In telling you the books I'm reading, I am giving you great insight into my life as it stands today. Some things in my life have changed incredibly and others I continue to hold steadfast to for my and my children's sake.
First up is the incredible second edition of It's My Life Now: Starting Over After an Abusive Relationship or Domestic Violence by Meg Kennedy Dugan & Roger R. Hock (2006). I am not going to explain myself here, just know that I am now separated from the father of my children for the very reason this book is about. This is a very, very difficult situation for me emotionally at this point, though I am doing well now and am feeling stronger. I am thankful for my family, friends and my counselor who have been so supportive through it all.
Second is Electrical Code Simplified: Residential Wiring, Alberta Book 1 by P.S. Knight (2002). In preparation for the future, I am helping my sister finish her basement in case I may need a place to live with the kids. Her and her husband have very graciously offered their basement (1400 sq ft) for us to live in for as long as we need, though it is currently only framed out. Having finished three prior basements (of our three homes we have owned over the years) I know well the work and can do it well. However, its always nice to brush up on the codes to ensure their inspection passes with flying colors. One more day and I will be finished all the electrical so we can have the inspector in and start drywalling. Lots of work, but manual work is good right now, I am feeling invigorated.
Third is Homeschooling the Teen Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- to 18- Year- Old by Cafi Cohen (2000). I continue to be committed to homeschooling our children as my boys strongly want to learn at home (my daughter is three and not yet homeschooled). It is an exciting and diverse challenge with my oldest in Grade Ten and third in Grade One. We are having an awesome year thus far and I pray I am able to balance homeschooling again for this term. Which brings me to...
The forth and final book is FrontPage 2003 (The Missing Manual) by Jessica Mantaro (2005). To 'bring in the viable income' I referred to above, I am venturing formally into website design. I have been doing it for years already, having built 8 full sites, both for businesses and non-profit organizations. In the past I have turned down many who have asked me to design, build or improve their sites because of my time constraints and other priorities. Now the income potential of this career is far to lucrative for me to overlook... I may need to support my family as a single mother. I will be leaning on Microsoft FrontPage until I can afford and learn Adobe Dreamweaver... the ultimate website building software (and I love Adobe's other products which I lean on heavily for other applications).
With these great books in hand and my goals clear, the future is bright indeed!
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing Connie. I did keep an eye on your blog even when you were 'silent', and I thought of you often during that time.
Blessings
Thank you so much Sara, it is wonderful to hear from you. Thanks for you support and I check in on your blog regularly, even when I don't post myself.
Yeah, life has been tough lately, really tough. But as with all challenges, we need to rise up to meet them head on :-)
Warmly,
Connie
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