Freakmom's Space

Where in the world was Freakmom?

2012-01-28T20:04:00.003-06:00

Sorry for my absence. I took what was left of my bonus from last summer and we went on a "do over" vacation. We were gone a week. No one got sick. Didn't even throw up once! In seriousness, we had a great time. We were delayed a day getting home due to bad weather in southern and central Illinois. (You have to be sure to say "Central Illinois" around mid-state, they get testy around Peoria if you call them "downstate." Although when you live nearly on the Wisconsin border, everything is downstate.)

We've been back since Monday, but I've been busy with catching up, laundry, cleaning up, paying bills, all that sort of thing. I am working on catching up on reading all your blogs too. I am enjoying hearing everything I missed.

We did decide to go with Teaching Textbooks. Violet placed into Pre-Algebra and I think that is a good fit for her. We ordered it and it came within 2 days! I couldn't believe it. She's done 2 lessons so far and really likes it. I like that we can go in to the parent account and delete a lesson or problems. If she isn't happy with her grade, she can have a do over. I'm not concerned about her grade, I just want her to learn the material. But she wants to get good scores. It is a nice feature for her.

Her Cadette group has met 2 weeks at the other mom's house. All the Cadettes are really enjoying being away from that crazy co-op atmosphere. They are all so much more relaxed. I went to the last meeting. Violet had been regretting telling me I could get involved, she liked the meeting when I wasn't there. But at the end of the meeting something was said about us moms being there, so the other mom suggested she and I go in the other room and leave them in the kitchen to discuss whatever it was. The girls loved their private time. So it is now going to be a regular feature of the meetings. An hour of meeting and badge work, then the other mom and I will have coffee and chat in the other room and let them play games, finish up their crafts, talk, whatever. All parties involved are really happy with that plan.

I've been doing good so far in 2012 at not letting my job take control of my life. I've not been doing so good at exercising. There are only so many hours in the day. I can only do so much. But today, Mr. I. vacuumed and Violet dusted while I was working. Yippee!

What more could a Freakmom want?

Algebra and snow

2012-01-12T20:28:00.002-06:00

Life has been busy. Isn't it always? Well, if you are doing it right it is. We started activities back up this week. Violet and Butterfly met to discuss upcoming Cadette projects, they have some fun things in mind including lots of cooking. Today Violet met with her other Cadette group (their first offsite meeting), they also spent time discussing upcoming plans. I didn't go, so this is just what she mentioned. More about my day later.

First though, algebra. Does anyone have an algebra program that they and their kids loved? Ok, it is algebra, maybe not loved, but a program they liked? Violet has been doing Key to Algebra and she doesn't find that it explains things very well. She says I explain things better, but that I tend to over-explain. And I think we both would prefer a program that would let her be more independent than me playing math teacher. There are so many programs available, I'd love some suggestions of what to look at first.

We are getting our first snow storm of the year. It started this morning and by late afternoon the roads were getting bad. It is cold and windy and still coming down. No snow all season until a day I'm supposed to be at the office, 30 miles away. Last night I talked to my boss twice (she also lives way out by me), comparing weather forecasts and figuring out if we were going in. I was supposed to do 2 training sessions for members of our department. This morning at 6:30 we talked and since it was still clear but the snow was supposed to start in the morning we decided to cancel the afternoon session but go ahead with the morning.

The drive in was clear. I did the training session. No one complained about cancelling the afternoon. Several members of our department were out at a client in the morning and they didn't have to try to rush back for the training. And most importantly, I picked up Violet's GS cookie form. Her grand total...121 boxes. A very good showing.

So anyway, I left the office at noon and got home about 1:30, about the time Mr. I and Violet were leaving for the Cadette group. I could have taken her, but we needed to leave right then, I hadn't had lunch, and was still dressed for the office. I begged off. I would have had to stay for the meeting since I am now assisting with the group. When they got home about 4:00 Mr. I said he was really glad I left the office when I did and that I hadn't taken Violet. He said the roads had gotten really bad.

If you happen to be watching the Miss America pageant on Saturday (I'm afraid we're going to miss it), check out Miss Illinois, she's from the town we live in. It would be awesome if she won, it would be the second time in my life that a Miss America was from a town I was living in (Judy Ford, Miss America 1969 was from my hometown). And neither town is very big. A quick funny story. The government teacher in my high school (everyone took his government class before graduating) used to tell us how his daughter was best friends with Judy Ford. When Judy won the Miss Boone County pageant and headed off to Miss Illinois, he told Judy and his daughter that if Judy won Miss Illinois, he'd pay for both of them to go to the Miss American pageant. Judy won and he paid for both girls to go.

Yes, I drone on and on about Judy Ford, I really admire her. The seamstress who made my bridesmaid's dresses is recreating Judy's Miss America gown to be put in the local historical society. I can't wait to go see it. I've been there gazing at her crown and other gowns. A lot of us who were little girls when Judy won are still smitten with her. Her talent was trampoline. I mean, how cool is that?

Time to go practice my wave and my walk. Just in case they decide to call me for the Mrs. Perimenopausal Homeschool Mom Pageant. I want to be ready. My talent is snark.

The Knit Caterpillar

2012-01-08T19:47:00.003-06:00

I finally finished the caterpillar tonight! I've been almost done for a few days now and just finding those few minutes to do it has been impossible. I'm so tickled at how it turned out! My first non-scarf knitting project! I had to follow a pattern, knit, purl, increase stitches and decrease stitches.

She's all ready for her close up:

I'm not too happy with the bottom seam stitching. I plan to make more caterpillars to keep practicing, so I'll try to make their seams look better and not so much like horrible surgical scars:

This last week has been so busy! We started school up again at the same time that work got into the swing again. Plus we had errands to run that we either couldn't do over the Christmas break (like the Girl Scout shop which was closed) or didn't want to while the kids were out (like getting my hair cut and going to open swim). I've got a call scheduled with my boss tomorrow to review my work load and see about getting some help (I finally got through to her that I was on the verge of burning out if I didn't get more support - in her defense, I hadn't been very clear until the end, then she was very receptive to listen). This past week I had a hard time getting my hours in while still getting everything else done. I think Mr. I and Violet realize too that they need to help more around the house.

I have been continuing to work out every day (or almost every day). I know that cuts into my free time/work time, but I don't want to give it up. I have noticed that my sleeping has greatly improved since I've been working out. And I haven't had any night sweats since I've been exercising. Since the night sweats are just starting and aren't likely to go away any time soon, I think I really need to keep the exercise up.

Since I'm not willing to quit exercising, and I also think I deserve a little free time each day, I'm thinking housekeeping must be the thing to go. Just a warning, if you drop by, you'll likely be wading through clutter and a sink full of dirty dishes. I see no other alternatives.

Have a great week everyone!

Observations and follow-up

2012-01-03T16:39:00.005-06:00

I drove to the office this morning and on my way I passed a high school. The sign board out front proclaimed, "Welcome back staff and students!"Since they claim it is "all about the students" then why did the staff come first on the welcome back sign?

Day 2 of the cookie sale and Violet has met her goal. It was only 40 boxes. I took her form to the office with me and posted it in the small kitchen right by my desk. By the time I left she had enough boxes ordered combined with a few family orders to meet her goal. Over half of the boxes were to be donated to either the soldiers or the food pantry. Violet is the philanthropic cookie seller in our office. She's got some loyal customers who love to donate their cookies so we promote that.

By the way, I'm not doing anything about the pre-seller at our office. We're in different councils (the border runs between my house and the office). She's a bigwig I need on my side (and she currently is). And I am sure she didn't get the instructions from her daughter's troop leader about not selling early. Violet is happy with her sales, and she's still got time for more orders to come in. Looks like the other girl who has sold in the past isn't selling this year, so there isn't that much competition.

The knitted caterpillar is almost done. Expect a photo soon.

School starts back in full swing tomorrow. Guess I'd better get some enthusiasm going.

New Year's Eve

2012-01-01T10:49:00.003-06:00

I meant to write this post yesterday, but between family and stuff around the house I never got to it. But since all my blog buddies are moms too, I knew you'd understand.

I spent a big part of the day doing stuff like laundry and paying bills. Getting all that stuff out of the way. I also did some planning for Girl Scouts. Just general ideas. The girls are getting older so I like them to do most of the details. We do some of our stuff with 2 younger girls, they are 9 and 10, so the crafts we do with them I tend to have prepared and ready to go. But when it is Violet and her girlfriend Butterfly, they are perfectly capable (and prefer to) come up with their own projects.

We made home made pizza for dinner. We just bought pre-made crusts. That was fine with me. Today we have black-eyed pea dip and lasagne planned, so a little less cooking was fine with me. Remember my black-eyed pea dip? It is still delicious and the only way I'll eat those nasty tasting black-eyed peas on New Year's Day.

I also spent time reading my book, "Somebody Owes Me Money," by Donald E. Westlake. The evening came up on us fast since Dick Clark started so early. We had it on and watched it on and off. I don't know many of the new artists, but enjoyed some of the old clips. We were also pointing out which of the artists we'd seen in concert. There weren't many, but some between the two of us. Mr. I. always likes to tease me about Rick Springfield. I saw him twice when I was in high school during his heyday. It pays off to have a best friend with an older brother who is gay. He was quite happy to drive his little sister and her friends to see Rick Springfield. I'm guessing not as many macho jock football player older brothers would have done that. And then screamed along beside us.

Violet passed on watching the ball drop but said she did stay up until midnight reading in her room. Goofy kid.

One other thing I did last night during Dick Clark was learn something new in knitting: how to increase and decrease stitches. I started a caterpillar toy from the Kids Knitting book and I needed to know how to increase and decrease for it. Yes, it was a wild and crazy night here at the Freak House.

Hope you all have a wonderful 2012! I have a little time until I have to make the black-eyed pea dip and get me some good luck for the new year. I think I'll work on the caterpillar. I'll post a photo when I finish it.

Two days in a row

2011-12-29T19:22:00.002-06:00

Oh yes, Violet and I both exercised again today. We're on a roll. We'll be taking tomorrow off though, it is the day we're taking my folk's tree down. But I'm eyeballing Saturday for another workout.

The most exciting thing I did today was help Violet finish up her Illinois Interest Project (Girl Scout speak for "badge"). It was a Council's Own from one of our sister legacy councils. I'd post a link to the requirements, but they aren't available online anymore. I asked at Council if the badge was still available and they said "oh yes, you can get the requirements and the badge in one of the council shops." Which I did.

Most of the requirements we had done (unintentionally) when we were on our trip to Springfield last summer. Between the reading we did prior to the trip and all museums and sites we visited there, she'd done about half of it. So this week we checked out some books on Illinois from the library and between them and the trusty internet we learned some cool stuff, including:

1. Coal mining is one of the top industries in Illinois. I had no idea and I've lived here 45 years. Granted I live in the tippy top of the state and the coal mining takes place in the lower half. I would have guessed farming since that is what is more dominate here. (Yes, it is hard to believe I've lived here 45 years when I am only 32 years old!)

2. The first state capital was Kaskaskia, which has been wiped out by flooding. A new Kaskaskia Island is now what is left and is only accessible from Missouri! There had been one other capital before Springfield (our current capital).

And some other stuff. But I thought those were the most interesting.

The Girl Scout cookie sale begins Tuesday, so of course someone else from my office has already posted her daughter's cookie order form. A new one this year. I think there will be 3 girls selling. Well, fewer cookies for me to schlep in and collect money for. Violet's angle again this year is that she can donate cookies to the soldiers and the food pantry. That was popular last year. It just would be nice if parents would pay attention to the sale dates and follow them. Every year someone pre-posts a form. It is a good way to learn about how the world isn't fair.

Guess what I did today?

2011-12-28T18:16:00.003-06:00

You'll never guess. And I know, you don't have time to sit around guessing what goofball thing Freakmom did this time. So I'll cut right to the chase. I exercised!

Yes, after several months of avoiding the Wii Fit and trying not to look it in the eye, I finally broke down today and turned the thing on and exercised. I even weighed in, although I really, really didn't want to. It wasn't bad, not real bad at least, just not what I'd have liked. But what I can expect after 4 months of sitting on my butt, eating everything in sight, drinking sugary soda and stressing?

Hopefully I'll be better about exercising. And maybe I can control my snacking a bit. We'll see.

I asked Violet today if she had any New Year's resolutions and she had 2: to stop biting her nails and to exercise more. My only one had been to not let my job control my life, so I decided her exercise one was a good idea. I'm resisting all kinds of temptation to make it a big "mother and daughter exercise and get fit" program. Nothing kills a good idea quicker than organizing it. Maybe we can go for more walks and play more active games together. Heck, we can't do less activity than we currently do...we'd morph completely into sloths.

Anyone else have any resolutions they'd like to share?

Back to work

2011-12-27T20:03:00.002-06:00

It was back to work today. I didn't have to go in, just work from home. I was rested and relaxed and have been working on changing my attitude to not let it take over, so I didn't really mind. I didn't find too much alarming in my e-mail either, which was a nice treat.

The rest of the day we bummed around the house. Violet is getting her forms and such ready for the Girl Scout cookie sale which begins on January 2nd. She is just going to post a form at my office (I'll take it in with me and leave it when I go on the 3rd) and ask 2 neighbors who usually buy from her. She never catches the moms of the neighbors at home, usually other family members. The others prefer (or have been trained, who knows?) to have the moms do the ordering. What we've done in the past is leave a little note from Violet with a "door hanger" flyer from council. The moms call Violet later with their orders. They both work at the local grade school and have said they like being able to honestly tell all the little girls there that they just buy from their neighbor.

Tomorrow is more of the same, working a little, bumming a little. Thursday we might mix it up and go to the library. Are we party animals or what? Friday we're going to my folks to help them take their Christmas tree down. They are perfectly capable of doing it themselves, but Violet and I decorated it and Violet wanted to put every ornament they own on it. It was PACKED. I felt guilty not helping put them all away too, so off we'll go.

Still no snow here. It has been cold, mainly raw and windy. But no snow. That's okay with me. I've seen snow. I don't need to see it again.

Christmas movies and books

2011-12-25T19:56:00.002-06:00

Here's what I've been watching/reading for the season:

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - my all time favorite Christmas movie. Mr. I., his brother and I watched it one of the first years we were married. It was on HBO or something. We'd gone to their new stepmother's family's Christmas celebration and it was WAAAAAAY over the top. Well, to us it was. To them it was perfect, what they did every year. We didn't fit in. To say the family didn't blend easily when their dad and step mom got married is an understatement. So later that night, back at their dad's house, brother-in-law flips on the TV and finds Christmas Vacation on a pay channel they had. We watched, we laughed, it was the best part of that Christmas. Mr. I and I have watched it nearly every Christmas since. Violet saw it for the first time this year. There were some words and scenes in it that maybe we weren't ready for her to see. Oops.

Elf - That one was Violet appropriate! I'd never seen it before. What a fun movie. After it was over I made Mr. I look up what movie I remembered Betty Garrett singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" in (the song is in Elf too). I was guessing it was On the Town and she sang it with Frank Sinatra. I was wrong, it was Neptune's Daughter and she sang it with Red Skelton. Betty Garrett is one of my all time favorites. Did you know she played Laverne's father's girlfriend in Laverne and Shirley? Just a little trivia for your Christmas night. If you ask me Ann Miller takes second place to Betty Garrett any day.

I can't stand A Christmas Story. Here's the story. Once in college hanging out with friends they decided to watch the movie on VHS. Fine. Then they decided to watch it again. And then started it again! It wasn't particularly funny the first time and after 3 times I grew to despise it. I refuse to watch it now.

Now as a mature adult I don't know why I didn't leave and go back to my apartment. I didn't have to stay. I had a car. "I'm out of here." I could have said it. I can't remember why I didn't. I guess because I was 19.

I don't care for many of the Christmas TV specials. I particularly hate Rudolph. I mean, come on. The reindeer make fun of him when he looks funny and is different. But then he does something heroic and they all want to be his buddy. Get lost reindeer, you had your chance. Stupid snooty reindeer think they are so hot because their popular. Stop beating up misfit reindeer in the bathroom and stealing their lunch money you big bullies!!!

I may have unresolved issues. On to books.

I read the original Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens for the first time this year. I had trouble following along because I kept falling asleep. I really wanted to like it better than the various adaptations I've seen. But I didn't see much difference. I think I need to try it again next year. I did read it when I was still working and was really busy. I think that was the real reason for falling asleep.

The last 2 days I've spent reading Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum (author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). I've really enjoyed this. Violet and I read it aloud last year and liked it (get the 2003 version illustrated by Michael Hague if you are reading it with kids, not the Kindle version - the illustrations are wonderful.) It tells the story of how Neclaus came to be Santa Claus. Definitely one of Baum's best work. Think mythology meets Christmas.

I want to read the sequel A Kidnapped Santa Claus next.

Finally, a plug for my all time favorite Christmas book, The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory. It is the true story of how Mr. Amory was adopted by a cat on Christmas Eve. This is an adult book, preread it before reading with kids to make sure it is a good fit. Mr. Amory is an animal right's activist and does do and say things that some would classify as radical. He is also a self-proclaimed curmudgeon. It is a great book, just don't snuggle in with your 6 year old and start reading it out loud.

Hope your Christmas movie and book picks have been magical.

Potato soup recipe

2011-12-24T13:56:00.002-06:00

Here is my homemade potato soup recipe that I am going to make tonight. It is originally from the Vegetarian Times website, but I have made a few changes over the years.

Potato Soup

4 T unsalted butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups peeled and diced white potatoes
1 cup peeled and sliced carrots
1/2 t salt
2-1/2 T all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 t dried sage
1/2 t black pepper

1. In large saucepan, melt 2 Tbs. butter over medium heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring often, until softened, 7 minutes. Add broth, potatoes, carrots and salt. Increase heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer potatoes and carrots gently, partially covered, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

2. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, melt remaining 2 Tbs. butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Slowly stir in milk and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.

3. In batches, transfer some of the potatoes to a blender and puree. I separate out the carrots when doing this, since otherwise the soup turns out looking pink.

4. Combine pureed potatoes, carrots, broth and cream sauce and heat through. Serve warm with grated cheese on top (optional). Supposedly it makes 6 servings.

It is a time consuming and labor intensive soup, but it is really good. I have no idea if the leftovers warm up well or not. We've never had any left over.

Christmas letters, doing nothing, and fun books

2011-12-23T20:02:00.005-06:00

First of all, I do want to clarify something. I don't think that all Christmas cards require a personal note or letter. I just got tired of writing them, then getting back ones which were obviously sent after mine was received with nothing in it. They don't have to say something, but once in a while, especially in response to a letter, it would be nice.

Mr. I. has a good story about this too. About 5 or 6 years ago he received a Christmas card signed "Love, Bob and Alice", Bob had been his best friend since way back and was in our wedding. Mr. I and Bob had lost touch as often happens when we start out on our careers and families. Mr. I. was so excited. There was no contact information in it except the return address. Mr. I. wrote Bob a long letter, catching him up on what he'd been doing, about Violet, etc. Asked questions (like "who the heck is Alice?" but phrased nicer.) He gave Bob his e-mail and phone numbers. They were both working downtown (or last we knew Bob had been) so he suggested maybe they could meet up after work or for lunch sometime. No response. The next Christmas another card arrives, "Love Bob and Alice." Still no information, no other contact, nothing. They come every year. Mr. I. has quit sending cards back and trying to contact him. He'd love to be in touch with Bob again. But what more can you do?

So Christmas cards aren't exactly our favorite part of the season.

Violet and I have been busy doing absolutely nothing the last couple of days. I caught up with sewing badges and fun patches on her Girl Scout sash and her tote bag (there are so much fun patches, she keeps all but a very few on a tote bag instead of the formal sash). We've cleaned the house (more or less, I'm not a good housekeeper even with time on my hands). We went to the library and the grocery store. In short, we've been goofing off and having a blast. We are relaxed.

I've been reading just for fun books. I'm working now on comic crime novels by one of my absolute favorite mystery writers, Donald E. Westlake. They are just plain fun. Not heavy like many mysteries. Nothing that would give you nightmares. I have been in the mood for light and fluffy, but not romance. I don't read romance. I used to. But it is funny, once I started dating Mr. I. I lost interest in the genre. Sounds corny, doesn't it? And not much like me! LOL But it is true.

Anyway, the novels I've been reading were written in the 1960's. It is so much fun to be reading along, the hero being chased by the bad guys and think, "why doesn't he use his cell phone to call 911?!" And he's out of cash, can't he use his debit card or stop by an ATM? He wants to know who this person is chasing him? Google him!? I guess because so much of the books still feel current it is easy to get into them and forget that a lot has changed. A mark of a good author, I think.

I'll go back to reading classics again soon enough. But right now my brain was ready for a break. And Westlake fits the bill perfectly!

Holiday spirit freak style

2011-12-22T15:14:00.004-06:00

I wrote a post earlier today, but I don't think I'll ever publish it. It was too bitter and came too close to naming names. I'm going to try again now that I've got it out of my system.

The post was about how little I have to do at this time of the year compared to how much so many other people do. Or think they have to do. And how all other aspects of life seem to stop in December.

I don't send Christmas cards. I did the first few years we were married. Then I got tired of writing personal messages and letters in them all just to get "Love, Mr. and Mrs. Don'tgiveacrapaboutyou" back. Oh sure, they probably do give a crap, but would it have killed them to put at least a sentence in them? As my mom always says she does, "I burned my bridge while I was standing on it" and quit sending cards. The few that go out now are sent as a message with a gift or as a thank you.

I don't buy many gifts. We don't have the money for one thing. I can't see that I have to spend what little I have to send someone some piece of crap they don't want in the first place that they can more than afford to buy if they wanted it. I'm supposed to do that to show them I care. If I care, I think people are able to pick up on it throughout the year. If you require a dollar value attached to my love and friendship, well I'm too polite to say what I think of that. I would have quit on gifts long ago, but Mr. I kept insisting we send them to cousins and such on his side of the family who haven't the foggiest clue what a thank you note is. He claims it isn't necessary to send thank you notes. As I type this, Violet is working on hers. They are necessary. To nieces and nephews who have never sent a single thank you, you have your Uncle Incredible to thank for your continued gifts. Aunt Freak wanted to cut you off long ago.

We do some baking and some cooking. We pick fun meals for Christmas Eve and Day. We don't do many family celebrations because we just don't have much family. Almost all of our extended family live out of state.

So I have lots of free time to catch up on things I can't do the rest of the year when I'm working and homeschooling. But everyone else is busy and is unable to get back to me because (and I see their point) it isn't that urgent compared to the holiday which is breathing down their necks. (That was the main point of my post, I've cooled off now.)

Once, when I was still in my 20's I shared an office with 3 other girls and 1 Jewish guy. He listened to us talk about all the Christmas stuff we had to do and on and on (the office was designed for 3 people, we had 5 in there full time plus another who was primarily offsite but had all her stuff there - we were in his face with glad tidings even if we didn't mean to be). Finally he said, "why do you girls do all that?!" Our answer was "we have to." I've since come to realize that I don't have to. And I don't do it. I do what I want or what is important to Violet and Mr. I and me. But nothing else just because I feel obligated.

I'm not a bah humbug. I'm really not. I just refuse to buy into the frenzied, hectic, make yourself crazy mentality that permeates the country this month.

And now a joke:

Dee, "Are you in Illinois right now?" (insert the state you are in)
Fred, "Yes"
Dee, "Then you are in state."
Dee, "Are you in the US right now?"
Fred, "Yes"
Dee, "Then you are incontinent"

Hahahahaha. Get it? In continent. Incontinent. Dee is the real name of the very cool person who I heard tell that joke at a nursing home convention. Fred is a made up name of the guy she pulled it on. But in Fred's defense, he was quite drunk at the time, I doubt he'd recognize himself here if he saw it.

Hope your holidays are neither frenzied nor incontinent.

Christmas Vacation, Baby!

2011-12-20T20:34:00.002-06:00

That's right, all my responsibilities are now officially over and I am on Christmas Vacation! Can I get a WOOHOO?! Okay, so yes, I'm a mom, my responsibilities are never actually over, but I am free and clear. We had our last homeschool event today. All the presents have been sent. I'm done with work. There is nothing I have to do on any particular time frame for the next week. Look at Freakmom goof off and read a book. Now look, she's sleeping in. And wait, can it be? Yes, she is relaxed!!

Okay, silliness aside, it is starting to feel very Christmasy around here. Today I got a wonderful surprise in the mail from Mom#1, a local mug from Texas and a sample of Mom#2's famous Mexican Hot Chocolate!! I can't wait to try it after reading about it for so long. A huge thank you to my wonderful long distance friend!!

Today driving home from the final book club meeting of the year, it started to snow. But it melted as it landed. We're hoping for a white Christmas because otherwise it will be a brown, dreary Christmas (whoever coined the phrase "green Christmas" wasn't talking about the north. It is either white or brown. Never green.) I heard a lady in the library say she heard it was supposed to snow again Friday night, but I don't see it on the forecast.

We will be spending a lovely Christmas at home by ourselves this year. That is our favorite. We did a very nice Christmas with my parents on Sunday. We haven't figured out when we're going to see Mr. Incredible's folks yet. But it won't be in the next week. That's okay, we went there for Thanksgiving.

Don't get me wrong, there is still a lot to do. Violet has some crafts yet to do, including her gingerbread house kit. And she wants to make more cookies. Those are some of the plans for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

But tonight, my book and a glass of wine are calling me. Hope you all are enjoying a peaceful and relaxing week too!

The Judges Made the Wrong Decision

2011-12-19T11:25:00.002-06:00

So last night on The Next Iron Chef finale, our gal, Elizabeth Faulkner, lost. The judges made a bad choice, in my opinion. Geoffrey Zakarian is a fine chef, but will not be nearly as interesting an iron chef as Elizabeth would have been. What an old boys network. I'm bummed, but I am totally thrilled that she made it to the finale. She is a totally awesome chef and person. I am so glad we got to go to her culinary demonstration and book signing! What a cool day that way! When Zakarian competes on Iron Chef, I think I'm going to have to root for his competition.

more on the hotel

2011-12-15T18:03:00.002-06:00

To answer Wendy's question, the hotel wasn't trying to be Korean, just modern I think. The desk and fixtures and chairs were all modern looking too. I think wood plank floors would have been much nicer, it wouldn't have been slippery for one thing. And I like wood. (That sounds bad. I like wood furnishing and as a building material. I grew up in a third generation carpentry family. Everything was wood. In fact, every funeral for a male family member I've ever been to had the same theme: "Jesus was a carpenter". It writes itself each time.)

And I'm really sorry that I've disappointed Mental. I wished I had a camera with me. I never take one on business trips, because usually, what's the point? My phone is old and has no texting or data plan, so even if it can take photos (which I haven't bothered to figure out), I have no way to get them off without big fees. My work computer doesn't even have a camera, like my Mac does. Browsing the hotel's website I didn't see any pictures of rooms. Not surprising. The address given on their website doesn't get you to the hotel either. It takes you to a mail drop box. Not too helpful when you are checking in (as we and many others informed the poor desk staff who have absolutely no control over it.)

In the lobby was something else I would have loved to photograph: a gingerbread house competition. There were about 20 gingerbread houses that had been made by staff members. Guests were invited to vote for one. I voted for the Hello Kitty themed one. I guess I really should start taking a camera with me. Plus I could covertly photograph the guy who always goes who looks just like my next door neighbor. But that would be creepy and possibly result in a restraining order. I try to avoid those.

Well, if I go back to the hotel again, I'll take a camera. In the meantime, I did find a site with a photo of the bathrooms, except the shower head pictured was on the ceiling in my room (the photo is sideways and I don't know how to change that without risking copyright infringement):
This photo of Kellogg Hotel And Conference Center is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Here's another view from the same site. The shower head you can see in the last photo is straight above the upper left hand corner:
This photo of Kellogg Hotel And Conference Center is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Thanks, TripAdvisor!

I went with the trout

2011-12-14T20:18:00.002-06:00

I know you've all been wondering, what did Freakmom get for dinner at the hotel Monday night? I went with the trout. The thing that won me over was the side of sweet pea risotto that came with it. And gosh, that risotto was good. So was the trout. I suspect all the dishes were good at the restaurant. I also had wild rice with root vegetables soup. My only complaint about the meal was that the soup bowl could have had a bit more soup in it.

Anyway, the trip is over. I'm home until at least April. There's a maybe one-night trip then. I've decided I like everything about these trips except the getting there and back. I like the conferences. I like the people who attend. I enjoy attending sessions as well as speaking. I like staying in the hotels (we always get our own rooms). The 4 to 7 hour drives, I could do without.

The hotel was nice. It was on the campus of Michigan State University. But I have to say, the shower was too weird for me. There was no tub or shower stall. Just a nozzle hanging down from the ceiling and a shower curtain. You could sit on the toilet and shower at the same time if you wanted to (for the record, I didn't). The floor got all wet. Now tell me, how do you keep your socks from getting wet when the floor is soaked from your shower? I mopped the floor with towels. (I shower at night and I was going to be wearing my fuzzy socks and making trips in the bathroom to pee, so I couldn't think of any other options.)

So, I'm staying in a fancy hotel, mopping up the bathroom floor. Doesn't add up in my book. I was only there one night, but they had those signs about reusing your towels to save the planet. Now I'm all for saving the planet, but I'm sorry, if I have to use a towel to mop the bathroom floor in a hotel, I'm not drying off with it the next night. I want a fresh towel.

You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. I'm just not sophisticated enough for funky showers.

Today I was off. Thank goodness. I can't say why without talking too much about work, so I'll leave it as, I'm glad I wasn't working today. I kept plenty busy with unpacking, laundry, figuring out what we still wanted to do for homeschool this year, planning some cookies to bake. Actually, I'm not really sure what I did all day. Doesn't seem like much when I think back on it.

While I was gone Violet and Mr. I. put the tree up. Tonight the lights went on (Mr. I. bought us some new LED lights on his way home from work today - see I'm Ms. Tree Hugger). The ornaments will get on soon. We're having a laid back Christmas. Actually, I think it is just sneaking up on us too fast.

Ode to a Good Night's Sleep

2011-12-11T10:53:00.003-06:00

What a difference a good night's sleep can make!

Violet had a bad sore throat all day yesterday. Just a cold, probably from the crazy schedule she's been keeping. She spent most of yesterday curled up in a blanket reading. I knew she wasn't feeling good because she took the Tylenol I offered. She doesn't like to take medicine at all. Don't know where she got that from, certainly not me. I go up and down the over-the-counter aisle at the drug store loading up my cart with all the goodies.

At bedtime last night she wanted the blanket she'd been wrapped up in all day, but Alexi the orange cat was on it. She whispered (since it hurt to talk) that if he got off it, could I bring it up to her? I moved him onto another blanket and took it up to her. Alexi stayed on the replacement blanket for quite a while, so I don't think he minded too much.

Anyway, after a good night's sleep she is feeling much better.

As for me. I didn't sleep well for several nights this week. Laid awake at night, early mornings, late nights. I think it showed in my last crabby post. I got to bed early last night and slept in and I feel much better. I'm still not going back to that co-op, and I'm not going to hang out with those moms any more. But I'm not so whiny and crabby about it. I've moved on.

I leave for Michigan tomorrow. I'm pretty much ready to go. I can't decide whether to get the salmon or the trout or the mushroom ravioli at the hotel restaurant for dinner (we always read the restaurant menus ahead of time when traveling for work - the meals are one of the best parts!). After I get back Tuesday night, it should be smooth sailing until the end of the year. And if not, I'll get a good night's sleep and start over the next day.

Another week gone by

2011-12-09T20:08:00.002-06:00

It wasn't quite as hectic as last week, but more stressful. Work was way too busy with way too much pressure. I can't take it some days. Girl Scouts was way to disorganized and chaotic. Are homeschool co-op settings always loud, crazy, with kids running wild, classes starting late, miscommunications and last minute changes in plans that aren't passed on to those not making the plans? We've never been involved in a co-op before, so I'm just wondering if that is the norm because that's what we've met with week after week. I'm too high strung to deal with the "laid back" atmosphere of it. (Remember my upcoming news, I'll let you in on it, Violet's GS group is leaving the co-op and moving to the leader's house - they are all tired of the chaos too.)

Anyway, it was a stressed out week. I feel better tonight. Work is under control. We had our office party this afternoon. As I sat talking with people I realized, I really like most of the people I work with. They are nice, normal people. They accept you for who you are (even if they secretly think you are weird - but heck, most of them are weird, too). And they are fun. I can feel relaxed among them (when I'm not stressed out - but even then, they are usually stressed too or they understand why my hair is standing on end and falling out in clumps).

Monday I am headed out of town for one last trip of the year. Just one night, I'll be back Tuesday. I am looking forward to a few nice meals (I'm traveling with my boss - she likes good food so we always eat well) and a quiet hotel room (to myself).

Notes: My hair hasn't actually been falling out in clumps, but I think it did stand on end most of Wednesday and Thursday. Also, the majority of the co-op families seem perfectly happy with it, so I realize it must be a bad fit for us, not a bad co-op. And finally, the older girls splitting off are going to do great things when they move into a quieter situation and have some space. At 12 years old, they need to have their own space away from the little girls.

End of the Week

2011-12-02T21:17:00.002-06:00

And what a week it has been.

Got some good news: a tentative Juliette event I had set up for next week, but couldn't get a firm confirmation on, was officially postponed. I was relieved. I think the other moms were. The lady we'd asked if we could visit and learn about environmental issues from was really relieved. We've all just got too much going on, a free day is welcome. And the lady suggested a special viewing of a really awesome sounding program they are going to do in February: hands on learning and activities/crafts all environmental based with visits with wildlife (not sure what wildlife we'll see, but it is scheduled on and around the big Groundhog Day festival). We are looking forward to it!

Got some sad news: my boss' 16 year old nephew committed suicide. Just a horrible tragedy. A co-worker and I went to the visitation together to try to offer support to our boss and her family. But at a time like that there is so little to say or do.

Got some upcoming news: I don't want to share it quite yet, because all parties involved haven't heard it (although none of them read my blog, but still you don't want to spoil it). It involves Girl Scouts and a new plan and needless to say, Violet is really happy about it.

Got some homecoming news: Our friend Harvey is back home, snug in his mud home, his cross country wagon travels are over. They made it to New Mexico. After much discussion, he and his traveling companion decided to forgo a return trip by wagon. They and the mules got a ride home from a guy named Joe, Harvey will return next week with a borrowed truck and get his wagon. (We assume Sadie came home too, she wasn't mentioned in the e-mail announcement, but I know Harvey wouldn't leave her behind.) I am glad Harvey will be back home for winter.

Got some less work news: The meetings I was supposed to go to all day Monday have been postponed. No trip to the office. The one meeting that didn't get canceled, I got the okay to join by phone if they need me.

Got some theater news: Violet was invited to go a performance of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" with some friends. It is at the Woodstock Opera House, a fancier venue than we usually go to. They had an extra ticket. She's excited.

Got some boob news: (sorry, that was just too good a title to pass up) My mammogram results were normal and the insurance paid for it 100%. Sure they are supposed to pay for it, but aren't we all actually relieved when that Explanation of Benefits (EOB, to those of us in the biz) comes with no patient portion on it.

That's all the news I can think of right now. It was a good week, but there was a lot going on. We've got a busy weekend planned to. No rest for the wicked.

Kicking Chef Butt!

2011-11-28T21:09:00.002-06:00

Yes, our gal Elizabeth Faulkner is really kicking chef butt on The Next Iron Chef competition. You may remember that we met her at a book signing while on vacation. She's made it to the top 5! And is still going strong. The toasted bagel and cream cheese ice cream she made on the episode that aired last night was very similar to the dessert she made (and we sampled) at the culinary demonstration. When she started to the ice cream machine we knew she'd survive! We've had her bread based ice cream - it is delicious. For us (yeah, I know, it wasn't like we went to her house and she made it just for us, don't worry, I'm a fan, not a stalker) she made a reconstructed pb&j sandwich in an ice cream sundae. I mean really, how can that lose?

Keep kicking chef butt, Elizabeth! We're rooting for you!

Belated Thanksgiving wishes

2011-11-26T19:19:00.002-06:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! We had a nice holiday and a good trip to the in laws. We got home last night so we could have a little time before heading back to work and school. Today Violet and I went out to Walmart, mainly to look for a winter coat for her. We found one she really liked, with a price tag I liked. Plus, the sleeves are long enough - unlike her old one. :)

Then this afternoon the three of us did something we almost never do...went to the movies. I really wanted to see The Muppets. I am a huge Muppet fan. Almost as big a fan as Walter from the movie, but not quite. It was really good. We have a great small town theater (not in our town, but in the next town over where Mr. I's office is). Matinee prices are $4. It isn't a big theater, but the sound and picture are pretty good and what more do you need?

Tomorrow, I'm going to start back to work. I know this will be a busy week between work, school and activities, so I'm going to try to get a jump start with one part before the craziness hits.

I started a new knitting experiment, knitting with 2 strands of yarn at once. Boy, does it make it nice and thick and squishy. I have some color combos in mind to try. And I want to do a hat with the round loom with 2 strands. The single strand hats are a little thin in the cold winter wind.

And in final news, remember when I took Violet off to the Teen Advisory Board at the our library, only to find that several of the "kids" on it were 19 and 20 and in college? Maybe I didn't post about it. Anyway, I let the librarian (who can't be over 25 herself) know that Violet wasn't going to be coming back because we weren't comfortable with a 12 year old hanging out with 20 year olds, no matter how nice they are...which I am sure they are, they wouldn't be library volunteers if they weren't. But it still wasn't right for us. And yes, I was nice about it. I told her I didn't want Violet to not show up without having told her why. It is a small library and they all know us.

Well, starting in December, they are splitting the group up into middle school ages and high school ages. They meet the same day, back to back. I'm going to sign Violet up to give it another try. I'm much more comfortable with this split. I'm guessing we weren't the only ones not comfortable with the huge age range. Everyone I mentioned it to (not connected with the group, since I didn't know any of the other parents) shuddered and shook their heads no. It is just too big of an age gap and Violet wasn't comfortable with it either. Maybe the library got enough kids interested to justify 2 separate groups. Whatever happened, I'm happy they are doing this.

I'm off to enjoy the last of my vacation. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Most Popular

2011-11-23T10:21:00.002-06:00

Blatantly stealing an idea from Mental (blatantly stealing is the most sincere form of flattery), I added a most popular posts gadget to my blog. I was curious as to which, if any, of my ramblings equate to popularity.

It seems to be those posts where I write about homeschool projects that make the top 10. I must come up in searches for ideas. Here are the director's notes on some of my top posts:

Why is there an expiration date on soap?: This has to be one of my shortest posts ever. I guess there are a lot of people curious about expiring soap. Too bad I have no insight to offer.

Hopscotch Cake: This cake looked better than it tasted. We never got the knack of making cake from scratch, we stick to box mixes.

Formal Pajamas: I do like this post. I still think formal pajamas are a good idea. And I have thought about Mom #1's comment about flip flops with glitter being formal wear a hundred times as I've gotten dressed to go out. I have worn fancy flip flops to evening events at conferences for work. I figure if anyone ever comments, I'd tell them that Mom #1 says it is okay.

There's no place like camp: This post probably gets hits because I mention Seasonale in it. But it is a good post. I enjoyed rereading our adventures at camp. I have to say, that weekend made us both stronger people. One time at a camp after that the mom in our tent curled up with her daughter in her bunk, rather apologetically. I could look her in the eye and say, "go for it. Its what she needs now. We've done the same." And we had taken glow bracelets with us which Violet shared with her scared tent mate. We still travel with glow bracelets all the time. We never did see the snotty tent mates again, I'm sure they washed out of the GS program years ago. But we still run into other fellow campers from time to time and enjoy seeing them. We didn't go to camp this summer. I missed it.

Enjoy some oldies but goodies over the holiday if you'd like. Freakmom is going to the inlaws and not taking her computer. I'll be back with tales of Wisconsin. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I must say, I am thankful for my blogging buddies, you guys are the best!

Twins

2011-11-21T13:28:00.002-06:00

Can you tell which of us is which?

What a week!

2011-11-19T20:36:00.003-06:00

Gosh, everything fell on this week. I felt like I was never home. I had both my yearly mammogram and my semi-annual teeth cleaning (squish and scrape). Violet had an orthodontist appointment. Her bonded retainer on her bottom teeth felt odd, so we had them check it out. They didn't find anything, but did scrape some extra glue off. Still, I'm glad she spoke up and we went in. She's had problems with that bottom retainer coming lose and needing regluing.

We had the Juliette Low birthday party with one group of Girl Scouts. A meeting with another group. And a big service project I was coordinating finished this week. I think I already posted about the party. The meeting was good, they made cute little turkeys out of Oreo cookies. I tried teaching some songs, it didn't go over super well. The girls were inhibited and didn't want to sing. Except Violet. The quietest girl in the group and she sang the loudest. She shares my love of Girl Scout camp songs.

I talked to the lead Cadette mom afterward, and we decided to try songs again. Two girls were absent. They are cousins and the silliest of the bunch. We think they'll get into singing. And the three who didn't sing this time, are likely to be pulled in if the other three are signing. If that doesn't work, I told Violet I'm defecting to the Brownies. They'll sing with me.

The service project was collecting food for a local food pantry. Every year the Girl Scouts in our area put together boxes of food for "Operation Thanksgiving." The food pantry puts together a list of what each should contain (2 cans of corn, 2 cans of yams, marshmallows, flour, sugar, on and on, it is a great collection!) We sort the food into copy paper boxes, decorate them and deliver them to Village Hall. There they get produce, juice, a turkey and more added and are then taken to local families in need.

The homeschool Juliettes put together 4 complete boxes of food and a box of "extras." It was amazing. I opened it up to both the park district group and our original group. Violet and her friend "Butterfly" helped a lot with sorting and decorating. Every year Mr. I tells me to get as much as I want for it, and to even fill a full box if I want. I waited until the last minute, then went out and got the stuff to finish off the fourth box. Butterfly had brought over enough for a full box as well. She really gets into too. Not to diminish the efforts of any of the families involved. I left it completely open for families to bring as much or as little as they wanted. Several families signed up for items, brought them the next week and signed up for more. Everyone brought what they signed up for and many brought extra. We'll definitely do this again next year. It is just a very satisfying project. It feels personal, because even though we don't know the family that will receive it, packing and decorating the boxes and imagining how they'll prepare it all just really makes a connection.

Here are our boxes:

You can tell the last one that got "decorated." It was the morning of the delivery. Butterfly wasn't over, and Violet had done a lot. So I just threw a "Happy Thanksgiving" on it and called it good.

On a less exciting note, several things had to be done for work and could not be put off or pawned off. I finished work about 3:30 this afternoon and shut that computer down. I won't turn it back on for a week. I'm also not going to answer the phone line that work calls come in on. I set my vacation message and took forwarding off my official work phone number. But some people, mainly my boss, calls my direct home office line. I'll check for messages, but I won't get caught answering.

On a side note, switching to working only on my work issue computer is the best thing I ever did. Since I made the switch, they even changed the URL for checking e-mail via the web, I never updated it on my personal computer. So there is no temptation to just take a peek.

Tomorrow we're going to visit my folks. Then we'll start getting ready for Thanksgiving. Let the relaxing begin!

Breathing again

2011-11-14T20:26:00.002-06:00

Thank you all for your support and encouragement! I know I can always whine here and find a shoulder to cry on.

I am feeling better tonight. We had our Juliette day and it went very well. The girls loved the projects. We got through everything. I stayed calm throughout it. No paint or glue or icing got on anything it shouldn't.

I shouldn't feel obligated to do so much. The other families don't expect it. But they are going to accept invitations when offered. Unless things change, I think I'll just do Cadette programming next year, and invite the Juniors to join us when appropriate. But they'll have to figure out themselves if they apply to any of their badges/journeys. The younger girls really are too young to bump up to Cadettes (one should technically still be a Brownie this year, but I knew enough not to do 3 levels so we bridged her early.)

For the other group this week I'm bringing a package of Oreos for an edible craft project (the other mom is planning the project, making turkeys I think), and coming prepared to teach a song if there is extra time. I can do that easy peasy. Honestly, finding time to run in the store to buy the Oreos is harder than the song. I love Girl Scout songs. (I'm planning on doing "Great Big Moose" - There was a great big moose, he liked to drink a lot of juice... It is a good one, complete with arm movements. Because really, what's the point in singing if you aren't dancing around too.)

Work is work and I can't let them take over my life. I need to shut down my work computer when I've reached my work limit and leave it off. I'm getting better at that.

So, thanks and big hugs back to all of you!

Some day

2011-11-13T18:36:00.002-06:00

My list of things to do "some day" just gets longer and longer. And I don't mean my bucket list of wishful things to do before I die. I mean stuff that really needs to be taken care of that I just can't find the hours in the day to do.

Inventory the fridge and pantry and make a real shopping list and go get groceries. We never have anything to cook with so I don't end up making good meals but instead throw in yet another frozen pizza.

Fix my grandmother's rug. I have 5 rag rugs my grandmother made. I think they may very well be the last remaining rugs out of the thousands she made on her loom. I used to sit and watch her weave on the loom as a little girl. The thread holding the rugs together is wearing from age. One was coming apart, then a few weeks ago it got caught as Mr. I was walking over it and it ripped half way across. I'm sure I could mend it. I even have a vague idea of how to do it. But I just don't have the time to sit down and concentrate on it. I know I won't be able to sit still enough and be patient enough in my current frenzy state.

Take Violet to play tennis, go ice skating, bowling, and about 25 other sports/right of passages that she's never tried. She needs a little extra time to tackle sports that other kids just jump right in with both feet and do. She needs privacy and not everyone she knows watching and yelling "come on, Violet" at her. She needs help to learn how. It makes me want to cry to think that I haven't even successfully taught her how to ride a bike yet. I just can't do it all.

The house needs a super deep cleaning. We've lived here over 12 years and some of the rooms still aren't painted. I never got a garden in this year. Houseplants sit dead in their pots. I haven't taught Violet to sew although she asks for help all the time.

I can't do it all. I try. I really do. There's so much I'd love to do for me, that I know I won't get to do again until she's in college. Like exercise and take care of myself and get a good night's sleep.

Sorry, I'm feeling extra whiny tonight. I just don't know what else I can give up in order to be able to do everything that needs to be done.

Saturday

2011-11-12T20:22:00.004-06:00

Okay, before I start my post I have to say that Blogger just freaked out on me. I must have hit the wrong key, but it successfully posted my entry before I even started it! Boy, someone switch Blogger to decaf! It is too hyper!

Anyway, I was going to tell you about my day, so here we go.

First, I know you've all be on the edge of your seats wondering, but Mr. Incredible did not win any meat last night at the wheel of meat. He left before the end when they did the second chance drawings with the losing tickets, so maybe one of his tickets won for that. He left them among his table mates. He had 30 tickets in the first round of drawing and didn't even win a hot dog. Just as well.

I liked all the alternate wheel suggestions you all gave. Wheel of Cheetos really has some potential. How about Wheel of Oreos?

So today I worked on cleaning the house and preparing for the Juliette Low birthday party on Monday. I made a sample of a craft project I'm going to have them do: Halloween themed recycled picture frames. There was some doubt among the dads (Mr. I and the sisters' dad) about whether it would work. They were wrong, it turned out pretty good:

You use 2 pieces of cardboard, one with a hole in the center, glued together. Paint it. Then when it is dry, decoupage on candy wrappers. Add your favorite Halloween photo. The basic idea was from the Zoom! website. I came up with the paint and candy wrappers. (The dads were pessimistic that the candy wrappers would stick.) Violet drew a picture for me to put in my sample. Isn't her cat cute?

I didn't want to, but I went to the bank this morning. I couldn't pull in to the bank branch right by our house. The main road in our town has been under major construction for the last 2 years. (It is finally finishing this year!) They were working this morning and blocking the bank entrance from the direction I was coming from. I'm a little afraid we won't be able to turn in from our direction at all when they are done.

So I went to the other end of town. At the drive through she gave me 3 suckers. They had one of those video cameras, so Mr. I and Violet think I must have looked stressed. Since I was on the other end of town, I figured I might as well stop at Walmart on my way home. I called to have them read me the list. Bought the stuff and came home. Several hours later I realized the peanut butter I bought wasn't here. I called customer service and she said yes it was there, was I missing spaghetti noodles too? Crap.

Mr. Incredible drove out to get them while I started dinner. I think he was afraid I'd be mean to the people there. See, I was complaining that the lady who rang me up didn't pull the bags off the spinny thing for me. She handed me my receipt and just started on the next customer. I must have missed one in the back trying to find my bags. So yes, it was my fault, but it is a step I never have to take. And I didn't have my reusable bags with me since I wasn't planning on going, so there were more plastic bags than if I'd had my bags with. I know, no excuse. But they make me feel less foolish.

And to end this post on something completely unrelated. Here's a photo of a recent omelet I made (I found the photo when I took the frame photo off the camera):

I've been practicing them, and they are starting to look pretty decent. That one was just cheese. I never seem to have anything in the house to go in them. To see how far I've come, check out my original omelet post. Be sure to look at my omelet, not Violet's.

Recycling and meat

2011-11-11T19:47:00.002-06:00

Don't worry, the title contains 2 different thoughts.

We went on our recycle tour today. It was really good. If you live in an area by a Waste Management facility, give them a call and see if they have an EduCenter in your area. It was well worth the almost hour drive for our visit (keep in mind though, in our area, everything is at least a 30 or 45 minute drive. We're in the middle of everywhere, just not close to anything). We saw a video, watched the recycling process through a big window, and had an educator talk with the kids about recycling. Another small group was with us. That was actually good. Our group doesn't like to answer questions and participate much. The other group did that for us.

The worst part was the drive home. The roads were just packed. They always are. We had to stop to get the cookie forms and it was so busy on the streets near where the cookie coordinator lives. I was frazzled by the time we got home. I told Violet I couldn't do any school work with her. Ugh, it was awful, just bumper to bumper cars.

In other news...

Mr. Incredible just left to attend a "wheel of meat" fundraiser. The family of one of the men in his chamber of commerce networking group is undergoing a terrible health situation and horrific medical bills. There are quite a few fundraisers planned for them. We want to help, but funds are limited, we'll do what we can. Tonight is "wheel of meat." Ever heard of one? We hadn't either. What we found out is that local businesses donate meat and people buy raffle tickets to win it. Mr. Incredible hasn't eaten beef, pork or a whole list of other meat in almost 20 years. He does eat chicken, turkey and fish, but not even much of that. So he's obligated by the business associates to go try to win meat. Yeah, he wasn't too excited.

He's planning on going and getting a few raffle tickets in an amount we feel comfortable with (this is the second fund raiser for this family we've participated in and there are at least 2 more planned), then leaving as soon as he can. He'd like to leave before he wins anything. I'm kind of interested in what will be there. I might like to win something. But I'm betting he'll be home shortly, meatless.

Why couldn't there be a wheel of squash? I love squash. Or a wheel of wine? I could really get into that as a fundraiser. I bet the raffle tickets would cost more for wine than squash though.

Look at me...I'm free!

2011-11-10T20:33:00.003-06:00

Woo hoo! Tomorrow I am officially on PTO. I finished up my client loose ends. Took care of some administrative paperwork. I've set my away message. I've shut down my work computer. No checking e-mail, no answering the phone, no work. I think I like this even better than PTO while on vacation.

Not that we'll be home much tomorrow. We have our recycle facility tour in the afternoon. I knew it was a drive there, but Google Maps said it was a little farther than I remembered. I'm going to allow a little over an hour to get there. The worst part is we have to leave just before noon. That sure puts a damper on lunch. We always eat later rather than earlier. But waiting until 2 or 2:30 until we're done will make us crabby. Looks like it is sandwiches in the car.

On our way home we have to stop and pick up GS cookie order forms. They are always available way early around here because the service units like to take December off and not meet. Works for us. I coordinate cookie sales only for our small Juliette group, that's 4 girls these days. No way will I do it for the large group, which is over 20 girls. That's way too many for one cookie mom. I don't think many if any of the girls in the big group will sell. Since we're Juliettes the parents have to play the part of the leader. I doubt any of the other parents will step up to do that even for their own daughters. I could be wrong. But I don't think I am in most cases. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging them for not wanting to do it. I'm the first to say that cookie sales is a big pain in the butt for the adults. Just saying that I don't think most will. Which is too bad because it leaves the girls missing out on a big part of Girl Scouting (you know the 3C's: crafts, cookies and camp).

But cookie sales has always been fun for Violet, so she'll do it again. She never has big sales but she's fine with that. I think her favorite part is sorting out the orders. And the other families who I help turn in their orders and pick up their cookies are so good and so easy to work with. I don't mind doing for our small group in the least.

Today the Cadettes in the park district group finished their Journey. Violet did such an amazing job. The whole journey (Amaze) was completely out of her comfort zone and she did it. They put on a puppet show and did a craft with the Brownies today. The Brownies really liked the puppet show and I think the craft, too. They definitely found the puppet show funny. (Of course, it was on a serious topic of what is a good way to solve an argument with a friend, but hey, they are 8 and 9. The Cadettes did do some funny ad libbing.)

We're hoping to move the Cadettes away from the Brownies and Daisies to another part of the building. We think the Cadettes would really benefit from a more quiet space without the distractions of the younger girls and the brothers who hang out there. I'm not getting my hopes up, but the option that is being explored right now would be a TERRIFIC solution. Fingers, toes and eyes all crossed.

By the way, no one called me on the odd title of my last post. I meant to go back and write a title once I wrote the post but forgot to. I decided to leave it after I'd published and realized it. Gives it character.

One more note - it was snowing here today. Some stuck to the ground for a while. It is all gone now. This is early for our first snow.

Time to enjoy my free time...

name to be determined

2011-11-08T20:22:00.002-06:00

Today it was cold and rainy. The good thing was, Violet and I had no where we had to go. No where. No where at all. We thoroughly enjoyed staying at home. Where do these people get the idea that homeschoolers stay at home all the time and don't see anyone? We're never home. None of us. And just try to schedule 2 or more families to get together. Good luck!

Anyway, we were home today. We did some school work. I pulled Story of Science, volume 2 back out. We read the first half last year and are going to finish it this year. Violet hasn't been too thrilled with it, she finds it boring. And I have to agree with her that volume 1 was a snooze-fest. It isn't Joy Hakim's fault, we just couldn't get into the ancient science. But today's chapter caught more of Violet's attention and I hope the rest of the volume will too. We'll start volume 3 next year.

I've changed my homeschool approach slightly. Instead of throwing every subject I can find at her at once, we are only doing a few: Key to Algebra, History of US, Editor in Chief, reading, Microscope study by Kim Wright, and Story of Science. I think this approach is working well. We'll do history, reading and algebra all year, but as we finish things, we'll add other things. We've been going in so many directions lately, it is hard to concentrate on even this much. But it is definitely the right way for right now. I'm hoping this winter we might have fewer activities and can add a few more subjects or workbooks.

Tomorrow we're going to open swim, and meeting up with Violet's best friend. After swimming she's coming back to our house for the afternoon and dinner. So not much time for formal school tomorrow.

I've been working on the Juliette plans today. Monday we're having our Juliette Low birthday party. We're going to decorate cupcakes and work on the Eco-Action badges (Junior and Cadette). The Cadettes made a mad lib for the Juniors to do, all about the life of Juliette Low. That should be fun. This Friday we're going on a tour of a local recycling facility, also for Eco-Action. I'm glad to be getting going with "our" group finally.

It has gotten difficult with getting involved with the park district group as well as "our" Juliette group. Trying to come up with 2 different programs (even in my limited capacity for the park district) for different levels is too much. If I hadn't already committed to "our" group this year, I'd definitely put them on hiatus. But I'm committed, and trying not to need to be "committed." The families in "our" group don't want to join the park district. We'll see how the park district group plays out the rest of the year. But next year I will only do one or the other. It will be hard to choose, I like them both and both are great for Violet. But too much is too much. And if I do too much it will all suffer and not be any fun for anyone. I'll make tough decisions that not everyone will be happy with if I have to. But first I want to see what changes come in the spring.

Violet and I just finished Anne of Green Gables. We both really enjoyed it. We're going to start the second Anne book next. But I am making her wait until Friday. We're discussing Anne in Classic Moms on Thursday. I'm frantically trying to read through it again so the early part is fresher in my mind. Did you know there is a real Green Gables in Canada? It is a national park. I'd love to go.

Thoughts and Ramblings

2011-11-04T20:58:00.002-05:00

Here I go again, about to promise to write more. I know, you've heard it all before. You didn't believe me then, you don't believe me now. I got inspired yet again during Classic Moms class this week. I am actually working on a post that is an essay about a book I recently read. My classmates were right, if you don't have someone to discuss a book with, write about it! I'm trying.

Speaking of trying, I'm going to whine for a minute. It is so hard to work, homeschool, volunteer for GS, run the house and help hubby with his new business. I am really tired all the time. Today we went to a school day theater performance: loud show, theater full of kids, great performance by the way, and I was nodding off during it! Sigh. I had to make Violet wait to help her with her math this afternoon because I had a big deadline today and I didn't think I'd get through it - I did, but right at the close of the business day. I just want some time to myself once in a while.

Okay, done with that whine, next stop wine. I'm usually a red drinker, but lately I've been branching out into white.

But first. For all of you who've been jealous of our Juliette groups we have around here, it isn't all roses. I don't want to say much, but too many moms involved and it doesn't work well, not enough moms involved and you do all the work yourself. I have managed to get myself into both situations as the same time. Violet loves both groups. They are both really good for her. The other moms are great, we just all have too many ideas for the available time - now that I think about it, that is a good problem. And I like doing the work to help keep them going. But some days it can be frustrating.

I seem to detect a pattern in my ramblings.

Tomorrow we're going to meet with the insurance agent. We think we can lower our health insurance rates. That would be awesome. His office is back in our old college town. We love to go back. I'd like to take a walk by the lagoon and go to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Not sure how quickly Mr. I. has to get back home though. I'm not working tomorrow. Woo hoo!

Here's some good news: I just realized this week that I have 12 vacation days I have to use by the end of the year! I miscalculated how much time I get. And with my promotion over the summer, I got more days. Nice problem to have, huh? I'm taking the week of Thanksgiving off. And the week before Christmas. And some random days. Maybe that will help me with my dozing off problems!

Back home from Disney World

2011-10-27T20:31:00.003-05:00

We got back home Tuesday night. Mr. Incredible had come down with a nasty cold and a fever, so I drove the last leg home. I did pretty good too. Until I accidentally pulled off at a rest area that I didn't mean to. It was raining and dark and we were in construction and I got confused about which way the barriers were going. "Ooops, I didn't mean to do that!" apparently isn't something you want to hear from your driver. But since no one needed the facilities, I merged back onto to the interstate and we kept going.

Really, those cones they set up aren't always clear as to where the road is and isn't.

When we got home I backed into the drive way to unpack easier. I refused to pull all the way into the garage because I had a giant Mickey head balloon blocking my view. I figured after all that driving, my crashing into the side of the garage would be the one thing that would be remembered for years to come. The car stayed in the driveway overnight.

My food poisoning episode is completely over. By the time I was driving home I only had some lingering heart burn. But, man oh man, was I knocked out. I lost nearly 10 pounds! I always take Violet on the teacups when we go to Disney World, but couldn't this time. I told her it'd be like a blender with the lid off. Blech. I owe her a spin.

The first part of the trip was great! We had a great time. Rode lots of rides. Enjoyed ourselves. Swam in the pool. Soaked in the hot tub. On Sunday I was still rather ill, but pulled myself together to go to Epcot. We had tickets for a culinary demonstration by Elizabeth Faulkner, the chef/owner of Citizen Cake in San Francisco. She is so awesome! I bought her cookbook for her to sign afterward. She was really nice and posed with us (I made sure not to breathe on her, although I was quite certain I wasn't contagious). And she signed Violet's autograph book. She's competing on The Next Iron Chef starting Sunday on The Food Network. We'll be tuned in rooting for her.

After I had her sign my cookbook, I went back to the room and wrote my whining post about being better but still sick. I was miserable. I wanted so much to stay out and have fun and I just couldn't do it.

Since we've been back we've been unpacking, digging out, catching up and resting. I'm already trying to figure out when we can go back to Disney for a "do over".

Feeling better today

2011-10-23T17:52:00.002-05:00

But still moving very slowly. Did make it out for a while, but came back to the room early. And I've been able to eat since I got back in. We check out tomorrow and head home. Woo hoo. Not what we'd planned.

It could have been worse. I could have been sicker (although it didn't feel like it yesterday). The others could have been sick too (they didn't get sick, I think it was definitely food poisoning). Or we could have had non-refundable tickets to something, but we didn't.

Thanks for the hugs and good wishes. I had to whine for a while and knew right where to come for sympathy. :)

This sucks

2011-10-22T20:51:00.002-05:00

I'm on vacation and I'm sick as a dog. Couldn't leave the hotel room all day. Stomach won't let me get far from the bathroom (sorry if that is TMI - but I figure we're all moms here anyway). I really want it to be over by morning. Mr. I and Violet are out having fun. That definitely beats them sitting here watching me go back and forth to the potty. I think I ate something that didn't agree with me. Or maybe it was the water from the water fountains. Always drink bottled water. I messed up on traveler's rule number one.

Random Updates

2011-10-14T21:07:00.002-05:00

Well, today I turned halfway to 90. Not sure if that is my goal. A co-worker pointed it out to me today. I think maybe I am a quarter of the way to 180. That seems like a better goal. Why stop at 90? I may just be getting started!

The magazine e-mails went out today. Thanks again to everyone who let me e-mail them. Snail mails come out in January. Please don't feel the least obligated to buy a thing, you have already helped out. Violet will get all her patches (I hate how they make it into 6 different ones that fit together - such a scam) and the stuffed fox she was aiming for. I looked at the list of e-mails today - almost all blogging buddies! You guys really are the best!

It looks like I'll be getting involved in Violet's new Juliette group after all. I kept watching the Cadette mom and she just looked so exhausted. I got the okay from Violet and asked the mom if she needed help with the group. Without hesitating she said "YES" emphatically. She said she started out gung-ho and is quickly getting overwhelmed with the Journey they are trying to get through. So I suggested some things I might be a good fit for and told her to assign me anything she wanted. I'm game to help with whatever. She's thinking about what she'd like help with.

I didn't want to get involved initially, it is a weekly meeting which is a lot of time. But on the other hand, I really don't want this group to go away because the mom gets burned out and throws in the towel. It is a co-op class which generally means everyone helps out. We aren't required to help out in this particular group, but it is widely appreciated.

Violet loves the group. And now that she's established in it, she is more comfortable with me getting involved. And after having lived with me for 12 years, she understands mom burn out. (I think she is too young to remember Black April, the year I sat and cried for 3 days straight. That was burn out. I get it. Believe me I do.)

So I'm excited, I love Girl Scout programming and can't wait to get started. Remind me of that in a few months when I'm crying "why oh why can't I ever learn!" LOL

Stuffed

2011-10-09T21:19:00.003-05:00

Some friends of ours are opening up an Italian restaurant. They are homeschoolers, we've known them for years. Their kids are friends of Violet. Mr. Incredible was hired to do their point of sale system and website. Tonight we got to go to the restaurant for a preview. They had a tasting menu put together for us, and man oh man was it good. I'm stuffed. Poor Violet got so full she couldn't eat any more and was blinking back tears. They gave us two appetizers, salads, bread, minestrone soup (the best I've ever had, and I thought mine was good), lasagna, pizza and cannoli.

They made a special lasagna with marinara sauce for Mr. Incredible, who doesn't eat red meat. Violet and I liked it better than the regular lasagna and let them know. We're hoping they add it to the menu.

We can't wait to go back (but maybe order a bit less than what they brought us)! What a fun night though. We've never been special guests at a restaurant preopening before!

Things that are irritating me today

2011-10-05T21:00:00.002-05:00

Yeah, probably not what you want to read about. I'm sure you have your own blog's worth of irritating things.

Today we went to a school day performance of The Jungle Book by CYT (Christian Youth Theater). It was at a venue we hadn't been to before, our local high school. I couldn't find any information on parking at CYT's website. So I looked on our high school's site. Nada. I called the high school. They told me what door to go in (helpful) and that the door was located in the back (also helpful), but couldn't tell me where to park. The lady I talked to said she was sure it was marked, but that she hadn't been in the back of the school and didn't know where the designated parking was (not so helpful).

So we drove to the high school today, to the back, found door 24, but couldn't find any designated parking. Or any visitor parking. Everything was parked student permit parking only. Finally we found a spot in the back marked "day or week parking" or something to that effect. It had no number in the space, where as all the permit spaces did. We parked, went in, found the theater, finally found our seats, and settled in.

I was talking to a mom in front of me, we hadn't met before, and she said she couldn't figure out where she was supposed to park. Several others agreed. Oh well, right? Well, it would have been except one of the CYT ushers, moments before the house lights went down and the performance started, asked us all where we were parked. She said if we were in a student's space and they found the car blocking it, they would probably get really mad and key the car. Good to know, would have been better to know before we arrived or at least when we arrived, not when there wasn't time to move the cars. And even more irritating, she wasn't sure where the safe spots were. She said vaguely by the tennis courts and gestured West. Lights down, show starts, we're all left wondering what the fine upstanding youth of our town were going to do to our cars.

Side note, and these are children who are supposed to be "socializing" our children? Yeah, right. Social skills are in wonderful evidence by that story, aren't they?

Well, Violet and I had found a fine space. It turns out it was near the tennis courts. I haven't heard if any of the other homeschool mom's discovered the wrath of the teenage beast.

I sent e-mails to both the high school and CYT asking them to please post on their websites clear directions for where to enter and park when going to performances there during school hours. I doubt I'll hear anything.

The other irritating thing. I went to the doctor on Monday for my annual check up and she wrote another prescription for me for a Seasonale generic, the most wonderful pills ever. And before I knew it she faxed it to the mail order pharmacy. Which I can no longer use because my new insurance doesn't do mail order. Which I haven't used for 2 years.

She was trying to be nice, but it would have been helpful if she would have confirmed where I wanted the prescription faxed, if anywhere. She gave me the paper prescription and said I could get it filled where ever. I haven't gone in yet, because the pills aren't cheap without insurance prescription coverage (which I don't have) and I don't need the refill yet. But today I had 2 voice mail messages from the mail order pharmacy saying to call them because they can't fill my prescription. Well no, you can't because I don't have the proper insurance to use them. Like I told the doctor.

Called the pharmacy tonight, explained the mix up and that it was my doctor's fault and it happened before I realized it. The nice man said he'd inform the pharmacy department and they'd mail out the prescription to me. Probably within 72 hours. Good thing I'm not in a hurry to fill the prescription. I have no idea if the paper script I have would work in any walk in pharmacy or not with another pharmacy trying to fill it. At the moment it is irritating. I will allow extra time to refill the prescription when I'm ready, just in case there are delay due to this. But still. I'm stuck dealing with it.

So, what's irritating you tonight?

A pleasant p.s. for you. As we were driving out of the high school today, Violet said to me, "I can understand why the students would be mad if someone else had parked in the spot they paid for. But damaging the cars is just wrong." I think she's had some wonderful socialization.

Week 2 in review

2011-10-02T09:38:00.002-05:00

This was only our second week of full homeschooling and we barely made a dent in our things to do list. We had a lot of activities outside the house (orthodontist appt, doctor appt, book club, open swim, Girl Scouts, apple picking). I was still hoping to get more done. Then on Thursday I was sick. I had some kind of stomach thing. I didn't think I was going to be able to drive Violet to Girl Scouts. I felt better after laying on the couch and made it. But it wiped Thursday and Friday off for studies.

So we planned to do some make up on Saturday. Great plan! Mr. Incredible usually keeps himself busy, no problem. Except Violet woke up with a sore throat. I knew she didn't feel good when she wasn't her usual preteen grumpy self in the morning. Today she has a full-blown cold. We're reading Anne of Green Gables out loud, if she's up to it later I'll read her some. Otherwise, I think we have to scrap this week and start over next.

We did have some good accomplishments before the ickies invaded. We figured out that the new printer table is the perfect height for the microscope. When we set the microscope up on the dining room table it is too high for Violet to comfortably look in it. So we move the printer for a microscope table when we need it.

We also decided that she'd prefer to just practice typing than doing any more of the Mavis Beacon lessons. In the typing program we have there is practice typing from many, many great books. Violet is typing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

We also instituted a chore chart. She got a raise in her allowance for the promise of helping more with housework. That worked okay, except she'd saved her once a week things until the end of the week when... she was sick. I swear she is just like her father! He manages to get out of things all the time too. Me, they just pile up and I have to do them anyway.

So we'll start fresh tomorrow. We have lots of outside activities again. This week is my annual gyne exam, another book club, more Girl Scouts, open swim with a friend, and we have tickets to the Jungle Book. We just need to feel better. I'm hoping we just got the winter ickies over with early.

I want an alpaca!

2011-09-25T20:37:00.002-05:00

We went to two alpaca farms today. My mom, my dad, Mr. Incredible, Violet and I. All 5 of us left wanting to be alpaca farmers. They are so cute! They are soft, and mild mannered and gentle. Mr. I would like one to mow the backyard. My dad liked that benefit too. Mom and I let the alpacas at the first farm eat from our hands (I think they had Purina Alpaca Chow). Violet preferred to just pet them.

At the second farm my mom bought alpaca wool socks for me, Violet and herself. Violet is wearing hers as I type.

It was definitely a good afternoon. When we got home, Violet asked me to e-mail the Cadette Mom from her GS group to see if she could bring her socks to show the girls and tell them about the farms. A huge step for her! (I'll wash her socks before she takes them.)

So if you are looking for just the perfect Christmas gift for me, an alpaca would fit the bill. I wonder what our Village Board would say about it? I don't think alpacas are addressed in the Village ordinances.

School: Week 1

2011-09-24T12:42:00.002-05:00

This was our first full week of 7th grade and I think it went well. It was certainly a success academically. The subjects we started on were a good mix of fun and challenging. A few things are outside of her comfort zone, which is good. One in particular is You Decide! by The Thinking Company. But she was game and we read through the first lesson together and she actually expressed an opinion. I was pleased.

Violet was definitely willing and eager to do school work. She was ready before I was most days. I think we need to work towards more subjects being independent. I've been struggling to keep up with work, the house, family, and now school. I don't know how I'll make it through the semester.

Her Girl Scout group is still going okay. The Journey they are working on is also outside her comfort zone. I've told her she should stick with them, once they get through this, the next things they tackle will have to be easier. We decided to lead a service project with the group. I checked with the group leaders to make sure it fit with their vision and goals for the group. I didn't want to jump in mid-stream and find out it wasn't their cup of tea. We're collecting used blankets and towels for the greyhound rescue. I'm hoping that will also give Violet a better sense of belonging with the group.

Today I have dinner with my ladies' group from work. Tomorrow we are going to an alpaca open house. It is National Alpaca Farm Days, and we've found 2 farms near us with open houses. My folks are going with us. It was my mom's idea and she was really happy when we all said we'd like to go.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

It's That Time of Year Again

2011-09-21T16:22:00.002-05:00

Yes, it is almost here, the Girl Scout fall product sale. The time of year I ask my dear readers to lend me your e-mail address and/or snail mail address so that Violet can earn the ~~stupid~~ patch for soliciting magazine sales both online and via the mail. Several of you have allowed me to use your addresses for several years, and unless I hear differently, I'll go ahead and do it again this year (you know who you are).

If you are new and wouldn't mind getting an e-mail and/or mail advertisement for magazines from us, I'd love it if you'd e-mail and let me know where to send it (janetp1 @ gmail.com). You are under absolutely no obligation to make a purchase. She needs 12 e-mail addresses for one patch, and 11 snail mail addresses for the other. Simply providing your e-mail or snail mail address helps Violet out. You should not be added to any mailing lists, just the one ad from QSP.

E-mails go out on October 14th. The snail-mailing is done in January, I think.

Thanks for considering it. I really appreciate the support!

Home again, home again

2011-09-18T13:56:00.003-05:00

And home for a while now. No more long work trips until next May! Hooray!! I love going on the trips, but it puts a strain on life at home. Mr. I and Violet are good about it all, but it is just so much more routine to be here.

The trip was good. Definitely less stressful than the last one. It really helped that there were so many of us from the office there. And lots of others that we know.

Most nights I slept pretty good. I never used to be able to sleep well on the road, but I must be getting used to it. The worst night was the night before I had to speak. Of course! I woke up several times during the night. The worst was at 5:30 in the morning. I heard sirens outside. Then the thermostat in my room started to make a hissing noise. Only I didn't know it was the thermostat at first, I had to turn on the light and figure it out. THEN I started thinking it must be hissing because the hotel must be on fire and that's what the sirens were. I was mentally laying out my shoes, coat and purse to take with me when the fire alarms would go off any second. I finally figured out that by changing the heat/cool setting on the thermostat the hissing would stop. Still no fire alarms, so I went back to bed, but didn't sleep for a while.

Turns out that the thermostats frequently hiss. It is a really old hotel and it shows. But no evacuation. No fire. And the conference went on. But I continued to hear a lot of sirens on the stay. What on earth do they do in downtown Peoria all night long?

What a difference 350 miles makes

2011-09-11T20:48:00.002-05:00

That is how much less I'll be traveling this week, versus my last trip for work. About half the distance. Same amount of time gone. Yet, this trip feels like it will be so much shorter and easier.

First, I'm not leaving the state. And I'll be traveling to a city, hotel and conference center I've been to several times before. Last time I had to go to Michigan, to a city I'd never been to. This time I know right where I'm going. I know how to find the parking garage. I know where the conference center is and what the layout will be. I know where my room will be (at least where the elevator is that will take me to it) and where to find food, coffee, all the essentials.

I'll be just as busy at the conference this time, but will have far less pressure on me. Last time my boss had to cancel at the last minute due to a death in her family. I spent the weekend before making phone calls and rearranging schedules to get someone to come with me. Granted that someone was WONDERFUL and I couldn't have done it without her, but I was the senior on the trip because I'd been to this conference before and knew the people. My substitute, who outranks me in the firm, was a newbie in this situation and looking to me for details on protocol, etc.

This time I share one speaking 90-minute session with someone who really knows our material. He's been speaking on it all summer long. I realized yesterday I haven't spoken on this material in probably 4 years. I've gotten up to speed, and except for a few small details I want to go over with him, feel confident about my part. And I know he can cover for me if I can't answer a question. Last time I was speaking for 4 hours and was the lead since my wonderful substitute wasn't as familiar with all of our topics. (But she did a fantastic job, better than I could have done on my own - thank goodness she came with me. Are you sensing a pattern? I'm really glad she was with.)

This time I'm attending more educational sessions, acting as room monitor for more as well. There will be more time in the trade show booth. But there's just none of that pressure of the Michigan trip.

So bon voyage for a few days. I look forward to getting caught up with you after my short trip.

A blog award

2011-09-10T09:10:00.003-05:00

Mel at Night Owl Mom just awarded me the Liebster Blog Award. Liebster is a German word which means favorite or beloved. The recipient of this award should link back to the one who gave it to her and pass it along to 5 bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Here are some of my favorite bloggers who definitely deserve this award:

Mother Mayhem, three words "I miss you." And a few more, we've got to chat more! (Hugs)

Fatcat at Home*School*Home always inspires me with their plans and schedules. And provides great resource tips. Just when I think I know about every homeschool resource out there, she posts another great one!

Mom #1 at Two Moms' Homeschool makes me laugh and makes me cry, sometimes in the same post. But mostly I love hearing their family adventures which now include college.

Ami.Mental, if you've read her blog, then you know. With Mental you get honesty, craziness and warmth all in one.

Gail of Tales of Homeschool. Another great place for ideas and inspiration on all things homeschool and extracurricular! If we could transport your girls in, I would so love to add you guys to our Juliette groups!

Thanks Mel for finding my blog a favorite or beloved. And thanks to all the mom-bloggers I read for sharing and letting us into your lives. When I fall behind on my blog reading I find myself wondering what happened next. How is Sweetums? Which kid has caused Mental to turn blue trying not to laugh at their fart joke in front of them. And all the other crazy, quirky, fun things that go on daily in the lives of homeschoolers (retired or active - you never really leave the world of homeschooling once you are in it).

Cautiously Optimistic

2011-09-09T20:16:00.003-05:00

Violet went to her first meeting of the new Juliette group yesterday. She seemed to have enjoyed it. Mr. I was a little worried when he picked her up and she was just sitting there with the other girls, but not talking or eating her snack. But she did tell me several things they did, and things she said during the discussions. She said she likes the other girls and the Cadette mom is really nice. She had an assignment, which luckily she remembered to tell me about today before I left on my trip, and she did it (she needed to find a picture of something she wants to be when she grows up, a children's librarian in her case).

She took her sash with and said she did show it to the other girls (none of them wear them at most meetings per the moms who run it - typical of most troops too). And she wants to keep taking her sash with her.

So I am cautiously optimistic that this will work out for her. Those of you who've known us a long time will know that she's very quiet, shy and prone to being overly sensitive. Those qualities don't really lend themselves to big group activities with kids, so we've avoided them. (Or tried them to have them fail miserably.) She's been showing more and more signs of maturity and it would be so nice for her to come more out of her shell. So far so good.

Slow motion and fast forward

2011-09-06T20:49:00.002-05:00

I feel like my life is going in both slow motion and fast forward at the same time. Slow motion because I can't get anything done. I start on things and never get back to them to finish. And fast forward because time is just flying by.

I'm two-thirds of the way through Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, I'm confident I'll finish in time for class. I renewed Drowned Hopes, a Dortmunder novel by Donald Westlake because I couldn't finish it in time. (Haven't read Dortmunder? I highly recommend it. He's a criminal. He and his gang try to carry out capers. Comedy ensues.) And I'd really like to get back to reading Roast Beef, Medium by Edna Ferber. Maybe I wouldn't be in such slow motion if I didn't read more than one book at a time. Hmmm.

I want to get Juliettes underway. But I just have so few free dates coming up that I want to offer up to the other families. In fact, tonight I just admitted potential defeat and asked if we could postpone the planned Juliette Low birthday party. I had it scheduled for 2 days after we return from vacation in October. That's just too quick. I know I won't be ready. Juliettes is in slow motion too.

Fast forward to work. There's so much to be done, and the time flies by. I'm going to a conference next week, but only have one presentation to make. Yay!! And double yay, my co-speaker told me today that he's been speaking on our topic so much the last couple of weeks that he's comfortable with any part of the handout. I need to look at it tomorrow to see if there is a half I'd rather do. That's pressure off.

Did I tell you about the second group of Girl Scouts Violet is joining? A couple of moms from our local unschooling group also run a co-op through a local park district. They started up a Juliette group. Kinda like what I do, but on a bigger scale. I have 3 other families involved and we meet haphazardly, about twice a month if I ever get going. This year they will have 18 girls (Daisies, Brownies and Cadettes) and meet weekly. Shhh, don't tell council, they'd probably try to make them into a troop and from what I've seen, this group works just fine they way they are, thank you very much.

We found out there would be other Cadettes this year (they are all a year younger than Violet and were Juniors last year), and Violet said yes, she'd like to join them for a while. Our main goal is for her to meet other girls. And homeschooled Girl Scouts sure seems like a good place to look for potential friends. They start this week. One mom is taking over the Cadettes, and guess what? It isn't me!!! I think that's what Violet likes best about this group, I'm not involved.

In fact, I can't even take her to the first 3 meetings, due to work commitments. Mr. I will handle her transportation needs. They are tackling the journey, AMaze. I wouldn't have picked that one myself, but I'm not doing it. It is about stereotypes, and bullies, and cliques. Things that will be good for Violet to know how to deal with, but that she hasn't run into much. There's been discussion among the Cadette moms about where the girls all are with the subject and I think it will be kept low key.

The sessions run for 6 weeks at a time. I've told Violet it is 100% up to her if she stays in it or not. And for once, it really is. The weekly meetings are more than I typically like, but if she hits it off with the group - we'll make it work. If she decides it isn't for her, no biggie. We'll look for something else for her.

I'm crossing my fingers it works out for her. Violet would really like to be among other girls more often than she is now. And at the fast forward pace of weekly, she sure will have more time with girls!

The problem with homeschooling

2011-09-05T15:42:00.002-05:00

We're starting out 8th year of homeschooling and I finally found one problem with it. Since we weren't going back to school, we didn't buy back-to-school clothes, which is when families buy fall/winter clothes. The temperature dropped 20 degrees in the last 2 days and left Violet with no long pants that fit her. I suppose you could argue that wasn't homeschooling's fault, it was parental error, but I don't. :)

So off we went to Wally World today. We found her 3 pairs of jeans and one pair of denim capris. Hopefully that will tide her over for a bit. I was relieved that girl's size 16 jeans fit her. I am dreading the switch to junior's for jeans. The price, the styles, trying to find ones that are long enough but still skinny enough, it all scares me. For now, I've avoided it.

Although it was technically a holiday today, we did a little school work. We played with the prepared slides we bought at American Science and Surplus yesterday. Violet started her next book club book, "The Shakespeare Stealer." And we started some reading and watched a DVD on the Dewey Decimal system, a requested elective of Violet's. I'm expecting tomorrow to be busy for me with work, so I don't think we'll get much done.

Caught up

2011-09-04T18:15:00.002-05:00

In some aspects of life at least. I have finally gotten through all my e-mails and all the posts in my blog reader! I totally enjoy all the blogs I subscribe to, so I really didn't want to skip anything. Most of my e-mails that got backed up were digests from various yahoo groups. I can skip a lot of those. But not the blogs. :)

We made our trip to American Science and Surplus today. We got prepared slides and blanks and covers to make our own. Plus some crafty items. I figured out a few more things to do for Juliettes this year, so I'm happy about that. We found those little metal ball key chains which we'll use for the jewelry badge. And these awesome purple foam boxes that they can decorate for jewelry boxes.

I plan to offer the Juliettes 3 badges, Jewelry (for both Juniors and Cadettes), Eco-Action (again for both) and GS in the USA for Juniors and Women through time for Cadettes. The Juniors will probably just do more than their badges require in order for the Cadettes to complete their badges. (For now we're just using the old badges, I already bought the badges to be sure to get them.)

In addition to the key chains and jewelry boxes, we're going to make Shrinky Dinks, yarn scarves (not actually jewelry, but definitely a cool accessory - I can't describe it well, so I'll post photos later), beaded necklaces, and pins. I'd like to set up a tour of a jewelry store. I have to find one that will have us. I'm hoping one of the other families might have a contact at one.

I need one more good idea for the Eco-Action badge. Anyone have any thoughts? I'm going to have them make solar ovens with pizza boxes and make an art piece from recycled materials. Then I have a bunch of tour possibilities I'm hoping to do at least 2 of: tour a recycle facility, tour an ecologically friendly dry cleaner, and meet with a lady who has a website of environmentally friendly businesses to hear why it is important to choose green businesses. Not exactly by the book requirements, but I feel like we've done the same sort of things over and over.

The Cadettes will be going to a local historical museum and working on their own on the women's history badge. Reading about women in various historical settings or who made a great impact on the world or a profession, and sharing it. The Juniors will do their GS in the USA badge by celebrating the 100th anniversary of GS and all the GS holidays.

Well, this has been a rambling post, but I think it all came together. I'm finally caught up in my plans for Juliettes. I have to set dates and arrange tours, but I have all year to do it. We have the historical museum trip set up and the Juliette Low birthday party date set. I think the rest of it will fall together. I'm just glad to have the basic plan finally in shape!

Wagon Train

2011-09-03T08:55:00.007-05:00

Remember our family friend Harvey? I wrote about him in the blog post Goat Snot and Other Adventures. With a title like that you know you want to read it again, go ahead. I wrote one other post about him too. I must confess, I never did read his book. They are working on a second one. Maybe I'll read them both when the sequel is published.

Anyway, I bring that up because we went to visit him last weekend. He's getting ready for a cross country trip. This is what he'll be driving:

He expects it will take 6 or 7 months to get out west and back. He and his friend Richard will be pulled by 2 mules. The wagon is equipped with 2 beds, a table, windows that open, a rear view mirror (it seems to serve no purpose other than it looks really cool in the "cab" of the wagon) and 2 seats from cars:

Traveling with Harvey and Richard is Harvey's faithful companion Sadie:

They'll have a cell phone with them, but no internet access. Richard plans to journal the trip but Harvey wasn't sure if he would or not. He says it is long, hard days and there is very little time to do it. And apparently when you come to a town, you can't just drive your wagon and mules up to the nearest Starbucks to use their wifi access.

Most of the animals on the farm have been sold pending the trip. The chickens are still there. Violet, who took most of the pictures I'm posting, had a heck of a time getting a chicken to stand still to take its picture. This turned out the best I think.

The cat isn't going. A cat would hate a wagon trip. Harvey offered to let us take the cat. But can you imagine a cat who is used to living on a farm with free range chickens, all the mice you can eat, lots of freedom, would hate living in a house in the suburbs with 3 other lazy housecats. The cat will board with another farm while Harvey's gone I'm sure. Doesn't she look happy on the farm?

A lot of us are hoping Richard finds a way to post his journal during the trip. He's been looking into various technologies, but money is a factor. If he does, I'll post about it here. Maybe they need commercial advertising to subsidize the trip? You know a big corporate logo on the wagon, photo stops along the way, "Harvey and Richard drink Gatorade to stay hydrated on the wagon trip." They'd hate that. We may have to wait to hear their adventures. Just like when the first wagons went West.

Trying to squeeze it all in

2011-09-02T09:45:00.003-05:00

First, thank you for the kind comments on my post last night. My blog buddies are the best! This post isn't nearly as deep.

I'm trying to figure out how to fit everything in to the days that I want to do. I have a library book checked out, I'm never going to finish it on time, but want to. I'll have to renew it. I also want to reread Carry On, Mr. Bowditch before our next Classic Moms class. We did it as a read aloud last year, but I want to read it again with an adult eye and take notes before our discussion. Then there is school and work and housekeeping and everything else.

After next week I'm out of town again for a week. It is the last conference of the year. If I have to go out of town again after this, it will only be for a night or two. I think I'm just going to have to take time each day to read a few chapters of Mr. Bowditch. It should read faster because I have read it before. I get back from the conference the same day as our class. I'm hoping to get in a few hours before class, so I have time to see the family quickly before plugging in to my computer. I don't want to miss the discussion!

Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary. Mr. I is working. Violet and I have errands to run. Tomorrow Violet and I are going to my parents' to celebrate my mom's birthday while Mr. I finishes up more work. Then Sunday we'll celebrate. We're going to American Science and Surplus to look for microscope supplies. We just got an awesome microscope for school. On our way home we'll go out to dinner. If you've ever read the American Science and Surplus catalog, you know what fun a trip to their store is. It is like the catalog, but in 3-D with all the neat toys and gadgets right there. We love going.

I have work to do, but I really want to take most of the weekend off. Some stuff may just not get done until next week. I think if I really want to squeeze everything in to my days, that's what I'm going to have to do. Besides, they put me on salary this year and I am consistently working more hours than I'm getting paid for. That isn't cutting it. Time to put my foot down, then put my feet up and read.

If you haven't read Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, I really recommend it. Violet and I both loved it.

Transformation

2011-09-01T20:22:00.002-05:00

The topic of tonight's Classic Moms class was transformation. Those of you who are taking Classic Moms with me will understand why I was inspired to post tonight. Those of you who aren't in the class, well, why the heck aren't you in it? Classic Moms from Abigail Adams Academy absolutely rocks! Well, your loss. Try to enjoy the blog post anyway.

Andrea introduced us to the idea of how truths transform us. How when we learn a new truth it takes us on a path and in the end we grow from it. There were middle steps, but I'm going into it here. You should have been in the class, you missed out. As she was talking I realized that I recently did learn a new truth, and wanted to share it. Caveat for those of you who aren't in the class, this was a spiritual related truth. What I learned is a truth to me, it may not be to you. I don't intend to try to try to make you believe the same things I do, we all have our own beliefs and we must be study within them and be true to them. (Those of you who study TJed with Andrea already know that.)

Background, last week I was out of town at a conference for work. One evening I had dinner with a co-worker who in the course of our wandering, non-work related conversations, said that she believes that there is only one God and that God presents himself (edited by me to include herself and/or itself) to each individual in the way that the individual can best understand and perceive him/her/it/etc. A light bulb came on in my head and after years of not being able to reconcile my own spiritual beliefs it made sense. Years of thinking and reading and wondering and it finally became clear to me over steak and salmon (we eat well when the company sends us out of town and picks up the check) who/what god is. I now know who my spiritual being is.

Even farther back, background: I was raised both in the United Church of Christ and with Native American spiritual beliefs. I could never get the two ideas to gel in my head because of the commandment about worshiping only one God. At home I was taught that there was not only the Great Spirit but other spirits watching over us and helping us find our way. It all makes sense now. There is just one God. But God presents him/her/itself (I haven't figured that part out yet) to me both as the Great Spirit and as my spirit guide and as other spirits. I don't have to completely throw Christianity out the window, I just have to accept both as the truth.

Okay, at this point let me remind you that I'm not saying that my truth has any grain of truth to you. I encourage you to have your own beliefs, I respect your beliefs, I will even fight for your right to believe what is true for you. I just will not stand for anyone to disparage my truth. (And for my new Classic Mom friends, I am addressing this to the blog spammers. My friends and blog buddies wouldn't leave nasty comments, whether they agree or disagree with me. That's why they are so cool. Freakmom, who often talks about herself in the third person, does not tolerate nasty comments from idiots with nothing better to do than wander cyberspace interfering in other people's blogs. Don't make me get out my spam swatter and smack you.)

Back to my new found truth. I learned tonight that my journey isn't over now that I know the answer. I have accepted it, but I must also work hard and grow from it. Perhaps that will be part of my classic moms path this year in learning who I will become.

Thank you for listening to my new truth and for respecting it. I have a long way to go, but gosh I feel like I've made huge strides already.

We'll start eventually

2011-08-20T20:45:00.004-05:00

Remember my big talk about starting school part-time in August? Maybe I didn't post about it. I'm not going to go back and look, so I don't expect you to either. Anyway, it hasn't worked out. Violet and I just aren't motivated. I've been really busy with work. This is convention season and handling the preparations behind the scenes (writing Power Point presentations for speakers, coordinating with the sponsors, getting the trade show booth organized, etc.) has kept me busy. I had to write 9 presentations and review/proofread another 6. And coordinate the final processing and submission of them. All on different topics. Needless to say, it took a lot of time and for a few nights I was dreaming in Power Point.

Violet has been too busy being creative to do school work. She's discovered the joy of Shrinky Dinks. (If you want plain Shrinky Dink paper, order it directly from the company, it is a great deal compared to third parties and arrives lickety split! Shrinky Dinks). And she's been busy finding paper doll patterns online, coloring them and printing them out. Then creating more clothes for them. Then turning them into Shrinky Dinks. And the jigsaw puzzles are back out and she's got a stack of library books she's going through. Add in some baking she did and I think we've covered the major subjects:

baking = math and science
paper dolls = art and history (the dolls she likes were published in the newspaper in the 1920's and 1930's)
Shrinky Dinks = art and science, also economics as we searched for the best deal on paper
reading = language arts
Wild West Town = history, physical education (we walked miles back and forth across that park!)
jigsaw puzzles = logic skills
county fairs = agriculture studies, home economics, art appreciation (we always look at the art and photography exhibits) and more physical education

So, I'd say we're doing okay. Of course, I have all this great curriculum just sitting there waiting for us. Maybe when it cools off we'll feel more like it.

Next week is a conference in Michigan. Then another fair to go to the next week and Labor Day. Then another conference followed by another fair. Then maybe we'll get serious.

But I doubt it.

Adventure Days

2011-08-16T20:37:00.003-05:00

Sorry I haven't written much this summer. I've been working a lot, Mr. Incredible's new business is really picking up. And when I can take days off, Violet and I have been having Adventure Days. Today we went to Wild West Town.

We live very close, yet never go. It is always the case, isn't it? It was Violet's first visit. She loved the pony rides and the little roller coaster. I enjoyed lunch in the steakhouse and just being out with her. The Wild West Show was fun. And the cowboys working there did get into character.

We are exhausted tonight. Check out the website, in particular the help wanted link. Where else do you see a list of job openings that includes trick ropers and gold miners?

Thrift Store

2011-07-16T20:04:00.002-05:00

On a whim we stopped at our thrift store this afternoon. We weren't looking for anything in particular. But we found a couple of good buys.

We got a white coffee mug with little Apple logos in red all around it. I wasn't familiar with the all red logo, so I wasn't 100% convinced it really was the Apple logo. Violet was sure, and she has better eyesight than I do. We got it for Mr. Incredible who is a huge Mac fan. Mr. I. looked online when we showed it to him. He didn't find a date or origin, but did find a dealer selling one as a rare collectible for $25. We paid $1.

(Which by the way, is a little high for thrift store prices. Our thrift store is a boutique thrift store and tends to be a bit pricy. But their profits go to some really great local organizations including one that helps adults with disabilities get job training and learn to live on their own or in small groups, and our county homeless shelter. As another "by the way" our homeless shelter is trying to build a permanent facility. Currently it is a "traveling" shelter. It is housed at 7 different churches, each one night a week. They need all the $1's they can get since they really could do more great work with a permanent shelter. I feel good shopping at our thrift store.)

Where was I? Yes, great find number 2. Violet got a box set of 3 books, still shrink wrapped. The series is called "Three Swishy Mermaid Tales". She had read the first book but didn't know there were more. The original Borders price tag said $17.95. We paid $5.

I bought graduation thank you cards, an unopened box of 20 cards for $1. You see, I keep talking about how next Spring we'll have an 8th grade graduation party for Violet. After we had the cards at home for about an hour, it finally connected in my brain. Violet is starting 7th grade this fall. She won't graduate 8th grade in the Spring. I mean, homeschoolers are smart and Violet is tops, but gosh that would be pushing it.

Talk about your brain lapses!

Now I just need to not lose the cards in the next year and a half! If I don't lose them and she gets to use them, then that will also qualify for a great find.

Feel the power

2011-07-12T15:49:00.002-05:00

The storms early Monday morning have wiped out power for about 800,000 people in our area. We are extremely lucky, our power flickered a few times, but never went out. We think it was flickering again during the night last night as our smoke detectors (wired into the electrical system - local ordinance) kept bleeping LOUDLY very briefly. New power outages seem to be occurring here and there, including stop lights, making traveling interesting. You never know if you will be able to get where you are going and if the power will be on when you get there. We've learned to call ahead.

My parents had no power for over 24 hours, but it is on again. They have well water, so no power to run the pump, so no water as well. They have an office not far from their house with power and running water, but no shower. Mom called this afternoon when the power came on, after she'd taken a shower and started the washing machine.

Violet has an art class this week at the community college. We showed up yesterday, less than an hour after the storm to find the power out there and the college closed. She did get to meet the instructor and really liked him. Today the college was open and she loved the class. He is teaching another drawing class in 2 weeks and she had me sign her up for that too. This week it is mythological characters, the next class is fantasy and sci fi.

It isn't as hot today as yesterday, but still humid and sticky. People are milling about businesses if the power is on. Our library was advertising on its website that they have power and to come on over and recharge your cell phone and laptop there. It is supposed to be much cooler tomorrow, that should help everything get back to normal.

The electric company is telling people it could be Thursday before their power is back on. Most of the branches are cleared from the roads, but it was pretty bad Monday morning. I think branches coming down now are what is taking out power in new places. I think generator sales in the area will be sky high for quite some time.

The storm was so brief and no one I've talked to has thought it seemed very bad. But, boy did it do some damage to the power grid.

New Hat

2011-07-06T19:26:00.003-05:00

I bought a knitting book called Kids Knitting. It has a lot of neat, easy projects for beginning knitters just like me. I did some experimenting first, and tonight I finished my first project: a hat with tassels. If you click on the link above and search for page 38, you can see how the hat is supposed to look. This is how mine turned out:

It looks better on Violet's head. She can make anything look good!

There is a scarf that goes with it, that will be my next project. My stitches are not perfect, my seams are particularly bad. But I am improving greatly.

I used to do a lot of embroidery. I mean A LOT. When I look back at my first pieces compared to my last, there is a vast improvement. I'm hoping that will happen with knitting too.

In other news, Violet turned 12 on Sunday. We had a nice family day. We got her a big Lego set, a teen cookbook and a pillow pet. Her party is this weekend. We've tried having her party closer to her actual birthday, but since her birthday is on the holiday weekend too many people are always out of town or otherwise tied up. She's having her Girl Scout friends over to watch the Yogi Bear movie, plus classic Yogi Bear cartoons. Pizza and cake will round out what we expect will be a fun evening.

Remember my promotion? Turns out quite a few people got promoted at the same time. I was pretty disappointed that the promotion might have just been because everyone was moving up, but I feel better now. Mental had some great advice. Thanks for being a sounding board for me. I'm going to enjoy my new title. Let everyone else worry about their own new titles. I'm a manager!

I'm not getting nearly as much done this summer as I'd hoped. (Maybe if I didn't spend all that time knitting, eh?) I am doing a lot of reading too. I'm working my way through the Dortmunder series by Donald Westlake. They are comedic crime novels. Quite entertaining and not deep. Perfect summer reading. I'm also working on the readings for Classic Moms at Abigail Adams Academy for next year. I've read the John Holt and am working on Pride and Prejudice. I really ended up enjoying Classic Moms last year and am looking forward to the new year.

Eventually I'll start the cleaning and organizing I need to do. I've done a little. But I've done more goofing off.

That Old Thing?

2011-06-27T18:52:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago we went to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois. We'd studied the Civil War and Lincoln this past year and it seemed like a perfect end of year field trip. We stayed two nights in downtown Springfield and loved it. We also did the Lincoln home, law office and the Illinois State Museum.

One of my favorite things on the trip, the thing I talk about most, was a coffee urn in the treasures section of the Lincoln Museum. The sign said that they had acquired it a few years ago and up until about 10 years ago, it was still being used by the owners to serve coffee. President and Mary Lincoln's coffee urn, still being used to serve coffee at family holiday parties and funerals nearly 150 years later! That's exactly what would happen in my family if we had an antique with a great historical connection.

"What, that old thing? We always use it. Just put the creamer and sugar bowl next to it. It'll be fine."

The 7th Grade Plan

2011-06-18T20:34:00.003-05:00

It is done. Most of it is ordered or here. It took several meetings of the curriculum committee and administrative approval, but the plan for 7th grade is complete!

Here it is (keep in mind that not all items listed in each subject will be done at the same time, many will be more like quarter subjects or one semester):

Math:
Key to Algebra
Key to Geometry

Science:
Story of Science (second half of book 2)
Botany Adventure

Language Arts:
Word Roots
Sequential Spelling (maybe, we might discontinue formal spelling because I'm just not positive it is helping enough to keep at it, we may just incorporate it into writing assignments in other subjects)
Editor in Chief
Punctuation Puzzlers Run-Ons
Punctuation Puzzlers Commas and More
Reading Detective
Jabberwocky Poetry Studies for Junior High
Shakespeare's Stories for Young Readers
Miscellaneous classics read aloud and independently

History:
A History of US
A Pioneer Sampler

Logic/Critical Thinking:
Building Thinking Skills
Balance Benders
James Madison Critical Thinking Course

Government:
You Decide!
Various library books on Federal and State government

P.E.:
Open Swim

Art/Music:
School day theater performances
Arts and crafts
Various art shows, music concerts, movies, etc.

I think that will keep us plenty busy. It is likely some subjects will flow into 8th grade, which is perfectly fine. Some may be dropped and others picked up. It is a more challenging curriculum than we've ever had, but it is time that we pick up a little bit. I'll have to come up with a schedule and have some curriculum committee meetings to see what Violet wants to do first, etc. We'll probably alternate some every few weeks just to mix things up.

So, with a plan like this, how do I call us unschoolers? Because Violet prefers using curriculum and has a very big say in what we use. I usually find samples and suggestions, but she gets the final decision on whether or not we try it.

Now the only question is, how do I wait until fall when we get to start all the fun!

Well, what do you know

2011-06-14T19:23:00.003-05:00

You might remember about a year and a half ago, I was pursuing being promoted to manager at work. Here's where I wrote about it. Then a few months later I found out that they had too many expectations for managers that just don't mesh with a good family life. In my head at least, I withdrew my intentions of being promoted ever. And was pretty much told by them that I couldn't fulfill the duties as they expected them. I couldn't find a post about the rejection part, I might not have blogged about it. I was pretty disgruntled at the time.

And in the last few months I've been trying really hard to take a slacker approach to work. Get my job done, do it well, but not let it interfere with home life as much. (Yeah, I know that isn't really slacker, but it is as slacker as my type A personality will allow.) I've been slower to respond to e-mail, not letting myself be on call 24-7, speaking up when I am at my limits and asking for assistance.

Well, guess what phone call I got last night. My boss calling to tell me they've decided to promote me to manager. The job I didn't think I could ever get and didn't think I really wanted. At least not on their terms. It gets announced on June 30th and I think becomes effective July 1st.

I did tell her I hope I can meet their expectations. She assured me, I just have to keep doing what I've been doing. (I didn't ask if she meant the slacking off part or the part before that.) She said in the HR meeting the realized I've really been doing the work of a manager for a long time now and it is about time they give me the title and the authority. Well, duh, that's what I told them a year and a half ago.

I'm not sure what I think about this yet. If it is true that I've been doing the job for a while now and nothing will change except my title, then great. I'm happy about that. If however, what they told me before is true, then I'm not. One example they gave me of expectations for managers was that they could get a call at 6 am and be told someone was sick and they'd have to fill in at a client meeting or something else, that day, 2 hours away. Yeah, that isn't going to happen. I'd be happy to call the client and reschedule or help over the phone, but same day travel two hours on no notice doesn't work. We'll see.

Hopefully, if this doesn't work out they'll just demote me back to my current position. I'm going to be pretty pissed if I get fired because I couldn't handle I job I was promoted to that I no longer wanted.

I don't think this is the reaction you are supposed to have to a promotion.

Who knew, quit trying, do your mediocre instead of your best, slack off, quit caring and get rewarded. Now I know what I've been doing wrong this whole time.

Parade

2011-05-30T21:15:00.002-05:00

This morning we went to Mr. Incredible's new office. I hadn't seen it yet. It is really nice, the rooms are much bigger than I'd been picturing. It is going to work out well for him.

Anyway, we went there because there was a Memorial Day parade through the town square on which his office is located. We thought about watching from the window, but when we saw all the excitement down on the square we went down too. Violet had never been to a town parade. She really enjoyed it.

We were home in the afternoon. I didn't get a thing done. Just like a holiday is supposed to be!

Almost Summertime!

2011-05-29T21:14:00.002-05:00

The trip went fine. It was business. The presentations were well received. We had a lot of people talk to us at the trade show. The bed was comfy in the hotel room. It wasn't a great trip. But it was work.

Yesterday we went to a family reunion/birthday party. It was quite fun. We saw our nephew, he's 21. He was trying to get into the Coast Guard. He wasn't accepted due to a vision problem. But in the meantime he got a great job that he likes, he's able to save money, and he's going back to college at least part-time in the fall. That was his goal all along, to get a degree in engineering. He's so much happier and optimistic than when we saw him in January. He's such a good kid, I am so glad things are going his way.

I am vowing to get my life together. Not let work push me around as much. Get organized and relaxed. Live again. You guys have to stay on me. Step one is to stop using my personal computer for work. I have a work computer. I don't like it. But if I don't work on my personal computer, I'll control my work hours a lot more. Here's the plan:

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. My first paid holiday in 12 years. I'm not working.

Tuesday, I'll finish up some stuff for work and start moving all my files into one spot.

Wednesday through Friday I am taking vacation days, my first paid vacation days in 12 years! We are going to Springfield, IL to see the Lincoln sites. I'm not taking any computer with (but I'll borrow Mr. Incredible's to check personal e-mail).

Saturday/Sunday: I'll start getting the desk cleared off where I can keep my work computer set up and transfer files and notes to the work computer (which I should have been doing all along). Then no more work on my easy to access, I'm on all the time personal computer. I'll have to make a conscious effort to "go to work" and that should stop me from this practically on-call 24-7 nonsense I've let myself get into.

I know, I should have done it years ago. But when I was paid hourly and could get overtime, the more I worked the better. Now I'm salary. No more overtime. I'm supposed to be able to work shorter weeks all summer to make up for the extra hours I put in all winter/spring. We'll see. I think this is a huge step for me towards taking back my life.

In other news, I still haven't read most of your blogs yet, but as they are in my reader on my easy to access, I'm on all the time computer, I expect that will change within the next week!

We've had a rainy, stormy long weekend so far. It looks like that is changing too and we are in for sunny skies tomorrow. We are getting up early and going to Mr. I's new office (which I still haven't seen) to watch the town parade from his windows. I am looking forward to it!

Catch up with you soon

2011-05-22T07:51:00.003-05:00

I'm leaving in 2 hours for an out of state business trip. I'll be back Wednesday night. I've spent this past week glued to my computer working. I miss my ability to get overtime pay. Stupid salary.

Needless to say I didn't work out at all. The "last week" of school was a complete bust. We didn't have any school work planned but I would have liked to do fun stuff with Violet. We did have 3 Girl Scout related outings, which were fun. But just Mama-Violet stuff, you know?

I'm hoping to have my work caught up enough to take Memorial Day weekend off. But May 31st is another huge deadline for my department. If everyone else has to work on that Saturday, I should too. It will help my relations with my immediate coworkers immensely. The big wigs (outside our department) will be off. But honestly, it is the ones you work with day in and day out with that matter for a peaceful existence. We'll see, it is a week away.

Hope everyone has a good week. I'm so far behind in all your blogs, but they are all saved in my Google Reader. When I get a chance I can't wait to catch up with you all!

Saturday Roundup

2011-05-14T20:46:00.002-05:00

I started out this week exercising everyday, but fell off at the end of the week. I have so much I have to do for work, I'm not sure if I'm going to exercise tomorrow morning or go straight into working.

We are pretty much done with school for the year. And Girl Scouts will finish up this week. I'm so glad to be coming to a break for both.

I am totally blank on anything else to report. I didn't sleep well last night and was up early and at the office all day, so I'm a bit brain dead. I'll post more when I can think straight.

Hope everyone had a good week!

What I did on Mother's Day

2011-05-08T18:11:00.006-05:00

Ah, Mother's Day. Our holiday. I think we should get a few of these a year, or maybe even a Mother's Month.

Today I have been finishing up projects I haven't had time to get to lately. I finished reading a book for my online class. It was the last book for this year.

I didn't care for it as much as some of the other books we've read in class. I think I just couldn't connect with the protagonist. I am looking forward to discussing the book and hearing what the others thought of it.

I helped Violet make her first pot holder. Remember the pot holder looms? And how the loops pop up off the little pegs all the time? They still do. But I think it looks pretty good.

We also finished up two greyhound legwarmers.

"Legwarmers for greyhounds? What?" I hear you asking. Well, you know they are a very fashionable dog. No, of course not. A lady I work with devotes all her spare time to an organization that rescues and rehabs injured racing greyhounds. Many of the dogs they get in have broken legs. When the casts come off, sometimes the doggies still have a metal plate on their leg for support. That metal can get pretty chilly in the winter. When we were talking with her one day we got the idea of having the Girl Scout Juliettes knit some leg warmers for the dogs. We didn't get them done in time for this winter, but it will get cold again, and unfortunately there will be dogs who will need them. The drawstrings are for their people to be able to better secure the leg warmers in place. One nice thing about them is that they can be any color at all, and each dog only wears one at a time so there's no color coordination needed.

I also finished the hat I'm making for my cousin. I'm still working on her matching scarf. I'm over halfway done with the scarf. Just in time to send it to her in Southern Mississippi for when the temperatures start hitting triple digits. So I don't have the best timing.

Gosh, I didn't do much else. I did some planning for the last 2 Girl Scout get togethers and found more supplies we'll need. I exercised this morning. Quick weekly round up: I managed to exercise 4 times last week. Not bad.

I'll tell you what I didn't do today: work! I was at my desk (in my office which is a hour's drive away) by 7:30 yesterday morning. I did everything I needed to so I could take the full day off today. That's two Sundays in a row. I'm getting to like this.

I also did no cleaning or cooking today. And now? I'm off to read a book of my choosing (a Donald E. Westlake from the Dortmunder series).

Hope you all had wonderful Mother's Days too!

Got my hair cut

2011-05-06T13:50:00.002-05:00

I had her blow dry and style it too. Whadda think?

Of course, I'll never get it to look like this again. I like it. Bouncy and ready for spring! I needed a pick me up today. This helped.

p.s. sorry about the glare from the window behind me. I wasn't going to bother moving my computer even though it is a laptop. I guess I could have closed the curtains. :grin:

Sunday Roundup

2011-05-01T15:05:00.002-05:00

What a week! I didn't even get to do my "Saturday Roundup." Well, the recap wasn't very good anyway. I only exercised 3 days. I worked way too much. I stressed even more.

This week should be better. I started out by working out this morning. Tomorrow is the deadline I've been working towards. I have most of the work done, but need to meet with my boss (by phone) in the morning to wrap things up.

It is a Girl Scout-erific week coming up. Tomorrow afternoon the girls are coming to our house for Carnival Day. The older girls have planned a bunch of carnival style games for the younger girls to play. The older girls will finish their Games for Life IP. Tuesday is American Girl club, a spin off of Girl Scouts. And Friday, Violet is going to the public gardens with the other Cadette family. They should do a lot of the Plants IP there, and I'll help them finish it later.

We have 3 weeks of school left. 2 weeks of Girl Scouts left (I've decided to take June and July off from planning GS, anyone else is free to come up with plans, I won't be). So we are quickly wrapping things up. Of course, there's a lot going on in May before everything is done.

Did I mention, I can't believe it is May!

I am not working today, so I've been busily cleaning the house before the families come over tomorrow for GS. I just took a break to read out loud with Violet, I can't believe I almost fell asleep while reading. I had no idea I was that tired. Guess that is the life of a mom, isn't it? Nap whenever you can because you are never really rested!

Saturday Roundup

2011-04-22T20:57:00.002-05:00

Again, doing my roundup on Friday night. I'm going in to the office early tomorrow morning. I really don't want to have to work on Sunday. But the work has to get done before deadlines and if I don't want to take as much time during the week, that means the weekend.

This reminds me of a story. Years ago, an attorney I know through work told me about how he'd been working every weekend for months. One Saturday, he went into his boss' office and said, "I really don't want to work tomorrow." The boss said, "Neither do I....See you tomorrow." Said attorney now works at a different firm where he's the head of the practice group. Maybe next time I see him I should ask him if he now makes the young attorneys work all weekend. I bet he does. People are such workaholics.

Anyway, back to my roundup. I did exercise 5 times this week. I had one other day I could have, but I was just so tired I gave myself the day off. This morning I skipped my Wii Fit hula hooping. My back has been doing some little twinges and I didn't want to aggravate it. If I've learned one thing over the years from Mom #1, it is to be careful with Wii Fit hula hooping. It can mess with your back like nobody's business. I've actually learned many things from her, including that flip flops are perfectly acceptable footwear at formal occasions as long as they have sequins on them and the day always looks better with a pitcher of margaritas nearby.

Next week may be busier in the mornings and I don't think I'll do as well with the exercising. But busy with good things. We're taking the Girl Scouts to a vet's office for a tour. And the Cadettes are meeting one day to finish planning their carnival day they are throwing for the Brownies. Should be a fun week!

Happy Easter if you celebrate it! Hope your Passover was nice, if you celebrate that. Happy Earth Day today! And enjoy the weekend if none of the above apply to you (or even if they do, have a good weekend as well).

It worked!

2011-04-20T21:14:00.002-05:00

Just had to share a homeschool success story tonight....

I've been having Violet study Latin off and on, and doing a program from The Critical Thinking Company called Word Roots, in an effort to learn vocabulary and how to figure out meanings of words with standardized tests in mind. Word Roots teaches the Latin and Greek prefixes, suffixes and roots.

This afternoon she was working on a page in the workbook that had her matching words with their definitions. There were 10 choices. She was able to match up "nomism" to "conduct based on moral law" because she could remember that the prefix "nom" means "law."

Okay, the full word association she went through is that over the summer the Food Network had a show about food trucks and one was called the NomNom truck. She liked that truck because the LOL Cats say nom, nom, nom when eating. And they say it because it is the sound Cookie Monster makes. So when we learned "nom" she said the food truck was the "law law truck."

But she remembered it and used it when needed! Shouts of joy!

I did tell her that was exactly what I'd been hoping she'd learn and that I was so happy that it worked. She hadn't gotten it before, why she needed to do that workbook. If she can just identify parts of words on standardized tests, she can deduce their meanings.

In other news, we skipped Pond Study today. I did let them know she wasn't coming. It was 37 degrees today. It had been raining for days (not today though) and everything is flooded. The wind chill lowered the temp another 10 degrees. That wasn't what I had in mind on the 65 degree day I signed her up for the class. I pictured myself lounging at a picnic table in the forest preserve reading a book while she was in the class merrily looking at life in the pond. Bundled up in a winter coat, long underwear, hat, scarf, mittens, and snow boots freezing her bippy off, wasn't what I envisioned. She would have been so miserable she wouldn't have learned anything anyway. She was all for cancelling. I hate signing up for stuff and not doing it, but this time, it seemed like the best move.

She's in a salamander class in a couple of weeks. Hopefully the weather will be more pleasant for that one.

feeling good

2011-04-18T22:10:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to say I've exercised the last 2 mornings and I am feeling good. Mr. I. noted that I looked like I lost weight. And I am trying to make work stay in its place and not interfere where it shouldn't. Did pretty good I think, for two days. Now to keep it up.

And completely unrelated....Does anyone have any advice on soap carving? I think Violet and Butterfly are going to try it for the Artistic Crafts IP. Ok, technically the badge suggests wood carving, but since we are all new to this, I think soap may be the better choice. The girls are 6th grade. Tools, how to, other advice, all would be welcome.

Have a good Tuesday!

Saturday Roundup

2011-04-16T19:55:00.002-05:00

I have a pathetic report this week. I have not exercised once this week. First half of the week I was sick, the second half all hell broke loose. Well, maybe not all hell, but quite a bit of it.

I had extended family causing problems and stress. Work causing stress. Mr. I had stress of his own, causing stress. And the weather turned horribly cold and rainy. Plans got made, then changed at the last minute. Time set aside for work were lost, causing me to fall behind, which led to stress. There was a lot of stress this week. I could have really used a good yoga session if I'd only had 30 minutes uninterrupted.

Then, when I thought things were going to be calmer, I was woken up at 6:30 this morning with a phone call that one of Mr. I's aunts passed away last night. Mr. I was already up and in the shower getting ready for a big business showcase he was running a booth at. More stress as we figured out how to get in touch with his dad to let him know. Grandpa Incredible is in Germany for 4 weeks. Grandpa has been notified.

I am going to try to start next week off right by getting up and exercising tomorrow morning. And if I don't for some reason, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Sometimes other things just take priority. Like rest and family.

Or like tonight: a Donald Westlake novel and a glass of merlot.

Back on my feet again

2011-04-12T21:40:00.002-05:00

You know how after you've been sick and you start to feel better again, that's when you realize just how crummy you felt? That was me today. I had a lot more energy and my head wasn't bursting open. I definitely had been sick before and am a lot better. I'm still taking it easy, but I did get back to work today.

Thanks for all the hugs and good wishes!

Feeling crummy

2011-04-11T21:23:00.002-05:00

I think I've overdone it again. I wish I could cut back on some activity or another and get some rest now and then, but I just don't know what can go. I'm not going to give up anything I do for Violet: homeschool, Girl Scouts or just plain being mom. I'd love to cut back at work, but that's not in the cards anytime soon. The electric company and the mortgage people are insistent about bills being paid each and every month. I barely clean the house as it is. Cooking? Well, if you call sticking the night's frozen pizza in the oven cooking... Maybe I need more fresh vegetables.

Sigh.

I've been feeling sick since Saturday night. I actually left the dinner with the girls early because my stomach was getting really, really upset. I've had a headache for 2 days. I can't look at the computer screen for long. I stared at it long enough this morning to determine it isn't a migraine because it doesn't throb. My throat is red.

Sigh.

I called in sick to work today. I was supposed to work on some stuff and be in a staff meeting. I couldn't bear the thought of even sitting on the phone for an hour listening to them hear themselves talk. (You know its what they do, it happens at every single staff meeting that takes place anywhere on the planet. Heck the staff meetings on other planets are probably the same..."did you hear Gork? I didn't think he'd ever shut up! I wanted to slap him with my tentacle!")

I think I just get overexhausted and my body forces me to take time off. I hate that. No one else does anything for me while I'm off. It just piles up.
I've got to feel better tomorrow.

Off to get some sleep.

Saturday Roundup, a little early

2011-04-08T20:25:00.001-05:00

Well, I had another good exercise week. I exercised 5 times again. I didn't increase anything like reps or weight, but I didn't cut back either. Although there were a couple of times I wanted to!

I don't anticipate getting to exercise as much next week. It is going to be a busy week. We have family from out of state visiting the area. We'll be spending a few days with them.

Just after lunch today I answered my office phone line. It was my boss. In lieu of a greeting she said, "I want to throw up." Never a good sign. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, but did result in more work. I was so enjoying my break.

To clarify, I wasn't the reason for her impending vomiting.

I have to go to the office on Saturday, then I am going to dinner with the girls. Don't get me wrong, I love dinner with the girls. But I have the feeling after work tomorrow, I'd much rather just come home, shower and put on my jammies. Since "the girls" includes people I work with, who will also be going there from the office, I can't use the "I have to work card." They'll know. I'll just try to enjoy dinner and take off as soon as I can. It will be at least a 45 minute drive home after dinner.

I want my break back.

Yoga and Yogurt

2011-04-06T20:54:00.003-05:00

A few months ago our Girl Scout service unit had an event called yoga and yogurt. It was a yoga class, followed by frozen yogurt. Violet and I thought it sounded like fun. So we asked our homeschool Girl Scout friends if they wanted to go. No one did (or in one case, weren't available). So we asked friend across the street, not available. Violet was bummed (this was right around the time the friend started distancing herself). She really didn't want to go with just boring old mom. Who can blame her? So we didn't sign up.

I'm on a friendly basis with the volunteer who plans the events. I was telling her we weren't going but had kind of wanted to. She said why don't you order the patches and do it on your own. (Well, first she said, sign up anyway, you'll know people there. Sure, I would, but Violet likely wouldn't.) She showed me the patch, and it was really, really cute. Normally I would say, if you don't go to the event, you don't get the patch, but.... The timing was such that I really hated to disappoint Violet again. Sure, disappointment is a part of life, but gosh, she was getting a lot of it at the time. Not letting your kid be disappointed all the time, is a part of a mom's job. I ordered us the patches.

Today, we finally did our yoga and yogurt day. We'd gotten a yoga DVD from the library and bought some frozen yogurt. We did the yoga routine to the best of our abilities. And enjoyed our yogurt. Tomorrow I'll sew our patches on. (We each have a canvas tote bag for our fun patches, Violet is on her third bag - what can I say, we love patches.) The patch is of a cow in the lotus position. Really cute. We won't make a habit out of getting the patches and doing our own, but once in a while bending the rules is okay.

Look at me, I got an award!

2011-04-04T08:12:00.003-05:00

Mental gave me an award! Wasn't that stylish of her? I thought so. I'm not quite sure what a stylish blog is, but I'm sure this must be one, since it is a stylish blog award.

So, I'm supposed to tell you 7 things you don't know about me. That could be hard. I'm a pretty open book.

1. I do not like mustard or olives. Both are vile. I pick olives off my food and have perfected a means to scrape mustard off hot dogs when needed. Yes, I live not far outside Chicago and DO NOT eat mustard on my hot dogs. I've gotten some nasty looks from hot dog chefs over the years.

2. I only recently started liking dogs at all. I hated them for a over 35 years. One jumped on me "playing" when I was very young and scared the bujeebees out of me. Now I kind of want one. They are kinda cuddly and they love you no matter what. Except there's that whole having to walk them thing. And the smelly, drooly part. And why on earth must they sniff my nether regions? Okay, maybe I don't want a dog.

3. I also don't want pet birds again. Violet and Mr. I. do. They are loud and messy (pet birds that is, not Violet and Mr. I. Well, they are messy, but they aren't loud). I hate vacuuming up seed. Been there, done that. Have multiple cages in the basement to show for it.

4. Fall is my favorite season. I like it when the leaves change and the air turns cooler and you can wear your favorite sweaters again.

5. I wish I had been homeschooled, I could have actually learned something as a kid. Well, most of you are homeschool moms, I suppose that wasn't any big secret. I think most of us feel that way.

6. I eat a bowl of oatmeal almost every morning. I like it with a little brown sugar and some raisins. I've tried it with dried cranberries. It is okay, but I'm just not a huge fan.

7. I make lists. Maybe obsessively. Some days I can't do anything fun until I have all my things crossed off my to do list. Right now I have 3 to do lists, 6 book lists, and 2 shopping lists. I may need an intervention.

So, there are some new little tidbits about the woman behind the mask. Hope you have enjoyed and that my list was stylish.

Now I'm supposed to pass this along to 7 other bloggers. This is always the hard part. These awards travel fast. And I hate to leave anyone out. But here are 7 of my favorite bloggers in no particular order.

The Old Grey Mare

Mother Mayhem

Home*School*Home

Two Moms' Homeschool

Night Owl Mom

Tales of Homeschool

Homeschooling and Life in Sunny Florida

Thanks again, Mental, for my award. Have a great day everyone!

Relaxing

2011-04-03T21:30:00.002-05:00

It is amazing how much stuff you can get done on a weekend when you only work 3 hours instead of 10-16. I cleaned the house, got stuff put away, cleaned the hamster house, helped Violet make a cake, watched a movie, read my book, paid the bills, reconciled the check book, did the laundry, read with Violet, planned the school schedule for the next week, found some neat classes for Violet with the conservation district, and reviewed a Journey I think I'll offer to the Cadettes next year if they want to do it. Plus the usual cooking and dishes and that sort of thing.

About the Journey, it is called MEdia and is about putting the "me" in media. Violet was initially interested if it had stuff on advertising and print media and wasn't all movies and TV. My initial read through of the girl book (I got bored by the time I got to the leader book, so I'll read that another day - my attention span has gotten shorter and shorter over the years) is that we could definitely focus on ads and print if that's what they want. I'm thinking next winter would be a good time. I'm anxious to get outside with the girls this summer. They had a bunch of environmental and wildlife things in mind they want to do. I'd rather look at ads in February than look for wildlife frozen in the ice.

About the cake. It is a chocolate chip cake and is a recipe I got years ago from a former co-worker. It is delicious and I hadn't made it in ages. Violet has never had it and I knew she'd like it. Here it is for your baking enjoyment:

Chocolate Chip Cake

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
12 oz chocolate chips

Cream margarine and sugar well. Add all other ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix well. Stir in 9 or 10 oz. of chocolate chips. Pour into a floured and greased tube pan (I bake mine in an angel food cake pan). Sprinkle remaining chips on top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Delicious. Notice I didn't say good for you. Seriously, you want good for you, eat a carrot. You want an easy to make, tasty cake, give this a try.

Tomorrow is Cadette day. They are working on making carnival games for the Brownies for an upcoming carnival day. I'm not mentioning the Journey just yet. There are enough badges/projects in the works for now.

Looks like storms might be rolling in, so after I post this I think I'll shut down and unplug my computer for the night.

Hope you all had as good and relaxing a weekend as I did.

Saturday Roundup

2011-04-02T14:57:00.003-05:00

I'm still searching for a name for this new feature. We've been reading the Ralph Moody, Little Britches series, so "roundup" has been on my mind. Not sure if that will stick.

Anyway, I exercised 6 times this week! One day I had a lot of work to do and had promised Violet we'd go to the thrift store. Deciding to miss exercising over the thrift store was an easy decision. We brought back quite a haul from the store!

In addition, I upped my hula hoop time from 3 minutes to 6 minutes. I noticed for the first time this morning that it was starting to get a little easier. I also upped my arm weights from 1 pound to 1.5 pounds. I used to do 1.5 all the time, but then when I quit for such a long period I couldn't keep it up.

In other news, we had a good week. It was busy, but things are calming down again. I finished work for this weekend by 1:30 this afternoon. Not the noon I had been hoping for, but still a full day and a half off in a row is very welcomed!

I signed Violet up for a fun sounding class today. It is Pond Exploration for homeschoolers aged 8-12, sponsored by our county conservation district. I was expecting there to be about 10 or 12 kids max, but when I called to sign her up I found out she was number 21, out of a max of 24! That's bigger than Violet usually cares for. But hopefully they'll have more than one instructor and will break the group up. The description reads, "Search for signs of aquatic food chains and food webs, and seek out examples of life cycles." They are supposed to wear sturdy shoes and come dressed for mud. How can you go wrong with that? Please don't tell me.

Next week we've got a couple of events, and next Saturday I'm back to the office, followed by dinner with the ladies directly afterward.

Tomorrow is Tangled and Chinese take out. Do I know how to live it up or what?

Too bad

2011-04-01T19:37:00.002-05:00

Violet has had a best friend since they were both 4. The friend goes to public school, but since she lives right across the street, they'd play together on weekends, summers, school breaks. Until this year. The last year or two they'd gotten together less because the friend was always busy with homework during the school year. But she'd still be available during breaks.

This year Violet has gotten together with her once all school year. And that was when her mom and I arranged for her to come with us to a Girl Scout fall fest event. The friend belongs to a public school troop. Violet called her several times since, including a few times over Christmas break. The friend was free long enough to come over to our house with a Christmas present for Violet but couldn't stay. She didn't call back when Violet left messages. Today was the last day of spring break and Violet never heard a word from her.

Violet didn't call her this week. I left it up to her. Because frankly, after being told no so many times or not having calls returned, you really stop wanting to put yourself out there.

Mr. Incredible and I can only guess that the friend feels she's too grown up for Violet. They are both in 6th grade, but let's face it, public school middle school is a lot different than homeschool. Violet is young for 6th grade when compared to public school students, and that is one of our favorite things about homeschooling. She has no problem getting along with another homeschool girl who is also 6th grade age.

I wish I saw the friend's mom more. But she works long hours and when she's home she's busy with the kids' activities and school. I'd like to casually ask if there is a problem. In the north, you don't see your neighbors all winter long. Maybe this spring I'll see her out and see if she says anything.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to get Violet more involved with other activities and meeting new kids. It has been working. Violet's Girl Scout friends all seem to really like her and she gets along well at her new book club. But still it is too bad about her old friend.

Made it

2011-03-30T20:52:00.002-05:00

March 31st is the biggest deadline of the year for my department. It is huge. It makes April 15th look like a day in the park. Well, maybe not quite, but it is a lot of work. I don't work on the stuff that's due. My role the last few years has been to take care of everything else. So I have been very busy too. I had 2 projects with 30th deadlines and one with the 31st. Plus client questions and crises.

Last night I was working until 10 pm, after having worked most of the day and cancelling most school subjects. I started again at 7 this morning. By noon today I'd already put in 25 hours this week, which is supposed to be my weekly total. I am done with the big projects. Things seem to be quiet (knock on wood, at least 3 times in the last 2 days I thought I was out of the woods only to have more emergency work fly in at me). I think I'm done. I still have to work the rest of the week, but maybe, just maybe, it won't be as frantically high pressure as it has been. At least not until the next time we have big deadlines.

I don't enjoy these frenzied rush times. I admit, I did at one time. I got a high out of the adrenalin rush. That was before I had a house and a kid and responsibility for her education. I don't enjoy it anymore. I'm tired. I have anger issues. I don't think we need to get ourselves into messes like this, but am powerless to change anything. The pressure and exhaustion don't help my anger issues.

When my ship comes in I am so done with this. But it doesn't appear that I'll get that for years and years and years. Not until I drop dead of exhaustion. Guess I need to keep my mouth shut and just keep doing what I'm told.

I think Mr. Incredible is feeling sorry for me. He got a little extra money for a job and said we should take a short trip, that I really deserve it. He also just got a copy of Tangled and suggested we order in Chinese to watch it this weekend. Those both sound really nice. After a little sleep. I think I'll get the cashew chicken and crab rangoon.

Accountability Saturday

2011-03-26T10:36:00.000-05:00

This is the first of what I am hoping to be a new weekly feature on Freakmom's Space. A recap of how I did on my personal goals. Why in the world do I think my readers want to read this? I'm sure you don't. But I need to answer to someone and you've been appointed those someones.

My goal is to exercise on Wii Fit 4-5 times a week. If no one is watching, it is easy to skimp and not do it. If I have to tell someone if I did it or not, I'm much more likely to do it. So that is what my weekly update will be: how many times I worked out that week and any other relevant tidbits I have to share.

Feel free to comment and offer encouragement, especially when I slack off. And if anyone out there is looking for a cheering squad of their own, I'm happy to offer my "way to go!" back atcha!

This week was a really good week for me: I exercised 5 times. (Why do you think I picked this week to start?) I am actually typing this on Friday, but I know I won't work out tomorrow. I have to go into the office all day tomorrow and I'll never get that much earlier to work out. But I am quite happy with 5 times.

Next week I see no reason why I can't exercise every day. We have no morning activities scheduled, so unless things get really busy with work or something else pops up, I should have a good report next Saturday too.

Dinner and a show

2011-03-25T19:11:00.002-05:00

Today was our last school day performance of the year at the nearby theater. It was supposed to be our second to last, but Symphony Day was canceled. We think there was a terrible tuba accident. Or maybe the woodwinds are on strike. Anyway, Mr. Incredible went with Violet and I to see Mad Science Presents: Star Trek Live! It was a really good show. Mr. Incredible was picked out of the audience, much to his extreme horror, to go on stage and be "scanned" by the Vulcan. Of course, we know her scanner wasn't working properly when she made a joke about detecting a Big Mac. Mr. I hasn't eaten red meat in over 15 years. Now, if it had detected a cup of coffee and a turkey sandwich...that would have been spot on.

It did make him somewhat of a celebrity. After the show all the homeschool moms (we were seated in the "homeschool section" even though we were all our own groups and don't really know each other) told him how well he'd done. So did the ushers. We called it his stage debut. Violet and I kept saying thank goodness it wasn't us!

After the show we walked to a local pizza place for a late lunch. We had a green pepper and onion pizza. On our way back to the car we stopped in a cupcake bakery and each picked out a cupcake for dessert tonight. Violet chose a double chocolate, I had a chocolate chip cookie flavored cupcake and Mr. I went with cherry limeade. They were delicious.

Maybe not the normal dinner and a show, but a lot of local fun. And a new family memory of poor Mr. I being dragged up on stage. Broadway, no need to look out. I don't think he's headed your way. Unless maybe your computer needs fixing.

Cold Snap

2011-03-24T21:32:00.002-05:00

A week or so ago it had been in the 50s and even 60s. It really seemed like Spring had sprung. Then in rained for several days. Yesterday, it got cold and snowed. There was still a little of the snow on the ground this morning. It isn't supposed to be above 40 for the next few days.

I hate this time of winter. We are so sick and tired of cold and aching to wear short sleeves and capris. But no. Winter coats and scarves are still required.

The daffodils are up at least 4 inches in the front of the house. The pussy willow is in full bloom. And it is too darned miserable to go outside and enjoy it.

At least there is no more snow in the forecast.

Change in plans

2011-03-23T20:19:00.003-05:00

Actually, a quick change in plans on my blog entry. I just realized this is my 500th post in this blog! Wow! Time flies even when you neglect your blog from time to time.

Now back to our regularly scheduled post.

This morning I got an e-mail that Violet's book club was canceled today. There was an illness at the host family's house. It was rescheduled for next Wednesday. I was relieved, I had a webinar I had to listen to and several things for work to do. It was easier to get it all done without being gone for two or three hours. Violet was bummed (very good sign from someone who usually doesn't like to talk in groups, but who will have to at the meetings). But she was glad it was only pushed back a week and not canceled altogether. Am I seeing some signs of growing up here?

We did run out to the library and the bank. I got work done. We did some school work. We didn't add anything to today's list when book club was canceled. Some days I would. There's too much going on this week not to take a break whenever we can.

Like tonight. I have the client work done. I do have things I could do for work, but they aren't urgent. So they aren't being done tonight. And once again, I'm not checking e-mail in the evening. Last night I had 2 things come in around 10 pm (I found them when I logged in this morning). I wouldn't have done them last night and I would have fretted about them all night. They don't pay me to fret. I need to keep working on separating work and home.

We don't have anywhere to go tomorrow and we aren't looking for any trips out either.

Night Off

2011-03-22T20:49:00.002-05:00

I have no work to do tonight. It is a rare treat. I've been bumming around, catching up on blogs, reading a little in Homeschooling: The Teen Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- to 18- Year-Old by Cafi Cohen. Violet will be a teenager in a blink of an eye.

Tomorrow Violet has her preteen book club, it will be their second meeting. I think she's really looking forward to it. I'm expecting a case of butterflies from her right before it. She usually gets those. I have some errands to run while they are discussing Gregor the Overlander.

I forgot to schedule history this week in school. I make a weekly list of subjects to do each day and we more or less follow it. (I know, yet I call myself an unschooler, Violet is the one who wants the schedule so we have some direction. Also she likes to know when we are done for the day.) Last week we were reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln (which said he hated the nickname "Abe"), so we didn't have history. This week when I updated the list I took out Lincoln but didn't add history back in. I left it up to Violet and she voted for a week off from history. She really likes our history book series, Story of US, but hey, she's 11, who's going to turn down not doing a subject when their mom forgets to schedule it?

This week and next are the two busiest at work. Therefore, I'm trying to keep things simple, like not adding history back in. I know I'll have more work thrown at me soon (probably right before we have to leave for book club tomorrow so I can fret about it the whole time we're out). But for now, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet.

Now where did I leave that cork screw? I think a night like this needs a glass of merlot and a bowl of cashews.

Plants

2011-03-21T08:50:00.003-05:00

Gail asked what we are earning, plants related, so I thought I'd post about. We are going to try to do both the Junior Plants Badge and the Cadette Plants IP. The Cadettes have already done a career exploration and a service project when we all visited the Land Conservatory and learned all about their work to save the native oak trees. They gathered acorns, learned to tell the different types apart and planted an oak sapling. Plus learned about the Conservatory and what the people who work there and volunteers do.

We are doing the Cadette IPs the "old" way, even after they start "requiring" the new way. In the old way, girls do at least 2 skill builders, where they learn something or try something, at least one technology related activity, one service project and one "career exploration," and 2 extras from any of the categories. With the new way, the girls do 2 skill builders, 2 from any category, write their own "smart goal" and do it, and write a "reflection."

So what's a "smart goal," you ask? I don't know, I don't get it. It says they are "simple, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely." Get it "SMART," stupid if you ask me and the 2 girls I work with. If that wasn't written by an "educational professional" I don't what is. It sounds to me like they make up some easy thing they want to do and do it. Okay, maybe I could talk to the girls into that.

But the "reflection," yeah, Girl Scout Police, you try to get 2 always been unschooled, never institutionalized, preteens to write a "reflection." Go ahead, I dare you. Not going to happen, is it? I did it their way, I discussed it with the girls. I got eye rolls, and "that's stupids." You see, these girls have been raised to think for themselves and to not waste their time on stupid filler activities that have no purpose and they have no interest in. They aren't public school drones who will do it just because it is "assigned" to them.

I talked to the 2 girls in question and they overwhelmingly said they want to "do" things, not sit around talking about things or writing about things. They want to go places, try things, learn about new stuff. They'll read a book on their own time. When they are with their Girl Scout friends they want to be out there experiencing things. I asked the younger girls too, same answer. We want to earn badges and do stuff.

Since neither of the girls are interested in doing their higher awards, the dumbing down of which is a post for another day, we will continue to do the IPs the old way, where they get to do more and try more things. We will never need council approval on anything they do. Granted I can see where a public school leader would not have liked the old way. You can't complete an IP in a meeting in your regular meeting room when you have to have a field trip to see or try some technology, meet someone who works in the field and do some sort of related community service. The old way takes longer. The new way you could crank them out quicker and send the "reflections" home as homework. That's not why any of our little group participates in Girl Scouts.

Where was I? Yes, plants. So I still need to read the Junior and Cadette requirements for plants, but I figure that at least a few of their suggestions will be stupid. (See why I don't volunteer at the council or service unit level any more? I just can't keep singing the corporate song and dance anymore.) I thought it might be fun to make planters out of reclaimed things. I have a broken iced tea pot and a storage container with a cracked lid. Shoes are really cool with flowers growing in them. The local community college was supposedly starting a rain garden, but it was supposed to be open last fall and I haven't found a press release about it. I'm going to have to call and ask. But that's all I've got. May and June is the perfect time to do this badge in our climate, so if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them.

Back to my rant for a minute. Where on earth do they find these test subject girls who claim to like all these changes? Pod girls? Girls who are so overworked and stressed out they don't really care any more? Their own girls who they can bribe to skew the survey results? Or is this what institutionalized girls really want? If so, I'm more glad than ever that we chose the unschooling path.

Storms

2011-03-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

We had a couple of rounds of thunderstorms today. It really felt like Spring. We even got some hail for a few minutes. Nothing severe, just a nice welcome, anything but snow falling from the sky. I pulled my car out of the garage this morning and let the rain wash it off. I'd parked under a tree about a week and a half ago and the birds got it good. I know, I should have washed it long before now, but you know how it goes. The rain got the gross stuff off.

Tomorrow is Juliettes. The girls are finishing up their journeys. The Brownies are making puzzles to teach some younger kids the order of the colors of the rainbow. The Cadettes are putting on a badge workshop focusing on air pressure experiments. So the projects aren't straight from the books, but they do represent something the girls learned along the way. And they are much more doable for our size group and the fact that they all live in different communities. And they will enjoy themselves. Take that Girl Scout Police. (Yeah, I have issues.)

After we wrap up the journeys (Breathe and Wow, for those of you playing along at home), we're going to do pets and plants. Not at the same time. We've got a field trip to a vet office scheduled next month, and I think I'll see if the girls want to try to make some homemade dog biscuits. No clear plans for plants yet. Any ideas?

Have a good week everyone!

Crochet class

2011-03-17T21:56:00.002-05:00

Violet had her crochet class today, turned out to be private lessons. There was only one other girl who had signed up for the class and she had to cancel at the last minute. The crochet lady was game to go on and taught Violet 4 crochet stitches. One of the library ladies was there and another came in to learn to crochet.

They offered to let me stay, but I knew Violet would be more comfortable with me not watching her. But when I picked her up she offered to teach me the basic stitch. I guess she'll have to teach me the names of the stitches too.

The class was part of their hobby corner for teens. They seem to do it every other month. I'm going to encourage her to go back in May for the next one, regardless of the topic. She loves arts and crafts so much. The library lady who was there is the one who oversees it. She works with a lot of the teen programs. I'd like for Violet to get involved with their Teen Advisory Board and to be a volunteer with their summer reading program. But those are both things she'll really have to want to do. I'm thinking if the librarians ask her to join, she likely will. I think they'd both be really good experiences for her (if it is her decision) and confidence builders. Just like crocheting was.

Tomorrow we've got nothing scheduled. Those are my favorite days! Maybe I'll get my crochet lesson.

Perky

2011-03-16T21:45:00.003-05:00

Well, perkier at least. I am feeling better. I never did figure out what, if anything, was wrong with me. (Insert your own joke.) But I do have more energy back.

Which was a good thing because work kept popping up all day. I couldn't believe how much stuff came up today after the last week or so had been so nice and quiet. I didn't get it all done, but I can work on it more tomorrow. I'm done for the day.

Tomorrow is the crochet class and I'm looking forward to spending 2 hours at the library reading and bumming around. It is close enough that I could drop Violet off and go back for her, but she preferred that I hang out there while she was in the class. I don't mind. How could you object to 2 free hours in a library? They have wifi, so technically I could work, but I'm not going to. Actually, since I cannot confirm how secure their wifi is, it is best I don't work on client projects anyway.

I am rereading The Chosen for the Classic Moms discussion tomorrow night. It is a great book and I thought I'd refresh my memory of it since I read it over Christmas time. Besides, it doesn't make any sense to start a new book right before a book discussion. If I finish it, I'm going to browse through the library's magazines or maybe leaf through some cookbooks. Mainly, I'm going relax and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Actually, our library is so cramped and crowded that there generally isn't any peace and quiet it in. But no one will be asking me to do anything, so that will still count.

Did I tell you I officially became our homeschool group's treasurer this week? We are a mostly online group. My only responsibility is to collect the $2 per family dues that are paid to our state group that we are an affiliate of. I volunteered to collect the dues this year and our contact person asked if I just wanted to be treasurer. Since I'd rather do that than anything else, I agreed. The funny thing is, over the last few years I've almost quit the group a dozen times. Guess I'm not going anywhere.

Except to bed. Good night everyone!

Achy

2011-03-14T12:40:00.002-05:00

I am tired. I feel like I'm coming down with something. But I've been feeling like this since Saturday, you'd think I'd have it by now. I have a headache and my muscles ache. For a short time yesterday I had a scratchy throat, but that went away. Sigh.

Maybe it is time change syndrome. Or it could be allergy-related and have something to do with the daffodils poking up and a few buds forming out there. Whatever it is I wish it would go away.

I'm not sick enough to say I'm sick. I just don't feel good. I tried to sleep in this morning but the snore-alarm next to me started going off. It is so hard to get the snore-alarm to stop that by the time I do turn it off I'm too awake to go back to sleep, so I didn't bother trying. I just got up and had a cup of tea and a bowl of oatmeal. That helped, but I'm still not myself.

At least I don't have anywhere in particular to be today and there's not a lot of work to do. I think I'll make the snore-alarm cook dinner tonight.

Maybe I'll be perky again tomorrow.

Reader

2011-03-12T20:37:00.002-06:00

I finally set up my favorite blogs to come to me via Google Reader. Yeah, about time. I'm so behind on my internet life. Wish I could say my real life were more interesting, but it is not.

Here's what I've been up to: work, Violet aced decimals in school, I'm still knitting, Girl Scout cookies were ordered, delivered and life has gone on (have I mentioned I hate cookies?), I filed our taxes, my state is corrupt, weather is cold and blustery but at least most of the snow has finally melted.

This week Violet has an American Girl book club meeting and is taking a crochet class at the library. She agreed to take the crochet class as long as I promised that she didn't have to teach me to crochet afterward. In Classic Moms class we will be discussion The Chosen by Chaim Potok. What an awesome book, I completely recommended it!

Hope you are all having a good winter!

Sending up a flare

2011-02-02T19:18:00.002-06:00

The blizzard hit. Boy howdy, did it hit. I think we got somewhere around 2 feet of snow. It is hard to tell because of all the drifting. We have a 6 foot fence in our backyard, you could probably step over it in spots. I only remember one other snow close to this big and I've lived here all my life. This was a doozy.

Schools, libraries, businesses, government offices, all closed today. Many have already announced they will be closed tomorrow too. Even the sledding hills are closed due to too much snow.

Okay, the sledding hills really are closed, but it is because they can't get the parking lots by them cleared out and a lot of the roads are still impassable.

Even the local groundhog, Woodstock Willie, called in snowbound. And on the only day of the year he works. I hope this doesn't mean we won't get a spring. If the groundhog can't even get out of his hole to make a prediction, spring will still come, won't it?

I don't have any photos yet. I'll try to post some. Just picture lots of white, that's what it looks like.

Our homeschool decided not to close. We voted to be off in June, rather than today and tomorrow.

Tonight the deep freeze is hitting, but at least the wind has died down and the snow is over. All that's left is the digging.

The Patchwork Scarf

2011-01-01T18:23:00.002-06:00

Here it is, my first ever knitted scarf:

It is uneven, there are a few holes, I was just figuring out how to change colors. But it is the best scarf I have ever knitted. I'm going to wear it proudly. I think I did quite good for only having had one 45 minute informal knitting lesson less than 2 months ago.

Freakmom's note: if you don't like it, keep it to yourself. Freakmom doesn't post to please you, nor does she knit to meet your approval. Freakmom is 44 years old and doesn't have to put up with that crap any more.

In other news: I'm still reading my magazines. I'm almost done. It was my own little self-indulgent venture. For those of you who've known me for a while, you know I've had a lot of changes crammed down my throat the last 2 years and I've lost a lot of control over my life. My free time is almost non-existent, some days I'm doing good to have time to have proper personal hygiene. I'm trying to take back my life and let go of some of my anger. Getting the chance to go through these old magazines has been fun, relaxing, and a taste of the old life. Time well spent if you ask me.

Happy New Year everyone!

My End of the Year's Resolution

2010-12-26T10:46:00.002-06:00

First a confession: I've got a magazine problem. I subscribe to quite few. I love them. My mom is an enabler, we trade magazines when we're done with them. She has her addiction under control, she actually reads and keeps up with them. I have stacks around the house. The stacks tip over. I say a bad word.

I go on a business trip and stick a couple in my suitcase for reading in the hotel room. I get about half way through, the magazine gets bookmarked and set aside. In a pile. That tips over. I say another bad word.

I counted this morning. I have 48 unfinished magazines in the house (47 actually, I finished the September-October 2009 issue of Home Education Magazine just before I sat down to write this post.) That's actually not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but I have read quite a few in the last 2 days.

So back to my resolution. I resolve to get completely caught up in my magazines by the end of the year. I can even use January 1st and 2nd if need be, since they are the holiday weekend. I think it is doable. I just have to read 6 magazines a day. Work is really slow, we have no family plans, homeschool is on break. I should be able to do it.

I'll let you know how it goes. But I can't stick around online all day, I have magazines to read.

The knitting is improving

2010-12-23T20:22:00.003-06:00

I finished my first project: a cozy for my new GPS (an early Christmas present - I'm constantly getting lost!). I didn't want to put it straight into the glove compartment, so I figured out a way to make a cozy for it. I made a long rectangle, sewed it into a pocket with a flap and added a long string to loosely tie it.

Whadda think?

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

2010-12-05T15:32:00.003-06:00

Violet and I just finished reading The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum and highly recommend it for your family holiday reading list. It tells the story of Santa Claus and how he came to be who he is. Do I need to mention it is completely secular? I would classify it in the mythology category, although I'm not Dewey Decimal expert and it may be a folk tale.

L. Frank Baum is the author of The Wizard of Oz and the next 13 Oz books. We've been working our way through all the Oz books, and are now in the second set, those written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. Santa Claus is of one Baum's non-Oz books that I really wanted to read. Violet consented that we could step out of the world of Oz briefly to read this book as the holiday approaches. I think she is glad we read it, as it does answer some age-old questions, such as how does he get down those skinny chimneys? She's long wanted to know that.

The book was written in 1902 and like the Oz books written by Baum, it has really stood the test of time. The book is easy to read. Hidden throughout the book are good morals about being a good person. Actually the Oz books are filled with good morals that are rarely "in your face." Baum was a man ahead of his time. He wrote of diversity and acceptance in the early 1900's, topics that still plague us today.

So if you've tired of A Christmas Carol or want something besides Olive the Other Reindeer to read for the two thousandth time (or heck, in addition to), check your library and see if they have a copy. It was re-released in 2003, so if you find that version you'll get to see Michael Hague's awesome illustrations.

My commercial is over. You may now resume your regularly scheduled reading.

Now for some good craft work

2010-11-25T11:19:00.003-06:00

Ever wonder what Violet does when I'm tied up with work? She goes through the craft books and makes awesome projects. Like these spool people. We couldn't find any wooden spools, but her grandfather came to the rescue with dowel rod:

Those are umbrellas that they are holding. The brown coil is an umbrella stand.

Isn't she talented? I should leave her without adult supervision more often.

Knitting

2010-11-24T16:52:00.003-06:00

I learned to knit yesterday. Well, "learned" is probably too strong of a word. Violet and I had our first knitting lesson. An aunt of some homeschool friends of Violet taught us during their book club meeting. They read the historical American Girl series. Knitting fit right in with the books. I don't usually sit in on book club, but I wanted to learn to knit too.

As you can see from my first finished piece I need to practice.

I gave it to Violet to be used as a blanket for her dolls (The McDoll Family). I think the McDoll's are going to donate it to a homeless shelter who will then donate it to the pet rescue. The dogs might deem it worthy to sleep on. Maybe not. There are a lot of holes in it.

Anyone know why I'm getting holes? I know I added stitches as I went and that is why it isn't rectangular.

I left all the imperfections in it instead of trying to fix my mistakes. (Don't tell our instructor, she recommended ripping out rows and starting over. I will eventually but not yet.) For one, it cracks me up to see what a state it ended up in! And for two, it was just a practice piece and is supposed to look like I'm just learning.

I'll keep practicing. But so far, it is the best knitting I've ever done. Can't beat that!

Behind What?

2010-11-21T19:33:00.001-06:00

I can't keep up with life at the moment. I'm working full time, running the house, and homeschooling. I decided at least through thanksgiving, and probably until January the only subjects we are doing will be: math, grammar, spelling, history and thinking skills (a Critical Thinking Company workbook Violet loves). She can special request other subjects, but they won't be planned. So far she has opted for open swim (which I am all in favor of because it is the only exercise I get), cooking and lots of art projects she does on her own (all over the kitchen, dining room and family room!).

Good thing I'm pretty experienced at this homeschool thing or I would be worrying that she's going to fall behind in science, Latin, logic and anything else we're skipping. But other than science, they don't even DO those subjects in public school 6th grade. Say it with me Homeschool Moms, "behind what?"

So while she thinks she's getting off easy, she's actually still likely doing more academics than her peers. Homeschool moms can be evil, can't we?

Sales are Through the Roof

2010-10-20T10:46:00.002-05:00

This is the last week for the Girl Scout fall product sale. Violet's sales are once again amazing. So many parents don't have their girls participate in the sale because it is too similar to the schools' fall fund raisers. Just another example of the bully tactics used by the schools. We don't use the schools and yet I have a real estate tax bill that shows I support them. Boy howdy, do I support them. To the tune of a couple thousand dollars each and every year. Yet Girl Scouts charge a mere $12 per year, and only for those joining. I wonder who needs my magazine subscription dollars more?

Anyway, the fall sale is always her big selling time. Try as we might we just can't generate cookie sales. In a good year she'll sell around 150 boxes. To be part of the "good" sales and get invited to the cookie party and get the good prizes, girls have to sell 300 boxes. Some girls sell over 1,000 boxes. I don't know how they do it. We've tried the form in the office, door-to-door sales, family and friends. All she gets is a frozen butt from trudging through the ice and snow and a handful of orders.

Juliettes aren't allowed to do booth sales (the sales outside stores). For the first time this year troops will get to count those sales towards the girls' total sales. They can divide it up however the leader chooses, evenly or just to those girls who show up. I have a lot of mixed feelings about that. Since I don't have a troop I don't think I can question the girls getting the extra credit too much. They are working and selling, if they go.

I don't like that the incentive prizes will be delayed a month or two because of the booth sales. It is my current understanding that Juliettes will have to wait for booth sales to end before their incentives are even ordered. It is sounding like it will be May before they see their little stuffed animals and flimsy necklaces. I hope they at least get their GS Credits earlier. In our council (or at least I hope it is still the case after the completion of the merger) the independent girls get credits to be used for camp, programs, in the GS store for the equivalent of the troop proceeds for the cookies they sell. The problem is, the credits expire in mid-September. If they don't get them until May, that cuts back on their spending time considerably.

Oh well. Not like anyone can change Girl Scouts, Inc. They do what is best for their corporate positioning. The girls are a secondary consideration (actually probably a tertiary or whatever the equivalent word is for fourth or fifth).

But for now, Violet has met her personal goals, earned the big and little stuffed monkeys and will have a nice pile of credits to use in the store on fun little things. She also earned all the patches, so they will make a nice little picture. Thanks to all of you who helped out. Just one little e-mail address or snail mailing really does make a big difference! Thanks!

Goat Snot and Other Adventures

2010-10-12T21:29:00.003-05:00

We had a busy weekend. We went to my in-laws house which is in the Wisconsin Dells area. The plan was to go up on Friday afternoon. But Mr. I. had a client who wanted him to come out on Friday afternoon. And Violet and were really busy anyway and didn't want to miss our regular open swim time. So we drove up Saturday morning.

We met them in Baraboo and then drove to a Big Cat Rescue organization. The not-for-profit has rescued over 20 lions, tigers and panthers from owners who didn't care for them, or could no longer keep them. It was really neat. We did the self-guided tour.

When we got to my in-laws house we walked into town, checked out the new resale shop, went to Ben Franklin and got ice cream at the local Quik Mart. Real tourist-y stuff, huh? We had a great time. The weather was unseasonably warm so we grilled out and had dinner on their back deck.

The next morning we went to visit a good friend of theirs, Harvey. He lives on an organic farm in a house he made himself of mud and other found materials. He lives close to the land, almost off the grid completely, and has really found the simple life. Well, as simple as it can get and still be raising 4 or 5 horses, 4 goats, 2 mules, a gaggle of chickens and a dog. He's busy. Really busy. Check out the link on his name. He published his journal as a book.

We've met him before and were looking forward to seeing him again and hanging out on the farm. It was a real treat this time because one of the goats had just had babies. When we got there he brought the goats and the kids up to graze on the grass and clover. No fences, no leashes, the goats just follow him when he opens up the barn doors. Violet and I and Harvey all plopped right down on the ground to play with the goats. The babies were just like little puppies, bouncing around and playing. Sadie the dog was immensely jealous of the babies and wanted her fair share of petting and scratching too.

The goats played, ate, got lots of scritching, and one sneezed all over me. A wet sneeze. With no warning. And guess what? When goat snot dries, it is a yellowish orange. I had goat snot all over me the rest of the day. I told the goat that next time I sneezed it was going to be on her. Unfortunately I didn't sneeze before we left the farm.

After the goats went back in the barn we built a fire and made hot dogs and s'mores that my mother-in-law had brought with. Well, after Violet and I poured hand sanitizer from the car all over us. I at least got the snot off my hands and arm. My father-in-law had brought Harvey a bottle of wine which he opened. That's day camping in my book. Sitting in Harvey's backyard, with a hotdog, a s'more and a glass of Cabernet. (The link is to the winery the wine was from. Mother-in-law's niece is married to one of the sons.)

We got back to the in-laws a couple of hours before we had to leave. I was dirty, sweaty, smelled like camp fire and had goat snot on me. I pulled out my shirt that I had worn on Saturday. It was dirty and smelly and dusty from hiking around in the heat and the sun. I decided that if I showered I'd be putting on dirty clothes anyway. So I didn't shower until we got home at 10:00 that night and had gotten Violet showered and ready for bed. When I did, my clothes walked from the bathroom to the laundry room on their own.

Recapping the lessons I learned over the weekend:

1. Big cats eat 15 pounds of meat a day, sleep 20 hours, and ticks don't land on them.
2. Big cats are just like little cats when they've been abused. Many at the sanctuary were afraid of men or shovels due to their past experiences.
3. Goat snot is yellow-orange.
4. It is just as important to keep an eye on the front of the goat as it is the back side when you are sitting in the clover playing with them. While they are likely to pee or poop suddenly, they are just as likely to sneeze or chew on your clothing. Never let your guard down around goats.
5. Baby goats are the cutest things! My mother-in-law was practically stuffing one in her purse to sneak home.
6. When I go to visit my in-laws, bring an extra change of clothes. Because if we go to Harvey's house I'm going to play with the goats, follow the chickens, stand in the campfire smoke and basically have a great time. But I'm going to want to shower and change when I return to civilization.

Hope you all had a great time and that you were able to wash the goat snot off you quicker than I was.