Swine flu, Bathrooms and Books

Yes, we are still alive and kicking after dealing with one episode of swine flu. Yes, the construction in our house is still going on. I won't go dwell on that part because it is too depressing to discuss. After over five months we seem no nearer completion. Life has too many troubles of its own to then have to deal with ones we invite upon ourselves. Note to self: no more home improvement projects!

I just finished reading Twelve Virtues of a Good Teacher for the second time. It was written by Luke M. Grande, F.S.C, and is based on the teaching so of St. John Baptist de La Salle. It isn't a must read, but it is a good motivator; exactly what I need right now as I prepare my inner self for the next school year. After many, many years of home schooling my goal is to bring to our little school as much energy and excitement about learning into this coming school year as I brought to my first two children. There is no excuse for burn out or boredom when little souls are at stake!

I also picked up Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy. It was on the sale table at B & N when I was purchasing summer reads for the children I thought I'd grab a quick read for myself. It caught my eye because it is about the life of a girl who had part of her jaw removed as a child, how she grew up feeling ugly in society and how she dealt with cancer. The picture of her on the back cover is actually beautiful. I'm not finished with the book yet, but I hope to be able to let my girls read it to teach that beauty is only skin deep.

We are reading The Mysterious Benedict Society aloud at present. This may take all summer at the rate we are going, but it has captured most of the children's interest.

I learned yesterday that we've been exposed to swine flu again by a neighbor. The poor neighbor was the one who was most in fear of catching the swine flu. I'm most grateful she did not catch it from us, but we may be catching it from her again. In a way, it will be a blessing if we all just get it and be done with it as it is such a little bug. (That is, little for a healthy person to deal with, but it has an oh-so-big reputation). More later....