Elena 
End of the Semester
We just finished our first semester in my homeschool co-op. Our co-op meets once a week at a former Catholic School building near my home. I’m sure this school was constructed over time and with very little thought to continuity. Sometimes it seems that the architect or architects had a lot in common with whoever designed the stairways at Hogwarts.
To make matters more challenging, our cafeteria and assigned eating area was in the cafeteria which was in the basement of the school, and other co-ops and groups had the floors in between. There was no choice but to traverse this entire staircase a couple of times a day. Thank God it’s just once a week.
Next semester will be better. My granddaughter is now 10 and I can leave her in the building for a while without my presence. I intend to take full advantage of that and will be out the door and to the library, or the grocery store, or literally anyplace else until it’s time to pick her up again!
Homeschooling has changed
I recently sat in a meeting of other homeschool moms who share our building while we tried to decide exactly HOW we were going to share our building. I sat there as one mom, undoubtedly a former professional woman who is now making the sacrifice to homeschool her children, took us all on as if she was a CEO addressing a board of directors. I had two thoughts.
My first thought was, “Dang, when I started homeschooling, this gal was in the third grade!” I’m probably close on that.
My second thought was that these new homeschoolers never really experienced the whole denim- jumper–looking-up-to-the-Colfax Family vibe. They probably wouldn’t even know what I was talking about if I mentioned it.
What they are trying to do is the typical, homeSCHOOLING, as in bringing the institutionalized way of educating kids home because that’s the way they were taught. After almost three decades of doing this, I am more and more focused on HOMEschooling, and since I’ve gotten great results with that, I’m sticking with it. But we homeschoolers are an independent bunch and we mostly don’t really like to be told how to do things, so I just sit and watch, and observe.
The college update
Rose took to Walsh University like a fish to water. She has gotten stellar grades. She loves her classes, she loves her friends, and she has a fella. I always wondered why the high school boys Rosie was around or ran with never asked her out or anything. And now I see it’s because they weren’t mature enough! Rosie’s guy is a few years older and he seems to appreciate Rosie’s humor and enthusiasm for life! Maybe that’s what those high school boys lacked.
Izzy’s art work got accepted into the school art show and she was very thrilled about that. Because she has accommodations, I have transcribed her papers for her and I feel like I am getting a pretty decent art education too! I now know more about the Hagia Sophia than ever did before, and I can tell you the difference between ancient Egyptian art and Ancient Greek art without breaking a sweat!
A sad start to the Advent season
I fellow church musician that I played with for decades passed away somewhat unexpectedly before Thanksgiving. He is yet another friend who looked towards retirement but then didn’t have much chance to enjoy it. This made Mr. Pete and I take stock of what we want to do to get our estates in order. One thing I think we did wisely was start taking our Social Security as soon as we were eligible. We are not promised tomorrow and that extra money is helping our family. It’s also a reminder that the time to really commit to a prayerful life is now. I am praying the St. Andrew Novena with a much different perspective than I had even a few weeks ago. Rest in Peace dear friend.