Mindy's Non-Adventures

It's past time for another update that's not really an update. So here's where we are. We are STILL waiting for official things to happen so that we can tell everyone what we're doing with our lives. Believe it or not, we actually do have a plan, and things really are   happening. The problem is that the things happening are not things I'm allowed to actually share publicly until they've finished happening. Until things  are officially settled, we are in...yes...I have to say it...Laurens, SC. Again. Temporarily. Again. We left Raleigh this past Saturday. We could have stayed until January, but I'll be honest. I was beyond done with the "are we moving this week or that week?" while Jon worked in South Carolina. So yes. I pulled the trigger, and I insisted on leaving in December before we had a permanent place to go. We've been spending this week with some amazing friends of ours that have graciously let us live in their guest apartment whil...

Hey friends. You've probably noticed by now that I go a little overboard on Facebook posts every November around my anniversary.  This year is no different, but I did start to question whether I was being a little obnoxious about the whole thing. Then I thought about how much people post about their favorite football team, and I decided that my marriage is like football. So it's okay. And for your reading pleasure, here is why marriage is like football. In no particular order... 1.  Each year is like a football season. We play games (also known as life happening). Sometimes we lose. Badly. Sometimes we have HUGE wins! 2. Sometimes we add new players to our team. We've added 3 players in our 14 years. I'm fairly confident our roster is full at this point. 3. Anniversaries are like the Super Bowl. If your team made it to the Super Bowl, wouldn't you be excited?!?!  4. Some seasons, we've lost every. single. game. Badly. Like, we got slaughtered. But it...

So.  I've announced on Facebook that we're moving on December 13th, and people are asking me where we're going. Since the answer is a little more complicated than "We're moving to ______ for _______!", I thought it would be easier to write it here. Ready? Here's the deal. We came to the conclusion at least a month ago that staying in Raleigh, NC simply isn't going to work. All of our connections are in South Carolina, and our very best job option is there. We've been jumping through all the necessary hoops to make the top job option happen, but we're still waiting on the final answer.  In the meantime, we had to give a 60 day notice to our apartment community letting them know we will not be renewing our lease. THAT had to happen by last Friday. I'm fairly insistent that we be where we're going to be before January so that the kids can pick up right where they left off in their homeschool group. Thankfully, the organization we're ...

It's now been 7 weeks of temporary job status. For a few days last week we actually thought things had turned a corner, but no. That Raleigh job was kind of a disaster and not what we were expecting at all. So...Monday we'll be back to the same temporary work as before. I'm beyond thankful for the opportunity, but it does mean that my husband is gone during the week. This past week he was working nights here and sleeping during the day. Do you know what it's like to homeschool in a shoebox while your husband tries to sleep in the next room?  We certainly managed, but it was a long week with no set schedule. So here's the thing that I've been thinking about for the past few months. I never realized how much the whole health and wealth mentality had made its way into my thinking until the last year. I would have never claimed I held to the belief that if I do what God wants, things go well, and if things go badly, then it must be my fault. But still...it's k...

So we're closing in on two weeks since my husband quit his job. I know some of you will read that and think "How irresponsible! They deserve the struggle of unemployment if he quit."  I can't give a detailed explanation as to why things have worked out they way they have, but I can absolutely without hesitation say that sometimes quitting is actually the best choice. Consider that. Unemployment was preferable. *shudder* I can also say that if I could give all the details, you would absolutely agree we did the only thing we could do. Oh, and one more thing. My husband actually hasn't missed a single day of work since he quit. He's been working at something else that's temporary. That's okay. Temporary is good enough for now. So, that's out of the way. And how are we? We've had some promising leads. I really don't think this circumstance will last long before we're off and running again. We're still not sure if we'll have to rel...

So...My husband quit his job on Friday. He called me on his way home to let me know. As soon as he got home, we drove to Charleston so he could work there for his Reserves weekend. It was a hectic, exhausting, raw week and weekend for us. Monday morning, he got up and left before the rest of us to work with an old friend/employer for the week. Adrenaline got me through last week and it lasted right up until Monday morning around 8:55am. That would be 15 minutes before our homeschool group started, and I would have to jump into tutor mode for a group of 6 year olds. I managed to get through class well and even made it home before crawling into bed and sleeping for 2 hours. When given the choice of hiding difficulty and sharing it for prayers and support, I use a sliding scale to determine how open I'll be. Sudden unemployment makes it to the major life problem side of the scale and equals sharing. Sharing leads to two responses: Genuine concern and offers of help and prayer OR sud...

Thanks to Timehop, I know that exactly one year ago today I was able to share with everyone our plan to leave Charleston, SC for Raleigh, NC. We were idealistic and hopeful. We'd decided to take a risk on two levels. Because one risk isn't enough, let's do two at the same time. We were moving to help support an organization that hadn't actually launched in Raleigh. We were also moving to take advantage of what we hoped would be a promising, stable opportunity for our family and our future. We were looking to settle down. *Sigh* It was a beautiful dream. Of course we knew things wouldn't work out the way we expected, they never do. And yet the results are always surprising. I'm still standing in amazement at how things have unfolded since last September, and honestly, I'm not sure what our lives are about to look like. I just know that God is doing something. One day I'll be able to look back and say "Ohhhh, so that's the point! I had to go thro...

It's lunchtime on Wednesday. School books, papers, clothes, and suitcases and strewn everywhere. My baby kitchen is covered in dishes, half a birthday cake, two crock pots of beans cooking, more papers, but no lunch. I've been called a "bad screen mom" this morning because I wouldn't let the kids turn on the Wii or the Nintendo 3DS. I stayed up too late last night and in bed too late this morning.  At some point during the day, I need to wrap birthday presents and have everything ready for tomorrow including making a TARDIS birthday cake for my oldest's 12th birthday. We've done math. That was fun. Don't you remember 7th grade math being fun? I've cleaned up a spilled cup. That splurge on a Trader Joe's Organic Dark Chocolate Pecan and Raisin candy bar that was supposed to last me a week? Yeah, it's basically gone. I was shoving chocolate in my mouth like my life depended on it. It wasn't pretty, friends. It wasn't pretty. And yet...

As unbelievable as this is to me, I've just realized that this is my 8th year homeschooling. This past week was my 8th first week of school. Eight years doesn't compare to some of my friends who have children married and graduated from college. Still, 8 years is a lot to me. It's the most I've ever done. =)  I can say unequivocally that of all first weeks we've had, this has been the most difficult. I thought the year that Charlotte decided to walk on Tommy's first day of school was tough. I thought the year that I had to actually undertake formal education for two children at different levels at the same time was even more difficult. This year though.... this year has reduced me to tears already. TEARS. It's been one. week. The last month has not gone the way I'd intended. Instead of spending my last few weeks of summer preparing for my oldest to begin 7th grade Challenge with Classical Conversations like I'd planned, I had to basically throw tha...

Sometimes I get into a standoff with inanimate objects. No, I never win. No, it doesn't necessarily make sense. Usually it's an isolated skirmish with books that I can't find a place for. Unfortunately, my current standoff has turned into an all out war within our shoebox home. I have too much pride to show you how bad things have gotten, but imagine the trenches of WWI. My shoebox has turned into a bloody battlefield. Against myself.  For example... Here is a picture of my lovely, laminated, sorted Veritas Timeline Cards. They're beautiful, aren't they? I mean, I know they're a mess, but still. It's an amazing educational tool. And they were expensive. They're also useless to me now which is why they're on the floor and have been for weeks. Yes, weeks. Right there, in the middle of the floor. The question I'm sure you're asking yourself (because I keep asking myself) is WHY?!? And now I will give you a glimpse into my head. Brin...

Over the last few weeks, this " I miss the village " blog post has continued to pop up.  I've read it and liked it. If you haven't read it, basically it's a dream of a mom of young children to not have to go it alone all the time. It's the dream of moms living life together, naturally helping each other and working together instead of every mom for herself. And I get it. It's actually very practical. Why should we ALL cook dinner at the same time when we could pot luck it together or take turns? It would make my life SO much easier! Here's the thing though. As I was reading through this lovely vision of utopian motherhood, I realized I wasn't really missing the things that the writer was sharing. Sure, I do in some respects, but I've been making my own village of sorts for years. Unless you and your friends are willing to take over a cul de sac or somehow find ways to live next to your favorite people (which I am totally down with doing- frie...

If you've kept up with me at all, you know that we've been on the move A LOT in the last year. We go to Charleston with Mr. Inc just about every month. We did a whole week in Charleston and will do another week soon while he works. We've done more than one trip to see family or to switch kids off so they get time with friends or grandparents in South Carolina.  The kids are used to the drill now. A 4+ hour drive doesn't phase them because they've been doing this kind of thing for their entire lives.  And yes, it's so much fun.  I'm so thankful we get to do all these, but I would be sharing only half the story if all of my friends thought we led this charmed life of traveling to the beach and staying in wonderful hotels every weekend, everything being beauty and light. Because it's soooo not. So here are highs and lows of the weekend. Highs We went to a 80s themed pool party and saw lots of old friends. We ate at a BBQ restaurant that Mr. Inc loves. ...

It's the second half of July. So what have we been up to over the last 4 weeks? We've spent a week in Charleston, a weekend in Greenville, made a few trips to Charlotte to return or retrieve children that have spent their own weeks with friends or grandparents, and been sick. So...that's it. We are back to our normal lives. Now that we've hit the 6 month mark since moving to the Raleigh area, I can't help but look over the year so far and compare it to what I thought it would have been. First, the most obvious is our apartment. I continue to have a love/hate relationship with the shoebox. Today I'm leaning towards hate. To my credit, I'm feeling love towards our home about 90% of the time. But today, not so much. I have stacks of books in front of, on top of, and beside my packed bookcases. This is no way to live, and NO. I will not get rid of any more books! Most of them are for school anyway, and nobody is asking you to get rid of your work essentials so...

It used to be spring break, but now it's all about the homeschool planning weekend.  This summer is the 4th year one of my very best friends (from now on referred to as T) and I have tried to plan a trip or homeschool weekend together. Every year something legitimately serious has occurred to either cause us to cancel (Hawaii) or has made us give pause before pushing ahead. This year was no different. For my end, my dear, sweet husband thought he'd lost his driver's license and hinted that I might have to drive him to Charleston this weekend. Not. Happening.  Thankfully, he found his license and the crisis was averted on my end. I'm truly not a superstitious person. At all. But after last year's week leading up to our weekend I almost called the thing off myself and swore off these weekends forever. In previous years, things like a dead gallbladder, a smashed leg, and other various broken/damaged appendages have made things a little difficult. Still, we're con...

Oh. My. God. Sometimes being a parent is like Chinese water torture. It's not the big things, it's the drip. drip. drip. That finally makes you seriously consider dropping the kids off somewhere safe and going away for a day. Or 5.  Also, my oldest can be completely responsible for his lunch today. And WHERE is the freaking fettuccine alfredo and brownies when I NEED IT?!?!?! These are the days when I wish my husband actually enjoyed a 9-5 job. But he doesn't. So we will muddle through on our own today. And we won't even eat out. I might bake cookies. And don't get all angry and self righteous and tell me to "Enjoy every minute!" or "So many people would love to have your troubles." Yes. I know that. Now shut up and throw me a cookie. Actually, give me a restaurant gift card and a babysitter. For a week. And this stream of conscious rant is over. Brought to you by the woman that set expectations far too high for the day. Somehow I thought w...

So I'll be real for a moment. I've been told I give off an intimidating super-mommy vibe.  Every time I'm told this, I'm utterly flabbergasted. Do these people know me at all?  I believe my mildly manic ADD is being mistaken for something good. Like consistent excellence. =) No friends, it is not normal for a person to cycle through projects. Yes, I bake for about a month. I'll bake all. the. time. And then I stop. I move onto cooking better meals at home (remember my love for freezer meals?), and then I stop. We do awe inspiring weeks of school, and then we stop. Get the picture?  There's nothing intimidating in that. I've simply chosen to channel my obsessive tendencies into benign projects lasting a few weeks at a time.  Great, now I sound flaky. I'm not flaky either. And then we have weeks like this week. It's only Thursday so I'm jumping the gun, but since I only have a day left in this week, I'm calling it. This week SUCKED. So muc...

Here's our latest family update. We are finally settling into our new hometown. I am quickly falling in love with Cary, NC. From the parks to the Barnes and Noble that's less than 10 minutes away, the Aldi that's within walking distance to the awesome movie theater with $5 Tuesdays, I'm hooked. The commute to the airport is ideal (that's an important detail for Mr. Inc). It's pretty much exactly what I've always wanted. It feels small townish with the convenience of the city.  Plus some wonderful museums that are free? This homeschooling mom can't ask for much more. As for churches, I think we've settled on one. There is no perfect church, and admittedly, the one we've chosen is rather large for my comfort. Still, the kids are comfortable and making friends, it's not too far so we can be involved easily, and they seem to be very motivated for missions. They've got their theology straight. I even registered the kids for VBS, so I guess w...

Yesterday was one of those days. I was fed up with my tetris apartment, especially since I'd lost the game of fitting the computer somewhere normal. Like, NOT in a place where we walk. I was tired, defeated, and generally unhappy with my lot in life. In other words, I was acting like a teenage girl. Blech. So of course this morning one of the first things I read is about cities of people living on giant landfills in Honduras. They dig through the trash daily looking for food and plastic. If they find enough plastic (50 lbs), they can sell it. For a DOLLAR. And I was so proud of myself last night for pushing through and not ordering the Papa John's pizza. I'd made out the order and everything. I just had to push "Order" on my phone, and it would have been done. But I didn't. So it was a major victory in my mind at the time. I don't know why I have days like that. Days where I know that I'm being completely irrational, but I just...can't. Days wh...

The circles. I'm sure every culture since the beginning on mankind has had circles. I'm sure I can't claim them as a southern invention, but since that's my experience, that's what I'm going with. When I was a kid, I went to these small, country churches. Between Sunday school and the service, then again after church, the men would congregate outside in a loose circle and talk. It's just what they did. There was always an opening for someone else to join, but everyone knew instinctively how close to stand to each other.  I remember how they stood. They all had the same posture, the same laid-back stance. I always thought it was fascinating to see them. The same thing would happen at family gatherings. My dad had 3 brothers. My grandfather had 4 brothers. The men would always find themselves in the circle. Multiple conversations would be going on at once, and they'd jump in and out of all of them. So if I'm ever sitting near you and suddenly jump into...

After months and months of hobbling through life without a computer, we've finally come back to the sweet life. We bought a shiny, new computer last week. The struggle of doing everything through a smartphone is real, ya'll. Real. So I've been tracking through my goals for the year of getting back to basics, and the past few weeks have led me to goal number 3: homeschool. First, homeschooling is HARD. The information isn't hard. The information is easy. Anyone that thinks they can't homeschool because they're not smart enough clearly has no idea what homeschooling is about. The books tell you everything you need to know if you don't already know it. I've got nouns, earthquakes, and fractions down. That's easy. What's not easy is the drudgery. The day in, day out life of getting the work done. It's the hardcore parenting. There's no break. There's no village to help out. Nope. I've taken the challenge of preparing my children for...

It's been a little over a mont h since I've been able to write anythin g . Unfortunately, our computer that as been strugglin g for months finally passed away between Charleston and Raleigh. Since we're also trying to figure out our new budget in a new city and new job, we thought the prudent choice would be to wait on a computer. So I'm writing on the laptop that refuses to type the letters "g" and "h".  I'm counting on spellcheck to fix everything. ;-) So we've been in Raleigh for a mont h now. It's been quite an adjustment as we knew it would be. I have endearingly named our apartment The Shoebox. It's a tight squeeze, but it's turned out to be exactly what I asked for. Remember those goals for 2014? You know, getting back to basics? Top of the list was stuff and home. We moved into a 1000sq ft apartment, and I'm pretty sure they exaggerated on the size. There's no room for extra clutter. Really. Every single item ...

I tried to take a nap yesterday. Kids interrupted my sleep for the past few nights plus that little thing called packing up my house was draining my energy. It was 4:02pm. I set my alarm for 4:45. This is what happened. 4:02- Set alarm and cover my head with my favorite nap blanket. Yes, I have a favorite nap blanket. 4:05- *BANG* *BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM*   from upstairs, directly over my head. It's Kid #1 trying to pack up some of his room. I hope. 4:07- *BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP*  Kid #3 is coming down the stairs. 4:08- *tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap*           Kid #3 is now tapping a stick on every hard surface he walks past. 4:11- Kid #1 walks into the room and stares at me. I pretend to be asleep. Kid walks away. 4:13- Kid #1 comes back and stares some more so I ask what he needs. It was something completely pointless and unre...

After looking over my New Year's resolutions for the past couple of years, I realized that I need to stop that craziness because it's Just. Not. Working. Having completely failed at 3 of my 4 resolutions from last year, I've decided that resolutions are too limiting for a person with dreams as big as mine. ;) Therefore, I'm going with an overall goal or motto for my year. So for 2014, my motto will be Back to Basics. Yes, I'm going back to the basics in a few different areas. In a world made to distract, entertain, and clutter our lives, I'm going to attempt to cut out the clutter and distraction and reach deep to find the things of most importance. What areas will I focus on this year?  Things. Food. Home. School. Spirituality for lack of a better word. Things and home.  These two sort of go together.  I've ranted enough about stuff. We're moving in 2 weeks. I've already been purging. I purged some before we moved 3 months ago. I will continue ...