The Illusion of Fall Normalcy

I think we’ve finally entered back into our fall routine. That doesn’t mean that everything is going according to plan; one nurse has already called out due to illness, and there’s another day I’m not sure Fulton will have a nurse. We had a clinic appointment the first full week of school and Fulton will have ongoing serial casting appointments for the next four weeks, but I have at least a general sense of how my days and weeks are going to play out….I think….for now….<blesses self and says a prayer>.

Teddy’s statistician position for the high school football team has yet to materialize but the middle school fantasy football club has resumed, as has our family fantasy league, so it’s all football all the time around here which definitely makes it feel like fall even though the temperatures have still been in the 80s and 90s.

Last Saturday we went to Cold Spring Village in Cape May for a Civil War encampment weekend. Even though no Civil War battles were fought in New Jersey, they did a small reenactment which was fun to watch. We’ve gone several times to the historic encampments at Cold Spring Village and every time we learn something new. Did you know snipers for the Union army wore green suits? One of the re-enactors explained to us all the details of how to become a sniper and their unique status in the army. It was so interesting!

We have indeed started our evening meetings without too much complaint. We’ll be doing art appreciation, music appreciation, geography, and Shakespeare. We’ll also review material Teddy needs to memorize for Confirmation. We won’t get to it every night, but we’ll slowly work through these areas as we’re able. We’re going to finish Othello, study the physical, cultural, and historical geography of one country at a time, listen to folk music from that country, and the kids will take turns picking a piece of art for us to study. The only limitation is that the artwork must come from one of the museums we visited during out trip to France or Italy.

Since regaining some free time during the week, I feel like I must accomplish all. the. things. I’ve resumed my workout schedule and I hope to make it back to daily Mass on a regular basis (my spiritual life took a real hit over the summer with so much going on). I’m throwing myself into work with Accepting the Gift and trying to blog more as well. I’ll be honest: the cost of having two kids in college with another close on their heels means I’m feeling like I should contribute financially around here (this feeling comes from me, not Tony or anyone else). I honestly don’t know how I could work a job outside the home given Fulton and Teddy’s needs, even with them in school, but I’m hoping to pull in some sort of salary from the ministry soon and create more worthwhile resources on here that people would consider purchasing. I’ve also got a children’s book in the works. For now, I’d like to try making money doing what I want, but I will revaluate in six months and if the local winery is still hiring, maybe I’ll try something else.

There’s obviously not enough time in the day for everything I’m thinking of doing (say nothing of the housework I’m avoiding as per usual), but I’m trying to remind myself that any progress, even slow progress, still gets me closer to a goal. I guess I just hope I have the correct, or realistic, goals.

Speaking of goals, I’d also like to write a fiction novel, but for now I’m simply trying to read more modern fiction (vs my usual choices of non-fiction or classic literature) as research. I recently finished Good Omens which I enjoyed, and Bel Canto which started off slow but ended with a bang.

As I type all that out I’m reminded of how God tends to simplify things for us and help us prioritize… so I hope I don’t have some sort of catastrophe on the horizon.

As a family we’ve been watching the new Ashoka show. It’s not bad, but every scene is like, five minutes too long. The boys would like less dramatic stares and shared meaningful glances, and more fighting please. I also recently picked out a comedy from the 80s to show the kids and I was reminded once again that the material that garnered a PG-13 rating in 1984 is completely different than today’s standards for a PG-13 movie.

That’s the latest in these parts! Have a great rest of the week!