Political

First, I’ve already voted so commenting will not sway my vote.  Second, this isn’t about who I voted for and why.  These are just some thoughts that have consumed me lately as I have tried to explain our election process to Tyler.

Some of my thoughts are centered around these polls that you can find online, where if people around the world could vote for The President of the United States, who would they vote for.  All of the ones that I have seen are leaning heavily (and I do mean heavily) towards Obama.  This has gotten me thinking about what the rest of the world is seeing that we here in the US are not seeing, if the media is to be believed that it is still a close race.  I would like to believe that people around the world would be looking at Obama & McCain and trying to figure out which one would make their lives better, whether it is about their economy, jobs, health, etc.  I do understand that things that happen in our country have a ripple effect onto the rest of the world.  Sometimes it is good and, unfortunately, there are times when it is not.  Take this recession (or whatever they are calling it these days) in our economy, it is affecting the world.  Our “wars” in various parts of the world are affecting the rest of the world (and not just where there is a “war”.)  The list goes on, but through all of that, people around the world think Obama would be the best choice to lead this country and have a profound affect on the rest of the world.  And, as Americans, should we be listening to the rest of the world?  Should we looking at bigger pictures than just what is happening in our own country or someone’s stance on one issue and focus on what would be good for all the people who will be affected by our decision?  Do we have an obligation to let their voices be heard?  I do not have the answers, but I do know that these things have weighed heavily on my mind through this election process.

Another area where I have thoughts is on what some are calling “Obama’s redistribution of wealth.”  I’ve read of so many parents explaining this to their kids as their child going trick-or-treating, but then coming home and giving most of their candy to other kids who were just too lazy to go trick-or-treating.  Great scare tactics if I ever heard them.  Seriously, those parents need to realize that we already have a system in place that redistributes the wealth.  It is called TAXES.  Don’t believe me?  Well, consider all the things that paid for with your tax dollars, or as I like to call it “money from the government”.  My list goes way beyond what people normally consider: social security, welfare and disability.  My list is going to include all the politicians, people who work in government buildings (secretaries, maintenance workers, etc), judges, police, firefighters, etc, etc, etc.  Then throw in all the teachers, cafeteria workers, maintenance workers, etc at all the schools – and don’t forget most of the colleges get money from the government, as well.  Then there is the military personnel, the civilians that work on military bases, etc.  Non-profits who get their grants and funding from the government.  Corporations who get tax breaks that help them pay salaries or the government buys products directly.  Healthcare workers who depend on the research and testing of new drugs and procedures that are supported by grants and other monies that come from the government.  Any industry that the government has bailed-out (airline and auto to name a few) is being supported by money from the government.  Are all these hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people lazy?  I don’t think so.  Now I know my list isn’t totally inclusive, but everyone is in some way touched by the “redistribution of wealth” on a daily basis.  And sometimes it is the simple things: the stoplight you stopped at, the school you sent your kids to, the road that you drove on, etc, etc, etc.  Think about what your life would be like if that wealth hadn’t be redistributed.

These aren’t my only concerns, these just happen to be two that I have had a extremely hard time with regard to teaching Tyler.  I’m sure I will get through it because it wouldn’t have been presented to me if I wasn’t able to handle it.  And I will be grateful when this election is over next week.  I’m seriously tired of hearing about it and just want it to be done with.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The BBC posted “Snow Leopard Wins Top Photo Prize”. It is a great article and has some amazing photographs.

Snow leopard wins top photo prize

By Mark Kinver  Science and environment reporter, BBC News

 

A picture of an elusive snow leopard on a night-time prowl has won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 award.

Steve Winter’s image was captured during a 13-month quest to snap the perfect photo of the endangered species in its hostile habitat high in the mountains of Central Asia.

Speaking about his winning snap, Mr Winter said: “I was thrilled to have finally captured the shot I had dreamed of – a wild snow leopard in its true element.”

The competition, now in its 44th year, is run by BBC Wildlife magazine and London’s Natural History Museum.

The panel of judges spent months shifting through more than 32,350 entries before deciding on the winners.

“Everything comes together in this striking picture,” said judge Mark Carwardine on Mr Winter’s image.

“The drama of the snow, the mystery of the darkness, the posture of the rarely photographed snow leopard and the intriguing composition.”

SNOWSTORM LEOPARD

The picture of an elusive snow leopard, captured at an altitude of more than 13,000ft in India’s Ladak’s Hemis High Altitude National Park, was the reward for 13 months of effort for Steve Winter, a photographer for National Geographic magazine.

“I try to do stories that have never been done before,” he told BBC News.

“They do involve an incredible amount of work with scientists and local people. We were lucky in this instance that we got incredible pictures.

“It was collaboration between myself, the team and the snow leopard,” he joked.

The project involved 14 remote cameras in roughly 45 locations. It was a case of trial and error – one camera only delivered a picture of half of a leopard in five-and-a-half months.

Working in such harsh conditions, where temperatures plummeted to -40C (-40F), he asked the manufacturers for their advice on the performance of the cameras in extreme temperatures.

“We don’t know, tell us when you get back,” he recalled.

Commenting on the use of trigger cameras rather than being sat behind the lens, Mr Winter said: “They are something that needs to be used to get intimate portraits of elusive animals.

“I used to hate these cameras because they gave you a record of an animal.

“Images are all about composition and light. If I cannot control that as if I would as I put the camera up to my face, then essentially I have failed.

“So I asked myself that if I did not like these cameras, how can I like them more.

“It turns out that snow leopards are the perfect species on which to use these cameras. They always come to specific locations to mark their territory.

“So I viewed the locations as movie sets. I put the cameras there, I put the lights there.

“I knew the animal would come; it was just wanting for the actor to walk on stage and break the beam.”

 

Canon EOS Rebel XT + 10-22mm lens at 16mm; 1/200 sec at f16; ISO 100; waterproof camera box + Plexiglass tubes for flashes; Trailmaster 1550-PS remote trigger 

THE SHOW

This photo showing a young male lion harassing a thirsty giraffe at a waterhole in Namibia has won this year’s Young Photographer of the Year prize.

It was taken by teenager Catriona Parfitt during a family safari holiday in 2007.

“When the giraffe first arrived, it was very nervous,” Catriona explained.

“As it walked slowly towards the water, it kept looking over its shoulder towards the ridge where there was a pride of four lions.”

She added that perhaps the young lion saw a solitary giraffe as too much of a temptation to leave alone, despite the risks.

Competition judge Rosamund Kidman Cox called the image an astonishing shot: “Stage, action, story and onlookers combine to make an unforgettable scene.”

Canon EOS 400D + Canon EF300mm f4 IS USM lens + Canon EF 1.4 extender; 1/200 sec at f5.6; ISO 100

TROUBLE-MAKER

Italian Stefano Unterthiner’s photo of a mischievous Sulawesi black-crested macaque won the competition’s Animal Potraits category.

The monkey earned his nickname “trouble-maker”, Stefano explained, because it was more interested in the photographer than being photographed.

After spending weeks following the monkeys in the Indonesian island’s Tangkoko National Park, Stefano found that their search for food took them to the coastal edge of the park’s forest.

While most of the primates were busy foraging among the rocks for fallen fruits and nuts, one young adult took an interest in Stefano’s activities.

“He would leap at me and kick off my back like a trampoline,” he recalled. “It was part play, part confrontation, part attention-seeking, part curiosity.”

Nikon D2X + Nikon 12-24mm lens; 1/250 sec at f10; ISO 125; graduated neutral-density filter; flash

DEADLOCK

David Maitland’s “deadlock” is this year’s winner of the competition’s Behaviour: Other Animals category.

He told BBC News that the photo was just a glimpse of a struggle between a tree-frog and cat-eyed tree-snake that lasted for hours through the night in the tropical forests of Belize.

“The snake had failed to get its jaws around the whole of the frog’s head,” he recalled.

“It wouldn’t let go, presumably because the frog would have leapt away. But it couldn’t swallow it, either.”

Neither of the creatures showed any sign of giving up in the three hours that David sat in a cramped position.

“It was a complete stalemate,” he added. In the early hours, when the pair had moved beyond the focus of his lens, David decided to call it a night.

When he returned in the following morning, there was no sign of the pair and no clue to which had finally broken the deadlock.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II + 100mm macro lens; 1/500 sec at f10; ISO 50; twin flashes

CLASH OF EAGLES

The photo of a fight between two white-tailed eagles over the carcass of moose in the depths of a Polish winter secured the top prize in the Behaviour: Birds category for Antoni Kasprzak.

To capture this image, Antoni found a carcass of a moose, which had been hit by a train, knowing that it would be ideal bait for his subjects.

Five hours later, waiting in the sub-zero temperatures of the Polish winter, a struggle broke out between an adult male white-tailed eagle and a young male.

Capturing the shot, Antoni knew the snowy backdrop for an award winning image.

Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF500mm f4 IS USM lens; 1/1000 sec at f4.5; ISO 500; tripod

An exhibition of the best images from this year’s competition opens to visitors of the Natural History Museum, London, on Friday, 31 October 2008

Australia is looking good

*2nd post of the day*

In this article from TreeHugger “Households Paid $15,000 to go Green”, I’m finding a lot more reasons why Australia sounds like a great place to live.  They have Uluru (or Ayers Rock), unique wildlife, beaches, the Great Barrier Reef, lots of interesting people (aborigines, home to the Crocodile Hunter, Olivia Newton-John, etc) and a wonderful accent with great slang.  And they are getting very eco-friendly.  Sign me up!

Here’s the article if you don’t want to click on the link:

Households Paid $15,000 to Go Green

by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.29.08

For some time now, governments at the federal, state and local level in Australia have been trying to tempt their constituents to go green, via the financial incentive of rebates. Just yesterday, the state government of New South Wales announced it would be providing $62 million AUD to help low income households (specifically pensioners, people in public housing and indigenous people) become more energy efficient. Apparently those millions will pay for home visits by energy auditors, who’ll advise householders how to become energy wise.

The new plan comes atop an already crowded field of government funded rebates for the purchase of photovoltaic panels, solar hot water systems, insulation, non-petrol/gasoline cars, rainwater tanks, washing machines, shower heads, fridges and more. Added together these rebate can net $14,985 AUD for green savvy households, as we detail below.

Photovoltaic Rebates
Early this year the newly elected Australian government came under flak from all quarters for adding a $100,000 AUD household income means test to the $8,000 rebate for residential installations of 4.5W photovoltaic solar electricity systems. There were claims the PV industry would fall over if households were scared off the scheme. But the opposite occurred. The Government has had to extend the application period by one third to process the sheer volume of applicants. The Sydney Herald reported that the Clean Energy Council, speaking on behalf of the solar industry, now no longer favour a rebate because it can be subject to government whim. They want to move to feed-in tariff model, whereby PV owners would get fair market priced payments for the electricity their panels feed back to the grid.

Solar Hot Water Rebates
The federal government also support up to a $1,000 AUD rebate for residential solar hot water systems. This rebate is augmented by a Renewable Energy Certificates(RECs) system that households (or installers on their behalf) can trade. Depending on the home’s location, hot water system installed and the value of its RECs on the market, it may possible to get another $800 AUD off the total cost. Some state governments are also pitching in and further reducing the upfront purchase price. NSW, for example, offers up to yet another $1,200 AUD back via rebates. If they are lucky, some householders might only have to pay for installation, not the solar hot water unit itself.

Roof Insulation Rebates
Many governments are offering to cover half the cost of insulating the ceiling of residential dwellings. In some jurisdictions this amounts to $300 AUD for resident home owners, but can rise to $500 for landlords if they insulate rented properties, where the tenants are on social security benefits.

Rainwater Tank Rebates
There are also various rainwater harvesting rebates on offer around the country. NSW have one where you could get back $150 AUD for a 2000 litre tank and up to $500 AUD for a 7,000 litre model. Should you choose to plumb your new tank into your toilet and/or your washing machine you’d be eligible for another $500 AUD for each connection. Up to a total of $1,500 AUD.

Washing Machine Rebates
Still on water. Go out and buy yourself a 4.5 star energy/water efficient washing machine (it goes up to 6 stars) and put you hand out to get $150 AUD back.

Refrigerator BuyBacks
This one is kinda different. If you live in metropolitan Sydney and have a ten year old fridge greater than 250 litres (the sort of thing found in many garages to keep beer cold for barbeques) then the state government will give you $35, just so they can remove it. They reckon you’ll also save $190 a year on your electricity bill and pump out 1 tonne less of greenhouse gases per annum. They are hoping 19,000 households, will over the next three years, offload their second ‘beer fridge.’

LPG Car Rebates
The commonwealth government believes Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) gas cars burn fuel much cleaner than straight petrol or diesel vehicles, so to encourage take up of the technology they dangle a $1,000 AUD rebate for motorists buying a new LPG enabled vehicle. If you retrofit an existing car then you’re entitled to a $2,000 rebate. (Industry wants that new car rebate boosted to $2,000 too.)

That’s not bad. A resident of NSW could, if they chose to act on several initiatives, save themselves a combined $14,985 AUD, by being a greener citizen.( 8,000 + 3,000 + 300 + 1,500 + 150 + 35 + 2,000 = $14,985 AUD )

In other states you could possibly do even better. Water starved South Australia, for example, offers $200 rebates for washing machines and $150 for dual flush toilets, as well money off shower heads and the like. And in Queensland (pdf) you can currently claim back 50% of a ‘green’ garden purchase up to $50. This could be used to offset the cost of a compost bin or worm farm, for example. Also available in Queensland is a $500 rebate for swapping your hot water and cooking over to natural gas from electricity.

Green Loans
To lead householders even further by the hand, the federal government is working up a $10,000 AUD Green Loans program, which is due to be active in early 2009. It is planned to “help an estimated 200,000 Australian home owners to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by around 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year by 2020. In addition, the program will encourage an estimated $2 billion in green inspired investment for households – directly benefiting the small business sector.”

Whilst most of the above mentioned rebates are targeted at residential households, there are also energy and water saving rebates focused on schools, remote communities and even surf live saving clubs!

Random

Last night, after I relaxed to the show “The Mentalist”, I flipped over to catch the start of the news on Fox (our local Fox.)  I generally don’t watch news because I get my news other ways, but I wanted to see the local take on the fact that Whirlpool is laying off 300 people in our area.  Didn’t get much out of it, but I did get to catch the weather report and that’s what I want to share with you.  The temp at 10pm last night was 32 and it was a little overcast.  The weatherman told us that it was going to get really cold last night.  His prediction was down to 30.  Then he proceeded to tell us that the reason for the extremely cold overnight temp was because the cloud cover was going to blow away and then all our heat was going to go out into outer space.  I couldn’t help it, I started laughing.  All 2 degrees of our heat was going to outer space.  Even Trent played along by saying that all our heat was going to the aliens.  If nothing else, the weatherman did provide some entertainment before we drifted off to sleep.

I’ve decided to head to the voting polls today after Tyler finishes up school.  I have some other errands that I want to run toward that side of town.  I also figure that Tyler can learn about voting by seeing me do it now or on the 4th, so it doesn’t really matter.

Trent got a jury duty notice yesterday.  It’s for the middle of November.  It’s a sign we’ve been in IN too long. Just teasing!  I got a jury duty notice right before we moved from TN to CO and it was for after we had moved, so I didn’t have to do it.  Then Trent & I both got jury duty notices as we were moving from CO to IN, which were scheduled for after we were moving so we didn’t have to do them.  I guess they finally caught up with us.  He didn’t seem as upset about it as I thought he would be considering how busy he’s been at work lately and how it isn’t going to let up anytime soon (maybe sometime in Feb or Mar.)

Trent made some wonderful potato soup last night.  It was perfect for the cold night.  He’s such a great cook!

I’m going to be taking Tyler in for some extra TKD practices.  He’s got less than 4 weeks until testing and he only knows 1/2 of his traditional form and they haven’t even worked on the weapons form yet.  Not a lot of time for him to learn it and get comfortable with it.  So I’ll be spending even more time in the evenings watching TKD.  Now don’t get me wrong with the rest of this paragraph, I’m glad that Tyler really likes TKD, is enjoying it, and is learning so much from it, BUT….  It’s taking over our lives.  I know this is residual from when I was growing up and sports took over my life and I was always practicing or playing games and my dad was a little fanatical about us practicing all the time (not just when there were scheduled practices.)  We were already at 6 hours of TKD time for the week, then I said I was going to take him early on Mon & Wed to practice his forms from previous belts to help with his assisting in classes, which adds another 2 hours.  Now I’m looking at taking him for another class on Tues & Thurs, which is another 2 hours.  So that puts us at 10 hours for the week.  And then when he wants to start helping in classes, the time will get even longer.  Seriously, this is a part-time job for me.  10 hours class time, plus drive times, plus uniform and gear cleaning.  Like I said, it’s a good thing I know this is all beneficial for him because it is A LOT.

It’s too bad that TKD doesn’t have WiFi.  I could be using all that time to take some classes online.  I’ve found some sources for free college classes online.  You don’t get a degree or anything, but I already have one of those so I’m not worried about it.  However, I can put continuing education on my resume.  Now I just have to decide on some classes that look interesting and squeeze the time in to actually do them.

Ready for Halloween

Tyler got his costume yesterday.  He has decided to be a camo ninja.  I made sure the costume was big enough to last more than 1 year.  I got my shipment from Bear Naked of granola to hand out for Halloween and I still have some pencils that will get handed out as well – no candy!  So that means we are ready.  On Halloween I’ll have to put out a big bowl since Hershey does not like the doorbell ringing.  In fact, Halloween is probably Hershey’s second least favorite holiday after 4th of July.

Tyler spent his money yesterday on 4 new packs of Yu-Gi-Oh cards.  He seems excited about them.  He did a great job of counting out his money for the cashier (and she did a great job being patient.)  Then he came home and started a spreadsheet to track the money that he spends.  It was so cute.  He knows that we come home and record our receipts in Money, so he’s trying to be like us.

I’m trying to decide if I should early vote.  I have ability and it would make life easier to vote this week, but it would also be educational for Tyler to see the voting process on the 4th.  So I’m thinking on it.

Our weekend was nice

Saturday morning was 2 hours of TKD.  Tyler was tired after that.  We had lunch, relaxed and then headed to the library for a program on leaves.  They learned about different kinds of leaves common to this area (maple, oak, tulip, etc), different types of leaves (simple vs. compound), went on a walk to collect leaves and then made placemats.  We didn’t get to bring home the placemats because they were being laminated first, so we’ll pick them up later this week.  After dinner, Trent & Tyler watched Shrek 3.  There was lots of laughing, so I’m sure they enjoyed it.

Sunday, we finally broke down and bought a dishwasher.  It has been really bad lately.  It keeps coming unlatched during the washing.  At first it was once or twice, now it is up to four or five times and the last 15 minutes of the washing you just have to stand there because every time you get it latched, it unlatches again.  Not much fun babysitting the dishwasher.  We don’t have it yet because we needed a black one to go with the other appliances, so we should have it in 5-10 days.  I’m hoping for the earlier the better.  When you run the dishwasher daily, every day counts.

Earlier this week, we found some tile that was cheap that will look good in our bathroom for when we replace the toilets in the bathrooms.  Our bathroom has carpet.  Seriously, who in their right mind puts carpet in a bathroom?!?  Anyways, we have enough tile to do our bathroom, but the project will be put on hold for a little while since we had to shell out the money on the dishwasher.  Although, now it is official, we have replaced all the major appliances in the house – stove, fridge, dishwasher, heat pump and hot water heater – all in just over a year.  We’re still working on the trim on the shed and the plants around the shed to cut down on the mowing around it and then the mulch for around the plants.  It just never ends!

We went apple picking yesterday.  I’m glad we went because this is the last week for it.  We got Golden Delicious this time.  They are wonderful.

Tyler lost his 7th tooth yesterday.  He didn’t swallow it because he wasn’t eating at the time.  The tooth fairy brought him money and now he is really wanting to go to Target to get some Yu-Gi-Oh cards.  He’s been saving his money for them and now has enough.  Of course, he’s not going until school is done for the day because if we get the cards, he won’t do anything else for the rest of the day.

There’s no TKD tonight.  They are having a costume skate party and Tyler doesn’t want to do that.  Enclosed space with loud noises and music, kids running/skating all around, general mayhem – yep, not his cup of tea.

We have a 4-H informational meeting on Thursday evening so he’ll be missing TKD to go to that.  Hopefully this will help us decide which club/clubs to join.  Then we’ll know when those meetings will conflict with TKD.

Trent is getting on board with the whole RV thing.  It seems that even though he wants to do it, he is hung up on how we’ll actually do it with regard to money.  But since we’re not going to do it right now, we have plenty of time to figure out how it is all going to work for us.  So last night he was out looking at RVs that are for sale.  It’s good that we compliment each other so well.  I’m worried about finding a state to claim residence in that has good tax laws (i.e. not very many taxes), good homeschooling laws (i.e. hardly any oversight) and a state that we wouldn’t mind spending 6 months/year in to make sure that we keep residency, and he’s worried that the RVs cost too much, even used.  I’m thinking about what type of skills are good to take on the road and all the fun things that we’ll be able to do, and he’s comparing the costs of having a big truck and a 5th wheel vs. a motorhome and a tow car.  I’m worried about making sure that the RV has a washing machine because of Trent’s allergies to borax, and he’s looking at the different sizes of engines that are in the RVs.  Between the two of us, I’m sure we’ll think of everything.  Of course, Tyler isn’t really on board with this plan yet.  He really isn’t understanding the whole concept yet.  He thinks it will be like when we are on vacation and we rush to get where we are going, run ourselves ragged doing all the stuff that we need or want to do, then rush home to get back to our regular lives.  That’s not how I am seeing this work, but, again, we have lots of time before this becomes a reality.

Going Long

I’ve got my cup of tea.  It’s cold and rainy out.  I’ve emailed Tyler his school work for the day – he’s still in bed, hiding under the covers, trying to avoid getting up and starting his day.  I’ve got my music playing.  So I’m all settled in for a long post.  You’ve been warned.

TKD is a huge part of our lives right now, so I guess I’ll start there.  Tyler is doing an incredible job of learning his new traditional form.  They keep getting longer and longer with more difficult moves.  Rumor has it that the traditional weapons form this time is freestyle (although there are various versions of this floating around the parents area.)  Sparring seems to be hit or miss.  They will teach something new and he’ll do that, but not always remember the other things that he’s been taught.  It’s like he wants to practice the new thing to the exclusion of the old things.  His XMA form is improving.  He’s been practicing his XMA weapons form lots lately and he has gotten so much better.  His plan is to use his XMA weapons form for his traditional weapons form if it is freestyle so he tells me he has to practice it a lot to make it really good.  He’s also chosen music for his XMA weapons form.  Not sure how adding music is going to go, but he’s excited about it.  He’s also been super excited about doing gymnastics.  He can do a cartwheel, a handstand, and bridges.  They’ve been working on some more complicated moves and I don’t even know the names for them, but he’s having fun and that’s all that matters.  We’re going to start putting in some additional practice time outside of his class time.  The reasons are 2-fold.  The first reason is because there are a lot of camo and green belts (usually around 12 at class) and there are issues while practicing.  They are put on dots right next to one another and they are constantly running into one another while doing their moves.  There are some kids who just do the moves and don’t worry about if they are in someone’s way or if they are going to hit or kick someone.  That is not Tyler.  He waits so that he doesn’t hit or kick someone, he shuffles around to get out of other people’s way, etc.  I’m very glad that he is that way because it shows he is considerate of others.  Unfortunately, the downside is that he has extremely long pauses in his form, which doesn’t look good when it comes to testing time.  The judges would probably think he doesn’t know his form, he does, he just doesn’t know how to do it all at one time.  What you practice is what you do.  I’ve also noticed that how much he works on his form depends on who he is put next to on the dots.  There are a few kids that are struggling with their form and I’ve watch Tyler spend most of his time help them instead of practicing for himself.  I’m proud of him for doing this since he really does want to teach others, but we also have to make sure that he has time for himself to learn.  So during our extra practice time I have him do his form, all of it, with no pauses.  We talked some about his sparring and I showed him some areas that he needs to think about.  There are times when he does blocks that he opens up, which isn’t good because his opponent could score a point if they took advantage of it.  We also talked a little about how his stances are too wide or big when he’s sparring.  They are great for forms, but put him at a disadvantage of not being able to move quickly during sparring.  He’ll get there.  The second reason is because he wants to start helping in classes to work towards the leadership requirements for becoming a trainer.  However, if he wants to help in class, he has to know his white belt, orange belt and yellow belt forms and one-steps.  And he doesn’t remember them.  So we’re going to put in a little extra time helping him remember so that he can start helping in classes.  And we’ve started looking at his Leadership Manual.  There are lots of things that he has to do and learn.  It will all be great for him, but it will be hard work getting there.  He doesn’t seem to mind that it will be hard work, so I’m supporting him and giving him what he needs to be successful.

And then there is school.  He’s caught up from those days that he didn’t do any school.  He seemed to have been in a little funk and needed some time to himself, so I gave it to him.  It’s amazing how quickly he learns things.  Over the last few days, he’s done reading comprehension; learning simple subjects, complete subjects, compound subjects, simple predicates, complete predicates, compound predicates; lots of spelling and phonics; adding and subtracting over 3 digit numbers; multiplication and I taught him some of the rules for checking the answers; different climates around the world; pollution spread by the wind to various parts of the world; and listening and reading Spanish.  Today is mostly test preparation.  This is my attempt to make sure he knows how to do those standardized tests.  You never know when he might come across one.

I’m recovering from the shingles and getting better every day.  The rash and blisters are mostly healed, which is amazing because I generally don’t heal very fast (something to do with my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.)  My energy is coming back.  Not as painful as before.  Mostly down to a low throbbing and with an occasional shooting pain.

I’m still working on making the office paperless.  I’m going to finish scanning in 2006 personal stuff today and start on 2007.  I’ve gotten through 2003 for our business stuff.  There’s more to scan in with the business stuff since I have to keep so much of it for tax purposes.  I’ve got a potential source for shredding all this paperwork.  I broke our old shredder.  Well, it was 5 years old and was dying before I started this project.  But Trent found a great deal on a new shredder (basically $30 for a $100 regular price one) and I wouldn’t want to burn through a new one.

Oh, and I have a new interest.  The background is that we watched the movie “The Bucket List” about a month ago.  I decided that Trent & I should create our own Bucket Lists.  Trent doesn’t have much on his list, but one of his items is that he wants to RV around the country.  I didn’t know if I wanted to because I’ve been thinking about some big urban area for our next place to live to give Tyler access to lots of resources.  But I know that Trent is sacrificing a lot by working so that we can lead the life that we are right now, so I started researching it.  At first, I was skeptical and had lots of questions (most centered on money since we are not independently wealthy and accounting isn’t exactly that portable of a career.)  So I started following some blogs of people who are doing this very thing.  They are traveling around the country (or the world) with kids.   One term I came across is “roadschooling” and loved it.  So I’ve used it on my side bar where you can find some of the blogs of roadschoolers that I am now following.  I get mine delivered to my Google Reader, but I wanted to make sure you all had an opportunity to hear their stories.  Anyways, now I’m really interested and want to do this, too.  It would take care of my wanderlust and I wouldn’t have to deal with all of the hassles of moving from household to household because my home would go with me.  As you can tell, I’m hooked.  However, there are a lot of steps between where I am right now and getting there.  So for the meantime, I’ll just have to keep following the blogs of others and start taking little steps toward this goal.  I figure I’ve got 3-5 years before we can make the big change.  The most important reasons are that we gave our word to Tyler that we were going to stay put for roughly 5 years when we moved here to IN and we have made a commitment to allow him to work on getting his black belt in TKD.  We need to honor both of those things.  And I’m going to start working on getting some skills that will be of use when we need to make money on the road – computer skills, writing skills, and nature skills are at the top of my list.

Our Taste in Art

Here is what my taste in art says about me:

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test…

Non-conformist, Visionary, and Independent

19 Abstract, -8 Islamic, -3 Ukiyo-e, 8 Cubist, -13 Impressionist and -25 Renaissance!

Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which exists independently of what may appear to others as visual realities. Western had been underpinned by the logic of perspective and an attempt to reproduce an illusion of visible reality. It allowed the progressive thinking artists to show a different side to the world around them. By the end of the 19th century many artists felt a need to create a ‘new kind of art’ which would encompass the fundamental changes taking place in technology, science and philosophy. Abstract artists created art that was diverse and reflected the social and intellectual turmoil in all areas of Western culture.

People that chose abstract art as their preferred artform tend to be visionsaries. They see things in the world around them and in people that others may miss because they look beyond what is visual only with the eye. They rely on their inner thoughts and feelings in dealing with the world around them instead of on what they are told they should think and feel. They feel freed from the tendancy to be bound by traditional thought and experiences. They look more toward their own ideas and experiences than what they are told by their religious upbringing or from scientific evidence. They tend to like to prove theories themselves instead of relying on the insight or ideas of others. They are not bound by common and mundane, but like to travel and have new experiences. They value intelligence, but they also enjoy a challenge. They can be rather argumentative when they are being forced or feel as if they are being forced to conform.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

 

Here is what Tyler’s taste in art says about him:

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test…

Extroverted, Progressive, and Intelligent

Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. It revolutionized European art and inspired changes in music and literature. The first branch of cubism, known as Analytic Cubism. It was both radical and influential as a short but highly significant art movement between 1908 and 1911 mainly in France. In its second phase, Synthetic Cubism, (using synthetic materials in the art) the movement spread and remained vital until around 1919.

People that chose Cubist paintings as their favorite art form tend to be very individualized people. They are more extroverted and less afraid of speaking their opinions then other people. They tend to be progressive and are very forward thinking. As the cubist painting is like looking into a shattered mirror where you can see different angles of the images, the people that prefer these paintings like looking at all angles of a problem. These people are intelligent and they are the transformers of our generation. They look beyond what is seen into what things could become. They are ready to leave the ideas of the past behind and look at what the future has to offer.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Feeling better

I’m feeling better.  Not so much pain anymore.  I even was out and about yesterday and helped with some outside chores.  Of course, that all helped make me really tired, so I didn’t even take a Benedryl to help me sleep.  Yes, I know that is not something I would normally say, but the pain was keeping me up and since I very, very, very rarely take any kind of medicine, Benedryl still knocks me out.  It also helped with all the itching so it did have another purpose.  I took Benedryl for 3 nights, but I’m hoping that I don’t have to take it again.  I really don’t like the side effects when I do wake up.

So far Tyler hasn’t shown any signs of chicken pox.  There are conflicting stories about whether he could get it or not, but I seriously think there are conflicting reports about all this chicken pox/shingles stuff.  I’ll keep an eye on him.

He’s back to TKD this evening and he has a Science Sleuths class this afternoon on spiders (how funny!)  So I will get a little quiet time this afternoon.

Do I or Don’t I?

Turns out what I thought was a huge band of spider bites from my back to my chest, causing extreme pain and itching, is actually shingles.  Yes, I was one of those lucky souls that had chicken pox twice as a child and now as an adult have gotten shingles.  So much fun!

Though it turns out that I could pass chicken pox onto Tyler if I expose him to my shingles rash.  I’ve said for a very long time (most of Tyler’s lifetime) that I’ve wanted him to have chicken pox, but haven’t been able to find anyone who has it because of all the vaccines.  So do I expose him or not?  This shingles thing isn’t going away anytime soon (I’ve had it a week and they say it could take a month) and there are times when I’m in so much pain that it’s all I can take.  So I don’t know if I could take care of a sick kid on top of it, though to be honest I might have already exposed him and not really known it since I originally thought it was spider bites.  Guess we’ll just wait and see how it all plays out.

In other news, last night my parents got cell phones.  I put them as additional lines (yes, lines, they both got one) on my plan to save some $, they picked out free phones and accessories.  We headed to dinner and then back to their house.  We got their voicemail set up, how they want to answer their calls (I’m a flip it open to answer girl, but they want flip it open and press a button like Trent), how to enter contacts and how to set speed dial.  They didn’t have much battery so I told them to charge them overnight and they could play with ringtones, background pictures, and enter more contacts today.  So we are slowly dragging them into this century (they still use an answering machine on their landline and they don’t have a computer.)  Now I’m off to go enter the numbers on the Do Not Call lists.