We had a fantastic weekend. The boys had a play date at our house Saturday with two of their home school friends, and two of their neighborhood friends joined the fun as well. After the play date, the boys and I rode to a benefit the husband's band was playing in Lancaster, SC. Sam helped draw tickets for the door prizes. The boys found an amazing bamboo forest behind the restaurant, and played in it until dark. Then the boys and I danced, danced, danced and ate good bad food all night. Sam was especially impressed with the fried bologna sandwich, and Josiah LOVED the jalapeno poppers. Sam sang karaoke with Brandon...Simple Man. Josiah's new favorite song the band does is Psycho by Puddle of Mud.
Sunday the boys and I stayed outside all day. Two neighborhood friends came over to play. Everyone loves hammering boards in the boy's "tree house". Husband came out and helped with some boards they were having trouble with. Pillow-fighting on the trampoline is another favorite. They played in the sandbox, rode scooters and bikes in the cul de sac, and played in the Bamboo Forest. I raked and cleared, cleared and raked. I love being outside. I made a special seating/relaxing area for me that I am so impressed with, I sat until long after dark watching the clouds move across the moon. I hung my new birdbath, and added another feeder. Now I have four feeders and one bath. At the end of the day, the boys had cuts, scratches, bruises, dirt crusted underneath finger and toenails, and murky bath water....all signs that my boys had a most excellent day.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
March 11, 2011
Sam did a lot of Math today. I actually went through and "graded" his work....a year's worth (we already had checks, just no percentages figured)...and it looks like he rightfully has a B. I didn't mention this to him, but it did help me see what he rocks at, and what we need to go back over. Plus, it's all nice and "schooly" in the Math Portfolio and makes a nice presentation in case we are ever questioned by any of the idiots who are still brainwashed by traditional schooling.
Josiah was all about looking at the Japan earthquake/tsunami videos today. Then he moved on to watching tornado videos. Then...he wanted to talk all about turtles. We looked through our Turtles of Southeast book (for the trillionth time).
We finally have action on our Goldfinch Feeder, but the birds are not Goldfinch...they are Black-Capped Chickadees.
We are still enjoying the home-grown collard greens that our friends brought us! For dinner we had collards n onions with Bragg ACV, Tangy BBQ Pork Chops, Organic Mashed Potatoes, and HomeMade Cornbread! Mmmm! Hmmmmm!
Husband had a gig, so the boys and I had all evening to ourselves. Josiah and I watched documentaries on Netfllix. One on dogs, one on the human body, one on spies in WWII, and one on the BP oil spill. He was especially intrigued by the beginning of the one on the human body that was all about skin. When we watched the one on the BP oil spill, it was a little "dry", so he insisted we pull our (kiddo) Oil Spill book and read it (for the millionth time).
Josiah was all about looking at the Japan earthquake/tsunami videos today. Then he moved on to watching tornado videos. Then...he wanted to talk all about turtles. We looked through our Turtles of Southeast book (for the trillionth time).
We finally have action on our Goldfinch Feeder, but the birds are not Goldfinch...they are Black-Capped Chickadees.
We are still enjoying the home-grown collard greens that our friends brought us! For dinner we had collards n onions with Bragg ACV, Tangy BBQ Pork Chops, Organic Mashed Potatoes, and HomeMade Cornbread! Mmmm! Hmmmmm!
Husband had a gig, so the boys and I had all evening to ourselves. Josiah and I watched documentaries on Netfllix. One on dogs, one on the human body, one on spies in WWII, and one on the BP oil spill. He was especially intrigued by the beginning of the one on the human body that was all about skin. When we watched the one on the BP oil spill, it was a little "dry", so he insisted we pull our (kiddo) Oil Spill book and read it (for the millionth time).
March 10, 2011
Josiah and Letters: Josiah gets soooo pissed when he doesn't "WIN". When we do the Letter Flash Cards, he "wins" the card if he calls the Letter. This is HIS game that he made up.....BUT....He was going into a meltdown over the ones he didn't "get", so we are going to ditch this game. IF it were Clue or something, I would continue on and work with him on his poor sportsmanship, but not on something we are using to "learn". I am going to switch gears and try something else. I have a kid demanding that I teach him how to read, and I am not about to make him hate it and turn away from it because I pushed a certain "method" on him. He wants to just open a book and jump right into reading, so why is it stuck in my head that he HAS to recognize ALL of the Letters by name FIRST? Oh, yeah...I am a product of traditional education. I fully realize how ridiculous the "system" is, yet I revert right back to it before I can blink my eyes! Even though HE made the game up, once we started it and it only worked to a certain point for him, I pressed him to keep on with it even though it was upsetting him. WHY? That is SO stupid. Ugh. I am going to talk to him about my mistake and apologize, then let him choose how he wants to proceed with HIS education.
Sam worked on Writing today. He really loves to keep a journal. I would never waste our time by forcing him to write about things he could care less about. He also did a page in his Sylvan Reading Success Workbook.
We gave the cats Catnip today (Well, Loki gets all of the Catnip because he hisses at Camo when she gets near it...). The boys were amazed and had a lot of questions, so we read all about Catnip.
Josiah asked to hold the turtle: "Mom, we have not held our turtle in a long time. I KNOW what you are gonna say...I know we have to wash our hands because of mello-yello!" (He meant Salmonella....ROFLOL!)
The boys were soaking in a conversation I had with a friend the other day (I was unaware of the soaking at the time). I was telling my friend about another Mom we both know (the boys are also very familiar with this Mom and her son) who would not allow her son to watch the movie Finding Nemo. WELL. Since we returned home from my friend's house...3 days ago....my kiddos have gone to great extremes to hunt the movie, Finding Nemo, down and watch it to see what all the fuss was about....THREE TIMES. I find this hilarious! I didn't even know. Sam told me..."Oh yeah Mom, Finding Nemo? The movie that (crazy Mom's name) won't let (crazy Mom's son) watch? Well....we found it and watched it THREE TIMES!". But he hasn't mentioned if he has discovered what all of the fuss was about.
Josiah pointed out in the truck the other day that The Doors song, LA Woman, sounds a lot like Charlie Brown.
Sam worked on Writing today. He really loves to keep a journal. I would never waste our time by forcing him to write about things he could care less about. He also did a page in his Sylvan Reading Success Workbook.
We gave the cats Catnip today (Well, Loki gets all of the Catnip because he hisses at Camo when she gets near it...). The boys were amazed and had a lot of questions, so we read all about Catnip.
Josiah asked to hold the turtle: "Mom, we have not held our turtle in a long time. I KNOW what you are gonna say...I know we have to wash our hands because of mello-yello!" (He meant Salmonella....ROFLOL!)
The boys were soaking in a conversation I had with a friend the other day (I was unaware of the soaking at the time). I was telling my friend about another Mom we both know (the boys are also very familiar with this Mom and her son) who would not allow her son to watch the movie Finding Nemo. WELL. Since we returned home from my friend's house...3 days ago....my kiddos have gone to great extremes to hunt the movie, Finding Nemo, down and watch it to see what all the fuss was about....THREE TIMES. I find this hilarious! I didn't even know. Sam told me..."Oh yeah Mom, Finding Nemo? The movie that (crazy Mom's name) won't let (crazy Mom's son) watch? Well....we found it and watched it THREE TIMES!". But he hasn't mentioned if he has discovered what all of the fuss was about.
Josiah pointed out in the truck the other day that The Doors song, LA Woman, sounds a lot like Charlie Brown.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
March 9, 2011
We did a review with adding decimals. Sam kicks ass on lining them up vertically to add them when the problem is presented horizontally. He is all about adding up some $$$$$$ though, so no surprise there. He did several on the dry erase board, then he completed the remainder on paper so we could snap it into our little binder of "proof" in case anyone ever accuses us of not being up to par with the public school system <<<BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
I suggested that Sam show his "work" on them (wonder where I got THAT ridiculous, irrational idea????), but he could add them in his head when they were presented horizontally...without lining them up vertically, and without "showing his work" (the carrying, etc.) You know what Sam, if you can do it in your head, do it baby. I am the administrator of this "school", and I know you can do it in your head, YOU know you can do it in your head, so to heck with haters.
We started tracking earthquakes. We may need a new map exclusively for this! We have been doing it for only a few days, and there has been so much activity: Chile, Japan, Papua New Guinea, China...
We want to start tracking tornadoes as well, but we haven't found a good site to use yet.
Who cares if our walls are papered with maps? If my house looked like a display at Rooms-To-Go, I would suffocate and die in the conformity of it!
Josiah won a lot of cards for recognizing letters and their sounds. He is SO funny...sometimes he has to think a bit about what letter it is or what sound it makes, but he is always prompt with recognizing if it is "Uppercase" or "Lowercase".
My kids are so anxious to get swim trunks on and get into some water fun.
I suggested that Sam show his "work" on them (wonder where I got THAT ridiculous, irrational idea????), but he could add them in his head when they were presented horizontally...without lining them up vertically, and without "showing his work" (the carrying, etc.) You know what Sam, if you can do it in your head, do it baby. I am the administrator of this "school", and I know you can do it in your head, YOU know you can do it in your head, so to heck with haters.
We started tracking earthquakes. We may need a new map exclusively for this! We have been doing it for only a few days, and there has been so much activity: Chile, Japan, Papua New Guinea, China...
We want to start tracking tornadoes as well, but we haven't found a good site to use yet.
Who cares if our walls are papered with maps? If my house looked like a display at Rooms-To-Go, I would suffocate and die in the conformity of it!
Josiah won a lot of cards for recognizing letters and their sounds. He is SO funny...sometimes he has to think a bit about what letter it is or what sound it makes, but he is always prompt with recognizing if it is "Uppercase" or "Lowercase".
My kids are so anxious to get swim trunks on and get into some water fun.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
All Play and No Work
Very nice visit at a friend's house. It is such a pleasure to be in the company of like-minded people, especially right around my PMS time, when the mainstream world is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. A 9 week old home-birthed, breastfed, cloth-diapered-but-ECing, beautiful baby girl smiling at me was the perfect therapy for my current "bird-leaving-the-nest" devastation. The boys played like crazy. They love these particular kids so much....they cried on the way home..."I miss (kid's name) and (kid's name)!"
When we returned home, the boys played joyfully with our neighbor's Lab, Bo. When Bo had to go inside, the boys had a wild, wide-open, rough and tough pillow fight on the trampoline with neighborhood friends.
When we returned home, the boys played joyfully with our neighbor's Lab, Bo. When Bo had to go inside, the boys had a wild, wide-open, rough and tough pillow fight on the trampoline with neighborhood friends.
Today we did a Field Trip to our Attorney's office. We walked too! It was almost 3/4 mile. We sat on the front steps of the office and ate pecans from the ground. The boys had a blast cracking them open. I hope our attorney doesn't add those to our bill. We learned all about making a Will.
Sam did one Multiplication Worksheet and took three Multiplication Quizzes. He is still making his 6s backwards....lol....drives me (OCD) insane, but I just remind him over and over. He did Compound Words in his Sylvan "Reading Success" book. I have to say his reading has improved by leaps and bounds since he left school and everyone left him the hell alone. All we have done is read and read and read...books...that we enjoy....and a year later he picks up his Reading Workbook he used to struggle with and Bam! breezes right through it.
Josiah did several pages in his Math Workbook.
Husband is flying up to Red Wing, Minnesota tomorrow on business, so we had to tag it on our map of the US and talk about where it is, borders, weather, etc.
We went through our Bird ID book and pointed out all of the birds we have spotted so far since we started our Birder Adventures. We decided to make a Display of all of our bird pics/birds, so I am going to go through and pick out the best ones to have printed. We looked at other birds as well, and the boys are particularly interested in the Raptors. The Roadrunner was also of great interest. The boys have decided that we need to visit the Raptor Center ASAP. Even though they have been many times before, apparently they just now care...lol. We decided that we need to dissect our new owl pellet ASAP as well. Sam noticed the Size category for each bird, and started asking, "Well how big is that?" I sent him to grab my tape measure...I called the inches for each bird and he showed it to us on the tape measure. BIG WOW when we looked at the wing span on some of the Raptors! Sam really got excited about the tape measure and measured everything in the house, recording his results in his notebook.
We read several books....Why Leaves Change Color, Martin Luther King Jr, Saint Patrick's Day, and the Worm Book. We reviewed how to care for our red Wrigglers. The boys remembered that the Earth Worm has five sets of hearts and suggested we dissect our Earth Worm we ordered from Home Science Tools months ago to find the hearts... I'm. Not. Ready.
The boys chose to make a box of Organic Macaroni and Cheese as their contribution to dinner...well, two boxes, because each box is only 2.5 servings, not enough for our family for dinner. Oh boy! Doubling a recipe! Interesting: Josiah has never been to school, and just doesn't get worksheets the way Sam does....but when it came to doubling the recipe (real life Math), Josiah (6) was like, Duh! and completely got it...but Sam (9)...who has been to school and has had the common sense drilled out of him by worksheets, was so confused over simple math because....it wasn't watered down on a worksheet!
Sam did one Multiplication Worksheet and took three Multiplication Quizzes. He is still making his 6s backwards....lol....drives me (OCD) insane, but I just remind him over and over. He did Compound Words in his Sylvan "Reading Success" book. I have to say his reading has improved by leaps and bounds since he left school and everyone left him the hell alone. All we have done is read and read and read...books...that we enjoy....and a year later he picks up his Reading Workbook he used to struggle with and Bam! breezes right through it.
Josiah did several pages in his Math Workbook.
Husband is flying up to Red Wing, Minnesota tomorrow on business, so we had to tag it on our map of the US and talk about where it is, borders, weather, etc.
We went through our Bird ID book and pointed out all of the birds we have spotted so far since we started our Birder Adventures. We decided to make a Display of all of our bird pics/birds, so I am going to go through and pick out the best ones to have printed. We looked at other birds as well, and the boys are particularly interested in the Raptors. The Roadrunner was also of great interest. The boys have decided that we need to visit the Raptor Center ASAP. Even though they have been many times before, apparently they just now care...lol. We decided that we need to dissect our new owl pellet ASAP as well. Sam noticed the Size category for each bird, and started asking, "Well how big is that?" I sent him to grab my tape measure...I called the inches for each bird and he showed it to us on the tape measure. BIG WOW when we looked at the wing span on some of the Raptors! Sam really got excited about the tape measure and measured everything in the house, recording his results in his notebook.
We read several books....Why Leaves Change Color, Martin Luther King Jr, Saint Patrick's Day, and the Worm Book. We reviewed how to care for our red Wrigglers. The boys remembered that the Earth Worm has five sets of hearts and suggested we dissect our Earth Worm we ordered from Home Science Tools months ago to find the hearts... I'm. Not. Ready.
The boys chose to make a box of Organic Macaroni and Cheese as their contribution to dinner...well, two boxes, because each box is only 2.5 servings, not enough for our family for dinner. Oh boy! Doubling a recipe! Interesting: Josiah has never been to school, and just doesn't get worksheets the way Sam does....but when it came to doubling the recipe (real life Math), Josiah (6) was like, Duh! and completely got it...but Sam (9)...who has been to school and has had the common sense drilled out of him by worksheets, was so confused over simple math because....it wasn't watered down on a worksheet!
Monday, February 28, 2011
"I was undisciplined by birth, never would I bend, even in my tender youth, to a rule. It was at home I learned the little I know. Schools always appeared to me like a prison, and never could I make up my mind to stay there, not even for four hours a day, when the sunshine was inviting, the sea smooth, and when it was joy to run about the cliffs in the free air, or to paddle in the water." -Claude Monet
Sunday, February 27, 2011
I Believe I Can FLy ~ February 26, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
This Week in Unschooling
We have fallen into a different flow since we have been taking the girl to school in the mornings (this ride always brings up the Littering discussion....AND...the Why is Cassidy so Mean discussion). We come home, and the boys can do anything they want...Wii, DS, TV, play outside, Legos (wow we have constructed some impressive structures this week), etc...usually we gravitate to running around like wild men and wrestling...then we have a nutritious breakfast and talk about what we are eating and it's benefits...then we go do whatever we want again, then we get bored. The boys will either approach me with their own ideas, or I will offer to play a game, etc., then we just naturally move into our home-schooling. At about 2pm, we usually take a nap, the nap preceded by reading a book or books and talking about the books...or not...until we nod off. I am reading Room by Emma Donoghue, and the cover is very...appealing to a child. Sam took notice, and asked what my book was about. I told him, and he became super-interested...so I read him most of the first chapter...wow..that led to tons of discussion. (You would have to read it to understand! Awesome book! It is actually giving me some creative ideas for Unschooling!)
My favorite cure for The Meltdown, when and if it occurs...is WATER. A soak in a tub full of warm water with one scoop of Epsom Salts and one cup of Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Then a massage with Coconut Oil (we have yet to tire of observing Cohesive Force). This week we had one Meltdown that we took to the tub. I actually read a meditation book (The Angry Octopus by Lori Lite) to them while they were soaking, and we practiced meditation techniques. We talk about listening to our bodies. I have never had a kid come out of the tub still in Meltdown Mode. *I* have never come out of the tub still in Meltdown Mode.
We read the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree. George Washington's Birthday was Monday. What do you know, ole George had a moral effect on the boys...the very next day after we read our story...Josiah ~ "One is behind the couch........and the other...... is stuffed down in the couch." Sam ~ "Yeah...We wanted to hear the cuckoo cuckoo, so we made them spin round real fast...but they fell off! We tried to tell Paw-Paw, but he was way up there in the field...So we hid them." When I told them thank you and that they were honest and brave, Josiah said, "Yeah! Just like that guy, George...that chopped down that cherry tree!"
Josiah wanted to hear Don't Rant and Rave on Wednesdays (a book I bought for the girl long ago)...on Tuesday night...lol....He usually cuddles in the bed with me with a book, but Sam loves to bond over the Idiot Box with the husband. Most of the time, husband at least makes it a documentary.
We walked to the dentist Wednesday, and taking a walk is Talk About Safety time, Talk About Littering time, AND Talk About Prepositions time. You may walk beside of me or behind me, to the left of me or to the right of me, but you may not walk in front of me, we are walking across the street, etc...Josiah calls them pepper-sitions...lol! I found some too cool free printable pepper-sition flash cards online...monsters! $240 later....No cavities! This spurred a conversation of what we did and didn't do that may have contributed to no cavities (Nutrition).We always do Wing King Cafe for no cavities. I love watching the boys look over the menus...Sam is always suggesting new things and reading the descriptions to me. I love that Sam notices the prices and compares them. I love that my boys choose sweet tea even when they have free choice and could choose a soda. I love watching their interactions with the waiters, etc.
Sam did Multiplication and Fractions this week. He asked me for Multiplication print-outs on his own, and the Fraction sheets were from his 3rd grade math book.
On his own, completely self-motivated, Sam read instructions and constructed a Crossbow from the book Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction by John Austin. He was very excited when the book suggested he use a pocketknife to cut a plastic pen shell, but he was not very excited at all when I said, um, no. I would be okay with a stick, but I don't think he is ready to cut hard plastic with a pocketknife. Or maybe he is...and I'm not.
Josiah did Addition and Subtraction. We used Cascadian Farms Organic Chocolate O's as manipulatives...fun, fun, we can eat the manipulatives as part of the Subtraction!
Josiah and I worked in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, two phonics packets, and Sight Word flash cards. It's interesting to watch...some words he is sounding out, some words he pulls from memory, and some he guesses by looking at the pictures. Of course, all of this is encouraged, because he is learning the way he chooses to learn.
We played Sum Swamp (this game ROCKS!), Addition Facts Bingo, Multiplication Bingo. Josiah is quite the bad sport when it comes to losing. He has been that way for a few months, but I feel that it is gradually getting better. He really gets wound up when he and Sam connect DSs and Sam is winning. I have tried talking him through it, but nothing matters to him except that Sam LETS him win, and I refuse to have Sam LET HIM WIN...so....I make them disconnect when he starts flipping shit...Does this sound coercive? Tough shit...I have needs too, and that squealing goes in the opposite direction of my needs being met. I always talk to him about how, if something is making you this upset, you need to walk away from it.
Sam's Dad got him a cell phone. I was slightly pissed at first, but I am beginning to not mind, because he is asking me how to spell things when he texts. I am thinking I will start texting him myself (even though I hate texting!). Better he gets tons of my grammatically correct texts than...well...you know....
The boys have really stayed on top of keeping their room, toys, and beds tidy this week.
We did lots of play with the dogs, the tree perch, and scooters, bikes, and ramps in the cul de sac. We have two neighborhood, public-schooled friends that we play with every day, for hours in the evenings.
We were so excited to spot three new backyard visitors this week: A Male House Finch, ?a Yellow-Rumped Warbler?, AND....a woodpecker! I'm thinking maybe a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker...but he was SO HIGH and kept moving, so I don't have good pics by which to ID him.
I am reading over this, and I deserve a two thumbs up. In spite of battling something viral all week, exhausted adrenals, and getting a swift blow of super-stress, it appears that I hung in there.
My favorite cure for The Meltdown, when and if it occurs...is WATER. A soak in a tub full of warm water with one scoop of Epsom Salts and one cup of Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Then a massage with Coconut Oil (we have yet to tire of observing Cohesive Force). This week we had one Meltdown that we took to the tub. I actually read a meditation book (The Angry Octopus by Lori Lite) to them while they were soaking, and we practiced meditation techniques. We talk about listening to our bodies. I have never had a kid come out of the tub still in Meltdown Mode. *I* have never come out of the tub still in Meltdown Mode.
We read the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree. George Washington's Birthday was Monday. What do you know, ole George had a moral effect on the boys...the very next day after we read our story...Josiah ~ "One is behind the couch........and the other...... is stuffed down in the couch." Sam ~ "Yeah...We wanted to hear the cuckoo cuckoo, so we made them spin round real fast...but they fell off! We tried to tell Paw-Paw, but he was way up there in the field...So we hid them." When I told them thank you and that they were honest and brave, Josiah said, "Yeah! Just like that guy, George...that chopped down that cherry tree!"
Josiah wanted to hear Don't Rant and Rave on Wednesdays (a book I bought for the girl long ago)...on Tuesday night...lol....He usually cuddles in the bed with me with a book, but Sam loves to bond over the Idiot Box with the husband. Most of the time, husband at least makes it a documentary.
Sam did Multiplication and Fractions this week. He asked me for Multiplication print-outs on his own, and the Fraction sheets were from his 3rd grade math book.
On his own, completely self-motivated, Sam read instructions and constructed a Crossbow from the book Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction by John Austin. He was very excited when the book suggested he use a pocketknife to cut a plastic pen shell, but he was not very excited at all when I said, um, no. I would be okay with a stick, but I don't think he is ready to cut hard plastic with a pocketknife. Or maybe he is...and I'm not.
Josiah and I worked in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, two phonics packets, and Sight Word flash cards. It's interesting to watch...some words he is sounding out, some words he pulls from memory, and some he guesses by looking at the pictures. Of course, all of this is encouraged, because he is learning the way he chooses to learn.
We played Sum Swamp (this game ROCKS!), Addition Facts Bingo, Multiplication Bingo. Josiah is quite the bad sport when it comes to losing. He has been that way for a few months, but I feel that it is gradually getting better. He really gets wound up when he and Sam connect DSs and Sam is winning. I have tried talking him through it, but nothing matters to him except that Sam LETS him win, and I refuse to have Sam LET HIM WIN...so....I make them disconnect when he starts flipping shit...Does this sound coercive? Tough shit...I have needs too, and that squealing goes in the opposite direction of my needs being met. I always talk to him about how, if something is making you this upset, you need to walk away from it.
Sam's Dad got him a cell phone. I was slightly pissed at first, but I am beginning to not mind, because he is asking me how to spell things when he texts. I am thinking I will start texting him myself (even though I hate texting!). Better he gets tons of my grammatically correct texts than...well...you know....
The boys have really stayed on top of keeping their room, toys, and beds tidy this week.
We did lots of play with the dogs, the tree perch, and scooters, bikes, and ramps in the cul de sac. We have two neighborhood, public-schooled friends that we play with every day, for hours in the evenings.
I am reading over this, and I deserve a two thumbs up. In spite of battling something viral all week, exhausted adrenals, and getting a swift blow of super-stress, it appears that I hung in there.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Mary McCloud
How much do you reminisce about the times in your life when you were a complete moron? Or do you even recognize them? I don't beat myself up daily, weekly...perhaps monthly? One of my moron moments that pops into my head most frequently is that of Mary McCloud.
I was 19 years old and in college in Nashville, TN. I met Mary in my Biology class one semester. She was unique and I liked her a lot, immediately. Mary was not what you would consider attractive according to average opinion. Red hair, pale, pale skin, and chunky. The good person in me accepted her as she was and loved her for her above average qualities...but the weak, conforming moron in me secretly judged her, and, was embarrassed of her.
Summer came, and we all went home. Mary lived in Brentwood, so she didn't have very far to go home. I went back to Gastonia, NC, and immediately got back into the swing of things. I started running with a party crowd from Mount Holly, and fell head over heels in love with the king of all morons, "Beef".
Mary had made plans before last semester was even over...to fly out and visit me. By the time it was time for her visit, I was so involved with Beef and his friends, that her visit was a thorn in my heel. As soon as Beef and his crowd saw her, they immediately rejected her, and Beef even openly made fun of her.
Me, being the weak soul I was, dragged her along to every party, but ignored her, never stood up for her, and even snapped at her.
She went home. We never really spoke after that. I didn't really care.
Beef and I made it until I turned 21. He was a drunk, he cheated, and he hit me a couple of times. He even tried to sleep with my BFF.
Mary McCloud was worth one million times the person that Beef and all of his idiot friends were put together.
I have searched for Mary everywhere online and can't find her.
I was 19 years old and in college in Nashville, TN. I met Mary in my Biology class one semester. She was unique and I liked her a lot, immediately. Mary was not what you would consider attractive according to average opinion. Red hair, pale, pale skin, and chunky. The good person in me accepted her as she was and loved her for her above average qualities...but the weak, conforming moron in me secretly judged her, and, was embarrassed of her.
Summer came, and we all went home. Mary lived in Brentwood, so she didn't have very far to go home. I went back to Gastonia, NC, and immediately got back into the swing of things. I started running with a party crowd from Mount Holly, and fell head over heels in love with the king of all morons, "Beef".
Mary had made plans before last semester was even over...to fly out and visit me. By the time it was time for her visit, I was so involved with Beef and his friends, that her visit was a thorn in my heel. As soon as Beef and his crowd saw her, they immediately rejected her, and Beef even openly made fun of her.
Me, being the weak soul I was, dragged her along to every party, but ignored her, never stood up for her, and even snapped at her.
She went home. We never really spoke after that. I didn't really care.
Beef and I made it until I turned 21. He was a drunk, he cheated, and he hit me a couple of times. He even tried to sleep with my BFF.
Mary McCloud was worth one million times the person that Beef and all of his idiot friends were put together.
I have searched for Mary everywhere online and can't find her.
Josiah Owns It!
I am so excited for Josiah. We were riding down the road yesterday, and he announces that he wants me to teach him how to read. He has been asking a lot of questions for the past several months, noticing words, spelling them out, guessing what they are, etc...on signs, in books, on restaurant menus, maps, instruction manuals, etc. He plays games with us like Sight Word Bingo, etc, and we just help him along. He recognizes and "reads" words he sees around the house...like our names, etc. But this is the first time he has asked for a sit-down, formal lesson. I was not feeling well when we pulled into the driveway. I have picked up a respiratory bug somewhere and I am fighting it off. But I managed to pull two phonics kits I have and some sight word cards. We got in the bed and did our Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (which we have done for awhile but not formally), plus our new stuff, until I gave out. He is so focused! He is so funny, telling me and Sam (who loves to blurt out the word first) to shut up, he wants to say the word. Even though Sight Words are like breathing to Sam by now, it is still a good review for him...he did miss about 2 of them. A few hours later Josiah asked to go at it again. Gosh it was close to 10pm and I was so looking forward to bed, but we did another round. I had to make him stop, because I felt so weak and achy. I am so thrilled and of course I am going to rise to the occasion, but somehow I imagined it going like this: "Mom, I want you to teach me how to read.", at which point, I would set aside a small amount of time each day and cover things in order, gradually, day by day. Oh no. He wants to go and go and go at it, so it is my job to help him go at it!
I am not even sure he could recite the alphabet all the way through if he was asked. He only recognizes some letters by name, others by sound, and those are the ones he has asked about because he wanted to know.
Josiah owns his learning!
"Learning to read is easy, and most children will do it more quickly and better and with more pleasure if they can do it themselves, untaught, untested, and helped only when and if they ask for help." ~John Holt, Learning All the Time
I am not even sure he could recite the alphabet all the way through if he was asked. He only recognizes some letters by name, others by sound, and those are the ones he has asked about because he wanted to know.
Josiah owns his learning!
"Learning to read is easy, and most children will do it more quickly and better and with more pleasure if they can do it themselves, untaught, untested, and helped only when and if they ask for help." ~John Holt, Learning All the Time
Monday, February 21, 2011
Unschool Teacher Work Day
I have one scheduled today. I won't be doing lesson plans or grading tests. My kids have not had every last ounce of natural curiosity juiced out of them by formal education, so I don't have to lay out plans for what I am going to force on them. In fact, they hit every subject area required by SC on a daily basis on their own, and I can barely keep up with them.
I will be working on me. Clearing my mind, and inviting peace into my soul.
I can't be good for my family if I am allowing "things" to clutter my mind, divert my attention, and master my being.
Sometimes, my kids drive me insane, and I am ready for them to go somewhere else for awhile. Then, as soon as I find myself all to myself, I don't know what to do with myself.
I begin my day with this blog post, just to set things in perspective. I have opened all of the windows and I am aware of the light, cool breeze on my back. I am aware of the birds singing. I am only allowing positive thoughts.
I will be grateful for every chore that I do, and even take pleasure in them. I will be grateful that there is nothing more I desire than to exist peacefully in the moment.
I will be working on me. Clearing my mind, and inviting peace into my soul.
I can't be good for my family if I am allowing "things" to clutter my mind, divert my attention, and master my being.
Sometimes, my kids drive me insane, and I am ready for them to go somewhere else for awhile. Then, as soon as I find myself all to myself, I don't know what to do with myself.
I begin my day with this blog post, just to set things in perspective. I have opened all of the windows and I am aware of the light, cool breeze on my back. I am aware of the birds singing. I am only allowing positive thoughts.
I will be grateful for every chore that I do, and even take pleasure in them. I will be grateful that there is nothing more I desire than to exist peacefully in the moment.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
A Bird's Nest in Spring
I think my ex probably did a fantastic job of painting a picture of himself as the victim in our split-up. Eh, who cares. All is well now. We get along. This post is not to take a stab at him. This post is not to defend myself. It is only to express a memory that came back to me as we were trimming some brush in our back yard yesterday, and Sam and I were checking for nests before we made the cuts....
Back in 2007...Grandaddy had kicked the bucket in 2006, and I had possession of his $35,000 brand new John Deere tractor during probate. It had a huge loader attachment on the front of it. We really didn't have any good reasons to use it, so it remained parked.
It was spring, and Sam discovered that a bird had built it's nest in the attachment and had laid eggs. OH wow. We were so excited, and peeked at them daily.
Also that Spring, Paw-Paw-Ex-FIL had big plans for his gardens, as he eye-balled Grandad's shiny, in-probate tractor. I told my ex: "He can use it. But there is no reason to move the attachment (loader). It won't be long before the eggs hatch and the birds leave." Like, WTF do you need a loader for, when it comes to a garden, anyway???? Ex knew how important nature was to me, and how it was important to me to not disturb it or rape it, and that it was especially important to me to model respect for nature for the kiddos.
I came home one day to find the tractor...and...the loader attachment.... gone. He claimed he moved the nest, which is still unacceptable. I found the nest and the eggs...all smashed...on the ground. He then changed his story to...the nest and eggs were already destroyed, must have been wild dogs or something.
After years of marriage, I finally had a moment of clarity: He sincerely didn't give a damn about what was important to me, even if it was as simple as preserving three bird eggs.
Back in 2007...Grandaddy had kicked the bucket in 2006, and I had possession of his $35,000 brand new John Deere tractor during probate. It had a huge loader attachment on the front of it. We really didn't have any good reasons to use it, so it remained parked.
It was spring, and Sam discovered that a bird had built it's nest in the attachment and had laid eggs. OH wow. We were so excited, and peeked at them daily.
Also that Spring, Paw-Paw-Ex-FIL had big plans for his gardens, as he eye-balled Grandad's shiny, in-probate tractor. I told my ex: "He can use it. But there is no reason to move the attachment (loader). It won't be long before the eggs hatch and the birds leave." Like, WTF do you need a loader for, when it comes to a garden, anyway???? Ex knew how important nature was to me, and how it was important to me to not disturb it or rape it, and that it was especially important to me to model respect for nature for the kiddos.
I came home one day to find the tractor...and...the loader attachment.... gone. He claimed he moved the nest, which is still unacceptable. I found the nest and the eggs...all smashed...on the ground. He then changed his story to...the nest and eggs were already destroyed, must have been wild dogs or something.
After years of marriage, I finally had a moment of clarity: He sincerely didn't give a damn about what was important to me, even if it was as simple as preserving three bird eggs.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
We are really enjoying this awesome weather. Yesterday, we made a tray of snacks, sat in the floor in front of our sunny, open window and played games, kid's choice, with the breeze tickling our skin. Go Fish, Sight Word Bingo, Opposites, Spelling Bee, and I Spy Eagle Eye. This was after a few hours of outside play. The boys have been begging for me to authorize a trampoline water fight for a few days now, ever since they saw my Facebook profile pic of them and Shai having one, and remembered..."Oh yeah...that was crazy fun!".
Monday, our day was dedicated to prep and attendance of our Rock Hill Home School group's Valentine Party. The boys made Hershey's Kiss Chocolate Covered Cherry Mice all on their own, and had a blast doing it, and had even more of a blast eating mice parts as they worked on the Mouse Assembly Line. I was asked to help coordinate the crafts. This is the type thing I thrived on doing for many years of my life. Something happened a few years ago, right before I left my ex, and now, something as simple as decorating Valentine bags and making tissue paper flowers caused me weeks of anxiety, and a full blown panic attack the night before. It all turned out just fine though. Josiah won the first cupcake on the cupcake walk, and he was so thrilled! A home school friend left with us, and we spent the remainder of the evening playing in the park.
My worms got a sexy, new condo this week. It was my Valentine's gift from my husband that I picked out and ordered myself. They seem to really love it! I also got a hanging bird bath. I really love our backyard birds. The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend! We have really been studying up on our bird identification, because ummm, if we report, it does no good if we report the wrong birds.
We are learning all about compost and vermicompost (we actively do both). We have several books we read over, but Sam still tried to offer his orange peels for the compost bin. I told him no citrus, he asks why??? Well, our book just gave a list of no-no's, but didn't include the Whys?....We start researching, and it appears that there is some debate about it. Citrus takes longer to decompose, but many claim it does fine in their compost. In vermicompost, it looks like it is avoided just because it's not the worms fave snack. We are going to start saving our citrus is something separate until we do more research and figure it out.
I am crazy excited about gardening this year. I am crazy anxious about starting my plants from seedlings. This is something I have never had much success with. I have been researching like a mad woman. I am going to try several methods at the same. I have a small greenhouse, outdoors. I have a plant lamp for indoors. I have seedling heat mats coming that I ordered. I already have my heirloom seeds. We will see. I have a secret weapon...Nettles. We will see. I am also a little anxious about preserving. I am pretty good at canning, but I have found in the past that flat top stoves don't work well. I will cross that bridge when I get there.
This week, we have had Chihuahua Anarchy. Tito has discovered a way to get out of our fence, and we have not solved the mystery yet.
Monday, our day was dedicated to prep and attendance of our Rock Hill Home School group's Valentine Party. The boys made Hershey's Kiss Chocolate Covered Cherry Mice all on their own, and had a blast doing it, and had even more of a blast eating mice parts as they worked on the Mouse Assembly Line. I was asked to help coordinate the crafts. This is the type thing I thrived on doing for many years of my life. Something happened a few years ago, right before I left my ex, and now, something as simple as decorating Valentine bags and making tissue paper flowers caused me weeks of anxiety, and a full blown panic attack the night before. It all turned out just fine though. Josiah won the first cupcake on the cupcake walk, and he was so thrilled! A home school friend left with us, and we spent the remainder of the evening playing in the park.
My worms got a sexy, new condo this week. It was my Valentine's gift from my husband that I picked out and ordered myself. They seem to really love it! I also got a hanging bird bath. I really love our backyard birds. The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend! We have really been studying up on our bird identification, because ummm, if we report, it does no good if we report the wrong birds.
We are learning all about compost and vermicompost (we actively do both). We have several books we read over, but Sam still tried to offer his orange peels for the compost bin. I told him no citrus, he asks why??? Well, our book just gave a list of no-no's, but didn't include the Whys?....We start researching, and it appears that there is some debate about it. Citrus takes longer to decompose, but many claim it does fine in their compost. In vermicompost, it looks like it is avoided just because it's not the worms fave snack. We are going to start saving our citrus is something separate until we do more research and figure it out.
I am crazy excited about gardening this year. I am crazy anxious about starting my plants from seedlings. This is something I have never had much success with. I have been researching like a mad woman. I am going to try several methods at the same. I have a small greenhouse, outdoors. I have a plant lamp for indoors. I have seedling heat mats coming that I ordered. I already have my heirloom seeds. We will see. I have a secret weapon...Nettles. We will see. I am also a little anxious about preserving. I am pretty good at canning, but I have found in the past that flat top stoves don't work well. I will cross that bridge when I get there.
This week, we have had Chihuahua Anarchy. Tito has discovered a way to get out of our fence, and we have not solved the mystery yet.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Go With the Flow
My boys and I have developed the most beautiful flow. We flow through the day and work through our issues peacefully, and it is absolutely amazing.
"Amazing things happen when you're doing something you love and you're just letting it flow..." My husband posted this as his Facebook status last night. He was talking about his own passions, of course, but it perfectly described what I have been feeling lately.
Even being on my own schedule, as my husband so frequently reminds me, I still managed to stress us all out!
I have implemented a few things that have turned out to work like magic for us, even though they should be common sense to me by now....
I went from over-scheduling home school and extra-curricular activities that had us running around like chickens with our heads cut off, to just staying at home. The boys are much happier! Now, we can slowly add one activity back in, and see how it goes. Why in the world do we feel like we have to have our kids in something all of the time, when all they really want and need is free, creative time to themselves? The more you have going on outside of the home, the less you are eating and drinking properly, the less you are communicating and interacting with one another, the more you are over-stimulated. I watch people living vicariously through their children on Facebook every day. I recognize it and don't support it, but realized that I was mildly practicing it myself! Ego and indoctrination run deep. Never underestimate how much you are being controlled by what you think you are not controlled by.
RANDOM: **I remember, after the two years of going through my divorce when I worked and sent the kiddos to preschool & school, and then found myself back at home with my children through a crazy turn of events, thank you Universe! :) :) , I was nearly out of my mind, because I didn't know them anymore. I had to get to know my kiddos again! My husband was pushing for me to do it, and I was thinking of every excuse to cling to my job, because I had been on the front lines with my kiddos for years before, and I knew for a fact that going to work and sending them off to someone else....was much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much easier!!!**
Even though I am a seasoned home schooler who knows that the myth of home schoolers not being socialized is complete bullshit, I still felt the need to rush my children around to every thing available to "show" how much they interact, when, in most of the activities, they can't even interact with the other kiddos anyway because it's so damn structured...just like school! (The shy, quiet girl that home schooled would have been the shy, quiet girl through the school years as well, dumb-asses!) Someone posted on Facebook the other day that their child got their first behavior "ticket" pulled after 105 or 150 days of school...because she couldn't stop laughing at something funny her friend said. I am so thankful that my children are able to "socialize" with such a beautiful variety of people on a daily basis....babies, adults, teens, kiddos of all ages, employees, the elderly, autistic children, male, female, gay, straight, black, white, hispanic, rich, poor, all faiths, handicapped, disabled, sick, well, etc, etc, etc., and...laugh as long as they need to, because humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress.
I got to rambling about "socialization"...oops...
I was in the habit of cooking gourmet meals almost daily, to get an ooh and an ahhhh from my husband. Getting this oooh and ahhh fed my ego, and was the first replacement I used for ego-feed when I quit my job and lost the ego-feed I received there. I used it to PROVE that even though I was no longer bringing home $$$$, I was worthy. Getting this ooh and ahhh and illusion of worth took up a lot of time and money. I have gradually adopted the following menu plan: It will be organic, all-natural, and well-balanced nutritionally. But it will be from what we already have in stock, and it will not be on my mind all day, and if I am in the middle of something, it will not be ready to serve at 5:30pm. Probably not even 6:30pm.
Keeping the house tidy. My husband would say that I *never* kept it tidy enough to his standards, but I was going all crazy every day to make sure everything was in it's place, mostly for the Husband's approval. Well, guess what...he would come home, and find something else to complain about. Now, I keep it tidy enough for my satisfaction only. I no longer care about his approval. He has a faithful, educated, motivated, spiritual, supportive wife who adores him, and three awesome bonus children. I would say the problem here lies with his inability to be thankful and content, and not with my housekeeping skills.
It's crazy, but throwing the load off has given me more energy to be in tune with the kiddos. I feel that I am truly parenting them now. Moments I had a tendency to "snap" are being replaced with talking through issues, and recognizing and meeting their needs. I can feel the energy changing, and the benefits are obvious immediately.
"Amazing things happen when you're doing something you love and you're just letting it flow..." My husband posted this as his Facebook status last night. He was talking about his own passions, of course, but it perfectly described what I have been feeling lately.
Even being on my own schedule, as my husband so frequently reminds me, I still managed to stress us all out!
I have implemented a few things that have turned out to work like magic for us, even though they should be common sense to me by now....
I went from over-scheduling home school and extra-curricular activities that had us running around like chickens with our heads cut off, to just staying at home. The boys are much happier! Now, we can slowly add one activity back in, and see how it goes. Why in the world do we feel like we have to have our kids in something all of the time, when all they really want and need is free, creative time to themselves? The more you have going on outside of the home, the less you are eating and drinking properly, the less you are communicating and interacting with one another, the more you are over-stimulated. I watch people living vicariously through their children on Facebook every day. I recognize it and don't support it, but realized that I was mildly practicing it myself! Ego and indoctrination run deep. Never underestimate how much you are being controlled by what you think you are not controlled by.
RANDOM: **I remember, after the two years of going through my divorce when I worked and sent the kiddos to preschool & school, and then found myself back at home with my children through a crazy turn of events, thank you Universe! :) :) , I was nearly out of my mind, because I didn't know them anymore. I had to get to know my kiddos again! My husband was pushing for me to do it, and I was thinking of every excuse to cling to my job, because I had been on the front lines with my kiddos for years before, and I knew for a fact that going to work and sending them off to someone else....was much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much easier!!!**
Even though I am a seasoned home schooler who knows that the myth of home schoolers not being socialized is complete bullshit, I still felt the need to rush my children around to every thing available to "show" how much they interact, when, in most of the activities, they can't even interact with the other kiddos anyway because it's so damn structured...just like school! (The shy, quiet girl that home schooled would have been the shy, quiet girl through the school years as well, dumb-asses!) Someone posted on Facebook the other day that their child got their first behavior "ticket" pulled after 105 or 150 days of school...because she couldn't stop laughing at something funny her friend said. I am so thankful that my children are able to "socialize" with such a beautiful variety of people on a daily basis....babies, adults, teens, kiddos of all ages, employees, the elderly, autistic children, male, female, gay, straight, black, white, hispanic, rich, poor, all faiths, handicapped, disabled, sick, well, etc, etc, etc., and...laugh as long as they need to, because humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress.
I got to rambling about "socialization"...oops...
I was in the habit of cooking gourmet meals almost daily, to get an ooh and an ahhhh from my husband. Getting this oooh and ahhh fed my ego, and was the first replacement I used for ego-feed when I quit my job and lost the ego-feed I received there. I used it to PROVE that even though I was no longer bringing home $$$$, I was worthy. Getting this ooh and ahhh and illusion of worth took up a lot of time and money. I have gradually adopted the following menu plan: It will be organic, all-natural, and well-balanced nutritionally. But it will be from what we already have in stock, and it will not be on my mind all day, and if I am in the middle of something, it will not be ready to serve at 5:30pm. Probably not even 6:30pm.
Keeping the house tidy. My husband would say that I *never* kept it tidy enough to his standards, but I was going all crazy every day to make sure everything was in it's place, mostly for the Husband's approval. Well, guess what...he would come home, and find something else to complain about. Now, I keep it tidy enough for my satisfaction only. I no longer care about his approval. He has a faithful, educated, motivated, spiritual, supportive wife who adores him, and three awesome bonus children. I would say the problem here lies with his inability to be thankful and content, and not with my housekeeping skills.
It's crazy, but throwing the load off has given me more energy to be in tune with the kiddos. I feel that I am truly parenting them now. Moments I had a tendency to "snap" are being replaced with talking through issues, and recognizing and meeting their needs. I can feel the energy changing, and the benefits are obvious immediately.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Mud Pies for the Soul
The weather yesterday was just gorgeous. The boys and I went out back to soak up the rays. I tried sitting and jotting down thoughts in my Notebook as the boys played in their tree-perches, but negative thoughts kept creeping into my mind. I decided I needed to burn some energy, so I put on my gloves and grabbed the hedge clippers. I started some shit with the honeysuckle. As I snipped branches and slung them behind me, I allowed the negative thoughts to flood through me. I just opened up and, as Husband says, "sat in the room with it." The flood wouldn't stop, though, it got worse. It wasn't long before I was pretending that certain people were the vines, twigs, and branches, and I began snipping away violently, even going after thick stems that the clippers couldn't really handle. Damn my arms are sore today!
Then it happened. I turned around to "fuss" at the boys because they were getting slack about moving the branches away to "the pile." They had a full baking session going on. Josiah had two butter knifes chop, chop, chopping dirt, like a chef. They had a dog bowl full of mud batter mixed up, one mud pie ready to bake in a frisbee pan, and they were spooning out mud cookies onto a board. They took them all over to a sunny spot to "bake".
And just like that, all was right in our world.
Treasure in the Bamboo Forest
We should all be familiar with our Pit Bull story by now.
When we cleared the path through the yard and put up the fence, the Bamboo Forest got fenced OUT of our yard. And...the Bamboo Forest just happens to be right next to the chained, aggressive, Petey Pit Bull Dog.
We recently had a barrier put up between Petey and the Bamboo Forest, one end connects to a neighbors fence, one end connects to our fence. If Petey, or any of his Pit friends get loose, he will have to travel around several houses on a different road to make his way to our house. Hopefully, he would be delayed by something else, like a squirrel, or the tire of a car....and never make it.
Anyway, yesterday was the first day the kiddos got to play in the Bamboo Forest.
They came bursting through my front door all smiles, presenting me with the gift of a one-eyed ceramic frog. It was for me, for Valentine's Day, they told me. I swear, my heart melted. I gave kisses and hugs and thank yous.
This is the most beautiful one-eyed frog ever, and I will display it proudly.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Raw Thoughts on Love and Kindness
It really bothers me when I see children (teens specifically) tearing one another down. I am not claiming perfection. I did it when I was a teen. I had the ego bag full of shit ready to sling on the defensive, and I was not afraid to use it. My Mother was not as tuned in to how I interacted with other teens (females specifically), because she wasn't the type I could confide in. She couldn't read it on Facebook. We kept our shit-slinging on the down low back in the day. I carried this ego bag of shit with me even throughout a lot of my adult life, and so did others. Each year, our ego bags got bigger, picking up anger, hurt, rejection, and disapproval. From all ages, not just our peers.
So I wonder. Is all of this natural, something we need to go through? Did we create it? Or maybe not created it, but amplified it by the way we formed our society? Did we form our society around it?
Throughout life, after I purposely hurt someone (even though I know full well by now that it serves no good purpose in the Universe to do so, I still slip up!) or accidentally hurt someone emotionally, I almost immediately have a flood of thoughts that nearly knock me down with remorse. I feel so genuinely sorry for that person, even if they were genuinely mean to me. It moves me to tears. I feel it all the way down to my soul.
Some of the happiest moments of my life are moments when I reconnect with some of the people who hurt me, and people I hurt.
If I do not retaliate, I remain silent, and time...hours, days, weeks, months, years.....wash the hurt away, but a stain remains. It seems the only way for me to find love for the person is to retaliate, then regret it.
Last night I focused all of my being on sending positive energy, peace, and love to someone whom I have strongly disliked for two years now. I have no idea what might have done for them, but I awakened with a strong sense of peace. Throughout the two years, I have spoken positive, kind, supportive words about this person and to this person (in blog entries, in person, and on Facebook), in spite of her perpetual negativity. I have bitten my tongue over and over. I put my husband on the front lines with her, because he handles the negativity better than I, in spite of the fact that he dislikes this person even more than I do, and called her "game" from the start. It was not enough.
I can't control or change anyone, but I can seek peace for myself.
I don't have a lot of conflict with people in my life compared to many. But Plan A for me is to start sending positive energy to a person as soon as I feel negative energy coming from them, rather than waiting for the explosion.
So I wonder. Is all of this natural, something we need to go through? Did we create it? Or maybe not created it, but amplified it by the way we formed our society? Did we form our society around it?
Throughout life, after I purposely hurt someone (even though I know full well by now that it serves no good purpose in the Universe to do so, I still slip up!) or accidentally hurt someone emotionally, I almost immediately have a flood of thoughts that nearly knock me down with remorse. I feel so genuinely sorry for that person, even if they were genuinely mean to me. It moves me to tears. I feel it all the way down to my soul.
Some of the happiest moments of my life are moments when I reconnect with some of the people who hurt me, and people I hurt.
If I do not retaliate, I remain silent, and time...hours, days, weeks, months, years.....wash the hurt away, but a stain remains. It seems the only way for me to find love for the person is to retaliate, then regret it.
Last night I focused all of my being on sending positive energy, peace, and love to someone whom I have strongly disliked for two years now. I have no idea what might have done for them, but I awakened with a strong sense of peace. Throughout the two years, I have spoken positive, kind, supportive words about this person and to this person (in blog entries, in person, and on Facebook), in spite of her perpetual negativity. I have bitten my tongue over and over. I put my husband on the front lines with her, because he handles the negativity better than I, in spite of the fact that he dislikes this person even more than I do, and called her "game" from the start. It was not enough.
I can't control or change anyone, but I can seek peace for myself.
I don't have a lot of conflict with people in my life compared to many. But Plan A for me is to start sending positive energy to a person as soon as I feel negative energy coming from them, rather than waiting for the explosion.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Insulting Compliments?
My kiddos were away from me for 24 hours or so recently, spending some time with people they love, people they don't spend a lot of time with.
I have had some issues with these particular people in the past with my oldest lovie. Ohhhh...such as quizzing her, testing to see if she was up to par "academically", asking her investigative, nosey questions, attempts at religious indoctrination, even bad-mouthing me. So even though my "give a damn what you think" button is disabled by now, I still have some echoes that creep in when it comes to them having direct, unsupervised contact with my lovies.
So after this visit, I receive some compliments...delivered with a slight touch of ?shock? disbelief?...
Why? do people find it shocking when children or adults who do not play the traditional, mainstream Christian game display kind, loving, and generous attributes?
(I can read their minds: "Our prayers must be working, for those kids to be turning out so well in spite of their beer-drinking, swearing, home-churching, traditional-school-hatin', crazy-ass parents.")
Neither myself nor my children need to a member of a Christian or any other church to have beautiful souls.
And.... PS - You shouldn't use prayer to try to *control* others.
I will not allow my head to swell up with parental pride when someone is impressed with my kiddos. They make their own decisions about how they want to be and how they want to treat others. It's no special parenting magic that I possess, it's no tight ship I keep, it's not a parenting book I read.
My children are not reflections of me, and I don't want them to be (even though I am quite fabulous if I say so myself...) We are autonomous, we are perfect, and we are imperfect. We just ARE what we ARE.
I must say. It is extremely liberating and like a breath of fresh air to be so genuinely complacent now when it comes to receiving approval from those I ridiculously wasted time begging for approval from for years.
OH! How could I forget...let the record show that they didn't even say any "bad words." YAY! I'm going to place extra stars on their behavior charts right away!
"Bad words"....that's a whole 'nuther Blog entry.
I have had some issues with these particular people in the past with my oldest lovie. Ohhhh...such as quizzing her, testing to see if she was up to par "academically", asking her investigative, nosey questions, attempts at religious indoctrination, even bad-mouthing me. So even though my "give a damn what you think" button is disabled by now, I still have some echoes that creep in when it comes to them having direct, unsupervised contact with my lovies.
So after this visit, I receive some compliments...delivered with a slight touch of ?shock? disbelief?...
Why? do people find it shocking when children or adults who do not play the traditional, mainstream Christian game display kind, loving, and generous attributes?
(I can read their minds: "Our prayers must be working, for those kids to be turning out so well in spite of their beer-drinking, swearing, home-churching, traditional-school-hatin', crazy-ass parents.")
Neither myself nor my children need to a member of a Christian or any other church to have beautiful souls.
And.... PS - You shouldn't use prayer to try to *control* others.
I will not allow my head to swell up with parental pride when someone is impressed with my kiddos. They make their own decisions about how they want to be and how they want to treat others. It's no special parenting magic that I possess, it's no tight ship I keep, it's not a parenting book I read.
My children are not reflections of me, and I don't want them to be (even though I am quite fabulous if I say so myself...) We are autonomous, we are perfect, and we are imperfect. We just ARE what we ARE.
I must say. It is extremely liberating and like a breath of fresh air to be so genuinely complacent now when it comes to receiving approval from those I ridiculously wasted time begging for approval from for years.
OH! How could I forget...let the record show that they didn't even say any "bad words." YAY! I'm going to place extra stars on their behavior charts right away!
"Bad words"....that's a whole 'nuther Blog entry.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Dressed Up Mommies in Very Nice Cars
I forgot to start my beans in the crock pot yesterday. 3pm rolls around when I realize how screwed I am. I probably could have pulled something together that did not require thawing or cooking for several hours, but the boys and I had been working diligently all day, and my brain just couldn't produce a winner. I had to pick up Pumkin' from her voluntary prison of forced association at 4pm, so I decided I could pick up Chinese since we would be out anyway.
I sent Pumkin' in the Chinese joint to get the order, because, of course, the boys and I were still in our PJs. Some may call that lazy. I call it keeping the laundry load down. This is where I disagree with Flylady. Get dressed from head to toe to stay at home all day? Insanity.
The order must not have been ready, because she was in there about 15 minutes. It was 5:30pm and I was sitting in the truck looking out across the Food Lion parking lot. The boys were in the back seat battling each other in a game on their DSs.
I saw many, many Mommies. In their nice, dress-up work clothes. Rushing in, rushing out. Hurriedly herding their little ones in, and their little ones and their grocery bags out. No one was smiling. They all had very nice cars though.
It made me very sad. It made me start thinking about all kinds of things.
And that's all I have to say about it right now.
I sent Pumkin' in the Chinese joint to get the order, because, of course, the boys and I were still in our PJs. Some may call that lazy. I call it keeping the laundry load down. This is where I disagree with Flylady. Get dressed from head to toe to stay at home all day? Insanity.
The order must not have been ready, because she was in there about 15 minutes. It was 5:30pm and I was sitting in the truck looking out across the Food Lion parking lot. The boys were in the back seat battling each other in a game on their DSs.
I saw many, many Mommies. In their nice, dress-up work clothes. Rushing in, rushing out. Hurriedly herding their little ones in, and their little ones and their grocery bags out. No one was smiling. They all had very nice cars though.
It made me very sad. It made me start thinking about all kinds of things.
And that's all I have to say about it right now.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Unschooling Moment: Tub Chemistry
Josiah was soaking in the tub the other night. I gave him his chunk of Coconut Oil to moisturize with. He loves to play with it in the tub, and watch it "melt" and form bubbles, which he thinks look a lot like jellyfish. Amazed at how the bubbles seem to be attracted to one another, and actually move towards one another to combine in the water, he began to wonder.
(We actually came across Cohesive Force a few months ago at Home School Science in the Park, where we made a lava lamp. We talked about it then and thought it was great...)
Well, I couldn't remember what it was called exactly, so we called Dad in and he couldn't remember the exact term Cohesive Force, but we agreed that the molecules were attracted to one another, and Dad said that this is a way they clean oil spills from the oceans. Dad admits that Chemistry is not his strong subject, and Mom admits that it *is* hers.
(Aha! Now we remember...we read that in our Oil Spill book!)
So Mom authorizes more Coconut Oil, and we observe the wonders of Cohesive Force as we soak in a tub and get the best moisturizing you can give your body.
Next morning, pulling out our books on hand and making use of Google, we pull it all together.
Then we remember Surface Tension! Yeah, we did an experiment on that before as well! Wow! Talk about real-life application.
We love animals, and one Google Hit caught our attention. Which animals are most affected by oil spills, which animals repel the oil, etc. We get sad sometimes by what we learn.
As it turns out, Cohesive Force covers a wide range of things and leads to others. We can cover it all if we like, and in the time we want.
We didn't cover Cohesive Force because we came to that chapter in our textbook, or because it was listed on the South Carolina Public School Curriculum for this year. Nor did we wave the natural curiosity away because it wasn't on the South Carolina Public School Curriculum, or because we were too busy or too lazy or too accustomed to being spoon fed limited information only to spit it back out on a test for our "Grade".
All A's? Honor Roll? Great. Way to go. You caught on to how to play The Game. But much more importantly, when your child shows curiosity about something, and says, "Hmmm .We will have to research that and find out about it.", just because we want to know....*that* is of life-long value.
(We actually came across Cohesive Force a few months ago at Home School Science in the Park, where we made a lava lamp. We talked about it then and thought it was great...)
Well, I couldn't remember what it was called exactly, so we called Dad in and he couldn't remember the exact term Cohesive Force, but we agreed that the molecules were attracted to one another, and Dad said that this is a way they clean oil spills from the oceans. Dad admits that Chemistry is not his strong subject, and Mom admits that it *is* hers.
(Aha! Now we remember...we read that in our Oil Spill book!)
So Mom authorizes more Coconut Oil, and we observe the wonders of Cohesive Force as we soak in a tub and get the best moisturizing you can give your body.
Next morning, pulling out our books on hand and making use of Google, we pull it all together.
Then we remember Surface Tension! Yeah, we did an experiment on that before as well! Wow! Talk about real-life application.
We love animals, and one Google Hit caught our attention. Which animals are most affected by oil spills, which animals repel the oil, etc. We get sad sometimes by what we learn.
As it turns out, Cohesive Force covers a wide range of things and leads to others. We can cover it all if we like, and in the time we want.
We didn't cover Cohesive Force because we came to that chapter in our textbook, or because it was listed on the South Carolina Public School Curriculum for this year. Nor did we wave the natural curiosity away because it wasn't on the South Carolina Public School Curriculum, or because we were too busy or too lazy or too accustomed to being spoon fed limited information only to spit it back out on a test for our "Grade".
All A's? Honor Roll? Great. Way to go. You caught on to how to play The Game. But much more importantly, when your child shows curiosity about something, and says, "Hmmm .We will have to research that and find out about it.", just because we want to know....*that* is of life-long value.
To All of the Giant Burrowing Cockroaches....
When I see litter, and especially when I witness the actual act of littering, I become crazy pissed off. So, this morning I was driving down the road crazy pissed off, and wondered why am I so much more sensitive to this than many others? Besides the obvious reasons why littering is wrong for the environment. Besides the obvious fact that people who litter have specific negative attributes in common that seep into other areas of society besides littering, and poison the Universe.
I have an established history of being abused by Litter Bugs.
Let's go back in time to the years I was married to the ex. Nine years of it. Not all bad, but not all good for sure. See, the outlaws owned a machine shop. The outlaws operated the machine shop. The ADULT, MALE outlaws and their LAZY, MALE guests littered. There were a handful of children playing about the machine shop and it's grounds. Yes, I'm sure some of them littered as well. BUT. The LITTERING ADULTS made the children carry trash bags around and pick up the ADULT LITTER. My baby girl hung out there a lot with my ex. And when I found out that MY baby girl had to pick up nasty trash that lazy adults scattered about, you better believe it made me scream. And scream even louder that the kiddos were only doing just as what the adults "modeled." AND MADE ME PULL MY FUCKING HAIR OUT that they were yelled at, threatened, and spanked for imitating what their adult "models" were doing.
Let's move on. I own vacant property in Gaston County. Throughout the years, this vacant property has been used by trespassing whores and their trespassing clients to conduct business on. It has also been used as a dump. Someone even hid a weapon there once. Hell, there may be human remains as well. Bottom line is, it will cost me a lot of fucking money. I am responsible for cleaning it. It brings my market value on the property down. If it becomes an environmental hazard, I can accumulate fines. It's my property, but I can't take my children for a hike on it. I'm afraid to. Needles, condoms, torn underwear...weapons....and what if we run into one of our frequent visitors? OH, I have my No Trespassing signs with the Statutes on them, and it is registered with the police, but it does no fucking good. I fantasize about sitting in the woods with a gun and piling the bodies up, one by one, the Giant, Burrowing Cockroaches will become extinct. I am being raped by the whores and low-lives of Gaston County on a daily basis and there is not a fucking thing I can do about it.
Our home now. Used to be farmland. Apparently, we got the farm dump. I have put hours into clearing trash, glass, plastic, rope, metal, wires, you name it and someone's lazy ass dumped it. I'm still working on it. I even have irritating nightmares about picking up trash, and the more I pick up, the more there is.
I even cry when I see litter, anywhere. Please don't litter. Please, please, please stop hurting this beautiful Universe.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, Monday....
Yesterday, I took Shaimek, our 8 year old African-American neighborhood friend, to pick up my boys from their Maw-Maw & Paw-Paw's house. This is the ex's family. The boys were so thrilled to see Shaimek! Our ride home turned serious quickly, however, when my 6 year old blurts out, "My Paw-Paw hates black people!" Six year old is laughing, like it is a joke. I'm sure because this is fresh on his mind as he leaves his Paw-Paw's, then he is in immediate contact with Shaimek, so he is trying to put it all together in his little mind.
My vent: So. You see my children less than 10 hours a month, and even that is a privilege considering your history of violence, oh, let's say, gun & hoe fights, etc....yet in that small time, you manage to show your ignorant, racist colors? Nice. So add that to the list of things you do all day: Lay on your ass in the bed and watch Westerns, get waited on hand and foot by your (working) wife, and spread the racism ignorance on down to your Grandchildren.
So, the remainder of the ride home goes like this: Me ~ "Yes, he does, Josiah." Then the talk about the history of racism, etc, which we know A LOT about from our interest in the Civil War and our studies during Black History Month. We discuss morals. We discuss how much we love our African-American friends. Etc.,
Sooo.....my sensitive 9 year old exclaims, "No he doesn't! He loves black people!" and burst into tears as he makes up reasons why Paw-Paw does not hate black people. He cries and cries and yells at us to stop saying "bad things" about his Paw-Paw.
We talk about how he can still love his Paw-Paw even though Paw-Paw has different beliefs. We talk about how there are good things about Paw-Paw to love. We talk about the time period Paw-Paw grew up in, and the time period Paw-Paw's Dad grew up in, and the time period Paw-Paw's Dad's Dad grew up in, and how this hatred was most likely passed down. We talk about MY Grandaddy, who Sam knew and loved, who called the nurses the "N" word until he died, and even though I was hurt and humiliated, that there was nothing I could do to change him. We talked about how we hold the power to stop it with this generation!
We talked about stereo-typing. We talk about how, when some white people have a bad experience with a black person, they judge all black people by that, and vice-versa.
By the time we get home, and I have to keep moving to take care of my family, I am so spun out from the all of it, I pretend that Paw-Paw is the bell pepper I have in my chopper. This brings back a lot of years in that family dealing with prejudice. Very painful for me.
When husband gets home, he talks to the boys again about it. Thank God I am here and not there anymore.
It is extremely difficult to explain hatred such as this to children. It breaks my heart to see children hurt because people that they love hate. I can only imagine how this tears Sam up inside. Sam loves Shaimek. Sam loves Lorenon. Sam loves Paw-Paw. Paw-Paw hates black people. Shaimek and Lorenon are black. It's not that serious to Josiah yet, but it is still leaving a mark.
I do think that the Universe gives you what you need when you need it, so I will believe that experiencing this will work towards the good for us and the Universe, rather than the bad.
My vent: So. You see my children less than 10 hours a month, and even that is a privilege considering your history of violence, oh, let's say, gun & hoe fights, etc....yet in that small time, you manage to show your ignorant, racist colors? Nice. So add that to the list of things you do all day: Lay on your ass in the bed and watch Westerns, get waited on hand and foot by your (working) wife, and spread the racism ignorance on down to your Grandchildren.
So, the remainder of the ride home goes like this: Me ~ "Yes, he does, Josiah." Then the talk about the history of racism, etc, which we know A LOT about from our interest in the Civil War and our studies during Black History Month. We discuss morals. We discuss how much we love our African-American friends. Etc.,
Sooo.....my sensitive 9 year old exclaims, "No he doesn't! He loves black people!" and burst into tears as he makes up reasons why Paw-Paw does not hate black people. He cries and cries and yells at us to stop saying "bad things" about his Paw-Paw.
We talk about how he can still love his Paw-Paw even though Paw-Paw has different beliefs. We talk about how there are good things about Paw-Paw to love. We talk about the time period Paw-Paw grew up in, and the time period Paw-Paw's Dad grew up in, and the time period Paw-Paw's Dad's Dad grew up in, and how this hatred was most likely passed down. We talk about MY Grandaddy, who Sam knew and loved, who called the nurses the "N" word until he died, and even though I was hurt and humiliated, that there was nothing I could do to change him. We talked about how we hold the power to stop it with this generation!
We talked about stereo-typing. We talk about how, when some white people have a bad experience with a black person, they judge all black people by that, and vice-versa.
By the time we get home, and I have to keep moving to take care of my family, I am so spun out from the all of it, I pretend that Paw-Paw is the bell pepper I have in my chopper. This brings back a lot of years in that family dealing with prejudice. Very painful for me.
When husband gets home, he talks to the boys again about it. Thank God I am here and not there anymore.
It is extremely difficult to explain hatred such as this to children. It breaks my heart to see children hurt because people that they love hate. I can only imagine how this tears Sam up inside. Sam loves Shaimek. Sam loves Lorenon. Sam loves Paw-Paw. Paw-Paw hates black people. Shaimek and Lorenon are black. It's not that serious to Josiah yet, but it is still leaving a mark.
I do think that the Universe gives you what you need when you need it, so I will believe that experiencing this will work towards the good for us and the Universe, rather than the bad.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The girl was mean as a snake to me this morning. Actually, I wouldn't even put that type of meanness on a snake. Something must be going on between her and her boyfriend, or friends, or both.
The Bat Phone is ringing relentlessly, but Batman is still in bed with a fever of 102, so, sorry folks, he can't save the world today. He woke up with a new symptom, a headache, in his temples. I shudder to think of what he has picked up, where he picked it up, and if the rest of us will get it. (I have an MNO this Thursday night that I am really looking forward to. We are shopping at a Goodwill in Charlotte, then going out for dinner.)
Last night in bed, I read aloud to him from the book, Hector and The Search For Happiness. Five chapters aloud. The chills would not let him sleep, and he needed to hear a voice...so I read aloud to him as the bed vibrated with his shaking.
Yesterday, Josiah and I read The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. He had a lot of questions and really soaked it all in. We also read If You Lived At The Time of Martin Luther King Jr. "Freedom Rides" were of particular interest to him. Most of his questions were very difficult for me to answer, because they surrounded the WHY did people do such mean things to other people. Sigh. Sam came and sat with us a couple of times. He was not as shocked, because he already has his MLK facts down pat. It was fairly new to Josiah. Josiah was especially interested in seeing a picture of the man that killed MLK. I think because, in his little mind, he is trying to decide what a "bad person" is supposed to look like?
Then the boys and I watched a documentary on Netflix about underwater volcanoes/deep sea hydrothermal vents. Oh my! We were absolutely fascinated! We learned so much. The Tube Worms are A-MA-ZING:
"Some of the most impressive of the creatures that live here are the giant tube-worms. In shallower waters these worms are common, growing to about the size of your hand. But down in the deep ocean these creatures thrive in this really hostile environment, growing to amazing lengths of up to eight feet long. These tube-worms grow in large clusters around the vents and live inside hard, shell-like protective tubes that attach to the rocks. They live in a symbiotic relationship with a type of bacteria that may hold clues as to how life on earth began billions of years ago. These worms lack mouths, anuses, intestines and stomachs. Scientists were at a loss to explain how these tube-worms were getting nutrients to survive and grow. It turns out their insides are lined with bacteria that oxidize the H2S, turning it into usable nutrients for the worms. The bacteria, in turn, benefit from the relationship because the worms deliver blood-containing hemoglobin, which helps the bacteria to break down the sulfides.
I am fighting the PMS Monster this week. Three weeks out of the month I am unstoppable. But one week before my period, I lose all motivation for any and everything. I become fatigued and irritable. I have a hard time with "people", as my tolerate button becomes disabled. Things have improved since I started feeding my body the right things, but I have to be careful, because the Monster is very sneaky. I start out craving bad foods. I lose the "taste" and slip out of the habits of putting good things into my body throughout the day. This happens very quickly. Then I begin to CRAVE bad things. I cave in and satisfy the craving. All of a sudden, without the steady stream of nutrients, and suddenly smacked with "bad stuff", I am crushed by the Monster, and I am down. Overwhelmed by everything. Barely dragging myself through every minute. Snapping at the kids. I'm on to you though, Monster. I am learning to watch my back. Last night I realized that I had been had. So I marinated in the tub with Epsom Salts, Apple Cider Vinegar, and Coconut Oil, while I sipped a Mason jar full of Nettles Tea.
Josiah is rocking in his bilibo on top of the coffee table watching Short Circuit, and Sam is asking me to help him work on his journal. (He came up with the idea and created it himself)
Off to live in the moment with my family. I will start by serving the sick husband a tasty shot of Master Tonic.
The Bat Phone is ringing relentlessly, but Batman is still in bed with a fever of 102, so, sorry folks, he can't save the world today. He woke up with a new symptom, a headache, in his temples. I shudder to think of what he has picked up, where he picked it up, and if the rest of us will get it. (I have an MNO this Thursday night that I am really looking forward to. We are shopping at a Goodwill in Charlotte, then going out for dinner.)
Last night in bed, I read aloud to him from the book, Hector and The Search For Happiness. Five chapters aloud. The chills would not let him sleep, and he needed to hear a voice...so I read aloud to him as the bed vibrated with his shaking.
Then the boys and I watched a documentary on Netflix about underwater volcanoes/deep sea hydrothermal vents. Oh my! We were absolutely fascinated! We learned so much. The Tube Worms are A-MA-ZING:
"Some of the most impressive of the creatures that live here are the giant tube-worms. In shallower waters these worms are common, growing to about the size of your hand. But down in the deep ocean these creatures thrive in this really hostile environment, growing to amazing lengths of up to eight feet long. These tube-worms grow in large clusters around the vents and live inside hard, shell-like protective tubes that attach to the rocks. They live in a symbiotic relationship with a type of bacteria that may hold clues as to how life on earth began billions of years ago. These worms lack mouths, anuses, intestines and stomachs. Scientists were at a loss to explain how these tube-worms were getting nutrients to survive and grow. It turns out their insides are lined with bacteria that oxidize the H2S, turning it into usable nutrients for the worms. The bacteria, in turn, benefit from the relationship because the worms deliver blood-containing hemoglobin, which helps the bacteria to break down the sulfides.
Up until the discovery of these incredible bacteria (able to withstand the hottest temperatures of any other living thing on earth), scientists didn't believe it was possible for anything to survive in the extreme environment around deep ocean vents (extreme pressure, high temperature, no sunlight). The discovery of the deep-sea thermal vents and the communities of life they support has completely changed the way we define life, perhaps going a long way to explain how life on earth first began." ~http://www.extremescience.com/zoom/index.php/life-in-the-deep-ocean/42-deep-sea-hydrothermal-vents
WOW! WOW! WOW! Just freaking awesome. This world is so big and so deep and so far beyond the itty, bitty little paradigms we hide inside of.
Off to live in the moment with my family. I will start by serving the sick husband a tasty shot of Master Tonic.
Monday, January 17, 2011
"This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. Dangerous passions of pride, hatred and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; truth lies prostrate on the rugged hills of nameless Calvaries. The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority." ~MLK, 1963
So true..... for more than just issues of racism.
As ugly as this is, I have to express this. I have been in the presence of people in my life who have referred to MLK Day as "Nigger Day." It brings tears of happiness to my eyes that I removed myself from these people.
Husband is home sick today. He tossed and turned and talked in his sleep all night. It was actually kind of scary. He probably picked up something from the germ-infested airplane. Plus, he smokes, so he taxes his detox system. Boys and I will have to fight hard today with Vitamin C, Probiotics, Green Smoothie, Magnesium, ACV, water, etc. That's what we do, and we usually win. We don't rush to the doctor and give him $20 so that he will prescribe us immune suppressing antibiotics... and usually send us home with something we don't have already as well. Husband will be treated with Master Tonic. There is a place for conventional medicine, however, there is a time to stop being lazy and helpless and dependent upon it. Stop abusing conventional medicine and take care of yourselves, people.
I will step down from my soapbox now.
Yesterday I went out into the world alone. I really hate stores. I was thinking, "I don't really like people much at all." But that's not true, I love a lot of people. Just in different settings. I think that maybe the whole consumer setting may be what I actually detest. I also can't stand loading and unloading. Load items into the cart. Unload items onto the conveyor. Load bagged items back into cart. Unload bagged items from cart, load into car. Unload items from car, load items into home and organize. Jesus God. Insanity. I love the UPS man. I did, however, get two very inexpensive bird feeders that I am excited about. AND a HUGE-ASS commercial grade mixing bowl. Holla.
I know I can't completely avoid going out into stores, so for future reference, can anyone tell me how to say, "Move the fuck out of my way, please", in Spanish? Thanks.
Project Shut Down is fantastical.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
TGIS
So blessed this Sunday morning. I don't need a Sunday dress for the Ego Show. I am not rushing my kiddos out of bed and into the car to take them to be locked up in a room with people we don't "know", to be "taught." I am not sitting uncomfortable in a pew realizing that I was so rushed, I forgot to eat....struggling to suppress an angry roar from my neglected stomach that will echo throughout the auditorium. Wishing the pastor would wrap-it-up, all I can think of is what I am having for lunch, and how fast I can get to it.
We are beautiful souls at home today, still in our PJ's (PJ's for the boys start out as actual PJ's after bath the night before, and turn into underwear only by morn).
Mike is helping the boys on their Snap Circuits Junior Electronic projects. I am leaving the house shortly, for the first time in a week. It will be the first time I have been in street clothes in a week. I have been wearing PJ's this week like it's my job. I am going out alone, a Mom's-Day-Out of sorts. Husband is sitting for me. What a treat to make myself pretty, go some places I never get to go, and take my time.
Project Shut Down is going very well. I taught Sam Middle C on the piano yesterday, and held the loom while Josiah pulled the loops over on a red toboggan I am making. We had three friends over to play.
I had a blast watching the teen girls attempt to assemble the boys' Tee Pee.
We made cool Lego creations.
I took a picture of a squirrel!
The more I simplify my life, the more I LIVE it minute by minute, the more beautiful it becomes.
We are beautiful souls at home today, still in our PJ's (PJ's for the boys start out as actual PJ's after bath the night before, and turn into underwear only by morn).
Project Shut Down is going very well. I taught Sam Middle C on the piano yesterday, and held the loom while Josiah pulled the loops over on a red toboggan I am making. We had three friends over to play.
 |
| Cass, Tee Pee, and Kim's Hand |
The more I simplify my life, the more I LIVE it minute by minute, the more beautiful it becomes.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Shut Down
They're here. The internet people.
I started my Shut Down experiment yesterday. You see, I don't sit online all day, but my computer stays booted with my internet pages open all day. I usually keep several tabs open: weather, blogger, google calendar, yahoo inbox, and Facebook. The Facebook tab is usually on my screen when I walk away to do other things, so every time I pass by, I see notifications. I will usually stop and check them, responding when applicable. Then I'm off. It takes only a minute. BUT. If I am doing this minute fifty times a day, then Good Lord, I have wasted an hour on Facebook. This doesn't count surfing the web, reading blogs, blogging, uploading pics, editing pics, posting pics, reading emails & responding, internet shopping, etc. "Jesus God!" ~ Win Berry
I do a lot all day, and not on the internet. But somehow I feel that the internet is still distracting me from my Life. Sneaky, Sneaky. And only if the computer is booted and online. It's like something is speaking to me, luring me in, no matter where I am in the house. It seems easier to resist when I am away and have no access, so I am fairly certain that for me, having the computer booted and online in my house while I am there, attempting to lead a beautiful and peaceful life, is a Psychic Vampire, draining on my "energy", keeping a lot of potential of "wonderful" out of my grasp.
After coffee time yesterday, I checked my Calendar, blogged a little, Facebooked, and Shut Down. The boys and I cuddled on the couch by the fire. I knitted, and we all watched a couple of episodes of Jim Henson's The Storyteller (which, by the way, was just wonderful!) on Netflix. I did laundry. I did my normal cleaning and cooking and making snacks. I checked the yard for birds periodically. I talked to the cats and the dogs.
I checked out the freezer to get an idea for dinner, and came up with two pounds of grass fed ground beef. Meatloaf! I booted computer, googled recipes for home made meatloaf, chose one, printed it out, and Shut Down. Good job.
Sam watched Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood with me while Josiah sat by the fire and played his DS. I had forgotten how awesome that movie was, plus it strikes a chord with me personally. I "dropped my basket" a while back as well. In a different way, but it was certainly profound. Sam was very amused when the Mom left and got a hotel room. I left and got an apartment, and took the kiddos with me.
I made home-made Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip, and we dug in.
Or it could have simply been an affirmation that I was cute enough to be in a movie at the age of five, but somehow this little bitch got in on it instead.
(As soon as Mike got home, the boys immediately requested confirmation from him that our house was NOT built on a graveyard....)
I never booted my computer back up, all evening. It was nice.
I have to say that this is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I can't WAIT to Shut Down today.
If Poltergeist persists despite the Shut Down, I will not hesitate to push laptop out front door.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Off Da Chain Chicken
~Ingredients~
4 Organic or All-Natural Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 (of the large) Balls of Fresh Mozzarella, sliced (Do not use the mini balls! That's all I had and I had to fight to keep them inside of the chicken fold!)
8 Large Fresh, Organic Spinach Leaves (Again...do not use baby spinach!)
1 Clove of Fresh, Organic Garlic
4 to 5 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Rosemary
3/4 Cup Earth Fare Breadcrumbs
3/4 Cup Grated Fresh Parmesan
1 Organic Lemon
Serves Four, but we made it serve five.
Wrap the chicken breasts in clear plastic and beat the shit out of them with a meat tenderizer. Beat them flat as pancakes (Not really, but you get the point). Put the chicken in a bowl and cover with white vinegar. Set a timer for 30 minutes and let them soak in the vinegar.
Mince a clove of garlic. Mix it in with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add a dash of salt and pepper, stir. Set aside.
Three mixing bowls, which will form your breading assembly line: Bowl One: About a half cup of flour, Bowl Two: One egg, beaten, Bowl Three: 3/4 cup breadcrumbs mixed with 3/4 cup grated parmesan, add salt, pepper, and rosemary to taste. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
(At this point, you should still have time to go fold a load of laundry or knit a round on your loom before the timer for soaking the chicken goes off.)
Put 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil in a large pan and place on low heat.
Remove chicken from vinegar, rinse well, and pat dry. Rub each breast all over with the olive oil, minced garlic, salt & pepper mixture. Place in a baking dish and place a layer of spinach and mozzarella on top. Fold the breasts in half.
Turn your pan up to medium heat.
Bread chicken. Flour first, then egg, then bread crumb mix. Place in pan and brown them.
Remove browned breasts from pan and place in baking dish. Squeeze lemon over breasts.
Bake in oven at preheated 300 until juices run clear. I can't put a baking time here, because it will vary depending on your oven, how long you browned the breasts in the pan, and how well you beat the breasts down when you tenderized them.
These were a hit with Husband, Boy 9, Boy 6, and Guest Boy 7 <<<, who announced, "Dat chicken wuz off da chain!"
I didn't take pics. That really sucks.
4 Organic or All-Natural Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 (of the large) Balls of Fresh Mozzarella, sliced (Do not use the mini balls! That's all I had and I had to fight to keep them inside of the chicken fold!)
8 Large Fresh, Organic Spinach Leaves (Again...do not use baby spinach!)
1 Clove of Fresh, Organic Garlic
4 to 5 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Rosemary
3/4 Cup Earth Fare Breadcrumbs
3/4 Cup Grated Fresh Parmesan
1 Organic Lemon
Serves Four, but we made it serve five.
Wrap the chicken breasts in clear plastic and beat the shit out of them with a meat tenderizer. Beat them flat as pancakes (Not really, but you get the point). Put the chicken in a bowl and cover with white vinegar. Set a timer for 30 minutes and let them soak in the vinegar.
Mince a clove of garlic. Mix it in with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add a dash of salt and pepper, stir. Set aside.
Three mixing bowls, which will form your breading assembly line: Bowl One: About a half cup of flour, Bowl Two: One egg, beaten, Bowl Three: 3/4 cup breadcrumbs mixed with 3/4 cup grated parmesan, add salt, pepper, and rosemary to taste. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
(At this point, you should still have time to go fold a load of laundry or knit a round on your loom before the timer for soaking the chicken goes off.)
Put 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil in a large pan and place on low heat.
Remove chicken from vinegar, rinse well, and pat dry. Rub each breast all over with the olive oil, minced garlic, salt & pepper mixture. Place in a baking dish and place a layer of spinach and mozzarella on top. Fold the breasts in half.
Turn your pan up to medium heat.
Bread chicken. Flour first, then egg, then bread crumb mix. Place in pan and brown them.
Remove browned breasts from pan and place in baking dish. Squeeze lemon over breasts.
Bake in oven at preheated 300 until juices run clear. I can't put a baking time here, because it will vary depending on your oven, how long you browned the breasts in the pan, and how well you beat the breasts down when you tenderized them.
These were a hit with Husband, Boy 9, Boy 6, and Guest Boy 7 <<<, who announced, "Dat chicken wuz off da chain!"
I didn't take pics. That really sucks.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Groovy Purple Smoovy
I got lazy last night and fed myself and the boys Domino's pizza. It was oh-so-good, but OH-SO-BAD for us!
I felt the need for recovery today. Plus, Husband bought me the Kitchen Ninja for Christmas, so it's time I learned how to use it. Smoothie time!
Groovy Purple Smoovy (NOT a "diet" drink...it is HIGH in GOOD fats!):
Organic Fresh Baby Spinach (couple of handfuls?)
Bag of Frozen Organic Mixed Berries
2 tbsp ground Flax Seed with dried berries
A little bit of Nettles tea
4 tbsp. Organic Peanut Butter
1 banana
***Organic Chocolate Syrup to taste as our sweetener.
I rarely use exact measurements. I blend, then open and dip my finger in for taste (watch the blades!), adding a little more of this and that until it is sufficiently YUMMO.
My boys and I guzzled these down, and here's what we got (in no particular order) ((Please Google to define if you are not too lazy...I did my share of doing homework for others with the stupid men in my engineering classes in college)).......
VITAMIN E*
VITAMIN C
ZINC
SELENIUM
POTASSIUM
PROTEIN
LIGNANS
NATURAL FOLATE **
fructo-oligosaccharide
alpha linolenic acid
zinc***, iron*, magnesium**, copper*, nickel, manganese**, calcium**, sulfur, silicon, molybdenum, chromium, and cobalt.
iron, carotenoids, antioxidants, vitamin K, coenzyme Q10, B vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, polyphenols, betaine plant-derived omega-3 fatty acids.
Fiber/mucilage
And I probably left some health benefits out, but you get the point.
This took me all of five minutes to make.
We are not gonna need a multi-vitamin today.
By the way, I LOVE the Kitchen Ninja. Thanks honey!
I felt the need for recovery today. Plus, Husband bought me the Kitchen Ninja for Christmas, so it's time I learned how to use it. Smoothie time!
Organic Fresh Baby Spinach (couple of handfuls?)
Bag of Frozen Organic Mixed Berries
2 tbsp ground Flax Seed with dried berries
A little bit of Nettles tea
4 tbsp. Organic Peanut Butter
1 banana
I rarely use exact measurements. I blend, then open and dip my finger in for taste (watch the blades!), adding a little more of this and that until it is sufficiently YUMMO.
My boys and I guzzled these down, and here's what we got (in no particular order) ((Please Google to define if you are not too lazy...I did my share of doing homework for others with the stupid men in my engineering classes in college)).......
VITAMIN E*
VITAMIN C
ZINC
SELENIUM
POTASSIUM
PROTEIN
LIGNANS
NATURAL FOLATE **
fructo-oligosaccharide
alpha linolenic acid
zinc***, iron*, magnesium**, copper*, nickel, manganese**, calcium**, sulfur, silicon, molybdenum, chromium, and cobalt.
iron, carotenoids, antioxidants, vitamin K, coenzyme Q10, B vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, polyphenols, betaine plant-derived omega-3 fatty acids.
Fiber/mucilage
And I probably left some health benefits out, but you get the point.
This took me all of five minutes to make.
We are not gonna need a multi-vitamin today.
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