AN OLD DRAFT: Elizabethan Shirts Teach Homeschooling Philosophy

Hi All,
So, it returning to this blog, I discover drafts of things that I wrote long ago that never got published. This one is not too bad. Please keep in mind that it's a year old and the stuff I say I'm doing in it is also a year old. The point though...still works:


Shakespeare has come to a close for the year. The applause from the final performances is over and everyone involved was thrilled with the experience. Whew! Yeah, the kids want to do another month of scene work with the cast, but dates have yet to be determined and my job and our other commitments don't always agree, sad to say. I just can't handle "Well, we don't know when the performances will be..." (45plus hrs work/week + willy-nilly schedules for activities = some imaginary number...and I never can do it all!)


So, every parent in the Shakespeare group has some job or jobs that she (yeah, she) takes on for the group. Some jobs are huge, like directing; the exquisite costuming (like 2 very dear and very talented friends); or  "marketing and publicity." Others are smaller and shorter...which is what I am able to do because of work. Thus I was in charge of purchasing and organizing refreshments for the audience. Yep, we served cookies and lemonade (or water) during intermission. (If you weren't there, you missed some darn good cookies!) Each cast member family provided 4 dozen cookies... labeled and bagged in 2s. Every family also had some clean-up responsibility after each performance...so vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen, putting away chairs...something.--- And finally, after the last performance, there is one more chance to volunteer. Laundry. or should I say...

ELIZABETHAN LAUNDRY!

Now I have to tell you that not everyone takes laundry...and not everyone needs to. Last year I took the white shirts...shall I say the white, ruffle-collared and ruffle-cuffed shirts...38 of them. This was a labor of love. I had watched the costumers last year sew each and every one of those shirts...and I had helped do the gathering at the shoulder of those sleeves...around 40 sleeves...and pinned at least that many into the shirts so they could be sewed. I had some effort invested in those shirts...so I brought them  home to care for them. So I washed,  and pretreated the make-up stains on those collars...and washed them again...and for a few... washed yet again. Then each went on a hanger and was hung out in the early spring sunshine to dry. I wondered what my neighbors thought about all those near identical white shirts hanging 6 inch apart on my clothesline. Fortunately the world couldn't see them...but a few neighbors could. No one asked. I wish I had had wings I could have attached to the line as well. All that white was simply BEGGING for wings! :) 

And last year brings us to this year... This year the costumers concentrated on sewing doublets, no shirts.
Being a creature of habit though, when it came to laundry,  I said I'd take the white shirts. I was, after all attached to the making of those shirts...and I was the only costumer left who had some sweat invested in them. Yeah, I had to take care of those shirts.


I forgot that this week was a short one for me and that I wouldn't be at theater on Wednesday to return them. Meaning I'd have to have them done by Tuesday to give them to my friend  who will have my kids on Wednesday. Which meant that I'd have to get them done on Sunday...or not at all. It also meant that there wasn't enough "sun" to air dry them all. The drier would have to suffice...on gentle of course.
So... I stayed home from church yesterday to clean those shirts up. Starting at 7am I began to pretreat and wash those shirts. God was good. Nothing needed rewashing, unlike last year. Or perhaps it's because last year I used SHOUT and this year...I decided to clean those shirts with RESOLVE. They came out clean. The drier was sufficient and gentle enough to get it done.


Kind of like homeschooling... we expend more effort and time when we SHOUT...but with RESOLVE we can accomplish more in less time.  Sometimes hanging it all out to dry is fine, but we can solve the problem by setting things to gentle and get it done more quickly.
Just thinking. Elizabethan Lalaundry and Homeschooling. More similar than I thought.

Lori 

Squeak, squeak, click.

 

This morning in a fit of "What happened to the basement!? Get down there and clean it up!" the following occurred. 

Son #2 came up from the basement and said, "Son#3 found a mouse in a box in the basement."

- My head says, "Oh no! Do I have traps. This is NOT a good thing!"

 I asked him where son#3 found it.Wondering if it was in my food shelves area. (While not Mormon, I do have a stash of stored cans, boxes, BJ's sized packages and a freezer. Yes, I have food in my basement. Do you?)

He yelled down the stairs, "Where was it? What was it near?" He had to yell this several times because either son #3 was ignoring him or  deaf. This isn't a large house after all. 

--- "Near the sink!"  says the #3 finally. ---

Sinking feeling. My thoughts, "Even worse since it's further from the shelves with the food and the bulkhead...there must be more because that's further into the basement. Oh Lord, what am I going to do now?"--- 

 Says I to #2, "We'll have to check the food area and see what's going on. I hope they haven't gotten into much. Especially the baking stuff." (Like I have time for this really!)

 And he says, "MOM! Not THAT kind of mouse!" And he holds up this....

Sigh.

Relief.

and... laughter from Son #2. 

"Why did you think I meant a live one!?"

Generation gap, right?

What would YOU think if someone said to YOU, "I found a mouse in a box in the basement."

Time Slips Away. Here's the Catch-Up.

Time really slips away.
It's been years since I last wrote. I'm feeling inclined to write today because I actually had to find my way back in order to unearth an old entry for work purposes. It was a pretty poorly written entry and I actually had to send it to a man who is probably the fiercest writer and editor in the entire world. I told him not to judge me. I hope he took me at my word. I'm a better writer than evidenced in what I had to send him. At least I think I am.

Anyway, so much has happened in the time away from here. I would love to say I am recommitting myself to writing. Frankly, I would love to be able to. I just don't trust my life or my job to allowing me to do that.

I'm still working for the same company. I'm still working for the same boss. But things have changed in the last year or so. The department's focus has shifted and my teammate and I have worked hard to keep our focus in what we do, but feel somewhat at-sea over things. I feel pulled and pushed and often asked to do things that I just don't feel like I have skill for or interest in. I always wanted to at least be interested in my work. Not always the case these days, but it brings in a paycheck and I guess that is what it's all about. More about work another time.


Our Soldier has been gone now for more than 2 years. God willing he will come home this summer and pick up where he left off with school. It was hard when he left. It got easier. Not perfect, but easier. The dh and I did get out to see him last May for about 24 hrs and he has been home a few times this year on leave. What a blessing. One of my favorite pictures is this one:
  We were on the beach in Monterey or there abouts and had just stuck our tongues out at my husband while he took a picture and he yelled, "You ruined that one!" Of course we laughed. He got that picture and it's my favorite.
 Anyway ... now, as the time winds down in his training cycle, it feels harder again to have him that far away. He's calling almost daily now. We share what's new.
 "Nothing going on here."
"Just a normal day here."
He talks to his brothers and sister when she's here. It's all good. But I'm ready to have him home. I sent a 17 year old off to Basic Training and am going to get back a 20 year old man who's learned to shoot an A-16, obtain skills for his job, and learned a foreign language. He's been home about 5 weeks total over the last 2+ years, but when we've seen him, he seems like himself. Changed and older in some ways, but still himself. It's all good. --- He left as a Pv2 and became a PFC....and now he's a Specialist. One rank higher than my Dad was during WWII. -- We're all proud as can be. I just need him home now. I need him to finish up well and get back here where he can wander in and out of the house doing things and I can see him and chat with him. He's missed.

Our girl is simply amazing. We graduated her from High School last June and she did another semester at the Community College before transferring to Fitchburg State University as a second semester Sophomore. She's lived on campus and seems to have enjoyed her time there. We actually are in the beginning of moving her home after what has been, I think, a successful semester for her. She seems to have enjoyed her classes with the exception of the ubiquitous Health and Fitness class. (Hated it when I took it and it seems those experiences don't change from generation to generation or college to college.) Looking forward to getting her home. --- She's a real inspiration. She loves what she loves and let me tell you...it shows. She fifes with a couple groups and seems to enjoy doing that. She's part of the campus Christian Fellowship and is heading out to a week-long college retreat in a few weeks. I'm sure she'll love that. She's quite a writer and has had pieces published this year in both the Community College and Fitchburg State Literary Magazines. Very, very proud of her. I know when she posts things on FB that I'm supposed to ignore it and not comment, but I can't help myself. (Very uncool, mom, very uncool. But hey...whatever. She'll have forgiven me and  love me when she's 30.) So...this summer I have no idea what she's doing and I don't know that she has firmed up any plans in particular either. (At least I haven't heard of any.) Time will tell. Planning is one of those skills that comes with age and experience with disaster I guess.


We will graduate son #2 from High School one week from tomorrow. Hard to believe, but yeah. Wow! (You can see him if you look very hard at this picture. He was WAY, WAY up in a tower in Switzerland.)  He's more than done with homeschooling. This year he's only done theater and drum "from home" (which really technically wasn't from home at all). Everything else has been at the College. He's done fabulously in his classes as well as being part of the Campus Ambassadors and as part of the Honors Program.  He's been taking private snare drum lessons so that he can play that in addition to the bass drum. He's also started working part-time during the school year and worked lots and lots of hours last summer as a tour guide at church...because it's a site on the Freedom Trail. Good work ethic on this kid with motivation. --- This summer he's going to be back there doing that Freedom Trail thing and this fall he's back to the Community College but this time...with his older brother. I'm tickled that the 2 of them will be taking some of the same courses...each pursuing a different type of Engineering degree. His goal, last I heard, is to finish his AA in Engineering and then transfer elsewhere to finish it. Good deal. And since he's not yet 18, he'll still be doing Fife and Drum and Theater next year. Nice to not have aged out of those yet.

And Son #3... My sole homeschooling child starting this Autumn. He's finishing his Freshman year and really has come a long way in the things that he's struggled with for school. He's my ham. He's out to perform and make anyone watching smile. He's the one who volunteered to help with Coffee Hour at church when he was maybe 10 and continues to do it because he enjoys it. He's in the Fife Sergeant's spot at Fife and Drum this year. He calls the songs on parade and does the count-off  when On Stand. He looks good and is taking that role very seriously. He certainly is a change from the past years Fife Sergeant and I think that he's doing a stellar job with that responsibility and leadership of that.  He's my "people person." We're really proud of him. He's enjoyed theater this last year, playing Clotun in Shakespeare's Cymbeline and I know he's eager for this coming year as well. They will be performing King Lear. Not an insignificant piece. --- And so we move into his Sophomore year. My goal is getting him ready to start at the College soon. Not rushing, but watching for when it's time. He's almost there.

And the husband? Well, he's employed and out the door at the crack of dawn each day, before I ever have my eyes open. He's home often 13 hrs later. --- Employment is good. The hours are long. It is what it is. We sort of see one another at night. Sometimes when he comes in I'm still working or am back at work after taking a little time to cook or something. --- He fifes sometimes. I think his mid-life crisis is Colonial Clothing. Not bad and not as pricey as a sports car. I can live with this. His big 5-0 is in a week. What's in a number? Nuthin! He's still the handsome, smart guy I married.--- He enjoys sharing TV/Movie trends with the kids. They aren't always (or even usually) my choice, but it's stuff that they can all enjoy. Buffy the Vampire Slayer wouldn't have been my pick, but they've made it all the way through that and they are almost done with Angel. --- And now the boys have inDOCTORinated him into Dr. Who, so it never ends. (I have days-weeks?- months?- when I really wish I could accidentally break the TV.)--- But they enjoy it? Oh wait! I mean "THEY ENJOY IT! Hurray!"

And what about life in general? Things are moving along. Work, schooling, the kids, work, keeping up with as much as I can. Not exactly exciting and not exactly boring. Well, actually, some things have been exciting. I've been to a few theater shows in New York! (a first and a second) over the last 2 years. The husband took me to see Follies by Sondheim in January of 2012. What an amazing show! Bernadette Peters!--- and last month a dear friend got tickets for us to go see "I'll Eat You Last!" with Bette Midler. A great show with a fabulous actress! (Imagine a one-woman show... 90 minutes, no intermissions, no set changes and no blocking! OMG!)---







There have been other neat high points. Three of the kids and I (and several other Fife and Drum kids and parents) went to Switzerland last summer for the International Muster and events in Basel and Leistal. Wonderful trip. My favorite part, aside from watching the kids play for an audience of thousands and getting a fabulous ovation, was sitting on the banks of the Rhine with my feet in the water and visiting with other parents and F&D spouses and instructors. Man that water was green and gosh was it cold...but it was simply lovely and relaxing. Relaxing doesn't enter my vocabulary often, really, but that experience was. Switzerland is a "do-over" if I ever have a chance.













Anyway... I'm back. There's lots more to tell about and share, so I'll be writing again soon... and hopefully get everything all  caught up.  Thanks for listening.