Updates

I did something a little different with the rune studies this week. I've been pulling a rune, then finding the corresponding card, which I tape into one of my spell books with my other rune information. The cards aren't very accurate, but occasionally I find an interesting tidbit so I want to keep the cards. This week when I opened the pouch, I noticed Radio was the top card. This is my favorite rune. So instead of drawing a random rune, I searched for Radio. I've been doing spells, but I don't know yet how well they are working.

Someone is stealing from my mother. The latest item gone was a hatchet. Several times we have discovered items have disappeared. Before the hatchet, antifreeze disappeared out of the shop. On the day Mom told me about the hatchet I caught two teenage boys stealing firewood. I've locked the gate and now regularly drive by to check on the property. My husband and I are working to secure things. Eventually we will have cameras. It is nerve-wracking because it's something else to worry about.

I was watching my stepson write. He forms his letters oddly, almost as if he never learned to write and is guessing at how to make the shape. Then I read an article on dyslexia and the importance of writing, especially if they sound out the letters while writing. I'm going to start teaching cursive. And phonics.

Really don't know what to do about home schooling. I hate it. The boys are lazy. They don't want to learn anything. They don't want to write. Due to the common core curriculum in the public school, they never learned basic math. Now they struggle with geometry. And try hard to avoid any mathematics at all costs. I spend a ridiculous amount of time on behavior issues rather than teaching.

I may go back to work. The problem is we need money now so I should be working now. But if we put the kids in private school all my pay will go to tuition and we still won't have money. Next year I can send them to a different public school but if I put them back in now they will be at the same crappy school that didn't teach them math. In order to avoid subpar education my in-laws would have to take over home schooling and they fail so miserably when I do ask them to help that I know the boys won't learn anything and eventually they will just watch tv all day while I'm at work.

And of course I don't know what to do with my daughter. She would go to pre-k but I refuse to send her to the bad school. In-laws won't keep her because they're hoarders with piles of stuff everywhere and she manages to break something every time she's next door. If they keep her here then my sister-in-law can snoop. My mom isn't going to want to keep her every day. I can put her in daycare, but again that defeats the purpose of having a job. Really, I'm not even sure I could trust my in-laws to put the boys on the school bus every day. My husband doesn't think they can do it either. They may agree to help, but when it comes to actually doing the routine they are going to fall short, if they even stick with it. They've never seen anything through in the past.

And then there's the job itself. 12 hour shifts. I would be gone at least 13 hours 3 days a week. That's more mileage on a truck already worn out and needing to be replaced. That's less home cooked meals, and a whole lot more planning and food prep. And then there's job related stress.

We would have good insurance, I'd make more than my husband, we could pay down our debt and boost our credit score. But all that comes with a price.

My art would suffer because I wouldn't have time to create, but ironically I would be able to afford show entry fees and membership dues.

It's a lot to think about.