Hey! I'm a Canna

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

Here's what it says about me: "You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

Boy, doesn't THAT sound right on the money? As with all such surveys, I was wishing for some different choices on some of the questions, but it certainly turned out right! I think the first question is my favorite - "How many books do you have in your home?" I'm not sure I know anyone who has fewer than 100 books in their home!! And I liked being asked about moving help, because we are always happy to help friends move - we've moved SO many times, and while we had hired help for almost all of them (provided by the company Steve worked for), we still have a great understanding for the hassle that is moving.

So, what flower are you?

I am... a Lover of Cats

Okay, ladies! If I can do this photo challenge of posting a picture of myself every day through the end of the month with the WORST hair-cut I've had since 7th grade, you can let your family take a few pictures of you during the holidays, right??? (At least it only cost $6!!)

Speaking of hair - I've also taken on the challenge of going "no-poo". I think I'm on day 5, and I'm really loving it (although it is taking longer in the shower - go figure!). I'm one of those people who get really greasy if I skip even one day, and I'm not greasy at all. My hair is starting to have more body, and I haven't used any product. I first heard about this a month or so ago on the Consensual Living email group, and more recently saw it on one of the random blogs I read last week. Now if I can just get a decent hair cut!!

So - to the kitten on my neck: Lyra has totally captured our hearts. (She is one of the foster kittens from our first batch.) Yesterday, she laid across the back of my neck as I did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen! She would rather be with us than anything else, so she sometimes rides in the car when we go places. She loves to fetch crinkle balls and small stuffed animals. She also loves to get and give kisses (she puts her mouth up to our face and kind of opens in and closes it again - it's pretty funny).

Almost every time we are in the kitchen she comes and sits at our feet and meows the tiniest little meow until we pick her up. Then she climbs up on our neck right away - I think it is so she can see. She always goes up my right shoulder and comes around and looks over my left shoulder. She was the runt of the litter, so I'm hoping she stays small, 'cause a 15 pound cat on my neck would be pretty uncomfortable!

I am... a Painter

So, guess what I did today! I painted our kitchen, all by myself! (And I managed to snap this picture of myself without getting paint on my camera, too!)

Bekka was gone all day, and I got so much done. I got a dinner in the crock pot, made sourdough crackers, and painted the kitchen. I even watched A Prairie Home Companion (Bekka put it in our queue, but once it got here, decided she didn't want to watch it) and The Shot (which I'll probably end up watch again with Bekka later).

The kitchen was already yellow, but not the shade I like, and the walls had lots and lots of cracks (and spider webs, too), so I got a richer shade - more orange and filled in all the cracks (and took down all the webs).

Isn't it pretty? It's so nice, we decided to put the love seat in the "breakfast nook" instead of the desk that was there.

And here is proof of both the crock pot dinner and the home made crackers.

I am... Me

This is the first picture of me that I've taken while holding the camera myself that I've ever liked!

And to expand this post - this post about me, I'll share a bit more about myself. (I don't guarantee that I'm not repeating myself from somewhere else on my blog!)

I value connection (even though I don't always know how to achieve it - moving all my life as I have), joy, love, peace (wow, this is really original, huh?), belonging, fun, spontaneity, the environment, resourcefulness, respect, health, growth, thrift, balance, honesty, strength, wonder, and change.

I believe that children should have the same rights as adults. At this point in my life, I do not believe in god, but I do believe in the strength of the human spirit. I believe that love energy sustains us. I believe that everyone is good, but not everyone believes that they, themselves are. I believe a lot of strange things happen to people as they are parented and many, many traditional parenting practices work to break down the good in people - the belief of self that people are born with.

I am working hard to become the person I want to be - the person I was born to be.

Google Image Meme

I've been spending quite a lot of time on the computer the last few days, and thought this looked like fun.

Here's the deal: Type the answer to each question into a Google image search, and then pick an image from the first page of results.


1. Age At Next Birthday: 44.



2. Place I'd Like To Travel: Austria



3. Favorite Place: Our adopted home town - Corvallis!



4. Favorite Object(s):

My laptop:



My Camera:



and my Car:




5. Favorite Food:

Peanut Sauce:



and Chocolate:




6. Favorite Animal: Kittens!




7. Favorite Color: Autumn leaf colors - plummish purple (what's up with all the unschoolers loving purple??), golds, greens, oranges.

Here is the purple:

I don't love this picture, but it was taken on my birthday last year, so what can I say?

and here is what I came up with when I googled "autumn leaf colors":




8. My Nickname(s): Everyone's always thought Joni is a nickname, but no, it's just the name I've always had. So I guess I'll see what happens when I look for my online name, Galavanter.

Well THIS looks like fun!


9. Town I was Born In: Biloxi, MS - haven't been there since I was two months old, though! I picked this image because it was taken on my dad's birthday last year.




10. Bad Habit I Have:

Talking with my mouth full - yuck! I had to pick the ugliest of the images, since it's so gross!



Wanna play? Go right ahead!


Okay - somebody who's done this - please tell my how to get the images so they are clear and not all pixilated!!!

PS - and to kill two birds with one stone, I Image Googled my name and came up with, Ta Da!:

ME! From the Live and Learn Conference website

I am... not a ballerina!

Bekka was anxious to get out of the house and DO something today, so we took the camera and walked downtown. This picture was taken at Central Park.

I had slept in really late this morning - we've been staying up really late (or should I say early, since we haven't been going to bed until well after midnight) and I just couldn't make it out of bed at my normal 9am this morning. (If you don't know, I'm a night owl, and we are radical unschoolers, so we don't have to get up early - well, we really don't HAVE TO do ANYTHING!!) So, anyway, I hadn't realized that Bekka didn't really eat lunch before our outing and she ended up getting really hungry (and as an extension of that, really grumpy). When she gets like that, she can't figure out what to eat - nothing sounds good and she just gets more and more frustrated.

My old, traditional parenting self would have gotten a bit frustrated too, but today I just stayed calm and started taking pictures of the interesting stuff around us while she took the time she needed to work through being frustrated. We stood on the street corner downtown for what felt like half an hour (but I'm sure wasn't), then sat at a local restaurant, then walked over to the bookstore, and THEN she decided that I needed to tell her what to eat! So I took her to Zia, which is a New Mexican place that just opened up. She became much happier, and decided to stay downtown while I walked home to get the car to pick her up.

She's still in a bit of a funk, and I'm still happy! Life as a peaceful parent is, well, peaceful!

We have clean clothes!!!

And I didn't even have to go to the laundromat!

See, our super-duper washing machine has been "not working" since just before I got back from the GUTS retreat. Steve narrowed it down to "not the fuse" and I did an internet search and found out all about motor brushes (they look nothing like brushes and do something really important so that, when they get too short, the motor doesn't work at all). Then I ordered the parts and fixed it all by myself!

The reason I'm so proud about this is that most people call a repairman and most repairmen, when faced with "the motor won't work" will install a new motor to the tune of $300 plus labor. But, we aren't most people - we are UNSCHOOLERS! And we think, "How hard can this be if a skilled laborer can fix it?" So, our 11 year old Asko washing machine, which I do believe to be the BEST washing machine ever made, is now happily spinning away with all the laundry that's been piling up and I'm doing the "I saved at least $400" happy dance!

Surfing the Blogosphere or Where did the last 5 hours go???

Okay, I've been indulging myself and surfing some new blogs (not that I need any new blogs to read - I don't even keep up with the ones I already KNOW I like!). I just can't believe how much time I can spend on this!

You really do find some pretty cool people by surfing the unschooling blog ring, but why, oh why do people join this ring when they don't unschool??? I swear, every other one is blogging about school, or curriculum, or making their kids do this or that! Maybe I need to stick to the LIFE is Good and Live and Learn rings. Yeah, or maybe I need to get off the computer and DO something!

Last night I got all caught up in the HBA controversy - and why would I even care??? It's all Caren's fault - she linked me to this really great blog, which linked to some blog award thing, which linked to more blogs, which I ended up following to "the controversy" (which I won't bother linking to).

Now tonight I have my super cool, eco-friendly paint from Your Green Home sitting here staring at me, along with the dingy kitchen walls and the cracks I have yet to fill, and I'm surfing the unschooling blog ring! Yikes!

I am... a Cook

This is a very candid photo of me - Bekka, being the intelligent person she is, figured out, after the first day that I needed her help with my daily photo, so she picked up the camera while I was making home-made mac n' cheese last night. It makes me laugh 'cause it looks like my arm is coming from somewhere other than my shoulder!

I resisted the urge to get a better picture taken. Hey - they can't all be good!

I am... Virtual!

Here I am as a Meez - it's surprising how much you have to define yourself when making a virtual version!

While my hair is currently much shorter, it WILL grow! The rest of the style is all ME!

I am... Someone who knows her desires

One of our GUTS retreat homework assignments was to decorate our Desire Box with magazine cut outs that we brought to the retreat. It was so interesting to see our desires manifest on the outside of our box!

Here is the top of my box - it says "Gathering" and has a picture of child with a ginormous bunch of sunflowers. On the side of the top is says, "Art of Living" and on the side of the box is this thought, "I want to see our communities get more and more localized, with more local food produced and consumed,more local goods bought and sold. I want to see local entrepreneurship and craftsmanship encouraged. I want a renaissance of the hands, so that we use fewer electrical gadgets and motorized tools."

On this side of the top is says, "we chose the liberating joy", and wrapped around the corner, "self-portrait as revealed by" and a picture of sunlight through the storm clouds.

These quotes are, "Capturing the character" and "Whether we be heads of state or directors of organizations or worker bees or armchair cheerleaders, we in the choir are leaders and role models. We, of all people, have to show that life can be lived differently, and that the reimagined life can be beautiful, functional, and overflowing with rewards none of us expected."

This last side is serene - a picture of a candle in the window with the quote, "transform the way we live" and on the top, "Are we being change, or are we just talking about change?

I love my desires box! Someday soon I may even share what's inside the box!

I am... a baker

We've gotten into a baking kick lately. Not the normal holiday baking, no! Yesterday we made Sourdough Crackers (that didn't really turn out) and Mint Chocolate Cheesecake (which isn't done yet - it bakes for about an hour, sits in the oven for about an hour, sits on the counter for three hours, and in the fridge for 24 hours!).

Today it's Streusel Coffee Cake. It's currently in the oven, but it smells wonderful!

I am... a knitter

In an attempt to picture myself this month - here I am, knitting one of the pair of socks I'm working on. These are cotton/bamboo - so great to work with!

We saw the Golden Compass!

It was one of the best book to movie movies I've seen in a long, long time. The casting was perfect - especially Lee Scoresby and Mrs. Coulter. And we all loved Lee's daemon, Hester.

The only big variant from the book was the end, and I don't want to say too much as to not spoil the movie for those who have yet to see it.

As with all movies based on a fabulous book, they had to cut out lots and lots of potentially great scenes, and I think they did a great job with their choices.

Bekka was, of course, disappointed with what got left out, but even she was happy with the movie. She finished rereading the book as we were walking into the theater!

GUTS Homework - I am... a blogger

On our GUTS support call yesterday, Reggie challenged us to get at least ten pictures of ourselves in December. The thought behind this is that most women (especially middle-aged moms) don't have many pictures taken of them - lots of the kids and pets and other stuff, but they are usually absent in the photos (I'm usually taking ours). I decided that I would try to post a new picture of myself on my blog every day for the rest of the month.

This is really for my own amusement, trying to capture myself in different roles.

I thought this first one should be me, writing my blog, so that if some poor soul is actually reading this, they can see what I might look like right now, typing this out. (Bekka's comment, it's not very exciting.)

Hazelnuts

Bekka skins the hazelnuts
Last week, Bekka and I decided to roast the hazelnuts that Steve picked up in the hazelnut orchard a while ago. This required lots of hand-shelling - ouch!
Shells!
We had shells going everywhere. Would have been hard to find the shells all over the kitchen if it weren't for Lyra - she would dash over to the latest errant shell so I could pick it up before she tried to eat it.

Chocolate Covered Hazelnuts
Once they were roasted, Bekka asked if we could dip them in chocolate. Yum!

Yea! I have SOCKS!

About a year ago, Steve and I went to Ashland for our anniversary and I did a lot of shopping while Steve geocached.

I love to wander around cute towns poking in and out of fun little shops by myself and they have one in particular that I've always wanted to check out, but my kids and Steve were never interested in at all. And I would SO rather be alone than with someone who doesn't want to be there!

So I wander into The Web-sters, which is pretty much a yarn shop with these really wonderful woven items on display in the front window. While looking around, the Magic Loop display caught my eye. It is a way to make socks on one long set of circular needles. I was intrigued. I asked the very nice sales girl about it and whether a true novice could knit a pair of socks. (I had knit two of three scarves and that is all the knitting I've ever done!)

She warned my about second sock syndrome, which I could completely see myself suffering from (where you knit one sock and forever have only one sock because you can't bring yourself to do the exact same thing over again to knit the second sock). So I purchased my size 0 (about the diameter of a tooth pick) Addi Turbo 40" circular needles (because I'm the Princess and the Pea when it comes to my feet and the smaller the needle the tighter the sock and the less you feel the bumps of the knitting), found some beautiful soft wool yarn from Lorna's Laces and way too much money later, I'm on my merry way.

I went back to our room and started working on my socks. I got them cast on (four or five times), knit two, and then, uh-oh! I couldn't remember how to purl! The yarn shop was closed by this time so I switched to reading the Yarn Harlot and laughing 'til I cried! The next morning I returned to the yarn shop for a quick tutorial and a basic knitting book and I was on my way.

On and off knitting (more off than on) and LOTS and LOTS of help from some very wonderful, and very generous knitters (thanks Nan (helping start the heal), Monique (general oops control and sock anatomy understanding), Anne (helping me rip out too many rows - wow - that was scary!), Ginger (heal shaping and into the gusset), Sheila (teaching me how to unknit), and Amy (early help and toe and finishing help), have resulted in a finished pair of socks!!

My first pair of socks!

I'm so excited and ready to start my next pair (toe up, two on the same magic loop, self striping)! There are many who think I'm crazy!

Golden Compass Controversy

Like many others, I received an email about the Golden Compass from a friend – it’s been circulating via email. I thought I’d share my thoughts. If you have not seen the emails circulating around, you can find a version here. For the record, I think the snopes research on this one is quite lacking.

The email I got had this added at the top, “So many things today are darkness concealed in what appears to be innocent.” My first thought was, I don't think Philip Pullman has tried to conceal anything, and certainly not "darkness concealed in what appears to be innocent" by titling his trilogy, "His Dark Materials".

I've been highly recommending this trilogy for years - and always add the caveat that the books will challenge your belief in God. I'm always confused when people never want their beliefs challenged. Being a humanist in a Christian society, my beliefs are always being challenged, and every time I reach more clarity in what I believe, not less. If Christianity is a firmly held belief, then I would think that these books would clarify their beliefs and strengthen them, just as being bombarded by biblical teaching clarifies mine.

In researching this controversy, I came across many interviews with Pullman that clarify his beliefs (as much as possible, since he isn’t entirely sure himself – and certainly not to the point of being a militant). The interview that best addresses the issues raised in the circulating emails can be found here.

And, to miss this movie, you will be missing the strongest female lead I've ever come across - and in an 11 year old girl, no less! At least, I hope the movie is true enough to the book to maintain Lyra's strength.

I'm sure my girls and I will be at the first showing - we can't wait!



Writing about the Golden Compass (by people who have actually read the books and done some actual research) can be found here:
hisdarkmaterials.org
margheim.net

Some other interviews with the author:
From the British Humanist Association website
The Guardian BooksTalk
kidsreads.com
Philip-Pullman.com has many more links to interviews and well as the author's own presentations of his works.

What do you think - is my daemon right?

We are SO EXCITED that they've made a movie from one of our favorite books! We can hardly wait until the release date!

GUTS Retreat is coming!

I am SO EXCITED! My life coach, Reggie Adams is hosting her second GUTS (Giving Unbelievable aTtention to Self) retreat at the end of this month and I just can't wait! The first retreat was three or four years ago and it totally changed my life and helped me make great strides to being, living, who I want to be.

I will be spending a weekend with 20 amazingly real women, all of whom are working hard to be who they authentically want to be. I just know this is going to be magical and life altering.

My wonderful friend, Carole will be sharing this experience with me again and on her 50th birthday no less! The day after the retreat we are moving to a fabulous spa in Calistoga to celebrate the wonderfulness that is Carole.

This is just going to be the BEST weekend!

Frustrations!

Ugh! Sometimes I just want to flail about kicking and screaming - why, oh why am I taking so long to be the person I want to be???

Why can't I just always be respectful to everyone and totally shut down those tired, old, judgemental voices or reactions?

How come I can't just accept everyone as they are and be that loving, caring person I SO want to be???

I want so many things about this world to change that I get impatient with all the little things and speak out inappropriately. I get frustrated at the unconscious rudeness all around me and I end up being rude to someone who just hasn't thought it through - how ironic is that??

I guess this is why it is a journey, rather than a destination...

Can anyone relate?

It's Kitten Time!

A Kitten Puddle!

For the last couple of months we've been fostering four of the cutest kittens ever for the humane society and they are almost ready for adoption. They were found in a cardboard box in front of the downtown Safeway and weren't weaned yet (yuck!). Now they are healthy, happy kittens in need of homes. All of them absolutely adore people. If you are interested in adopting any (or all) of them, let me know ASAP!

So meet the kittens:

Krinkle

Krinkle is a fun loving spirited girl. She loves people and loves to play, play, play.

Lyra

Lyra (named for the strong, female main character in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy) is a smart, loving girl. She loves to give LOTS of kisses. She has her moments of wrestling with the others, but as soon as you pick her up she settles down and purrs. She is very petite, but she is always the first to learn new things.

Chester

Chester is a wild little kitten. He loves to run and play and he is oh-so soft!

Teddy

Teddy (or Teddy Bear) is SO SOFT and cuddly! He is also HUGE! He is a total cuddle-bug who is destined to be a large cat. He always melts in my arms every time I pick him up - even when he is in the middle of a wrestling match and he purrs like crazy. (He also always squints his eyes when we try to take pictures of him - he really has gorgeous round eyes.) If you want a totally cuddly cat, Teddy is your guy!

Take Action Against Hate Crimes

Amazing Transportation Photos

Lords of the Logistic have some amazing, and inspiring photos of transportation from around the world. Just to prove that you don't need an SUV, large truck, or even a delivery van!

Two of my favorites are:

You Think YOU Have a Tough Commute?

Family of 5? No Problem, a Motorscooter Will Do!

Hey! My brain is Blue!

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow. You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles. Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Teenagers, an excellent essay

I just read the greatest article about teenagers and the parent/teen unschooling relationship ever!

Ronnie (or Frank - can't tell who) from the LIFE is Good Conference is the author, and I just LOVE EVERYTHING she says.

Thank you, Ronnie (and or Frank), for your inspiration.

Come See My New Venture

I'm a Life Coach specializing in helping unschooling families find more freedom and joy in their lives through my articles on my blog, "CHOOSING FREEDOM" and one-on-one phone coaching.

I've been coaching with Reggie Adams, a wonderful life coach from St. Cloud, MN for four years and I've learned so much and believe so strongly in what life coaching can do that I've decided to be a coach! Reggie has been very encouraging and has given me great pointers. I've been business coaching my Creative Memories downline for ten years, and I always end up doing more life coaching than business coaching with them, so I've got lots of practice.

I met Scott Noelle at the first LIFE is Good Conference and I was so inspired by his Daily Groove that I just had to go for it!

I'm excited to offer coaching to parents who believe in their kids and respect them as people! With all the traditional parenting examples around, unschooling parents sometimes need a little help with gentle reminders that, YES! they are on the right track. This is what I'm offering.

Oh, and I'm learning so much as I try to figure out all the website stuff! Can't wait to get an actual website up, but I've got to learn it all first. Yes, I'm an unschooler, too.

Great Essay on Productivity

My LIFE is Good friend Karen shared a link to this essay today and I absolutely love it.

In it, author Aaron Swartz shares his views on how to be productive.

There are so many things he says in the essay that I just love, but one, very subtile comment is, "Most people's time is eaten up by things like school and work. Obviously if you attend one of these, you should stop. But what else can you do?" YES! I would so love to talk with him about more of his views.

Aaron is a big Alfie Kohn fan, who, coincidentally is speaking in Portland on the 24th of July. Unfortunately, I won't be there, as I have a family commitment that night.

Makes me wonder if Aaron speaks - could be a great addition to the LIFE is Good lineup (Mary, I know you're reading!).

So, please go read the essay and let me know what you think.

8 things about me meme.

~~~Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.~~~

1. I’m average. I often wonder if you create a composite of all American women you wouldn’t get me! My hair is that non-descript medium brown, my eyes are hazel (which just means they are all colors), I’m 5’6”, I’m a size 10 in clothing, and I wear a size 7.5 shoe (which means I can never find shoes on sale, ‘cause so many people share my shoe size). When I was a kid, the average age at which girls started their periods was 13 and a half – mine started on that exact day!

2. I have this disgusting habit of chewing my cheek/lip and I can’t stop! Ugh!

3. Even though I’m totally into my kids, being a radical unschooling momma and all, I could have just as easily not had kids. I would never have gone through any kind of infertility treatments. Given my life as it is now, this factoid just seems really odd to me.

4. I’m not good at keeping in touch with people. I would love to have really close relationships with friends, but never want to bother them. My journey is teaching me to be better at communicating with others, maybe I’ll be able to get over this.

5. I love to stay up late, and I’m not too bad in the morning either. But 2:00 in the afternoon – forget it!

6. I’ve been a Girl Scout for 36 years.

7. I am a total “Princess and the Pea” kind of gal, especially when it comes to my feet! I absolutely can’t stand having anything stuck in my shoe, and socks are even worse – the tiniest grain of sand will bug me to no end.

8. I really hate doing these kinds of things, and it has taken me a good long while to do it – I was good until about #6, then got totally stuck (or totally tired, since it was after midnight one night when I started) and then forgot about finishing it. The only reason I’m doing it is because my very dear friend, Mary tagged me. (She has a lot of influence on me – good and bad :-P!)

So, I may or may not successfully tag others, but at least I did some not too serious writing!

I'll tag... okay, I have absolutely no idea who to tag. All chains eventually end with me!

LIFE is Good Tribe Member

Today I got an email from the Zenmomma herself, inviting me to join the LIFE is Good blog ring.

What fun! I love reading the blogs of other radical (whole-life) unschoolers, and some of my favorite people are connected with this incredible conference.

I hope that readers of my blog click around a little and explore the writings and/or musings of others who are choosing to live their life authentically in all respects.

Serafina

We have one female cat and two males. Our female, Serafina hates other cats and loves people. Her whole name is Serafina Pekala from Philip Pullman’s trilogy, “His Dark Materials”. She is named after the queen of the witch clan introduced in book 1, “The Golden Compass”, and her birthday is Oct. 31 (which is why we had to find a cool witch to name her after).

The thing that’s funny about Serafina is that she likes to have us wash her face. She will jump up on my lap (only when there are no other cats anywhere close), lick my fingers and then rub her face on my wet fingers.

Now, I normally hate when cats lick people, especially ME! But Serafina has a history that caused me to not mind so much. We got her from the humane society about a year and a half ago when we were getting kittens for the girls for Christmas. She was a bit over a year old and was so beautiful (she’s a blue), soft and loving.

Turns out that she was found on the street, half starved at 8 months old with a litter of kittens. She went into foster care with her kittens, who were all adopted out once they were weaned. Shortly before she was supposed to go to the humane society, an abandoned litter of kittens came in. One was so sick they didn’t think it would make it, but Serafina nursed it until it was strong enough to be adopted (wouldn’t nurse any of the others, just the sick one).

So Serafina went to the humane society and was adopted out really quickly to an older woman. Serafina is prone to eye infections, sneezing and stuff and the woman who adopted her was afraid that she would catch Serafina’s eye infection in the only good eye she had (impossible, but that was her fear), so she returned Serafina (living in fear is such a sad way to live!). Serafina had been there for so long when we met her, her former foster mom was worried she wasn’t going to get adopted and actually put together a stocking of goodies to go home with her.

She has always hated the two kittens and has been pretty uncomfortable in our home. It took her six months to purr for us at home, or even to sit in our laps. I’m sure it was partly the pesky kittens, and partly her traumatic beginnings of being homeless, having a home, and being returned. I can’t help but wonder if she thought she would be returned yet again – she had had so many homes. So I’m thrilled that she finds pleasure in interacting with us, and I’m willing to be a little grossed out to help her find her pleasure.

Another really weird thing about her is that she loves going to the vet – I think mostly because she gets us all to herself and she gets to sit in a lovely window seat and watch the birds come and go from the bird feeders that our vet has placed right outside each of her three exam rooms. She purrs and purrs when we are there. She is so relaxed and happy at the vet – makes it really easy for our vet to examine her.

This makes me wonder what people’s stories are and how I can find compassion in view of things people do that I find weird. What is their story, and how do I find out without being nosy?

Hmmmm…

What a Trip!

My friend Alicia and I recently got back from taking some of our Girl Scouts to Washington DC and Williamsburg/Historic Triangle. It turned out to be two adults and four girls (Alicia’s two daughters, Steffi and a girl we borrowed from our old troop, ‘cause we like her so much!).

We were gone for 12 days and truly had a fabulous time! I swear the only things we didn’t see were the Library of Congress and Ford’s Theater! It feels like a really successful trip, which is really satisfying after all the time and effort I put into it on the front end planning every last detail. (The girls are still a little young to plan their own trips – it was all they could stand to pick out what they wanted to do and see!)

We loved where we stayed in Washington – the Doubletree Suites in Foggy Bottom. It was a smallish hotel in a very, very quiet neighborhood (no sirens, no traffic…), 1 1/2 blocks from the Metro, 2 blocks from the Safeway at the Watergate (really, NOT impressive!!), 4 blocks from Trader Joes and within walking distance of the Lincoln Memorial.

Soaked! On our first full day in Washington we went to the zoo. This ended up being a highlight for everyone, as we were stuck in the zoo during a particularly fierce thunderstorm that made us all scream out loud. (Not all highlights are positive!) We were totally drenched and ended up skipping down the street to the Metro singing all the weather songs we could remember.

On Memorial Day we decided to go to the Arlington Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremony, where we ended up sitting in the third row of the White House guests reserved section and seeing President Bush deliver his address. We’re guessing it had something to do with the fact that we were wearing our Girl Scout uniforms.

We happened upon the Supreme Court Justices reading an opinion on Tuesday! We had no idea that that would be happening, or even that you could see it, but it was and we were some of just a few of the public who were let in to observe (after being stripped of everything we owned!).


Steffi’s 11th birthday was on Thursday, and we celebrated by getting dressed up in Colonial dresses and going to dinner at Gadsby’s Tavern in Old Town Alexandria. What an experience! The food was great and the entertainment was even better. It was a treat to imagine George and Martha Washington entertaining guests in the very room we were dining in.

After spending a full week in Washington, we rented a car and drove to Williamsburg, where the girls had a great time parading around in their Colonial dresses. They attracted a lot of attention with the dresses, making it totally worth packing them all the way across the country. We went on a ghost tour, hauled water from a well, smooshed clay with our feet in the brickyard, and taught other tourists “the courtesies”.

12 days of traveling and the girls were just such good companions! I would definitely travel with this group of fabulous young women again!