1. A little history first. Back in the mid 1990s, my husband and I were converting back to our Catholic Faith and were so lucky to find a faith-filled, extremely Catholic homeschool support group. We had monthly meetings, we had picnics, dinner parties, TONS of field trips and other get-togethers. We felt like community and it felt like home. And then it started to fall apart. Part of it was about disagreements over silly divisive stuff, like curriculum (should it be only a Catholic curriculum, and if so which Catholic curriculum is more Catholic?), or whether or not we should join the HSLDA. Part of it was also because the core of families that lived in the city all moved out, one by one, to the suburbs. That took our family sort of out of the loop because meetings moved away and all the activities and things started to cost more. But the biggest rip in the group came over the discussion about whether or not to let nonCatholics in the group. We never fully recovered from that schism and now we never meet, and no one knows who is on the leadership committee. It's really been sad.
2. So for me, finding community on line has been very important. On the homeschool front, I have loved the 4Real Forums because it is peaceful, warm, and full of very very good ideas on homeschooling and living the faith. Sadly, they are tearing themselves apart too. I think there is a pattern. I do believe in Satan and I think he does especially good work when a group of Godly women get together and try to forge something together that is good and strong. He divides and destroys the group.
3. The economy woes are getting much more personal. Mr. Pete has gone without a paycheck off and on for many weeks and today he told me they're behind on other business bills. It's time regrettably to lay off some employees. Honestly, he probably should have done that a while ago but he's been hoping, since the recession is over and all, that things would get better.
4. Calvin too is looking for a second job but hasn't come up with one yet. He told me, "Mom, I have enough money to pay my bills and get a little something to eat." I kept my mouth shut about the possibility of moving back home. When you're 20 years old maybe it's better to struggle a little bit. Not so much fun at 50 though.
5. My EFC wants to gum up the works of our property settlement by moving a road here, or a boundary there. It was rather nice to tell her firmly, "No. Let's just stick to the agreement." Can't wait to get her out of my life completely.
6. I've been living my own little purgatory, re-reading and remembering the events of last year that lead to my mother's death. I was re-reading my words on her Caringbridge page and I was struck with how much I discussed pain, and how much pain she was in and how we couldn't control the pain. Pain, pain, pain. And yet before I started re-reading that I had sort of forgotten about how much physical pain she was in. I remember the day she actually died but I couldn't remember that there was a lot of pain leading up to it.
7. Mother's day is going to really suck. I have decided however that I want the kids to focus on making or writing or somehow creating something for their Godmother's for mother's day. I think it will take my mind off the fact that this is my first mother's day without a Mom.
As far as crafts go, I especially like this one!
. We had some good discussions about planning ahead, and knowing who to trust. Most people think of the Donner Party as synonymous with cannibalism, but really they are the poster children for poor planning and bad leadership. It was good to have such discussions with my kids though. They really felt a lot of empathy and did a lot of, "what would I do if I were lost in the desert or stranded in the mountains" type of thinking. 
. Set yourself a schedule and work on it regularly. Take all the practice tests in the book (after going through the book). Time yourself when you take the practice tests. Carefully study the questions you get wrong.
on Amazon.com.
fits into my life. 
, paid for the 