I went to the dentist this morning for my 6 month checkup. I've been waiting for it to get here. One of my molars has felt really funny for a few months. Not painful, not sensitive to hot or cold, just funny when I bite on it. It started back when I had a sinus infection back in December. I'm now thinking maybe that wasn't a sinus infection after all.
The hygienist did her whole thing and she didn't see anything with the tooth, but we reported it to the dentist. He had her do an x-ray and sure enough, it is infected. He put me on an antibiotic and scheduled 2 appointments for later this month to do a root canal. He assured me it is in the really early stages and will be a breeze to do. The receptionist also assured me they are much easier than people make them out to be. My mom, quite the veteran of the dentist chair, said that a root canal is even easier than a filling and especially on a molar will be a piece of cake. The dentist did explain the whole thing to me but all I heard was "root canal, root canal, root canal."
I'm not so sure about this, but there are two good things I'm trying to focus on. First, is we have really good dental insurance through Mr. Incredible's job. We've never had dental before this job. They pay a really big chunk of it. I never had dental insurance growing up and I remember my parents working out installment payments with the dentist. I am really fortunate that I didn't have to ask how much it would be and wonder how soon we'd have enough to get it done. I don't take that for granted for one minute.
The other thing is, I'm hoping the antibiotic makes me feel better. I haven't felt good for a couple of months. Just run down and achy here and there. Having an infection would really explain a lot. Maybe it isn't just because I'm getting old I had thought it was just winter and working too hard. But maybe I've been too hard on myself and there was an explanation for it all.
So we get the infection knocked out. Do whatever it is he's going to do to the tooth (really I blacked out around the time he talked about drilling down into it from the top). And by May, I'll be like a whole new Freak!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
California history and geography
We're starting our next state in geography later this week: California! We're using "Discovering the Geography of North America with Books Kids Love." We have studied Washington State and Oregon so far and have loved all the picture books with Native American fables, stories of the Oregon Trail, learning about Mt. St. Helens, and much more about the Pacific Northwest that this mid-western mom didn't know anything about.
Today I sat down at my computer to put in my interlibrary loan requests for the California books. I wasn't nearly as happy with the recommendations for California as I had been the other two states. There were a several books on race riots in Los Angeles, more on the poor conditions for Mexican immigrants and migrant workers, still others on Japanese internment camps. Not that these aren't important issues, they most definitely are. And I don't believe there is anything to be gained from studying our history through rose-colored glasses. In fact, the dumbing down and outright rewriting of public school history is on my list of reasons to want to homeschool.
But the list of recommended books seemed too heavily weighted towards these topics for my comfort zone reading them aloud to an 8 year old. I would have liked to see more on the Native plants and animals of the state, the environment, the geography and the landmarks of the state. I did put a few of the others on hold. And I searched for others on topics I could think of, like the Redwoods, California Condors, and the Gold Rush. I have some books to look for when I'm at the library next week.
I am still looking for ideas. It is such a large state, I know there is more to it than was represented in the list from the book. If you have any ideas, either specific books or just topics please let me know.
Thanks!
Today I sat down at my computer to put in my interlibrary loan requests for the California books. I wasn't nearly as happy with the recommendations for California as I had been the other two states. There were a several books on race riots in Los Angeles, more on the poor conditions for Mexican immigrants and migrant workers, still others on Japanese internment camps. Not that these aren't important issues, they most definitely are. And I don't believe there is anything to be gained from studying our history through rose-colored glasses. In fact, the dumbing down and outright rewriting of public school history is on my list of reasons to want to homeschool.
But the list of recommended books seemed too heavily weighted towards these topics for my comfort zone reading them aloud to an 8 year old. I would have liked to see more on the Native plants and animals of the state, the environment, the geography and the landmarks of the state. I did put a few of the others on hold. And I searched for others on topics I could think of, like the Redwoods, California Condors, and the Gold Rush. I have some books to look for when I'm at the library next week.
I am still looking for ideas. It is such a large state, I know there is more to it than was represented in the list from the book. If you have any ideas, either specific books or just topics please let me know.
Thanks!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Working with the lights on
We did not participate in Earth Hour and turn out our lights tonight. Not that a reduction in energy consumption isn't a good idea. Not that we aren't environmentalists. I think we are just non-conformists. We don't need to be guilted in to doing something good for the planet. We do a lot of good things everyday.
And we are skeptics.
Did you notice how convenient a time they chose for the Earth Hour for Big Business? Sure, we'll turn our lights out between 8 and 9 pm on a Saturday night. Hmmm. Coincidence? But they couldn't have picked a worse time for families. They picked the getting ready for bed, taking a bath, reading a book, having milk and a snack and finding pajamas hour for it.
Speaking of pajamas I got this stuck in my head earlier tonight:
"Pajammy to the left, pajammy to the right,
Everybody's wearing them for dancing tonight.
Jamma, jamma, jamma, jamma p.j."
(Please note, my little one is now 8. "Eight and a half mom!" I haven't gotten to read Pajama Time by Sondra Boynton in years. I might have the words slightly wrong. But it is still a catchy verse.)
The snow has melted. It was sunny and in the 50s. In fact it was nice enough for Violet to take her in-line skates out to practice. She actually let go of me and Mr. Incredible a few times. She is getting some balance. She still needs a lot of practice, but she really wants to learn.
I spent much of the day working. I have been assigned to a really big project at work. The money is good, but I don't know how I'll get it all done. I did come up with an idea for enlisting the help of others from the department. I'll broach it with my boss next week.
Tonight we ordered in pizza. The kid with the black hair spiked up a good four inches and all the piercings in his face forgot the garlic bread. He was really nice about it. He even looked to see what was in the other order he had to deliver. I think if that family would have had garlic bread he would have given it to us. But he couldn't find it and drove back with it a little later. Nice kid, but I don't think I'll stand next to him in an electrical storm.
While we ate we watched the movie "Enchanted", the Easter Bunny left it in Violet's Easter basket. It was a fun movie. We had not seen it in the theater. Funny how it is cheaper to buy the DVD than for the whole family to go to the theater to see the movie.
Tomorrow promises more of the same: work. But the money's good. And since the economy is so bad, I am not complaining.
And we are skeptics.
Did you notice how convenient a time they chose for the Earth Hour for Big Business? Sure, we'll turn our lights out between 8 and 9 pm on a Saturday night. Hmmm. Coincidence? But they couldn't have picked a worse time for families. They picked the getting ready for bed, taking a bath, reading a book, having milk and a snack and finding pajamas hour for it.
Speaking of pajamas I got this stuck in my head earlier tonight:
"Pajammy to the left, pajammy to the right,
Everybody's wearing them for dancing tonight.
Jamma, jamma, jamma, jamma p.j."
(Please note, my little one is now 8. "Eight and a half mom!" I haven't gotten to read Pajama Time by Sondra Boynton in years. I might have the words slightly wrong. But it is still a catchy verse.)
The snow has melted. It was sunny and in the 50s. In fact it was nice enough for Violet to take her in-line skates out to practice. She actually let go of me and Mr. Incredible a few times. She is getting some balance. She still needs a lot of practice, but she really wants to learn.
I spent much of the day working. I have been assigned to a really big project at work. The money is good, but I don't know how I'll get it all done. I did come up with an idea for enlisting the help of others from the department. I'll broach it with my boss next week.
Tonight we ordered in pizza. The kid with the black hair spiked up a good four inches and all the piercings in his face forgot the garlic bread. He was really nice about it. He even looked to see what was in the other order he had to deliver. I think if that family would have had garlic bread he would have given it to us. But he couldn't find it and drove back with it a little later. Nice kid, but I don't think I'll stand next to him in an electrical storm.
While we ate we watched the movie "Enchanted", the Easter Bunny left it in Violet's Easter basket. It was a fun movie. We had not seen it in the theater. Funny how it is cheaper to buy the DVD than for the whole family to go to the theater to see the movie.
Tomorrow promises more of the same: work. But the money's good. And since the economy is so bad, I am not complaining.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
March 27th!?
You can't tell from these photos, but it was snowing hard this afternoon. I wouldn't be surprised if we are up to 80 inches of snow total for the season. This is the view from my back door:
The snow was coming down on our tulips and daffodils that are trying hard to come up:
I think it will mostly melt by tomorrow. Snow this late in the season isn't unheard of. After the great tornado outbreak on April 21, 1967 the clean up efforts were delayed by a freak snowstorm. But it isn't very common. This snow wasn't as heavy or as slick as the one on Good Friday. The editor of our local paper called that snow "the consistency of a Slurpee," he was right. This was the lighter flakier stuff.
Tomorrow Violet and I have a shopping spree planned at the Girl Scout center. You can bet if I see the product sales director I'll mention Violet's missing dog. Our cookie chair blamed the delay on waiting for her to place a new order. The director gets enough "she said, she said" so I'll be more tactful but will ask if she knows the ETA of the dog.
Off to research ideas for a right-brained, hands-on learner to memorize her math facts. So far I like the idea of her learning all Multiplication Rock songs from Schoolhouse Rock.
The snow was coming down on our tulips and daffodils that are trying hard to come up:
I think it will mostly melt by tomorrow. Snow this late in the season isn't unheard of. After the great tornado outbreak on April 21, 1967 the clean up efforts were delayed by a freak snowstorm. But it isn't very common. This snow wasn't as heavy or as slick as the one on Good Friday. The editor of our local paper called that snow "the consistency of a Slurpee," he was right. This was the lighter flakier stuff.
Tomorrow Violet and I have a shopping spree planned at the Girl Scout center. You can bet if I see the product sales director I'll mention Violet's missing dog. Our cookie chair blamed the delay on waiting for her to place a new order. The director gets enough "she said, she said" so I'll be more tactful but will ask if she knows the ETA of the dog.
Off to research ideas for a right-brained, hands-on learner to memorize her math facts. So far I like the idea of her learning all Multiplication Rock songs from Schoolhouse Rock.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Super Freak!
Thanks for all the wonderful comments the last day or two. I've been getting the cobwebs out of my brain and using the blog to do it. It is so nice to know I'm not alone in often feeling alone. What would we have all done before the internet? We wouldn't have been able to find each other.
I am taking MOM#1's advice to not be ordinary, be extraordinary! So from now on I'm thinking of myself as Superfreak! She's a freak, superfreak, that mom is freaky. Well, at least some people in real life have probably said the last part as I've left the room.
Is the song stuck in your heads, too? Then my work here is done.
Except to say that Violet loved her class, they hiked all over looking for tracks. She said they found a lot of deer tracks. The weather was beautiful today, sunny and in the 50s. And the ground was really muddy from all the melting snow. Perfect tracking weather.
The cupcake recipe is at the Girl Scout cookie website: ABC Cookies. Hover over Cinna-Spins. Cinna-Spins are similar to Cinnamon Teddy Grahams, I think they'd make a decent substitute, if you don't mind crushing teddy bears that is.
There was a front page article on homeschooling in my local paper today. Featured the self-proclaimed homeschool expert in our county (I'm just mad because about a year ago she called me ignorant in a e-mail loop, I'm sure she's totally clueless as to how rude and insensitive her remark was). The only other homeschool family interviewed had an 17 year old daughter who was about to graduate from college with a 14 year old sister about to start college. Why can't these articles ever feature normal kids? Like we need the press making us look any stranger. There was also a quote from someone from a teacher's union that was humorous. Said that homeschools needed more regulations because "All you have to do is register as a school and you’re in; there’s no checking of qualifications and curriculum.” Hee, hee, in Illinois we don't even have to "register" as a school. We just start homeschooling. Bwahahaha. Regulate that.
I put the paper in the recycle bin.
I am taking MOM#1's advice to not be ordinary, be extraordinary! So from now on I'm thinking of myself as Superfreak! She's a freak, superfreak, that mom is freaky. Well, at least some people in real life have probably said the last part as I've left the room.
Is the song stuck in your heads, too? Then my work here is done.
Except to say that Violet loved her class, they hiked all over looking for tracks. She said they found a lot of deer tracks. The weather was beautiful today, sunny and in the 50s. And the ground was really muddy from all the melting snow. Perfect tracking weather.
The cupcake recipe is at the Girl Scout cookie website: ABC Cookies. Hover over Cinna-Spins. Cinna-Spins are similar to Cinnamon Teddy Grahams, I think they'd make a decent substitute, if you don't mind crushing teddy bears that is.
There was a front page article on homeschooling in my local paper today. Featured the self-proclaimed homeschool expert in our county (I'm just mad because about a year ago she called me ignorant in a e-mail loop, I'm sure she's totally clueless as to how rude and insensitive her remark was). The only other homeschool family interviewed had an 17 year old daughter who was about to graduate from college with a 14 year old sister about to start college. Why can't these articles ever feature normal kids? Like we need the press making us look any stranger. There was also a quote from someone from a teacher's union that was humorous. Said that homeschools needed more regulations because "All you have to do is register as a school and you’re in; there’s no checking of qualifications and curriculum.” Hee, hee, in Illinois we don't even have to "register" as a school. We just start homeschooling. Bwahahaha. Regulate that.
I put the paper in the recycle bin.
Spring Cyber-Cleaning
I've been working on cleaning up my cyber-life. I found myself frequenting forums that I just don't enjoy anymore. And receiving e-mails through Yahoo Groups I don't care for either. I don't feel like I fit in. Guess it is hard for a freak to find a place to be herself. I'm not an unschooler. I'm not a Christian homeschooler. I don't have a big family.
But I've figured out that blogging is where I do fit in. I blog. My friends blog. I enjoy writing and reading blogs. That is where I'm going to concentrate my efforts.
Blogging and Homeschool-Talk.com. I like HST a lot, and not just because I run it, but because people are nice there. I'm tired of people being mean and negative. Oh, I can complain with the best of them. But I can also say something nice. And I try to never hurt people's feelings. At HST people are nice, everyone is welcome, and we try to support each other through whatever we are going through. That's what I like in a forum.
I haven't actually deleted my accounts anywhere, but I have deleted a lot of my bookmarks. That slows me down from going back. And I haven't missed anything yet. I also changed my several of my Yahoo group memberships to no e-mail. I haven't missed getting messages from any of them either.
That leaves the only child Yahoo group I started a few weeks ago. That just isn't panning out like I'd hoped. I was rereading a lot of the messages yesterday and I thought that if I just joined and saw how mean and argumentative and negative they are, I would leave the group or certainly not participate. It was a good idea, the mix just wasn't right. Or maybe it lacked focus or leadership. I just know I don't have the energy or interest to do anything with it to try to save it. If anyone wants to try to save it, you are welcome to it. Let me know and I'll transfer the group ownership over to you. Otherwise I'll probably delete it soon. I'm not bitter about it, it just didn't work out. Lots of things don't pan out on the internet. You try them, then you move on to something else. Maybe I'll try something else this summer.
For now I need to concentrate on a really big project for work, Girl Scout Spring registration, and finishing up third grade. That's enough projects for me.
But I've figured out that blogging is where I do fit in. I blog. My friends blog. I enjoy writing and reading blogs. That is where I'm going to concentrate my efforts.
Blogging and Homeschool-Talk.com. I like HST a lot, and not just because I run it, but because people are nice there. I'm tired of people being mean and negative. Oh, I can complain with the best of them. But I can also say something nice. And I try to never hurt people's feelings. At HST people are nice, everyone is welcome, and we try to support each other through whatever we are going through. That's what I like in a forum.
I haven't actually deleted my accounts anywhere, but I have deleted a lot of my bookmarks. That slows me down from going back. And I haven't missed anything yet. I also changed my several of my Yahoo group memberships to no e-mail. I haven't missed getting messages from any of them either.
That leaves the only child Yahoo group I started a few weeks ago. That just isn't panning out like I'd hoped. I was rereading a lot of the messages yesterday and I thought that if I just joined and saw how mean and argumentative and negative they are, I would leave the group or certainly not participate. It was a good idea, the mix just wasn't right. Or maybe it lacked focus or leadership. I just know I don't have the energy or interest to do anything with it to try to save it. If anyone wants to try to save it, you are welcome to it. Let me know and I'll transfer the group ownership over to you. Otherwise I'll probably delete it soon. I'm not bitter about it, it just didn't work out. Lots of things don't pan out on the internet. You try them, then you move on to something else. Maybe I'll try something else this summer.
For now I need to concentrate on a really big project for work, Girl Scout Spring registration, and finishing up third grade. That's enough projects for me.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Cupcakes!
As promised, a photo of Violet and her Razzle Dazzle Cinnamon Carrot Cupcakes:
They were as delicious as they look! We still have extras so I put a few in the freezer today. I think they'll keep okay there.
In other news...
We had some school lessons today. Violet finished the last of the regular pages in Easy Grammar 3rd grade. Tomorrow or the next day she'll take the post-assessment test. I'm also going to have her do the few pages at the end book on letter writing on sentences. Then no more grammar until fall!
She also did a lot of math work. The combination of Miquon and Noble Knights of Knowledge is really working. She gets the concept beeter with the Knights. She can do the problems in Miquon as practice. One complaint I have about Knights is that there aren't many practice problems. Yes, I know, I'm a smart gal, I can easily make up math problems. I just don't want to. I love, love, love to make up my own curriculum and lessons, but I'm just too darned tired. The next math session we have she'll finish up the Blue Book in Miquon.
I called Cookie Chair to see if she'd heard anything about Violet's missing stuffed dog. She was almost rude saying she'd call me when it came in. Well, she doesn't have a very good communication track record this cookie season and I just don't believe her that she'll call me very quickly. Meanwhile Violet is waiting patiently and I'd really like to wrap up this cookie season.
I'm also following up on 8 missing registration forms for girls who sold cookies but are not yet officially members of Girl Scouts. Out of the 8, 7 of the forms are supposedly on their way to me. Should have been here by now. They aren't. I sent follow-up e-mail to the leaders. The leaders of girl number 8 never returned my first e-mail. I'm just trying to do my volunteer work here people, is it too hard to do what you'll say you'll do? I suspect that Violet's dog didn't make it here because Cookie Chair wasn't happy about hearing about the unregistered girls so late in the process. Guess what? She was the one who had all the listings of troops as well as the listings of who sold. I never once, and still don't, have access to who sold cookies. I got the list of girls from Council. Next year if they expect me to collect the registration forms after the fact, they are going to supply me with the information much earlier than this year.
Whew. Thanks for listening to all that. I kinda had to get it out of my system so I could put it on the back burner and forget about it for a while. If no one else cares enough to return my e-mail or call me, I don't either. I am just a volunteer.
Tomorrow Violet has a class called "Junior Trackers" at a local nature center. It looks like there are 7 kids signed up for it according to the online system. A really nice size. They get to make a cast of an animal print. I think she'll enjoy the class. I'm going to take it easy for an hour while she's in her class. Maybe I'll take a cupcake with me. And NOT think about Girl Scout cookies.
They were as delicious as they look! We still have extras so I put a few in the freezer today. I think they'll keep okay there.
In other news...
We had some school lessons today. Violet finished the last of the regular pages in Easy Grammar 3rd grade. Tomorrow or the next day she'll take the post-assessment test. I'm also going to have her do the few pages at the end book on letter writing on sentences. Then no more grammar until fall!
She also did a lot of math work. The combination of Miquon and Noble Knights of Knowledge is really working. She gets the concept beeter with the Knights. She can do the problems in Miquon as practice. One complaint I have about Knights is that there aren't many practice problems. Yes, I know, I'm a smart gal, I can easily make up math problems. I just don't want to. I love, love, love to make up my own curriculum and lessons, but I'm just too darned tired. The next math session we have she'll finish up the Blue Book in Miquon.
I called Cookie Chair to see if she'd heard anything about Violet's missing stuffed dog. She was almost rude saying she'd call me when it came in. Well, she doesn't have a very good communication track record this cookie season and I just don't believe her that she'll call me very quickly. Meanwhile Violet is waiting patiently and I'd really like to wrap up this cookie season.
I'm also following up on 8 missing registration forms for girls who sold cookies but are not yet officially members of Girl Scouts. Out of the 8, 7 of the forms are supposedly on their way to me. Should have been here by now. They aren't. I sent follow-up e-mail to the leaders. The leaders of girl number 8 never returned my first e-mail. I'm just trying to do my volunteer work here people, is it too hard to do what you'll say you'll do? I suspect that Violet's dog didn't make it here because Cookie Chair wasn't happy about hearing about the unregistered girls so late in the process. Guess what? She was the one who had all the listings of troops as well as the listings of who sold. I never once, and still don't, have access to who sold cookies. I got the list of girls from Council. Next year if they expect me to collect the registration forms after the fact, they are going to supply me with the information much earlier than this year.
Whew. Thanks for listening to all that. I kinda had to get it out of my system so I could put it on the back burner and forget about it for a while. If no one else cares enough to return my e-mail or call me, I don't either. I am just a volunteer.
Tomorrow Violet has a class called "Junior Trackers" at a local nature center. It looks like there are 7 kids signed up for it according to the online system. A really nice size. They get to make a cast of an animal print. I think she'll enjoy the class. I'm going to take it easy for an hour while she's in her class. Maybe I'll take a cupcake with me. And NOT think about Girl Scout cookies.
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