Inbox: Delayed from Yesterday

I tried to do this yesterday during my free time at school, but there wasn’t any. By the time the kids were in bed, I was really done. So, it gets posted a little later than I wanted.

[On the rules of the house]

Laurie B: What's the quote? Great blessings and great expectations?

I don’t know an exact quote that marries the two thoughts, but they’re tied together strongly in my belief system. Personally, I believe the latter begets the former. In teaching I say it more less that I will do anything--ANYTHING--I can to support you, in whatever way you need, but I expect you to be trying to do the best you can. Is that high pressure? Maybe, but once they’ve reached the point where the blessings start to come (often in the way of tangible results), it starts to make sense that the pursuit of excellence brings rewards. There’s more on this I’d like to write, but not right now. I’ll try again later in the week.

[On the Ice Storm of ‘08]

Many people on and off blog made offers of shelter and accommodation to people in our world who were affected by the weather two weeks ago. You were all very generous, and I want to honor that here. This wasn’t a major disaster, by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly made a lot of people justifiably nervous. It is my hope that the generosity of those in my world helped to alleviate some of the uncertainty of the experience.


[On unhappiness and control]

Chili: Ugh. Convincing someone of their control over their own life can be the single most frustrating endeavor one ever undertakes.

There’s a morally difficult question for me in these kinds of situations. On the one hand, I think it’s important for people to find their own way to understanding. No one can bring enlightenment unto another. Growing in this way is sometimes a long and painful journey, but there is no shortcut to making it. It’s also a matter of individual choice, and I respect the right of people simply not to try. On the other hand, however, I think it’s important for people to recognize that their choices (and their failure to make choices) carry consequences, and not just for them. We hear all the time about other people paying the price for one’s own sins. As a member of my chosen family, I have accepted an obligation to support you, but also to protect everyone else from things I recognize are harmful. I’m still coming to a decision about where these two seemingly competing ideas meet harmoniously, but I’m convinced there is such a place. I’d love some commentary about this, by the way.

[On getting the various holiday personalities to communicate better]

Eric: You shouldn't have gotten the red (camera)...

*I* didn’t get the red one. That was all Wifeness’ doing. Does that mean she gets to take the blame for the radiator, too? It was her van, after all…

Kizz: Sort of the nice thing is that it waited until AFTER they'd been ordered so you're still getting something nice.

Yeah. Sort of. I’d have been content with something less expensive that I could drive around in the van (with its nice, new radiator), but as they say, what’s done is done. Maybe I’ll take some nice pics of the new radiator? **shrug**

[On the end of long days]

LB: You are going at a gut busting energy level that you can handle and work with right now.

I’ll tell you, LB, it’s not all that unusual for either Wifeness or I to be working at 110%. It’s just what we do. It does catch up to us every now and again, but we’ve developed ways to deal with things when we need to slow down or check out. Planning and communicating are the two biggest things we do, and when we do them well (which, admittedly, is not all the time) we’re able to do a lot with our time, space and funds.