Musings, Thoughts, and Ponderings

Week 2

2011-10-01T21:19:00.003-04:00

SO.
It's been about a week since I posted. Sorry, but since I have absolutely NO memory I would remind myself to post and forget. Maybe if I had smaller ears things wouldn't slip out so easily...

Well, it's been about a week, like I said, and everything is going extremely well. My first physical therapy wasn't nearly as horrible as we expected, and I could get my leg flat almost immediately. I know it doesn't sound like much, but that's really good. Amazing the things I get excited about. If I could have, I would have jumped up and down! That Monday we got me home, which was great. I won't be getting upstairs to my own room for at least fifteen more days (yes, I'm counting down). For the first week I made big strides every day, like improving on the crutches, as well as getting higher degrees on the CPM.

My PT is great. We love the therapist, and I'm also doing pretty darn well, if I do say so myself (and I do). I do my exercises at least three times a day. I have to move the kneecap around (which creeps out Mom), and Mom or Dad (never my brother) hold it and bend my leg. Surprisingly, that one doesn't hurt at all, and it feels really good once it's stretched out. There are several others, including stretches, heel slides, and leg lifts. The heel slides are my least favorites, but they aren't horrible.

We were also pleased at how much I have been able to get out of the house. The picture shows me at my brother's soccer game earlier today (the things I do for him; my left foot FROZE!). i have also been able to go to the library (yup, I'm a geek and proud of it), and church and other places.

Before the surgery, Doc said that most people actually looked forward to having the next knee done as soon as the first one was over (if it doesn't make sense, re-read it. As Mom says, "I'm not repeating myself!"). The first weekend, I was very much the opposite. I was sick and blacking out on Saturday, which sucked (No, really?). But after that it improved. By now, I don't even think about getting up, it's so easy. Haha, it'll be so weird to just stand up without crutches or a brace or some annoying contraption on my leg. All of these braces and machines and ankle weights and EVERYTHING have velcro. I AM SICK OF VELCRO! Ugh, with the right knee brace and the left one they stick together and it's like one of those Harry Potter curses. Anyway, everything is going really well. Two more weeks and I'll be able to do half-weight. Then about two more weeks and I'll be all weight, and then eight months and I should be back to normal. Wow, not long at all, right?

Wrong.

Xoxo,
Curly Girl :P

Day 1 and Day 2 Post-Op

2011-09-18T20:07:00.003-04:00

More Day 1: So I guess I really wasn't totally miserable. I couldn't feel my leg at all, definitely a good thing. Thursday evening, I had eaten a turkey sandwich, a bag of potato chips, and lots of Sprite. I only barfed once, just after getting into recovery. Friday morning I had a bagel, applesauce, and milk. The milk made me very happy, because that is seriously ALL I drink when I have my own way. :) The meds had knocked me out overnight, but nurses came in regularly to make sure I hadn't started jumping on the bed (haha).
Getting in the car did make me nervous however. When I first sat up that morning I was very dizzy, but I was told to just sit on the side of the bed for a few minutes. I used crutches to get to the wheelchair, only about three steps, and they wheeled me to the car. Our minivan was right next to the sliding doors, so that was easy (picturing a red Staples button). I slid in behind the drivers seat, and pulled myself across so that I was behind the passenger seat. My leg was stretched across, and we propped it up in the middle with pillows and duffel bags.
We had decided before hand to go to my grandparent's house for the weekend, because there are stairs no matter which way you go at our house. I used crutches to get in, and sat right down on the sofa. I was feeling pretty good, so I had some applesauce and pudding. We were worried about nausea, so we had had them give me some nausea medication through the IV. Luckily, not having full anesthesia seemed to help that, though Saturday was tougher. But that's later.
Also when we got home I was told to start using the CPM machine pretty soon. I have to say, I was terrified of moving the leg in any way, much less bending it. But we got it in there, and I started on ten degrees. It was painful, but only on the side, where the reconstruction incisions were. The nerve block only blocked one of the three nerves in my leg, covering only the osteotomy, so from the beginning I could feel the inside of my knee. My directions were to use the machine at least eight hours a day, more if I could. I ended up sleeping with it at ten degrees Friday night.
DAY 2: I woke up Saturday morning feeling okay. I hadn't sat up yet, and that would be the real test, but staring at the ceiling wasn't horrible. Every four hours overnight I had taken two Oxicodone. For those of you that have been lucky enough to never had it, it is...um...harsh. One of these babies is enough to make you dizzy, nauseous, and not be able to concentrate. Two of them, well, let's just say I couldn't even tell which way was up. So we sat me up, and within seconds I was blacking out and puking all at the same time. I lay back down, and stayed that way until Dad made it over later on. That time it was even worse, but I didn't barf again afterward. Using crutches, I moved to the living room, where I stayed for the rest of the day. There was a football game on that day, so my brother and Dad stayed for that. Later that evening, the Oxicodones really kicked in, and my parents used it for a teaching moment, saying this is what a hangover and a high feel like. I will never, ever touch the stuff. That was my Saturday, nothing overly exciting. I used the CPM for around ten hours, though it was set relatively low. The key with that is just not to let the leg stiffen up. If it does, it's hell. At the top, there's a picture of my x-ray, showing two of the four screws in my leg. Those are the osteotomy screws, holding together my tibia. Really screwed up, now, aren't I? ;)

Curly Girl Takes Over

2011-09-18T18:17:00.003-04:00

I'm Curly Girl, and I'm taking over Mum's blog. On September 15, 2011, and I had a MPFL reconstruction and a Tibial Tubercle Osteotomy. I needed the surgery because I have no trochlear groove in my left knee, which resulted in multiple dislocations and subluxations, meaning a partial dislocation. These stretched out my MPFL (the ligament on the inside of the knee) so much it was barely visible. Long story short, the doctor screwed in a donor hamstring over my MPFL, and moved a bit of my tibia bone. I have four screws, two of which are made of calcium and will dissolve over time. Cool, right? Not really.
Day 1: I was in the hospital until 11 AM on Friday. The nurse showed me everything I needed to know about everything. I had a nerve block, which would make my leg almost completely numb for three days. Because of the numbness, I couldn't lift it, and someone else had to do it for me. We took it out this morning, and I can feel the leg now. Let me just say, pain meds are my friends. I also have a CPM machine which makes me bend the leg. The first week I am supposed to get to 40 degrees, and I made it to 30 this afternoon. I never thought something so simple would be so hard, but I made it. And if you think I couldn't possibly fit anything else on my leg, think again. The Tens machine uses electrical impulses to stimulate muscles and help with pain control. There is also the Polar Care cube, an ice cube which hooks up to my leg and keeps swelling down. I also have a large brace and many wrappings (I look like a mummy), but they are inconsequential.

Curly Girl's Knee Surgery

2011-08-17T21:54:00.002-04:00

Curly Girl will have knee surgery consisting of two procedures.

Reasons and Procedures:

Your knee should have a groove which the patella slides in as it moves. The groove in Curly Girl’s left knee is minimal and should be 10 times deeper than it is. Because of this, Curly Girl’s patella is not tracking properly in the groove and has suffered recurrent full and partial dislocations. Since there is not a successful surgery to deepen the groove, the surgeon will perform a medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction to correct this problem. In this procedure, the surgeon will reconstruct Curly Girl’s MPFL ligament, which will hold her patella in place, by grafting a donor ligament onto Curly Girl’s knee. The MPFL ligament must be reconstructed since it is now completely lax from the repeated dislocations. The donor ligament will be secured with absorbable screws. A brief explanation of this surgery is here: http://www.ziploop.net/video/Main_page_ziploop_website2.swf

Curly Girl’s knee also aligns incorrectly with her tibia, the lower leg bone, and is offset by several millimeters. To correct this issue, the surgeon will perform a Fulkerson osteotomy, also known as a tibial tubercle osteotomy. A brief animated explanation of this surgery is here: http://www.hopkinsorthogsh.com/tibial_tubercle_osteotomy.html. The osteotomy will be held in place with large screws which we may elect to have removed after 8-9 months.

The surgeon feels certain that Curly Girl’s knee issues are due to the structure of her knee, and no amount of physical therapy alone will stop the recurrent dislocations. The surgeon also feels strongly that Curly Girl needs both procedures to ensure a successful outcome.

Recovery:

Curly Girl will spend one night in the hospital. To allow the osteotomy to heal, her left leg may bear no weight for 4 weeks. Along with pain relief, this will be the largest obstacle for us at home since Curly Girl may not climb any stairs for 4 weeks. (Yes, our house is 2-story with her bedroom and both showers upstairs). From weeks 4-6, she can be 50% non-weight bearing and full weight bearing (but possibly with a brace) at 6 weeks. She will begin physical therapy at 3 days post-op and will continue PT for about 6 months. The surgeon said not to expect to play spring soccer (think of it as “gravy” and an outside possibility), but Curly Girl should be able to swim again next summer. The plan is for these procedures to completely stabilize her knee and prevent any future dislocations.

Top Ten Things Not to Say or Do When Someone Has a Terminally Ill Family Member

2010-03-14T21:05:00.004-04:00

This post definitely goes in the arena of having a find something humorous in order to cope with a difficult situation. In other words, I'm not sappy or warm and fuzzy. I tend to be a blunt, suck-it-up-and-deal-with-it kind of person. So if you're hoping to read a loving recollection about coping terminal illness, this probably isn't the post for you- I'm just giving you fair warning.

My family experienced a rough bout around the holidays. My grandmother started feeling poorly in mid-December, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at New Year's, and passed away on January 23rd. In the interim, we all rearranged our schedules and pitched in to stay with my grandmother whose condition quickly deteriorated to the point of requiring 24/7 care. Throughout the month we cared for my grandmother, my parents, husband, and I continually shook our heads at the stupid, insensitive things that people said and did. I know, I know . . . they meant well. Honestly, it was easier for all of us to make fun of people's idiocy because it did give us at least one thing to laugh about amidst the stress. As you will see, I obviously did not inherit the Southern hospitality gene from my mother and grandmother.

So here it is, . . .

Top Ten Things Not to Say or Do When Someone Has a Terminal Illness:

#10- Don't assume the family knows who you are.
Yes, I know my grandmother went to church with you for 40 years and probably shared more about me than I even care to think about with your Sunday School class. I also realize that I look different than I did when I was five years old. The fact that I met you at church with my grandmother when I was five, still does not provide me with any clue as to who you are. Please introduce yourself if you stop by the house or attend the funeral.

#9- Don't Stop By for an Impromptu Visit.
Please always, always call before you would like to visit. Don't just stop by. You don't have any idea if the nurse or a home health worker is currently there, or if the caretaker and patient slept any the previous night. For goodness sakes, if a family member meets you at the door to tell you that it isn't a good time because they're having a family meeting with Hospice, don't ask if you can still come in. "No." The answer is "No".

#8- Don't Stay for an Extended Visit.
About 15-20 minutes will suffice. Any longer of a visit and you will wear out your welcome. In case you haven't figured it out, the patient is sick and the family is exhausted. The last thing they want to do is make small talk and bring you snacks while you chat away incessantly. If the patient uses all of her strength attempting to chat with you, she will be more sick and more lifeless than usual after you leave. Remember : KISS- Keep it short, stupid.

#7- Do not regale the caretakers with stories of all your current personal problems.
I'm sorry that your arthritis is acting up and your child is in the middle of her third divorce , but in case you haven't noticed, at the moment I'm up to my eyeballs in portable toilets, elderly diaper changes, and trying to keep my own children and family running. I am maxed out on the amount of problems that I can listen to and handle today.

#6- Don't bother to visit if you haven't done so for the last 20 years.
I'm aware that you used to live behind my 87-year-old grandmother when you were a child 40 years ago, but that does not mean that you need to stop by and visit her on her deathbed. If your explanation of who you are takes ten minutes and I (the gatekeeper) still haven't figured out who you are, you're not coming in. In other words, you're lucky that my mother, who is much nicer than I, answered the door and patiently listened to your stories about being a female dump truck driver because I would have kicked your butt to the curb before you ever made it in the door.

#5- Don't ask how long the person has left to live or if he/she is comatose.
Tacky, tacky, tacky and please, please, please don't ask these little gems in the terminal person's presence. Just so you know- the family does not know exactly how much longer the patient will be alive- only God knows that piece of information- and if the caretaker just told you that the patient drank a bit of a vanilla milkshake today, she is not comatose, but currently sleeping.

#4- Don't leer at the dying person's possessions or open their closets to inspect their belongings.
And for the record, don't ask what we're going to do with the fur coats or anything else in the house. We are currently rather preoccupied caring for the patient and are not excitedly taking inventory or dividing up the items in the house. For goodness sakes, do not make yourself at home and open the closets. Yes, this happened. A person who accompanied another family member into my grandmother's house for the first time started walking around the house and opening the closets because "he liked old houses". Yea, right.

#3- Don't ask to be alone with the terminal person.
If I trusted you alone with my grandmother, I would have already taken your visit as an opportunity to snag a little break for myself. But since I only know that you're a man who goes to church with my grandmother and who likes to repeatedly stop by the house uninvited- you're creeping me out with your request to have some alone time with my elderly grandmother. As my dad remarked when informed about this little turn of events, "Ick, we're lucky we didn't find him in bed with her."

#2- If an ambulance is at the house, don't call to ask what is going on.
Here's what's going on. . . An ambulance is at the house because a) there is a medical crisis, b) we needed medical assistance, or c) we are rushing around trying to move my grandmother to the Hospice Home to which she has just been admitted. Please note that none of these scenarios require that I inform you, the neighborhood busybody, of said event at the exact moment that it occurs. Yes, I know that I wasn't chatty when you called, but you're lucky I didn't say what I was really thinking.

#1- Don't tell the dying person to call you.
In case you haven't noticed, my grandmother is bed-bound and sleeps about 20 hours a day. All of her energy is devoted to trying to eat, poop, and spend time with her loved ones. She will most likely not choose to call you to catch up on the church gossip from the previous Sunday.

Yes, I know I'm not very nice. But honestly, would you want someone to do any of these less-than-intelligent things if you were caring for a loved one? To make it worse, they all occurred within a month-long span and this isn't even half of the story.

Why I Do and Do Not Homeschool

2010-03-09T19:43:00.008-05:00

Some of you may know and some of you may not know that our family homeschools. It isn't exactly something that I broadcast to someone as soon as I meet him/ her. I much prefer for that knowledge to sneak up on someone, rather than having him/her form an instant, incorrect stereotypical snapshot in his/her mind as soon as I mention this little family tidbit.

Yea, I know and have probably heard most of the homeschool stereotypes, and they drive me absolutely crazy. Just to get it out of the way, right now (and I know this blog will probably irritate those on the left and the right):

Yes, I homeschool, and . . .

. . . I do not wear denim jumpers. I have actually spent most of today barefoot with a freakishly dark toenail polish and modeling a comfy pair of fitted Levi's.

. . . I am not a religious zealot. Yes, I am Christian and raise my children as Christians because doing so makes me and them much better people than we could be on our own. Even though, I have my own set of beliefs, I also firmly support other people's rights to their own beliefs.

. . . I believe in evolution. Yes, I think that God created the world in whatever way, time, and process that he chose. If he chose evolution, go for it.

. . . I am raising my daughter to be an independent young woman who can take care of herself. Nothing drives me crazier than to hear a woman say that she should be submissive to men- don't think so, not happening over here. Just because I spend most of the day home with my children does not in any way mean that I am any less of an independent person than a woman who drops off her kids at the bus stop on her way to work.

. . . I am pro-choice. Enough said, my point is don't jump to conclusions about people based on cursory information that you may know about them.

. . . I am a political moderate. I have voted for Clinton, Bush, and McCain, but do not subscribe wholeheartedly to either party. I have no problem with gay marriage or any other civil rights issue. I do, however, disdain big government and excessive spending. As you can see, I don't comfortably fit in either political party. But I do have a novel idea- bipartisanship.

. . . I listen to normal music. Today my kids and I were rocking out so much to Kings of Leon in the car that we actually took a wrong turn going to the soccer field which we have driven to many times. Later, after my oldest was out of the car, I then switched over to First Wave classic alternative (Curly Girl hates the station and refers to The Cure as The Disease) and later in the evening caught a great version of a 10,000 Maniacs song on Coffeehouse.

. . . I read all sorts of everything all the time and read Harry Potter and lots of other books to my kids. I'm definitely an equal-opportunity reader. That being said, I do watch what my kids watch, listen to, and read. My personal guidelines limit the kids' exposure to inappropriate language and sexual content.

. . . I expect my children to attend well-known universities, not small schools which cater to a small sub-section of the population.

So, you may ask, why do you homeschool?

. . . Academics, academics, academics. Before homeschooling my kids, I taught 4th and 5th grades in public and private schools. After boring myself teaching to standardized tests and seeing Curly Girl become more and more bored and disenchanted with school, my husband and I made the radical decision for me to leave the classroom to teach the kids at home. There is actually a much longer story here, but one that is best told on a personal level. The short version- IMHO, we're selling our kids short by not demanding more of them academically, especially bright kids who are being dumbed down in less-than-stimulating classroom settings.

. . . Flexibility. I love being able to take vacations at non-peak times of year (The kids and I had a blast at Disney's Blizzard Beach in early December.), adjust our schedule for real-life interruptions and activities, and take field trips to museums and nature trails whenever we want. While Curly Girl has been involved in a community theatre production over the last few weeks, it has been a blessing to be able to let her sleep in a bit later after late-night rehearsals.

. . . Passions. I truly, truly hope that homeschooling will allow my children to find their passions. Car Guy loves learning about engineering and architecture. Curly Girl is so enamored with fashion design that we are going to try to line up some sort of design course for her next year. As my children grow older, I hope to arrange internships so they can check out careers in which they may be interested.

. . . So my children can be children. Before continuing let me assure you that my children are receiving a more-than adequate education- even though they don't spend 7 hours a day behind a desk and another 2 hours at night doing homework. 7th grade Curly Girl recently rocked the SAT, and Car Guy can talk your ear off about axles, horsepower, and car models. I say those things not to brag, but to tell you that time spent sitting in a classroom does not always correlate to academic achievement. My kids roll out of bed about 7:30am and start school around 9. We usually end between 12 and 2, then the kids usually have time to play with Legos, draw, read, practice piano, etc. before heading out the door to soccer practices, swimming, theatre, and whatever activities they have going on that day. This afternoon, they shot hoops together outside enjoying the beautiful spring weather. At night, we usually hang out as a family, read together, etc.- not fight about homework or slap together teacher-assigned school projects.

So that's the deal with our family and homeschool. Every family has their own story, however, so please don't jump to conclusions when you learn that someone homeschools. While many homeschools and homeschoolers may look different than my family, I completely support their legal right to structure their homeschool in the ways they see fit. I support their right to their beliefs, as I hope they support mine.

Along this same topic, here is another great post about why an individual family chooses to homeschool:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2010/03/why-i-homeschool-and-what-my-approach-is/

Resolving to Make Resolutions

2010-01-01T20:32:00.002-05:00

I thought that I'd have more success sticking to my New Year's resolutions if I actually shared them with others. So here goes:

- Exercise regularly (3-4 times a week) and eat healthfully.

- Decide on our church home and become actively involved with it. Maintain a positive attitude about our family's choice.

- Be more intentional about my spiritual growth and that of my children.

- Read more for pleasure. I'd like to read a book a week, but that may be too aggressive of a goal.

- Be willing to forsake my schedule and to-do list for impromptu moments with my family.

Here goes! Wish me luck!

The holidays are here!

2009-12-13T13:55:00.003-05:00

Wow! I can't believe that the holidays are here. Our tree has been decorated, the gifts have been purchased, and boxes have been shipped near and far. Now I just have a few gifts left to wrap.

As I am scurrying around trying to wrap up school before a two-week break, please enjoy some of my favorite holiday tunes. I love, love, love John Denver and the Muppets' version of "Silent Night" because it always reminds me of childhood and dear friends. Kenny Loggins' "Celebrate Me Home" reinforces the importance of spending time with your loved ones during the holidays, and I just have a soft spot for Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne."

I hope to get back to blogging more regularly. I do want to learn to digitally scrapbook, though, which may impact how and what I blog about.

Have a beautiful, blessed holiday season!

Muppet Love

2009-11-25T21:28:00.005-05:00

I love, love, love the Muppets! I very clearly remember singing "Rainbow Connection" as a child, and the Muppets also remind me of some dear friends who I can still picture reenacting Fozzy Bear and Rolf playing the piano.

Here is some updated Muppets. Enjoy "Bohemian Rhapsody" Muppets- style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY

Oh yea, my two fifteen-year-old bichon frises, Fozzy and Gonzo, are named after the Muppets, too.

Autumn Abundance

2009-10-25T21:37:00.010-04:00

Without reservation, I can declare that autumn is my absolutely favorite time of year. From the first crisp mornings to grabbing a jacket as I head out the door for the evening, the brisk air reinvigorates a world which grew stale under summer's blanket. I always look forward to the leaves bursting with brilliant colors and cannot imagine living in a region which does not participate in mother nature's autumnal show.

Throughout the afternoon, I snapped a few pictures of the North Carolina fall leaves

By my parents' house,

Near the post office,

And on the way home from the soccer field.

In my backyard, I noticed a bright yellow leaf and

A plant with brilliant red stems.

Humorously, I also spied the cactus which I have repeatedly tried to eradicate from my yard. After experiencing many painful run-ins while extracting the cactus from of the backyard, it has now taken root in the leaf pile behind our fence. Will this plant never die???

I also surprisingly ran across the last of the chili peppers in the garden I abandoned many summer weeks ago.

I must admit to feeling a sense of melancholy as the reds and golds depart leaving only spindly brown branches in the air. But, as Robert Frost reminds us,

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

I'm So Excited

2009-10-20T20:34:00.004-04:00

Now I know that this little development will probably not excite most of you like it does me, but my new blog discovery absolutely made my night.

My absolutely favorite homeschool author, Susan Wise Bauer, has a new blog (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/blog/). When first investigating homeschooling years ago, I admittedly wasn't crazy about The Well-Trained Mind, Bauer's guide to classical homeschooling. After our first year of homeschooling, I revisited the guide and fell in love with it, though.

Even if you never have any plans of homeschooling, read the book. It offers an amazingly thorough educational plan. So much so that I have responded to family inquiries of "what are you going to do about so-and-so?, what are the kids going to learn this year" by just loaning them my heavily notated and highlighted copy of The Well-Trained Mind which quickly quelled all their well-meaning questions and comments.

Anyway, check it out. I bet you'll like it.

Day at the Renaissance Festival

2009-10-13T21:26:00.015-04:00

Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I attended our first Renaissance Festival today. Since we are focusing on Middle Ages history and literature this year, the festival offered a fantastic opportunity to immerse ourselves in the time period. Throughout the day, . . .

the kids slayed a dragon,

chatted with Sir Autumn,

visited with the greyhounds, the dog of royalty,

watched a glassblowing demonstration,

witnessed Sir Maxmilian "perish" in the joust, (Car Guy's favorite part of the day),

met a fairy,

hoped that a dragon didn't eat Curly Girl,

marveled at the falconry demonstration (twice),

tried some archery,

checked out reproductions of swords from The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter,

selected a broom for a quidditch match,

and thoroughly enjoyed the sword fighting, even though I am not looking forward to Car Guy trying his hand at the stage fighting tricks.

All the while wondering, how do seemingly sane grown adults get into this hobby? Curly Girl and I decided that we would be rather frightened if after meeting someone, we realized they owned their own mace and very large swords.

Too Funny Not to Pass Along

2009-10-11T07:48:00.003-04:00

Many of you have children approaching or in the tween years. If you aren't there yet, just hold on to your hat because just when you think that you have a handle on parenting, the tween years will make you question everything you think you know and more. Some days (like when she makes a presentation to a room full of adults) I marvel at the young lady that 12-year-old Curly Girl is becoming, and other times (the huffy-puffy, drama queen days) I realize why boarding schools were invented.

Recently, I have been amused, terrified, curious, and traumatized by Curly Girl's interest in clothes, makeup, design, etc. About a year ago, she suddenly morphed in a young woman who wants to shop (which I detest) and wear makeup (which I am attempting to slowly dole out, while teaching her that less is more). Even worse, I apparently know nothing, absolutely nothing about dressing fashionably, despite the five years I spent as a clothing buyer for a department store.

Just when I need a little parenting pick-me-up and reminder that natural consequences are a great teacher, along comes a blog which is too funny not to read:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2009/10/wanna-bet/

Thanks to Topsy-Techie for posting this on her blog. It's always good to laugh first thing in the morning. A reminder to please check out the Blog List along the right side for some amusing, thought-provoking, and enlightening entries from some of my favorite bloggers.

Picking Apples

2009-10-06T16:38:00.012-04:00

Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I visited Millstone Creek Orchards (http://www.millstonecreekorchards.com/) this morning. While there,

we sampled Granny Smith, Fuji, and Pink Lady apples

and watched apples go through the apple-cleaning machine.

We were amused by the apple-polishing apparatus and learned that large producers of grocery-store apples apply wax to the fruit instead of actually polishing it.

We even watched apples go up the conveyor belt and into the room where they are squeezed to make apple cider.

Even though the weather was a bit drizzly, we enjoyed our hay ride through the orchards

where we picked some apples.

It was so heartening to learn about a local farm family and taste their delicious wares.

We definitely plan to return to Millstone Creek Orchards when they harvest peaches, grapes, and blueberries in the summer.

History Helpers

2009-10-01T16:37:00.007-04:00

Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World series has quickly become one of my favorite history resources. Aside from the fact that seven-year-old Car Guy begs to do history first every day, I love how Story of the World makes history interesting, accessible, and enjoyable for elementary students.

In addition to the history reader, the accompanying Activity Books feature additional reading lists, map activities, and hands-on projects which students can complete to extend their understanding of historical figures, events, and trends.

Even though I am far from crafty, my children adores hands-on activities. While learning about medieval history this year, Curly Girl and Car Guy have

created an edible oasis when learning about Bedouins and Middle Eastern cultures,

constructed a catapult,

and baked a Roman pillar.

We're looking forward to a great year learning about medieval history!

Read Any Good Books Lately?

2009-09-27T14:08:00.083-04:00

The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger
To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
Beloved- Toni Morrison
1984- George Orwell
Their Eyes Were Watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible Man- Ralph Ellison
Gone with the Wind- Margaret Mitchell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
A Separate Peace- John Knowles
The Chocolate War- Robert Cormier
The Giver- Lois Lowry
A Wrinkle in Time- Madeline L'Engle

Do you know what the above books have in common? Aside from all being classics, they all have been frequently challenged and targeted for removal from libraries.

Just look at the list. Can you imagine American culture, literature classes, and libraries without these texts? I certainly don't want to even think about teaching American literature without discussing Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby or Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, two of my all-time favorite novels.

Thankfully, American society does not leave it up to individuals or to the government to determine what should or should not be published. I will freely admit that my husband and I closely monitor the television that our children watch, the music they listen to, the movies they see, and the books they read. As parents, we strongly feel that we, not some amorphous government body, are responsible for teaching them about the world in bits that are not too advanced or mature for their ages. While I am not going to hand Lois Lowry's The Giver to a third grader, I will readily discuss it, with its setting of a dystopian society which manipulates every aspect of its citizens' lives including their sexual desires with my seventh grade daughter, and in high school she and I will also read and discuss Orwell's 1984, which extends the themes of The Giver. Even though I don't support tweens reading books with sexual themes, I certainly believe that we should value all literature and don't support banning books based on my or anyone else's personal opinion.

As a society, we must be willing to openly discuss issues, not cut each other off without calmly sharing our views. I'll never forget witnessing an audience member's reactions to a performance of To Kill a Mockingbird many years ago. You may remember that Harper Lee's classic novel is set in a racist southern society. When I saw the play, an older gentleman became so unsettled by the racist setting in the beginning of the play that he stormed out of the play loudly saying how inappropriate it was. If the gentleman had only stayed, he would have witnessed the play openly address racism. In other words, we can't jump so quickly to personal conclusions about literature that we fail to see the larger themes embraced by the works. While I do not like Twain's use of the n-word in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I believe that its use in the novel offers an opportunity for readers to ponder the importance of avoiding racially-charged speech.

As Americans, we frequently take our rights for granted. When I taught U.S. History to fifth graders, students were always amazed to learn that many countries do not enjoy the freedoms which are enumerated in our Bill of Rights. Banning books based on a particular person or group's opinion places society on a slippery slope of government intervention and control. While I may not like or agree with some books, music, television shows, or movies, I'd much rather live with them than live in a country which censors its citizens and their freedoms. As Evelyn Beatrice Hall wrote in 1906's The Friends of Voltaire, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

September 26th- October 3rd marks Banned Books Week. Celebrate your freedom and our rights as Americans by reading a banned book. For more information about frequently challenged and banned books, check out http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm.

Beautiful You

2009-09-24T20:07:00.006-04:00

Please turn up your speakers so you can hear the fabulous song, Jonny Diaz's "More Beautiful You," which inspired this blog.

This song stops me in my tracks every time I hear it because it hits uncomfortably close to home. As a woman and the parent of a tween girl, I constantly think about body image issues- my own and my daughter's.

I admit that I love to eat, and I love to cook. Factor in my lack of enthusiasm for exercise, and you have a weight problem in the making. Regardless of what I constantly tell myself, I'm not overweight (I'm just the size of the average American woman). I do admittedly have many more curves than I once had, but then again weighing 95 pounds at the age of 18 probably wasn't that great either.

Why as women do we constantly obsess about our appearance? I love ice cream and sweets and enjoy indulging in them. Why can I not just enjoy the treats without feeling guilty immediately after. Why do I feel like I should constantly diet because I certainly never stick to it for long? I'll get fed up with staring at the size 6 jeans in my closet (I finally cleaned out the size 4s a year ago) or worry about what so-and-so would think of me if I ran into him/her and go on a health kick for a few weeks, but then my enthusiasm again wanes.

The worst part is the double-edged sword of telling ourselves that as women we wouldn't want to be with people anyway who only cared about the size clothes we wear, but then we continue to obsess about our appearance. I'll go ahead and admit that if I could afford it I would get a mommy makeover complete with boob lift and tummy tuck. As much as I rationally understand that my weight is truly not important, that doesn't even come close to making sense to me emotionally

But as I worry about my own body image, I also think about how my hang-ups influence my twelve-year old daughter. The older she has gotten, the more frequently I hear, "I hate my curly hair. My thighs look like hams. I never tan." Unfortunately, all of a parent's reassurances cannot counteract the cultural message of the thinner the better, the straighter your hair the better, the tanner the better.

But, you know what, every time Johnny Diaz's "More Beautiful You" comes on the radio, I turn it up loudly as a reminder to Curly Girl and myself.

When Smoky Met Snowball

2009-09-20T20:53:00.005-04:00

Since Smoky the feral cat has been home from her forced sterilization last week, our family has been watching her closely. We were curious how she would react to her 24-hour field trip to the Humane Society. Surprisingly, she has still been spending a lot of time hanging out on our porch. I guess it has something to do with the food and water we keep out for her.

We have also been curious how Smoky and Snowball, her son that we rescued, would react if they saw each other. To that end, we have encouraged Snowball to hang out near the front door or his window seat by the front porch. The mother and son first spied each other on Thursday and stared intently at each other for several minutes.

Today, we again opened the wooden front door while Smoky was relaxing on our porch. Remembering that she had previously seen Snowball in the house, Smoky sat patiently and stared through the glass door to the inside of the house.

When we beckoned Snowball to the door, he curiously checked out Smoky while she meowed to him. (Oh how, I would love to know what each cat was thinking.)

Smoky didn't seem upset or agitated by Snowball's status as a house cat. The mother cat even watched patiently as Snowball enjoyed a tummy rub from one of his humans. Smoky definitely seemed more enthralled with Snowball than he was with her. I think that Smoky absolutely recognized Snowball as one of her kittens, but I'm not so certain that Snowball realized that Smoky was anything more than another cat.

Since both Smoky and Snowball seemed to enjoy their interaction, we'll definitely leave the front door open more often so mother and son can communicate some more.

Our Feline Adventure

2009-09-17T21:05:00.007-04:00

Our months-long feline adventure seems to have finally come to a close. You may remember that our family began monitoring a family of feral cats in June (http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/06/cat-wrangler.html).

After inadvertently trapping a opossum, (http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/06/cat-wrangler-part-2.html),

a neighbor's cat who didn't seem to care less that he was in a trap on our front porch,

and a stinky, not-so-nice raccoon
(http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-time-when-i-caught-raccoon-on-my.html),

we finally caught the feral mother cat which we had been after since June.

Since we have been feeding the female stray for months, we feel obligated to continue caring for her as much as she will let us. Thanks to our local Humane Society's feral spay/ neuter program, we had Smoky spayed and vaccinated for rabies for $35. She has now been released into our yard where we hope she will continue to reside. You may notice that Smoky's right ear has been tipped which allows animal control officers to know that she has been spayed and is being cared for as a feral cat.

Smoky's son, Snowball, which we adopted as a house cat is also doing fabulously well. He weighed a mere 2.5 pounds when we took him in at the end of July.

After much pampering, Snowball now weighs 5 pounds and has evolved into such a loving cat. He constantly follows us around the house and loves being held and cuddled. He was also neutered at the Humane Society this week and, better yet, tested negative for feline leukemia and HIV. A negative test result is such a relief since Snowball's previously risky life in a feral colony concerned us.

We are so thrilled that we didn't listen to the naysayers who told us not to even bother with feral cats. Snowball has turned out to be a great first cat for our family, which previously pledged all of our allegiance to dogs.

I also cannot heap enough praise on the Humane Society. From providing humane traps for us to use, initially handling and reassuring us about Snowball's ability to become a house pet, and for offering affordable ways to spay/ neuter and vaccinate feral animals and pets. Please support your local Humane Society (http://www.hsus.org/), as well as other organizations which work to protect animals and prevent abuse.

Confessions

2009-09-13T05:52:00.010-04:00

I will be attending my 20th high school reunion next month. Reunions, the stress-inducing occasions that they are, can evoke all of a person's high school insecurities, along with feelings of not having enough to show for your twenty years since high school.

In hopes of avoiding those feelings, I'm going to confess that now:

1. I do not look like I did in high school.

I realize that some of you, the women of our class, look fabulous and better than you did in high school, and I am insanely jealous of you. I, however, no longer wear a size 2. I am now the size of the average American woman along with the curves to prove it. As much I would like to drop ten pounds in the next month, I truly doubt that it will happen. I love to eat, but am not particularly passionate about exercise. My curly, blond hair does look similar to how it did in high school. Except now, I have my gray strands masked with a blond rinse which is applied regularly by my hairdresser.

2. I still live in the same area.

Yes, I know, throughout high school I vehemently complained about this area and swore I'd never return. Life and maturity have a way of making us eat our words, though. After college, I accepted a job nearby, and since my husband and I are both from the area we ended up settling here. I even taught at our old middle school and my former elementary school for several years. I do have to admit, though, that the area is a great place to raise kids, and I wouldn't trade my children's relationship with my parents, who live nearby, for anything. Family trumps adventure every time.

3. I am a domestic goddess.

I constantly surprise myself with my level of domesticity, especially since my high school plans involved a jet-setting career devoid of a husband and children. In one of those if-you-want-to-make-God-laugh-tell-him-your-plans moments, I voluntarily and very happily gave up a career to home school my children. I enjoy cooking and love baking bread and sweets. My schedule revolves around my children's activities and appointments. While I am not crafty, I would like to learn how to sew and knit.

4. I have not made any great discoveries or achieved any amazing accomplishments.

I hate to disappoint you, but I will probably not be able to regale you with exciting stories of jet-setting around the globe or struggling up the career ladder. I can fill you in on my first post-college job as a retail buyer when I traveled to Las Vegas several times a year or tell you about my life as an elementary school teacher. I can also discuss home school curriculum with you and tell you about our family's journey to homeschooling. Unless you would like to hear about the raccoon, opossum, and neighbor's cat which he have inadvertantly trapped in recent weeks, I will most likely not be the most scintillating conversationalist. In all honesty, my high school reunion will be a more relaxing affair than my college reunion. If you want to feel like an under-achiever, attend a Duke reunion without having a Masters, M.D., Ph.D. M.B.A., or law degree.

5. I am still a nerd.

Some things never change. Yes, I am still a nerd. I frequently prefer books to people. I work part-time from home as a freelance writer of literature guides, curriculum, and test preparation materials. I am better at discussing ideas than telling a joke and prefer sending an e-mail to talking on the phone. I will most likely not work the room and chat with everyone at the reunion- not because I am stuck-up or don't care to talk to you, but because I am painfully shy and never quite know what to say when engaging in small talk.

6. I am content.

If someone had told me in high school that I would be a full-time mom and live in the same area, I would have thought that my life had careened horribly off the tracks somewhere along the way. But that didn't happen, I never would have thought that I could be so content doing the work of raising children, that some people find to be so inconsequential. Apparently, God knew what I needed and brought together all the pieces of my life- husband, career choices, children- to place me where I am today.

Believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to the reunion. I frequently see and keep in touch with several members of our high school class, and Facebook has certainly helped forge reconnections with many others of you. I am thankful that the barriers which divided us in high school are melting away and will, hopefully, be replaced by more adult-like acceptance and compassion. I do think that will occur. Adult responsiblities and maturity having a way of putting our lives into perspective.

I Know I'm Getting Old When . . .

2009-09-09T16:20:00.005-04:00

I'm 38, which I know isn't exactly over the hill, but lately I have felt my age

because . . .

The music that I grew up with is now considered classic or retro. I hope you're enjoying listening to some of the hits from 1971, the year I was born.

I have some gray hair which, of course, I have colored.

I go to sleep at the time that I went out for the night during college.

I require several cups of caffeine to get going in the morning.

I voluntarily take vitamins, granted they are still Flintstones vitamins, though.

I have aged out of the Young Adult Sunday School class.

I almost always choose price over style, and now shop at stores where I wouldn't have been caught dead ten years ago.

I can easily remember the days before cell phones, internet access, and cable tv.

I did high school debate research using microfiche, a card catalog, and some odd film-like contraption.

I remember the early days of MTV when they actually played music videos.

I think about what body parts will ache the day after I exercise or try some new physical activity.

I usually take at least one Tylenol or Aleve before lunch.

I wear reading glasses.

I am happy to be past the spit-up and diaper-changing phases, and no longer gaze longingly at babies.

I have body parts that will most likely never return to the shape or size which they previously were.

I now understand why women get body parts nipped, tucked, and lifted.

My oldest child, Curly Girl, is almost a teenager.

When I took Curly Girl shopping this past weekend, I actually thought, "I can't believe what kids wear these days." This coming from the person who wore pink Converse high-tops and ripped jeans with the names of bands written all over them in high school.

Clothes that were in-style in high school during the late '80s have come back around. Vans, OP, and neon weren't that great originally. Did they really need to come back in style?

I am going to attend my 20th high school reunion next month. It can't possibly have been 20 years. It certainly doesn't seem like that long ago.

. . . but perhaps my memory and sense of time are going with age, too.

Bargain Shopper

2009-09-05T22:18:00.004-04:00

I'm not a shopper. It never occurs to me to go to the mall for entertainment which is very amusing considering I worked for a large retail clothing chain for the first five years after I graduated from college. I worked in store management for a year and a half and in the buying office the remainder of the time. Going to fashion shows and shopping for a living was enjoyable at the time, and you certainly haven't lived until you trek to Las Vegas with a group of male co-workers who have a variety of sexual preferences- too fun and too many stories to tell.

I believe my retail buyer experiences contributed to my current predilection as a bargain shopper, though. After seeing how much mark-up occurs in clothing and knowing that items are marked up just so they can still be profitably marked down, I just can't justify spending too much money on retail items, especially for children who are still growing.

Lest you think I'm Saint Frugal, I certainly am not. I much prefer to spend money on experiences rather than things. I love going out to eat and feel deprived if I don't go out for dinner at least once a week. I also love to travel and think nothing of plunking down money on a nice hotel or activities such as museum admissions or Broadway show tickets.

For the bargain shoppers among you, some of my favorite money-saving stores and websites:

Groceries: Aldi
If you haven't tried Aldi (http://www.aldifoods.com/index_ENU_HTML.htm) yet, you absolutely have to do so. After being introduced to Aldi by a friend last year, I have purchased the majority of my groceries there every week since. This past week, I bought all of our family's groceries, except for about 8 items, for the week for $40.80. That $40 consisted of about 20 items, including 4 pounds of fresh hamburger, 2 boxes of cereal, and 3 gallons of milk. Just a few quirks, aside from the low prices, which differentiate Aldi from your standard grocery store: #1- Most of the items are store brands, but don't worry they taste just as good, if not better, than some name brands. My family especially loves the salsa, whipped yogurt, laundry detergent, and cheeses. My parents adore the $7/ bottle Reisling wine, and some friends have pledged their devotion to the tilapia. #2- You must bring your own bags and bag your own groceries after they have been rung up. Whatever you do, stay out of the cashier's way while he/she is scanning your groceries. At first I was a bit alarmed at the speed at which my fruit and veggies were tossed into the cart alongside the dogfood, so now I place the heavier items on the conveyer belt first and the daintier items on last so they go into the cart in that order. After you pay for your groceries, you take them to the counters along the wall where you bag your groceries yourself. #3- You will need a quarter (not any other combination of coins) to get a cart. Upon arriving at the store, slip your quarter into the slot in the cart. When you return your cart and reconnect it to the cart line, you get your quarter back. If you have kids, they'll love taking care of the quarter for the cart. #4- You can only pay in cash or a debit card. Aldi does not accept credit cards or personal checks.

Teen and Adult Clothes: Plato's Closet
Curly Girl and I visited Plato's Closet today where we purchased four pair of jeans and six tops for $116 which was pretty good considering they were all name-brand items. Plato's Closet (http://www.platoscloset.com/) sells gently-used teen- and non-stodgy-adult-friendly clothing. My mom also picked up a Ralph Lauren cable sweater for $20 and an Old Navy skirt with the tags still on it for $8. The chain is very picky about the items they will sell and will only accept clothing which has been in retail stores within the last year. I also loved that the store was clean, the items were sized and hung by color, too. The store we visited sold goods at second-hand prices, but in a mall-like environment.

Kids' Clothes: Consignment sales
As much as I enjoyed dressing my children in cute outfits when they were younger, I couldn't justify spending $40 outfit which they were going to outgrown in six months. Thank goodness we have some great private and church-sponsored consignment sales in our area where I have purchased almost all of Curly Girl's clothing through elementary school and still buy Car Guy's wardrobe. (For the record, boys' clothes are such a let-down after after all the adorable choices for girls' clothing.)

Books: Edward McKay
Admittedly, I am more likely to purchase a book, instead of clothing, at retail price. If I want to read a particular book, I tend to purchase it with the intent of making it part of our family library which will be read again and again. I do enjoy browsing through Edward McKay Used Book Store (http://www.wefeedyourhead.com/wordpress/), though, especially when I need to purchase books for the reading lists for the school year. I love that Edward McKay's carries a great selection of classics, as opposed to the Harlequin romance fare of many used book stores, and has a free section where I invariably pick up an item or two.

Also, don't forget about Paperbackswap.com that I talked about in Old Friends, New Loves (http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/08/old-friends-and-new-loves.html).

Homeschool curriculum: Rainbow Resource
While Rainbow Resource doesn't fall into the super-bargain category, it does have the best prices and the best selection that I have found for homeschool curriculum. After trading in used curriculum at a local homeschool store and trolling websites for deals (I purchased a pre-algebra textbook for $0.18 on Amazon this year that would have been $60 at the homeschool book fair), I always place an order at Rainbow Resource (http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php) for the other items we will need for the upcoming school year. I love that Rainbow Resource does not charge shipping for orders over $150. They also have an absolutely, fabulous three-inch thick catalog of homeschool curriculum complete with reviews and descriptions of the items. In my opinion, the catalog itself is a must-have reference resource for any homeschooler and is also a great way to learn about the immense amounts of curriculum available to homeschoolers.

So there are my ideas for bargain shopping. Feel free to share any great bargain shopping resources that you adore.

Pilot Mountain

2009-09-04T06:18:00.013-04:00

Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I ventured out on our first field trip of the school year yesterday. Going on lots of field trips is on of our favorite aspects of homeschooling. Since I firmly believe that you learn just as much from experiences as you do from books, we try to take about three to four field trips a month.

Yesterday, we trekked around Pilot Mountain (Mt. Pilot for you Andy Griffith Show fans).

After pulling our minivan off Highway 52 and up the mountain, we first took in the view from the overlook. It was a beautiful day, and Curly Girl loved how we could see the earth's curvature from our vantage point.

Next, we struck out on the Little Pinnacle trail, an easy walk which provides a great view of Big Pinnacle.

While on Little Pinnacle Trail, Curly Girl and Car Guy took the time to act like superheroes and mountain lions (At least, Car Guy did. Curly Girl decided that she was too old to transform into a mountain lion.)

Mountain lions always remind me of our family trip to South Dakota two years ago. While exploring Custer State Park, we pointed out a sign to Car Guy, our rambunctious five-year-old at the time, which reminded parents to keep their children nearby since mountain lions may attack unattended small children or pets. From that point on, Car Guy did not leave our sides the remainder of the trip.

Yesterday after checking out Little Pinnacle, Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I hiked around Big Pinnacle, the knob atop Pilot Mountain.

We enjoyed the beautiful early fall weather- warm, but with a hint of coolness in the air. The park was not very crowded, and we loved checking out our surroundings along with all the raptors which were drifting on the air currents around the mountain.

I also adore how homeschooling strengthens our family relationships. Admittedly, we drive each other crazy some days, but I firmly believe that our time spent learning and exploring together will pay off handsomely in the long run.

Lest you worry that Curly Girl and Car Guy didn't engage in any book learning yesterday, don't fret. My children and I read some of Beowulf aloud while we enjoyed our picnic lunch.

We are certainly looking forward to our school year along with everything we will learn and the locales we will explore.

Old Friends and New Loves

2009-08-30T20:42:00.003-04:00

Aaaahhh . . . I just adore rediscovering things which I had forgotten or let fall by the wayside. Recently I have rediscovered:

Nutella
Mmmm . . . The chocolate-hazelnut concoction tastes so scrumptious, it is sinful. I first discovered Nutella (http://www.nutellausa.com/) when I babysat for the son of one of my art history professors in college. She always kept Nutella in her house, and a swipe of Nutella on a graham cracker was frequently my professor's son's after-dinner treat. Curly Girl and I have rediscovered Nutella recently and keep a secret stash "just for the girls" in the house. We even frequently indulge in a spoonful of it for an afternoon sugar fix.

Reading
I love to read and always have, but reading for my own personal pleasure has fallen by the wayside in recent years. Between reading to my children at bedtime and working through and discussing the novels which Curly Girl reads for school, I have mainly been just thumbing through magazines during lunch or before I crash into bed for the night. After becoming obsessed with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilightseries.html) in the spring and thoroughly enjoying Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl (http://www.philippagregory.com/work/tudor/the-other-boleyn-girl/) this summer, I realized how much I have missed the feeling of becoming entranced by and losing myself in a book. Here's to hopefully much more reading for pleasure in the months to come!

Long-time friends
I am so blessed to have had some of the same friends since elementary, middle, and high school. While I adore all of my friends, new and not-so-new, there is something incredibly comforting about speaking with friends who have been there forever. Honestly, after making it through puberty and the not-always-so-pleasant high school years together, I'm not a bit worried about running them off now. Some life situations have been a bit challenging recently, causing me to question something that I once held dear, and my fabulous friends have been so amazing, encouraging, and supportive with their kind words and supportive notes.

Alternative music
I admit to having eclectic musical taste. My Ipod contains an odd mix of show tunes, classic rock, newer adult alternative, Christian contemporary, and alternative music from my high school days. I have especially enjoyed hearing some long-forgotten alternative tunes on the First Wave Sirius station (http://www.sirius.com/1stwave). It's amazing how many of the words you can remember to songs you haven't heard in 15 years. I was a bit taken aback, though, when hearing an ad tonight for the Dark Wave show featuring The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Gene Loves Jezebel. I never before realized that my favorite bands fell into the "dark" category.

Which leads to my New Loves . . .

Sirius radio
Love it, love it, love it. Love not having to listen to commercials; love picking what genre of music to listen to; love being able to listen to something different than the same songs which are repeatedly played on traditional radio. The best moment, though, has been when Curly Girl went into shock as I sang along to The Vapors "Turning Japanese." Since her dad had played the song in his car (In Curly Girl's eyes, Dad is much cooler than Mom.), my daughter had wrongly assumed that "Turning Japanese" was a new song. Thus, she was shocked to learn that a song she liked was (horrors, of all horrors) an old song. My most frequented Sirius stations are First Wave, The Pulse (Curly's Girl usual choice), Broadway, and Coffee House for acoustic rock.

Paperback Swap
We have tons of books around our house, and a large list of books we would like to read. To even out this situation, I opened an account on PaperbackSwap.com (http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php). For no fee, you can list books you would like to trade for other books. When one of the site's members requests a book from you, you mail it to him/her. In return you can, request books you would like from other members and receive them at no cost. In the past 2-3 months, I have received five books and mailed three. Now I am just trying to decide which book I would like to request next.

Snowball
I have always had dogs and never, ever considered myself a cat person. That has been changing, however, as Snowball has come into our family's life. Since rescuing the feral kitten a month ago, Snowball has become a model family member. He snuggles; he plays with toys; and he tries to play with our dogs, who aren't so crazy about playing with him. Best of all, though, is the litter box. After housebreaking dogs, teaching a cat to use a litter box is a breeze.

Netflix
I love Netflix (http://www.netflix.com)! Our family originally began our subscription to obtain documentaries which would enhance our home school experience. We frequently order History Channel documentaries which correlate with topics we are studying. This summer we enjoyed the History Channel series "Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire" and have many medieval history DVDs in our queue for the upcoming school year. I really love being able to watch entire TV series, though. After reading Catherine Marshall's Christy with Curly Girl, we obtained all two seasons of the 1994 "Christy" television series through Netflix. Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the episodes and look forward to watching the subsequent made-for-tv "Christy" movies. On a less child-friendly note, I am looking forward to working my way through "The Tudors" series via Netflix DVDs.

That's it for me! What almost-forgotten things have you rediscovered or learned about recently for the first time?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2009-08-25T22:08:00.011-04:00

Change. . . Our lives are defined by experiences and change. Some of which are exciting and desired, others which are challenging and heartbreaking. Our family is currently undergoing a season of change, one which we do not want to experience, but a change that my husband and I believe is necessary.

For the past fourteen years, my husband and I have attended the same church- the church in which my husband grew up, the church where we both became Christians, the church where our children were baptized and raised, the only church our family has ever known. But unfortunately, for a variety of reasons which continue to exhaust and anger me to even think about, we feel that "our" church may no longer be the best fit for our family.

Believe me, we have not and are not taking our decision to visit other churches lightly. It hurts; it breaks our hearts to even contemplate leaving our church family and close friends who have shepherded us and our children so closely. I am crying now at the thought of my son not receiving his 3rd grade Bible next year or not being confirmed at the same church as his sister, not attending Love Feast on Christmas Eve, Car Guy not graduating to a shepherd from a sheep in the Children's Nativity, not going on another mission trip to Kentucky as Curly Girl and I did this past summer, no longer watching Car Guy scurry around during the Easter Egg Hunt. Knowing that Promotion Sunday and the Youth Year Kick-Off are swiftly approaching and consciously choosing not to attend these events hurts deeply.

Yes, we are visiting other churches. For how long or if we will permanently leave our church, we do not know. My husband and I do realize that we can no longer exist with the constant church-related frustration with which we have been dealing for over a year now. We know that can't be afraid of leaping into change, and we don't want to miss out on blessings which God may have in store for us because we are afraid of leaving a comfortable situation to strike out for frighteningly unfamiliar territory.

Many tears have been shed and many questions have been asked and debated in our family regarding our current in-between church situation. All four of us have experienced internal tug-of-wars as we have wrestled with the why and why nots of our decision. While attending a church mission activity on Saturday, my children and I all greatly enjoyed being surrounded by familiar faces. All three of us had missed the warmth of seeing dear friends, and Curly Girl voiced all of our family members' feelings when she asked in the car on the way home, "Do we have to leave our church? Why can't we stay?"

My 12-year-old is certainly having the hardest time with our transition, but she is also the one having to repeatedly be the visitor in a new Sunday school class, when she had previously been the kid who comfortably stepped in her home church door several times a week. Over the past few weeks, Curly Girl has jubilantly skipped out of a new church so thrilled at the warm reception she received that she went back to their Sunday night activity, but she has also sadly walked to the car and commented that the middle school girls were cliquey and no one really talked to her. It's hard, and my heart breaks at the thought of even possibly uprooting my daughter at such a crucial time in her life.

But my husband and I also don't want to settle for less. Staying in a program with which we are thoroughly dissatisfied just because we are afraid of change is not in anyway acceptable. We also want to have a church HOME, though, not a building to just obligatorily attend once a week, but a place where we can peacefully grow and learn to love our new church family. We want to feel satisfied with our decision to go or stay at our long-time church. If we choose to consistently attend another church, we want to be there because we truly feel that we should be there, not because we need a fill-in church to attend while we hope the situation at our "real" home church resolves itself.

What we do know with all certainty is that we must have a church where our entire family can grow in our relationships with Christ. Unfortunately, I have allowed my frustration and anger at the human issues in our long-time church to impact my relationship with Christ. For the last nine months, I have used about every excuse I could think of to avoid walking in the church doors. It's not fair; it's not right, but it happened and still will until my family either finds a new church or makes a very deliberate decision to return to our previous one. One Sunday in June, my husband and I knew that we had to take a break to visit other churches when we all came home from church in horrible moods. The stress of dealing with some of the issues and people at our long-time church had gotten to both of us and, unfortunately, superseded worshiping that day.

In all honesty, I haven't been much of a practicing Christian since the holidays and have frequently contemplated my long ago thoughts of "Why bother? I'd much rather sleep in on Sunday mornings. Who needs religion anyway?" I will even admit that if it wasn't for knowing that my children need to be active in a church, I would have probably just shoved my Bible to the back of the bookshelf and tried to walk away. But I can't do that- I won't do that. It took too much hard work to get to the place where I was willing to tell people that I was a Christian. I don't want to go back to the frantic life of feeling like everything is up to me to get right or screw up all on my own. I'm a better person when I have an active relationship with Christ, and I desperately need to get back there.

Our entire family needs to attend a church where we can plug into God's love and light- where we can see these qualities lived out through the church's members, young and old, and exemplified by the church's ministers, leadership, and staff. Please pray for our family as we continue along our journey. We truly don't know where it will take us, and it is not a decision that we take lightly. Please also pray for our long-time church, as well as the churches we have and will continue to visit. Lastly, please pray for all people who do not have a church home. As our family has recently learned, life is much more peaceful and enjoyable when you are plugged into God's love.

Aaaahhh. . . . . Corolla

2009-08-19T19:44:00.014-04:00

Our family absolutely adores visiting Corolla on the northern Outer Banks.

On our most recent trip to the Outer Banks, we. . . .

Climbed Jockey's Ridge

Participated in two programs at the Wright Brothers Memorial

Climbed the 214 steps of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse

Caught crabs during a program at the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education

Raced go-karts

Lounged on the Lazy River

Frolicked in the ocean

and learned about the first English settlements in the New World at Manteo.

Turn Right, Now Left Here

2009-08-11T20:47:00.003-04:00

Today's Dennis the Menace comic is so my life . . .

My son, seven-year-old Car Guy, comes by his nickname honestly. He is all-about-cars, all the time. If he isn't arranging his cars, he is polishing them. If he isn't playing with cars, he may be reading a BMW Roundel magazine. When he was five years old, my little guy's favorite video featured an hour-long tour of a BMW factory. He also once amazed a babysitter by regaling her with the names of the German cities which contained BMW factories.

Car Guy comes by his car obsession honestly, though. My father is a car nut, too, and ignited his grandson's interest in vehicles. When Car Guy was two, he and my dad picked up a pack of Matchbox cars on the way to the Outer Banks. By the conclusion of our vacation, my two-year-old could properly pronounce and tell you the name of each sports car.

With his interest in cars, it should not surprise me that Car Guy is also a whiz with directions. For several years, he has been able to tell me how to get around town. At first it was cute and endearing, but sometimes this habit is just downright annoying. I would frequently prefer to chill out and listen to the radio, not have to actively tune out the directions of my seven-year-old backseat driver. He also does not confine himself to directions, frequently including instructions of when and how I should pull out in the road or turn. These directions also accompany his tendency to loudly identify most of the cars we see on the road.

Aaaahhh. . . . Car Guy's vehicular habits are endearing, but what should I expect from a child who loves to take field trips to car dealerships????

One Time When I Caught a Raccoon on my Porch

2009-08-04T21:56:00.006-04:00

About 7:30 this morning while I was still snuggled in bed with my head under the pillows and covers, my husband awakened me with, "You've got to come downstairs to see what is in the trap!"

As I blearily opened one eye, Patrick continued to slightly yell, "It's a raccoon. There's a raccoon on the porch." Upon hearing his revelation, I immediately flashed back to inadvertently catching a opossum about six weeks ago when my stray-cat-catching-odyssey began. As previously chronicled, I have been trying off-and-on for about two months to round up the stray cat family that resides in the woods around our house (For more info, check out http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/06/cat-wrangler.html and http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/06/cat-wrangler-part-2.html). I tried for about a week in June to round up the mother cat and kittens, but only managed to catch a opossum on my porch at that time.

At least with my opossum catch, Animal Control came and released the little critter. Yes, he was released right back into my yard. Apparently, the state of NC protects opossums and prohibits Animal Control from doing away with them. At least the opossum fiasco only left me with a stinky animal trap and some flashbacks of watching Beverly Hillbillies as a kid.

My morning raccoon incident was much less pleasant, however. After Patrick ventured onto the porch to take a picture of our "friendly," neighborhood raccoon, my husband settled in to read the newspaper and left me to deal with our nuisance since, as Patrick remarked trying to butter me up, "You've been doing such a great job handling the cat situation." (Yea, right- he just didn't want to have to call someone about having a very unhappy raccoon on his porch.) At this point, my husband and I quickly determined that neither one of us was brave or stupid enough to deal with the animal ourselves, and we would definitely require reinforcements.

As I trotted off to call Animal Control, I mumbled to myself, "Oh great, first a opossum, now a raccoon. The Animal Control guy is going to love me." Animal Control runs through our local police department, so I actually had to speak with the police receptionist first about my little issue. So I told her, "I need Animal Control to come out . . . I have a raccoon trapped on my front porch." The conversation veered crazily downhill at this point as the woman laughed at me and said, "I've never heard of anyone trapping a raccoon before." I beg to differ. We're in NC; I'm sure that someone else before me has accidentally trapped a raccoon before. As I have learned the hard way, I can put out the trap, but I can't control what goes in it.

So my dear pal from Animal Control, the one who previously released my opossum, called to tell me that he could not release or deal with my opossum since he is only licensed to deal with dogs and cats, and since my trap is from the Humane Society, not Animal Control, the officer whom I support with my taxes can't help me anyway. At this point in the phone conversation, I'm quickly losing my confidence in "Animal" (IMHO, it should be "Dog and Cat") Control and becoming very irritated that my desire to trap, spay, and return the feral female cat to my yard as a mouser is hitting so many roadblocks. Of course, Animal Control would be happy to put down any dogs or cats that I manage to catch, but they must release any wild creatures that are caught in a trap.

My friendly Animal Control officer then provided the helpful suggestion that I find a friend who is a hunter to deal with my little raccoon friend. This, of course, does not help in the least since I am not close enough friends with any hunters to call them up and say, "Hey, would you please come over to my house to kill the raccoon on my porch?" and something tells me that sicing a hunter on the raccoon would also violate the humane animal treatment agreement I had to sign when borrowing the trap from the Humane Society.

Since hunter Plan A was a no-go, Animal Control gave me number of a guy who could probably help me out. As my family laughed at me, I then called someone else about "my" little raccoon issue. On the phone, my new buddy at All About Wildlife very clearly informed me that it is against NC law to trap and keep raccoons- like I meant to trap the raccoon. To remedy my breach of NC law, he could sell me a raccoon permit or, for a fee, he could come release the animal for me. After realizing that I am now going to have to pay someone to release the rodent right back into my own yard, I grumblingly tell my new wildlife guy, Jonathan, to come over in about an hour. It would have cost more if I wanted the raccoon removed from my property, so I settled for merely releasing him.

Here is the scene that greeted Jonathan when he arrived at my house about 9:20am:

One angry raccoon in a trap. One angry raccoon who has shredded the plastic food bowl that was in the trap. One angry raccoon who has shredded the plastic food bowl and pulled the towel that was previously on the trap into it. One angry raccoon who has shredded the plastic food bowl, pulled the towel into the trap, and pooped all over my porch. One angry raccoon who has shredded the plastic food bowl, pulled the towel into the trap, pooped all over my porch, and cut his leg and bled all over my porch, too. (I was channeling the Berenstains' Bears on Wheels there with the repetitive verse.)

Dear Jonathan (nice guy and now I know who to call if I ever have nuisance animals in or around my house) then set Mr. Raccoon free about 30 feet from my house, rid the trap of the bowl and towel pieces, collected his $40 check, and went on his way.

Fast forward about 10 minutes: I'm trying to enjoy my morning cup of hot tea and read the newspaper (I'm much happier when I start my day that way) when the doorbell rings. It was Edgar from Terminex, and I wished you could have seen his face. As I walked down the hall toward the glass front door, I saw Edgar glance at the porch floor where the trap had been, and as he did Edgar's eyes grew bigger and bigger. Between the raccoon blood and feces, it must have appeared as if I had recently performed a ritual sacrifice in my yard. To alleviate my termite guy's fear, I quickly informed Edgar about my morning adventure and, of course, he laughed at me, too. Then as my termite guy checked the crawl space, I proceeded to scrub the porch and trap with hot, soapy water- not fun, not fun at all.

After my misfires with the opossum and raccoon, I considered giving up my "hobby" as a feral cat trapper, but I decided to soldier on for fear of being over-run with stray felines if I don't succeed in my mission of having the mother cat spayed.

But, hey, if you ever need a guy to wrangle a raccoon, call me. I know someone who will handle it for a small fee.

Animal Farm

2009-08-01T20:58:00.015-04:00

Recently, we have added a new pet to our family. We're now up to four animals:

Fozzy, one of our 14-year-old bichon frises,

Gonzo, our other 14-year-old bichon frise, whose health is rapidly declining unfortunately,

Nibbles, Car Guy's rabbit, who is now hopping around and playing again after battling a near-fatal bout with pasteurella and head tilt (more details at http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/04/bunny-nurse.html and http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/04/hanging-in-there.html),

and Snowball, a 12-week-old kitten who is our newest addition.

Let me preface Snowball's story by stating that I have never previously owned a cat and have never considered myself to be a "cat person." My family and I started watching Snowball about six weeks ago, though, when we discovered that she belonged to a stray mother cat we had been feeding. For the back story on Snowball's family, check out http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/06/cat-wrangler.html and http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/06/cat-wrangler-part-2.html.

Since I had not been successful in previously catching and aiding the stray cat family, I had just continued to feed them and let them be until I learned this week how quickly cats can reproduce. My guess was that we would be covered up in stray cats unless I quickly took some action. Meanwhile, Curly Girl and Car Guy enjoyed watching the five kittens hang out on our porch and especially took a shine to the white kitten which they dubbed "Snowball."

This past Wednesday night, our family inadvertently left our garage door open during a thunderstorm. By the time we discovered our error, the mother cat and her kittens had taken up residence in our garage. When Patrick and I went in the garage about 10pm that night, we saw five cats run out, but did not spy Snowball running away. After searching for him for a bit, Patrick and I closed the garage door and went to bed.

The next morning, however, I heard a kitten loudly meowing in our garage and found Snowball tiptoeing across the top of our garage door. Realizing that this was our chance to intercept one of the kittens, Patrick gently picked up the feline and placed it in a pet carrier.

I still wasn't sure about the cat thing, but told my children that we would check into what we needed to do to acclimate a feral cat into being a pet. First, we took Snowball to our local Humane Society so someone else could handle him before I stuck my hand in the carrier. After getting the all-clear and making a future appointment to have the cat neutered and receive his vaccinations, the children and I brought Snowball home. The kitten did have a bit of a respiratory illness and needed some antibiotics for ten days which meant that we had to keep Snowball inside for the duration of his meds.

For now, Snowball is ensconced in one of our bathrooms where he will stay for the next two weeks. Since I have no previous cat experience, I wasn't sure what to expect from a kitten, and a stray one at that. Snowball has been fabulous, though. He has used his litter box consistently and has not displayed any aggressive behavior. After voluntarily hanging out in his pet carrier or in a corner for about the first 24 hours, he now plays with toys, purrs when held, rubs your hand asking for more petting, and rolls over for tummy rubs. The kitten has even been cooperative when taking his twice-daily oral antibiotics.

When allowing Snowball in the house, I told Curly Girl and Car Guy that we would re-evaluate Snowball's status in 10 days. For some reason, I think the kitten will be staying, though.

Car Guy's Comments

2009-07-28T20:21:00.007-04:00

Some of Car Guy's recent musings that I didn't want to forget:

Driving through the mountains of southwestern Virginia this weekend, seven-year-old Car Guy dreamily remarked, "Sometimes I feel so small in such a big world."

The other day Car Guy tried describing his sister by using adjectives starting with different letters of the alphabet. He didn't get very far, though, because Curly Girl and I couldn't stop laughing after Car Guy began with "A for academic, . . . . D for diplomatic." Too cute and what a vocabulary!

Reverting to his dress-in-a-different-costume-every-day phase, Car Guy spent this afternoon channeling Darth Vader. He was especially cute wearing his black cowboy boots with his Darth Vader costume, and Curly Girl loved it when her brother wore the costume to pick her up from a Youth Club meeting.

Biking the Virginia Creeper Trail

2009-07-25T22:43:00.017-04:00

Our family spent a great day biking seventeen miles of the Virginia Creeper Trail. We began our day at Blue Blaze Bike Rentals in Damascus, VA where we rented two bikes (a mountain bike for Patrick and a tag-along for Car Guy. Curly Girl and I brought bikes with us.) After loading up all the gear, Blue Blaze shuttled us to the top of the trail at Whitetop Station.

Once we were situated on our bikes, we began the descent from Whitetop to Damascus. Along the way, the trail averages a four percent drop over seventeen miles so it made for a very relaxing ride.

The Creeper Trail used to be a railroad route and now traverses a number of bridges as it winds along and across a rocky river.

Even though the trail dips gently through forest most of the way, it also ventures through meadows and by Christmas tree farms.

The Virginia Creeper Trail also offers several rest stops such as the Green Cove Station, a former railroad station, and the Creeper Trail Cafe, a popular lunch spot in Taylor's Valley.

On our journey, we saw many other bikers, a few people riding horseback, and one or two hikers who ventured off the Appalachian Trail, which intersects the Creeper Trail at several points.
The entire Virginia Creeper Trail spans 34 miles from Whitetop Station to Abingdon. We just biked the top half from Whitetop Station to Damascus, but would like to bike the entire trail at the later date. To do so, I would need to train a bit to accustom myself to biking longer distances, though. I am currently suffering from a case of sore tushie and think that I would be in major pain if I tried to bike more than seventeen miles at a time.

After an enjoyable day of family mountain biking, we made it back to Damascus to return the bikes before driving home.

Things I Learned in Kentucky

2009-07-22T20:40:00.015-04:00

1. The joy of serving others without desiring or expecting anything in return.

2. Learning how to use a drill and realizing the pleasure of pounding a nail into a board with very few strikes of a hammer

3. Two Chicks in Vinyl- "We lock it tight."

4. Getting to know people in our church whose paths usually do not cross

5. Dwight's experience as an Army tank commander explains his approach to driving the bus.

6. Overcoming a fear of ladders

7. The gratitude of the family we served

8. The teamwork of our group

9. Chigger bites

10. Sporadic cell phone reception on the calling rock and hiking to the mission dorm for wifi

11. Being in awe of people who choose to spend their lives serving the under-represented, uncared for, and unheard in society

12. You don't need a radio when Chuckles is around.

13. Feeling much more appreciative of my lifestyle and my blessings

14. A building trip is a great way for teens to learn life skills such as carpentry, measurement, etc.

15. The men's latrine and the females' excitement about being allowed to use the indoor restroom

16. Trying to understand the locals' tug-of-war between trying to leave such an impoverished area vs. staying near family and comfortable surroundings

17. The pleasure of not thinking about my appearance or minutiae of my life for a week

18. The thrill of seeing Curly Girl enjoying serving others

19. Getting to know the family we served

20. Trying to figure out how and when I can serve on another mission trip

Frakes, Kentucky- Final Day

2009-07-21T10:52:00.016-04:00

Snapshot of Day 5 in Frakes:

We worked from about 9am to 9pm.

The gang working on the new room finished the walls, put on the roof, and covered it with tar paper.

The vinyl siding crew worked feverishly to complete the siding, but ran into some snags when the siding would not fit exactly into place. Just remember that buildings, especially trailers set on cinder blocks, settle over 35 years and hardly anything ended up being square. We also learned that measuring and cutting siding to fit small areas takes forever to do.

The family we helped was absolutely fabulous. They helped us work and even prepared a fabulous lunch for us on Friday.

Near the end of the week:

Our work team in front of the completed home:

The family in their new room. They plan to use the addition as a living room, and the current living room will become a dining room. Before the room was added, the trailer only had a small bar-like counter where the family could eat together.

Going to Frakes was a fabulous experience, and I look forward to working on another building team in the future!

Frakes, Kentucky- Day 4

2009-07-16T21:56:00.011-04:00

Snapshot of Day 4:

We worked ten hours.

It rained a lot last night, so we had to battle mud this morning.

We made great progress today.

We met more of the homeowners' family when they stopped by this afternoon to express their gratitude for our work. Their excitement lessened our aches, pains, and itchy bug bites.

Siding crew:

The room addition gang:

End of Day 4:

Frakes, Kentucky- Day 3

2009-07-15T21:19:00.015-04:00

Wednesdays are officially scheduled as off-days for Henderson Settlement work teams. Our gang opted to work this morning, though, and take off the afternoon to go into town. At breakfast this morning, the homeowners' daughter who works at Henderson Settlement, stopped by our table to say hello and thank us for the work we are doing for her parents. Better yet, she brought us a homemade German chocolate cake she made- yum!

When we arrived at the work site, our crew broke into the vinyl siding group and the gang working on the room addition. The homeowners' son and grandson came over to work again today, and we also met Tommy's sister-in-law who stopped by to introduce herself.

After installing the strips which the vinyl siding will fit into, placing and securing the vinyl siding moved rather quickly.

The group finished securing the floor joists, placed black plastic under them, and installed the sub-floor for the additional room.

Here is where we were at the end of Wednesday, Day 3.

Please keep us in your prayers on Thursday since we are planning to work a longer-than-usual day so we can make a lot of progress on the home.

Frakes, Kentucky- Day 2

2009-07-14T20:24:00.014-04:00

Day 2 began like every other day- with devotions on the side of the mountain. The misty fog rising in the distance frames an incredible scene on which to meditate each morning.

Once we arrived at the work site, our crew split into two groups- the siding crew and the gang building the additional room onto the rear of the trailer.

The siding crew first finished framing the windows and nailing 2 x 4s every two feet all around the trailer. After that, we cut insulation board and nailed it between the 2 x 4s, all the while battling the wasps which continue to bombard us. As we installed the boards, we constantly experienced difficulty with getting the nails to catch onto something more substantial than the trailer's current thirty-five-year-old metal siding. (Yes, the family's trailer home is thirty-five years old.) After checking inside some of the spots where the old siding had pulled away, we realized the trailer only contained wet foam-like insulation between the current metal siding and interior walls. So we hope that the additional insulation board and vinyl siding we install will certainly keep the family warmer during the winter.

The other half of our crew continued to labor on the the floor for the new room. The guys secured the floor joists and laid the beams, but ran into a snag upon realizing that the trailer's existing concrete pad outside the back door was actually extending into the area where beams would need to be laid. This led to a lengthy process of using a sledgehammer to bust up the concrete pad and then haul away the rock.

We were joined by two new helpers today. The homeowner's son-in-law and twenty-one-year-old grandson spent the day working with us, too.

By the end of day two, we had definitely made more progress, but obviously have much more work to do.

During tonight's program at Henderson Settlement, we learned that the amount of poverty in the area greatly exceeds the Kentucky and national averages. Bell County where Henderson Settlement in located ranks as the twentieth poorest county in the entire country. Due to poor health care and a history of working in the mines, approximately one-third of Bell County's residents are disabled. Those statistics really clarified for me not only how blessed I truly am, but how great people's needs in our own country truly are.

Frakes, Kentucky- Day 1

2009-07-13T19:48:00.017-04:00

Our motley crew completed our first day serving in Kentucky, and it was fun. Yes, it was actually very, very enjoyable. Admittedly, I possess next to no building experience and used a hammer more today than I have in the past twelve years combined, but I managed to come through the day unscathed and without any blisters or bug bites. Two people did get stung by wasps, though, but they are fine.

Our group is serving an elderly couple whose daughter works at Henderson Settlement. The older gentleman has black lung from laboring in the coal mines, and his wife works in a nearby hospital. After navigating the mountain roads, our group arrived at the family's trailer about 9am.

After unloading our tools and checking out the supplies, Tom's first order of business was to dig a latrine for the men to use throughout the day. Tommy, the homeowner, was gracious enough to allow the four females to use the restroom inside the house. (Thank you, Tommy, for the use of your restroom and for all the hard work you put in with our crew today.)

Our job this week will be two-fold: to add vinyl siding to the family's trailer and to add a room on the back of the family's home. After Dwight and George measured for the additional room, several of the men dug trenches for the posts and beams which will act as the room's foundation. Aislinn and Virginia then began removing rocks from the area and building a stone wall behind the house.

While one group worked in the back of the trailer, another gang ripped old siding off the trailer and nailed up strips which the new vinyl siding will fit into. I have now learned to nail in the center of the oval hole when hanging vinyl siding and to not make it too tight so the siding has room to fluctuate with the weather.

We also had to rip off the old metal shutters, frame the windows with wood, and nail boards onto the trailer to which we will affix the new siding. Throughout the day, we had to dodge wasps (We went through two cans of wasp spray by lunch) and even had a bat fly out from behind a shutter.

Here is the front and back of the trailer at the end of the day. Hopefully, you will be able to see much more progress being made tomorrow.

Kentucky Prayers

2009-07-11T10:46:00.002-04:00

During the upcoming week, Curly Girl and I will be venturing on a week-long mission trip to Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky. We will part of a group of fourteen people of varying ages from our church. While in Kentucky, we will be hanging vinyl siding and adding a room onto a family's trailer.

Please send up the following thoughts and prayers for our group:

Health and safety for our group as we travel and while we work

Physical and emotional strength

For the members of our group to bond and work well together

Our group will contain three pairs of parents and children. Please pray that the parents and their tween/teen children find their relationships strengthened throughout the trip.

For the members of our group to view the family we will serve as an extension of ourselves and not as an "other"

For the family we will serve to view our group as the hands and feet of Christ

For each member of our group to be open to the lessons that God tries to teach us throughout the week

To learn more about Henderson Settlement, check out http://www.hendersonsettlement.com/

To read my previous musings when I committed to the Kentucky trip and admitting my lack of building experience, check out http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/04/kentucky-bound.html.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

South Dakota Road Trip

2009-07-06T20:59:00.014-04:00

Two years ago this week, my family and I ventured on a ten-day road trip from North Carolina throughout South Dakota and then back home.

The first two days of our adventure found us driving twenty-one hours which included checking out the St. Louis Arch and traversing the back-back roads of Missouri. (An accident had turned the interstate into a parking lot, and we opted to exit the highway instead of sitting on it. Once our minivan exited the interstate, we ended up on roads which were not in our atlas, however. Thankfully, a kind couple led us through a small town or two, across some farming country, and onto the highway we needed to eventually reach our destination.)

Our first stop in Sioux Falls consisted mainly of visiting my husband's grandmother who met her great-grandchildren, Curly Girl and Car Guy, for the first time. We also checked out the Sioux River before heading toward the northeastern corner of the state.

To prepare for our trip, my children and I read all of the Little House of the Prairie books. Since the Ingalls' family finally settled in DeSmet, South Dakota, we spent an afternoon visiting the school Laura attended and the house her Pa built in town. http://www.desmetsd.com/

While in South Dakota, my husband was anxious to show off the places he frequented as a child. He could hardly wait to see his aunt and uncle's 1000+ acre farm, and my kids enjoyed checking out the large hay bales and meeting their South Dakota cousins.

As we traversed across the state, I was taken with the prairie's openness and beauty. The area in the middle of the state which transitioned from prairie to mountains kept reminding me of Dances with Wolves which was filmed in the region. As we drove through the rolling hills surrounding Pierre, I could just imagine how the area appeared before it was developed.

While checking out the western part of the state, we maintained a home base in Rapid City. Of course, we visited Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument, and Mammoth Site (http://www.mammothsite.com/).

My favorite sites, though, encompassed the natural aspects of the region. Custer State Park with its free-roaming buffalo and mountain goats was truly amazing (http://www.sdgfp.info/Parks/Regions/Custer/custersp.htm). I absolutely loved the breathtakingly beautiful, twisting turns and spires of the fourteen-mile-long Needles Highway (http://www.pbase.com/harpeggio/needles_highway) which ventures by Sylvan Lake and ends in Custer State Park.

I also loved, loved, loved venturing into Jewel Cave, the world's second longest cave (http://www.nps.gov/jeca), even though Car Guy had to cross his legs for the second half of our cave tour since there are no restroom facilities deep in the earth.

To conclude our western swing through South Dakota, we took in the creepily barren Badlands (http://www.nps.gov/badl) and checked out Wall Drug (http://www.walldrug.com), similar to a western South of the Border, for some levity. We later found out that my husband's aunt and uncle met at Wall Drug when she worked there long ago.

Our family truly enjoyed our road trip to South Dakota and developed a new respect for the Native Americans and pioneers who thrived in its demanding landscape. We also definitely learned what the prairie looks like. Yes, the prairie is beautiful, but if I never drive through Iowa with its endless flat lands, corn, and silos again it would be fine with me.

I would love to travel to Yellowstone or to the New Mexico/ Grand Canyon region next year, but one thing is for sure. The next time our family ventures west of the Mississippi, we will fly.

I wish . . .

2009-07-03T06:08:00.007-04:00

Are there things you wish you remembered how to do or would like to alter about yourself- not in a negative I-can't-stand-myself-sort-of-way, but in an oooh-that-would-be-so-great approach?

I wish. . . .

. . . I remembered how to suck the juice out of honeysuckle. As a child, I did this all the time in the summer, but I wouldn't even know where to start if I tried it now.

. . . I liked more fruits and vegetables. I've toyed with the idea of joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) (http://www.localharvest.org/csa/) just so I'd have to learn how to cook and eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, and I still may do so. Since my poor dietary choices tend to rub off on the rest of my family, it is definitely something to consider.

. . . I had worked harder to maintain my early-twenties body than to try to resurrect it at thirty-eight.

. . . I was more athletic. I like to run, but am depressingly slow. I played tennis in high school, but can't imagine how goofy I would look if I tried to do so again, and I am still stung by how much my children laughed at me when I tried to swim a few laps last summer.

. . . I possessed more patience.

. . . I could still water ski.

. . . I remembered how to launch these things, whatever they are, into the air. I know it involves wrapping the stem around the bud-thing, but I have apparently lost my touch when it comes to shooting plant matter into the air.

. . . I recalled my French. I remember bits and pieces of vocabulary, but not the grammatical structure of how to put it all together. When Curly Girl and I begin learning Spanish this year, I am hoping that my French floats back on my new Spanish knowledge.

. . . I was more social. Hubby and Curly Girl love being the life of the party, but I am definitely a more sit-back-and-watch-the-action kind of girl. Life would be easier for everyone though if I enjoyed chatting as much as they do. The thought of flitting around and making small talk at a large party strikes fear into my heart. I'd much rather just spend the evening with a few close friends.

. . . I could sing. When Car Guy is a bit older, I would love for our entire family to perform together in a community theatre production. Curly Girl and her father have performed in shows together, and I greatly enjoyed doing so while in high school. I don't think I could ever get up the nerve to sing again for an audition, though, and if the musical director did hear me sing, he wouldn't cast me anyway.

. . . I stepped out of my comfort zone more. I am definitely not a risk-taker. I am all about the tried and true, of traveling on the safe route. But I'm working on it.

That's it for me. What do you wish you remembered how to do? What would you like to change about yourself?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2009-06-29T22:41:00.015-04:00

My family engaged in the great American past-time last night, a baseball game. We are lucky enough to have several minor league teams within half an hour of our house and enjoy hitting a few games each summer. Yesterday happened to be the Community Swim Association day with the Grasshoppers, so we enjoyed spending time with friends while also catching a ballgame.

Last night's trip to the ballpark started with greeting the team's mascot, a grasshopper. As a child, my family and I regularly attended minor league baseball games. Then Greensboro's team was called the Hornets, though, and acted as a farm team for the New York Yankees. I still remember seeing Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter play in Greensboro's War Memorial Stadium years ago.

Of course, my family and I also strolled around the stadium before the game began to check out our food selections for the evening. I don't know if your family is like mine, but my children and I always seem to plan an event around the junk food selections available during it. For me, I'm now perfectly happy munching on a bag of peanuts throughout the game. As a child, though, I would always get ice cream in a small baseball helmet.

We settled in to watch the game- Curly Girl and I enjoying our snacks and chatting with friends, Patrick discussing swim team things with other parents at the game, and Car Guy trying to focus on the action. Car Guy definitely inherited the sports addict gene from his dad. My son will watch and show an interest in learning about almost any sport. We haven't tried cricket yet, so I'm not sure about that sport, though.

Knowing my love of animals, it should come as no surprise to you that the bat dog is one of my favorite things at Grasshoppers game. Yes, two dogs take turns picking up the bats from home plate and even fetching balls from the outfield between innings.

We enjoyed a great game. The Grasshoppers led until the WV Power took the lead with a grand slam in the seventh inning. After a disputed double play, the Grasshoppers tied it up in the ninth inning. Finally, in the bottom of the eleventh, the home team clinched the win with a home run. We also witnessed a triple play which was way cool to see.

Car Guy and his pals were growing a bit antsy, though, since they were waiting to run the bases after the game. After hanging in there for the two extra innings, the kids were set loose on the field after the players had exited the game.

We had a great time at the game and are actually pondering taking in another baseball game this weekend.

Fantasyland

2009-06-26T19:59:00.009-04:00

Aaaahhh . . . fantasies. Everyone needs to indulge in an absorbing fantasy every once in a while. After all, life would be rather boring if we each didn't escape to our own little corner of our minds every so often. Admit it, you have fantasies. We all do; it's all just a matter of how "interesting" they really are or choose to become.

I'll even tell you that the opportunity to escape into another world, another life, offers one of the reasons that I truly enjoy reading. There's something incredibly appealing about slipping into another being's reality for just a few minutes or hours at a time.

In the past, I haven't really enjoyed reading traditional adult fantasies, though. They all seemed too heavy on science fiction which I'm really just not into. Perhaps because I taught upper elementary grades or since Curly Girl adores fantasy novels, I have tended to focus on fantasy books targeted toward children and young adults. So here goes . . .

Angela's Top 10 Fantasy Books and Series:

10. Eragon series by Christopher Paolini
I have to admit that I haven't actually read this series, but I included it since everyone else in my family adores it. Even though haven't read Eragon, Eldest, and Brisinger, I've heard large chunks of them read aloud while Patrick was reading them to Curly Girl (when she was younger) or to Car Guy (now). After reading them with her father in the past, Curly Girl has since read the series on her own, and Car Guy is absolutely obsessed with the world of dragons portrayed in the books. My seven-year-old has even renamed his sword Eragon and frequently struts around the house acting like his newfound hero. Hubby and Curly Girl place this series between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings difficulty-wise, with it definitely evoking shades of Tolkien.

9. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
After much prodding from Curly Girl, she and I read The Hobbit aloud in the spring. My daughter had already read the book twice before, but knew I probably wouldn't pick it up unless she asked me to read it aloud with her (our nightly bedtime ritual). I enjoyed it, and especially found it funny to send my children into giggles by raucously singing the dwarves' songs aloud. I'll definitely need to read The Hobbit again though to tap into a deeper level of meaning within the book, and I also plan to read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy fairly soon.

8. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
I first read A Wrinkle in Time as part of a Children's Literature class that I took years ago, but enjoyed it again when I read it aloud to my fifth grade class a while later. It's a great traditional young adult fantasy complete with different worlds and time travel. L'Engle also speaks of deeper ideas though, like the importance of being true to yourself and the danger of conformity.
A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time complete L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time quintet.

7. Stuart Little by E.B. White
Who doesn't love E.B. White? How can you not love Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web? Stuart Little is partially a sentimental pick. It was the first chapter book that I read aloud to Car Guy (He was three at the time.). After listening to the book, Car Guy kept asking for a pet mouse. Since I really didn't want a mouse in the house, the mouse request morphed into a hamster, then a guinea pig, and finally into our rabbit, Nibbles, that we have now. Even if you have seen the Stuart Little movie, read the book. It is such a delight.

6. The Giver by Lois Lowry
I'll admit that The Giver isn't one of my favorite books, as in "Oooh, I just love to lose myself in it," but it is one of the most thought-provoking books I have read. In this Newbery winner, Lowry creates an alternative world in which she examines the role of free choice and mind control in a society, euthanasia, psychotrophic drugs, and the purpose of families and citizens to a country's security. Heavy stuff, reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale, but for a younger audience. Due to the novel's content, I would only recommend it for middle school students and up. In the interest of full disclosure, I have written and published a literature guide on The Giver (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/Giver.htm).

5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Pure fun and delight! Car Guy and I just finished reading this together and thoroughly enjoyed it. Dahl's books are exactly what children's fantasies should be- imaginary worlds, amusing characters, and unadultered joy. Even if you have seen the movie (and who hasn't?), read the book. As usual, the book and movie differ in several aspects. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also makes a great read aloud with early elementary children. Car Guy and I enjoyed it so much that we began reading Dahl's James and the Giant Peach the other day.

4. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Love them, love them, love them! Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I read the entire series together, often tackling several chapters a night because we just couldn't put the books down. You can read The Chronicles of Narnia on so many levels of fantasy or allegory, and they are interesting to all ages. I admit that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is my favorite of the series, and The Horse and His Boy ranks as my least favorite of the group. It is also interesting to note that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were close friends who inspired each other to write The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings series.

3. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Who doesn't love the Harry Potter series? I'm sure you've already read all seven of the books, but if you haven't you must do so immediately. I still tease my husband about his refusal to read Harry Potter several years ago on the grounds that it was a kid's book and too babyish for him to waste his time on. Needless to say, once he started reading the series he quickly zipped through the first three books and has since escorted Curly Girl to several midnight book-buying parties to purchase the next installments in Harry's adventures. Curly Girl and I are now anxiously awaiting the day when Car Guy and his dad finish reading Brisinger, so she and I can read Harry Potter aloud to Car Guy. I can hardly wait to see how he soaks up the books. Btw, The Prisoner of Azkaban marks my favorite volume in the series.

2. The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
I'm going to admit that I engaged in some serious fantasizing and enjoyed some interesting dreams while reading Meyer's sensual series. Come to think of it, I may need to break the books out again soon. Thinking that a young adult vampire series was below me, I didn't read the saga for quite some time. Once I cracked open the books, I was completely sucked into them, though, and spent many late nights agonizing about the merits of Edward vs. Jacob. (In case you're wondering, I'm definitely an Edward girl- the more dangerous and forbidden, the more appealing.) Yes, the books are hot, in a sexual-tension-leave-it-up-to-your-imagination sort of way. In my opinion, the first two books (Twilight and New Moon) are fine for middle grades students, but I'd hold off on Eclipse and especially Breaking Dawn until the high school years.

1. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Beautiful, thought-provoking, engrossing, a masterpiece- I truly can't think of enough accolades for this book. Babbitt's novel is worth reading purely for the book's imagery. When teaching, I always used Tuck Everlasting to explain precise, descriptive language to my students. Amazing book which makes the reader question how much he/she would give up (love, family, friendships) to live forever or to choose die as mortal humans do. Yes, I have seen the movie of Tuck Everlasting, and it doesn't even compare to the book. Read it; you'll love it. I promise. In the interest of full disclosure, I have also written a literature guide for this novel (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/Tuck_Everlasting.htm).

I hope you have found a fantasy novel or two or three to read by yourself or with your children. Inspired by my list, I think I'll try reading an adult fantasy book soon. Perhaps I'll start with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil or something along that line. Or maybe that's just my vampire fantasy rearing it fangs again.

First Swim Meet and a Bit of Bragging

2009-06-22T17:16:00.011-04:00

Last week was crazy, hectic, chaotic, and all about swimming. It's amazing how you suddenly become an "expert" on something once your children become involved with it. For me, it's swimming.

I can swim, at least I thought I could until I tried to swim several laps last summer. When my children laughed hysterically at me, I realized that my previous "swimming" had consisted only of diving in, splashing around to cool off, and hanging out by the pool. I'm proud to say that Curly Girl and Car Guy can really swim, though. Their father swam year-round growing up and in a Division I program in college, so, thankfully, the kids inherited their dad's swimming gene.

With Curly Girl on injured reserve because of her knee, Car Guy marks our family's only competitive swimmer for the summer. He debuted this past week in two swim meets, and our only goal for him was to make it across the pool without stopping to hold onto the lane rope.

After warm-ups, I was a nervous wreck worrying about Car Guy getting to his event, being in the right place, having his goggles, keeping his swimsuit up, etc. He was cool as a cucumber, though.

His first event was the 25 meter backstroke, and he looked so tiny holding on to the wall before his start.
He chugged on along and made it down the pool, though. Unfortunately, he turned over onto his stomach at the end and got disqualified. He remedied that problem at the week's second meet, however, and seemed quicker, too.

The 25 meter freestyle was his second event. I couldn't stifle a giggle as he strutted (Yes, he really strutted.) to the block and curled himself into a diving position. Regardless of how he looks at the beginning, he always just steps into the pool. We're still working on that diving thing.

25 meters is a long way for a seven-year-old. Car Guy's stroke looked great for the first twelve meters before devolving into a mix of Australian crawl and doggy paddle for the second half of the lap.

He finished without holding the lane rope or touching the bottom, though, and was all smiles to boot.

Now for a bit of bragging...

Anyone who has known me for more than fifteen years knows I never planned to develop any domestic skills. Heck, I had trained Patrick to do all the laundry and mending around the house until my mother messed up my plan by telling my new husband that I could actually sew on a button and wash my own laundry.

So I am as shocked as anyone that I now enjoy cooking, and I really adore baking which allows me to indulge the bread-and-sugar lover in me. My parents came to our house last night to toss some burgers on the grill for Father's Day, and I decided to try out a new peanut butter cake recipe. It was amazing, really sinfully amazing. I don't even want to tell you how many times I licked the beaters, bowl, and spoon after completing the cake and homemade peanut butter icing.

Here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-Cake-II/Detail.aspx. The Reese's Cups were Curly Girl's addition. She chopped the candy, and we sprinkled the chocolate-and-peanut-butter morsels between the layers and on top of the cake.

Sinfully good, amazing, but with way too much sugar for my comfort level. After eating the cake, I spent an extended time with Wii Fit today and will also be running tomorrow. If I could swim laps without looking like an idiot, I would do that, too. For now, I'm going to leave the swimming to Car Guy, though.

Cat Wrangler, Part 2

2009-06-18T06:10:00.003-04:00

It's 6am, and I just traipsed downstairs to make my early morning cup of hot tea. While my tea was steeping, I glanced out the window to check the baited humane trap on my front porch. (See Cat Wrangler below which explains why a trap is on my porch.)

At first, I was super-excited because a cat-size gray animal was contained in it, but upon closer examination I realized that the trap holds a possum. Yes, I have a trapped possum on my front porch, and I will definitely be calling Animal Control to dispose of it.

I know that "Smoky" the stray cat has been eating the food we have been putting out for her. We frequently see her during the day, and she hangs around our front porch waiting for some kibble. I had been thinking she ate quite a bit of food for a small cat, though. Now, I'm wondering if I haven't been feeding a possum all along, too- EEEKKKK!

I admit that part of me would have liked to have seen the possum climbing the brick front steps to get to the food, but the amusement of the sight is greatly tempered at the gross factor of a possum on the porch. I currently feel like I'm in a Beverly Hillbillies episode.

What to do? What to do? I don't mind feeding the cat, but have no plan to be known as the neighborhood possum feeder, though. At least my neighbors will get some amusement out of this. They weren't too happy about the me, the bleeding-heart next-door, trying to aid and abet the stray cats in the area.

Cat Wrangler

2009-06-16T21:00:00.006-04:00

When I awoke this morning, I anticipated a fabulously calm and productive day.

After accomplishing a lot this morning (I am all about marking things off my to-do list), my day skittered marvelously astray about lunch time. We're all animal lovers in our house with a history of gathering and caring for strays. To this end, my children and I have been feeding a lovely gray stray cat for a few weeks. "Smoky" now regularly frequents her food bowl on our front porch, appearing shortly after her food appears each day. When I rattled Smoky's bowl today, she quickly emerged from underneath our neighbors' deck followed by five small kittens. Until today, I had no idea that Smoky was a she (She won't let us more than a few feet near her.), much less that she supported a family.

Excitedly and naively, I called my neighbor to ask if she knew a family of kittens lives under her deck. At the same time, Car Guy and I trekked down the hill to check out the kittens who quickly scattered when we drew too near. They were too cute, though, and Car Guy spent much of the afternoon using binoculars to watch the kittens play in our neighbors' back yard.

I like our neighbors; I really do, and I tried very, very hard to be kind and tactful today. After speaking with my neighbors, though, I learned that they do know about the kittens and aren't too thrilled that I have been feeding the mother cat. Our neighbors would be more than happy to dispose of the cats and have an exterminator coming to spray for termites next week, so bye-bye kittens. They also have a trap from Animal Control to try to catch the cats and send them to the pound.

Now, I have never owned a cat, nor can I afford to have six cats spayed/ neutered and updated on shots. But I can't stand the thought of the mother and her kittens being automatically put down or killed by termite poison. After spending much of my afternoon trying to catch Smoky and her kittens, without any luck, I now have the trap on my porch with food in it. I figure if I can catch Smoky and her kittens, they'll at least have a better chance of survival if I'm in charge of their fate.

As my dear, "patient" husband asked me tonight, "What are you planning to do with these cats if you catch them?" I'm not exactly sure, but I won't take them to the pound. I've been to the pound twice and can never handle going again (Note: I can't handle watching Bambi or The Lion King either.) I did ask my in-laws (who have a farm with lots of animals) if they could take some more barn cats, but they're maxed out at 35 animals (horses, dogs, cats, pigs, guinea hens) now.

So, if anyone, has any productive ideas about how to catch these cats I would love to hear them. Any leads on low-cost/ no-cost shots and spay/neuter would also be greatly appreciated, as well as ideas on what to do with these cats if I can actually catch them.

Thank you!

We love letterboxing!

2009-06-13T22:00:00.011-04:00

Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I ventured out to engage in some letterboxing yesterday afternoon. For the uninitiated among you, letterboxing is akin to a low-tech outdoors treasure hunt and offers an enjoyable, low-cost activity to do with your children.

The only supplies required are a small notebook, stamp, ink pad, and pen. To get started, visit http://letterboxing.org/. On the website, click on "Locate Boxes" to find the clues for letterboxes across the country. You can search for boxes by state, city, or county. To give you an idea, North Carolina contains 891 registered letter boxes. My children and I have located several boxes, including our most recent find, in our area, but it is also fun to search for boxes as you travel or are on vacation. Our family has also located boxes at Chimney Rock Park and even at Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Once you choose a letterbox or two from the website, print out the clues and tuck them in your bag of supplies. Before we started our search on Friday, Curly Girl and Car Guy read the clues. (Letterboxing is also a great way for kids to practice reading and following directions.)

After determining which way to trek, the kids set out on the path. Our most recent find was in an area park which we had not previously visited. Letterboxing is also a great way to find those interesting nooks and crannies in your community or to explore a bit more on your vacation.

The kids turned right, counted two lampposts, and then walked 32 paces, as directed, to find the hollow tree which contained the treasure. This find contained straight-forward clues which were easy to follow. Some clues can be trickier to figure out, though.

To prevent random people from running across a letterbox, it should never be in plain sight. You will usually have to look under something or dig around a bit to locate the box. We used a stick to move some leaves before we unearthed this letterbox hidden in the base of the tree.

Next, we opened the letterbox to reveal its contents. This box was in good shape since its placer had concealed the contents in a tupperware container and placed it in several ziploc baggies.

Then, we used the stamp in the letterbox to stamp our family's notebook. We also noted the location of the letterbox and the date we found it.

You also use your family's stamp to stamp the notebook contained in the letterbox. Most families also sign their names, write the date they located the box, and where they are from. It is always interesting, especially in a touristy area, to see who else has found that letterbox and where they reside.

Lastly, you must reassemble and rehide the letterbox in exactly the same location as you found it. This ensures that other families can locate the box, too.

Just a warning: There is no guarantee that the letterbox for which you are searching will actually be there. The letterbox in the park was the second box we searched for on Friday. The first box we looked for was supposed to be under a train car in a downtown area. I'm guessing that someone found the box and discarded it. Before setting out on a trek, I always remind my kids that there is no guarantee the box will be there or that we will locate it. (This was the first time it actually happened though.) When you search for box clues on the letterboxing website, some will have notes regarding the date the box was placed, the last time the box was serviced, or the last time someone located and reported the box's condition to its placer. If possible, try to select boxes which have been frequented in the last year or so. Also try to print the directions for two boxes so you have a back-up plan if your initial hunt goes awry.

Happy letterboxing!

La, La, La, La, La,

2009-06-11T20:51:00.005-04:00

Yes, I am sticking my fingers in my ears and singing at the top of my lungs. I am trying to drown out the noise of everything productive that I should be doing.

For some reason, the more I have to do, the less I actually desire to be productive. As I sat down to work about an hour ago, I promised myself that I would abstain from blogging until I had completed one of my three current writing projects. In addition to my regular twenty-hour a week job, I'm also working on another standardized testing project. Those projects by themselves wouldn't be too overwhelming, but a "request" for some rather extensive rewrites came in yesterday from another job that I thought I had completed and put out of my mind a month ago. That project is the one I need to finish before blogging, but you can see where I am instead of being productive.

Since I'm not quite sure where to start on the rewrites, I'm suffering from a bit of writer's paralysis. In an effort to further evade productivity, I have also been scouting my book collection for a tome to sink my teeth into over the weekend. I'm currently leaning toward The Historian unless anyone has a better suggestion for a juicy, escapist novel.

You'll be able to gauge my writing progress by how frequently I blog over the next week (Two of the projects are due next weekend). If I am productively writing and staying on task, I won't be around here much. If I am dealing with writer's block, I'll probably blog, go for a run, or box on Wii Fit to release my frustration. Currently, I am playing mind games with myself along the lines of, "Stay focused and write for an hour and then you can read a trashy novel in the massage chair for fifteen minutes." It's all about personal bargaining chips at this point.

Oh well, we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

P.S. I've also been wasting time searching for interesting music for the blog playlist. What do you think of the Paolo Nutini tunes? I love them, but I especially like the name Paolo Nutini.

Sex Education

2009-06-09T20:51:00.004-04:00

(Warning: Mom, you probably don't want to read this.)

I've experienced a bit of a health scare this past week. You know what, this post discusses the importance of openly discussing sexual issues, so I may as well be honest with you. I flunked my pap smear. Actually, I have flunked two of my last three pap smears. The first abnormal test two years didn't concern me, but this most recent one did. After dodging a bullet once, I thought that doing so a second time was definitely pushing my luck. That and the stress of waiting for my biopsy results put me on pins and needles for the past few days. Good news, though. My OB (whom I absolutely adore, btw) called today to inform me that I passed. So aside from a recheck in three months, I am off the medical hot seat for the moment.

My cervical cancer scare got me thinking, though. My daughter is at the age for getting the Gardisil vaccination, and I have been privy to several conversations with other parents about what this vaccination may or may not communicate to our daughters. (FYI- I have absolutely nothing against vaccinations, even though I am rather put out that after getting the chicken pox vaccine eleven years ago, I still contracted chicken pox from my own two-year-old child. No, it wasn't any fun having chicken pox as an adult and even more embarrassing having to go into the drugstore to fill the Valtrex- usually a herpes med.- prescription that my doctor wrote for me.)

I digressed, back to Gardisil. Yes, I understand that some people feel that offering Gardisil to teens seems like giving them permission to become sexually active. But to me, it just seems like protecting your daughter against a disease which could greatly impact her health. While I completely agree with teaching teens about abstinence, as parents, we have an obligation to provide our children with all the information that is available. While I sincerely hope that my children wait until marriage- or at least until they are in committed, stable, adult relationships- before having sex, I have to also be realistic that this may not occur. To that end, I must be willing to openly discuss sex, its consequences, and how to protect themselves with my children, in an age-appropriate manner, of course.

Believe me, these discussions make me uncomfortable, too, and are not the easiest thing to do. Our children will certainly learn about sex somewhere, but I would prefer for them to hear about it from their parents, rather than gather inaccurate information from their peers. I've experienced both ends of the spectrum. As a public school teacher, I taught 5th grade family life to tween girls who did not know about getting their periods. I was shocked that their mothers had not previously discussed menstruation with them, much less shown them pads or tampons. What would the poor girls had thought if their periods had started at school? Believe me, nothing quite compares to the look on a girl's face when you explain to her how to use a tampon. When I taught middle school, I very quickly learned that many eighth grade girls knew and had experienced much more than I had at their age, however.

My husband and I try to openly discuss sexuality with our tween daughter, but we don't see any harm with calling in reinforcements when necessary. To that end, we enrolled Curly Girl in our church's human sexuality weekend for fifth graders last year. I will admit to being shocked that the co-ed class kept the boys and girls together and openly discussed all aspects of sexual behavior. There is something amusing, though, about hearing a minister speak about enjoying sex. Parents came for part of the class, and I was taken aback when I saw the slang words for sex and the human body that the fifth graders had heard out in the world. (Again, if kids don't learn about sex from their parents, they're going to hear it somewhere.) The comic relief occurred, however, when one of the boys grabbed a tampon (Remember, I said the class openly discussed all aspects of human sexuality), swung it around his head by the string, and yelled, "What's this. . . a cat toy??". Yes, he did, and it was hilarious. Hey, I'm all for males learning about feminine products. I, for one, have certainly sent my husband to Target with tampons on the list of things for him to purchase.

The way I see it, my job as a parent is to teach my children about the world in which they live, even if that world contains topics I would prefer to gloss over. But I can't and shouldn't do that- to avoid discussing sexual topics with Curly Girl and Car Guy, as he grows older, would shirk my parental responsibility and miss out on a golden opportunity to grow closer to my children.

Triathlon Time (Part 2)

2009-06-07T22:29:00.013-04:00

Today was the big day! Triathlon Day! In March, my husband, daughter, and I signed up as a relay team for an area triathlon (http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/03/triathlon-time.html).

We were all super-excited about competing as a family until Curly Girl blew out her knee four weeks ago (http://musingsthoughtsandponderings.blogspot.com/2009/05/two-left-feet-part-deux.html). After Patrick and I decided that we still wanted to race, he picked up Curly Girl's swim leg and also completed the bike part of the race. Curly Girl and Car Guy then took on the important role of family cheerleaders.

Honestly, the worst part of triathlon day is getting up at the crack of dawn to leave the house by 6am. After arriving at the race site, adrenaline and excitement kicks in while you pick up your timing chip, get your numbers marked (I'm still working on scrubbing all the permanent marker off my arms and legs. Hopefully, I'll be more successful in the shower tomorrow morning.), and set up your gear in the transition area.

Since the swim was in a pool, the triathlon began with a staggered start based on swim times. Patrick enjoyed a great 300 meter swim and even tossed in a bit of butterfly at the end of the leg.

Next, he transitioned to the bike and turned in a respectable 12K bike ride.

When Patrick returned to the transition area, I grabbed our timing chip from him and headed out on the run. After waiting around for a while, I was ready to get moving. I did feel a bit guilty though when other runners on the course would comment to each other, "Keep going. You're doing great, etc." Since many of them had already swam and biked, I felt kind of lame just running my measly 5K, especially after I learned that a 73-year-old woman finished the entire triathlon by herself in an hour and a half.

After I came across the finish line, we hung around the race area for awhile. They had free pizza, beer, and snacks. We couldn't pass that up!

Since Patrick and I accomplished both of our goals (Finish alive and not finish last), we definitely want to try another race. We're hoping that Curly Girl's knee will be completely rehabbed by September because we want to try the Angels Race Triathlon on the same course with Curly Girl turning in our swim leg.

We had a great day, but I'm really tired. Everyone else in the house hit the sack long ago, and I am now off to join them. Good night!

We Don't Turn Off Our Brains in the Summer

2009-06-05T21:38:00.008-04:00

Summer is here, and it is time to ponder our family's plans for the season. I always tend to struggle with the kids' summer activities. The school year is simple to organize- school, sports, etc., but summer is difficult because I want Curly Girl and Car Guy to keep growing without making it actually seem like they're working.

We have tried a variety of approaches over the years- half-school when we did one-two hours of school about three days a week; brain maintenance when Curly Girl and I worked on math about thirty minutes a day so she didn't have to relearn the multiplication tables in the fall; and doing absolutely nothing when Curly Girl was in organized school.

I love summer break. We all need a change from the hectic school-year routine, but I detest the idea of turning off your brain in the summer. I certainly want my children to realize that life constantly involves learning. Humans shouldn't just turn on and turn off their brains at will. We don't suddenly become couch potatoes in the summer, and if your children are like mine, they start messing with each other when they grow bored.

After mulling over the options, Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I have reached a compromise for this summer. This year it has worked out that June and the first part of July will be dominated by swim team which means that most mornings will be spent at the pool, and we have several trips and weekend jaunts planned for the second half of July and August. But, in between those times, I have no plans to let my children turn their brains to mush with constant video games and television.

To provide some structure, we'll put our Netflix to good use by watching some literary, history, and science-related movies and documentaries. My current queue carries "Apollo 13," Discovery Channel's "When We Left Earth" series, "Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire," and "The Tale of Despereaux," among others. I have also asked each child to select two to three areas on which he/she would like to focus this summer.

Car Guy surprised me by choosing writing in cursive and learning to type (What bizarre choices for a seven-year-old boy!). True to form, he has already pulled out the cursive workbook I picked up for him, and he has also been working on his typing. Mr. Methodical cracked me up the other day when he took Dr. Fry's Computer Keyboarding for Beginners and the wireless keyboard into his room. For at least half an hour, he carefully examined the directions for finger placement on the home keys and practiced typing innane patterns like "JK ASDFG LKJH GFDSA." Since there is absolutely no way I will allow my blossoming reader to lose any of the progress he has made, he will also be reading every day this summer. I have already printed out the Magic Tree House passport (http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/activities_passport.html), and after reading each book, he enjoys answering questions to earn passport stamps. I have also made an executive decision that he will learn the 0, 1, 2, and 3 multiplication tables.

Getting Curly Girl to commit to projects has been a bit more challenging. Where Car Guy plans like I do, creative Curly Girl is ruled by the chaos theory. In her defense, she will be volunteering several times this summer at our local history museum and with the Red Cross Youth Club, as well as rehabbing her knee with lots of physical therapy. I would like her to select some projects for the summer, though. All I have managed to wheedle out of her so far is reading, music, and art. My issue is that these are the same activities which usually fill her time, so I'm working on ways to encourage her to delve deeper than she usually does. For reading, we are going to get a head start on our school year reading list for Medieval history and Literature by jumping into retellings of Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Canterbury Tales, and Dante's Inferno. Tomorrow, we are heading to the music store so Curly Girl can select some new piano music to work on for the summer. I believe she is looking for some Bach pieces, Broadway show tunes, and Bella's Lullaby from "Twilight." I would also like her to pick up her guitar and teach herself to play it again, as well as work through the drawing book which she begged me to purchase, but has yet to use.

After seeing it down in writing, I feel much better about our summer. The season is a balancing act between relaxing in a slower gear, but not becoming a sloth. I hope you and your family have a fabulous summer full of fun, relaxation, exploration, and learning.

Teen Angst

2009-06-03T22:15:00.004-04:00

A friend remarked the other day that "Thirteen is the new Eighteen." From my perspective, this is terrifying, but true, and has been painfully evident around our house recently.

Almost-twelve-year-old Curly Girl wants to grow up so quickly that it is heart-wrenching to watch. I recall the middle school years, but I certainly don't remember them fondly. They were hard enough to navigate twenty-five years ago, but the thought of my own daughter picking her way through the current minefield of adolescence sends me into an emotional tailspin.

At this point in my parenting career, I feel completely inadequate and incapable of accomplishing my goal of raising a well-adjusted, self-confident young woman. I regularly feel that I am driving her away from our family and/or into years of therapy. After surviving the physical exhaustion of parenting an infant, I thought my task would get easier. Seven-year-old Car Guy makes me feel the most confident about my parenting. Yes, he is a very active boy with lots of imagination, spunk, and spirit, but at least I feel that I can protect him and keep him safe. When parenting a preteen, the entire world seems to be at odds with me. Combating the onslaught of negative influences feels like a never-ending battle which I cannot possibly win.

Curly Girl wants so desperately to grow up completely, instantly, right at this very moment. Over the past week, I have been wrestling with a multitude of parenting-related questions:

When do you let her go and when do you rein her in?
Patrick and I have kept a rather tight hold on the activities in which our daughter is involved. She does a lot (piano lessons, soccer and swim teams, church activities, community theater), and her father and I have become well-acquainted with the other parents, adults, and children involved in these activities. Curly Girl is approaching the age, however, where she wants more freedom than we are willing to give her. She has recently started volunteering with our local teen Red Cross Club, and this week's activity was putting up posters around town advertising for an upcoming blood drive. Great idea! Great project, but I felt like the most over-protective mom asking the club's coordinator for more information (Where are you going? Who will be driving?) before allowing my daughter to participate. The activity turned out to be well-organized and well-chaperoned, and she had a great time. I'm just not ready to do the drop-off and pick-up thing on a larger scale (i.e. at a movie or the mall). I know it's coming; I'm just not there, yet, though.

When do you allow your children to be exposed to the world and when do you protect them?
Patrick and I have tried very hard to teach our children about the world while protecting them from information they may not yet be emotionally prepared for. For example, Car Guy enjoys reading the newspaper each morning. But since he is seven, I only let him peruse the sports section, comics, and selected articles (Science-related articles are big hits.). I just don't see any need for him to read articles about rape, murder, or other atrocities that occur in our world. On the flip side, we now allow Curly Girl to read all of the newspaper and watch the news. We want her to ask questions and search for answers. After reading The Breadwinner together, Curly Girl and I enjoyed great conversations about the role of women and the plight of women's rights around the world. She is certainly old enough to investigate social injustice, but, unfortunately, teen culture emphasizes sex and physical appearance over more important worldly issues.

The topic currently confronting our family involves how much freedom to allow Curly Girl in regards to tv, music, movies, and book selection. We do not and will not allow either child to have computers or televisions in their rooms. Curly Girl is itching to be set free in the Young Adult book section, though, which sends me into convulsions. So far, she has accepted that we monitor her reading choices, but how much longer we can reasonably do that, I really don't know.

How do you overcome your child's feeling of "no one understands me?"
This is one of the really tough questions. I so clearly remember the painful feelings of thinking that there was no one else like me in the world. Recently, Curly Girl seems to be wallowing in her differentness. Hey, I think different is good. I'm all about being different. Aside from talking and offering reassurance, how do you help your child genuinely realize that almost everyone feels completely abnormal as a teenager? Honestly, the whole talking thing is the parenting area where I struggle the most. I'm not a talker; I'm an internalizer. I just think about things until I work through them myself or push them down and forget about them. I'm also not a very "warm-and-fuzzy" person; I'd characterize myself more as a "Suck it up and deal with it" kind of gal. So when Curly Girl started bemoaning the state of her life earlier this week, my first thought was "Get over. You just got back from Europe, we're going on a mission trip to Kentucky this summer just so you can see how good you have it." See, I really need to work on this being-more-understanding-and-talking-about-feelings thing.

How do you encourage your children to be themselves, in spite of all the pressures forcing them to conform to the world?
This may be an impossible task. I love and value my children's uniqueness, but the world frequently doesn't. We withdrew Curly Girl from school and started homeschooling her precisely to avoid squeezing a square peg into a round hole. I want my children to blaze their own trails; I want them to be self-confident and do things their ways. The world doesn't say this, though, especially to girls. It says "You have to be a size 2, tan, make dazzling small talk, and be perfect in every way." I totally get wanting to look your best, but it is so painful watching your daughter navigate an awkward stage. To make it worse, tomorrow she gets braces on her teeth. As adults, we all know that the challenging adolescent years will end, but for preteens they must seem to never conclude. My daughter used to be so self-confident, now her reaction seems to be all-insecurity all the time.

I also want to encourage Curly Girl to utilize, not hide, her academic gifts. Nothing drives me crazier than to see a brilliant girl act less-than-intelligent around her peers. I get it; I so completely get this. I hated, despised the sixth through ninth grade years, but they improved when around tenth grade I decided that I would be myself, regardless of what others thought. For me, that meant shedding the worry of trying to fit in with the high school social scene, but I never truly felt normal until I went to college, anyway.

Retrospectively, I realize there is a light at the end of the dark hall of teen angst, but as a parent, I want to spare my daughter from the painful insecurity and social trauma that accompanies the adolescent years. That is most likely impossible, however, but I certainly would like to try.

Savory Summer

2009-05-31T21:49:00.004-04:00

Does anyone else associate specific foods with different seasons? I certainly do, and I adore summertime food.

We (okay, the hubby) fired up the grill this weekend. Friday night, he grilled bratwurst in honor of Curly Girl's return home from Germany. Tonight, we enjoyed burgers (Don't freshly grilled burgers always taste the best?) and corn on the cob (yum! yum! yum!). We'll also probably toss London Broil on the grill a lot during the summer. I would love to try a great grilled shrimp recipe. Does anyone have one to contribute?

I have to confess, though, that I have absolutely no idea how to fire up, use, or clean the grill. In the past few years, I have only touched our grill to move it around on the deck. Perhaps, I'll actually learn how to use the appliance this summer. I really need to know how to grill because I am currently at Patrick's mercy of being home and in the mood to grill out. I did purchase the grill a few years ago (with my winnings from an NCAA basketball pool), so I probably should figure out how to use it.

I also absolutely love summertime desserts. Really, I love any desserts- major sweet tooth over here- but I associate several of my favorite recipes with summertime. For a chocolate fix, I concoct Oreo cookie cake and, when I have a hankering for fruit, I whip up a fantastic sugar-free strawberry shortcake (Oooh, I think I'll swing by the farmer's market for some strawberries, so I can whip this up.).

I'm also very certain that I'll make an apple pie or two this summer. My husband, who once claimed he did not like pies, will most certainly request one for his birthday in mid-August. Long, long ago when we were dating, I tried to impress Patrick with my homemade apple pie. Not wanting to hurt my feelings or his chances, he didn't tell me that he had no interest in eating any meal with a crust. (I so don't get this. The crust is my favorite part of pies, chicken pie, and pizza.) Anyway, he bravely ate my homemade apple pie and loved it, perhaps it is the fact that the pie has an oatmeal topping rather than a crust on it.

This afternoon, I whipped up a batch of no-bake granola bars. They're yummy and very easy. Patrick and the kids insist on calling them no-bake cookies, though. I guess that means that Patrick, Curly Girl,and Car Guy can only have them for dessert or snack since they are cookies, and I can eat the treats at breakfast since I think I made granola bars. See, it's all in the semantics. What do you think- cookies or granola bars? I did slice them into bars, so that may not be a fair question.

I do have one issue with summertime cooking, though. No, it's not my lack of fruits and vegetables. I know it's horrible, distasteful, poor parenting, whatever that I don't like green food or most fruit (Strawberries dipped in chocolate are one of my favorite things, though), but I've survived this long without all the vitamins, so I think I can make it a bit longer. Anyway, I really need some ideas for pool food. We hit the pool almost every day during the summer, and I get soooo tired of packing pb&js. If you have any great ideas for snacks and easy meals to take to the pool, I would love to hear them.

Have a great summer! See you at the pool!

Self-Indulgent Summer Reading

2009-05-29T21:59:00.007-04:00

Aaaahhh....Summer.....I have really been looking forward to summer break this year and perhaps enjoying a bit of self-indulgence during the sweltering heat.

Aside from schlepping Curly Girl and Car Guy to and from swim practice and their other activities, I plan to exercise, write, and read.

I'm most excited about engaging in more reading time this summer and what better time is there to read than when lounging by the pool?? Car Guy is finally swimming well enough that I can actually sit in a chair by the pool, instead of having to be in the water with him- yea!!!!! Don't laugh; he spent the entire summer when he was three decorating the pool deck with a paintbrush dipped in water. You don't know how thrilled I am that he can finally swim a lap with a legal stroke.

Everyone in our family loves to read, but to add a bit more excitement this summer, our crew is embarking on our Family Summer Reading Contest. (Thank you very much for the idea, Melanie.) The rules are simple: You get one point for each book you complete during June, July, and August. Whoever has the most points at the end of August gets a $20 gift card to a store/ restaurant of their choice. (I tossed in "restaurant" just in case I can weasel an evening at The Melting Pot out of this.)

Assigning one point per completed book seems to be the fairest thing for everyone involved. Car Guy has just started reading chapter books on his own and will probably focus on Magic Tree House books this summer. Even though his books are shorter, it takes him longer to read them. Curly Girl reads voraciously, but tends to stop and start books without always finishing them. Having a stack of half-read books lying around drives me absolutely crazy, so I am hoping that assigning points for books finished, not pages read, will light a fire under Curly Girl to complete what she begins.

My guess is that one of the kids will win the contest, but I'm at least going to try to beat them. I'm currently compiling my list of books in which I want to indulge. It includes classics I've never read (Cervantes's Don Quixote), rereading favorites from long ago (James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man), some non-fiction selections (Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea), popular books that I just haven't taken the time to read (Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl), and some chick lit and maybe a trashy romance or two for some super-fluffy summer reading.

So here are my questions: If you had to recommend just one book for someone to read, what would it be? Also, what books are on your summer reading list?

European Sojourn

2009-05-26T15:38:00.011-04:00

Curly Girl returns tomorrow from jet-setting through southern Germany and Austria. I can hardly wait to wrap her in a giant bear hug when I spy her at the airport.

Throughout most of the trip, my father has e-mailed me pictures of their trip, and it has been fabulous to see what my eleven-year-old daughter has been experiencing.

She beamed with joy when I dropped her off at the airport,

Enjoyed apple strudel with warm vanilla cream sauce at a sidewalk cafe in Rothenburg,

Took in the sights of Nuremburg (When I first saw this picture, I flipped out because I thought she wasn't wearing her knee brace. Then I saw the lumps and realized the brace was under her pants.),

Ate a gigantic chocolate dessert (For some reason, they kept sending me pictures of food. I think they were trying to make me jealous.),

Checked out the Vienna Opera House where Curly Girl purchased some Mozart memorabilia (Curly Girl loves music, especially piano, and was super excited to check out Mozart's Vienna.),

Spent an entire day in the Leopold Museum (Aaaah! bliss...), and

Drooled over the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.

(After visiting the palace, Curly Girl called to tell me that we should have been one of Maria Theresa's children because each child had five rooms and his/her own maid. She also informed me that everyone also had a boyfriend or girlfriend, even if they were married. Out of all the possibilities, infidelity trivia wasn't quite what I hoped my child would remember from her palace tour. I was wishing for something different, such as trivia about art, politics, architecture, ... anything else, basically).

Curly Girl also visited Regensburg and Heidelburg, Germany, and I can hardly wait to see her pictures. I hope my parents took some shots of Curly Girl in the same Heidelburg locations that I visited at her age.

I can hardly wait for my hug and kiss tomorrow! It has been much too quiet in my house without my daughter home.

Procrastination 101

2009-05-24T20:49:00.002-04:00

At this point in my life, procrastination has become an art form. In the past hour since I sat down to work (Yes, I am working on Sunday night. I usually work 2-3 hours every day), I have:

- Played with Nibbles the bunny

- Fed Nibbles hay and made sure he drank some water

- Took the dogs outside

- Checked both of my e-mail accounts (One is for personal e-mails, and one is for homeschool Yahoo groups)

- Played around on Facebook and looked for new people to friend

- Surfed itunes

- Called my grandmother (There was a "Private Caller" on my caller ID, and I called my grandmother to see if it was her. It wasn't, but she enjoyed hearing from me anyway.)

- Wrote a blog about procrastinating (This is truly a low point.)

Thinking that I would have a lot of free time with Patrick and Curly Girl out of town, I had planned to write a lot this weekend. Of course, that hasn't exactly happened. Car Guy and I had originally planned to go to the track (Me- run; Car Guy- play soccer) and pool today, but it rained. Instead I got on the elliptical while watching a PBS special about Michelangelo, wasted an hour or two doing nothing, went to see "Night at the Museum 2" (Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!), ran some errands, ate dinner at La Ha (I know we're there too much when several waiters stopped by our table to ask Car Guy and I where the rest of the family was), and attended a funeral home visitation.

So now, it's 9pm, and I have just finished my cup of hot tea which will hopefully keep me awake for a few hours. I'm really going to try to make myself work, but I just cannot get focused tonight and knowing I have a deadline tomorrow just makes it worse.

I'm definitely up for some more procrastination. Let's see, what could I do now that Car Guy is in bed and I am home alone? Hmmmm..... dance around my house while rocking out to my Ipod, check into seeing The Connells at Cat's Cradle next month, talk on the phone, IM people on FB, put new music on my blog..... Any other ideas?... Buehler? Buehler?...

-

Dear Squirrels,

2009-05-23T17:19:00.003-04:00

Dear Squirrels,

I am hurt, angry, and stomping mad. Is it not enough that I provide you with entertainment and perfectly good sustenance? I constantly refill your corn bungee at the rate of one ear per day and trek to the Wild Bird Store on the other side of town every other week to purchase said corn for you.

Per our agreement, I will provide you with an unlimited supply of corn as long as you leave my garden alone. As of today at 3pm, you have violated this contract. Upon returning home from the pool, I found two half-eaten tomatoes in the yard. If you are going to consume my tomatoes, please have the decency to A: eat the entire tomato, or B: If you don't eat the entire tomato, please do not leave it laying right outside the garden fence where I will most certainly notice it.

At least, you have not, to my knowledge, recently consumed anything else in my backyard. The chili peppers seem to be intact, and the flowers have not been eaten to the ground. I know I previously forgave the rabbits when they chewed my lilies down to nibs, but you, pesky squirrels, will not be that lucky.

I will give you one more opportunity to respond to a kind and gentle gardening approach. It will be in your best interest, dear rodents, to avoid the tomatoes after I sprinkle them with Critter Ridder this evening.

If you, squirrels, continue to violate our pact, you will be in for it when the man of the house, the main tomato consumer, returns home on Monday night. At that point, all bets will be off. I may even let my husband get out the BB gun that I have so far refused to allow him to use against you, and I'll remind you that Car Guy is itching to stake out the garden with his sling shot in hand, too.

Be warned: If you touch my roses, you will be dead squirrels, and, at that point, I will not hesitate to take matters into my own hands.

Warmest regards,
Angela

P.S. My sincere apologies to any squirrel-lovers (Jay and Kelsey, I'm thinking of you) who may have been offended by my anti-squirrel rant.

Mr. Hudson

2009-05-22T22:18:00.007-04:00

While being busy and wrapped up in the hub-bub of today, my thoughts kept drifting back to a person from long ago in my life. When I read the newspaper this morning, I noticed the obituary for my high school speech and debate coach and history teacher. After a long battle with Parkinson's, he finally succumbed to the disease.

Mr. Hudson was certainly a teacher that you could never forget. I'll always remember him:

-Getting excited while talking about Louis XIV, the Hapsburgs, and the Kings of England

- Wearing a purple sweater

-Somehow managing a speech and debate speech class which contained 9th-12th graders working on a myriad of projects

-Putting up with students who could be very full of themselves, and not always in a good way, at times

-Having a classroom with a door that connected to the office

-Being brave, or maybe clueless, enough to take male and female high school students on overnight trips

-Loudly announcing that we were "going down the mountain" on the way home from the Appalachian debate tournament

- Making a bus full of high school students be absolutely quiet while ascending and descending the mountains on said trips; perhaps this is the root of my fear of mountain driving

-Somehow not losing students at speech and debate tournaments when we were all in different buildings on college campuses

-Getting lost and going through the same intersection four times while trying to find our way to Independence High School in Charlotte

-Administering the only exam I had to take in high school when I got mono and missed too many days in my first period class

-Giving me the confidence to speak in front of a group of people; how I wish that skill could have translated into making small talk at social functions

-Being married to the typing teacher who had to teach on actual typewriters and use correction tape

-Always being supportive whether you won or lost your debate

-Always giving me a hug and speaking to my children when we ran into him around town in the years before he became ill

- Being a good sport about the roastings at the year-end speech and debate banquets at Quincy's

- The sweet-sounding way he said my name

Here's to you, Mr. Hudson! Thank you for everything you did!

Day at the Zoo

2009-05-21T22:04:00.013-04:00

While Curly Girl flitted through Europe,

Car Guy and I spent yesterday exploring the zoo.

I cheered on my son as he hatched from an egg,

and flew a helicopter.

Car Guy and I did have a bit of a discussion about his cartography addiction, however. He drove me absolutely crazy constantly checking out and telling me about the zoo map in great detail. He did exactly the same thing when we visited Washington, DC, in September. Car Guy would actually look at the DC map instead of checking out the actual landmarks he was walking by.

At the zoo, we located the Victoria Crowned Pigeon, but not the scarlet ibis, in the aviary,

thought the brown bear needed a manicure,

and laughed at the turtle's flipped-up legs. Check out the turtle that is second from the right.

After all this for my child, after traipsing up and down hills, providing endless snacks, and banter, what does Car Guy go and do? This morning, my dear seven-year-old made a sign saying, "Dad is Best!" and proceeded to parade around the house with it. He even marched up and down the driveway with the offending paraphenalia as he fetched the morning newspaper, and the sign is still in his room. Mothers just are not appreciated. According to my son, I need to bone up on my snuggling, tickling, and pillow fighting skills.

Reminiscing

2009-05-19T19:43:00.009-04:00

Curly Girl safely arrived in Germany this morning. She has been so excited to embark upon her second trip to Europe, and I am thrilled that she was offered the opportunity to fly across the pond.

Growing up, I was fortunate enough to travel a bit with my parents, and Curly Girl's trip has brought to mind some of my fondest European memories:

England:
-Blowing up a hairdryer in the hotel (Yes, smoke was coming from it.)
-Seeing "Noises Off" in London's West End
-Eating horrible apple pie containing a minimal amount of sugar in Dover (Either I prefer an excess amount of sugar in my apple pie, or the British don't put enough sugar in theirs.)

Stairs in Paris:
-Climbing up all the stairs to Montmartre and having my portrait sketched while on the Left Bank (Maybe it's just me, but I prefer this artsier area of Paris.)
-Climbing up a dark (as in, very difficult to see), twisting staircase to reach the top and then descend the Arc de Triomphe. The worst part was rubbing against people in the dark on the stairs, but not being able to see them.

Castles:
- Neuschwanstein that looks like it popped out of a fairy tale
-Chambord in France's Loire Valley
- Versailles where my parents and I snuck in a non-tour door since we didn't want to wait in line. Then we just sidled up to English-language tours when we wanted to learn more about the palace.
- Heidelberger Schloss which stands on a hill overlooking Heidelberg. I'm looking forward to Curly Girl visiting this beautiful city next week.

Art Museums:
-Louvre where my love of art history began
-Musee D'Orsay, my favorite museum, since it focuses on Impressionist art
-Musee Rodin which houses my favorite sculpture, Rodin's The Kiss
-A museum in Bruges, Belgium where I ran into someone I knew from home

Food:
-The endless array of pastries available in bakeries
-Eating freshly-made baguettes each day
-Chocolate- After feasting on European chocolates, nothing else even comes close.
-A funky fish dish in which the fish still had a head and eyes and was covered in a very nasty cold mayonnaise-based sauce (I did not touch this dish.)

Spending a month with a family in Belgium when I was sixteen:
- The family's funky house with a green and purple living room
- Living on a cobblestone street with several embassies on it
- Exploring Brussels via its public transportation
- Visiting the family's beach house by the North Sea
- Visiting the daughters' school which included students from many different countries

Cab drivers:
-Cabbies who were the model of deportment in London
- Thinking I was going to die when a Parisian cab driver crazily darted in and out of the traffic circling the Arc de Triomphe
- Being in the center of a traffic jam in Paris when our cab driver got out of cab, then started yelling, banging on the top of the cab, and directing other cars to break up the traffic snarl

Fabulous hotels:
- Europaischer Hof in Heidelberg with its high ceilings and ornate furniture
- Hotel Regina in Paris- One of my favorite locales in the world: Sitting on a corner balcony overlooking the Place de la Concorde while sipping hot tea and eating croissants. If you want to make me very, very happy, meet me in the morning with a continental breakfast and English breakfast tea with cream and sugar.

Seeing where my father lived: My father lived in France for several years as a teen. His dad, my grandfather, was in the Army and stationed in France after World War II. Since he was going to be in France for several years, my dad and his mother moved there, too. On one trip to France with my parents, we visited the Loire Valley chateau where my father and grandmother lived with the French family who owned the chateau and vineyards surrounding it. As a teen, it was incredible to walk through the vineyards, wine cellar, and home where my father and grandmother resided, and to venture down the roads where my father rode his bicycle to school and the bakery each day. (This is the chateau where my father lived. Sorry for the grainy quality. It was already an old photo, and I had to scan it through the glass.)

I am just thrilled, but also a wee bit jealous, that Curly Girl will be waltzing through Germany and Austria for the next week. I have no doubt that I will again have the opportunity to travel and explore the world, but this is Curly Girl's time to learn about the world around her. For this season, though, my job is to provide her with stable roots, so she can extend her wings.

Exploring North Carolina

2009-05-16T20:14:00.017-04:00

On Thursday, Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I visited Morehead Planetarium and tooled around Chapel Hill a bit. We had a great time, and Car Guy especially enjoyed the Magic Tree House show at the planetarium. The flexibility to make our own schedule and take lots of field trips marks one of our favorite aspects of homeschooling. On the way home from Chapel Hill, the kids and I discussed our favorite North Carolina haunts that we have visited over the past year or so. See what you think of our list. Perhaps you'll discover a great spot for a summer jaunt with your family.

#12- Lazy 5 Ranch- Mooresville
A drive-through park with loads of exotic animals. Tons of fun, even though I did momentarily panic when our wagon broke down while surrounded by water buffalo. Pay extra to ride in the wagon, so you can get up-close-and-personal with the animals while you feed them (Honestly, you don't want a water buffalo approaching and drooling on your own, personal car.). Curly Girl even let a giraffe pluck a leaf out of her mouth. You probably need to call ahead to make reservations to ride in a wagon. http://www.lazy5ranch.com/

#11- North Carolina Museum of Natural Science- Raleigh
Great museum in downtown Raleigh and, best of all, admission is free! Younger kids love the Discovery Room and tweens and teens thoroughly enjoy the Naturalist Center. One of the museum's programs about mammals led to Car Guy's desire for a pet mouse which morphed into a guinea pig and progressed to the rabbit we have now. The hands-on outdoor learning programs at Prairie Ridge are also fabulous! http://www.naturalsciences.org/

#10- Wright Brothers National Memorial- Kitty Hawk
Tons of fun, even if you are not a history buff. Walking the grounds of the Wright Brothers' first flight brings their accomplishments alive. You can also see a reconstruction of the brothers' plane and living quarters, as well as markers indicating the length of each of their flights. We also took in a great park ranger talk on our visit. Free! http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/

#9- Museum of Life and Science- Durham
A great science museum for kids, but my absolutely favorite part is the Butterfly House. It is magical to walk among the butterflies and totally interesting to check out the chrysalises in various stages of formation. Some even have butterflies bursting from them! http://www.ncmls.org/

#8- USS NC Battleship Memorial- Wilmington
When the kids and I visited the battleship last spring, it marked my first trip there since I was about ten years old. Climbing up, down, and around the ship certainly gave me a new appreciation for nautical life, even if Car Guy did get a bit claustrophobic when he realized how far we had descended below deck. Great fun, but not a good trip for people who have difficulty climbing up and down ladders (The ship is not even close to handicap accessible). http://www.battleshipnc.com/

#7- Reed Gold Mine- Midland (near Concord)
If you want to take a jaunt to the sticks, head to Reed Gold Mine. Here you learn about the first gold strike in the United States (Yes, it was in NC!) and take a tour of the mining tunnels. This is a great summer day trip since the temperature in the tunnels stays around 60 degrees. Unfortunately, this locale is also not handicap accessible. Free, unless you want to pan for gold which just costs a few bucks. http://www.nchistoricsites.org/Reed/reed.htm

#6- Duke Lemur Center- Durham
I happen to think lemurs are very cool, so I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about them. Zaboo from the Kratt Brothers' Zoboomafoo lives at the Lemur Center, so you may even sneak a peek at him. The Lemur Center is a research facility, so younger kids may be disappointed if they are expecting a spot akin to the zoo. Tours are only given at scheduled times, and you must call in advance to reserve spots for your family. http://lemur.duke.edu/

#5- Chimney Rock State Park- Chimney Rock
Considering my fears of heights and driving in the mountains, it's a miracle that I made it through our trip to this beautiful spot. The drive was lovely, and we traipsed through some quaint hamlets (Bat Cave and Lake Lure, anyone?) on our way to one of NC's newest state parks. Once I made it up the drive to the top of the mountain, I did manage to trek out to the uppermost outcropping. The kids and I also enjoyed a scenic hike to a waterfall. http://www.chimneyrockpark.com/

#4- North Carolina Zoo- Asheboro
The kids and I love visiting the zoo, except in the summer when it can be so hot and muggy. We like to arrive when the zoo opens in the morning, so we can take our time exploring and checking out the animals. Car Guy and I will probably visit the zoo one day this week while Curly Girl is otherwise occupied. http://www.nczoo.org/index.cfm

#3- ArtQuest- Greensboro
Curly Girl claims ArtQuest as her all-time favorite field trip, and Car Guy loves it, too. ArtQuest offers a great arts-making space with individual rooms dedicated to painting, clay, found art, drawing, and Kapla blocks. I don't know about you, but I much prefer that my children spatter a location other than our home while being creative. I recommend telling your children to paint at the beginning of your visit so their artworks have time to dry before you take them home. Believe me, I am speaking from the experience of getting covered in wet paint while toting handfuls of my children's projects to the car. ArtQuest is located in the Greenhill Center for NC Art across the street from the Greensboro Children's Museum. http://www.greenhillcenter.org/

#2- Lighthouses at the Outer Banks
Our family absolutely loves the Outer Banks, with visiting the lighthouses ranking near the top of our list. We are partial to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse with its quiet surroundings and the great view it affords after you climb to its apex. http://www.currituckbeachlight.com/ Hatteras Light also makes a great outing, but usually has more crowds than Currituck Light. Our family was fortunate enough to witness Hatteras being relocated several years ago and couldn't believe how far they safely moved the structure. Park rangers regularly give free talks at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse since it is owned by the National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/climbing-the-cape-hatteras-lighthouse.htm

#1- Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education- Corolla
My absolutely favorite NC spot, the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, sits in the shadow of Currituck Light. Our family loves the Center's programs so much that we try to hit several of them each OBX trip. Over the years, we have gone fishing, animal tracking, birdwatching, and enjoyed a nighttime walk where we spied an albino deer. The best program, though, was Kayaking the Sound where a naturalist pointed out the birds, plants, and other wildlife of the sound habitat while we paddled about in our kayaks. The best part is that all the programs are free and include all the equipment you may need. You must make reservations for the programs in advance. http://www.ncwildlife.org/pg08_EducationWorkshops/Outer_Banks_Center.htm

I hope this provided you with some ideas for summer jaunts in NC. A few places on my want-to-visit-in-the-future list: Grandfather Mountain, Biltmore House, the waterfalls in Transylvania County, and the Wildlife Education Center in the Pisgah National Forest. We're also trying to squeeze in a trip to the Outer Banks and a hike around Pilot Mountain.

So, do tell, what are your favorite places and locales to visit in NC?

I'm Finished!!!

2009-05-13T15:53:00.006-04:00

WooHoo! Party time over here! I have finally finished writing my most recent literature guide and sent it to the publisher. I am so super-happy to get this set of books off my to-do list. Since March, I have been working on the guides for Avi's Wolf Rider, in addition to the twenty-hour a week writing project I have also been working on since the beginning of the year.

In a shameless bit of self-promotion and to try to explain what-in-the-world I write, here are some of the guides I have written over the past three years. Literature guides are geared toward teachers to use when teaching a novel in the classroom. Guides include vocabulary, comprehension activities, literary activities, tests, and projects for the teacher to utilize.

The Wolf Rider guide that I just completed is for Novel Units. For this company, I have also created guides for Deborah Ellis's The Breadwinner, Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember, Gary Paulsen's Brian's Return, and Karen Hesse's The Music of Dolphins (I finished it just before Christmas, so I don't have a hard copy yet of it.)

To see specific examples of the literature guides, check out the Secondary Solutions website. They have published my guides for Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting and Lois Lowry's The Giver. The guide for Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee hasn't been released yet, but, hopefully, it will be out soon.

Links to see specific examples:

http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/Tuck_Everlasting.htm

http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/Giver.htm

http://www.educyberstor.com/store/novelunits/

Ok, the commercial is over. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I won't have to do huge rewrites for the Wolf Rider guides.

Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-11T20:04:00.012-04:00

As I am sure you know, this past weekend was Mother's Day. If you are expecting to read a loving treatise to motherhood, you are out of luck. Yes, I love my mother. Yes, I love my grandmother. Yes, I love being a mother, but much to the chagrin of some of my family members, I am not sweet or sappy, so you're out of luck if you wanted to read a love-in today.

Friday:

Our family spent the evening at a local park with Curly Girl's soccer team to celebrate the end of their season. For a first year team, they enjoyed a great year with a 6-6 record. Even better, I can't say enough positive comments about the coaches and girls on the team. Everyone was kind, supportive, and welcoming. I also never had to worry about inappropriate language or conversational topics from anyone on the team. We had a great night at the park, even though Curly Girl couldn't play kickball with everyone else because of her knee.

Saturday:

Patrick took Curly Girl and Car Guy to Teach a Kid to Fish Day, so I had most of the day to myself. Sponsored by our local Parks and Rec Department, Teach a Kid to Fish Day was fabulous, and even better, it was free! The kids were taught how to tie a hook, put worms on hooks, cast, and then spent several hours fishing. In addition, each child was given a t-shirt and tackle box, and Curly Girl and Car Guy both won fishing rods in a drawing. Hopefully, Parks and Rec will host another kids' fishing event in the fall, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Sunday:

Curly Girl and I began the day taking in a fabulous piano concert by Randall Atcheson. He sounded truly amazing, and I could have listened to him play for another hour. Since it was Mother's Day, we also went to lunch with my parents and grandmother.

Now comes the not-so-good part of the weekend. If I had to pick how to spend Mother's Day, I would certainly not select working in the yard, but this load of mulch was most certainly not going to move itself.

Grumbling under our breath, Car Guy and I trudged outside to load the mulch into the wheelbarrow (I don't even want to know how many loads we moved), haul it to the garden, and spread it between the rows. I really despise schlepping mulch around the yard, but I hate pulling weeds more, so we spread the mulch thickly in hopes of keeping down the weeds. Yes, in this picture I may be smiling on the outside, but on the inside I am cursing this shovel and wondering how many blisters I am going to have on my hands.

To treat myself, I wrapped up the weekend by downloading some songs from iTunes. Rooting around the garage the other day, I ran across some old mix tapes from forever-ago. I've had so much fun singing these long-forgotten songs this week (It's amazing how you suddenly remember lyrics to songs you haven't heard in 15 years) that I just had to add them to my IPod. If you have your volume on, you should be listening to them, too.

Have a great week!

Take My Breath Away

2009-05-09T13:16:00.008-04:00

I experienced the most amazing vision when I was driving home from the grocery store an hour ago. As I was cruising along, what-I-originally-thought-was-a-dog steadily trotted across the road. On second glance, I realized it was a fox, though- an amazingly,beautiful red fox.

What came next took by breath away. A small, completely innocent, adorable small red kit followed closely behind its mother. At that moment, I stopped the car and just watched them cross the road. We live in the county about ten minutes outside of a city, so it is not unusual to see deer crossing the road, but I don't recall seeing a fox (especially in the middle of the day) in many, many years. It was an experience that I would love to recreate, but is a sight that will probably not appear again for quite some time.

Seeing the animals innocently going about their day gave me a such a natural high that I started thinking of other experiences that take my breath away:

Multi-colored sunsets

Unexpectedly running into or hearing from a long-ago friend

Fresh flowers

People who stand up for themselves and others

Hearing a song that expresses exactly what I am feeling at a particular moment

A thoughtful, in-depth conversation that isn't about children or parenting

God's love because most of the time I certainly don't deserve it

Hugs, kisses, and I love you's from my children

Books that stay with me long after I finish reading them

Traveling

Getting out of my comfort zone

Art museums

Venturing down a scenic trail

Amazingly, I didn't value many of these things years ago. I was so caught up in material desires that I unknowingly bypassed many breath-taking facets of nature. Years ago, I pictured myself living a big city loft, but now I dream of a renovated farmhouse where I can't see another home from my front porch. Twenty years previously, I thought my high school friendships were temporal, but now they are the women I most desire to keep in touch with. In college, I didn't know if I would ever want to have children, but now Curly Girl and Car Guy anchor my existence.

It's incredible how people can change so immensely, yet still keep the inner core of who they are. I think I'm that way. Over time, weaker facets of my personality have faded, but the stronger aspects of who I am stand out more intensely. That also takes my breath away- the ability of people to grow and change, yet retain the inner essence of who they are.

A Stream-of-Consciousness Life

2009-05-07T22:46:00.006-04:00

I have this whole stream-of-consciousness-brain thing going on. My brain never stops running. I cannot think of a time that I wasn't thinking about something, even something as inane as my grocery list for the week.

I frequently wonder if other people think as much as I do. I so don't get people who can sit still and do nothing. My brain stays in overdrive too much for me to sit still for too long. I sometimes wish that I didn't think so much, but then I wouldn't be me.

Here is a sampling of my stream-of-consciousness brain from this evening:

- I so feel like a Seinfeld episode- you know, writing a blog about nothing.

- I have a rather odd fascination with bats. They don't scare me a bit, and I am so excited that Patrick spotted one gathering insects near our deck. I'm bummed that I didn't get to see the bat, even though we tried to attract it back to the deck by tossing a set of keys in the air. I also love to hear the owl in our backyard. He usually hoots while I am writing about 6:30 each morning.

- "Grey's Anatomy" tonight was absolutely fabulous. I admit to seeing all 100 "Grey's" episodes and to harboring a not-so-secret-fantasy about Patrick Dempsey. It's all about the tall, dark, and handsome thing.

- I'm trying to decide how to spend the upcoming Saturday that I will have all to myself while Patrick takes the kids fishing. I'm deliberating between a totally, fun day just for me such as visiting a museum, spending the day in a bookstore, or shopping vs. the things I need to do (run, write, and hit the grocery store).

- I love Facebook. I have had more fun lately catching up with long-out-of-touch college friends, laughing at pictures from high school, and catching up with people's current lives.

- One of my favorite feelings is curling up in bed at night. To fall asleep, I must lay on my stomach with one leg wrapped around my body pillow. I also usually cocoon completely under the covers. Speaking of which, I am traipsing off to bed now.

Good night! Sleep well! Have a great weekend!

Two Left Feet, Part Deux

2009-05-05T22:11:00.006-04:00

Injuring the left side of the body must run in my family. If you recall my Two Left Feet post from April 28th, I have a nasty habit of injuring my left foot and leg.

When eleven-year-old Curly Girl landed herself at the orthopedist today, she trumped all of my injuries and then some.

Over the weekend, Curly Girl banged and twisted her knee when she slipped in a river. She iced the joint, but it still swelled some. Thinking her knee was okay, her father and I wrapped her knee and let her go to soccer practice yesterday. Ten minutes into practice, Curly Girl's coach helped her as she limped to the car. While running, my daughter's kneecap turned all the way to the side, and her leg collapsed.

When we arrived home from practice, I iced her knee, elevated it, and iced and elevated it some more. When it was still swollen this morning, we ventured to the orthopedist. Apparently, Curly Girl tore one of the ligaments that holds her knee in place. If we don't give her knee time to heal properly now, her kneecap will keep dislocating and she will end up having knee surgery in the future.

To allow the ligament time to heal, Curly Girl has to wear a large brace that keeps her leg completely immobilized for six weeks. She obviously won't be playing soccer any time soon and is very upset that her injury eliminates competing in the summer swim season. We're hoping that she will at least be able to get in the pool to cool off because we will be at the pool a lot once it opens on Memorial Day.

Since Curly Girl was going to swim the water lap in a team triathlon that our family has entered, Patrick and I are looking for a new team member who can swim 300 meters. Anyone interested?

Bunny Bath

2009-05-05T21:44:00.009-04:00

Car Guy and I gave Nibbles the bunny a bath today. Nibbles is recovering from his bout with pasteurella. He does still have head tilt, but is much more stable than he was a week or two ago. Since being ill, Nibbles has become the world's tamest bunny, though, acting much more like a kitten than a rabbit.

So how do you give a rabbit a bath? Run a little water in the tub,

Suds him up with Bunny Bath shampoo,

Rinse him well,

Wrap him in a towel and snuggle,

Blowdry him on low,

Kiss the bunny,

and tell Nibbles how handsome he looks.

Parenting 101

2009-05-03T14:47:00.012-04:00

I just love this Baby Blues comic strip. It is so true. Parenting is truly the toughest, most challenging, most taxing job in the world. After I chuckled at this comic strip, I started thinking of all the parenting skills I have utilized in the past week. Amazingly, none of them have anything to do with my expensively acquired art history and political science degrees.

Parenting skills I have used in the past week:

Organizational Specialist

Author (Working from home as a writer enables me to be home with my kids.)

Chauffeur

Chef (Yesterday, I baked some cinnamon bread and a baguette.)

Laundress

Maid

Assistant Engineer (Car Guy created catapults and launched marshmallows from them all weekend.)

Librarian

Teacher

Musician (A 7-year old requires assistance when practicing piano.)

Athletic Supporter (I am slowly learning the rules of soccer, including corner vs. goal kicks. For chuckles, I just realized that "athletic supporter" sounds like I performed the role of a jock strap this week- which I most certainly did not.)

Nurse

Scheduler (Scheduling activities for two kids presents a giant puzzle.)

Referee

Star Wars light saber sparring partner

Mediator

Athlete (I did manage to squeeze in some exercise.)

Veterinarian

Horticulturist (My roses are blooming!)

Disciplinarian

Curriculum Consultant (Already thinking about the home school plans and curriculum for next year.)

Pharmacist

Manicurist (I trimmed rabbit and human nails.)

Gardener

Plumber (Don't you just love to start your day by unclogging a child's toilet?)

So what did I forget? Feel free to add any parenting skills that may have slipped my mind.

A Quiet Friday Evening

2009-05-01T22:17:00.006-04:00

Well, here it is . . . Friday evening, actually it's about 10:18pm . . . despite my plan to curl up in bed and read by 10pm, I am still sitting at my computer working, writing, now blogging.

The house is quiet, except for the playing of Car Guy's Sign of the Beaver tape and Nibbles the bunny's attempts at hopping. Curly Girl and her father are out of town for the weekend, so it's just the little guy and I spending some mom-and-son-time together. We don't have any big plans for tomorrow- just some errands in the morning, Car Guy will be getting spoiled by his grandmother in the afternoon (I do have a new running route I plan to try out then), and a movie night in the evening (probably The Shaggy D.A. or Spy Kids). I do also have a painful amount of work to do (I'm definitely in the "feast" part of freelancing, at the moment, and had to actually turn down some work this week), and I need to figure out the school plans for the upcoming week.

Aside from that, I'm still immersed in the rather introspective mood that has possessed me for the last few months. It's not a bad or mopey mood, just a thought-provoking one sprung from having more quiet time than I am used to. I certainly have plenty (ok, more than plenty) to do, but the daily chaos of children constantly needing my complete, undivided attention has begun to subside. Seven-year-old Car Guy can now play outside without me having to keep an eagle eye on him. Eleven-year-old Curly Girl enjoys reading, drawing, or playing her keyboard in her room by herself. Hubby is involved with his own activities and seems to be out of town or out of the house a lot lately. So, solitude is mine.

I've always craved solitude and need time to myself. Some people, my husband is one of them, feed off the energy of others and always want to be out among the masses. I, on the other hand, require time to myself to recharge. I adore my friends and family, and I love to travel and try new things, but, at the end of the adventure, I am always ready to retreat to my home and my thoughts. Which is what I am doing tonight, but, for some reason, this evening I also feel like sharing or talking, as it is.

No big reveal, no big moment. . . just me, plain and simple, that's it. For your listening pleasure, the play list includes assorted songs I have been listening to this evening. I admit that the Bill Ricchini song is painfully narcissistic, but I never said I was modest or humble. The song's actual title is "Angela," not Track-02 as the play list incorrectly states.

I hope you have a relaxing weekend. I'll be here writing, running, and ruminating.

Two Left Feet

2009-04-28T22:11:00.006-04:00

I seem to have an uncanny knack for injuring the extremities on my left side. A definite lack of grace and excess of klutziness have combined to create some rather embarrassing mishaps over the years.

It all began when I broke my left foot playing kickball on the blacktop in elementary school. Yes, I said blacktop. What school lets kids play kickball on a blacktop?? Of course, this was the same institution where we played many games of Red Rover, executed numerous wheelbarrow relay races, and threw the ball as hard as we could during not-so-nice dodgeball matchess. (I loved all those games, by the way, but the banning of traditional playground games could be an entirely other blog post.) After sliding on a blacktop (owwww!!!!) and injuring my foot, my parents didn't realize that my fifth metatarsal was broken until a week later. I'm not much of a sweller, so it was rather difficult to tell that anything was wrong. But, off I went to the doctor and came home with a brown, plether, orthopedic shoe (not exactly the height of fashion in the late '70s).

My next left-sided incident occurred when I was about fourteen and somehow (I don't quite remember what happened) twisted the ligaments in my left foot. I only recall having some funky leg wrap and being on crutches for a few weeks in the summer. Actually, I really remember crawling up and down the stairs at my house while dragging my crutches behind me- definitely not any fun.

I managed to stay left-side-injury free until last year, but, boy, was last summer a doozy. During a family Memorial Day cookout at our house, I fell down one step off our deck (Yes, the one lousy step in the picture!) and sprained my left foot. I was sooo embarrassed to trip off one step, especially when my 86-year-old grandmother had to help me get up off the ground. After my grandmother and mother helped me hobble into the house and ice my foot, I knew that something was wrong. I did agree to visit the doctor the following day and came home with a not-at-all-attractive orthopedic shoe. Let me tell you that sporting an orthopedic shoe for six weeks wreaked havoc with my summer flip-flop wardrobe. After finally trashing the shoe in Sarasota, Florida, beach sand over the Fourth of July, I trudged around in tennis shoes for the next few weeks before finally breaking out the flip-flops in August.

Now to my most recent, and possibly most ridiculous, injury: A week ago, I ran on a paved, wooded greenway while my children took classes at our local environmental center. I was having a great run until I stepped on a stick. Yes, I said a stick, not a limb, but a basic stick. As I stepped on one end of the stick, the other end popped up and scratched my shin. It was just a scratch that barely even bled. When I arrived at my cute and stylish convertible (okay, it's a minivan, but I pretend it's a convertible by rolling down the windows and cranking up the music), I cleaned out my superficial wound and even cleaned it again when I got home. All was well until Friday when my scratch started looking rather nasty. Not to gross you out, but it was puffy, red, and oozy. I debated about going to the doctor and felt rather ridiculous spending money on a doctor's visit for a stick's scratch. Of course, my dear, loving husband was of no assistance with his advice to open the wound and pour some hydrogen peroxide in it myself. I finally booked a doctor's appointment when Patrick threatened to give me some whiskey and something to bite down on before fixing it himself if I didn't stop obsessing about my leg (See what happens when you've been married fourteen years!).

So I sucked it up and visited the doc yesterday. Yes, it's infected. Yes, I have oral and topical meds. Yes, the wound had to be cultured to make sure I have not contracted MRSA or some other dread disease (Thankfully, I was assured that this was highly unlikely.) The worst part of the treatment, however, was the tetanus shot I had to get- you know, the tetanus shot that I have avoided for the past twenty years (See my April 9th Kentucky Bound post for more on my freakish fear of needles.). I really, really hate needles, and I only have to look at the dent in my right thigh which resulted from moving with a shot in my leg when I was one to remind me of my phobia. I did manage to get the shot without throwing a mommy meltdown, but darn my arm hurts today.

And am I getting any sympathy at home for this? Heck no, everyone just laughs at me probably like you are doing right now.

Look What We Found!

2009-04-26T21:04:00.008-04:00

As we poked around our yard tonight, we discovered a bird's nest containing five baby birds.

The birds' parents constructed the nest under the cover of our propane gas tank. What a fabulous location! It stays dry unless a deluge occurs and is rather safe. Since the top of the tank is several feet off the ground, other animals cannot get into it, but there are several holes for the birds to fly in and out.

When I snapped these pictures, three birds were in the nest and two were hanging out just outside of it. I'm sure the mama bird was nearby thinking not-very-nice things about the humans checking out her babies in their nest.

I'm always struck by the beauty and intricacy of birds' nests. At least these birds used traditional building materials, unlike the nest we found a year or two which was created mainly from our dogs' hair. I had groomed our two white, curly-haired bichon frises on the back deck, and apparently the birds thought the hair would make excellent building material. I so wish I had taken a photo of that nest!

Tomorrow we're going to drag out our bird identification guide to try to figure out what type of birds are in our current nest. A bluebird family lives in the birdhouse by our front porch, but I'm not sure what these brown and white birds are. If anyone knows, feel free to let me in on the secret.

Day on the Town

2009-04-25T21:59:00.011-04:00

My children and I spent Friday in downtown Raleigh.

Curly Girl attended the Tarheel Jr. Historian Convention at the NC Museum of History. Our local history museum started a homeschool chapter of the club which met throughout the year and attended the convention together. Any school, public or private, can start a chapter of the club and attend the state convention which focuses on aspects of North Carolina history. Curly Girl attended three or four different sessions during the day, but her favorite was the duel that costumed interpreters re-enacted on the grounds of the Old Capitol. Car Guy and I even wandered up to the festivities to take in the duel, too.

While Curly Girl was occupied at the convention, Car Guy and I explored downtown Raleigh. We started at the Blackbeard exhibit in the history museum. Car Guy loves pirates and frequently dresses up as one around the house. His favorite part of the museum's exhibit was firing a cannon at a ship as part of a video game.

After leaving the history museum, my son and I wandered over to the NC Museum of Natural Science. I especially enjoyed the butterfly house,

but Car Guy took a fancy to the dinosaur exhibit and activities.

We highly enjoyed our day trip and are contemplating other North Carolina forays to take this summer. Any suggestions?

What About Socialization?

2009-04-23T20:43:00.008-04:00

Any homeschooler would probably tell you that the question they are most frequently asked is, "What About Socialization?"

When learning that our family homeschools, people almost always ask if our children do things with other kids their age. My initial inclination is to blurt out a smart-aleck comeback like, "What? Do you think I keep my children in the house the entire time without any contact with the outside world? Honestly, do you really think I am that poor of a parent?"

For those of you who think that homeschoolers never leave their homes, here is a sampling of my children's activities from last week:

Monday: Curly Girl's soccer practice (She plays in a homeschool athletic league which competes against private schools in our area. Our team's record is currently 4-3.); Car Guy's soccer practice (He plays in a local rec league.)

Tuesday: Curly Girl to orthodontist; Kids and I took our rabbit to the vet; Car Guy's Cub Scout field trip to a local radio station; Curly Girl to Middle High Youth at church

Wednesday: Both kids had piano lessons at our local university; visited the library; Curly Girl had handbells rehearsal

Thursday: Apple Store field trip with our local homeschool group (This is a great free field trip, by the way. The kids were able to compose an original piece of music, the store staff burned it on a CD for them to keep, and the kids got certificates and free t-shirts.); History Club at our local museum where Curly Girl acted as docent for a tour of the historical park; Curly Girl's soccer game

Friday: Art classes for both kids; visited an observatory for nighttime sky-watching

Saturday: Car Guy's soccer game; Curly Girl hung out at the Y while her dad refereed several soccer games

Sunday: Entire family to church where we ushered at the contemporary service; Curly Girl's handbells concert

Note: The sports change according to the season. Summer will be all about summer swim league; Curly Girl swims competitively in the fall and winter; and Car Guy plays basketball in the winter.

My point is not look how much we do, even though homeschooling does provide us with the time to be able to undertake more activities than the kids could if they spent their entire day inside a building before completing several hours of homework each night. My point is: Look How Normal We Are!!! Regardless of homeschooling being the fastest-growing educational movement in the country, some people are still truly clueless about it. Homeschoolers are just like you; they just happened to make a different, but very viable and legitimate, educational choice than you may have made for your family. Honestly, you probably wouldn't like it if people drew broad, highly inaccurate generalizations about you and your family just because your children attend public or private school.

I am still fuming about a conversation I overheard (The people were sitting behind me at one of Curly Girl's soccer games. It was impossible not to hear them talking.) a few weeks ago between several private school parents. Since their daughters were playing against a homeschool team, I guess the parents felt empowered to nastily spout out every inaccurate fallacy that exists about homeschool children and families. It took every bit of self-control I had not to turn around and go off on these parents about the stereotypes they were spewing while informing them about the $20K I dropped at their school when my children previously attended their daycare when I worked fulltime.

So, back to socialization. Yes, homeschoolers leave their homes. Yes, we engage with the outside world. I personally believe that homeschooling allows my children to more authentically engage in the real world by being out and about in it, instead of cooped up in an artificial classroom environment. So there, that's it. I'll try to not stereotype you for your educational choices, if you'll please not stereotype me for mine.

Do you remember Dillon Fence?

2009-04-21T22:17:00.005-04:00

Think of the quintessential college band. Chances are if you went to college in North Carolina in the early 1990s, you may have conjured up thoughts of Dillon Fence. Yea, do you remember them?

I honestly don't remember how many times I have seen Dillon Fence perform. Between seeing them on the quad at Duke, at Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, and at assorted places in the Piedmont, Dillon Fence definitely reminds me of the college years. Heck, I even saw the band before-they-were-stars when they played at a Wake Forest debate camp that I attended one summer in high school. Even better, if you require a Dillon Fence fix you can see them again this weekend at Cat's Cradle.

When my husband, Patrick, mentioned that Dillon Fence will be performing in Chapel Hill this Saturday night, we automatically started laughing about the last time we saw the band. Several years ago, Patrick and I excitedly hit Dillon Fence's reunion tour at Ziggy's (If you have never been to Ziggy's, it consists of the shell of an old house with a giant tent behind it.). We happily sent the kids to my parents and bought our tickets.

The summery Saturday night of the concert, hubby and I went out to dinner before hitting the coliseum area about 8:30pm, the concert time printed on the tickets. First off, neither Patrick or I had been to Ziggy's in at least ten years, so we were a bit fuzzy on its exact location. As we walked up to the first club on the street, we noticed a very looooong line stretching down the sidewalk. Upon closer observation, we realized that unless Dillon Fence was now attracting a hip-hop crowd, we were probably in the wrong location. Needless to say, we got back in our vehicle and moseyed down the street.

A block or two later, we immediately recognized the ramshackle house of Ziggy's with the fenced-in yard and assorted attached tents. Noticing a lack of cars, though, did concern us a bit. Rechecking the time and date on our tickets, we ventured into the venue. Patrick and I strolled around, bought a beer or two, and sat down to relax and wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. Now, I know I've gotten old. I go to bed at the time when I used to go out for the night, but I really didn't think I had gotten that old. Apparently, I have aged much more than the members of Dillon Fence.

I was fighting back yawns as the band finally took the stage about 11pm. The concert was great; I remembered the words to the songs; I jumped up and down; I sang. Even better, there were plenty of thirty-somethings attending, too. Pregnant women, mommies, daddies, gray-headed men- Patrick and I were relieved to not be the only "old" people at Ziggy's that night. We were partying on the floor near the stage about 12:30am when we turned around and noticed a considerably sparser crowd than was in the club 45 minutes previously. After a minute, we figured it out. Everyone behind us had to go home to relieve their babysitters. We were so thrilled that our kids were spending the night with their grandparents, so we could stay for the entire show.

I'll tell you what, though. I was wiped out the next day, okay, for the next few days. Staying up until 2am definitely took more of a toll on me than it had ten years previously.

Let my memory be a lesson to you: If you see Dillon Fence at Cat's Cradle this Saturday night, don't go too early, book your babysitter for the entire night, and allow lots of recovery time for yourself. Will I be attending? Unfortunately, no. My husband will be polishing his halo by chaperoning a youth retreat all weekend, which leaves me on solo parenting duty. I don't think I can exactly take Curly Girl and Car Guy to Cat's Cradle now, can I?

I'm Working On It, Really, I Am

2009-04-20T21:14:00.002-04:00

I'm working on some new blog posts, really, I am. I have almost finished composing several entries; the problem is that they are not yet tangibly written down. Yes, I pre-write an entry almost completely in my head (usually while running) before I ever put in on paper.

The last few days have been such a flurry of activity that I have barely had time to do anything besides the bare basics of bunny care, chauffeuring children, and running errands. Today, for example, involved:
5am- feed Nibbles and write
7:30am- wake children, shower, eat breakfast
schoolwork- Thank goodness for the flexibility of homeschooling.
10:30am- 12:15pm- Curly Girl's orthodontist appointment
12:30pm- 1:30pm- home for lunch and pet care
2pm- piano lessons for both children
errands
4pm- Curly Girl's soccer game (They won!)
dinner with the soccer team
7pm ish- home where I gave Nibbles a bath
8pm- Dancing With the Stars (Yes, I know it's cheesy, but I love it!)
9:45pm-writing very short blog post
10pm- curling up in bed to watch "Castle" and read about ancient Rome so I
can discuss it with Curly Girl tomorrow

I have every intention of getting up super-early in the morning to make a large dent in the writing I actually get paid for (Don't even ask me how far behind I am at the moment), then putting a new blog post on paper tomorrow tonight. Hopefully, all will go as planned. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Night at the Observatory

2009-04-17T22:32:00.005-04:00

Curly Girl, Car Guy, and I enjoyed such an engaging evening. We visited a local college that opens their observatory to the public on clear Friday nights.

Since we had never been before to this-particular observatory before, we decided to check it out. The kids and I are covering astronomy this semester and have had so-so success skywatching on our own. I have never taken an astronomy class before, so helping the kids has been a blind-leading-the-blind experience. We have previously located several stars by using our star chart, and I am not ashamed to say that we are learning astronomy together.

Due to my lack of astronomical experience, checking out a real-life observatory for free was just too much of a chance to pass up. I didn't know what to expect, but it was great! The guides utilized the large telescope in the observatory, as well as a telescope that was set up outside. Even better, they explained what the images were for the clueless among us.

We viewed:

Mercury

Saturn

Betelgeuse (A star that is actually larger than our sun.)

A double star (Two stars that rotate around each other. The ones we saw are farther away from us than the Sun is from Pluto.)

Orion nebula

Our evening proves that you don't have to spend money to have fun. We will definitely be checking out the observatory again!

Hanging in There

2009-04-15T21:29:00.009-04:00

Nibbles is still hanging in there. After a less than stellar vet trip yesterday, the bunny has rebounded some today.

Yesterday was tough. The vet was very kind, but honest when she informed me that Nibbles prognosis is "guarded." He has a deep inner ear infection which is tough to completely cure. To make things worse, he has bruised his eyes from flailing about so much. My main job now is to pump Nibbles full of bunny gruel (yogurt with his food pellets mixed into it) every four hours, lots of water, and plenty of hay. I managed to hold it together at the vet since Car Guy and Curly Girl were with me, but as soon as I was by myself at home I pretty much lost it. I am such a sap for animals. I am rather low on mercy when people are sick, but fall apart if an animal is lost or hurt. I can't even watch "The Lion King" or "Bambi" because of my affinity for injured animals, and don't even ask me how much I cried at "Benji" movies when I was little.

I can kind of empathize with Nibbles. I had an inner ear infection when I was seventeen, and it was definitely no fun. My ear infection appeared without any warning and, unfortunately, reared its head when I was driving. Thankfully, a friend was with me who could take over when I blacked out at the wheel. I completely understand that Nibbles' world is spinning because mine did for quite some time, along with repeatedly passing out, until my antibiotics kicked in.

This entire rabbit rehabilitation episode seems to have brought out two of my less desirable (or they could be positive, depending on how you look at it) personality traits: stubbornness and a refusal to give up on people.

I am just absolutely, downright stubborn. If someone tells me I can't or shouldn't do something, then I'll just try even harder to prove them wrong, even if it flies in the face of common sense or public opinion. So, gosh darn, I'm going to rehabilitate this rabbit if it's the last thing I do. When I was feeding Nibbles a few minutes ago, Curly Girl commented that we are probably the only family whose schedule is dictated by a rabbit (and to think that I laughed at a friend when she syringe-fed a squirrel for two months; Okay, Kelsey, now I get it). I have even arranged for a substitute bunny feeder to care for Nibbles when I am not home (Thank you, Mom, for taking on this duty.). My refusal to listen to other people does sometimes pay off, though. I wouldn't have the fantastic time I have with my kids if I had actually listened to my husband when he told me that no way, no how would we ever home school. Ssshhh, don't tell him, but I have already spent more than the amount I was "told" to spend on bunny care. You see, I just don't listen to people other than myself.

My new career as a rabbit rehabilitator has also reminded me that I refuse to give up on people or animals, for that matter. I tend to give people multiple chances to get it right, regardless of how many times they may screw up their lives or relationships. I hate to say goodbye to people or to animals. I just don't want to do it. I can't stand losing touch with people. Over the last two years, I have lost touch with one of my closest friends from the high school and college years (the same person who was with me when I passed out while driving), and it absolutely drives me crazy. Our lives have just moved in opposite directions, but I, of course, blame myself for this turn of events. Just like the Nibbles situation: I refuse to give up on the rabbit, and I blame myself for his issues, even if it is not completely reasonable.

There it is in a nutshell: how caring for a bunny has brought my own foibles into the open. I'm sure that we all have emotional hang-ups, for some reason I am just feeling rather transparent about mine today. Think of me if you happen to be awake at 5am. I'll be feeding the bunny then.