I realize that this is far from being a reality… it is just a training program for bus drivers, but it makes me sick to my stomach. I am not a believer in homeschooling due to fear, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that these kinds of things make me more sure of my decision to homeschool.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,185274,00.html

Financed by the Homeland Security Department, school bus drivers are being trained to watch for potential terrorists, people who may be casing their routes or plotting to blow up their buses.

This quote is describing a possible scenario that they are training for

…terrorists monitor a punctual driver for weeks, then hijack a bus and load the friendly yellow vehicle with enough explosives to take down a building.

Schools are the kind of target that terrorists want, Beatty said: a place where an attack could have huge symbolic impact and lead to mass casualties and spectacular images.

It really makes me sick to my stomach. Why would anyone want “spectacular images”? It is so screwed up and so disgusting. How would that achieve any goals? Its revolting.

Rawr.

Yesterday my friend, Candice, and I went to Barnes and Noble to try to decide which book we should use for our Bible study group. Our choices were Grace-Based Parenting by Kimmel, Heartfelt Discipline by Clarkson, and Families Where Grace is in Place by VanVonderen. I was hoping to flip through the books and see which one would be the best fit. Barnes and Noble obviously had different plans for us.

They offered none of these books. Not one. These are books that are getting national attention, even being mentioned in the Washington Post and in prominent Christian counseling publications, and yet they are not even available for people browsing at the bookstore.

Even more upsetting was that Babywise sat there, facing out, and in prominent display. While most books had their binding facing out, Babywise had the privelege of having the cover facing out, making it much more likely to be picked up.

Its so infuriating. Why in the world would they give prime real estate to a book that the AAP has come out against and that was written by a man excommunicated from the church and yet they do not offer these (better) books? They easily could’ve made space just by turning Babywise the other way. I think I need to write a letter.

Nice combination, eh?

Tonight the kids and I made up a batch of cupcakes. I was inspired by the ones that Oprah had on her show. I had to dive through the grocery store shelves to find the last of the old Duncan Hines mixes, because they were milk-free. For whatever reason, Duncan Hines decided that they just absolutely must add milk to all of their mixes, and I’m devastated. They were the only brand that I could buy if I needed a quick mix cake. Boohoo. Luckily I was able to grab a bunch today, but now I’m going to have to do something similar to Elaine on the “sponge-worthy” Seinfeld episode.

I’m not truly having anxiety, although I am uneasy as our life is moving in unexpected directions. My dh is looking for a new job. He and his current employer had initially decided that he would work for them from home until it was no longer working for them. Well, its no longer working. He’s looking for a new job and they’re looking for a replacement. Everyone has been open and up-front, which is good, but it is still stressful. He has applied for a few positions that look really good. Please pray for us if you have some spare time. We’d really appreciate it. He’s worked for this company since the day that he graduated college, so this is our first time in this position. No horror stories, please!

In other sad news, dh and I went skiing/snowboarding (that was the good part) and while he was skating (meaning he only had one foot strapped in), he somehow managed to twist his knee pretty badly. He injured his MCL and probably his ACL as well. He has an MRI tomorrow to see if he need surgery. Poor guy. Snowboarding is his release. That’s how he relaxes. Now it looks like he’s sidelined for the rest of the year. We had no idea it was this bad. He even came down the mountain after he injured it and was going up in the tree sections and doing jumps. I think we were both pretty shocked when it started swelling and then when the sports doctor said how bad it was.

I hope to update more often. The combination of starting school, looking for a new job with dh, and his possible upcoming surgery have been keeping us pretty wrapped up.

Oh, and one last thing… my kids won the lottery to get in to our local Charlotte Mason / classical school. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I really think I want to homeschool, and I thought they’d never get in, and that would be confirmation. Now I’m really unsure. I guess I better wait until we find out whether or not we’re moving for a new job before I make any real plans, but still…

Sorry for slacking… it has been a crazy week! My phone rang last Thursday, and it was the University of Colorado (which calls themselves CU for reasons beyong my understanding). They let me know that I had been admitted for Spring, even though I had been planning on starting in Fall. Ack!

So, I had to scramble like a mad chicken to get everything done in time, and I started classes Tuesday. Yipee! I spent quite a few hours beating my head against walls as we went over my transfer credits. In the ultimate exercise in frustration, they reminded me that I had 117 credits. That’s right, folks, just 3 away from my bachelors… Ugh.

With the new program it looks like I’ll have a little over 40 to do now. So frustrating. Oh well. That’s what happens when you get knocked up I wouldn’t trade it for the world though!

We’ll see how much time I have to blog. It looks like it’ll be a crazy semester. I’m one step closer to my dream of Joe and I becoming “Dr. and Mr. H”, hehe. Soon my title will be superior, bwahaha!

Hey, everyone needs some, right?

So here goes:
Spiritual Disciplines
Quiet Time
I want to continue my quiet time schedule, but I want to add to what I’m doing. Last night I prayed first that God would give me a verse that dealt with what I was struggling with, and then I wrote the verse and prayed over it. I really liked that, because it helped me to focus more on listening and not just blabbing all of my thoughts to God I’m already involved in several Bible studies, so I’ll just keep up with that and hopefully allow extra time for God to guide me in a more free-flowing kind of way. Its not like I think God can only speak to me through the book of Luke and Beth Moore studies

Fasting
This year I’d love to get into a regular fasting schedule. It doesn’t necessarily have to be food, but I would like to fast something at regular intervals (how’s that for vague?) I need to pray about this one some more. My hypoglycemia may make fasting food a difficult venture, but we’ll see.

Exercise
I want to continue to work out 1000 minutes a month. I’ve been doing pretty good with that schedule, and I like the day-to-day freedom that it allows

Oh, and I’d also really like to get a triathlon under my belt this year. We’ll see how my lane-swimming lessons go. I grew up swimming ALL THE TIME, but I’ve never done laps, so we shall see…

Household Duties
Ahh, my beautiful, feminist friend would love this category, hehe.

For my chores, I think I’m going to go back to my old system, because it worked the best for me. I made up these really cute printables a few years ago, and I’m just not sure which one I should use. I have them both in my notebook and right now I just go back and forth between them. What do you think?

ETA: they don’t shrink down very well. You’ll just have to take my word that when I print them, they are pretty, even if the shrunken ones aren’t, hehe.

#1

#2 (More complex, but I like it better – the images are based off of the household notebook at www.organizedhome.com)

All of my unfinished projects
Um, I’d like them to become finished projects instead

Personal Growth
I really want to continue to get over my anxiety issues and work on my tendancy to be critical. Its not that I want to continue teaching myself to not say them, but I want to work on changing my thinking altogether.

Educational Goals
Hopefully I will be returning to school. We just have to pray that the timing and finances work out. Either way I want to continue in TWEM

OK, I’m off to clean clean clean. I’ll keep adding to the list!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope you had a great one. It was fantastic here. I have the greatest, sweetest, cutest kids ever. My daughter loved her Barbie and Barbie house. My son was so excited about his new T-Rex Mountain and dinosaurs. They enjoyed each others’ toys as much as their own, and they did such a wonderful job at sharing. My kids just have the sweetest spirits. It is such a blessing to me to see them and they way they interact. It humbles me and warms my heart more than I could ever even describe in words.

Now… on a totally different topic… I’ve never claimed to be the most enlightened and advanced person when it comes to avoiding materialism. I’m sure that blogthings has told me that more than once. So, keeping that in mind, look at what my in-laws bought me for Christmas. It is dreamy and has that wonderful new-purse-smell that I dream about! She jokingly told me that I now have a “spring” Coach to go with my “winter” one, lol. Only 2 more to go!

I went ahead and moved my blog over here. I really wanted a change from Xanga, so this should be good!

I thought I’d go ahead and share my current project with you. Its not done yet. Its really close though. Its a scarf that I’m knitting on circular needles with some spare yarn that I had sitting around.

I am nerdier than 94% of all people. Are you nerdier? Click here to find out!

6% scored higher (more nerdy), and
94% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean?
“Supreme Nerd. Apply for a professorship at MIT now!!!.”

OK, its not that I didn’t expect to score high, because I honestly thought I would. I just didn’t expect to score higher than 94% of the people who TAKE THE TEST. I mean, we all know that non-nerdy people don’t need to take the test…

Maybe I should go put my glasses back on and buy some higher-waisted pants.