The New Unschooler

Quick Hello

2011-08-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hi there. Long time no type. I'm just writing to let you know that I've deleted the other blog that I started (all five posts) and since I don't have much to say about unschooling anymore--it's just part of living life nowadays--I probably won't be posting here either. If you're new to unschooling you might want to go back to the beginning of this blog and read it in order. It'll give you a good sense of what to expect if you're coming from a pretty schoolish mindset. It'll also give you some good ideas on what not to do. And hopefully you'll find a few golden nuggets of wisdom thrown in, too. Unfortunately, a lot of wisdom was deleted when there was a glitch with my comments and all the comments from my wonderful unschooling mentors (JJ I'm looking at you!) vanished forever. Oh, well. C'est la vie.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the journey!

First Post At The New Blog

2011-01-06T20:11:00.000-08:00

The first post of the year is up at my new blog! It's still a work in progress over there, but it'll be better soon, I swear!

The New Unschooler Is Moving On

2011-01-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

I've decided to start posting at my other blog--the one I started a year ago and promptly forgot. It's called "Simple. Frugal. Fun." and I think posting there rather than here at The New Unschooler will help me keep focused on my goal of getting my act together and getting the house in order this year.

I feel really good about what I've done so far, by the way! The house is a disaster, but I'm really enjoying all the work I've been doing and I can imagine a time in the not so distant future when I'll know exactly what lies within these four walls and where to find it. Plus, I've realized that my leisure time is much more enjoyable when I feel I've accomplished something toward my goals first. I haven't posted anything over there yet, but when I do (probably later today or tomorrow morning) I'll be sure to let you know and provide a link.

I hope you'll stick with me at my new home. After all, at day 1,214 I can hardly call myself a "new" unschooler any longer! I'm sure I'll still have something to say about unschooling every now and then, but for the most part it's just become such a natural part of our lives that I rarely even think about it let alone feel like writing something about it. If I do have something to say about unschooling I'll post it on the new blog where my focus will be on getting myself and my house in order so my family can take full advantage of the freedom unschooling has given us.

So I'll see you at Simple. Frugal. Fun.

Ciao!

My Usual Approach

2011-01-04T16:59:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to write much today because I've spent most of the day sorting, organizing, shredding, etc and I'm ready to put all responsibility aside, change into my PJs (yes, before 5pm) and read my new book. In the meantime, head over to Hyperbole and a Half and read This is Why I'll Never be an Adult. It pretty much sums up my usual approach to getting things done. And it's hilarious.

Manic Monday

2011-01-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

What a full, productive day! I started off with my usual Monday morning appointment at the home of my 95-year-old friend, Sol, where I spent a couple hours helping him balance his check book, write a New Year's letter, and get to the bank. Next, I came home and because I've been working so hard at getting the house organized (as evidenced by the complete mess in nearly every room) I was able to watch a movie ("Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown") in the middle of the day, absolutely free of guilt. Next I tackled one of the fullest, most intimidating boxes in my office. I had even decided to forgo my "Awesome 80s Dance Party" class (which I love!) in favor of going through the boxes. But, guess what!? I finished the box at 6 and class starts at 6:30. So I made it! When class was over I crawled home, checked my e-mail, and got a call from Warren saying he was almost home from work--at 8:00! (Yes, that's cause for celebration in the movie business.) And even though Warren had just said yesterday that we shouldn't spend money eating out, he agreed that we should walk down to the dosa truck (which conveniently parks a block from our house every Monday night) to get some dinner! So, we bought way too much food (including dessert) and stopped in at the wine shop to get some of the beers off of our list of 50 Beers to Try Right Now. Then we came home, ate our dosas, drank our beer, and watched an episode of Doc Martin. It was a near perfect day. Oh, and Jerry is having a sleep over at a friend's house which is really great because he hasn't seen much of this friend lately, so I know he's got to be really happy about it. There you have it. A round up of my first Monday of 2011. I hope to have many more just like it!

Before, After & After

2011-01-02T22:28:00.000-08:00

I was going to post some photos of my new craft room/office (formerly Jerry's play room), but we still haven't fixed the PC, which means I still don't have sole use of my laptop, and I can't put photos on the computer I'm using. So, no luck. It's okay, though. You can use your imagination. Here we go:

Imagine a play room so full you rarely, if ever, see the floor. Imagine open bins of toys (nearly all made of small parts, of course) on book shelves, in front of book shelves, on the sofa. Imagine a cluttered desk (at least it looks like a desk--you can't really be sure) and then imagine adding lots of boxes of fabric and craft supplies and electronics equipment and unfinished projects (they're coming from another room) to the mix. That's the before picture.

Have a cup of tea now while a couple weeks pass and I have two appointments with Abbey the Organizer, in addition to doing a lot of organizing and sorting and throwing out and putting things in other rooms (or the garage--it'll come back to haunt me, I know) on my own.

Welcome back! Now imagine an empty desk. An orderly bookcase. A sofa free of anything but a couple pillows (purchased on my recent trip to Crete!). A new (to this room) cabinet of closed shelves that houses sewing supplies in meticulously organized and neatly labeled bins. A lovely wall unit (also new to this room) with neatly organized shelves, drawers of office supplies, a closed cabinet of craft supplies, beautifully framed photos of my adorable nieces and nephews, and a labeled (if slightly disorganized) box of electronics equipment. Now let your eyes wander across the clutter-free, newly swept floor to the opposite wall where six clear plastic bins are full of (neatly folded and organized!) fabric and half-finished (but separated into Ziploc baggies!) projects--all labeled and stacked beneath the window. A one-legged Iron Giant figure laying atop the bookcase is the only item in the entire room that seems out of place. Still, the room looks great. Savor it. It's not going to last.

Now, go downstairs and peek around the corner of the former "wreck" room. It's still a wreck, but it's officially becoming Warren's office and music room now. It used to be our shared office. And it was the place we stored--well, just about everything that wouldn't fit in the garage. So all my writing paraphernalia, all the family memorabilia, all the boxes of stuff from when Jerry still called himself Batman (including his little black cape!), the magazines, and the other non-Warren, non-music-related items will be leaving this room to go to their new home--my craft room/office.

OK. Now have another cup of tea because a week needs to pass in which Warren and I organize and categorize almost everything in the "wreck" room.

Welcome back once again! Now, take a deep, calming breath before stepping into the craft room/office. The wall unit is still there. It's still neatly organized (though there are a couple stacks of papers that weren't there before). The bookcase and the sewing cabinet look the same-except the Iron Giant on the bookcase has both his legs now. There's a different (prettier) desk (also new to the room!) and it's still blissfully free of clutter. But, now look at the floor. Look harder, smart ass! It's there. You just can't see it because of all the friggin' boxes full of the crap we brought up from the "wreck" room.

So, there you have it. The before and after and after of the craft room/office. The first after was really nice. The second one? Not so much.

Still, I plan on having it all categorized in neat little boxes by the time Abbey comes back on the 11th. Looks like I'd better get busy!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

After we got back from our trip I decided to give myself a break from blogging, with the intention of starting up again in the new year. So, here it is the new year, and here I am, at the keyboard. I almost didn't get a post out today (it's almost 8pm as I write) because my laptop has been hijacked by Jerry. His laptop won't play Star Craft, but mine will. So, until we figure out the problem his PC is having connecting to the internet (a problem which nearly caused me to chuck the stupid thing out the window today), he'll be using mine. A lot.

So anyway, this is just a brief post to let you know I'm still alive and that I haven't let the blog go completely. I'm going to change my focus a bit, though--not that I've had much of a focus for the last couple years. Still, I'm making some changes and I'll be documenting them on this blog. They aren't mind blowing changes, but put together I expect them to do a lot to help me take full advantage of the freedom I have in my life since I adopted the principles of unschooling as a lifestyle.

I won't spoil the fun by telling you everything now (mainly because Warren and I are supposed to be watching a movie together!) but I'll give you a sneak peek of some of the changes that are going down.

I've hired a professional organizer to help me get my house in order. (Yippee!) I know it sounds crazy because I'm perfectly capable of organizing my own house. In fact, I'm really good at organizing. But have I done it? Nope. We've lived in this house for ten years and I've said I'm going to get the place in order at least 25 times, but I never finish. I get too overwhelmed. I want to get to a point where I can stand in my living room and say to myself, "It's done." And I'll know where to find everything we own and if it's something we don't need or use it won't be in our house at all. I've worked with the organizer for six hours so far (and done many more hours of work on my own) and I can already see tremendous progress. Before/after pictures will be coming your way very soon!
I'm working on forming some new habits. The smallest and most likely to have a positive effect on my life is to not put off anything that takes less than 60 seconds to complete. I've been doing it (mostly) for a couple weeks. You would not believe the amount of times in a day I start to put off tasks that literally take 5 seconds to complete! But, I've been pretty good at following through on my goal. We'll see if I can keep it up.

Anyway, those are just a couple things that are changing. Obviously one big change that's beyond my control is the fact that our beautiful dog, Patsy, is no longer with us. And I guess we'll be getting another dog soon because Jerry says he's too sad without one. So, before too long (maybe even tomorrow) we'll have a new family member that will be peeing and pooping and chewing and generally wreaking havoc on our lives. I know he or she will also bring love and cuddles and kisses and may even fill some of the empty space we've been left with, but I guess I'm not quite ready to think about that yet. I don't want any old (or young) dog. I want Patsy. I know--I'm being melodramatic. Sorry. I'll stop.

Anyway, as far as the rest of the family goes, Jerry is doing his usual thing: WoW, XBox, Star Craft, building Gundam models, reading manga, watching movies and anime, and talking to friends online. Warren is still working on Pirates 4, and expects the next four months to be really busy with lots of six and seven day weeks at work and verrrrry loooong hours. He did get the week between Christmas and New Year's off, though, and we've been savoring every minute of our time together knowing we won't be seeing much of one another once Monday comes around.

So, that's about it for now. More on the exciting new adventure that will be 2011 tomorrow!

Paris

2010-10-10T02:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not going in order. I'm starting with Paris because they're the most recent pictures I've uploaded to iPhoto. So, first, let me say that we stayed in the same studio apartment that we stayed in last summer when we did our house swap and it was perfect. (You can see it and even rent it here!) Both Jerry and I loved going back to a familiar neighborhood and the apartment has wireless internet and television now, so it was better than ever. (We watched One Piece in French!)

We were kind of tired from our activities in Greece and since we had just been to Paris the previous year, I didn't feel obligated to see too many museums and do touristy things, which was great. We went to Musee d'Orsay on our first full day in Paris, just because I love that museum and even though Jerry didn't especially want to go, I wanted him to see it. I don't usually make him come to museums with me, but he was up for it and we didn't stay too long, so it worked out well. After the museum we went to FNAC, which is kind of like Best Buy, and Jerry played Guitar Hero. We've been finding lots of ways to incorporate Guitar Hero into the trip even though we didn't bring the PS3 with us! And we've both been good about doing things the other person wants to do. (Museum for me. Guitar Hero for Jerry!) It works out really well. Plus, now that he's older he doesn't always have to go with me. When I went out on Saturday night for Nuit Blanche (a single night of art installations in buildings and public places throughout Paris) Jerry stayed at the apartment and played WoW with a friend from home.

The highlights of our time in Paris (and the real reason for going there) were our visits spent with friends. We spent an afternoon with Etienne's family and we went to Dominique and Alain's (the owner's of the apartment) for dinner one night as well. After that, our next favorite time spent in Paris was at the Musee des Arts et Metier (we went there last year, too) where they had a super cool hands-on history of video games exhibit. It was pure awesome. And as that happens to be my favorite museum in Paris (followed closely by the Musee de la Magie) we both had a great time.

So, I was going to put pictures up for you, but it turns out that the hotel's internet connection runs at a glacial pace, so I'm going to have to do it another day when I'm not at the hotel. Sorry about that. More details to come soon!

Hello From London!

2010-10-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

My friend, Terri, says she misses my posts and I know Sheri isn't on Facebook, so I'm going to write a quick post. I've been feeling kind of removed from friends and family anyway, so maybe blogging will help. We're having a really great time. Our week with the Waynforth family in Norfolk couldn't possibly have been any better. Our time in Greece was amazing (as was the food!) and we loved going back to Paris (to the same studio we stayed in last summer) and seeing Etienne and finally meeting the people we swapped houses with last year. I have lots of details to share, but this is just a quickie post so I'm saving details for later.

We did have some really sad news from home. Our most wonderful dog, Patsy, died.

It was totally unexpected and happened very quickly. My dad and my brothers dog, Rocko, were with her, so at least she wasn't alone. I feel really awful about it. I have to keep reminding myself that healthy dogs don't die of sadness because I feel like she died because we left her. But, I know that's not really true. Jerry was, of course, really upset. But he was so thoughtful and kept hugging me and telling me it would be okay. I was so worried about how he would react and he seemed just as worried about my reaction. He's getting so grown up...

We've canceled our trip to Spain (we were supposed to leave tomorrow), so we're in London until next week when we go back to Norfolk for a few days, then we're in London again until October 20 when we go to Switzerland for 5 days to visit Patrizia and Alexandra (they're the ones who stayed with us last summer). At the end of the month Lynn is coming down to London with her daughter, Milly, so I'll get to meet a fellow unschooler and blogger which will be awesome. Then we head home on November 1.

I've taken loads of pictures and will put a few on the blog soon. Here in London we've been venturing out of the hotel only for very short trips because I've been sick (so annoying!) so I don't have a ton of energy. But I feel a recovery coming soon (I've been saying that for days, though). Anyway, in spite of the sad news, things are fine and we're enjoying being in new places and meeting new (and old) friends.

So, that's my quickie post. Hopefully there will be a longie soon.

Friend Me!

2010-09-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say that Jerry and I have arrived in England and are staying with the Waynforth family in Norfolk. We're having a great time, but I'm not sure I'll be posting much on the blog. I am putting pictures on Facebook, though, so please friend me on Facebook (Colleen Paeff) if you want to follow along with our European Adventure!

I Did it!

2010-09-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

I bought our plane tickets to Greece! I know I said we were going, but as long as it was just a thought I kept thinking I might decide not to go because of the cost and because Warren won't be there, which makes the whole idea seem incredibly frivolous and self-indulgent. But, today I bought plane tickets (London to Athens and Crete to Paris--I'm still working on the Athens to Crete part) so there's no turning back now!! I have butterflies in my stomach I'm so excited. We're going to Greece!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

This could be me!

The Ever Changing Plan

2010-08-31T08:33:00.000-07:00

When I bought our tickets to London, I was pretty sure Warren would already be there. After all, he was scheduled to leave Sept. 6 and Jerry and I would be coming more than a week later on Sept. 14 (our 19th wedding anniversary!). But you can guess what happened, right?

Yep, we're going to beat him to London--by about five days. But, since flexibility is the name of the game in the film business (that and a willingness to work every minute of every day from pre-production until the film hits theaters) we're accustomed to making last minute changes. Still, it makes it hard to plan. Especially since Warren told me the editor he's working with doesn't even want to go to London. Now I'm afraid the editor will convince the director that the post-production crew should stay in Los Angeles and Warren won't be going to London at all!

Either way, Jerry and I are going, though. Warren says we should still go and have fun no matter where he ends up (of course, there's the small matter of the house sitter who is planning on living here for 7 weeks--Warren could have a roommate if he stays). So, that's what we'll do. Jerry and I will go and have a great time. And by the look of our calendar it's going to be absolutely amazing! And, it won't even be that big of a problem if Warren doesn't go, because we won't really be spending too much time in London anyway. After all, we've got places to go and people to see!

We're going to start off by visiting the Wayforths (that's a new plan now that Warren won't be in London when we arrive--thank you Schuyler!). Then, once Warren gets there (hopefully on the 19th) we'll spend about a week in London with Warren before going to Greece for our Percy Jackson/Greek Mythology Tour Extravaganza. That's not a real tour. I just made it up. But, we're focusing on Greek mythology and are going to try to see the sites related to the myths in the books, so that's what I'm calling it. I'm still working out the details of that trip, but hope to have it all planned and booked in the next day or two. The following week we'll be back in London where Lynn and Milly will come for a visit. Yippee! It's going to be so fun to meet them and to explore London together.

On Thursday of that week (Oct. 8) we fly to Biarritz where we will be picked up by the family of a Spanish girl (she's Jerry's age) who is coming to live with us next year. That's right! We're getting another "exchange" student of sorts. She has to finish this year of school in Spain because it's the law, but then she's coming to live with us in L.A. for a while. I'm so looking forward to it! We're going to stay with her family from the 8th-12th and they're taking us to Pamplona and San Sebastian and some other wonderful places in Spain. This is really exciting because it just came about in the last few days, so it's really unexpected. I love Homelink!

We'll fly back to London on Jerry's 15th birthday and celebrate that evening with Warren. Then the following day we'll go back to the Wayforths for a few days where Simon and Linnea have offered to host a birthday party for Jerry. It's going to be such a special birthday for him.

So, we stay with the Waynforths until the weekend, head back to London and then on Monday fly to Baden Baden where we will take the train to Ettlingen (near the Black Forest) to stay two nights with a German family who stayed with us a couple weeks ago. From there we take the train to Bern, Switzerland to stay with Patricia and Alexandra (they were with us during the summer), then we go to Paris to see Etienne and his family and we'll also see the family we swapped houses with last summer. I expect we'll go back to London around Oct. 27, then we celebrate my birthday with Warren on the 30th and Jerry and I fly home two days later, November 1. Actually, we fly to San Francisco, then we pick Patsy up at my mom and dad's, then we drive home. Oh, and sometime before we leave we need to make it up to Whitby (in North Yorkshire) to visit the woman who saved Jerry's life (literally) the last time we were in England. I figure we owe her a dinner.

So there you have it. That's the European Adventure as it stands today. And then, (as if all of that excitement wasn't enough!) we have an extra special guest coming from Canada on November 11. I'm looking forward to a very girlie weekend of going to museums and drinking wine and talking and eating and having all kinds of fun.

So that's what the next couple months will look like for us. The funny thing is, I've been under the impression that we had a few weeks to get ready before we leave, but I realized a couple days ago that we leave to take Patsy to my mom's a week from Saturday! I only have 10 days left! So, I've gone into high gear and am making arrangements, booking flights, deciding on luggage, filling my iPod with music, buying dog food (which is killing me because it's new prescription stuff that costs an arm and a leg) and getting the house ready for our house sitter--or Warren's roommate (we won't know for another week or so which one he'll be).

Thankfully, all of that leaves very little time for me to feel sorry for myself. So no more whiny posts! Hooray!

Who is Teaching Who Here?!

2010-08-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Last week Jerry changed servers on WoW so he could play with his friend Michelle. But she doesn't play as often as Jerry, so he's been really bummed about his decision to switch. The change cost $25 and now he's thinking about changing back to his old server (which will cost another $25). We were talking about making the change while we walked Patsy last week...

Me: But if you change back it's like throwing $50 out the window.

Jerry: No it isn't. It's spending $50 on something that I really want.

Me: Oh. You're right. I guess that's a better way to look at it.

So, that was lesson number one. For me. But school wasn't over. There was more to learn...

I was feeling especially blah that day. (I know. It's getting old, right?) Usually I keep my mouth shut when I feel this way because I tend to regret the things that come out of it. But, Jerry asked. So, I told him I was still struggling with figuring out what to do with myself now that he doesn't really need me around during the day. I told him it was kind of depressing to be alone while he's sleeping and that I'm tired of making so many plans that don't include him.

Then I said: You know what, though. I shouldn't even be talking about this right now. It's coming out like you should be changing something and that's not what I mean. It's just me. I'm having trouble adjusting.

Jerry said: No. It's OK. I tell you about my problems all the time. You should be able to tell me yours.

Me: Yeah. I guess. I just don't want you to think I'm criticizing you.

Jerry: I can handle a little criticism now and then. I mean, people I consider my friends have told me they think I'm lifeless. And I'm fine with it.

Me: It doesn't bother you that they think that?

Jerry: No because I'm doing what makes me happy. Why should it matter what they think?

Me: You're right. It shouldn't matter to you as long as you enjoy what you're doing. That's really great.

Jerry: I think a lot of people either live in the past or in the future, but I just live in the moment. I don't think too much about the other stuff--maybe I should.

Me: A lot of people work their whole lives to live more in the moment and still find it difficult! I don't think you need to change. Buddhists believe in living in the moment. Maybe you're a Buddhist and you didn't even know it!

Jerry: I'm a big fat guy with no shirt?

Me: Buddhist not Buddha.

Jerry: I know. I'm kidding.

Jerry is my hero.

London

2010-08-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

We're getting an apartment! I was afraid they'd put us in a hotel with no kitchen, but we'll be in a one-bedroom apartment near Hyde Park. Now that I know it's official and we're really going, I feel like 7 weeks just isn't long enough to be there. There are so many places to go and people to visit! I got a book about Greece at the library and I'm going to plan that trip today.

Tonight I'm going to an information meeting at UCLA to learn more about the MLIS (Masters of Library and Information Science) program I plan on joining. I don't know when I'll apply, but this meeting should help me figure that out. (Oh, and I'll be taking one online library class while we're in London--it's just a one unit class.)

This past week has been full of good friends and good times. I went to a movie with a girlfriend last week (the mom of one of Jerry's friends). A friend from college came up on Friday and we hung out, had dinner, then enjoyed a bottle of wine on the deck while we watched the stars come out as a garden spider spun his web right at the end of the deck. (We saw a Mickey Mouse balloon float by, too.) Monday I had lunch with a friend who has been MIA for the last year. It was great to catch up and she brought me some homemade nectarine/lemon verbena jam that is absolutely amazing. (I'm eating it on toast now!) Yesterday I visited my grandma for a couple hours. Here we are. I love my grandma. I really need to visit her more often. (I also really need to start working out--look at the size of that giant, fat arm!)

Then I stopped by to see a friend who lives in Long Beach. We walked his dog, grabbed a bite to eat (it ended up all over my hands and clothes--but was so good) and looked at vacation pictures. And it just keeps on going--next week a girlfriend from college (who I haven't seen in years) is coming up with her girls and we're going to the Observatory. And I have plans to see Eat Pray Love and probably Winter's Bone with another couple friends. Lots of fun going on here. But not a lot of picture taking. Sorry about that!

In other news, I've been going through our emergency supply--most of which expired in 2003--and restocking it with all the things we'll need when "the big one" hits. Is your emergency kit well stocked? It should be!

This blog has become unbelievably boring lately (sorry about that, too!), but I'll keep writing quick uninspired updates so friends and family know what we're doing around these parts--even if they do put me to sleep.

Hopefully they'll get more exciting when we're in London!

Crisis Averted

2010-08-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

I'm fine now. I was just having a little meltdown. Some growing pains, as it were. But all is well and my mottos of the day are "Begin" and "Stay in the moment." I'm having trouble beginning projects because the all seem so large. But, yesterday I bought an adorable bookcase in the shape of a dollhouse that I'm going to repaint and sell. I almost gave up on it before ever beginning, though.

Here's how it went down:

Me #1: Yippee! I have a project! I'm going to sand the bookcase today! Hooray! Wait a minute. Look at all those marker drawings. That's going to take a lot of sanding. That sucks. I'll do this later.

Me #2: Hold on a minute! Just begin sanding in one small space and stay in that moment. Think of it as an exercise in meditation.

Me #1: Hmm. I guess I could do that.

Me #2: Well. What are you waiting for? Begin.

And I did. I just focused on the space I was sanding and before too long I was done. Amazing how that works.

Crisis

2010-08-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

What the heck am I supposed to do with myself now that Jerry spends most of his time on the computer or Xbox talking and playing with far flung friends? I feel like I'm stuck in limbo. I don't want to commit myself to anything big because I keep thinking Jerry is going to want me for something--some fun project or excursion--but I can't really sit around waiting to be needed, can I? No I most definitely cannot. But I am and it's driving me crazy!!

It would help if I had something fun to do. I did something fun yesterday (had a girl date at the movies with a new-ish friend) but what about today?! The garage and office need to be cleaned out but they're far too overwhelming. I could write but (insert lame excuse here). I could clean the bathroom but I'm sick and tired of cleaning the f*#@ing house. I've moved from here:

Allie Brosh / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

to here:

Allie Brosh / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

I really just want to do something with Jerry. I miss him.

Hear the violins?

Conversation with a Schooler

2010-08-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

I had some fun making a mini-movie last week (and I finally figured out how to embed it!). If you like it please give it a good rating here!

San Diego Pictures

2010-08-09T22:59:00.000-07:00

We had dinner with Etienne's family last night. It was so fun. There are 7 of them! I loved his parents and all the kids were so sweet. We took full advantage of our new deck furniture and our fabulous craigslist outdoor dining table in the front yard and spent the evening talking, eating, and drinking wine outdoors. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.

I do have pictures from San Diego, though!

This is my mom, dad, Paul (my brother-in-law) and David (my brother) at our dining table. Somehow Jerry, Etienne and I lucked into a two-bedroom even though we were only supposed to have a one-bedroom. It was awesome!

Here's Ezra. He turned one in June. Aren't those the bluest eyes you've ever seen?!

And here's Ezra getting kissed by his cousin Layla.

We had a visit from our good friend (and Jerry's former babysitter) Poliana.

Here's David, Carson (my nephew), and Etienne at the computer.

Etienne, Cora, and Jerry are watching a movie here.

Here's my beautiful sister and best friend, Jenny, with her daughter Cora. I love this picture.

And Jenny's kids: Ezra, Carson & Cora.

My dad and Ezra. Ezra loves my dad.

And no family event has been properly documented without photos of the cutest girl toddler I know, Layla.

Here she is dancing on the table. Ezra and Cora joined her after a few minutes. The adults all sat around the table providing a safety net and enjoying the show. Yes, we are THAT family.

And here we all are together. Mandy took this picture (you can see Livie and Violet on the right). They came out and spent a day with us. It was so fun having them there. They even got to experience my brother-in-law's fabulous cooking (Paul is a chef) because they stayed for dinner!

It was a great week. We each had our own apartment and each family took turns making dinner for everyone. Dinner was always a big highlight of the day because we all came together and the kids played and we had great food and wine and it was just a really good time. And the best part about the night that I was in charge of dinner was that Paul made it! All I did was buy groceries. Oh how I wish it worked the same way at home: 1) buy groceries, 2) sit around drinking wine with family and friends, 3) eat fabulous meal cooked by professional chef which miraculously appears on the table with no effort on my part at all. Give me a personal chef or give me a meal pill--anything that allows me to avoid cooking is fine by me.

Anyway, back to the trip. We spent a day at Legoland, went to the horse races (Etienne won $10 betting on the only French horse in the race!), rode on the rides at Belmont Park, and spent an hour or so at the Museum of Making Music. The rest of the time was spent by the pool or relaxing in our rooms. It was great. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Since we've been home, I've been doing lots of cleaning. I picked a bunch of figs and made jam.

Then I bought a bunch of strawberries and made strawberry jam. I bought peaches, too, because I want to try canning peaches. The lady that sold me the peaches told me never to can tomatoes when I'm on my period. She said he grandmother told her it would ruin the tomatoes. Weird, huh? But I was very excited to be privy to such ancient wisdom, as I'm sure the woman's grandmother probably heard it from her grandmother. So, I'm going to follow the rule whether it's true or not just because I want to be a part of that ancient chain of wisdom.

In other news, I found a computer programming teacher for Jerry and they had their first lesson last week. It went really well. Jerry likes the guy a lot and they seemed to have a good time. So, they'll meet once a week until we leave in September.

Oh my gosh. I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you the most exciting news of the day! It's not absolutely certain yet, but I'm pretty sure Jerry and I are going to spend about 6 days in Greece in September or October! Jerry has been so into the Percy Jackson books it would be a shame if we didn't take advantage of our proximity to the home of the Greek myths while we're staying in London. I found decent airfare and I'm in the process of figuring out what it would cost us to stay in the hotels or hostels. I think we'd only stay 5 or 6 days because the guilt of going to Greece without Warren is pretty fierce. We've never been there, but have talked about going ever since our first trip to Europe together in '94. So, in an effort to avoid the guilt of going to a beautiful, romantic place without my husband (which makes me very sad--but not sad enough not to go) is to make it into a site-seeing trip. We'll whirl into Athens, see the sites, whirl into another town (or an island), see those sites, spend a day on the beach, then whirl back to London. So, it'll be like a working vacation (do you hear the rationalization wheels turning?).

Anyway, it's in the planning stages and the whole thing could fall apart if it turns out to be too expensive, but figuring out how I can make it happen is my current obsession. Maybe someday my obsession will be cleaning and organizing my house. And maybe next time it will stick. Because whenever I think my current obsession is getting my house all cleaned and organized (like last week) it never lasts long enough to do all the work. In fact, it usually lasts just long enough for me to clean out a cupboard, strewing the contents of said cupboard onto every available flat surface in the house, and that's usually about as far as I get. I have a serious problem, best illustrated by this hilarious post (thanks Ronnie!) at Hyperbole and a Half.

Well, Warren is home and it's time for me to leave the internet behind and go to bed. Good night!

Summer Fun

2010-08-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm really not supposed to get sucked into sitting at my computer, but my mom has requested a blog post so I'm going to write a quick update in the 10 minutes before I wake Jerry up to walk the dog (his request!).

First, some pictures from the last few weeks:

Etienne arrived on July 9. Ravenpaw took to him immediately.

And so did Charlie.

We all did, actually. The first day he was here we didn't do much. The next day we watched the World Cup

then we went to one of our favorite places, Will Rogers State Historic Park.

After playing frisbee we hiked up to "Inspiration Point" where Etienne literally ran circles around us at the summit. The boy has a lot of energy.

Monday we went to Mountasia for some mini-golf

go kart racing

video game playing

bumper boats

and ice cream at Farrell's.

I don't remember what we did Tuesday--rest, I suppose, because Wednesday we went to Knott's Berry Farm with Summer (my niece), and Etienne's sister, Laure.

I don't remember what happened Thursday, but on Friday we drove up to Sacramento where we met up with Patricia and her daughter, Alexandra, from Switzerland. They stayed at my mom and dad's house with us and we all went to the California World Music Festival.

The music festival was fun, but what the kids really liked was my mom's pool.

We drove home on Monday (or maybe Tuesday) and went to Knott's Berry Farm (again!) on Wednesday.

We spent the next couple days preparing for our vacation in San Diego, then left on Saturday for a week of fun with my family (mom and dad, brother and sister, and my nieces and nephews) at a resort near Legoland.

I'll have to post about San Diego later because those pictures aren't on the computer yet.

As far as what's going on with us now, all the guests are gone and we're enjoying an open schedule and time at home. I'm going to make some fig jam today, strawberry jam on Saturday, I'm cleaning, organizing, giving things away to clear space in our lives, watching movies with Jerry and going for walks. Etienne's family is coming for dinner on Sunday and I'm looking forward to meeting all of them. We were very sad to say good-bye to our French visitor, so we're glad we'll get to see him again!

Visitors Galore

2010-07-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

I know it's been ages, but with all the visitors we've been running around like crazy for the last couple weeks. I'm supposed to be packing up to go to San Diego for the week (the boys and I are leaving tomorrow–poor Warren has to stay home to work), but I'm freaking out because I just bought tickets for me and Jerry to go to London (since Warren will be working there) and now all of a sudden I'm in a panic because we're going to be so busy until the last week in August and then we're leaving on September 13! Eh gads!

Anyway, enough moaning about things I should be happy about. We've been loving our time with Etienne, our visitor from France. And since last Friday we've had visitors from Switzerland, too (a mom and her 13-year-old daughter). In the last two weeks we've been to Knott's Berry Farm (twice), gone miniature golfing and go kart racing, spent a windy day at the beach, attended the California World Music Festival in Grass Valley, and spent lots of time swimming in my mom and dad's pool. Now we're off to San Diego with my parents and my brother and sister and their families. At the end of the week we have to hand Etienne over to his parents, but we'll see him again when the whole family visits L.A. in early August.

I'm not sure how much blogging I'll get in while we're away, but I have been posting pictures of our recent escapades on Flickr so be sure to check those out. I haven't deleted anything yet, so it may get boring pretty quick, but at least it will give an idea of what we've been doing lately.

I'm off to pack!

July 4th Photos

2010-07-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a few photos from the annual July 4th party at my mom and dad's house. It was a quick weekend with a long drive in both directions (they live in Sacramento), but the party was well worth it for a the fun, friends and family. Most of these pictures are of my nieces and nephews because they're just so darn photogenic (and I didn't think my family members would appreciate appearing online in their swimsuits).

Bedtime and Other Fun

2010-07-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

I know this is supposed to be a blog about unschooling. But, since all my angst is gone I've hardly mentioned it at all in the past year. So, today I'm going to start with two unschooly (but, brief) items. First off, my blog was included in a list of the top 8 unschooling blogs! Can you believe it!? Wait a minute–don't answer that. Anyway, it was quite an honor to be included on that list, so I just wanted to share it with you. But, now I feel obliged to write something about unschooling. So here goes:
I had a realization about bedtimes the other day. Jerry has been staying awake most of the night and sleeping until 3 or 4 in the afternoon for the last month or two. I'm not happy about it, really. I miss seeing him during the day and it makes me wonder where I fit into his life if I'm asleep for much of the waking portion of it. Still, I let him make his own choices. If he's not feeling well or of he's very tired you can bet I ask him if he thinks he got enough sleep (not all the time and not in an accusing way, but sometimes I just can't stop myself because I want him to be aware of how and if his sleeping patterns are affecting him). Anyway, I was thinking about the whole bedtime thing and I realized that this is the time in Jerry's life when it's natural for him to seek out independence–to move away from his parents in some ways. And what better place to do that than in our own home? He gets the entire house to himself. He's free to make choices without taking anyone else into consideration. And yet, if something happens that he wants to talk to me about (and that's not uncommon) all he has to do is walk downstairs and wake me up. It's the perfect situation, really. He's safe, but solo. And he gets the added bonus of being able to talk to friends who live in different time zones and might not be available during the day. So, I'm not saying I'm entirely happy with the situation, but I understand it. And I understand that there are benefits. So, I let it be.

On to other topics now! We've had a really fun week. Yesterday Jerry got together with his friend Josh and we all ended up going to see some music together at the Hammer Museum.

I swiped the above photo, taken by Andrew Herrold, off the KCRW blog. The event took place in a really nice outdoor setting. Everything about it was great. The lead guitar player of Saint Motel, the headlining band, is a close family friend of Josh's so we met his family, which was really nice. The guitar player's dad had created this really cool set up that puts cameras on the microphones and some of the instruments. He also created a small hand held camera that his wife carries around through the crowd while the band plays. Then he has this thing that looks like a wooden piano keyboard that allows him to switch from one camera to another–the image is projected onto a screen behind the band. It's really cool. So we got to check out the camera system a bit. We were also able to watch the DJ do some of his stuff (which Jerry loved) because we arrived early enough to see him and the opening band, Kitten (fronted by an amazing 15-year-old singer). And, as an added bonus, Jerry scored an old Apple Airport that he can take apart in his attempt to create remote internet access for his computer while we're on long drives.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one week, we went to Anime Expo at the Los Angeles convention Center today. We took Jerry's friend Shea and the boys had a great time marveling at all the costumes, watching anime, and shopping in the mega exhibit hall. I didn't bring my camera, but here are a few phone pics:
Jerry and Shea.

Here's a group of people dressed as characters from One Piece.

Lots of Bleach cosplayers viewed from up above.

We bought a few things for Jerry, but my favorite by far was this Pokemon t-shirt.

I just thought it was hilarious and so did Jerry. That's it for now.

Have a happy 4th!

Pixel Block Fun

2010-07-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

We picked up some pixel blocks at a yard sale last weekend (for 5 bucks!!) and have been having all kinds of fun with them.

Quick update: Tomorrow is Anime Expo and one week from tomorrow our young visitor from France arrives, plus we'll have visitors from Switzerland in another couple weeks. I love summer!

Unschooling Is Like A Game Of Super Mario Galaxy 2

2010-06-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

When Jerry got the first Super Mario Galaxy game and asked me to play I was excited. But the excitement died when I discovered that, as player 2, my contribution was limited to collecting stars and freezing enemies. Where was the glory? When did I get to kick some ass? Eventually, I gave up out of sheer boredom.

Last week, Jerry and I played a game of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Once again, I was player 2. But this time I could also obliterate enemies by shaking the remote. A minor change, really. But, something else was different, too–my attitude. I thought of myself as the support crew. I wasn't there to win–I was there to support Jerry. And once I accepted that I was the sidekick, I had fun–especially once it hit me that my role as player 2 in the Super Mario Galaxy games is exactly the same as my role as an unschooling parent! I'm along for the ride. I'm not leading the way, but every now and then I throw in something new. Sometimes it's helpful and Jerry wants me to keep at it and sometimes he asks me to back off. But, I'm always covering his back–freezing enemies, collecting stars, asking where he wants me, and occasionally suggesting one tactic or another. It's a team effort, getting Jerry where he wants to go, but he sets the destination and leads the way. I'm happy to follow along behind, collecting stars as I go.

Cat Salad

2010-06-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

I meant to take photos of the beautifully arranged bowls of movie snacks and popcorn that I served for our homeschool teen outdoor movie night on Saturday (which was awesome!), but I forgot. Instead, here's a picture of one of my new bowls filled with something entirely different.

Magic Happens

2010-06-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

Call it magic, serendipity, or coincidence. No matter what name you give it, when people, places, and things align themselves to grant your wishes it's really cool. Yesterday morning I was on the phone with my sister, lamenting the fact that I have no close female friends in Los Angeles. I was telling her (again) how I feel so isolated and explaining that I wanted to start up some neighborhood events so that I could build a closer community here in the neighborhood. We're having an outdoor movie night for the homeschooled teens this weekend and I had been thinking that a regular neighborhood movie night would be really cool.

Cut to a few hours later. Jerry and his friend Kyle are on the couch playing video games and I'm loading the car with boogie boards and beach chairs for our first homeschool beach day of the summer. I was on my driveway and saw a woman with two kids (they looked to be about 2 and 4) across the street. I said "Hi," and almost left it at that, but then I asked if they lived in the neighborhood. She said they did and we started talking. I told her about how there were no kids at all when we first moved in, and we shared notes on which houses have kids and how old they are (they're all much younger than Jerry) and how long they've lived there. I invited her and the kids in for some iced tea (figuring homeschool beach day could wait) and we spent the next hour happily chatting while the kids played with sidewalk chalk. I even broke out the old Thomas the Tank Engine tracks.

It was amazing! I felt like I asked for something and it appeared. But, what I realized–and what I'm sure I should have thought of long ago–is that, while the answer to my wish was right there in front of me, if I hadn't put myself out there and spoken to the woman I would have missed the moment entirely. How many other things that I've longed for have been right in front of me only to pass out of my vision because I was too blind (or shy, or lazy...) to see them and grab hold!? I'm not dwelling on the things I may have missed, but I will certainly try not to let this lesson go to waste. From now on, I talk to everyone I see! We're going to plan some neighborhood events and I'm really looking forward to seeing her and her kids again. Finally, a friend with kids in the neighborhood!!

And that was just the beginning of a fabulous day. After Rebecca left, I finished loading the car, then Jerry, Kyle and I headed for the beach. I wasn't sure if we'd know anyone, but we did–two of Jerry's good friends were there. It was really great. Kyle spent almost the entire time in the water while Jerry hung out on the sand and I talked to the other moms and one of the teen girls. Then we went down to the Santa Monica pier with another family for some video games and a couple rides.

Fun was had by all.

Photo Catch Up

2010-06-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have lots of photos to share today. First of all, I found a picture of the cargo ship that will be taking the books I collected to their destination in Malawi (via Swaziland, I think).

This is a photo I don't think I ever showed you. It's the stacks of boxes at the post office here in L.A. 22 boxes in all!

Here are a couple pictures from Summer's 16th birthday tea last week. We invited the girls from our knitting group and had tea sandwiches and cake. It was such a nice way to spend an afternoon.

And now, the photo you've all been waiting for the completed quilt!!! (Along with some close-up detail shots.)

This is my favorite detail on the quilt. Instead of quilting the borders with the machine I embrodered little flowers over the blue flowers on the fabric.

And here is Charlie, all scrunched into a box.

And, I don't believe I ever introduced you to Lily. She is my neighbor's psychotic cat.

I was feeding her last week while my neighbor was out of town. I started out going over to feed her in my bare feet, and by the end of the ten days I was wearing long pants, boots, and using an umbrella to provide a barrier between my body and her claws. She has serious issues. She purrs and rubs against your legs, but if you move she turns on you and hisses. She also does this low kick, kung fu thing when you're trying to walk past her (I have scars on my ankle to prove it!). Thankfully my neighbor is home now, though I don't know how she can relax with that cat in the house. Lily is a recent addition to her household–she came from a friend of my neighbor's who had to move into a nursing home–so hopefully with time she'll mellow out a bit.

And now, since today is the first day in months that I don't have any previous commitments, I'm going spend it giving Jerry my complete attention. So, I'm off to watch him play Borderlands, and maybe even try it myself.

Video Games Live & Laker Mayhem

2010-06-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

We went to see Video Games Lives last night. It's was an evening of video game music (with game images projected onto several big screens) played by a full orchestra with a choir. And it's absolutely amazing. Watch this trailer for the upcoming PBS special (and be sure to watch the special when it airs!) to get a taste of what we experienced.

Pretty cool, right? I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be in an auditorium full of people who are just as excited about video games as Jerry. We took Jerry's friend, Shea, with us and he loved it, too. The boys were beaming when we walked out of the theater.

Getting to the theater in the first place was a little tricky, however, because game 7 of the NBA finals was happening right next door! Originally, I only had two tickets and I was going to drop Jerry and Shea off at the Kodak Theater, which is in Hollywood, and go have dinner at the Hollywood and Highland mall. But the day of the show I realized I was mistaken. The show was at the Nokia Theater, which is right next to the Staple Center! Luckily, I decided I didn't want to be wandering the street with all those Lakers fans (not that I have anything against them–I married one). I just didn't think it would be very safe. So, I found a ticket on Craigslist and agreed to meet the guy just before the show near the box office. We made one other change in plans, as well, and decided to take the subway rather than driving. It was definitely the right thing to do!

We got off the subway and walked toward the theater and about 2 blocks before the Staple Center we came to a row of cops. Actually, it was more like a wall of cops. No, make that a sea. It was unbelievable and completely freaky. They were all saying, "Tickets. You need a ticket to get through." So I ended up explaining to about four different officers that I had tickets for Jerry and Shea, but would be picking up my ticket at the box office. Here they are from the back (once we made it through the blockade). It's hard to see because we were in the shade and I was using my phone camera, but those are all cops. And there were a lot more across the street.

Anyway, we made it to the theater at last.

And I got my ticket. And we went in together.

I sat in my own seat away from the boys for the first half. But during intermission, Jerry said the seat next to him was empty, so I was able to sit next to him for the rest of the show. He got all teary when they played Megaman, followed by Halo. It was very sweet.

I just love the passion that gamers have. I was thinking, as I was sitting there watching the show, how lucky I am that unschooling brought me to this acceptance and celebration of Jerry's passions.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the other event that was going on nearby, just beyond the Staples Center. E3!! The Video Game and Electronic Entertainment Expo. So, there were lots of guest conductors coming onto the stage. They were the composers of the music we were hearing and it was so neat to hear them talk about their inspiration for the music.

I know I already said it, but I just have to say again how cool it was to be in an auditorium full of people who share Jerry's passion for games. There was a 16-year-old kid sitting in front of us that was just bopping along to the music–head and shoulders moving to the Mario beat. And when the guy who played the Mario theme blindfolded on the piano asked for requests, this one girl was about to faint she was shouting "FINAL FANTASY 7!!!!" so loud. She got her wish later, when the full orchestra played it. :)

All in all it was terrific evening. We made it back to the subway all in one piece. The revelers from the Laker game weren't too obnoxious to do any damage (at least by the time our show was over) and we were still buzzing from the excitement when we got home.

We'll be making a trip to Blockbuster today to check out some of the games that were in the show last night. The fun never ends when the world is your classroom!

Quilts, Guns, & Pizza

2010-06-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

First off, here's the top of the quilt all pieced together. It looks bigger than it is. It's only 42.5 square inches. I changed the middle block from the previous picture. It was supposed to be green, but the baby's room will be blue and white, so I wanted the blue to be more prominent. I don't think I'll have time to work on it today, though because...

I'm having a sweet 16 tea for my niece, Summer. Our knitting group friends are coming over and we're going to have lunch and cake and stuff. It should be really nice.

I found out that the guy who was responsible for bringing eight police officers and their weapons to our street is going to be evicted. It turns out that he was arguing with his mother, who also happens to be his landlord, and he pulled a gun on her! The guy who lives directly across the street from us told me that he was minding his own business at home when there was a knock at his door and he opened it to find six police officers standing there with all six weapons pointing at him! He told them they had the wrong guy and then left town for a few days. He said it was really scary. Anyway, I'm relieved to know the crazy guy will be leaving because every time I look up that driveway I can't help but think about that gun.

And now the pizza story: Jerry is a really "selective" eater. There are about 11 foods that he will eat (not including m&ms, and ice cream) and he has eaten the same thing for lunch and dinner for the past four or five years. You may think I exaggerate but, if anything, I'm erring on the side of caution. So, the other night when he said, "I think I'd like to try pizza," at 9:45 pm, I rushed to the phone to order a pizza. Actually, first I said, "Now?" And he said, "Yeah." And I said, "Could you try it tomorrow?" And he said, "I probably won't be in the mood to try it tomorrow." And then I rushed to the phone.

Twenty minutes later the three of us were seated around the kitchen table. Warren and I were eating pizza. Jerry was eating crust (the only part of a pizza he's ever eaten) and kind of poking at the rest of the pizza on his plate with a disgusted look. He did not try the pizza. But, thanks to Ronnie and her talk on shame at the LIFE is Good conference, I did not say what I was thinking (which was "I rushed out to get you a pizza at 10 pm and now you won't even take a little bite!?"). I just said, "That's OK." And ate my pizza. And it was fine. Thanks Ronnie.

Summer Break!

2010-06-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

My last class is over! Woohoo! I'm officially on summer vacation. :)

And, I'm liking the quilt so far. I was a little worried about how it would turn out, so I was relieved once I got the blocks made and laid it out. I think it looks nice. And not too baby-ish.

That's all I have to say, really. I was going to tell you about how Jerry decided he wanted to try pizza, but I have to meet someone at 7 tomorrow morning and it's after 11, so I guess I'll have to save that story (and the one about the guy with the gun–yes, I have details!) for another day.

Good night!

Telsa Coils, Quilts, and Fans

2010-06-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

I recorded ArcAttack's stellar version of the National Anthem played with Tesla Coils at the Maker Faire. But I couldn't figure out how to save it as a Quicktime file (yes, I can build a computer*, but I can't save a video) so I was all bummed that I wouldn't be able to share it with you. But, then I found this!

Also, I'm making a quilt and I wanted to show you the "before" picture. It's for a baby shower we're going to next weekend. I know it looks a little wacky now. But, I'm hoping that by a week from today, it will have come together (Magically, perhaps? Or is that asking too much?) to make a really cute (but not too baby-ish) quilt.

*By the way, Jerry's PC (the one we built) was broken and we took it to a fabulous PC repair guy who was able to get it in working order. But guess what was causing the problem? Well, you know how I said I can build a computer? It's only partly true. I can build one, but not exactly the right way the very first time around. It turns out that we didn't install the fan correctly (it wasn't latched) and we didn't put the hard drive in the right slot (in front of the other fan), so the computer has been overheating all this time! The guy said he was surprised the mother board hadn't burned out. Luckily for us, we just needed to replace the hard drive. So it's up and working and now Jerry and I know how to properly install a fan and where to put the hard drive for the next time we build one. Ah well, live and learn!

Paeff Family Yearbook 2009-2010

2010-06-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Jerry's Yearbook 2010

2010-06-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

Every year our homeschool group makes a yearbook for the kids. Today I learned how to make a photo collage on Picasa and this yearbook page is the result. Really, Jerry was supposed to do his own page, but I completely spaced it. So, since I have to turn it in by the end of the day and Jerry slept right up until the time I was supposed to take him to a friend's house, I'm doing it for him. I'm going to do a family page,too. It'll probably look very much the same, but with different photos. Still, I'll post it when I'm done–just because I can. :)

New Look/New Blog

2010-06-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

I have a new look. And I've started a new blog (again). This one is different, though. It's for Jerry. I'm always finding things I want to share with him online, so I e-mail a link to him, but he never checks his e-mail, so he never sees them. My solution is the new blog. It's called, I Thought You Might Like This. And it's full of awesome. Or it will be before long–there are only a few posts right now. Jerry's pretty happy with it, though.

Spitball Warfare

2010-06-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

When we were at the Maker Faire I bought some awesome books. So far, our favorite is Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare by John Austin. After the cops and helicopter left the other night, Jerry and I ventured out into the front yard and he made a catapult out of clothes pins, rubber bands, a plastic spoon, binder clips, and tape.

Charlie watched from the sidelines. (So did Warren, but I didn't take a picture of him.)

Here's the finished product.

And here is the opposing army (as you can see, they have no weapons–we took them by surprise).

And, just for the heck of it, here's Jerry peering through a roll of duct tape.

The other books we bought are also really cool. They are The Way Toys Work by Ed and Woody Sobey and Stomp Rockets, Catapults, and Kaleidoscopes: 30+ Amazing Science Projects You Can Build for Less Than $1.

I forgot to mention in my post yesterday that I have a new laptop! I had been waiting for Warren to get another job before I bought a new one. My previous computer was really old (in computer years) and was almost completely out of space. Actually, it did run out of space while I was working on my group project, which was what inspired me to make a trip to the Apple Store to upgrade. We got a free printer and iPod Touch in the deal. So, Jerry was ecstatic and so was I. And now that I have space on my computer I can put photographs on my blog again! Yippee!

In other (sadder) news, our dog, Patsy, has Cushings Disease, which isn't deadly but is deadly expensive to treat. I found a natural remedy for it online, though, so we're going to try that out first. She also has a urinary tract infection, poor thing. And is now taking two different meds for arthritis. Needless to say, I'll be on the look out for discount veterinary pharmacies online–just as soon as I recover from the shock of paying for this first round of medications.

Sorry, I'm even boring myself here. I was just about to tell you about the minor surgery Jerry will be having on his big toe very soon but, lucky for you, new computers still have delete buttons. I won't bore you (or gross you out) with the details, except to say that we love his podiatrist because, not only is he a fabulous doctor and a nice guy, he's also an XBox gamer.

And now, finally, I will say something about unschooling. I know. You forgot this was as an unschooling blog, didn't you? Well, I've been reading the most wonderful, unschooler-friendly book called The Mathemetician's Lament by Paul Lockhart. You can read the first half of the book online here, but I highly suggest you buy the book so you can underline key passages and share it with family members who worry that your children will not be able to function in the world without taking a math class. The book is informative, funny, scathing, and explains the beauty of mathematics (something I've never quite understood until now). I love some of the things Lockhart writes about teaching:

"Teaching is not about information. It's about having an honest, intellectual relationship with your students. It requires no method, no tools, and no training. Just the ability to be real. And if you can't be real, then you have no right to inflict yourself upon innocent children."

"Teaching means openness and honesty, an ability to share excitement, and a love of learning. Without these, all the education degrees in the world won't help you, and with them, they are completely unnecessary."

I won't quote anymore of it here, since you can read it online. But please do read it! You won't regret it.

Well, I could go on to tell you about my tennis elbow, but I think you've had enough excitement for one post. I'll just leave you with one final quote from The Mathematician's Lament. He's writing about trigonometry as it's taught in school:

"Two weeks of content are stretched to semester length by masturbatory definitional runarounds. Truly interesting and beautiful phenomena, such as the way the sides of a triangle depend on its angles,will be given the same emphasis as irrelevant abbreviations and obsolete notational conventions, in order to prevent students from forming any clear idea as to what the subject is about."

Sad, but true.

Now I am off to study!

Blog? What Blog?

2010-06-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry. I know it's been a while, but there's been a lot happening. However, I will now bring you all up to speed. First off, the Maker Faire was awesome, as expected. The one hitch was that a friend of Jerry's was supposed to fly up and go to the fair with us and two days before we were meant to leave he canceled, claiming he was "too stressed" about school. Of course, he wasn't too stressed to attend two concerts during the week before the fair and one that weekend (the dark side of Facebook--you know when people are lying to you). So that was really hard for Jerry because this boy has been his best friend since preschool and he's not being a very good friend lately. And it was a bummer for me, because if I had known he wasn't going to come with us, I would have invited Summer, but since we didn't know until two days prior, it was too late to buy a plane ticket at a reasonable price. Luckily Jerry didn't dwell on it while we were at the fair and we all ended up having a terrific time. There was so much to do and see!

My nephew, Carson went with us on Sunday and had a great time playing with Legos and making marble runs.

At one point on Saturday, we were standing in a crowd waiting for Adam Savage from MythBusters to speak and Jerry struck up a conversation with the guy standing beside us. Jerry told him about how he watches MythBusters every night until 3 a.m. while he's playing WoW on the computer. I was all ready for a disapproving look from the guy, but instead he said, "Up until 3 A.m.!? Let me take a wild stab in the dark and guess that you homeschool like us." What a relief!

So, the fair was great. We flew home Monday afternoon. I went to class, then Tuesday morning Warren helped me take the boxes of books for Malawi to the library. So I got those shipped, stopped in for a celebratory breakfast burrito at my favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican place, packed the car for LIFE is Good and headed North.

We stayed at my mom's Tuesday night (I skipped class), then left early Wednesday for the last portion of the trip. We made a stop in Ashland and were just in time to visit my friend (another unschooler), Becky, during her few free moments of the day, then got back on the road and made it to Vancouver around 8.

The conference was marvelous. Jerry and his friend, Senna, hosted a Pokemon funshop that was a big hit.

I brought Pikachu cut outs for the kids to make into hats and it was great to see everyone wearing them. Here's Violet looking adorable in her Pikachu hat.

I can't really explain in words how fabulous the conference was, but Ronnie has done just that in a list of nouns from A to Z. I highly suggest you take a look and then make plans to be there next year.

So, LIFE is Good. Return home. Rush to class. Spend the rest of the week preparing for a group project and finals while Jerry played his new favorite XBox game, Borderlands. Jerry was really focused on the game until he beat it and was sorely disappointed in the ending. Still, he thinks he might buy one of his own (he'd been playing a rented copy). Jerry seems to be coming out of the gaming bubble a bit more these days and I really like that.

A couple nights ago Jerry and I had gone into the front yard to start drawing some sidewalk art (because you're never too old for sidewalk chalk), when Patsy started barking. I looked across the street to where she was staring and saw a police officer, with her weapon drawn, heading up my neighbor's driveway. I rushed Jerry into the house, called my neighbor to be sure his daughter was inside, then looked out the window to see another cop with a long range weapon aimed up the driveway of the next building over. Then there were two others, also with guns drawn, inside my next door neighbors trash can enclosure. I took this picture of some of the cops across the street, but it's through the window so it's not very good.

So anyway, we went to the room of the house where we thought we'd be least likely to be caught in the crossfire and just hung out for an hour or so. We cleaned. We played a card game. Warren was home so he joined in. It was a little nerve wracking and it really made me feel for the people who live in the inner city and experience this kind of thing more regularly. We've been in this house ten years and this was a first.

When the police finally left we learned that a couple in the apartment across the street were having an argument and the guy pulled out a gun. Nice, huh? Nice to know our neighbors are packing heat. Ugh. I hate to even think about it, really. Still, no shots were fired and we did really enjoy our time together. We kept the family vibe going that night. Jerry and I did our sidewalk art (partially inspired by the police encounter, as you might guess.).

Then we all ate dinner and watched the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie (thumbs down) because Warren is going start start working on the fourth (yes, there is going to be another one) on Thursday. So, hooray! Warren finally got a full-length job! Yippee! And that's not the only good news. He will be in London for two months! So we're going to London again. Wahoo! And we'll get to visit Schuyler and David and Simon and Linnea. And maybe I'll get to meet some blogging buddies (Lynn?). And we can visit the woman who saved Jerry's life after his bike accident four years ago. And now that we have places to stay for free in Paris, Geneva, and Bern (thanks to the house swapping) we may even be able to squeeze in an excursion to France and Switzerland!! I'm trying not to get too excited because the film business is so changeable, but it's hard to remain calm about it all.

In other good news, I survived the group project presentation in my Library 101 class. Now I just have a final tonight, another one next Monday, and then summer officially begins.

Bring it on!

LIFE is Good 2010

2010-05-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

We've been to the Maker Faire and back. The books are shipped. And the looooooooong drive to Vancouver, WA is finally over which means.....we're at the LIFE is Good Conference! Yippee! So I just wanted to drop a quick note to say hello. I'm really looking forward to seeing Mandy when she arrives today. And I'm looking forward to manning the Instant Gratification Table and to meeting Laura and Bonni. And to so many other things. I just hope Jerry doesn't get sick again this year (last year he had the flu!). Anyway, I'm going to make myself some coffee now. I'll keep you posted on the conference. :)

Success!

2010-05-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

21 boxes of books are packed and ready to ship to Malawi!! Now I can enjoy our weekend at the Maker Faire, ship the books upon our return home, and then we're off to LIFE is Good for the week. Life is good, isn't it?

Viktor Frankl On Young People

2010-05-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

Upon College Graduation

2010-05-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was looking for notebook dividers in my old writing notebook when I found the following essay. It made me laugh and then cringe, and cringe again, and then laugh. Then it made me think about how much I love unschooling. Anyway, here it is in its embarrassing, unedited entirety:

Upon College Graduation, an unfinished essay
written by the girl formerly known as Colleen G.

Reality hit me smack dab aside the head just as soon as I removed my graduation cap, thus supplying a clear and easy target. True, reality had poked his thick callused fingers into the birthday cake of my existence once or twice before–but that was along the edges where intrusions sometimes go unnoticed or are, at least, easier to hide.

This time he meant business. He was going for more than just the trim surrounding those creamy white folds of frosting. He was going for the whole cake (with ice cream on the side). Yes, reality dipped his fat, grubby hands right into the center of my relatively untouched birthday cake. He dipped, grabbed, squeezed, twirled, and tossed. At times he gobbled. And then, he threw it right in my face.

So, I started my college-educated adulthood with a face full of frosting and a small lump the size of a plastic ballerina on the side of my head.

I swear I didn't mean for there to be any sexual metaphor going on there. It was just supposed to be about how graduating from college and joining the "real world" sucked. (Though I was heavily into Tom Robbins at the time, which could explain a thing or two.)

And why did reading it make me so happy to be unschooling, you ask? Because Jerry is already in the real world. By the time he is the age I was when I wrote that essay (or the beginning of what was meant to be an essay) he'll be so far ahead of me in life experience and self-knowledge that I don't think he'll ever experience those first few years after college (if he goes) as anything but joyful. For me they were the exact opposite. Anyway, I hope you got a good laugh out of that. Or at least a good cringe. :)

Facebook Song

2010-05-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

We saw Ben Folds last night and Kate Miller-Heidke opened. She has an amazing voice and was absolutely charming. This song was a big crowd favorite. It's called "Are you F*cking Kidding Me?" It's hilarious.

Mother's Day Update

2010-05-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry. I know sporadic posting is really annoying. I just don't have much to say on the ol' blog these days. After all, it was all about angst in the beginning and there's just not a lot of angst going around the house these days. Here's a quick update, though.

Mother's day was really nice. Jerry went to bed relatively early the night before, so he could spend the day with me without being zombified. Warren made me breakfast, then we walked around the reservoir, Jerry was up when we got back, so we all headed out to Manhattan beach where Warren and I shared a coffee and Jerry had a bagel. We walked out onto the pier, but the cold wind drove us back up to main street where we browsed at a book store (and I bought a few books for the book drive which I really have to stop doing). We looked at a rundown shack for sale near the beach and were flabbergasted when we heard the price ($2.9 mil). Then we drove up to Venice Beach and had lunch at my favorite restaurant, Gaby's Mediterranean, which is apparently becoming a tradition because we ate there on Mother's Day last year, too. Back at home we each did our own thing for a while (my thing was organizing book drive books--it makes me so happy). Then Warren and I walked down to the wine shop and bought several bottle of white wine, came home, sat on our lovely new deck furniture and drank a couple glasses of wine. It really was a lovely day.

In other news, the book drive is moving along splendidly. This Friday is my last day for accepting books, so naturally I've got several pick ups planned for this week. Then, this weekend will be all about finalizing the collection and preparing to box it up (with a brief intermission to attend the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest). By the way, if anyone has purchased books from the wish list at Amazon and had them sent directly to me, please tell me. I got some books the other day but there was no receipt so I don't know who sent them. If it was you, send me an e-mail so I can thank you!

We're going to see Ben Folds tonight (Jerry, too). So we're all looking forward to that. Classes are going well. I have to write a resume (due next week) which is a bit of a challenge since my paying jobs in the last 14 years have been few and far between (and extremely part-time). I'll just have to spin the volunteer stuff I've done into work skills.

Hmmmm. I feel like there was something else I wanted to mention. Oh, right! I have two articles to share with you.

This article is a celebration of slackers and a reminder that "once a slacker not always a slacker."

And Celebrate: Save a Mother, by Nicholas Kristoff on Mother's Day, is a call to change Mother's Day, a holiday which celebrates relatively few mothers, into Mothers' Day, a day to celebrate and make the world safe, for all mothers. He offers some great ideas for how to do this in the article.

Now, I need to get busy. No sitting at the computer for me today (unless I'm doing homework).

Possibility

2010-05-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any poems in a while, but this morning I was visiting one of my favorite sites and saw a video of Bill Murray reading some poetry to construction workers in New York City. They were all kind of laughing and Murray was poking fun at the poems, until this one by Emily Dickinson. The workers got really quiet and serious as this poem was read aloud. And they applauded when it was done. It kind of sums up how I've been feeling lately–with people giving so generously to the books drive–so I thought I'd post it for you.

I dwell in Possibility –

A fairer House than Prose –

More numerous of Windows –

Superior – for Doors –

Of Chambers as the Cedars –

Impregnable of eye –

And for an everlasting Roof

The Gambrels of the Sky –

Of Visitors – the fairest –

For Occupation – This –

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise –

I Would Like To Say . . .

2010-05-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

. . . that when you find yourself wishing you had a broken leg or some other kind of accident or illness, just so you can stay in bed and ignore your responsibilities for a few days, it's time to recognize that perhaps you have bitten off more than you can chew.

It's fine, though. I'm fine. It's all good. Book drive. Buddy system. Homework. Renter moving in (an astronomer!). LIFE is Good. Maker Faire. Ben Folds concert. Selling furniture. Pulling weeds. Groceries. Laundry. Book club. Dog to vet. Jerry. Warren. Summer plans. The list goes on. But they're all good. All tasty morsels, so to speak. I guess I just need to chew slowly.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

2010-05-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

We went to see the documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop" yesterday. It was awesome! The film is rated R, but it's only for language (Jerry says the f-word was used four times, but I only heard it once). It would be a shame for people to steer their kids away from this movie because of the rating. (Stupid MPAA–but that's another story.) The film gave us so much to talk about. Jerry's friend Augie commented that the main subject of the documentary didn't seem to notice any barriers when he set out to do something. Where most people would say, "I can't do that because I'm not an artist" or come up with other stumbling blocks, thus guy just barreled right through them. The story was fascinating and the film itself was really well done (and hilariously funny). Shepard Fairey features heavily in the movie, which was cool because his studio is really near our house. And we saw lots of street art that we recognized.

After the movie we walked over to Amoeba Music (we were in Hollywood) where Jerry's friend bought some t-shirts to take back home to New Zealand. Warren found a used copy of Idiocracy (one of the funniest movies ever) and I found lots of other documentaries that I want to watch, but haven't seen yet. We had thought we would go to the Santa Monica pier after the movie, but decided to eat dinner at home and once we got home and the boys started playing Halo none of us felt much like leaving the house. So Warren and I poured a couple glasses of wine and hunkered down for a nice evening at home.

Today is Augie's last day with us and we have a full schedule: Hollywood Farmer's Market, pick up Augie's Uncle Glenn, lunch at our house with Glenn, go to Whole Foods to stock up on goodies for Augie to take home to his family in NZ, meet up with friends in Topanga who have some pots (not pot) for Augie to take home, eat some dinner, get to the airport by 8 pm.

I have some very exciting book drive news. My friend Maria was able to get us an encyclopedia set for $8!! She got it at a library book sale on the last day when they were giving things away for $2/bag. I'm so happy! Not including the encyclopedia, we're up to 511 books, which is just past the half way mark. We still have two weeks to go and I'll be getting books from a friend in San Diego on Tuesday and from Corona and Sacramento at the end of the week. I have to admit that I did finally break down and but a few books off the Amazon wish list I made up. I've been trying not to spend my own money on books, because I know I'm going to end up paying for a good portion of the shipping, but it's really hard! So I ordered some of the books that were only $.01 used, which made them $4 with shipping. I ordered 11 books in all. One was more expensive, but I really thought it was an important book for the collection. I must say, this library thing has really made me stop and think before I buy something for myself. At Amoeba yesterday I was thinking of buying a used copy of Rivers and Tides (a fabulous documentary about landscape sculptor Andy Goldsworthy), but then I put it back when I thought about how that $15 could buy three books for the African library.

Time to get off the computer now and start the day!

WoW

2010-04-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

Jerry's latest passion is the World of Warcraft game. I don't know much about it, but I did recently read an article about how "video games are becoming the new hotbed of scientific thinking for kids today." And WoW was featured heavily in the article. Then, yesterday, we were driving over to Jerry's dog walking job and he started talking about selling stuff on the game (things like tools or potions, I think). He said he always sells his stuff really fast because he looks at the prices other people are selling the same or similar items for and then he prices his items one to five gold pieces lower.

So, science and economics education via World of Warcraft. Cool.

Big thanks to Susan for posting about my book drive on her blog! It never occurred to me to ask before, but if you have your own blog, please consider telling your readers, too.

Quick Update

2010-04-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

We had a terrific time in Santa Barbara last week with the homeschool group. The train was an hour late, but that was the only hitch in an otherwise fabulous day. When we arrived in Santa Barbara we had lunch and then went to the lovely Santa Barbara zoo.

This past weekend was the L.A. Times Festival of Books at UCLA. I skipped it on Saturday, but managed to get there for a few hours on Sunday and made it to both panel discussions that I was interested in seeing (even though I didn't have tickets!). After the festival I spent a few hours updating the Book Drive page and linking all the books on the Books About Africa page to Amazon. I also changed the name of that page to "Wish List" and made a real wish list on the Amazon web site. My eyes felt like they were about to fall out of my head by the time I was finished!

Once I was done with my Web stuff and Warren was done battling the weeds in the backyard and Jerry was ready for a break in WoW (he reached level 60!) we went to Fosselman's Ice Cream Parlor where I had a delicious banana heath bar ice cream sundae with hot caramel sauce. Yum. Yum. Yum. Then we came home and watched Beverly Hills Cop, which I hadn't seen in ages. Eddie Murphy is hilarious and Jerry loved the movie.

Today I'll be catching up on homework, because I've waited until the last possible second to finish two big assignments. We're looking forward to a visit from one of our homeschooling friends in New Zealand at the end of the week. He's return from visiting his grandpa in the US Virgin Islands and will stopover at our house for a couple nights before heading back to NZ.

So, that's all the news. Sorry I haven't posted about Warren and unschooling yet. I will soon!

Birthday Parties & Nursing Homes

2010-04-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

Between midterms, collecting books, Jerry's commitments and my own, we've had a busy couple of weeks. Still, we managed to drive up to Northern California this past weekend for a quick trip to celebrate the first birthday of my niece, Layla.

Here's the birthday girl getting ready for the party.

Could she be any cuter? Her mom made the dress and headband.

Here's Layla with her beautiful mom, Irene, getting ready to open presents.

One of her favorite gifts was a doll. She gave it a big kiss.

And a hug.

Look at that face!

There were other people at the party, but I had so much fun taking pictures of Layla, I'm afraid I didn't get many of the other guests. It was a beautiful day, though. Afterwards, Jerry and I went to visit my friend Lindy and her family. We spent the night with them before heading home on Sunday. Our evening was just as fun as the day. Jerry and Lindy's son, Anthony, played Pokemon on their DSs well into the night and Lindy, Scott (her husband) and I drank lots of wine and sat around on their comfy chairs talking all night.

Even the six-hour drive home was enjoyable (if a little nerve-wracking) because we listened to The Hunger Games. What a great book! I can't wait to get the next one now.

The previous weekend I had gone to a nursing home to hear a volunteer band of professional musicians play for the old folks. (I went because I was writing a story about the founder of the group.)

I absolutely fell in love with one of the old men in the audience. Here he is videotaping the band. Note the leather vest.

The fabulous smile.

And the obvious sense of humor.

I don't know his name and he didn't seem to speak much English, but I think I may have to go back to visit him sometime.

In other news, the book drive is going well. I'm up to 269 books (out of 1,000) and still have books to pick up and be delivered. I received a very welcome e-mail this morning that my friend's mom is going to send me a check for $100 to cover part of the shipping cost!! What a relief! As always, you can find out more about the book drive here. And you can even watch the library grow via a Flickr slideshow.

This week I'm on Spring Break and I'll be catching up on two major homework assignments that will be due next week, as well as trying to figure out new ways to promote the book drive.

Summer, Jerry, and I are going on a train trip to Santa Barbara on Thursday with about 120 other homeschoolers. So that should be really fun. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I have canned my first jar of beans (which Jerry actually ate--and liked!) and have made strawberry jam!! Summer and I went to a canning class last week taught by one of the homeschool moms. It was so fun. And so much easier than I thought it would be! I even bought a used pressure canner for $10 on Craigslist. It needs a couple parts, but once I get those I'll be canning up a storm!

Over and out!

Green Eggs & Hamlet

2010-04-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for leaving that whiny post up for so long. This week has gotten away from me. I want to post a few pictures for you, but I'm supposed to be writing an article right now. So, I'll have to post them later. Still, I couldn't stand to leave that post at the top of the blog any longer. So, here's a little something that will help start your day off with a laugh:

Freaking Out - Again

2010-04-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

I'm having an unschooling freak out. It happens every now and then. I may have to put in a phone call to one of the more experienced unschoolers in my phone book. Just thought you should know.

Also, after being a total spaz about getting A's in my classes, just days before the midterm exams I suddenly feel annoyed at having to study. Argh! That's not good.

And...now that Warren is working again (and working with a vengeance every single day of the week until past midnight) I'm stuck washing the stupid, endless piles of dirty dishes in my kitchen. I hate washing dishes! Could someone please just give me a pill that would satisfy my family's nutritional requirements so I don't have to cook? I mean, really, shouldn't we have invented something like that by now?

Plus, just in case you were wondering what happens when your cat expels a hair ball after eating an entire bird, I can tell you--there are lots of feathers involved and it's not pretty.

I think I'm done now. I'm off to study for my stupid midterms. Then I'm going to wash the stupid dishes (even though I just washed some last night!).

Sheesh.

I Heart Humans

2010-04-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to be writing a post on how Warren is handling the unschooling thing these days (hint: he's still on the fence), but I've been studying for midterms so I don't have time to write it. However, I did want to take a couple minutes to write about how much I love the human race. People are so wonderful. Already, one blogger has sent me a box of books for the book drive, and others have offered to donate money for shipping. My family and friends are forwarding my e-mail about the book drive and linking to the web site on Facebook and Twitter. People are offering books and offering to help pack the books and, thankfully, my initial panic (feeling like the entire village is relying on me--and me alone--to get them their library) is starting to subside. I love people.

And, as an aside, I also love my new deck furniture. (There it is in the Pottery Barn catalog.) After a year of no furniture on our new deck, I finally found the exact set I've been waiting for on Craigslist. And we bought it. And I'm sitting on it now--studying and blogging and eating Warren's leftover pizza. Yes, I love my deck furniture.

But I love people more.

Book Drive for African Library

2010-04-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

You know how when you want to do something, you want to do in now? And it's so frustrating to have to wait. That's how I was feeling about the volunteer vacation and Africa. And then I found this organization. It's called the African Library Project. And they do the exact thing I was wanting to do! They start libraries in Africa! So, I've contacted them and I'm organizing a book drive! I'm so excited!! (That should explain all the exclamation marks.)!!

Each library consists of 1,000 books and I'll be collecting those books for a community library. So I'll need kids books, school books, and books about business, gardening, animal husbandry, etc., but all of it at a fairly easy reading level. From my own book shelves I've collected 65 books to send. And I've found some National Geographic magazines on LAReuseIt (it's like Freecycle). It's so amazing to think that I can do something as big as bringing an entire library to a community of people that live so far away. Of course, I'm not doing it alone, but it's so overwhelming and invigorating to think that I'm the one in charge of collecting all those books. I'm getting the homeschool community involved and have started a website with more information. Please have a look at the site and pass it on (or post a link on your own blog). If you have a few books you'd like to include you can send them to me via media mail. I just need them by May 15. The books will be shipping out on May 25 (the day before I leave for the LIFE is Good Conference) and I'll need some time to pack and organize them. If you don't have books to send, but you'd like to donate toward the cost of shipping that would be really helpful, too. We need to come up with $500 to ship the books (they go via boat). I still need to find out the best way for people to donate, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.

If you're as excited as I am about this project, maybe you'd want to organize your own book drive. As homeschoolers we certainly have the right kind of books at home on our shelves. The African Library Project does need more people organizing book drives, so if you're interested check out their site and read the Book Drive Guidelines to find out if you're up to the task.

In other news, we had a very nice Easter at Warren's step-mom's house. The kids hunted for eggs, we ate lots of good food, and then played a really fun dice game. The highlight of my weekend, however, was Saturday morning when I shared some kugel with my 94-year-old friend, Sol. He made it himself and I felt sure that I was one of only a few people (Sol's family included) who would ever be lucky enough to be served a delicious hot meal made by someone who has been on the planet for such a good, long time. I know Sol appreciates everything I do for him (I help him stay organized, read his mail, pull weeds, etc.), but I don't think he knows how much I appreciate him. I guess I'd better be sure to tell him next time I see him. I'll have to write more about him sometime. In the meantime, you can read about him here.

Oh, there's more good news! I am officially finished with my grandma's estate. The last checks went out on Saturday. And then on Sunday morning I went through the five boxes of my grandma's papers that had been cluttering up my office (I had to make room for those books!). There will still be little things to do here and there, but the big things are finished and I'm both relieved and sad. I feel like it closes the final chapter of my grandma's life.

That's all for now. It's cold and rainy here in Southern California today. I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea, get out my school books and do some reading and homework under a nice cozy blanket.

Armchair Travel

2010-04-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

What a fabulous way to spend a Saturday morning. And you can join me! Make yourself a cup of tea and spend a half hour looking at these photos. Read the descriptions, too. It's so inspiring to hear people talk about why they travel or how they ended up in a certain place.

Why We Travel

Carnival of Unschooled Life

2010-04-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

The April Carnival of Unschooled Life is up over on Susan's fabulous and thought provoking blog, The Expanding Life. There's lots of good stuff over there (including a post by me--but if you're a regular reader you've probably already read it). Anyway, be sure to check it out.

Teabonics

2010-03-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

I know it's not nice to poke fun, but some people make it too easy.

For more misspellings and mangling of the English language visit the "Teabonics" Flickr page.

Big Day

2010-03-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

I'll be finished with my grandma's estate by the end of the day today! Hooray! I'm signing tax papers this morning, then I'll send final checks to the beneficiaries, close the trust account, and voila! One huge load will be off my shoulders.

Remember how I said I was going to do a volunteer vacation with the money from the trust (my fee) and then I said I was going to save it for a trip to the Galapagos? Well, I'm back to the volunteering idea. I'm just more excited about that one. And for some reason Africa has been on my mind a lot lately, so I'm looking into a program that brings volunteers to Ghana for three weeks. It's through Global Volunteers. I think I'd go in January because I won't have any classes during the month of January. My fee from the trust only covers the three weeks while I'm there plus a little spending money (I took $3000 and the trip costs $2795). I'm going to make things to sell and put the proceeds in a "volunteer vacation" savings account. I need another $1500 for airfare and then I figure any profit I make beyond that, I'll donate to the Ghana Scholarship Fund. Good idea, eh? You could do it, too! And if I bring people with me I save $200 per person on my cost. So.....who wants to go to Ghana in January!? Anyone? I know, you need time to think about it. That's fine. Just let me know once you've made up your mind. (And say yes!)

In other news, my sister and her kids are coming to visit for a few days. They'll arrive tonight. (My niece, Cora, was packed and ready to go yesterday. We have big plans to make cupcakes while she's here.) So, today I'll be doing lots of cleaning. And possibly going to buy a rug from someone off Craigslist. Our floor is full of splinters and I don't want little Ezra (who is a crawling maven) to get splinters in his hands and knees. We'll see though. I'm not sure if I'll have time.

I've been pulling lots of weeds in the backyard lately, too. Only in the morning for an hour or so, but one of Jerry's friends is going to help me soon, so that'll be good because the weeds are almost as tall as I am and it's a bit overwhelming--literally.

Oh, I forgot the other good news! Warren is working for the next 8 weeks! Yippee!! He had a very long stretch without work (his last job ended before Thanksgiving--and that was a short one, too) and when we were in New York he was offered a job on the next Twilight movie. So that's what he's doing now. They're done shooting so they're working here in L.A. and he's fairly close to home, so that's nice. I can't wait to get that first paycheck! And the director he worked with on Aliens in the Attic might be starting something up at the end of summer, so if Warren could get a filler job for the summer, then he could work on another movie with the people he worked with in New Zealand and that would make him really happy because he loves those guys. So, keep your fingers crossed!

Oh, yes, and the other good news is that I'm doing very well in my classes! That's right. I got 100% on my first test and have received full marks for all of my assignments to date. It warms my heart when I see the teachers remarks ("Good work!" and "Well done.") on my homework. I'm a glutton for praise in any form, so this whole school and grading thing is right up my alley. Warren said he would grade me on keeping the house clean, too, if that would make me happy. Nice try. That would be like me signing up to take calculus and expecting an A. I know my limits.

Let's see. It's been a while since I posted and I want to catch you up on everything. What else has been happening? Last night was homeschool group "Mom's Night Out." We all dressed up in our finest and went to watch some male strippers then had a private pole dancing lesson. Just kidding. We went out for Thai food. It was very relaxing. I hosted a book club meeting earlier in the week, which was also fun. The book was good (Excellent Women by Barbara Pym) but didn't give us much to discuss. I recently finished Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle and wished we had chosen that one for book club–now that's a thought provoking book. I'm reading The Death of Why (recommended by Susan) right now. It certainly (though unintentionally) makes the case for unschooling.

Hmmm. I guess that's about it. I could write more, and I'd like to, really, because as soon as I stop writing I have to start cleaning. But, I do need to get the house ready for our guests. I hope I get an A for my effort.

At Last - NYC

2010-03-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

So I started writing a post that explained what we did and all that. But Blogger's new photo upload tool is driving me absolutely MAAAADDDDD. I'm just going to leave everything as it is and let you look at the pictures. They're out of order and most have no explanations, but it'll still give you a little peek at our week.
Bye for now,
Colleen

The adventure began very early in the morning on Friday, March 12. Here we are (Jerry and me) on the plane at the crack of dawn.

We arrived at Terri and Sam's house on 218th Street (the Northernmost residential street in Manhattan) on Friday evening after a long cab ride in heavy rain and loads of traffic. Saturday morning, even though it was pouring rain and there were fierce winds, Terri and Sam and Hudson and Cyrus (their two boys) braved the weather ro take us site seeing. Naturally, our first stop was Nintendo World.

Then Toys R US on Times Square. We saw the library. We stopped for lunch.

And by that time we were soaked to the bone so we went back to Terri and Sam's for some hot tea, dry clothes and dinner.

The next day, Sunday, was the big day--the release of the new Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver games. Oh, and Warren's birthday. We got to Nintendo World about 15 minutes before opening. So did a few other people.

We lined up with the rest of the Pokemaniacs.

No one complained about the rain, though. There was too much excitement about the games.

When they opened they moved the line inside. It snaked around the bottom floor, up the stairs and around the top floor. We waited in line for about an hour before Jerry finally made it to the counter and got his games.

And this cool (free!) Pokemon bag.

My friend Gabbi and her daughter, Siena, met us at the store. They took the train in from Connecticut. We spent the day wandering around the city with them. Naturally, we went to Toys R Us. Again. Here we are just outside the store.

Home Again

2010-03-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

We're back from our trip to New York! It was fabulous. The Nintendo World Store was everything Jerry had imagined (minus one floor), I was so happy to see my old (and one new!) friends, and Warren was able to spend his birthday exploring the Big Apple. I can't write a full post about it yet because the pictures haven't been downloaded, but I just wanted to say we're back. You should have a full report of our time away by Monday.

In the meantime, check out this TED Talk:
Gaming Can Make a Better World

Unschooling 101

2010-03-10T18:49:00.000-08:00

Someone who stumbled upon my blog recently e-mailed me with some questions about unschooling. She said my response was really helpful and gave her a lot to think about, so I thought I'd turn the e-mail into a blog post. She would like to start unschooling but has some doubts. This is what I told her:

On watching television
To be honest, my son spends way more time in front of a screen than I would like. The best way I've found to look at the situation is to imagine that instead of spending time watching TV, for example, he is reading (something I value over TV watching). That usually changes my feelings. Also, I try to remind myself that he may be getting something that I'm not even aware of by watching a cartoon or playing a game. And it may end up being a big plus if he ends up in the animation business or if he ends up designing video games (which is what he wants to do). I do try to draw him into other occupations, but in the end if he wants to watch TV or play a video game I respect that. And I do my best to look for the good in the choices he makes.

You can find plenty of studies that rail against television but there are some that don't find it to have a negative effect. Read some of those and see what you think. Just open your mind a little more. I always remind myself that when rock 'n' roll first came out people thought it was really bad for kids. In fact, I think of video games as the rock 'n' roll of our time. :)

On valuing your child's interest vs. allowing
You should always strive toward valuing. Because that implies acceptance and even a certain amount of joy. Allow implies restrictions. It feels a little negative. But sometimes you're going to have negative feeling about things your kids are into. There's no getting around it--especially in the beginning! I'd say just to ask yourself why you have those negative feelings (and really dig deep!) and see if they make sense.

On sleep & arbitrary limits
Jerry has been setting his own bedtime for almost three years now (started at 12, I think) and he's just started staying up really late. It bugs my husband (a lot) and I'm not crazy about it because I see a lot less of him, but as long as Jerry can still do the things he needs to do during the day I'm trying to let it be (though I don't always succeed).

One thing I would say is to make sure, when you do set limits or make rules (on anything--not just bed time), that they are not arbitrary. Really ask yourself "why?" And if you find your answer is "because it's just not done" or something along those lines, dig a little deeper and ask a few more questions. You may find that the things you thought were important are actually kind of arbitrary. If we had to be someplace early in the morning I would probably feel getting to bed at a certain time is not arbitrary, but for now Jerry doesn't have to be anywhere until 1 so he can go to bed at 2 or even 4 and still get a full night's sleep.

On the importance of commitment, discipline and structure
I guess the question to ask yourself is who is making the commitment and are they doing it because it's important to them or because it's important to someone else. And, I think discipline comes with a real interest in something. Sure, you need to discipline yourself to wash your dishes and put your clothes away, but if you're interested in eating off a clean dish or having clean unwrinkled clothes you'll muster up the discipline when you need it. So, I don't really think discipline needs to be taught or a structure needs to be imposed.

On starting to unschool
If you're thinking you want to ease into unschooling, but you're unsure, I'd suggest that you just start saying yes more. That's all you need to do for now. Just see how it goes from there.

Required reading for beginners
I really like Tammy Takahshi's book Deschooling Gently. She's an unschooler but she's pretty middle of the road and she blazes her own trail. She's not caught up in trying to unschool the "right" way. She's doing what works for her family and encourages others to do the same. Her approach is a good way to ease into unschooling and it may or may not lead you to radical unschooling. So, that would be a good place to start. And, of course, read Sandra Dodd's web site and the Joyfully Rejoicing site.

The main thing (or things)
The main thing is to avoid arbitrary limits. And say yes as much as possible. And look for the joy in everything. And treat your kids the way you would treat any other adult. But allow yourself to take baby steps. It's a big paradigm shift--this whole unschooling thing. But once the shift has happened you'll never go back!

What if it doesn't take?
Even if you find unschooling isn't right for your family in the end, you'll still be much better off than you were by virtue of the fact that you will have asked yourself questions and really thought about the way you treat your children, the limits you set and whether or not they make any sense. So you might as well give it a try!

Rule Number One

2010-03-10T07:41:00.001-08:00

Don't start a new blog while you're on vacation. You may think you have time to post to a new blog, in addition to posting to your old one and going to school and being a wife, mother, friend, volunteer, part-time writer, world traveler and informed citizen. But, you don't. It only feels like you do because you're on vacation. Not that any of you would do something so ridiculous. Some people just don't think. They get all excited about an idea and they run with it all willy nilly before asking themselves if they will be able to follow through. Silly people.

Well, now that I've got that little public service announcement out of the way, let me catch you up on what's been going on around here. In a word--lots! We leave for New York on Friday morning. Yippee! And guess what?! I'm finally going to meet Holly from Unschool Days. I'm so excited! We're going to spend a day at the zoo together with the kids. I'm also going to meet up with a friend from elementary school who I haven't seen in 30 years (gotta love Facebook). And, of course, we're staying with one of my very best friends in the whole wide world (even though she abandoned me and moved across the country), Terri, and I'll get to see my other good friend (who also abandoned me), Gabbi. If you're sensing abandonment issues here you're very perceptive. I'm a glutton for punishment, though. I have a knack for falling in love with people about two years before they decide to move very far away (Zefra!).

We'll be in New York for Warren's birthday, but I already got him a gift--a heavy bag. I found one on craigslist and luckily the people I bought it from had a truck so they brought it to our house and helped me sneak it into the garage (while Warren was working in the office). So it was a nice surprise (though I had a hard time luring him into the garage and even then I had to point it out to him--and it's huge!). So he's been taking his aggression out on the heavy bag and getting a good workout to boot.

Jerry's XBox has the dreaded red rings, so we may have to send it in to be fixed. It still works intermittently, though so we were able to play some Halo last night before I went to bed. It was my first try and I got killed every 30 seconds. I did manage to kill Jerry once, though, when he put his avatar right in front of me and said, "Aim at my head! My head! No, that's my chest!" My favorite quote of the game was also from Jerry: "Nik! Stop killing my mom. I'm still teaching her to use the controls!" Halo lends itself to memorable lines.

I've been really busy (as you might have guessed since I've completely neglected my blog). It turns out that taking two classes is a lot of work. I love it though. I love, love, love going to school. And this week in particular has been crazy. I'm trying to finish my assignments before we leave so I won't need to take them with me. I also need to write an article for the newspaper (that picture of the teacher made it onto the cover, by the way!), take Jerry to the doctor's, clean the house, and take Patsy to my friend Jeff's house. Speaking of friends, I've had one of those fabulous weeks when I get to see a lot of friends. It hardly ever happens. On Sunday I took some pictures for my friend, Edward, who needed headshots. Handsome, eh? (And he's available, ladies!)
On Monday I went to visit a special library at the Natural History Museum for a class assignment and ran into our friend Michael (he works there) so we had lunch together. Then on Tuesday I met my friend Lisa, who I hardly ever get to see even though she now lives 15 minutes from my house, for coffee. And then tomorrow I get to see my friend Jeff because I'm taking Patsy down to stay with him and his dog, Sophie, for the week. I love weeks like this because they remind me that I actually do have friends within easy driving distance.

Oh, the other exciting news, which I may have already mentioned, is that plans for the LIFE is Good buddy system are well under way. I'm so excited to be able to take part in some of the planning and organizing this year and I hope the buddy system makes being a new conference goer easier and more enjoyable (i.e. less lonely) for people. I'm counting down the days until May 27!

Well, it's 8:30 now and I think I'd better hit the books before I have to wake Jerry up for his appointment. The reading is the one thing I'm not so crazy about with taking these library classes. I mean, how much can a person say about working in a library? It turns out they can say a lot. And they can say the same thing. Over. And over. And over. And most of it's just common sense, anyway. Still, if I want that A (and do I ever!) I have to do the reading. So....here I go.

Things That Make Me Happy

2010-03-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

Super Student

2010-02-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

I can't stop doing my homework. This is so unlike me. I usually wait until the very last possible second before a deadline to begin working on a project. I think I like the adrenalin rush that comes with the last minute push to get things done. But, I'm so excited about school and, so terrified that I might--God forbid-- get anything less than an A (that includes an A-) that I'm doing homework early and, oh, so thoroughly. The thorough part doesn't surprise me because that's how I am. The early part is new. I'm glad for it though. Still, I can see that I'll need to carve out time when I just need to let the homework go so I can hang out with Jerry.

Warren is at jury duty today. Poor guy. They didn't call him in all week until the one day he was hoping to go to lunch with friends.

It's almost 9:30 and I think I'll go clean up in my office for a bit before Jerry wakes up. Or maybe I'll do some more homework. It's so fun to be a student again!!

Eh Gads!

2010-02-23T20:43:00.001-08:00

Has it really been four days since I last posted? I guess things got busy. We finished our fabulous vacation on Saturday, spent the night at my mom's in Sacramento, where my niece, Cora, played with me all evening and then let me read her a story and put her to bed. (Normally my sister is the only one who has this privilege, but since she was out on a date night with her husband Cora settled for me. It was very sweet.)

So we drove home from Sacramento on Sunday, and then my classes started. I'm taking two classes in Library Science and I already have homework and reading to do. I'm trying stay on top of it all though, so I don't get stressed out in the end. One of the girls in my class last night was saying how it had been soooo long since she'd been in school, so I was thinking maybe she was older than she looked. But then she said "I graduated in 2004." In what land was 2004 was a long time ago?! Anyway, it was kind of funny in a "how did I get so old?" kind of way.

And now I'm off to do some reading (about libraries, of course) and to bed.

Simple. Frugal. Fun.

2010-02-19T08:19:00.000-08:00

I started a new blog the other day. This is the year I get my act together and get my house, finances, life, and all that other stuff in order. And the blog will document it all. I'm starting with organizing and purging, but the other two items on the list are living frugally and having fun. Anyway, check it out! It's called Simple. Frugal. Fun. And leave a comment if you can so I don't start to feel all lonely over there.

I'll post more pictures here later today. We went to a fabulous beach yesterday where there was tons of driftwood and Jerry had a great time making sandslides (like a landslide but with sand). It's supposed to rain today, so we'll probably stay in watching movies, reading, playing games, and being on the computer. It's so relaxing here!!

We're Moving!

2010-02-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

Just kidding. But we would if we could. If Warren's work could happen up here, I'd pack my bags and move here in the blink of an eye. I love it! Even Jerry said he'd live here if only they had faster internet and satellite television. That's high praise. Warren likes it, but he's not prepared to move just yet. He's a city boy and wide open spaces make him nervous. I think I could convince him, though, given some time.

I woke up at 4 this morning and looked out the window to see that the cloud cover was gone and the milky way was clearly visible. It was so beautiful. I woke Warren up and we took a blanket out to the trampoline and lay on it, looking up at the stars. We saw at least 4 shooting stars in the 20 minutes or so that we were there. It was spectacular. It's easy to forget that we are just one of so many planets in so many galaxies when you live in the city. It's nice to be in a place where that's more apparent.

After our early morning stargazing, Warren and I slept in. We had a lazy morning and then, after lunch, the three of us (four if you include Patsy) drove to the Point Arena Lighthouse and took a guided tour (Patsy stayed in the car). This is the lighthouse.
And this is a view from the top.
It turns out that the entire city of Point Arena (and its lighthouse) was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. After our tour we walked along the bluffs. The pictures speak for themselves, I think.

We stopped in at a bakery on our way home and bought some delicious cookies and coffee, then came back to the house, played Pit, watched Warren jump on the trampoline (Jerry and I are still sore from our last jumping episode!) and now Warren and I are at our computers and Jerry is on the phone getting some advice on playing WoW.

Yesterday we took another walk around the property and found some wild mushrooms. I'm pretty sure they're the black chantarelles that the owner had told me about, so as soon as I send him a picture (just to be on the safe side) I'm going to pick some for a pasta dinner.

Another thing I did yesterday was create a full and easy to read accounting of my grandma's estate and how much it was worth and where the money has gone so far. I was so relieved when everything added up perfectly. It was right down to the penny! I'm hoping the estate will be wrapped up in the month or so. When I take my fee it's going straight into a savings account for a trip to the Galapagos Islands. Anyone want to go with me? Warren's not a boat person and Jerry's diet is too restrictive for that kind for travel, so I'm going solo! It may take a while before I've got all the funds together, so if you're interested in going there's still plenty of time to save! I'll keep you posted on the details.

Oh, and another thing we did yesterday was watch the sunset.

Jumping For Joy

2010-02-16T07:28:00.000-08:00

Come on in! But be sure to take your shoes off at the door. It's muddy out here.When I left you yesterday, Patsy and I were about to head outside to explore the property. That's just what we did and it was so cool! We found the cabin where the woman who lives here (she's an author) writes. We found a freaky abandoned trailer with broken windows and no door. We found an outhouse (also with no door) and an old rusty bath tub. We discovered the guest house, with its sliding barn door and super cool loft. We found the garden. We found a platform tree house and some of the craziest looking mushrooms I've ever seen. I cleaned off the trampoline and bounced a little as I surveyed the treetops. And then we went inside where I made tea and whole wheat pancakes. (I'm not being as strict with my healthy eating plan this week).

For the rest of the morning Warren, Patsy and I stayed inside while Jerry slept. I brought some photography books with me, so I started reading one of them. It's a nature photography workshop in a book. So, I read that and tried to take some pictures using the guidelines in the book, but I have a loooooong way to go.When Jerry woke up we all went for a walk around the property. We stopped in at the guest house, where Warren and Jerry played a game of foosball while I picked some fresh oregano from the garden. Patsy roamed freely, coming back to check on us every now and then. I believe she thinks she's died and gone to heaven. The only drawback to all this wide open space is that Patsy's hips are sore. Once she lays down at the end of the day it's hard for her to lift herself back up. I sense a hip surgery in her future.

After our hike around the property we came back to the trampoline. I set my camera up on a tripod so we could take goofy pictures of us in the air.

When we couldn't take it anymore we all limped back inside for lunch. Then, Warren and I had coffee on the deck. After that, we hung around the house for another couple hours, and then drove into Point Arena. It takes about 20 minutes to get there. Did I mention that this house is remote? To get here you have to get off highway 1, drive about 6 miles on a deserted, winding road, turn off that road onto a dirt road and drive another 1.3 miles to the long, dirt (but, mercifully straight) driveway. You have to enjoy solitude to live someplace like this.

After buying a few things at the market in Point Arena, we drove down to have a look at the Point Arena pier. It was cold and windy, so we didn't stay long. We plan to go back for some coastal exploration on Wednesday. Back at home, Warren started dinner while I wrote my newspaper article (the one about the teacher), then we ate dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed.

And now, here I am again. Sitting at the big window, looking out at the ocean which, up until this morning, has remained mostly hidden under a cover of gray clouds. Today, though, I can see the sparkling blue water. This place makes me want to jump for joy.

Bliss

2010-02-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

I am sitting at the dining room table of our home away from home, looking through the huge windows to my left. Off in the distance, beyond the pine trees, redwoods and green rolling hills the Pacific Ocean is just starting to peek through the fog. I'm going to put on some warm clothes and take the dog exploring on the 10 acres of land which belong to the owners of this house. But I just wanted to write a quick note on my blog to say, "Wow."

Wow. I can't believe we get to stay here. And I can't believe it's free. But we do. And it is.

Wow.

Clean, Clean, Clean

2010-02-12T15:16:00.001-08:00

I'm just taking a breather in the midst of all the cleaning we've been doing today in preperation for the house swap. Swapping houses has been great for the cleanliness of our house because there's no way we would put this much effort into cleaning just for ourselves. Or even for guests that we know. It's another matter entirely when you're having guests who don't know you!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about our experiment. The one we did last night. It's really easy. You need an LED (you can get one at Radio Shack), shoes, carpet, and a metal object. Hold one metal leg of the LED in your fingers, walk across the rug (wearing shoes) and slide your feet as you go (picking up extra electrons along the way), and then touch the other leg of the LED to something metal (we used a doorknob) and you get a teeny flicker of light. It's really cool! Oh, and I forgot to mention the lights should be out and it should be dark. That's all there is to it! After the experiment we watched a couple YouTube videos about electricity. Jerry seemed really interested and I was so happy to be doing something fun together because he spends an awful lot of time with his friends on the XBox these days. I miss him.

My breather is over. Time to clean the bathrooms and then it's off to the movie theater for the Percy Jackson movie. Yippee! We've been waiting for this one forever!

Crazy Day

2010-02-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

This was my day yesterday:
7 wake up, have tea, eat breakfast, finish gathering tax information
9:30 leave home, drop off Summer at her house
10:30 tax appointment with accountant
12 arrive home, wake Jerry for dog walking
12:30 dog walking (while walking: call Warren to see if he'll be driving Jerry to D&D, no answer; call Jerry's friend Shea re: early pick up for D&D; send e-mail to woman in France who is worried because my sister-in-law, who is supposed to be hosting her daughter this summer, has not responded to her e-mails; call sister-in-law to see what the heck is keeping her from responding; call warren again, no answer)
1:15 drop Jerry off at home, start water boiling for pasta, back into the car to pick up Shea
1:30 shuffle boys, plus Warren into car for D&D game
1:45 compose e-mail to woman in France explaining that sister-in-law must be really busy, send another couple e-mails
2:15 leave house to interview teacher for newspaper
3 interview
4:30 home, eat
5 clean
6 decide to take a break and watch Galapagos DVD (Warren and Jerry arrive home soon after)
6:45 make dinner
7:45 clean
8:45 do some Japanese with Jerry, read first pages of "Getting Started in Electronics" with Jerry and do a quick experiment
9:45 clean
10:30 bed at last

It was a busy day.

Here's the photo I took of the teacher I interviewed. I really like it.

C'est La Vie

2010-02-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

I had a feeling it was too good to be true. The Vita-Mix is not going to be mine. Apparently the guy who offered it to me failed to check with the other resident of his house (his mother) before offering it to me. And she wants to keep it. Oh well. It's a good thing he asked her before giving it away! So, I'm still hoping some other giving soul who doesn't use his or her blender will see fit to give it to me.

In the meantime, I just interviewed a junior high school English teacher for the local paper and he was so interesting! He's exactly the kind of teacher you want your kid to have. I asked him if there was any one kid that he felt he'd really impacted in some way and he said that it's the kids who are making an impact on him. He said they teach him something new every day. What a gifted and inspiring guy.

And now we are down to the countdown. Our house swap begins at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon and the house is a mess. There is lots of work to be done! But at least we have a lovely, newly painted front door.

Defeat & Victory

2010-02-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Defeat:
I've given up on my career as a worm castings farmer (or vermicomposter). I sold the worm bin on Craigslist for $45 yesterday, after my worms died. Yet again. They were doing so well just before Christmas, but then I unthinkingly threw a bunch of food and eggshells in before we left for the holiday. It was just too much for them. The result was mold, flies, and dead worms. So no more worms for me. My regular compost pile is doing really well now and I'm just going to stick with that.

Victory:
I really, really want one of those expensive, super powerful Vita-Mix blenders. My parents bought one a couple years ago and I've been patiently waiting for the Vita-Mix to join the other unused (or rarely used) appliances in their garage so I can surreptitiously transport it to my own kitchen, but it just isn't happening. They keep using the darn thing. So, when I heard they were on sale at Costco, I asked Warren to stop by and check out the price. Sadly, (and as expected, really) the Vita-Mix does not fit into the unemployment budget. So, on a whim, I posted an ad on FreeCycle. It must have been a month ago that I put that post up and I had given up on the idea of getting one completely. In fact, I hadn't held out much hope of getting one in the first place because even used (like on Craigslist) they sell for a well over two hundred dollars. But guess what I found in my inbox this morning?

OK. Enough guessing. I'll tell you. I got an e-mail from a guy who said he'll give me his Vita-Mix blender!!!! Can you believe it!? He said can he have a six-pack of Miller in return and I told him I'd give him a case!

Yippee!!

Super Bowl

2010-02-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

Jerry made his annual Super Bowl Sunday theme park trip with his friend, Jackson, yesterday. But for the first time I just dropped the boys off at the park and left them to their own devices. Jerry was a little nervous about it, but I couldn't justify spending money on my own ticket when funds are so tight. And it all worked out really well. Jerry had a great time and checked in with me throughout the day on his cell phone, and I was able to spend a few hours with my grandma. We visited for a couple hours, then watched the first part of the Super Bowl in the living room of her assisted living home with the other old folks. They were my kind of sports spectators. We all just rooted for whoever had the ball and cringed when anyone got tackled. So all in all it was a fine day for everyone!

We've had confirmation that the French boy will be staying with us for three weeks this summer, so that's really exciting.

Today I'm going to paint our front door. Well, I'm going to primer it today. I'll paint it (cobalt blue!) tomorrow. So, that's exciting, too (for me, anyway--our door has needed paint pretty much since we moved in).

I feel like moving to New Zealand today. I'll probably get over it, but every now and then the mood strikes me. Anyway, that's all I have to say, really. Sorry this blog has become so boring. I only keep up with it because I enjoy other people's blogs so much that I would feel guilty about dropping mine--just in case anyone feels the same way about mine. Ah, well, the paint can is calling!!

Released

2010-02-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

I've been released from jury service for the year. Yippee! They settled out of court, so I never even ended up on a jury. I did, however, get free entry to the Museum of Modern Art on my lunch break yesterday, which was cool. And which is why I have no pictures to show you today.

But, I would like to share what I've been eating for breakfast with you. It's so yummy. And so healthy. I've been having Irish oatmeal with 2 chopped dried plums (aka prunes) and 2 chopped dried apricots with a sprinkling of cinnamon every morning and it's delicious! This is my third or fourth week of my new healthy eating and I'm loving it. I can't say exactly what has changed, but I'm having no problem sticking to the foods that are healthy and leaving out white flour, dairy, sugar, and processed foods. It's weird. Normally I would give up after a couple days. I'm also reading a great book that is just reinforcing my decision to eat healthier. It's called The Blue Zones. In the book, the author visits three (or four?) areas of the world that scientists call "blue zones," where a high concentration of centenarians exists, and tries to figure out what lifestyle choices led those people to such longevity, then he gives ideas for how we might do the same. It's a quick easy read and I'm enjoying it a lot. Once I'm certain my eating habits have changed I'm going to move on to exercise and find ways to get moving a bit more. Then I'll add meditation and I'll be set for life. I hope.

More good news: we might have a French boy come stay with us for a few weeks this summer. It would be an "exchange" of sorts through Homelink (the house swapping service we belong to) so that he could improve his English. I'm hoping it works out, though I doubt Jerry would be interested in going to France without us. But, you never know. I can't recommend this house swapping thing highly enough. If you've ever thought about doing it, just take the plunge. You'll never regret it!

By the way, on the unschool front I've made a couple changes. Warren is very worried about the way Jerry spends his time. He particularly wants him to know some things about history and feels he should study Japanese in between his lessons, instead of only doing it for the one hour each week when he is with his teacher. So, Jerry and I have taken to spending some time most evenings after dinner going over a Japanese book I bought him a while back and doing flash cards and I'm also taking the opportunity to tell him a few things about history, or to read a short book from the library on a certain topic. So, it's not strictly unschooling because he isn't coming to me saying "Mom, I want to learn this. Can you help?" But, on the other hand, he's not complaining and we both enjoy cuddling up on the new bed/couch we recently put in his playroom and reading and talking. So I see it more a me nudging him. If he refused to sit with me I think I'd have to let it go, but so far we both enjoy the time, so I'm going to keep going. And it puts Warren's mind at ease, which is good. So it's win/win all around.

I've been thinking of trying to add some math to his life, though. And that might not go as smoothly. The reasoning behind my idea, is that whenever I read about people who study video game design, they always mention that math is important. Now Jerry says he wants to study video game design. But he hasn't yet made the connection that he'll need math. He still thinks he hates math. So, I've been thinking of trying to find a person who loves math to come over now and then and show Jerry what he or she loves so much about it. I'm not really thinking it would be a "lesson" so much as a shared passion. I'm still toying with the idea in my mind. But, I do think that knowing Jerry, and knowing how he tends to feel overwhelmed when he doesn't feel comfortable doing something (which inevitably leads to his giving up), I'm just thinking it may be a bit negligent on my part to ignore the math thing completely. On the other hand, maybe if he focused more on video game design now, he would recognize that he needs math and then he would want to learn it. Hmmm. I think that might be right. So, doing more video game design with him now will lead him to want to learn math if he sees he needs it for the game design that he's doing. Aha! I've just figured it out. OK. Forget what I said before. We're just going to focus on what Jerry loves doing now. And if he finds he needs math to do it, then we'll learn math because he sees a need for it. Yes, that's right. Phew! That was a close one.

Jury Duty, Part 2

2010-02-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

I'm sure being part of a jury is really interesting once the trial begins, but the jury selection process is mind numbingly boring. The only interesting part is finding out what people do for a living, if they're married and what their spouses do (all the jurors have to answer those questions). But after you sit through 14 people in one courtroom and 20 in another even that tends to get old.

Still, I made the most of my lunch break by leaving the courthouse and walking around some of my favorite places in downtown Los Angeles. And I took pictures for you. With my phone.

This is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.The Walt Disney Concert Hall.That's City Hall in the background, but the real reason I took this picture was the aloe plants that were in bloom. This flower is one of my favorite things about winter in Southern California. I love it.And I took this one just outside the courthouse. It's for my New Zealand friends. :)I'll be back at the courthouse on Thursday for the continuation of jury selection. So I expect I'll have more pictures for you on Friday.

By the way, have you checked in with the Redpath family lately? They're a family of four, from our homeschool group, who are traveling the world for a year. And they've just been to Stonehenge!

Jury Duty

2010-02-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

That's where I'll be starting at 7:30 a.m. today--well, by the time most of you read this it will be today (Tuesday). I could have done an online orientation and reported later than 7:30, but because I'm lame and I forgot about it until this very second, I'm too late for the online orientation and I have to be there at the crack of dawn. Woe is me.

On the other hand, last time I had jury duty I met some really nice people who I've kept in touch with, so maybe the same thing will happen this time. Either way, I'll be bringing a few good books (I'm reading My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell at the moment--it's great!) and will spend the day doing some guilt-free reading, maybe a few crossword puzzles, and making new friends.

In other news, I've been going through our New Zealand pictures, trying to choose a few for a frame we're putting up in the hallway (a frame we bought for that very purpose over a year ago) and I found this one of our shadows in front of the Rotorua Museum of Art and History. I like it.

The Five-Minute University

2010-01-29T08:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday Night Live's Father Guido Sarducci explains his model for university education.

A Good Laugh

2010-01-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning out the piles and boxes and bags of papers in my office this morning and came across the weekly homeschooling schedule I had made back when we started homeschooling at the beginning of Jerry's 6th grade year. Wanna guess how long this plan lasted?*

*Hint: You can count the days on one hand.

Grandma's Anniversay

2010-01-26T17:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a year since my grandma died. I went down to Old Man's Beach this morning to remember her. We scattered her ashes off the coast there because that's where her husband used to surf (well into his 80s!). It was a really lovely morning, kind of overcast and there were lots of surfers out in the water. I sat on a blanket and ate the small lunch I had brought from home, then I took a nice long walk on the beach.Kinda cancels out the pretty picture from the ball, eh? Anyway, it seemed like the perfect way to honor her and I'm really glad I made the trek down to Orange County so I could be in a place that had special meaning to her.

As I was writing this post I went back and watched the memorial video that Warren made for her funeral. What a gift to be able to hear her voice even after she is gone. Ain't technology grand?

Jane Austen Ball

2010-01-25T08:25:00.001-08:00

The ball was so fun! I finally feel comfortable with most of the dances so I don't look like a deer caught in the headlights when my turn comes around--at least I hope I don't! The picture is me, Angela, and David. If Angela and I want to dance with David we have to snatch him up quickly before someone else does because men are such a hot commodity at the ball. Next year we might have two men. Angela's neighbor said he would go, so that will be nice. In the beginning it was a lot easier to dance with a man because sometimes keeping the parts straight is difficult. But on Saturday night I danced with lots of female partners as well an males and I think now that I'm more familiar with the dances I can switch between the two with ease. Anyway, it was loads of fun and I highly recommend going to any Jane Austen event you can find. I have some video which I'll put up as soon as Jerry shows me how to download it.

In other news, we've worked out another house swap! Yippee! We're going to swap with a family that has a house three hours North of San Francisco, in Point Arena. It's in the Redwoods and has a view of the ocean! And we get to bring our dog! Can you tell I'm excited? We're going the second week in February and will return just in time for me to start my classes the following week.

Also, I've started on a new healthier eating regime. And it's not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I'm eating almost no diary, no white flour, very little wheat and tons of fruits, vegetables, legumes and quinoa. That's about it. Plus, I've been scouring the NYTimes site for recipes from Mark Bittman (the Minimalist) because he makes everything sound so easy. And that's what I need--easy. I just finished his book, Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating and I loved it. I also got his How to Cook Everything Vegetarian from the library and it's fabulous as well. I think I'll have to buy that one (used, though because I'm not buying new this year!).

Jerry is staying up until 4am or later these days and I do wish he'd go to bed a little earlier. It's very annoying to be a radical unschooler because if you're not going to set arbitrary limits (like bedtimes, in many cases) you need a very good reason to request that your child change his or her habits. And then if he or she doesn't really want to follow your suggestion there isn't much you can do because you can't just suddenly start being all authoritarian. It doesn't sit right. But Jerry looked a little like a zombie yesterday (there were no zombies at the ball, by the way--I thought there might be.) and I'm thinking he really does need to be in bed by 2. That way he can sleep until 12 (with the dog walking job he needs to be up by 12:30 at the latest) and still get a solid ten hours (which is his usual amount).

Anyway, I'm thinking of setting an alarm for myself so I can remind him to come to bed around 2. He's more likely to stop what he's doing if he has a gentle reminder about the time and he likes to be tucked in, so that might work. The only drawback is that I'll be looking like a zombie!

I Gave Good Advice!

2010-01-21T09:26:00.001-08:00

Today I got a comment from someone on and older post (way back on August 28, 2008) so I went back and read what I had written all those months ago--and it was pretty darn good! I'm going to re-post it here because, you know, it's easier to cut and paste than it is to think up something new. And besides that, my "creative organizing" (i.e., slovenly ways) have gotten the better of me and I can't find the stupid piece of paper I need in order to register for my college classes, so I'm going to have to spend the day combing through every single, stupid, bloody piece of paper in my entire house. Ugh! A messy desk may be the sign of a creative mind, but I'm thinking a dash of order might come in handy now and then.

Anyway, on to better things....

Advice for the New Unschooler

We're coming up on our first homeschooling anniversary. And three days after that will be our first unschooling anniversary. Yes, we lasted a full three days in school at home mode before both Jerry and I were in separate rooms crying and I tossed my hands in the air (onto the computer keyboard, actually) and googled "unschooling."

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I would say to myself if I could travel back in time and give my new unschooler self a few words of advice from my not-so-new unschooler self.

The very first thing I would say is that she should throw the whole one month for every year in school thing out the window. You've heard that right? "It takes one month for every year a kid spends in school to rediscover his love of learning." Here's the thing about that: first of all, as the parent that puts you in a bit of a holding pattern. You're waiting for something to happen. You're looking for "learning" all the time. You can't wait for x number of months (it was five for us) to be over so the real unschooling can begin. But here's the thing about that: It's already begun. The unschooling started the day your child walked out of the classroom for good. It's going to look different as time passes and in the beginning it'll throw you off because either you might not see the value in what they're doing or it won't look anything like learning. But relax. Someday it will.

In fact, that's something else I'd tell my new unschooler self: Drop the word "learning" from your vocabulary. It might be different for other kids but my son came out of school with very strong feelings about learning--none of them good. So even when I insisted he was learning by sitting around playing video games and watching TV all day (even though I didn't have much faith in that at the time), I was still putting emphasis on something he didn't value. Now, I know Jerry does value learning. But when he is learning about something he enjoys (using Microsoft Paint to create new Pokemon, for example--that's what he's been up to lately) he doesn't consider it learning. To Jerry, learning is being forced to remember or do something that isn't interesting to him or has no relation to his life. To me, it's gathering information and creating a deeper understanding of the world we inhabit. But since our definitions are so different why not just lose the word altogether?

So what should my new unschooler self be doing while she's not talking about learning or looking for it in her son? Follow her bliss! This is one of the things I like best about homeschooling (and unschooling in particular because it seems to allow more time for this kind of thing). Have you always wished you'd paid attention in physics class? Get yourself a book and start reading about it. And when you get excited about something share it with your child. Don't share it in an "I want you to know this" way. Share in a "look what I just discovered--isn't it awesome!" way. Excitement is contagious. And though your child may never become excited about electrons moving from one atom to another or the second law of thermodynamics, he'll see that you're excited about learning (even though you won't call it that!) and that right there is a very important lesson!

Now, on to the big bad television and video games: In the last few months I've realized what a huge mistake it was to express my distaste for video games so loudly. Children are already bombarded with images of kids who like to play video games as losers. Compare this to kids who are obsessed with sports. How do we view those kids? We support their interest. We sign them up for team sports and encourage them to improve. But with video games we're just hoping they'll lose interest. So what message are we sending? Are we saying gamers really are losers? I think we might be. So I would tell my new unschooler self, right from the very beginning, to stop separating video game/computer time from other play time. In other words, try not to think of it as something "other" or bad.

I know this is really hard. My son was in a Waldorf school before we started this journey so we had serious restrictions on video game and computer use. We didn't ban them completely but they were not an option during the school week and on weekends he was only allowed a few hours of "screen time." But since the unschooling philosophy requires a parent to take her child's interests seriously, once we started unschooling I couldn't continue to look at Jerry's interest in video games as something that was worthless. By virtue of the fact that my son was interested in spending his time in front of the screen, the screen had worth.

For months I struggled with this. I was extremely uncomfortable with the amount of time he was spending in front of the tv, at the computer, or playing video games. I'm still not comfortable with the idea of spending all day in front of a screen but I keep my mouth shut--it's been a year now and he does it less and less. He finds interest in other things, seeks out my company and asks to play board games or draw or do things that I couldn't get him interested in when we began.

So I would also ask my new unschooler self--no, wait, I would insist--that she carefully consider the message she is sending to her child when she places negative judgments on the things that are near and dear to his heart.

I think that's it for now. I'm sure I'll come up with other ideas. In fact, if anyone else wants to put a similar post up at their own blog, I'd be happy to put a link to it here. I figure the new unschoolers need all the help and encouragement they can get. It's a rough few months when you're first starting out, questioning everything you ever believed about learning and parenting and trying to wrap your head around a style of learning that looks suspiciously like doing nothing. But once you make that paradigm shift "doing nothing" suddenly becomes "living joyfully" and things start to fall into place.

-written by me, on August 28, 2008

Less than thirty minutes later: I found it! I found the paper I needed after only 20 minutes of looking. It was in Jerry's desk of all places! I never would have looked in there except that Jerry's desk is now my desk, so I started cleaning it out and there it was! I can register for my classes now. Yippee!

NYC Here We Come!

2010-01-18T20:54:00.001-08:00

That's right! We're going to new York! We've been saying we were going to go for ages, but now the tickets are booked and it's really happening. We've planned it so we'll be there for the release of the new Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver games because Jerry's main reason for wanting to go to New York City is to visit the Nintendo World store and we're hoping there will be some sort of celebration or in store event for the big release. All three of our tickets were paid for with points on our credit card so the flight is only costing a $75 handling fee. And we'll (hopefully) stay with friends the whole time we're there--it's only a week. And we'll be there for Warren's birthday! So that's kind of cool. He's a little worried about money but I feel certain that we can get through the week without spending too much. If Warren has a job at that time, he'll only be able to stay for the weekend but I went ahead and booked his ticket for the full week just in case he can stay. I'll finally be able to see my friend Terri and her two boys, Jerry will visit his Mecca (Nintendo World), and Warren, well, he'll be along for the ride.

This has been such a great week. The best part was all the fun Jerry had with friends. He had three sleepovers this week (four if you count his cousin, Summer!).

On Friday night I went to see a Truffaut movie at the L.A. County Museum of Art called Mississippi Mermaid. I went all by myself and it was absolute bliss. The movie was so good and much funnier than I expected. Then, Saturday we had our dinner/game party, which was really fun (and hilariously funny). And the food turned out great. I made Taco salad, corn bread and apple pie, which everyone loved.

On Sunday I went to a dance class for the Jane Austen Ball and it was so. much. fun. I love dancing! It makes me so happy. I think I might start doing english country dancing more than just once or twice a year. And I'm also thinking about going back to salsa dancing because that was so fun and such good exercise. The only thing that keeps me from the salsa dancing is worrying that people might think I'm there for reasons other than dancing, but I've decided that I shouldn't care what people think. So if I can work it out I'll try to go dancing once a week. The guy that goes to the Jane Austen Ball with my friend, Angela, and I goes dancing once or twice a week and he says I'm welcome to join him so maybe I will...I just wish I had a local girlfriend that would go with me--still, I can't let that keep me from following my bliss onto the dance floor, right!?

Today it was pouring rain, but I went over to Sol's house (the 94-year-old gentleman who I help out) and had a really nice couple hours with him. Then I came home and lit a fire in the fireplace. Warren and I tried to watch a movie but the rain was so loud that we couldn't hear the dialog so we gave up and did some cleaning instead. I had to clean because I was looking for my missing book on baking bread. Luckily I found it and was able to make a beautiful loaf of bread with freshly ground flour from my grain mill! I just ate my first slice. :) And Warren just got home from returning Jerry's friend Nik to his parents. The boys had a great couple days together. They played XBox, got out some of Jerry old toys and played with those, made things with Legos, and just generally had a really great time.

Life is good. And the Jane Austen Ball is only six days away!!

LIFE is Good (Again!)

2010-01-15T11:52:00.001-08:00

I (finally) made my hotel reservations for the LIFE is Good conference!! Yippee! I can't wait! I hit a glitch with the conference registration but I'm going to try again in a few minutes and hope that it'll work the second time around. If you're an unschooler and you live less that a thousand miles from Vancouver, Washington I urge you to attend. It's such a great time. This year I'm going to help out by pairing new conference goers up with seasoned conference attendees, so that newcomers don't need to feel out of the loop. I hope people will take advantage of the service because I think it will really help the first-timers to feel more included. At least I hope it will.

In other news, we've had an absolutely fabulous week. Jerry's new friend Kaiden slept over on Tuesday (after park day), then Summer came over Wednesday morning (have I mentioned how much I love having my niece come over) and we went to circus class, walked the dog (four people to one dog ratio), stopped at the store for ice cream, had lunch (and ice cream) at home, then I took Summer to our knitting group (in which we do way more visiting than knitting), came home, made dinner, watched "The Jerk" (hilarious), and Summer spent the night. Thursday morning Jerry had Japanese, then we walked the dog, picked up his friend, Shea, and Shea, Jerry, Summer and I headed over to Culver City where Jerry and Shea played D&D with two other boys while Summer and I went for a walk on the beach (I don't understand this fabulous weather we've been having, but I love it.) before I dropped her off at her dad's work. Then I picked up Shea and Jerry and brought Nik home, too. The boys played Nik's Halo game for a couple hours, had dinner, and then Nik's mom came to get him and I drove Shea home. Today I plan on recovering from the last few busy, very social days, and preparing for hosting a dinner party tomorrow night with the director and other editors from "Aliens in the Attic" (the film Warren worked on in New Zealand--by the way, have I mentioned that you should see the movie, buy the DVD, etc? Warren had a small speaking role as "Radio Announcer" in that movie, so he gets residuals!). So there's the dinner party tomorrow and then Sunday I'm going to dance class in preparation for the Jane Austen Ball which is a week from tomorrow! I love the Jane Austen Ball!!

So many good things all at once....

New Friends

2010-01-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned a while back that Jerry's best friend was sort of drifting away. These things happen, I know. People grow apart. Blah, blah, blah. But it's just so painful when you're not the one doing the leaving. So I've been taking on all this angst and pain and letting Jerry's hurts be mine and wow is that a bad idea. It made me grouchy and sad and short tempered (and being sick didn't help). I guess if Jerry were my second or third child I would already know that I can't take on his battles. I can stand by and offer support, but it doesn't really do a lot of good for me to stand beside him and fight. Or for me to do his fighting for him. So I figured that out. And I stopped checking his friend's Facebook page. [Pathetic, I know. But I was trying to figure out a) Why he was so mean to Jerry on New Year's Eve (his girlfriend broke up with him), b) If maybe he's just been busy (doesn't seem like it), and c) If the meanness had extended to the internet (no).] And I decided to just accept the fact that friends change, it can be painful, and we all have to figure out how to cope.

I feel so much better now that I'm just the facilitator. I'm on the side, driving him to the opportunities where he can make friends. I'm scheduling play dates and sleep overs and I'm offering an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on when needed. I'm not spending all day thinking up new friend-making opportunities. I'm not wallowing in Jerry's pity. I'm just letting things be. And guess what? It turns out a person can just let things be and the sky doesn't fall.

So there you have it. My new motto. "Let it be." (Except for my house--we're purging and getting rid of stuff and organizing. I definitely do not want to let my house be.) Of course, just because that's my new motto doesn't mean I'll stick with it. But it'll be a good reminder to kind of mind my own business.

Anyway, the fabulous happy news of the day is that Jerry had a sleep over with a new friend last night! Yippee! And we have a new park day that we've been going to where I really, really like the other moms (there are only eight of us) and the kids. It's a bit of a drive but the location is lovely and there are a good number of boys there that are close to Jerry's age. And he likes it.

There's more good stuff I could write about, but Warren just started brewing coffee, put Tom Waits on the CD-player ('Ol 55) and put a piece of warm, buttered corn bread in front of me. It's raining outside, it's warm in my kitchen, and I need to go enjoy my life!

Lost Comments & A YA Reading List

2010-01-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

All my comments are lost. That's sad new for any new unschoolers who are looking for advice, because in the early years of this blog most of the helpful advice could be found in the comments section. My role as the New Unschooler/Blogger was to freak out and make all kinds of mistakes and the commenter's role (thanks JJ!) was to talk me down and set me on the right path. I have the comments saved on my computer for now and hopefully will find a way to get them back onto my blog, but for now an important record of my growth as an unschooler is gone.

In other news, I'm helping my friend Terri with a new blog for her business. So I'll be posting here a few (or a couple...or maybe one) times a week. Those posts will be more general parenting-type stuff--no pouring out my soul. That only happens here. :)

Warren has been visiting his mom for the last two days and my house is a disaster. Since he's been off work he's the resident maid (when he's working we don't have one) and now that he's gone I can sure feel the difference. It turns out that the whole "clean as you go" thing actually makes a difference. Who knew?

Jerry got an XBox 360 for Christmas and has been catching up with his friend, Josh, in New Zealand and some local friends that he doesn't see much (or enough) via XBox Live. It's really cool.

I've had a cold (and now a sinus infection) since New Year's and have taken the opportunity to catch up on my young adult reading. I've read A Great and Terrible Beauty, When You Reach Me, Beige, Going Bovine, and An Abundance of Katherines. I think my favorites were Going Bovine, A Great and Terrible Beauty and When You Reach Me. Though, I enjoyed the others as well. In the adult category I read The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which I loved. I guess when I'm feeling sick it's easier (and probably slightly more interesting) to give you a reading list than an actual accounting of what's been happening (lots of nose blowing).

And with that, I'll say good-bye.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

We've been up at my mom's place in Sacramento for the past week and have been having a great time. The day after Christmas we all went up to Tahoe to stay with my cousin and do a bit of family sledding. Here we are: from left to right this is my sister Jenny, her son Carson, my cousin's daughter Jessie, Warren, me, my brother David and his partner, Irene. What a fun day.

This is my cousin's son Tanner with Jerry.
My brother-in-law, Paul, with Carson and Jenny. That's Irene holding my niece, Layla, in the background.
My brother holding my sister's daughter, Cora.
Here's Carson. He told me the other day that his favorite color is red because it's the color of blood. :)
2010 is looking like it's going to be a good year. My brother seems to have gotten the job he interviewed for earlier in the week (after months of being out of work), my sister and her family are moving out of my mom's place and into their own apartment on January 15, and us, well, Warren is still unemployed with nothing on the horizon but we have money for another couple months in the bank and an offer to swap houses in a beautiful home in Point Arena ( a place among the Redwoods 3 hours North of San Francisco) in February. So I'd say things are looking grand!

Tonight we'll ring in the new year with family and friends and tomorrow we'll head back to L.A. so we can start 2010 at home.

Wishing you all a very happy 2010!

I'm Boycotting Sweden

2009-12-22T19:22:00.000-08:00

I'm no fan of the HSLDA but this story on their site, about a family in Sweden whose 7-year-old child was taken away simply because the parents chose to homeschool him, made made me sick to my stomach. The courts recently ruled in favor of the government and cut back parental visits to one hour every five weeks. I only know what I read online, but it seems to me that this family could use our help.

Read about it here:
http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Sweden/200912220.asp

Sign a petition urging Swedish officials to send the boy home here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/return-dominic-johansson-to-his-parents

And (most importantly) if you'd like to write letters to Swedish officials, here are the e-mail addresses you'll need (you can find these with links at the HSLDA site listed above):

The social workers

sofi.rosenqvist@gotland.se
caroline.palmqvist@gotland.se

The social workers’ supervisors

kristina.djerf@gotland.se
marika.gardell@gotland.se

National officials

Prime Minister of Sweden Fredrik Reinfeldt
Telephone: +46 8 405 10 00
Mailing Address: Rosenbad 4, SE-103 33 Stockholm

Minister Maria Larsson
Ministry for Elderly Care and Public Health, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
Telephone +46 8 405 10 00
Fax +46 8 723 11 91
Mail Address: Fredsgatan 8; SE-103 33 Stockholm

To email the officials above visit the webpage: http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/2052

Local politicians and government leaders
Brittmarie.Fagerlund@lansstyrelsen.se
gustaf.hoffstedt@gotland.se
eva.nypelius@gotland.se
lars.thomsson@gotland.se
lena.celion@gotland.se
gotlands.kommun@gotland.se

Indian Ambassador to Sweden
ambassador@indianembassy.se

Dominic's father explains the situation (link):

Our son Dominic was removed from our custody by the Swedish Social Services with the help of the Swedish police force. What follows is a short story revealing the corruption of a few, dehumanizing actions and total lack of both responsibility and respect for basic human rights and freedoms in modern Sweden.

My name is Christer and the son of two very average hard-working parents. I was born in Sweden 1969 and raised in a rural environment where I developed and interest for helping animals, nature and people.

As a youth I found myself and my interests gravitating more and more introspective, one could say I am a very intellectual and inward looking soul, though I am social by nature. I have questioned life and how we live, looked at our values and tried to the best of my abilities to live them fully as best I can.

I believe in a simple practical healthy lifestyle and taking the time to help people and those less fortunate than myself.

In that spirit I found myself helping the local police where I live on Gotland and social organizations with "problem youth", creating new bridges of communication between parties and even assisting in ridding the island of Gotland I live on of violent criminal elements.

Having worked in social services I know well the value of a bit of citizen action and responsibility while looking out for ones fellow "man" so to speak, and would that more of us take such tasks upon themselves as well.

I have always found independent finance and support for all my projects. Whether it be my spare time or money from my own pocket.

When our newest project to help poor and homeless destitute children in India was developed almost 8 years ago, that was my attitude as well.

My wife Annie is an Indian citizen, and I was inspired by the challenges I saw in her home country to find a way to practically share my ideas and talents to help the suffering poor in ways to give them independence as opposed to seeking hand outs.

We created Mep Programs to establish the foundation for this in India in 2002. The idea was and is to help children by giving them the social and practical skills and support to take them out of the situations the find themselves in today.

Unfortunately for all involved we were all traumatized by a violent earthquake in Gujarat leaving over 16 000 people killed, and 600 000 people homeless.

We were on our way back home to Sweden from that tragedy when we were robbed of almost all our possessions and money on the way to the airport, and by the time we landed in Sweden we were both suffering from shock, overwork and depression.

Our son Dominic was to be born soon, and I was determined to be in top form for this welcome change in our lives, and the responsibility that incurs.

In order to keep on with our plans I decided to, with the recommendation of my doctor whom I sought help with, to go along with his advice and began taking a prescription of the anti-depression drug Seroxat.
(see youtube.com - taken on trust by Panormama BBC)
(I was advised to begin with 60mg)

This is where my story takes a downward turn.

I found myself in the unusual psychological state of even more heightened depression and angst. Having never suffered from such things I waited to see how things would develop. I figured it may have something to do with what I had experienced and also to be patient with the drugs. I found this to in fact be the opposite of what I had expected. After several months of worsening effects, I again asked for help and I was recommended increasing my dose of medication!

What followed was even worse and decided to take myself off the medication with the help of herbal medicines. After much research online I found the right substances and began my natural self medication (I am very weary of un-ecological and chemical products) which to my and my family's delight worked!

During the following years our son Dominic had cleared all the normal check ups and bills of health as any normal child would. Not only that, the doctors said that he had the mental capacity of a child two years his senior. (2006)

That being the case we continued our work with our test center on Gotland where we ran a working model of what we would like to see in India. This would help us iron out any problems and bumps along the way.

We home-schooled Domenic for a while (because we knew we are going to leave Sweden in a while), and contacted the Swedish school authorities for the requirements of doing so, and they kindly said all we needed to do was to contact the principal at his school to supply us with the appropriate study material etc. I have experience with schooling in my profession, which also helps me. My wife Annie is well educated and can teach on a University level!

Unbelievably, the principal not only denied us the material (which by law he was to supply us), he said openly he couldn't care less about our interest in human rights and decided to contact the social services to start an investigation of this situation!

Our project continued and during this time we tried on several occasions to help him, and those involved understand where we were coming from and to just relax about things.

They really seemed to be at odds with this, were uncooperative and at times hostile.

Well, during this time we had sold all our possessions, saved our money and looked forward to settling in with our project in India to get started with the practical works needed on site. With this in mind we bought our tickets, packed our bags and sat ourselves on the plane at Stockholm Arlanda airport, looking forward to a long flight and finally getting started.

But it was not to be so.

As the airplane was about to depart, it was stopped by the Swedish Police, who came onboard, took us all into custody at the airport and took away our son! We were completely surprised and shocked, my wife collapsed in a state of overwhelm and panic, no one was there to help, I tried my best to comfort her as she went in and out of consciousness. Her lips turned blue and her whole body had gone into a state of shock.

Finally I was able to resuscitate her, comfort her, though to this day she is understandably feeling extremely down, sad and in a state of disbelief. As an Indian citizen she could never have imagined such things happening in a modern western country.

Through all the madness, the brutal inhumane and complete disregard for basic human rights, the only reason for all this explained to us was the fact that our son Domenic had two bad milk teeth, which the social services deemed enough evidence to "kidnap" him away from us, and place him in the custody of some strange family.

As this gross negligence progressed and as we have fought day and night to get him back we have heard only the most pathetic and absurd excuses from the social workers responsible. Who have, by the way been pathetically unhelpful and downright uncooperative.

Our civil servants have cited the bad teeth, and a few anonymous letters as being the cause for the "kidnapping". Unbelievable, that a modern western country, in the EU would act like something out of a banana republic, with a dictatorship gulag mentality, with total disregard for family and the love between child and parents.

After a few weeks they changed approach and claimed we are bad parents, for no reason!

Who are these people who are responsible?

Obviously confused or unable to accept other cultures etc, individuals with the names of "Sofi Rosenqvist and Caroline Palmqvist", work for "Gotlands Kommun".
(sofi.rosenqvist@gotland.se - caroline.palmqvist@gotland.se)

The "Socialtjänsten" over here on Gotland has a history of over-reacting and complaints against them and their fellow co-workers are on our side in this regard.

What is happening right now, is our son Domenic is placed in an extremely stressful situation, we have little or no contact with him, his diet of organic healthy foods is non existent (when we finally got to meet him briefly he told us, under supervision how much candy he has been eating, ironic considering his so called bad teeth would be a central issue for their actions).

The more our lawyers look at this case, the more apparent that their is either total corruption and disregard for human rights within the social services to allow this negligence to continue

I am and have a background in social work, I am and have been working together with my wife to make this world a better place, and not just talk about it in endless meetings like so many beurocrats do.

I will and have worked with the police and other aspects of the social departments to help rid society of criminal elements, establish communication and responsibility with youth needing help and working on our project for the better part of 10 years.

That two misguided individuals would use the Swedish police to "kidnap" Dominic, to cite anonymous letters and bad teeth as evidence to do this is a dangerous precedent, it is without compare in an open and free society and indicative of the big social problems in society at large.

Their actions, decisions and continuing cover-up of the so-called evidence says more about their mental state of mind and lack of human compassion than any pathetic accusations towards us. What lay behind such claims and gross misuse of power?
(Difficulties to understand and respect a different life from the so called norm)

What sort of people separate children from parents without any evidence?

I am not sure, the attitude and actions are almost alien to me, but in comparison there must be some megalomaniacal feudalistic socialist beaurocratical fixation at work here.

I can only imagine that such actions are the work of persons unfit for such responsibility and positions of influence in the first place and that as this comes to light that the better elements of the modern Swedish social services will do the right thing and take care of this before our son sinks into depression and more mental stress. Annie is as well in a very bad state for the moment, and getting worse day by day for that matter!

We will continue our fight for our son, we will shed light on this situation as it develops with the blogs and media of the world asking that people look carefully at what is going on here. (swe blog http://www.mepprograms.org/omhandertagande.html)

We ask that anyone who cares and wants to know further the claims and details contact the public social services department at "Socialtjänsten Gotland" and ask any questions you feel.

Don't take our word for it, find out for yourself how incredibly preposterous and sadistic this situation is.
Please remember the people doing this are misguided human beings, so please remember to be polite as well.

If the Social Services on Gotland can take away a happy healthy young boy from his family (two persons who are socially responsible, working with a project to help needy and starving children, with a background in community services, cooperation with the police and with many other people in social services vouching for us) imagine what they can do to the average working person.

Imagine, at the supposed claim (we have not seen the attested letters or evidence of when they were supposedly sent) that someone complained that your child or children would be taken away from you.

The implications of this are terrifying, and the immediate effects on us all emotionally are almost unbearable, on top of this, our families in India are worried, and our project to help the poor and starving children of India sits on hold.

We hope for an immediate resolve of this gross injustice and a formal apology from those involved with reprimands to those responsible now.

Article written by Mark, with the help of Christer and Annie!

By Christer:
I would like to thank Mark for helping us with this article, and I would like to add a few things as well.

I'm no better then other people, I'm just a normal human being, trying my best to do what I feel is important both in my life and in this world. My family is maybe a little different from the norm, but, when did that become a crime?

I've red the Swedish constitution, and I have also read the mission that the Social Services are acting upon, and there actions against us are really not there, anywhere, so where do they come from?

Why this article?
There are courts to decide what's right in cases like this! Yes, there is... But when the Social Services and there lawyer started to lie and mix facts I decided to go public! The lawyer also added in the last meeting,
- They hate authorities!
Answer, No we do not, no matter what you try, I will never hate other people for what you have done and created!

The last thing I heard from the Social Services was, - Domenic is traumatized now, so he needs to be in a calm and peaceful environment. We agree, let him come home then! That is not a suggestion, that is our demand!

A Successful Meal!

2009-12-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

We had dinner guests from Switzerland tonight and I was driving myself crazy trying to figure out what to serve. Because I don't have the menu planning gene, I was really agonizing over it. I looked through cookbooks, websites, magazines--but nothing seemed right. So then (and I should have thought to do this before) I called my sister who happens to be an amazing cook and right away she said, "Why don't you roast a chicken and make some macaroni and cheese to go with it? Then just steam some broccoli for a vegetable." So I did! And it was great!

I was so nervous about the chicken because I don't usually roast whole chickens (or any kind of chickens)--I tend to shy away from anything that screams "I was once alive!" and bones and blood fall into that category. (I was a vegetarian from ages 15-30.) But, I bought a whole cut-up chicken. I washed each disgusting piece. Patted them dry. Rubbed them with olive oil and a mixture of dry spices and salt and put them in a pan. Then stuck it in the oven. And it was really good! I'm sure I over cooked it because I was terrified that I might poison our guests at the very beginning of their American holiday, but the meat was still nice and juicy. And the macaroni and cheese was really good, too. Phew! I'm so relieved!

The Swiss family was really nice, too. They have two kids: a boy, aged 7 and a girl aged 10. And they brought us some lovely Swiss presents (including chocolate, of course!) We'd never met them before, but they'll be staying in our house while we're in Sacramento for Christmas. We organized it through the house swap site that we used for our trip to France. It'll work out really well because they need a place to stay and we need someone to feed the cats. It's a win-win situation!

And on top of all that I can now say, at the ripe old age of 41, that I know how to roast a chicken!

Avatar & Happy Day

2009-12-16T23:34:00.000-08:00

Jerry and Warren went to the cast and crew screening for James Cameron's Avatar last night. Jerry loved it. In fact, love might not even be a strong enough word. He was exultant when the credits started to roll. He said he would watch it every day for the rest of his life if he could. He said it was perfect.

I wasn't with them because Warren could only take one guest and I was busy having a fabulous day to myself. I started off by signing papers at the lawyer's office (still working on Grandma Darlene's estate) in Orange County. Then I went to visit my Grandma Nolie for an hour (during which she asked me 52 times "what day is it?" I still love her, though.). And then (the best part of the day) I went to lunch with my friend Jeff. Jeff is my one and only best friend (not counting Warren) left in the L.A. area--all the others (OK, fine. Not all. Two.) have moved away. Anyway, it was great. But it wasn't over after I left Jeff''s! That's right, there's more! I went to my book club meeting and we talked about The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which I really liked in spite of the fact that I almost hurled it across my bedroom at one point towards the end. So I ended the day with wine and snacks and a discussion about a good book. Good day.

Why?! Why?! Why?!

2009-12-04T07:21:00.001-08:00

So, Jerry has three close friends, right? He has Jackson, Shea, and Yulia.

Jackson and Jerry met at age 2 and spent the next 11 years glued together at the hip. Sure they went to different schools, but they spent every possible moment--that they weren't in school or doing homework--together. In the last year, however, Jackson has become more involved in school and school friends. He's been more difficult to get together with, and for the second year in a row Jackson made other plans for Halloween even though the two of them have a tradition of trick or treating together. So that's been hard on Jerry. He feels like Jackson is "dumping" him. I've been trying to figure out if Jackson is feeling like he and Jerry don't share the same interests anymore or if he really is just busy, and then the other day Jerry tells me Jackson has a girlfriend. Well, that explains it! So, Jackson has a girlfriend. Strike one.

Then there's Yulia. Yulia is the only person from our homeschool group that Jerry really clicked with. And boy did they click. They met a little over a year ago and formed a fast friendship. These two totally speak the same language. When he found out Yulia was moving, Jerry was devastated and since she moved to Texas (at the end of September) Jerry has really missed her. Strike two.

Then there's Shea. We met Shea when Jerry was homescholing in kindergarten, then lost touch when Jerry started school the following year. But in the past year Shea and Jerry have rekindled their friendship and it's been really great because Shea lives two minutes from our house. I love that I can just bop over and pick him up for last minute play dates. Well, I found out yesterday that Shea's family is moving--to Portland!!! Strike three!!

What is happening here!? Why is the universe conspiring to take all Jerry's friends away? Can somebody please cut the kid a break? I know he'll be gaining valuable life lessons from all this. Blah, blah, blah. But really? Does it all have to happen at once? He's having a hard enough time sorting out how he feels about Yulia leaving. And Jackson having a girlfriend. And now Shea will be going, too? Come on!

I know we can visit them. I know they'll have e-mail and Facebook. But Jerry needs some live, in-the-flesh friends that live in Los Angeles (preferably on the Eastside). Where the heck are all the anime and manga loving, video game playing, computer hacking teens around here? I know they've got to be out there. And I know some of them have got to be homeschooling.

But that's not really the problem. I'm sure Jerry will find other friends. He's already started developing a couple new friendships that I can encourage. The problem is they aren't his old friends. And he wants the old ones.

I can't stop thinking of the Billy Collins poem "On Turning Ten." Jerry's obviously older than ten, but I think he must be experiencing some of the same feelings. It breaks my heart.

On Turning Ten by Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I'm coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.

Proud Mama

2009-12-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

It's been a while. I know. So, here I am – playing catch up once again. I have to warn you, there will be bragging involved. I'm feeling so proud of Jerry today. Not for anything in particular. I'm just proud because he is who he is. And because he knows himself so well. He has such maturity when it comes to understanding his feelings and expressing himself – it just blows me away.

See, Warren is officially unemployed now, which means he's home. Watching Jerry. And being a bit, uh, judgmental about how he spends his time. At least that's how it started out. A few nights ago there was yelling (by Jerry), arms were thrown up in annoyance and despair (by Warren) and the word "school" and the phrase "turn off the TV for good" were heard during a private conversation between Warren and I. Needless to say, I was a bit worried at how the rest of Warren's unemployment would effect our unschooling.

See, Warren totally gets the educational side of unschooling. It's the lifestyle part that throws him for a loop. Specifically, he doesn't want Jerry staying up until 3:30 a.m. and he doesn't want him spending all day on the couch in front of the television (computer on lap, DS in hand). And I totally get that. But, as we learned when I kept track of how we spend our days (Jerry and I) he doesn't sit on the couch all day. In fact, he takes part in a wide variety of activities. Sure, some weeks are less active than others, but, in general, the television watching happens late in the day and well into the night (and early hours of the morning) when there's not much else to do anyway. So yes, there's a lot of TV. And, no. It's not "educational." It's not even Mythbusters. He's watching the Disney Channel.

But he's watching with an eye toward figuring out relationships. I realized it last night during another one of our 1 a.m. discussions. He was asking me about boys I liked when I was his age and how old I was when I had my first boyfriend (Newsflash: Jerry's best friend, Jackson, has a girlfriend!!) and he started to mention all these things he'd learned on the cartoon Sixteen. They were all about relationships. And they were true. (Rule #1: Never break up by text message.) Anyway, it was pretty amazing to see that he really does get more than we guess out of the shows he watches.

One thing I love about our late night talks is that Jerry asks me all kinds of questions and he wonders aloud about things. "I wonder what it would feel like to have both arms and wings," he said late last night. He was trying to figure out the mechanics of it all. How would the wings extend? Where would they be when they rested? What would make them unfold?

The other day – a day or two after Warren and Jerry had their argument – Jerry called a family meeting. He wanted to talk about how he and Warren could get along better. He was amazing. So mature and well-spoken. They both said how they felt and talked about ways they could show respect and kindness to one another. Then they had a pillow fight.

I could go on, but it would probably get very boring. Lucky for you, Jerry's doing a Pokemon ROM hack and he needs my help. So I'm off.

P.S. Guess who's learning the binary and hexidecimal number systems? That's right! Me! More on the mind-blowing conversion from decimal to binary later....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T12:19:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has a fabulous day and that you all find many, many things (people, places, moments, etc) to be thankful for. And on that very subject, I received an e-mail today from a friend (one of my favorite people on the planet, actually) that I don't see or talk to nearly enough. She has started a blog. Here's what she has to say about it:

Untold numbers are experiencing Short Sale and Foreclosure on their homes, due to circumstances out of our control, and yet we're too ashamed to talk about it. I've recently joined these masses. The purpose of this blog is to document my own journey into Short Sale, in the hopes of easing the burden, allaying the fears, and answering the questions of others who are also traveling this path.

Visit her blog at Short Sale Mama.

For Barbara

2009-11-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick update for my Aunt Barbara because I know she hates it when I take a blogging break. I can't get over how busy we are all of a sudden! This week alone we've had dog walking every day, knitting circle, teen laser tag, a field trip to Rhythm & Hues (a visual effects house), Japanese class was canceled, so we went to the doctor's office instead (Jerry has a hang nail). Then, I had book club and worked for my 94-year-old friend, went to the library opening, interviewed someone (another 94-year-old!) for the local paper, and now my sister and her family are arriving tonight so I need to get our sadly neglected house back in shape and do laundry--lots of laundry. Oh, and we're starting LARP (Live Action Role Play) today!! And I wanted to go to a homeschool teen/parent meeting to talk about getting more social things going, but I may have to give up on that. Sheesh. We've only added two extra activities (knitting circle for Summer and D&D for Jerry) but I feel like I barely have time to breathe. It's been really good though. Jerry loves the D&D game and is making some new friends, Summer is finally getting to know some other homeschooled girls, and I've really enjoyed the company of the other moms I've met. Oh, and we're starting LARP (Live Action Role Play) today!! I really hope Jerry likes it.

So there you have it. That's all the news. I'm off to do the laundry!

Big News!

2009-11-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

Our local library branch opened on Monday! I was there for the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a couple councilmen, the fire chief, some random city officials, and about 300 neighbors. It was awesome! Our library is so cool! The first cool thing is the fact that it exists at all. The voters of L.A. approved a bill to build more libraries a decade or so ago--but the Silver Lake branch wasn't one of them. However, the Office of Public Works, in an unprecedented display of a government competence, managed the money so well that they had enough money to build four extra libraries (four!)--and ours was one of them! The next cool thing is that the library is a Leed Certified green building. And it's beautiful! And the final cool thing is that I can walk there! It's literally around the corner from my house!!

Anyway, the library opening is big news, but it's not the big news. The big news is that after considering my frenzied excitement over the opening of our library, and thinking about how much I love books and information and sharing books and information with people, and how I'd love nothing more than to live a long fruitful life and die in a room full of dusty old books, I've decided to become a librarian! It's a long-term plan because I won't actually get a job until Jerry is off doing his own thing. I'm going to start by getting a certificate in Library Science at the local community college. (I registered yesterday and had my transcripts sent to the school and everything!) I'm going to volunteer at our library (which I would have done anyway) to gain some experience. And then, when the time is right for both me and Jerry, I'll apply to the UCLA Masters of Library and Information Science Program. Woohoo!

And then, I was thinking "How can I combine being a librarian with travel?" and I thought maybe I can start a nonprofit group that builds libraries in third world countries. Wouldn't that be awesome!!? Anyway, it's very exciting and I'm trying not to think too much about it so I don't start wondering how I'll have the time. I'm just going to dive in. I can't wait to start going to school again. I love school!

The other exciting news, also related to the library, is that I met Janet Fitch (author of White Oleander) and Cecil Castellucci (author of The Queen of Cool) at the opening--they both live in Silver Lake. Anna Hays, an author I had interviewed for the local paper (and really loved talking to), introduced me to them. So that was really cool. I was buzzing with excitement when I got home--and it's obviously lingered for a few days.

Well, the dirty dishes on my kitchen counter are calling out my name so I'd better go wash them. I'll dream about my life as a librarian while I scrub....

Amazing Leopard Seal Story & Photos

2009-11-15T16:26:00.000-08:00

No Mo' NaNoWriMo

2009-11-13T08:42:00.001-08:00

Well, that didn't last long. Writing 2000 words a day just isn't my thing. It's no fun if you can't go back and make the writing good. Part of what I like about writing is going back over it and reading it--but if it's all hurried drivel and I can't go back and fix it, I don't really want to read it. So, I'm bailing on NaNoWriMo. The good thing about it, though, was that I realized I do have time to write. I can squeeze it in after Warren leaves for work and before Jerry wakes up. So, that's a big plus.

We've been so busy this last week. Lots of social things. I started a weekly teen knitting circle so Summer can meet some more homeschooled girls her age and that's been really great. Jerry now has a weekly D&D game with a couple friends (run by a fabulously patient mom). And we spent the night at Mandy's last Sunday and played Rock Band well into the night before heading off to homeschool day at Legoland the following day.

We've been devouring the Ranger's Apprentice Series on audiobook. We're starting Book 3 today. While we listen Jerry has been doing lots of perler beads projects and even a little knitting. I've been knitting a bit (I'm pretty pathetic) and trying to learn to crochet so I can make some cute little amigurumi creatures.

The night before last, in one of our 2 a.m. talks (Jerry really opens up at that hour, for some reason), Jerry told me that he feels like he's been watching too much television. And then the heavens opened up and angels began to sing and a rainbow stretched across the sky and--oh, sorry. None of those things happened. But I was so happy the sheer force of my happiness could have made them happen. What actually happened was that we talked about other things he might do instead, thought of some new project possibilities, and then I went back to bed. But I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking, "Oh my god. Maybe the deschooling is done! Maybe the cocoon phase is over!! Maybe he'll start to get excited about learning again!!!" I just couldn't turn my brain off. So, instead of sleeping, I got up and finished watching the first season of Weeds (the best show ever). I didn't go back to bed until 6:45 and by then Warren was getting up, so I gave up on sleep all together. I managed to muddle through the day pretty well, though, even on three hours of sleep. I think it's the happiness adrenaline. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will last!

In other news, I've started keeping track of how Jerry spends his time. I really didn't want to do this. But Warren was feeling like Jerry does nothing but watch television and it was the only way I could think of proving to him that that's just not true. I've been doing it for over a week now and it's not nearly as invasive or annoying as I thought it would be. It's actually given me a lot more confidence. Before, when I would argue that Jerry doesn't watch tv all the time, I didn't have anything to back me up. Now I do--of course, on the rare day that he does nothing but watch tv the plan can backfire, but if Warren can see it's a rare event, then I've made my point. What I really like about the record-keeping, though, is being able to look over our week and see that we really are doing a lot. So, I think I'll keep doing it for a while. Once I clean the scanner off (it's buried under the piles of office crap I've been "organizing") I'll scan some of them for you. I'm color coding them so it's easy to see at a glance what we've been up to (and it's pretty).

Let's see...what else is happening? One of that cats has worms--just thought you'd like to know. Also, I'm trying to wrap up my grandma's estate by the end of the year. So I have lots to do there. I'll get a small stipend for all the work I've done and I'm thinking of doing something completely selfish with the money. Something like leasing a horse for a while, or paying for riding lessons, or--actually those are the only selfish things I've come up with so far. The other things I've thought of are building a new closet in the guest bedroom or putting new cupboards in the kitchen. But it won't be enough money for either of those things so, they're probably out of the question anyway. That's all the news really. Oh, Warren and I are going to see Ray Davies on Saturday night. And we're even going out for drinks and dinner with some friends beforehand. So that's exciting. Though I think I might need to buy an new outfit first--my wardrobe is pretty sad these days. Oh, and there's an all ages Derby Dolls brawl on Sunday. So that's cool. Jerry will get to experience the roller derby at last!

That's about it.

Sita Sings the Blues

2009-11-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

So, I'm 5669 words into my novel, but I decided rather than completely let the blog go this month, I'll post links to websites or videos that I really like. The first one is an animated movie called Sita Sings the Blues. You can watch the entire thing online. It's made by a self-taught animator who combines the story of the Ramayana with a bit of autobiography. It runs about an hour and twenty minutes so pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy!

It's NaNoWriMo!

2009-11-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year! So, you probably won't hear much from me for the next month--except for the occasional brief update. So far I have nearly 4000 words written. I'm cheating a bit because I actually started this novel a couple years ago. Still, if I can write 2000 words every day this month I'll have a very rough first draft of my very first novel. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday To Me

2009-10-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

I know I said I was taking a break but today is my birthday and I need to tell you what I got. Brace yourselves, it's ugly. Psoriasis. That's right. It's just a tiny little thing on my scalp, but it's a reminder that I am not immune to aging or other human ailments and that really sucks. Guess what else I got? A bad hip. Yep, I told the doctor what happened after we got off the plane from Paris (you know, not being able to walk and having to hire ride a wheelchair through the airport while my loving husband laughed at me from one gate to another) and she said it's a precursor to hip problems! In addition to that, I got my driver's license renewed and now there's a notation on my license that says I have to wear my glasses when I'm driving! Could I be any more aged and decrepit? Don't answer that. But the worst thing is, and I cannot figure out what I was thinking, I told the truth about my weight on my license renewal!! I've never told the truth about my weight on my license. Ever! Even when I was a mere 107, my license said 105. But yesterday the woman at the DMV looked at my old license information and said are you still 115? And I said "No, I'm probably closer to 125." How could I!? I meant to say 120. Because, you know, I like to round to the lowest 5 where weight is concerned and sometimes I do weigh in at 124.5. So really it should be 120. But she didn't know about my special way of rounding down so she just typed in 125. What was I thinking!?

Ah well. There's nothing I can do about it now. Anyway, my real birthday present from Warren and Jerry is very exciting. They're buying me a table saw! It's the gift that keeps on giving. See, what I really want is a potting bench. But if I buy a potting bench all I get out of it is, well, a potting bench. But if I get a saw and make it myself (using one of the many old doors we have lying around our yard) then I get a potting bench and whatever else I decide to make. So, any recommendations on what to look for in a table saw would be appreciated.

The other thing I'm pretty sure we're getting is a semi-permanent houseguest. My husband's friend is having a hard time (divorce, disability, that kind of thing) and he needs a place to stay so he's probably going to stay with us for a while. In addition to that, a friend of mine from college might be getting a job in L.A. and he may end up crashing on our couch a few nights a week so he doesn't have to drive all the way back to Orange County. We may have a very full house in the next few months.

So, there you are. That's what's happening. I'm getting old and our house is getting crowded, but it's all good.

Blogging Break

2009-10-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Just letting you know I'm taking a short break. I'll be back in a week or two!

Weekend Fun

2009-10-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

We had such a great weekend. Warren managed to get off work on Saturday so we could go to the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Ventura. The weather was perfect and as soon as we arrived we ran into some friends from our Santa Monica unschooler park day. It was a real treat since we didn't even know they'd be there. I made a little video of the day to share with you all (or you three).

On the way home we stopped at a pumpkin patch where Jerry and Warren made their way through a maze.

Sunday we didn't have any plans. I got out of bed early to stop our cats from killing each other. Since I was up, I took my book and a blanket out on the deck with a cup of tea and read for a while. It was heavenly. Later in the day my sister-in-law called to see if she could drop her kids off for a couple hours so we had some surprise guests and it turned into an all day affair with pumpkin carving and dinner.

At the end of the day Warren, Jerry and I each did our own thing. I watch the 4th installment of the Python documentary, Warren did some laundry and Jerry watched a One Piece movie on his PC. Before I went to bed Jerry and I had a nice long talk (we've had quite a few late night chats in the last few weeks) and then I went to bed while Jerry went back upstairs to watch some late night television. All in all it was a fabulous weekend!