November 10, 2005
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Pirates by Celia Rees
Ah, the bliss of another normal day! While I enjoy fun and excitement, there is truly little that is more comforting than overwhelmingly ordinary days. I guess it’s just a matter of perspective.
I’ve been so pleased with Rachel’s school work lately. All my other children had a mother who taught them to read before their sixth birthday. Rachel was not so lucky, so she is just beginning real phonics instruction now. I thought that the delayed start would cause her to pick up on things more quickly, but for the first two months of school, she struggled and struggled. Then, we hit that “snag” where she didn’t do her seatwork for two weeks due to all our traveling. This Monday, I sat down with her, dread in my heart, as we opened Explode the Code (her phonics book). To my surprise and delight, the two week break seems to have increased her reading skills instead of lessening them. I am sure there is an educational principle buried in there, but I won’t wonder at it for too long.
I just finished Pirates by Celia Rees last night. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s the story of a 1700s teen who runs off to be a pirate. Despite the fact that the plot sounds cheesy, it’s quite an entertaining and well-written Young Adult novel. I’m beginning to really enjoy YA novels. They have the excitement and good plot of an adult novel without the sex, swearing, and violence.
Tomorrow (Friday), we pack up and head to Quakertown. James is taking the day off so he can stay home in the morning to be a useful sort of husband. Of course, he is always a useful sort but particularly so when the troops need rallying to work and stay on task. David seems to be recovering from his knee, finger, and shoulder injuries, but they did harm his status on the team. While he is still a key player, he’s been taken off the kickoff team and the kickoff return team. I know he is upset about it, but when you are hurt and it hurts to play, the coach will keep you out of the game. I do like David’s coach, Jay Urie. He seems like a sensible, reasonable man who loves football, but still challenges the kids to do their best.
James is really looking forward to the trip, the hotel sardine game (seven of us in one $98 room!), and the game itself. I am looking forward to it because I heard the hotel has homemade, hot cookies in the afternoon.
Yes, I am in a serious cookie crave right now. This week has been a quasi-diet sort of week. When I diet, it means I can eat what I want, but just not cookies, candy, or soda. Basically, I cut half of my calories out and increase my cravings tenfold. I am drooling over the thought of one of my (or Libby’s) homemade chocolate chip cookies. Mmmm… But, I must resist! I will resist…until Friday, the day I have given myself leave to end my time of sugared famine. I’m going to have cookies and soda and all sorts of yummy things. Then, I’ll start again on Monday with self-control until I have finally dispensed with the few pounds that are still lingering from our Texas/Ohio trip this past summer. The way I see it, if I don’t pay attention when it’s just three pounds, before I know it, it will be thirty pounds. Then, what will I do? (Probably buy bigger clothes.)
Comments (2)
I don’t bother with dieting. I end up starving myself and depriving myself of what I want to eat (chocolate, chocolate, and ice cream), so then I end up eating a ton of junk when I can’t take it anymore! I hope that you have better luck…or maybe more discipline! I like YA novels too. They are quick reads, and I do like the less “bad stuff”. I’m not liking the Shopaholic books as much as I would if they didn’t have all the swearing.
I am so glad to hear that you had a few normal (is your house really ever normal though?) days this week. I know I love those days. I hate it when we’re out running errands or have appts. in the mornings b/c then we have the Y in the afternoons. I get nothing done around the house.
You wrote: “there is truly little that is more comforting than overwhelmingly ordinary days.”
Fascinating to see life from a different perspective… the perspective of a mom… on the contrary, the perspective of a middle-class american teenage boy (and I still feel like a teenage boy quite often) is almost the exact opposite in some ways… Oh for something different/exciting/adventurous! Something to break the monotony of the daily grind! Oh to live in the days of the american pioneers/native americans, or the days of the great mariners, or to experience some sort of adventure! Yet I have come to see that the longing for adventure, even if innate (Eldredge got some things right) is actually a “broken cistern”… something that won’t/doesn’t satisfy. Adventure may come, boredom may come, but if I am faithful through both, God will be delighted in me. So I appreciate reading perspectives from slightly-older folk like yourself, pointing out the beauty of “normal days”…