The Adventures of the Toilet Paper Fairy

I miss "normal"

2005-11-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

It has been so difficult to write about Ryan’s illness. My mind runs around in circles and I can’t seem to turn it to the keyboard instead of racing around inside my head. My insides are crawling and my patience seems to be resting squarely on a banana peel. Here’s the update: We got a call on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 from Ryan’s endocrinologist telling us that two of Ryan’s growth hormone

Morning worries

2005-11-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

Ryan got the CPAP machine yesterday. They told us it could take a week for him to tell any difference. I am hopeful, yet, at the same time, I’m scared to death. Sometimes it’s difficult to keep my spirits on an even keel, but it’s a necessary struggle. It isn’t fair, but historically my attitude steers the way my family deals with problems and this morning the weight of that responsibility is

Zimmerer Tales

2005-11-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

I logged in to the blog today and found myself surprised that it has been nearly six months since I last posted. Wow, has time flown by! I’m going to be posting some of my thoughts going back in time as well as forward because, you see, during this time some amazing things have happened. Some of them have been wonderful and others have rocked my world. I’ve been finding it difficult to pen

Tutoring Lyuda

2005-04-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

One morning a couple of weeks ago, in one of those bittersweet moments that have a way of marking time as "before" and "after," I put my tea pot up.That doesn't sound like a big deal, but the action brought me to tears. Why? Well, that is a long story.My tale begins one Sunday morning in the spring of 2001 when Albert walked into the bedroom as I was getting ready for church and announced that

Still Protecting My children

2005-03-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

I had no sooner hit the "send" button on the story about protecting my children than I was presented with one of those God-given opportunities to practice what I preach.You see, about that time my seventeen year old walked in the house obviously distraught. He was wearing that particular red-in-the-face look that told me he was deeply disturbed. The details aren't important; suffice it to say

2005-03-10T05:59:00.000-08:00

Last week my seventeen year old son made a decision that went awry. No he didn't get in any trouble, he just chose an option based on an assumption...and you know what "assume" really means, huh? To make a long story short, Ryan was shocked to find out that reality wasn't as he expected... so he had to spend several days trying to straighten out arrangements that involved nearly a dozen people.

Taking Care of Myself

2005-02-24T10:40:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning feeling agitated and out of control. Why? Because my sense of having-to-be-on-top-of-everything has been set aside for several days and I find that VERY uncomfortable. What began three weeks ago as a tight feeling in my chest has ended up being something akin to drowning in my own snot. I've coughed until my blood pressure is elevated and ...to put it delicately...I have

An open letter to the young mom who parked beside me at Sack-n-Save

2005-02-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

Dear young Mom, One afternoon you were parked beside me at the grocery store, and for that brief moment you became a "scout" for me. No, I don't mean a member of one of the youth organizations. What I am referring to is a support-group-type definition: a "scout" is someone whom God puts into my life to physically illustrate a lesson He thinks I need to learn. Anyway, you probably only vaguely

Other Committments

2005-02-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce that in the last two months by making a menu and detailed shopping list I have cut nearly $150 a month off our grocery bill AND that includes $20 to $30 per pay period (every two weeks) for stock up items. Oh, yeah...just so you will know, that is feeding three boys, ages 15, 17 and 18! To be more specific, I shop every other week on Monday afternoon and I've cut my total

Opportunities

2005-01-27T04:06:00.000-08:00

On the back of a religious newspaper I got earlier this week was a full page article on what God's Word says about worry and the cares of this world. What the Lord asks of me (to cast my concerns on HIM) is simple...but it sure isn't easy. It has to be a Godincidence (or else the Great Teacher is back to giggling at me from above) that the same week I read the article, I've had several

Don't Give Up

2005-01-23T04:46:00.000-08:00

One Monday morning I found myself struggling. It was menu-making morning and what I thought should have been a simple task ended up taking me hours... ...I was ready to give up. You see, I'm not one of those born organized people for whom this stuff comes naturally. At heart I am a free spirited slob for whom having a routine means doing whatever I want to whenever I want to. But I guess you

Scrap Soup

2005-01-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite money saving tips happens to be one of my family’s favorite meals. We call it scrap soup. It is easy to make, inexpensive, and, better yet, deals with one of the things I dread: leftovers. ~~~ You know those tablespoons full of leftover veggies? There's not enough to keep but it really seems wasteful to it throw away? The ones I would, out of guilt, put it in a bowl,

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE

2004-12-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

One of the most profound lessons of the year 2000, our first year of homeschooling, was the fact that the things I worried about most had a way of never coming to pass. My biggest surprises ended up being unexpected stuff. Okay…so maybe that fact continues to be a profound lesson… But, back to my story, during June and July

PHONICS

2004-12-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

This will be the Zimmerer family’s fifth year to homeschool. One of our sons graduated last spring so I will only have the two youngest boys to teach: our fifteen-year-old sophomore and the junior who will be seventeen-next-month. Teaching two sounds like it ought to be easier than three… why, then, do I suddenly find myself so nervous? The reason stems from a July conversation with Ryan

Just a Mom…

2004-12-21T11:21:00.000-08:00

Just a Mom… For several years before Adam’s assault, Albert and I discussed homeschooling, but we just couldn’t make up our minds. After all there were all those “reasons” why we couldn’t do it, shouldn’t do it. All those pesky objections! What about socialization? What about sports…what will the boys think about leaving their friends? Could I really teach them myself

THE YEAR THAT CHANGED OUR LIVES

2004-12-20T11:20:00.000-08:00

THE YEAR THAT CHANGED OUR LIVES Part One Like most people I knew when my children were little, I was socialized that in August of the year after each turned five it was time to ceremoniously deposit my babies on a yellow school bus. Along with new clothes, new shoes, and a first-day-of-school picture wearing the also-newly-purchased backpack full of required supplies,

The Day After Affect

2004-12-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

What is the day-after effect, you ask? It is an eerie life-moved-on-without-my-permission kind of moment that happens after an event blindsides my heart. A time when I wake up the next morning and everything is the same...but everything is different. Life keeps on going, the world keeps turning, yet life is changed forever. And I can't do a

Creative Writing Class

2004-12-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

Creative Writing Class It was the last day of our Homeschool association's weekly fall co-op classes one spring and I had taught several 6th -8th graders in a Creative Writing class for ten weeks. The class was on Friday afternoon, fourth hour, right after lunch. It was a great group of kids, but because of the time of day, and perhaps because of the subject, they were

LETTING GO

2004-12-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

One Sunday afternoon, I walked into the house to find Adam, our almost-eighteen-year-old-son, sprawled across the living room floor, working on an English paper in front of the TV. Nothing about the moment was different or unique, yet suddenly I didn't know whether to feel shock, awe, or a sense of relief that in a little over a month my baby boy will be finished with high school. As I

Puttin' Them to the Test

2004-12-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

As a homeschooling mom, I often find it difficult to rate my performance as a teacher. Most of the time I feel confident that my children are getting a good education... ...then suddenly I find myself broadsided by one of those days when I begin to second guess myself. I begin to question whether they are learning enough, whether I'm doing enough...the longer I allow

How Perfectionism Almost Stole Christmas

2004-01-02T04:41:00.000-08:00

It was December 23 and, for the first time in my life, my shopping was done, I'd stuck to the very slim budget within a few dollars, the gifts were wrapped and I had a few hours alone. My house wasn't immaculately clean but it was picked up and presentable...my laundry was even done. So why did I feel utterly empty and alone? Looking back over the few days before, I realized that much of my