Danielle Batog

For Heather and Her Husband Shamus

Danielle — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:58:53 +0000

Heather and her thoughtful husband were kind enough to be an encouraging influence in my daughter’s artistic endeavors by sending her several wonderful drawing books! This thank you is long overdue.

When the books were first received:

A few months later:

Thank You Heather and Shamus with all our hearts!!!

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Photo File Chaos

Danielle — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:34:33 +0000

In all the years I have been blogging it has been on my ‘want to do’ list to participate in the Tackle It Tuesday meme. However, I have so much to tackle that there is never an end in sight. Not even today.

But I want to participate. And by golly even though I don’t have an ‘after’ photo yet I do have a ‘before’….with plans to tackle it all…someday.

Here is my most challenging project to date that needs to be ‘tackled’:

Not only am I an avid scrapbooker but I am also an amateur photographer. My photo files should not be in such a back log! And these do not include the family photos for 2007, which somehow got all mixed up chronologically and I am in the middle of trying to restore some kind of order to.

Although I love digital photography, I believe it is the culprit of my overgrown, need to weed out, classify, scrapbook photo files. I was so much more organized with my film photos.

I hope to have an ‘after’ photo…oh I don’t know…in the next year or so.

How about you. What do you need to tackle but just can’t get to it?????

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Happy Mother’s Day

Danielle — Sun, 11 May 2008 12:40:07 +0000

Open her eyes

to the blessings around her.

Show her that beauty

and goodness surround her.

Help her to trust in the future,

not fear it.

Teach her that dreams are

the winds of the spirit.

Guide her with wisdom

and gentle persuasion.

For she is God’s pleasure -

His flower of creation.

~Author Unknown~

Please join me over at My Daily Photo for a walk down memory lane!

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If Not Now, When?

Danielle — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:06:05 +0000

I’m over here today.

Please stop by and say hello!

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Better Living Through Chemistry

Danielle — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:06:37 +0000

It began in my early twenties. My first panic attack. The generalized anxiety continued throughout my thirties. In my forties, the panic attacks - fueled by hormonal changes, increased. As I entered my fifties I had become an expert manager of both the triggers and the symptoms. Until now.

For thirty years I have been able to flush all of the ‘recommended’ medications down the proverbial toilet. For thirty years I refused to pop pills that would make daily living easier for me. For thirty years I struggled to make it through what has been my greatest personal challenge. Until now.

Now is the time for me to embrace ‘better living through chemistry’. With all that I am being called on to ‘manage’ at this time in my family’s life, I can’t do it by sheer will anymore. I can’t manage both my personal daily challenges and the new challenges that are making their way into our family.

When two family doctors have recommended ‘better living through chemistry’ to manage my generalized anxiety disorder and depression, now is the time to listen.

As Nurse Ratched would say in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest:

“It’s medication time.”

Stepping Into My Party Pants

Danielle — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:29:27 +0000

That’s My Answer! is one of those memes that I always say I am going to participate in but somehow the questions (though always fun and interesting) never seem to line up with what is on my mind at the particular points in time when I think I might participate.

But today is different.

Today I need some fun in my life.

Today I am putting my party pants on.

Today I am going to participate in this FUN meme and answer the Thursday’s Three Things question:

What three flavors would you like on your ice cream cone?

Strawberry cheesecake
Vanilla
Pralines ‘n Cream

It has been proven that when you eat ice cream you feel like dancing:

May 4, 2005 · Stop the presses: Ice cream makes you happy. Researchers in England say the chilly treat “lights up” the brain’s pleasure zones. The study was funded by Unilever, which makes ice cream. Subjects ate 15 teaspoons of ice cream, while MRI technology watched their brains. Turns out, the orbitofrontal cortex — the “processing” area of the brain — responded immediately. And that’s just from eating vanilla!

Put your party pants on and meet me at my favorite ice cream shoppe !!

Don’t forget to tell me what three flavors you would like on your ice cream cone!

Click Here for another way to shake your way out of the dumps!

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Someone Forgot To Teach Me

Danielle — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:14:07 +0000

I’m over here today.

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Have You Checked Your Spark Plugs Recently?

Danielle — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:37:23 +0000

Let me clarify that this is not a paid advertisement or a pay per post or anything of that nature. I just want to share with my friends today (grin).

E Moms (one of my favorite resources) has recently gone through a major overhaul and is now called Sparkplugging. Since the change, I have found it much easier to navigate not to mention tons of new and inspiring information! I love their Believer in Balance section and they even have a Man Page.

I hope you have fun exploring one of my favorite sites while I am off to the bigger city for Sam’s extremely delayed dental checkup. Why in the world did I think just because she was going to the orthodontist she didn’t need to go to the dentist! What was I thinking???????

Before you leave to check out Sparkplugging, check out the view from my office window here. I took this photo while writing this post (grin).

Socialization 101 - Checked

Danielle — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:07:53 +0000

It’s been a little over two months since Miss Sam left the public school system. The biggest criticism I receive in regards to our decision to home school is in reference to her being able to maintain social connections. I do have responses to these questions which range from polite questioning to rude inferences that my daughter will grow up to be a social misfit. Many of these responses I have learned through conversations with and blog posts by Heather (thanks!).

I must confess however, that to some degree, I am concerned. Not so much about Miss Sam’s social skills but in her ability to make and maintain friendships. And not friendships for a lifetime but ‘friends’ for a moment in time. This is one of the reasons we visit a therapist every other week in the bigger, bigger city.

Miss Sam has been very adamant about not wanting to be around kids her age. The only kid her age that she is comfortable with is her friend from kindergarten. In fact, he was just over the other day for a few hours. My concern is that, since leaving the public school system, when I have suggested any type of ‘group’ activity that involves kids her own age she ’shuts’ down.

The many weeks following her meltdown that resulted in her now being at home have been stressful from the ’social’ aspect. An always ‘touchy’ subject with ’suggestions’ misfiring and exploding.

Until this week.

Several days ago Miss Sam and I had a lengthy conversation - basically she asked me to ‘listen without getting mad’ at what she had to say about ‘my ideas of friends and friendships for her’. FINALLY! She was willing to talk. I was willing to listen. I’m thankful that the stars were in alignment that day as much was understood and many compromises were made.

The fruits of that conversation were harvested yesterday.

Not really wanting to go, but because of compromises promised, Miss Sam reluctantly packed our beach bag and we set out for the community pool. There were two kids around Miss Sam’s age playing in the pool. I could see Miss Sam ’shut down’ immediately. My first reaction was to lecture. God led me to ‘listen’. Listen to what she was feeling and help her understand that perhaps these kids were feeling the same way about ‘making new friends’. And I swam away to the other end of the pool.

As I turned around I can’t tell you how proud I was to see Miss Sam ‘inching’ her way towards the other two kids. And blessfully they welcomed her with splashes and ‘let’s race’.

All I heard on the ride home was ‘I had so much fun today!’.

Me too.

For more Homeschool Hi-Lights

visit Ellen over at Fun Learning!

Well Said/Well Written: April 2008 Edition

Danielle — Sun, 04 May 2008 12:58:26 +0000

It’s that time of month again for me to share my ‘Well Said’ posts for the past month.

My “Well Said Posts” is where I bookmark posts written by other bloggers. These are the posts that have caught my attention, given me pause for thought, inspired me, or made me laugh. I bookmark them because I want to be able to read these posts again and again.

The wonderful ‘Well Said/Well Written’ posts for April are: