Watching by Proxy

There is a Very Important hockey game on tonight. I don't have the means to watch the game, but I long ago discovered the art of "watching by proxy". I just leave the window open and listen for loud cheers or cries of anger and I know exactly who is winning.

Summer

It is summer, sort of. Officially it doesn't start until later this week, and the weather hasn't exactly shouted "It's Summer!" quite yet. There have been some warmer days, but it's mostly been cooler and wet, although that's supposed to change later this week as well.

For me, though, it's summer. All the school year stuff is done: Sunday School, work, women's ministry, history class, whatever. In summer, I have a bit of tutoring and prep for fall. Otherwise, it's free time.

The challenge of summer is using the time wisely, both to get ready for fall, take care of stuff that I'm too busy during the school year (especially towards the end) to get done, and find time for rest. I have a list of things to do, and each thing seems to be getting bigger as I look into it more clearly! 

June is a bit funny because it's downtime, but there's still a lot going on, and I have a week of proper vacation coming up (in which I actually leave the city for somewhere else), so there's also prep for leaving to take care of.

Then there are two months of proper summer with things to do and books to read. I'm working on getting organized now and getting into the routine of summer, but it's hard when I know that soon it will be disrupted by the lack of routine of vacation time. Still, things are slowly getting started and ideas are percolating in my head.

I like summer. I like the time to rest and the time to study and the time to prepare for fall. And by fall, I'm ready for things to start up again.

Once Upon a Wardrobe

I recently found Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan on a suggested list of books about the 1950s. I had read her book Becoming Mrs. Lewis some years back and enjoyed it well enough, so I thought I'd give this one a try.

It is a wonderful book. The story starts with George, an 8-year old boy with a bad heart and the knowledge that he is going to die, probably soon. He has recently read a new book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and absolutely loved it, and he wants to know more: where did Narnia come from? George has an older sister, Megs, who is attending one of the colleges at Oxford, and he asks her to find Mr. Lewis (who teaches at Oxford) and ask him where Narnia came from. 

Megs is a mathematician and loves numbers and figuring things out. She does not understand George's love of fantasy and his insistence that Narnia is real somehow. Because she loves him, Megs agrees to at least try talking with Mr. Lewis. And we discover that Once Upon a Wardrobe is really Megs's story, as she visits Mr. Lewis, learns about the role fantasy can play in the world -- neither more nor less important than her beloved math equations, and begins to see a bigger world than the one she knew.

The visits don't go exactly as Megs expected; Mr. Lewis answers her questions by giving her stories about his childhood, growing years, schooling, war years (both World Wars), and faith. Megs goes home and tells the stories to George, and so we get stories within the story. 

The book was fun to read, even the tough parts. The main story is well-written and interesting, and the stories-within-the-story are delightful and, so far as I know, quite accurate to Mr. Lewis's life. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves Narnia.

Thoughts from Acts

I've been reading through the New Testament and I'm up to the book of Acts right now. Most mornings I read a chapter and make some notes of things I find interesting. These are just some of my thoughts.

Jesus gives them a job and then the means to do the job.

When God sent the Holy Spirit, the noise was enough to attract the attention of the people in Jerusalem, so they were gathered to hear the gospel.

The apostles were quick to give glory to God (in contrast to various other people who wanted glory/power/etc. for themselves).

The gospel was not limited to any particular group (Jews, Gentiles, men, women, rich, poor...).

Every meeting was a chance to spread the gospel.

Timothy was "well spoken of" by the believers; that and his parentage are all we know about him, but he became Paul's faithful companion.

Luke just sort of joins the narrative, switching from "they went" to "we went" with no mention of how or why he joined them.

From the Children

I have a group of Sunday School girls over and the conversations are... interesting...

"You could cook a hotdog on his mustache."

"We're not a bunch of old ladies to sit around and gossip."

"I was ironing one of my siblings..."

A song: "Doritos... Doritos... where are the Doritos?"

"Oh, no... that was the other red yo-yo!"

"Do you like moose...or pizza?"

"If someone gave you a pet deer, what would you do with it?"

"She's my best friend, so I can be rude to her."

"I need a calmer craft than agonizing painting, like gluing with deadly glue guns."

"There's so much things you have to learn about growing up."

Home Education Conference

I was at the AHEA Home Education Convention over the weekend. It was fun and overwhelming and busy and full of books and learning!

My highlights:

I met Douglas Bond! He writes Christian historical fiction, speaks about church history, and does European church history tours. I was in his sessions of Renee of Ferrara, John Knox, and Anne of Bohemia. He's brilliant, he knows so much, and he tells the stories so well! I learned so much listening to him and now there's so much that I want to research and learn more about. Meeting him was a bit overwhelming and I may have fangirled a bit. (But who else would I fangirl over than a historian who writes Christian historical fiction?)

There were so many bookstores represented in the exhibit hall. There were home education stores with educational books, some Christian bookstores with a wonderful variety of books, and some used bookstores as well. The one used book section was large and crammed with books (mostly children's books given that it was for homeschoolers). I bought a pile of picture books, some novels (two of Douglas Bond's books, one of which he signed for me), and some history books. I also bought a pile for the church library.

Among the crowds were several people I knew, some of whom I hadn't seen in a long while. It was fun to have some time to chat and catch up on the news. 

I also learned about some different curriculums, sat in a session about parental rights, bought shirts from one of my students who was selling custom designed t-shirts (one for me, one for the small granddaughter, and a onesie for the baby due this summer), and found some new decks of trivia cards for the Wednesday morning kids.

In all it was a good time, and I was happy to come home and recover after!