A Sense of Accomplishment

Well, let's see, what did I accomplish today?  I worked 22 minutes of my 10 hours I was supposed to work today and then asked my supervisor if I could take the rest of it as paid time off.  The work load was too light to sit at my computer waiting for jobs to download that weren't there.  Besides, I had so many other things I could have been doing, like keeping an eye on Paige and her friend while they were swimming in the pool, baking 2 cheesecakes, doing umpteen loads of laundry, doing dishes, pulling a baby tooth out of Nate's mouth, helping to extract one from Jake's mouth, etc.  I was able to fill my day with so many things, but the thing that gave me my biggest sense of accomplishment was finally finishing the book, Rise to Rebellion, by Jeff Shaara.  I think I probably started it about 3 or 4 months ago; I'm not really sure.  All I know is that it took me a while to read it because when I could only read a chapter or a half of a chapter every time I sat down to read it.  The book was incredibly well written and a great read but, you know the story, life got in the way of finishing it.

With the rare occurrence of having a completely free day when I didn't have to worry about work at all, I took the opportunity this evening to finish the 60 or 70 pages I had left.  When I read the last page, I triumphantly closed the book and placed it on the shelf.  I proceeded to tell my whole family that I had finished the book.  Now I'm telling YOU!  It probably doesn't sound like a big deal but, if you really knew me, you'd know it is.  If you came to my house, you'd see a lot of projects started...   Yep, that's the gist of it - started but not finished.  I have rooms that only have one wall painted, individual walls that aren't completely painted, rooms that need cleaned, craft projects not finished, the list goes on and on.  So, for me to finish a project, like reading a book (492 pages), that's a HUGE accomplishment, and I can't help but feel a sense of pride.

When I was in 10th grade, I almost failed my English class.  When I was that age, I hated to read.  Our teacher had the class reading books like Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby.  I'd start them...  You guessed it - but never finished them.  I failed almost every test.  Out of the kindness of his heart and, I think (thought it's so long ago now it's hard to remember for sure), with me doing some extra work, he gave me a C.  As I get older, I find that I love to read.  I read mostly historical fiction because I've found that, also, as I've gotten older, I love to learn, and these books help me to accomplish both tasks.  I wish I enjoyed those things when I was supposed to be reading and learning; it would have made school easier.  I got good grades for the most part.  By the time I was a senior in high school, I had finally gotten my act together.  I was the opposite of most of my classmates; they were goofing off their senior year.  I was finally working hard.

Anyway, I am onto my next book.  It is called Across Five Aprils.  It follows a boy named Jethro through the Civil War.  I'm only 10 pages into it, but it is good so far.  I am actually reading it to see if I want my 6th-8th grade Civil War class at our homeschool co-op to read it.  Jacob, who is our avid reader, was excited to find out I was finished with my book and asked with eager expectation, "What are you going to read next?"  He was visibly disappointed when I told him I'd be reading this book for class.  He wants me to read the books he loves, books like The Lost Hero and The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan.  Maybe I'll get to them next.