Studies, Religion, and Kid Dates

I have been taking an amazing class on comparative religion and the history of the Tarot. I have enjoyed everything about it, including it's nearly three hour length. Even my classmates are interesting; ranging from practicing Catholic to Atheist. They bring a wonderful range of perspective to each topic and the class as a whole. I have spent many, many hours studying, watching documentaries and reading everything from the Corpus Hermeticum and the Nag Hammadi Libraries to books on the effects of the Black Plague on the world, and Egyptology. My brain is swimming with information begging to be augmented and organized. Even Sikhism and Zoroastrianism have made their way in, and the history of the Tarot and it's design and historical use has seriously deepened my interest in Kabbalah as an area of study that I would like to take on when I've worked my way through this class in the spring.

Comparative religion is something that I have long been interested in and suspect that if I had moved in this direction in college I likely would have been compelled to at least remain as a part time student while working my way through motherhood. Alas, the truth is that I couldn't wrap my head around accruing that kind of debt for my own education while having children who's education I had to think of, and I still can't.

I love that Quinn is so interested in what I'm studying and given the opportunity would sit and ask me questions about it for hours. All this study has finally brought out something that I've been wanting with the kids as well. For years I've been meaning to take time out to spend one on one with each kid, but it just never happened. Now, on the day of each kid's ballet class I take that one child to town, just the two of us, and we spend a few hours at our favorite coffee spot. The kids get a tea or juice, I get a cup of decaf, and we work together on their workbooks while I study and compile notes. We kick each others feet under the table, share sips of our drinks, eyeball the piles of confections and pastries on the counters, and listen to the music. After a couple of hours I take them around the corner to ballet and return to my table to put in another, uninterrupted, hour of work before I pick them up. Then we head back again and they work on something fun like coloring books, reading, or educational websites while I finish up for the day.

By the time we get home dinner's ready, my brain is fried, and it just feels good to hang out by the fire and chill with the family.

Jeff has been putting in a lot of hours too. Between his Sys. Admin/Network Engineer work, logging/splitting/chopping, learning Sharepoint Development, and site design, he needs the hours he gets left alone with the kids to pull him back into the world of the living.

Speaking of which, I've got just over an hour to get everything done before heading out the door with Nichola!

xoxo