I'm on their list, so I knew about the Mother's Day special. I tried yesterday to download some of their ebooks and was proud that I actually got four. On many of the homeschool lists I'm on, there were people who couldn't get any. I think I was lucky because I loosened up my security so I didn't have to wait for a second connection.
This morning I sat down and got a couple more of their free ebooks.
The book I liked the best was Great Pioneer Projects You Can Build Yourself by Rachel Dickinson. I liked the fact that it gave information as well as projects. I liked it so much I went to Amazon and did some searching. There are a few books in their Build Yourself Series that piqued my interest.
The only thing about this book -- I would prefer it in book form as opposed to ebook. I'm not going to print the thing out, it would take too much ink and I'm cheap.
I had to try to download this book about six times. Each time I got it the file was corrupted. Finally, this morning within minutes of their promotion being over, I got it. Small victory for me.
I liked this free giveaway because it gave me a chance to see things beyond their teasing previews. It enabled me to figure out what I could use and tweak and what was just out of the question. We'll actually use two of their free ebooks. The others were nice to view.
One of the books I got was the Hands of a Child Mythological Creatures lapbook. Cute book, information provided at the beginning about creatures, but what can I say -- as cute as I think lapbooks are -- and I really do think they're cute -- we have tried to do lapbooks on three different occasions and failed. Why? Because for us, we just don't see the point. I think in the early elementary grades they're perfect and would have suited Thomas well. Thomas thought it was just a bunch of busy work. And I tend to agree -- for him. I'd far rather him write a report than cut and paste and all that.
So Thomas and I will continue to admire the photos of lapbooks that we come across on the web, but we won't partake.
I think it was great that the Homeschool eStore had this giveaway. I know it blew their servers, I know people got testy about it, but they didn't have to give them out in the first place and they are moving to a better more accommodating server in the very near future. Kudos to them. Thanks, we'll enjoy our Pioneer Projects very much.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
My Perfect Mother's Day
It started out with my favorite breakfast: Two Egg McMuffins and a big fountain pop. From there, Bob and Thomas went to work.
As the day progressed, we got hungry. Thomas made chocolate chip muffins all by himself -- a double batch to boot.
We had a picnic in the yard. This kid melts my heart.
The day got hot, so Thomas decided to run through the sprinkler.
The boys finished the skeleton of the fence. All three of us put the Thompson's water sealer/stain on.
Today after work, Bob and Thomas (and me, too) set out to work again.
They got all the way done with the long fence wall. I don't have a photo because I was cooking. I had to please Bob, so I made his favorite a roast (boring) beef, mashed potatoes and gravy. We'll get the rest up Wednesday because we're busy all afternoon and evening tomorrow.
Let me just say that aside from Thomas himself, this is the BEST Mother's Day/Birthday gift I have ever received. Ever. Privacy, ahhh. The only thing that could surpass it would be if we won the lottery and bought a place in the country.
Ahhhh.
As the day progressed, we got hungry. Thomas made chocolate chip muffins all by himself -- a double batch to boot.
We had a picnic in the yard. This kid melts my heart.
The day got hot, so Thomas decided to run through the sprinkler.
The boys finished the skeleton of the fence. All three of us put the Thompson's water sealer/stain on.
Today after work, Bob and Thomas (and me, too) set out to work again.
They got all the way done with the long fence wall. I don't have a photo because I was cooking. I had to please Bob, so I made his favorite a roast (boring) beef, mashed potatoes and gravy. We'll get the rest up Wednesday because we're busy all afternoon and evening tomorrow.
Let me just say that aside from Thomas himself, this is the BEST Mother's Day/Birthday gift I have ever received. Ever. Privacy, ahhh. The only thing that could surpass it would be if we won the lottery and bought a place in the country.
Ahhhh.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Friday
Not much to blog about lately.
I have spring fever and am ready to throw school out the window. Thomas, on the other hand, wakes up happy and is ready to go -- after he makes himself some muffins or scrambled eggs. (The mean mom makes him cook his own breakfast -- Home Ec 101) He has even requested that he be allowed to continue doing vocab and logic over the summer. Go figure.
Got new glasses this week. I got sunglasses and regular glasses. The regular glasses stunk! They were trifocals. The store clerk talked me in to getting no line bifocals which are trifocals. What she did not tell me was that that trifocal business was on the sides, not just in the middle. I don't care about aging -- it's a fact of life, but I refuse to be an old lady who has to turn her head to see everything in focus. $320 for these glasses. I was so upset with myself. Then I noticed that there was a very large gap between the lens and the frame on the right side. I was horrified that brand-new glasses would have such a gap. It was an omen. I fretted about it, but the day after I picked the glasses up, I marched right back and told them I didn't want them. The doctor and the clerk were out there and were not happy. The doctor told me that he'd just order me a new lens. I told him that these have to last two years, and at $320 I expect them to be well made. I told him I didn't feel good about these glasses.
Honestly, I would have kept them and grumbled about the trifocal-blurry-sides business, but that crack really bothered me. The store was quite taken back when I told them I would not be ordering another pair. The sunglasses I got are fantastic, and gladly kept them.
I've been checking glasses online and I think I will order from 39dollarglasses. I can get what I want for 89 bucks -- frames and transition lenses. (Sun really bothers my eyes.) Anyone had any experience with that company?
I finally got around to ordering Thomas's standardized test. We have to test each year, but we don't turn the results in. I waited until the last possible minute to order. What was I thinking? It should come the end of May. The lady on the phone was very nice and explained that there would probably be a delay in our receiving the test. I think she was expecting me to grumble. I laughed and said, "That's okay, I was very delayed in ordering." She laughed -- I think she was relieved. We have always ordered our tests from Family Learning Organization. I have always been pleased with the company.
Our ducks are still with us. They come every evening for some grub.
Bob (the builder, ha ha) has been busy on our privacy fence. Thomas has proven to be of great help and has enjoyed digging post holes. Bob put all the dirt from the holes in our garden and Thomas has enjoyed playing in it. Can we say filthy child? I always figure the dirtier the child is, the more fun he/she is having. So go forth and get dirty, kiddo.
That's about it.
I have spring fever and am ready to throw school out the window. Thomas, on the other hand, wakes up happy and is ready to go -- after he makes himself some muffins or scrambled eggs. (The mean mom makes him cook his own breakfast -- Home Ec 101) He has even requested that he be allowed to continue doing vocab and logic over the summer. Go figure.
Got new glasses this week. I got sunglasses and regular glasses. The regular glasses stunk! They were trifocals. The store clerk talked me in to getting no line bifocals which are trifocals. What she did not tell me was that that trifocal business was on the sides, not just in the middle. I don't care about aging -- it's a fact of life, but I refuse to be an old lady who has to turn her head to see everything in focus. $320 for these glasses. I was so upset with myself. Then I noticed that there was a very large gap between the lens and the frame on the right side. I was horrified that brand-new glasses would have such a gap. It was an omen. I fretted about it, but the day after I picked the glasses up, I marched right back and told them I didn't want them. The doctor and the clerk were out there and were not happy. The doctor told me that he'd just order me a new lens. I told him that these have to last two years, and at $320 I expect them to be well made. I told him I didn't feel good about these glasses.
Honestly, I would have kept them and grumbled about the trifocal-blurry-sides business, but that crack really bothered me. The store was quite taken back when I told them I would not be ordering another pair. The sunglasses I got are fantastic, and gladly kept them.
I've been checking glasses online and I think I will order from 39dollarglasses. I can get what I want for 89 bucks -- frames and transition lenses. (Sun really bothers my eyes.) Anyone had any experience with that company?
I finally got around to ordering Thomas's standardized test. We have to test each year, but we don't turn the results in. I waited until the last possible minute to order. What was I thinking? It should come the end of May. The lady on the phone was very nice and explained that there would probably be a delay in our receiving the test. I think she was expecting me to grumble. I laughed and said, "That's okay, I was very delayed in ordering." She laughed -- I think she was relieved. We have always ordered our tests from Family Learning Organization. I have always been pleased with the company.
Our ducks are still with us. They come every evening for some grub.
Bob (the builder, ha ha) has been busy on our privacy fence. Thomas has proven to be of great help and has enjoyed digging post holes. Bob put all the dirt from the holes in our garden and Thomas has enjoyed playing in it. Can we say filthy child? I always figure the dirtier the child is, the more fun he/she is having. So go forth and get dirty, kiddo.
That's about it.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Backyard Happenings
If you click on this, it enlarges so you can actually see the bunny.
Fred and Ethel came close to the door for their evening feeding. I got a couple close-ups of Ethel. The first shot she sat patiently for me. The second shot she turned her head as if to say, "Would you leave me the h-e-double-toothpick alone?" As I was watching the ducks, two bunnies came hopping into the yard. When they saw me, one ran for the bushes -- you can barely see its eyes -- and the other froze in its place, not far from Fred.
Bob bought me a shepherd's hook this weekend because I begged. I wanted the bird feeder closer to the window so I could actually see the birds without my binoculars. We have counted seven different birds that we had not seen before. Thomas is loving bird watching, as are his father and I. It amazes me to think that these birds have always been here but I have never noticed. Last year I remember watching two robbins flirting and chasing each other, but other than that, I have never noticed. It amazes me, because now we're always watching out the windows.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Phy Ed, or what I call gym class
Bob has decided Thomas needs to lift weights. We dusted off the old--very, very old--Bowflex and got to work. Bob made me exercise, too. I hated every flippin' minute of it. Give me Richard Simmons any day.
As you can tell, Thomas loved it. NOT.
"Does it LOOK like I'm having fun?"
As you can tell, Thomas loved it. NOT.
"Does it LOOK like I'm having fun?"
Our Ducks
Here are Fred and Ethel, still with us. We think that they are nesting at the next door neighbor's house under their shrubs. They like to visit us each morning and evening for some grub. We bought a bag of corn. They come up to the back door now for their dinner. They prefer bread, but we only give that to them every couple days.
Thomas and I discussed the fact that they won't eat here if they're nesting in our yard, and he said he preferred they nest somewhere else because he liked to feed them. So we've marked our calendar (May 2nd) the day they stopped hanging in our yard all day and started making their morning and evening appearances. Should take 26 days, plus or minus.
We have enjoyed sharing our back-yard home with the ducks tremendously.
Now, I need to find I Love Lucy on TV because Thomas still has no idea who Fred and Ethel are!
Friday, May 04, 2007
The Thinking Blogger Award
I am a recipient of The Thinking Blogger Award. Elisheva at Ragamuffin Studies tagged me. What an honor! Thank you so much.
To participate in this, I must follow three rules.
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post (the original) so people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. (This one is optional.) Proudly display the Thinking Blogger Award with a link to the post that you wrote.
It is now my duty to choose five bloggers that make me think. I have been stewing over this since I was tagged. This is very difficult because I read a lot of blogs and I do so because they make me think. How do I only pick five??? I love all the blogs I read and I don't want to exclude anyone. Sigh.
Well, here goes anyway. I sure wish I could include my entire blogroll -- seriously.
1. Carrie Bartkowiak.
2. Steph at A Room of my Own.
3. Gherkin Pickle at Wicked Pickles.
4. Carole at Mt. Pleasant Classical Academy.
5. Audrey at A Small Corner of Nowhere.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
We've been adopted
Meet Fred and Ethel. Five nights ago, we found Fred and Ethel in our back yard. We live four houses from the lake, so they were out taking a stroll. Apparently, they liked our place. Ethel did, for sure. She stayed, Fred left.
The next night we fed Ethel bread. As we were feeding her, we heard "honk, honk, honk" and she started honking and walking away. This honking went on back and forth until the two love birds found each other. They were now in the front of our house. We thought they'd be on their merry way, but no, they came back. They got within two feet of me and three of Thomas. Thomas filled a shallow bucket full of water and Ethel jumped right in and took a bath in front of us. We fed them a few more pieces of bread and went in the house to watch them from the window. They waltzed all around our back yard, but settled in the jungle area.
The next morning, Fred was gone but Ethel was under Bob's car. He made a lot of noise so she ambled along out of his way. She took turns hiding under our other car and our neighbor's car (The neighbor that speaks to us
Later that night as I was washing the supper dishes, I heard "honk, honk, honk." I looked out and there was Fred honking at my window. I grabbed Thomas and out we went. We followed Fred's honking until he met up with Ethel in the back. Again, they settled in the jungle area. This time we were prepared. We had purchased corn pieces from the store and fed them. (If you feed a cat, they'll keep coming back. How about a duck???)
Ethel isn't leaving. This has gone on for five nights. I hope she's nesting back there -- that would be wonderful for both Thomas and I to witness. I haven't spotted a nest yet, and she's still pretty active walking around. She should give 8-12 eggs and won't sit on the nest until they've all been laid. Then it's 26 days of waiting. How cute would it be to see ducklings?
I'm trying not to invade on them too much. We feed the ducks all the time at our lakes, they have bubble gum machines to dispense cracked corn. I figured that must be safe if the city put them up.
Anyway, if they're gone tomorrow, we've had a blast with them. It really seems as if they are in love. lol
Sunday Night Drivel
First off, my apologies for my snarky post about sending Thomas back to public school. I get very vocal about things that, well, rub me the wrong way and I also have a kind of wonky sense of humor.
*****
What a weekend. I know one of my readers doesn't like mention of my neighbors, but I'm going to talk about them a bit. The nasty man who assaulted me almost one year ago April and his wife left town for the weekend. What a celebration that was for us! It was heavenly to be able to be free in the front yard. This is the couple that watches every single move we make. (I know I sound paranoid, but I'm not about this.) I washed the driveway down and I even swept the gutter out.
Our next-door neighbors with that yappy #$Q@ -- um, dog, mow their lawn twice a week and then the guy takes his blower and blows all the clippings onto the street. They end up back in the gutter, and since we have a dip in our driveway gutter part, it all collects at our house. So if the cops drove by, they'd think that we are putting our lawn clippings illegally into the street. It is illegal in our town to do that.
A good friend suggested I call the city and let them know that they need to inform the neighbors that it is illegal to do that. I worry about the karma of doing that.
What would they do to us in return? (Homeschooler paranoia speaking.)
The neighbors with the dog had Demon (not his real name) running loose all day. Yap, yap, yap, yap....if I were them, I'd go crazy listening to that all the time. I go crazy one house over. We can hear that damned dog in my house when he is in his house with each house having its windows shut. FWIW, I am an avid animal lover. I have volunteered at shelters and even done foster care work for homeless pets. I don't hate dogs.
Anyway, we started clearing our jungle/bank at the back of our property. Cutting tree sprouts, trimmed our pussy willow down -- and the woman stands at her back door and screams at me: What are you going to do with all that wood? I ignored her, threw it behind my shed, and walked in the house. Our plans were to build a fire pit and burn it. Well, after thinking about that, our other neighbors -- the people everyone in this neighborhood hates worse than us -- who are actually civil to us, would have problems with the smoke, so we decided to not do that to them. We went in search of the infamous tree deposit site that is run by our city. We drove a few miles in the country and did not find it. I'll be calling the city tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the lack of privacy in our yard has always driven me nuts since the new yappy neighbors moved in. They're out there all the time. They're seniors, and they have nothing better to do than have the perfect yard. (It's okay, but true gardeners wouldn't like their style.) Last year my husband planted six shrubs -- some type of cranberry -- that are very pretty, for privacy. And they're short. They do nothing to give us privacy and I expect they won't for several years. So I decided to get on the net and search. I found a very cheap solution! Bamboo fences. You can buy rolls of bamboo fence that is 6' tall from 25 to 50' in length. I could get some on Ebay for $50. I told Bob I was going to order some and he could get posts to attach it to. Then he'd be happy when snow comes because he could take it down.
It's a good think I didn't jump right on that. Bob decided that he would bite the bullet and BUILD A FENCE around our patio area. Twenty-five feet out from the house and four to six feet perpendicular to that. A nice L-shaped privacy fence. We went to the lumber store, priced it, and this project will be less than $400. And I'm hoping it will give me my sanity back.
Two years ago Bob threw out my outdoor swing. I had used it so much, and it had so much sun rot, that it was not functional. Every night after supper I enjoyed sitting on my swing, watching Thomas play, and then watching the sunset. It was my soul nurturing time. The swing went the same summer yaps moved in. I haven't been able to enjoy my back yard since. So I think this $400 fence is going to restore me beyond belief. I miss my quiet time outdoors.
And now I'll have some actual motivation to get my yard in better shape and my garden going very well. Yeah.
Life is good.
The weather here was gorgeous. Spring sometimes has the air that when it hits you, you just feel good. It can lift a mood quicker than anything I've ever experienced. We were bouncing and happy all weekend.
I made a big, long list of things that needed done around the house and attached it to the fridge. I worked fast and furious -- got the master closet cleaned out, lots of putzy stuff done, fixed my blinds that were broken, washed windows inside and out -- I worked my tail off this weekend. Well, it must have been contagious because Bob dug in, too. He fixed some things that had been driving me wonky since he broke them -- one and two years ago. My bathroom outlet is now not hanging three inches out of the wall and is where it is supposed to be. For that, Bob, I am very grateful.
I have lots to do on my list, but I'm feeling very energized. And I've decided to try to shift my perceptions about my neighbors -- because I do have a lot of anger. I'm just having a little difficulty finding the solution in how I need to shift. The dog people are just annoying and I really don't have anger, I just wish they'd train their dog. It's the man across the street that assaulted me that I'm having difficulties shifting my perceptions. He admitted to me during the assault/confrontation that he watched us all the time. That is just icky. So if someone has any ideas on how I can refocus, please share. I'm sure Mother Crone doesn't want to read another neighbor rant. ;-)
*****
What a weekend. I know one of my readers doesn't like mention of my neighbors, but I'm going to talk about them a bit. The nasty man who assaulted me almost one year ago April and his wife left town for the weekend. What a celebration that was for us! It was heavenly to be able to be free in the front yard. This is the couple that watches every single move we make. (I know I sound paranoid, but I'm not about this.) I washed the driveway down and I even swept the gutter out.
Our next-door neighbors with that yappy #$Q@ -- um, dog, mow their lawn twice a week and then the guy takes his blower and blows all the clippings onto the street. They end up back in the gutter, and since we have a dip in our driveway gutter part, it all collects at our house. So if the cops drove by, they'd think that we are putting our lawn clippings illegally into the street. It is illegal in our town to do that.
A good friend suggested I call the city and let them know that they need to inform the neighbors that it is illegal to do that. I worry about the karma of doing that.
What would they do to us in return? (Homeschooler paranoia speaking.)
The neighbors with the dog had Demon (not his real name) running loose all day. Yap, yap, yap, yap....if I were them, I'd go crazy listening to that all the time. I go crazy one house over. We can hear that damned dog in my house when he is in his house with each house having its windows shut. FWIW, I am an avid animal lover. I have volunteered at shelters and even done foster care work for homeless pets. I don't hate dogs.
Anyway, we started clearing our jungle/bank at the back of our property. Cutting tree sprouts, trimmed our pussy willow down -- and the woman stands at her back door and screams at me: What are you going to do with all that wood? I ignored her, threw it behind my shed, and walked in the house. Our plans were to build a fire pit and burn it. Well, after thinking about that, our other neighbors -- the people everyone in this neighborhood hates worse than us -- who are actually civil to us, would have problems with the smoke, so we decided to not do that to them. We went in search of the infamous tree deposit site that is run by our city. We drove a few miles in the country and did not find it. I'll be calling the city tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the lack of privacy in our yard has always driven me nuts since the new yappy neighbors moved in. They're out there all the time. They're seniors, and they have nothing better to do than have the perfect yard. (It's okay, but true gardeners wouldn't like their style.) Last year my husband planted six shrubs -- some type of cranberry -- that are very pretty, for privacy. And they're short. They do nothing to give us privacy and I expect they won't for several years. So I decided to get on the net and search. I found a very cheap solution! Bamboo fences. You can buy rolls of bamboo fence that is 6' tall from 25 to 50' in length. I could get some on Ebay for $50. I told Bob I was going to order some and he could get posts to attach it to. Then he'd be happy when snow comes because he could take it down.
It's a good think I didn't jump right on that. Bob decided that he would bite the bullet and BUILD A FENCE around our patio area. Twenty-five feet out from the house and four to six feet perpendicular to that. A nice L-shaped privacy fence. We went to the lumber store, priced it, and this project will be less than $400. And I'm hoping it will give me my sanity back.
Two years ago Bob threw out my outdoor swing. I had used it so much, and it had so much sun rot, that it was not functional. Every night after supper I enjoyed sitting on my swing, watching Thomas play, and then watching the sunset. It was my soul nurturing time. The swing went the same summer yaps moved in. I haven't been able to enjoy my back yard since. So I think this $400 fence is going to restore me beyond belief. I miss my quiet time outdoors.
And now I'll have some actual motivation to get my yard in better shape and my garden going very well. Yeah.
Life is good.
The weather here was gorgeous. Spring sometimes has the air that when it hits you, you just feel good. It can lift a mood quicker than anything I've ever experienced. We were bouncing and happy all weekend.
I made a big, long list of things that needed done around the house and attached it to the fridge. I worked fast and furious -- got the master closet cleaned out, lots of putzy stuff done, fixed my blinds that were broken, washed windows inside and out -- I worked my tail off this weekend. Well, it must have been contagious because Bob dug in, too. He fixed some things that had been driving me wonky since he broke them -- one and two years ago. My bathroom outlet is now not hanging three inches out of the wall and is where it is supposed to be. For that, Bob, I am very grateful.
I have lots to do on my list, but I'm feeling very energized. And I've decided to try to shift my perceptions about my neighbors -- because I do have a lot of anger. I'm just having a little difficulty finding the solution in how I need to shift. The dog people are just annoying and I really don't have anger, I just wish they'd train their dog. It's the man across the street that assaulted me that I'm having difficulties shifting my perceptions. He admitted to me during the assault/confrontation that he watched us all the time. That is just icky. So if someone has any ideas on how I can refocus, please share. I'm sure Mother Crone doesn't want to read another neighbor rant. ;-)
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Alec Baldwin
How many people out there have heard Alec Baldwin's message he left on his daughter's phone? Raise your hands if you did, I'm watching.
Okay. How many of you that heard it thought that it was awful, demeaning, cruel, abusive, inappropriate, ________ fill in the blank. Raise your hands.
Okay, I see everyone raised their hands on that one. Me too.
Now, how many people out there think that Alec Baldwin is a bad father? Raise your hands.
Guess what? My hand did not raise. I think he screwed up, BIG time. I think he loves his daughter, though. I think he was frustrated that the "supposed" court order that names a designated call time for he and Ireland to connect was not met. I put supposed in quotes because it is extremely common for judges to order such things -- sometimes on a weekly basis, sometimes on a nightly basis. I just haven't read the court order, so that's why I quoted supposed.
Now, how many think that it was unconsinable for Kim Bassinger to release that recording to the public? Isn't that just as harmful to her daughter? Okay, we have no proof that Kim actually leaked it. BUT she's the mom, she has control over the phone, the people she hires, etc. She's the one to point the finger at.
And how many people think that it's Kim's job to have her daughter by the phone at the prescribed time so that she can talk to her dad?
I do.
I guess because I sat in a courtroom for 11 years and have seen many, many, many nasty custody cases, I've seen it all. I think both parents are under extreme stress from the fighting that's going on. Men typically get named for being the bad guys in said cases, but in my experience, the women played the worst games.
Bottom line is that none of this is good for Ireland. My heart breaks for her. I hope her parents can get their acts together and put her interests first.
I read tonight that Alec Baldwin is going to be on The View on Friday. I will watch because I want to hear what he had to say.
I know I'm sending Ireland virtual hugs and love because I think she really needs it.
I also know far worse things were said to me in my childhood. My mother commonly called my oldest sister Two-Ton Tony to her face, in front of friends, etc.
Parents make mistakes, we're human. But for God's sakes, get it together for the kids' sake.
I just needed to share my thoughts on that. I'd like to know what others think of the whole ordeal, if they've been following.
Okay. How many of you that heard it thought that it was awful, demeaning, cruel, abusive, inappropriate, ________ fill in the blank. Raise your hands.
Okay, I see everyone raised their hands on that one. Me too.
Now, how many people out there think that Alec Baldwin is a bad father? Raise your hands.
Guess what? My hand did not raise. I think he screwed up, BIG time. I think he loves his daughter, though. I think he was frustrated that the "supposed" court order that names a designated call time for he and Ireland to connect was not met. I put supposed in quotes because it is extremely common for judges to order such things -- sometimes on a weekly basis, sometimes on a nightly basis. I just haven't read the court order, so that's why I quoted supposed.
Now, how many think that it was unconsinable for Kim Bassinger to release that recording to the public? Isn't that just as harmful to her daughter? Okay, we have no proof that Kim actually leaked it. BUT she's the mom, she has control over the phone, the people she hires, etc. She's the one to point the finger at.
And how many people think that it's Kim's job to have her daughter by the phone at the prescribed time so that she can talk to her dad?
I do.
I guess because I sat in a courtroom for 11 years and have seen many, many, many nasty custody cases, I've seen it all. I think both parents are under extreme stress from the fighting that's going on. Men typically get named for being the bad guys in said cases, but in my experience, the women played the worst games.
Bottom line is that none of this is good for Ireland. My heart breaks for her. I hope her parents can get their acts together and put her interests first.
I read tonight that Alec Baldwin is going to be on The View on Friday. I will watch because I want to hear what he had to say.
I know I'm sending Ireland virtual hugs and love because I think she really needs it.
I also know far worse things were said to me in my childhood. My mother commonly called my oldest sister Two-Ton Tony to her face, in front of friends, etc.
Parents make mistakes, we're human. But for God's sakes, get it together for the kids' sake.
I just needed to share my thoughts on that. I'd like to know what others think of the whole ordeal, if they've been following.
Back to Public School for Thomas
Yep, today we made the decision to send Thomas back to school.
Why? Because he's an only child.
According to toastfloats, that's the way it should be. Parents of onlies have no business homeschooling. I'm referring to her list of 10 reasons why you shouldn't homeschool. Reason 7) You have only one child.
The world already revolves around your child. Take him home and focus your full attention on him all day, every day, until this transient impression becomes a reality. Go ahead.
FAT CHANCE. WE ARE NOT -- REPEAT -- NOT SENDING THOMAS BACK TO PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Here was my response on her blog: I read this post earlier in the day and I just couldn't respond at that point.
I am a mom of an only child. I am so hurt by your number seven. Why do people treat onlies and parents of onlies like this? WHY?
When my child was in public school, I had a teacher comment that parents ought not be allowed to have just one child. That floored me. Frankly, this stings even worse.
I am just so hurt that the homeschooling community -- your comment and the consensus of the group of which you speak -- could say such a mean-spirited thing.
For the record, we tried to have other children, but it was just not meant to be. So yeah, maybe I'm a bit touchy.
So I guess I should send poor Thomas back to school instead of keeping him at home where he has grown, learned and gained confidence that was stripped from him in public school, just because he's an only.
What a load of crap.
Now, I don't ordinarily make such harsh comments on blogs. But damn it all, we homeschoolers need to stick together. Why insult? Why make such false statements? I just don't get it.
My son is well-grounded, shy, loving, kind, and thoughtful. He is who he is and he IS the center of my world and he knows it and frankly, in my humble opinion, that's what good parenting is. Homeschooling has been the best thing EVER for him.
GOOD GRIEF.
Thanks, Doc, for sharing this.
Why? Because he's an only child.
According to toastfloats, that's the way it should be. Parents of onlies have no business homeschooling. I'm referring to her list of 10 reasons why you shouldn't homeschool. Reason 7) You have only one child.
The world already revolves around your child. Take him home and focus your full attention on him all day, every day, until this transient impression becomes a reality. Go ahead.
FAT CHANCE. WE ARE NOT -- REPEAT -- NOT SENDING THOMAS BACK TO PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Here was my response on her blog: I read this post earlier in the day and I just couldn't respond at that point.
I am a mom of an only child. I am so hurt by your number seven. Why do people treat onlies and parents of onlies like this? WHY?
When my child was in public school, I had a teacher comment that parents ought not be allowed to have just one child. That floored me. Frankly, this stings even worse.
I am just so hurt that the homeschooling community -- your comment and the consensus of the group of which you speak -- could say such a mean-spirited thing.
For the record, we tried to have other children, but it was just not meant to be. So yeah, maybe I'm a bit touchy.
So I guess I should send poor Thomas back to school instead of keeping him at home where he has grown, learned and gained confidence that was stripped from him in public school, just because he's an only.
What a load of crap.
Now, I don't ordinarily make such harsh comments on blogs. But damn it all, we homeschoolers need to stick together. Why insult? Why make such false statements? I just don't get it.
My son is well-grounded, shy, loving, kind, and thoughtful. He is who he is and he IS the center of my world and he knows it and frankly, in my humble opinion, that's what good parenting is. Homeschooling has been the best thing EVER for him.
GOOD GRIEF.
Thanks, Doc, for sharing this.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
First Still-Life Sketch
After Bob got home from work, the boys discussed still life. Bob searched the house for something easy and they both sketched. I was pretty impressed with Thomas's picture.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sunday night ramblings
Waiting for the sleeping pill to kick in...
Yesterday I felt cooped up and needed to break out of the house. I was even just a tad crabby. I gave Bob the lecture about "not ever having anything to do, anywhere to go, or anything to look forward to just tears me up." I give him that lecture a lot. So he appeased me by suggesting the car show and Subway today.
We woke up this morning fairly early for a Sunday. Thomas was still asleep so Bob and I were sipping coffee and talking about his art. Of course we only thought T was asleep, he was wide awake in his bed listening to everything we were saying. Grrr.
Our conversation was mainly about his "flair" for art. He's always loved to draw, he's always hated to use any color. He got reprimanded on a daily basis in K and 1st at public school because he wouldn't color.
We were discussing his Titanic picture. That really is the first time he has ever start to finish painted a picture. It took him a few hours. Granted, I know there were lots of flaws -- the water line wasn't straight, the propellers weren't right -too much showing, but the fact that he did the lights reflecting in the water, the fact that you could actually see depth on his decks, and the fact that in the original you could see where the water was different colors. (It didn't show up on the scan.) Obviously, he's got a raw flair.
Thomas's ceramics teacher pulled me aside and told me he had a flair for art. She said he had some natural talent and sees things other kids don't see. So that's what we were talking about, then Thomas joined us. As I was making a second pot of coffee, Bob ran downstairs and pulled all the art books again. (I had looked them all over earlier in the week.) He also pulled his painting box out. We had an art lesson at the kitchen table. Brushes, brush care, colors, color mixing, styles, translucent, opaque, yada, yada, yada. I ran and grabbed one of Thomas's sketch books. Bob grabbed the Primsacolor things that are like colored pencils but not really. (See how good I am at art?) Our kitchen was covered head to to in art stuff.
Thomas sketched the morning away. He's pumped. We've decided we need to make a mini art studio in the house. This stuff just takes over my small kitchen and there is carpeting in our school room. Plus, there's not enough room in there. So that will be the project of the week, cleaning out a corner of the laundry room. Bob's going to get his easel out and set everything up. He volunteered to teach Thomas art.
Ahem. That makes two subjects Bob will be teaching now: physics and art. If only he'd take over math. lol The only bad thing about this is Bob is, well, not as gentle as I am. He's gentle, but he's brutally honest as well. The first night the two had physics together, Thomas bawled. Now it's great, but they had to get used to each other. I had to keep telling Bob that Thomas is a kid and doesn't know what you know. Go figure.
So an artsy morning, everyone was happy. This afternoon we hit the car show. Basically it's a car club in our small town. Mostly old cars, but there were a few newer cars, too. That took about a half hour. Bob and I both drooled over the Chargers, Mustangs, Firebirds and Cameros. Thomas drooled over the '50s trucks and some butt-ugly station wagon. I still don't know what he was thinking. I should have snapped a photo of it, it was that ugly. lol
We went to one of our two mart stores, made eye appointments, and picked out our new glasses. Sheesh, so much for a new furnace -- $500 for new glasses for Bob and I. And darn it all, it would have been much cheaper if we both didn't need bifocals. Ugh. Oh, and of course I'm getting prescription sunglasses -- a must for driving. (My blue eyes cannot handle bright sun.) Those frames were on sale for $19.99. That worked out really well because I'm just so stressed after an eye appointment and I hate picking out glasses. So the hard part is done. Now we just need to wait a week.
We then went to Subway, ate, and came home. I cleaned my filthy kitchen -- and it was filthy. I was lazy this weekend. There was paint on all the counters. Thank God it was tempera, Clorox Clean-up took it right off.
And, well, here I am. Still waiting for the sleeping pill to kick in.
One final comment. I felt a "scout" rant coming on while replying to a comment, so I'll take this opportunity to rant because I'm so good at ranting.
Thomas had debated back and forth about joining boy scouts. Yes, no, yes, no -- I was the same way. Yes, you may join; no, you may not join. I finally gave in and said okay. So back in March there was a scheduled food drive. We got the letter in the mail two days before the activity. We show up at 9 sharp, and not a soul was there. I parked, scratched my head (well, I really didn't do that, I probably said a cuss word) and then the old cub master walked out of the church. He told me that the boy scouts had postponed it and they were meeting at another time. He didn't know when. Honestly, I was a little ticked off. I'm not one to be out of the house and presentable by 9 am on a Saturday morning. Plus, I always liked doing that food drive. So when I got home, I called the troop leader and one of the assistant troop leaders. None returned my call.
Strike one.
Strike two: They have not had a single troop meeting since the night before my den crossed over in February. That's over two months. No meetings. NOT acceptable.
Strike three: I'm friends with the manager of our local grocery store. His son was in my den. His other two sons are in boy scouts. We chat about scouts every time I'm at the store and he sees me. Really nice guy, and his son was my favorite boy (except for Thomas, that is.) His oldest son works at the store, too. That boy "let me have it but good" that he was not happy about the state of affairs of that troop. He talked to me in the milk aisle for a good twenty minutes. I could tell he just needed to unleash his frustrations on someone. He told me nightmares about the new scout master. Seems if you upset him, he gives the boy a toothbrush and has them go clean the toilets. He told me the TM is very hard no the boys and frankly is no fun. He shared how the former troop masters made it fun, did things, and, well, cared. There have been two *women* troop masters before our current male leader. They would have never gone two months without a troop meeting. Anyway, I thought the toilet thing was bad enough, but he told me that the TM would tease the boys and make it hard on them if they got homesick when they went away to the big camp.
Pardon my language, but that was strike three and I said screw it, Boy Scouts "ain't gonna happen" for us.
Thomas is highly sensitive. If he was given a toothbrush and told to clean the toilets (they're not flush toilets, either) he'd freak. And darn it all, if a kid is homesick and having a hard time being away for a week, IMHO that child needs gentle encouragement, not someone riding their tush about it. That only makes things worse.
So there's my rant about scouts. DONE. FIN. Cubbies was fun, and we both really miss it, but unless they get an adult who knows what s/he is doing, forget it.
And here I sit, my eyelids are starting to droop, thank you Ambien. Enough ranting, time to prepare for a new day.
Yesterday I felt cooped up and needed to break out of the house. I was even just a tad crabby. I gave Bob the lecture about "not ever having anything to do, anywhere to go, or anything to look forward to just tears me up." I give him that lecture a lot. So he appeased me by suggesting the car show and Subway today.
We woke up this morning fairly early for a Sunday. Thomas was still asleep so Bob and I were sipping coffee and talking about his art. Of course we only thought T was asleep, he was wide awake in his bed listening to everything we were saying. Grrr.
Our conversation was mainly about his "flair" for art. He's always loved to draw, he's always hated to use any color. He got reprimanded on a daily basis in K and 1st at public school because he wouldn't color.
We were discussing his Titanic picture. That really is the first time he has ever start to finish painted a picture. It took him a few hours. Granted, I know there were lots of flaws -- the water line wasn't straight, the propellers weren't right -too much showing, but the fact that he did the lights reflecting in the water, the fact that you could actually see depth on his decks, and the fact that in the original you could see where the water was different colors. (It didn't show up on the scan.) Obviously, he's got a raw flair.
Thomas's ceramics teacher pulled me aside and told me he had a flair for art. She said he had some natural talent and sees things other kids don't see. So that's what we were talking about, then Thomas joined us. As I was making a second pot of coffee, Bob ran downstairs and pulled all the art books again. (I had looked them all over earlier in the week.) He also pulled his painting box out. We had an art lesson at the kitchen table. Brushes, brush care, colors, color mixing, styles, translucent, opaque, yada, yada, yada. I ran and grabbed one of Thomas's sketch books. Bob grabbed the Primsacolor things that are like colored pencils but not really. (See how good I am at art?) Our kitchen was covered head to to in art stuff.
Thomas sketched the morning away. He's pumped. We've decided we need to make a mini art studio in the house. This stuff just takes over my small kitchen and there is carpeting in our school room. Plus, there's not enough room in there. So that will be the project of the week, cleaning out a corner of the laundry room. Bob's going to get his easel out and set everything up. He volunteered to teach Thomas art.
Ahem. That makes two subjects Bob will be teaching now: physics and art. If only he'd take over math. lol The only bad thing about this is Bob is, well, not as gentle as I am. He's gentle, but he's brutally honest as well. The first night the two had physics together, Thomas bawled. Now it's great, but they had to get used to each other. I had to keep telling Bob that Thomas is a kid and doesn't know what you know. Go figure.
So an artsy morning, everyone was happy. This afternoon we hit the car show. Basically it's a car club in our small town. Mostly old cars, but there were a few newer cars, too. That took about a half hour. Bob and I both drooled over the Chargers, Mustangs, Firebirds and Cameros. Thomas drooled over the '50s trucks and some butt-ugly station wagon. I still don't know what he was thinking. I should have snapped a photo of it, it was that ugly. lol
We went to one of our two mart stores, made eye appointments, and picked out our new glasses. Sheesh, so much for a new furnace -- $500 for new glasses for Bob and I. And darn it all, it would have been much cheaper if we both didn't need bifocals. Ugh. Oh, and of course I'm getting prescription sunglasses -- a must for driving. (My blue eyes cannot handle bright sun.) Those frames were on sale for $19.99. That worked out really well because I'm just so stressed after an eye appointment and I hate picking out glasses. So the hard part is done. Now we just need to wait a week.
We then went to Subway, ate, and came home. I cleaned my filthy kitchen -- and it was filthy. I was lazy this weekend. There was paint on all the counters. Thank God it was tempera, Clorox Clean-up took it right off.
And, well, here I am. Still waiting for the sleeping pill to kick in.
One final comment. I felt a "scout" rant coming on while replying to a comment, so I'll take this opportunity to rant because I'm so good at ranting.
Thomas had debated back and forth about joining boy scouts. Yes, no, yes, no -- I was the same way. Yes, you may join; no, you may not join. I finally gave in and said okay. So back in March there was a scheduled food drive. We got the letter in the mail two days before the activity. We show up at 9 sharp, and not a soul was there. I parked, scratched my head (well, I really didn't do that, I probably said a cuss word) and then the old cub master walked out of the church. He told me that the boy scouts had postponed it and they were meeting at another time. He didn't know when. Honestly, I was a little ticked off. I'm not one to be out of the house and presentable by 9 am on a Saturday morning. Plus, I always liked doing that food drive. So when I got home, I called the troop leader and one of the assistant troop leaders. None returned my call.
Strike one.
Strike two: They have not had a single troop meeting since the night before my den crossed over in February. That's over two months. No meetings. NOT acceptable.
Strike three: I'm friends with the manager of our local grocery store. His son was in my den. His other two sons are in boy scouts. We chat about scouts every time I'm at the store and he sees me. Really nice guy, and his son was my favorite boy (except for Thomas, that is.) His oldest son works at the store, too. That boy "let me have it but good" that he was not happy about the state of affairs of that troop. He talked to me in the milk aisle for a good twenty minutes. I could tell he just needed to unleash his frustrations on someone. He told me nightmares about the new scout master. Seems if you upset him, he gives the boy a toothbrush and has them go clean the toilets. He told me the TM is very hard no the boys and frankly is no fun. He shared how the former troop masters made it fun, did things, and, well, cared. There have been two *women* troop masters before our current male leader. They would have never gone two months without a troop meeting. Anyway, I thought the toilet thing was bad enough, but he told me that the TM would tease the boys and make it hard on them if they got homesick when they went away to the big camp.
Pardon my language, but that was strike three and I said screw it, Boy Scouts "ain't gonna happen" for us.
Thomas is highly sensitive. If he was given a toothbrush and told to clean the toilets (they're not flush toilets, either) he'd freak. And darn it all, if a kid is homesick and having a hard time being away for a week, IMHO that child needs gentle encouragement, not someone riding their tush about it. That only makes things worse.
So there's my rant about scouts. DONE. FIN. Cubbies was fun, and we both really miss it, but unless they get an adult who knows what s/he is doing, forget it.
And here I sit, my eyelids are starting to droop, thank you Ambien. Enough ranting, time to prepare for a new day.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Earth Scouts
Surfing on the net today, I found Earth Scouts. There is also a yahoo group. I am looking it over to see if I think it would be good for Thomas. Just thought I'd pass the info on. It appears that you can do this as a family if there is not a group in your area.
"Earth Scouts
Imagine a community where children and youthAppreciate one another's differences
Have awe and a sense of wonder about nature and the cosmos
Engage in making their school and community better
Value independence and cooperation
Seek peaceful solutions to problems
Welcome new knowledge and experiencesEarth Scouts is a new
national program developed by Earth Charter US that inspires the above qualities in boys and girls from 3 to 13 years of age and engages them in actions. It is based on the Earth Charter: A Declaration of Interdependence, with badges centered on universal human rights,
eliminating poverty (economic justice), participatory democracy, respect for nature and a culture of peace.
Our slogan, 'Changing the World One Fun Badge
at a Time', was developed by a 10 year old member of our design group."
Toilet Monster
The little imp...
I woke up this morning and this is what I was greeted with. The lid was down and he taped the monster to the seat and lid. I am not a morning person so this actually gave me a start. Not because it scared me, but because I had to go and it interrupted my actions.
He's such a character.
I woke up this morning and this is what I was greeted with. The lid was down and he taped the monster to the seat and lid. I am not a morning person so this actually gave me a start. Not because it scared me, but because I had to go and it interrupted my actions.
He's such a character.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Where's the Beef?
Or, Where's Thomas's Titanic?
Well, I asked him to bring it to me so I could scan it and we can't. He had painted over the white Titanic letters and I don't want wet paint on my scanner. I could take a photo, but I would have to find the camera, clear a spot in my messy kitchen and shoot it, come back down, upload it....I'm lazy. Tomorrow.
This is the first time he has sat down to paint. He draws a lot and is fairly good at that. He's been learning perspective from little hints from dad and from a book I try to read. He just really wants to paint now.
We've been using Tempera paints. Did you know that Tempera paint stinks? My husband walked through the kitchen and asked, "Is something burning?" No, hon, it's just the paints.
DH scrounged up about 20 of his art books. They cut some plywood on the saw for painting boards and primed them. Tomorrow DH is going to dig out his "good" brushes that he has hidden from me. We may have to make a trip to a hobby store and get Thomas his own set. We will also take stock of our acrylics supply. We're going to move him on to acrylics. I need a 48-hour day to keep up.
Anyway, tonight Thomas used the stinky paint to make a Titanic poster. He was surprised that he wouldn't' be able to finish in one night. Imagine that. He wants the poster hanging in his room. I tell him it looks great. Dad says it looks great but the Titanic is out of proportion. Huh? I look and again, Dad is right.
Bob has agreed to add an art teacher feather to his cap. He's now official science teacher, he's always been the unschooling science guy, but now artist.. I think it works out great that Bob and I are so different that we are good at different things. We've got Thomas covered!!!
Time to close, as it's an early day tomorrow. Our library is having a book sale. I don't know a single homeschooler that doesn't take advantage of library book sales. I'm hoping to find some goodies tomorrow!
Well, I asked him to bring it to me so I could scan it and we can't. He had painted over the white Titanic letters and I don't want wet paint on my scanner. I could take a photo, but I would have to find the camera, clear a spot in my messy kitchen and shoot it, come back down, upload it....I'm lazy. Tomorrow.
This is the first time he has sat down to paint. He draws a lot and is fairly good at that. He's been learning perspective from little hints from dad and from a book I try to read. He just really wants to paint now.
We've been using Tempera paints. Did you know that Tempera paint stinks? My husband walked through the kitchen and asked, "Is something burning?" No, hon, it's just the paints.
DH scrounged up about 20 of his art books. They cut some plywood on the saw for painting boards and primed them. Tomorrow DH is going to dig out his "good" brushes that he has hidden from me. We may have to make a trip to a hobby store and get Thomas his own set. We will also take stock of our acrylics supply. We're going to move him on to acrylics. I need a 48-hour day to keep up.
Anyway, tonight Thomas used the stinky paint to make a Titanic poster. He was surprised that he wouldn't' be able to finish in one night. Imagine that. He wants the poster hanging in his room. I tell him it looks great. Dad says it looks great but the Titanic is out of proportion. Huh? I look and again, Dad is right.
Bob has agreed to add an art teacher feather to his cap. He's now official science teacher, he's always been the unschooling science guy, but now artist.. I think it works out great that Bob and I are so different that we are good at different things. We've got Thomas covered!!!
Time to close, as it's an early day tomorrow. Our library is having a book sale. I don't know a single homeschooler that doesn't take advantage of library book sales. I'm hoping to find some goodies tomorrow!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tomorrow
Tomorrow I will post a painting Thomas made today of the Titanic. It's still wet now and I want to scan it rather than shoot it. His ceramics class as had the benefit of instilling a desire to learn to paint. Let's run with it, I say.
Thomas painted from 4 pm until 10 pm tonight, taking a short break only to eat. Bob insisted on postponing the physics lesson because Thomas was so grossly absorbed in what he was doing.
He did a pretty good job. He asked me my honest opinion and I said honestly, for your first-ever painting, it is great. He asked me what I would do different. That one was hard to answer. See, he had the great painting and at the top he painted "titanic" in white on the sky background. In D'Nealian letters. You know, those happy, upturned cheerful letters. I said I'd paint over "titanic". You don't need it because anyone who looks at the painting will know what it is. And besides that, it's too happy because at that very moment that you chose to paint, people are screaming and dying. It's not a happy scene.
I then asked him if he'd like to get out dad's painting books. NO, I know how to paint, mooooom. But honey, one of the best ways is to learn better is to get instruction.
He marches to the beat of his own drummer. Getting a painting book out might kill the love. What's a mom to do.
I'm going to get the books out anyway, leave them on the breakfast table, and see what he does.
I am so happy we found the ceramics class. I just wish we could find other art classes in our town.
Thomas painted from 4 pm until 10 pm tonight, taking a short break only to eat. Bob insisted on postponing the physics lesson because Thomas was so grossly absorbed in what he was doing.
He did a pretty good job. He asked me my honest opinion and I said honestly, for your first-ever painting, it is great. He asked me what I would do different. That one was hard to answer. See, he had the great painting and at the top he painted "titanic" in white on the sky background. In D'Nealian letters. You know, those happy, upturned cheerful letters. I said I'd paint over "titanic". You don't need it because anyone who looks at the painting will know what it is. And besides that, it's too happy because at that very moment that you chose to paint, people are screaming and dying. It's not a happy scene.
I then asked him if he'd like to get out dad's painting books. NO, I know how to paint, mooooom.
He marches to the beat of his own drummer. Getting a painting book out might kill the love. What's a mom to do.
I'm going to get the books out anyway, leave them on the breakfast table, and see what he does.
I am so happy we found the ceramics class. I just wish we could find other art classes in our town.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Who is this boy and what happened to MY child?
Tonight Thomas and I went to Subway for dinner because Bob wouldn't be home for dinner. Any excuse for me to eat out and I'll take it.
So we're in line, waiting our turn and because there was nothing else to do, I watched the two guys working behind the counter. One I knew, and he's very friendly. There was a new guy and he was, um, well, not very enthusiastic about his job. Yeah, that's how I'll say it.
So it comes our turn and Thomas orders his sandwich. He asks for extra cheese. The guy making his sandwich takes two chunks of cheese and slaps them down on his sandwich. Normally, with that extra cheese bit, they peel them all apart so that you can distinctly see four pieces of cheese. This guy was just, well, not enthusiastic enough to do that. Well, apparently that made Thomas angry.
What happened next blew me away. Thomas said, in a very MEAN and NASTY voice: "I SAID EXTRA CHEESE." It was so rude. I stood there with my chin frozen to my chest. The guy behind the counter actually stepped back and gave Thomas the look of death. He then said in a nasty voice: 'THERE ISSS EXTRA CHEESE."
This was one of those moments that I was so stunned that I was speechless. I ordered my sandwich, paid and went to get my drink. We were taking the food home instead of eating there, so while I was at the pop dispenser, I told Thomas that we were not leaving this store until he apologized to the guy behind the counter.
Now Thomas is a very shy young man. Doing something like that is a huge deal to him. He started shaking and begged me to not have to do it. I stood my ground. There were so many people that we got in line again. The nice guy asked us if there was a problem and I told him "No, my son just needs to speak to that gentleman over there." We moved down the line and Thomas did it.
In a very nervous voice Thomas said, "I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." The guy stepped back again. A very big smile came over his face. He said, "Thank you, that's okay, don't worry about it." He stood there with huge eyes smiling at my son. Then he looked at me, I just smiled and nodded and he nodded back.
When we got into the car I told Thomas I was very proud of him, that it takes a big person to apologize and admit when they are wrong. I also told him that he just cannot treat people the way he did when he's upset. Thomas was just upset. I told him that he was rightfully upset, as the guy was a jerk. I'd been watching him and he was slamming things around. He had no pride in his work whatsoever. He had better places to be than behind the counter of Subway. BUT...that didn't matter.
What bugged me was the way Thomas approached the situation. He did stand up for himself, which was good. However, it was so powerfully rude that I just couldn't believe Thomas could do that. So on the way home we talked through ways that he could have been assertive without being rude. You know, a
you-can-catch-more-flies-with-honey kind of thing.
So why would I share such a thing on the internet? Because in the blogging world, we always seem to share the great things our kids do. We share the funny and crazy things our kids do. But kids are human and they make mistakes. While I want this to be a positive blog, I also want to be honest that life isn't always peachy, there are a few bumps in the road.
Thomas is a great kid. I don't know where that came from, but hopefully we've nipped it in the bud. I'm very proud of him, no matter what, and love him to pieces.
So we're in line, waiting our turn and because there was nothing else to do, I watched the two guys working behind the counter. One I knew, and he's very friendly. There was a new guy and he was, um, well, not very enthusiastic about his job. Yeah, that's how I'll say it.
So it comes our turn and Thomas orders his sandwich. He asks for extra cheese. The guy making his sandwich takes two chunks of cheese and slaps them down on his sandwich. Normally, with that extra cheese bit, they peel them all apart so that you can distinctly see four pieces of cheese. This guy was just, well, not enthusiastic enough to do that. Well, apparently that made Thomas angry.
What happened next blew me away. Thomas said, in a very MEAN and NASTY voice: "I SAID EXTRA CHEESE." It was so rude. I stood there with my chin frozen to my chest. The guy behind the counter actually stepped back and gave Thomas the look of death. He then said in a nasty voice: 'THERE ISSS EXTRA CHEESE."
This was one of those moments that I was so stunned that I was speechless. I ordered my sandwich, paid and went to get my drink. We were taking the food home instead of eating there, so while I was at the pop dispenser, I told Thomas that we were not leaving this store until he apologized to the guy behind the counter.
Now Thomas is a very shy young man. Doing something like that is a huge deal to him. He started shaking and begged me to not have to do it. I stood my ground. There were so many people that we got in line again. The nice guy asked us if there was a problem and I told him "No, my son just needs to speak to that gentleman over there." We moved down the line and Thomas did it.
In a very nervous voice Thomas said, "I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." The guy stepped back again. A very big smile came over his face. He said, "Thank you, that's okay, don't worry about it." He stood there with huge eyes smiling at my son. Then he looked at me, I just smiled and nodded and he nodded back.
When we got into the car I told Thomas I was very proud of him, that it takes a big person to apologize and admit when they are wrong. I also told him that he just cannot treat people the way he did when he's upset. Thomas was just upset. I told him that he was rightfully upset, as the guy was a jerk. I'd been watching him and he was slamming things around. He had no pride in his work whatsoever. He had better places to be than behind the counter of Subway. BUT...that didn't matter.
What bugged me was the way Thomas approached the situation. He did stand up for himself, which was good. However, it was so powerfully rude that I just couldn't believe Thomas could do that. So on the way home we talked through ways that he could have been assertive without being rude. You know, a
you-can-catch-more-flies-with-honey kind of thing.
So why would I share such a thing on the internet? Because in the blogging world, we always seem to share the great things our kids do. We share the funny and crazy things our kids do. But kids are human and they make mistakes. While I want this to be a positive blog, I also want to be honest that life isn't always peachy, there are a few bumps in the road.
Thomas is a great kid. I don't know where that came from, but hopefully we've nipped it in the bud. I'm very proud of him, no matter what, and love him to pieces.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
What a Dope I Am
I had on my calendar this morning: field trip, 10 am. We were going to the local bakery four a tour with the local homeschool group.
Thomas and I showed up at 9:50, and because it's snowing so heavily, we decided to wait in the car and enjoy the snow show. Not a single family showed up. At ten after, we decided to just head home. I thought perhaps the trip was canceled due to snow.
I am just thankful that I didn't go in. I could have gone in and asked if it had been cancelled, but knowing my experience with the group and that they show up at the very last minute, I knew no one was in there. I didn't recognize any cars.
Well, what a dope I am. We were 10 minutes and one WEEK early.
Good grief.
Back to Titanic. We checked out about half the library's books on Titanic. Thomas read two of the books last night, watched volume one of a four-volume Titanic documentary, and has been working on his lapbook. He just loves Titanic. We're going to snuggle up and watch volume 2 this morning -- instead of touring a bakery.
He has his ceramics class this afternoon, and he is going to get a dinner plate and paint the Titanic on it.
Thomas and I showed up at 9:50, and because it's snowing so heavily, we decided to wait in the car and enjoy the snow show. Not a single family showed up. At ten after, we decided to just head home. I thought perhaps the trip was canceled due to snow.
I am just thankful that I didn't go in. I could have gone in and asked if it had been cancelled, but knowing my experience with the group and that they show up at the very last minute, I knew no one was in there. I didn't recognize any cars.
Well, what a dope I am. We were 10 minutes and one WEEK early.
Good grief.
Back to Titanic. We checked out about half the library's books on Titanic. Thomas read two of the books last night, watched volume one of a four-volume Titanic documentary, and has been working on his lapbook. He just loves Titanic. We're going to snuggle up and watch volume 2 this morning -- instead of touring a bakery.
He has his ceramics class this afternoon, and he is going to get a dinner plate and paint the Titanic on it.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise
In my morning routine of checking email, blogs, and all that important online stuff, I discovered something. Someone must think I'm funny. Someone nominated me for the Homeschool Blog Awards in the Funniest category.
I was completely blown away. Thank you to whoever nominated my blog. It made my day. Then I started thinking -- maybe it was a joke nomination. You know, like back in high school when the jerks would nominate the ugly girl as a joke for homecoming queen? Maybe the joke was on me. Maybe I got nominated because I'm so stupid that people laugh at me. Ha-ha.
Nah, I know that some people out there (besides Bob, Thomas and me) actually like my blog. ;-)
So then I was faced with the decision of what to do about this nomination. See, I'm always on the outside circle of homeschoolers. I never quite fit in. My cousin calls me a nonconforming nonconformist, a label that I actually like. I am not "the average" homeschooler. So I decided to not mention it on the blog.
Obviously I changed my mind.
I voted this morning. I actually spent quite a bit of time actually checking out nominated blogs. I only voted for one blog that I had never read before. Some categories I left open. The rest I voted for MY blogging buddies. I was thrilled to see your names on the list as well! I even discovered some of the bloggers I like were on group blogs! I'm living under a rock, because I didn't know.
After I voted, I thought about it all day. I obviously had nothing better to do. Well, we were studying Titanic, and that subject is really kind of depressing to me, so this was a nice diversion.
I came to the conclusion that yes, I would share the nomination on the blog. The face of homeschooling is changing. All homeschoolers are not made the same. Some of us are very unique and don't fit the mold, and our voices need to be heard. We do count. So that's why I decided to mention it.
So let your voices be heard. Go vote for your favorite homeschool blogs.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Titanic Stuff
April 15 marks the 95th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Thomas loves all things Titanic, so we are doing a unit study on the Titanic this week.
I was up late last night due to insomnia (as usual) and decided to poke around Titanic websites. Bob was up late because he injured his leg and he was icing it. (Yeah, right, any excuse to play Runescape, eh?)
I found a statistic that just blew me away. The price of a 1st class parlor suite on the Titanic was $4,350. The price of a 1st class berth was $150. A second-class ticket was about $60 and a third-class ticket, or steerage, was $35-40.
So I'm reading statistics to Bob who isn't remotely interested, but because our computers are in the same room, he was forced to listen to me. I wondered out loud what that $4,000 ticket in 1912 would cost today. Bob told me to google and find my answer. (I know he was thinking, "Just leave me alone.") So I did.
I found a great website that I can plug in my date and dollar amount to find out what it's worth today -- well, 2006. I about fell out of my chair with the results.
1st Class Titanic Parlor Suite 1912 - $4,350. Today that ticket would cost: $93,293.62.
Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow. I just cannot fathom having that much money!
1st Class Titanic Berth 1912 - $150 today would be $3217.02. Okay, that is definitely more doable, but honestly, out of my price range. lol
2nd Class Titanic Ticket 1912 - $60 today would cost $1286.81.
3rd Class Titanic Ticket 1912 - $35 today would cost $750.64.
Guess who would be buying the steerage ticket? No wonder I have a fear of large bodies of water.
After Bob and I discussed this, I was reminded of a strange Amtrak experience I once had. Thomas and I rode Amtrak to Denver to visit my dad on Easter years ago. Because we were going to be on the train less than 12 hours, I bought coach tickets. Thomas was four at the time. It was his first-ever train trip.
We boarded that train around eight in the evening, and Thomas stayed awake all night long. He has always been a train buff, and that first train ride was a fantastic experience. He was wired. Thomas finally fell asleep at 4 am. He woke me up at 6 am with "Let's eat in the dining car, mom." We went downstairs to the restrooms, washed our faces, brushed our hair and teeth, did some other things, and then went to the dining car for breakfast.
When you ride Amtrak and eat in the dining car, you must share a table with other parties. The porter seats you -- you have no choice. So we were the first in there and were seated at a table. Five minutes later, a couple joined us. They were well dressed. In fact, I'll even say their attire was completely inappropriate for train travel. He was in an expensive suit and she was wearing a beautiful dress with high heels. High heels -- on a train. Walking can be difficult on a train at times, one jerk and you lose your balance. Not too smart to wear high heels.
They sit down and we make our introductions. Thomas orders biscuits and gravy, surprise, surprise. I sip my coffee and secretly wish I were home alone in my quiet kitchen because I am so not a morning person. The woman really liked to talk, which was nice because I only had to smile and nod occasionally. He was a sheriff in New Jersey. I learned their whole life history. (And I still remember it.)
Then she asked me a question. "What was your room like?" Before I could answer, she was complaining that the shower was over the toilet in her room. I laughed inside at that because I've showered over a toilet in a train a few times in my life. She finally asked me again about my room. I smiled and said we were traveling coach this trip. She gave me a look that I will never forget. It was as if I suddenly stunk to high heaven. And then THE question.
"How are your accommodations in coach?"
Now, this is one of those instances where you just cannot get the gist of a question in print. She asked me in that same snooty way that the first-class passengers talked down to poor Jack Dawson in the Titanic movie. Very pointed, each syllable spoken slowly as if the words inflicted pain or disgust as she spoke them. It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing. Thomas was oblivious, staring out the window. I told her they were wonderful, thank you.
That is one of the very few times I have experienced being looked down upon due to class. Maybe the only time. I have to say, I think it was one of the most hilarious things I've ever experienced. When we arrived in Denver, I got another laugh out of "my couple." They rode the luggage cart instead of walking along the platform to get into the depot. They looked SO silly.
The funniest thing about that whole experience, and how it is actually related to the topic of Titanic, is what Thomas said after the fact. Thomas has always appeared like he wasn't paying attention, doing his own thing, and in his own world. He's usually listening, though. He heard every single word that woman spoke. And this was his comment: Mom, that woman reminded me of Rose's mom in Titanic.
***
$93,000 -- I can think of better things to do with $93,000. I think the grass is actually greener on my side.
I must admit, though, that the next time we rode Amtrak to dad's house, we rode first class in what is called a roomette. That was a, well, substandard version of first-class accommodations on Amtrak. No bathroom, but we had beds. In my mind, I was prepared to be meet that woman again, I was ready to say that our room was wonderful. Thankfully, we dined with a woman who was pleasant and down to earth and didn't give a hoot where our accommodations were on the train. And that's the way it should be.
I was up late last night due to insomnia (as usual) and decided to poke around Titanic websites. Bob was up late because he injured his leg and he was icing it. (Yeah, right, any excuse to play Runescape, eh?)
I found a statistic that just blew me away. The price of a 1st class parlor suite on the Titanic was $4,350. The price of a 1st class berth was $150. A second-class ticket was about $60 and a third-class ticket, or steerage, was $35-40.
So I'm reading statistics to Bob who isn't remotely interested, but because our computers are in the same room, he was forced to listen to me. I wondered out loud what that $4,000 ticket in 1912 would cost today. Bob told me to google and find my answer. (I know he was thinking, "Just leave me alone.") So I did.
I found a great website that I can plug in my date and dollar amount to find out what it's worth today -- well, 2006. I about fell out of my chair with the results.
1st Class Titanic Parlor Suite 1912 - $4,350. Today that ticket would cost: $93,293.62.
Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow. I just cannot fathom having that much money!
1st Class Titanic Berth 1912 - $150 today would be $3217.02. Okay, that is definitely more doable, but honestly, out of my price range. lol
2nd Class Titanic Ticket 1912 - $60 today would cost $1286.81.
3rd Class Titanic Ticket 1912 - $35 today would cost $750.64.
Guess who would be buying the steerage ticket? No wonder I have a fear of large bodies of water.
After Bob and I discussed this, I was reminded of a strange Amtrak experience I once had. Thomas and I rode Amtrak to Denver to visit my dad on Easter years ago. Because we were going to be on the train less than 12 hours, I bought coach tickets. Thomas was four at the time. It was his first-ever train trip.
We boarded that train around eight in the evening, and Thomas stayed awake all night long. He has always been a train buff, and that first train ride was a fantastic experience. He was wired. Thomas finally fell asleep at 4 am. He woke me up at 6 am with "Let's eat in the dining car, mom." We went downstairs to the restrooms, washed our faces, brushed our hair and teeth, did some other things, and then went to the dining car for breakfast.
When you ride Amtrak and eat in the dining car, you must share a table with other parties. The porter seats you -- you have no choice. So we were the first in there and were seated at a table. Five minutes later, a couple joined us. They were well dressed. In fact, I'll even say their attire was completely inappropriate for train travel. He was in an expensive suit and she was wearing a beautiful dress with high heels. High heels -- on a train. Walking can be difficult on a train at times, one jerk and you lose your balance. Not too smart to wear high heels.
They sit down and we make our introductions. Thomas orders biscuits and gravy, surprise, surprise. I sip my coffee and secretly wish I were home alone in my quiet kitchen because I am so not a morning person. The woman really liked to talk, which was nice because I only had to smile and nod occasionally. He was a sheriff in New Jersey. I learned their whole life history. (And I still remember it.)
Then she asked me a question. "What was your room like?" Before I could answer, she was complaining that the shower was over the toilet in her room. I laughed inside at that because I've showered over a toilet in a train a few times in my life. She finally asked me again about my room. I smiled and said we were traveling coach this trip. She gave me a look that I will never forget. It was as if I suddenly stunk to high heaven. And then THE question.
"How are your accommodations in coach?"
Now, this is one of those instances where you just cannot get the gist of a question in print. She asked me in that same snooty way that the first-class passengers talked down to poor Jack Dawson in the Titanic movie. Very pointed, each syllable spoken slowly as if the words inflicted pain or disgust as she spoke them. It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing. Thomas was oblivious, staring out the window. I told her they were wonderful, thank you.
That is one of the very few times I have experienced being looked down upon due to class. Maybe the only time. I have to say, I think it was one of the most hilarious things I've ever experienced. When we arrived in Denver, I got another laugh out of "my couple." They rode the luggage cart instead of walking along the platform to get into the depot. They looked SO silly.
The funniest thing about that whole experience, and how it is actually related to the topic of Titanic, is what Thomas said after the fact. Thomas has always appeared like he wasn't paying attention, doing his own thing, and in his own world. He's usually listening, though. He heard every single word that woman spoke. And this was his comment: Mom, that woman reminded me of Rose's mom in Titanic.
***
$93,000 -- I can think of better things to do with $93,000. I think the grass is actually greener on my side.
I must admit, though, that the next time we rode Amtrak to dad's house, we rode first class in what is called a roomette. That was a, well, substandard version of first-class accommodations on Amtrak. No bathroom, but we had beds. In my mind, I was prepared to be meet that woman again, I was ready to say that our room was wonderful. Thankfully, we dined with a woman who was pleasant and down to earth and didn't give a hoot where our accommodations were on the train. And that's the way it should be.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
I don't mean to butt in
Last week Thomas and I went to a friend's house. We have known our friends for nine years. This family is fundamentalist Christian. For the record, I am a Christian but no where close to being what I term "fundie."
We both know that we are totally different from each other on the religious front. I watch my P's and Q's when I'm around this friend, fearing I might slip up and say, "Oh, shit" in front of her. We have both had a mutual respect for each other and our differences.
Thomas has asked me why they are the way they are, and we have had many open talks about it. One of the things I tell Thomas is that this country is so wonderful because we can believe whatever we want to and practice that chosen religion (as long as it causes no one harm) however we want. (I still take exception to the Pearls and their physically cruel punishments, but I've already talked about that ad nauseam.)
Anyway, I have suspected that she talked with her children about why we are the way we are. I was right on that.
She had to take two of her children to an appointment on the day we visited. She asked if I'd watch her youngest while they left. So I did. The boys were happy to play together and I didn't mind at all.
So what I found so funny was after my friend left, the very first thing her youngest son did was to come up to me and say this: "Um, I don't mean to butt in, but why don't you go to church?"
I believe he was too polite to ask that question in front of his mom, but he was curious and wanted to know. I didn't give him an answer other than the fact that it was a very long story why we didn't go to church. But he was very relieved to know we were Christians.
So as Thomas and I were driving home, I took the opportunity to discuss this because he witnessed it. I asked him what he thought of his friend's question. Thomas thought it was rude and an invasion of our privacy. I explained that children are curious and just want to know things, and while it is something I hope he would never ask someone, it didn't really bother me to be asked.
I brought up the fact that his friend was very relieved to know we were Christians. I asked Thomas what he thought of that. He asked me if they would be our friends if we were not Christians. I told him no, that our friends would not accept us if we were not Christians. (And that is the truth. I have talked about that with Mom Friend a few times.)
Thomas thought that it was very sad indeed. He just couldn't understand the concept of not being friends with someone who didn't share the same faith. I was SO proud, because that is the lesson I have been trying to teach. (And it's one reason I'm "not Christian enough" with some of the local homeschoolers. So be it.)
I have friends of all different faiths or lack of faith. I don't judge on what religion someone practices. I do judge, and that is if they are kind, moral, etc. I cannot imagine closing myself off to -- well, the world. I do, however, understand that is "their" choice to make, though. I just feel it's so sad. Then again, like I said, this is why I'm viewed as "not Christian enough."
Why do I stay friends then? This relationship has been on and off over the years. Sometimes I would just go crazy with it all and not call for months. We always seem to end up in the same place, though, as it's a small town. I stay friends because deep down, aside from the judgmental part I don't like, she is a very lovely person. Her kids are nice, well behaved, and warm. Thomas adores her kids, and they like him.
Thomas asked me why we (well, I) stayed friends and I told him that if we did not, we were being judgmental. We will never see eye-to-eye with anyone. There will always be differences. It opens his world to see how others live, especially those that are so different from us.
And that's it. I don't expect any more religious posts here for a very long time.
We both know that we are totally different from each other on the religious front. I watch my P's and Q's when I'm around this friend, fearing I might slip up and say, "Oh, shit" in front of her. We have both had a mutual respect for each other and our differences.
Thomas has asked me why they are the way they are, and we have had many open talks about it. One of the things I tell Thomas is that this country is so wonderful because we can believe whatever we want to and practice that chosen religion (as long as it causes no one harm) however we want. (I still take exception to the Pearls and their physically cruel punishments, but I've already talked about that ad nauseam.)
Anyway, I have suspected that she talked with her children about why we are the way we are. I was right on that.
She had to take two of her children to an appointment on the day we visited. She asked if I'd watch her youngest while they left. So I did. The boys were happy to play together and I didn't mind at all.
So what I found so funny was after my friend left, the very first thing her youngest son did was to come up to me and say this: "Um, I don't mean to butt in, but why don't you go to church?"
I believe he was too polite to ask that question in front of his mom, but he was curious and wanted to know. I didn't give him an answer other than the fact that it was a very long story why we didn't go to church. But he was very relieved to know we were Christians.
So as Thomas and I were driving home, I took the opportunity to discuss this because he witnessed it. I asked him what he thought of his friend's question. Thomas thought it was rude and an invasion of our privacy. I explained that children are curious and just want to know things, and while it is something I hope he would never ask someone, it didn't really bother me to be asked.
I brought up the fact that his friend was very relieved to know we were Christians. I asked Thomas what he thought of that. He asked me if they would be our friends if we were not Christians. I told him no, that our friends would not accept us if we were not Christians. (And that is the truth. I have talked about that with Mom Friend a few times.)
Thomas thought that it was very sad indeed. He just couldn't understand the concept of not being friends with someone who didn't share the same faith. I was SO proud, because that is the lesson I have been trying to teach. (And it's one reason I'm "not Christian enough" with some of the local homeschoolers. So be it.)
I have friends of all different faiths or lack of faith. I don't judge on what religion someone practices. I do judge, and that is if they are kind, moral, etc. I cannot imagine closing myself off to -- well, the world. I do, however, understand that is "their" choice to make, though. I just feel it's so sad. Then again, like I said, this is why I'm viewed as "not Christian enough."
Why do I stay friends then? This relationship has been on and off over the years. Sometimes I would just go crazy with it all and not call for months. We always seem to end up in the same place, though, as it's a small town. I stay friends because deep down, aside from the judgmental part I don't like, she is a very lovely person. Her kids are nice, well behaved, and warm. Thomas adores her kids, and they like him.
Thomas asked me why we (well, I) stayed friends and I told him that if we did not, we were being judgmental. We will never see eye-to-eye with anyone. There will always be differences. It opens his world to see how others live, especially those that are so different from us.
And that's it. I don't expect any more religious posts here for a very long time.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Another great week
Yes, it has been another great week. (Okay,except for the wind, cold and snow!) While we have not started school before 8am again, we have worked hard and steady.
Awhile back I signed Thomas up for a ceramics class. It is the only art class for kids in our local community education program. I knew this class was out there, but never signed him up before because I was sexist and thought it was too girlish.
Once again, I was wrong. I admit it. Thomas loved the class and made these cute dolphins. The instructor called me the night before class to give me directions to her studio/house. We ended up chatting on the phone for over a half hour. She was so nice, she had "retired" from scouts right as I had joined up, so I was following in her footsteps. She was incredibly warm and friendly and we had many things in common.
Awhile back I signed Thomas up for a ceramics class. It is the only art class for kids in our local community education program. I knew this class was out there, but never signed him up before because I was sexist and thought it was too girlish.
Once again, I was wrong. I admit it. Thomas loved the class and made these cute dolphins. The instructor called me the night before class to give me directions to her studio/house. We ended up chatting on the phone for over a half hour. She was so nice, she had "retired" from scouts right as I had joined up, so I was following in her footsteps. She was incredibly warm and friendly and we had many things in common.
She was great with kids. The kids were all smiling and happy to be there. They loved free reign to create what they wanted. Apparently Thomas was the only one to register for this class through the CER. The other five kids there just show up every Tuesday. She invited Thomas to do the same and he was thrilled. Two of the girls in the class were former classmates of Thomas. I only recognized one of the girls. The other girl looked about 14 and was a goth. Black clothes and black fingernails. I didn't notice if she was wearing makeup. When Thomas told me who she was, I was shocked. I don't mind kids expressing themselves, but it surprised me that she was only 11 and a goth already.
Thomas has many plans for future projects. He's doing a unit study on the Titanic right now and so when he goes to class next week, he plans on painting the Titanic on a dinner plate. He wants to make presents for his Grandma, his Grandpa and his dad for Father's day. I had to remind him that Mother's Day was fast approaching, too.
While this was not the art class I was looking for, I am a happy mom because he's happy. And that's what it's all about.
Now I'm just hoping that a cute boy who Thomas has known since preschool will get his grades up so he can join the train club. The boy, his dad and brother all visited the train club last night and the dad said that if the boy would get his grades up in school, he could join.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Feeling very happy tonight
Today was one of those -- WOW, HOMESCHOOLING IS GREAT days!
Thomas got up early, had his special breakfast, and we set out to work. He worked very hard. He even gave up his usual morning break to continue plugging along. At noon, I looked at my list and aside from reading and physics in the evening with dad, he was done.
Impossible that we had a four-hour school day! I don't know who was more excited, Thomas or I. Well, I do, it was me. After Bob left from lunch, Thomas settled in with his book and I took a hot, long bubble bath. During the day. It was a very overcast day where it tries to rain all day, sometimes managing a little precipitation hitting the ground, but definitely foggy. It was a snuggle in your jammies kind of day.
And that is what I did. After my luxurious soak, I threw on my favorite nightgown, grabbed my favorite Biederlack blanket, and found the couch and remote. Thomas snuggled in. I think he thought we'd have fun with TV for the afternoon, but the mom that I am found a two-hour show on the Dark Ages on the History Channel. I remember the first hour, but after that I was sawing logs. Thomas enjoyed what he saw. I wonder if he changed the channel when he heard me snoring? (Yes, I snore.)
When I woke up Thomas was making a cave with all the blankets in our house. (We have about eight of those lovely Biederlack blankets.) The tv was not on. I got up and felt energized so I vacuumed the entire living room, even moving furniture. I vacuumed the entire upstairs. I did all my daily chores that I never get done during the day. Wow.
Bob and Thomas did physics after supper tonight and that went well. (Sometimes it's a bit rocky because the two are too alike and butt heads.)
So I'm just feeling great, relaxed yet energized and very happy.
I wonder...would it be possible for this life-long nightowl to change her ways and become a morning bird?
Thomas has already told me he wants normal routine back tomorrow. I think I'll surprise him with some banana nut muffins to entice him out of bed instead.
I'm seeing the light -- the early morning sun rays, and they are nice.
Thomas got up early, had his special breakfast, and we set out to work. He worked very hard. He even gave up his usual morning break to continue plugging along. At noon, I looked at my list and aside from reading and physics in the evening with dad, he was done.
Impossible that we had a four-hour school day! I don't know who was more excited, Thomas or I. Well, I do, it was me. After Bob left from lunch, Thomas settled in with his book and I took a hot, long bubble bath. During the day. It was a very overcast day where it tries to rain all day, sometimes managing a little precipitation hitting the ground, but definitely foggy. It was a snuggle in your jammies kind of day.
And that is what I did. After my luxurious soak, I threw on my favorite nightgown, grabbed my favorite Biederlack blanket, and found the couch and remote. Thomas snuggled in. I think he thought we'd have fun with TV for the afternoon, but the mom that I am found a two-hour show on the Dark Ages on the History Channel. I remember the first hour, but after that I was sawing logs. Thomas enjoyed what he saw. I wonder if he changed the channel when he heard me snoring? (Yes, I snore.)
When I woke up Thomas was making a cave with all the blankets in our house. (We have about eight of those lovely Biederlack blankets.) The tv was not on. I got up and felt energized so I vacuumed the entire living room, even moving furniture. I vacuumed the entire upstairs. I did all my daily chores that I never get done during the day. Wow.
Bob and Thomas did physics after supper tonight and that went well. (Sometimes it's a bit rocky because the two are too alike and butt heads.)
So I'm just feeling great, relaxed yet energized and very happy.
I wonder...would it be possible for this life-long nightowl to change her ways and become a morning bird?
Thomas has already told me he wants normal routine back tomorrow. I think I'll surprise him with some banana nut muffins to entice him out of bed instead.
I'm seeing the light -- the early morning sun rays, and they are nice.
book meme from meg
Mark in italics any books that you have read.
Mark in bold any books that your kids have read.
Underline any books that you have on your shelves. *I'm highlighting because I can't find how to underline on blogger!)
Cross out any books that you (or your kids) didn’t like. I don't know how to do this, either. Someone teach me!
red - we own it Of course when I made blue, it messed up my red, so we actually own a lot of books.
blue - Thomas has read it. (bold didn't show when I publised the post.)
What a mess I made here!
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Robinson, Barbara)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dahl, Roald)
Charlotte’s Web (White, E.B.)
Freckle Juice (Blume, Judy)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler I hated this, Thomas loved it(Konigsburg, E. L.)
Misty of Chincoteague (Henry, Marguerite)
Pippi Longstocking (Lindgren, Astrid)
Ramona (Cleary, Beverly)
Shiloh (Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds)
Sounder (Armstrong, William)
Velveteen Rabbit (Williams, Margery)
The Whipping Boy (Fleischman, Sid)
Little House series (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)
Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes (Coerr, Eleanor)
Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan, Patricia) Thomas read the whole series and enjoyed very them much.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Verne, Jules)
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll, Lewis)
The Cricket in Times Square (Seldon, George)
The Secret Garden (Burnett, Frances) Childhood favorite of mine
Wizard of Oz (Baum, L. Frank)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Pyle, Howard)
Tales of Uncle Remus (Lester, Julian)
The New Kid on the Block (Prelutsky, Jack)
The Magic School Bus series (Cole, Joanna)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain, Mark)
Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery, Lucy Maud) on our to-read list
A Christmas Carol (Dickens, Charles)
Flowers for Algernon (Keyes, Daniel)
Holes (Sacher, Louis)
Island of the Blue Dolphins (O’Dell, Scott) We loved this.
The Little Prince (De Saint-Exupery, Antoine)
Little Women (Alcott, Louisa May)
My Side of the Mountain (George, Jean Craighead) Thomas LOVED this
The Pearl (Steinbeck, John)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor, Mildred D.)
Summer of My German Soldier (Greene, Bette) Childhood favorite of mine.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi)
The Yearling (Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan)
Across Five Aprils (Hunt, Irene)
Catherine, Called Birdy (Cushman, Karen)
Johnny Tremain (Forbes, Ester)
Out of the Dust (Hesse, Karen)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Curtis, Christopher Paul)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Speare, Elizabeth George)
The Hobbit (Tolkien, J.R.R.) I saw the cartoon movie in the 70s and HATED -- double hated it. Not my thing. I think Thomas would love it, though.
I, Robot (Asimov, Isaac)
, the The LionWitch, and the Wardrobe (Lewis, C.S.) Thomas and I each read a couple -- found them dull
Phantom Tollbooth (Juster, Norton) just bought this
Swifly Tilting Planet (L’Engle, Madeleine)
The Time Machine (Wells, H.G.)
A Wizard of Earthsea (Le Guin, Ursula)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, Arthur Conan)
And Then There Were None (Christie, Agatha)
Call of the Wild (London, Jack)
Hatchet (Paulsen, Gary)
Motel of the Mysteries (Macauley, David)
Treasure Island (Stevenson, Robert Louis)
Aesop’s Fables (Aesop)
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth)
Song of Myself (Whitman, Walt)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving, Washington)
The Night the Bed Fell (Thurber, James)
The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe, Edgar Allan)
Thank You Ma’am (Hughes, Langston)
Hiroshima (Hersey, John)
The Diary of a Young Girl (Frank, Anne)
All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot, James) on my to-read list forever
Animal Farm (Orwell, George)
Catcher in the Rye (Salinger, J.D.)
Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky, Fyodor)
Frankenstein (Shelley, Mary)
A Girl fo the Limberlost (Stratton-Porter, Gene)
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald, F. Scott)
Heart of Darkness (Conrad, Joseph)
House on Mango Street (Cisneros, Sandra)
Jane Eyre (Bronte, Charlotte)
The Joy Luck Club (Tan, Amy)
The Metamorphosis (Kafka, Franz)
Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck, John)
The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway, Ernest) I started reading this years ago and just could not get into it. Why was Hemingway so great? Maybe I need to revisit.
Pride and Prejudice (Austen, Jane)
The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne, Nathaniel)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee, Harper)
All Quiet of the Western Front (Remarque, Erich Maria)
The Jungle (Sinclair, Upton)
The Red Badge of Courage (Crane, Stephan)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Clarke, Arthur C.)
Brave New World (Huxley, Aldus)
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury, Ray)
Iliad (Homer)
The Once and Future King (White, T.H.)
The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer, Geoffrey)
“I Hear America Singing” (Whitman, Walt)
“The Tiger” (Blake, William)
“The Lottery” (Jackson, Shirley)
“Gift of the Magi” (Henry, O.)
The Crucible (Miller, Arthur) saw the movie, does that count? Our library doesn't have this, I wanted to read it.
Death of a Salesman (Miller, Arthur)
A Doll’s House (Ibsen, Henrik)
The Glass Menagerie (Williams, Tennessee)
“Declaration of Independence” (Jefferson, Thomas)
“The Gettysburg Address” (Lincoln, Abraham)
“I Have a Dream” (King, Martin Luther, Jr.)
“I Will Fight No More Forever” (Chief Joseph)
A Brief History of Time (Hawking, Stephen)
Democracy in America (de Tocqueville, Alexis)
Roots (Haley, Alex)
Walden (Thoreau, Henry David)
Night (Wiesel, Elie)
Mark in bold any books that your kids have read.
Underline any books that you have on your shelves. *I'm highlighting because I can't find how to underline on blogger!)
Cross out any books that you (or your kids) didn’t like. I don't know how to do this, either. Someone teach me!
red - we own it Of course when I made blue, it messed up my red, so we actually own a lot of books.
blue - Thomas has read it. (bold didn't show when I publised the post.)
What a mess I made here!
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Robinson, Barbara)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dahl, Roald)
Charlotte’s Web (White, E.B.)
Freckle Juice (Blume, Judy)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler I hated this, Thomas loved it(Konigsburg, E. L.)
Misty of Chincoteague (Henry, Marguerite)
Pippi Longstocking (Lindgren, Astrid)
Ramona (Cleary, Beverly)
Shiloh (Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds)
Sounder (Armstrong, William)
Velveteen Rabbit (Williams, Margery)
The Whipping Boy (Fleischman, Sid)
Little House series (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)
Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes (Coerr, Eleanor)
Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan, Patricia) Thomas read the whole series and enjoyed very them much.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Verne, Jules)
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll, Lewis)
The Cricket in Times Square (Seldon, George)
The Secret Garden (Burnett, Frances) Childhood favorite of mine
Wizard of Oz (Baum, L. Frank)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Pyle, Howard)
Tales of Uncle Remus (Lester, Julian)
The New Kid on the Block (Prelutsky, Jack)
The Magic School Bus series (Cole, Joanna)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain, Mark)
Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery, Lucy Maud) on our to-read list
A Christmas Carol (Dickens, Charles)
Flowers for Algernon (Keyes, Daniel)
Holes (Sacher, Louis)
Island of the Blue Dolphins (O’Dell, Scott) We loved this.
The Little Prince (De Saint-Exupery, Antoine)
Little Women (Alcott, Louisa May)
My Side of the Mountain (George, Jean Craighead) Thomas LOVED this
The Pearl (Steinbeck, John)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor, Mildred D.)
Summer of My German Soldier (Greene, Bette) Childhood favorite of mine.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi)
The Yearling (Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan)
Across Five Aprils (Hunt, Irene)
Catherine, Called Birdy (Cushman, Karen)
Johnny Tremain (Forbes, Ester)
Out of the Dust (Hesse, Karen)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Curtis, Christopher Paul)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Speare, Elizabeth George)
The Hobbit (Tolkien, J.R.R.) I saw the cartoon movie in the 70s and HATED -- double hated it. Not my thing. I think Thomas would love it, though.
I, Robot (Asimov, Isaac)
, the The LionWitch, and the Wardrobe (Lewis, C.S.) Thomas and I each read a couple -- found them dull
Phantom Tollbooth (Juster, Norton) just bought this
Swifly Tilting Planet (L’Engle, Madeleine)
The Time Machine (Wells, H.G.)
A Wizard of Earthsea (Le Guin, Ursula)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, Arthur Conan)
And Then There Were None (Christie, Agatha)
Call of the Wild (London, Jack)
Hatchet (Paulsen, Gary)
Motel of the Mysteries (Macauley, David)
Treasure Island (Stevenson, Robert Louis)
Aesop’s Fables (Aesop)
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth)
Song of Myself (Whitman, Walt)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving, Washington)
The Night the Bed Fell (Thurber, James)
The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe, Edgar Allan)
Thank You Ma’am (Hughes, Langston)
Hiroshima (Hersey, John)
The Diary of a Young Girl (Frank, Anne)
All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot, James) on my to-read list forever
Animal Farm (Orwell, George)
Catcher in the Rye (Salinger, J.D.)
Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky, Fyodor)
Frankenstein (Shelley, Mary)
A Girl fo the Limberlost (Stratton-Porter, Gene)
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald, F. Scott)
Heart of Darkness (Conrad, Joseph)
House on Mango Street (Cisneros, Sandra)
Jane Eyre (Bronte, Charlotte)
The Joy Luck Club (Tan, Amy)
The Metamorphosis (Kafka, Franz)
Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck, John)
The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway, Ernest) I started reading this years ago and just could not get into it. Why was Hemingway so great? Maybe I need to revisit.
Pride and Prejudice (Austen, Jane)
The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne, Nathaniel)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee, Harper)
All Quiet of the Western Front (Remarque, Erich Maria)
The Jungle (Sinclair, Upton)
The Red Badge of Courage (Crane, Stephan)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Clarke, Arthur C.)
Brave New World (Huxley, Aldus)
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury, Ray)
Iliad (Homer)
The Once and Future King (White, T.H.)
The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer, Geoffrey)
“I Hear America Singing” (Whitman, Walt)
“The Tiger” (Blake, William)
“The Lottery” (Jackson, Shirley)
“Gift of the Magi” (Henry, O.)
The Crucible (Miller, Arthur) saw the movie, does that count? Our library doesn't have this, I wanted to read it.
Death of a Salesman (Miller, Arthur)
A Doll’s House (Ibsen, Henrik)
The Glass Menagerie (Williams, Tennessee)
“Declaration of Independence” (Jefferson, Thomas)
“The Gettysburg Address” (Lincoln, Abraham)
“I Have a Dream” (King, Martin Luther, Jr.)
“I Will Fight No More Forever” (Chief Joseph)
A Brief History of Time (Hawking, Stephen)
Democracy in America (de Tocqueville, Alexis)
Roots (Haley, Alex)
Walden (Thoreau, Henry David)
Night (Wiesel, Elie)
Biscuits and Gravy
Awhile ago I blogged about our Hardee's closing and how upset it made us. Thomas loves his biscuits and gravy, so we always went the first morning of school, then throughout the year as a special treat. (Or as a great incentive for him to get up early.)
Earlier this week as we were driving around, we noticed a sign at Burger King: Try our new biscuits and gravy.
And so we did.
For some unknown reason, Thomas actually awoke early and was up and dressed by 7 am. That is an amazing feat, believe it or not. So I thought a special Burger King run was in order.
I drove up to the microphone and placed our order: One biscuits and gravy and one large diet pop, please. (The pop was for me.) As we pulled around the side of the building, we saw this advertisement:
I know, I know, you can't read it. The first sign said: This burger is stocked full of good stuff. The second sign says: Just like our 10,000 lakes.
Now I don't know who came up with that advertising campaign, but it immediately made me nauseous. I know they were talking about good fish, but I was thinking of fish byproducts. Come summer, our lakes (we have several lakes in our small town) smell. They're full of algae. They're an ugly green. And that is what came to my mind immediately, not lovely fish. I don't like fish anyway. So I had my laugh of the morning.
Thomas was in heaven: Fast, easy, cheap biscuits and gravy. (I know, I could make them -- Bob does every once in awhile.)
He ate every last drop. He also said they're not quite as good as Hardee's. He was happy nonetheless.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
A busy day
We don't typically have busy days outside the home. I do that for my benefit. Today, though, we had a field trip and a play date at a friend's house.
The local homeschool group went to a pizza place and the kids got a tour of the kitchen and got to make their own pizzas. They had fun. I was wishing I had their kitchen -- the dishwasher that washed and dried dishes in two minutes really excited me! And the pizza oven. That would be fun.
Thomas and all the kids had fun. After eating the kids went outside and played in the yard and the moms talked shop. I used to think I didn't fit in because I had nothing in common, but in reality we have a big thing in common: love of our kids and homeschooling. Whoops, that's two big things.
A lovely outing, during school hours, in a public place -- wow. What a day.
It got better because we went to a friend's new house. I was a little envious because I absolutely loved her house -- it was huge, designed nicely and on the lake -- gorgeous. Then I come home to my little home that has many unfinished projects...sigh. We had a good time, though.
After supper, Thomas and his dad were getting ready for train club. I was so glad I didn't have to go because I was tired. As they were heading out the door, the phone rang. I answered and it was Bob's boss. He never calls here so it raised the hair on my neck. Bob took the phone and was very serious, giving uh-huh's, yeses, mmmm's for the longest time. I was thinking the worst -- maybe he'll have to fly out of town tomorrow unexpectedly to attend to one of the projects. I was dreading that only because I'm not caught up with his laundry. Well, this phone call had nothing to do with work. All of a sudden Bob said, "Well, the key is in the axles."
I bust out laughing so hard that I'm sure his boss heard me. The light bulb went on and I figured out that phone call. It is Pinewood Derby time. His boss's son is new to scouting and this is his first pinewood derby. His boss called him to ask for help/info/pointers in designing their pinewood derby car.
Bob walked out of the room when I was laughing but came back when I shut my mouth. He then told his boss how Thomas's cars did very well, having won districts three years in a row.
Guess who is going to take Thomas's pinewood derby cars to work tomorrow to show to the boss? I just think this is so funny.
The clincher, though, is this. When Bob hung up the phone, he laughed and said: "I would hope that the boss could help his son build a better car than we did. After all, he is a mechanical engineer."
And so it goes. Never a dull moment, but lots of laughs.
The local homeschool group went to a pizza place and the kids got a tour of the kitchen and got to make their own pizzas. They had fun. I was wishing I had their kitchen -- the dishwasher that washed and dried dishes in two minutes really excited me! And the pizza oven. That would be fun.
Thomas and all the kids had fun. After eating the kids went outside and played in the yard and the moms talked shop. I used to think I didn't fit in because I had nothing in common, but in reality we have a big thing in common: love of our kids and homeschooling. Whoops, that's two big things.
A lovely outing, during school hours, in a public place -- wow. What a day.
It got better because we went to a friend's new house. I was a little envious because I absolutely loved her house -- it was huge, designed nicely and on the lake -- gorgeous. Then I come home to my little home that has many unfinished projects...sigh. We had a good time, though.
After supper, Thomas and his dad were getting ready for train club. I was so glad I didn't have to go because I was tired. As they were heading out the door, the phone rang. I answered and it was Bob's boss. He never calls here so it raised the hair on my neck. Bob took the phone and was very serious, giving uh-huh's, yeses, mmmm's for the longest time. I was thinking the worst -- maybe he'll have to fly out of town tomorrow unexpectedly to attend to one of the projects. I was dreading that only because I'm not caught up with his laundry. Well, this phone call had nothing to do with work. All of a sudden Bob said, "Well, the key is in the axles."
I bust out laughing so hard that I'm sure his boss heard me. The light bulb went on and I figured out that phone call. It is Pinewood Derby time. His boss's son is new to scouting and this is his first pinewood derby. His boss called him to ask for help/info/pointers in designing their pinewood derby car.
Bob walked out of the room when I was laughing but came back when I shut my mouth. He then told his boss how Thomas's cars did very well, having won districts three years in a row.
Guess who is going to take Thomas's pinewood derby cars to work tomorrow to show to the boss? I just think this is so funny.
The clincher, though, is this. When Bob hung up the phone, he laughed and said: "I would hope that the boss could help his son build a better car than we did. After all, he is a mechanical engineer."
And so it goes. Never a dull moment, but lots of laughs.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Honoring My Father
Dad is standing in the gangway.
This is taken in Laramie, Wyoming. I don't know the date except that it was in the 1960s. My dad is on the far right. Our neighbor, Bob Davis, a man very kind to me as a child, is second from the left. I don't know the other men. This photo was taken because it was the very last run of the Portland Rose out of Laramie. The Portland Rose was a Union Pacific passenger train that ran between Chicago and Portland that started in the 1920s.
That's dad sticking his head out the window waving hello. Taken in Laramie, Wyoming in the '60s.
Dad mad copies of these photos for Thomas. They arrived in the mail today. I don't know who loved them more, Thomas or I. I get kind of weepy looking at them. I'm very nostalgic. I wish there were more photos of dad at work. Because Thomas and I love all things train, these photos are very special indeed.
Sorry they're blurry, dad had them enlarged and they're a little grainy. I think they're fantastic nonetheless.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
For Mama B -- Gila Window Films
Mama B, at Home Depot I bought Gila Glare Control Smoke colored window film. It was $11 and some change for each roll. It took one roll for each window (with some left over). Each window is about 24 by 52 inches. I pieced the remnants to cover a third window, but that looks really tacky.
Our kitchen faces east and the films make a huge difference in the morning. I installed them on the inside -- a no-no if you have thermal pane or dual pane windows, which I do have. Our windows are so old, that I didn't think it could damage them. We went through below-zero temps with the clings above the kitchen sink and the windows are fine. But I wouldn't do that on new, good windows.
The room did get darker. It's still light enough to sit at the kitchen table and read a book, though.
The best thing about these films for me is the privacy factor. These are not their privacy films, but they do a fantastic job of affording us privacy. At dusk I went outside to look in. All the lights were on. I had Thomas stand by the window and wave and I could not see him. I loved that! We can see out just fine.
So just a cheap fix for us but one that makes me very happy. Next time I hit the big city I plan to buy three more rolls (there goes that money again) and do our living room.
Our kitchen faces east and the films make a huge difference in the morning. I installed them on the inside -- a no-no if you have thermal pane or dual pane windows, which I do have. Our windows are so old, that I didn't think it could damage them. We went through below-zero temps with the clings above the kitchen sink and the windows are fine. But I wouldn't do that on new, good windows.
The room did get darker. It's still light enough to sit at the kitchen table and read a book, though.
The best thing about these films for me is the privacy factor. These are not their privacy films, but they do a fantastic job of affording us privacy. At dusk I went outside to look in. All the lights were on. I had Thomas stand by the window and wave and I could not see him. I loved that! We can see out just fine.
So just a cheap fix for us but one that makes me very happy. Next time I hit the big city I plan to buy three more rolls (there goes that money again) and do our living room.
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