Elena 
I feel like summer is zooming by. I think I am having midlife crisis a bit late ( or I’m genetically coded to live longer than average and I’m hitting it right on time – not sure how I feel about that.) Anyway I have all the neighbor kids here practically all of the time and I’m feeling like I need a bit more privacy. I’m glad that the kids have a lot of friends though and are having a good time. I often wonder what the homeschool naysayers would think of our situation. After all, the one Catholic, homeschooling, Caucasian family on the street is swarming with all of the neighbor kids most of the day. I guess we have this socialization thing licked.
Calvin has enjoyed being an adult so far. He told me that he finally got to use his “18-year-old super powers” by opening up his own accout at the video store. He was very proud of that. Next Friday we are having our first big teen party in our basement. I don’t know who is looking forward to it more, me or Calvin! I have a lot of cleaning to do first though.
Today Gabe is getting part of his birthday wish – to eat at Chippolte’s for dinner! Then tomorrow after mass we are all heading up once more to the shores of Lake Erie for our annual birthday boys birth extravaganza. Calvin’s bring his girlfriend as well. I’m hoping I can coax her to bring her new Harry Potter book so I can sneak a peak at the ending!! We’ll see.
Let’s see…
My mom has been invited to play the piano at a black tie event at her retirement home. My mother was a superb pianist back in the day. She almost considered a career as a concert pianist but opted for teaching and a family instead. She also sight reads with no problem. Nine years ago we discovered that she had a huge frontal lobe benign brain tumor. It too the doctors 15 hours to remove the tumor and she made a complete recovery from that. However, because her arm was stretched out for so long, she developed what is called a brachial plexus injury. As a result she lost the use of the little finger on that side and she is very sensitive to hot and cold. I still think she plays beautifully and apparently so does the staff at the home that invited her play. But she is self-conscious that she does not play as well as she use to. She was thrilled to be invited though. Sam might play for a bit with her as well.
Have I mentioned I love my husband? He is such a support for me and my biggest cheerleader. Whenever I am unsure of whether I am doing the right thing or not I bounce it off of him. Mr. Pete is the kind of guy who tells me the truth. He’s the type that if I ask him, “does this make me look fat?” he will actually tell me if he thinks it does. Likewise if I get into a disagreement in real life or online, I will run it past Mr. Pete for his opinion. It occurred to me that I have tried to change my writing style to please him over the years. Mr. Pete prefers writing that is direct, and to the point. I have tried to remove superfluous adjectives and be more concise when I am writing. I am starting to wonder though, if what appeals to my husband as far as a writing style, is a turn off for more feminine readers. We gals tend to like all that superfluous stuff because it adds emotion and feeling. For Mr. Pete, the emotion gets in the way of the main point. He wants to get in there and find the main idea and see what he’s dealing with. My hypothesis is that for women, the main point may be secondary to the feeling and emotion with which it is expressed. The difference between a doctor who comes in and tells you point blank that you have six months to live, and the doctor who comes in, holds your hand and gently breaks the news that you should get your affairs in order! I have to think more about that.
Anyway, I got my own feelings slammed around a little bit and it just helped to talk it over with my husband. He offers perspective and insight that I don’t always have. The bonus is that by the end of our discussion we have walked amost four miles, so we’re getting in shape while we discuss!
Today we walked around a beautiful cemetary that I had never visited before. It had a lot of gravestones written in German and many Spanish American War Veterans. I need to back there with my camera.
Probably the only other really big issue going on in my life is that one of the clients I type for is going with a new style standard. No longer will we be permitted to put two spaces after a period. I have been transcribing for 25 years and I always put two spaces after a period!! So that is going to be quite an adjustment. It seems that is how everyone else in the industry is headed so I’ll just have to retrain myself. I will probably have to start doing that even on my blogs.
Oh and I lost four pounds last week – yea me!
Looking ahead, after the big birthday bash- Pete and the boys have the annual altar server trip to the amusement park coming up this week and the Catholic Grandparent’s Day is coming up on the 26 with the feast of St Joachim and St. Ann – so I want to something pleasant for my mom that day too.
Have a great weekend.
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