A Day in the Life of Natalee

This concept came in the form of a category of blog posts from The Bearing Blog.  She doesn't really, explain what it means, but in my experience "engineers" are people who take everyday things that us Free Spirits just feel ou r way through, and they organize it.  They scientifically deconstruct it, and reconstruct it, and turn it into a system.  I know, right?  Why?  ; )

I'm kidding, of course.  It sorta takes the fun out of living, but it is essential for most of us Free Spirits to adhere to a plan of some sort in order to stay on top of things.  Don't worry, we add spice to life in other ways.  We can't help it.

I found this post after the next one, but for your convenience I will give them to you in the order in which they should be read.

This one (same as above), then this one.  I really enjoyed noticing how many of these things I already do, and how many things I would like to implement.  I hope you do too!  Please don't forget to read the update link at the end:  And be sure to read the Update link: UPDATE:  Seven things to teach your children so they can clean up after themselves.

Post your thoughts, if you like.  I would like to hear them.

Go here and see if you're guilty!

http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mispron.html

I am guilty on:

barbiturate

champ at the bit

herb -- though I disagree

mauve

pernickity

peremptory

spit and image

 

What about you?



 

 

There is a wonderful phenomenon that happens at our house, more and more.  It has a lot to do with the kids getting older, but homeschooling has certainly encouraged it.  It's the simple wonders of dinnertime conversations.

Matt is the guy who usually gets things started.  His family homeschooled, and are all geniuses, so it's not hard to visualize their dinnertime conversations.  You had kindergarten aged children talking about how the price of peanut butter had risen (true story), and 5th graders talking about a community issue that he read about in the local paper.  At first it intimidated me, going to dinner at their house, until I realized I could just be a lurker, sitting quietly and just absorbing.  Over the years, I think I've actually gotten smarter, being married to Matt (balanced out by the fact that all the pregnancies have made me dumber), and I'm glad to know that he will be doing the same for my kids.  It's too much pressure knowing that all their learning is on your shoulders!

These great conversations often come up because Matt asked someone what they are learning in Science or History, or because someone's questioning mind wonders out loud.  One question always leads to another, and another, and either Matt or I will explain.  Most of the time, their curiosity exceeds the time that it takes for eating, or the span of attention of the boys, so sometimes "class" is abruptly stopped.  But it's a beautiful thing to see a thought germinate and sprout into a tiny plant of of an idea.  It's so rewarding to see that they comprehend and appreciate the explanation, prompting more questions, but it's also beneficial when we have to stop the conversation and they are encouraged to go find more information on their own.  It always does my heart proud.

Last night dinnertime was a little more dull at first -- energy was flagging and some of the tweens (and the mom) had been  cranky during the day.  Julia finished eating early and asked to be excused before the rest of us were finished, but I jokingly told her that if she left I would miss her.  Matt woke up from Blackberry Land at this point, and drew her in.  He was asking her about her day and trying to get her to talk, which she wasn't too much in the mood for.  So Matt really turned on the charm and started talking about extemporaneous speeches.  (Hey, I never said the man was normal.)  He explained to the girls that many, many people that he works with cannot do it, and would really benefit themselves if they could.  So he went first, and each of the older kids had a turn giving a 2 minute extemporaneous speech on the topic of her choice.

Not only was I amazed at their speeches, but I was amazed that there were speeches.  Would you have done this as a child?  I certainly would not!  But Matt was able to work his usual magic, and suddenly I heard a speech on Hope's love of all aspects of horses, included a brief description of their care and tack.  Julia spoke about what lead her to start writing her novel.  Elena, who is the only girl in both Tennis and Taekwondo in our house, spoke about the similiarities between the two sports, and Noelle spoke about her love of Taekwondo, using the phrase "a 'form' is a pattern of movements that help you learn different techniques in TaeKwondo."  (She's only 8!)  Unbelievable!

I know my face was smiling, and was probably beaming.  But here's one thing Matt probably didn't suspect, however .... he doesn't know that the whole time, this teacher/mom was hoping the that he wouldn't call on her next!  :-)

For your entertainment, here are the celebrities I would have lunch with:

Jack Black  --for the entertainment value he would surely bring, and because he seems unintimidating to me.  I would have to ask him to refrain from bathroom humor, but if he picked up the tab, I might look the other way ... once.

Amanda Peet -- because I think she is beautiful and darling seems real.  And I totally think we could be friends.

Angelina Jolie -- I know most of you think she's skanky, but I would like to have lunch with her just to talk about how much we like our kids, and because I want to give her two thumbs up and say "nice job."  Plus, I want to see if she is as beautiful in person, and whether or not her figure has gone down the tubes when there's no airbrushing to be had.  Hey, I'm a girl, what can I say?

Also for your consideration, Matt would like to have lunch with the following: Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Biel, and Amanda Peet --after I'm done having lunch with her (this made me laugh so hard; like we can't both have lunch with her.  Oh I get it, all his "lunch dates" are women.  Hmmm ...)

Do this fun thing:

Go to google, type in quotation marks around the words unfortunately and your name.  You will get a good laugh about the first 10 things or so that you see.

You could also do "______ needs. " You should get a good laugh.

Mine is usually grim, since poor Natalee Halloway had the same spelling as mine.  Nothing but sadness to report there, but hopefully you'll have better luck. 

We are slowly starting to look at houses again, catching open houses when we can.  The trick is to see them without running your realtor around since he's probably not going to get a dime from your move.  Do tell, you say.

Well, because of articles like this, Matt and I are seriously considering renting again, unless we are able to practically steal a house.  It just doesn't make sense for us to purchase a home if we will be moving in less than 5 years.  We're pretty sure within 5 years we'll know our long-term plan for our family, and that's when we'll consider settling down for good.  Renting is a great feelikng: we don't have to sell it (ever),  and we don't have to worry that the house we just bought is a depreciating asset.  House prices continue to fall, and we are doing suprisingly OK in the market.  Why take your money from a place where it's growing, and sink it into a place that may cause it to shrink?

 
This is the one I've got my eye on.  It doesn't have much of a back yard, but I suppose a pool could make up for that.  The front yard is decent, and since it's a private drive (well, more like a long driveway with a fence at the road) I figured the kids could play in the front.

We were a little surprised to find tonight that it is no longer on the market, however (thus the fuzzy pics, pickings are slim).  Tomorrow we will investigate.  It's a foreclosure, and the price had been dropped significantly.  Perhaps it's been snatched up already.

And yes, we've decided to stay on the west side.  We just don't want to leave the tennis club we belong to!

And so it begins ...

 



What's Fasting Got to Do with It?

by Father Dwight Longenecker 

I posted a video on my blog the other day from YouTube. It was an interview with a Romanian hermit. This grizzled old warrior was asked the most important element in a successful prayer life. He looked away with watery eyes then looked at the interviewer and replied, "Purity of the body."

He understood that what we do with our bodies affects our souls and minds and what we do with our souls and minds affects our bodies. Every spiritual tradition teaches the same truth: you must have mastery over your body if you wish to have mastery over your soul. 

We take it for granted that the hard work of physical self discipline is necessary for many other human endeavors. The dancer, the athlete, the actor, the musician, the politician, the businessman. All agree that for real success they must be in control of their physical appetites.

It's the same with spiritual warfare. We have to control our appetite for food, our appetite for sex, our appetite for money, our appetite for sleep, our appetite for every physical comfort. We don't practice asceticism like members of Eastern religions because we think the physical world is sinful or bad in itself, but we do so as a method of self discipline. We control the body so that the soul may open up in silence. We make ourselves hungry for food so that we might hunger and thirst for righteousness. 

The devil understands that what we do with our bodies affects our souls. That is why he tempts us with physical temptations so successfully. He sees very clearly what we tend to forget: that we are not souls encased in bodies like a water in a jug. Our souls and bodies are intermingled at every level, like water in a sponge.

The devil tempts us to physical excess, and if he can get us addicted, he has our souls. The reverse is also true. If we control our physical appetites, we can deprive him of that victory and gain control not only over our bodies and our appetites, but also over him. This is what Jesus meant when he spoke about the demons, “These can only come out by prayer and fasting.” 

There’s more to it: not only do we gain control over the devil in our own lives by fasting, but fasting seems to release some sort of spiritual power in the world. Through fasting we become more spiritually alert and aware and God is able to use us more effectively. Fasting makes us a lean, mean fighting machine. 

So resolve to fast more. Try giving up a meal once a week to start with. Fast on bread and water if you must eat. Then start to keep Fridays as a fast day. Not just the ‘fish on Friday’ thing, but really fasting for a whole day.

You’ll be amazed how it transforms your life. You’ll be back in control. If you can control your food intake you’ll soon have better control of the other appetites in your life that are running away with your soul.

And when you’ve done that, you're on the way to cooperating with God for the salvation of souls and victory over evil in ways you could never have imagined.

 ++++++++++++++++++++

[Fr. Dwight Longenecker is the author of Praying the Rosary for Inner Healing. Check out his website: www.dwightlongencker.com to read his archived articles, connect to his blog and listen to his podcast homilies]