It’s going to be a busy day — the girl’s home from school today (staff development day), so we’re going to do some stuff and I also have an appointment this afternoon at 2 p.m.  And I’m back on the diet today.  Holidays are always so difficult when trying to stick to a plan — we pretty much blew it off, but thankfully didn’t do too much damage.    Amazing.

Jami had a little friend spend the night Friday.  They were soooo well-behaved.  I was very proud.  They played school and did art and watched a DVD (Annie).  I think they enjoyed themselves. 

After her friend went home, I went to Wal-mart (ugh).  It was insane.  But we needed some groceries and I also wanted to pick up one of those George Foreman grills to be able to grill chicken, venison, vegetables, etc. without having to fire up the bbq pit.  I have an uncle who hunts and fishes a great deal.  He’s so cute.  Just a good ole’ East Texas boy.  I was picking his brain for ways to cook venison and he said, “Well, we just season it a little and throw it on the Foreman.”  Throw it on the Foreman.    I don’t know why that tickles my funny bone so much! 

Our Sunday sermon was good.  I love our pastor.  He’s another good ole’ Texas boy.  Loves Jesus, keeps things simple.  Here’s the sermon:

1.  The blood of Jesus identifies us as God’s own.

2.  The blood of Jesus protects us.

3.  The blood of Jesus sets us free.

(Scripture reference:  Exodus 12: 21-23, 29-31)

Of course, that simple beauty was followed with the fact that we must take action by choosing to accept God’s gift the same way the Hebrews had to take action by painting the doorposts with the hyssop so their homes would be passed over.  It was a really good sermon.

Oh, and something exciting and yet rather scary news . . . we’re going back to homeschooling next year.  I don’t have time to explain it all right now, but I will in a later post.  I think we’ll be using the A Beka curriculum to start out — the work text type format will help in the transition from public school to homeschool, since that’s the type of format she’s used to right now.

HOWEVER, I am attending the Southeast Texas Homeschoolers Association Conference in June and am excited about finding out what all else is out there!  I’m a big fan of Susan Wise Bauer and her book The Well-Trained Mind, A Guide to Classical Education at Home.  So I’m hoping to use the summer to research things and figure out how to transition to a more classical education in mid-stream (i.e., fourth grade).  The awesome thing about homeschooling is WE get to tweak it to fit our goals.  And Texas is very homeschool-friendly.

Well, I really better go for now.  More later.

You know what keeps going through my mind regarding Terri Schiavo?  I’ve stopped thinking about the legal maneuverings, because I honestly don’t see any happy ending for this story.

What I keep thinking about is Terri’s mom standing by her daughter’s bed, wanting to cradle her in her arms the way she probably did when Terri was a tiny baby only minutes old.  Feeling like a failure because she wasn’t able to protect the little girl she brought into this twisted world.

While there’s not a whole lot anyone can do for Terri anymore (besides pray that she won’t suffer too terribly much longer), I hope everyone will focus their prayers on the Schindlers and somehow let them know that they fought the good fight, that they did fine by their daughter despite the outcome. 

Well, I’m excited.  It may not seem like a big deal, but my husband and I started the South Beach diet a little over a week ago.  As of today, I’ve lost 7 1/2 lbs.  I have a long way to go, but it’s a good start . . .

Here’s an interesting article by Charles Krauthammer about the Terri Schiavo battle in Florida.  I don’t want Terri to die without more investigation.  And that’s basically what this fight is about (IMHO).  Those fighting for Terri’s life are really only fighting to give her a chance to recover.  I think there’s something to the stories abounding that with proper therapy, she might recover a great deal of her abilities.  And I think it’s very suspicious that her “husband” (quotes to emphasize his total disregard of his marriage vows “for better or worse, sicker or poorer” and eagerness to jump ahead to the “til death do we part” part of the vows) . . . anyway, I think it’s very suspicious that he has denied testing to confirm whether or not Terri has a chance of full or partial recovery.

Talk about the basis for one of those “story in true life” books . . .

Husband and wife get into argument because, oh husband’s stepping out on wife or maybe something as small as wife spent too much money on something.  Husband goes into rage, chokes wife but doesn’t kill her.  Wife ends up, well you’ve heard the theories out there.

I really think there’s something to the idea that he doesn’t want her to get better because then she might talk.  And tell.  I mean, if there’s really no chance of her recovery — tests would only confirm that and he could do whatever he thinks she’d want with a CLEAR CONSCIENCE.  But I honestly think it’s his conscience that won’t let him do that.  There’s something that those tests would disclose that he doesn’t want anyone to know.

Of course, this is just my opinion . . . but I think it’s a pretty level-headed, non-emotional opinion. 

Hey, Michael Schiavo — allow a couple of cat-scans and a proper evaluation by people who don’t belong to the Hemlock Society.  If all that information comes down to the same conclusion — that there’s no one home, then maybe . . .

But you’re still a skunk for stepping out on your sick wife, shacking up with another woman and making kids who will have a very difficult time ever being proud of you as their dad.

I’m still alive, but very busy.  Have several window jobs going (this is good!), plus family obligations, etc.  Stayed up til 3 a.m. just trying to get caught up on the laundry.  Sheesh!  More to do today — I have to drive up to my mom’s (40 miles) and take her to a doctor’s appointment because my sister has to take her kids to dentist’s appointments about the same time as my mom’s appointment.  When we all get home from our various appointments I’m going to help my sister set up her new computer.

Isn’t that FUNNY!!!!  (Since you all know from my previous posts that I’m NOT a computer person.)  Seriously, it’s the first new computer she’s ever had and she’s never set one up — mine was pretty easy when I got it a couple of years ago, so I think we’ll manage.  She could do it, but she’s just nervous.  Silly girl.

Hopefully more later . . .

Don’t know if it will work this time, but this is a photo of my dream home.  A UK builder is developing properties in the Houston area and I went through this model home last week.  It was furnished exactly the way I’d furnish it.  I just need to pack my suitcase and get the key. 

I give up.  I don’t know why it’s worked in the past, but for some reason my photos won’t show on Xanga.  So I’ve decided to utilize my Blogspot page as a photojournal.  When I have photos I want to share with all of you, I’ll post the link here and if you’d like to see them you can click over.

You can leave comments there or here, whatever you prefer.

Thanks!

PLEASE TELL ME YOU CAN SEE THIS PICTURE!    I can’t figure out why it hasn’t been working. . .

So what do you think of the new name and quote?  I called my first blog, over at LiveJournal, “Chisel & Stone,” because I’m an old-fashioned girl and truth be told, much prefer the old way of doing things.  Granted, chipping out my musings on a piece of granite with a flint might be a little extreme to avoid using a computer . . . but at least with a nice fountain pen and some Cranes stationery you know the loudest crash you’ll hear is a piece of paper fluttering to the floor.

When I moved to Xanga, I wasn’t sure that I’d stay and so I called my blog “TXMom2Jami,” which is my blogger name.  But I really missed “Chisel & Stone” because it felt so . . . right for me.  Well, it’s my blog and I’ll change if I want to, change if I want to, change if I want to . . .

The quote is also from one of my first blog entries over at LiveJournal.  I was going to the store one evening and happened to look up at the sky . . . and that’s what I saw and what I was inspired to write.  I love the nightime sky so much.  For some reason, things seem so much clearer at night without the blinding sun in my face.  I can think better, dream better, wish better . . .

I changed my background color to white — I think photos look so much more crisp and clear without the competition of cute color schemes — although I do enjoy the creativity of my fellow bloggers!  I think this is more me, though.  Some might say boring — I say clean and classic.  No frou frou stuff here!

Well, I’m off to watch a movie with my honey.  Jami has two little friends spending the night tonight, so while they’re playing all evening, we’ll be watching a movie!  Life is good.

Let’s try this again — some photos from our San Antonio trip:

Mission San Jose

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The church bells of Mission Espada —

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Eyes as blue as Texas Skies . . .

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There’s something very beautiful about the adobe architecture, especially when it’s stood the test of time — not just a modern copy of the real thing, which is over 250 years old.

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Let me know what you think of my photos!