One more thing tonight

I just can't shut up tonight.

Last week I ordered Megawords by EPS publishers. Yet another stab at the spelling monster.

We've done several lessons.

Guess what? I can almost see that lightbulb going off above Thomas's head! He's making connections. Finally!

The first lessons are on compound words. There is a big list of words at the beginning of the lesson. I ticked off the ones he didn't know when we started this chapter. It was a lot. Just the four days we've been working the program, he has figured things out and he is now only missing two words: horseback and snowshoe. He can't spell horse, for some reason...same with shoe. However, that was a huge list of words and he's got them.

It's funny because I've looked at the program in the past and thought there was too much busywork. Lots of worksheets, writing-which he hates-and stuff he calls busywork. He saw crossword puzzles in the book and balked because he doesn't like them. Guess who did his first crossword puzzle in the book today -- and was happy about it to boot.

I think we've found our magic bullet, our magic wand, our ace in the hole. I have my fingers crossed.

So far, Megawords is a huge hit!!!!

Oh, for fun I also ordered Wordly Wise 3000 at the same time. Why didn't I order that when we first started homeschooling? Another program I thought would be too much writing, too workbooky, too much like busywork. Nothing could be further from the truth. He's loving it.

Sheesh, I just love it when things go right!

Knock on wood. I don't want to jinx anything.

Frankie on politics

Thomas and I have been watching a little TV lately. What we seem to notice the most are the political commercials. We've been having lots of discussions about parties, how his father and I are 75% of the time polar opposites when it comes to politics, and how annoying the darned commercials are.

I just have to state that I had planned on voting a straight democratic ticket this year. Normally I don't vote by party, but I felt the need to do it this time. I am an independent.

That decision has changed. There is one woman, Amy Klobuchar, running for US Senate. She's a democrat. She has the most annoying commercial on TV. The darned thing plays over and over and over ad nauseum.

Thomas and I have discussed her commercial at length. We also gag every time it comes on. She has a mother talking about how Ms. Klobuchar brought her child's murderers to justice. That's fine, good job, Amy. But here's the annoying part. The commercial cuts away to other stuff, and then the same mom comes back at the end and says, "Mark Kennedy," the republican up against her, "You ought to be ashamed."

I'm thinking...why? Why should he be ashamed? What did he do personally to you to make that statement? He's standing up for his beliefs, running for office, why should he be ashamed? There's no connection to the statement. It bugs me. I just don't get the connection specifically of the victim mom making that statement.

I find it annoying. It's the kind of politics that I can't stand. Don't name call. It's childish. Really, the voters have more intelligence than you are giving them credit for. Talk issues, don't use playground language -- or rather, ahem, public school language. (Boy I had to get a homeschooler's dig in there!)

I don't think I'm going to vote for her -- all because of her commercial. If she approves that kind of thing, she's definitely not someone thinking on the same lines that I am.

Rant over. It was a learning experience for Thomas as well. We do not use the word ASHAMED in our house. It's a very powerful word that would be used only in dire cases. Shame gets you no where. Thomas is highly annoyed by it as well.

That all said, I didn't mean to put down the mom who lost her daughter. My heart goes out to you, you've suffered the greatest loss imaginable. It's just the way the commercial was put together and the amount of times it plays daily.

My stupid stunt

I went to the library tonight because one of the books I had requested on ILL was in.

The book is on ADD. I read about it on some blog, checked it out at Amazon, and put in my request to get it. It was the first book I'd seen that actually gave some ideas on what to do to help with focus.

I don't know whether Thomas is ADD or not, labels don't matter, honestly. I do know that when it comes to math, he struggles with focus. So thought I'd start doing some reading.

At any rate, when I went up to the counter, the lady grabbed the book for me. She said, "Hmmm, that must be hard." The book's title is something along the lines of Dealing with Teenage ADD/ADHD." I smiled and changed the subject. It's always been a pet peeve of mine when librarians comment on what I'm checking out. Stupid, I know.

So, idiot that I am, I left. Got to my car and could not find my keys. I had left the doors unlocked because this is small-town America, it was right in front of the door, and I knew I'd be back in two minutes. I hopped in the car, emptied the entire contents of my purse onto the seat. No keys. I literally dumped my purse. Good thing I just cleaned it out. lol

The horror of horrors...having to go back into the library to look for my keys. I hopped out, traced my steps; sadly, no keys. I went straight to the counter and asked if she had found a set of keys. She gave me the most odd look....it was absolutely priceless. Yes, the woman who commented about my ADD book two minutes prior, was judging me, probably laughing, and thinking what an idiot was. No keys.

I was embarrassed and scurried out of there. As I was walking, I looked down and tucked neatly in the side pocket of my purse were my keys. I never put them there.

So I gave the lady a good laugh. I'm sure she's thinking that I need to read the book for me! And karma biting me in the butt because I should have replied to her comment about the book instead of changing the subject.

Doesn't sound so funny reading through -- had to be there, I guess. I laughed all the way home, though. I thought the next time I go to the library and see her, I should wear a tshirt that says I suffer from ADD and CRS disease. My husband bought me a keychain years ago that says I suffer from CRS disease....can't remember shit. He bought it because I was always losing my keys.

And so it goes.

And no, I don't remember where I put my keys when I got home.

150

You copy and paste the 150 things to your blog and bold the ones you’ve done. From Carole's blog.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (Eiffel Tower, too! I'd die if I tried that today!)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne -- yuck!
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse (not horse, but dog - hit a trifecta)
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (I pretend I'm a southern belle)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie (No, but I was on the national news once, lol)
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo (not me, never!)
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (73 once and 35 another time, so I'm counting it)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane - my brother-in-law let me take over the controls
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (all three)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts - I didn't but my husband did and I watched
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Oh My

My sweet, dear, loving husband had had enough. He ran to the store for something really quick before the game (go Vikings!) and when he got home IT was outside.

IT is the poodle that lives next door. IT barks incessantly. It barks at leaves blowing in the wind. IT barks at me -- or any of us if he sees us inside our house! It barks every time we step outside. Every single time. Doesn't matter if IT is inside ITS house or outside. IT barks. And barks. And we can hear it, even with our doors and windows shut.

What could possibly be worse than IT? ITS owners. See, they don't stop IT from barking. Occasionally you'll hear a no-no IT but usually they just go on with what they're doing without a reprimand to IT.

I've always said there is no bad dog, only bad owners.

We have another neighbor who is a big, fat jerk. I might have blogged about him in the past. He's mean and he hates kids. He hates us. He hates himself. Anyway, the jerk was talking to another neighbor, who just happens to be ITS uncle. (ITS mom lives across the street and two houses down from her sister.) For some reason, they were in our driveway talking. At any rate, I was sitting at my kitchen table, minding my own business, eating my lunch when they started talking. I heard everything they said. Seems the jerk is furious over IT. The jerk hates IT. So does ITS uncle. They moaned about it for ten minutes -- in my driveway. At first I chuckled, because I had been validated. ITS barking drives me insane. Then it scared me that I actually had something in common with the JERK other than both being human. (Although his humanity is questionable, tee-hee.)

So today, my husband ran to the store to get some pop before the game. He pulls up in the driveway, gets out and IT starts up. Yap, yap, yap. I looked out the window, ITS mom and dad were out there and neither of them stopped what they were doing to stop IT.

Husband, in his very loud and scary voice yelled: SHUT UP. Then he slammed our garage door.

ITS mom and dad just continued what they were doing. I, of course, told my husband that he shouldn't do that, that if the dog bothers him he should go speak to them in a civil manner. He said he was sick of the dog and didn't care.

There comes a point in time where civility goes out the window. I was really upset that he didn't exhibit the manners I thought should be used. Then I got to thinking. These people have lived here for a year. That dog barks at us continuously -- to the point that we can't go outside. I have talked to ITS dad, who is actually very nice. He will usually take the dog in their house after it has been barking for awhile. I know he gets frustrated with the dog. He's told me how the dog gets upset and pees on their carpet and furniture. (Ewwwww) The uncle, who babysits the dog, has told me how the dog chewed up his carpet. This summer I couldn't take our dog out to potty after 10 pm because they go to bed then and leave their window open. Their dog would bark at us out the window. I was worried about waking them. (What was I thinking???)

What can you do? Screaming shut up won't get the point across -- but the dog did shut up for a moment.

Our city has an ordinance that if a dog barks for 15 minutes, you can call the police. I really hate to do that. I don't want to. But it's come to the point that it may be necessary.

Friday Thomas and I were working on an art project in our schoolroom. We were both standing up while working on this project. The neighbors were in their back yard working. That dog saw me through the window and started barking. I was in the privacy of my own home getting barked at by the neighbor's dog.

Today is a beautiful day. I need to rake leaves. I'm not out doing it. Why? Because it is outside and it will start barking.

There are two sounds that are extremely unsettling to me: A baby crying and a barking dog. A baby crying makes me want to pick it up and love it. A dog barking just frazzles my nerves.

Shut up, IT, shut up.