After I “vented” about last week I had writer’s remorse; I even contemplated deleting the post. A chat conversation and an email encouraged me to leave it alone.
 
Tuesday my Mom called for the express purpose of giving me an ear to vent to. What a gift she gave me! Thank you, Mom, for listening, for asking questions, for being you. It helped me.

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent at home doing laundry and spending time with Faith who helped me clean out my closet. Actually, she did all the work cleaning it out. It looks sooo much better.

Markus during Nationals

Tim & I have spent time cuddling in the his chair while watching TV, going to a movie and talking about what we want to do over the next three weeks. It has been nice. Different kids and grand kids have stopped in and been such a delight. Tim made us all chicken noodle soup & cookies one day and lentil stew yesterday. Soul food…

Josiah will soon be 2 years old. He has his daddy’s curls.

 
Today I went into the spa for class and an appointment. It was wonderful to be back with my classmates and teacher. I have missed them all so much! Dear Anne brought me a loaf of fresh made bread and a POUND of sweet butter! We talked; we laughed; we simply enjoyed being together. What a blessing they all are to me.

Tim had an end of the year OKC Storm pizza party tonight. A parent made this cartoon for him. Thanks Tim Farmer…I love it!

It is a good visual of what the week of Nationals is like for him…and yet he still loves it. Go figure. Layers of tiredness continue to peel off of him. Today he was at the spa for a massage and time in the sauna then he surprised me by bringing me dinner to eat during my night class. When I got home tonight he looked wiped out. He continues to work on tying up all the little loose ends from last week so that when we leave town Saturday he can be free from it all.

Monday David, Katie and baby Bella packed up and headed off to Georgia.
Tim and I were able to spend a couple of hours at their apartment as they finished off the last bits of loading the moving van.

We are excited for them….that helped deal with the pain of saying good-bye. Although our boys have gone off for extended periods, this is the first one to move far away. We now have another place to add to our travel list.

Our parting photos:
 

Safe travels, dear children.

Another Nationals is in the bag. Our first year in Springfield, MO went well. We found many areas that need improving, but overall the event was a great success. So many people helped in numerous ways. Without that help the week long event hosting 344 teams would never be possible.

This past week I realized several key items:

The people that try to bully you in order to get their own way must be dealt with directly and firmly. Soft stepping makes no impression upon them. They just tell and retell their story over and over again looking for some angle to manipulate with. After years of dealing with this type of person at Nationals I no longer had any tolerance for them. They all get mad at me in the long run once they realize they cannot get their own way, so I just cut to the chase this year. I refused to be bullied, and I refused to second guess myself.

In the past I often deflected the appreciation that people expressed to us for making Nationals possible. This year I soaked it up. Each spoken and written word of thanks was like fresh spring water to me. I work Nationals because of Tim. It is his vision, his passion and my love and respect for him that enables me to do Nationals work. I have no great love for working with most of the homeschool parents. For the first time I seriously doubted whether I would/could continue to be involved. The few ugly people almost ruined the whole experience for me this year.

I was amazed by how much people just assume things. Their assumptions are based upon their emotions, personal views, warped vision, feelings yet rarely upon fact and truth. Their assumptions made lying easy for them. Truth become irrelevant. Subjective thinking verse objective thinking. I think I’ve heard that before. 

The flippant usage of the word “Christian” shocked me this year. “A “Christian” event ought not be…” “It isn’t very “Christian” to do such and such…” What was of great interest to me is that each and every time that argument was used there was not one shred of “Christian” attitude in the conduct of the speaker. I was often left shaking my head in confusion. One woman’s attitude and manipulating story was so startling that I actually choked on the chocolate I was eating. I still chuckle when I think of how bizarre her thought process was. When I wouldn’t give in to her demand I am sure she had some very “unchristian” thoughts towards me. LOL

The people who volunteered their time, efforts, and energy meant more to me this year than in the past. The gift of an Andy’s frozen custard or a late night latte or a quick unexpected lunch with Tim and some of our kids were precious to me. Seeing a grandchild’s face light up when they saw me this past week overwhelmed me with joy. Seeing our sons and their families working in different areas during the weeks encouraged me.

My mistakes this week & Tim’s kindness in every case taught me the most. One mistake created numerous headaches for him. His understanding, support and even appreciation for my work in that area in spite of my mistake exposed my intolerance of other people’s weaknesses. I was humbled by the experience.