Rant & Rave

You know, I'm tired of someone from the disabled whatever calling me every other week and telling me "back in spring" I told them I couldn't help them out then but would in 6 months. I also loved how the most recent fellow, "Clark", totally ignored my request to take me off of their calling list when I told him he was the third call for the same thing from the same organization. Oh, he was smooth the way he ignored that I said he was the third call. "Well that's what we do. We call you back if you weren't able to help us..." and then proceeds to tell me that the disabled are hard workers, some served in Afghanistan and Iraq, blah, blah, blah. When I told him there was no way I was able to buy anything because I have a $4,600 dental bill to pay off because of my little one, do you know what he said? "Well some of these guys have lost limbs!" I wish I had been quick enough to say, "And how is that my problem?" I am all for supporting and loving on those who have served or are serving in the military but I have financial obligations. That dear dentist who I owe all of that money to, doesn't normally take payments. She did me a favor. It is now my responsibility to honor my word which was, "I will put all the extra money I can toward that bill until it is payed." Sorry Clark. As much as I would like to support your cause, I have to support my family first. I am a giving person. Sometimes I give when I don't even have the money to give (because my debt isn't payed off) which is probably how I got on your phone list in the first place but the "buck stops here". No more are you and people like you going to make me feel guilty because I can't help everybody in the world. I do my part. My part just doesn't include you and your cause.

Want to bet that group calls me again in two weeks?

That had to hurt!

I don't know which chicken popped out that egg but you know it had to hurt. I have never seen a chicken egg as large as this one in my life. Of course most of my eggs-perience comes from the ones purchased at the grocery store so what does that tell you? Boring. Nearly all the same size and for most of my life the only ones I saw were white. I am a color gal and I like variety. It's way more fun wondering how many teal ones we'll get today.

The other day I came home, opened the refrigerator and my jaw nearly hit the ground. Here's what I saw.
It's hard to tell exactly how large that egg is in this picture. Those 3 "little" eggs are normal size eggs. I'm thinking that is the equivalent of giving birth to a 14 lb baby. I mean you just look at it and say, "Ouch!" My first thought was what bird could have gotten into the coop and laid that egg? Let's see...my only choices would be quail (nope, too small), pheasant (could they have big eggs?) or...one of my chickens. It didn't take long to figure out it had to be one of our chickens but Yowza! I can't imagine.


So here is Edmund holding a normal size (not boring white) egg. That looks pretty normal in is tiny hands, right?














Here is Monster Egg in those same tiny hands.
Get the idea? Crazy huh? Have you ever seen such a thing? If you have, I sure hope you'll comment.













So are you curious about what is inside that thing? We sure were. I wondered just how many yolks were in this one! Well, you're in luck because I had my handy dandy camera near by when Peter accidentally turned and cracked the egg on the refrigerator handle. He said the shell was fairly soft. I have yet to do some research to find out if a wrinkled looking egg is the sign that this was the first egg a chicken laid. We've had wrinkled looking eggs before but they aren't real common in our coop. Can you imagine your first baby being HUGE? Oh sure, I know it happens but I can't imagine it being me. Oh shoot. Obviously I'm not a computer wiz because I thought I downloaded this as a larger picture. I really wanted you to be able to see up close what was inside. The contents of this bowl are what came out of the monster egg. I'm not sure you can tell but that is the white, the yolk and a whole 'nother egg...as in you are looking at the shell. Weird. It's elongated and that shell was extremely tough. I gave it to a guest who happened to be here and asked her to crack it so we could see what was inside that one.I'm not sure what startled our friend but the egg ended up on the counter top. As you can see, it only held egg white. Hmm. So I don't know what this all means but it sure made for an interesting moment in time. How many people can say that they've seen a whole egg inside another egg? Well, anyone who reads this can. So if you've seen this before, please comment because I just gotta know! This is pretty interesting stuff for a "girl from town".

I did have to laugh because of my friend Deena Marie's comment on the last post. What was it? Something about not liking the idea of cracking open an egg that might have something more than yolk in it? I'm laughing because I almost posted back that if you get the eggs right away (we collect every day ya' know), you don't have to worry about finding a partially formed chick (ew!). Who would have thought that there were other options?

This is why we got chickens~

I wasn't expecting any eggs until late September or early October. These little beauties showed up in August. The one on the right was especially small but we didn't care. We were just excited to see the fruits of our labor. Okay, the chicken's labor but you know what I mean. We bought all of the chickens in late April. I think I read somewhere that they mature around 6 months. It wasn't long before we realized that some breeds might mature quicker. We figured out that we had a buff rooster fairly early. First of all because that darn chicken was extremely ornery. It wasn't long though before he was growing a comb and wattle. It was at least a month or maybe more before we discovered two more roosters in the bunch. My younger children thought those roosters were being mean to the hens. I had to explain that they were mating with them. I'm sure Edmund doesn't "get it". I just keep telling him they are helping the hens to make eggs. He doesn't need to know right now that you don't have to have a rooster to make eggs, right?

These brown beauties showed up behind our grill on the front porch. I knew one of the goldens was sitting back there a lot but a quick glance (after Jake chased the chickens off the porch) told me she was just finding a nice place in the shade. The next day Peter came running in to tell me he found a bunch of eggs behind the grill. We were so excited to find these 6 eggs! I was especially excited because I wanted an omelet for breakfast. There is something about finding eggs when you weren't expecting eggs that makes the find something fabulous. And until you have had the opportunity to eat homegrown eggs (verses what you find in the grocery store), you don't know that there is actually a difference.

I really should have taken a picture of the 'home grown' eggs next to a store bought egg but I didn't want to contaminate my omelet. The yolk in home grown eggs are fairly orange while most of us know how yellow they are in store bought eggs. Doesn't that just make you feel better about eating home grown eggs? They are 'special'. It's kind of like the first time you ever make homemade bread from scratch. It is such a feeling of accomplishment. Although I didn't lay these eggs myself, I get that same feeling. Besides I am a color junkie. I just love things that are colorful. This is why, when I worked in a fabric store as a teenager, I had DMC floss in nearly every color. It didn't matter that I may never embroider something with color number 967, I just had to have it. This is why I'm eagerly waiting for some of our other chickens to start laying because I'm looking forward to the blue-green eggs as well.
So we celebrate because now we have these fantastic eggs from our very own chickens! Although we've had egg laying happening for a few weeks now, I'm still posting it under "Fantastic Friday" because we're eating eggs today. You can see what a bright omelet they make. I was really hungry so started in on the homemade toasted bread. I couldn't wait until the omelet was done. It still made a pretty picture. Anyone jealous about my yummy breakfast?

Too Hot.

I wish I was just talking about me. I would love to say, "I'm too hot!" but wouldn't care for all of the snickering in the background.

My hot experience would be the extremely warm weather we had last week...or was that the week before last? Time has been flying by because I took up a new...shall we say...interest. Hobby isn't the right word. I'm making money and will probably be making enough that it can't be considered a hobby. There are rules to how much you can make and be calling it a "hobby". I remember from when I used to do my business taxes...a business or two ago. And now that I'm totally off topic, let me redirect you...

Apparently, 108 degrees is just a little much for my poor red van. It was acting up a bit the days prior...of course those days were 106 and below. The day I was running around trying to get stuff for Susan's birthday...that was the hot day. I was trying desperately to leave the Dairy Queen parking lot. I had just ordered Susan's cake and we were all out of water and Jake was with us. He was so hot, he didn't even want to get back into the van to go home. He much preferred the cool grass (if you can call it that) in the shade although I'm pretty sure it was still blazing hot there too. Susan, Edmund, Jake and I piled back into the van and attempted to get home. I was having difficulties even getting out of the parking lot. That van kept making clunking noises and stalling on me. Didn't it know I had to get home?! I had stuff to do before the party the next day. I threw that baby into neutral, revved it like never before, threw it back into gear and...

...I made it into the street where it promptly died. "Holy Smokes it's too blazing hot for this thing not to work!" I really couldn't imagine having to push it back into the parking lot and sit there in the blasted heat while waiting for Mr. P to come bail me out. With no swearing (I swear!) and much prayer, I tried again. Thankfully it did actually attempt to run enough to get me moving down the street. I just kept praying that I wouldn't have to stop at a red light because I wasn't sure I could get it going again. I did make it home. Told Mr. P all about it. We decided it was just the heat. The next day was a bit cooler and it seemed to run okay...
...until the check engine light came on. I decided to just drive straight to the mechanic. Ended up getting off of the freeway because the thing wouldn't shift down. I'm no mechanic but I'm pretty sure someone of average intelligence could figure out that the vehicle should not sound like a jet engine if it is not in fact a jet. Decided it wasn't worth risking an accident or something. So there the van sat for several days and even over the weekend. Finally Mr. P called the mechanic to find out what was going on. They didn't know. Couldn't reproduce the problem. Sheesh. Apparently I need to order up another 108 degree day to get that to happen. Unfortunately we have been having some pleasantly cool weather.

I called a friend to take me to get the van. It just doesn't make sense to have that thing sitting down at the mechanic when I could be driving it right? I have fallen in love with Mr. P's new 4Runner though. It's the same year as the van but doesn't seem to have issues with the heat. I think it's way more stylin' too. I guess poor Mr. P would like to have it back though. He has been stuck driving "the beast" while the van has been gone. The beast is his little '87 Ford Pick Up. It has definitely seen better days.

All of that said so that you all know that I was suffering in the intense heat we had. I'm so grateful for central air and vehicles with air conditioning. How did our forefathers survive?

How forgetful are you?

I'm starting to wonder about the whole "memory going bad the older you get" thing. Perhaps it's because I seem to be forgetting things that I would normally remember. You know, little things like, say, forgetting to pick up your child...for instance. Not just once. Actually it was two different days and each day was a different child. Does that count in the same way?

Now in my defense, both children were perfectly safe so don't go calling CPS on me. Of course some of you don't even know my real name so I feel a bit safer.

It really is due to distraction. The problem is, I seem to be more distracted the older I get. For example, that weekend of the California Achievement Testing and the non-test assessments that I coordinated. It took some effort to pull that off. There were a few little glitches that I didn't anticipate. Over all, it turned out pretty well. Lucy's assessment was the first one of Saturday. After that, I ran her over to a friend's house so that she didn't have to sit around being bored for several hours. That was the last day of testing so once we were done, it felt like it was time to cel.e.brate. Oh yeh, oh yeh! So that being said, I was 3/4ths the way home before I realized that Lucy was not in the car with us. I felt really bad because I had told my friend I would be done at a certain time which of course was long past. I immediately called her on my cell. Don't worry Washingtonians, I was using my bluetooth and the new law had not gone into effect yet anyway. As I apologized profusely for forgetting my child and thus being really late, my friend just cracked up. I'm thankful she found it funny and wasn't mad that I was such a delinquent.

Then there was the day that Susan had something going on at the library. It was last month so I don't remember all the details. I just remember that I was well past the library before remember it was MY job to pick her up. Lucky for me, the library is a safe place, the librarians know us and Susan loves to read. If not for those things, I would have been in deep doo doo. I'm talking about picking her up about 2 hours later than originally planned. Oh yeh, I remember, it was a shopping and latte date with a friend that I hadn't seen in awhile. Who would have known we would be gone that long? Perhaps I shouldn't admit that. The shopping was at a thrift store so you know that takes longer, right? As long as Susan and the librarians were not unhappy, I'm okay right?

I'm hoping it's not like early Alzheimer's or something. If it is, I'll have to get my act together and go back to being an 85% raw foodist. Not sure I'm ready for that again. That lack of self discipline thing.

Anyone else dealing with memory issues?

Thankful Thursdays

I meant to participate in Mrs. Fussypants' Thankful Thursdays last week...but never got around to it. Sometimes I have such good intentions but like I said in this post, you know what happens to people with "good intentions".

In spite of my grumpy attitude most of this summer month week, I have plenty to be thankful for. I have a fantastic husband, wonderful children, friends, a home and all of the clutter stuff that goes with that. I have food. Boy am I thankful I have food. I don't do "hungry" well. I'm grateful for my chickens as they bring me laughter & joy. Aside from the times they poop on my porch, they never irritate me at all. They may in fact be the "perfect pet". Although only 2 of the 22 actually let me pet them on a regular basis because they are...well...chicken. Still, they make me smile. My cats are so self sufficient that I don't have to "deal" with them much. Yes, I'm thankful for that. Training that dog Jake is starting to pay off. He really is sweet. See how sweet he is...

Look at those sweet eyes and big floppy ears. Yep, in spite of the lack of sleep, getting chewed on with needle like teeth and the rip in my favorite skirt...oh wait, I was focusing on the positive. I'm so thankful that every day Jake is learning to be a more obedient puppy. That's better.

So have you taken a moment to list the many things you are thankful for? I think it is powerful to reflect on the things you are thankful for at least once a week. I'm sure once a day is even better but I'll settle for every week as a start. How about you? What are you thankful for?

Elite Club?

I am now officially part of an elite club. Oh yeh, I'm cool. (Do you hear me snickering in the background?) I'm part of the BGs. No we have nothing to do with the BeeGee's. Nothing in common at all, I'm sure. The BGs are the "Bad Girls".

Someone please run over and resuscitate my mother. Don't worry mom, we're not really bad at all...are we girls? Actually...I can't really remember why we are "The Bad Girls" except that I told them I wanted to blog about our time together but I knew no one wanted to be mentioned by name. I told them they had to come up with a pseudonym so I could freely talk about them. The Bad Girls it is. Wait, someone remind me why we are "bad". I forget.

So if you are not the writer, is pseudonym still the correct term? Inquiring minds want to know.

Twice a week I get to see some of the Bad Girls. Our children have lessons together and apparently I'm not allowed to tell you where we are having lessons or you may be able to figure out who some of the club members are. Does that make us a "secret club"? Ooooooh, this gets more intriguing all the time.

I decided everyone needs a club like ours to belong to. It's a safe place. We talk about everything from laundry to spiritual issues. Wait, no, I don't think we have discussed laundry yet but I know we have discussed mundane things before and laundry fits right in there. I guess we'll have to discuss laundry next week so that I won't be made into a liar. Someone remember that please.

The point was supposed to be (there was supposed to be a point?) about the importance of groups like these. Especially for the Homeschool Mommy who spends most, if not all, of her time with her children. We often don't have an outside career where we get adult interaction. Especially "safe time". That would be a time you can discuss issues, even disagreeing with each other, and not have to worry about being mistreated for your point of view. I so appreciate having intelligent discussions (or even non-intelligent ones) with other people who don't mind if I agree 100 percent or not.

So here's to the BGs! You gals are uplifting, inspiring and super-de-duper fun. Thanks for listening to my ramblings, checking in on my blog and for being my friends. Now, if I could only get you to come out of "lurkdom" and actually comment on my blog. Come on...just one little comment...I know you are there...

You get what you pay for.

If you are going to have your 9 year old and 3 year old paint, well, you just have to lower your standards a bit. Of course the good news is that their stamina is short lived and you will soon be able to take over and do the job right finish what they started. It doesn't help that the temperature would soon be in the upper 90s so that you kick yourself for waiting until 10am to start this project (actually I think it was 101 degrees that day). Having a puppy running about your project chasing the chickens isn't too helpful either. More good news...the puppy just likes to scare them to death, not actually eat them...yet anyway. Even more good news...the puppy only ended up with one red whisker and one small red paint splotch on his hind quarters. I thought that was pretty good.

I don't know what I was thinking. That chicken coop sure doesn't look all that big. I can finish it in no time...so I thought. I didn't count on the fact that OSB totally soaks up the paint. Yes, only minutes into the project I realize the error of not priming first. To top that off, OSB has all of these little nooks and crannies in it so that you can't just roll over it with the roller brush and expect it to be covered. NOooooo, you have to go over it 6 kazillion times with the force of a freight train in order to get the paint everywhere it needs to be. "It's only a chicken coop" I say to myself. "It doesn't have to be perfect." For the friends that know me and are reading this, you can stop snickering now.

The seemingly "couple of hours" job ended up taking ALL DAY. I finally got smart and had Mr. P bring me some water. "What?" you might ask. Why wasn't Mr. P out there painting alongside me? Well, Mr. P "doesn't do painting". I had to chuckle. I figured he spent time out there sweatin' while building the thing so I certainly didn't begrudge him not painting. In the end, he did come out and paint that part above the chicken wire pen. I was really grateful for that! I didn't want to have to balance on top of that to paint the top part.

So, I say I finished it in a day. Technically I didn't paint the inside of the windows but I wasn't sure if I was going to paint them red or wait and paint them white when we put white trim up. All in all, it looks okay although it would have been nicer had I started with primer. It probably would have saved me a bit of money because I wouldn't have had to send Mr. P back to the store for another gallon (did I mention that OSB totally soaks up the paint?). So what do you think? Do you think it looks okay "for a chicken coop"?Yeh, that's me...the Chicken Whisperer. I don't think that is all 22 but it sure is funny having these girls run after me. We have discovered that we do have 2 roosters. Yeh! I just love my chickens and I am happy that they have 2 roosters to keep them happy.

I fully intend on posting more regularly. First I need to get Susan her own laptop so that I don't have to "duke it out with her" to get some computer time. In the mean time, bare with me and I'll start getting more regular. Thanks for coming to visit and let me know how wonderfully my chicken coop is painted. HA!

Wordly Wednesday, Thankful Thursday

I originally intended to post this on a Wednesday. That will be "quote day". It sat as a draft for a week and I am don't want to wait to post it. So here it is...

"Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
--Charles Dickens

This quote really gives you something to think about. It's so easy to dwell on the negative. As a matter of fact, our society, being media driven, appears to train us to dwell on the negative. If it isn't sensationalism, it's not worth reporting. Occasionally I read an article that focuses on something wonderful or positive but that doesn't seem to be the focus. Drama, drama, drama. I think Dickens had it right though.

If you look at your life, I mean seriously look at it, for most of us in the United States of America, our blessings far out weigh our misfortunes. And how many of us take the time to reflect on our present blessings? I know that I get so wrapped up in all that I am doing that I forget to just stop and take time to be thankful. I'm not talking about drive by thankfulness either. You know, the kind where the words slip out of your mouth and you say something like, "I'm so thankful the toast landed jelly side up!" Although for moms, sometimes that is truly a moment to rejoice. Especially if it is only 8am and your day already seems to be going to the dogs.

Occasionally when the world is falling down around you, it may take a little more effort to be thankful. Take a closer look at your life. Do you have someone who loves you? A spouse, a child, a mother, or a friend? Do you have your health? Your health isn't so good? How about the fact that you are still alive which means there is time to do something to improve your health? There might be a lot of things wrong in your world, but take Dicken's advice. What are you grateful for?

Just do it.

Just three little words. Occasionally I have to use those words on myself. Often followed by "just start out" or "just do 15 minutes, you can do anything for 15 minutes."

I learned that last phrase from The Flylady. If you don't know who she is, check her out. She isn't only about decluttering but so much more. It's worth your time to nose around on her site for a bit. She has updated it too. A bit more user friendly now.

If you're one of those people who "poo poo" the "you can do anything for 15 minutes" idea let me just say you are acting like one of my kids. Have you ever heard the saying, "Don't knock it 'til you try it?"

Almost 6 years ago, my father died from leukemia. About 4 years before that, my mom had open heart surgery for a complete blockage. After my father died, I really got to thinking. Why would I wait until I had some major health issue before doing positive things for my health? I decided then that I would change some things in my life. I wasn't sure what to do. I remembered the Flylady saying, "You can do anything for 15 minutes." Lucy was still pretty young so I wasn't sure I could exercise away from home. Videos just didn't sound interesting so I decided to start jumping rope. I could do that on the back porch while the children were still sleeping.

Have you ever tried jumping rope for 15 minutes when you were out of shape? Holy Smokes! I had no idea that jumping rope was one of the most intense forms of exercise! I had trouble jumping rope for 5 minutes, much less 15. I kept at it though. When I went out to Texas to visit my grandmother, I forgot my jump rope. Fortunately for me, she lived across the street from a high school which had a track. I decided to strap on my shoes and go run. Of course I gave myself permission to be done after 15 minutes. I don't really know how long I ran. I would jog a 100 yards and then walk a 100 yards. Yep, that's all I would do. A few years and one more baby later, I ran my first marathon. 26.2 miles for those who don't know.

This is me at mile 25! Look, you can see my feet were still coming off the ground. I still can't believe I actually ran that far. It's a good thing I have photos, a medal and witnesses to prove it. If you had told me 6 years ago that I would run a marathon, I would have laughed in your face. I couldn't even jump rope for more than 5 minutes, are you kidding?

So when you have something you need to do or want to do, just set a goal of 15 minutes and give yourself permission to quit. Something is better than nothing. You might find that all you need to do is get started. Getting started is more than half of the battle.

Go ahead, just do it.

Is this your son?

Well today is Saturday and I was going to designate Saturdays as "Story Time". I decided to cruise around the internet to see what great piece of information I could dig up. The problem is, there are so many interesting, cool, or bizarre things online that it is incredibly easy to get distracted. I spent some time on a site with amazing coincidences. Reading those stories brought the Twilight Zone theme to mind. For example, the man who was riding a moped in Bermuda when he was struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, his brother was riding the same moped and was struck and killed by the same taxi driver, carrying the same passenger. Personally I think the passenger had it out for that family and was just looking for the opportunity.

Then you have the story of the guy who was walking along in Detroit (in the 1930s) and a baby fell out of a high window and landed on the guy. Thankfully neither were hurt. One year later, the same baby fell out of the window again (where WAS this baby's mother?!) and landed on the same guy. Wow, that kid better be thankful that guy worked down the street or something. There were several stories like this. You can find them at About.com.

Then I ran across this guy.

(I found him through a link on Dave's Daily.com.)

Wow. I'm not sure if I should say, "That's some talent!" or "I've never met someone quite like you." I suppose either would be appropriate. Not everyone can say that they're able to stretch their earlobes all the way to their mouth.

Think of all the money he saves on dangly earrings.

I just kept thinking, "What does his mother think?" Judging by the color of his facial hair, I'm guessing his mom isn't around to care. I'm not sure how I would react if either of my sons showed up on my doorstep looking like this. Sure, I would still love him. I just can't imagine NOT loving my child. I might ask what in the world he was thinking. I'm fairly certain this whole thing didn't just happen overnight though.

So, what do you think? Is this your type of guy? He's probably really nice and funny too. Wouldn't you have to be if you looked like this?

What makes you smile?

At different times today, a thought just made me smile. The first time was about my dh (darling husband). A thought just popped into my head and I had to grin. Go ahead and get your mind out of the gutter. It wasn't that kind of a thought. My husband is a great man so sometimes I think about how sweet he is and just get that silly little grin on my face!

An hour or so later, another thought popped into my head. It was about the newest addition to our family. I just thought about the first time I saw him, only two days ago. He cocked his head just so and I fell in love. Just thinking about his ears makes me smile. Do you want to smile too? Here is a reason to smile...Jake.

Something about a puppy just makes you want to smile. Especially if it isn't yours and you didn't have to get up with him at midnight and 6am. Well, he is ours and I did get up with him at those times but I figure that was pretty good.

Jake has such a gentle manner. He is fast too so this was the best I could do picture wise. I'm reading a great book on puppies. I'll post about it tomorrow so if there are any families aspiring to become puppy owners, they can read this book before picking up a puppy.

Feel free to tell me how adorable my new puppy is. His ears are like velvet so that makes me smile too. As I was driving along smiling, I decided to think about other things that bring a smile to my face too. Looking at Edmund sleeping. Thinking about how much like me Susan is. Actually, that makes me laugh and cringe at the same time because I think, "Poor Girl!" Peter's sweetness (he must get that from his father). Lucy's sense of humor. Each child brings a smile to my face. Thinking how blessed I am to be able to homeschool them and be able to spend so much time with them brings a smile of contentment. Then I thought out Mr. P again and broke out in that silly grin once more. It must be a day for grinning.

There are other things that make me smile. The smell of lilacs. Watching babies. Sitting in the sunshine. There are a lot more but I'll have to leave it at that as I am supposed to be leaving. I guess this is where I am supposed to say something patriotic since it is July 4th. Actually, the fact that I live in a country where I have so many freedoms makes me smile too. Since that ties into what I'm talking about, I'll just leave it at that.

So what makes you smile?

Annual Testing or Assessments

So it's Technical Tuesday again. Boy that week sure went fast. We had our annual testing and assessments this week. I invited Valerie Witt to come to our town and offer the California Achievement Test and give assessments to those who wished not to test. She is an amazing woman. I used to want to be like her but now she has her PhD and I just don't have that kind of motivation. So kudos to her and if you want to learn a bit about her and what she does, you can read her bio here.

Some homeschooling families may read this and think why in the world would you want to subject your children to the CAT (California Achievement Test)? Many homeschool families realize that most standardized tests are fairly pointless in determining how educated your children are. Truly, if you spend all day with your children, you already have a pretty good idea of where they are academically. I would probably not bother with testing or assessing before high school except that it is required by Washington State Law. Taken directly from the website, the law reads that the parents must...

"Ensure that a standardized achievement test approved by the state board of education is administered annually to the child by a qualified individual or that an annual assessment of the student's academic progress is written by a certificated person who is currently working in the field of education."

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for Washington State has some examples of tests (find them here and then click A-3) approved by the State Board of Education. The Buros Institute of Mental Measurements is the test evaluation organization that is recognized by the State Board of Education so if you don't find the test you were looking for, you can go to the Buros website for a complete list. Now just to be clear, the WASL is not an approved test. It is neither nationally normed nor has it been approved by the Buros Institute, the two criteria required by law. If a homeschooler wishes to take the WASL, they may but it will not count toward fulfilling the law.

If you find that a standardized test would be overwhelming for your child or perhaps it just goes against your educational philosophy, you can opt for an assessment of your child to fulfill the law requirements. It is my experience that the assessment will vary depending on the person who is actually doing the assessment. It's not surprising that each person has their own way of performing an assessment. The assessment must be put into writing however and you would keep this with your child's educational records. If you should decide to place your child in public or private school, the institution may request those records.

I have had some parents actually say that they don't feel the need to have their child take a standardized test or have an assessment so they don't bother. Well that's all fine and dandy for you but you are breaking the law. Let's think for a moment what you are saying to your child by your example. You are saying, if I don't feel like doing something, then I don't have to. Okay, what do you think of this...so I don't feel like stopping at the stop sign as you are going through it with your car full of kids. I just barrel on through and run right into you. What are you going to think of that? Is it any different? How about the next time your child doesn't feel like doing what you have said? Are you okay with that? After all, you have taught them that it isn't necessary to follow through with the rules if they don't feel like it.

So you decide that you are going to fulfill the requirements of the law but you don't have a clue how to find a place to test or have an assessment done. The first thing I would suggest would be to contact your local homeschool group. If you don't know who they are or aren't even sure they exist, google "(your town/city) homeschool". You should get several hits. If not, you can always go the the Washington Homeschool Organizations page on testing which you can access here. They have many qualified individuals listed and the area they serve.

Natural is bad?

So I was visiting my friend Mrs. Hannigan's blog. I just had to comment on her blog about sunscreen. I know some people who won't care for the title but get past that and read the blog. As I was commenting on it, I started to get angry about it. Maybe it's the fact that I had to yell at Peter to actually play with Edmund, not just read a book and pretend to be playing with him. Maybe I just have anger issues. I don't know. But the thought occurred to me that the world keeps trying to tell us that natural stuff is bad (like sunshine) while simultaneously feeding us crap that will kill us (like prepackaged foods). Can someone please tell me what is up with that?

It's all around us.

Stay out of the sun. Use chemicals on your skin if you have to be in the sun.
If you want some perspective on that, you can check out Dr. Mercola's website and search the word "sunshine" and get all sorts of articles on the subject.

Are you in a hurry? There are fast food joints every where. Just stop in, grab some food and go. Or go to the store and buy one of those prepackaged foods that you can just pop into the microwave oven. Hey, if you are going to the store anyway, what's wrong with buying fresh fruit or veggies? That is "fast food" too. Wash and eat. You don't even have to wash it but I like to. Shoot, just buy a cantalope, slice it open and eat the whole thing. That would be cheaper than a super sized "value meal" too. A heck of a lot healthier too.

And how about fluoride? In the natural form it good for you but you can't just get the natural stuff anywhere...it occurs in nature. Oh yeh, since we can't just get it anywhere, let's make a chemical version (or use an industrial by-product from the phosphate fertilizer industry), tell everyone how important it is and feed the chemicals to our children by putting it in our water. Do you want more information? The Fuoride Action Network can give you something to think about. Visit them here.

Perhaps if we didn't eat the sugar laden, preservative and additive laden foods that are being produced, we wouldn't need to worry about dental caries. They all look so pleasing to the eye and they taste so yummy, they just have to be good for you (the sugary food, not the dental caries). They say they have all of those chemicals vitamins and minerals in them. They just have to be good for you.

If you know how to google, you can look most anything up. All the info is out there. Just remember, before actually believing some of it, make sure you can verify it with some scientific research (good sites will give you links). Most of all, if someone is telling you that the natural stuff is bad and the man-made stuff is good, you had better think twice before believing it.

Price Gouging

Have you ever been stinking mad about the price of something? Yeh, that's one of those questions that no one has to really answer because with gas prices being what they are, I don't no anyone who would answer that with a negative. Although most people are just irritated about high gas prices. How about if the price of something directly affects your health or the health of someone you love? Is that irritating or are we boarding on the edge of fuming?

My mother called me the other day to ask if I had a way to get information out to people. She didn't mean just telling my friends but she really wanted to get some information out to a lot of people. Especially if the people had bitty babies or elderly folks they care for. I told her to send me her story and I would post it on my blog and any forums I visit. I wish you could have heard her tell the story. I suppose she was trying to be short and to the point but you can't hear her frustration or anger near as well in her writing. I'll let you read it before I comment any further.
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For those of you who have babies, especially a premie, or have the responsibility of caring for the elderly you need to read this.

My 83 year old mom spends most of her day lying in bed. As with many elderly people she is incontinent which often causes chafing. A week ago she had to undergo gallbladder surgery. Prior to that she went through some tests that required the clearing of her bowels. This of course caused the chafing to accelerate to the point of bleeding.

My niece, who is a nurse, used to work in the neo natal unit of a Dallas hospital. She suggested we get an ointment called Calmoseptine which is what they used on their premies. We were able to purchase this ointment at Good’s Pharmacy at $6.00 for a 4oz. tube and began using it on Mom. By the next day there was no bleeding and most of the redness was gone! Even the nurses were surprised.

Now, we live in a small town and Mom had her surgery in a much larger town an hour away. I tell you this because if you go to a store to buy Calmoseptine, depending on where you live, you might have to buy it through the pharmacy. I found this out when I went asking for it at Walgreens. They did have it at the pharmacy but only in a 2 ounce jar. Now here comes the gouging. This little 2 ounce jar was over $17.00!! There was no way I could pay that kind of money even if it had been 4 ounces!

Well, I went on line and got the contact information for the company which produces Calmoseptine. Then I called and spoke to the owner. He is a wonderful gentleman who runs a very small company making this great product. He shared with me what the selling price was to wholesalers and that’s when I got mad! Ladies this is your opportunity to help out this small business by buying direct from them and stop giving your money to the money grubbing big businesses. Their web site is www.calmoseptineointment.com. They do not take orders on line but you can call 1-800-800-3405 to order.


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Now the reason my mom wanted to share this information is because this stuff worked worked like a miracle. Her mother's skin was so damaged, it was bleeding. Okay, so let's do the math. That first tube they purchased in an adjacent town was 4oz for $6. That's $1.5 per ounce. They get to their town, where they have to purchase it in a pharmacy and it's $17 for a wimpy 2oz jar. Um, that's not going to go very far and you've just paid $8.50 per ounce! Yikes! This stuff must be like gold! Well, if it works like a miracle I suppose you might justify the high price. If you call the manufacturer, you will probably change your mind. This poor guy suffers because people can't afford his product all because the pharmacy marks it up so much. My mom was so spittin' mad that she decided to contact the hospital to make sure they are buying directly from the manufacturer. Do you know how much money is wasted in this world because of stuff like this? How much suffering could be relieved if big business didn't have to make such huge profits?! Now I have nothing against people who make a lot of money...if they are working for it. Dave Ramsey, financial guru, had a great article online recently that talked about people who whine about those making a lot of money. It's called Butt Scratching and Bass Fishing and you can read it here. Do read it as it sure gives you something to think about. Don't be deceived into thinking that is what is going on here. We are talking a mark up of 6 times the cost! Wait, that isn't even entirely right. That is just the mark up from comparing one business to another. That isn't comparing the cost of the product if you are buying wholesale. And might I mention that my mom currently lives in the south. I almost expect high prices for certain products here in the Pacific Northwest. When ever I have visited them, I was surprised at price differences. I'm still amazed at this incident.

So I decided to go to the Calmoseptine website to check it out. Here are some of the things this product helps with...

Protects and helps heal
skin irritations from:

• Incontinence of urine or feces
• Feeding tube leakage
• Minor burns, scrapes
• Fecal or vaginal fistulas
• Wound drainage
• Diaper rash
• Moisture, such as perspiration

If you or a loved one suffers from any of the above conditions, you might want to try the Calmoseptine. If the pharmacy in your area charges ridiculous prices, call up the owner and buy direct. You do have to buy in bulk but for the money my mom saved, it was worth it.

Also, if you feel so led, please pass this information on. Write a blog on it or copy mine (just give me credit for it please). The idea is to get the information out to the public who could benefit from purchasing directly from the company. Thanks.

Liar

My friend, Mrs. Hanigan, is a liar. Did you see her post for today? She says she is "off" at 5pm. No way sister! I've been to your house. There is always something or someone needing your attention. Wait, that isn't entirely true. When we were there blogging, all of the kiddos were outside or downstairs having a good time. Okay, so maybe you are off at 5pm. What did you do, send the kids outside for the night?

If you haven't explored Mrs. Hanigans blog yet, you really need to. That woman amazes me. She is creative, lovely and doesn't yell at her kids nearly as much as she leads you to believe. OR...maybe she just has the wool pulled over my eyes. :-) No, this is one of those women that seems to do a kazillion things and yet has time to pause to watch her daughter & friends "perform their song." Of course the song lasted about 10 seconds because one of the children ran off in the middle of the beginning and it all kind of fell apart. What did Mrs. Hanigan do? She proudly proclaims, "Bravo, good job!" or some such thing. Even though the whole thing fell apart, her daughter beamed with pride because mommy noticed. Then we ran back inside to our laptops. It only took a moment but I bet when that child grows up, she'll remember that mommy took time for her.

When I grow up, I want to be just like you Mrs. Hanigan. The problem is I'm older than her. What am I to do?

Declaration of Intent to Homeschool form

If you are going to homeschool in the state of Washington, you must fill out the Declaration of Intent to Provide Home-Based Instruction form if your child is anywhere from 8 to 18 years old. Just head on down to your local district's registration office and tell them you want to fill it out. If your local district's form is in compliance with state law, it is really simple to fill out. All you need to fill out is your child's name, birthdate, your signature, address and IF you are qualifying to homeschool by being supervised by a person who is certified in Washington State (according to RCW 28A.410) then you need to check that spot on the form. That's it. No more information is required by state law.

What some of you may need to know is that not all school districts in the state have their forms in compliance with the law. Some forms require a ridiculous amount of information, some even requesting your "education plan". Well, H E L L O! According to Washington State Law, homeschoolers are not required to submit anything like that. It doesn't matter what is on the form other than what is required by law because you don't have to fill the other parts out. I always like to be a bit bold and circle the out of compliant parts (usually ten times or so to make it obvious) and then write "Out of compliance with WA State Law. See RCW 28A.200.010." in big bold letters. It makes me feel proactive. I also like the district to know that even if they don't, I know the law regarding homeschooling. Knowledge is power, right? If you are okay with giving the district all kinds of information, then that is up to you. Personally, I only give what the law requires. Men and women fought hard to get the wonderful homeschool law that we have and I get rather irritated at the fact that some districts think they are "giving us permission" to homeschool when we fill out the Intent form. The district isn't giving us anything. We have the right to educate our own children by law. The Intent form simply does two things.

• 1. It protects the district by letting them know they are off the hook for educating your child and
• 2. It protects the parent because your child can not be considered truant.

When you walk in to fill out the Intent form, hold your head high and be proud of what you are doing. Don't allow the district employees to make you feel like pond scum. Also, just so you know, not all districts make you feel like pond scum and some of the ones that used to, are getting better. Even so, there is one more little thing I should tell you about some local school districts...

When you go in to fill out the Intent to Provide Home-Based Instruction form, some districts might ask if you want to look at their "homeschool program". They may even entice you with promises of free books, supplies and even computers. Okay, first of all, you don't have to look at their program. Second of all, if you choose to participate in their program, you are no longer under homeschool law. Technically those programs are Alternative Education Programs. They don't like to call them that because that brings up icky feelings. The first Alt Ed programs were for those kids that dropped out of school for drugs, pregnancy or because they "didn't fit in". With the rise of Virtual Schools, more and more local districts are creating their own "homeschool programs" to draw homeschoolers back into the system. Don't be deceived folks. Those programs are paid with tax payers' dollars. The school district gets thousands of dollars when your child is enrolled in the program. Now, if you think that is the best choice for your child, I'm not going to stomp on your toes or anything. I just want you to know that the district can call it what it wants but don't think you are covered by homeschool law. You can still be considered a homeschooler if you are participating in a virtual school part time. So if you think you want to go with the district's program, the key question to ask is, "Will my student be enrolled full time or part time?" If they say full time, your child will be a public school student and will be required to fulfill all the same requirements as any other public school child.

Okay that was a lot of info and not all of it related to the Intent form but it all tied in together, right? The only other thing I will say regarding the Intent form for now is if you put you child into school for Kindergarten and then decided you wanted to homeschool, you must unenroll your child and fill out the Intent form even though your child is not yet 8 years old. Once a child is in the system, they will be considered truant if they should quit coming to school even though the compulsory age is 8 years old.

As Porky Pig would say, "That's all folks!"...until the next Technical Tuesday!

Addiction

I'll just do it this one time. Yeh. That's how most addictions start. It seems innocent enough. Only one time and never again. And as soon as you give in, you almost instantly regret it. That's how it started with me too.

Actually I blame a local grocery store. If it weren't for their "really great" cereal sale, I wouldn't be dealing with this now. They were selling boxes of additive and preservative laden really tasty cereal for only $1.79. What a deal! Do you know how much those boxes are normally? Like four bucks. Geesh.

Now if you have only known me for a short time, you might be saying, "So what's the big deal?" If you knew me...say four years ago...you might be saying, "Who are you and what did you do with Mrs. P?!" Because four years ago I was the mostly raw foodist who would never have let such atrocities cross my children's lips, much less my own. So WHAT HAPPENED?!

I don't know. All I know is that when I gave birth to Edmund, all of my will power came out with him. Actually that kid is the epitome of "will power". Well, in all fairness, I have seen worse children but compared to the first two, the more I had, the more ornery they got. Maybe that's why Mr. P said four was enough...actually he said two was enough but I somehow got two more out of the deal.

So with that being said, someone please help me with this addiction. I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!...but I can't take it anymore and neither can my hips. Feel free to comment with any tips you have. I know, I know, the first and most important tip is to not bring it into your house. Don't worry. I'm not buying any more of this stuff. After all, they only have this cereal sale once a year.

Slacker

I am a slacker.

Oh wait, NO...I meant to say, "I get distracted" because calling myself a "slacker" would be like taking personal responsibility for my actions and according to my June 8th post...no one in the US of A does that. Therefore, I get distracted.

I truly meant to post regularly about WA state homeschooling law but then life got crazy and I barely managed to post anything. If I have limited posting time, it's going to be on something simple to post. My personal opinion on something is ALWAYS simple to post so that will win hands down every time. Of course if you get into a fight with Mother Earth, that gives you something to post about too.

So all of that to say, I am going to get back on task. Every Tuesday will be "Technical Tuesday" so I will post on stuff about homeschooling, starting with finishing up the Homeschooling Law in Washington State stuff I began way back on May 6th.

50 Years!

(I'm trying to play catch up. I typed this up while at Sunriver but am only just posting it.)

That is a long time. Well, I suppose not on the scale of the big picture but now days, that is definitely a reason to celebrate if you are talking years of marriage. Mr. P's parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary yesterday and they still seem to like each other. They are actually down right sweet. No, they don't always agree with each other but they don't sit and argue their point...well, at least not too much anyway. Perhaps I should take some pointers from them (see my husband vigorously nodding his head here?).

Mom and Dad Pevensie decided they wanted to have their two children and their families come to Sun River, Oregon to celebrate the anniversary with them. It's a beautiful place. As a matter of fact this is where my dh and I spent our honeymoon. The house Mom & Dad P rented is fabulous. I just love our room and wish Mr. P and I could use it more but this is after all supposed to be a family vacation. Thought I would post a picture so you could be jealous. Or maybe your house already looks like this so it's no big deal. I think it is wondie!

I have yet to ask Mom and Pops what their secret is for a long lasting marriage. It might have to wait until tomorrow though. Today we are celebrating Lucy's birthday. Whatever the secret, if it gets us a nice family vacation, I'll take it...well, that and it would be nice to be celebrating our 50th in 33 years!

Oh P U L E E Z E !

I decided to visit my friend Jenny-Fair's blog to see what was new with her. I read the post about the 8 year old who ate a whole bunch of Magnetix toys. The parents are now launching a campaign to get those toys pulled off of the shelves.

H E L L O, parents, get a clue! If your child has some sort of disorder that would cause her to eat such toys, don't buy them for her! That girl has to have some sort of disorder. My 3 year old knows better than to eat toys. Maybe they don't feed her so she just had to eat something. I really want to know. Why do my children have to suffer because of the stupidity of other children? Oh yeh, I forget. We live in the good ol' US of A where there is no personal responsibility. Did you forget as well?

Remember, this is the place where you can order hot coffee and then sue the fast food restaurant for serving you hot coffee. Um, didn't you know coffee is served hot? Sometimes my friend wants to bring me a latte and sometimes the barrista tells her she is only supposed to make it (some temp I can't remember) degrees when my friend asks for it "really hot". She wants to make sure it is still hot by the time I get it. Isn't she nice? But sometimes the barrista is nervous about making it so hot. She could, after all, get sued.

Come on people! Wake up and start taking some responsibility for your own actions or that of your children if they are too young for taking the responsibility. Actually, unless that 8yo has some sort of disorder, she is perfectly old enough for being held responsible for her actions. Let's not go ruining it for everyone because she's foolish enough to eat her toys. And please, someone feed her. She must be hungry.

Just don't do it.

"Idiot!" This is what I was thinking as the white car flies by me on the freeway. He had to be going 100 mph or more. It's funny how fast it all happens. As I'm thinking the word "idiot", I glance into the rear view mirror to see three or so patrol cars coming up fast with their lights flashing and about this time I hear the sirens. I pull over so fast (which I'm glad I did) and as I'm pulling over the idiot in the white car is cutting across the lanes, cutting right in front of me (I was JUST taking the exit and pulled over at the "mouth" of the exit). My friend in the car behind me told me I was lucky he didn't hit me. It all happens so stinking fast, it's hard to tell. I was just thankful to be out of the way. Now what you need to know is that this exit is not very long before you encounter a stop light. No one going 100+ mph is going to stop in time without causing a problem. This guy slams on the brakes, smoke from the tires is flying and I see his car spin out of control. What I didn't see (because there is a curve and a hill) is that the idiot was planning on coming back down the exit ramp. The first patrol car in pursuit rammed him to stop him. I know we shouldn't take pleasure in other people's pains but I was happy to see this guys face all cut up when I finally got to drive on. Today in the paper I see he has several felony warrants. Okay, like attempting to outrun the police is going to help you with that? Do you know what the statistics are for attempting to outrun the police? Oh wait, I forgot you are an idiot so of course you don't know what the statistics are. They are not in your favor dude! And another thing, Mr. Idiot, you are darn lucky you didn't hit me because if you had and I survived, you would have had a very angry woman to deal with. I just got screwed up on my bike race and adding this problem to it wouldn't have been good. I guess that means you got off easy after all Mr. Idiot.

Don't quit.

Some times things just don't go as planned. Of course I know that because I certainly didn't plan crashing on the mountain bike last Monday. Saturday (yesterday) was race day. My husband's advice was to "go fast but slow". He then changed that to "fast but cautious". I went to my exchange area rather early because I just get nervous hanging around the starting line. I knew our fjeld runner (2 mile run) wouldn't be fast but I went early anyway. This gal deserves tremendous praise (the fjeld runner, not me). She is overweight and she has only been running for 2 months (lost 5 pounds doing it) but wanted to participate. Bless her heart. That run was more difficult than she thought. It is on rough, uneven ground, a cross-country type of course...but not as nice. To make a long story at least a smidgy shorter, my fjeld runner did come in last and a full 15 minutes after the second to last person. You know when you run, 15 minutes is a lot but she didn't quit. We did have to remind her that many people didn't even think about signing up for this event and she finished her part!

Now starting out 15 minutes after everyone else was long gone was a bit intimidating so I just had to tell myself "just me and the clock". As soon as I was off road and hitting the hill, I had troubles. Nothing dramatic, just not performing as I should. One of those "swearing under your breath" moments (but I didn't really swear Mom, really). Things just seemed to get worse from there. No one was around. People are supposed to be posted along the trail periodically. I saw one volunteer at the start of the hill. I finally get to the bridge where I ended up after my crash. As I get close I ask the guy in the bright orange vest which way to go. He points and says up the hill. I question him, "Up the hill?"

"Yes," he says, so up the hill I go. After I'm nearly to the top of the hill, I figure out that there was no way this was right. I'm supposed to ride down this hill. After talking to "flat tire guy" (he was coming down the hill), I turn around and ride all of the way back and now I'm not happy. Actually, before I got back to the bridge, I came across a sheriff on a motorcycle. He was checking for anyone with a problem. He had no clue where I was supposed to go either of course. I end up back at the bridge asking orange vest guy to call someone and the guy he calls (who is on top of the hill) doesn't know either. Finally I say, "Last year I went East along the canal and up the fence line." Since no one knows, they advise I go that way. Now I'm mad. I start 15 minutes later than the last person and now I'm an additional 25 minutes off track because that dude didn't know the course and misdirected me. Why did I listen to him? Grrrr! Then to top it all off, there were several places the path split and no marker, no volunteer to direct me, just me and my memory. At this point I'm mad enough that I think about quitting. I know a way back to the point where I'm supposed to end and I seriously think about quitting. Then I think of "L", my fjeld runner. She finished. It was hard for her and she finished. My new mantra became "My team will finish!" I was going to do it for "L" if for no other reason. Then I remembered my friend, our team captain, said this was supposed to be fun. I wasn't exactly having fun but I shouldn't quit because of all of the problems. I was going to finish and you couldn't pay me to quit (well, maybe if the price was right). I did eventually finish. The water station was long gone. I supposed they packed it up long ago. Sheesh.

At this point the most interesting thing was the reaction of my friend who had come to wait for me and "L", my fjeld runner who drove The Beast (aka my dh's truck) there. Apparently they were a bit frantic because earlier someone had rode through on their bike saying they thought someone had wrecked or was throwing up because they heard moaning. This was reported and no one bothered to check it out. Nice. So for quite some time, my dear friends were waiting, worried that I had crashed and burned again. Nice. Finally they asked the official that was there, if he could get someone to check on me. I'm sure they had visions of me laying in the middle of a pile of tumbleweeds, moaning in pain, just waiting for help. I'm wondering if that sheriff (who was in a car) that passed me was the one sent to check out the possible crash victim. I'm not sure what good he would do once he got to the trail. It's not exactly a place a car could go.

When I get back to the main race area, I find out several mountain bikers had complained about problems on the trail. Still, I felt it was my duty to let the race director know how I felt. Don't get any bad ideas, I did it nicely. Here's the thing...some woman that lives up among the hills where the course was, saw all of those nice markers with the arrows on which way to go and she took them away. Yeh, you read that right. She thought someone was having a kegger and all of the markers were pointing the way so she got rid of them. Okay, this is the 24th year of this particular race. As my sister said, "What, was she from Pluto or something?" I don't know if she moved here this past year or if she is just plain stupid but I do know she cause a lot of people to be swearing that day (not me though Mom). I still wonder where the volunteers were though. They could have come in handy in this situation.

Okay, if you are nice enough to have read this far, you get "the kicker". After all of this, our team still came in second place. Of course the only person around to get the medals was our team captain. I had just left the award area because I figured Edmund needed to get home for a nap. We were tired and sunburned (apparently the sun screen only works if you get it out of the bottle and on to your skin). I certainly knew we didn't place after that fiasco. What I didn't count on was...

1. ALL of the mountain bikers had a terrible time. As a matter of fact, some did quit.
2. Our road cyclist did awesome and our final runner did awesome. (Our inline skater may have as well, I never did find out)

Now, what would have happened if I had quit? We would have been disqualified. No medals. "L"'s painful run would have been in vain. That's a long story just to tell you that you should never quit. But there it is. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the lunatic who was attempting to evade the law as we were driving back to the main race area. It was an interesting day after all.

Mt. biking tips

If you get into a fight with Mother Earth and proceed to lose, here are some tips to consider.


1. You will be sore the next day. Very sore. You may never figure out if those ribs are cracked or extremely bruised. It all hurts.

2. All of those tiny "scabs" you think you have along with the rest of the abrasions may actually be thorns. It is your job to determine which are scabs, which are thorns and which are freckles. Good luck with that.

3. The thought of hitting that same trail again will be a bit intimidating. Don't let her win. At the very least you can walk down that hill if need be. (I'll let you know tomorrow who wins, fear or bravery...sometimes known as stupidity if you are going too fast)

4. Most importantly, after a concussion, you are supposed to rest a lot. Sleeping with your 3 yo for the first two nights will NOT help you accomplish that. Put the little booger in his own bed and proceed to get some sleep. Well, maybe not that first night. You can sleep with him that night because someone would normally be waking you up every 2 hours to make sure you were still alive anyway. Yeh, they still recommend that even though one study showed it didn't really seem to make a difference. Of course being miserably tired the next day does seem to get you some extra sympathy. It's your call.

Hopefully this post will help you if you are ever stupid enough to not put the brakes on in a timely manner when mountain biking. Oh yeh, ALWAYS wear a helmet. I'm so thankful I did.

A doosey!

All the way home I'm thinking that part of the song that says, "Another one bites the dust!"

I took a tumble on the mountain bike today. Okay, that is putting it mildly. That's the way I prefer to look at it. The fact is I was coming down the hill too fast, a stupid piece of scrub brush was right there at the turn and my hand just didn't squeeze that brake enough or at all...I'm not sure. I do remember my bike going down (actually my friend's bike...it's okay, the bike that is) and my head slamming into the ground...because it hurt. Since my helmet is 20+ years old, I quit using it and was using Susan's, until I got around to buying my own. Now I will be buying 2 helmets because I just don't think you should use it again if it is cracked. I also remember sitting up and realizing I was moaning rather loudly...and I didn't care. I also said, "That hurts!" No one was around to hear it anyway. It was hard to breathe too. Mostly because I got the wind knocked out of me although I may have cracked a couple of ribs. What I don't remember is how I got from the point of the crash to the canal bridge. I do remember hiking the bike over the barrier but the next thing I remember is being kind of dazed. I couldn't readily remember what day it was. Then I remember glancing back up the trail and wondering how I got where I was. I pulled out my cell phone but then wasn't sure why. Oh, I must be checking the time. Sheesh. I looked later and I had pushed the button to dial home but after 37 seconds, I hung up. Can you say, "Disorientated"? You know, when you are the one who crashes and smacks your head on the ground, it's not very likely you'll call 911 although it would have been justified. Ah heck, they aren't going to do anything for you anyway. I mean, have you ever looked up "concussion" online? All the articles say to seek medical attention but then the next paragraph tells you they can't do anything for you. Huh? Okay, if you are vomiting, having a seizure or disorientated for an extended period of time then I would definitely advise you to seek medical attention. As for me, I biked the rest of the way to my town (I was in the adjacent one...in T.H. for those who get that). I was really glad I had driven the truck and parked it at Goodwill so I saved myself an additional 6 or 7 miles of riding.

After such an adventure, I realize I might want to go to bed now verses midnight (because I'm on the computer). So I'm going to go figured out what part of my body I can lay on without wincing too much. Thankfully the headache is gone. Now I just get to deal with the beat up ribs and abrasions (there are very few by the way). It could of been much worse. I guess that prayer I sent up about keeping me safe as I hit the trail worked.

Punishment

I thought I had made myself clear. At the beginning of the term, I gave Susan the ol' "you have to take ownership of your education" lecture. After all she is in high school now. As a matter of fact, I think I gave it to her on two different occasions. No, no don't remind me how I never listened to my parents' lectures at this age either. I'm sure I did because I was scared of them...or at least scared of what they might do if I didn't listen. I was the compliant child. My siblings, now they were the problem children. Sure, just ask them.

Now, just so you don't think I've won that "Mother of the Year" award again (and no, I'm not talking about the good "Mother of the Year award"), it's not my fault. Isn't that what they always say? It's never their fault. Whoever "they" are. But seriously, it's not. That girl has been on the computer a lot. She would be on her chat (her class) and then afterwards, she was typing furiously. I wrongly assumed she was doing her assignments. Well, you know what they say about the word "assume". If you don't know that little ol' saying, just break up the word. (It makes an) ASS (out of) U (and) ME. In this case, it has proven true. Now I just have to hope my mom doesn't read this because A. She will know what a slacker my daughter and I have been and B. She will see the word ASS on my blog. I didn't really say it Mom. It is just the word ASSUME divided up, okay?

It's really a bummer when you find out your daughter has NOT been keeping up with her school work and then HAS to be on the computer all the time. HOW am I supposed to blog??? This is what has happened though. My daughter is now learning the fine art of cramming 15 weeks worth of quizzes and tests into 2 weeks. Yep. You read that right. Two weeks of pain and toil. This is one reason I have not been blogging regularly. This will be a lesson learned...if not for her, at least for me. I was livid when I first figured it out. Now I am amazed at how well Susan is able to focus in such a tense situation. I would just laugh at the whole thing but I paid hundreds of dollars for her to take this online class.

So the clever solution to not being able to access my blog is to type it up in a Word Document on my antiquated desktop, email it to my newer laptop (which daughter is using) and wait until daughter is in bed so that I can access my laptop. We'll see how this works.

For now, Susan has to knuckle down and not see any friends, at least until May 30th when the regular assignments are all due. And me, I just wait for the little breaks she gets so I can be on my laptop.

I have to go now. She needs the laptop.

Light the fire

"Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." William Butler Yeats

I know all of you Charlotte Mason fans are nodding your heads. If you think about it, that is such a true statement. Have you ever been so excited about something that you had to buy a book on it or go read everything you could find on the internet about it? The fire was stoked and you had to learn more! That's the kind of education I want my children to have. I don't want to be the type to continually "dump" on my kids (fill the bucket). What's the point of that? So they can go "dump" on someone else? I want to see that spark, nurture it and then watch it grow. I want them to be excited about what they are learning. Will it always be that way? Probably not. Sometimes you have to try several times to get that spark started. Then there are the times the spark gets started but the wind blows it out and you have to begin all over again. Don't forget, when the wind is blowing, you have to protect them a little to allow that spark to catch.

So I don't know why I was feeling a bit philosophical about my children's education but there it is for now. That little phrase was in my notes from convention and I forgot to even mention it. I had such a little amount of time to teach on WA State Homeschool Law so cool quotes were left out. That being the case, you have to hear it. Lucky you.

Okay, now that you know, light the fire!

Distracted - again.

Distracted...did I tell you about how I forgot all about my 3yo on co-op day? The day starts out with everyone in the main room for announcements, a song and basically time for all of the late mommies to show up...which I am often very thankful for. For the record, I was on time in May. I did have some class fees to pay...I thought I paid them but I really didn't. Sigh. So Edmund, being a 3 yo, keeps asking, "Can I sit with L? Can I Mom? Can I play with L? And on and on until I realize that the easy solution is to ask L's mom if he can join them. Now I can focus and take care of some stuff. Anyhow, after this "beginning time", we go to our first classes. Some child didn't know where to go so I help her, then I see someone who I had to give something too and then someone asks me a Homeschool Law question and so we wander out to the Fire Engine that was there for Science class. It's all good because I have first period free so I can answer questions, listen to the fire fighters and continue to sip on the latte my best buddy brought me. My dh turns up because he is a fire fighter and in case the guys on duty get a call, there will still be some fire fighters I guess. The bell rings and we move on to second period. Normally I have that period free too but another mom had to be gone so I'm subbing in the nursery. Not too bad of a job because you sit around holding babies and talking with the other mommies in there. We're all having a good time until the light bulb goes off and I realize that my 3yo would normally be in this room with me. I don't know what my problem was...well, other than how easily distracted I can be. Edmund gets bored in that room so he never goes there unless I'm there. He always tags along with me and "helps" me teach class when necessary. And now I'm here and he is not. Panic ensues (in my head) although I act like it's no big deal. I cruise on downstairs to find L's mom in hopes that she still has him. Someone stops me in the hall to discuss something important (I'm sure) and I have to inform them I'm a terrible mom and have no idea where my son is and therefore can not take the time to talk just then. Okay, this is getting long winded and even I am getting bored so the short end of the story is that Edmund was in fact with L's mom. The funny thing is, about the time I show up a little light bulb goes off in L's mom's head. Apparently she was beginning to worry about the fact she just brought my kid along with her's without consulting me. YEH! HEY! I can't believe she would DO such a thing! Oh wait, I'm thankful she did that. I hope she does it again when I'm brainless. It's moms like her who save moms like me. Thanks L's mom!

Are you busy?

So Mrs. March calls and asks, "Are you busy?" What kind of questions is that? I'm always busy! I was busy reading someone else's blog. Then I proceed to confess that my children are watching a preschool video...all of them. Mrs. March makes me feel better by telling me how important it is to make sure skills are reinforced so it's okay. Hey, I think she is right. Think about the things we learn as a preschooler that we use for the rest of our lives. Okay, maybe I don't have to win the "Mother of the Year" award again today...even though 14yo is probably a bit extreme on the scale for watching preschool videos. We can just blame it on the youngest since he really likes someone to watch with him. Apparently the more the merrier. After all, mom was distracted again.

I'm a good mom too!

No, really, I am. And don't you just always wonder about people who have to tell you how good they are? If they are so good, why do they have to tell you, I mean, if you are so good, won't people know without you telling them?

So I was reading an old The Homeschool Minute email from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. May 7th's to be exact. Nancy's title was the World's Best Homeschooling Mom. Her article was very thought provoking. I'm thinking, yeh, why do we think of other moms when hearing something like "best homeschooling mom" or even "best mom ever". Aren't I a good mom? Well, I'm here to say...ask my children, they'll tell you. Wait, no, that may be a bad idea. Well, you can ask them and get that initial response but don't go digging any further. My kids are honest. I'm not sure you can handle the truth.

Anyway, I declare today to be "Yes, I AM a good Mom day!" Wanna join the celebration?

Oh, that's why.

So our co-op is over for the year. It's interesting how every third Thursday of the month I'm going crazy and practically swearing about how ridiculous it is that I am in this situation again (see yesterday's post called "I Win") and every third Friday about 12:30pm I'm thinking what a great opportunity this co-oppy thing is for my kids. In case you don't get that, the co-op ends about noon.

Another mom was telling me how co-ops just don't do it for her. She figures that she can do the education thing with the kids and then just let time with other kids be play time. That's okay. I respect her opinion. It got me thinking though. Are there any benefits to having your children in a co-op? Hmmmm. I was mulling this over when I thought about the times I get together with my friends. I thought about what I learn when we bounce ideas off of each other. Someone might throw out an idea that I never thought of. There are times I learn more because I'm learning with this group of gals. Can I learn without this group? Sure, but I have a lot of fun when I'm learning with my friends too. After all, it was a conversation with my friend that got me thinking about this in the first place. Can there be disadvantages to learning together. Sure, sometimes some of the people in the group can drive me crazy. Those are learning experiences too. Learning how to "play nice" (or not), learning self-control, how to take turns and the list goes on. It's the same for my kids. They don't need a co-op to learn all these things but they do enjoy the co-op. This is just a once a month thing. Surely I can handle that (just don't mention that on the third Thursday).

It was so much fun seeing how proud the children were as they demonstrated the different skills they had learned in their elective classes. The little ballerina girls in their adorable skirts. The karate kids, some with confidence, some with reservation. The high stepping dance class...that is what you call it, right? You know, the Lord of the Dance stuff. Cool. I had to sub for the music class teacher (usually I'm just the helper). Well that was a bit of chaos. Everyone's kazoos where in two ziploc bags and trying to find the right kazoo for the right kid...geesh. Sorry. But once we performed and it was all said and done, the moms loved it! The kids were proud too! A grand time was had by all! Oh, that's why I keep going to this co-op.

Co-ops

Every third Thursday I wonder why in the world I even sign up for this co-op (we meet the third Friday). It is an extremely rare occasion that the children have done their book reports before the third Thursday even though every co-op day I swear we are going to do all of our stuff the following week so that we are ready three weeks in advance. I think that once this year, we actually had the reports done the week before. If I'm teaching a class, I'm always preparing the night before too. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. Yet every year, we sign up again. Whenever we sign up, I have such good intentions. Well, you know what they say about good intentions. Apparently I'm going to burn. It's just the idea of a new year, a new beginning, a fresh start...well, it holds such promise! My kids really love this co-op too. They get to be with their friends. They get to learn Science. Science...there is another "good intention". Then enjoy sharing their book reports with their friends although I'm fairly certain they don't like their crazed mother's attitude at 9pm on the third Thursday of every month. They also get to participate in some pretty fun extra curricular type classes (I want to make jewelry too!). The whole idea is wonderful, it's just the effort involved. If I was only organized...well, that is a whole other post.