Month End Musings

I've started this post a number of times now, and keep deleting it. The problem? I write endless posts in my head, days pass, and then by the time my fingers start tapping at this keyboard the inspiration behind those posts has dulled, and I'm left not really knowing how to connect with my writing spirit again!

Solution? Make a more pointed habit of writing when I feel prompted too.

So this post is an accumulation of many things, or if you will, a rambling of nothings ....

1. Homeschooling has got off to a flying start. I recognize the mistakes I made that first week: trying to cover too much. There's a reason they (Sonlight) give you an Instructor's Guide, and there's a reason they tell you to read x number of pages a day- because they have tried it, tested it, and found what works! So King Arthur and I are settling into a rhythm, and he's soaking up everything I send his way. I still need to overcome my uncertainty about his pace, but that too will come.
2. I've joined a wonderful co-op (basically a playgroup for want of a better description), that meets once a week at a different person's house to socialize/do activities with the kids. I am looking forward to getting to know these women more, and for our children to develop friendships.
3. Braveheart and I managed to get away this last weekend, and it was good for my soul, although our expectations weren't quite met by the place we stayed at. We've learnt a lot about the type of people we are - when it's just the two of us away for a special weekend, we like to be spoilt quite frankly! Not excessively, but just not mismatched furniture and smelly sheets!
4. God used the time away to speak to me about my tone (again) with the kids, and to remind me that although it wasn't modeled to me, a mother is called to be a nurturer. And I look forward to him making me softer towards them...
5. I have a serious foot problem, to the extent that my feet were excruciatingly sore in a spinning class last week and I thought I might throw up. It feels like I am walking on my bare bones. And when I ride on the road, I can feel every stone I ride over through my cleats...truly. I have since chatted to a physio friend, worn my trainers incessantly which has dulled the pain, and am seeing a podiatrist this week at the Sports Science Institute. I suspect (and hope) the culprits are my riding shoes and nothing more serious. Days are moving swiftly towards March 13th people. SWIFTLY. 
6. My breakfast eating plan went well this month, with very little grumbling I am pleased to report. So now I'm wondering what to add on for February - should it be veggies (we eat salad with every evening meal, but very little veggies) or combining food well? Time to commit methinks.
7. And I may be tutoring some Shakespeare this year - woohooo!!!! Bring it on!

And  now my heart is feeling prompted with weightier things to write, so I shall end off this drivel and draft some posts to follow.

Pen down....

... fingers are still. Yip, it's true, I AM FINISHED! I came up with this brainwave last night as to how I can finish my part of the book without input from the other half, and came up with a brilliant (if I don't say so myself) bit of direction for Braveheart, who as the creator of Bokkie also has to do a bit of writing. So I can well and truly dust my hands, put away all rugby material, rest my fingers, and welcome back my beautfiul brain. I've missed you dear fellow!

When I woke this morning I had this beautfiul feeling of space in my head: rooms that for a good few weeks have been occupied with clutter are now empty and free. Thoughts were a-tumbling all around me with regards to all the things I want to write about - discourses I've been having for weeks with myself unable to find the time or the energy to commit them to paper.  Alas, a phone call a few moments ago has shattered that serenity. Funny how when you desire something intensely, and are then offered that thing you think you want, the reality of attaining that thing can make you realise in a flash that you really didn't need it as much as you thought you did. Now what to do? What to do?! I seriously need a good dose of wisdom, insight and some very clear discernment. How's that for  a very cryptic insight?

The tutoring...it's continuing, so that's the only thing that is till lingering, but in my head, I'm relocating it to a smaller, more manageable room - I have to, for sanity's sake! And I must be doing something right if he keeps coming back right? And it's getting somewhat clearer in my head. The part I'm enjoying most is actually 'getting' weather - the science part, for the first time ever. For example - I now get why there is a band of cloud over Ou Kaapse Weg sometimes, and that when you get to the top it's a clear beautiful day. My friends, that is a temperature inversion - a layer of stable air sitting on a layer of unstable air (the band of clouds) preventing the unstable air (the air with moisture in it, the clouds) from rising. That's also why we so often see a layer of smog over Cape Town City on our descent of the mountain. And i find that so sweet!

So now. I breathe. I relax. I'm so looking forward to writing for pure pleasure again.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend.

Creeping towards Closure

I'm so sorry that it appears I have slipped off into the nether regions these last few days...or weeks...how long has it been?! Despite having thought I got publish posts whilst being preoccupied, I have failed miserably! I always have so much to say, but I honestly have had no head space to tolerate anything more in my mind – I am limping towards the finish line. The good news is, there is one page left that requires my creative genius.

The bad news is that it is unlikely I am going to get this page in the next few days – so although I am so close, there is no hope of me actually laying down my pen (so to speak). And I LOATHE that. I hate no begin able to finish, to wrap things up. The bad news continues. I have drawn a line in the sand and refused to meet with the publishers ( I realize I am being somewhat childish, but really, if your constant excuse is that you are too buys to work on my project, then when push comes to shove, I'm going to dig my heels in and do the same). Yip, it goes against everything within my character, but I cannot keep on delaying this process. We're already three weeks over the submission date, and I'm the only one that seems concerned about that. So i'm handing it over to the Bokkie Licensing Agents, and this awesome Jungle Beat brand manager – I am so thankful for Miss N.!

I also spent the last week studying...yip. I tutor a 16 year old homeschool student geography, and this week he asked me to teach him Atmosphere and Weather. Now, that's no small unit in the AS Level CIE syllabus, and it was slightly compounded by the fact that I have NEVER enjoyed the topic, and it was never taught to me in a way that ever made sense. And now, here's a student who needs me to make it make sense to him....o boy. So needless to say there were many late nights studying global energy budgets and local energy models etc. Again, good and bad news. The good news is that I made it make sense (and even had a few revelations about things I had never grasped myself – temperature inversions are so sweet!)...but the bad news is that as a result he wants me to teach another module in this topic next week! Sigh....

So...that means I may be quiet for just a little longer. I'm missing writing, and the clarity it gives me and the freedom in my mind. I shall return soon....rest assured.

Rugby Rules...

...my head at the moment. It's true...not the Tour de France. Imagine! O Woe! I am having to put my passion on hold, watch short highlights after a stage not the live broadcasts all because I am trying my damnedest to finish a rugby annual I am writing! (it's SA Rugby's first annual starring the new mascot, Bokkie) Now truth be told, it is partly my fault....I took a break over the holidays to be with my kids, then they were sick, then the babysitters were ill...and now I am paying for all that time off! So, nose to the grindstone I must chip away at 64 pages of rugby facts, figures, trivia - all sorts!

My saving grace is that in spite of all my moaning I really do love what I do....and I am at least co-authoring it with a fantastic man at SARU who is really fun to work with. So....8 days to the deadline...things may get a little quiet around here!