The rain that falls today is very welcome to me. Nathan has just left for another semester of college, and though I know it's part of his growing up and leaving the nest, it still makes a mother's heart feel cloudy. Too, it makes me really look forward to the fall even though I am under no illusion that our summer here is over. But it does help in putting me in the mood for the start of another school year, always hard when it's still 103 outside.

Everyone ready for the Democratic convention? I feel in my bones that there's going to be some surprise, some DemDrama in Denver that will make it worth watching. I hope so--I'm a political animal and I would love to see something other than a carefully choreographed pep rally. Let's have some real POLITICS, folks...the kind that made this country great!

Many in our family have spent the week counting, cropping, and cataloging thousands of photos from vacation. We have mused about how different it is than the days when we'd lug home thirty rolls of film and still have to face the developing charges, knowing that half of them would be throw aways after they were paid for. How NICE to have these cameras that hold hundreds of photos and then delete and doctor to our hearts content...and then with the click of a mouse share them with all the people who care (and probably many who don't). A very nice way to wind down a lovely vacation...

The Papa and I have both had physicals recently and have been delighted to find that our "numbers" are great, other than my persistently high fasting blood glucose number. My diabetes is under good control and getting better with increased attention to my diet, and John's cholesterol, hereditarily high, is responding well to changes in both diet and meds.

The three girls who still live at Granny's House all start their college classes tomorrow morning. Have I mentioned we have four in college this year? Is this a record? For us it is!

While away on vacation I did finish a couple of books: The Strangeness of Beauty by Lydia Minatoya, and Defining the World by Henry Hitchings. The first was lyrical and magical; the second was like an exquisite feast for a language lover, both in the subject material and in the writing style. I recommend both books.

Wondering about preschool? President Obama will decide for you.

Have questions about public schools becoming social service centers? President Obama's biggest supporters, the teachers' unions, will decide for you.

UPDATE: The addition of XM radio to our car trip arsenal was WONDERFUL. Technology-wise, it didn't quite make up for the fact that my iPhone crashed, AGAIN, but it did make the hours between cities much nicer and gave us more choices than we knew what to do with.

Not meaning to gush, of course, but I have in the past two weeks been reminded afresh of what a blessing I have in my husband and my children--those still at home and those with their own homes. They and their children have populated my life with sweet treasure that I don't deserve and cannot repay. God created this remarkable tapestry with no more raw materials than a couple of poor, naive kids in the early seventies... and this reminds me of His larger creative power and His infinite ability to sustain even the seemingly unsustainable. He is good. And yes, if it all falls apart tomorrow, He is still good.

Well, the rain has stopped for now and I need to work on some chore charts and schedules for the new semester. Real life has come 'round again and I must participate. And for me, there's no substitute for seeing it all on a spreadsheet :-)

Snip, snip, that's all folks!

Labels: Books, Education, Family, Health, Homeschooling, Political Observation, Vacations