General update for you on doings at the castle:
The smashed finger keeps us busy. Surgery #2 appears to have gotten all parts into their proper places, and Aria goes for a follow-up this afternoon — hoping for good news there. Poor girl, our surgeon (with whom the parents are very happy) is so excited to have salvaged the pinkie that he goes on and on with long technical explanations about just how bad it was.
(And in awe he asks the question we all have: How did you do this? Which no one knows. I did my best Br. Cadfael imitation, following the blood trail to the scene of the crime, but was unable to find that one clue that unlocks the case. Note to self: Have children pay more attention when they are involved in freak backyard accidents.)
Anyhow, progress is good, but I am reminded that even relatively minor medical crises (it is a pinkie, after all) can sure suck some hours out of the week.
Back from the Beach We all slipped away over the weekend to say at the beach house of a generous benefactor. In which we learned that:
- Children do not like shopping at outlet malls for adult shoes.
- Children think the woods are for playing in, not for listening in hushed silence to the many fascinating shorebirds that nest in the coastal woodlands.
- Adults are surprisingly resistant to the news that they are parents now, and that “family vacation” does not involve the same quiet, reflective activities adults used to associate with “beach vacation”. Slow learners, those parents.
Sleep deprivation has sneaked up on me. Not sure exactly when — one of those half-hour here and there things, gradually adding up to a grumpy, depressed mother whose willpower is gone, gone, gone. Oh so lenten there. The Olympics are probably in part to blame, and sleeping in an east-facing, lightly-shaded room at the beach house didn’t help on the other end. So we’re in homeschool-rescue mode, where we modify the usual routines to get the mother back to human.
A book is underway! Try not to laugh. (Yes, I *always* have a book underway. But this time it’s different, really. Really.) Ties directly into the smashed finger, beach trip and sleep-deprivation. Have an idea (and an outline, and some lousy initial draft material that needs to be scrapped) about a homeschooling book I want to write. Reality-checked with some off-blog internet friends– so people who have been reading my thoughts on these topics for five or ten years now — and got the go vote to give it a try. Nice to have a cheering team. So that’s the latest hobby.
Conveniently timed, since the Catholic Writer’s Conference starts tomorrow. (Which means the kids were slated for a week of educational videos and independent projects already. Yes, they do learn quite a lot that way — you can’t tv-school all the time, but in rationed doses, it is a legitimate part of the toolbox.)
Meanwhile, have to catch up on some real-life chores, pop into an SCA event, and finish up my latest Catholic Company review book, Saint of the Day. Good book, and I’ll go into more detail on its strengths and weaknesses when I post the review. Did I mention how much I love the review program? Yay Catholic Company.