MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

Ok, I'll play! We're back to the on/off TDY grind, which means I have insomnia, so why not? Go to Wife of a Sailor for more.



1. What do you usually want to know about someone when meeting them for the first time?
I love meeting new people! One of my favorite things to do...I love to hear about their background, where they're from, about their family, where they've lived or traveled, etcetc. Yep, I'm a talker!

2. Would you rather know everything about your spouse, or be regularly surprised?
Kind of a funny question...we've known each other now for 24 years...so if something new does come up, I am surprised! I do have to admit that he does often surprise me with his thoughtfulness and how he listens to me. I'm blessed.

3. If you could live in one city for the rest of your life, where would you live?
Hmm....it would have to be near some family. Since my family is so spread out, at this point we think somewhere in Texas, like San Antonio. (GREAT city)

4. When you go out of town, what one material thing do you ALWAYS take?
My toothbrush, of course! All kidding aside..my light jacket that I use when I get cold--which is often--or I can ball it up to use as a pillow. Yes, boring.

5. Using no more than 10 nouns, and ONLY nouns, describe yourself.
Wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, Christian, military, laughter, chat, fun. :)

So many books, so little time...

We are a family of bookworms! This is Gabe's senior year, and kind of our 'last chance' to get in the lit. that I think is important before he graduates (not that he won't read after he graduates, but he won't have to read what I tell him to anymore!). I've been scouring high school and college book lists, checking with him on what's been read/not read, and he's got quite a little pile to work on.

My younger two and I still read aloud together nearly every day, and it's actually still my favorite part of the homeschooling day.  Some of the best books we've read together this year have been:

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (to my mind, needs no explanation...one of my all-time favorites!)

A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck (new to us--humorous, and ended up being another favorite)

Homesick--My Own Story by Jean Fritz (funny too, though there was one sad section where I broke into the 'crying voice'. I can't help it. I'm a big softie)

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (magnificent perspective on a child growing up in Afghanistan...every American child should read this at some point)

I could go on and on..but tell me some of YOUR favorite books for middle schoolers and young adults!

What I did on my vacation...

Oldest son was home from college, hubby was off work for a couple of weeks, and fun was had by all. A few things I did:

-Beat every level of "Angry Birds" on my phone. I'm really not joking.

-Picked up Matt from the airport--first time we've seen him since August--yeah!!

-Even after a whole semester of hearing Matt and Gabe claim they did NOT miss each other, as soon as Matt hit the ground, it was talk-talk-talk.  "Dude, did you see...?"  "Do you want to....?"  Not to mention the nerf-gun wars, late nights playing PS3 and watching movies. Sure, Gabe's room is clean again with big brother gone. But I know you miss each other!

-Watched several Irish Dance performances, featuring this cute lil' dancer:

-Sat for several days at a volleyball tournament, Grace's first here. She did great!

-Hosted my parents on their first visit to Hawaii. We had a TON of rain. I heard that it rained 400% more than normal this December. 400%!!  It figures! In spite of the weather, I think we did manage to hit all the high points here. Though I'm not sure I'd recommend a rainy luau to anyone.

-Went to a homeschool meeting and felt strangely out of place. I'm not sure why, since I've been homeschooling for 16 years.. Hmm..will have to explore that further.

-Changed the name of this blog. Again. Likely no one else cares. It's now "Middle-aged Mama".  But thought it should reflect more what stage of life I'm in, vs. the geographical location, which is always subject to change, given our military life.  And since I just read that middle age extends from 40-60 or 65 years of age, I figure the title might stick for awhile. :)

-Went to several work-related Christmas parties. My husband takes these festivities very seriously.

-Got everyone corralled long enough to take an all-together family photo. That feels like such an accomplishment.

-Had an article published on Rosetta Stone's website and another article accepted for the May/June issue of Home School Enrichment magazine.  That's four articles published in the past few months. Exciting for me! Maybe I am finally figuring out what I'll be when I grow up?

-Ate too much, stayed up too late, spent too much money....it was FABULOUS.

Hope yours was fabulous as well!

latest writing

I just realized I only wrote one post in December, and that is probably as it should be, as far as priorities go. I am finally getting around to mailing out the books from the giveaways, so please bear with me! (Kristi Holl won the Putting God Back in the Holidays book) We've had family in town, along with our oldest son back home from college, so those things have gotten a little bit lost in the shuffle around here!

Just saw that the article I wrote for Rosetta Stone Language company's homeschooling newsletter recently came out: Homeschooling, Military Style. So that is exciting for me! I am continuing to work on my writing courses and actual writing in the little free time I have...so I have a feeling that blogging will continue to be hit and miss for me in the upcoming months.

Happy New Year!