February 24, 2010 10:12 p.m.

So our regular violin teacher, Miss S, has about 30 or more students who participated in the Federation competition this past Saturday.

One of them is her nine year old grandson.

So almost all of her students achieved "Superior" ratings....... all of them, except....

her grandson.

In this audition, it is understood that students are not permitted to speak to the judge; they may only speak if the judge asks them any questions.

So Miss S' grandson walks into the judging room to perform, except first he stops and says to the judge: "I just want you to know that I really don't like classical music!"

Oops!

Miss S. couldn't keep a straight face as she told this story to us. We thought it was hilarious. You'd have to know her grandson, I guess.

February 24, 2010 5:22 p.m.

I just had to share these charming pen drawings, made this week by Sweet Girl, and inspired by Les Jeux Olympiques d'Hiver. I have loved the winter games ever since I was a teenager and had the experience of spending a week in Lake Placid just a few weeks before the 1980 games. Sweet Girl has also caught the fever (or should I say chill?)

She is rooting for Kim Yu-Na because she is from South Korea.


Oh, and I guess I am getting old. Ice Dancing has been my favorite event to watch in these games.

February 22, 2010 9:04 p.m.

We've got four Federation Gold Cups on their way!

Sweet Girl earned her first Gold Cup this weekend, with a Superior Rating on her Solos!!

Chips earned three Gold Cups this weekend, with his Superior Ratings for his

Solos

Concerto

and Chamber Trio selections.

We are heading for State at the end of April.

February 22, 2o1o 8:57 p.m.

... is that I did the best I could, trying to craft an understanding letter to this violin teacher, Miss O., who has been directing the Trio the past couple of years. I tried very hard to acknowledge her hurt feelings, while explaining why we had to make the decision we did for the group to end. I also gently explained some of the difficulty and tears my son has had this year, how her choice of music has made him hate Trio, and how he hasn't felt that anyone cared how he felt. I wrote to her in love, as a sister in Christ. I even apologized to her if I came off as frivolous last week, and for the bluntness of my son's 9-year old choice of words.

The letter was hand-delivered to her by my son yesterday morning at church. It was delivered with a smile and a hug. You see, I am trying to use this experience to teach my son how important it is to forgive.

But I feel like my writing efforts were a waste of time. I didn't hear an adequate response from her today when we saw her for practice. All I heard her say to the group was:

1. That my son needs to learn to like all music and not pre-judge music before he learns to play it.

2. That she is sorry the group is breaking up but that we have to go on with our lives and she will go on with hers and she might be better off for the extra time she will have for her own practice (she performs professionally).

All I can say is "Brrrrrr.....". It left me cold, and I expected a better response from this person.

But all I know is that I did my best, and I will have to stop worrying about Miss O from now on.

Friday, February 19, 2010 8:33 a.m.

Just an update to say that I really appreciate all the thoughtful and insightful comments that I have received from Heidi in PA, Sandy in TX, Paula in CA and Linda in the UK! Thank you so much. I expect to see this teacher, Miss O, possibly on Saturday (tomorrow), Sunday, and Monday. The other mother saw her mid-week and told me that she was very apologetic. As for me, I have prepared a letter to her, explaining the entire situation in detail from our point of view, but mostly acknowledging her sad feelings.

Remember, we are not the ones having to leave the Trio, but you can't have a trio of one, right?

When we saw our other teacher, Miss S, on Wednesday, and told her what happened (she is a close friend of Miss O, having both immigrated here from the former Sovi*t Union), her advice to me was "Show her your appreciation, bring her flowers.... a teacher needs this."

I have no doubts.

This is advice coming from a person who has known her own share of disappointments.

Anyway, I wasn't expecting violin to be a soap opera this soon, but here we are.

On a lighter note, tomorrow is the FFMC Strings Competition (Audition), and both Chips and Sweet Girl are going to be participating. If they get the "superior" rating, Sweet Girl will have achieved her first Gold Cup, and Chips will be collecting three Gold Cups this year. Chips has now had six years of FFMC participation in three separate categories.

We need to install shelves on their bedroom walls!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 7:26 a.m.

Emotions are raw right now. Please be patient, because this is complicated.

Our beloved violin teacher is Miss S. She works for The 'Zookie School. Another violin teacher, Miss O., also works for The 'Zookie School. Miss S has been teaching both our children for 3-1/2 years, is very dedicated to us, and we are to her. Miss O has been directing the boys' chamber trio for over 2 years, on behalf of the "group" aspect of The 'Zookie School (since the school is a 'zuki school, there is supposed to be a group class, but there is none at this school, so instead they offer this chamber trio, of which Chips is a part. They will complete three years of trio in May.)

A year ago, we three trio moms had a mini-mom's conference and decided that the trio's demands were difficult to meet for some of us. This is primarily due to the excessive homework the pianist was getting at his school, and the cellist's mom agreed that she, too, wanted to "stick out" trio for one more year, long enough for the boys to get the Gold Cup that three years of trio success would earn them. So in our mind, we have been expecting this to be the last year of trio.

Besides this, it turns out that trio has been rather painful to Chips this year, due to Miss O's selection of a profoundly difficult selection of modern music (Ulur*), a piece that even Miss S said she would never have chosen, because the boys were not technically ready for it. But Miss O pressed on, never giving up, until they learned to play it well through sweat and tears.

Now, a month ago, our regular violin teacher, Miss S (not Miss O) advised me that come May, she will be quitting her job with the 'Zookie School. Apparently the owner of the 'Zookie School had done her one wrong too many. Not to mention, she would be economically better off not working for the school. She has all the students she can handle without even relying on the school. But since she has a no-compete clause with the 'Zookie School, we will not be allowed (as 'Zookie customers) to continue on with Miss S after May when she leaves.

Unless she can convince the owner to grant her an exception in the case of our children. Which she will try to do this May. We hope and pray that she will be successful. If she is, then we can continue on with her (yeah!!) but have to discontinue our relationship with the 'Zookie School.
If she is not successful, she strongly urges us to take up instruction with her ex-husband, who is not affiliated with the 'Zookie School (and is arguably the most serious violin teacher in our metro area). Either way, it looks like we will be leaving the school this May, after 7 years. And therefore, we would not be able to continue on with the trio, anyway.

Of course, I have not been free to share this situation with anybody yet. Only my blog friends, who have no ties to anybody in this story.

This past Saturday, our trio boys had a wonderful competition experience. The judge was very impressed with their playing, and even clapped his hands and said "bravo" at the end. Additionally, he came out of the room later and told Miss O that they were "fabulous!" and "fantastic!" So they will be proceeding on to the state level at the end of April.

Which brings us to today. Today we met with Miss O for our regular weekly trio practice. At one point, she entered the room with great exuberance sharing the names of wonderful musical selections she had in mind for next year. Hmmm. I wasn't going to say anything, but the piano player's mom spoke up and said she didn't think she'd be participating next year due to academic demands on her son, and due to the fact that it was getting too hard on their schedule to continue. I chimed in, a bit flippantly, that "it looks like the band is going to break up", and Chips plumped down into a chair, declaring "I'm quitting because of Ulur*!" (Ulur* is the name of the modern musical piece that has given him grief all year).

At that, Miss O was silent, her face fell, and she turned around and left the room, heavily shutting the door behind her, and walked outside to another part of the property for about five minutes. All of us were shocked. She was obviously taking this much harder than any of us could have expected! Finally, she did return, and she did teach the boys again (the cellist and his mom were not present today, due to illness, so they are unaware of all of this). We two moms exited the room to go sit outside and scratch our heads over the situation. After only about 10-15 minutes, Miss O dismissed the boys. Then she came outside of the room, and told us we were making a huge mistake. That when she was a child, she did this, and that, and this, and that, and it was all very demanding but that she did it all anyway. And that this was very sad news for her today. She apparently went to a special school in the Soviet Union that was for musically gifted kids, and she was taught many hours of music alongside academics. Perhaps she didn't have to have her mom drive her hundreds of miles a week to various places to meet all these needs, as we do. So she obviously doesn't feel appreciated, and she doesn't understand how we could give this up so easily.

So I have come home with a heavy heart, because our own inability to continue on with trio is largely due to factors beyond my control, and which I am not free to share right now. I feel bad for Miss O, I really do. I think she takes her teaching more seriously than many teachers do, and it is not often that an opportunity comes up like these three talented boys. So it is likely that she has had her own dreams and aspirations for them in the future. But she has not shared her thoughts with us, ever, nor has she ever talked to us about how long we would continue on. It is a big deal, nowadays, to expect three students / families to be able to keep up something year after year. I don't think you can ever assume that things will go on as usual even six months from now. That's just the way life is.

I know there are changes coming up, but I don't want to burn any bridges with anybody. I want to leave on friendly terms. And we will be seeing Miss O all the time - we see her at church every Sunday, since she is one of their musicians.

So I am wondering what we have gotten into? Will we have string teachers guilt-tripping us all along the way if we find we cannot continue on as we did? I agree completely that this chamber trio has probably been the most valuable musical educational experience my son has ever had. He has learned so much more than he would have in any other type of larger group. After all, he is the only violinist! There is no other foreseeable opportunity in the future for a trio. And the boys have been friends and have gotten along well, most of the time. If any of you veteran music moms out there have any words of wisdom for me, please let me know. I just feel terrible about this situation. It really is a shame.

FOR TODAY... February 15, 2010 9:15 a.m.

Outside my window... calm and clear, not a cloud in the sky this cold morning, 39 degrees.

I am thinking and praying... for our violin teacher, as she attends her mother's funeral today.

I am thankful for... the apparent recovery of our dog from a rough first half of February.

I am wearing... my classic morning cold weather uniform: fleece sleep pants (with snowflakes on them), slippers, a top and sweatshirt layered over it.

I am remembering... years past, when I would watch Olympic figure skaters together with my mother. We always got so excited by it, and it is at times like this that I miss her more.

I am going... to violin competitions for both children this Saturday coming.

I am reading... so many things at once: Shepherding a Child's Heart, Westminster Confession of Faith, Gombrich's Little History of the World, Stott's Basic Christianity.

I am hoping... to hear that our dog's blood workup doesn't signify anything serious.

On my mind... how neat it is that I found two Facebook groups from my hometown: all the people who were my contemporaries at the time, who attended the same schools, had the same teachers, etc. They are sharing memories of life in our town and how it has changed since our youth. As a result, I now have a new Facebook friend who lived two houses away from me when I was very young, and another friend from my school. Have enjoyed the trips down memory lane. I have been very nostalgic about my earlier life, especially since I now live 1000 miles away from my hometown.

From the learning rooms... Sweet Girl has received back her first test packet from her new A.T.S. teacher, with numerous constructive comments. Chips just sent in his first test packet, and is waiting to find out who his teacher will be.

Noticing that... the days are getting longer here, if not any warmer.

Pondering these words... Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Psalm 51:10-12

From the kitchen... crock pot chicken and dumplings.

Around the house... frantically sanitized everything over the weekend, on the concern that our dog might have had ringworm! Whereas only time will tell, it appears less likely that that is his problem, and more likely that he has a staph infection.

One of my favorite things... listening to my children pretend in the back seat of the car.



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February 6, 2010 7:08 a.m.

I am very pleased and proud to be able to bring you video from yesterday's recital. We were extremely happy and satisfied with Sweet Girl's performance. She played everything cleanly, and did every just as her teacher wanted. I can even see Miss S smiling at the end, which really means something. Please indulge me and check it out!




Below is a video of Chips playing the Accolay Concerto yesterday. He was not so content with his performance, primarily because he didn't get through it without a few "flubs" (as we affectionately call them). But we reminded him that he does still have two weeks before competitions, and he will be satisfied then.

I must add, about Accolay, and all other musical choices he has had for the past couple of years, the following comment. Competitions used to get in our way, taking up months of the year for preparation, drilling and drilling the same few pieces until that date in February, then doing other things until April and then drilling and drilling again for a date in early May. This is all fine, I suppose, except if the music you are drilling is relatively simple, compared to what you are really up to playing, then it does feel somewhat like a waste of time. For several years, his competition piece was very easy compared to all his other music, and the competitions did seem to get in our way.

That is, until a couple of years ago, when our dear teacher, upon realizing this, decided to bump Chips up several levels in the competitions until the competition music truly did become challenging stuff! And that is definitely where we are today. Yes, he is practicing, and drilling, but it is no longer getting in our way. He is really learning from it. And yes, when competing at the state level, he does find himself competing against much older kids (some of them even with mustaches, if you recall) but at least the competitions are pulling him up, not dragging him down.

Enough. Please check him out playing what, to date, has been his most challenging concerto yet.

February 3, 2010 4:32 p.m.

For many reasons, I have not been online all that much lately; therefore, no blogging. Not that my life is lacking in bloggability, because it isn't. I am forever thinking up bloggable things, only not to have time to bring them to life. Ah well..

Sweet Girl recently sent in her first real test to her first teacher at Calvert School. This was for lesson 20 of Second Grade. She seemed to have no problem taking the test, and was happy and proud to send in two or three compositions for feedback as well. We are looking forward to discovering who her teacher will be this year, as well as her reaction to Sweet Girl's work. Lessons are going well for her, although we do have some issues with motivation at times. When she is motivated, she can do amazing work; this frustrates me all the more on those days when she is not motivated, but it is a growing process... for Sweet Girl, and for me.

Chips is approaching his first test for Fifth Grade. He is not especially enthusiastic about any subject, although he does enjoy the Art History material, as well as the reading books. I am enjoying teaching him History the most.

I continue to be happy with Calvert, although I admit I do find the Science to be somewhat irritating at times. I can expand on that in another post, I suppose.

I think the most difficult adjustment for me this year has been the amount of time it takes us to get through a lesson day. There are some days where we get going around 9 or 9:30 a.m., only to find ourselves still at it at 5:30. These days bring out the grouch in me, for I feel resentful of any day that lessons drag beyond 2:30. Today went well, with both children wrapping it up around 1 o'clock. That's why I have time to post today! According to Calvert, lesson days should not exceed four hours. That means no later than 1:00 or 1:30. So I get very impatient with those days when things drag out all day. It is not that there is so much material on those days, but rather that the work to be produced requires a little more effort, more higher order thinking skills, or is not among the "favorite things" to do on the part of the student(s).

So every day, when we pray together in the morning, I ask for the Lord's help for our attitudes toward the tasks He places before us on that day. So when things go south, I can at least remind my children of that prayer we prayed in the morning. **smile and wink**

Another reason the days are busy is that it is violin competition time. We have the following events to look forward to....

Feb 5 - a recital in our local area, which turns out to be an opportunity for me to try out my new digital Camc*rder. The children are pretty well prepared for this, and they will be playing their competition pieces (at least some of them). I will try to upload the videos if all works out with the new camera.

Feb 13 - audition for state Federation of Music Clubs annual competition. Chips is still part of a chamber trio, and they will perform two pieces.

It has been a frustrating season with this group, because one of the pieces selected by the director has been exceptionally difficult to learn. It is very contemporary, and not at all intuitive to our ears, and I have no ability, myself, to distinguish correct from incorrect notes, even after hearing it played correctly immediately beforehand. Chips has been very challenged by this piece, and I have had to bolster up his motivation to keep on keeping on, at least for the next three months, when the trio will officially break up. It will be time for these boys to move on to other things.

Another thing -- we just learned this week that this audition is scheduled for the 13th, which means we have to miss a campout with 12 other families from church. It was so disappointing to us, but there is nothing we can do about it.

Feb 20 - auditions for Sweet Girl and Chips for various solo and concerto entries with the state Federation of Music Clubs again. This will be Chips' first chance to play Accolay violin concerto before a judge. I think he is doing wonderfully with this piece, and our teacher, Miss S, appears to be quite satisfied, too, at this point in time.

Mar 21 - "Otown" Music Club scholarship competition. Another chance to play Accolay. Chips especially likes this competition because the prize is $$money$$ and he won some of it last year.

Mar 27 - Music Teachers' Nat'l Assoc division concerto competition. You guessed it - Chips will play Accolay again. He'll be getting a lot of mileage out of this piece!

April 30- May 1 - State Federation competition three hours away in another city. But we aren't focusing on that one yet.

January 28, 2010 3:45 p.m.

I am so excited I can hardly post about this!

After years of sporadic discussion, Self-Reliant Man has decided that this might be the year to make our first cross-country van camping trip out west. This might be the right age for the children to enjoy this trip best.

After a busy week of internet research, we have decided that the trip plan would be 23 days in length, during much of the month of September. In fact, we have made a couple of reservations at a few higher demand campgrounds to be sure to get a site.

Self-Reliant Man anticipates getting an extra week of vacation due to twenty years service to his employer. What better way to use it up than traveling cross country?

This has been a lifelong dream of mine, driving across the U.S. in an RV. And although we do not have an actual RV, you may recall that Self-Reliant Man has come up with a workable conversion for our van that we have found to be comfortable and more than adequate for all our trips to date. We have been out west before (by airplane). Self-Reliant Man and I have been to L*ke Lo*ise, Ban*f, Col*mbia Ic*fields, Ic*fields Parkw*y. I have been to Y*llowstone and Gr*nd Tet*ns. This was many years ago. But that was by airplane. We have always wanted to drive it. It may be the optimum time to take the children.

Anyhow, we would be camping all the way in various RV parks that we have preliminarily picked out thanks to my favorite resource, RV Park Reviews . This web resource has always directed us to exceptional RV parks wherever we have traveled, and I highly recommend it if that is what you are into. It hasn't failed us yet.

The total distance of the trip will probably approach 6000 miles by the time we are done, but on no day do we plan to exceed 400 miles. This is for all our sanity, including mine! The children are very excited, too, and they are growing up into fine van travelers; however, we would plan to have more car games and books on hand to while away the hours. The great thing about RV parks is that you can stay overnight for about $30 and have more fun than at a hotel. There are often different activities available, places to walk and explore, and each campground is different. Apparently our greatest expense will be diesel fuel, as you might expect.

This trip is all Lord willing, if you know what I mean. Here are the destinations we have in mind.

January 25, 2010 11:15 p.m.

You know, yesterday, I totally forgot to mention something that happened on our camping trip. The first night we were sleeping in the van, I failed to put my eyeglasses in a "safe enough" place. Turns out, I had them in a soft case, and I must have kicked or squashed the case in my sleep because when I woke up, I found to my dismay that the frames were snapped in two across the bridge.

Darn it. These were my progressives, too. Big :-(




However, I am very thankful that I just so happened to bring my bifocals along as a spare. I don't know why I brought them, I usually wouldn't pack unnecessary extras for a camping weekend, but there they were, and I was extremely grateful. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to camp half-blind.

So Self-Reliant Man said: "Why don't you visit the Zenni Optical website and see whether you can order a replacement frame of the same style as the one you bought from them originally? Then when they arrive, I can install your progressive lenses [which are still in perfect condition] into the new frames?"

So I got on the website and ordered the same frame again, but with a different color (for a change) and they will arrive in a couple of days. They will only cost me $18 shipped.

Another thing, when I originally bought my progressives from Zenni, they cost $69, including $5 shipping and handling. Imagine that price for progressives at a brick- and- mortar optical outlet!

To date, our family has ordered five pairs of eyeglasses from Zenni. We have never been displeased with the quality; in fact, some pairs have been the best glasses we've ever had. You need to read through all the informative material on the website, and place your order very carefully, because you will have to eat your losses if you make a mistake. No matter: just be careful and take your time. And get your PD from your previous optician. They owe you this information anyway.

Need to save money on glasses? I cannot recommend this business highly enough.

January 24, 7:59 p.m.

You're right. It has been far too long since I have posted to this blog.

Part of the reason is my effort to reduce my screen time.

Part of the reason is the fact that we spent a weekend away from home.

Part of the reason is that what screen time I have had has been spent researching for a trip we are planning to take. But that trip I will write about in another post.

The best way to sum up the past two weeks of our lives shall be through pictures. We all love pictures; they make all posts more interesting. So here we go.

On this particular church morning, the temperature had gotten down to 25 degrees, with freezing temperatures lasting us 12 hours. Chips went to check on the dog's drinking water, and discovered that it was a solid block of ice!

As a matter of fact, we had a couple of thick frosts that same week. I love our property when it looks like this!

I tried to capture a closeup of the crystallization on our grapevine stem. It was quite impressive, for Florida.

The children, like their mother, simply could not keep warm enough. Here they were snuggling together during our catechism lesson one morning. I think a blanket would have helped more, but it was cute.

On one particular evening the next week (when it had gotten warmer), the children went outside to play while I was cooking supper. They were waiting for Daddy to return from work. When I stepped outside to check on them, they had rigged up their own "swing".


They "anchored" the rope to the column of the house. Well, it did work. But it was a bit hard on the tree!

The following weekend, we went camping at Lake Louisa State Park. I have to say that the hiking at this park is outstanding -- for Central Florida.


At the beginning of one three hour hike, the children were full of energy.


By the end of the hike, not so.


Here, Self-Reliant Man is sporting his Stetson and his new hiking pole. Sweet Girl bought it for him for Christmas (the pole, that is).


The hiking was so good. So much variation in terrain and plant and tree life.


Who says there is no leaf color in Florida?


We did see this amazing hornet nest. Must have been about a foot in diameter.


The children especially enjoy the Lake Louisa lakeshore. They always seek out water.


This is the sand man our son made by the lake. It is about 6 inches high.


Staying warm, snuggling with Daddy, and watching for 'gators. Dixie Lake.


Relaxing after a hike with Bear Blanket, who is still Sweet Girl's true love.


The children received Swingball from us for Christmas. This was their first warm opportunity to try it out. It was a lot of fun. In fact, we will bring it along on all our camping weekends from now on.


On this particular night, we enjoyed a VERY breezy day, some popcorn, reading, campfire, and lots of Swingball. It was a very happy evening.

We were thankful for this camping trip. Every camping trip has its own personality, and this was no exception. We were so happy that the weather warmed up in time. And that the rain stayed away, for the most part, except for midnight one night. But by then, we were all sleeping in the van.

Yes, we still love camping!

FOR TODAY... January 11, 2010 10:13 p.m.

Outside my window... night time, and still very cold here where we live. In fact, this month we have had five nights bottoming out in the 20s, and we have broken four cold temperature records for our county. Super brrrr....

I am thinking and praying... for God's grace as I dig further into the scriptures this year.

I am thankful for... the health and happiness that our family enjoys.

I am wearing... hiking shoes, black sweatpants, a navy blue turtleneck shirt, and an olive drab fleece pullover. This has become my uniform of choice for our chilly house. And believe me, it is wearing thin .... this spending entire days in a state of chilliness.

I am remembering... our dear violin teacher, who tripped over a bag and took a forward spill at her home today, right after our lesson. She appeared to hit her knee hard. I felt so bad for her, as she is elderly. I must remember to call her tomorrow to check up on her.

I am going... as a family, we plan to go camping this weekend to a local state park.

I am reading... Shepherding a Child's Heart, by Tedd Tripp. This is a book I read long ago, but I felt that I could benefit from reading it again.

I am hoping... that we will not have to have a new roof installed on our house in order to renew our homeowner's insurance. We made the mistake of calling them over the possibility of hail damage, and upon inspection, they instead decided that our roof (therefore home) was no longer fit to be insured by them.

On my mind... figuring out ways to accommodate additional violin practice into our routine to prepare for upcoming competitions.

From the learning rooms... we are moving ahead on our new Calvert lessons. Chips is diving headlong into Fifth Grade, on lesson 5, and Sweet Girl is on lesson 12 of Second Grade.

Noticing that... the older I get, the more that I sense the scarcity of time. When I was young, there seemed to be an abundance of time for everything. Now, I am so aware of its relative shortness and swiftness (compared to all that I want to accomplish).


From the kitchen... rotini pasta and sauce, with Caesar salad.

Around the house... trying my best to keep things tidy around here, now that the Christmas decorations are put away. I have also purchased an organizer to put together for Sweet Girl's bedroom. It will accommodate plenty of books and things.

One of my favorite things... listening to my children pretend in the back seat of the car.

From my picture journal...
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January 11, 2010 9:45 p.m.

It is time to change my blog nicknames for our children. After all, they are beginning to -- shall we say -- outgrow them.

So from now on, Little Son shall be called "Chips", in honor of the fact that he especially loves salty, crispy snacks.

And Baby Girl shall be called "Sweet Girl" in honor of her sweetness. . . . . and her sweet tooth.

Now, in real life, I do continue to call them "Baby Girl" and "Little Son", but it has become time to change their names on this blog. And yes, our son is also a sweet boy, but in honor of his being a boy, I shall not advertise that too much.

It is just time. Capiche?

January 9, 2010 10:50 p.m.

It didn't snow here, today. The forecasters teased us all. Thousands of Florida children had visions of snowflakes dancing in their heads last night, but precious few around here actually got to see them.

I think my kids were disappointed, a little, but I think I was disappointed a lot. Now mind you, it was an unusual day here. In all my 17-1/2 years here, this was the coldest Florida day I have ever experienced. It never got above 36 degrees here all day. That's one for my personal record book. And yes, indeed, we did get sleet here. And the children ran outside and rode their bikes through it, and collected ice pellets in their inverted umbrellas.

And the local radar showed the familiar blue color oh, so close by, to the north of us, but where we lived it was pink, so we had to settle for sleet. So close, yet so far.

The failure for snow to materialize triggered emotions in me that I had forgotten. Emotions related to the loss of earlier parts of my life, when I was younger and when I lived where it did snow. I always was a lover of things cold; I was the kind of person who would travel to Canada in the winter months, who couldn't get enough of the cold and snow, with all its beauty and all its inconveniences.

Marriage brought me here to the land of only two seasons and no snow, and I regretfully left my four seasons behind. I truly did, although I was simultaneously gaining a new and wonderful life. Were Self-Reliant Man and I to have settled down where I once lived, life would have been very different for us. Probably more difficult. Perhaps we would have had to remain a two income family, and we may not have been able to afford to homeschool. Who knows? The Lord has us here for his perfect reasons.

But on a day like today, I admit I found myself briefly pining for something different, and as I worked to pack away all of our Christmas decorations, I found myself thinking deeply about life issues, like the matter of contentment, and of the fragility of our own hearts.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. PROVERBS 4:23 We are warned here to guard our hearts, and it is our duty to do so, and to do the same for our childrens' hearts. I thought, today, that if we were able to see the complete spiritual scenery of our lives, we would realize that we are each traveling on a narrow, rocky trail to our destination. Not only is the trail narrow and the footing difficult, but our path is flanked on one side by a steep drop off. So fragile are our hearts. We are helpless wanderers, dependent on the wavering affections of our hearts. If our hearts go astray, so do we. Go astray a few inches too far and off the edge we go.

Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. PROVERBS 23:19 We need to protect the hearts of our kids, too. For me, that means being very careful about what sort of things they are exposed to in their young years. Too much too soon and they become jaded and bored with life. Train them to find joys in the simple things, most especially in the beauty of God's creation, which is forever renewed, day by day. Show them how the Lord can be their portion, day after day. Don't roll out the fun experiences of life too quickly.

I had lunch with a dear friend this week, and we talked a bit about friends we each know who "have more". These friends have more money, they travel more, they go places that we only dream about going to. They have healthy, active, willing and available parents to further enrich their adult lives. We all have these kinds of people in our lives. You know who they are. They are the friends who send out Christmas letters every year detailing their world travels. And when we read them, it affects us. It affects our children. Makes us envious. Makes us discontent, even for a moment.

If anybody were to ask me on a typical day if I am happy -- if I am content -- I would quickly answer "yes!", for indeed I am. It is so easy to compare ourselves with those people who mail out those Christmas letters. But also this year, I am aware of friends who are thinking about far more than their annual vacations. They fear for their jobs; fear for their health. They wonder how they are going to make it through that next chemo treatment. They wonder if their husband will come home from active duty on the expected date. They wonder if they need a home health aide for their elderly parents. They wonder how their mother is handling life in the nursing home.

These friends have caused me to think nearly every day of how blessed and precious our lives really are. How thankful we are to have our health. I am thankful that I feel pretty good most of the time, even though I have my off days. I am thankful that we are able to homeschool our children. I am thankful that my kids are so healthy, happy, and easy to please. I am thankful that we are not actively worried about my husband's job security. I am thankful that our biggest problem right now is dealing with our rotten home insurance company, and that we can happily make plans and preparations for our next camping trip fifty miles from home.

Contentment is all about trusting the Lord to provide the things he know we need most of all. He knows our hearts better than we do. He is most concerned with our heart "health". He knows what is coming down the pike for us. He protects us from our own foolishness and poor judgment. He knows how easily we can be bored with our precious lives, and he sees all the cliffs and drop offs -- all the spiritual dangers that lurk around the bend that we cannot see or anticipate.

Contentment is about trusting the Lord. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. PSALM 27:4

No, maybe it didn't snow today. But this winter is far from over.

January 8, 2010 12:08 p.m.

In all the years I have lived in Florida, this is a first. For my little town, tomorrow's forecast reads: Rain showers in the morning becoming more intermittent in the afternoon. SNOW or SLEET may mix in early. High 41F.

And no, I don't live in North Florida.

Thank's Al Gore. Your" influence" is evident already. Going to charge up my Camcorder now.

January 5, 2010 12:20 p.m.

I thought I lived in Florida. I thought I was home. This afternoon it is 43 degrees and sunny and windy. Where did I wake up this morning?

Taking my kids, now, to what is perhaps their coldest (outdoor) P.E. class ever. They are supposed to play tennis.

Brrrr....

January 3, 2010 9:58 p.m.

The party's over! Tomorrow we begin our routine lifestyles again. Homeschool lessons begin tomorrow. Little Son will start Fifth Grade, lesson one. Baby Girl will continue Second Grade from lesson eight (or just about the beginning of Second Grade).

The down time between Christmas and this first day of school always provides an opportunity for me to gather up some of the loose ends in my life. This includes, but is not limited to:

• decluttering the house
• straightening and organizing shelves, closets, and cabinets
• filing away or purging loose papers
• clearing off the horizontal surfaces of the home (primary the kitchen counters!!)
• mailing off letters and packages that have been sitting around for a while
• removing old toys that the children no longer want or need, and setting up space for their new gifts
  
• setting up binders for filing the children's new school year papers
• thinking about my daily schedule and ways to improve it
• visiting friends I don't see often enough
  
• identifying books I want to read, Bible reading and devotional habits I want to improve, and goals I want to be mindful of for my family

I feel pretty good about my efforts on the above bullet list, and I am now fully ready to begin on the new school year. Over the past month, I was lulled into believing that I have time to accomplish certain things, but by the end of this coming week, reality will hit me again and I will realize how much time is running past me in my daily life. But that's okay, because now I can see it coming and will not be surprised when it does. When it happens, I will try this year to exercise more self-discipline and less screen time. I realize that it is the screen time I still allow in my daily life that prevents me from staying on top of other important family and home responsibilities. So, expect to hear from me only on odd days. Even days, I have the day off -- no email and no online (except for Calvert requirements or emergency needs).

And here is a Bible verse that I read this weekend that is my prayer for 2010 for myself and my family, as well as all the believers who I love and care about, including my bloggy friends. I pray that..

December 31, 2009 10:12 p.m.