Since we were on our train adventure two weeks before Lent, my Facebook hiatus seemed extra-long this year. It seems like so much time has passed. I’m having trouble deciding to rejoin the “world” of Facebook. While it’s true, there are a whole bunch of people there whom I really enjoy, there is also a lot of other clutter there. I seem to remember feeling this way in past years after Lent too. I suppose I always fall back into the flow of things eventually. I actually think Facebook may be good to help remind me that there is life outside this Woodlands bubble. It’s easy to get comfortable with the people and relationships I have in the real world. Facebook does have a grounding effect to be daily reminded of my past.

Anyhow, for those of you who are interested, here’s a run-down of what’s been going on over here.

Well you know there’s been lots of gardening! Spring is in full effect. The garden is looking pretty darn skippy still at this time of year. No bugs, droughts, or plant diseases have struck just yet. I’ve learned so much in Master Gardener training this year. I’m hopeful and excited to see if it all pays off.

Speaking of Master Gardener training, I finished with the classroom portion before our trip. I’ve done 30 hours so far of the hands-on training in the MCMGA gardens. It’s been so much fun! I’ve met so many awesome people whom I want to keep for pets. I’m usually the only person under 50 working in the gardens so I end up doing a lot of shoveling and hauling. It’s funny that I pay someone to do that at home only to go up there and do it for free as a volunteer. That’s a special kind of crazy. Anyway, needless to say I’m completely loving the whole experience.

I had a super happy birthday! Corbin was on a boy scout campout so since David and I planned to go out to dinner the day after my birthday, my friend Heidi and I went downtown to see Rachel Held Evans speak. We had a whole bunch of fun just goofing around town way past our bedtimes. 🙂

We also got a new dog. We adopted her from a breeder who hadn’t socialized her at all. She is 10 months old and she doesn’t know her name, doesn’t know what treats are, and is pretty scared of everything. We’ve had her for 3 weeks now and she’s really doing great. We work with her every day. So far she has picked up ‘Sit’ ‘Down’ and she has adopted a toy she loves. Clinton adopted her brother and has him up in Dallas. I think they are going to be great dogs!

As for homeschooling, I think we are really getting in the swing of it. Corbin’s making great progress that I never could have dreamed possible. We’ve nailed down a pretty good system using Evernote. Each day I itemize his assignments required for that day and he just checks them off as he goes along. I can track his progress from my phone when I’m in the gardens or other times I’m out for a bit during the day. He generally finishes his self-led assignments by the time I’m home around lunch. I check them for errors, we go back and go over anything he didn’t understand, and we spend the rest of the day doing more hands-on activities, outings, or projects etc. We’ve joined a homeschool support group, and Corbin is doing a homeschool soccer club.

So that’s pretty much it for me. I can’t wait to hear what’s been going on with everyone else!