My Happy Day

My birthday was full of authentic joy and love. I got to spend the day connecting with two of my favorite people.

Since we were up in Portland, we had to hit Ikea, then we enjoyed a wonderful Vietnamese lunch where we laughed, cried (that would have been just me!) and shared parts of our lives with each other. After taking care of myself by making a difficult phone call while I had the support of my close friends, we spent a few hours painting pottery.

Alicia, Dominique and me surrounded by creativity

It was already 5:30 when we finished painting and our plan was to treat ourselves to fabulous dessert - so off we headed to Papa Haydn's. Mmmm! What a treat - and yes, they taste as good as they look!



Looking back over the day, I realize that the day was full of a lot of self care, which is something I've been needing. One of the activities we do in our GUTS work is to make a list of 100 ways to love myself. While my list is only 28 items long right now, I did a great job of loving myself on Saturday by listening to my heart, accepting myself, letting others love me, loving others, helping someone, listening to music (Amy Steinberg speaks to my soul), dressing up, taking a shower, brushing my teeth (sometimes it's the simple things!), giving someone a hug (lots of hugs), meeting friends for a meal, inviting a friend for lunch, following through on something hard (the difficult phone call I mentioned earlier), sending an uplifting email, being an advocate, remembering who I am, sharing my talents with others, and painting - that's 18 of my 28 - pretty darn good for one day!

One of my highlights came in a simple manila envelope. My friend Alicia made me the most incredible gift.

It reads:
You alight with such softness
The flower’s head does not bow.

You partake of the nectar
And leave life giving pollen in return

You must be treated gently lest your wings become ragged with life

Your wings fold to conceal the
brightness of your colors

When warmed by the sun they unfurl to reveal your brilliant colors

You soar with the slightest breeze
And you flash in the sunlight

You walk with such softness
on the Earth you leave no footprint

You partake of the Earth’s delicacies, friend’s time, and family’s love,
And leave life giving compost, energy,
wisdom and love in return

You treat yourself gently with soft beds and organic fibers, lest your body become ragged with life

You are a rare gem,
concealed by a quiet spirit...

In the presence of friends you reveal
your beautiful and brilliant colors

You soar with grand ideas and
shine in the light of many successes.

And I am proud to call you friend!

It is an 8.5x11 page and it is beautiful in more ways than one and I cry every time I read it.

My life is full and good and beautiful.

Tomorrow's My Birthday!

And I'm gonna be 44! I'm looking forward to spending the day with a couple of wonderful friends in Portland. There are a couple of others who will be sorely missed, but I get to see them both in Minnesota this summer.

I better get to bed, I have a full day of HAPPY ahead of me!

Another Meme

I picked this up over at one of my favorite blogs.

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now? Some old napkins and about eight bingo cards (highway, interstate, regular – ya’ gotta be prepared!).

2.When was the last time you threw up? Thankfully I don’t remember. I hope this doesn’t jinks me!

3.What’s your favorite curse word? I’m kind of a language prude – I don’t really care if others swear, but it’s not something I care to do.

4. Name 3 people who made you smile today? Bekka, Steffi, and Gracie (the little girl at Folk Dance who kept sliding around on the wood floor on her poodle skirt – too cute!)

5. What were you doing at 8 a.m. this morning? Uh, SLEEPING!!!

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Reading blogs.

7. Where were you born? Biloxi, Mississippi – lived there for a whole two months.

8. Have you ever been to a strip club? Nah.

9. What is the last thing you said aloud? "Are you almost done?"

10. What is the best ice cream flavor? Mmm, chocolate mint (NOT mint with chocolate, but chocolate ice cream flavored with mint – I’m VERY particular about this!)

11. What was the last thing you had to drink? Water.

12. What are you wearing right now? My jeans that I got free from Goodwill with my birthday credit, a purple turtleneck shirt and last year’s annual Sibling Revelry sale sweater (I’ve gotten a fab sweater at their great after Christmas sale the last two years, so it’s my new tradition), my cool new striped SmartWool socks and my purple Heflinger clogs. (And a down throw, ‘cause we refuse to heat our house any higher than 65 in the winter!)

13. What was the last thing you ate? Dreyer’s Thin Mint GS Cookie Ice Cream.

14. Have you bought any new clothes this week? Not for me.

15. Where were you last? The Kitchen (to get my ice cream)

16. What's the last sporting event you watched? Uh, hmm. The closest I’ve come is Bekka’s Irish Dance competition.

17. Who is the last person you sent a comment/message while blogging? Peace Goddess

18. Where do you live? Corvallis, OR

19. What song are you listening to? Nothing right now.

20. Do you tan? I am a shade goddess.

21.Do you drink your soda from a straw? Not into carbonated beverages, unless it is a smooth, dark beer.

22. What did your last text message say? No text messaging for me.

23. Who’s your best friend? I'd have to say Carole, but there are many wonderful, authentic women I absolutely love and would hate to not have in my life.

24. What are you doing tomorrow? Taking my daughter to her piano lesson and working a little more on cleaning the pit our house has become.

25. Where is your mom right now? Her body has returned to the Earth and I hope her energy/spirit has found good work elsewhere. (Okay, I stole this answer from Peace Goddess, but it fits, so I’m gonna use it.)

26. Look to your right, what do you see? My beautiful and wise daughter, Bekka.

27. What do you think of when you think of where you live? Mindfulness, respect, peace, beauty, connection.

28. Ever ridden on a roller coaster? Yeah, but don’t really like it much any more.

29. What is your birthstone? Amethist.

30. Do you go in at a fast-food place or just hit the drive through? Yuck.

31.What is your favorite number? 24

32. Do you have a dog? Nope, we’re cat people.

33. Last person you talked to on the phone? Lisa (and Ruby in the background)

34. Have you met anyone famous? Depends on what you consider fame.

35. Any plans today? Well, since it’s 10:15, just playing on the blogosphere and watching Friends with Bekka.

36. How many states have you lived in? Oh Jeez, let’s see, Mississippi, Washington, California, (West Germany), Washington, California, Washington, Texas, California, Texas, California, Washington, Oregon – I know, a lot of repeating, but man! Lots of moves! Only five states and one foreign country, but I’ve lived at more than 30 addresses.

37. Ever go to college? Yes.

38. Where are you right now? Home, in the living room.

39. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? Feeling used.

40. Are you struggling to forgive someone right now? No...I think forgiveness is earned. I struggle with letting folks be who they are when I am not afforded the same. (Oh My God! I did not write this answer, but it is SO great – I hope Peace Goddess doesn’t mind my using it!)

41. Are you allergic to anything? Not officially, but I think I’ve developed a grass allergy, what with living in the grass seed capital of the world.

42. Favorite pair of shoes? My Keens – so comfortable and they keep all this Oregon rain from my cold toes. (But I agree with Peace Goddess on the no bra thing, justs in case anyone was wondering)

And now if any of you wanna consider yourself tagged, TAG. If not...hope you enjoyed reading.

Let's Change the World

Please!

If you haven't seen this yet, please take a few minutes to do so.

Home Alone

What a treat! I got to be home alone all morning. Now, this has probably only happened about five times in the last fifteen years, so it really is quite a treat.

I slept in really late, got up and exercised while listening to NPR's Weekend Edition, checked email, read a few blogs (even found the one Bekka started), had a bite to eat and then had to run out to my FLOW (learning co-op) meeting.

All the while, Lyra, our perfect kitten was all over me! Bekka spent the night at a friend's house and so Lyra was all alone all night. She HATES to be alone! She just couldn't get enough of me. What a sweetie and what a nice morning.

Bekka's Pretty Smile

Yea! Bekka got her braces off this morning! She had to get up really, really early so Steve could take her in at 8am (Hey - I wasn't getting up at 7:30 - no way!), but it was worth the early morning for her.

Now we go run a couple of errands, then meet up with some other unschoolers for lunch, then off to our Free Learning group, back to the ortho office to pick up her retainer, then off to Irish dance. Whew! I hardly like to be this busy in a week, much less single day.

Transforming Anger

Wow! Scott Noelle was inside my head yesterday when he sent out today's Daily Groove. (Yeah, I know it's automatic, but STILL - the universe MUST be aligned!) The passage that specifically hit home for me is this:

Anger arises naturally whenever you perceive a loss of
personal freedom or power. It's there to energize you
on your way back to your natural state of empowerment.

Boy, am I perceiving a loss of personal freedom and power in this situation! I have someone who probably thinks I'm mad at her over an incredibly bizarre, contradictory set of emails, when in fact, I'm just really disappointed and saddened. And, okay, yes a little bit angry because of that loss of freedom and power thing. Part of me wants to use that energy to point out the breaks in logic of the situation (to prove that I'm right! LOL), but instead I've been using the energy that she has been sending my way to really make some positive stuff happen here in town.

Our inclusive homeschooling group has been dying a slow death for the last year, with many, but not all, of the unschoolers moving to a (mostly inactive) unschooling list. I don't know if it is possible, but with this energy I've been given, I'm hoping to revive the inclusive group so that all the unschoolers in town can gather if they wish, not just the illusion of all but the reality of all.

It feels good. It feels really good. And if you read Scott Noelle much, you know that feeling good means you are aligning with your heart's desire and all that jazz.

Letting Go

I had such a strange day yesterday. Very emotionally exhausting. So last night I wasn't really in the mood to read the book I'm trying to start. But as I was going to bed I noticed a completely neglected book on my shelf, one which I've never even cracked the cover. I bought it at a used bookstore five or six years ago (which means I've moved it three times!). It's called "Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much". When I bought it I was helping to start a PPP, leader of two Girl Scout Troops, active in my UU church, involved in the Scottish Country Dance group, and about ten other things. I was definitely doing too much. And of course, didn't have the time to use the book at that time!

Well, I've made lots of changes in my life and the title is really not all that applicable anymore, but it is the only meditation book I own and that part of it was really appealing last night.

So I turn to the page for the day and it is titled, "Letting Go". It starts with a quote from Anne Wilson Schaef. "When I am all hassled about something, I always stop and ask myself what difference it will make in the evolution of the human species in the next ten million years, and that question always helps me get back my perspective."

Because it was so appropriate for my day yesterday, I'm going to type out the entire offering:

"Little things mean a lot," especially when we focus all our attention on them, obsess and ruminate about them, and can't let them go. Sometimes, when we are in our disease, we just keep turning disturbing thoughts over and over in our minds, believing that we will surely figure out some solutions if we just think about them long enough and check every angle.
When we engage in this behavior, it is a sure sign that we are in the addictive process and thinking ourselves to death. I have always found that when I am in my addictive process, I have lost perspective. I suddenly become the center of the universe, and my problems are the only ones in the universe.
It always helps me to step back and realize that whatever problem I am having is probably not of universal proportions. This perspective helps me to see that I am powerless over my crazy thinking, and that it is making my life insane. At this point can get back in touch with my knowing that a power greater than myself can restore me to sanity, and I can turn this problem over to this greater power.

The end quote (not credited) is: "One of the things we lose in the addictive disease process is perspective."

So, what does this mean to me in light of what yesterday was?

Last fall I had a problem with a new homeschooling mom and it totally shook me up, for over a week!!! Yikes! Looking back there are two things I can see that caused me to let myself spiral. One was that there was an element of truth in what she accused me of. No, I didn't yell at her daughter, nor did I purposefully disrespect her or her daughters, but I wasn't as kind to her daughter as I wish I had been. And second was that she didn't accept my heartfelt apology. That really left me hanging and spinning, and doubting myself.

This time it is a very different situation, and my conscience is completely clear. I actually feel light and clear.

So the meditation reminds me that I am not obsessing like I did in the fall and that I've come so far. Yea! That I am able to let go and live in the NOW, not in the past.

There are good, exciting things to come!

Trying to be My Best Self

Stuff happens, people do things that are baffling. I'm trying really hard to deal with everything that comes my way with honesty, tact, and compassion.

One tool that really helps is "The Four Agreements". This is an excellent book by don Miguel Ruiz.

Here are the Four Agreements:

BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

DON'T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY: Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS: Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST: Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.


Isn't that inspiring??? Now, if I can only remember them all the time!

Great Article Supporting Delayed Math Instruction

This article, written many, many years ago is so great in explaining why one would want to delay formal math instruction in schools.

I think it's a great article to share with the more schooly adversaries of unschooling!

Of course, the saddest thing about the article, published as a series of three articles between Nov. '35 and Jan. '36, is that it hasn't seemed to make any difference! I know of no schools using this information in their curriculum.

My main reason for sharing this with the blogging world is to have a place for me to find the article again!

We say "Sorry" too much

Last week I read in article in New Connexion, a free alternative publication, called "The Sorry Epidemic". The article is the reason I picked up the paper and brought it home, because I think about this every once in a while.

I think the word sorry is horribly over-used. It has become an automatic thing you say when you don't want to take responsibility. It excuses times like when we aren't paying attention, when we are running late, when we think we should be responsible for something but really aren't (like our kids behavior).

Saying sorry SHOULD mean that you didn't intend to do something and you will be making amends. But what it usually means is that you'll be blowing off any responsibility for what just happened.

The author of the article I read, Carolyn Campbell, decided that enough was enough. She would fine herself $1 every time she said she was sorry. I don't think that tactic goes along with the Laws of Attraction very well, but what she did end up noticing was her "sorries had prevented [her] from really standing up for what [she] needed, what was important to [her]."

So, I'm going to try noticing when I want to say sorry and see if I can come up with a more useful, accurate thing to say. When we leave sorry for when we truly are very sorry, it will be so much more useful of a word!

I'm focusing on Connection

My friend Caren over at Open-Hearted Life shared this today, which led me to choose a word to focus on for 2008. It seems like a great tool for growth, and that is one thing I strive for continually.

Through my GUTS work, I've been more connected to my future self (the one with all my answers), and so when I'm up against a challenge like choosing a word to focus on for the year, I consult her. For some reason, she always gives me answers very quickly, and so it was with choosing "Connection" for my word of the year.

Connectedness in one of my 10 future self values, and one of the weakest ones. Normally I'm a "focus on your strengths" kind of gal, but I really want to be more connected to those around me.

In focusing on connection, I will try to connect with my sisters (we are not close, in fact, I haven't talked with my middle sister for over a year, not because of any big deal or anything, just haven't picked up the phone).

I will try to connect with my dad and his wife - he has always been on the outskirts of my life, more like an uncle I see every once in a while.

I will try to connect with my in-laws. We've had some uncomfortable times the last five or so years. I always get the idea that they don't think very highly of me, and at the same time, it feels like my MIL is intimidated by me. Then throw in the fact that Bekka hasn't been getting along with them (and it feels like they blame me at least partly for that), and we are definitely not connected.

I will try to connect more with my husband. Communication has never been our strength and I will try to work more on that.

I will try to connect even more with my girls. They are such amazing people and I'm so blessed to have them in my life. It's always been easier for me to relate to Bekka than to Steffi (because her brain works more like mine - I never know where Steffi is coming from), so that will be my primary focus.

I will try to connect deeper with other un/homeschoolers in our area and try to help create a better network.

I will try to connect with others in the community and in the greater community as well, by listening more and not judging.

I will try to connect more to the greater unschooling community by writing more and putting myself out there more online.

Wishing you growth and peace for the new year...

I am... not obligated...

Yes! See that button down on the right side of the page - "Blogging without Obligation"? Well, posting a picture a day for the rest of December, or, dare I say it, the rest of the year, was a challenge I gave myself. I managed to get 19 posted, including today's, and really, that's more than I thought I would be able to do. Before I started this little challenge, I had a total of 30 posts on my blog. I've added 26 just this month (24 since starting the photo challenge), so I'm feeling very successful and pretty darn proud of myself.

And speaking of being proud of myself, in the last couple of days I've had a few other successes. The first being, I have successfully made sourdough crackers! They are not only edible, but really, really GOOD! Now if I can get the bread to both look good, and taste good!

The other success is that I mostly finished the 10 things I set out to accomplish in 2007 with my accountability group. The last of the items being to create my own room - a sanctuary for myself that is both a place to write and rest, but can double as a comfortable guest room. Well, I still want to paint and recarpet, but we did get it put together for the most part, and even had guests sleep in it last night! And it's so beautiful (looks much better in person)! I've been collecting the things for it since July.

I have to tell you a little about the day bed. More than 20 years ago I spent a summer in Germany, staying with a family. The room I stayed in had the greatest bed - a twin day bed (this one was built in) that was a typical slatted platform bed with two mattresses stacked on top of each other. This bed converted to a king-sized bed by pulling the front of the frame out - every other slat pulled out - and flipping one of the mattresses onto the just-pulled-out slats. Well, I've been looking for one of these for years! In July we went to the brand new Portland Ikea and found one just when I was ready to buy one for this new room! I've searched the Ikea website to post a link to this fabulously innovative bed frame with no luck. I believe it's called the Hemnes Day Bed. It even has three drawers in front for storing all the extra linens.

Of course, this project didn't involve just assembling the bed - we had to relocate our (very, very heavy) office furniture to the basement to make room. (Did I mention that it was heavy?) And of course, this involved lots of electrical equipment relocation that isn't quite complete, which involved getting a more powerful wireless router, which involved, well, you know how these things go!

I am... a little ticked off!

Today I got an email from Basic Rights Oregon about the Federal Judge ruling in favor of gay rights opponents. You can read the Oregonian article here.

I just can't understand how he could say, "attorneys for opponents showed that the rights of voters may have been violated if their signatures were wrongly rejected". Does he not see the irony in this statement??? If the world were the way in SHOULD be, the greater right would prevail, in this case the right of gay couples to file joint state tax returns, inherit each other's property, make medical decisions for each other and enjoy most of the other state benefits and responsibilities that married residents receive.

One thing about this that really irks me is that the plaintiff, Alliance Defense Fund is based in Scottsdale , AZ, and has branch offices in California, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Kansas, and Washington, DC. So, what the heck are they doing fighting an Oregon State law??? It just doesn't seem like it should be legal for an out of state group to be able to create this kind of havoc.

I totally don't understand why people see gay rights as something that impedes on their own rights. To me, the only way gay rights affects me is that it creates more happy people, people who don't feel quite so trampled on. Now, I know that this law won't make gays feel completely safe, but it is a huge step forward. Allowing gays to enter into domestic partnerships certainly doesn't weaken my marriage, or anyone else's marriage.

I was planning on volunteering at the courthouse on Wednesday to help out with the domestic partnership filings, but I guess I'll be protesting instead. Let's hope for descent weather!

I am... a Mom!

Well, so much for posting a picture every day! Sometimes (many times) being an unschooling mom means that I choose to do things that my kids want to do instead of doing things that I had planned to do for myself. This time it meant watching the Friends DVDs that Bekka just got, playing games, making good food, going to the celtic jam downtown, hanging out with friends at Borders, hosting game night... you get the idea.

I got pretty side tracked from updating the blog every day because, one, I was busy with the kiddos and two, when I wasn't busy with kiddos someone had my computer! So I decided to take a few days off from the blog.

We had a great Christmas this year. We snacked, played lots of games (we even finished a game of Monopoly with Steffi winning!), made some treats for our fabulous mailman and had enough to deliver some to a few of our friends, and went out for Chinese food on Christmas day (this is the third year in a row).

I am... a Friend

Here I am back in October at my dear friend, Carole's birthday celebration with our friend (and coach) Reggie. These two women are just so inspiring to me - they are the kind of friends who I just feel so honored by. And it always surprises me that these people who I respect so much respect me just as much. How cool is that?

Moving as much as I have, I've never really figured out how to balance spending time with friends with not being too needy. So I tend to lean heavily to the "leaving people alone" side and don't connect as deeply as I dream of connecting. I hear stories of families having other families that they just do everything with - sharing dinner together at least once a week, having fabulous unschooling adventures together, helping each other out, working on projects together, but I've never achieved that. First off, I've yet to meet a family with kids who both my kids mesh with (I think part of it is that they are 4 years apart) - usually a family has a kid that one of my kids gets along with well, but the other is not at all interested in.

I really have moved my entire life, so I didn't have this modeled for me as a child, because my mom was always in the making new friends mode herself. Now that we've settled down permanently, I would love to figure this out.

So my wish is for an unschooling family who has kids my kids like to hang around with, who likes to help out and be helped out and likes to do projects together. And, of course, some basic agreements as to shared values would be a must. Anyone? Anyone?

I am... centered

I am... distorted

But honestly, aren't we all sometimes?

Today Steve's sister and her family are here and we are celebrating my nephew's 13th birthday. It's always great having them around because they are also radical unschoolers! It is so much fun for my kids to hang around her three kids. And I love hanging around all of them. Oh, and I gave Marie (my SIL) the socks that I finished a couple of weeks ago - she has them on right now.

So, another short post due to birthday celebrating! Happy, happy days!

I am... Joyful Wise One

Part of the GUTS program is to use your "future self name" - mine is Joyful Wise One. I didn't actually think a lot about this name, I just let it come to me very quickly. One of my favorite activities in the GUTS program is a future self visualization. It is a guided meditation that allows us to converse with ourselves 20 years in the future. The idea behind this is that we all have all the answers we need inside ourselves, we just have trouble accessing them sometimes.

During the GUTS retreat in October, we were to dress as our future self. In all the visualizations I've had with my future self, she has been wearing long skirts and layers of natural fiber clothes. I try really hard to purchase only fairly traded clothing, so I felt strongly that my future self would be wear clothing that, if new, would be fairly traded.

Right after the retreat we went to Calistoga to celebrate my dear friend, Carole's 50th birthday. Just after the party she and a couple of friends went for a swim in the geyser-fed pool. I stopped by to take a few more pictures (I'd been photographing the entire party for Carole). I handed my camera (my Nikon D80) to Carole (floating in the pool after celebrating all day and an unknown number of glasses of wine) and she snapped this incredible shot - the steam coming off the pool, the full moon over my shoulder, and me in my future self garb.

So, here I am as Joyful Wise One. Every day I get better at living as Joyful Wise One. I know where I'm going, and that is more than half the battle!

I am... a Nature Girl (not)

Central Park near downtown Corvallis has some fun sculptures - the ballerina, the one I pictured in yesterday's post, and sitting on one of the benches, this cute little squirrel.

I like the idea of being outside and being all outdoorsy, but really, I'd rather watch a good movie (or even a bad movie), read a book, or surf the internet than do anything outside. Even here, where I love the weather, it seems the weather almost always provides a great excuse to stay in - too hot, too cold, too wet, too windy...

I am... a Wife

Isn't he adorable? LOL Okay, this isn't my hubby (duh) - he's much shorter than this statue and doesn't wear hats - but I did want to do a shout out to Steve today to say, "Happy Birthday"!

We've been married 21 years - hardly seems possible to be old enough to have been married for that long!

Busy with birthday stuff today, so you, dear reader (all two of you!), are spared a long post today.

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!