More on Exercise

I actually love to exercise, especially once I've done it for a week or two.

I love that way it makes me feel like I am taking care of myself.

I love being outside and experiencing the elements, whether cold or hot.

I love the feeling of strength that exercising gives me.

I love seeing the scale register a lower number when I exercise.

But am I currently exercising? No. I was walking in the mornings last week with my daughter, VVV, but she inconsiderately got a blister which made it impossible to walk a mile in my shoes (which she was wearing at the time).

I have a treadmill in the basement. I hate the treadmill.

I have a park near my house, but it's boring to go by myself, especially since my ipod is currently in a coma, unable to communicate with me.

So, here are the things that are holding me up:

1. I want to have the perfect set-up; time of day; clothing; type of exercise; temperature.
2. I feel like I weigh so much now that exercising is hopeless.
3. Exercising takes a lot of time out of my day, which already feels like it's squashed into a smaller window than 24 hours.
4. I'm embarassed that I have lost significant weight twice now and gained it back. Why keep losing it if I'm only going to gain it back?
5. I think there is some magic philosophy out there that if I could just find it I could exercise daily forever without ever missing a day and could reach the perfect, most comfortable weight, and stay there forever.

Do I sound like a 6-year-old or what? Sometimes I don't want to be all grown-up. Sometimes I feel like my responsibilities are overwhelming. Exercising TAKES CARE OF ME, but I still find it easier to eat leftover pizza and Tostito's than to exercise. Well, guess what. It IS easier to eat leftover pizza than it is to exercise.

I've inspired myself, believe it or not. Me and the TLG are going out for a walk right now. See you later!

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Grumbling

No, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, thank you. But enough that I had a dream that left me pretty angry. And I've got this list of "plagues and nuisances" (thank you EJ for that fine list title) that are plaguing me and annoying me greatly.

1. I have alertly trained The Little Guy to go to sleep in my arms, drinking water from a baby bottle. He's like 27 months old, so the baby bottle thing can't last forever. I actually like that he takes the bottle to go to sleep because I have this fear that he isn't going to get enough to drink otherwise since he's not big into cups. But I think I've really put myself in a pickle. He can also go to sleep riding in a car, and very occasionally, lying on the floor. He can even fall asleep for his nap while watching a Veggie Tales video. For the present and immediate future and distant past, we have climbed into bed together in the evening and I have perched the bottle across my chest, while he has snuggled and happily gone to sleep. But, I don't really want to go to bed with my baby every single night. Some say this won't last forever and he's only little for awhile. But since he has DS, I wonder how I am going to get him to give this up, now that I have so firmly entrenched it in his understanding of what it means to go to sleep.

2. I lost some weight last summer, using my tried-and-true low-carb eating method. But, as the other times I have used this method, after awhile, I think I am going to literally starve if I don't get more food. Sadly, I gained all the weight back over the course of the fall and now I am SO uncomfortable. It's mainly that I've gained a lot of weight in my stomach (ba-a-a-a-d place to gain weight), and I find that very uncomfortable. But at this point, do I do low-carb again? Do I modify it to stave off the feeling I eventually have of starving? And how do I fit exercise into my life? A few times up and down the stairs isn't going to cut it!

See, I told you I was grumbling.

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Fussing About Education for THIS Year

Having to post a bit of a rant here. I'm sure I've mentioned the AMP (Absent-Minded Professor) here? My 13-year-old son? He has one class, Composition, that he doesn't really enjoy much. That mystifies me because he truly loves to write. I have TWO kids in this program, and between them they have NINE teachers. THREE of the teachers changed partway through the year. TWO of the teachers are shared by both kids. ONE teacher is shared during the same hour. ONE teacher is shared but on a different day. Got all that? Every teacher has their own method of communicating. Some email the parents AND the students. Some email the parents only. There is no standard method of communication. So, I have NINE teachers to keep track of. Here's the problem. More than ONE of the AMP's teachers tells him different things at different times. The AMP does not take notes and never has any written documentation to take back to the teacher to say hey here's what you said last time.

VickiVonVicki overheard AMP's composition teacher talking the other day about how AMP isn't going to make it next year if he doesn't start engaging with what he's doing. And AMP's history teacher told me the other day that AMP is drifting off to sleep during class. AMP says he only looks like he is sleeping but he is actually taking notes, which he showed me today.

My irritation relates to two things: 1. changing assignments, and 2. issues staying unresolved so long that "proof" papers have been discarded or lost.

AMP had a quarterly reading project due at the end of third quarter. The syllabus was unclear and I made him do it the first week of third quarter. At that time, he had a long list of possibilities for the assignment. He did one of the possibilities: "Write a two-page summary of the book." He turned it in. The teacher gave it back and said it wasn't due but he could turn it in later. Which he did. Here are the comments on the paper: "AMP, This is a summary of the book, which I don't need. The assignment was to give me a paper on the themes of the book or the way the character grows throughout the book, in 3-5 pages. I need a new draft, edited and with the changes. It is due in 2 weeks." On the syllabus, however, here is the assignment: "Write either a prologue, afterward, or alternate ending." The original full-page list of possibilities, handed out in late December, has been lost or possibly thrown away.

I find sorting all of this out very very confusing and frustrating. The kid did the assignment ages ago; we no longer have the library book obviously; and I think the two weeks is coming up right pronto, but there are no dates to look at.

I like this teacher, but what I'm making up about his attitude toward AMP is that he thinks AMP is a slacker, and should know how to do these things right the first time. His notes often say things like "We went over this in class." "I already told you this."

On his last grade report, he says he did not receive a bibliography assignment, and consequently the AMP only received a C+ in the class. He suggested that if AMP could show him the graded bibliography, the grade could be brought up from a zero to whatever he received on the assignment.

AMP is severely challenged to get THIS week's assignment turned in THIS week. To ask him to come up with something he did or may have done 6 weeks ago is out of the question. This grade does not reflect the abilities or efforts of this child.

And that is my biggest frustration with this program that AMP and VVV have been in this year.

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Musing about Educational Options for Next Year

We used to say that we would take each child's needs into account each year and do whatever was best for each child, educationally. One year, Kids 1-4 were in public school until fourth quarter, when we withdrew ActionJackson. This was when TheLittleGuy was a newborn, but this was clearly the best thing for ActionJackson.

This past year I have had two children VickiVonVicki (age 15) and The Absent-Minded Professor (age 13) in a homeschool co-op type thing, but it's more like school "light." They go to class two days a week and then work on assignments the other three days. (Theoretically.) ActionJackson (age 12) and WebkinQueen (age 9) have been home full-time along with TheLittleGuy. There have been both pros and cons, but a RILLY RILLY BIG CON has been all the driving I have had to do.

A typical week had me driving the kids 12 miles Monday morning to their classes, working the morning at a part-time job, then hanging around until 2 to drive VVV and her friends another 9 miles to practice. Drive 9 more miles home, then leave shortly thereafter back to class location to pick up AMP from Spanish. Total Monday driving time: 2 hours. Tuesday total driving time: about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Wednesday: 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Thursday: about 1 1/2 hours unless we had a game in Timbuktu -- add an additional 2 hours. Friday: about 1 to 1/2 hours plus another 2-4 (yes, driving) if we had a game. Did you get all that? Let's add it all up: Some weeks I drove as many as 12-14 hours JUST driving the kids here and there.

After basketball season ended, I began to regain some semblance of sanity, slowly. And I started thinking that maybe it's not worth it for me to drive the kids to these classes twice a week. Maybe I should actually homeschool them at home. I began to look into Sonlight Curriculum.

What I have loved about their classes is the strong emphasis on a Christian worldview. But I don't think this has been the very best setting for the AbsentMindedProfessor. He finds the classes relatively boring, and has a very very hard time getting his work done and turned in all in one fell swoop. I have been a super duper micro-manager this year helping him get his work done and into his backpack.

The schedule for next year is finally posted on the internet. There are two locations for this program and we have gone to the northernmost one, even though the other one is much closer to home. This decision was made due to social considerations.

The closer location has a great schedule next year. VVV would get to take a Christian worldview class from a teacher I GREATLY respect, and AMP could take Spanish III at this location (but not the other). Also, the closer location's meeting days do not conflict with basketball practice days, which would be a great bonus. Another bonus: AMP's composition class would be taught by another teacher from whom I would LOVE for him to learn. Cons include having to get to know a whole new group of kids, and missing friends from the northern location. Plus, at either location, it is a relatively expensive program.

I'm leaning toward putting them back into the program but at the closer location. I know VVV wants to be home full-time, and AMP wants to go back to the farther location, but I would like to have them closer and go on Tues and Thurs rather than Mon and Wed.

Those are my musings for today. VVV and AMP read my blog -- no decisions have been made kids. These are just my thoughts right now.

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A Few More Alphabet Letters

K is for Kung Fu Fighter. So far, in my 46 years, I have not taken any martial arts classes at all. I have observed one of my children taking Tai kwan do lessons, but I haven't gotten around to taking any karate classes. The only thing I think I would really like to do is take a women's self-defense class, but I've heard one of the things they teach you is to yell out some profanity at your would-be attacker, and I wonder if I could do that. I'm not much of a kusser either.

L is for Lawbreaker. Once, about 20 years ago, I was shopping in a major department store here in town. I was carrying a large bag I had just gotten for Christmas. All of a sudden, store security took me by the arms and insisted I accompany them to the security offices. When we got there, they sneeringly said, "Do you know why you are here?" I raged back, "I assume you think I took something!" "Please empty your bag," they suggested with a knowing look. I started slamming everything down on the counter, piece by piece, "Here's my PURSE. Here's my JACKET. Here's the shirt I'm RETURNING to American Eagle. Here's the CAN OPENER I just bought and here's the RECEIPT." They looked at each other. "Shoot," they whispered. Their crack security chick was sure she had seen me put a shirt into my bag. And I was sure they hadn't. So, they let me go. Even now, my entire family laughs about this because of all the people to detain for shoplifting, I'm not the top choice, you know?

M is for Medical Professional. Not even close. I can't imagine spending my day around sick and/or dying people, although I have great respect for people who do. It actually amazes me the amount of stuff that doctors and nurses know. I do wish sometimes that I could be a fly on the wall of a treatment room for a week or so. I think doctors and nurses must hear some pretty outlandish things.

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Now This is the Place to Get News!

Toyota T. (my husband) finds the most esoteric and interesting things on the 'net and sends me all kinds of strange links. I enjoy the news I find on this website.

Their claim to fame: "News Fairly Unbalanced. We Report. You Decipher."

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I'm Still Here!

Wow, where does the time go?

I thought maybe I'd better post again since it has been 6 days and my immense readership might get discouraged if there's still nothing new to read.

The other night, just days after the giant LEGO shipment went away, my son brought out a LEGO set! Hey, I didn't know we had any more of those?!

I was finishing up going through the photos, and as soon as I finished, I became his "LEGO butler." I looked for the pieces for the next step and had them in a nice little group for him. As he worked, we had a really nice talk about life and stuff. And I realized I had NEVER once worked on LEGOs with the kids over the years. I wonder if that was because there were just way too many.

One little mystery that arose. This set was bought by us on Ebay and did not include the mini-figures. I guess those mini-figures must be bigtime collectible or something. I did have a moment where I wished we had been able to save out a little guy for this set, but we didn't, so I am moving on.

I hope to jazz up my blog this weekend and write some witty and amazingly unforgettable posts as well.

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