Mindy's Non-Adventures

Has anyone else noticed that October generally sucks as a month? No? It's just me then? I called my friend at the beginning of the week in a puddle of self-pity and fatigue, and she had brilliantly already connected the dots for me. October tends to be the month where I crash and burn.  I've already learned that February is the holiday/homeschool hangover month, but I had not yet seen how October tends to be a struggle as well. After looking through my journal writing and blog posts for October over the years, it's clearly a trouble spot in my life. Is it the hot temperatures and pathetically dull leaves we get for "autumn" here in Charleston when I've had a lifetime of cooler weather and fall colors? Am I bogged down by school? After all, we're well past the excitement and momentum that comes with the beginning of school and decidely in the painful persevering marathon section of the first semester (to be repeated in February). We're too far in to b...

I apologize immediately for the crude language you're about to read. I'd censor it, but I think people need to be confronted with the reality of what is being said. Besides, if this vocabulary is good enough for the Republican Presidential Nominee, I guess it's appropriate to quote.  Now that I've got my disclaimer out of the way, here we go. Let me tell you what happened this past Friday. The battery in my van died. After asking a very nice person to jump start my vehicle, I drove to the nearest auto store. If you're a woman, you already know what happened next. It took me a solid 20 minutes to convince the man at the store that I needed a new battery. He was very nice as he condescendingly told me that my battery couldn't be dead. It must be blah blah blah. Twenty Minutes. My kids were in the car, I continued to be friendly and polite as I repeatedly told the man that I did indeed need a new battery, and the reason his little machine wouldn't work was be...