Friday Brain Dump, Again

It makes no sense at all that this week should have flown like it has, except that we're kinda-sorta-mostly on Spring Break.  I think the lack of our normal rhythm creates some sort of a time leak (warp, vacuum, whatever.)  @@  <--- That's my eyes rolling, in case you didn't recognize it.

Since - until today - temps have been in the 30s and 40s and it's been raining, I have cruelly forced my boys to go ahead and do a bit of school work.  Better now than summer.  They might as well.  None of their friends are up and ready to play at 6:30 AM anyway.  (No, I'm not kidding.)

And I know I haven't been quite my normal self this week.  I could blame hormones (true, true) or the Boybarians bouncing off the walls during nasty weather (also true), but we've had some ups and downs this week, out of the ordinary.

1.  My mom just found out she has breast cancer.  Her only sister died of it, in 2006.  That is not encouraging.  However...

2.  She and my dad spent almost two hours with "The Go-To Guy" (breast cancer surgeon) in our neck of the woods and came away VERY encouraged.  He was amazed it had been detected so early, recommends a lumpectomy (and will take a lymph node to test), and probably some radiation, and is "99% confident" that will be the last she'll hear of it.

3.  Praying he is right.  As if I needed to convince God how badly we'd like her around and healthy for a good many more years!  She is in good spirits.  In her own words... I am completely at peace with all that is happening.  I am in the hands of my Loving Lord and He is my strength - and HE IS SUFFICIENT for all that comes into my life.  Amen.

4.  While she was seeing the doctor, Kerry was in at H&R Block.  The bad news is that for several months last year our income averaged in the hundreds of dollars.  The good news is that we're getting a stink-wad back from the government.  And our friendly accountant informs us that because we're so awesome (!!!) we'll probably be getting audited.  Fun times ahead.

5.  Yes, we're on Spring Break.  But since we're not jetting the family off to Mexico or the Caribbean this year (oh, I kill myself... ha ha ha) and we needed a fabulous plan, we broke out the Christmas gift-card to Coldstone  Creamery and had a family outing.  You can laugh if you want, but  I'm convinced that Peanut Butter Cup Perfection is the official ice cream of HEAVEN.  (How did Randy Alcorn miss that in his book???)

6.  Tate is about half way through his Hunter Safety course and is doing well.  That kid has more gumption than anyone I've ever known.  If they ask for a volunteer his hand is the first one up.  Even if he doesn't know what he's volunteering for.  The last time, they stood him up in front of the class, put a 20 gauge shotgun in his hand and presented him with this challenge :  The rope in front of you (about 30 inches off the ground) represents a barbed wire fence, you have to cross.  You're hunting alone, and the fence is in two feet of standing water.  How do you cross safely?  And he did it.  And all the instructors cheered him.  Tate rocks.  :D

7.  I'm irritated.  After many hours of researching materials and looking at websites, I was finally ready to order from Sonlight.  And then I got their new catalog.  What were they thinking???  I'm way over my saturation point of seeing photos of "Sonlight Families" reading in whimsical locations (On a trampoline! In a tree!  By the lake!)  What I'd rather see is more description of the actual materials.  Why did they eliminate the summaries of all the books?  GGGRRRRRRR.  Oh, and yes, thank you very much for splitting the Instructor's Guide into two books (parent and student) and expecting me to buy both.  Not.

So there ya go.  Happy Friday.