I appreciate the awesome feedback I have gotten from some ladies on facebook. It's really encouraging. I am working on updating my profile and thinking of what sort of blog "articles" I want to write. I am very inspired by some of the amazing moms out there in the Orthodox Blogosphere. I avidly follow some of the humorous and satirical blogs.
So I figured, since I am going to update my profile tonight (maybe, if I stay awake long enough) that I would tell you a little bit more about me. My biography a few posts back is just the story of my discovery of the Church, but it's far from the story of me. And it does cut off almost three years ago!
Let me start with an update of where I am since I wrote that bio.
I LOVE the OCA parish I was in when that bio was written. I made deep and lasting friendships there. There are women in that parish whom I consider mentors and second-mothers. It is absolutely certain that my life would be in a much different place if I had not formed those relationships. I thank God every day for the love of, especially, the women I met at St. John The Wonderworker Orthodox Church. I do hope, ladies, that if you read this, you know who you are!
I ended up moving in with my parents for a while to try to get back on my feet. I think that this is easier said than done, and for a woman like me, it is impossible to get back onto my feet when I am living at home in my childhood bedroom. I don't know why that is. That's something I am exploring. But I do much better when I am on my own. My family WORKS much better when my son and I are in our own home, and we finally are, for the first time since he was an infant!
Living with my parents, I was very near to Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, but more than an hour from St. John's, so Jack and I started attending the Greek parish regularly. We've moved yet another hour north, but Holy Transfiguration is STILL the closest parish, so that is where we attend, as regularly as possible. Jack adores Father Panayiotis, and I have made some friends at church. Two weeks ago, I met the first other single mom in my generation I have ever met in person! I was amazed. We exchanged numbers. I really must call her soon.
The community there is wonderful. Jack is involved in Greek dancing, and he will be starting Greek school in two weeks! I worked at the Greek Festival painting faces, and we had a wonderful time. I'm starting to get to know some of the families there pretty well, and I think we're home.
Speaking of home, we moved into our own home this past February. It is delightfully old and tiny, but we love it. It has a delightful yard, and I am hoping to be able to start working on a winter box garden soon. Jack, as you know, is schooling at home, though the school he's in is technically a public charter school. He's THRIVING. He loves what he's learning, and keeps asking for more even when I think our school day ought to end.
He's reading on his own now. We had a day last week that started out with him whining that he didn't know HOW to read and concluded with him whining that he didn't want to stop reading. In one week, he has read through three-quarters of the years' material! He's unstoppable!
I also am going back to school. I just entered Grand Canyon University, a private Christian (non- or inter-denominational, largely protestant, though they have a large Catholic and a moderate Orthodox student body) as a junior. I am studying theology. As of now, my goal is to eventually become a college professor.
I'm doing some odd jobs online and in town, and I am working on getting the start-up to do some home business ventures. The first I am doing is a soy candle business. After that, I am looking into the usual suspects: Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, etc. I am still knitting and crocheting and teaching both. My domain expired, but I was in the process of changing the name of the business anyhow. I will update you when I get the new website up for that. I have designed a beret with a cross pattern in the crown that I am hoping might sell as a head covering for some of the younger girls.
I've just started using the FlyLady system again in an attempt to keep up with the housework in the midst of all of this. I've given her system a go in the past, but I never stuck it out. Right now, I am working on my morning and evening routines and just doing the daily missions. It's going okay. Slow and steady wins the race, I suppose. It's funny, though, because my friends and neighbors comment that my house is always fresh and clean, but I always feel like it could be BETTER. I wonder if that isn't just the way of women though, always telling ourselves we should be doing more.
I believe I may write about that in the morning, if I can put my thoughts about it together.
For tonight, thanks for reading, thanks for the encouragement, and thank you so very much for taking the time to care.
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