Now, Two Cars, Two ipods

From November 2010 through June 2011, we were a one-car family.  It did not seem hard while we were doing it; but, with my dad living with us since July, we are so grateful to have two cars again.  We are most grateful to have friends that offered to sell us their used car.  It has worked out well.

We had also been a one-ipod family for a few years now.  But, our second CD player broke and I could not listen to any of my music without a lot of hassle.  So, we now have 2 ipods, too.  And, I love having my music on my own ipod!

We still have just one computer, though...and, that takes some juggling (with my husband who often uses it for work, with my kids who are becoming more computer literate, and with my household needs and desire to write).  But, I don't see us getting another computer for awhile yet.

We are grateful for the things we have; but, the more things we have, the more responsibility.  So, I am happy with our "assets" right now but, more so, with our life.

Imagination

Do you know who said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge"?

Albert Einstein.

I totally believe that because I see in my children that their imagination is the foundation for everything they want to learn.  Einstein's quote is my inspiration for homeschooling.

My 5-year-old just went through an intense period of learning (because he wanted to learn everything he could and did so voraciously) about all the planets in the solar system.  He also "discovered" the "Magic Planet" and the country, "Bigland", in his imagination.  I have encouraged him to start a journal with all of his amazing stories about this planet (and, I wish I had written more of his awesome stories down in the moment!).

He is still writing about "his" planet, the "10th" one, farther than Pluto, but bigger than even Jupiter.  I am nearly convinced it really exists!  But, his "new" interest is the human body.  He loves reading about ailments and diseases and now he is trying to figure out how everything works.  The imagination is a beautiful thing.

I've Got Stuff, Too!

People have often told me that they are surprised (but, grateful...er, not in a bad way at all) to hear that I have difficulties/problems in my family life. Here are some of the things my life/immediate family includes: incarcerated family member (at one time), homeless family member (at one time), drug-addicted family member, poverty, estranged family member/s, divorced parents and grandparents, depression, violence, police. And, that just scratches the surface.

People are grateful to hear these things about my life because they have stuff, too!

I am grateful to have come to a place in my life where I am not ashamed of the things that make up my life. I am more grateful to know that I am not perfect at all and I don't try to pretend to be.  I am most grateful to share my "stuff" with others and to continuously heal from it all (because it never goes away...and, it is good to recognize our feelings about all of it).

I feel stronger and ever-more-so "normal" (I hate that word, but it totally applies here) to share my life and all the gory details with others...because everyone has "stuff".

Buying Time

I was thinking about the kitchen faucet my husband is fixing for the fifth (?) time since we bought it 3 years ago. We bought it because the much older faucet was not repairable and we did not want to buy a really nice one because we still have to replace our sink (and our cabinets, wall and floor...sigh...did I mention our house was built in the 1890s and stood empty for 40ish years?). Anyway, the faucet was totally not worth it. The time fixing it could have been spent on more industrious pursuits! Had we purchased a better quality one, we would not have to spend time repairing it. OR, if we had more money, we could hire a plumber...or a professional to redo our kitchen, HELLO! Imagine!

Along the same lines, we have a very old bathroom (everything needs to be replaced, including the plumbing and the plaster...even parts of the outside walls!) and a very new bathroom (that my husband and I are near finishing after starting it when I was pregnant with our first). And, I spend a total of 10 minutes cleaning the new bathroom from top to bottom (tile, floor, bathtub, sink, toilet) every other week or so (with touch-ups in between). But, I spend 25 minutes cleaning the old bathroom every week, scrubbing the tub and it still doesn't look clean (and, there is no tile because the tub sits in front of a window...and, right now, there isn't even a sink!). Ugh.

We don't want or need luxury items--just simple, nice-looking, good quality (i.e. well-made) products that aren't made to fall apart! We look forward to spending less time cleaning and fixing things...in due time.