Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Trilogy Curse Strikes Again

Okay, to be fair, most of the third (bad to awful) installments I was thinking about when I chose the title of this blog post were films. What films you ask? Well, Return of the Jedi is one. Lucas lost me with the Ewoks, and the horrible dialogue, and don't even get me started on the prequels. Then there are Superman III, Spider-man III, The Godfather III, and Shrek the Third (actually, I didn't like any of the Shrek films, except for maybe the fourth installment which redeemed itself a bit for me). I'm sure there are more that I'm missing.

When it comes to books, I've had better experiences with trilogies. The first trilogy I remember having read was John Christopher's dystopian sci-fi Tripod Trilogy. I loved that series, all the way through, and have been meaning to go back and re-read them. I also remember enjoying John Jakes' North and South trilogy, which was a grossly inappropriate read for me at the time. I was only about eleven or twelve, and really shouldn't have been exposed to such adult themes, but my Mom, who didn't speak English, didn't realize she had to censor my reading. I read the first two books in the Bourne Trilogy in high school and loved them, too. The third book was released shortly afterwards, and was just okay, and not nearly as good as the first two. Again, I'm sure there are several others, but now that I think of it, several of the series I've read consist of more than three books.

Like many people, granted, mostly teens, I had been eagerly anticipating the release of Suzanne Collins' third installment in the Hunger Games trilogy (Mockingjay). As can be inferred from what I have written, I greatly enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy. The second book received some negative press as to many, and to be frank, even to me, it seemed that the second book was nothing more than a rehashing of the first. Ultimately, this didn't matter to me, as I had enjoyed the first one so much. And I grew even more excited about the series when I heard that it was being adapted for the screen. I felt that it had everything necessary to translate well into a summer blockbuster--tons of action, an interesting story, a strong heroine, a love triangle, and a battle against good and evil. Well, that's what I used to think anyway.

I received a copy of the book later than I had anticipated, and then didn't find the time to read it until last weekend, and what can I say? I was sorely disappointed. The people you had grown to care about, were all out of character in this book. It felt to me that Collins sought to vilify one particular character for the sole purpose of having things tie up nicely at the end. The dialogue was stilted, and the heroine found herself unconscious a lot of the time. Huge developments in the story were told to you, rather than experienced in the narrative. Major characters' deaths were glossed over. The relationships between characters in this book weren't as developed as they were in the previous books, and at the end, characters were simply dismissed without fanfare.

All in all, it was a dreary read. Sure, the book deals with war, and it's a given that war is not a pleasant thing. But most of the pivotal action, i.e. the actual defeating of the enemy, happens behind-the-scenes. Shouldn't this be the most exciting bit? And to make matters worse, the over-all feeling left behind after reading it, is sheer and utter hopelessness.

I'm not one to demand happy endings. I don't expect there to always be a silver lining, but I do like when stories make sense. Some may think that the ending was realistic, but for pity's sake, the world depicted in the novels is one where unrealistic things are possible, as evidenced by the technology used by the opposing forces. Sigh. It just fell flat for me, and I can't for the life of me understand how it is receiving favorable reviews at all.

Autopilot

I'd be lying if I said that things were going smoothly. Sure, the autopilot thing is true, but most of the time it feels as if we're flying by the seat of our pants. And we've been at this for years! But high school has really made me extra anxious. I know I'm capable of teaching it, and I made sure to purchase what I felt were the best materials, offering tons of teacher helps, but I'm still anxious. And when I'm anxious, I tend to over-compensate. So there have been several projects, and even tests. I'm not a "tester" per se, but I figured that it wouldn't hurt to start, particularly considering the fact that my daughter has exhibited a sincere interest in enrolling at our local high school for her sophomore year. I guess we'll cross that bridge soon enough.

Fifth and Sixth grade are going along swimmingly actually. I'm glad I decided to combine my younger two this year. My son, a full year and a half younger than my sixth grade daughter, has been ready for a bit of a challenge anyway. He keeps up very well, only he hasn't yet mastered written speed. While he comprehends everything, and composes well, his physical writing is still painfully slow. And slower yet when he makes an effort to write neatly. Any assignments that require writing are still challenging for him. He is learning to type now, so that may help matters, but it's still important to me that he gets past this little bump in the road.

And in other news, it's 86 days until Christmas. EIGHTY-SIX! As is common for me every year, I always plan to get done with my shopping early. Every year, I broadcast this plan, making a futile attempt to establish some sort of accountability. And yet, I recently read that telling others your plans is the absolute worst thing you can do, as it sets you up for failure. Oh well, I still think I work best under pressure, so consider this my disclosure.

I fully intend to be done with Christmas shopping by the first week of December.

There, I've said it. And I really wavered for a moment there, as I had initially planned to write that I'd be done by Thanksgiving weekend. Now, while getting done early has been tough for me in the past, I think the greatest challenge I have this year is to really stick to my budget. But this is always a challenge. And it's not because I can't realistically stay within budget. My problem is that I love to give gifts, and I have to keep myself from over-purchasing. Lest I be mistaken for the type of person to go grossly overboard, rest assured that I am not. Our budget is very modest, and what I consider as going overboard would seem laughable to most people.

The urgency of staying within budget is due to our recent transition back into being a one-income family. Overall, this transition hasn't gone badly. Of course, I planned in advance, so we are still able to share a lot of the financial responsibility. Eventually however, my husband will be doing it all on his own, and that does concern me a bit. But I'm still hopeful that I will think of something to do to make money. The only thing that worries me is how to continue going at the pace I'm going now with our schooling, once I'm gainfully employed again. Sure, I managed for about three years, but we certainly weren't as busy then as we are now. This year we're out of the house for activities and volunteering at an average of about four days per week. This doesn't include once a month classes/activities, or weekly errands. When I see everything written out like this, I can't help but feel panicked.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Want some whine with that?

I'm sick.  And whiney.  Yes, despite the heaps of vitamin C, increased exercise, making an effort to observe an earlier bedtime, experimenting with acupressure points to unblock my nose, and generally trying to keep positive about all of the above, I succumbed to a cold.  Now, if I were like my husband, I'd contract the cold, and a day or two later, I'd be as good as new.  But of course, I'm not like that at all.  Colds linger with me...for several days, and even weeks.  These often (but not always) turn into bouts of bronchitis, and when that happens, my asthma flares, and well, we're sometimes looking at a few months' worth of frustration.

The kids have been sick, too, which has meant that our schooling has been spotty.  Not a big deal of course, as I always add lots of wiggle room to our schedule anyway, to account for days like these.  

Okay, I just thought I'd update as I've been MIA for a few days.  I've just had some Theraflu (yick), and I'm going to try to get some sleep.  

Friday, September 10, 2010

Stuff, or How I Lack Blog Post Title Creativity

Last night I went to my first ever Catechist meeting to usher in the new school year.  This will be my fourth year teaching CCD, but it's the first time we've all gotten together for a meeting.  The primary motive was to go over our new parish curriculum (Benziger).  I'm teaching the 2nd grade this year, so I received two smallish books for sacramental preparation (Eucharist and Reconciliation manuals).  I guess the program is okay--seems easy enough to implement in a classroom situation, and is fairly well laid out, but it's still not my preference.  I'm more of a "back-to-basics" kind of catechist, and I appreciate resources like the Baltimore Catechism, so these parish programs drive me up a wall.  I keep feeling that there's a lot of beating around the bush involved, rather than just getting to the point.  If you beat around the bush enough, the children are bound to get confused.  All that said, I am pleased that our new parish program seems a bit less cluttered than what we used previously (Sadlier), and some of the language does seem clearer.  I'm sure I'll have more to add, both positive and negative, once I've gotten the chance to teach from it for a while.

Also, on a positive note, our new DRE is just wonderful.  She is so efficient and organized.  I admit, I was just a tad bit envious of her organizational skills.  She seems to have thought of everything.  We all received complete packets with masters of activity sheets, as well as schedules, special prayers to share with the children, and tips--lots of tips.  If only I could bottle up a bit of her organizational know-how and enthusiasm, I'd be a happy camper.  Actually, I could use more than a bit of these this year!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Still Recuperating

As usual, I labored on Labor Day, and I'm just wrecked this week.  Yes, the exhaustion is carrying over this far into the week, but I hope I'll somehow get a renewed burst of energy today, particularly after our kung fu class tonight.  But of course, then that would mean that I'd be too wired to settle down to sleep later.  In the meantime, I suppose I could just opt for a caffeine fix.

School is going as well as I had hoped, and the deeper we get into our materials, the more pleased I am with them.  We're still relatively new to IEW, but so far, so good.  There are things about the program, however, that are rubbing me the wrong way--for instance, the composition checklist prompting you to add a who/which clause (Why is this necessary?  I urge my dd to skip it if tacking it on seems well, too tacked on), and some of the models they use aren't the best, but it's the sort of hand-holding I needed right now, so for that I'm appreciative.  I don't want to rush to make judgments either way, so I'm riding out these little annoyances for now.  I'm hoping it will all make sense eventually.  So far, it seems easier to use than I had expected.  Granted, we're using SWI-C, so I'm sure that changes things a bit.  Some reviews made it out to seem super time intensive, and perhaps it will be so later on down the road, but for now, the time commitment seems reasonable to me.

As I think I have mentioned before, we're also incorporating some of the writing guidelines Susan Wise Bauer mentions in her writing MP3's (the frequent short persuasive essays), and we are going through Anthony Weston's A Rulebook for Arguments right now for Logic/Rhetoric.  The aforementioned MP3's actually prompted me to pull out my copy of D'Angelo's Composition in the Classical Tradition, and this time, I took more than a cursory look through its content.  I love D'Angelo's explanations of the progymnasmata exercises (the clearest I've seen yet), and I'm sure I'll be incorporating these as well.  As an aside, apparently, SWB suggests using D'Angelo's book alongside Corbett's (i.e. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student).  I wonder where this leaves Kane's New Oxford Guide to Writing, which The Well-Trained Mind suggests we use after Weston's A Rulebook for Arguments?  I'm confuzled.  I think I need a nap.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Children Have Spoken

I was just informed by the Littles that they miss doing Greek (Koine). It wasn't my intention to just drop it this year.  Frankly, I very nearly just forgot about it--not surprising really, considering the general disorder of things in my head.  It's not like we really need something else to add in, but if the kids don't protest, and in fact ask for something more, I guess there's no harm in obliging.  But oh, what of the schedule?  When to fit it all in?  Guess that we'll be picking up where we left off in the Elementary Greek program (from Open Texture), but we'll surely need to review after our extended time off from the program.  Joy!  It's not like I'm dreading getting back into it or anything, just maybe a little frustrated about having to do all of that reviewing first.

Oh, and tangentially related, the Littles have also shared that they miss their Latin Prep (LP) program from Galore Park.  We were going through this primer series at a ridiculously slow pace, which is why I made the choice to switch to First Form Latin in the first place.  I can see why they miss LP, what with its conversational style and distinct British humor.  While the order of the cases is different from that of American programs, that hasn't been an issue for us.  LP suggests a silly, and mildly irreverent (made me lol) little mnemonic to aid in learning the order of the cases:

Naughty - Nominative
Vicars - Vocative
Always - Accusative
Go - Genitive
Downstairs - Dative
Awkwardly - Ablative

We've just come up with another mnemonic to help us remember the American order.

Napoleon - Nominative
Gives - Genitive
Deb - Dative
Agita - Accusative
And - Ablative
Vexation - Vocative

Okay, not very imaginative, I know.  But it sent the Littles into fits of laughter as soon as I thought of it, and they haven't forgotten the American order yet.  A mild success the way I see it!

Because Dave Ramsey Said So

For anyone who has read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover," I'm sure that his oft-repeated phrase turned mantra will ring a bell.

If you'll live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.


For those not in the know, basically the gist of the message is this:  If you make sacrifices now, like keeping your clunker instead of trading it in for another more expensive vehicle, or even foregoing that expensive meal at a fancy restaurant, opting instead for a nice homemade meal, you will eventually be able to afford that flashy new car, and an occasional meal you wouldn't have to cook.  I was just struck however, by how my own concepts of "sacrifice" and "luxury" have evolved over the years, particularly after "living like no one else" for what seems at times like forever (I'm referring here to the former, rather than to the latter  meaning of the phrase).  Ultimately, I've come to see our family as privileged even to have a moving vehicle (even if our little beat-up car has earned the nickname of The Banshee, due to the ungodly sounds it makes), and while it would be nice to be able to afford to eat out more often, it's certainly not high up there on the list of luxuries in which we're dying to take part (well, come back and ask me about that when I'm having a bad day!).  Basically, "living like no one else" has had a very different effect on our family than the one I had initially thought it would.  Instead of making us more desirous of luxuries, it's made us more cynical of them.  While living this way will indeed allow us to afford more in the future, I'm thinking we probably won't skimp on the continued frugality.