This Week

Kevin had a business trip this week. He left on Tuesday and will be here late afternoon today.

He went to Florida.  He loves the ocean and his work was literally on the ocean. He and his coworkers were looking over some corrosion test studies.  I find corrosion, especially salt water corrosion, to be fascinating. One of my undergraduate projects involved salt water corrosion and I remember that our group decided copper beryllium alloys were probably the best solution.  Ha. I know that means nothing to people reading my blog.

I miss Kevin because I love him, but I also miss having the other parent here.  We've done fine without him, but I'm tired.  There are things he does every day that I had to remember to do. And in the case of the dishwasher, which he always starts right before bed, I remembered Tuesday night but not last night. So right now the dishwasher is running, which means our whole routine is off because usually it is done first things in the morning, and Joseph and Sarah and Daniel empty it.

And last night, an opossum was eating our cat food outside.  No Kevin, no shooting the possum. I do not shoot animals.  I suppose it sounds mean to shoot the possum, but we do not like coons and possums hanging out on our front porch with our cats, especially given that they eat our cat food. But I'm a wimp about guns. I can shoot one but I sure don't want to.  (Yes, we are very careful with our guns, given we have many children.)

I recently read a book called How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana White.  It was cheap on Kindle and I like organizational and decluttering books.  White's book was interesting to me, mostly because it did not apply.  She described herself as a slob. She is super creative and very project oriented and before she figured out what worked for her, her house was a disaster state 95% of the time.  Like, really bad.  So she came up with what worked for her way of thinking.

I'm so different. She says some people are Normal people, and she is a Slob.  She is hilarious, by the way.  I am a Normal person. I am probably on the end of being compulsive about routines and schedules in some ways, though 9 kids have broken me of some of my fastidiousness. I've never been great about dusting, which is actually a big deal as many people in the house have dust allergies.

Anyway, fun book to read and it helps me realize how differently some people think.  We have 9 kids. Not all will approach housework the same way Kevin and I do. He too is methodical and organized.

The other amusing thing in my life is that I am writing a Star Wars fan fiction.  I used to be a big Star Wars fan, then felt God telling me to drop it for a season that lasted 20 years or so.  Then God told me recently it was Ok to watch the movies and read Star Wars fanfiction.  Fanfiction, for those not in the know, is stories about various movies, books, computer games, etc. written by fans. They are posted on online forums and of course no money is made.  I decided  at Christmas break to write a story set in the Star Wars universe.  It is an interesting thing, fanfiction. Since the characters are set and the world building is already in place, it is easier to write because the author doesn't have to come up with all new characters and settings.  In addition, there are lots of fans out there so the stories already have an audience.  So the writing is easier, and the stories actually get read. And reviewed.  I've been writing away and lots of people are actually reading the thing. I haven't written fiction in a long, long time so it has been fun. I used to write for fun, but life has been busy.  Let me assure you that writing my Ph.D. thesis wasn't nearly as fun, though way more practical.

For those few who might be interested, here is my fanfiction:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12292372/1/The-Trial-of-Luke-Skywalker

Some of our daughters also write fanfiction, though for different genres.  Miriam writes Undertale fanfiction, and Lydia is well known in the Ninjago fan sites.

Of course, the sad reality is that some fanfiction is R rated or worse, so one has to be careful when reading stories.  The site I use allows readers to filter what is on their list.  I went with the teen rating as there is violence in my story. You know, lightsabers.  Violence :-).

That's about it.  I would also like to take this blog opportunity to say that our 3 younger children are a lot of work.  They are like a barrel of monkeys some days.  In a good way.