Can you predict who will win?
blind trust
Trust means eyes wide open and without fear.
Digging for dirt and coming up empty handed.
Poking in darkened corners at formless air.
Trust means looking at the internet cache and not being afraid of what you'll find there.
Trust means knowing that anything you happen to find comes with a safe and honest explanation.
Trust does not mean blindness or looking the other way.
Trust isn't naivety or even oblivion...
Trust never blindfolds or witholds the truth.
Trust doesn't create darkness,
It simply offers to guide one safely through it.
It never says "There's no chance of falling"
But, "I'll catch you if you do, but not only that I will take care of you until your balance returns"
Perhaps a good acronym would be:
To
Rely
Upon
Someone (else)'s
Truthfulness
Digging for dirt and coming up empty handed.
Poking in darkened corners at formless air.
Trust means looking at the internet cache and not being afraid of what you'll find there.
Trust means knowing that anything you happen to find comes with a safe and honest explanation.
Trust does not mean blindness or looking the other way.
Trust isn't naivety or even oblivion...
Trust never blindfolds or witholds the truth.
Trust doesn't create darkness,
It simply offers to guide one safely through it.
It never says "There's no chance of falling"
But, "I'll catch you if you do, but not only that I will take care of you until your balance returns"
Perhaps a good acronym would be:
To
Rely
Upon
Someone (else)'s
Truthfulness
Homeschool Is The Bearded Lady
I should let it go, I know that. I am bigger than these silly trivial matters- or I should know how to be bigger by now, but like an "I Told You So" just bursting to get out, so too, is an "I Knew It" or an"I Saw It Coming"---or both.
"Aletheia Academy" had 'recess' at the park today. It was a beautiful day and we combined the play time with some learning activities- win, win, right?
Sure, a perfectly suitable, and enjoyable I might add, educational and play time experience, until the fleet of mini van moms rolled in with their less than school age troupe and rained on our "before public school lets out" parade.
"There she goes- proving that those homeschool moms really are trying to stay away from the rest of the whole wide world" I can hear you tsking - but Wait! Let me finish--
It wasn't their company or even the mass amount of little children pouring from their vans like clowns at the circus that changed the vibe... contrary to popular belief, I actually welcome and look for chances for my children to meet and play with other children from all sorts of walks in life. No, it wasn't sharing the park, it was the look on their faces; the look that planted itself in their features as they pulled up, parked and unloaded that said "Someone beat us here... she must be evil! "
I KNEW IT.
I SAW IT COMING.
So, I waited for it and it didn't take long...
I made a point of continuing the Map Activity that I already had my "students" doing before releasing them to play freely as a means of minding my own business, and even after there was little left to occupy myself with, I NEVER MADE EYE CONTACT. I wasn't rude. I wasn't showy. I just minded my own little space at the least desirable picnic table in the park (I had chosen the broken one in the event that others came along needing a place to lunch- thoughtful yet evil park dweller that I be)
They spoke first.
"So, you're kids are quite a bit older, eh?"
A bit of a change from the typical "Hi!" or "Nice Weather We Are Having Today" that we Americans consider proper greeting form... not even the more eccentric varieties of "Howdy" or "Wzup?" were offered
I try to imagine this as an ice breaker/getting to know you sort of line in any other context and it just doesn't really come off as folksy, ya know? At the grocery store for instance- I can see striking up a conversation with a mother of obviously older children in line and getting odd stares in return.
What I think she meant was " Shouldn't they be in school?" or maybe she meant "Are they mutant 3 year olds?!" but more than likely it was the former.
So, I answered, knowing that cold, stony silence was also not on the folksy list of options.
I nodded and "introduced" the children along with their ages, by pointing them out and returned to my reading/writing
"Do they homeschool?" inquired the 'sidekick woman' (doesn't seem to care about the subject at hand but fights friendliness anyway because Joker-- er, I mean, AlphaMom tells her to)
"Yes they do" and a quick return to my own business, but not without a pleasant smile first.
I tried to leave very little in the way of words for them to draw on, but lacking context did not prove to be a deterrent. Remember, they started the conversation with nothing but gargantuan children (in matching Aletheia shirts) running around the playground... they don't NEED context.
It was quiet for all of 45 seconds when AlphaMom tsked as if to herself, but really loud and in my direction
"That homeschool! Wow, must be..."
As if we all knew homeschool is a tricky bandit who forces you into his cult...er, I mean clutches in the dark of night.
( i am still trying to figure out what homeschooling must be- tough? hard? nice? easy?- which way did her assumptions flow I wonder)
Sidekick piped up here " Do you like it?"
I would like to receive nickels at this point for every time I did not answer these questions in all of the fun and satisfying ways that I could have. I stuck to the Sugar and Spice and all things Nice approach and answered that I do like it (to myself: that's why I do it) and gave a few quick blurbs about having been homechooled myself, online curriculum that made keeping track a bit easier, etc
I suppose they finally ran out of angles and so they moved on to other forms of cattiness. Only we women could invent such games as " Holding a Conversation That Is Really A Series of Questions Directed At Someone Not In The Conversation Whom We Want To Pick Apart, In Hopes They Will Pipe In And Give Us Details From Which We Can Compare and/or Brag About Our Own Similar Objects and/or Experiences-SO THAT We Do Not Have To Actually Invite Her Into The Conversation Or Otherwise Be Genuinely Nice"
Only a woman would know that this isn't a normal conversation just being held "accidentally too loud"
I decided that manners allow one to ignore conversations in which there is no direct address or in which no official invitation to join in has been offered, even if one knows that the only reason the conversation is being held is in hopes that she (the uninvited) will join in
I am a donkey, yes. But, I spit on your carrot, I trample it underfoot. I see the barb hidden within...
Anywho- words like New Car, Mercedes, Leather and Entertainment Package flew around and excuses for keeping a minivan instead of something "cooler" surfaced like a plea from a defense attorney. Job titles were flung about, volunteerism was touted like a boy scout badge and the troubles of traveling husbands were compared and contrasted without certain mothers knowing their situations were being discussed, what with them happening to stroll out of ear shot and all... (gossip)
If I would have had a ball of yarn, I swear I think I could have distracted them, or bribed them to like me, if only for the moment, or at the very least I could have used it to string them up properly from a tree like all cats should be, but I digress...
I had played Vow of Silence Monk-ette long enough so I rounded up my children who made me proud by being obedient the first time I called them... I got in my "not a minivan" and watched as in that VERY instant (the one in which we left) all of the other children were called to the table and served their lunches
You don't think they were waiting on us to leave, do you? Why would people act like that? I mean, isn't it kind of silly?
I don't think they were worried about getting tainted, or catching homeschool leprosy. It seemed to me a bit like someone who just wants to finish the last 2 minutes of a show/game/activity before moving on to their responsibilities.
I mean, I suppose, if I were just going about my business, in the midst of an ordinary day, and then, coming to my neighborhood park, I spotted a circus sideshow freak sitting on the bench, I too may be tempted to stare and gape and poke it with a stick...
If everyone you encounter is an opportunity to make a difference or make a friend or extend kindness, I am still trying to figure out what to offer folks like these. I believe some of it is general interest in what a real life homeschooler looks like...do they speak English? Are they human? Can I touch one? Will it bite me? And I am fine with that in a reasonable and respectful manner.
Others, however, seem to fall into the category with Large Family Nay-sayers- those joy robbers who like to make petty comments about 3 children being a gaggle compared to their American Dream 2 point five set of offspring....and don't you DARE have more than four or you just may be involuntarily "fixed" for your own good ( "Don't you KNOW what causes this, yet?!")
It is like homeschool is against some core virtue or value held by a particular group of people. As if, perhaps I didn't get the memo, am not "in the know"...like high school cliques all over again.
Those people bug me. I don't know why. I don't care if you like me- I'm a pretty "take me or leave me" kind of gal- but at least have a darned good reason for hating my guts... ya know?
Like, if I kill your cat- I deserve it- you can call me nasty names and send me hate mail. If I run over your foot or accidentally shoot your horse, forget your birthday or pop all your bubble wrap, if I take all the corner brownie pieces or pick all the pepperonis off your pizza..throw a brick through my window or buy a voodoo doll of me... if I have done something wrong, make me feel your wrath, make me earn you love-- but if you don't know me, well, I just think you should at least give me a fair chance at ticking you off BEFORE you make up your mind...and, in the name of fairness, Homeschool Haters, I will try to do the same for you.
"Aletheia Academy" had 'recess' at the park today. It was a beautiful day and we combined the play time with some learning activities- win, win, right?
Sure, a perfectly suitable, and enjoyable I might add, educational and play time experience, until the fleet of mini van moms rolled in with their less than school age troupe and rained on our "before public school lets out" parade.
"There she goes- proving that those homeschool moms really are trying to stay away from the rest of the whole wide world" I can hear you tsking - but Wait! Let me finish--
It wasn't their company or even the mass amount of little children pouring from their vans like clowns at the circus that changed the vibe... contrary to popular belief, I actually welcome and look for chances for my children to meet and play with other children from all sorts of walks in life. No, it wasn't sharing the park, it was the look on their faces; the look that planted itself in their features as they pulled up, parked and unloaded that said "Someone beat us here... she must be evil! "
I KNEW IT.
I SAW IT COMING.
So, I waited for it and it didn't take long...
I made a point of continuing the Map Activity that I already had my "students" doing before releasing them to play freely as a means of minding my own business, and even after there was little left to occupy myself with, I NEVER MADE EYE CONTACT. I wasn't rude. I wasn't showy. I just minded my own little space at the least desirable picnic table in the park (I had chosen the broken one in the event that others came along needing a place to lunch- thoughtful yet evil park dweller that I be)
They spoke first.
"So, you're kids are quite a bit older, eh?"
A bit of a change from the typical "Hi!" or "Nice Weather We Are Having Today" that we Americans consider proper greeting form... not even the more eccentric varieties of "Howdy" or "Wzup?" were offered
I try to imagine this as an ice breaker/getting to know you sort of line in any other context and it just doesn't really come off as folksy, ya know? At the grocery store for instance- I can see striking up a conversation with a mother of obviously older children in line and getting odd stares in return.
What I think she meant was " Shouldn't they be in school?" or maybe she meant "Are they mutant 3 year olds?!" but more than likely it was the former.
So, I answered, knowing that cold, stony silence was also not on the folksy list of options.
I nodded and "introduced" the children along with their ages, by pointing them out and returned to my reading/writing
"Do they homeschool?" inquired the 'sidekick woman' (doesn't seem to care about the subject at hand but fights friendliness anyway because Joker-- er, I mean, AlphaMom tells her to)
"Yes they do" and a quick return to my own business, but not without a pleasant smile first.
I tried to leave very little in the way of words for them to draw on, but lacking context did not prove to be a deterrent. Remember, they started the conversation with nothing but gargantuan children (in matching Aletheia shirts) running around the playground... they don't NEED context.
It was quiet for all of 45 seconds when AlphaMom tsked as if to herself, but really loud and in my direction
"That homeschool! Wow, must be..."
As if we all knew homeschool is a tricky bandit who forces you into his cult...er, I mean clutches in the dark of night.
( i am still trying to figure out what homeschooling must be- tough? hard? nice? easy?- which way did her assumptions flow I wonder)
Sidekick piped up here " Do you like it?"
I would like to receive nickels at this point for every time I did not answer these questions in all of the fun and satisfying ways that I could have. I stuck to the Sugar and Spice and all things Nice approach and answered that I do like it (to myself: that's why I do it) and gave a few quick blurbs about having been homechooled myself, online curriculum that made keeping track a bit easier, etc
I suppose they finally ran out of angles and so they moved on to other forms of cattiness. Only we women could invent such games as " Holding a Conversation That Is Really A Series of Questions Directed At Someone Not In The Conversation Whom We Want To Pick Apart, In Hopes They Will Pipe In And Give Us Details From Which We Can Compare and/or Brag About Our Own Similar Objects and/or Experiences-SO THAT We Do Not Have To Actually Invite Her Into The Conversation Or Otherwise Be Genuinely Nice"
Only a woman would know that this isn't a normal conversation just being held "accidentally too loud"
I decided that manners allow one to ignore conversations in which there is no direct address or in which no official invitation to join in has been offered, even if one knows that the only reason the conversation is being held is in hopes that she (the uninvited) will join in
I am a donkey, yes. But, I spit on your carrot, I trample it underfoot. I see the barb hidden within...
Anywho- words like New Car, Mercedes, Leather and Entertainment Package flew around and excuses for keeping a minivan instead of something "cooler" surfaced like a plea from a defense attorney. Job titles were flung about, volunteerism was touted like a boy scout badge and the troubles of traveling husbands were compared and contrasted without certain mothers knowing their situations were being discussed, what with them happening to stroll out of ear shot and all... (gossip)
If I would have had a ball of yarn, I swear I think I could have distracted them, or bribed them to like me, if only for the moment, or at the very least I could have used it to string them up properly from a tree like all cats should be, but I digress...
I had played Vow of Silence Monk-ette long enough so I rounded up my children who made me proud by being obedient the first time I called them... I got in my "not a minivan" and watched as in that VERY instant (the one in which we left) all of the other children were called to the table and served their lunches
You don't think they were waiting on us to leave, do you? Why would people act like that? I mean, isn't it kind of silly?
I don't think they were worried about getting tainted, or catching homeschool leprosy. It seemed to me a bit like someone who just wants to finish the last 2 minutes of a show/game/activity before moving on to their responsibilities.
I mean, I suppose, if I were just going about my business, in the midst of an ordinary day, and then, coming to my neighborhood park, I spotted a circus sideshow freak sitting on the bench, I too may be tempted to stare and gape and poke it with a stick...
If everyone you encounter is an opportunity to make a difference or make a friend or extend kindness, I am still trying to figure out what to offer folks like these. I believe some of it is general interest in what a real life homeschooler looks like...do they speak English? Are they human? Can I touch one? Will it bite me? And I am fine with that in a reasonable and respectful manner.
Others, however, seem to fall into the category with Large Family Nay-sayers- those joy robbers who like to make petty comments about 3 children being a gaggle compared to their American Dream 2 point five set of offspring....and don't you DARE have more than four or you just may be involuntarily "fixed" for your own good ( "Don't you KNOW what causes this, yet?!")
It is like homeschool is against some core virtue or value held by a particular group of people. As if, perhaps I didn't get the memo, am not "in the know"...like high school cliques all over again.
Those people bug me. I don't know why. I don't care if you like me- I'm a pretty "take me or leave me" kind of gal- but at least have a darned good reason for hating my guts... ya know?
Like, if I kill your cat- I deserve it- you can call me nasty names and send me hate mail. If I run over your foot or accidentally shoot your horse, forget your birthday or pop all your bubble wrap, if I take all the corner brownie pieces or pick all the pepperonis off your pizza..throw a brick through my window or buy a voodoo doll of me... if I have done something wrong, make me feel your wrath, make me earn you love-- but if you don't know me, well, I just think you should at least give me a fair chance at ticking you off BEFORE you make up your mind...and, in the name of fairness, Homeschool Haters, I will try to do the same for you.
SpiralFrog
Supposed to be legal, thanks to advertising dollars.
Limited selection at the time, but enough songs to be worth the time it takes to register.
*May need DRM removal tool if planning to import to iPod.
Here is one with 14 day free trial that has served the purpose nicely...
Wii are family...
While looking for a video or picture that might help convey the idea that we, the BrewKrew, recently became a Wii family, I found this funny video
(or maybe it isn't funny at all, only late and time for bed)
Either way, the Wii has been a lot of fun and I do like this parody (for now)
self portrait
I traced me in the bathroom mirror ( and wrote a love note to princeCharming) a month or so ago...
Ben Carnes' (co)Blog
My younger brother, in cahoots with two other straight laced chaps, launched a new blog recently...he has a marvelous vocabulary ( the silent type always do) and obviously has far better connections than I do ( that is RONALD REGAN on their header!)
Swing By and learn a thing or 3:
Swing By and learn a thing or 3:
BACK TO SCHOOL
GOOD MORNING,CLASS
'HomeRoom'
SECOND GRADE CLASS
FIRST GRADE CLASS
PreK Class
SMILE! It's Almost Lunch Time...
Learning Letters
Alphabet Lunch
Silent Reading Hour (before dinner/4PM)
"House Hush"
How Now?
This banner was seen flying above the sea of tailgaters before last weekend's Georgia/Carolina game in Athens...
I just want to know-- if you've been arrested, what are the chances you are going to read this?
AND on the off chance that you are just being spread and cuffed as the banner soars overhead, don't you think it may be proof of a conspiracy of some sort...almost like they KNEW The LawMan was coming to getcha today...
Easy Bake
Due to some recent modifications at our house, we are currently sans oven. Nothing has been baked or boiled, pan fried or broiled since we switched from gas to electric and then got sidetracked before replacing the stove.
As the "domestic engineer" responsible for making sure my brood gets 3 squares and at least 2 snacks a day, being reduced to microwave and griddle cooking alone just wasn't cutting it. (The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Grilling Machine didn't make for many more menu options either)
So I got a toaster oven, a.k.a. the Adult's Easy Bake Oven
And then, I got stressed.
Since I had already cleaned the house from top to bottom, my only (legal) remaining coping mechanism was to bake... my lack of legitimate oven be darned.
I made Banana Bread first...
Momma always said " Life is like a bunch of spotty bananas..."
No, wait that was someone else...
She always said " If life gives you brown bananas, make a loaf of banana bread (or cake)"
She always said " If life gives you brown bananas, make a loaf of banana bread (or cake)"
So I did (two loaves, actually):
And then, Peach Cobbler:
And UnBirthday Cake ( plus a dozen matching cupcakes, not pictured)
It was nearly 4 before I turned in, but less stressed and with the comfy aroma of "Just Baked" keeping watch over the house.
The crew had plenty to eat in the morning, too.
I just wanted a record, that's all. No other point to this post, except to say " I did this thing, it was kind of interesting to see what all could be commanded from such a small oven, and here are some pictures, ain't ya proud of me? "
Well, Ain't Ya?
powerless
I suppose that if we HAD been granted supernatural powers, we would use them all wrong. . .
If everything really WERE up to me, as I have declared often it should be, we'd all be in an even bigger mess. . .
One of my favorite excuses from those who admit to less than stellar tendencies or faults- "At Least I am Honest About It"
So, while I am being honest:
If it were up to me to save to whole world ( as I often wish I could) I would make a list of "except these folks " and that isn't very nice ( but neither are They)
And if it were up to me to do something really big to save the world, like die and not just that but to do so while being falsely accused and misunderstood, I would have a few demands before I laid down my flesh... like everyone MUST now worship me...be thankful for my gesture...at least acknowledge it occur ed... and if there were one or two who wanted me dead anyhow, who I knew wouldn't see the love behind my act, well I just wouldn't do it at all..
And Lord help us all if I could just zap someone... I'd be dead a dozen times over and there is no telling about yourself...
Let's just all be glad we are mere mortals, especially me, today.
If everything really WERE up to me, as I have declared often it should be, we'd all be in an even bigger mess. . .
One of my favorite excuses from those who admit to less than stellar tendencies or faults- "At Least I am Honest About It"
So, while I am being honest:
If it were up to me to save to whole world ( as I often wish I could) I would make a list of "except these folks " and that isn't very nice ( but neither are They)
And if it were up to me to do something really big to save the world, like die and not just that but to do so while being falsely accused and misunderstood, I would have a few demands before I laid down my flesh... like everyone MUST now worship me...be thankful for my gesture...at least acknowledge it occur ed... and if there were one or two who wanted me dead anyhow, who I knew wouldn't see the love behind my act, well I just wouldn't do it at all..
And Lord help us all if I could just zap someone... I'd be dead a dozen times over and there is no telling about yourself...
Let's just all be glad we are mere mortals, especially me, today.
raster
(and check out the cool gallery of other rasters while you're printing yours out)
Tell 'em NOT MARTHA sent ya!
cupcake blog
The Cupcake Bakeshop blog
If a few minutes "scrolling" ( that's like strolling online) through this blog doesn't make you want a cupcake, you are probably an evil dictator or something.
See Also: VooDoo Doughnuts
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