Finding Joy Friday

Totally stealing from AmyD ( at Ignore Me Its Easier).

This week:

*The possibility of major change in our lives. (not that I totally didn't steal this one! LOL! SSSHHHH! But the chickens haven't hatched, and I'm not counting them! LOL! kinda half praying they don't hatch too! ;0 - did I say that??)

*A midweek trip with my dear sweet family who travel well and only complain a little!!

*2.5 hours in the car to finish up a torture project that would have taken much longer if I didn't have those 2 hours to dedicate to it! :)

*A clean kitchen (ha the simple pleasures!)

*A child who likes to nap. (1 out of 4 isn't bad!)

*Schooling is underway on the home kindergarten front I'm happy with our progress

*The fact that if I want to arbitrarily decide to ditch my yarn stash, my husband would be totally supportive! LOL!

Where are you finding JOY this week?

Frivolous Crochet Fun

So I ended the weekend making crocheted Mary Jane's for ET that she won't ever where for longer than 30 seconds... Her older sister will get them plus another pair in a colour she likes! :) I figured I'd start the week with another frivolous adventure making Crocheted Flip Flops - Pattern found here

Mania's, Found Mine!

Every person has what I will call mania. Something that sucks all rational thought away and turns them into blubbering idiots! I think I found one of mine today! I was dropping one of the kids off at the local school (remember we homeschool) for a program she was doing with her GS troop. I had warned the leader that I wouldn't be doing much dropping off like this because:

1. My kids don't go there and I don't feel right being there.
2. I joined a non-after-school troop because I didn't want to go there.
3. The whole confusion and mess of pick up lines and insanity that occurs is just enough to tweak me over the edge! LOL!

I have known about this mania for a while, I just didn't know how deep rooted it was. I don't know where it came from either. The thing is this mania isn't just about the school line, its about lines in general. I can handle traffic lines, but people hangin out in a line, in a car doing nothing makes me insane. I can't explain it.

Excuse Me While I Rant....

School's gone back in... and less than a week later the kids are sent to the streets to beg for money.... Please know that this isn't directed at anyone in particular. And if you could shed some light I'd be much obliged... but I'm about to spout - because from my perspective this is how I see it.

As a homeschooling parent, if I sent my kids to your door to hawk some of our wares... like magazines, or cookies or wrapping paper or whatever, and told you that we needed them to fund our next trip to Disney - you'd look at me like I had 6 heads and slam the door in my face and probably never talk to me again! If I told you that we needed the money to fund the purchase of our textbooks or a new computer you'd likely pause a moment (because you have a heart!), and still slam the door in my face and yell that your tax dollars are paying for public school books already and why the hell can't I afford to buy my own damn books!!

As a tax payer I give my money to the government yearly and get no education benefit - not a deduction, nor a credit for the fact that my kids don't use the public school system. I pay for our books, and I pay for anything else my kids do and still pay the taxes. Hell in our county we aren't even allowed to join the school sports teams or activities.

I understand that as a homeschooling parent, I opted out of the system, be it temporarily or permanently that choice is mine. I also understand that if I decided to send my kids to a private school I'd be in the same predicatment (only way meaner cause it cost more! LOL!) I just don't understand why the public schools are sending kids out freakin door to door to solicit sales for gift paper, magazines, chocolate and other crap, with the line that they need the money to pay for the damn school books and technology.

They no longer provide pencils, paper, notebooks, tissue, crayons, antibacterial lotion, papertowels scissors or anything else on the back to school list. So where has the money gone.

Forgive me if I don't buy your wares. I have my own tightly budgeted, school supplies to fund!