Regurgitated Thoughts

I have not published a blog post for a full week! That's the longest I have gone for over a month. I'm truly having one of those "too long" phases with my writing. The blog is living up to its name. I have so many different things to say, and ideas about how to say them, that I'm just not saying anything.

I think I will try to say all of them. A list is a good format for this due to the random nature of my brain and its ramblings. So here's what's been up for the past week.

1. I had a book idea. Actually, it would be more accurate to say I had a scene playing in my head that could perhaps be turned into a book, if only I could figure out how the scene works in the context of a larger story. Maybe it would be good short story material. I didn't actually consider that until I started typing that sentence. Hmmm.

2. I had about five days where I felt terrible. It was weird. I think my hormones were seriously out of whack because I felt really down, yet also really irritable and anxious. It was not a fun span of time. I am still trying to figure out the words to use to describe the whole thing to my doctor and hopefully stop it from happening again. I have a sneaking feeling something is off with my body and I would like to solve whatever it is.

3. I am officially done Christmas shopping and 90% done wrapping! This is pretty unusual for me. I've done the majority of my shopping online this year, which I love. Thank you, Amazon! I am waiting on a couple more things for the kids. I got everything out to start wrapping last night and realized that things looked a little uneven (It appeared that Lydia was the favorite, if you were to judge by the piles) and so I had to even things up a bit by placing one last order. I'm really excited for the kids to open their gifts this year. I think we're going to surprise and delight them. I love Christmas. I don't buy them much outside of holidays and birthdays so it's a fun time for me.

4. I am a Harry Potter nerd. I started reading the first book aloud to the kids in October. Now they are hooked and we are over halfway through the fourth book, which is over 700 pages, in case you didn't know that. I think I'm reading aloud for at least an hour per day. My voice is tired. I've also rewatched the movies recently  and I have had the joy of watching A Very Potter Musical for the first time, which is an absolute delight. Right now I am watching A Very Potter Sequel and I have not laughed so hard in a long time. It's good to be a nerd. It's satisfying to hear Lexi call Lydia a "dung bomb" and to hear Lydia pretending to be Hermione, or Crookshanks, or Hedwig. The books were a very enjoyable part of my growing up and it is wonderful to share it with my kids.

5. We've been listening to the Beatles. I recently went through a giant book of CDs from my high school days. My dear friend Kayla and I used to drive around listening to show tunes, so when we got together last Friday, I needed to get those CDs back out. I also found my "1" CD and pulled that out. I forgot how many awesome songs are on there. The girls are enjoying it as well. They both sing along to Love Me Do, which, along with Lady Madonna, is one of my favorites.

6. I am reading. Tim has been trying to get me to read The Name of the Wind for years. It's one of his favorite books but I've been resisting because I'm typically not a fan of the epic fantasy novels he loves so much. I dislike all the verbose descriptions. I decided to finally give this book a try and I'm liking it a lot. It's like 900 pages so I doubt I will finish it any time soon.

7. I am struggling with what to blog about. I've been working on my Faces of Homeschooling project. I've been tweaking interviews that I have done and have been searching for new people to chat with. It's coming along, slowly. I want to be sure to keep it fresh and interesting. I dunno. I guess I'm having a bit of writer's block as far as the blog goes. I haven't had any great ideas for posts jump out at me recently. I had a goal of writing five days per week this month, but that is not happening. I am wondering if I need to do another 30 Day Challenge in January.

8. Changes abound. In the past week, several potential job changes have been presented for Tim. Nothing is certain yet, but he may be facing an important decision. It's exciting but it is also a little scary to think about the choices we make today affecting us down the road. We also went and looked at a house! It's not the right house for us, but it reopened the idea of moving. I personally am happy where we are but I know we probably won't be here forever. It would be nice to have more space. The idea of moving makes me tired. Changes are a little scary.

9. We're still doing school. The plan is to continue through December 23rd, which would enable Lexi to finish her 2nd grade reading program and start the 3rd grade reading program in January. I like the roundness of that. I think we all like the routine of school. The kids don't complain about being bored and seem much more eager to entertain themselves after a morning full of reading and learning. We'll take a week or so off for Christmas, depending on how everyone does.

So, in a nutshell, that's what is going on over here lately. I expect to write another Faces of Homeschooling post tomorrow, so stay tuned!