Ponderings on a Friday Night

Some people in Hawaii are hot under the collar about these seventeen furlough days. Two down, fifteen to go. Who cares? Those who are in a pinch to find daycare, that's who. There are many of them on the islands. The furlough days make me angry for the folks actually teaching the kids. They take a cut in pay - "but at least they are still employed". That is kind of like having a functioning hand with your thumb missing - it works, but it fumbles. I'll bet many are trying to find alternative funds to cover their loans and personal expenses.

The furlough days don't bother me one bit, personally. At first they did, but then I home schooled long enough to know how to use this time. Unstructured learning is learning at its best. The task I have set before my children is to find three projects/subjects they want to learn about or learn more about. I need to know by Sunday night so that we can plan to tackle these things together. I don't care if it's combing the beach for glass . . . so long as everyone agrees to keep positive attitudes. I know the project we'll be working on together in mid-November: painting the living room. It will be a great learning experience as I hand down the knowledge my father handed down to me . . . laying the tape just so, using this brush, that stroke . . . even Chief will help. Practical learning in the common sense arena.

I finished reading in short amount of time the Duggar's book 20 and Counting. Their children learn how to change tires, change oil in vehicles, drive mowers years before they learn to drive a vehicle, cook, clean, and all the practical things I doubt many of us teach our kids today. I'm one who has taught very little domestics to my children. Shame on me! I'm robbing them of growth in responsibility and self management! So. Now, I'm not cramming all the domestic lessons into the furlough days, but those days have blessed us: we will use them wisely, but we will begin to use our daily days wisely as well.

Please keep Crickles in your prayers. I am taking him to the doctor in the morning. Nothing dangerous, but something quite personal is going on with him and he could use prayer. It's a recurring issue with doctors in Maryland never finding anything (which is good, but we're still inconclusive as to what exactly is going on). Mahalo!

Back from the clinic: his blood and urine are excellent; will proceed to ultrasound and another test with the pediatric clinics soon . . . nothing pressing at the moment . . . then the urologist for a diagnostic. So, maybe in two weeks we will have more answers as to why there is blood where there shouldn't be. Maybe there is an injury (which I doubt since it clears up for long periods and then recurs) or there is a developmental deformity not found when he was little and had his hypospadia fixed. There are questions, we'll get answers. Thanks for your prayers.