Are We Paying Attention?

When my main man, Ron Paul's presidential campaign fizzled a few months ago I felt a bit heartbroken. For him. For me. For all of us. Since then, I've sort of had my head in the sand. Not paying attention. Not interested.

But two things hit me today that make me pay attention.

First, an article entitled: Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism in the Investor's Business Daily. His calls for "economic justice" are code for "redistribution of wealth"....which is socialism. The laundry list of programs he is promising make FDR seem moderate ("free" health care, "free" college tuition, universal - you are not free to say no - national service, "free" child care and "universal" preschool* plus much, much more). His childhood mentor until he was 18 was a communist. During college and his early career he was steeped in Marxist professors, socialist conferences and a socialist boss. Get the picture? This guy is a socialist! But he doesn't come right out and say so.

The next thing that caught my attention today was a video for the Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr. Never heard of him? Neither had I. And I love libertarians. But...you know...head in the sand....

Refreshingly, this video is well done and inspirational. If you want to be challenged to actually think (huh? wha?) about where our country is headed, check it out. I like this guy.

The Time for Liberty

Tragically, I am back in the position of deciding whether to vote against a populist socialist, or vote for the guy I really like.

Still don't know what I'll do.

Who are you voting for? Why?

* You can be that gets my homeschool feathers ruffled! Kids need more of their parents, not less! Cradle to grave.....cradle to grave...that's where we are headed.

Thinking of THAT already?

I know it's only July 30, but I'm already getting nervous excited about school.

I can't help it. I'm a homeschool geek!

I love buying new curricula. I adore planning. Research? Brainstorming? I'm there. There is something so attractive and delightful in crafting a plan of study that caters to my kids' strengths and weaknesses. Or maybe I just love the planning part, in itself. The actual doing of school? Not so much. The visionary part is always way more fun than the implementation part.

This year I'll be larnin' my little one for the first time. ABC's and 1,2,3's and all that. My nervousness comes from needing ARG to be way more independent in his studies (something he has not excelled in to date). Plus, my time, energy and attention will be split three ways.

Can you say, "Calgon! Take me away!"?

But I have high hopes that ARG will indeed be able (oh please! oh please!) to launch himself more into self-teaching. The real question is, will I be able to leave him the heck alone? Oh, is it hard. When I see any "slacking" I burst forth with,

"Have you done your math yet?"
"What about Spanish?"
"When are you going to do your science?"

Blech! Right? I mean, what self-respecting man/boy wants him mom all over him like that? And why would I want to continue micro-managing his education? I mean, the boy has got to step up to the plate at some point.

Also on my list of great expectations is Mini-Me loving to learn. So far I'm using the old "It's a game" trick for learning. We play: concentration with letters, counting games, finger writing in rice. So far, so good. If I can keep up my enthusiasm, energy and focus, we should be OK.

And let me tell you, playing learning games and doing creative projects with kids is WAY, WAY, WAY harder than "teaching" them something, then handing them a worksheet and saying, "Go do this." But it's better. They learn more and they enjoy it (probably because they don't feel like they are performing, or being tested).

Mini-Me is at the sponge stage right now. She's like a baby bird with its mouth open. My job is to regurgitate half digested worms provide lots of stimuation, information and experiences to help her grow.

Then there's Rosie. She's at the tricky age of being able to write pretty well (nice handwriting, atrocious spelling), but not quite ready to write essays (well). I think paragraphs will be our short-term goal. She's a math wiz, so that's no prob. But she needs lots of time to read, read, read this year. Charlotte's Web! The Cricket in Times Square! Warmsquishyheartsigh....I can't wait to dig into her new language program Beyond Five in a Row. Yay!

Then there's Physical Science at Home (and I get the answer sheet!), and Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings for ARG (who lo-o-o-o-o-O-ves LOTR).

Plus neat archeology digging projects to compliment our history studies. Mesopotamia here we come! Woo hoo! Ancient Greece! and Rome! Oooooh. Yeah baby!

-AHEM-

So, yeah.

Thanks for joining me on my little mid-summer anticipation fest.

What a Terrible Title

Bleak House.

Not too inspiring, is it? Only the name Charles Dickens on the cover could induce me to attempt a book with that dreary title.

And really, he could've come up with a better one, I think. The story is not seriously bleak. Sure, there are distressing moments and ugly characters but the overall tone of the tale is redemptive, most assuredly not bleak.

When I read Dickens it's like I've made a whole bunch of new friends. I feel joy for their triumphs, anger when they're mistreated, and deep sadness when kindness and patience is repaid with cruelty and abuse. Dickens manages to make me care, and laugh, and miss the characters when I can't find time to read.

I didn't study English Lit. in college, so I couldn't tell you the techniques and tools he uses to do this. Mostly I feel like a funny, old English guy is talking to me and I think I would really love him if I met him. He mercilessly skewers hypocritical societal norms, imbecilic laws and craven, selfish people. I enjoy skewering. On the other hand, he draws (mostly) realistic pictures of his honorable, generous and kind characters. Plus, there is always a delicous mystery being unravelled though the story.

Dickens is one of the few authors who can make me laugh out loud.

Two of my favorite snippets from this book:

We get to know proud Sir Leicester Dedlock.

Sir Leicester is generally in a complacent state, and rarely bored. When he has nothing else to do, he can always contemplate his own greatness. It is a considerable advantage to a man, to have so inexhaustible a subject. After reading his letters, he leans back in his corner of the carriage, and generally reviews his importance to society.

We look in on the happy Bagnet family in their inept preparations for the "old girl's" birthday, in which she must sit and watch, with out helping:

It is well for the old girl that she has but one birthday in a year, for two such indulgences in poultry might be injurious. Every kind of finer tendon and ligament that it is in the nature of poultry to possess, is developed in these specimens in the singular form of guitar-strings. Their limbs appear to have struck roots into their breasts and bodies as aged trees strike roots into the earth.... But Mr. Bagnet, unconscious of these little defects, sets his heart on Mrs. Bagnet eating a most severe quantity of the delicacies before her; and as that good old girl would not cause him a moment's disappointment on any day, least of all on such a day, for any consideration, she imperils her digestion fearfully. How young Woolwich [the son] cleans the drumsticks without being of ostrich descent, his anxious mother is at a loss to understand.

Reminds me of Mother's Day, when one must Ooooh and Aaaaaah over every bite and present and decoration, while (usually) having to clean it all up the next day.

At just under 1000 pages, Bleak House is not bathroom reading. It took me several weeks for finish it. But is was a treat and indulgence to curl up with my friends of old England and ignore the kiddos whenever I could find a chunk of time. Just my kind of summer reading.

In the end, I suppose I simply love Dickens' voice. The way he expresses himself suits me.

Sue's Weekly Winners

July 20 - 27, 2008

bunch O daisies

CD? Broken Window? Spider Web?

Fuego

inspired by Lotus, not as good as hers

I like lichen!

Symmetrical Succulent

Hmmmm.......

Just pretty.

Moi at the pool.

Ready. Set. Go!

ARG chillaxin' at the pool.

Up. Up. Up. the mountain.

Goal: a shot of me at the top of this peak
Challenge: massive amounts of poison oak

I Heart Bureaucracy

As my 40th birthday looms approaches, I have progressed through a series of ideas on how to commemorate it.

The first idea (hubby's actually) was to reserve 5 or 6 sites at Big Sur campgrounds, invite everyone we know to come camping with us, and see who shows up. I liked the idea, but worried that a.) no one would and b.) it would be a lot of work. The huge fire down there nixed that idea.

Also considered was a longer length triathlon (longer than the fairly doable sprint ones I've done in the past). But the shark attacks and my general laziness ended that worthy goal.

I've never wanted a party, because I generally do not enjoy parties. I'm kind of lame that way. I'm much better one to one. In big groups I tend to clam up and drink too much.

Most likely I will have a special date with Hubby and each of my close friends. And perhaps a party with my extended family.

But what I've ended up with as a way to celebrate my 40th meaningfully is to serve. I plan to go to an orphanage Rancho de sus Niños in Mexico, just south of Tijuana and serve there with ARG for 3 or 4 days. It'll be a great chance to lube up the rusty español and to practice having a servant's heart. It feels pretty good to focus on giving instead of receiving at this point.

HOWEVER. Let me tell you. The hoops I'm having to jump through to get down there are multitudinous (isn't that a fun word? it just cheered me up to use it).

Application. Letter of recommendation from Pastor. Essay on my Christian beliefs and background. Criminal background check. Passport.

Everything was fine until I came into contact with govt. bureaucracies. Ugh. I bounced from my local sherriff, to the next city's police dept., to the US Dept of Justice. Made the calls. Filled out the application. But no. There's a new criminal background application now. OK.....I'll fill out the new one. (heavy dispair laden sigh)

For the passports I researced online, printed out forms, filled out said forms, wrote checks, took 10 million photos to get one good passport shot - but NO. The photo was rejected. Reason? It does "not contain a plain light (white or off white) background".


I suppose it's not exactly snow white, but I think it definitely falls within the off-white range. Don't you? C'mon.....

Guess they only mean passportphotofacility white. Urg!

I feel called enough to do this that I will keep jumping to make it happen. I feel like there is something for me there - don't know what. At the very least, ARG will get an up close and personal view of what some children have to go through. I'm hoping it will help him realize how incredibly blessed and privileged he is. (a little gratitude goes a long way with me). It's also a great chance for him to get hands-on practice serving others.

Just gotta get through those hoops.

Fantasies

Yesterday I was reading the Stanford application guidelines for homeschoolers. Yes, I'm probably way ahead of myself here, but hey - a girl can have fantasies right?

One thing I thought was cool (though I wonder if it is really true): Stanford admissions doesn't just look at what you have accomplished or what you know, they want to hear about the student's learning process. They want to know that the applicant is curious, interested, even passionate about learning. It even states something like, "This is not 'the one with the most and highest AP test scores wins'". I guess they are wanting students who will continue zealously pursuing their studies - not just kids who "got into Stanford". I like that.

But one question they ask homeschooling students to answer in the application essay is how and why did your family decide to homeschool. Now, excuse me, but ARG was four when I decided to homeschool. Isn't it a little weird that a question more appropriately addressed to the parent is asked of the kid?

It made me think that I need to write about our decision to educate the kids at home, so that they can learn to articulate it for themselves. The problem with talking or writing about homeschooling is that it usually threatens or in some way alienates the audience (the majority of whom do not homeschool). I try hard not to disrespect or disparage other people's choices, but when I expound upon my strong distrust and dislike for public schools (and to be honest, any institutional schooling).....well, you can see my problem.

DON'T WORRY I'm not writing "Why I Chose to Homeschool" today. (do I hear a collective sigh of relief?) But I am feeling a strong desire in me to figure out how to communicate about it in a fun, non-offensive way. It might be an impossible feat.

Perhaps if I just focus on the positives of homeschooling, without harping on the negatives of institutional schooling I'll do better. Ya think?

Speaking of fantasies.....

I want to go to Spain. With my kids. For a month. At least.

I want to have a memorable and fun-filled 40th Bday without having to make plans ("oh that'll happen," she says snidely)

I want to go back to school and get my masters or PhD in history.

I want to lose 20 lbs.

Well, like I said, a girl can have fantasies......

Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!

It is strange when your kids get old enough to be better than you in some areas. Aside from surpassing me in the ability to remember things, I'm pretty sure ARG exceeds both Hubby and me intellectually. He's got the smarts - ya know? Book smarts. Idea smarts.

I don't write much about my middle daughter, Rosie. She almost 9 and is about the sweetest, most innocent, friendly, easy going kid you can imagine. But what is really a trip, is that she has people skills galore (something I seriously lack). And she (I know this sounds so Little House on the Prairie) is a giving person. She has an emotional maturity that blows me away.

A few examples:
- she plays games with her little sister, and lets her win!
- she writes letters to her 90 year old great Aunt - who had curls like Rosie's when she was young
- she reads to her little sister
- she makes love notes and cards (and emails) for us all the time
- she bathes and puts little sister to bed
- she rubs my feet - because she knows I like it

When Rosie doesn't get what she wants out of me, she doesn't fight me. She'll say, "Yes, Mom. OK. But is it all right if I.......? At church, ballet and swimming she is well liked and sought after. She has good friends and makes new friends. Teachers always tell me how sweet and involved she is. And she is awesome with little ones. It's like she learned the art of interpersonal Tai Chi somewhere (not from me).

Now don't get me wrong, she's no saint. She can bicker (only with siblings) with the best of 'em, and regularly forgets to clean her room. I've even seen the occasional eye roll.

I probably don't write much about her because she exasperates me the least of all three kids. She's the helpful one. The considerate one. The one in the middle.

Remember the Brady Bunch episode when Jan is so jealous of Marcia and is sick of being the middle child? Jan was fed up with everything always being about "Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!"

The Brady Bunch may not have been good for much, but I have always remembered that episode. And I take it to heart. I must always remember to single Rosie out and make her feel special.

Because she IS.

St. Nan Nan

I am so lucky. I am so blessed. I am so lucky and blessed that it makes other moms jealous.

My mom loooooooooooves her grandkids. I mean seriously. She is devoted to them. She devotes much of her life to them. You can't believe how supremely helpful and loving she is.

ARG dubbed her "NanNan" when he was a baby, a precious baby mangling of her name + Grandma. She's been NanNan ever since and all her other grandkids call her that too.

Prepare to be jealous.

She retired (award winning 5th grade teacher in her prime, thankyouverymuch) when my 2nd child was born because she couldn't stand being away from her grandkids.

She makes the 1+ hour drive to our house every week (barring holidays, vacations and miscellaneous freak happenings), spends the night, and goes home after lunch the next day. While she is here she:

- washes and folds all my kids' laundry
- brings bags of food to feed my kids lunch, dinner and breakfast (I guess my cupboard was bare one to many times - oops).
- cleans the kitchen
- plays and reads to my kids (the ones who still like that sort of thing)
- helps them clean their room! (that alone deserves a medal)
- drives them to various sporting activities
- helps me teach them (my kids have impeccable grammar)
- bathes the little one and puts her to bed
- generally loves and cares for them completely one day a week.
- leaves my home cleaner than when she arrived.

She won't be in the house but 5 minutes before she is up in the laundry room getting started on that job. I jokingly call her Cinderalla sometimes - she doesn't seem to mind.

NanNan's arrival is my cue to exit stage left. Errands? Check. Doctor appt? Check. Dentist? Shopping? Exercise? Visit w/ friend? Eat out w/ Hubby? Check. Check. Check. NanNan is here and there's no problem she can't handle!

"Don't worry about a thing." she calls as Hubby and I walk out the door for dinner, "Stay out as long as you want!"

Moms, especially new moms, will understand that this is GOLD in mommy currency.

Thankfully, my little one has finally grown out of the stage where she only wants Mama, so she's usually seeing my backside as NanNan makes her way to the laundry room.

Now, you may be wondering if SuperGrandma succombs to the age old temptation to spoil grandchildren. The answer is YES: Eating Out & Ice Cream. My kids are not thinner because of her. But hey, we never take them out to eat (paying for 5 gets pricey!), so this is their only chance. The ice cream factor can be a pain at times, especially if the kids are coming down/getting over an illness. Not the healthiest thing.

But her merits way, Way, WAY overwhelm any other considerations. Plus she is so active and healthy - a great role model for my kids. And her hobby?........ Shopping.

For. My. Kids.

Uh huh. You read that right. Almost every week she walks in with a package from Land's End or Hanna Anderson, "I thought this would look cute on Rosie for summer!"

Yes, she's a gem alright. And I do make time each visit to sit with her and chat. Heck, sometimes her food is so great Hubby and I stick around instead of going out.

Aside from thanking God for such a supreme NanNan, I sincerely look forward to the day when I can pay back a small portion of the care and kindness she has showered on me and my family.

NanNan and Me

Sue's Weekly Winners

(Previously: Photo Friday)

July 14 - 20, 2008

Above the clouds on the top of Montara Mountain
(why, YES! I DID hike all the way up!)

lichen and moss galore

the most supreme pizza ever from Rainbow Pizza

Crystal Springs and surrounding fauna


Swingin'

Yo! I'm out in nature.

So - I will be one of the extremely rare people participating in Weekly Winners who doesn't post supercuteadorableprecious pics of my kiddies (or at least not their faces). Thanks to SafetyMan.

Get used to lotsa Sue and lotsa food and lotsa nature!

Woo hoo!

I'm not there. I'm here.

I am a grumpy blogger today because everybody and her bleeping sister is at the BlogHer conference ...

BUT ME!

Do I really know what goes on at the Blogher conference? Understand it's purpose? Would it be of benefit to my life?

WHO CARES!

It has something to do with blogging and women and is in San Francisco (I fit in all of those categories!) and everyone else is going and I want to jump on the band wagon! She's there. She is too. She wishes she could but can't afford it. Even she is going and she doesn't blog all that much.

I looked at the prices a few weeks ago and stomped my foot and swore responsibly decided that we can't afford that kind of outlay for something that just looks like FUN!

WAH! WAH! I wanna go! WAH!
(I had to do that!)

Now that I have that off my chest, I will take a note from Uncommon Blonde (who got it from someone else I think) and write a list of the things for which I am grateful (notice how I didn't say 'things I am grateful for?' my Grammar Cop mom instilled a strong aversion to dangling prepositions).


I AM GRATEFUL THAT:

1. I have so many choices in my life. When things stink I can choose to change and make things better.
2. I truly AM a chocolate chip cookie expert.
3. My kids are healthy (whooping cough aside) and don't experience major learning challenges.
4. I am blessed with great old friends (my best friend from high school lives five minutes away!) and am making super-cool new ones!
5. I can cook and/or buy just about any type of food on the planet (I love me some taste sensations).
6.My hubby is sooooo supportive and on my team (if ya know what I mean). He really and truly wants what is best for me, even if it is occasionally inconvenient for him.
7. I live in a beeeeuuuutiful place! Ocean, trees, mountains......yes!
8. Dickens wrote such entertaining, uplifting novels and I get to read one each summer.
9. Sometimes more than ten (10!) people read my blog
10. My big kids still run and hug me, saying "I love you Mommy" when I walk in the door.

There.

I feel better already.

What are you grateful for?
(Ack! Dangling preposition! How DO you say that correctly? For what are you grateful? Sounds like a bad translation.)

I laughed until I snorted

Last night ARG and I went to the San Jose Rep to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company perform All the Great Books (Abridged). If you've never seen or heard of RSC, you should check the links above or the rest of this post might not make sense to you.

You can get the The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) DVD at your local library - I highly recommend it. And no, you don't need to know a lot about the Bard to hurt your knees watching it (from slapping them so hard while you laugh!).

At the show last night, as we found our seats and settled in before the show, ARG turned to me and said, "I feel like I need a seatbelt." We were very excited.

The schtick premise of All the Great Books is a remedial Western Lit. class in high school. The audience are the students, led by a PE coach, a drama teacher (who has his A.A. in dramatic theatre!) and a...well, a young, politically correct idiot. The show began with about eighty hard-cover books being thrown onto the stage from stage left all at once.

For two hours they mocked about 80 classics, from The Odyssey to Green Eggs and Ham. The jokes were so fast and furious that we were laughing until we cried. And yes, I snorted ONCE, before I got myself under control. The two words that embody the essense of this show are: jocularity and ribald. There were several jokes that (I'm hoping!) went right over ARG's head. It is definitely aimed at older audiences.

Some favorite moments:

- After condemning the other characters for being racist for wanting to say the N word while they dramatized Huck Finn, the PC guy says, "Stop characterizing people by the color of their skin!" Turning to the audience he complains, "Man, all white people do that!"

- When the actors lost their place and ad libbed for about 3 minutes - that's live theatre folks - and it was just as funny and more exciting than the rest of the show.

- They brought a guy from the front row on stage to play the Female Author Dating Game. Jane Austen and George Elliot (pen name for Mary Ann Evans) were asked intelligent literary questions. Emily Bronte (played by the poor sap from the audience) was asked, "If I were a banana, how would you peel me?"

- A character from War and Peace introducing himself as Ivan (cough, cough) Nastikov (get it?)

We never wanted it to end. It was nonstop giggles for two hours. I wish I could remember and share more jokes, but there were SO MANY. There's no way my feeble brain can retain all that.

Probably more important than all the laughs and entertainment was the special Mommy/ARG time we had. I am hardly ever alone with my almost 12 year old man/boy. (BTW - we measured him today - he's 5'10"!!!). So that was sweet.

This photo caused great controversy in my family, but I'm including it anyways. It's ARG and the actors after the show - they were so nice!

Do You Ever Get the Blues?

Figuring out life can be a challenging, mysterious process sometimes.

For about a week or so I have been feeling so blue. So bleah. So.....depressed. Not "My life stinks and I'm going to kill myself" depressed. It's not that heavy or dark. More mediocre.

I'm just not excited about things. I'm not motivated. I'm ambivalent and wishy washy. All choices seem like yucky choices. My body is sluggish. My energy is down. All I really want to do is shut myself up in my room and watch a movie or read (Dickens is my hero!). I feel empty and bored.

Sounds nice, doesn't it? It's been ebbing and flowing for the last few days. I'm pretty sure I'm on a general upswing. Oddly, the weekends are hardest.

Of course I've been pondering the possible causes for my malaise. Here's what I've come up with so far as possible culprits:

• hormones (thyroid?)
• too much sugar and/or wheat
• not enough exercise
• my kids all being sick and me stuck at home taking care of them
• summertime = no school
This may sound crazy, but as much as I stress out during school time, I get a real sense of accomplishment for teaching my kids. This feeling is absent during summer. This is why I will need to get a (paying) job when they grow up.
• summertime = no ballet, no fencing
It's astounding to me that chauffering my kids to and fro is somehow fulfilling! And that I wierdly miss what I have so long been wanting to stop.
• hubby's job transition
He's getting pressure to stay at old job, and doesn't know yet about the new job.

That's a pretty credible list of downers right?

Some things I have control over (no chocolate chip cookie dough tonight, Sue!), but I'm at the mercy of others (please stop ____________ insert: coughing, sneezing, vomiting, having a fever, or needing to stay home all the time!).

I'm going out for a hike up Montara Mtn. with my amiga tonight (God and husbands willing). That helps a bit. Walkie Talkie, she calls it.

How do you perk yourself up out of the blues? Please, something that lasts more than one day/night.

Sunday News

I got to peruse the news headlines this morning, since my girl Rosie is getting over (Thank You Lord!) the flu and we stayed home from church.

Thought I'd share a few of the highlights with ya'll:


Our Leaders are in Carbon-Cloud Cuckoo Land.
- on why the G8 summit was a complete waste of time, not to mention crazy

French village snubs the Euro
- they're still using the franc and becoming a tourist destination - hooray for independence!

Iraqi govt. handing out cash
- what a super way to fix your country! No worries about corruption at all!

A very interesting article on a guy from Iran who escaped to the US after being in Iranian prison (and all that entails) for many years. The coolest part is when he said he'd go back to Iran to fight for his country if the US attacked.

High cost of oil increases online classes.
Why drive to classes when you can save $$ by doing them at home?

ACLU files lawsuit challenging FISA
If you care whether the govt. monitors your online activities.....

Apes granted human rights in Spain.
Because rights come from governments - right?


Generally I don't read or listen to the news. Death and destruction. Death and destruction. That's about all there is. ARG and I joke in the car when the NPR news highlights come on - how many people died? where? and how? and which govt. is "looking into it"?

It would be funny, if it wasn't so sad.

Photo Friday

Sick.

All sick.

Well, 3/5 of us are sick. New sickness on top of old sickness for ARG.

We are: Coughing. WHOOPING. Sniffling. Sneezing. Vomiting. Unmentionable-ing. Tired.

HE ARE ZE PICS:

squirrel's eye view
taken by ARG on a trail near our house

lookin' up

toes and kids at the pool

my passport photo

"When you look like your passport photo, it's time to go home" Erma Bombeck

That's all folks.

Whoop! Whoop!

"The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816. ME 15:36

"The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence." - John Adams, Defense of the Constitutions of Governments of the United States, 1787

"If the United States mean to obtain or deserve the full praise due to wise and just governments, they will equally respect the rights of property, and the property in rights..." - James Madison, The Papers of James Madison

OK, OK. I won't go on anymore about property rights. But seriously, folks - this is important stuff.


And now for something completely different:


You may recall me mentioning my three kids cough, cough, coughing about three weeks ago? Well, guess what. I'm pretty darn sure they've had Pertussis. Whooping Cough!

One day a few weeks ago a friend called and asked me,

FRIEND: "Have your kids been coughing?"
ME: "Yes"
FRIEND: "Coughing a lot?"
ME: "Yes"
FRIEND: "Coughing so much they gag and almost throw up?
ME: pause..."Yeeeeessss"
FRIEND: "Well, I just wanted you to know that FriendsofyourKids have Whooping Cough, and you guys might have it."

Super!

Fantastic!

And I agonized over the immunization decision for what exactly? I finally gave in to my fear of pertussis and got the darn shots for all my kiddos, why?

The one thing they got shots for (aside from Tetanus) and they STILL get it.

Hmph!

At first the coughs didn't seem that severe. And actually Mini-Me is just clearing her throat in a lovely way every thirty seconds now, but not coughing. Rosie only coughed for a week.

But yesterday I heard it for the first time. The whoop. ARG has had it the worst - coughing to the point of gagging several times a day. He feels fine otherwise, which is strange. But yesterday he whooped. It's on the breath intake (or non-intake) after coughing.

ARG: Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, yech, aulg, WHOOP!

You can hear a baby whoop if you want. That's just what ARG sounds like except he's got a great, deep man's cough and whoop. It's less scary, but grosser. Poor guy. We're in our fourth week of coughing.

Now I'm really bummin', cause Rosie just came down with a fever and headache. She's not showing signs of a cold, which is the usual symptoms at the onset of Pertussis. So, I have no idea if she's got a run of the mill flu, or is just starting with the Dreaded Cough of Death.

What to do?

Go to the pediatrician? Get her tested? Give her antibiotics before test results come back (that's what they'll want us to do)? Wait for more symptoms?

***Heavy sigh***

This mothering business gets more and more complicated all the time.

where I ramble about moral principals and you hang in there with me

Hubby originally encouraged me to start a blog to write about politics. I guess I was talking about it a lot and he thought I needed an outlet.

Obviously that hasn't happened.

But my smart friend Beth, who was in my Constitution study group, has been posting about property rights and it's got me thinking.

Does government have a moral right to take property from some groups of people (taxes) and distribute it to other groups of people? I would guess that most people believe that some taxes are OK, but that the government spends too much (or at least spends it ineffectively).

Do Republicans generally believe that there should be fewer taxes and fewer helping programs?

Do Democrats generally believe that there should be more taxes and more helping programs?

But what about the fundamental principal of it all?

Are taxes moral? (please don't let's get into whether morals are subjective or objective - there's got to be an objective right and wrong or nothing makes much sense in life.)


In other words, does anyone else have a right to my property? Or are taxes glorified plunder?

Here is one perspective:

Without the right to our property, meaning both our physical body (including our mind) and all the material goods we produce and earn from our efforts, our fundamental right to life would mean nothing, because life – “living” – involves “acting” freely and using our physical body (including our mind) and all our earned and produced material goods – our wealth - to enhance and improve our life. Property rights are our only way of carrying out - “implementing” – our rights to life, liberty, and our pursuits to happiness. Ayn Rand: “…the right to property is a right to action, like all the others.”
comment from John on Wealth is Not the Problem

What I think he is saying is this:

If we don't have the right to our property, we don't have the right to life - because living includes and requires acting and producing.

I just wish there was a simple way to present this idea. A way that people could understand easily. I had to read through Beth's post twice. And stop and think (oh my!) after each sentence. We all know most people ain't gonna do that.

So how do we talk about this stuff? How can it be made accessible?

Right to Life: check
Right to Liberty: check
Right to Property: whoa there....not so sure about that.

Something that totally convinced me of the right to property (or at least the immorality and the state taking away one's property) was Frederic Bastiat's essay What is Seen and What is Not Seen. He was a French guy from the 1800's - but wrote simply and made a lot of sense! He talks about what happens to the schmo whose income is reduced by taxes (what is not seen) that go to pay for so and so's welfare (what is seen). Really, it's a quick read. I highly recommend it.

Oh why did Jefferson omit the Right to Property in the Declaration? Can you think of a more vague and unhelpful term than "Pursuit of Happiness"?

Ugh.

Sir Thomas Malory, Beware!

ARG wrote a poem today. He was inspired by a book he read - based in Arthurian legend (he won't tell me the title). When I moaned about finding a topic for tonight's post, he offered it up.

I must be very matter-of-fact and not too excited or he'll never write another one again (you know how it is with kids).

Here it is:


CURSED
Part 1

My fate from Merlin's ghastly leer
was prophesied, doom crystal clear;
four knights upon a field of battle,
stood far alone, for all their chattel
were slain by strife of civil war:
Knights Gawaine, Gareth, Tristan, Bors,
Lamorak, Percivale, Galahad, Kay —
strewn about the field they lay,
and a lone black knight in armour charged
a worthy king, that sole sin marred.

When I was born my father cast
me out to sea, I was the last
of fifty babes that he had killed,
for fear that I would then fulfill
the prophesy that Merlin made,
that I would kill and culminate
the reign and glory of the True King,
and death and sickness I would bring.

And when I was cast off from the land,
I was rescued, by a fisherman.
I was raised by a Fishermother;
I had no doubt that I was other
than a poor young lad, to serve and fear
the wonderful wildness of Lyr.
Until one day, with me near grown,
I beheld a lady, upon a roan,
that had come to take me to Lothian,
she hoisted me up with fair hand,
and off we rode, me never thinking,
that I left Fishermother behind me, weeping.

Change is a Comin'

I often reflect upon how, as a SAHM, much of the excitement, worry and change in my life is based on Hubby's life. And his job. When I chat with a girlfriend and we "catch up" on what's been going on, a good portion is dedicated to describing the ups and downs of Hubby's employment escapades.

My ego is not altogether crazy about how much I live vicariously through others, but oh well.

Hubby is a techie. His job pattern has been (generally) something like this:
- get hired by excited small tech firm
- enjoy job for about a year
- get bought by behemoth, universe ruling company
- be happy to make some money on stock options
- be sad when new parent company destroys small company
- hate job for about a year and a half
- start looking for new job

This cycle has repeated three times so far.

Now, we are about to begin the cycle again. Hubby gave notice yesterday, and starts a new job with exciting, small tech firm in mid-August.

My feelings are mixed. I am thrilled that job hunting is over. Unlike some people I know, my hubby had to interview about a zillion times with many companies over several months. Apparently positions that entail managing people and coding are semi-rare. I guess you are usually one (manager) or the other (code monkey). Add this to a full time job and trying to spend time with the fam, and you have a recipe for....being very tired and fried. So, as you can imagine, I am delighted to end that phase of the process. Hubby is too.

And, I'm very proud of the way Hubby took responsibility for his life and slogged through the job hunting process to improve things. He didn't just sit around and complain about his job. He took care of things. And he landed something he wants - managing a team (a whole branch in the org chart tree!) while still architecting and coding.

But starting a new job.....change....that can be scary. What will it be like? Will they expect him to work like a slave (again)? Will his boss be cool and/or supportive? Does anyone else in the company have kids? Or all they all be Single Burning Man Tatooed Pierced Alternative Lifestyle People like his last job? Will my medical providers accept the new insurance? And most importantly, will I enjoy the Christmas party?

Because, of course, the most important part of all this change is: how will it affect moi!

Time will tell....

Photo Friday

Happy Independence Day!

What would the founders think of America today? For a perspective check out:
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of .......Wealth

But on to Photo Friday.....er....um...ah..... I left my camera at my mom's house last week.

But never fear! I have a few from hubby's photograph taking device:

a normal (read: foggy) view off our front porch

ARG getting a point at Summer Nationals in SJ

me at summer nationals: SO NERVOUS!

Blessed place of refuge, which I visited many, many times

ARG getting coaching from his fencing Maestro

statue in downtown San Jose that is supposed to be a coiled up snake,
but at first glance looks like a giant dog poop.

That's it!

God Bless America.

Hashimoto Update

Because you care so much about my health.

First of all, so you don't get too worried - it's all good news.

I met with Dr. Goldman at the UCSF Thyroid Clinic today. Luckily, I only waited ten minutes before I got called in. The usual wait is about 45 minutes. It's never a good sign when there is a placard in the waiting room saying, "If you have been waiting longer than 30 minutes for your appointment, please bring it to the attention of the registration staff."

Dr. Goldman kindly printed out and copied all of my records for me to have. Here is the poop on the thyroid scoop:

- ultrasound: thyroid nodule is stable - no goiter growth!
- blood work: thyroid function still within "normal" range
- symptoms: very mild to nonexistent

The outcome of all this is that I don't have to go back in for a whole year! And still no meds for me. But the bad news is that (according to the Dr.) I have a 50/50 chance of getting hypothyroidism and have to get my thyroid levels checked every year for the rest of my life.

I asked him if there was anything I could do to promote my health. All he could say was to stay away from iodine. That shouldn't be too hard. Though I do enjoy a nice kelp salad at sushi. He said small doses would be fine.

Western doctors are notoriously uneducated on nutrition, so he really can't help me there. But alternative health practitioners are notoriously uneducated in scientific studies - so they can get a lot of things wrong. One guy told me to take iodine supplements. Jeesh.

The one perplexing thing is that I'm tryng to track my thyroid levels over time, but the measurements used in each lab are different:

1/15/08 T-4 11 pmol/L Tsh .79 mIU/L

6/30/08 T-4 .7 NG/DL Tsh .84 UIU/ML

Can anyone help me decipher these numbers? 11 seems a lot higher than 4.7 - but what is a pmol? mIU? UIU? huh?

So unless I experience more symptoms or any change in my lumpenator, it looks like I'm good to go. Though it seems wise to me to try for a healthy lifetyle with lots of good nutrition and not too much of the bad stuff....sniff....sniff....

Tomorrow at 5:30am (I know!) we're off for ARG's Y12 Fencing Summer National Championships in San Jose. Should be a nail biter. I'm going to write on my hands, "Shut up!" so I don't make inanely stupid comments when my nervousness takes over.

Stay tuned.....

Is This Horse Dead Yet?

Do I complain a lot about how tired I get by the end of the day? How annoyed and irritable I feel some days after about 6:00pm? It seems to be a recurring theme in my life, hence a recurring theme in ye olde blog.

Sorry.

But MAN! Some evenings I have just HAD IT! I feel so completely DONE with mothering.

Tonight, for example, I was responding to the San Mateo Daily News sports editor about ARG's fencing team; looking up info, typing in names and ages.... real exciting stuff I do for my personal entertainment, ya know?

And the kids. were. being. KIDS!

"Mom! Want me to teach you how to make a tea cup and saucer out of string?"
"Mommy! I want milk, not water."
"Stop! StoooOOOOooop! He keeps touching me!"
"Ooooh," (ARG hovering over my shoulder) "What'cha doing?"

Every new "Mom!" was like nails on a chalk board. In my mind I'm thinking, "Delete. Delete. Delete" as if I could just hit a button and make them go away.

They weren't even being seriously bad. It's just that if I am in the room, I am their point of reference for everything. I am the center of their universe. Every thought. Every need. Every disagreement. Requires. Me.

That's not kids misbehaving. That's just kids. It's what I signed up for. But just like any job or career, there are moments when you just need it to go away (temporarily of course).

I know the old "Calgon take me away!" is probably getting clichéd, and doesn't sufficiently express how much I truly didn't care what my kids wanted in that moment.

I suppose in a day or two I'll have to write an exculpatory post replete with assurances of how much I adore and love my children (because I really do).

But tonight - they're going to bed early.