MUSINGS

So, it's no secret that Honey and I were both in previous marriages. Well, as with all things, it takes a lot of soul searching and team work to leave the past in the past and try to build something brand spanking new.  Sometimes it isn't what one past relationship left you with, sometimes it's several things that happened over a series of years.  Honey and I have very different relationship pasts.  His was slow to develop.  It began with a short lived-shotgun wedding, a bad divorce, and ultimately dated similar women with similar motives for years.  I dated throughout high school and college, agreed to a marriage I wasn't ready for and stayed in it for a decade.  We come from slightly different familial backgrounds as well, my parents were married to each other for over 40 years whereas his were divorced and the children split up.  Those who love psychoanalysis will tell you that our relationships with our parents tend to determine our relationships...

It came...and it went.  It wasn't bad, we went camping for the weekend at a nice little state park not far from where we live.  I came away with a few bug bites, a new gnome for my flowers, and a cute wine glass to replace my favored one that I accidentally broke. For some weird reason I dreaded that holiday this year.  I wasn't looking forward to it...at all.  The topic of growing older/aging/maturing has come up in a couple different conversations with different people lately.  As you start moving up in years you begin to look backwards at either what you've done or what you've witnessed.  Our examples of who to be usually start with whomever had a hand in raising us.  I know that I'm like my mother.  I don't trust easily, I don't allow myself to get close to people, I'm very very cautious.  One of the biggest differences between us is how my relationship is with my own child.  We are nothing like my mother and I were at this same mo...

I'm weird.  I always have been.  I was the strange kid at my tiny little 300 student school.  I was Catholic, wore a lot of black, listened to alternative rock, & didn't run with what crowd there was.  I'm still weird, but for totally different reasons these days. Yes, the fire red hair & propensity toward psycho-billy style is a little non-mainstream.... Being immersed in a lifestyle that you weren't raised in or exposed to is very hard.  I can get my head around the society junk, the appearances & whatnot.  Everyone wants to be thought well of.  I can wrap my head around being publicly polite to people you may not exactly like, that's what Southern folks call manners.  Now, what totally escapes me are the games & manipulation.  The truly fake accolades, the association with fake people for silly reasons, ignorant back & forth over petty things... it just blows my mind.  The spreading of exaggerated informat...

And then...she woke up. It's taken a few months.  I touched on but didn't go into details on how my year ended.  Shortly before Thanksgiving, my dad gave in to the disease that was eating him from the inside out.  He passed with my mom by his side and my sister right down the road.  It was hard.  No matter how long you wait for someone to move on, it never cushions the event.  That being said, I went into hibernation mode.  Eat/sleep/school/work/repeat.  Well, it's time to shake it off and snatch that momentum back up. My little family went camping a couple weeks back with some friends.  I'd had a bit of an epiphany prior to the trip in regard to my (our) finances and how we do things.  Me and the other wives got into a discussion about the household checkbook, and how the wives do things vs. the husband.  The women with whom I was talking each had their own methods for handling the bills and the spending.  They ranged from g...

This is a fabulous article I just couldn't resist re-posting.  Originating at HomeSchoolers Anonymous , this gem truly is priceless.  While their aim is at a specific type of man, I know many many others who fit this mold.  Grab a drink, sit back, and have a chuckle, it's worth it! 10 THINGS YOUR [EX]FUNDY ALMOST-EX HUSBAND WILL DO DURING YOUR DIVORCE February 19, 2015 ·   by  R.L. Stollar ·  in  Homeschool ,  Marriage . · The following post was submitted to HA by an anonymous contributor. . 1) Pretend nothing is wrong when you tell him things aren’t working until you start making changes to make yourself happier and saner. And then he’ll snap. . 2) When you suggest finding a therapist, he’ll tell you you don’t need meds and suggest that maybe you should try talking to your pastor instead. . 3) Finally starts listening to things you’ve been saying for months, and abruptly co-opts feminist lingo and tells you that y...

So, yeah, I've had enough. There's this little video clip that's gone all viral on the interwebs.  It's a portion of a speech made by our illustrious leader a few days ago.  In this clip he dares to mention atrocities that were committed hundreds of years ago...*gasp* by Christians.  The statement he made has caused a huge stir, inciting remarks about history itself and why he'd bring up such a thing.  (DISCLAIMER:  I am not a fan of, nor do I support our current governmental regime in any of it's capacity!!)   Now.  The comments that have been filtering around social media have all been to the extent of "why is he bringing up something so old", or "the Christians didn't persecute the Muslims, they defended themselves".  (these are not exact quotes, if you want to read them, head over to Walton & Johnson on Facebook) Reiterating my disclaimer one more time, so there is no misunderstanding:   I didn't vote for this cat......

Boredom according to Mr. Webster: :   the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest      In our home, we weren't allowed to utter the word, bored.  The instant it left our lips we were put to task doing anything but being idle.  I still, to this day, use the phrase, "Idle hands are the devils workshop."  I have a habit of doing similar things with my own daughter, she is responsible for her own personal time, regardless of entertainment around her.  When she was a small child she would go to Catholic Mass with both of her grandmothers.  Her paternal grandmother would take her to the long service that had the rosary before Mass began.  She'd always let My Girl take a toy or a little book so she'd sit still and be quiet.  One of the first times my mother took her to their church with a somewhat simpler Mass, My Girl asked what she could bring to be still and quiet.  My mother told her, "nothing, you're going ...