Weekend update...

I'm having flashbacks to Dennis Miller doing the Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. With the great political fodder floating around I'm sure the new episodes are hysterical, or rather would be with the crew that I enjoyed. I just can't seem to move into the newest generation of SNL players. But... I digress. ;)

We've had a great, yet busy, week. C started volunteering at the library. She's having the time of her life. She's decided that she wants to have a bat mitzvah, which will be so much fun (and lots of hard work!) This, added in with other reasons, means that we've finally come to some conclusions. We've been discussing a possible move. It feels like that's been a conversation that has been taking place for the longest time (and honestly it has for at least all of 2008, and into the last half of 2007.) I believe that we've come to a decision to stay for a few more years. That's monumental. We're still moving... just with the central state region that we're in now. There are just too many things that make this area great for us, even if my heart screams to go back home to the South. We're still praying for direction, so prayers are greatly appreciated. We've got family here, a congregation that we've been searching for over what feels like years, our girls are all fairly local, employment - and with the way the economy seems to be headed that is definitely a good thing. We do want to be more self sufficient, so we're definitely not staying in our cookie cutter neighborhood that requires us to color within someone else's lines. ;)

Speaking of the bat mitzvah... we have to meet and plan, but it looks like from initial conversations that if we hit a crash course in Hebrew this summer she will be able to be up to speed for Hebrew School this fall plus learning Greek for the New Testament portions. It will mean a lot of studying and trips to the synagogue twice a week (in addition to Shabbat service Saturday morning) but it will be so worthwhile for her. We were able to be part of a "Golden Anniversary Bar Mitzvah" this weekend, and it was wonderful. My in laws are Jewish, so we've been to several but this was the first Messianic (and first "Golden/50th anniversary") bar mitzvah that I've attended. It was so sweet and special. I loved every minute of it. If all goes as planned C will be on track to have hers just after her 13th birthday. (FYI - She's 11 and 3 months now.) It has also changed my idea a bit about language this year. Since she'll be learning Hebrew at Hebrew School I'm wondering if we need to even attempt any of it here. I'm torn because part of me says we need to focus on one thing at a time, and part of me thinks that if they are teaching her Hebrew then we could work on Greek here with some good programs that I've seen floating around the homeschool community. That will be a discussion for the Hebrew teacher because I do not want to overload her. We shall see...

DH is moving his office back home over the next week or two as well. (He's been working on it for a month now. It's a big job!) This will be SUCH a relief! It will mean that we have a huge relief in finances, which will make such a difference now that gas is $4 a gallon among other things. It will also be so nice to actually have a bit of help around the house. The long hours that he's been working have made it difficult over the last year. I'm looking forward to having time to sit down in the evening because I'm not playing both roles. I know that it was extremely hard for him to only be home with us Friday through Sunday. Sure, he slept here, but when you leave as your daughter is getting up for the day and come home as she is ending it you don't really feel like you've spent any time with her because, well, you haven't! Now he will be able to do that. I think it will help even out some attitude as well because they are extremely close. C misses her daddy when he's not around. I hope that this continues and doesn't end once she becomes a teenager.

We've been heading to the Y as much as we can as well. I've discovered that I love to swim! I never did like being in the pool growing up. I worked at one for a few years in high school... in the concession and admission stand. :) I don't like being out in the sun because I burn. I don't like water going up my nose. I wear contacts and goggles give me a head ache so I can't open my eyes under water. This prove challenging under some circumstances. But, I've found that I love using the indoor pool with lap lanes! They are wide enough that my mom can walk the length of the pool in the same lane while I swim slowly and we talk. It's so much fun, and I have to admit that it gives me a tremendous workout when I do it for an hour. I just love that my kid is making friends, playing with kids her own age (our neighborhood is filled with kids 3+ years younger than her), and getting exercise. She's always been an active kid, and she gets cranky if she doesn't have a certain level of exercise each day. It will be interesting to see if that continues as she ages.

We've been reading up a storm. I've been reading several books as usual, and enjoying every one. We're starting to discuss Captivating in the Sisterhood at our congregation. Today is the first meeting that I've attended. I'm really trying to become active there. The book has gotten mixed reviews from what I've read online, but I think that some are being too hard on it. I'm only one chapter in so this is an unfair assessment, but it seems like a good, light summer discussion. It does not seem meaty, but if that is what you were looking for I doubt you'd pick up a book like this to begin with. Perhaps that is the problem - the people reviewing it were trying to make it fit into a box in which it didn't belong. That's been a theme going on here lately as well- but that makes for a different post.

We're also plugging through school. We're on our summer schedule but I let it get a little more intense than I wanted so we'll be revising that come Monday. (DD doesn't know and will love it.) I'm back to plugging away at my Herbalist course. I've turned in another unit and hope to turn in one or two more this week. I don't normally go through it that fast, but the little one I am babysitting is on vacation this coming week so I hope to take advantage of the "free" time. I also hope to clean the house from top to bottom so we'll see what gets done!

I'm reading Crime Scene Jerusalem as well, and I have to say thank you, De'Etta, for listing your Summer reading list on your website. I went through it as well as another to list some books that I'd like to read, and this was one of the first to come in at our library. It's wonderful! I love it!

I think those are the highlights. I'm off to a finish a leisurely morning before heading over to the Sisterhood meeting in a few hours. I plan on reading, showering, and maybe even a little digiscrapping! Thanks to all the ladies who discussed it on SHS. I just love it! I'm having a ball. It's taking me a little while to figure out what the best way to complete pages in Gimp would be, and to learn all that it can do (or correction... learn what it can do in baby steps!) But, I'm having a ball. I've completed something like 8 pages since last week. I still have quite a few boxes of photos that I will have to paper scrap since they were pre-digital days, but it will be nice to do some on the computer as well. Now, to find a place that will print them well for a good price...