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.

I win.

If there was an award given every day for the most stupid person, today I would win. At 9pm Susan informs me that I forgot to get rice for the rice pudding she is supposed to bring to our co-op tomorrow. WHY did she not call me during the 2 hours I was in town to remind me to get the rice? Now a good friend of mine, being an extremely intelligent mom, would have told her child, "I guess you're not taking rice pudding then." I just know she would say that. So what do I do? Why I grab my purse and head out the door to the store. Not only that, because I am supposed to be putting children to bed since we have to get up early to GO to the co-op tomorrow, when Edmond and Lucy ask if they can come too, I load them into the van. Am I insane?! No need to answer that. I thought with age comes wisdom. I'm still waiting. Tomorrow is a new day though. Let's hope I win a different award tomorrow.

Part time at Public School

I received a question from someone who attended the Homeschool Law class at Convention. This person wanted her daughter to attend the PE class that Daddy taught at the local public school. I realized I must not have been very clear on how someone goes about attending a class or classes at your local public school. Just to clarify for any who were in the Convention class, I will post my answer to her email. It goes as follows...

Okay, I found the RCW. It is RCW 28A.150.350 and is found here.

Now just to make it clear because it is so easy for things to get muddled because of word usage...
you would be enrolling your child part-time for the one class. The district needs to understand that. I'm thinking that perhaps I wasn't clear when talking about that at convention because I was trying to fit so much information in such a short amount of time. By law we have access to public school classes (we're tax payers so we pay for them). The school will enroll the child for that class because the government will then pay them for having that child enrolled in that class. You still keep all of your child's other school records (the school will need immunization records but they can't ask for your child's math scores for example). So I'm thinking the confusion is with the fact that the school is saying your daughter can't participate without enrolling and I was telling you that you have access but wasn't clear about the fact that you will enroll for only the class or classes you want (not full time). Does that make sense? So I apologize if I was the source of the confusion and feel free to tell the school that the speaker wasn't clear and feel free to let me take the blame for the confusion. :-)

DUDE!

I was jolted awake by the ringing of the phone. "Um, Martinez?" the accent on the line spoke. Okay, if you are going to call someone at 7am, don't you think you should make sure you are dialing the right number? It was true that I was having one of those really weird dreams that I have when I'm sleeping in too late. I was dreaming that I was trying to get on this ski lift thing but it was dangling hundreds of feet above a water park. There was absolutely no way to hang on, you were just supposed to sit your tushy down on this small stool like thing that was connected by one piece of steal. Of course I ended up slipping off and hanging on by my hands, praying I wouldn't fall and that no one would see me in this position. What? Like I should care what people think! I could die! That was before the screaming phone jerked me into reality. I don't do well with being woke up by the phone. I wanted to yell, "Dude, do I sound like a Martinez?!" I just mumbled, "Wrong number." So people, if you have to call someone before 8am, make sure you are dialing the right number and...make sure it isn't mine.

Boring

Boring and uninspired. Wow, I finally get a moment to get on the computer and I can't think of anything worthwhile to say. What? I mean, I'm always full of advice and information, never without a word of wisdom. Oh yeh, here is a piece of wisdom. Never go visit other blogs before posting on your own. After you have cracked up, you realize every funny bone in your body must have exited with your snorts. Not that I truly snort when I laugh.

It's okay. Maybe today isn't a day for funny quips. Perhaps it's just a day for reflection. I'm loving the fact that Mr. P has asked me more than once if he can make me something for breakfast. I know you're thinking he's only doing that because it's Mother's Day. There are other days he does this, you know like Christmas and days his wife is psychotic. He's sweet. He loves me. That's all that matters. Four beautiful children who love me. The sun is shining. I'm not the one shoveling who knows what out of the back of that pickup truck across the field. Life is good. Maybe I'll get funny later. For now, I'm going to go feed the chickens.

Happy Mother's Day!

Convention~

I fully intended to tell everyone how wonderful convention was. Did I mention I get distracted? Well to read all of the cool things that happened you can go here (so that I don't have to type it). The group that helped put this convention together did a fabulous job. The only disappointment I have is that I get so busy having so much fun that I don't spend enough time shopping. I end up running around at the end trying to purchase cool things before the vendors get it all packed up. Of course this is no one's fault but my own. It also didn't help that I only had three checks in my checkbook and some vendors only take checks & cash. I thought maybe that was an act of God but then a couple of vendors actually let me take the items (one of which cost over $150), took my name and address, gave me theirs and proceeded to trust me to mail them payment. The one vendor stressed that in all of the years they have attended conventions, they have never had a problem with homeschoolers following through. Of course I didn't want to be the first so I sent the checks today.

So to all who worked hard to make this convention happen, here is a public thank you for all of the sweat and tears!

For those planning on attending a convention, here are some tips.

• Plan ahead. If you have specific items you KNOW you need, make a list and purchase those right away. If you aren't truly decided, put it on the "maybe" part of the list.
• Have a budget. Know what you can spend so you don't go willy nilly and spend your life savings only to end up with a pile of books/crafts/fun stuff that you'll never use.
• If you KNOW you can't afford it, walk away very, very fast! If you stand there looking at it and drooling over it, you will probably end up taking it home and then wonder how to explain that one to your darling husband.

Remember, there are a LOT of great homeschooling materials out there. Unless something truly isn't working for you, don't feel the need to keep looking for other things. You can have the homeschool curriculum "flavor of the month" syndrome.

Run for the shower!

Have you ever done such a thing? Sitting at the computer, the one you've been at for the last hour and a half, and your child yells, "Dad's home!" Quickly you shut the laptop and make a mad dash for the shower. How can time pass so quickly? Thankfully you washed you hair yesterday and you're not in the mood to shave your legs so this shower takes about 5 minutes. As you jump out of the shower and into your room, because you didn't bother to bring clothes into the bathroom, you realize the 3 piles of laundry on your bed will inhibit the making of the bed with those freshly laundered sheets. How does this happen? Why did I forget today was pay day and so I need to be paying bills and making menus and plans to go to Costco and the grocery store? Not to mention that the in-laws showed up a day early yesterday so they are here on my property. What would they think if they had happened to come knocking? Well, thankfully Peter is doing Math. Lucy was supposed to be doing Math but is the child who yelled and caused me to run for the shower. She is now outside with Dad who is in the process of finishing up the chicken coop. I suppose that means she is actively participating in Occupational Education at this moment. I did shoo Susan off of the other computer ("just checking her email") and now she is foraging in the refrigerator. That seems to be the usual place to find the children once the words "get some school work done" have been uttered. Dear Edmund is watching a library video. I wish I could say it was an educational video but alas it is not. Now where was I going with this...oh yeh, do you ever get distracted?

(I will say, it was only 10:30am so don't think I was sitting around in my jammies at the computer all day.)

You don't have to...

...go to school until you are 8 years old here in WA state. What?! Oh yeh, you can shock people with that piece of info most anywhere in the state. We have all been trained that the moment a child turns 5, we must rush them off to school to be "educated" (as if they haven't received any education up to that point). The truth is compulsory age in the state of Washington is 8 years old and under 18. If you child is within that age range, they must attend public school, private school or be "receiving home based instruction according to the law" (RCW 28A.200.010). So if you know that you are going to homeschool your child from the get go, you don't even have to think "formal education" until 8. What am I saying?! You never have to think "formal education" (more on that in a future post) but you will have to file an Intent to Homeschool form with a public school district once your child turns 8. Now if you were sucked into the idea that your only option for your precious child's education was to go to school at age 5 and you sent them off, you do have to officially withdraw them AND fill out the intent to homeschool form even if they are under the age of 8. Once you have allowed them to be part of the public school system, they're in. So please don't quit sending your 6 yo to school and then try to tell the public school that you don't have to because your child isn't compulsory age. Your child will be considered truant and you will end up in truancy court.

Alright, there is my tidbit for the day. I do need to drag myself away from the computer and actually "do school" with my children. Next up will be the Intent to Homeschool form. Until then, "light the fire"!

The last thing I need to do...

...being on this computer at 12:40am when I have to be at the convention bright and early...in a few hours. I just know someone is going to be excited after convention and come check my brand spankin' new blog...only to be disappointed. Never fear fellow educators! I promise to check in every day and post some pointers about Washington State Homeschool Law. Eventually all of the points I talked about at the convention will be on here. And if you are in a particular hurry and just HAVE to have an answer to some question right away...well, if you paid attention in class, you have my email address. If I was {yawn} boring and you fell asleep during that part then you'll just have to come back here on a regular basis. For those of you who know me, I'm sure you'll get a chuckle out of that because I love to talk and I can be a little rebel at times so I probably wouldn't let anyone get away with sleeping in my class anyway.

So my first reminder is all laws are open to interpretation. I highly recommend that everyone who homeschools read the actual law. So here is where you go...http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/ and click on Title 28A (Common School Provisions), under “Chapters” click on 28A.200 (Homebased Instruction). You want to read both 28A.200.010 and 28A.200.020. If you click on “complete chapter” you will get both. These will refer to RCW 28A.225 (Compulsory school attendance and Admission) so you will want read that also. Both 28A.225.005 and 28A.225.010. If you feel you have that "deer in the headlights" look after reading the law, don't worry. It's one of those things that can take several readings to "get it". Some of you will get it right away and wonder what in the world I'm talking about. It's okay, we are all at a different place in life and some of us can use a little help when it comes to reading government documents. I think many times people just feel intimidated by such things. Feel free to post questions. I'll do the best that I can to answer them. Once convention is over and we're back to a regular schedule (whatever that means), I post some "true homeschooling moments too".

For all who have come for a visit or attended my class, thanks so much for spending time with me!