Thursday, January 31, 2008

Last Friday, David and KJ both went to the doctor while I was teaching in Mexia. KJ had some upper respiratory thing causing him to cough and wheeze and David had a kidney infection. I may have made a few comments over the weekend about how I was the only healthy one in the family. Guess who had a fever of 101 all day Monday? Guess who had a wicked sore throat Tuesday morning? Guess who went to the doctor and found out she had strep throat? My fever finally went down yesterday and I've been on antibiotics long enough to no longer be contagious, thank goodness.

Most of you know that KJ has taken to wearing eyeliner as part of his goth/emo/drummer style. He also refuses to get his hair cut and it is currently dyed black as part of this same goth/emo/drummer thing. A friend of KJ's gave him a waterproof eyeliner pencil this week. KJ put it on without a mirror and looked like a racoon so I picked him up some eye makeup remover cloths today. While in the drugstore, I also picked him up a new eyeliner pencil and some pink eyeshadow KJ had been requesting, plus some eye shadow applicators. Later, when KJ was thanking me profusely for all this stuff, I told him that "if he wanted to be a girl, then I would help him be a girl."

NOTE: The above quote was said as a joke and KJ laughed. It is not meant to offend the transgendered.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

homeschool stuff - skip if you want

I was writing to my sister, Sherry, and since I felt that she probably isn't sleeping well, I decided to help out. I told her all about changes we've made for the new year with homeschooling, and our new schedule in excruciating detail. She should be asleep half-way through it. After sending the message though, I realized that I haven't blogged about any of that stuff, so here goes. If homeschooling stuff bores you, feel free to move on now. If detailed plans bore you, feel free to head on out now.

Okay Mom, Dy, and Jess - here's what we're doing this year.

In my opinion, this past fall was probably our worst time homeschooling since we started. I was starting to work part-time, volunteering at the zoo, and KJ was being a hormonally-crazed teenage boy. I was exhausted, frustrated, and turning into b*tch mom while KJ was doing his ever loving-best to send me into a mental hospital.

I had a l-o-n-g talks with KJ and David about goals, priorities, etc. David really likes the money I'm bringing in and had had the attitude of "add in more centers, work everyday if you can, drop the zoo stuff during the week" Unfortunately, I had not told him about my frustration or how homeschooling was suffering. The zoo time is the ONE thing that is just for me. It is also the thing that keeps me sane. I explained to him that I could NOT add in any more work days. I plan to increase my enrollment at the centers I have, at that is it. He totally understood and was very supportive. Like most women, I had expected him to read my mind and know how I felt.

KJ and I discussed how he is nearly 15 years old. If I leave him a list of things to do while I'm at work (only gone about 3-4 hours), I expect them to be done when I get home. He seemed to think that my lists were optional. Lest you think I'm a tyrant, here is a sample list.

Shower, dress, and have breakfast
Do your Latin for the day
Read 30 pages in your book
Do your chores (these vary by day, but usually are vacuuming and unloading the dishwasher)

Anyway, now if he doesn't get his work done, he's grounded from the phone and computer the rest of the day.

The major change in our homeschooling is only doing a few subjects at a time. We will do them everyday more in depth for 8-12 weeks or so and then switch them out. Currently, KJ has Latin with his tutor once a week and daily homework. This will continue until she moves. She graduated from college last year and her husband will graduate this spring. KJ also has a drum lesson once a week (instructor comes here) with daily practice. This will continue forever. We changed fencing clubs so KJ now has fencing two evenings a week. I am only teaching Chemistry, History, and assigning books to read. We dropped the Friday co-op as KJ only had Chemistry there and I wasn't happy with what he was learning. We still have the Tuesday co-op, but it is more for enrichment and socializing. He has science and drama there. After we finish with Chemistry and History, we'll switch them out for two more subjects, probably Math and Logic. FYI - Chemistry has daily math in it.

Monday - Latin, drum, Chem., Hist. reading - no outside activities

Tuesday - morning co-op with science, games, drama; Latin, drum, Chem., Hist. reading - in afternoon; fencing from 6:30 - 9:00

Wednesday - Chem., Hist. - in morning; drum lesson at 1:00; Mom off to work at 2: 15 and back home at 4:30 every other Wed.; KJ does Latin and reading while I'm gone

Thursday - KJ spends Wed. nights with his dad so he is at his dad's house with his grandma in the morning until I come pick him up after work. reading - in morning; I pick him up around noon; Chem., Hist - afternoon; Latin tutor from 3:30 - 4:30; fencing from 6:30 - 9:00

Friday - Mom leaves for work at 7:45 and home around noon; Latin, drum, reading - morning; Chem. Hist. - in afternoon

Note: Latin, drum, and reading take about 2 hours total (max) His daily chores take about 30 minutes (max) History is usually 30 minutes and Chemistry can vary from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.

If we do something at the zoo, it is usually on Mondays, Tuesdays right after co-op, or a Wed. afternoon when I'm off. Otherwise, we stick to weekends.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Just a quick note in response to my mom's comment on my last post. I call my mom EVERYDAY! (I am the GOOD daughter.) She is fine, by the way, just some issues with restless-leg-syndrome and not sleeping for 2 days straight.

My grandmother is still alive. In her words, "her rocking chair is still rocking." You know...they called us all in once before, because her death was imminent...10 years ago. Maybe this time will be the same.

Fred the turtle is doing well. We found Emily asleep on top of his tank, under the basking lamp. *shaking head* That cat is something else.

I'm supposed to be on the road to Mexia (40 miles from my house) right now, but it is sleeting and we're supposed to have a wintery mix until 1:00. In Pennsylvania, this would not have been a problem, but Texas drivers and Texas road crews aren't used to this kind of weather. The daycare told me to just come twice next week. So now, I'm sitting here wide awake tring to decide what to do.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Last week: A summary

Bad stuff:

My best friend of over 20 years called me Tuesday evening to tell me she thought her husband had had a stroke, and she was following the ambulance to the hospital. KJ and I packed our bags and were on the road to Fort Worth 30 minutes later. Best friend's hubby's diagnosis later changed to subarachnoid hemorrhage. Then they thought it was a deep-brain aneurysm, then back to the subarachnoid hemorrhage. All I know is that late Tuesday night, we thought he was going to die. I felt soooo bad for my friend. She couldn't sleep, couldn't relax; about 2:00am, she finally said we should try to get some rest, but I'm not sure she ever slept. (I slept like a log.) KJ and I returned home Wednesday when friend's sister arrived. I knew she would take care of her. To make a long story short, hubby's bleed sealed itself off and he was released from the hospital Saturday. Hopefully, he will make a full recovery.

Paul, my %#*@ rooster almost killed one of the hens on Wednesday. She had blood all over her face and neck, and a large lump of tissue on her neck. Paul is back in solitary confinement. I also moved the hen by herself so she can heal. If chickens smell blood, they will just keep pecking at it.

Good stuff:

The same above mentioned friend's youngest son had sent us a Flat Stanley as part of a school assignment. David and I had fun playing with Flat Stanley at the zoo. Here are just a few of the pics.














Saturday, January 5, 2008

When I was in my first semester of college, I bought a Red-Eared Slider turtle. It was $5 and about the size of a quarter. Years later, I realized that the turtle had been sold illegally, but I was ignorant of all that at the time. Anyway, I named the turtle Mac and we lived happily ever after for about 6 years. Mac would let me scratch his head when he basked, swam to the top of the tank to greet me when I came into the room and loved earthworms. When Mac was about 5 and a half, he was soooo big that I moved him to an outdoor pond (bathtub I sunk in the ground). He escaped within the week and was never seen or heard from again.

It took 15 years, but I finally got over the loss and now we have..................FRED!

He is one good-looking turtle. I love his shell.

Isn't he adorable?!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

...humming a little tune...twiddling my thumbs...humming...some light housework....a little ToonTown...humming....twiddling...play some Nancy Drew...a nap...light housework

The above pretty much sums up my holiday which is why I haven't blogged, nothing to blog about.

On a serious note though, we received a call Saturday afternoon that my 91 year old grandmother is dying. She had a light heart attack and "seems" fine, but the cardiologist said that this one was just a precursor to a big one that will be fatal. He seemed to think she would go sooner rather than later, most likely within 2 weeks. My father and uncle have not told my grandmother what the doctor said. The problem is....my grandmother's mental faculties are perfect. WHY we thought we could have all the family show up over two days to visit with her in the hospital and her not think something is up, is beyond me. She knows. My sister and I stayed overnight with her Saturday, and she had us alternating between laughing loudly and turning red from embarrassment. (She knows lots of dirty jokes.) Grandmama got to come home yesterday as there is nothing that can be done for her. We came home Sunday, but I'm hoping to get to run back up to see her Thursday. I was really upset at first, but I have lots of wonderful memories of her. I am happy that we've had her for 91 years or me specifically for 38.

On a happy note, we will welcome a new member of the family on Friday. (No, I'm not pregnant.) Pictures will follow soon after.