Hey Reader!

I'm back from my respite of rest and downtime. This impromptu sabbatical was not planned but was well-received (by me, haha) and it was just the perfect time to kind of take off and take a step back to gain clarity of life, where you're at in life, your goals, all that, all while we were in the midst of the holidays, you know?

We started homeschool back up, and like many of us homeschool mamas, last week was when we were going to get back to it. But us trying to get through a week of homeschool after coming back from the holidays was like trying to herd cats through a maze of laser pointers. It was the worst case of squirrel syndrome mixed with ADHD.

Everyone was distracted, no one knew where they were going, and by the end, I was just happy we all survived with minimal crying (mostly mine). Here's to week two — surely it'll be smoother, right? Right?! 😂

Speaking of the holidays and cat laser pointers, our two tuxedo cats got a laser pointer in their stocking for Christmas (yes, it was a little mini stocking for each cat...was so cute). And it was probably my favorite present of all the presents this year, including my kids'!

I forgot my fat lazy mr. grumps of a cat (who's name is Socks) could move that fast. It's been so worth it.

And Beanie, our other one, has loose skin from when they got her fixed so now every time she runs after it, you see if fat/loose skin flop-slap back and forth under her. (On another note, she got fixed before we adopted her last Christmas, and no idea if they even did it right, but she's up for her checkup next month so we'll see. I surprised the kids with a second tuxedo cat for Christmas last year. ☺️ Her name is Sabrina on paper but we changed it to Sabina, and so we call her Beanie for short.)

How was your holiday season, Reader? I pray your Christmas was serene and full of love.

I've been thinking a lot about a lot of things but specifically about ROUTINE. Not necessarily homeschool routine, more like life routine. Our life rhythm.

You know how life changes so much, our seasons of our lives change, and therefore, our family rhythms also change. That's what I've been trying to grasp lately.

Hence the step back from all things rigid (aka, work). Actually, that's not true. I continued working for my VA (virtual assistant) clients, but as far as Homeschool & Humor goes, and all my websites or future summits, I didn't lift a finger towards.

I totally did not intend to take that sabbatical, but I'm so glad I did. Do you ever feel like something needs to change because the motions you go through towards your vision just AREN'T really getting there, fulfilling your vision? Like your vision is stuck in mud? I think the latter is the better explanation of things.

I just felt like my legs were trying hard to get through quick sand but they weren't really carrying me through it enough for it to matter. That analogy means, I have a vision in life about how I want my home to be like and how I want my days to go like, and no matter what I did, I couldn't quite get there.

Of course, there's plenty of reasons why that is, but still.

We had to move last minute at the end of October and that was such an unwelcome headache (and expense! omg!) and a not-loving-it kind of surprising shift of complete and utter interruption in LIFE and your home setting. Not just yours but yours kids' as well, along with their familiar stability. It wasn't from anything I did or anything like that. (I mentioned what happened a few emails back.) Moving into a new home for the 2nd time in 6 months will tend to take your breath - and your gumption - away for a hot minute.

But, blessed be, God knows what's up and He definitely knows me. Because we LOVE our new home. He took something completely ugly (again, nothing I did) and turned it into GOOD.

We're very grateful. Our home is splashed with medical sterile WHITE everywhere like our last home. Our last home was nice, but it really lacked character. This home we're in now is really home but pretty big with a TON of that old-timey *character* that old homes seem to have. The kids say they feel more home here than the other house and immediately loved this house. My mom said she feels SO good in our new home, like a good peace, a good spirit, just a warm welcome cozy comfortable feeling. I love that.

So I turned the formal dining room into our school room, and it's spectacular. It's also partly my office, too, for work.

And wow we have a lot of books.

But back to what I was saying. Even way back before we moved to this new, beloved home we're in now, I felt like I kept trying to capture the essence of lifestyle, our routine homeschool life / lifestyle, and I just couldn't seem to get it right. I don't know. I just couldn't get the pieces fitting together. It's hard to explain. Do you know what I mean? Do you know what I'm saying?

After moving in, since end of October, I've been trying to re-establish a new home life / homeschool / lifestyle routine for us, and it has been SUCKY - quicksand sucky.

I see this vision in my mind of what I want us to work towards, but the journey there has been so slow going. Snail slow. Snail on a walker slow. Snail on a walker with hemorrhoids slow.

I felt like I was putting forth so much effort for absolutely Nothing accomplished at the end of the day.

I'm not talking about a work day doing just busy work, or a school day doing just busy work[sheets], and then at the end of the day you think, "wait...what did I actually DO today? I was so 'busy' but got nothing truly accomplished."

I'm not talking about that kind of "nothing accomplished." ⬆️

More like, we did get things done, and I did unbox-unpack a lot. Yet there was always yet something else to tackle before I can get anything done. Like, this house was pretty dirty when we moved into it and I severely cleaned this house from top to bottom for the first few weeks, and I wouldn't unpack our things until every inch was deep cleaned.

I mean, it took me 4 hours to clean the pantry in the kitchen and un-die whatever did die in there at some point. 😷

And then we had the holidays - and for me personally, as a single mom with three kids, the holidays lit-er-al-ly rid-dle me with anxiety. I know it's not all about the presents and yada yada, I know this, but every year I worry about even getting enough Christmas for my kids and I worry about if my kids are satisfied with what I get them. (Yet, they always have a great Christmas and are always grateful for the things. So I'm aware it's "me thing.") Still...hello anxiety holidays.

It's not about being broke. I proudly manage to keep my kids alive every day. It's more about having that crap ton of EXTRA money for Christmas presents, all the EXTRA things we get for the holidays. And then with the price of things today and the economic and the state of the world... wooo weeee. I can literally see the shadow of Christ coming any day now.

So with moving into our home, moving for the 2nd time in 6 months completely unexpected and totally expensive, a month after my beautiful sister's stroke (which I addressed a few emails back), and nearing the holidays, and literally just me and my 14 year old son loading the Uhaul truck and unloading the Uhaul truck, cleaning the house felt like I was starring in my own episode of "Extreme Makeover: Panic Edition."

Between deep-cleaning the house like I was auditioning for a reality show, surviving the holidays with my three kids, and attempting to homeschool, I officially earned my stripes as a chaotic multitasking pro, juggling all the things with the grace of a mom who’s one coffee away from either conquering the world or crying in the pantry.

Honestly, by the time I finally deep-cleaned the last corner of this house, I half-expected to find a portal to Narnia or at least a medal for "Most Determined Mom With a Mop."

Spoiler: I found neither, just a sense of exhaustion mixed with triumph.

And did I find a secret treasure after scrubbing every corner? No. Just a weird stain that I'm choosing to call "character" and a pantry that no longer smells like a murder mystery. Progress, right?

Now here we are, diving headfirst into a new year, still trying to make routines happen while life laughs at my plans. Honestly, at this point, my life is less "Pinterest-perfect" and more "hold-my-coffee-and-watch-this." And you know what? I'm totally okay with that.

However, this is the upside to this whole story....I’m finally starting to see the chaos turn into something that vaguely resembles order. Our second day of homeschool only ended with one meltdown — thankfully, it wasn’t me this time. Honestly, that feels like progress. It’s like the stars are finally aligning, and for the first time in forever, I feel like I’m not just surviving but actually thriving. Okay, maybe not full-on thriving, but at least I’m no longer questioning my life choices every five minutes, and that’s saying something.

Sure, losing a client of $1,000/month was a plot twist I didn’t see coming last week (which means, I now have availability for a new client, wink wink!), but hey, life’s like playing Candy Crush. Sometimes you’re on a roll, crushing it, and other times you’re stuck on the same level for three weeks straight, staring at the screen like, “Why do I even bother?” But I’m buckled in, snacks at the ready, and committed to enjoying this wild, candy-colored rollercoaster of life—sticky fingers and all.

What about you, Reader? Got anything new to add to this just from the last few weeks? I'd love to hear!

In the meantime, I'm still planning my homeschool, unfortunately. I have NOT had time planning for the term ahead. I'm going to continue doing it a few days at a time, and then perhaps do a few event LIVES together so you can get yet-another-perspective of how a homeschool mom plans out her year-long homeschool, term by term, if that's something you're into. (Personally, sometimes I still feel at a loss of planning and get reinvigorated looking into planning homeschool, 9 homeschool years later.)

Or maybe, you're at a loss of having a plan or you're new or you just need a new way to do things, spruce it up a bit. Maybe learn a thing or two new. I get it. So stay tuned for that email when I'll be planning that. (It'll be in our community events area - and, no, I'm not talking about Facebook. I'm referring to the community we do summits in.)

Instagram/Facebook?

On another note, I thought it would be fun to start a Stories series! Whether it's a simple coffee chat or homeschool plannings tips or crude opinions, I'll be sharing Stories with the occasion live on Homeschool & Humor IG Stories and Facebook.

Answer this poll about it so I can get an idea:

Whatever plays on my Instagram Stories carry over to my Facebook page for Homeschool & Humor, so whether you're on IG or FB, just be sure you're following....

​@homeschoolandhumor on Instagram + add as ⭐️ CLOSE FRIEND ⭐️

​@homeschoolandhumor on Facebook page + turn Notifications on ⭐️ ALWAYS SHOW ⭐️

(If you need help with favoriting either of those, shoot me a quick email or DM and I'll show you where.)

You'll be able to join my private Instagram Channel as well, which is something like an exclusive email list but on Instagram!

SALE

Before I go, I wanted to share this SHOPWIDE sale over at the Shop - 30% off your entire order by using coupon code NEWYEAR. (only at the main shop, not the community shop library or the courses)

​Just go here! And I actively add more and more things to the shop!

Want to jump straight to courses? Here ya go!​

Until next time, may your coffee be strong, your Wi-Fi be reliable, and your homeschool days be meltdown-free (or at least manageable). You’ve got this, friend! Talk soon! 😊👋

xo,
Richie