I'm a homeschooling mom of 2 great kids. I've been married to my wonderful husband since 1997. I love to crochet, knit, and digi scrap. So, you never know what I might post about!
Saturday, October 19, 2002
Well, I didn't have anything to say on Thurs, and then yesterday I was too busy to write anything. Actually, Thursday B and I talked to some Jehovah's Witnesses. They come around every once in a while, like they do with everyone, and we actually talk to them. We aren't trying to lead them on, but I guess some people might see it that way. We let them tell us what they believe, and when they get to something that we don't agree with, we tell them what we believe. Usually they come back a few more times, then figure out that they aren't going to change our minds and stop coming around for a few months. Then a few months later, a different set of JWs will knock on the door and we'll go through it all again. This is our 2nd or 3rd round. We do the same thing with the Mormons, too, actually.
Anyway, yesterday we all went on a field trip to the fire station. The people from our neighborhood playgroup were there. We don't usually go to playgroup anymore, but we missed the fire station trip last year. H has been asking about fire safety lately, so I was really happy when I found out they were going again this year. The fireman showed us the firehouse: the living room, kitchen, showers, bedroom, weight room. Then the kids got to climb into the firetruck, turn on the lights, honk the horn... One of the guys put on his firefighting gear, so the kids would know what rescuing firemen look like and won't be scared if they need to be rescued by one.
After the tour was over, B asked about EMS. The station that we went to is the only one in Pflugerville with an ambulance, so we were in the right place for him to be asking! One of the firemen directed us to the paramedic that was there, and he happened to be the recruiter. So, B asked him what he'd have to do to become a paramedic and get a job there. Before we married, B was pre-med, wanted to become a doctor. Several things got in the way of that happening, but he could be a paramedic in a year or less. We'd have to adjust to a very different schedule than what we are now used to, but I'm sure we could handle it. My mother offered not too long ago to pay for his schooling if he wanted to become a paramedic. That would be the biggest obstacle to him doing it, so yay, Mom! He still won't be able to do it until we get caught up on our mortgage payment, so he won't have to worry about the lost overtime while he's in school, but we should have that taken care of in a month or 2, if we aren't foreclosed on by then.
We found someone to reroof our house. He's supposed to get the materials in on about Monday, and will be here sometime next week. As long as he doesn't decide to come on Monday, we should be fine. It rained today and there was a leak in our bedroom in a new spot. At least that's the only place. Last time it rained it leaked in literally every room of the house except H's. Living room, her bathroom, kitchen (several places), hallway, our bedroom, our bathroom, and dining room. The only other spaces in our house are closets. After we get the roof fixed, H will start begging for a baby brother again... Things are starting to look up, I think, so maybe she'll get that baby brother (or sister) within the next year or two after all.
2:44 PM
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
I noticed yesterday that Proverbs 8 is talking about wisdom, not about Messiah. Of course, it could very well be allegorical, but verse 12 says, "I, wisdom, dwell with sense, and I find knowledge of discretions," and the rest goes from there. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
4:43 PM
Oddly enough, even though she hasn't seen my last entry, and I just got out of the shower, H just told me that I smell like peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Could be because she's been wanting one for the last few days, but we haven't made it to the store for bread. I just found my new job title. Now in addition to being a K-12 educator/administrator/headmistress/researcher, I also run a privately-funded thinktank. Whew, I'm one busy mama!!
I'm so laid back I'm practically horizontal. Most of the homeschoolers I know are activists for one thing or another. Lots of them are vegetarian or vegan, pro-animal rights, environmentalists, feminists, anti-racists, anti-establishment, anti-organization (I guess that would actually be anarchist), etc. I don't think there's anything wrong with those things at all. In fact, there's a little bit of all of them in me. These people are my friends. Our kids play and learn together. I just don't feel compelled to go change the world like some of them do. I'll just try to work on my small part of it. I'm not here to step on toes. Unfortunately, that makes for a pretty boring blog. I mean, I feel strongly about certain things, like education and my own Christianity, but there's still so much I'm learning about both of those things.
I'm also still trying to figure out which direction this blog is going. It seems to me to be in little scattered pieces and not really have a direction. There are things here about moms, women, Christianity, homeschooling, and then just random things I find interesting. I haven't been able to mesh them together in any collaborative sort of way. But really, that's pretty much how I am, too. Does that mean I compartmentalize? Is that bad? There should probably be more Christianity in our homeschool, but at age 4, I don't want to overwhelm her, drive her away from faith. Homeschooling and mom don't always go together. I haven't figured out yet how to be a teacher without being a mom...and I'm not sure I should. And sometimes, when we're both frustrated, I become teacher and mom just flies out the window. Then there's the women and Christianity thing, which I think I have down, but I could be completely wrong. And tying any of those things in with the random things I find interesting is nearly impossible for me. But I still haven't done that Bible reading I was planning to do earlier, so here I go to try to get that done...again.
4:21 PM
I taste like Peanut Butter.
I am one of the most blendable flavours; I go with sweet, I go with sour, I go with bland, I go with anything. I am practical and good company, but have something of a tendency to hang around when I'm not wanted, unaware that my presence is not welcome. What Flavour Are You?
If I weren't Peanut Butter, I'd be Bread. How interesting. I often feel like Peanut Butter... But I should be reading right now, so I guess I will...
2:49 PM
Whew...I finally got back into my template and got the craziness fixed. My editing page wouldn't load last night, and I had a mess here. My daily Bible verse was all tall and narrow and I had a time trying to figure out how to fix it. I finally had to view the sources of the page I got the table from, so I could see what a working code looked like. Seems someone left out the command for table width... Anyway, it's fixed now, and I'm hoping that when I get approval for the Homeschool heart ring, they'll flip some switch and turn on my table for that. It looks pretty silly down there right now. Anyway, today is an off day...no lessons (except handwriting practice), no playgroups, co-ops or park days. We should probably get out to the library one of these days. But right now it's naptime, so I'd better go.
11:57 AM
Monday, October 14, 2002
It's finally starting to feel like Fall around here. It's 55 degrees with 91% humidity. Tomorrow's supposed to be in the mid 70s. It's We got our kit for UNICEF in the mail. We're going to be doing the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF thing this year. I've never had any involvement with UNICEF, but I remember a girl I went to school with used to collect for them. Now that I think of it, I think it was a Key Club thing and there were a fwe girls that did it. I've been trying to think of some community service/charity type thing for H to do, and I think this just might be the one for us. There's not a whole lot a 4-year-old can do, but I think she can handle this. I still need to look through the materials that came with the box, and read them to her and explain what this is about. So, we still didn't manage to do handwriting practice...Maybe she'll be willing to do 2 lessons tomorrow. Practice "u" and introduce "y." Hopefully I'll get to bed earlier tonight than I have been lately. I'm already getting tired, so that's a good sign.
10:46 PM
There's a great discussion going on over at Dru's site about fat women. It's called Fear of a Fat Planet. I love you, Dru, and I'm feelin' ya. :)
6:10 PM
Wow. Yesterday at 5 I hadn't done a single thing all day. It's 5 again and I haven't even finished my email from this morning. We've been to co-op, had a serious talk initiated by H about how scared she is of growing up, and read 2 pages in our phonics book so that tomorrow's lesson wn't be too long. Now I need to enter the sweepstakes on the Parenting page, catch up on email, read my egroups, check blogs, cook dinner, have handwriting practice... Whew, I'm getting tired just thinking about it. Maybe I'll write more later tonight.
5:09 PM
Pilgrim's Pride Begins Record Meat Recall Oh, great. Guess what we had for dinner tonight? Well, we're not pregnant or elderly, so if we don't die by morning, I guess we'll be ok to go to co-op. See ya there, Dru! Sounds like you really need to be there!
2:33 AM
Sniper Traits Falling Into Place That's really cool and all that the cops noticed that. Of course, I noticed it about 5 days ago, but better late than never, right? I really wish they would keep a few things to themselves, though. The article does say, "Authorities have refused to release investigative details, saying they don't want the killer to know what they know," so that gives me hope that they aren't going to totally botch this. But I was disappointed to hear the police chief say on national tv that they're going to assume that every gunshot victim is a sniper victim. Doesn't he know that this guy is doing it for the notoriety and that if they fail to mention a victim on the news, or say that they're attributing it to someone else that this sniper will come forward somehow (not saying he'll turn himself in, but will make his presence known) in order to "claim the kill?" Apparently not. Better late than never? I wouldn't bet my life on it.
2:27 AM
We've got co-op tomorrow, so I really should be in bed, but bloghopping is just so much fun! We've got to do some handwriting practice tomorrow, too because Tuesday we start on a new letter and she hasn't practiced "u" very much at all. If we could get our scanner to work it would all be so nice. Then I could just scan and print the worksheets instead of drawing them myself. Of course, it probably helps my handwriting, too, so I can't complain too much. Hopefully H won't be a terror at co-op tomorrow. She has a hard time sharing quietly at circle time. She likes to be the center of attention and doesn't quite understand what it means to be an audience member. And she always wants to touch all the pieces from the felt-board stories. I think we've found a solution, though. If there is a small group of 5 or 6 kids doing circle time, and she has something to keep her semi-distracted, like play dogh, then she's fine. Hopefully it will go well tomorrow like it did last week. I'll let you know.
1:21 AM
Sunday, October 13, 2002
Well, here it is 5pm and I've spent the whole day on the computer again. H did great on her listening lesson, and it didn't take but a couple of minutes to do. Sometime I need to pry myself up out of this chair and work on the afgan I'm making for The Linus Connection. I only have 7 or 8 more squares to make, then finishing, but it takes me an hour to make one square and I just hardly ever think of it in my "spare" time. I'm going to be looking for a new pattern after I finish this one. I've made 4 or 5 afgans with this same pattern, and I'm getting kind of tired of it. I got the newsletter in the mail yesterday and it said that they need more baby blankets. After 2 years or more telling us that they need more older kid blankets, now they are short on baby ones. When I finish the one I'm working on (patriotic red, white and blue), I'll have two (2), yes, only 2 for them. But both are baby blankets! :) After that, I'll start working on the koala for my mil. She loves koalas...I just hope she can see it by the time I give it to her for her birthday. She's going blind...actually, she is already legally blind, and it's getting worse. And it's driving her crazy not to be able to do all the things she could do for herself just a few months ago. She raised 5 children, so she's used to doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done. Luckily all of her kids live close by...except her youngest, my wonderful B. But he calls to check on her every week. We love you, Mom!
5:10 PM
I just ran across this quote: "Writing a novel is like driving your car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights show, but you can make the whole trip that way." --E.L. Doctorow not that I plan to write a book...ever! But I have often wondered how one goes about doing so. I keep thinking that authors must have a specific plan of action for their characters, especially with action type books where there are lots of twists and turns, and clues along the way to who the bad guy is or how he'll be caught. Reading that quote I realized that driving at night is how I write essays, and it came as a surprise that one would write a novel the same way. I suppose that would make sense, though, if you possess the gift of writing.
Random NT Passage of the Moment: Mark 13:19-20 "For in those days shall be affliction such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, either shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days."
3:50 PM
This is my new blogchalk: United States, Texas, Austin, Pflugerville, English, Female, 26-30, homeschooling, parenting, crochet, Christian. :)
Still tweaking my site features, and I think it's looking much better. H has spent her entire naptime in her room and hasn't come out once. She sounds like she's having fun in there with her toys. Do I interrupt her and "reward" her for staying in her room the whole time (which she hardly ever does) by letting her know that naptime is over, or do I let her continue what she's doing, and also keep the peaceful solitude I've got going here? Ahh, it's such a rare treat and she's sure to come out pretty soon. I think I'll leave her alone.
What is it with all the spam? Ok, sure I invite some spam because I enter online sweepstakes, but the rest is just because I have a hotmail account. It's getting crazy. I'm even getting some spam in my isp address, and I never use that one. I don't have a septic tank. Why would I need septic tank maintenance?! Geez! Now, roofing, I might check out. Any roofing spam you've got, just send my way.
2:15 PM
I just saw this on clothespins for the revolution. (Ok, so I'm a little slow.) It's a very interesting game, courtesy of Real Change News, in which you imagine yourself as homeless, something I've been doing a lot of lately. Enjoy!
2:29 AM
I've been so busy working on the template that I haven't taken the time to blog today. H had a phonics lesson today that covered conjunctions: isn't, can't, hasn't, let's... I think she pretty well understood the concept by the end of the lesson, but to reinforce it, I thought we should go to Hollywood Video ("the movie store") and look for Conjunction Junction, that old SchoolHouse Rock video. Well, they didn't have a single SchoolHouse Rock video on the shelves, so B rented Scorpion King instead. Totally logical, right? We do have a card for a free rental at Blockbuster, but we don't like them, so we never remember it. She liked the conjunctions so well that she decided she wanted to do a page of the next lesson. Fine with me, 'cause the next lesson is a few pages longer than her attention span. So, we did a page of compound words and she was ready to stop. We didn't get to our listening skills lesson today because I've been tied to this template, so we'll do that tomorrow, an off day.
Went to Fry's to exchange the bad power supply. The computer will turn on now and hasn't spontaneously rebooted, but he did linkdie in EQ. If that ends up being a regular occurance, we're right back where we started before he started messing with the power supply in the first place. Typical. Well, I'd better go sleep so I can get up in the morning when H comes to my room. Maybe soon I'll write about our roof...
2:16 AM
