Home*School*Home: May 2020

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Freckles Marie

Freckles passed away yesterday. It was not as gentle and uneventful as I had hoped. Our vet was closed for the holiday weekend, so we had to drive her 45 minutes away to an emergency pet hospital. She did sleep on my daughter's lap on the way there and my husband and I talked to her and loved on her as she went to sleep in the vet's office. We're all pretty heartbroken, but there is a feeling of relief as well that she is not suffering. She really went downhill fast over the weekend, getting so much worse from Sunday to Monday.

I'd like to say she was a "good girl" as everyone says about their dogs but she rarely got called that. I called her "crazy woman" or "Freckie"

most of the time. When I'd say "who's a good girl?", I'd always say "we don't know any do we?" Freckles was loving, on her terms. She was the queen of the world with her own boundaries, her preferences. We loved that little tiny bundle of attitude so very much. I'll miss the way she would suprise me with a lick in the nostril and the way she'd fake snap when you'd lean in close to love on her. I'll miss her little underbite and the way her tongue stuck out between her snaggle teeth. Her little bug eyes, barrel shaped body and teeny feet. The way she'd sit outside and pine if both of us girls were gone someplace and she'd been left with only boys to take care of her and to let her in and out and in and out and in and out. I miss how she snored with her little crooked nose.

I don't know what we're going to do without her.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Sadness.

We found out Friday that our little Freckles has a tumor near her spine that is inoperable by a normal vet. Our vet gave us the number of a specialist, but said that he did not recommend treatment. She had a tumor removed about a year and a half ago and had to spend 5 weeks in a crate. That time, she was vigorous and healthy going into it, but this time, she's weak. She's been losing weight, not eating much and throwing up frequently. We're trying to give her a gentle time here at home, carryng her out to go potty and hand feeding her. It's sad though and I can feel the weight of it on me 24 hours a day. She doesn't seem to be in pain. She lies around all the time but when you talk to her, she'll roll over for you to rub her tummy and she looks at us interestedly when we walk by and talk to her. She does not seem to be suffering all the time. I'm not sure what to do. Prayers please.

Monday, May 18, 2020

Soon!

Soon, we'll get to go to restaurants and have meals with other people, I assume. I'm not sure how it will work if I have to be 6 feet away from the people I'm having dinner with, if they're not from my household? I'm ready though. This past week, my aunt commissioned my daughter to make some special art for her granddaughters and yesterday they came and met us in the driveway (at a safe distance) to pick it up. On the way, they picked up another cousin and her daughter and granddaughter, so we got to see 5 people!! It was great. We stood in the driveway and talked for an hour. I miss that kind of thing so much.

I hope you all are doing well. If you need a pick me up, go watch all the episodes of John Krasinski's SOME GOOD NEWS on Youtube. It's fantastic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXdKrtmexWU Get the tissues handy because there might be happy tears.

Thursday, May 07, 2020

Gearing Back Up.

At work, we're starting now to do outpatient procedures, so maybe, our workload will pick up. I've been sorting and organizing and alphabetizing and cleaning things. It's been crazy not-busy most days. Monday is usually an exception, pretty busy. Come what may, I'm going in 2 hours earlier today and working for 6 hours, not 4. I'm not really very happy about it, because I have a UTI and feel like crap. But that's life, right. That's just how it works. I'm hopeful that my husband and young adults will be able to leave the house soon or at least have people over. It's been a crazy, crazy time. Really, when you think about it, it's not that bad. We just have to stay home more than usual and take more precautions when we do go out.

Here are some pictures from home.

Cosmo turning his head to the side when you say "food?".

Everything is getting so green and beautiful. This is from the bottom of our driveway.

My view from inside my car the other day. Zelda did not want to get off of my car so I could go to work.

A different, funnier view of Cosmo.

A piece of art I made during drive in church the other day.

The masks my daughter made and donated to the nonprofit hospital system I work for. They sent her a very nice thank you letter. Some people out there are wearing some very fashionable masks. :-)

Sunday, May 03, 2020

Great article on Homeschooling.

Life Learning Homeschool

Go and read it, her experiences remind me of our homeschool, but she's a better writer than I am.

Homeschooling Advice.

1. Try it. You might enjoy it. It might change your life. It might not be your thing, but you won't know if you don't ever try.

2. Find out what your state (or country) requires, the bare minimum. Do this and then with the rest of it, have fun with it. It doesn't have to be all serious and it doesn't have to look like the inside of a classroom. You're at home. Relax. Play. Read. Learn together. Enjoy your kids. They grow up way too fast.

3. Don't let a written curriculum boss you around. If it works, great. If it's not working for you, throw it out. If only parts of it work, use those and throw the rest out. It's not the boss of you. When shopping for curriculum, read reviews. Try to go somewhere where you can actually hold the book in your hands and look through it. Print out a sample day or week and try and implement it or borrow it before buying. It's kind of hit and miss buying books without being able to see them.

4. Find a homeschool support group. Or two. If you can't find one in real life, find one online. Get support where ever you can.

5. Make a mess now and then. Go outside and put some mentos in coke. Make alka-seltzer rockets. Make some great art. Make a timeline and a map. Grow some borax crystals. Use levers to lift things. Make a trebuchet out of whatever you can find around the house.

6. Go on as many field trips as you can.

The point of this blog.

"there is a theme, if you read, you'll get a growing conviction that homeschooling is a lifestyle that is worthwhile, that it is extremely good for kids and families, that it promotes bonding, is a personalized education that is superior to what you can get anywhere else for your kids, is fun and can be done even if you have a 400 track mind, no math skills (thankfully my husband does though), through working, job changes, bad hair days, home remodeling, deaths, illness, surgery, broken bones and various other things and it actually makes dealing with these things easier, not harder, than it was when we were in the public schools, because homeschooling is so incredibly flexible. That's the point I've been trying to make for the last 5 years or so."