Musings: New Year's Resolutions

Here is a list of books I either have on hold at the library, have in my cart on Amazon, or in yet another cart at Alternatives for Simply Living:
~Meal by Meal: Balance thru Mindful Eating
~Living the Good Life on God's Good Earth
~Simpler Living, Compassionate Life
~Food and Faith: Justice, Joy and Daily Bread
~How Much is Enough? Hungering for God in an Affluent Culture
~Irresitable Revolution: Living as An Ordinary Radical
~Food for Life: Spirituality and Ethics of Eating
~31 Words to Create and Organized Life
~Living More with Less
~Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth
~Simplicity Lessons
~Voluntary Simplicity
~Simple Living Investments
~Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity
~Your Money or Your Life
~Simply in Season
~Tis a Gift to be Simple

Ok, so raise your hand if you see a common thread or two in the above titles?

I'm seriously wanting to curb my consumerism of things....but also with the food I consume. During the next month, hubby and I (and the kids) are going to once again take stock of all our habits. We do this every now and again, but this time the impetus behind it is our newly discovered passion for those in poverty. How can I shop responsibly? How do I eat responsibly? How do I only take my fair share without taking away from others?

Case in point: Yeterday, I dropped one of my girls and her cousin off at the local mall to spend Christmas and babysitting money....After 3 hours, I picked up two giddy (and exhausted) teenagers, completely intoxicated with their many purchases....purses, beads, undies, jeans, etc etc etc.....Totally normal, totally understandable, totally reminiscent of my own teenage years as well as throughout my adulthood. So why did I feel like crying?

Ingnorance is bliss. It really, truly is. Turning away from certain realities of our world is extremely easy in our frenetic culture, one in which our time is spent rushing from thing to thing, accumulating stuff, eating on the run, only to sit down in front of the tv to be bewitched by commercials and shows that repeat the mantra "get more, be more, you're not good enough, be like me, happiness is found here." Our family doesn't even watch tv, and we homeschool thru 8th grade. We drive older cars, live in the city, buy many things on sale or at Goodwill, accept hand-me-downs graciously and gratefully. We go against the culture in many ways. Yet my teenagers have bought the 'get what you can, can what you get, sit on the can' mentality of the world that immediately surrounds them. What is the ancedote for such behavior?

I realize that often the choices I made regarding, say, tv and schooling were done because it was easier to disengage and ignore than to work thru our nature towards greed, selfishness and the like. Now that my kids are mingling and integrating with their culture thru school, movies, and friendships......the pull to conform is all-consuming. I feel discouraged, disappointed, sometimes helpless (if not all-out guilty) trying to swim upstream and pulling the teenagers along for the difficult ride.

But avoiding that difficult journey is no longer an option for me. I know too much. I read and see and hear too many things that will not allow me to turn away in ignorance and apathy. I want to learn a new pattern of thankfulness, of generosity, of humility. To live, as my hubby says, an examined life. I want to take responsibility for the consumption and greed I've participated in, and to re-think creatively about how I can better share the blessings I've been given. I told hubby this morning, I can't even enjoy what I have because it's buried under all the stuff I thought I had to have. I don't want to live a guilt trip....I just want to live with the blessings I've been alloted with a heart of thankfulness and a willingness to share. How much is 'enough'? That is the question I am repeatedly asking myself. How can I model for my teenagers a life that understands and embraces 'enough'? How can I encourage them to live simply, sacrificially, and in contentment? Our culture's idea of 'enough' is non-existent.

I wonder if that means moving out to the country into a little farmhouse with no cell phones, computers, tvs, shopping malls around the corner....or does that mean staying put where we are and learning to stop acquiring 'stuff' at the expense of the poverty-stricken in the world. The first suggestion sounds easier. But, as with most things in life, moderation is where we are forced to grow up. Where we must wrestle with non-conformity, out in the open, without withdrawing from the culture to a point where we have no impact. Living in a comfortable home, enjoying a movie and fast food now and then, shopping consciously, being watchful for opportunities to bless my 'neighbor' wherever I may happen to run into them....that is a life of simplicity and a life of enough. It must be a pattern of life that always finds itself balancing precariously between excess and deprivation. It doesn't allow for much laziness, though, and calls for being 'present' most times, in most choices. But I'm convinced this is where true joy and contentment are found.

So, as usual, I've picked out my research and plan to dive in, assured that drowning myself into the abyss of words, words, words will 'fix' me. What's that you say? Why not just do it instead of read about it? Why spend money I don't have to purchase books about consumption, simple living, and enough?

Is there an echo in here? Did you hear something?

Musings: Stargirl

I was loaned a copy of the book Stargirl a couple weeks ago. It's a teen novel. I was skeptical.
Now in my third reading, after zipping thru it myself, reading it aloud to hubby, and now to my girls, I am completely enamoured with it.

It is the story of a 10th grade girl attending high school for the first time after being homeschooled. It's a bit of a tall tale....the protagonist is definitely outside the realm of reality as one might expect from a book on human nature. But she represents so much of what I strive to infuse into my daughters' hearts. She is naive, she is friendly and kind to everyone. She is individual in her manners, her dress, her ideas. It is the story of how these things bear upon a school of typical teenagers....how it changes them, how they change her, the regret we all feel about those years in our own lives.

It is a profound study of a girl who represents the best humans can be when they live with their eyes outside themselves. Even though unrealistic, it paints a beautiful picture of childlikeness, with all it's vulnerability and joy.

So here's my plug! It's a great little book to read aloud to teen girls or boys, leaving lots of room for discussion and introspection. My family has laughed out loud, cried, and sighed wistfully thru it. After you read it, here is a great selection of discussion questions you might want to share with your teen.

Musings: What's a Hazelwood anyway?

My property is surrounded by trees. Most of my neighborhood boasts beautiful old trees of every persuasion. Over the winter, my goal is for the kids and I to be able to identify the different trees that share our environment.

The street names in my area are all names of trees. Our street is 'Hazelwood Ave.', so I assumed 'hazelwood' was the name of a particular tree. Wrong. Here's the definition:

reddish-brown wood and lumber from heartwood of the sweet gum tree used to make furniture

So now I'm on a nature scavenger hunt. What is a Sweet Gum? Well, joke's on me. Here is a picture from an 19th century nature classification book:




It seems the sweet gum tree is the annoying variety that drops the 'pokey things' my kids complain about when running barefoot in our backyard. Here's a close-up of a 'pokey thing':

Sweet Gums are also called 'alligator trees' because their bark resembles the rough and deeply grained skin of that reptile. We have 2 of them in our backyard (sweet gums, not alligators), and though their leaves turn a brilliant red in the fall, the 'pokey things' just ruin it for me.

So, today's nature study (which proceeded from mama's curiosity about her street name) is that 'pokey things' come from the sweet gum tree, and hazelwood is the lumber extracted from a sweet gum for furniture. (Oh, and that my street is 'Hazelwood' because there are so many darn sweet gums rooted around the properties. Which leads me to wonder, why didn't they just name the street 'Sweet Gum Ave'????)

Here's a lovely poem my friend Angie found that somewhat redeems the 'pokey thing' aspect:

The Song of Wandering Aengus
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
~William Butler Yeats

If a tree that produces 'pokey things' can inspire such imagery, I suppose I can abide them for the time being. At least until next season when the "OUch!" and "OWie" song and dance begins once again in earnest.

Musings: Charlotte Mason, some thoughts.

When I first began homeschooling back in the day, I remember reading lots of books about Charlotte Mason and her methodologies on educating youngsters at the turn of the century in England. So much of it resonated with me because of her focus on honoring the child's imagination, respecting their abilities and limits, and filling their lives with the beauty of nature and literature.

Over the years, I've dabbled in many strains of homeschooling. But Charlotte's ideas always sound appealing, even if I'd never actually implemented them full-force. I find when I re-read about her, my spirit sighs, and the heaviness I sometimes feel about teaching my kids what they need to know falls aside....making room for the lovely parts of home schooling. Reading books together, watching birds, writing stories, memorizing poems, copying interesting quotes and decorating the pages, playing in the dirt, appreciating the arts, learning together. I also notice most of the books I've acquired as my 'classics' are those recommended by Ambleside Online, which is a free curriculum meant to incorporate books and schedules for those implementing a Charlotte Mason method.

Classical education dovetails nicely with CM, as she was a stringent believer in teaching Latin, focusing on excellent literature, studying history chonologically, etc. The Latin Centered Curriculum, which I've been using since the summer is extremely CM-friendly...in fact, they recommend many of the same books. I'm hoping to add more narration, more nature studies, and less formalized writing a la CM to what we're already doing with LCC.

So, there you have it.....more tweaking. And what else is there to do on a rainy afternoon I ask you?

Musings: A Noiseless Patient Spider

A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on the little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

~Walt Whitman

Musings: The technical term is 'tweaking'

We're nine weeks in and the unavoidable end of the honeymoon with new curricula has come. Now comes the time when what you were sure you loved when you bought it is tested. It's also the time I usually begin rethinking what will stay a part of our curricula and what will be resold.

I've bought and sold materials for 10 years now. I've sold and re-purchased the same materials over and over ( and over). I've come to realize my first instincts are usually spot on. I'm drawn to simplicity, to no-frills-get-it-done, with lots of cool read-alouds. But I hate getting bogged down in the details. I'm a whole to parts learner myself, so the grammar stage is generally infuriating to me....I teach the details best when I've got the whole picture in mind. This steers (or should steer) my curriculum choices most of the time.

So my season of reevaluating has brought some surprising conclusions...firstly, that most of what I purchased for the year is working. Secondly, those that aren't huge hits will probably be fine for the duration. Thirdly, reading and writing, math and memorywork are still the best 'core' of our school. Slow and steady wins the race. And lastly, it's fun to add a little spice or change up completely now and then, so long as the 'core' stays consistent.

In practical terms, here's what will be changing. G will drop spelling. (Lemme hear a Woot Woot!). G is adding History Odyssey. G will finish Prima Latina, but switch to a different type of Latin (to be announced). Teaching Textbooks will replace Saxon 7/6.

For the boys, things are staying the same. Hopefully we'll add some more science to what they get at the Learning Garden and what we read in our Nature Reader.

For everyone, we're decreasing the quantity of memorywork, while focusing more on the quality. This means longer selections of poetry, scripture/worthy quotes, and Latin & Spanish vocabulary. We're also continuing with our geography study, artist study, and US Presidents. I'm still amazed every day at how much information my kiddos can collect in their wee brains!
(Several days ago while shopping at Meijer, my boys and I were meandering in the frame/prints area. Suddenly my 5 year old S, yells out "It's Van Gogh! It's Van Gogh!". And he was right, except it wasn't a print we'd studied yet....in other words, he's beginning to recognize the attributes of Van Gogh's work! He's since picked out Cassatt's work as well. I'm so pleased!)

All this doesn't mean I don't frequently have to stuff my fingers in my ears and loudly sing "La La La" when I hear others discussing the newest, greatest way to teach this-and-such. I'm still extremely impressionable when it comes to which curriculum is 'best'. That's when I have to remember it's not the curriculum, it's the teacher (and environment).

So, for once, I finally feel I've found a good balance in our homeschool. It only took 10 years. This year I've decided the honeymoon has been extended.
Tra La La.

Musings: Why am I doing this anyway?

This morning I was perusing the forums over at The Well Trained Mind, when I came upon some posts from mamas discussing the 'big picture' of homeschooling and so forth. So I bumbled my way into the convo and here's what came tumbling out (with a bit of editing)....

I've graduated one, and have two in public high school (the three youngers are home with me). I've decided after experiencing the requirements for the SAT's and high school level work that the MOST important ways I can spend my time is teaching WRITING, READING (including note taking and/or outlining) and MATH.

The one area all my older kids have struggled in is listening to a lecture while taking notes, then trying to use those notes to study for the tests. Also, they have no aptitude for dealing with textbooks....I should say no *patience* for them. And yet they all must deal with them on a daily basis. I wish I hadn't shied away from them so much (and of course this wouldn't be an issue for those not planning to send their kids to public institutions).

I'm also realizing that not all my kids are academically driven, and for me to force them to follow a certain curricula (ie WTM or LCC) isn't realistic at all. It takes all the joy out of the journey of learning. It also affects their perception of what is really important in life. I have one dd who really just wants to go to Africa and apprentice to a midwife in poor areas. Writing gives her fits. I still made her do it, but not to the degree I made my older kids who had apptitude in that area.

SO....with my youngers I'm focusing on memorywork (stuffing their wee brains with all kinds of beautiful poetry and prose, useful facts, and latin vocab), learning to read, and doing math. My 6th grader focuses on Math, Classical Writing, Latin and memorywork. All other studies play second fiddle and are learned mostly thru library books. I feel like these are the practical areas that will be of use someday no matter what they become. (Not that they'll need to speak Latin! But the exercise in logic to figure out that language is good for brain cells...)

Someone mentioned above about knowing why you teach what to your kids....what is it you want them to *be* or what you are preparing them for. I think this is really important, especially since I've watched 3 older kids wrestle thru college and high school. Each of them are still trying to find a 'fit' for themselves regarding an occupation. My married son in college is 'undeclared', so his music, literature, and theater profs are all telling him he has the makings of a great musician/writer/actor....now he's fairly confused about this 'hoop' of society, this coveted 'degree'. He's sort of a Jack of all trades, and enjoys many things, so it's hard to narrow it down. I guess I'm glad I succeeded in giving him the basics, and now he's free to explore a wide range of interests.

On the other hand, a very large part of me feels like I failed in the most important department, even though my son goes to school for free (based on his SAT scores) and one dd is 1st in her class....and that is teaching that knowledge puffs up (ie: it isn't good for anything if you can't be nice). I wish I'd have spent more time reminding them that the gifts of intellect are not given just to get free college tuition or to be smarter than the average bear. The gifts we are given should be stewarded in such a way as to make the world a better place...a place where all people whether 'smart' or 'dumb' feel valued and affirmed in their humanity.

My kids may be book smart, and they may not do drugs or get people pregnant....but they are still way too proud of their smarts and way too oblivious to the sufferings of others who didn't have the privelege of being homeschooled, let alone having food and clothing. They are extremely self-centered, and that has been a great disappointment to me...seeing as I've spent 10 years giving up many things to teach them at home. Evidently my modeling hasn't reaped any tasty fruit (yet.)

Sometimes I feel the lure of this consumerist/materialist culture is just too powerful, too tempting, too hard to resist. How can I model a life of gratitude. A life that knows what 'enough' looks like. I fear my sheltering ways as a young homeschooling mother have produced sanitized, individualized, smarties who can't see past the end of their noses.

In light of this epiphany, and as I have been given 2 more opportunities to get it right in the shape of my precocious boys, I'm redirecting and rethinking my values for their education. My curricula will stay the same for the most part, but I want to add a healthy dose of "we're in this life together, all of us, and we need to learn to get along and respect the uniqueness we each bring to the tribal fire. Having a two parent home in a cushy, safe neighborhood with a mommy who teaches Latin and 3 cars in the driveway (making us part of the 8% of the world's total population to even own a car).....does not a kind person make. In fact, it might make for a rather snobbish person. Especially here in Conservative-ville USA.

Why do I homeschool? What are my hopes for these kids in my care? What curriculum choices will best serve them? What if they don't have the same hopes? What if your daughter dyes her beautiful blond hair dark brown and highlights it with fire-engine red?

What do I really want my kids to take away from this 'happy familiar'? Top of the list is:
"It's better to be kind than right".
Number 2 is:
"Love God and love your neighbor"
THEN comes: read beautiful words well, write beautiful words well, and learn to compute the sale price at the local market.

If those get accomplished, I win. I'm still waiting for the results to come in.....

Musings: Classical Stages-A Perspective

I've been involved with classical education for a few years now....I should say I've done a fair amount of READING about it, and apply the general philosphies to my own homeschool without becoming overly concerned with anyone's particular methodology in using it.

So let me first give an brief synopsis or working definition of what classical is for me, and how it is helping me make sense of the realities in my life at present.

Classical Education affirms three stages of learning growing children pass thru as they aquire an education. The first is the Grammar Stage. The experts and practitioners disagree a bit about what specific ages this includes, but generally it is the elementary years. It is during this time they are learning the 'grammar' of reading, of arithmetic, of English (nouns, verbs, etc.) They aquire bits of information that become tools to further learning. They are the basics. They don't really relate to each other in the child's mind at this point. It's simply storing knowledge bits in their little sponge-like brains to be drawn upon at a later stage of learning, which is why memory work is stressed and fairly painless during these years.

For example, my 5 and 7 year olds are learning by rote memorization and daily recitation the helping verbs. They don't have a flippin' clue as to what a verb is, and why they help. But when they do learn this info (3rd grade-ish), they will be able to draw on that memorized list and apply what they know. In just 5 weeks, the boys have memorized 4 poems, 5 nursery rhymes, a Latin prayer, the Star Spangled Banner, the continents and oceans, the first 5 presidents, 4 famous paintings, their address/phone/birthdays, 5 scripture verses, 25 Latin vocabulary words, Spanish colors and words of greeting, and the days of the week. We just work our way thru all of it at the start of each day.

I don't share to brag (except for Gramma's sake!), but to illustrate how easily things are committed to memory at this age. We just recite every day. I like that I'm filling their brains with wonderful words and information that will be pertinent to life later on.


The second phase is called the Logic Stage. At this point, (roughly, the middle school years) kids are beginning to make some logical connections between all the sound bits of information they've accumulated over the elementary years. Classical educators will begin to use props such as timelines to connect the dots of events in a congruent manner, or will diagram sentences to show the logic of sentence structure. Studies in Mathematics begins to be more abstract as the basic functions of arithmetic stretch their muscles.

Here's an example from our homeschool. When my daughter was an 8th grader, she studied not only the facts about the Civil War, but began making observations about the very grey areas of this war.....who was right? who was wrong? who won? did the end justify the means? was slavery the 'cause' of this war? and so forth. She began to engage her logical brain to see the whole picture, not just the individual 'facts' or parts (Union wore blue, Confederates had slaves). It is a stretching time, and a time of frustration and disillusionment at times. (What do you mean some people in the North owned slaves? What are States Rights?) It's a transitional period that often shoves the child past old comfort zones of believing everything she's read in simplistic black and white terms, and then regurgitating these terms for a test. She begins to ask 'why?' and many times bristles over the very few definitive answers. It often takes unpleasant work to push past the frustration. On the positive side, it can also be a tremendous time of 'light bulb moments' when things begin to make sense, or seem FINALLY to have a purpose. It can be exhilarating to engage mental faculties just beginning to open wide the gate to incredible discovery! Due to all these factors, I think this may be the most tumultuous stage. And, of course, infamous hormones of puberty begin exerting themselves just to stir the pot.

The Rhetoric Stage is the final stop and is coorelated with the high school years. It is at this time that all the information and connections made previously are assimilated into the student's life. They begin to show command of this knowledge by manipulating the information/connections into written forms. The rhetoric student will begin to sort and sift incoming knowledge as they make critical desicions on how it affects their values, beliefs, point-of-view. Students in this stage are supposed to fine tune all their skills, learn to write eloquently, coherently, and truthfully about life. And these articulate findings should inform their behavior and life decisions. (In a perfect world!)

So....I went thru all that to articulate the following thoughts bumbling around in my brain. I'm still wrestling with becoming a full-fledged student of rhetoric myself. *grin*

Each of us go thru all three stages as we attempt to learn new information. We always start with the grammar stage, move to the logic stage, then (hopefully) arrive at the rhetoric stage. For instance, if as an adult you decide to learn to play an instrument, you should probably begin by learning the 'grammar' of the particular instrument that interests you. You learn the parts of it, how to care for it, how to tune it, what notes are, where they are found and how to play them, etc. You learn scales or chords or strums and you practice them over and over and over, and you listen to others (hopefully the masters) and try to copy them.....soon you are ready to make some connections. You play songs! Welcome to the logic stage. Here there is purpose to the hard work of learning the 'grammar' of which notes are what, how to hold your hands, playing endless scales. You begin to really enjoy playing other's music. If you stick with it, you begin to write your own music, try new techniques, and coherently express all the knowledge you've acquired to SAY something in an original way. In other words, you own it.

As adults we can move thru the stages much more quickly than our kids, but we still follow the same process. And the stages often overlap, or sometimes we'll start using techniques better suited for logic learning, and have to backtrack to the grammar stage eventually to pick up items that are necessary for the demands of the rhetoric stage. We generally don't like the grammar stage, probably because it's where the greatest learning curve is felt.

For example, in my life I learned to play guitar as an adult. I didn't take time to learn scales or theory of music. I just had friends teach me chords and strums and started right in with playing songs. I wrote songs and enjoyed playing with and for friends. But I've never been able to really 'own' that instrument, and have had many frustrating moments trying to write or play songs that require knowledge that is generally learned and mastered in the grammar phase.....So I will stay 'stuck' in that frustrating transitional stage called 'logic', writing mediocre songs and struggling with chord progressions until I go back and learn the grammar of guitar playing. As adults, we may learn faster, but children tend to learn better in the grammar stage as their little brains absorb information so easily. Learning the grammar of a thing is tedious, but children generally don't struggle as often or as much as adults.

So, what stages do you find yourself in these days, and in what areas of learning? Are you just gathering information, or have you begun to make connections in your brain? Is there any area you feel you have completely assimilated, made your own in such a way that you can articulate either in words or lifestyle?

I'll share my current process on my other blog in the next few days.

Musings: Happy Familiars

The fear of monotony can have a deadening effect on me. In fact, I often inadvertantly find myself avoiding routine, pattern, or schedule in an effort to keep things unpredictable. I'm a planner, constantly throwing the weight of my creative energy into an unseen future, which leaves many dangling moments in the present. And the fruit of this, much to my dismay, is my noticeable and surprising lack of memories. Memories which are made in the moment, not planned for in the future. Fortunately, I'm learning this chaotic state of flux itself can become a dirge of frenetic, draining activity which, in the end, leaves me feeling out of sync, behind, undisciplined, and well, cranky. My kids naturally follow suit. Funny how it works that way....

As I am constantly trying to simplify my life, to slow down and really train myself to experience life in each moment, I'm slowly finding refuge and even a hidden beauty in the steady hum-drum rhythms of my day. 'Familiars' that can anchor my fleeting fancies to the rugged realities, these mundane consistencies are the defining underpinnings of a life lived on purpose. The oft-quoted cliche "Variety is the spice of life" should probably be balanced with an understanding that the monotonies of life are the indispensable meat and potatoes, without which the spices are useless. I've decided variety, like one of a plethora of pungent herbs housed in miniture glass jars in my cupboard, isn't meant to be solitarily consumed. It leaves one with an overpowering, bitter, and/or decidedly nasty aftertaste.......as well as an antsy sense of malnutrition.

My happy familiars are things that on the surface appear boring, predictable, run-of-the-mill.....showering, cooking, schooling kids, laundry, dusting (uh, scratch that, as it's an unheard-of activity at the Hazelwood Manor). I'm wanting once again to embrace them for the humble servants and wise counselors they are. I've too long taken for granted their ability to nourish my life, to be my foundation, to keep time like the drum line in a high school marching band. Together they represent the default setting that runs on auto-pilot when life spins into the land of insanity (which is just about every day). They are the arms of safety when life gets too hard and too hairy....as a mother's arms comfort a child overwhelmed by the complexities of a life out of kilter. And that's what I want Hazelwood Manor to represent: a 'something bigger' that can be trusted as a safe, predictable place to rest when all hell breaks loose....a peaceable kingdom of squishy, stained couches, unfashionable stacks of Corelleware next to the sink, lumpy loads of laundry piled high, wilting flowers making a brave last stand on a dining room table that wasn't wiped up after the last round of burritos and chips. (Obviously, I have many more opportunities to establish even more 'happy familiars'!)

I'd love to be the Mary Cassatt of homemakers, who can fashion the ordinary occurances, the monotonous moments, the daily drugeries of life into idyllic still-lifes that affirm the very heart of what it is to be a human in loving relationships, created in the image of a God of loving relationships. So may the steady hum of the washing machine, the quiet sweep of magazine pages turning, the murmur of my voice droning on thru The Illiad and Uncle Wiggly and Dr. Seuss, the wafting smell of beef and noodles in the beloved white crock pot, the sight of my voluptuous frame perched at the computer, the stairwell neatly littered with 'stuff that needs to go upstairs'....may all these 'happy familiars' sustain the lives of those who dwell here. And may I discern those familiar routines that affirm the important stuff and give freedom to forget what just ain't gonna count in the gigantic metanarrative of my life.

How's that for a start?