Love/hate relationship with the phone...more hate than love ;-)

I'm happy to have a cell phone. Really. After all, I may need to call and get the time for a movie. Or check my account balance. No, wait-- I use the computer for those things.

Well, Papaw might ring to ask if he can stop by with some pie. (Always a "yes!") Sometimes I need to reach a friend to plan a playdate. Or call my neighbor and ask her to send my boy home for dinner.
But the stickin' phone also causes soooo many interruptions to my life. Even when I don't answer it.
There are some things you just shouldn’t do with a phone…
It's up for debate. This is just my opinion (and the opinion of possibly every person who has bought a phone scrambler. Too bad they're illegal.)

(Side note/ disclaimer/ fine print: I am not mad at anyone, nor am I thinking of any one person who has violated the phone etiquette rules. Heck, I'm sure I've violated them myself! I think this is all pretty minor. I just don't answer my phone most of the time, no biggie. This is more of a In-A-Perfect-World kind-of thought... I won't unfriend anyone if they answer the phone during dinner, so relax!! :-) It's all good. Now, on to the gritty...)

#1 Don't call me if you're bored. :-) Please.
I love my friends and family. I enjoy getting together with you, going to field trips, cooking club, crafting club, church, playdates, lunch outings. But I enjoy being WITH the people I'm with. If you aren't here, you can safely assume that someone else is. I have four little people All. The. Time. My kids practice enough "time playing alone nicely" when I have to make *necessary* (boring, unappealing, irritating) calls. So I don't like to just wander off and ignore them while I carry on an unnecessary and lengthy conversation. If you were standing right here, you could see that the 3-year old's nose just started bleeding, or my 5-year old slammed his own finger in the bathroom door. Or the neighbor kids are at the door wanting to play. Or that I was cooking while talking and now my stove is on fire. Or a million other things that can happen in 5 minutes. Not that any of those things have actually happened. Oh my.

But you're not here, so you innocently carry on, chatting away while I ...
a) drop the phone and deal with the issue at hand.

b) ignore any issues at hand because, after all, the phone trumps "real life,"
or c) rudely interrupt you to scream, "call you back," while grabbing baking soda and flinging it at the stove.
So I prefer to talk to people in person. Or on email, when I can rise and leave the computer whenever I need to. If we need to catch up, let's stick to a 5-minute update and plan a time to go grab a bite to eat. THEN we can talk!

- Okay, everyone owns a cell now. Which means, of course, that we can talk whenever and where ever we want, not that we shooooouuld. Which brings me to
Rule #2 It’s rude to talk on the phone in restaurants, libraries, classes...baptisms, funerals, museums... also during plays, in theaters, observatories. If the lights are off, your phone should be, too. ( or at least keep your phone on silent. Duh.) And weddings. Of course.

(yeah, this thing is REAL, click the picture to go to the site)

Annoying people by making disruptive noises has been on the "Miss Manners" list since the human body first learned to make nasty sounds on purpose.(Fred, did you hear that?!)

#3 It’s rude to talk loudly. I don’t mean the slightly-elevated speaking tone. I mean the STRAIGHT-UP-SCREAMING that I hear occasionally. Usually in a store. If you have to scream, wait until you're in your own home. Plus it makes you look super crazy if you’re walking down the street screaming into a hidden Bluetooth. (Besides, shouting itself is already an etiquette violation! Right, kids?)

#4 Ahh… Bluetooth. (click it, you know you want to!) Great when you're driving, cooking, or when your hands are full... but not so useful for anything else. For goodness sakes, take it off your ear when you’re not on the phone. The thing is goofy-looking and it’s completely unnerving to talk to someone who could be on the phone with someone else. Plus the blinking light is distracting. Are you even expecting a call? Really? One thing I know for sure, if we take ourselves too seriously, life will be sure to humble us… publicly.
Take the cell phone out of your ear and truly “be” in the moment.

#5 Speaker phoning is completely unnecessary and obnoxious in public. There’s no reason why anyone should have to listen to both ends of your conversation. I did meet a sweet lady once who simply didn't know how to turn her speaker phone off. You can bet that I kindly helped her. :-) My good deed for the day!

#6 Yes, I know the Crackberries, the iPhones, and the rest of the techno-stuff is super addictive, but that doesn’t mean they should be permanently glued to your hand or ear! When you’re with someone, be with them (remember what I said above?) Do not constantly text in the company of others. (Yes, girl, this applies to you in the theater, even if you're sitting alone. Your screen light is still on.)
Focus on the person you're with, not your email, sports scores, online shopping, or texting your hubby 50 times in 10 minutes. Put the phone away when you're with someone (noooo, not on the table by your wine.)

#7 A kindergartner does NOT need a cell phone. Of course, in my humble opinion, no elementary child really -needs- a cell phone.

Sooo, if you leave me a message, and I send you an email back, now you know why. I'm not avoiding YOU, just the phone. If you call me when you know I'm home, and yet it goes to voicemail, you can safely assume that I'm busy. Because I do not ever answer the phone when I'm busy-- that means I do not jump up from dinner, or leap half-naked out of the shower to answer a possibly-important call. If it's important, you'll leave a message. Or, better yet, send me an email. I homeschool four children, run a household, pay the bills, try to maintain a social life, prayer life, family life, plus spend lots of time with my Man... so forgive me if I ignore the phone 90% of the time.

Okay, I'm done.
What do you think? Do you, like most women, love the phone? Am I just completely nuts for despising it as much as I do? Perhaps my phone-over-activity as a teenager has led me down this road, of phone-scorn? You know what they say about guys using up all of their words before they get home from work; maybe women also have life-time-phone-minutes, and mine are already gone?
Can we maintain that 5-minute max phone allowance for conversations?? If you need me, let me know. If it's important (really, think about that one-- if your cat puked up a hairball, or your kid stuck an aspirator in his mouth, then it is NOT important phone fodder,) then call and I'll talk. But if you're just milling over which movie you want to see or what color to dye your hair, jot me an email and I'll get back to you when I can. Now, if you happen to have email-scorn, then we'll just have to *gasp* get together in person!! ;)

Now, where did I put that stupid phone?

Well, poo

Okay, so I didn't make it even a full 24 hours. Why? Because I got too many emails regarding the last post. ha! So you do read!

Yes, I'm okay. No, I'm not mad at anyone. No, I didn't mean that you cannot email me (which was a funny question to receive in an email.) I left off the pronoun. Oh, those ridiculously necessary pronouns. I meant that I would not be emailing, calling, or visiting. Or at least that I will not feel obligated to. And, yes, you can certainly drop food by my house tomorrow. I think that covers all of the questions.

Everyone once in awhile I get so much on my plate that I feel overwhelmed. Too many things come up at once. Too many demands on my time, and emotional strains at once. And the flight reaction kicks in. I want to shut down, run away, and be alone for about a week. Ever feel like that? No? It's just me?

So I canceled everything this week. Except the field trip on Friday that we are all looking forward to. I want to focus this week on things that really need my attention. I don't want to worry about any extra activities, needs, plans.

For one thing, The Artist has suddenly started asking some very pointed questions. I knew it was coming. She is in 3rd grade after all. And I want all of her information to come from me. But I was unprepared when the comments and questions started coming. She's still my baby!! Now I feel the need to formulate a plan, and handle this wisely. I don't want to say the wrong thing and warp her for life. (Hence the reason for the new survey question on the left hand sidebar)

I also feel the need to organize my time better. Too many things come up, and I let them in my life without giving it much thought. We need to be more intentional. But I can't even formulate my plan, rewrite my schedule, plan our holiday activities because I'm never home!!! That is going to change.

I asked God to help me have some resolve and just back off for a week. And then I got the stye. Yeah, it looks bad. It's uncomfortable. And it's keeping me home. And guess how long it lasts? You guessed it: one week. God is good.
(I'm not being sarcastic.) He knew I needed some more motivation to just stay home and focus. :-) I'll save you the pain of an eye photo. It's not pretty. (I also have mastitis, so I'm feeling very rundown... and I'll save you from pictures of that as well!)

Sooooo, there you have it. You can email. I may answer, I may not. You can call. I probably won't answer, but I still love you. Call and leave an urgent message if it's important. I'll put my sign "We're busy with SCHOOL." on my front door. And maybe my other sign, too: "Solicitors will be shot. Survivors will be shot again." I can't stand solicitors.

This one week we will be home. Glorious home. No cub scouts, plays, drive-through events, homeschooling functions, extended family functions, MM, church things ....nope, just HOME. I love my home. And I don't get to enjoy it as often as I should. And the kids-- oh, we do so many FUN things, so many school things...but there are so many other things that I would love to incorporate and focus on. So many gift ideas, craft ideas, and other homeschooling resources that we own, that I don't even have time to look through.

Time is such a precious commodity. I've always loved the quote: "Children need quality time; quantities and quantities of it!"

Enjoy your time!!

People Break

I love you guys.

But I'm taking a people break. No emails, calls, visits for awhile. Please understand.

Smooches.

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's off to work we go...

Okay so it's only been like 8 days since my last post and I feel like I'm in total deprivation from the computer. I've had to force myself to stay away from the beckoning monitor to get housework done and then fun stuff in. Lots of game-playing with friends, and the kiddos. The Artist's new favorite is Scattergories.

Life is crazy-- CRAZY, I tell you. We've been running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Which is fine and fun at times, but leaves me no time to get my painting done and other misc ventures. But, still, the most important things should come first, and I'm not complaining.

I've been working. Not WORK work, but fun work. I've done two big portrait sessions and a wedding in the past week. The wedding alone left me with over a thousand pictures in a four-hour time frame. Lots to edit, crop, play with.

It's also the time of year to get busy for the coming school year. I've decided to do my eclectic mix again: some Charlotte Mason, A Beka math for the Artist and K12 math for The Nature Boy. Konos for other subjects along with some science kits and various readers. There's just too much available to be pinned down with one thing. And the kids are too different to pick a brand/ style for them to do together. Some of that is okay, but not everything. I'm different, too. I need some fun stuff tied in. Oh, who am I kidding? I need LOTS of fun stuff-- lots of music, hands-on stuff, reading great books, and LOTS and LOTS of time outside.We learn by doing: crafting, cooking, reading, writing, narrating.

I also have many good quotes now from a couple of friends, that I plan to work into my homeschool (and life) philosophy:

"Your family is your number one ministry."

"Every time you walk out the door, that is a potential enemy to your family life. It had better be important."

"Parent-teacher conferences are the best, because I can just sit around blabbering to myself."

I also love these famous quotes:

"Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." - W B Yeats

"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives." Willa A. Foster

Here's hoping and praying that we all have a productive, enjoyable and Christ-centered year of learning ahead of us!!

Maybe a break is due?

Two posts in one day

and just to say

that I may need a break

for my sanity's sake

Too much going on

Too much going wrong

Head just above water

Scared I may falter

There's so much to do

I'll never get through

all this work that I see

but I need to just be

focused on them

and focused on Him

so a break is in order

my posts may be shorter

and farther between

but if I'm not seen

I'll still try to read,

at least that I need

And if I won't write

my time is just tight

but I care for you all

my orders just tall

And when I come back

don't give me much flack

just let me slip in

where I've always been.

tooth update

Well, I wanted to yank the sucker out. And I prayed for the dentist to take immediate action. He did. Tooth is gone.
Yep, he said that what I was describing: radiating and intense pain, which became worse with heat...that was because of my awful wisdom tooth. So he took it out. Just like that. OUCH.

I guess I'm glad that I didn't have too much warning. I would have stressed.
So now it's mushy foods for me. No hot coffee, no carbonation, no straws... no yummy beef enchiladas that are baking in the oven as we speak. (sigh) That's the hardest part of dental work for me: the inability to EAT what I want!!
Right now I can't eat anything anyway because I'm still bleeding. Sorry to gross you out.

I do wish I had known to eat beforehand, as I've only had a dinner roll since supper last night. I'll start to feel dizzy soon if I don't eat!

Oh, and we did JUST pay off the dentist. But this time I was smart enough to put A LOT of money in medical spending, so I could get my teeth fixed. So this little unplanned ouchie did not cost us anything out of pocket!!

In other news, I'm so happy and feel so blessed to get so many awesome freebies from a friend today!! It was like Christmas!! I even got a pair of jeans for Fred that fit him perfectly. And he is a total gifts person, so this was great for both of us!!!