Updates and Randomness

Our computer still sits, awaiting its new part which has not even been ordered yet. But only 3 more days until payday! I'm still working on uploading pics to my blog through the old laptop I'm using. I am very thankful to have a way to check email, etc, but that and updating my blog are about all I can use the laptop for. I am really missing not being able to access my documents, and not being able to print anything! We went to the library 3 times this past week, and it was wonderful to be able to have 3 or 4 windows open at the same time and the computer not lock up. Technology is such a lovely convenience when it works. :0)

My husband's contract job has been extended through April, and at that point it will apparently end. The prospect of being hired directly by the company does not appear to be a viable option any longer. They did approve the hiring of one software developer, but the job description and compensation are for a junior position and would not be sufficient to support our family. So my husband is polishing his resume and looking for work in earnest again. Please pray with us for a solid job to be in place by the time this contract ends, and for us to trust Jesus with the details and not be worried about a repeat of last year. The final resolution to our mortgage restructuring is still in process, and we continue to be in dispute with the unemployment agency over benefits paid to us last summer which they say we did not qualify for, so to my human understanding this would be an awful time to be unemployed again. But I choose to trust and rest in God, day by day and step by step. (Pray that I will be able to make that choice even on those days when it's really hard!!)

Spring is definitely here. I put the winter boots away and it has NOT snowed again yet! We will probably get flurries at least once more, but I'm hoping actual accumulation is a thing of the past. My crocuses are about to bloom. There are beautiful chalk pictures decorating my front porch and sidewalks. The bikes are in the garage again. All happy signs of spring!

There were a LOT of wars in the 20th century. We are just wrapping up the Vietnam War in our history studies, and I chose to gloss over it pretty lightly with the younger boys. They've already learned about WW 1 and 2 this year. Then Stalin's purges, the Chinese Revolution, and the Korean War. So much violence. We talked about the country of Vietnam, where it is located, what the war was about, and how Vietnamese people live today. That was it. Instead we focused on the space race, and that has been really fun! We are working our way through the HBO miniseries "From Earth to the Moon", produced by Tom Hanks. Our daughter is not that into it (one space movie would be enough for her) but the boys are eating it up! Just fyi, should you choose to ever watch this series, there is quite a bit of swearing and virtually everyone smokes. I am amazed at what God has allowed man to do. In one sense it is clear that going to the moon was a huge accomplishment. But on the other hand, the moon is so close and the universe is so vast ~ it's like we barely left our block!

I just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird this weekend, on the recommendation of my friend and fellow virtual co-op mom, Marcie. It was fantastic!! If you have not read this book, you need to. What a fascinating glimpse of life in a small southern town during the 1930's. The major conflict of the book is not fully revealed until chapter 15, but I was not bored in the slightest because the character development during the first 14 chapters was so rich! It must have been a great book for the high school literary analysis class (sorry I missed your lit discussion due to our computer troubles Marcie!). I don't recall reading it during high school or college. Assuming that since it is a classic I must have read it, I thought the plot would come back to me, but it seemed all new. I LOVE when that happens! I was seriously sad when it ended.

We're having a Bunco party at REAL moms this Wed. Before Wed I need to learn how to play Bunco. :0)