An Iliad - Retelling of the Trojan War

So proud all over again tonight. Our daughter's husband was just selected Omaha's best actor for his role in AN ILIAD!!! Way to go Daniel!

We saw it last Thanksgiving, and it was both wonderful and overwhelming. He played the role perfectly. It is a dark and heavy, given the subject. It is a two-person play...a world-weary poet and his upright-bass-playing muse. Fifty-three pages of lines!

It is well worth seeing, if you ever get the chance - especially if Daniel acts! Emoticón smile



This is not Daniel's career (anymore). He is a techie by day. This is his third time to win this award, though, and I think that makes his award even more special, because he is not involved in theater as much as he used to be.

Those of you who know me or have followed this blog at all know how important Hubs and I think a Liberal Arts education and lifelong learning are. I am glad our grown children are still getting to be involved with the Arts. Makes this momma proud.

Play Review: An acting tour de force in retelling of Trojan War

An Iliad

Until next time,

Javamom

Being Creative in the Middle

I shared a friend's blog posts yesterday to encourage others to be inspired! Her October series "In The Middle" have prompted me to change one of the last places to get real attention and re-arranging in our home; the room that I always put last on the "to do" list, for various reasons. Mainly because everyone else's rooms and the main living areas took precedence first, plus I was cooking a lot of family meals and kept very busy teaching these past twenty years here in the cottage. BUT before I write about the master bedroom and post photos, I have to back up a few months.

Being in the "middle" years means the nest empties out, bit-by-bit. Ours began emptying about seven years ago. When our third child transferred from a local college to go to a state university this summer, I knew I had about two-to-three weeks to re-do his room, which needed repainting. I also needed to bring down a daybed (from the attic) to have ready for this same son, and other guests, before my part-time Spanish teaching schedule kicked in. Working on that project kept me from missing him too much. This is key to making it through another transition: Don't just "keep busy," but stay productive creating new spaces in each new stage of life.

Dear son's kitty was not at all happy that he was moving.

protesting at his feet and clothing bag ~

This is what was left after we moved our son to the university and an apartment he is sharing with some of his old friends. The stack of books is new to the room, but everything else needed an upgrade. We were blessed to have leftover paint from other projects, so I didn't have to buy one thing. Not one thing for the transformation.

I mixed peach, white, with a few spoons of blue paint to make this lovely, beigy-blush hue

I even repainted our daughter's high school daybed and our son's old, small desk an espresso brown, to better co-ordinate and give a richness to the new room.

I then "shopped" a storage area of our laundry room for some art to re-vamp and put on the walls. I painted the frames the same espresso color to go with the furniture and drapes that were left behind.

And that, my friends, is how I spent the last couple of weeks of my summer vacation!


Javamom

Where are They Now?

Sometimes I think it is so strange that I have adult children! I must simply be in denial of my own age ;-). I've decided to blog a "Where are they now?" post, for any of my followers who are wondering why I don't post much about homeschooling anymore.


Well, we have three homeschooled graduates now. Our oldest is married and is racing and building bicycles. He has followed his passion. He met his dear wife at our old church home. They were married by their youth pastor. She is attending college and is an incredible artist.














Here he is, working at the bike shop ~



And racing (what a beast)

That's him at #2

#1 -- he ended up finishing 5th in his age group! This was just one pack of riders.

DC #2 met her hubby in my high school Spanish class at one of our local homeschool co-ops.

They have been married for over a year now, and just got back from (yet another) nature adventure, this time it's not Iceland, but several national parks in the Pacific Northwest. He is a stellar photographer and she loves cooking and nutrition.

DC #3 is staying local for the time being and will be attending college close to home. He is interested in sports training and nutrition.

So that leaves us with just one left to homeschool.


some of his favorite hobbies

visiting the big siblings up north



They are all so similar and yet so unique! But also, the more things change, the more they stay the same ;-).

DC #1, 2, and 3, at the beginning of our homeschooling journey

Hubby and I used to long-distance cycle, so yes, he is wearing compression pants, even then!

Our family ~ Christmas 2010


We are thankful for the blessings, for the freedom to homeschool and to raise them to the beat of a different drummer.

Javamom

p.s. How are your families growing along the way? I am blessed to know some wonderful homeschool families, and have enjoyed watching their kids grow, and even getting to teach some of their children Spanish or American Lit!

I'm still here!

I think I just took the longest break from blogging ever since I started this thing! I do have good reason. We've been experiencing a different season and a different kind of busy in our lives for the last two months.

My mother was diagnosed with cancer just over the Christmas holiday, and it has been a whirlwind of emotions and travel, as you can imagine. It became official after her surgery in early January: Stage 2 ovarian cancer. I set up a Caring Bridge blog for friends and family to be able to recieve updates in their e-mail boxes, and I spent 12 days with Mom and Dad, during the blizzrds of winter 2011 in Oklahoma (more specifically the Tulsa area). I must say it was rather FUN, but also just a blessing to get to spend so much time with my folks.

My Mom, only sister, and I got to go wig shopping together, and would you believe we really enjoyed our time together. We may not like Mom's diagnosis, but we can enjoy our relationship and time together. THAT we certainly did.

I just received two new cookbooks (Mom ordered one for herself, but I wanted one or two to access here at the cottage) that were written just for people in cancer treatment and their caregivers. I am finding them to be amazingly helpful. I must thank my friend, Queen Shenaynay for texting me while I was in Tulsa with these recommendations. They have some terrific nutritional advice with wonderfully tasteful recipes, but also comforting ideas about sharing the joy of food and things tasting good with loved ones who may be lacking appetite.

The names of the cookbooks are:

One Bite at a Time and The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, both by Rebecca Katz, and What To Eat During Cancer Treatment: 100 Great-Tasting, Family-Friendly​ Recipes to Help You Cope by Jeanne Besser.

The last one is grouped by treatment side-effect and the recipe(s) that help alleviate or that are edible during said side-effect(s).

I'll keep you all posted on our thoughts and experiences as we go along with Mom's progress, treatments, and such.

She is scheduled to have her second chemo in the morning, but that all depends on her platelet count. It was too low last week for treatment, so we are praying that this extra week has allowed her time for those counts to come back up after her first chemo last month.


Javamom

Reflections

Just a little brag. We miss our older two, grown kids and their spouses a wee little bit, but are very happy for them in their married lives out of state. They are making their own way, learning new things, cooking up new recipes, continuing educations, commuting by bicycle, racing bicycles, building bicycles, practicing their art(s), and then some.


Here are just a couple of handfuls of fun shots:


Our Daughter-in-love and daughter both ride with the organized ladies' rides from time to time.

Our oldest son, at CX racing practice

shots (above and below) during a race or two

Our daughter and her husband, enjoying a day with friends. The kids are doing great on this pedal car, since they both have been commuting to work via bicycle all summer (and some combination of cycling and the bus during inclement weather). That has changed as winter arrives, however. They just bought their first car together :-).

J and his wife will still be riding in the snow, though: They are all ready for it, having had their first snow of the season last week!

The youngest of our kids (behind me in the photo below) and I took a little road trip to see the marrieds this summer!

We had a very good time.

There was a concert in the park that we enjoyed

and visits to the bicycle shop where oldes ds works,

playing of games, eating of food, visiting Starbucks, and even a tiny bit of shopping.

We are all looking forward to being together again for the holidays!

Javamom