Back in the day

Remember when email was from people you actually knew and wanted to correspond with on purpose?

And mail? Remember when mail was just bills and letters instead of junk printed on the death of the forests?

While I'm on this particular subject, what a the telephone? In our house, we don't even answer it. Sometimes when it rings, a betting pool springs up guessing which telemarketing company will appear on the caller ID. That only happens when we even notice it ringing and don't completely it ignore it.

How did we get to this point? The ads are all over Facebook now which was the last holdout for a brief while. I don't want to be sold anything anymore. I don't want to be the product being sold either.

Dutch waltz, you are mine!

Interestingly, I have actually had a more difficult time remembering the steps to this dance than the Memorial Waltz. I was back out with the darn diagram tonight. I think I have it now and I'm definitely improving my aim toward the center and the barrier.

On the 3 turn front, my speed on the figures was improved tonight which gave me enough momentum to make it around to the Choctaw which seemed less awkward tonight. The rest needs more more more practice. My outer back circle loop trace is getting more consistent but the inner back is still a mess.

::sigh:: These things take time. But the time will pass either way and all these challenges certainly keep me away from any thought to boredom.

Not the answer I was looking for

Ever have one of those questions that you need answered but that you might have been happier not knowing the answer?

It's tough being caught between acting like a grownup and throwing your hands over your ears and shouting, "la, la, la! I'm not listening!"

Grrrr.

Things one should never do:

Forget that one has a small but fresh cut before using hand sanitizer.

Yeeeouch!

Reasons to homeschool

In no particular order:

Hot cocoa with your math assignment.
A warm blanket from the dryer while you read your literature assignment.
Hot soup for lunch on a cold rainy day.
Latin and Greek graffiti on the windows and white boards.
Roller skating for PE.
Hiking for science and geography.

Negro Bar Day Hike

Took the family out for a 5 mile hike. It was a nicely laid out hike but the cyclone fencing along almost a mile of it overlooking the water REALLY detracted from the experience. I think next time we will try hiking it from the Nimbus Dam side.

I finally got around to picking up a Kindle version of the 60 Hikes with 60 miles of Sacramento to try. The steepest ascent was about a hundred feet up a hillside to the top of the cliff and back down the other side to the water. Very tween-teen friendly hike, not at all friendly for strollers or little kids.

Another day floats by

Filled with a never ending list of tasks and errands and general life stuff.

Friday is still my favorite day of the week.

We're usually wrapped up with school for the week and can take our time together with everything else. The cooperation level appears to be at an all time high and I'm feeling remarkably fond of ages 9 and 13 at the moment.

It's Lent and we are trying to be more mindful. Thankfully, Miss Lily had the presence of mind to remind me that dinner should not be including the meatball sandwiches I had on the menu. Given that Lent is supposed to be a time of sacrifice, I'm partially chagrined by the fact that my children are DELIGHTED to have fish on Fridays. So much so that they have been known to spontaneously break into a dance of joy in front of the fish case at Winco. On the other hand, I loathe the stuff so I'm probably carrying the sacrifice burden for the team.

Walking the walk

I took a long walk today. Not because it was far. Not because it should take a long time. But because I was with someone I loved who won't be with me forever. And I want to remember that I took the time. And that I took that walk. And that it didn't matter how long or why, only that I did.

So far so good.

I thought I might be bored or compulsed to cheat and check FB. But I'm not.

My level of distraction has been so high lately that it feels like everything going on around me was like a tv show in the background. That disconnected vagueness left me wondering why I wasn't even experiencing my own life anymore. It was partly general business but also partly letting life wash over me without paying particular attention to it.

It struck me last weekend that there aren't too many years of nuclear family left for us. Ian is already thirteen and Lily is nine. Both of them are growing up and will be starting down the roads that lead them to independence and adulthood soon. What do I want them to know and remember? I have to start answering that question.

The coach that lives in your head.

I had a wretched couple of days with figure 7. I literally put my foot down every single time and/or didn't make it around the turn.

Frustrating.

Yesterday, I was determined to fix it.

I set it up. Took off. Moved my arms. Went to turn. BAM! Foot down.

Back to the strike off. Ok, Sarah, what does your coach tell you? What's on the checklist around the figure? Set it up. Check. Move you arms. Ok. Bend your knee. Check. Turn. Nope!

And then it dawned on me. I was straightening my knee right before I turned and trying to spin it instead of turning my foot with my body.

Went back to try again and whoo hoo! Turn!!

Coach in my head: 1
Figure 7: 45

But the tide is turning. It was nice to leave on a high note. :)

That was strange.

Started the day out by reading the news instead of Facebook. I can't remember the last time I did that. In the process, I came across a great article on NPR about the "second emancipation proclamation" that ties in nicely with our civil war studies.

Go home, Glide Waltz. You're drunk.

So, I missed out on the USARS Traveling Seminar last weekend. However, I'm apparently on everyone's mind even in my absence. No less than three people thought to bring me the extra materials from it. I was so surprised and delighted to be remembered.

I've been paging through it and there is quite a bit of good stuff in there. The picture is my favorite one thus far. Probably a near perfect graphic for a beginner dance pattern and how it's actually skated. Quite possibly not funny to anyone but dance skaters and judges, but it cracked me up.