Back in the Saddle Again

 Yep, We are at it again. 
Spring Break is over.
We are moved in.
And it's back to work.

Here's a little something to think about. My daughter snapped this picture.

 Sometimes, the little things just make you think.

 Now on to more thoughtful topics.

WHY DID WE MOVE?

We had a moment or a few of life reflection and planning out a hopeful retirement, redirection of our lives and said...why wait to retire to live our dreams. The options for us was, option 1: work diligently to save, pinch every penny to invest away and be able to live in Hawaii for 2 months out of the year - while we were still healthy and able to travel. Option number 2 was, have a mini-retirement of 12 weeks stay anywhere we want to explore, every 3 years as it would take us that long to save up for it and take off of our jobs. Option number 3 was - work where we want to explore, live or retire and experience our retirement dream life now.

Well you know which one we chose.

Will we move back ever? Will we move to another exotic place?

Maybe. Maybe not. But we are opened to figuring it out. So stay tuned.

Some blogs that helped us change our way of thinking in that typical work til you are near dead to retire are: (GoCurryCracker, Budgets are Sexy, and Afford Anything)

NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED HOMESCHOOL PROGRAM

Since moving, the homeschool group we found spends lots of time on field trips. Which is perfect for us and how we plan our co op time. In addition, I have found some traditional school goodies like 'Spring Break Camp', Summer Camps, After School Programs, and various sports that make homeschooling here a lot of fun.

This was our first week back to full-time homeschool (sort of)

Speed Racer completed his Abeka Curriculum, so he has a lighter schedule until we resume full-time status in August. Tiger Lilly has been focusing on her college classes which started the Sunday we moved here. She had a rough start since we didn't have internet for a week.

SPEED RACER (age 11yrs) my Middle Schooler

Homeschooled at 4th grade on.

Speed Racer is back from hiatus of no internet and Spring Break Camp at the YMCA.

He surprised me with the vigor in which he finished his studies this week. I think the kid was actually bored with not doing school work.

We are focusing on catching up to Speed Racer's Landry classes.  Electricity and Robotics are the hardest to catch up on as they have at least 3 projects that we are behind in. He only got through one project of each and has to double up to catch up with his class. He did 2 assignments in his Scratch class with Landry and just has 2 more to make up before he is on track with the class.

He is also behind in his 5 Paragraph Writing Class, he finished Lesson 4's journal entry, quiz and exercises then emailed the teacher his progress to be reviewed.

Speed Racer is getting back on the wagon again with Algebra 1 in Teaching Textbook I started him back at Lesson 1. His scores started decreasing and hey, with homeschooling, we have time to redo. Also, he is taking Saxon based interactive class next year with Landry and I want him to get the basics solidified. With CTCMath he is still reviewing Basic Math concepts and doing speed drills.

Membean has started up again and he lost some momentum he has to recover. He is back on track  with Python Programming and finished up an exercise a day.  with Code Academy and we took a break with IXL for Language.

TIGER LILLY (age 14 yrs) the Dual enrolled High Schooler

Homeschooled at 7th grade on.

Second 8 weeks of the Spring Semester at University of Maryland, University College (UMUC.edu) She started 3 classes on March 14 that run til May 9th, 2016. She only has 78 credits to go for her BS in Information Systems and Minor in Computer Science with them. Woot!

Her most challenging class this 2nd half of the Spring is Pre-Calc.  She requested to take her Java 2 class in the summer (go figure she doesn't mind taking a programming class in the summer). She had a rough start with her Economics class and had to sign up for the online tutor group. Her Professional Writing Class is proving useful and she is actually enjoying it. The teacher is good and she got off to a great start.


The Landry courses were on hold for awhile, so she too is playing catch up with them. C Programming she completed 1 of the 3 programs she is behind on. PC Pro she has 2 weeks worth to make up and only completed one of them. In Japanese she said she feels like she is drowning and too far behind to catch up, but she worked at it and made it through a week's assignment.

She is also taking Relational Database design using Udemy and SQLZoo since she will have that class in the fall and I want her to familiarize herself with the material before taking the class.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals - it is way too expensive here to go out to eat. So myself and Tiger Lilly cooked. Even got lazy and had sandwhich and cereal for dinner some nights.

Cleaning. I am a neat freak in my new home. Why? Because I have way less stuff! And I like it. I really like having less.

Work & Life Balance. Loving the new job, new home, and commute to work. The job has been hectic since I've had to work late for 2 of my first 3 weeks to do work they were holding over until they hired someone. But everyone was helpful and the kids were in camp so it wasn't a BIG problem. It was a BIG challenge since I am operating as a single parent these last 3 weeks and had to drop off and pick up kids from camp on my own.

Lesson Planning. Back at it again. It's real easy now that the kids have less than half of their other 'BLOCK' sessions.

Rest. My sleep is off because I am getting used to the time change. Also, shhhh.... don't tell my husband, but I haven't been using my sleep machine since I haven't found a nightstand I wanted. Therefore, I have no place to sit the darn thing that it will reach my face. 

Marriage Check Up. It has been HARD being away from my Hubba! This is the longest we have been away from each other. We call, text, Skype, cry and moan about when we will be together again. It's rather romantic - yet VERY frustrating.