Singing through Saturday

[helia]

Congratulations to Harmony's dgs! It is always heartening to hear of kids who take their studies seriously and are excelling.

Thanks for the info, Harriet! Yes, we know dual enrollment with Brown is possible at RISD, however the caveat is that one must get into Brown to do that. As smart and talented as we believe dd16 is, I wouldn't assume she can get into Brown. We're definitely with you on holding our own opinions of educational programs. We are generally quite pleased with our high school. For us, ultimately the proof is in the pudding; where do the kids end up going to college/University? What do they end up doing in the end? One thing we like about our school is that kids do end up in such a wide variety of majors. Lots of kids go on to major in music or classics. Math is a pretty popular major as are various sciences. A few will go into art. An astouding number do end up in engineering, many going right here to the Big U's very strong engineering program. Maybe that is b/c this high school is located very close to the engineering school and many of the engineering faculty have their children in this high school?? Not sure, but it is kind of curious. . . .

The engineering program and internship through your school do sound really wonderful, Harriet!!! I hope the internship is good for your dd16. Ds' internship after his Jr. year of high school was a bit boring for him. He was doing some sort of basic coding. But he learned a lot about how a company works, and his internship there the following summer was more interesting. I kind of wish dd16 would think more about engineering; dh feels she certainly has the aptitude for it as she continues to be strong in math and science. But if a kid doesn't have the interest in a topic, it's probably not the best thing for that person regardless of how strong they are in it. We are now thinking that maybe the real question is: for what does this young person have a passion? For dd16, the answer is clearly designing and making things with fabric - and writing. She has just finished writing a 300 page (dh told me it would be that long) story, 90,000 words, just for fun. I haven't read it yet, but dh has.

Sorry so much!! It is going to be a challenge for us to find a good college/University for dd16. We don't know anything about design programs or schools. And dd16 doesn't even know what sort of design she'd like to do. Trying not to fret over this. We're hoping to schedule some visits this spring, though dh is skeptical they're actually truly very helpful. . . He took ds on some 4 years ago. . .

OK, I'm going to stop babbling here and go to bed.

[lucylee]

I think I must be manic-depressive. Today, I just told myself that NO WAY was I going to loll around and do nothing all day, and even though I could have EASILY curled up on the couch and slept all day long, I pretty much FORCED myself to do 15 min. "I can do anything for 15 minutes..." That took care of the bathrooms -- even dh's shower cleaning which I skipped Thursday. Then, I was sitting there staring at my face in the mirror and I told myself, "Just 15 min and you can be out of the shower..." So... with that sort of thinking going on, I have the following ta-das to report:

[x] change sheets
[x] morning (???) routine of s/s baths, etc.
[x] cleaned dh's shower
[x] morning (???) routine of self-care -- s2s, Bible reading
[x] cleaned humidifier
[x] write check for allergy shots
[x] talked to dmom on phone -- she didn't need anything but bread, fine to bring it tomorrow
[x] uploaded pictures to S hutterfly
[x] began organizing and backing up pictures to external hard drive
[x] rescued dh from computer failure, which involved much time and
[x] phone call w/tech support
[x] talked to dmom again -- she was wrong, she is out of coffee, NOT fine to wait till tomorrow ... ... (But I'd be the same way w/out diet coke)
[x] CVS
[x] grocery store
[x] bank
[x] post office
[x] dmom's house
[x] supper
[x] washed & hung to dry 3 loads of clothes -- not counting the sheets
[x] wrote checks for newspaper and church offering tomorrow
[x] sort of watched ballgame w/dh (we lost)
[x] napped a little during ballgame
[x] watched last Sunday's episode of Downton Abbey
[x] walked away the pounds 15 minutes

I must be manic-depressive! Why can't I do this every day???

LOL @ HRH... and big POTB to Harriet and Helia's ddaughters. You both have a right to be proud of your children!
So nice to hear of young people excited about their futures and making plans, even if they are not quite certain exactly what direction those plans will take them. They have time. I always told my ninth graders, "You don't have to engrave it in stone today, 'I will be a doctor, or whatever.' You don't HAVE to have your mind made up right now. You just have to know what sort of lifestyle you want... and you have to realize that if that lifestyle requires a job that only comes with a college degree, then you better start now to prepare yourself to get that degree." And not everyone has to have a college degree... and I would tell them that, too. But I would try to impress on them that it was time to at least start thinking about where they would be when they were 25 or 35 -- or my age -- and start making plans to get to the place they wanted to be.

I also changed all the calendars today. Boy... exercise log is almost non-existent for February. I promise I will do better in March.

That is so nice that you were able to teach dgs some piano, Harmony. Sounds like he is an amazingly fast learner!

Maybe we don't do as much singing around here as I thought. I haven't heard ANY singing today except from the radio. We always have the Grand Ole Opry on on Friday & Saturday nights. Sometimes dh plays his guitar and sings along a little. We don't listen to a lot of CDs though, and other than the Opry, when we are in the house, if the radio is on, it is either sports or Rush Limbaugh. Grocery store plays gospel music all the time. I do not go there often, b/c I usually buy everything at Wmart, but when I do go into that grocery store, it is always such a nice, calming change-of-pace. Today they were playing Southern gospel quartet music -- Gold City, if any of you follow that type music. Car radio, I kept switching from satellite radio -- Willie's Roadhouse, Bluegrass Junction, and local FM country station.

I think I will go catch up on some Downton Abbey. Goodnight, everyone.