Weekly Wrap-Up: The One Where My Kid Came Home and My Car Got Grounded

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Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy spring! After a gloomy start to the week, I’m excited to see sunshine and warmer temps for the day. It makes me happy just to look out my window.

Thank you all for your prayers for Brianna’s safe return from New York, along with the rest of the team who traveled with her. Last Saturday was an insanely long day for them spending about 15 hours on a bus. Brianna was not as perky as she was when she came home from Haiti. After some rest, though, we did get to hear some fun stories from New York.

Probably the biggest disappointment for her – and for me living vicariously – is that she did not get to see the Statue of Liberty. I just can’t imagine going to New York and not seeing the Statue of Liberty. She did get to see two Broadway plays, though, and Times Square. Most touching to me is that the events that were most meaningful to her centered around the people to whom the team ministered.

starch test

Our microscope lab – testing for starch. Nobody complains about microscope lab days.

We wound up driving home around 1 a.m. from picking her up. We were almost home when we came across a police road block where they were doing a safety check. No big deal. We’re law-abiding citizens with nothing to hide. So, you can imagine our complete shock when we were told that our tag was expired.

“That’s impossible,” I said to to officer. I mean, we just got the car last May. We just got the tags. Plus, my car is the only one of the three we own that is under the new tag law that went into effect last year, meaning that my tag renewal is only $20 – a fraction of what we pay for the other two. It’s not like I would have paid for them and not mine.

I pulled out my paperwork while the officer called in our tag number to verify. Yep, totally expired. Since last July.

Apparently, we got the tag in late May and thought we were covered until this year. Nope, we were covered for less than two months – until July 2013. And, the renewal notices, I’ve learned, are printed months in advance, meaning they were already printed when we got our tags, so we didn’t get a renewal notice.

So, yeah, I’ve been driving around on an expired tag for nearly a year, completely oblivious. Needless to say, I didn’t drive my car until after I drove the van downtown to renew my tag – and we have a ticket to pay, too. {sigh}

I got my dates mixed up or I totally would have told y’all about my post at Simple Homeschool this week. I will humbly suggest that it’s one of my better articles and, if you’ve got younger kids, one of my more encouraging. If you think that the concept of independent learners is a myth or some of that homeschool propaganda I’ve talked about, be sure to read my tips for how to foster independence in your homeschool student.

homeschool independence

Tuesday is typically my day to babysit my niece. Apparently Not Gus has forgiven me for taking him to be “tutored” last week (actually, he didn’t appear to hold a grudge at all – he was just happy to be back home). He refused to accept the fact that my lap was occupied and just made himself right at home:

furbaby

You can probably just go ahead and start calling me the crazy cat lady now.

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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8 Comments

  1. I’m so pleased Brianna got home safely, it must be wonderful to have her back. As for not seeing the Statue of Liberty, maybe its a sign for a mother and daughter trip to New York in the future? You could give me a ring and I’ll fly out with my girls and join you for the afternoon!
    Oh and PS….You are a crazy cat lady. No doubt about it.

    1. We need to make a date of it. I’m trying to convince Brian it would make a great family field trip. It would, of course, if money were no object.

  2. Oh, gosh! So sorry about the ticket. Don’t you hate it when you feel like all your ducks are in a row and then you discover you missed one. Throws me for a loop every time!

    Sounds like your daughter had fun in NY! I would be disappointed to miss the Statue of Liberty as well.

  3. I’m so glad she got home safe and had a great trip…not seeing the Statue of Liberty would have bugged me too. Isn’t it funny that you made it for almost a year without your car tag and nobody ever noticed that it was expired! Funny in a “how can that be” way, not a hardy har har way.

    1. Yes, that’s exactly what we thought about the car tag, Joesette. Brian has washed the car several times in the 10 months we’ve had it. I open the hatch every week to load groceries. It just never even crossed our radar {sigh}

  4. Kris~
    Great post ! So news-y….thank God your dd got home safely! Too bd about the S of L! Aw….I feel badly for her! You’re right though….could be a good reason for a mom-daughter trip in your future!

    Thank you for hosting! If I finish a “real” WWU post tomorrow, I’l be back It’s been a whole since I did a daybook/wrap up. Love visiting the others who link too!

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