A Day In The Journey

I suppose it's time for an update on my summer so far. It has been both busy and not so busy. :) I spent the first week doing. . . NOTHING! Yay! And then I started to make myself more productive. So, what does being productive look like? Well, it's a combination of sorting through attic boxes to get rid of and consolidate stuff. I'm really amazed at all the stuff I have accumulated. It doesn't bode well for the future. After all, I'm only 26 now. Yikes. So, I'm trying to get rid of stuff and better organize other stuff. Right now my room is a disaster. First, of course, you have to take all the stuff out of the box/plastic container in which it has been comfortably living for several years. Then, you have to spread it all out and look at it. Next, you must determine what group of items you aren't really sure why you saved and pitch them. Once that is finished, you must determine which group of stuff will go back into the box. Now you have extra space in the box (which is the point, really) so you empty a second box and repeat the aforementioned steps, placing as many of the remaining items as reasonably belong into the first box. First box goes back into the attic. Now you have some random stuff just sitting there waiting for a box. Right now my room is in "random stuff sitting around waiting for more box emptying" phase. It isn't pretty. Also, I tend to get frustrated with it all once I have everything scattered around. I want to quit. I want to just live in the junk. Then I realize--it's driving me nuts. It must be cleaned. And so I keep at it. I really hate it all. I need a house. Sigh.

The other face of productivity around here is the paint-the-doors-b/c-they-really-need-it face. My sister and I are collaborating on this phase of work. Then we get to paint the garage. It's hot outside. But, I like painting. And when I get tired of it all, I go swimming. It's hard to beat that.
The other thing of mild interest that I've done so far this summer: I flew to Nashville for a friend's wedding. That was a good time. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen in about three years. Wow. It was good to talk to them. The wedding was lovely. The reception was very casual--held at this. . .I don't know what to call it. . .like a covered barn barbeque hoe-down place. It was really neat. Not really at all what I would have expected at Juli's wedding, but it was fun. And of course, we had a great time "decorating" the car. :) Of course I also made time to go see the Grand Ole Opry. I didn't have time to take the tour, though. :( Oh well. I guess that means I'll have to go back to Nashville someday.

Next week, I'm flying to Wilmington, NC for a ten-day trip to visit my dearest friends Kelly and Justin. I'm rather excited b/c I get to see their new house! At any rate. In between all of this, I've slipped in some time to start planning my curriculum for next year's co-op classes. Right now it's all a little directionless, but I'm getting a handle on what works/philosophies I want to cover. It helps that I've taught World Lit before, but I'm still wanting to cover everything--not exactly feasible--so the hard part is deciding which things best represent the various literary traditions and philosophies of the world. British Lit is just expansive. It's easier though because it flows chronologically, so it's jsut a matter of choosing the best pieces from each period of lit. Sigh. I know I'm going to feel totally unprepared regardless of how well I prepare. That's just the way it goes!

Posted by Renee at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Renee at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It is extremely hot outside right now--okay, not so much at this actual moment, but todayish in general. I have been mainly doing nothing. :) Saying goodbye to my kids was incredibly really very difficult. I'm not sure what's worse: sobbing 5th/6th grade girls, crying middle school boys, or upper school boys that want to cry but won't because they still think it isn't "cool and manly." I will be seeing many of them again, though--Lauren Cooper asked if I wanted to take the paid-on-call-substitute job for Tuesdays and Fridays, and I said yes. I'm going to try my hand at teaching World Lit and Brit Lit co-op classes for home school high schoolers (that's a mouthful). Since my car is paid off, I don't have a whole lot of billage to pay (just insurance, really), so I have some leeway. Frankly, it is the best time to change lanes in my career, I guess. I think I'm also going to try my hand at some freelance writing. We'll see how that goes. It means I need to renew my brain in the area of Rhetorical teaching--quite different from the grammar teaching I've been doing. Of course, there will be some grammar aspects involved, but overall. . . .
. . .I've also decided that it would have been incredibly difficult for me to be at the school without my high schoolers. They've been such an indispensible part of my day. I'm overwashed in prayer for them always, but expecially now. I am worried about losing my connection/influence. I have faith that most of them will do fine, but a couple of them. . .well, I worry for them. I worry that their priorities are misaligned--resulting in regretful decision-making. We shall see, I suppose. They are in God's hands much more than they have been/will ever be in mine. There's so much I wish I could say to them all--but I'm afraid it would be horribly sappy and thus embarassing to the boys. Heaven forbid they should be embarrassed by their teacher. :) I have been so touched by them all. each one of them has taught me so much about myself--at least as much as I learned about them. Each one of them was a blessing to me. And each one of them has so much potential to succeed in whatever they put their mind to. What always discourages me is when they think they're dumb and average. As if. I hope and pray that they realize the potential and talent they have. I hope they seek to fulfill the desires and dreams God has given them. If they don't have any dreams, yet, I hope they ask Him for the desires and dreams He has for them. I hope and pray, above all, that they seek every day to become them men and women of God that they can be. After all, that is the greatest potential they can fulfill, and our culture so often steals the motivation for excellence and godliness. If I knew how to tell each one of them these things without being "cheesy," I would. Lastly, I hope I was as much of a blessing to them as they were to me. And even that they learned something! I miss them terribly already. Why exactly does God make letting go so difficult?

On a different note--I just spent whole lot of money to go to a wedding next weekend. yippee! Okay, so I'm looking forward to going a seeing friends I haven't seen in years, but it's hard to spend that much money for a two-day trip. Sheesh. Especially since I just spent an even larger amount of money for my 10-day trip to N.C. later this summer. I wish travelling were free! Of course, I suppose we all do. Such is life. People have to make money, and stuff is expensive.

On an even different note: between my last post and this, I saw the new Star Wars movie. Wow. It was phenominal. I really enjoyed it. The story was impressive. Even though you knew what Anakin would eventually decide, his path is surprising. You can't help hoping he will, somehow, stick with what he knows is right. But he doesn't . He wants to control fate too badly. His love has a defecTITLE: the inabilty to let go of what he loves. An all too human defect, I'm afraid. But previous loss has made him afraid to lose what he loves--possessive to an extreme that leads him to betray what is right for the promise of playing God to keep what he loves. Such a poignant reminded that all we have on earth is temporary, and we should be prepared to relinquish it at the proper times. This is exponentially true for Christians. Watching Anakin's descent into darkness was almost more than I could take--it was so dark and seemingly irrevocable. Yet, even near the end, when Obi-wan confronts him, he could have walked away from the darkness--such a picture of the availabilty of redemption. But he refuses, instead wallowing in his hatred and bitterness and false paranoia--such a picture of the sinful nature of man. It is a wrenching movie. The parallel between Padme's death and Anakin's "death"/return as Vader is beautiful and heartbreaking. I was so emotionally exhausted by the movie. I also had to come home and watch "Episode 4" (as it is now known) to renew my heart. I will say the end of the movie does give the glimmer of hope that is brought to life in the next movie. And it does so flawlessly. I was astounded and washed away by this movie. It should be seen. I will also say that the movie not only presents an introspective examination that is sharp and skilled, it also reminds us what liberty truly is worth. And that peace at any price is oppression. A reminder much needed in an age when we are told to keep to ourselves and mind our own business; that maintaining peace is the ultimate goal we should have, justice and right be damned. Though I would not go so far (as Padme almost does) as to say that all war is a failure of diplomacy, I think the movie makes a strong case for listening as well as for not sacrificing liberty and justice on the altar of peace. It's good stuff.

Anyway.

Posted by Renee at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)