Planning for the End

Signing up for fall homeschool classes starts before spring. Class offerings are announced in March, and registration begins immediately. I'm used to doing this over the summer, but things fill up too quickly to do that any more. 

my four kids on our Dec '22 cruise vacay

Fall brings Geneva's senior year. I've graduated two children from homeschool now, and I have the wisdom from hindsight, and I also have my own goals and bucket list dreams for her final year. We all agree graduation ceremonies are an important thing. Now that I'm not a part of a casual homeschool support group, the only options for her to participate in a ceremony is to take year long classes at the various enrichment programs out there. The problem is that it is almost prohibitively expensive for us. I do miss the days where some friends and I could throw a ceremony together. 

We've enjoyed our year at Arlington Liber Academy on Thursdays, and will continue on until Jonas graduates in 2026 probably. Geneva needs some more of an outlet as next year, she will be the only oldest girl there. I hope she finds friendships in some of the other enrichment classes out there like TAFA, or at least feels a part of the community, because it is going to be quite a budget strain for her to go.

She's also going to be taking guitar lessons, starting with Outschool classes through zoom in May, and at Gracewood Academy in the fall. Noel is finishing up his second year of guitar lessons there now, even though he is technically graduated.

I still have to be very careful with my stress and workload because the perimenopausal symptoms I try very hard to keep controlled will flare up if I don't. This month has been very hard for me symptom wise. I was down to almost no hormonal migraines, but have spent the last two days in misery. Also, I hadn't had any anxiety since December, but it flared up too this cycle. Using Harvest Moon tincture from The Herbal Toad has really helped, but if I'm too stressed, it can't take care of it all.

I've cut out sugar, seed oils, and still gluten free with very little grains. I work out 2-3 days a week, at the gym if I can, or at home, lifting weights and treadmill. I've gotten my blood pressure back in the normal range. I lost 25 pounds over the summer last year, and a couple of inches in my waist. I've been refining my wardrobe to just the things I love and look best in. 

I've had a booth at Mid-Cities Antique Mall since the beginning of February and have been making money. It's not much, but I haven't lost any money on it yet. This is the worst time of the year for retail, so I'm hoping that it picks up even more. It's been a fun project to focus on, when I'm feeling like I need goals and purpose. 

But my overarching focus for now is seeing Geneva finish homeschool well. She loves to work, at least for her scare actor job with Six Flags and I know once she graduates, she will take off on her journey of employment and want to be independent as much as possible, still living at home, of course. I have less than 3 years of this homeschool mom life to go until all my kids are adults. I can see the finish line.

 I've deleted my Instagram account, and plan to give Facebook another year so that all my homeschool class planning is made easier. I really believe social media has turned our culture into a hellscape, and I don't want to participate in it any longer. It robs me of precious time that passes too quickly already.

One thing I've always lived by is "things don't just happen, you need to make it happen" and sometimes even though my best efforts failed, my idealistic nature seeks out every opportunity to grow and make life more fun. Fun was my word for the year. 2022 was a hard year for me. Life in this world becomes more frustrating. I hate the world that my kids have to grow up in. A world where people don't know how to have community or relationships, where literally everyone on earth feels lonely yet the tether to our technology keeps us bound and separate. So I try to have fun where ever and whenever fun can be found.

But all fun can be emptiness if we aren't grounded in eternity. For all of my children to know and follow Lord Jesus is my greatest prayer and desire. My ability to daily influence their lives will only decline as they make their way out into adulthood. I want to plan for that end in mind.