My Week So Far - Busy Monday and Stressful Tuesday

Oops!!! Sorry!!!
I forgot to post my Blast From The Past yesterday.

I had a busy day on Monday. Someone on one of the groups I am on asked a question about teaching History chronologically. Then I e-mailed her and told her if she had more questions to just ask. Then she wanted to know how long it takes me to cover Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. So wanting to give her accurate times I looked for my History and Science Log pages. I could not find them anywhere. I had my son help me move and look in numerous boxes of stuff that I need to get to and take care of, some of which is stuff to put in Portfolios that I am behind in doing from the years we were building our house... now finish those portfolios is added to my ever lengthening list of things to get done before we start school again the end of July!!! Anyway, he came up to help me look in the boxes under my table in my bedroom and I turned around and said, "WAIT!! Stop! I see a pile of papers on top of my table maybe they are in there." So I looked and oh no there they were... all that time searching and they were not in a box but right on top of my table. Which is piled high with books by the way. So I decided after I e-mailed her that I would make a list of what topics for History we have done over all the years we have done school. I have one for Science but since we just do History chronologically, so we just do the next period in History one after another, unlike Science where it is not chronological, I had never made a list for History. So I went through the Portfolios -- not counting the two years I have not finished yet-- and so there is a gap in the records-- and worked it all down and put it in a word processing document.

Just in case anyone is interested, and so that I have it saved in another place, I am going to put the list here as well. I love teaching History and make my own History plans so if you have any questions about teaching History chronologically, just ask.

Here is the list:

History Subjects We Have Done - by the year

• 1991-92 BJU Beginnings K [Teaching Rachel only]
  
• 92-93 Heritage Studies 1: Christian Heritage (home, family, community), and Our American Heritage (continent, country, Christmas customs, America's Birth and growth, America Today)
• 93-94 Creation to Joseph (in preparation for starting Greenleaf Press Famous Men of Egypt)
  
• 94-95 Egypt (Did not start until Spring 95??? not sure why -Nathan was born summer 94 maybe that is why) [Jessica started K]
  
• 95-96 Egypt
• 96-97 Greece
• 97-98 ??? Rome ??? (probably but this is one of the years of missing info)
  
• 98-99 ??? Prairie Primer – World of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie ??? or More Rome??? Not sure
• 99-00 Middle Ages [Nathan started K]
  
• 00-01 Renaissance and Reformation to beginning of Pilgrims (World of Captain John Smith
• 01-02 Pilgrims, Revolutionary War and Colonial
• 02-03 Expansion, Pioneers, early 1800's – Civil War [Christopher started K]
  
• 03-04 End of the Civil War, Reconstruction, Early 1900's, and WWI [Rachel Graduated spring '04]
  
• 04-05 WWII to Modern Times
• 05-06 Creation, OT History and Egypt (time to start History over, Yeah!!)
  
• 06-07 more OT History starting with the Judges, more of Egypt, Greece and the beginnings of Rome [Jessica Graduated Spring '07]
  
• 07-08 Rome through the beginnings of the Dark Ages
• 08-09 Middle Ages
  

Future Year
09-10 Renaissance and Reformation

So that took up most of Monday and then I had to cook dinner Monday is my night to cook.

Then yesterday I had a lot of stress and conflict about a sign that the county put in our yard that is for our neighborhood. If you want to see details of when they put the sign in and pictures my daughter put it on her blog here. Well they came to dig up two dead tree trunks that were behind the sign and the took out the lilac bush that was next to the sign. The lilac bush did not belong to us, luckily we moved my rose bush we had planted out there by the original sign when they came to put in the new bigger one. They said they had orders and were just following orders. I don't blame them, I know they were just workers.

Well, I called DelDOT and they said the orders came from Senator McBride so I called his office and he called me back. He was very nice, I kept my temper and did not cry either, but he, in so many words, said that the property the sign is on does not belong to us. The county and state own so far in on each property and have a right of way to do anything they want with that part, of what we thought, was our property. They did a survey before they put the sign up to make sure it did not go on our property. One of the unfortunate points is that we were never informed about the sign and did not go to any neighborhood meetings so we were out of the loop.

Well, we are on the corner of our neighborhood which is only one street and two shorter streets at the end in a T shape. At the end of both sides of the top of the T the street dead ends. There are approx. 25 homes, each a duplex, so 50 homeowners or so (I have never counted that is just an estimate). The sign is huge for such a small, relatively poor, neighborhood and evidently the county owns a lot of our land since we have a lot of space that is next to the roads, since we are on the corner.

I was also upset because there have been numerous times I have been sorry to have asked for the property on the corner. That was my call. I wanted the corner because it had a little more yard but we have been sorry many times. We have more traffic noise from the street. We had a car run into our fence and leave without getting his information... it is yet to be fixed, we cannot afford it! It was years and years ago. We had a car catch on fire on the main road right next to our yard, and now the trouble with this dumb sign.

To make matters worse, my dh, who has been even more upset by this whole thing, came home, ranted and raged and called Senator McBride's office and left a message on his machine. He was angry and yelling and unreasonable. It got me started all over again. He hates living here and wants to move to the country somewhere but we cannot afford it. We are barely making it here and our Habitat house has such low mortgage and no interest on that lone! We could never afford it on what he makes. It will take a miracle from God for that to happen and we have not seen to many miracles around here lately. He also hates feeling like he has no control over things. He calmed down by later in the evening, and was sorry about loosing it on the phone, but I wish he had just waited to call until he was more calmed down. I told him if Senator McBride called back I was not answering it. I will leave it on the answering machine for him to deal with. He does not think Senator McBride will call him back, but he called me back yesterday. I missed his first message and called him back and he called me a second time. So, I am sure Court will get a call back.

Well, isn't that a cheery post. I am still recovering from yesterday. I will do the Blast next week. Sorry about that. I hope the rest of the week goes better than the first two days!

Hope your week has been better than mine too,
Trying to Rest in the Palm of Christ's Hands and His Sovereignty,
knowing "This World is Not My Home, I'm Just A Passin' Through"
Debbie