I was under the wire to not have my blog deleted, but only by a day...so I thought I would peek in and update. 

We have gone back to a much more structured approach to school, and it's working well for us.  It makes the kids feel like they are accomplishing a lot with their studies, which gives them confidence that I'm seeing show through in their actions and attitudes, so I'm seeing it as a good thing.  And the structure itself is helping us all to stay on track with everyone's respective involvements outside of school.

Girlie is taking six dance classes and assistant teaching nine classes of 3-7-year-olds.  Guess it's safe to say her career apprenticeship is well established!  Not everyone gets to apprentice in their chosen field from the age of nine.  It's a challenge making sure she isn't overdoing it, and I'm watching closely to make sure she is eating right and getting plenty of sleep.  She seems to be juggling everything rather well and she seems happy with the arrangement, so I'm just doing everything I can to support her.

The boys are back in swing with Bible Bowl.  MathU is learning the bass and Sam is continuing with guitar, drums, keys, and is now the official worship leader for our youth services. 

I'll write more later.  Right now we are cleaning house and preparing for company over the holiday weekend.

A few days ago I received a letter our 25-year-old son sent to the staff of the museum where he has worked since he was 14.  He worded so many things that I felt the homeschooling community at large should read, I asked him if I could share his letter. 

So... almost 11 years ago, on July 3, 1995, a goofy homeschool kid at the age of 14 started his first day at some science centre across from USF.  He thought it would be a cool thing to do for a while, you know, supplement his education at home, make new friends, gain valuable work experience... Very quickly after that he joined this programme called the YES! Team, and a year later he became part time staff.  By the time he was 16, he was doing the shows in Science Works Theatre, by 17, he was helping write the shows... at 18 he went full time as a Lead Interactor, then as Early Childhood Specialist, then as Group and Outreach Programmes Coordinator.  If his calculations are correct (Al Peche will let you know if they aren't) he has done over 7,000 classes, shows, demos, workshops, birthday parties, campins, special events, tours, outreaches, speaking engagements, and "wanna see something cool?"s. 

Five years ago, he discovered that he had an amazing passion for something else, racing.  No, not NASCAR, these cars turn both ways.  He became instantly very involved in the sport of Sportscar Racing, spending the last four years working on the side with the Viper GTS-R and Pagani Zonda in the international endurance racing scene.  If you've heard of the 24 Hours of LeMans (that's in France), then you know what I'm talking about.  If you haven't, then go look it up.  It's cool.  This passion has turned into priority...

And here we are today... That kid turned into me.  And yes, I'm still goofy.  Stop laughing, I'm not done.  The past decade of my life that I have spent here has been indescribably wonderful.  Through ups and downs, good times, bad times, through flooded floors and packed lobbys, new buildings coming, old ones going, special events, demos, constants, changes, and constant changes... it's been a wild, but incredibly awesome ride.  And now it's time to make a new change.  My last day as a full time MOSI employee will be Friday, March 3rd.  I will be staying on for a while as a part-time employee, to help train newcommers, as well as continue teaching certain programmes.  Gotta get my teaching fix somehow, lol.  Quitting cold turkey is hard they say! 

So where to next?  A partner of mine and I have started our own company, called P1 Groupe, a full service Drivers and Teams Management Company.  (Think Jerry McGuire, but with racing)  Eventually I also hope to be apart of putting together and American-designed LeMans-winning programme.  Always wanted to take on the rest of the world... I am also going to do some Management and Sports Marketing at the Sports + Field Professional Training Facility in North Tampa for a while.  There is no way I could ever thank everyone enough for all that each and every one of you have done for me both professionally as well as as a person.  I literally have "grown up" here at this Museum, and this institution will forever have my respect, support, and loyalty. 

Don't be surprised to see a racing-science exhibit designed by me come your way down the road... Anyway, thank you again to everyone who made my stay here something to remember.  You are all more than coworkers, you are friends, and always will be.

Godbless, Godspeed, and Finest Regards,
Jeff Easterling

The next day he sent me the link to a press release for his new company.

It made me think of all the things that "beat up my heart". If I could just make a habit of taking thoughts of the things that beat me up and focusing instead on thoughts of the things that make my heart beat faster...I think I would live happier.

Dear Abba...please find ways to beat up my heart today. I'll be looking for them.

We just watched ABC's 20/20 episode "Stupid In America: How We Cheat Our Kids".  If we needed another affirmation for home education, we just watched an hour-long one.  I can't believe (okay, yes, I can) the travesty that is being perpetrated by teachers' unions, misappropriated funds, beaurocratic apathy, and all manner of issues in public schools across America. 

The Florida Supreme Court just knocked down the voucher system.  Great job, guys.  Tell ya what.  You give ME $10,000. PER KID to teach my kids at home and A. they'll get a superior education, and B. I'll have a boatload of money left to donate to Hospice.  Parents across the world are teaching their children at home (or should I say "personally", since only a portion of education actually occurs at home) and let me tell you this: I don't personally know ANY homeschooling parents who spend $1,000. per year per child, let alone ten times that much.

Sadly I've had my own reservations about the voucher system, but only because I know how government tends to be where money is concerned.  Translated: We give you a tax break/voucher/cash for educating your kid and we get to tell you how to do it.  Yeah, I'm down with that.  Not!  Like I want a miserably failing system telling me how to do things better.  No, thank you.

november came
ending a great october with fall festivities
candy and a church party
trick-or-treating with friends
and fun
november came
with easterling hearts falling like the leaves outside
in the winter breeze
my world was shaken
seems the brilliant rose
whose bloom had warmed my heart
and caressed me tenderly with her petals
was beginning to die
a cruel symbolic irony of nicknames
laughter turned to tears and as many restless nights
back from a day of reminiscence
at the great white-walled chamber of fear
the rose never gave up hope
but dazzled and amazed us all
with her courage and perseverance
until the very end
tears swept the halls as angels danced to the goodbyes
and final hands were laid
a grave now stands
the lifelessness of what was so beautiful
now a shockingly bitter reality
she is missed
she is loved
she is singing again
in a heavenly reunion of both the lamented
and the unseen of all angels
as a grandma earns her wings
and hope comes
in the remembered birth of a savior
whom she is currently beating at cards

Trevor Easterling, 14
1.4.06

My thoughts on the past few months...

Last month we lost a person very near to us.  Grammy has touched us all in different ways and I know that she has touched so many more in her path.  She always left endless love and laughter in her wake.  Christmas was not the same without her, but thanks to a number of family and friends I believe it may have been the best Christmas ever.  And it relieves me to know there is no more pain, no more bills, and no more hospitals.  She had the best Christmas of us all, and I can live with that.  It was the first of her eternal New Years in Heaven with the Father, and soon, very soon, we will be with her.  We will sit beside her and watch that Heavenly ball drop.  We will welcome all the new years and will never be separated ever again.  But until that time comes to pass, I will wait patiently.  I can go on knowing that someday, some way, we will be together.

I'll see you then...

Matt Easterling, 12
1.4.06

One of the most frustrating things about my state of mind (and heart) right now is the heaviness of my inability to put thoughts together.  I forget things.  I misplace things.  I lose track of what I'm doing, where I'm going, what's going on around me.  I keep wanting to ask no one in particular, "How long does this last?"  And I keep hoping no one in particular will reply, "Not long, honey.  It will get better really soon."  I guess it's no surprise that I've been accused of being simple-minded.

All of Mama's things have been gone through and either stored or put away.  I've managed to stay really busy with all the organizing and straightening up to this point.  I guess this is the part where things start settling down and the busyness that has masked the pain for a while is no longer quite so masking.

I'm not even sure I know how to start homeschooling again tomorrow.

Mama got sick in Nov. and went into the hospital.  She was discharged from the hospital on our birthday, Nov. 17, but by the 22nd was back in with an infection.  On the 24th we were told she was in kidney failure and may not make it through the weekend.  She was released to Hospice House on Thanksgiving Day and died three days later. 

There are a million words hanging in silence between those typed here.  A million emotions, thoughts, and cries sagging against a backdrop of pain and loss.  This is an empty like nothing I have ever felt.

Just wanted to poke my head in and say I'm alive.  My computer is down UGH-ain, and this time it could be my hard drive.  I am so tired of PC problems.  I love my computer, but man, this one's really giving me a time of it. 

We're off to the music store for band books and then off to a homeschool park day, so I'll try to write more later.  It's been a heckuva week. 

I think I'm going to start referring to our educational methods as "Family Learning".  It's shorter than "Lifelong Discovery Learning" and more accurate than "Unschooling" (we aren't undoing anything) or "Homeschooling" (we learn all over the place).  That's what we do: we learn together as a family, in all areas of life, all the time, wherever we happen to be.

Rosie started back to dance today.  She did really well, although I know she will be pretty sore tomorrow.  It should be an interesting year with 14 girls in the class.  They are all lovely, talented, precious girls, so it will be fun.

Life has been pretty challenging lately with my mom's health problems and some difficulties in the lives of some people we love very much.  We are hoping good things are coming, though.  We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, and we do love Him.

I love my husband so very much.  I am profoundly grateful for his dependability, his trustworthiness, his steadfast love, his patience, his selflessness, his compassion, his Godliness.  It is my prayer that I am able to bring him the happiness he has given me.  It amazes me how he celebrates the woman I am, supports my interests and encourages me to take time out to nurture my talents and hobbies.  I am glad to be his wife.

Our son, Trevor had an opportunity recently to share the gospel with a gentleman he met on his trip to Colorado.  I asked him if he thought he'd gotten through to him, and he said he couldn't be sure since the man never really responded.  Trevor said he felt like he'd given him some things to ponder while he worked, and I told him that if his heart was open to it, he would hear, but sadly sometimes hearts have just become too hardened.  Anyway, he's hoping for the best.  That boy is such an optimist.

There are times in life when we are made aware of blessings that are a normal part of our lives, blessings we don't think about much until something serious or monumental or traumatic brings it to light.  This is one of those moments for me.

Luke was always my please-everyone-at-all-costs kid.  He would sooner take a beating than hurt anyone's feelings (not that he DID take a beating for that, mind you), which isn't necessarily a bad thing until being a man-pleaser compromises ethics.  This is what I feared for him when he grew up--that he would still be so eager to please that he would be blown and tossed by the winds of opinion, of fad, of whim.  I needn't have feared. 

While I worried and prayed over my beautiful, dark-eyed, kind-hearted, people-pleasing boy, God was molding a man who would not only go against the tide, but who would clearly and articulately state why.  To say I am amazed at his strength of conviction would be an understatement at best.

I look at him now, and I still see that beautiful boy.  But now I also see behind those striking near-black eyes a resolve I've never seen in any other person.  I see love and compassion of a caliber rarely seen.  I see faithfulness and dedication and loyalty.  I see a man more concerned with the needs and interests of others than of himself.  And most importantly I see a man who, more than anything, strives to be someone his brothers and sister, and everyone else for that matter, can look up to.  And not for his own glory.  No, he is quick to give the glory to God, to Whom it belongs. 

It is a joy to know that I can point our younger children to Luke and say, "Be like him", because I know I can trust his example.  I can't imagine there being many treasures more precious to a mother.

There are many doors that I may be passing through on my own and with my wife as life starts to change, Mama.  But there are still so many that are open to the both of us, to walk through and share together, just like always. 

 

The only reason you are able to leave me at the door is because you and Dad got me there in the first place, with the confidence to know that I could make past the door and onward. 

 

So for the doors that we can pass through together, and also the ones I may have to face without you, I thank you for getting me to a place where I know I can make it, not without you, but thanks to you.

 

I love you...

Our 24-year-old and 14-year-old sons are improvising together on the piano.  Talk about an interesting mix...it's actually quite beautiful.  Very emo. Our 10-year-old daughter's voice rang through the house today, catching me quite off-guard with a rousing TV jingle, "Yoooooou can't overlove your underwear!  She did, no lie.  The 12-year old son is getting into the bass guitar lately, and loves to goof around by singing in a deep operatic baritone whatever happens to pop into his head.  It can be quite interesting, as you can imagine.  Then there's the 19-year-old son who shrieks from his bedroom in his best "Coming to America" preacher voice, "If lovin' you is wrong, I don't wanna be right, can I git a witness?"

I'm sitting here thinking about how many CDs I've bought over the years containing the very same music I hear pouring out of our living room on this balmy summer evening.  CDs of instrumental music: $3,942.  Evening at Morisani Hall: $60.  Two brothers bonding over the ivories and learning as they go: Priceless.

Our summer has been nuts!  Honestly, with our family members flitting around the country for the past two months, I've forgotten what it's like to have us all in one spot at the same time.  One more kid going away for one more week, and then we're all back together again...at least for a while!

I discovered Jenefer Igarashi's writing tonight, and I'm pretty sure I looked like an idiot sitting here at my computer at two in the morning, clapping like a third-grader and shrieking, "Yay!"  Thankfully my husband could sleep through a freight train crash (which, with any good luck, we won't have occur on the railroad tracks directly behind our house).  I will now outdo myself and the abovementioned idiocy by proceeding to hunt down every available Jen Igarashi writing like an Alabama coon dog.

The cashiers have had their say about us.  Now it’s time for thrifty shoppers everywhere to stand up and be counted.  I recently read an article written by a cashier on the topic of ad matching.  This particular cashier-author shared her encounters with customers who come into her store with ads for her to match, giving her more than ample opportunity to test her math aptitude.  Now that I’ve recovered from the hysterical laughter resulting from her article, I’m picking up the ball. 
 
You see, I am that customer.
 
First, let me assure the cashiers out there, on behalf of ad-matching customers everywhere, that we are NOT out to make your life a living purgatory.  However, I will admit to scoping out the faces of the waiting cashiers (I say ‘waiting’, because it is usually midnight before I can escape to the store alone, and at that point most cashiers are standing in the midway at the end of their lines appealing to passers-by like so many carnival barkers), looking for the one whose face looks the friendliest, in hopes that when I’m finished, there might still be a remnant of that smile left over. 
 
I will call the supermarket where I shop My Store, which I lovingly dubbed it the moment I saw the “Coming Soon” construction sign out front.  Finally, the best place to buy groceries AND everything else under the sun was coming to my neighborhood!
 
My ad-matching adventures got off to a great start.  I’d watch the mail for the weekly food ads, sprinting into the house and waving them in the air like so many sweepstakes checks while my kids rolled their eyes and shook their heads.  Wednesday mail call was a time of celebration in my world.  I’d get out my list, pen, and highlighter and go to town.  How could this not be exciting? 
 
I have to say I have been rather blessed overall in finding the friendliest of cashiers.  Stacey is one such cashier.  A precious gal with long blonde hair, she responded to my obligatory, “I’m sorry…I have ads…” (spoken with the repentance of one who has a similar-sounding immune disease) with, “Hey, no problem.  Doesn’t bother me!”  I resisted the urge to scale the conveyor belt and kiss her.  I did make a mental note to call ahead before every future visit to make formal reservations with her as my cashier.
 
My first ad-match (an appropriate battle term, yes?) was actually fun.  I hauled $200. worth of food items onto the belt and after the buy-one-get-one-frees, the buy-one-get-two-frees, the dirt-cheap meat prices from the meat market ads, and 10-for-$10. goodies, I paid Stacey $43. and skipped out of the store.
 
The powers-that-be decided to raise the bar a bit.  On my next visit, I was told they no longer honored the buy-one-get-two-frees.  I shrugged, admitting it had seemed rather too good to be true.  I put a few items back and still emerged from the store a frugal, happy woman. 
 
The next trip I found out they’d begun charging the competitor’s regular price on the buy-one-get-one-frees.  This was getting a little sticky, since the competitors' prices were much higher (I’m convinced they are actually inflated) than My Store’s.  I frowned slightly, put a few things back, and paid the bill.  I was down but not out.
 
The next visit got a little tougher.  I found out the policy had changed again and they no longer honored meat ads.  Okay, this was going a little too far.  Make up my mind, will you?  I asked why the policy kept changing, and the cashier (definitely not Stacey) sighed and called for the manager, who told her to go ahead and honor the meat ads.  Score one for the customer! 
 
Then there was the next visit.  I tentatively placed my items on the belt, a questioning look after each one, as though beseeching the cashier not to tell me the policy had undergone yet another change.  Things clicked along rather nicely until he asked to see the ad for the buy-one-get-one-free frozen entrees.  Little sweat beads formed on my forehead as I fumbled for the correct ad and opened it to the frozen foods.  His brow wrinkled in contemplation as he perused the ad.  “This doesn’t show the competitor’s regular item price.”
 
Well DUH.  Why else would I have been practically giddy at finding such an ad in the first place?  I had practically thrown a party at the thought of dodging the ‘use their price’ policy.  I smiled sweetly.  “I know, but there’s a really clear picture of the item in the ad.”  I batted my eyes for good measure.
 
He was a tough one.  “Hm.  It says ‘selected varieties.”
 
“Yeah, but the ‘selected varieties are pictured right there!” I whimpered.
 
He must have felt pity for the poor woman nearing a panic attack over a 60-cents-per-item difference.  His face softened.  “Oh, I’ll honor the ad, sweetie.  I was just commenting that it’s kind of odd how they laid out the ad, without the regular price and all.  Don’t worry, I’ll give you the ad match.”
 
I’m sure my sigh of relief could be heard clear to the deli. 
 
It’s been a while since my last ad match.  I keep hoping the policy will finally get written down somewhere.  Written policy, I can do.  Once I have printed off my own copy, I’ll carry it with me, along with the 23 ads I’ve gathered and highlighted a gorgeous yellow just for the occasion.
 
 
 
Lisa Luke Easterling
 

1. What is your best memory from childhood?

Winning first place in a writing contest in 5th grade

2. If you could have lunch with ANYONE who would you choose and why?

Jesus.  For every reason there is.

3. What is your biggest regret?

Not having more time with my dad

4. If you could choose only one book of the bible to read for an entire year which would it be and why?

Psalms.  Psalm 139 is my favorite Bible passage, and the Psalms keep me worshipful and grateful.

5. What song ALWAYS makes you want to get up and dance?

"Come On Closer" by Jem

Amy tagged me, so here I go:

Q.: What is your favorite night-time snack?
A:   Riesens

Q: If you could choose 3 comfort items to take with you for a year on a desert island, what would they be? (Your husband, children, and your Bible don't count.)
A:  Pen, journal, picture of my family.

Q: Why did you choose each item?
A:  The pen and journal are pretty obvious--so I could capture every thought, every sensory detail, every moment of my time on the island; The picture of my family would give me comfort and hope as I anticipate getting back home to them.

Q: What is your first memory?
A:  A dream I had when I was around 18 months old.

It is the most bizarre feeling sitting here tonight.  I thought about going somewhere alone, someplace where I could sit and think, remember, reminisce.  I like being alone, so the solitude would be something I'd embrace.  The remembering just loses something without him here.  I'm not complaining...I just miss him, and not just because of what day this is.  It's a Wednesday, and it's only three days away from his return.  That's what I want to think about.

He called me tonight.  When he got to the evening session there was a message up on the screen that said, "Happy 25th Anniversary, Steve Easterling.  We appreciate your sacrifice. --The Horizon Youth Group and Sponsors"  I'm glad they are showing him they love him.  He's a good man.

My day was a sequence of hurdles, from Luke's tooth infection, to my mom being in the hospital, to the monsoon that hit when I went to visit, to discovering someone had taken my umbrella out of the car, to having to fight with the door latch on the car get out, to having to park in a remote garage and dodge lightning bolts on the way in, to the calf-deep "stream" I slopped through, to almost backing into a car that came out of nowhere, to forgetting to get my parking pass validated and having to go all the way back up to the 5th floor to do it, to arriving to pick up Luke's prescriptions and finding he was somehow not showing in the system on our insurance.

But as of today, I have been married a quarter-century to my best friend, the most fun, romantic, thoughtful, loving, giving, Godly man on the planet.  It doesn't really matter that he is 300 miles away, because his heart is here with me.  It doesn't really matter that we didn't get to go out to dinner tonight, because we can go next week.  It doesn't really matter that our bodies are in two different states on our anniversary, because we are one.  And we always will be.

Our oldest son, Jeff is at the Cape today doing science demos for about 7,000 government reps as part of the NASA Launch Day events.  Jeff was homeschooled from 2nd grade through high school and is now Youth and Family Programs Coordinator and Education and Outreach Programs Coordinator at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Yay for homeschooling! 

Happy 25th Anniversary to my darling husband, Steve.  I love you for always.