How it All Turned Out

 Back to my poor neglected blog!

Mumpy: no more strokes, but through the process it turned out that she had dementia.  Also, eventually we were to discover, Parkinson's.  She is currently in a memory care ward, but the plan is to bring her home with us after she's no longer mobile (we couldn't keep her safe when she was wandering).  She's doing ok.  We're seeing her three times a week, and the place she's in is super nice, but I miss having her here.

 

 

Pa: My dad passed on peacefully at home. surrounded by love and family in September of 2022, after 3 decades of Parkinson's, and a truly amazing life.  You can read about it on his Wikipedia page. 

 

Mxyl: Graduated college summa cum laude and is working at Sparksoft designing web apps.  He's living at home while he builds his nest egg and fills his 401k.  He's also doing a ton of Japanese stuff: clubs, fan subtitling, and tokusatsu fandoms.

 

Klenda: Graduated art school, did a fellowship year and is mostly through her first
book illustration contract.  She's also doing some teaching and a whole lot of commissions, often for tokusatsu fandoms.  She's also learned a ton of Japanese.  She's also living at home while she builds up her income streams.

 

Zorg: Is starting his last year at Catholic U with a major in business and a minor in theology.  Turns out being brilliant at game systems translates really well to designing supply chains!  He's also a fantastic DM and nerf weaponsmith.

 

Leena acquired me a fabulous son in law and they just celebrated their first anniversary.  They are living in Virginia and she's finishing a music degree at George Mason while also working as a singer and video editor.  She's also still doing commissions for art, voice acting, composing, and audio editing.

 

Choclo and Oob are dual enrolled at the community college and finishing their last year of high school.  Choclo has his driver's license, and Oob has his permit.  They are nearly done with physics and Calculus, and really could graduate at any time, but we decided to take a relaxed transition year to college.  

Choclo does a ton of DnD stuff and is fabulous DM and artist. He is looking at a career in computer animation and game design.

Oob runs an enormous role play server and is the SPL for his scout troop with an eye on getting his Eagle. And has an eye out for eagles and birds in general.  He plans to be a firefighter and EMT.

If you read this blog, it's probably because you're interested in home schooling, and your main concern is probably: will my kids turn out ok?  There are no guarantees no matter what you choose, of course!  But, after choosing home schooling for the last 20+ years, I can say that I really like my kids. 

I mean, yes, they are set up well for their lives, which is what I thought was the main point all those years ago.  But, more than that, they are each uniquely interesting, amazing, good people, and I'm so grateful to have had the time with them.

Update

 

The good news is that she is going to be fine, but my mom, Mumpy, had a small stroke and we spent most of last week in the hospital.

No permanent damage, but it'll take a while to fully recover.

Blessedly, my sister was still here when it happened, and she is staying a few extra weeks to help out.

Also, we went to the new Adventist hospital in White Oak, and it was "towel swan" level of swanky.  We highly recommend it!

Poem of the Week: Each Day

 

Each Day

By Anonymous

Translated by Peter Cole

Read the translator's notes

 

Each day as dawn approaches,

the King sits in majesty

and blesses the holy creatures:

To you, my creatures, I speak,

before you I declare—

Creatures who bear the throne of my glory

with all your heart, and willingly with your soul—

Blessed is the hour of your creation,

and exalted is the constellation

beneath which I gave you form.

May the light of that morning continue to shine

when you came into my mind—

for you are a vessel of my desire

prepared and perfected on that day.

Be silent, creatures of my making,

so I might hear my children pray.

HT Poetry Foundation

Poem of the Week: Spring

 

Spring

By Gerard Manley Hopkins

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –         

   When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;         

   Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush         

Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring         

The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;

   The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush         

   The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush         

With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.         

What is all this juice and all this joy?         

   A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning

In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,         

   Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,         

Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,         

   Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.         

HT: Poetry Foundation

Poem of the Week: Today

 

Today

By Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,

so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw

open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,

indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths

and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight

that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight

on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants

from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,

holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,

well, today is just that kind of day.

HT: Poetry Foundation

My Sister is Here!

 

She got the vaccine out in North Dakota, and headed back to see all of us as soon as she was immune.  

Because of the pandemic, it's been 2 years since we last saw her, and because she usually went to NJ to stay with our parents, it's been a while since she's been in Maryland.

But now we're all together and it so good to see her!!

Wordless Wednesday: Walk in the Woods

 

The Cape!

 

You may have noticed the fabulous cape that Klenda was wearing at Easter.

Would you believe she made it herself?!

I gave her some help, but it's her first major sewing project.

She picked the pattern and the fabric, and I think it came out so well!

Just stunning, really, but it could be the model.

Not that I'm biased or anything (Get it, bias!  Sewing pun!)

J

Wordless Wednesday: Easter

 

Happy Easter!

 

                        Christ has Risen, Alleluia!

                               Happy Easter from Zoom!

From an Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday

 

The Lord's descent into hell "What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled. Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son. The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. ‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise. ‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person. ‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden. ‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image. 'See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one. `I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you. ‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God. "The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages." HT: The Vatican (From the Office of Readings for today)

Good Friday: Living Stations

 

Sisters of Divine Love and Mercy

 

I am over the moon happy!

After more than a decade, my sister was able to canonically establish her order!!

She's the one on the left; isn't she beautiful!!

If you don't know how this works, she was asked by her bishop to found an order of teaching sisters in Ghana.

In order to found an order, the new foundress (and the first few sisters) are formed by an established order, in this case the order my other sister is in: the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT).

The superior of that order is the sister in gray.

If all goes well, after full formation, the foundress and her new sisters make their vows and receive their new habit, and a new order is born: The Sisters of Divine Love and Mercy!

They made their new vows on the feast of the Annunciation, just about this time last week!

I can't tell you how happy and proud I am of her - this is so much more exciting, even than when she got her doctorate.

It's been such an incredible blessing to accompany her on this journey.  Please say a prayer for her and her new order!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring!

 

Gospel Desserts

 

Week 5's Gospel mentioned the grain of wheat (which must die before it will bear fruit).

We tried making rice crispie treats with puffed wheat (and added chocolate and peanut butter chips).

They were pretty good!  Not as crispy, but still very tasty, and we shaped them into giant wheat seed shapes, so that was..  Extra thematic!

Palm Sunday has been a source of some of our strangest Gospel Desserts.  My favorite is still the time I scooped ice cream directly into the hands of the Zoomlians for  Palm Sundaes.  

For some reason, they weren't big fans of that.  I don't know, something about being scarred for life or something.

I can't believe that it never occurred to me: we get actual food from palm trees.

I made a date cake!  I would have gone with coconut, but we have a few who are not coconut fans.  

Anyway, mission accomplished for another Lent, next Sunday is Easter!!