I say this every year and every year I mean it: I can’t believe it’s only 3 weeks until Christmas. What happened to my 2007?
It seems like just yesterday I was marveling at my mother-in-law’s collection of Sterno cans, batteries, plastic sheeting and bottled water, accumulated in preparation for the apocalypse expected to occur at 12:01 AM, January 1, 2000, when every computer in the world would crash and airplanes fall from the sky, our banking system lose everyone’s money and microwave ovens spontaneously explode.
In 2000 we welcomed our second baby, Chris, to the family. He was such a beautiful baby – perfect. His eyes were strikingly deep blue and testified to his intelligence as he discerned the world around him. He would watch closely the movement of my lips when I spoke to him, as though processing how it was I made these various sounds. Indeed, when he did begin to speak, it was with clarity, amazing imagination and a well developed vocabulary.
2001-2002 saw big changes for us. My mother-in-law passed away, leaving us her apocalypse provisions; the company Chuck worked for was bought by another and they let most of their corporate officers go, including him. We stood at that fork in the road and I supported his decision to take the path less travelled. What a bumpy road it has been! Bootstrapping a business is not for the feint-hearted. In addition to the job change, we (and our wonderful insurance company) endured a $150,000 mold remediation to our house, then sold it and downsized our lives.
2002-2006 are the dark years for me as I struggled with depression and progressive reclusion. The change in lifestyle of not only leaving my own career to be a stay-at-home mom, but with the financial instability and struggles that go along with starting a company have taken their toll on me mentally and physically.
We started home schooling in the fall of 2003 and, frankly, it wasn’t my idea. However, after meeting lots and lots of home schooling families, lots and lots of prayers and research into curriculum, the decision was made. Although it hasn’t always been easy or fun or even consistent, it has been an amazing experience to teach the boys to read, do math and learn about God’s creation and how things work – and HIStory! Our favorite subject is history.
In 2007 I decided being a recluse was not healthy for me and especially not healthy for the boys, so we joined a general co-op and I organized a history co-op to meet weekly. I’ve put a priority on getting the boys out of the house often and we’ve switched to a more demanding curriculum. It’s been the best year ever.
Now the end of the year is closing in and, for the first time this decade, I’m really looking forward to what the next year has in store. Oh, and should an asteroid hit the earth, or the active volcano called Yellowstone National Park blow her top, we’re ready. We’ve got a fine collection of Sterno cans, plastic sheeting and batteries.
Let it come.