Since I have been rather relaxed in writing in my blog this year, I thought I would do a recap post. I think I need to dub 2009 as the year of change for me. But I will go back to the end of 2008 first.
One of the biggest things that has happened in my life in the last 12 months was the loss of my grandfather. He and my grandmother helped my mom raise me and my younger brothers. So his diagnosis of stage IV kidney cancer in Novermber of 2008 was a blow to me. We cared for him at home with the assistance of hospice, and he went to his heavenly home on December 13, 2008. This was one day after his 87th birthday. What a blessing he was to many, many people.
January of 2009 is a blur of winter sickness and the beginning of an evening phlebotomy class. After many years out of school, I returned to college for a continuing education course. I found that I could still learn new things and be successful as a student. I finished my course in March of 2009, and I became nationally certified in May of 2009.
In the months from January through early June, I also was a caregiver for a great-uncle. I had help from many family members. He had a stroke at the end of May, and he went to his heavenly home in early June. I also starting working on my bachelor's degree online at the end of May.
June and July were quite busy with acitvities, my office work, my school work, and various odds and ends. I contracted a really bad case of poison ivy, and I decided that I did not have time to devote to working out and losing weight, but I was going to do it anyway. So I started some lifestyle changes. I had made some smaller modifications prior to this, and at the end of November 2009, I am 39 lbs. lighter. I just started a 12-week challenge with some dear friends. So I hope to have great news at the end of the challenge.
In July, I also lost my paternal grandmother. She was a dear saint of God. I had a mini-breakdown for about a week after her passing. Somehow, losing 3 family members in 7 months can really work on a person. But through that I found that my faith was stronger than ever. And I learned to give it all over to the Lord even more.
August 2009 brought on a new chapter in our lives as our daughter began college. She has been my faithful right-hand person for many years. And I had to make some changes to just about everything in order to learn to do things without her help. I have had to re-do the chore charts a few times, but the boys and I have adjusted. And I have learned that I do have a few cooking skills. :-)
In September of 2009, I added a new activity to our homeschool. We joined a bi-weekly co-op. I am teaching a science experiments class to 3rd to 5th graders. It is a blast. And my boys are enjoying getting to know more homeschoolers. We all needed some fun and social acitivity to our lives. I was also appointed as an administrator of my great-uncle's estate. He had no children, and this was my last promise to my grandfather that I would take care of his brother.
October of 2009 was busy and enjoyable as fall settled in. We had a great time playing and enjoying our co-op days. I was also learning how to get a lot of work done in very short amounts of time. :-) Each day has its section of things to do, and there is not a lot of time in between activities.
November brought in even cooler weather and more beautiful fall colors. It also brought a new challenge for me in school. I started my algebra 1 course. It was a short, five-week class. And it was intense. And I discovered that I can do math as well as write. Now, I am into week one of algebra 2, and it is definitely working my skills out. I have also had a MAJOR computer crash and server move for my website. I am hoping it will be live and working properly very, very soon. (read that as tonight!) Thanksgiving was a bittersweet time for my family. We rejoice in the blessings of this year. And we miss those who have gone on before us.
I am looking forward to December. We have our church Christmas play. And I am singing my first solo. This is a big fear that I am facing. So far I am surviving the play practices. But the night of the performance will definitely be one to lay before the Lord. I am looking forward to spending Christmas with my family. And I am thankful and blessed that I have had a year of growth and renewal in 2009.
I know this is late, but I wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for all my many blessings this year. God has been so good to me and my family. We have enjoyed more time together as a family this year, and I am thankful that despite some of the trials of the year, we are closer than ever. For some reason, trials and tribulations either bring you closer to force you apart. I am thankful for being closer as a family.
Hello! Sorry for my long absence from my blog. Much has gone on in my life this year, and I have spent a lot of time thinking about the things that are important to me. The main things that are important to me are God, my husband, my children, my family, and my friends.
One thing I have discovered about my focus is that I can be very tied up with using my computer all day and all evening until bedtime. I have good reasons for being online. My business is an online business, and I am going through some growing pains and learning some new technology. My education in pursuit of a bachelor's degree is online. Many of my friends and family are online.
But my husband and children are in the here and now. Do I want them to think they are always competing with my time while I am on the computer? Of course I don't.
I have had time these past few months to work on a new schedule for us. My daughter is starting a new phase in her life as a full-time college student. That has changed the dymanics of our household. I am needed to do more tasks on a daily basis. I have trained the boys to take on new tasks. And I have let them see that mom can still cook and clean when necessary. So, while it was nice to have someone who did a lot of these tasks for me, it has been nice to jump back into some of the things that keep me involved in my family.
Also, I have considered my role with this blog. I enjoy writing and sharing. But I also have to keep certain boudaries in place. I do not want to write something that would potentially embarrass one of the children one day. I don't want to share so much that my family's privacy is compromised. I like sharing and getting to know people trhough their blogs. But I want to keep to certain boundaries.
Many of you know that we suffered a major loss in our family last year. We have also lost two more family members since then, and another family member has received a very grim diagnosis. So I have had a lot to process and work through. I have learned to make priorities. It is easy to get carried away online and look for the next big reward. It is easy to let a stat counter make you feel better or worse about yourself. And really it does not matter in the long run, if I am neglecting my primary jobs as a wife and mother.
Add to all of this some major technical challenges and a few intenses college courses and I have just not had time to write in my blog like I used to. But I miss it. So I am going to try to write more often in my blog. I am on Facebook, and I like the quick and easy format of posting and reading posts in one place. But I also like relationships that I have in the blog world.
With that, I am thankful for my God, my family, and my friends. And I am thankful for the different ways that I have to communicate.
Name: Tami Home: North Carolina, United States About Me: I am a homeschool mom of six children with varied interests. I love my family, and I love to read and write for fun. I also have a homeschool bookstore at http://www.dhss.com.
Copyright 2005-2010 Tami Fox See my complete profile
