DaVinci Distance Learning

This morning I suddenly pulled about 20 things out of my closet to send to the D.I. I finally made peace with the fact that I probably won't be fitting back into all those beautiful size 6 work clothes I bought a few years ago and that's O.K.

It always feels good to declutter. But, that is not what this post is about.

This is about how I pulled Isaac and Katie out to homeschool them for a few months last spring and sent them back in the fall after I unexpectedly got a new job. Although the job has flexible hours and I can work from home some of the time -- it is still a job and I didn't want to be ignoring them for 15+ hours a week. Plus what would I do with them on the days I needed to go into the office?

I had enjoyed our months of homeschool together and I was sad. However, when fall came I discovered they were each matched with teachers who were perfect for them. It has been a relief to send all four kids to school and have my days free to focus on getting my work done.

About two weeks ago we had a really hard morning with Katie. Sometimes she is very anxious about going to school. Instead of driving away reassuring myself that her teacher is perfect for her and that sending her to school is the right thing and really the only choice in light of all our circumstances, I said a little prayer asking for confirmation that I was doing all I could for my children.

An hour later, a free newspaper arrived in our mailbox. I am always meaning to read it since I know the editor and some of the writers. I usually set it aside and glance at an article here and there over a 1-2 week period. I started to set it down and walk away, then I opened it to somewhere in the middle and the first story I saw was about DaVinci--the charter school where Sophie attends. That caught my attention and I started to read where my eyes landed about half way into the story. That was the part where it started talking about the DaVinci Distance Learning program.

It was e-x-a-c-t-l-y what I had been searching for last year when I wanted to keep homeschooling Katie and Isaac but I also needed a couple of days to go into the office. Basically, the kids go to school two days a week with other kids who are homeschooled and I get to homeschool them the other three days.

I took the timing of it all as a sign and called the school to find out more. I was thinking we should try to get in for next year, but the administrator of the program said there were openings and I should grab one quick before they were gone and it would be harder to get in if I waited until fall.

I talked to Katie and Isaac about starting homeschool again and, guess what? Isaac said he wants to stay at his school. I was totally surprised. At first, I was sad about his answer. Then I thought, this tells me two things 1) he is growing up (friends and fitting in are becoming more important) and 2) he isn't nearly as miserable at school as he was last year. Both of these are very good things!

Katie on the other hand was firm in her decision that she wanted to do this program (and promised not to cry about going to school since she would only have to go two days a week instead of five).

Earlier this week, I met with the administrator and toured the school.

As soon as I walked in, I had a nice peaceful feeling. I liked everything I saw and everything I was told. It is the most amazing program I can imagine!

Last year, I spent so much time researching and wading through the dozens of different curriculums trying to decide what would work best for us. I spent hundreds of dollars ordering text books (holy cow-they are expensive!). This school provides all of the curriculum. And, there isn't just one curriculum to choose from like some of the online alternatives for homeschoolers. Once a month, I will meet with an advisor who helps me figure out what curriculum best matches our needs. The school loans me everything I need at no charge. If they don't have what I need, they will buy it for their permanent collection so I can have access.

My favorite part of all is a room at the school that is dedicated to projects. There are hundreds of projects with all of the equipment and hands on materials I need for us to borrow and work on the projects at home. All kinds of cool science experiments and math games. Tons and tons of resources! This makes it so we can have an amazing homeschool experience without me investing tons of hours and dollars to make it happen.

I got a phone call today confirming that we got into the program. I had to change so many things around. I already gave up the restaurant features, so that helps free up a little time. I rearranged my babysitting schedule so I will only do that one day a week now and that gives me more flexibility. I rearranged my office schedule so I will go to work on the same days Katie will be in school. I will still need to work 1-2 hours/day from home on the days she is with me, but it shouldn't be a big deal.

I am excited. I am nervous. What if reading that story right when I did wasn't a sign? What if I made my life more complicated for no good reason? I know this will make my already full life even fuller. But, I feel like it is also adding something that is meaningful and that is good. I guess I will dive in and see where it all goes.

Letting Go

Sometimes I hold tightly to something in my life, even if it is a square peg that I am trying to force into a round hole. I keep trying to look at the scenario in new ways, so sure that I will figure it out.

Nine years ago, I was asked to write the restaurant features for the Standard Examiner and my ship had arrived. 

Nearly seventeen years ago, I started my career as a writer working for the Davis Bureau, covering city council meetings and writing features about people who lived in Davis County who did interesting, newsworthy things. After a year or so, I moved to the main office where I wrote weekly business profiles. I was so happy when, after about two years of writing for the Davis Bureau and the Business section, I got my big break and was invited to write for the features editor -- Vanessa.

This was great for many reasons. The first was that writing features is what I always wanted to do. The second was that the features correspondent received generous compensation. I was a little bit spoiled. And, although I enjoyed covering art exhibits, events, concerts and plays -- I always wondered how the guy who wrote the restaurant features got so lucky.

Nine years ago, the luck shifted to me and I took over that gig. I truly enjoyed it. Restaurant owners are some of the nicest, hardest working people I have ever met. My stories were fun to write and they made people happy. It was fun to be in the know about all the new restaurants opening up as well as the oldies but goodies. It was interesting to discover the stories behind local eateries. And, without question I loved trying all the different food. 

Plus, whether or not it really was cool to be the food writer, people thought it was cool. My kids thought it was cool. My identity became wrapped up in being the food writer. 

The best of times were the years right after Brian was laid off from the Deseret News when Vanessa was still my editor and she enlisted him to take all of the photographs for all of my stories. We had good times discovering restaurants and the latest theater productions together. The pay was very good at that time, which went a long way toward easing the pain of the layoff.

As the story of life goes -- things changed. Pay was decreased. Expectations increased. The photo editor left the newspaper and Brian was no longer assigned to my stories. Vanessa was moved to a new department and after enjoying 14-years of working with her I found myself on a non-stop merry-go-round of adjusting to a new editor every few months. 

If things had stayed the way they were, I would have been happy writing the restaurant features and food news forever. Instead it was taking me on quite an emotional roller coaster and I was wondering both if it was worth it and if it would ever get better again. 

For months, I considered quitting and I had good reasons. But, my kids didn't want me to quit. My husband didn't want me to quit. And, every time I would think I had had it, I would meet another awesome restaurant owner. The intrinsic rewards of the job were very high.

About one year ago, the newspaper launched a monthly magazine called Wasatch View and Vanessa was put in charge. I wrote for the first two issues last April and May. Then I told Vanessa I had too much going on between home schooling two of my kids, starting my new job with Catholic CEO Healthcare Connection, babysitting and of course raising four kids. It seemed logical to let the magazine (which was brand new to me) go and keep the restaurant features.

Over the Christmas break I was very introspective. That led me to an epiphany last week that I had full control to end the drama and anxiety that the weekly restaurant feature was causing me under the new management. I was finally able to let go of being the restaurant writer. 

I called Vanessa to let her know I would like to start writing for the magazine and she was excited. That made me excited. Then, I realized, I am back to the golden days where Brian and I can work on stories together for Vanessa. He is her favorite photographer and takes photos for the magazine instead of the newspaper these days. The other upside is that the magazine is under the jurisdiction of marketing not the newsroom (removing me completely from the workplace where all of the drama seems to happen). 

It is very freeing to let go of something that has been so stressful. It feels amazing to not have to worry about meeting my deadline that I had every week of every month of every year for nine years. It is nice to have a little break from writing before I begin working on my first magazine story. Then, if I can find a way to say "no" to more than one story per month, it will be nice to have one project per issue that I can work on and enjoy writing again. Writing definitely feeds my soul. 

It was a really big change for me! I didn't think I would ever want to quit writing the restaurant features. For my first magazine story this time around, I am interviewing the owners of two adorable local dress shops. Restaurants were great, but this is going to be really fun too.

Here's to letting go of all the things that no longer serve us in 2016. 

Family Party

We hosted a "Christmas" party for Brian's side of the family on January 2 -- because that was the day everyone could make it. It was one of the most enjoyable get togethers.

I figured out that there are 48 people in Brian's family (his is the oldest of nine siblings, all married, plus their children). There are two more babies on the way, so the count is nearly up to fifty! That is a lot of people.

I was grateful that everyone was able to make it (except for a few nieces and nephews). All of the siblings and spouses, including Brian's sister who lives in Colorado and Brian's brother who lives in Roosevelt were there.

We had a wonderful ham dinner with tons of side dishes, finger foods and desserts. My favorite part of the evening was when we sang some Christmas carols with piano and trumpet accompaniment. Brian's mom, Rolayne, pointed out to me what a tremendously musical family we have. At least three of the nieces and nephews play the piano well enough for a sing along. And, many of Brian's siblings are proficient on instruments as well.

My side of the family is not as musical. When I was growing up, I always thought a nice family sing along sounded like a cozy, enjoyable way to spend an evening. I was right. I am so happy to have extended family and a son who play piano.

The next day (Sunday) was our first day of 12:30 p.m. church after a year of going at 9 a.m. My two youngest children currently dislike going to church--a lot. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the change from morning to afternoon church. But, Sunday made me realize that it gives them a lot more hours to complain about how much they don't want to go to church. I think we will have to do something about this.

This morning, it was back to school and back to work for all of us! I am happy we had such an amazing break. I am 20% excited to be back on a schedule and 80% sad the break is over.