Stir Crazy

It becomes exceptionally difficult to break the cabin fever of which we all seem to be in the daunting grip of. Too much familiarity will cause everyone to become uncommonly irritable, just wishing for a small breath of fresh air, or the tiniest bit of solitude or quiet in which to reflect, relax, and reset.

Homeschool becomes a daunting task, when everyone, including those who are supposed to be impervious to the effects of stress, has reached a critical mass within their tolerances, and everyday tasks are met with fervent resistance.

Simply being becomes a drudging exercise in which one can percieve outside as a fond memory, the current rut preventing the belief that such a thing might actually exist.

Isn't Winter Over Yet?!

Is anyone else sick of tripping over snow boots and chasing mittens? Here, we have had several feet of snow for the last six months, and until last week it has been in the 20's during the day. Too cold to go out - too dreary to stay in. Winter is the most miserable season....

I firmly believe that you have to be touched in the head to choose to live in such a miserable place - however, circumstances being what they, are I suppose some of us have not much choice.

A typical winter scenerio in beautiful (Godforsaken) Idaho ;
The snow is falling so hard that you can not see the road in front of you to drive, and constantly hope that the traffic you meet can see it better than you can (yeah,right) - if there is no snow, there will be fog, and you just hope that your reaction time is good enough in the 10 foot visibility to see the old man on the highway in front of you driving down the middle at 3mph with his hazard lights on. If the electricity stays on long enough to cook dinner, you still take a candle to bed at 7:00 because it is pitch black outside by 4:30. (Electricity? You don't need electricity! Kids love to eat peanut butter sandwiches!) The driveway has three feet of new snow when you wake up in the morning, and after half a day of shoveling to find the car, your hands are too numb to open the door, or are frozen solidly to the shovel handle. After a few days, the snow has turned to a thick sheet of ice, and it is a feat of ballet/skiing to get to the door without shattering a tailbone (grocery bags? Ha! Forget it! Just pretend you are bowling!) And there is so much kitty litter on the sidewalk that all the neighborhood cats frequent - well, you know...

And I have come to believe that snow boots for kids are nothing but SABOTAGE. They are slick and rubber bottomed, good for nothing but slipping and falling. The are always too big, and getting lodged in a snowbank somewhere, usually causing a case of search and rescue in the backyard, and then when the kids come in, they kick them off onto the carpet (stuffed full of snow of course) and any poor soul who is unlucky enough to be wearing socks around tries to avoid tripping on them (the boots), and steps into snow-puddles!

Anyway....

Winter seems to be receeding, and spring will be here soon, bringing with it lots and lots of mud...

A Typically LONG Day

This is the first opportunity I have had today to take a breath - the kids, all FOUR of them are tucked away sleeping soundly, and I have a moment to do some retrospective thinking. Everyday with my family is exceedingly busy, and most of the time it is hard to see progress as it is happening.

So, now I get to spend some priceless time with my better half to talk, work (mostly work) and re-set after a long, long day of various parent-type duties. We have a system of homeschooling wherein we take turns with the teaching, as we believe that raising our kids is Prioity #1. We also have a home based business, so "free time" is exceptionally rare.

In fact, we usually sacrifice sleep for work just to get everything done, and are usually playing catch-up anyway. Tonight we are enjoying listening to our favorite AM radio show, Coast to Coast AM, hosted by Art Bell.

We are expecting company in the form of in-laws tomorrow, so today has been filled with much house cleaning, and with the aforementioned four rugrats, it is an ALL DAY task. Now, it is the time to contemplate such mundane topics as bill paying, etc., etc.

Hopefully, this will be a fun addition to my To-Do list!

Shastina's Welcome Blog

This is the first blog I have made an attempt at, and hopefully these tries will improve over time! Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you find the content interesting and useful.

Some of the upcoming content will contain such topics as: my personal endeavors, things related to homeschooling, parenting, and household money saving ideas. I aspire to make this a valulable use of my time, and for anyone else who may spend their time reading as well.

Lots more content coming soon (hopefully soon)