only 2 problems with that idea

I’d love to go take more pictures of the places I found yesterday, pictures with the camera set at a higher resolution.  The 2 problems?  1.  I don’t have the foggiest idea where I was yesterday! Yes, I looked at a map.  I know where I started but am not sure where I ended up. That makes it hard to find those places again.  :)  And 2.  I don’t have the manual for my camera and can’t remember how to reset the resolution to something that will allow bigger prints.

Sigh.  Oh well.  At least the sun is shining today.  I’m going to take pics on the WSU campus.  And buy some Cougar Gold cheese!  Then I think I’m ready to head home.      Maybe.

big city girl no more??

I am a big city girl.  Born in the San Francisco Bay area, my parents moved to the Seattle area before my first birthday.  City—or at least suburban—life is the only thing I’ve ever known.  Jim is a country boy, growing up on 12 acres outside a small town in Oregon.  One of the few points of contention in our marriage has been his desire to live away—FAR away—from the big city.  I’ve always hated the thought.  I’m ready to throw in the towel though… 

My mom is from a small town.  My dad grew up on a dairy farm.  My husband grew up on a filbert orchard.  Several of my good friends grew up on vineyards, orchards, or wheat farms.  I have friends now who live on farms and in little tiny towns.  The odds are definitely stacked against me, and finally the thought of small town life is winning me over. Too many people in the big city for me any more. Spending time in Pullman (population 27,000) has been fun.  Even more, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time just driving in the countryside among the wheatfields and through the little tiny towns.  SO incredibly gorgeous!!  Even in bad (or at least less than pleasant) weather.  

I explored a pretty county park today.  Took a hike just before the rain hit.  The view was pretty and the little flowers were beautiful:

Although it’s hard to drive and take pictures, I did find some places to pull over in the rain.  It’s actually not hard when there are no other cars on the road.  :)  I love old barns so took lots of pictures of them.  They always remind me of growing up when we would go to ‘the ranch,’ the property my great grandparents homesteaded in the Lincoln Creek valley, and play in the old barn.  Even when I was lost this morning, I found lots of treasures.

And yes, I know that not all of those pictures are barns!  :)    I think, though, that of all the pictures I took, this one is my favorite. 

Gorgeous, huh?

the sorry state of education in America

Quick—a quiz.  If you know what an analog clock is, raise your hand.  Uh huh. I thought so.  Even my big guys, mostly raised in the digital age, know what an analog clock is.

Last night I was working on setting a calendar for Ryan and Logan for fall.  I’m going to homeschool them, and after I got a basic calendar set up, I spent some time reviewing several math programs.  I know basically what I need but wanted to do some fine tuning for my dynamic duo.  I pulled up 2 documents to help me assess my choices:  The Washington State K-12 Math Standards and a K-8 Math Standard document from an “independent, bipartisan, non-profit education reform organization based in Washington, D.C. that helps states raise academic standards…”  This organization, Achieve Inc, has helped 22 states coordinate their math standards so that they are nearly the same in each state.  I wanted to get an idea of “what they needed to know” to stay on target.  (Fortunately, I know that all the math programs I am thinking about blow the doors off the state and national standards so I’m not terribly concerned.)

The reason for the quiz question at the beginning?  I was disturbed to see the following on a 1st grade math standards document:

“Tell time from analog (round) clocks in half hour intervals”

Um?? What the heck?!?  ROUND clocks?  What about my square analog clock?  What about the octagonal ones?  If teachers don’t know what an analog clock is, they don’t have any business in the classroom!  Sorry…but that is beyond ridiculous!  If we have to define those terms, we are in worse shape than I realized.

Fortunately  (or unfortunately) I have only read the math standards.  From the experience, though, I have made one decision:  I will stick with what I know works.  I will do my homework and set standards for my guys.  It’s highly likely I won’t ever turn them over to the public sector for education.  And if our local Christian school starts using those standards for curriculum development and  assessment, I won’t turn my boys over to them either.  Ryan and Logan have the right to a better education than that!

Off my soapbox now…  I had a great morning.  Took a lovely drive in the rain.  Got lost, but found some incredible barns and took lots of pics.  Will post later.  Right now math curricula calls.  :\

growing up

Emily has her orientation this week at Washington State University.   A blessed mom, I get to partially participate this time!   She asked me to come with her for the drive, so I drove out to Pullman this morning.  After getting her checked in and fed, I dropped her back off for 2 days on campus.  ( I get to spend 2 days enjoying peace and quiet in a hotel!!  How wonderful is that??) She has a writing assessment today, a math placement test tomorrow morning, and several sessions about her major (architecture) and advising/class registration time.  She’ll have fun!  She was a bit nervous, and one of the things bugging her was that she would have a roommate she’s never met before.  THAT is not Emily’s kind of thing at all!  We went to her room earlier today and saw that her roommate might be a foreign student.  When I left her this afternoon, Dongbo hadn’t shown up yet.  Just before dinner Emily texted me and let me know that Dongbo was here from China! As a matter of fact, she flew in today to attend orientation and advising.  I am praying that Em has fun—she can at least share a little with her roommate since she’s been to China and has two brothers who are Chinese.  Maybe that will help break the ice for my quiet reserved girl.

On the drive over, Emily put a CD in, then promptly fell asleep.  Typical!  :)  But I enjoyed listening to it—she put in the sound track from Mamma Mia (the ABBA movie).  It’s been fun to listen and remember my own growing up years and most of the songs…  Anyway, as I have listened today, I keep coming back to one song that made both Emily and me cry this afternoon.  It’s called Slipping Through my Fingers, and the words go like this:

Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning    

Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile

I watch her go with a surge of that well known sadness

And I have to sit down for a while

The feeling that I’m losing her forever

And without really entering her world

I’m glad whenever I can share her laughter

That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time

I try to capture every minute

The feeling in it

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Do I really see what’s in her mind

Each time I think I’m close to knowing

She keeps on growing

Slipping through my fingers all the time

 

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture

And save it from the funny tricks of time

Slipping through my fingers…

 

That’s my funny little girl, almost all grown up already.  The time is definitely slipping through my fingers…

tearing my hair out

The conversation this morning after I found Logan upstairs painting the bedroom furniture (fortunately, it was only with water)

Me:  Ummmm Logan?  What are you doing?  (Said without the irritation I was feeling)

Logan: (crying) Mommy…mommy mommy mommy…..

Me:  Yes Logan?  (not in the friendliest voice, but not angry.  Yet.)

Logan:  more sobs and something totally unintelligible

me:  Logan, why are you crying?  Are you crying because you made a bad choice?  (This comes after three conversations yesterday about exercising self control and making good choices)

Logan:  (Still crying)  No.  I’m crying because you caught me!  Will you please leave so I can paint more?

At that point I had to leave the room.  I was trying hard not to laugh and getting quite irritated at the same time.  Teaching him first time obedience is hard—maybe the definition of ‘futility?’  But I can’t give up, so after regaining control we had some discipline: training and correction, and a reminder of the expectation of behavior in accordance with rules of conduct of the house.  Now he’s off to play outside.  Supervised.  In the backyard.  (Mean mom!)

Next time someone sees the bus for the funny farm, please send it this way.  I would happily get on…or put him on it!  My patience is wearing thin

Emily’s graduation

Emily graduated from high school last Sunday, and today we hosted an open house. What fun to have her friends here, laughing and talking inside…outside…and everywhere!

One of Hailey’s friends had a fantastic opportunity to take pictures today at Pacific Raceway, so she’s got my camera for the evening. I got some pics of our day before she and the camera left and will post them once the camera is back home.

Life continues to be crazy busy. This week the oven died and the garbage disposal started leaking. Last week? The brakes on the Suburban, Ryan’s dress pants (hole in the knee) and my good shoes (lost a heel). So many things, both little and big, have gone on the fritz around here that I just have to laugh. I certainly hope that this coming week will be just a touch less eventful. It’s already a bit packed: volleyball camp all week for Tori; first outdoor volleyball match on Tuesday; Mom and Emily to Pullman Wednesday to Friday; homeschool curriculum convention Saturday. Not much wiggle room. Given the way the last few weeks have gone, we’re praying that nothing breaks, leaks, or otherwise falls apart!

Enjoy the sunshine! Isn’t it great to be able to be outside?? My garden is SO much happier today—far fewer weeds. And the sun brought a major bonus today: 5 fresh raspberries! Yum. Strawberries are turning pink and there are more raspberries on the way. The peaches are getting big and we’ll have a bumper crop of apples and blueberries. Now, if the sun would just stick around…

what a girl!

Helping out around the house…Hailey’s pressure washing the driveway tonight.  She’s such a great kid!!  She might wish we had a shorter driveway before she finishes, but it will sure be nice to have it clean and neat for Emily’s graduation party on Saturday.

Grandpa, you want to hire her???  :)

It seems that this is our season to have things big and small break or go on the fritz. First the brakes on the Suburban (now fixed!), then a bunch of little things over Emily's graduation weekend, and now my oven. I'm finding it's very hard to come up with dinners every night that don't require an oven...

Guess I will consider this as time to practice being content regardless of circumstances.

144 hours

That’s how long we were gone. It broke down like this:

• 53 1/2 hours with Brent
• 47 hours driving
• 36 hours with friends (15 awake, 21 sleeping over 3 nights)

And the other 7 1/2 hours? Spent at the hotel after Brent left and before we did… :(

There was lots of time spent here:

and plenty of fun…

time in the ocean and the pool……

and time with Brent (but not enough, and mostly not photographed!)

(Please note that Brent has never lost his fascination with fire and lighters. It provided literally hours of entertainment for the 3 of them!)

So what did I learn on this trip? Some interesting things, like

• I CAN drive 47 hours with two 5 year olds. And survive. They were great travel buddies! (When I got home, I told Jim I felt like I did after the Breast Cancer 3Day in 2001—like I conquered something HUGE!)
• Not all Starbucks make good strawberries and creme drinks. The Starbucks we went to in Medford (twice) was bad. Twice.
• California has a serious lack of rest areas on I-5. At least when and where they were needed this trip.
• ‘Speed Limit’ signs in California really should say ‘Speed Suggestion’ instead.  I’ve never been passed so often and so fast, even when I was going over the speed ‘limit!’
• Froot Loops are not as good dry as I remember them. (I LOVE Froot Loops. Growing up they were a treat of epic proportions, generally eaten dry out of a bowl in front of the television. Now, as an adult, they are my breakfast of choice when camping but I don’t eat them often—maybe one box a year. They were just not as satisfying from a ziploc bag as they are from a bowl with milk….)
• Women who are 60+ years old really shouldn’t wear pleather leggings with tie-dyed tops, bolero sweaters, and platform flip-flops to breakfast. Other patrons could lose their appetites.
• Some people will argue about anything, whether they know what they’re talking about or not. Case in point: we stopped every driving day for a ‘travel treat’ of strawberries and creme frappucino. I ordered a tall for me and a tall split into two cups for the boys. Made the morning more tolerable. :) Anyway, one morning we were stopped at a Starbucks. I ordered our drinks and the cashier asked me how far apart the boys were. I answered her as I always do: “Thirteen weeks.” The customer next to me immediately jumped in with, “That’s not possible. It’s just not possible. You mean 13 months.” “No,” I told her, “they’re 13 WEEKS apart.” She then went on and on about how hard that must have been, asked me if I spent the entire 13 weeks in the hospital, who was the smaller preemie, did the second one make it to full term… I finally (when she took a breath!) edged in with “Um, ma’am? They’re both Chinese!” Then she had about 150 more questions—things like “How did THAT happen? You’re not Chinese!” and “Oh…they must have different mothers.” I left there shaking my head…
• Leaving Brent at college in August 2007 has nothing over driving away from him in southern California on Sunday. I am glad Ryan and Logan were there—kept me from bawling my eyes out.
• I am incredibly proud of the young man he has become. I hope and pray that his remaining time with the Marines—however long it might be—is something he looks back on with fondness some day. He has matured tremendously in the last 6 months and I am privileged to be his mom.
• Brent’s experience with military health care has been interesting and eye opening. The waits for non-emergency tests and results is beyond ridiculous. I can hardly imagine how long he may be in ‘suspended animation’ (between trainings) should they decide that his knee is fixable and that he will not be medically discharged. It’s entirely possible that he could spend the next 3 or 4 months waiting for his knee repair! Then there’s rehab, then conditioning so that he can get back into Marine-standard fitness. It’s entirely possible that he could spend a great majority of his 4 year commitment in medical rehab. Of course, completing the paperwork necessary for a medical discharge can take up to 2 years as well…
• I have an amazing husband. While I was gone in his car, he spent all of Memorial Day weekend working on my car—changed the spark plugs, rotor, and distributor cap, the oil, all the gaskets, the transmission fluid, the transfer case fluid, flushed the radiator, and changed a bunch of other little parts as well to get ready for summer and towing season. My garage floor is greasy but my car runs well. :)
• Home is a pretty nice place. And my own bed felt pretty good last night.

Now, off to conquer Mount Laundry, visit the grocery store, and get back to the rest of my (seriously neglected) family.

Home

is a really nice place to be.  We got here at 6:30 this evening, after driving many long hours both yesterday and today.  2,771 miles in 4 days is a LOT of driving…  The boys are excited that they don’t have to get up at 4:00 tomorrow morning to get in the car again.  But it was definitely worth it—we LOVED our time with Brent.  I think there are more pictures, but right now I’m too tired to even go look.

‘Night!