arm to convince me to go. (Maybe not.) In the winter, we are pulling David out of school for a week for all four of us to take a cruise to the Bahamas. Spring is way too far out to consider, although technically ChildLightUSA's Charlotte Mason Conference occurs in that season.

This summer, we are quite busy--almost too busy to take a vacation. Steve works hard selling toilets, runs, keeps up the yard (a monumental task in the summer), and forces himself to relax (a full-time job because he is one of those people who feel guilty for chilling out). David is studying for the written test to get his driver's permit and doing more ACT preparation (our motto is that you can never take it too many times). He is also preparing for a mission trip to Haiti next month. Besides hanging out with his friends (think: jam sessions), he practices the drums and guitar in his free time, helps his dad with the yard work, takes care of the bird and fish, and reads (he just finished Animal Farm right before we saw Toy Story 3, which should have been called "Toy Farm").

I am absorbed in minutia. Thinking through everything going on next year, I need to get some things done this summer or winter will kill me. I'm also trying to keep up my habit of sticking to a Bible reading plan and walking the dog for an hour while listening to books on my MP3. Unlike my husband who is the king of endorphins, I never feel fantastic after exercise, even when I was in the Navy and physically fit. Audio books motivate me to get out of bed and face the heat. I loved Little Dorrit and am finally getting into The Mysteries of Udolpho now that the heroine is developing a backbone and has stopped fainting everywhere--I thought she had a serious case of hypoglycemia. I am also planning out Pamela's school year by piloting a Charlotte Mason curriculum that is a year or two from being released. I get to pioneer how to adapt it to a person with special needs.

As for Pamela, we are working on an RDI objective (noticing whether a person is available to speak with her--especially important when I am on the phone). She enjoys spending time outdoors, waiting for the mail, and occasionally getting on her swimsuit and playing with the hose outdoors. I also have her working on a special project which I will blog over the next month or two. She is still keeping up the sock box, which overfloweth at present, requiring me to extract a promise that she would attend to the matter tomorrow.