Virginia Homeschool Conference

Are any of my Virginia-resident readers planning on going to the annual Virginia Homeschool Convention in Richmond? We'll be there, Lord willing!

Yes - the day after I finish farm-sitting we'll be heading off to Richmond. This year we'll actually be spending the night and staying for both days of the convention - something we've only done once before.

To tell the truth, my family has only been to the convention twice in past years. I find it amusing that I've lived all my life in Virginia, been homeschooled through all 12 grades in Virginia, and only went to Virginia's homeschool convention once while actually in school. After this weekend, I will have gone twice while out of school.

Many of the families who go to the convention are younger, just starting out on their homeschooling journey, but there are some families there who, like my own family, have members who are out of school and yet come with their family because they have younger siblings who are still in school. Though I love meeting people of all ages, I have to admit I'm hoping to get to meet some other homeschool graduates at the convention - and isn't making new friends one of the best parts of travel?

And of course it will be delightful just to spend time with my own family as we travel together - 'specially after such a busy two weeks. I've had moments in the past few days when I felt as though I hadn't said "hello" or "good morning" to half my family before it was time to say "goodnight!"

The speakers at the convention this year (Vodie Baucham will be there!) and the topics of the sessions all seem to promise a time that is not only fun but also spiritually-lifting and educational - many of the sessions are focused on entreprenurialism and family-run agricultural home businesses, which I am really excited about. My parents are excited about those sessions, too. :)

I wish I had time to update you on our garden; the tomatoes are around 5 feet high, the corn is almost waist-high, (except for the plants we had to replant), the squash bores seem to be visiting again this year, the beans are loaded with blossoms, the brocolli is almost finished, the peas are yeilding better than we thought they would after collapsing the trellis under their own weight...lots of stuff going on.

But I really don't have time to go into all that. In a little while I need to go finish spray-painting another layer of paint on a trashcan I'm dressing up. I've been cleaning my sewing area and I wanted a brightly-colored trash can to match my red-and-white theme. My sewing area sure needs the makeover! I considered taking before and after pictures to share with you, but truly didn't have the nerve to share "before" pictures. It was that bad.

But it's starting to look good now! Maybe I'll have it done before the convention.

Maybe.