Hello, all of you dear wonderful people whom I have missed so much! Since it has been so very long, I wanted to check and let you know that I am still around, and doing exceptionally well considering my circumstances. For those who are new and don't know what I'm talking about, or don't remember the details, in August of 2018 I got a most unexpected diagnosis: lung cancer, stage 4, terminal. It was a complete shock because I was in pretty good health except for a mild but persistent cough. I'd never smoked a cigarette, been around second-hand smoke, or worked around volatile chemicals

Soooo happy! This is her always-boyfriend, whom she has known more years of her life than not; a fellow homeschooler (homeschooled all the way through) and just a terrific guy. Very happy about it!

I was MedicMom....But I had requested my account be deleted after the Great UnMasking and it just happened. My kids picked the new name. If all goes well tomorrow with my interview I will have a new career anyway, and my 5-year-old is a huge Beatrix Potter fan. So still here, because you’re all my friends. Probably my only friends these days. Still have Covid. My kids are still running around like uncivilized children and not listening. If you think of me tomorrow, say a prayer. I’m just finishing my M.Ed and this is a master’s degree level job; the only one I’ve found that is

Just popping in to say a quick hello and let y'all know I'm still alive. Still homeschooling; down to my last two kids. Things have been... sticky... since we moved. It's been rough; I'll spare you the details. I just keep trudging on and pull strength from my Lord. Life is a gift; my joy abounds regardless of my circumstances. Don't know if I'll be around much. Just wanted to say howdy to all my friends.

Thank you board family for all the love and prayers and good thoughts. My dd’s twins were born at 28 weeks weighing 2lbs 10oz. They spent almost 3 very long months in the NICU, and I spent those long months in UT away from the rest of my family. So here they are at home and so happy to be there: In true WTM fashion Eliza is reading about astronomers and Freya is reading about Earth Science.

Do and ds16 arrived

My oldest son’s grandmother passed away the other day. I touched base with him a few times, my dds have been sharing the cute little memories they had, talked to ds for over two hours yesterday, and wrote out a longish card to the family last night. Okay. This morning, I was making coffee and just started sobbing out of nowhere. It’s so unlike me, but there it was. I was unmarried and pregnant at 20. I guess I was kind of fortunate, or supposed to think I was fortunate, that my family didn’t disown me. But they definitely didn’t embrace me, either. My mother never talked to me abo

He was born yesterday. He is beautiful. We couldn’t be there of course thanks to Covid19. We hope we can go see the baby tomorrow.

She is off oxygen and likely to join me in my room later tonight. She also has a name, Freya Elizabeth.

Introducing my granddaughter Ellie Jane💕

Long time, no chat! I had a few extra minutes this morning, so I thought I'd log on and see what's up in this "blast from my past" message board. We are still in Amarillo. I certainly have a love-hate relationship with the house we bought. It was billed as "move-in ready". Let me just say, it was not. We have spent a boatload of both money and time fixing and repairing this house, and we're not even close to being done. I love the house for the potential it has, but I hate that it is a money pit in constant need of repair. I'm still homeschooling my two youngest boys. My "bab

Just checking in to say I am on vacay with dd; she met me in Paris and we are now in Germany. Having a great time!

My first grandchild was born last Thursday. He is healthy and BEAUTIFUL-- good baby too! DD was having complications-- breech baby and pre-eclampsia so they took him at 37 weeks by c-section... The edema was so sever that it damaged DD's hands-- she only has feeling in her pinkies and parts of her ring fingers-- the rest are numb and PAINFUL... some sort of pregnancy carpal tunnel thing... because of this I get to be primary care giver...while I really enjoy more baby-time I'm so sad for DD. I'm so TIRED-- at least he is 3-4 hours in between feedings DD and I work 'together' during

I've posted last month, and updated earlier this week, about my son's "zoned out" (maybe mild catatonia) state, and that it impacted his semester at school (he's in college), and that he can't return in the Spring because, honestly, he's not really functional right now. When we noticed the extent of his symptoms, he was literally needing prompting to eat -- bite by bite prompting, not just "hey, time for dinner, why don't you eat something" prompting. Literally "hey, take a bite. Chew. Keep eating." As of yesterday, he's showing some improvement (he ate 2 pieces of pizza w/o reminders at lunch

I have not read all the replies; I was at the interview. It went well. I don't think the guy is so much of an a-hole as he seemed to be. I think he goes for a dominant style, but he could probably be a teddy bear once he's comfortable with someone - that was my impression on meeting him IRL. I did not leave with a job offer but he *says* he will let me know either way and will not leave me hanging. I think he was truthful about what he sees as my biggest liability (haven't been in a law firm since pre-internet filing days), though I think he was also convinced I'm no dummy and I ca

Introducing Isaac Mitchell, born August 5th at 4:19, weighing 6lbs 12oz. About 4 weeks early, but quite healthy.

With everything going on, everybody has their own struggles and their own losses, and while perspective is important, I think it is also important to acknowledge our feelings and give ourselves permission to grieve whatever it is that we're grieving - without feeling guilty about it because others suffer more hardship. So I wanted to share this poem; friends have told me it spoke to them. Here it is. (ETA: It was written way before the pandemic and is not about this) Suffering is not a competition There are no judges who weigh grief against grief, no trophies for the heaviest bur

I've following homeschooling off and on for ages, though not seriously until the last little while. In that time, I've heard plenty of arguments in favor of homeschooling. I've seen people talk about how their kids began outperforming their peers. I've seen talk of how they can complete their educations early and start college sooner. I've heard some talk about eliminating what they perceive as biases in education. All sorts of reasons. Yet today, I experience a reason that makes all of those pale in comparison. On Wednesday and Thursday last week, my daughter was struggling wit

Dd just found she was selected for the CLS Russian program this summer! She is about to bust with joy. She is also one of few that actually gets to go to Russia proper.

Remember my floor drama? We put new flooring in our house in order to take it to a different price point-- It worked! Our house sold for more than we would have ever believed-- and in 2 days. There is a huge shortage of houses with land in our area. I'm thrilled we did not have to keep our house in 'museum quality' clean for more than a weekend. Just a few days left on the option period then we can start packing. We have already done a major purge-- 18 years of stuff! We will be able to pay off the flooring bill and pay cash for our new house! We needed to re-arrange our finances b

Hi there! Fairfarmhand emailed me to say hello, and mentioned that a couple of people wondered where I've been and how I'm doing. I've been gone so long that my old sign-in didn't work! For whatever reason, I can't find the thread where that was mentioned, so I thought I'd update here. I hope the ones who were wondering about me see it. 🙂 My kids have all long since graduated from our homeschool. Out of my 5 kids, two are married so far, and I have 5 grandchildren. I started my own restaurant 6 1/2 years ago and though I don't make much money, I have found a measure of success in not goin

After a few days in the hospital, DD went into labor at 28 weeks and 2days. I hopped on a plane but they didn’t wait for Grandma and arrived via c-section before I did weighing 2lbs 10 oz each. Both started on a ventilator, but have since been moved to a NIPP-V, which is less invasive. No one can hold them yet and thanks to COVID protocols I don’t even get to see them in the NICU, but my Dd has been FaceTiming me so I can see them. One hates to be swaddled and wriggles herself free and then pulls her tiny hat off. She also removed her umbilical line so they had to put a tiny PICC line in

DS got home 3 hours ago! ❤️❤️

Can you please indulge me in a mama brag? I can't/won't do this IRL, but I want to share it with someone. My third and final child . . . just got official notification of being a National Merit Semifinalist. (And her score is very high, and she will no doubt be a Finalist and then a Scholar.) Both my older two kids did the same, so I'm 3 for 3 for nailing this particular achievement. I've screwed up a lot. But, at least I did educate them well.

Just thought I would share that I will be going to my first appointment to participate in the NIH clinical trial of the potential CV-19 vaccine. It's an mRNA vaccine, meaning not an attenuated or live virus. The idea is that my body will code a protein that triggers an antibody response that's effective against the virus. I'll receive two doses of the vaccine, have several blood draws, and be monitored over several months. I have several friends who work in genetic research and they've done some side research for me. The worst adverse reactions in previous mRNA studies were site reaction

It seems like a lifetime ago...but also very recent. Two years ago today I drove him to the sheriff office where the federal marshals were waiting (they followed us as our house had been surrounded). It has been a rough road but we are healing. Here is my blog if anyone want to know more....or knows someone in a similar situation. Link above is to my first post. More recent posts can be found a here www.ourstorygoeson.com

I honestly am just not handling this turmoil well. I need some of my conservative friends and family to acknowledge the black community is sick and tired of this. I need my more liberal friends and family to recognize that some cops are truly wonderful men and women who love the people they courageously serve. Why must we CONSTANTLY take a side, slap on a label, tout a party line, and steadfastly refuse to recognize good and evil exists in all colors and occupations? And I feel a little like a man with no country as I pray fervently for a friend's husband that just went on duty this morn

Here is my latest blog post...... This weekend has been rough. To be honest, the week was rough. Busy schedules, kids dealing with trauma issues, and a major basement remodel project going on has me tired and worn out. This morning I had to drive my son to work bright and sorta early. Before that though, I needed to get the second coat of paint on the walls of the new basement bathroom. That meant I was dressed in my finest of painting clothes—paint splattered old threadbare jeans, an over-sized bright red tee-shirt proclaiming “We are the Village” (from my adoption group), and

10 days early. Baby boy - 22 1/2 " long., and 9 1/2 lbs. All safe and sound. Now, i have two grandsons. I'll talk to them later about if they want me to come early or wait and come when I planned. (no change fees) Actually - I'd rather talk to my dsil about that one.

WE HAVE AN OFFER LETTER!!!! On Monday dh will call with a few questions/clarifications, schedule a drug test and (hopefully) sign on the dotted line!! Hurrah, and the best Thanksgiving EVER! Working from home, almost the same salary, a field dh is familiar with, a family-owned and solidly established company. Now we need to set up a home office for dh. LinkedIn is the bomb. Friends who coach you on LinkedIn are super, and we've had an amazing prayer team and generous friends (y'all included) with us through this 10-month (!!) job search.

So, I found out today that he was one of the two people at the animal clinic he works at that started wearing masks all the time, even in the back, not just around clients. (other was the doctor). And now everyone wears masks all the time. I'm so grateful, as I was very worried about the close contact when they are working on an animal together. He was a leader! Also - on the way home today - they let him leave early as it was his birthday and not busy - he saw a woman in a motorized wheelchair loaded down with groceries trying to get up her drivway, who had gotten stuck. She had too much

We got the pathology report back!!! The tumor is a pilocytic astrocytoma, which is pretty benign. We have high hopes that this means he won’t need chemo or radiation therapy, but we won’t know until his next MRI in three weeks. We made it down here okay, and Ri met his therapists and was evaluated by them. Tomorrow the work begins.

Our older kitty died a month ago. Our dog is a 14 year old deaf and blind mini poodle w arthritis and no teeth. Best. Dog. Ever. But he is so done doing anything other than sitting at our feet. And The Rabbit is a geriatric lion head bunny who rarely leaves his hatbox. So the local shelter advertised fixed, shots, heart worm meds, worm test, and chipping for a whooping $75. And we could not resist this 6 week old baby girl. We named her Cookie bc she’s so sweet. She’s the best therapy we’ve had since Covid hit.

Life has been interesting (isn't it always?) for my family this past year. DS graduated from college and is working FT. My college cut the tennis program and I am (technically) unemployed. I will be opening up a small tennis coaching business this fall (as soon as I am able to be near athletes and customers) so I'll be a business owner soon. We are remodeling our kitchen after 13 years of being in the house. Demo began the week the SIP order was initiated and we have not had a kitchen since mid-March. We finally started up again last Monday and then stopped on Tuesday as the electrician f

Okay, here's something happy! My DD11 is an only child, homeschooled. I prayed for good friends for her. I didn't want her to be lonely. She's having a sleepover tonight with two of her friends. They went swimming, did crafts, ate pizza, played Barbies, watched a movie, spoiled the dog, snacked, talked, and giggled. They are good girls. Kind to each other. They're being a *little* naughty and talking past when I said it was time to go to sleep. I am so thankful. Tell me something happy from your life today. 🙂

I do not find it realistic to expect immediate answers. Almost everybody I know works. And then there are other responsibilities. And there are actually people who do not carry their cell phones 24/7. I don't have notification sounds on on my phone; I see messages when I choose to check for them. ETA: As somebody who has a computer or phone nearby pretty much all the time, unless I am in the woods, I am actively working on freeing myself from what I like to call the "tyranny of the immediate response."

I was able to dispute the insurance company's offer and get my parents $2416 more on their vehicle which totaled. 🙂

We're going home! He's being discharged soon. He's anxious to go home and see his brothers, and they can't wait for him to get home.

Update: My dh started his new job this week. He’s joined a private law firm and is learning the ropes to do property law and estate planning. I swear he looks five years younger.

But you wouldn't mind sharing what you look like, post one in this thread! I wouldn't mind sharing one except I can't seem to size it small enough. Here's a selfie. Add yours! I would love to know what you like! #greasyhair #nomakeup #whocares

Replying so it will bump: I was offered the job today and am accepting it.

I’m sure that many of you have already heard about the massive explosion in downtown Beirut yesterday evening. Here are some organizations you might consider donating to if you want to help. Lebanon has gone through a recent civil war and now hosts the world’s largest number of refugees per capita. Every third person in the country is a refugee. Hospitals were damaged and destroyed, something you don’t need during a pandemic, and hundreds of thousands of people are homeless. As always, please do some research before donating to any non-profit. I have friends who were injured in this blas

Thought I'd post a pic of my dd, getting ready to spend another day in a coronavirus triage tent!

This is me while on a cruise about a year ago.

Sending you many good wishes for a wonderful year, Susan. Thank you for providing these boards. They've been a valuable part of my life for over twenty years. Regards, Kareni

So, you hear lots of reasons why people start decluttering. And silly stories of the stuff they find while doing it. But nothing remotely compares to poor DH today! First, he was woken up at 5am by a giant palmetto bug ON HIS FACE! I was sleeping in the other room with DD2, so missed the drama. I did point out that although they are outdoor bugs usually, they love paper and cardboard, and also that we have NEVER had the closet sprayed for bugs because it was too cluttered to get to the walls to do a perimeter spray. And since we'd disturbed things recently in there moving christmas w

Part of me is like...why on earth do you think people on a homeschool board need an update on you? But, lets be honest, y'all are my people 🙂 So, I've gained weight since my bariatric surgery. Some gradually, over the past two years, and more the last three months or so. I have gained 10lbs in about 3 months, to be exact - yikes! My lowest weight after bariatric surgery was about 154..might have hit 152 at some point, but averaging around 154-155. That put me at a BMI of 29, down from a high of 220lbs and a BMI of 41. (I'm a little over 5 ft tall). I was somewhat toned, active, and a

Shocking things I have heard this week.... "technology in college is nothing like high school!" "turns out, I prefer my stuff to be online!" "Zoom isn't so bad" "I am going out to lunch with my friends" "I love it here!" "my friends and I spent the night hanging out and talking about philosophy and literature." "I slept better here than I did at home" Okay..unsure where my son went, but this guy who texts me from my son's phone sure is having a great time! Any shockers from the rest of you all lately?

It's a conspiracy by husbands to make wives clean out their fabric stashes! 😁 48 went out today. Another 61 cut out and partially sewn.