Halloween, 2015

I kinda failed Halloween this year, because I didn't buy pumpkins to carve.  Oh well.  I did help Baylee get ready for two different events by turning her into a zombie, though, so there's that.  Here she is tonight, ready to go out trick-or-treating with friends.

Bur first they're going to stop in at Chipotle, because if you show up in costume you get a burrito for $3.  Score!

Friday

Man, this has been a long day.  School was crazy busy, because I had to leave for about an hour and a half midway through it (more on that later), which meant we were hustling to get things that needed my presence done while I was around.  Three of those things were tests that Baylee had to take in biology, English, and algebra.   Really, nothing against the boys, but of all the kids Baylee is the most "school-y."  She's the easiest to teach, the most motivated, and the book smartest.  That's why she drove me slightly cuckoo today with her "Eh.  Whatever." attitude about those tests...especially the one in algebra.  She got an 80% on it, and instead of feeling chagrined that she made silly mistakes, her response was, "Okay, good!  I passed!"

Tangent:  When I was writing the above paragraph I could not figure out how to spell "cuckoo" for the life of me.  After trying and failing a few different times, I finally worked it out by typing "for cocoa puffs" in Google.  I'm special.

So the reason I had to leave in the middle of the day is that I had my first session with a physical therapist.  I'm not gonna lie:  I dreaded it. You see, the thing about my particular issue is that it's a lower back problem, and by "lower" I mean really low.  And that means that medical people have to touch my butt (over pants, but still), and I just hate that.  I'm going to press on, though, in hopes that this finally does the trick.

Baylee and a few of her friends went to a haunted house this evening.  She sent me this picture, which was taken while they were all waiting in line to get in.  (That monster is part of the haunted house, not one of Baylee's friends.)

And this picture is of the whole group.

Thursday

Today has been a break-through day for me!  Mike asked me two different questions when he got home from work, and I realized I could answer both of them in French!  (Yup, he has to have a lot of patience being married to me sometimes.)  The first one was, "How are you?"

"Je suis tres bien!"

  And the second was, "What are you doing?"

I had to choose a weird way of responding to that one, based on words I happen to know, but I could still do it.  I said the French equivalent of, "I am making preparations for dinner."

I'm kinda proud of myself! 

Wednesday

So you know how I said that Zach's boss went to Michigan to attend a gear show, and he was thinking about having Zach go along?  And remember how the plan was that they would do the whole trip in a week?  Well, that's not how it turned out.  Gerry ended up extending the trip to the point where, by the time he finally gets back home, about three weeks will have gone by.  It's making me extra glad Zach didn't accompany him.  I mean, sheesh.  If Zach had gone along, then by this time I'd be starting to wonder if he'd actually been kidnapped.  I'd be having a "Not without my daughter!" moment, except, you know, with my son, who's...err...20.

The School of Rock Corporation put out a few new commercials on YouTube, and Drew happens to be in this one for about 2 seconds!  LOL   He's at the 33 second mark, and it looks like he's eating something.  Classy!

I heartily agree with the point this video is trying to make, which is that the SoR is a place where kids are encouraged and supported by each other and by their teachers.  That's actually one of the first things that stood out to us when Drew joined.  Without going into detail, he'd come out of a fairly toxic situation playing music with a group of kids, and so the SoR was a giant, wonderful breath of fresh air for him. 

Tuesday

coffee, civics, and a cute hat this morning...

Speaking of civics, Drew made me laugh during today's lesson.  I was discussing it with him, and we came up to this question:

The Antifederalists opposed the Constitution because ________________.

a.  they feared political and economic collapse of the nation
b.  they feared a gradual erosion of their liberties by the government
c.  they feared centralized authority and the erosion of state sovereignty
d.  they believed the Constitution was illegal because of its amending procedures
e.  they believed the Constitution should contain a bill of rights
f.  a, b, and c
g.  b, c, and e
h.  b, c, d, and e
i.  a, b, c, and d
j.  all of the above

At first Drew thought it was "all of the above," but I explained that they didn't actually fear political and economic collapse of the nation, so the answer was "h."

Drew's response?  "I bet there was that one guy, though, living in his mom's basement and making YouTube videos of himself, who DID think that.  He'd be down there, eating a bowl of cereal and talking into the camera:  'Listen, guys!  I oppose the Constitution!  It's gonna lead to the collapse of the whole nation!'" 

LOL  That, in a nutshell, is why it can be a challenge to teach Drew.  1.  He's a clown.  2.  He often has an unexpected way of looking at things.

Nature's Own "No Soliciting" Sign

This morning...

Baylee [looking out front window]:  Eww!  There's a dead mouse by the front door!

Me [joining her and seeing the dead mouse with the disgustingly long tail and the eviscerated body.  Actually, maybe it was a rat.  Can rats have small bodies, but really long tails?]:  Gross.  Cooper must've done that last night.

Drew [coming up to stand with us]:  No, that was there yesterday.

Me:  What???   For how long???

Drew:  I don't know.  I saw it when I left for my rehearsal at 2:15.

Me:  Why didn't you take care of it?!

Drew: [blank look]

Me:  Hold on.  Does that mean it was there when that saleswoman came to the door yesterday?

Baylee:  Yup.  But maybe she just figured it was a Halloween decoration.

[face palm]  I guess we're "that family" now.  Honestly, though, I did briefly wonder at the time why the woman seemed to be in such a hurry to leave.  I mean, there was no hard sell at all.  Now I know. 

Sunday Thoughts

So, like I mentioned, this (very large) section of the French program we're doing is called "Grammar Enhancement," and it's meant to be done after the first year but before the second. Doesn't its name almost sound like something you could take or leave, though?  Like, "Hey, here's a little something extra.  It's not necessary, but it'll enhance your experience."  Well, I'm here to tell you that there's no way you could move forward without going through it. It teaches a ton of grammar rules, but it also throws dozens and dozens of new vocab words at you.  I'm learning parts of the body, pieces of clothing, animals, tools (why would I ever need to know that?), and foods, just to name a few.  It's awesome, but my brain is tired!

Sometimes things are interesting, though.  Like did you know the French word for sheep is mouton?  I'm not talking about sheep meat, either.  I'm talking about a living sheep.  And the word for screwdriver is tournevis, while a screw is a vis.  So I think their word for screwdriver literally means "turns a screw."  But I guess that's not too weird, since ours means "drives a screw."

SoR Zombie Prom, 2015

These two hooligans are going to Zombie Prom in a little while.  Drew and his friend Gavin have a team costume:  Gavin is Wayne and Drew is Garth from the movie Wayne's World.  And Baylee's going as a zombie, complete with bleeding flesh wounds. 

 

I hope they have a great time!

Friday

"This past summer the name of one of my bosses was, quite literally, Ben Dover.  For real.   Ben.  Dover.  Spelled just like that.  D-o-v-e-r.  Only he hated it when anybody actually pronounced it 'Dover.'  He would say, 'It's pronounced Dove-er!!'"

~ random thing Drew told us the other day

French and Biology

Well, I finally joined Drew and Baylee in French 2.  Of course, they've been doing it for several weeks now, so they're ahead of me, but I'll catch up.  French 2 is set up a little bit differently than French 1, in that it starts with a huge grammar section.  The program let us off lightly in that area last year, and so they're making up for it.  It includes stuff like prepositions, pronouns, verbs, and plurals.  It's sneaky, though.  It'll introduce a ton of new nouns, for instance, in the preposition section.  Anyway, I'm excited to get through it, because the rest of the year looks interesting.

PS:  Now that I'm doing Learnables French again I'm remembering why I like it so much.  I love Michel Tomas' method, which I did this summer, but it's so intense.  Learnables, on the other hand, is gentler.  I'm still learning a ton (by the end of the 3rd year, for instance, I'll "have the ability to read and to understand French without translation," according to the website), but it doesn't make me feel like my head is about to explode.

Speaking of school subjects, I took this picture yesterday when Baylee was doing her biology class.  Yes, that's the dog's cone she's randomly wearing as a hat.  We're definitely homeschoolers!

Monday

Baylee's home from Disneyland, and she had a wonderful time. One of the things she said when she got back was, "Not to sound dumb or anything, but it really was magical!"  LOL 

She and Rachel made up for lost time yesterday, walking to a nearby restaurant to get sushi, and then just hanging out.

The older the girls get, the more I appreciate what a steady, sure friend Rachel is.  Plus she's got the common sense of an adult, which is very uncommon among teenage girls.  I just love her.

 

Friday

A couple more pics sent to me by Baylee...

She told me on the phone this morning that her big plans for today include the Tower of Terror and a roller coaster that goes upside down.  Oh, and maybe buying souvenirs for her brothers.

Yesterday evening when Zach got home from work he said, "Well, I might be going to a gear show in Michigan with Gerry [his boss]."

"What?  When?" was my response.

"Tomorrow."

!!!  Honestly, I wasn't happy about it.  I kept it (mostly) to myself, but I REALLY didn't want him doing that.  For one thing, they'd be driving, making the trip there in two days, spending a couple days at the show, then coming back in three.  That's crazy, in my opinion.  When I expressed concern to Mike he just said, "He's twenty.  We did stuff like that when we were twenty.  He'll be fine."

It's so hard to let go.

PS:  We found out that Gerry didn't end up needing Zach to go along.  I'm secretly glad!

Thursday

Yesterday Baylee sent me these...

Cute, huh?  I love way both Baylee and Patty look in that first one.  Oh, and get a load of the guy in the very back seat.  LOL!

Drew had an orthodontist appointment this morning, and they told him that they'll set a date to take his braces off at his next visit.  Finally!  Then we can look into getting his senior pictures taken.  They'll be the pictures that Accutane and braces built.  They should turn out nice.

B's Trip!

Baylee and Patty left for California very early this morning.  The plane ride was just shy of 3 hours, and they were there before 9am.  I bet they're at Disneyland right now, the luckies!  I hope they have an absolutely wonderful time.

I took this picture of Cooper trying to stow away in Baylee's suitcase last night.

It's just Drew and I doing school today, which is...well...peaceful.  lol  I love having Baylee in our little homeschool, of course, but she's kind of like teaching a whirlwind.  She's so fast that I feel like I'm constantly either teaching or correcting something.

 

Fast 5

Week 1 Weigh-In (for Fast 5 Diet):  This week I lost 5.4 pounds and I didn't cheat at all.  Man, I can't tell you how happy and hopeful I am.  This is the first time ever, with any diet I've ever tried (and that includes my two successful Weight Watchers stints), that I can see myself sticking to it not just until I get to my goal, but forever.  In other words, I can imagine eventually just living this way in order to maintain a healthy weight.  I guess that's because it doesn't seem like a diet.  I'm not counting anything and nothing's off-limits.  The only thing I have to do is make sure the time is right, and that's simple.  It's not always fun, but it's a no-brainer.

Drawing

Last night Drew holed up in his room all evening, and when he came out it was to show me this...

He drew that!  In fact, he managed to make that beautiful picture while sitting at this messy desk...

He told me awhile back that he took an online quiz, and the quiz informed him that he's 98% right-brained.  Apparently right-brainers like clutter.

Friday

My friend Bethany, the wife of the owner of the little airplane gear shop where Zach works, sent me this picture of Zach running a machine today.

It's caption was, "I thought you'd like to see your baby at work...sorry...your adult son."  lol  She was right the first time, at least a little.  A part of him will always be my baby.

Baylee's going on a trip next week.  She'll be going to Disneyland with Patty, Patty's friend, and Patty's friend's granddaughter.  In fact, part of the reason that Baylee upped her dog walking awhile back was that we told her she'd have to pay for her own park tickets and for her own spending money.  She accomplished that, which makes me pretty proud of her.

Alright, so I've been trying different diets all summer.  I'd do one for a little while, fall off the wagon, try another one, fall off that wagon, etc.  I suck at it, plain and simple.  That said, I told myself a couple weeks ago that when I got back from the girls' weekend at the cabin I'd start a diet called Fast 5.  It's a form of intermittent fasting and it's simple:  You fast for 19 hours of the day, then eat within a 5-hour window.   It can be any 5-hour window.  Mine's from 2pm to 7pm, which means I can have dinner with the family.  That's all there is to it.  So far I'm on day 5, I haven't cheated in the slightest bit, and...drumroll...I've lost 5.4 pounds!  (I know this is only the first week and the weight loss will slow down.)

Actually, I did Fast 5 once before and had success, but I quit after a couple weeks because I got discouraged.  (I also cheated a lot.)  What's different this time?  Well, this time I read something written by a member of the Fast 5 Facebook group (a woman who lost a lot of weight and looks awesome), and it gave me a completely different viewpoint.  It was a light bulb moment for me.  Because of what she said, I can see myself sticking with this until I get to my goal, and then I can see myself using it as a way to maintain forever.  It's exciting!  I'll keep you updated.

Thankful

I'm so thankful today.

1.  My dad came through fairly major back surgery this morning with flying colors.  It was supposed to take around four hours, but it only took two.  There were two doctors...an orthopedic surgeon and a neurosurgeon...doing the work, and they said afterward that there were no problems and it couldn't have gone better.  Now my dad will spend four days in the hospital, then he gets to go home and my mom will take great care of him.

2.  Drew and I went to our monthly visit to the dermatologist, and she said that he's finished!  He's just got to take the rest of the meds we have, and that's it...no more fasting blood work at the lab and no more seeing her.  Drew's so happy, and we're happy for him.  I don't think I went into much detail, but he had terrible, deeply infected cystic acne, mostly on his back and chest.  He joked that he looked like a nuclear bomb victim or the owner of a microwave with a broken seal.  Anyway, it took 6 months for the Accutane to turn it around, and for awhile it even made it worse (which was actually a normal part of the process).  Drew was in so much pain, and he bled all the time.  I had to change his sheets often, because of the blood.  But it's over.  He's healed.  He's got scarring, but he said he doesn't even care, because he's so glad to be done with it.

Wednesday

In the last post I showed pictures of outdoor wildlife, so in this one I'll show the indoor variety.

They're cute, even if they fill up the vacuum cleaner with hair.  (And that includes Baylee.)

I went to the doctor for my back pain yesterday and was told that I probably have some arthritis in my hip.  I don't know if I believe that.  I kind of feel like she threw that out there, prescribed a muscle relaxer, and moved on.  We'll see what happens, I guess, over the next couple weeks.

PS:  Part of the reason why I'm not blogging as much is that it hurts to sit here at this desk.

The Weekend

I'm back.  (Although, come to think of it, I didn't mention I was going anywhere, so maybe you didn't even miss me.  Nah, of course you missed me!)  From Friday to Sunday I was with four of my girlfriends in a cabin in the woods on an island in the Puget Sound.  It was fun...for the most part.  I mean, I love my friends and the talking and the food and nature and all that, but my stupid lower back was so bad that it ruined it a little bit for me.  It's been almost four months of constant pain, so...yeah...I think it's time to see if something is wrong beyond just a strained muscle.

Here are a couple pictures I took while I was there.  A mama deer and her two babies came right up to the deck one morning, and they didn't shy away even when we went out there.  In fact, we were able to feed them out of our hands!  (It makes sense, seeing as how they live in a gated community on a small island.  They probably don't have any natural predators.)

As nice a time as it was, I was glad to get home yesterday evening.  I really miss my family when I'm away from them.

On a totally different note, last night Drew got home from his first rehearsal for this new show season, and we had this conversation...

Drew:  The director asked for volunteers to play the keyboard, and my friend Emma volunteered me for one song.

Me:  But...you don't play the piano.

Drew:  Yeah, I know.  Hey, can I get lessons?

[face palm]

Love Her, Though

Do you remember those rare times in school...even high school...when a teacher would get fed up beyond what they could handle and would totally lose it?  And do you remember how during the freak out each person in the class would be totally silent and scared, hoping not to draw any attention to him or herself?  Well, here's a confession:  Once in a great while homeschooling moms do the same thing.  I'm not going to tell you which of the two kids in our little classroom set me off this morning, but it wasn't Drew.  Ahem.  Anyway, here's hoping this afternoon goes better.