My word for 2016 is Today. In 2015, I experienced a lot of sudden deaths: about one per quarter. People I knew and loved disappeared just like that out of my life. And just when I recovered to a degree, wham! another one would depart. Plus the increase in terrorist attacks has really shaken my foundations. So I realized on a new level that life is short and can end at any moment.

Hunedoara Castle in Romania, one of the sites we plan to visit in April 2016 (by Andrei Stroe via Wikimedia Commons)

Tomorrow is not promised. Today is all I have. I plan not to plan in 2016. That does not mean I will not plan at all. It just means that I will plan one quarter at a time – 12 weeks, according to the 12-week year principle.

Things are shaping up nicely for 2016. It looks like we will take a trip to Romania, which will give me an opportunity to teach the kids about my home country and try my hand at a unit study.  Continue reading »