No, Really, a Real Post

*I went to Tampa by myself this week. Well, with baby Scholastica, but without Joshua or the other kids. I went for the IHM Catholic Homeschool Conference and boy am I glad I did! I got to hear four wonderful speakers, Dr. Ray Guarendi, Mary Ellen Barrett, Dr. Catherine Moran, and Father Edwin Palka. Each speaker was wonderful and each said something that I needed to hear.

*I even met a fellow blogging mother, Michelle Reitemeyer, who is now writing over at Reit This Way, go check her out! I’ve never met a blogging mother in real life that I didn’t already know in real life before reading her blog. (It’s late, I’ve had a beer, I’m not sure that sentence makes sense.)  There is sort of a stalkerish feeling when you can talk to someone about her life when you just met her 10 minutes before.

*I booked a hotel for the trip through hotwire. I learned the last time I used them that I needed to request a room three and a half stars or better. This time I lucked out and stayed at a fancy hotel where wi-fi and breakfast aren’t free and it costs $45 to have a fridge in your room. (Valet parking was only $18 a night though, a  real bargain, no I self parked.) The bed was really comfortable, with more pillows than I would ever need, there was a nice chair for nursing, and the remote control worked. I was happy.

*I found a booth selling the books we use for religion for $5 each, so I bought them through the 5th grade. I also bought two books by Dr. Ray and look forward to really reading them. He autographed them as well. I also picked up a VBS sort of program from Holy Heros. I look forward to doing it with the kids here in the next few weeks.

*I have the order for school all set up for the two older kids for the fall. We are still doing some catch up work from when I had Scholastica, mainly history and some spelling. I figure we’ll be done by August 5th and then we’ll take the rest of August off.  I’m doing kindergarten for Caecilia this year but will not be using a program, just work on letters and numbers plus reading.

*It’s been pretty rainy here this summer. The kids all had fevers last week, and Benedict broke out in blisters, I’m pretty sure they had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. Do you know how hard it is to keep little fingers off the baby and out of her mouth, when all her big brother wants to do is love her? It wasn’t fun.

*Ten years ago, yesterday, I received a call from a friend to let me know that he wasn’t going to be returning to the seminary in the Fall. That same day I threw a party for a good friend of mine who was celebrating his 40th birthday. Today his wife threw a surprise 50th birthday party for him. Where the heck does the time go?

*Speaking of time, I may not get carded when buying wine or beer anymore, but I did have two people exclaim that I did not look old enough to have five kids.

*Speaking of speaking to other people, I knocked the socks off of one of the venders this week when I told him Scholastica’s name. He’s a third order Benedictine and has never heard anyone use that name before. Trend setters that’s what we are.

*Speaking of Scholastica, she was not a happy camper on the way home from Tampa. I stopped at every rest area on 275 and 75 to feed her or to check her diaper. I’d hold her on my lap in the (parked) car and she’d be smiling away, then when I stick her in her seat, screams. Because this isn’t her normal behavior, I felt so bad for her.

*I did stop a Trader Joe’s in Gainesville and was pretty happy with my purchases. The baby was happy as a clam, but very upset as soon as she was put back in the car, so I picked up dinner at a drive thru and parked to feed her and eat my dinner. (At this point we were on the road for 4 hour and still had 2 hours to go. The trip to Tampa is four hours from my house.)  I ate, she ate, then she cried. I made it to Lake City and pulled off again, got a coffee and sat in the parking lot nursing. She finally fell asleep and stayed that way until 330. I finally made it home at 11. We left Tampa at 4.

I’m sure there’s more to tell you about, but I’m falling asleep typing, so, until later, have a blessed day!