HeatherA Writes Stuff

These last two weekends have been sublime. We had company both weekends. I like having company, most of the time, but it also makes me nervous. I have high expectations of myself as a host, while at the same time I don't think I have particular skills as a host. That's an awkward combination. I try hard to get logistics arranged in advance: meals, sleeping arrangements, activity options, etc. On the best weekends these plans are not needed, which is pretty much what happened twice in a row, I'm happy to report. The weekends passed quickly and with ease, hosts and guests enjoying each other's company. We did a fair amount of cleaning, organizing, and decluttering before the big weekends, which helped as well.  Last weekend my sister and her new husband were here Friday through Sunday morning. I had a cold and wasn't feeling energetic, which gave me the perfect excuse to sit around  and not try too hard to make the visit exciting for everyone. My sister is in her s...

We are having the loveliest of times this week, vacationing on a lake in New Hampshire. The lake is actually a pond, but it's big enough that we did not successfully cross or circumnavigate it  during an hour-long boating excusion this afternoon, so let's call it a lake. Honestly, it was more due to our inefficiency and lack of skill, but I still don't mind calling it a lake. Hell, I was at one of the Finger Lakes last weekend, which one of my traveling companions called "the ocean" all weekend, so it works. I am out on the deck now, overlooking the lake, enjoying the view and the breeze. Matt is out on a kayak and the boys are inside playing Minecraft. Obviously I would not (and did not) choose to be inside on a day like today, but it is vacation and we can all do what we want. We have nowhere to be and nothing particular to do. I love that the boys are old enough to allow for this level of freedom. We are taking vacation for the fourth summer in a row with M...

I started a new blog a couple of months ago to explain to the world a bit about our homeschooling situation and activities. I've been hiding out there more than here. But enough about that--it's summertime. In principle, we are done with homeschool. The boys are slated to start public school in the fall (insofar as the end of August is the fall). I've been making effort to get to know more families in our neighborhood so that we'll all start to feel more at home here, especially the kids. I have work and I'm basically fine by myself, but I know from experience that the boys need at least one or two good friends to make it all work. I signed the kids up for our town's neighborhood 4th of July relay races, which was good fun. My kids range from not especially athletic to really not athletic (depending on the kid and the activity), so it is to the other kids' credit that our neighborhood won second place overall. Good thing too--it turns out some of the other ...

I started this post last week when Matt and I were in Philadelphia on a grown-ups' overnight celebrating a good friend's significant birthday. We splurged on a fun, bright, funky hotel in an awesome location with a happy-hour wine reception in the lobby (don't get me started on how much I love Kimpton hotels). I was happy in our room on a sunny Friday. Our view included cobblestone roads, courtyards, and historic buildings. The window sill was wide enough for me to sit on and write. The setting was idyllic. But modern technology failed me (or perhaps I failed it) -- I couldn't figure out how to post my pictures of the room and view (still can't) and soon it was time to go outside and live in the world I was hoping to record in this blog. So, fine. We went on one of the loveliest walks of my life, came back to meet our friends for happy hour, and then enjoyed dinner at the birthday boy's choice of restaurant. We headed home the next morning after a great nigh...

We've been at this homeschool thing for over a month now and we are starting to find an equilibrium. The first week was difficult because we had no warning that it was coming and my husband and I had previously scheduled work responsibilities that could not all be shifted (note: this all went down so as to coincide with the first week of spring semester at our university). So logistically the first couple of weeks were tricky, but we love a new project and we had energy and enthusiasm as we flew by the seat of our pants. Now, several weeks in, we have our good days and our bad days. On the good days I appreciate that scheduling is easier than it used to be because we've divided up the week. There are set days when I am home with Will and set days when my husband is home. I know to schedule work meetings on my non-home days when I can. (When I can't, I bring Will to campus with me and so far that's worked out.) I appreciate that we have established a number of interest...

I wasn't  planning for the story to go this way. I wanted to give more background and build slowly up to the situation we were in when I started the story. But that situation changed last month and now here we are, homeschooling. Yup, there's the titular update. I know you don't know me well, so here are some facts: I was valedictorian of my high school class. I have a degree from an Ivy League college. I have a PhD from one of the top physics departments in the country. I'm not saying all this to brag. I'm saying all this to set up the unlikeliness of someone like me, as close as you can be to a professional student, getting kicked out of elementary school. But that's what happened last week. It's actually for the best. We've all been miserable this year. I've been sick with anxiety since last fall. Stomachaches, heart palpitations, the works. I actually started this blog as a way of dealing with it all. Here's what happened. Let me start with...