Amy Writes

I don't really want to say that I am not concerned about the "quality of my children's education." But the truth is, I'm not really concerned about the "quality of my children's education." See, in spite of having some relatively high quality educational experiences of my own, I believe that a very high percentage of the education I've received didn't happen anywhere near a classroom. I had a handful of inspirational teachers, but I don't remember the mechanics or details of what they taught me - instead I remember that they taught me how to learn, how to read for story, how to appreciate, how to believe. Also, in spite of receiving a pretty high quality education, I had some extremely low quality teachers - the kind who made "learning" excruciating. Regardless of whether I was studying under the good or the bad, I had (and still have) excellent parents who were there, always. They were involved. They followed up and they taug...

I was entering appointments and dates and commitments into my planner this morning and it seemed as if I'd reached the end of summer with just three page flips. With great hesitation, I entered the last four words of Summer: "First Day of School" Although it's only June and we're just finishing up our second full week of freedom, That Day looms ahead, taunting me with its reminder of a decision that needs to be made. I've been using the word "if" a lot. IF we decide to stay where we are. IF we homeschool. IF we this...then that. "We haven't decided yet" is also buying me some time. But I am a person who doesn't cope well with indecision, so these ifs and haven't yets are starting to stress me out - so much so that on June 24, I am already dreading That Day, 8 weeks away. We're trying to come at this decision from a number of different angles, and hopefully I'll get a chance to sit down and write more about each of them, ...

Hi! Thanks so much for reading - I so enjoy your comments and look forward to catching up on all of your writing as well! Just wanted to pop in and say that this week is VBS at church, which, although it only takes up our evenings, is messing with my entire day. So I haven't written anything. I haven't cooked anything, either, because we have been eating at church every night. While we're at it, I also haven't cleaned anything, organized anything or completed anything this week. Hope you're all having a great week - I'm going to take a nap and return with stories to tell!

I needed a dish to bring to a meal where "comfort food" was being served. It was our second attempt at a dinner with friends - a reschedule that took more than 2 months to work out. We'd decided to repeat the menu: macaroni and cheese and broccoli casserole. Two months ago, they would've been great "late winter" foods. Last week, they were great "braces foods." We were responsible for the broccoli casserole, which I'd made before by sort of blindly reaching for cans of soup and boxes of crackers in my pantry. This time, with time on my hands and a blog series in mind, I opted to look for a recipe. But where on the shelf to begin? I figured that no one knows how to fatten up a vegetable like the South. And since about half of my cookbooks are from south of the Mason-Dixon line, I knew I'd have a few choices. I landed on one that was on a page between Braised Collard Greens and Broccoli Cauliflower Au Gratin. It was bound to be good. The Book...

I guess it's a good thing that I woke up to little girls demanding to begin their summer project at 7:15 this morning! With great diligence we wrote, folded, licked and stamped letters to begin our "virtual" tour of the U.S...and, to amp up the effectiveness of our campaign (or the geekiness, whichever you prefer), we created a blog! So, I hope you'll follow along with Chloe & Eden's Adventures! Send us a card!

We're almost there! With just half a day of school left, I find myself frantically trying to plan for a summer of fun at home. I'm putting this "on paper" for the accountability provided by the knowledge that a few people read somewhere that I'd be doing this or that. So, here we go... 1. That New Blog Series: It's true! It's actually underway, though none of it has left my head for the screen yet. I'm hoping to get it going this week. Look, I wrote a synopsis for you: "Join stay-at-home mom and kitchen illiterate Amy Wright as she chops, dices and sautees her way through every cookbook on her shelf. Rather than allowing them to collect dust any longer, Amy will spend this summer trying out at least one new recipe from books collected and received throughout 10 years of marriage. You'll learn just how reluctant of a cook Amy really is, laughing along with her as she showers herself with graham cracker crumbs and googles simple kitchen vocabula...