I'm Back

Well I've come back to post again now that I am not totally losing my mind. (That implies that I ever had it.) I hope that nobody was offended by my taking a leap off the deep end. Now that I'm back we can get back on track with something worth reading I'll start today with something I learned today.

1. I learned that I have way too many homeschool materials. Almost everyday I am going "Ohh I want that!" I will never use it all much less remember it all. Little 'un won't be starting a formal homeschool program for at least two years and I already have enough for all 12 grades and then some. It's silly; but I LOVE some of the homeschool materials that I have found and one thing leads to another and bam I have more material than I could cover in a lifetime. Miles and piles of it and most of it was free isn't that wild? Way too exited about it.

On another note Pillars of the Earth isn't at all what I had expected and it's taking me longer to read it than I first thought it would. I still plan to review it on this blog it's just going to be awhile. Part of the problem is I also bought Radical Homemakers and well I loved it and have devoted most of my reading time to finishing that instead of Pillars. I always do that; plan to read one book but end up reading something completely different. I have my own "special" system for reading books; it takes me longer but it somehow makes sense to me. Well since I bought Radical Homemakers by: Shannon Hayes with my own money and was not paid at all to review it; I will do so here.

I really liked it. I was thinking that it would be more in line with a conservative ways of thinking and I was surprised to find such a liberal bent to it. It wasn't about religion so much as it was about changing the world and the way that people think about society, family and the planet. Being a homemaker wasn't being handed down by a stern and angry G-d it was a way of life dedicated to saving the planet and the happiness of our families. She interviewed both men and women who had chosen for their own reasons to not work a 9-5 job and take care of what was really important; their families. Very in line (in my opinion) with Pagan ways of thinking. It made it seam doable; you don't need a huge bankroll to be self sufficient you just need some basic skills. Many sufficiency books expect that you have all this capital for getting the necessary tools. Not the case with this book, you just needed the gumption to learn those skills that you lacked. The author very nicely laid out her arguments for the need of Radical Homemaking and then listed the way you went about becoming a Radical Homemaker. All around a well written concise book. (It only has about 250 pages.) By the end I was left with a feeling that I had just gotten a label for what I was already doing in my home. I would recommend it to any stay-at-home person (some of the people interviewed did not have any children), especially if they are having doubts or feeling insecure in their decision to stay home to take care of their families. Two thumbs up! I can't say enough good things about this book!