Hello! It's early October and absolutely beautiful weather. Sound vague, don't I? Yes, actually, I'm feeling rather vague these days... It seems as though I'm sort of in my cycle of the same old, same old and simply am not bursting with any new insights...well, except for the insight that it's okay not to have new ideas and insights for a time! Sometimes, I'm afraid, I tend to jump from one fascinating subject to another. And that's alright, at times. However, there's something to be said for simple tenacity and seeing things through--especially when you've found something good.
You know, Alex is in his 9th year at Ellis Montessori. Nine years is a long time, by pretty much anyone's standards--and he has yet another year there. Fiona's in her fifth year there (she missed out on the pre-K lottery, so she'll have one year less than him there--a measly nine years when she's done!). So, between the two of them, that's nineteen school years. My point? Well, I did my homework. We visited schools and I talked with teachers, we looked at the fantastic public school funding and were satisfied. We moved to Savannah and enrolled Alex. Now, given the oft-precarious state of our finances, I am ever more convinced that the move was a good one. No matter how I loved any of the fantastic Montessori or Waldorf schools in Washington--well, I'm not sure how we could have consistently afforded them. That said, though, isn't it always that way? Whenever a bill disappears--say you pay off your car, for instance--it's not like you have that extra $300 every month on hand. Of course, we've never had a paycheck subsistence, so perhaps it is like that for some folks. Maybe our income would have met our need. That aside, though, I actually did think that Ellis Montessori compared quite favorably with the private schools I visited and was more beautiful, besides.
Okay, so this blog is about tenacity and not finances, right? Except that finances have very much been on my mind lately. Deep breath....whew. My sister posted a youtube rant on FB about the federal government's deficit this morning, and I found it absolutely hilarious--especially after I'd just been paying bills. The fellow was right, though. How ridiculous is it that we tout capitalism as the model, and yet we borrow all our money from the Communists? We're proving ourselves stupid. And the fact that us normal folks have to qualify for car loans and mortgages, but our hoity-toity government folks don't think they have to look at their own 'credit score' and stop borrowing money? Anyhow, I'm just repeating his rant here, but it struck a chord, especially when each of us as individuals is worriedly scanning our own bank account in the meantime, trying to stay within our means.
And that, my dears, along with a subsequent conversation with said sister about her dissatisfaction with the local elementary school in her area, is where the little love note about Ellis came from. I love the fact that my children can go there without concerns about having to withdraw due to insufficient finances. We've been blessed with, hmm, about 14 years cumulatively thus far of zero tuition there. Heavens! Can you even begin to do the math? Don't forget interest!
So...see? You haven't been missing anything with my lack of postings lately, as they would have all been along this vein. This appreciation for Ellis is occasioning me the thought to pat myself on the back a bit for finding it--and to remind myself of the benefits of sticking with things.
I've been struck with a new inspiration for a book, actually. Mind you, I'm not certain about it all, but it came on in a burst and I've had a little of that will-o'-the-wisp feeling of following that notion. I've been gathering some reading materials and researching on-line in that vein. However, I'm in the midst of my French study and still need to finish book #3 of the Silk trilogy. I've also been trying to deal with my grandparents' home that we've inherited. I hesitate to say 'remodeling', as I'm not structurally altering anything, really. It's amazing what bleach, primers and paints can do for a room--along with some basic furnishings (used, of course!) and decorations.
Between kids and all these things and my own regular home maintenance and daily chores and general inclination towards somnolence :), well, I've just been finding it difficult to structure myself and find that right balance. Balancing time, balancing checkbook...yep, I guess those are my issues right now. And this blog generally helps me to clarify what it is that I want to focus on, for you know how OCD I can be, when I get the inclination. Today, I'm reminding myself of the importance and power of tenacity.
We should make our decisions with great care and deliberation and then stick to them--unless, of course, some unexpected factor arises that really does cause things to weigh in differently. I've had a couple of friends who have driven me absolutely mad with their constant wondering, even after they'd begun a course of action. As much as we'd like to think that there's one right answer, though, it sometimes just becomes a matter of sticking with the decision we've made. Not that the other decision was wrong or that we've chosen the 'one' path that fate deemed correct--simply that we need to function and move forward. I'm not saying that we can't change our minds--only that there should be a reason to do so, and not simply a whim based on momentary capriciousness.
So, yes...I have quite the capricious mind at times. I found a language course in Spanish that I've had in the garage and was quite excited about it. Alex and Fiona are taking Spanish, and I had years of Spanish in school. It would be easy, right? I could set aside French for a little while and refresh my Spanish, right? Yes, that's the sort of whim that takes hold of me. And I have dusted off the course and brought it upstairs...oh so tempting to deviate from my French study. And, frankly, there is perfectly good reason and value in doing so. Except that I am reminding myself that I'm studying French now. The Spanish course can wait.
I do allow a certain amount of capriciousness, especially with regards to things that don't matter and are simply for entertainment. I've started tons of books and not finished them. I never used to be like that. I wasted countless hours in tenaciously finishing books with no real worth--simply because I'd started them. However, I'm finding the converse to be true now. I'm not finishing books that I really do enjoy. And I find it a little unsettling and unsatisfactory. I think that I need to strike a balance there--to show some tenacity for tenacity's sake--for stability's sake--unless there's good reason not to do so. For instance, the boring books should be chucked, but I should try to finish those that I think are worth finishing before starting another based on the slightest whim.
So, at this moment, on a broader level, that means sticking with French, listening to the rest of those 'intellectual devotionals', and finishing my trilogy this fall. Fascinating and inspiring future work, which may include researching/writing the new Hanoverian novels and refreshing my Spanish, can hold. It's kind of like sticking to a budget...and I suppose it is a sort of 'time budget', right?
Alrighty, now that that's settled, I'll get back to it!
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