A Squib's Life

A tough day

2009-11-17T21:08:00.003-05:00

This has not been one of my best days. It is likely that I have H1N1, Horse Girl and I were exposed at school last week. Horse Girl was sick over the weekend and she is pretty much better. Now Fly Guy and I are sick. It came on very fast like a ton of bricks at one moment we felt fine then we felt like we were hit by a dump truck. Fly Guy is very sick and I am not up to par. Earlier today I was worried that we might have to take me to the urgent care clinic because I was having a ton of problems breathing, but I am more or less ok now.

This morning before we felt bad we went to a Teacher conference for History Girl. She is failing Language Arts and she is getting a C+ in Social Studies. For a girl who loves History and loves reading this is not acceptable. Her other classes she is doing fine in. Those other teachers actually looked a bit shocked that she was doing so poorly in Language Arts and Social Studies.

We have a PET meeting with the teachers in the beginning of December. We will have her eval done by then. The PDD specialists who examined her want to meet with her again on Monday because they aren't quite sure what to make of somethings so they want to interact with History Girl again. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing or just a thing. I just want this report written so we can have something real to stand on for modifications and for special help History Girl needs.

So at this point I am just tired and want answers.

I really have enjoyed writing about Russia lately, but my brain is not functioning at 100%, so I hope to write more once I can think clearly again. :-P

Not dead yet....

2009-11-16T16:58:00.002-05:00

I said in an earlier post that my Grandmother is likely going to die very soon. Every phone call from my parents now I expect it to be the call saying she passed away.

So to the best of my knowledge my Grandmother is not dead year. My Uncle has already book the church this Sunday for the Funeral. Has also arranged for a caterer for food post funeral at his house. He also has arranged for my cousin to fly back from China in time for the funeral on Sunday. A little reminder her folks...she isn't dead yet!!! Yes I expect her to die anytime now, but save this sort of planning until after she is really dead. What if she makes to Sunday.....sorry folks the funeral is postponed because she isn't dead yet. That just seems crazy to me. Is this normal and I am just not getting it?

Flu?

2009-11-15T21:23:00.002-05:00

It seems that Horse Girl might have the flu....fever, sore throat, cough, tired...stuff like that. So I am not going to really post today so I can get some rest in hopes of not getting sick myself.

Looking for a ride

2009-11-14T20:59:00.004-05:00

Today it has rained all day and rained hard. I am waiting for the Noah and his boat to come by and pick us up.

Today was not a great day and the rain has made it just that much worse. We went to take Horse Girl her riding lessons this morning. We pulled into the barn parking lot and there was a firetruck and an ambulance. Turns out one of Horse Girl's instructors were hit/kicked/stepped on by one of the horses. We got there just as she was being put into the ambulance. She looked like she was ok, she was totally strapped down which looked worse then I bet it was, but when it comes to being hurt by a horse you can never be to careful. So positive thoughts for her if you will.

Horse Girl has fallen off a horse twice in the 4 years she has ridden. Which might sounds like a lot, but she hasn't been hurt, she knows how to fall plus one time her instructor caught her in midair so she never hit the ground. *knock on wood that she is never hurt* Horse Girl when she is a teenager wants the job that the instructor who was hurt has now, she would be good at it. Seeing the instructor all strapped down has made nervous about her having this job in the future. It is one of those things that I just have to let it go.

Also to make this day not so great is my father went up to see his mom. It is looking like she will die very soon. The doctors don't think she will wake up again. She is on a morphine drip right now. She has not had all her senses for sometime so it is a good thing that her life is coming to an end. She has lived longer then she would have wanted to live if she had had control of it. This is my grandmother who married Fly Guy and myself. When he and I were planning our wedding we didn't go to church and we wanted to get married in a historic Puritan meeting house so my grandmother did all the paperwork she needed to be able to perform the ceremony. So even though I have already mourned my grandmother, the person who married us....the person who sang Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer with History Girl, it sad to see her go even though I know the time for her to go has long past.

I see Noah and his ark pulling up right now. So better get going.

A Quick Post to forfill NaBloPoMo :-)

2009-11-12T20:07:00.005-05:00

I should have something deeper to post today, but I just don't have it. Thursdays are always my sort of crazy days. Horse Girl has gymnastics until 6:45pm so I don't get home until late. Luckily Fly Guy got home and made dinner. It is always better when he makes dinner because he is a much better cook than I am. I need a recipe and he doesn't. I think I need a recipe because having spent a good amount of my time growing up playing with a chemistry set and then in a chem lab in high school and college, I get nervous deviating from a prescribed recipe. If you change stuff in a chemisty experament bad things can happen so I just can't do it. Which might be the reason I am more of a baker then a cook. Baking is all about the chemistry while cooking is an art form that I just don't get. Well, I should get my swimming stuff together for my morning swim and I promise something deeper for tomorrow. Maybe more stuff about Russia...I have been enjoying looking at my photos from my trip when I was 17...maybe cover a bit about Leningrad. I have some great photos of The Alexander Column and the story of the creation of that monument is amazing. ;-)

Not feeling like writting

2009-11-09T18:22:00.007-05:00

I am not feeling like writing so I scanned in a few photos from my trip to the USSR that I took in April of 1987 when I was 17.

Here of course is the big Moscow sign, what you see when you enter Moscow.

This is The Cathedral of Intercession of Theotokos on the Moat, better known as Cathedral of Basil the Blessed or even St. Basil's. There are a ton of photos of St. Basil's, but this is my personal photo I took myself. For years I had this photo blown up to poster size and hung in my bedroom.

This is main building of Moscow University. Stalin had it built to show the power of the Soviet Union he had 7 such buildings built, this was the largest. At the time it was built it was the largest building outside of New York City.

Stalin also wanted to build something called the Place of the Soviets which was going to dwarf this building, but he ended up not being able to do it mostly because of Germany invading during WWII, but in reality I don't think he would ever be able to get it done.

This is the US Embassy in Moscow. Now look closely at the guards out front....they are not US guards they are Soviet Military keeping Soviet citizens out of the Embassy.

That is it for now. I wish there was something I could use my vast knowledge of the Soviet Union for. But it is just gathering dust like many things in my life. :-P

Soviet Print

2009-11-08T19:53:00.004-05:00

I have been busy today so I just remembered I needed to make my post for today if I am going to do Nablopomo I need to post something quickly.

We have been working on remodeling the upstairs bathroom for awhile now. Doing it DIY always takes forever.

I finally bought some frames for some prints that I want to put up of course I can't find one of the prints, now that I found the frame.

This image is the other print I am putting up in the bathroom. It is a 1921 USSR propaganda poster that says:

"May 1st, In good health on the holiday of the workers in all countries" or something like that. This has been one of my favorite prints for a long time because it is a classic combination of the traditional Russian celebrations and the then modern Soviet belief system. It reminds me of how they say that Jesus Christ was really born in the Spring, but Christmas was moved to the Winter Solstice in order to either a) avoid persecution of early Christians or b) gain more followers. Here they are combining the traditional Russia Spring celebration with the modern Soviet workers' holiday, in order to gain acceptance in the same sort of way. So any how now it is hanging in my bathroom. :-)

What we are watching

2009-11-07T15:06:00.003-05:00

Over Somewhere in The Suburbs she talks about her love of her DVR, she talks about the shows she is watching and she asks what other people are watching.

First of all I thought I should share that just over a year ago we bought an Apple TV. When we did that we got rid of cable TV. When then created an iTunes account for our TV and we put an allowance on that account that is equal to what we were spending on cable and then we use that money to buy the shows we want to watch off of iTunes. It has worked really well.

First of all no comercals at all. Second of all, it has taught both girls a bit about budgeting. Horse Girl when we had cable would watch whatever was on the Disney Channel at the time and not think much about it. Now that she knows that she is paying money for an episode she has stopped watching trashy TV like Hanna Montana or the Suite Life. She now spends her TV time watching Mythbusters and How It's Made. So to me those two things are the best reason for making that change.

What I am watching this year....well still watching Bones...I love that show and so does History Girl...we have enough of those episodes bought that we watch one episode a night with History Girl and we really enjoy it.

I am trying out watching Three Rivers I am not sold on it, but it is the best of the three new medical drama out there. So I will watch it for a bit and see where it takes me.

We are also liking The Big Bang Theory a lot. Now this is were getting shows from iTunes is a problem. They are two seasons behind on The Big Bang Theory, so we watched season one from iTunes when the girls' doctor recomended it to History Girl and we loved it so much I bought season two on DVD. Don't ask me what we are going to do once we are done with season two. Don't have a plan there yet. :-)

Also I am still watching Numb3rs. I love having a show about a math guy helping the FBI.

Ok hmm....well if you look closely at what I watch it is all about geeks and nerds....hmmm...I wonder if that means something. :-)

Oh wait I am also watching the last season of Monk. I am really hoping he finds out who killed his wife by the end of this season.

So that is about all I watch, if a friend says they likes a show I will watch a few. For example I have tried out Glee which is ok, just a little odd for my tastes, but it I am in the mood I will watch it. I also watch things that iTunes offers for free to get you hooked, they normally offer one episode a week of something for example they offered The Good Wife and Modern Family which I downloaded both, but have watched neither figuring I will have something to watch if I am bored and don't feel like spending the money on something new. Who knows I might get hooked on one and then I can download the episodes as needed.

Honest Scrap Award

2009-11-06T16:20:00.004-05:00

Over at the Trees and Flowers and Birds! she tagged all the August Moms with the Honest Scrap Award a bit a go in hopes of that some of the Moms who let their blogs get dusty would dust them off and do something.

“When you get the Honest Scrap award, you are meant to grace your readers with 10 honest things about yourself, and then pass on the award to other blog friends who write honestly and truly about themselves and events in their life."

1. I am an introvert. I even need to be away from Fly Guy once and awhile or I feel overwhelmed. This might be why I like swimming so much because it is like a sensory deprivation chamber I am with my own thoughts and I like that.

2. I rather have loud music, then caffeine to wake me up. I can't stand the early morning swimmers who have coffee on their breath it just makes my stomach flip.

3. I have to really trust someone to be able to share an opinion with them. I rather let someone think I have no opinion than have an argument over points of view. Yes I am very much a wimp when it comes to that.

4. I view myself as a Mainer before I view myself as a US citizen.

5. I don't like my life that much right now. I want a real paying 9 to 5 type job, but I am still needed to help the girls with their learning differences. I have all the time in the world to have that sort of job not much time left to make sure the girls have learned what they need to know about themselves and their differences before they head out in to the world.

6. When I retire I want to either work as a Ferry Boat pilot at Walt Disney World or one of their VIP trip planning people.

7. I am scared that I am going to live a long time like all the women in my family and not have anyone to live it with. Fly Guy's family tend to die young and since I am antisocial and an introvert I have trouble making friends.

8. I have found a bar in Maine I like. I love the older gay men that hang out there. There is one table I really like to sit at when I eat there. It is in the corner so I can see everything that is going on. I really like to people watch, maybe because if I watch people enough I can figure out how to be social. ;-)

9. I really really do not understand British comedy I really just don't get it....I don't laugh, I just look at it really really puzzled.

10. With all the good and bad stuff in my life, I wouldn't change a bit of it.

taking a leap of faith

2009-11-05T13:49:00.004-05:00

I just called and had Horse Girl removed from the Dyslexia Learning Center, she has been there two years and hasn't really made the progress that we expected to see. We had a consultant meet with Horse Girl and watched how she learns and how things are being taught to her. One of the things suggested is to remove Horse Girl from the learning center so she can have a consistent method between reading, speech and stuff at home. So it isn't a bit here and something different there and something different over there. This consultant has figured out a plan that she wants us to try for Horse Girl. I am nervous because making that call and saying Horse Girl isn't continuing there is like taking a leap of faith that this consultant is really truly right. I am so nervous about it, but I think it is the right thing for Horse Girl.

The plan is that Horse Girl will have special reading plan in the special ed room 5 days a week for at least an hour a day. Then she will also have speech which will tie into what she is doing in her special reading plan. Then they are going to have us have a program for us to do with her at home for 30 minutes a day after school. When they showed me the plan I looked at it and it made 100% sense to me and I wished when I was in school struggling with my dyslexia they offered this, that is how clear it was to me when the showed it to me.

I know in my heart it is the right thing, but I am so nervous at the same time. I just want to cry.

When Love Doesn't Overcome All

2009-11-04T16:59:00.006-05:00

When I was reading the aftermath of Vote No on One results in the Portland Press Herald I saw this photo taken by Gregory Rec, who takes wonderful photos for the Press Herald. I looked at this photo and it brought me to tears. Can you just imagine the whispers between this couple. The dreams that they had that aren't going to happen because Yes on One won. That people other then themselves have a say in their future. Can you imagine the disappointment and the heaviness in their hearts when it was announced that referendum one passed. It is just not fair.

History Girl whose two best friends are gay males, has decided that the next time this comes to a vote she will do all a teenager can do, because she doesn't think it is right that her best friends might not have a chance to marry when they are adults.

Horse Girl was worried this morning when she heard the outcome. She was worried about one of her classmate who has two moms, she was concerned that this outcome might mean that this classmate's moms couldn't live together and his family was going to be torn apart. We explained that isn't what is going to happen. Turns out when I talked to one of the moms today she said their youngest had the same worry.

There is a selfish reason I wanted No on One to pass, I rather Maine not be viewed as a backwards, backwoods, hick sort of state. I thought if No on One passed people would see the Maine I know and love. Well maybe next time, there will be a next and most likely sooner then later.

Teach Your Children Well

2009-11-03T16:44:00.002-05:00

In the Tales From the Testosterone Zone she writes today about a quote from Tampa Mom.

"Why do we enable our children to mediocrity and/or coddle them into becoming emotional cripples? Our children are so smart and amazing, but so many times we’re caught up in our own emotions and make their challenges all about us instead of just handing them back and saying, “How are you going to handle this?”

We’d have a lot more motivated, capable young adults in this world if we didn’t solve our kids’ problems for them and instead gave them guidance to help them solve their own. That’s what I’m working on and it’s just awesome seeing exactly how capable and smart my kids are.

If you guide your children and allow them the freedom to make the choices, they learn from the good and the bad and are far more capable, decisive, sympathetic, and empathetic. Keeping them safe is one thing, keeping them smothered is something else entirely!"

I believe there are times to let children to have freedom to make choices and learn from the good and the bad. I let my girls have freedom to explore our town without my restraints and they have both learned a lot from it.

The problem I have with giving my girls the freedom to make their own choices when it comes to their education is having two kids with two very different learning differences, I need to teach both of them how to advocate for themselves and how to make sure they have the accommodations they need and stuff like that.

With Horse Girl it isn't a problem she has known she has a learning difference all her life. She didn't talk until she was three years old and with help of a speech therapist. So she is excepting and willing to learn what she needs to do so she can show what she knows. Horse Girl knows how to advocate for herself and the special services teachers and her regular teachers always tell me they have never seen a 9 year old advocate as well as Horse Girl does. I am very proud of that and I know I can step back and just guide her a bit at this point and help her where she needs help because of her learning differences.

History Girl on the other hand she is new to this whole learning differences thing. She goes between loving it and finding characters on TV that she looks up to or laugh with who have the same issues she has. Shelden from The Big Bang Theory, he makes her laugh often. Then there is Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan on Bones. History Girl is always amazed with Bones and sees herself in the character so much so she now doesn't know if she wants to be an Imagineer for Disney or an anthropologist.

She then goes to hating it. Not wanting the extra help, viewing the extra help as making her stupid some how. This makes me want to scream. I think I finally got her to realize that is not the case. I explained to her that my IQ is in the 95th percentile (well depending on the test 93rd to 97th, so 95th is in the middle and a good number to go with), which means I am smart, but there is no way in this world that I would have been able to do half of the stuff I have done in my life without the extra help that I have received. We all need extra help once and awhile and knowing to except it makes a big difference in quality of life. So History Girl is finally somewhat willing to except some help which has made a big difference.

I have to admit I find helping Horse Girl a lot easier because I can understand her and I have been there done that. With History Girl her needs are very different then mine ever have been and it frustrates me. I wish I could understand stand her needs as well as I do Horse Girl's but I don't and it causes fights and stress because I just don't get it as well as I should.

The biggest academic issue History Girl has is getting school work from point A to point B to point C and then passed in. I have tried to teacher her difference organizational styles and nothing works. I also don't understand needing to be taught organization, I created my own system in 7th grade and modified it as needed through high school and college. Luckily there is a person at History Girl's school who is working with her on this because this has cause too much stress between us. I don't understand how she can finish a project and not turn it in I just don't get it. Fly Guy points out the rest of the world don't get Horse Girl and my issues, so I guess this is the feeling he has when he looking in on Horse Girl working on her homework and stuff.

I guess what I am trying to say is as much as I would like to let this all go and let the girls make and learn from their own mistakes, this isn't the time for it, not yet. History Girl's Social Worker and I have talked. Our goal is that when History Girl starts her Junior year in High School I should be hands off, but since this is such a late diagnoses and at such a hard time in a girl's life because she is figuring out who she is and tossing this new thing in doesn't make it easy for her.
So this is just another way life is different for a parent with kids with learning differences. Not that I would change things for anything in the world, I see the amazing gifts that my girls have gotten from their learning differences so they are worth the difficultly. Just it means I can't parent the way I would like 100% of the time, I need to guide more because the school as good as it is can't do everything and it is my job to take care of it.

Activities

2009-11-02T19:10:00.002-05:00

There is one thing that Fly Guy and I disagree about when it comes to parenting. It is extracurricular activities. I would like to see History Girl do some because I very it as an important part of growing up, Fly Guy doesn't think it is important. I guess I am frustrated with the fact that History Girl tries something for awhile and then gives up on it. I would like her to find something that will bring her some sort of happiness for the rest of her life. Yeah, yeah, I know that is asking for a lot, but you have to remember that I started swimming competitively when I was 10 years old and since then I have always viewed myself as a swimmer. Even when I was on a break from swimming for one reason or another I stilled viewed myself as a swimmer. I used Middle School and High School as a time to try new things, Fly Guy thinks it was because I wanted to be away from home. I think I just wanted to try new things. I enjoyed the year I had with the model airplane club, I loved my few years with the Outing Club. I also took part in track (threw shot put and discus and ran the mile), cross-country and I was one of the first members of my High School's girls' lacrosse team. I was a member of SADD. I was a member of the Math Club, I won an honorable mention for the state wide Math Fair in eighth grade. I took Russian after school. Went to the Soviet Union my junior year of High School. I enjoyed trying all these new things and feel that they all made me a more interesting and knowledgeable person.

Thinking about it even in college I did activities. I joined the Fencing club. Pledged a sorority. Joined the ACM. I was a member of the pagan students association and a Russian Language club.

I always have enjoyed trying new things and it really frustrates me that History Girl has no interests in activities. Fly Guy says he wasn't involved in much and he turned out relatively normal, so I guess History Girl will be ok also.

You might have noticed I haven't said a word about Horse Girl. Well that is because when she picks up an activity, she picks it up for life. The only thing she has ever dropped out of is Girl Scouts and I was happy when she did that because it meant I no longer had to be a leader. :-)
She takes part in gymnastics, horse back riding, 4-H, piano lessons, and drum lessons. She also has her twice a week tutoring so she can't fit anything else in. So I have no worries about her. :-)

During your school years did you take part in activities and to what extent?

Nablopomo

2009-11-01T11:32:00.003-05:00

Well it is November and my last post was sometime in April. Yes I am still alive, but I have been very busy. I am going to try to do Nablopomo, I can't guaranty anything since I work at a toy fund this time of year so November and December are even more crazy time wise than normal, but I will give it a shot rather than fold up shop here.

Things are rolling along with Horse Girl, she has a specialist that is very well known in the area who has been checking her out. So we are hoping to have new ideas to help her with her reading. Over all things are going really well for her. She is in a class with 13 students. She has a great teacher who really wants Horse Girl to do her best and also not stand out because in 4th grade it starts to be hard to be different. So that is all very good.

History Girl just was given ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) and I really hope to get some answers that fit with our view of her. Teachers are realizing she learns different then other kids so they have changed things a bit for her. For example one teacher had a weekly word and the students had to do several little tasks with that word over the week. They got 10 points if they did all the things. Well History Girl doesn't deal with the minutia of educations and so she has a lot of problems getting a project from point A to point B to point C then handed in. So she was getting between 0 and 5 points on these words. The teacher decided to give the whole class a pretest on the words and if the student got an 95 or better they didn't have to do the word of the week at all. History Girl was one of two kids that got better than a 95 she got a 98. So that really helped that teacher realize that History Girl really did know her stuff just couldn't give it to her in the way the teacher was looking for.

Fly Guy is doing well. Nothing big going on there.

I am still doing the same stuff I have always been doing....trying to keep my family on track and that they all get what they need.

A challenge

2009-04-23T09:00:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago LSM issued me a challenge to state my "thoughts on the joys (or travails) of mothering."

Is it wrong that I had a lot of problems thinking up something to write about it? Then Fly Guy sent me a link to this blog. It is about postpartum depression.

I don't remember History Girl's newborn days that well. I remember wanting to hit my MIL after she asked me if I had bonded with History Girl and would I run in front of a bus to save her. I didn't say anything right away because it was such a far out question typical of my MIL. It just annoyed me. I am not sure when I bonded with History Girl, it didn't happen like it does on TV and in the movies when they hand you the baby and all you feel is love for that baby. I didn't have thoughts of hurting History Girl, just bonding didn't come quickly. I wrote it off as the fact that I had never been around babies. I never took care of babies. History Girl's diapers were the first diapers I ever changed. I never babysat, I made more money lifegaurding so babysitting never made sense to me. So I wrote bonding issues off as being very new to the baby thing and having problems breastfeeding. The bond was something that grew slowly. It was there sometime around the time History Girl was 13 months old when she broke her elbow.

Horse Girl was born when History Girl was 3.5 years old. I didn't expect the bonding to happen right away because it didn't with History Girl. I did expect breastfeeding to be a problem so I was ready for that. Breastfeeding was hard work and we had a lactation consultant come to the house to help and had a nurse come to the house to weigh Horse Girl every other day or so. It finally worked out and I thought since breastfeeding was working out I will bond quicker this time. Well that wasn't the case.

When Horse Girl was about a month or two old. I remember not being able to handle the girls any more. I was a failure as a mother and I had to get out of there. I left the house and went to the garage planning to leave the girls in the house a lone and run away. Once I got to the car I found I had a flat tire. So I couldn't go anywhere. When I look back at that situation, that is when I truly believe that there is some sort of higher power, because if there wasn't a flat tire who knows what I would have done, how long the girls would have been a lone, what I would have done to myself and stuff like that. I ended up going back inside and calling my OB/GYN and telling her what happened. She called in a prescription for an antidepressant. My father picked it up for me and brought it to me. Once I started taking the meds, I remember Horse Girl's smiles and how wonderful they were, I think I bonded with her with in a few weeks after starting the meds. I was on the medication for about 6 months to a year.

I rarely talk about the postpartum depression because that whole time of my life is so foggy to me that I just don't remember it. I think I suffered from postpartum depression on various levels from the time History Girl was born until I was on medication. I wish I had realized what was going on at the time. I feel like I missed History Girl's newborn and toddler years....I am glad I took a lot of photos and notes so I can look back on them.

I don't think this is what LSM was looking for when she issued the challenge, but this is my response. I hope that having another mother come out of the closet when it comes to PPD that it will make it easier for new mothers to realize it happens it is normal and get help.

OK, so I covered the travails, how about a few joys.

I love that at 9 years old Horse Girl still loves cuddles and she tells me that I am a good cuddler.
I love that History Girl feels she can share her private writing with me.
I love that History Girl's friends see me as a cool mom and like hanging out at our house.
I love watching both girls become more grown up every day and seeing glimpses of the adults they will be one day.

I know there are other things I love, but can't think of them right now. :-)

Tales of The Red Panda: The Crime Cabal

2009-03-02T11:34:00.006-05:00

Awhile back I wrote about one of my favorite podcasts, The Red Panda Adventures by Decoder Ring Theatre. Gregg Taylor the writer and owner of The Red Panda came out with with a Red Panda book written in the tradition of the 1930's and 1940's pulp adventure magazines, titled Tales of The Red Panda: The Crime Cabal. I placed a pre-order for the book...well two copies of the book....sometime in August. It finally showed up last week. I read it in less then 24 hours....the only other time I have done that is with the Harry Potter books....with my learning differences reading takes a lot of effort and it tires me so it has to be a good book for me to read it that quickly and not notice getting tired from it.

The book covers the time between the first season and second season. It fills in some of the background that is hard to put in an audio show. It tells the story of how one of my favorite Agents of the Red Panda became an agent. Since it is written in a third person omniscient narrator style, we get a peek into the minds of the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel, which was nice.

I can't write too much about the book, because all the people who placed a pre-order haven't gotten their books so I have to keep quiet about it. It was a book that was well worth the wait. Thank you Gregg for such a great treat and I hope there will be more to come.

Here is more info about "Tales of The Red Panda: The Crime Cabal."
Here is a link to Decoder Ring Theatre if you are going on a long car trip or something like that their podcasts are great to listen to then.

Facebook Meme

2009-02-19T12:53:00.002-05:00

I stole this from Trees and flowers and birds!

Guidelines:
1. Put your iTunes or Windows Media Player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your next answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how outrageous it sounds!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS, “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” by The Doors I have no idea what that would mean. :-)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
“Sugar Magnolia” by Greateful Dead “She pays my ticket when I speed.” I could be like Sugar Magnolia, a good partner in a relationship paying speeding tickets, dancing a Cajan rhythm, and discovering the wonders of nature. I have no idea. :-)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
“Mack the Knife” by Ella Fitzgerald I know what that means....I like a person who can think on their feet and that really discribes Fly Guy. In this version Ella forgets the words to the song and like any good jazz singer she makes it up without losing a beat and that is why I love her as a singer. Fly Guy always is able to think on his feet in a way that I can and I admire him when it comes to that.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
“Five Feet High and Rising” by Johnny Cash Life’s Purpose....well maybe get out of a tough spot and help other people out. I have no idea...I am reaching. :-)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
“Sychronicity II” by The Police Well The Police have been my favorate band since about 1981 or 1982. But I do believe that there is a synchronicity and something just are ment to happen in they way the do. There is just a synchronicity in how and when events happen and you might now know why at the time but sooner or later it will all become clear and that it happened for a reason.

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
“Space Oddity” by David Bowie I am not sure how I feel about that ...either they think I am odd or that I am a depressed astronaut. hmmm...not sure how to take that :-)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
(“Darlin’) You Know I Love You” by Tina Turner I do think about Fly Guy often and he would be the only person in my life I would think about calling “Darlin’” and it is unlikely I would even call him that.

WHAT IS 2+2?
“Mama Kin” by Aerosmith If anyone has something to connect these please tell me.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
“The Figure 11” by The Mother Hips I have no idea with this one either.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
“Beer for My Horses” by Willie Nelson Fly Guy has a stong sence of right and wrong and he will fight to the end to get what is right. The people that stand by him and support him he treats well giving Wiskey to his men and beer to their horses...well figurtivly I think Horse Girl would be upset if he gave horses beer.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
“Green Suede Shoes” by Black 47 I have no idea what this has to do with my life story except it is fun to play very loud and dance around the kitchen to. :-) The song is more or less about a Hard Irish Rock band making it through the US. ...that is the watered down version. :-)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
“Tempted” by Squeeze Hmmmm....I think I am going to just leave this one be.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE?
“Come Together” by Peanut Butter Disco Hmmm...I will leave that one be also.

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
“Sad and Deep As You” by Traffic Not even close to the song we danced to at our wedding, but we did listen to a lot of Traffic and Blind Faith (the two bands share two musicians) when we first were dating. We requested that “Can’t Find My Way Home” by Blind Fairth be played at our wedding, but they wouldn’t do it during the dancing part only the eating.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
“If I Ever Leave this World Alive” by Flogging Molly Accually I have always figured this is a song that will be played at Fly Guys wake. A lot Irish beer and wiskey flowing and some hard Irish Music.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
“Living in The Past” by Jethro Tull Well this is just too good. Being a person who loves reading History books...so in a way my hobby is living in the past.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
“What A Wonderful World” by Joey Romone That my friends make my life a wonderful world, but in order to be my friend they have to be a little different so that is why it is Joey Romone rather then Louis Armstong. :-)

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
“Empty Bed Blues” by Beasie Smith Well that says a lot....something happening to Fly Guy and him not being around is one of the worst thing that could happen, but I won’t say it is the worst thing that could happen because the worst thing is always something you didn’t think of.

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
“House Burning Down” by The Jimi Hendrix Experince The last two have been too freaky.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
“The Big Race” by Mark Isham The fact I didn’t swim in enough big swim meets when I was growing up? Your guess is as good as mine.

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
“”Permanent Waves” by The Kinks Well the thought of my hair curly is a bit of a laugh plus the lyrics to many Kniks songs are so funny.

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
“Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel Well I guess in a way it does I once had a good friend who loved Peter Gabriel, so all Peter Gabriel’s songs remind me of her and the thought of a friendship dieing is sad.

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
“I’d Wait a Million Years” by The Grass Roots If I wasn’t already married this would be the perfect answer.

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
“Hot Rich Girls Dropped in a Grange (Gwen Stefani vs Snoop Dogg vs ZZ Top) by Torero (This is a mashup that is when someone takes a bunch of songs and take them apart and put them together in a new way that is suprisingly good a lot of times.)

If I knew how Hot Rich Girls are being dropped in a Grange it would scare me.

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
“Beach Party Vietnam” by The Dead Milkmen Hmm...that is interesting I have a whole beach party that likes me.

What's your word

2009-01-28T14:05:00.000-05:00

Your Word is "Peace"

You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of.

Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you.

While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life.

You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

What's Your Word?

Excited

2009-01-15T15:30:00.003-05:00

History Girl has wanted to switch from French Horn to precusion for awhile now and today she had her try out to see if she could make the switch. The band director couldn't believe how far History Girl came in 3 months. History Girl is much happier on the drums then she was on the French Horn she plays the drums for fun, she played the French Horn because she was one of the few who could do it. So because she finds it fun, we are going to continue private drum lessons as well as lessons at school. If I can get her in we will try to send her to band camp again, she is excited about that because precussion had a lot more fun in her eyes then the brass secsion did.

Oh a quick update on the Asperger's...the school has already called in a person they use to get a clearer diagnous. We haven't even had the meeting and they are right on top of it.

History Girl

2009-01-14T09:28:00.003-05:00

Well in the Fall we decided to have the school give History Girl a full battery of tests to see if we were missing something to cause her not to be able to preform to the level we know she should be doing.

Most of the academic tests came back saying that she was average, above average or well above average. We knew that and that is why we had the testing done because that is not how she is preforming at school.

Yesterday we got the psychological evaluation report back. Well we got that back and well there is where the problem lies. It seems she might have Asperger's or maybe high functioning autism, they want to do more testing to figure it out. We have a meeting on Friday.

Reading the report and knowing what I do about Asperger's it does fit. It actually fits really well, so well that I am feeling quite a bit of guilt for not picking it up earlier. I just thought she was quirky....she is a kid of two geeks, so quirky is normal, but knowing what we know about geeks and their tendency to Asperger's maybe I should have figured this out earlier.

I feel bad because with Horse Girl I could tell the signs right away. She was following in my footsteps with my learning differences, so I picked it up right away. She was in special services before she was 3 years old. I keep wondering what sort of dis-service did I do to History Girl for not being right on it like I was with Horse Girl.

Once again I love our school system. The school is already getting things in place for her. I have been exchanging emails with the Social Worker all week. We will be setting up an IEP on Friday. No arguing or fussing or demands or anything, they just do what is right, which is nice.

So that is what is going on right now and you most likely will be hearing from me again on Friday when I need

PS Before I got to post this the Social Worker at History Girl's school called me to make sure all is ok. She told me that she and History Girl had a great meeting this morning and things are on track. Isn't that just a wonderful thing for someone in the school system to do?

Have You Ever?

2009-01-14T09:00:00.002-05:00

Have You Ever?

I stole this from Trees and flowers and birds!

1. Have you ever been on TV? Yes several times.

Once to talk about the pressure society puts on women to breastfeed. Since History Girl wasn’t able to breastfeed and even LLL members said there was a reason bottles were invented. Then Horse Girl breastfeed forever. I was viewed as a person who could see both sides.

Once about the importance of giving blood.

Once just before I did a polar bear dip on January 1st. They wanted to know what causes a seemingly normal person to jump in the ocean in the middle of a Maine Winter. The answer is it was there, it looked interesting and I am not one to back away from trying something just because it is odd.

2. Have you ever sung in public? Only when they made me in school.

3. Have you ever dyed your hair blond? A blond streak to make putting non-natural colors in my hair easier, but never 100% blond.

4. Have you ever eaten frogs’ legs? Nope never.

5. Have you ever received a present that you really hated? Yes. I had a friend who thought of herself as creative and she was in many different ways. She would make me gifts and well she was never able to made something in a style I liked. So every time she gave me a gift I was torn because I was pleased she cared about me enough to make me a gift, but it never seemed that she cared to make something I would like, just she was making that sort of thing at the time and she would just do one more and give it to me as a gift. After awhile the emotional struggle I had with every gift she made me just got so huge I hated all the gifts she made me. That might make me a bad person because I really disliked her handmade gifts....but anyone who knows me knows a pink batik of a cat framed in a acrylic box frame just isn’t me and she just didn’t care to get it.

6. Have you ever walked into a lamp post? No. Rode my bike in to a fence and flipped over the fence yes. :-)

7. Have you ever cooked a meal by yourself for more than 15 people? No, never by myself. Fly Guy is a much better cook then I am so I leave the big meals for him to do and I just help.

8. Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others? Does the day end in a y, if it does I most likely did it today.

9. Have you ever done volunteer work? Yes. Sexual Assault Response Services, Toy Fund, and in the girls school

A Heart Warming Thing

2008-12-04T17:12:00.001-05:00

With this crazy busy world we are in it sometimes feels like people forget to care about their fellow humans. Working at the toy fund I see people caring about people they don't know on a daily basis. One thing that really touched me was a boy who sent in the money he recieved for his Bar Mitsvah (I know I miss spelled that) so we can buy toys for needy kids. I was just so impressed with this kid with being so caring about people he doesn't know. Growing up I remember many friends being excieted about the wonderful big thing they were going to buy with their Bar Mitsvah money. The fact this kid didn't do that and put others first is just so wonderful. I hope his parents are proud of him.

Test

2008-11-29T15:19:00.001-05:00

This is a test just a test if this was a accual post you would be reading some drivel.

Busy life

2008-11-29T14:02:00.003-05:00

Well I have been busy. Too busy but it has been a good busy.

Horse Girl has really taken off with her reading. She is only a year behind right now. She is more advanced in math then we thought she surprised her teachers in being able to to do algebra. Her speech causes people to figure that she doesn't understand things. This test she took on the computer proved otherwise. So things have been good with her.

History Girl hit some speed bumps at the beginning of the school year and it caused us to really pin her down to get her work done and she now is doing a lot better. She got placed in Advanced Math this year and she has been holding her own which pleases me.

We had Thanksgiving yesterday and there were 13 people in our small house, but it was nice to be able to together. I have been working at a charitable toy fund again this year and it really makes me thankful that my family is doing as well as it is doing. Fly Guy had a couple deaths in him family this year, but even with that we are doing well....at least compared to many people in these crazy times. I am thankful for such a great husband, a loving, but crazy family and awesome friends especially the August Moms who listen to me and help me when needed.

For me the next 20+ days will be all out reading stories about how hard this year is for people finacally. It is hard reading it day after day 50 - 100 stories a day. If you want to check out this song by Johnny Cash. It is a song version of some of the stories I read every day. Hmmm....let's see a depressive personality, reading depressing stories during a season a lot of people fall into a deep depression....doesn't sound like a good combo. The fact I help get toys to well over 7000 kids every year is the only thing that keeps me going some days between October and December.

So I might not post again until the new year. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Kwanzaa and Festive Yule and good whatever other holiday I am forgetting.

Omnivore’s Delight

2008-09-25T13:43:00.004-04:00

I took this from Tales from the Testosterone Zone
I was worry about doing it because I admit I am fussy when it comes to food....in fact I am not really an omnivore....I eat fish and sometime poltry, but that is it when it comes to meat type things. I don't do coffee...tea is my thing....well really herbal tea...or the correct name tisane is my thing. I also rarely drink alchohol....I do drink mead, but that is about it. I am not as adventurous as a lot of people so I thought I would have a ton I wouldn't be willing to try.

The rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. ~~Venison~~
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. ~~Steak tartare~~
5. Crocodile
6. ~~Black pudding~~
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht - Had it many times when traveling in the USSR, won’t touch it in the US
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari - love it
12. ~~Pho~~
13. PB&J sandwich
14. ~~Aloo gobi~~ - have trouble with indian food I puff up so will not do
15. Hot dog from a street cart - there used to be a great hot dog vender in Portland, served kosher hot dogs and he would blow a Shofar...I miss him
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - very common up here in Maine blueberry wine and dandilion wine
19. ~~Steamed pork buns~~
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes - My parents grow them
22. Fresh wild berries - I live in Maine home of the wild blueberries and wild strawberries
23. ~~Foie gras~~
24. Rice and beans
25. ~~Brawn, or head cheese~~
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - maybe not a whole one but I would think about it
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava - Love it
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas - one of my favorte snacks
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - Hello once again I point out I live in Maine you can’t swing a dead lobster without hitting some New England Clam Clowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi - see number 14
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. ~~Cognac with a fat cigar~~
37. Clotted cream tea
38. ~~Vodka jelly/Jell-O~~
39. Gumbo
40. ~~Oxtail~~
41. ~~Curried goat~~ - see number 14
42. Whole insects
43. ~~Phaal~~
44. Goat’s milk
45. ~~Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more~~ - Not like I haven’t had the chance Fly Guy has had plenty of good single malt whiskies floating around the house
46. Fugu - I would be tempted, but most likely my sane mind would kick in as with the Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel - eat it and realize I don’t like it and then I try it again and don’t like it...so I won’t eat it ever again because I keep trying it to make sure I still don’t like it
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut: don’t get the big hype about it
50. ~~Sea urchin~~ - Fly Guy tried it a couple time and just the smell and techture turned me off
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. ~~Paneer~~ - see #14
55. ~~McDonald’s Big Mac Meal~~ - gross
56. Spaetzle - I have never tried it, but will be trying it in November
57. ~~Dirty gin martin~~
58. ~~Beer above 8% ABV~~ - another thing I had in the USSR, but don’t do in the US
59. Poutine - haven’t had it but would like to
60. Carob chips - People who don’t like carob, are normally who view it as a chocolate substitue, carob is something that needs to be it’s own thing and once you get to that point carob is good.
61. S’mores
62. ~~Sweetbreads~~ - someone needs to be threating to hurt a friend or family member before I am willing to eat
63. Kaolin - no idea what this is
65. Durian
66. ~~Frogs’ legs~~
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis - might try if I am touring Scotland after having a bottle of Whiskey
69. Fried plantain
70. ~~Chitterlings or andouillette~~
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini: Of course....it was the first thing I had when I was in the USSR they also had caviar served on boil egg halves which I didn’t like as much
73. ~~Louche absinthe~~
74.Gjetost, or brunost
75. ~~Roadkill~~ - might be in the same catigory as the Sweetbreads
76. ~~Baijiu~~
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong - I don’t like it I think this is the one that smels like burning tires
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict- Not Eggs Benedict with ham, but with veggies and seafood :-9
83. Pocky - love Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. ~~Kobe beef~~
86. ~~Hare~~
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. ~~Horse~~- never ever ever
90. Criollo chocolate
91. ~~Spam~~ never have had it and never will
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor - rather have my lobster striaght up
98. Polenta
99. ~~Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee~~
100. ~~Snake~~

Ok I have voted....now leave me alone

2008-09-24T10:58:00.002-04:00

Fly Guy and I are going on vacation the week of Election Day, for the cool honeymoon we never really had. (We went camping on our first honeymoon and it rained the whole time so we went home early. At least we know now that our rainy honeymoon wasn't a sign of a bad marriage to come.) So being good little American Citizens we got our absentee ballot and I have filled it in and it is already to go to the City Clerk's Office.....I might just drop it off rather then mail it in order to make sure it gets there safely. So any way...I have no voted. I don't care to hear any more political ads or anything like that. Just leave me alone.

Happy Berth Day Once Again

2008-09-24T10:13:00.005-04:00

Last night the Red Sox made it into the playoffs once again. I am glad for it, but I am not counting on anything. It is never good to be cocky. I swam for a swim team who had not lost a swim meet since before I had been born. When I was 17 swimming on the team we lost our first swim meet. Between that and being a Red Sox fan for a good part of my life, I know a loss could come out of anywhere so keep quiet, stay modest and keep your head down. ;-)

On a different topic, but related to the Red Sox....have I have said how much I like Jonathan Papelbon. I think the world would be a better place if people took a lesson or two from him. He takes his job very seriously. He gets upset with himself when he knows he could have done better and didn't for what ever reason. So those are two nice things. The last thing that makes me like him is when he is not working he knows how to let go and celebrate/relax. He has danced to raise money for the Mike Lowell Foundation, he has lip sinced for rain delay entertainment, he has danced for Red Sox Nation in his underwear, and he wears a kilt. What is not to like. :-)

Remembering

2008-09-11T20:21:00.003-04:00

Today is a day of remembering. It is easier when the sky isn't the same as that bright blue sky that it was in 2001. I remember that it was History Girl's third day of Kindergarten. I remember dropping her off she loved going to school. I remember it recycling day so the bins were out front and I went out to get them after the truck came by picking up the recycling. Horse Girl who was 18 months old at the time had fallen asleep on the living room floor, so I log on the the computer and talk to a friend who at the time lived outside of NYC. She told me to turn on the TV. I am grateful that Horse Girl took a long nap that morning so I could follow the news. I started watching right after the first plane hit, and Horse Girl napped long enough that I got to see and hear about all the other planes. I remember the first tower collapsing and thinking about all the people still in the building...then thinking about how NYC skyline that I always knew has changed permanently....I didn't realize then how true that was. I remember wanting to go get History Girl from school, but didn't because that was irrational desire. I knew we were in Maine and more or less safe, so I left her in school....that was before I found out two of the terrorists stayed the night on the other side of town and they flew out of the airport that I use when fly in and out of Portland. I also remember how quiet the everything was. We live under a flight path to the Portland airport so I normally hear a plane or two every hour, but the next few days there was just disturbing quiet. I remember my father coming to visit the next couple evenings. Since he works at a newspaper those days were very stressful for him and he needed to relax.

This was the first 9-11 that I didn't have flashbacks of the events of that day. I think it is because school started early this year. For the past 7 years I have tied the start of school with the events of 9-11-2001. The year Horse Girl started Kindergarten was really bad because there was a lot of thing that were just like when History Girl started Kindergarten that brought back memories.

This evening I read "The Man Who Walked Between The Towers" to Horse Girl. I like the book because it is a nice tribute to the twin towers that is overwhelmingly sad. Horse Girl asked me why the towers weren't there any more and I told her and we talked for quite awhile. She really has an amazing amount of empathy for people and she really showed it when we talked.

Tales from the Testosterone Zone, asks "Where were you on September 11, 2001? How has it affected your life?" Well I answered where was I. How it has affected me....well I am not sure. It has affected how I view back to school. It has made air travel much more of a pain then it ever was before. It helped me discover how much I like train travel....so much more civilized. I used to watch the news, now I read about it because it is easier to walk away if it gets too overwhelming, though it is a lot harder to read the news for me because of my LDs, but it is just better for me now....so I feel like I am not as well informed about things as I once was, but now with RSS feeds I feel like that is changing quickly.

So that is my where and how.

Finally the cliff hanger is over

2008-09-06T18:49:00.002-04:00

I have posted about the Red Panda before. The last episode on May 17, 2008, left a huge cliff hanger....well today was the first episode of the season. My whole family was up and listening to it by 8am. :-) I could said it was worth the wait. ;-) Just in case someone else cares here is the link to the episode and here is the link to Decoder Ring Theatre. Their shows are well worth it.

First week of school done

2008-09-05T15:12:00.002-04:00

Well Horse Girl and History Girl completed their first week of 3rd and 7th grades.

History Girl got placed into advanced math, which is awesome because to me it is a sign that other people besides me have seen the change in her attitude with regards to school. What she loves about her schedule this year is that even though PE is more or less required every other day of school, her schedule was so they couldn't fit it in the first semester so she got a waiver out of it. Maybe some parents would be upset about that, but I find school PE to be a waste of time if you have an active kid. Both of my girls are active kids. History Girl does the swim team. She walks miles to see historical buildings. PE or at least the PE at History Girl's school doesn't teach her athletics that she can use her whole life. It is stupid games that force the kids to compete against each other. History Girl is like me...she is fairly good at swimming...a sport she can do until she is 127 years old. She won't be playing mush ball or flag football when she is that age. So I think it is great that they couldn't fit PE into her schedule....I wish that I could figure out how she could make it not work for the rest of her schooling.

Horse Girl has this great teacher. I have worked with her for the last two years. Since I work to cover recesses and the lunch room and do paperwork for teachers so they don't have to and she was working as an Ed Tech, we got to know each other well. She has two kids....her oldest is in 5th grade. She taught for 10 years and then became a stay at home mom for 8-9 years and came back to work as an Ed Tech, then this 3rd grade teaching spot opened up and she got it. So this is the first time having her own classroom in 11 or 12 years. She is so excited. I love her attitude it is just wonderful. She and I have talked about Horse Girl's needs and we have been exchanging email daily.

Horse Girl's teacher told me about how Horse Girl advocated for herself, which lets me take a deep breath and relax. I think the fear of all parents of kids with LDs is that they will never learn how to advocate for themselves. It is something they need to learn to do and earlier the better. I didn't get the hang of it until I was in 8th grade and one of my teachers kept refusing to let me have the support that I was suppose to have. This was long before ADA so things were different, but I had an awesome Special Ed teacher who helped me advocate for myself. I have been trying to teach Horse Girl how to do it herself, so I was just so happy when she was able to.

Horse Girl's teacher requires the kids to record all reading that the kids do at home. I explained to her that Horse Girl does three different types of reading at home and what ones qualified as recordable reading. Horse Girl reads stuff at her reading level to work on her reading skills. We read to her and have her help us read and that reading is between her reading level and her comprehension level. The last type of reading Horse Girl does is at her comprehension level and we do that by buying books from Audible. The books from Audible are audiobooks that we download and put it on her iPod so she can "read" them. The benefit of the audiobooks is several she is able to improve her comprehension level, which for kids with reading LDs can be nearly impossible and can cause a kid to permanently get stuck at a level much lower then they should be at. Also the audiobooks help improve her vocabulary, there gets to be a point that a kid slows down their increasing vocabulary though what they hear around them and they increase their vocabulary through the written word and for a kid who has trouble reading means a small vocabulary. Lastly it lets Horse Girl know and be able to talk to her friends about the books that are popular in her peer group. Last year it was the Magic Tree House series, which are too hard for Horse Girl to read herself, but on audiobooks she "read" nearly all of them. This let her be able to talk to her peers about the books....sort of what people do at boring cocktail parties. :-) So audiobooks helps Horse Girl with those things. I was so pleased that Horse Girl's teacher agreed that Horse Girl can count all three type of reading on her reading record.

So I have been pleased with how well this first week has gone. My fingers and toes are crossed that things continue to go well.

Just counting the days

2008-08-28T14:32:00.002-04:00

Just counting the days....school starts for the girls on Tuesday. They have fought and argued and pinched and all those fun things until I am really looking forward to them being in school all day.

Yesterday we celebrated the end of Summer by going to a local amusement park. We had a great time. Horse Girl has been nervous about rides since she begged us to go on Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World after we told her how scary it was. History Girl and I worked on Horse Girl to get her to ride some different rides and it took sometime, but she was willing to ride everything by the end of the day. We also had an old time photo taken where you get dressed up in an old style. We dressed up as female outlaws from maybe the 1920s...it is hard to tell when because Horse Girl and History girl wanted two different style of dresses. But I think they will remember the whole day as a good time.

another quiz

2008-08-28T14:29:00.003-04:00

I stole this quiz from Trees and Flowers and Birds...she got the same result....maybe that is why we get along so well. :-)

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NFPC - The Artist

Nature, Foreground, Big Picture, and Color

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on what’s in front of you (the foreground) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can’t control. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.

What sort of Olympic sport are you?

2008-08-16T15:33:00.002-04:00

All I want to say to this is "No duh!" I could tell them that. I was either triathlon or swimming. ;-) Love the extreme stuff...love pushing myself....so no duh!

You Are Triathlon

In one word, you are simply amazing.

Super competent, super driven, and super skilled - you bring a lot to the table.

You rise to any challenge, and you enjoy challenging yourself.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

The Police

2008-08-13T17:16:00.002-04:00

Fly Guy and I went to see The Police in concert on August 4. Yes we saw them last year, but I needed to see them again before they went off in their own directions. We drove down to Long Island, New York to see them at the Jones Beach Theater, which was a great place to for a concert. The water was on three sides of the stage. So three of my favorite things all together.....The Police, the ocean and time one on one with Fly Guy. I can tell that Fly Guy truly loves me. He drove History Girl to Girl Scout Camp 8+ hours round trip and then he drove us to the concert because he knows how much I hate driving in CT and NY. So he did all this driving because he loves me and he knew how much I wanted to see The Police in concert one more time.

Update on Horse Girl

2008-08-13T17:09:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update on Horse Girl. I greatful for the suggestion that people gave me and I have filed them away because I know I am going to have Horse Girl at loose ends at some point again sooner or later. It seems that Horse Girl needed time away from school work and time with horses. She normally has 1 hour or so with horses every week. Horse riding camp she had 20 or so hours with horses over the week. We also decided that we would have her take a break from school work for the week. An hour of one on one speech and 5 hours of one on one reading every week when other kids (read big sis) are sitting around not doing much except for hanging out with friends, watching TV and playing Webkinz. (and in the case of big sis walking to historical houses. :-) ) So week off from school work and and week with horses seems to calm Horse Girl. So all is good. School starts in three week and extended year services are done for the Summer so Horse Girl and I will work together for the next three weeks to keep her on top of her game, but not so much that she freaks out again.

History Girl

2008-08-06T15:38:00.003-04:00

I need to post this about History Girl. This happened last week, but I have been too busy to post. This explains why she is called History Girl and not something else.

Well one day last week History Girl and her best friend were hanging out and asked if they could go wander around. I said yes as long as she took her cell phone. We live in Maine and non-custodial child abdution is unheard of so History Girl has a lot of freedom. It is the major reason we live in Maine rather then some other place. I get a call from History Girl at about 2:30pm saying that her friend's mom will drive her home at 4:30 or so. I asked her where she was. I hear in the background her friend trying to get her to lie. She tells me the truth that she was in Portland....less then 5 miles from our house. I tell her no problem I am glad she told me the truth, but I rather she had told me before she went across the bridge. Now...what do you think might cause two 12 year olds to walk that far. If you said shopping....you would be wrong. History Girl wanted to go to Victoria Mansion. It is a historical house in Downtown Portland.....Portland has a lot of historical houses, but Victoria Mansion stands apart in that it has all the original furniture also, so it is very much like stepping back in time. So any 12 year old who wanders off to go tour a historical house....deserves the name History Girl.

I has to be the pink hair

2008-08-06T14:41:00.002-04:00

Well all my friends are reporting their scores and they are all low scores except for Somewhere in the Suburbs. I personally don't know many 1930s wives with a streak of hot pink hair and who go barefoot 95% of the time. I don't cook well and I am terrible with keeping up with the housework. It has to be because faithful and true to my husband and tries to learn about his work and help him when possible.

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

Duck, duck, goose

2008-07-31T17:13:00.003-04:00

I took Horse Girl to feed the ducks this afternoon. I have always felt that Horse Girl has a way with animals that most people don't., but this is her biased mother talking. I have been to this pond many times before and the ducks are friendly, but not overly so. These ducks would walk right up to Horse Girl sitting on the ground and head butt her and look like they wanted her to pet them and walk right up to her...they all but walked onto her lap. She would sit and talk to the ducks making sure they all got some bread making sure none of them went without. It was very cute and I wish I had my camera.

Horse Girl

2008-07-30T12:59:00.002-04:00

I don't know what to do about Horse Girl. She is clearly having problems and has been for a few weeks. I think it is related to her sensory issues, but I am not sure. I think she is sensory seeking right now, but our normal way of dealing with that with brushing and mini trampoline don't seem to be working. She is fidgeting and leaning on people all the time. This is causing her not to be able to get her work done at the Dyslexia Center or during the extended year services at the school. I have had three of her teachers talk to me about it and I have no idea what to do.
She even has been having nightmares lately. She is tossing all over her bed and crying out. I have no idea what is going on with her.
We are taking her out of the EYS and the Dyslexia Center next week so she can go to Horse Camp. I am hoping doing something more physical will clear up whatever is going on with her. Then she will go back for one more week at the Dyslexia Center. Then 3 weeks before school starting. Those weeks we will do a few thing at home in hopes that she doesn't lose ground, but trying not to over work her.
I think part of the problem is the fact Horse Girl is a bit of a perfectionist....which is something she gets from Fly Guy. Being a person with learning differences and a perfectionist is a hard combo to live with. She so wants figure things out and she gets really frustrated about it. She started crying today at the Dyslexia Center today because she feeling wriggly and that and having trouble keeping her mind on her work and it wasn't working for her today. This all made her cry. Her teacher felt bad because she hates it when Horse Girl cries because Horse Girl only cries at the Dyslexia Center when she is upset with herself.
I don't know. I need to figure out what to do to help Horse Girl. I hope a week at Horse Camp does the trick.

Update on drums

2008-07-30T12:55:00.003-04:00

Well I have been talking to the people at the local drum shop and they put me in contact with someone who would be me a good drum instructor for both Horse Girl and myself. So I hope that works out. We are still working things out. So I will post updates as things go on.

Not original

2008-07-21T15:27:00.004-04:00

Well I guess I wasn't the only person who thought that singing the praises of Decoder Ring Theatre on Canada Day. Here is a link to another person who did the same thing in the "Review of The Red Panda Adventures - Season 3" So here to me not being original.

Drums

2008-07-14T10:10:00.000-04:00

Horse Girl told me this morning during our driving around this morning that she wants to take up drums. This isn't the first time she has asked to do this. My response has always been the same. The school offers drum lessons in 6th grade so she could take lessons then. Then she said to me she was going to have Pop-Pop (Fly Guy's Stepfather) buy her a set of drums because he promised her a First Communion gift the next time they saw each other. My mind started whirling with thoughts.

You see I love drums...when I listen to music I hear the drums and everything else is extra. One of the reasons I love The Police is because Stewart Copeland has no equal when it comes to playing drums.

I took drum lessons in school, but my parents being who they are and not knowing what they doing with regards to helping their LD kid get what she needed in school...listened to the music teacher who said that I couldn't possibly play drums because of my LD. I kept fighting them on it and a year later then all my peers started drum lessons at school. I had no support at home. My parents would only pay for my sticks...I didn't even have a practice pad I had to fake it with a Frisbee. I had to push myself to practice...with my brother they had him sit down 30-45 mins everyday at the piano and they watched over his practice. My drum instructor clearly didn't think I would make it...plus I was older then the other kids in the lesson so I got pulled out of a different part of class rather then quiet study time...I got pulled out of math and when they did word problems I got a D- because a dyslexic and word problems just sucks and I wasn't in the class for them. So my parents said I had to give up drumming because clearly it was affecting my school work. Ever since then I have wanted to take up drumming again and get a teacher who doesn't give a damn about my LD or even better doesn't even know I have it.

So the idea of Horse Girl getting a set of drums just makes my heart sing. It would be a step closer to what I would like to do. Horse Girl said that maybe she could get Pop-Pop buy a whole set of drums. I told her you only really need one drum to start with and that way you can get a better quality drum and slowly build up a drum kit. She said that makes sense, but she would want a cymbal also. I told her we might be able to work that out. :-)

Horse Girl and I were stuck in traffic with me and I put on some Police and she air drummed with me. I will have to see about lessons for her. She has the benefit of a mom who knows what she is going through and knows the words to say to tell the doubters to just shut-up. So maybe she will go farther with drums then I did. That would make me happy.

BTW a couple weeks ago my mother told me she was sorry that she didn't stick up for me in school more or in a better way. She said she always wanted to believe what the teachers told her and she just followed along. She sees me question the Horse Girl's teachers all the time and check to see how Horse Girl is doing, so she feels like she didn't do as good a job as she could have. I told her she didn't know any better, she was doing what seemed right at the time, just as I am doing what seems right at this time. I am not sure what I would do if I didn't have the Internet and could research things deeply at home. I don't have time to spend a lot of time at a library doing research. Plus I have the benefit that my mother never had, I have traveled this road that Horse Girl has traveled and I know the words that made me feel better when I was discouraged and I can talk to Horse Girl about how it took me forever to read and now I am reading all the time. So that is a major thing my mother just never had and never will have, so my relationship with Horse Girl, her school and her teachers will always be different then my mother's relationship with me, my school and my teachers.

Musings

2008-07-10T09:44:00.001-04:00

I have talked about how dyslexics look at the world differently and think about things differently and I was thinking about something while driving Horse Girl around which made me stop and think...wonder how many people actually think about these things as they go about their day to day lives.

Before I share what I was thinking about driving around I want to share a couple other times my different ways of thinking about stuff helped solve a problem.

First thing was when we moved into this house the previous owners left a old concrete column laying on the ground by the back stairs of the deck. I hated that thing and talked about getting rid of it. Everyone one I talked to talked about how heavy it was and how hard it would be to cart it away. Well I thought about it for a bit and came up with an idea. I dug a hole beside the column and under it a bit and rolled it into the hole buried it and covered it with sod. Nobody can tell that it was ever there. It was lucky I figured it out because a month later Horse Girl fell off those steps and her head would have landed on that column

Second thing was we were refinishing our living room floor. We pulled up the old carpet and there was something stuck on the floor. It wouldn't sand off, it would slowly chisel off, but vary slowly and risked damaging the floor. Once again I thought about it a bit and decided to heat up the area with an iron and then try to remove it. It came up with no problem at all and no damage to the floor.

Ok...now we are at the point about what I was thinking about when driving Horse Girl around this morning. Well I got to thinking about teleportation and the invention of it.

I thought about how people are mostly space and it is the electro-magnetic forces that cause us to feel solid...well not just people everything. If we were able to stop the electro-magnetic forces then we would be reduced to the size of a pinhead, but if we did that the pin would be affected also so it would be smaller also. So I kept thinking about all this and trying to figure out if this had any value with regard to teleportation. Then I got side tracked and started thinking about dimensions.

First I wondered why is time viewed as the forth dimension? Shouldn't it be a 0th dimension, you can really only naturally go in one direction, you can't back up, so it seems to me that it would be a zero dimension....a dimension, but with less directions the the others so zero. Then I got to thinking about the other dimensions.

Ok......1st dimension is a line. Then the 2nd dimension is a square. Then the 3rd dimension is a cube. Then the 4th dimension if it isn't time would be another shape, that we can't understand because of our 3D thought process.

There could be 4D objects all around us, but we can't tell because we see things as 3D. Because if you are 3D world and you look at a ball you would see a sphere. If you were in a 2D world you would look at a ball and see a circle. If you were in a 1D world you would see a line. So in our 3D world we might be looking at 4 dimensions (or more) and only seeing them as 3D because that is all we can see it as.

Then I dropped off Horse Girl so train of thought was lost again. Then started thinking about how freaky it is when you really think about all the space between the electrons, neutrons and protons....to look at things that look and feel solid and know there is a ton of space there. Then I got home and had to get the laundry started and so my mind went elsewhere again. :-)

With all this does it surprise you when "crazy" ideas I tell them it might be true, but we don't know now. Like Horse Girl was talking to me about how horses talk to each other in horse language. I know most parents would say that the horses communicate, but don't have a language. How do we know that 100%? Are you a horse...has any human been a horse? So we don't know 100% horses may have a language with words that we just can't see, hear or understand. Who knows maybe Horse Girl will break that code.

I just know in High School biology the teacher kept saying that all living things are carbon based. I kept asking was he 100% sure. Couldn't there be living things on another planet based off a different element? There is a whole bunch of elements with the same bonding capabilities as carbon....Star Trek took the idea of silicon life form and ran with it for one episode. Then there is the argument that there is only so many planets in the world that they think can support life because of tempture and water variations. Who says life has to be just like us...maybe there is a life form that doesn't need water but liquid nitrogen and likes it very very cold. This could be why my biology teacher was pleased when I stopped taking biology courses in favor of physics and chemistry. :-)

Closing one's mind to other off the wall possibilities could easily prevent people seeing stuff that is right in front of their face.

So that is all I mean about thinking about things differently and why I think a good number of scientist and inventors are dyslexic. They just have a different way of looking at things.

Ramblings

2008-07-09T12:56:00.000-04:00

I really have a hard time with Summer. Yes I don't like the heat...for Pete's sake I have lived in Maine for most of my life so of course anything over 75 is a bit toasty for my tastes. What I don't like is the craziness and all the driving I need to do....here is the schedule for most days with some small changes on some like Speech is only Monday and Tuesday so the rest of the week we can leave the house 30 minutes later:
7:30am - 8am Speech Therapy
8am-9am Learning Center which is about 15 minutes away from where speech therapy is
9am-2pm Camp which is 20 mins from where the learning center is.

So I really feel the need to invent teloportation, but I don't even have the vaguest clue where to start.

Today when I was in the waiting room at the Learning Center I got to talking to another mom. Since the learning center is just for kids with dyslexia we have a lot in common to talk about. I am so glad Horse Girl doesn't go to the school district this person's kid goes to.

First of all one of the teachers told her that dyslexia doesn't really exists. Then a few weeks later tells her to have her son tested for ADHD. Ok...so dyslexia does not exists and ADHD does?!?!?! Huh? Is it because a kid can be medicated with ADHD? What is the difference between the two in this teacher's mind....inquiring minds would like to know.

Second of all this school department that this boy goes to denied him special ed saying he didn't qualify. Ok....so some schools can be really hard to deal with to get kids the services that they need. Well months later she gets a letter from the state wanting her to review the quality of the special ed. that her son was getting at the school. Turns out that the school told the state they were giving the boy special ed services when they denied them. I really hope this mom does something to this school department....of all the way to get extra money this has to be one of the lowest. I hope it was just an honest mistake, but with all the horror stories I have heard who know what the case is.

Hearing stories like that sometimes makes me feel guilty about how easy we have it when it comes to services. At our school I really feel like we are a team that works together well to get Horse Girl what she needs and we bounce ideas off of each other and try new things and we really work together. I really wish that more schools dealt with special needs like our school. Well we can always dream.

History Girl heads to overnight band camp this weekend. She is every excited. I am excited because it is easier to pack for then Girl Scout camp. She will be staying in a college dorm, so no sleeping bag, no mess kit, no dunk bag, no packing each outfit in a ziplock bag to keep them dry.....sheets, French Horn, music stand, alarm clock and clothes....much easier to pack for.

Horse Girl and Camp

2008-07-03T09:31:00.000-04:00

Well it seems that this happens once a Summer and this Summer it happened early, so I hope this doesn't mean it will happen again this Summer.

Well Horse Girl was teased about her speech. As I said this happens about once a year. Though it has never happened at this camp before. This is a camp that I tell all the other families with LD kids about, because it is a town run (so fairly cheap) camp that is very well organized and breaks the large camp into very small well run groups, so it is perfect for kids with learning differences. So I was surprised when Horse Girl told us about the teasing.

I went to the Assistant Camp Director this morning and talked to her about it. She said that they would have a camp wide talk about respecting each other's differences and stuff like that. So it seems she is taking it seriously. We also talked about how this is the first time we have had this sort of trouble at this camp and that I have recommended it to many families with kids with learning differences. She was pleased to hear I was so happy with the camp and it seemed that made her want to take care of this issue as quickly as she could.

I hate it when Horse Girl gets teased. Not only from the Mother Bear angle, but the fact that every times she gets teased she becomes unsure about her skills. Last night and today She was _VERY_ unsure about her reading skills. Her Extended Year Services reading teacher told me that Horse Girl was being very clingy this morning with regards to her reading and didn't want to take risks. Which is a shame because Horse Girl has been making great strides with her reading over the last few month. She is only a year behind her classmates now so that is great for her. I hope she can shake off these negative thoughts about herself and keep going because she has really been doing a great job and I have been so proud of her.

Here's to hoping that this was the one and only teasing situation this Summer and we can get it behind us quickly.

Some Podcasts to Celebrate Canada Day

2008-07-02T07:30:00.000-04:00

I have been meaning to write about this for awhile but never got around it, but it seems the perfect way to celebrate Canada Day (well a day late...I was busy yesturday) I want to share my favorite export from Canada....well maybe export...it is hard to say what a podcast is.

It is Decoder Ring Theatre. It is a group of people who recreate old time radio with today's podcasts. They have three major series The Red Panda, Black Jack Justice and Deck Gibson.

Personally my favorite is The Red Panda, it takes place in the 1930s. The Red Panda is "Canada's Greatest Superhero" and his side-kick, isn't a 15 year old boy, but a 20-something woman, known as the Flying Squirrel she is described as a delicate flower who leads with her left, but her right is a doosy. She knows Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and she boxes. She might be viewed as the brawn and The Red Panda the brains, but he can throw a mean punch also and she comes up with her own theories on crimes without problems. His secret identity is a wealthy bachelor in Toronto and she is his driver. The technology isn't from the 1930s and there is magic in their world. So it is like Sci-Fi, fantasy, mixed with a mystery.

The end of the last run 6 Red Pandas left us with a major cliffhanger. Normally I don't think twice about cliffhangers, I haven't been annoyed with them since Star Trek: The Next Generation, with Jean-Luc Picard and the Borg with "The Best of Both Worlds." The Red Panda cliffhanger has left me thinking about what will happen and how it will work out. Not something I have ever really done with a show in years.

Well Decoder Ring Theatre, talks about doing a "Five in Your Drive" membership drive sort of thing to increase the number of their listeners. Burn five of your favorite episodes to a CD to give to your friends. Well I find listing my favorite five here easier. I will link to Decoder Ring Theatre's website, but you can get the podcasts at iTunes also. So here they are, I hope you like them:

Devil's Due
Red Panda: Dead or Alive!
Deadliest Game
Merlin's Tomb
A Midwinter's Murder

Dream Vacation

2008-06-18T09:16:00.000-04:00

I was thinking after doing the Flickr Mosaic about what would my dream vacation. There are vacations that I love doing like going to Disney World, but there is one major once in a lifetime vacation that is my dream vacation.

I would love to fly to Alaska and visit Sitka, Alaska. Visit the The Russian Bishop's House, which is one of the oldest intact Russian buildings in North America. Also I would have to go see the New Archangel Dancers. Also while in Alaska visit Kodiak, Alaska and see the Baranov Museum which has some great exibits on the collonial Russia period in Alaska. I would also have to visit Juneau, but most of the Russian heritage has been lost there. Except St Nicholas's Church, here is a better photo of it.

Currently there is no easy way to go between Alaska and Vladivostok so most likely I would need to fly, but there has been talks of a bridge between Russia and Alaska or a ferry. So if it takes forever for me to take this trip then who knows how I will get between the two places.

Then I would cross over to Russia and take the trans-Siberian railroad from Vladivostok to Moscow. Currently there is one company major company that deals with Trans-Siberian railroad tours....that I trust. Most of their tours go West to East, but I know I don't want to go West to East, I want to go East to West. Their only East to West tour starts in Bejing, but I would want to start in Vladivostok which is a different spur of the Trans-Siberian railroad, it is the origanal rail.

So start in Vladivostok then head to Lake Baikal, maybe have day at the lake and hanging out at the beach. Then head on to Irkutsk visit some of the museums and historical landmarks there. During both the Decemberists Revolt and the civil war after Bolshevik Revolution had major battles in Irkutsk, so plenty of Historic sights.

Then on to Yekaterinburg, a place I have always wanted to visit. It is the city the Last Tsar and his family were executed. The house they were executed in was torn down by order of Yeltsin. It is also where Gary Powers was shot down on May 1, 1960, to it played a major part in both the Revolution and the Cold War, it is a must see during this dream vacation.

Then off to Moscow....there are so many things I want to see again in Moscow, that I wouldn't know where to start listing them. I love Moscow it is clearly a city built up around a fortress. If you look at a map of Moscow, you see the Kremlin in the center of circular roads. I am not going to bother to retype the history of the Kremlin go see it here if you are interested. So Moscow grew like a tree adding more circular roads as it grew.

Then I need to see the Moscow Metro again....when I saw it in 1986, it was amazing. it was clean and wasn't like any subway I have ever seen before or since. It had carvings on the walls, paintings on the ceilings, and chandeliers. It also has these very very steep very fast esculators. I need to see how the Metro has handled these really rough decade or two.

I have to go see St. Basil's again, it looks amazing in photos, but in person it is awe inspiring. Then there is Cathedral Square with all the other amazing Cathedrals, it is where all the major events happened during the Tsarist period until Peter the Great moved the capital to St. Petersburg.

There is enough stuff in Moscow that I would loved to do that I could spend months there without a problem, but then I sill need to make it to St. Petersburg. To me there is only one way to get from Moscow to St. Petersburg and that is one of the daily night trains. I would pick the Red Arrow because that is the most famous one of the bunch....plus it was the one I rode when I was there 22 years ago. I remember being way too late it leaves around midnight and catching the train and getting into Leningrad the next morning and it was well run and my first train experance so there is a soft spot in my heart for it.

Now with going to St. Petersburg the timing needs to be just right. I want to be there during the white nights. I need time to visit Tarskoye Selo.......hmm..I just realized that I can't narrow my list down to just a few places I want to visit there. Check out this virtual tour if you want to see why I can't narrow it down. I have to say Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, is my favorate city in the world. It is amazing. It is beautiful in a way most cities aren't...it is historical in a way I love. The major problem is coming to grips with the number of people who died while building the city for Peter the Great. About 300,000 people died building the city do to illness and lack of food and other things. So sometimes it is hard to balance the beauty with the horror. Also there is the amazing WWII history around St. Petersburg.

Oh one of the things I need to take a long time exploring is The Hermitage...I only had a day to see it last time and I didn't even make a small dent in it. I think at least a week would cover a good amount.

After all that I will fly home to Maine and take a long rest.

Flickr Mosaic

2008-06-17T20:49:00.000-04:00

I had to copy this from One Feather Tail who copied it from Are We There Yet.

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food? right now?

3. What high school did you attend?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.

1. Horcruxes para Squibs, 2. Happy Kiwi, 3. 2007 Lobster Bake 30.jpg, 4. The Photographer, 5. drew barrymore [for becca], 6. Ice music, a winter xylophone, 7. Girl on the Platform, 8. 57/366, 9. ST. BASIL CATHEDRAL, Moscow, Russia, 10. duck to duck to duck..., 11. Got milk?, 12. My First Computer

Panic

2008-06-12T18:54:00.000-04:00

Today it hit me....Horse Girl will be in Third Grade in the Fall. To me Third Grade is where they start to use the reading, writing and math skills they have been working on since Kindergarten to learn other things. This caused me panic a bit. Normally I am the one who feels that everything will be ok with Horse Girl and things will be fine it will just take time. I am able to draw from my experience of being a kid with dyslexia. Though every once and awhile I worry. I am guessing it is what Fly Guy feels most of the time about Horse Girl...he listens to me and my experience and that makes him feel better, but he has no personal experience.

I told Horse Girl's resource room teacher I needed to talk and she was able to reassure me that we have support in place for her and she has placed Horse Girl in a classroom with other kids who also have learning issues and they will share an Ed Tech. I am glad to hear that she is sharing an Ed Tech with kids with learning issues...this year she shared one with a student with behavioral issues and I expressed concern at one point that I was worried how she would be preseaved by the teachers if she is always with this kid with behavioral issues. She also told me that Horse Girl could always come down to the resource room in the afternoon to work on homework or projects, if we were having trouble supporting her at home.

I realize I have high hopes for next year, because third grade is when I started reading. I didn't read at grade level until 7th grade. So I hope Horse Girl will follow in my footsteps and I am also scared that I have put too much hope into next year and I am going to be disappointed because things don't work out.

I am so glad the Resource Room teacher is always so wiling to make me feel better when I worry. It isn't often, but it happens and today was a big worry. She calmed me down and got me back to my normal state of being being sure everything will work out if given enough time.

Things

2008-06-08T13:09:00.000-04:00

Things have been busy here so posting has been the last thing on my mind. School is winding down for the girls so I have been busy trying to take care of things at the school and I have been getting ready for Summer. Horse Girl is having trouble with the idea she does school stuff over the Summer and other people don't. I told her that it will help her make it to her goal of reading chapter books. It makes me sad when she says stuff about how she isn't like everyone else. I know she isn't, but it doesn't make it easy when she says it. I also have been working on over coming my fears of open water swimming, so that has been taking up a lot of time. Well it is time for me to get ready to go to a Girl Scout thing. Hopefully I will fine time to type more sooner rather then later.

The ABCs and XYZs of me

2008-06-08T13:08:00.000-04:00

Stolen from my August Mom friends

The ABCs and XYZs of me

Accent: Some sort of Maine accent...but not Downeast Maine or northern Maine. I have to remember to not put an R sound at the end of idea and that parka doesn’t have an R sound in the end and fork does have an R sound in it.

Bra size: 36A a size that is hard to find

Chore I hate: Cleaning

Dad’s name: Thomas

Essential make-up: Green tinted mostorizer with sunscreen

Favorite perfume: Victoria

Gold or Silver: Silver

Hometown: Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Interesting fact:

Job title:stay at home mom/lunch aide/a little bit of everything

Kids: two kids

Living arrangements: Married with kids

Mom’s Birthplace: Portland, ME

Number of apples eaten in last week: 5 or so

Overnight hospital stays: I was in the hospital for about 10 days when I was 10 years old because of a car accident. My Dr. told my parent’s I nearly died, but I never felt that way. I have to say this event has had major effect on the rest of my life. It caused me to start swimming so I could build up my lungs again. I wonder why I lived all the time. There have been other events that made me wonder why I lived. Then I was in the hospital for the birth of both girls. In the hospital over night for another car accident. Overnight for a bladder infection during one of the pregancies because it was causing preterm contractions.

Phobia: Spiders

Question you ask yourself a lot: Why am I here? What the heck am I doing? Am I insane?

Religious affiliation: Marian Catholic

Siblings: one brother

Time I wake up: 5am when I am swimming in the morning and around 6:30am when I am not

Unnatural hair color: my natural hair color is brown. Currently I have a blonde streak just for fun...I have had a red streak, but that that fades quickly in the Summer sun.

Vegetable I refuse to eat: brussel sprouts

Worst habit: the fact I am a bit of a slob...there are so many wonderful things to do in this world why waste it cleaning

X-rays: More then I can count. Mostly to check to see how my lungs are doing, some to check for bone injuries

Yummy food I make: Linguine with white clam sauce

Zodiac sign: Aquarius

Back from vacation

2008-04-28T10:47:00.000-04:00

This is just a quick post to say I am back from vacation. I thought I would give a quick update about what I read since I asked for input earlier this month. If you have been reading me for sometime you might remember this post last June. I finally got the Lord of the Rings on audiobooks. It is about 50 hours of listening. I haven't even finished the first book, but I understand so clearly now why these books are so popular. I will listen to them for awhile and ask Fly Guy a question or two. He has read the books many times....he can read all three in a week without a problem. :-P

It turns out that the version I wanted was not avalible on itunes or at audible.com, so I went with CD and this $10 portible CD player. Ripping the CDs onto my iPod just takes up too much room, so this way is working out well. It is a bit weird going back to using CDs and a CD player after a few years of having an iPod.

The other funny thing is I can't really handle not doing something with my hands when I am listening, because when I read I hold the book with my hands, but listening I feel like I am at lose ends. So I end up working on suduko puzzles when listening. Since we were on trains for 60 hours or so on this trip I had penty of time to listen and do my puzzles. :-)

A better update later. :-)

Looking for Fluff

2008-04-07T09:05:00.000-04:00

I am going on vacation in a week or so and I was just thinking I need to bring a book or two to read. I don't do fluff books often. I think the last major fluff book I read was "The Secret Life of Bees" and that was 2 years ago I think......hmmm....that isn't totally true. I re-read the Wizard of 4th Street series by Simon Hawke less then a year ago. For the most part the books I read are biographies or historical in some way. Currently I am reading "Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper" it is a good book, but I am finding I can't read it before bed. Since I can't seem to read it before bed it doesn't seem like it would be a good vacation book.
Fly Guy just gave me four great books....none of them vacation type books. Fly Guy has the ability to find some great books, but they are never fluffy books. He got me "The Russian Revolution & the Soviet State 1917 - 1921 Documents"(I can't find a link of this book on the Internet to link to so I can show it.), "Daily Life in Russia Under the Last Tsar", "All Stalin's Men" and "The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin From the interrogations of Hitler's closest personal aides". As you can see none of the four are fluffy vacation books. Fly Guy doesn't understand vacation books.
So what I would like people to do for me is in the comments here list some of your most favorite Fluff/Vacation book and tell me why you like it.

thanks :-)

Sentance Meme

2008-03-31T13:48:00.000-04:00

I Am… who I am and nothing more.
I Want… peace on earth and good will toward fellow humans, but if I can’t have that solar panels for my house would be cool. :-)
I Have… a wonderful husband who supports me in everything I want to do.
I Wish… I could read faster.
I Hate… cooking.
I Fear… drowning....isn’t that a funny thing for a swimmer to be fearful of? The idea of drowning either while in water or in my own fluids with lung failure just makes my skin crawl and causes me to panic.
I Hear… Horse Girl watching TV since she is home sick from school.
I Search... for anything and everything. I love doing research. I search for random things on the Web because I want something to read or do.
I Wonder… why I have survived.
I Regret… nothing. Every choice I have made has caused me to be where I am in my life and I like where I am. That doesn’t mean I want my kids to make the same choices I have made.
I Love… my family.
I Ache… in my heart. Days that I am dealing with my chronic depression my heart physically hurts and I wish I could just reach in a pull it out.
I Always… try to view things in a positive light.
I Usually… smell like chlorine.
I Dance… with my girls in the kitchen.
I Sing… in the car at the top of my lungs with my girls.
I Never… have gone to a topless beach.
I Rarely… understand the IRS.
I Cry… rarely. People think that a person who deals with depression would cry all the time. I don’t.
I Am Not… like everyone else....to quote The Kinks.
I Lose… my mind on a regular basis.
I’m Confused… about how to spell most words.
I Need…. a new swimsuit.
I Should be… doing laundry, cleaning the house and all the other drudgery that I hate.

Book review

2008-03-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

On Feburary 8, 2008 I talked about the book I had just finished reading along with the book I just started reading. I just finished "The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Moat Famous Scientist"

Yes it took me well over a month to read it. I am a very slow reader. Which isn't a surprise because of my LDs.

It turned out to a really great book I am going to have to look deeper on some of the topics like Hoover being on friendly terms with Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler.

Einstein has always been a hero of mine since I was 11 or 12 years old. Reading more about him lately makes me view him as a greater man then I thought he was.

It seems that because of different reasons Einstein's political views have been lost to history. Only when Time Magazine named him "Person of the Century" did a lot of his political believes came out. Even that article just breezed over his political views.

Did Hoover and McCarthy win in the long run because biographers are nervous to prove that Einstein was part of a number or radical organizations that if alive Einstein would told people he was part of without a problem. Einstein felt that largest problem in the United States was racism. If biographers and media could right more about Einstein's eloquent anti-racism writing and searches without fear, would US citizens have a different view of racism since the worlds greatest scientist said these things.

Once I am done reading "Buried By the Times" (I might have to write about this book when I am done also. New York Times owned by German Jews and worked to get their family out of Germany during WWII, but didn't cover the Shoah in their paper.) I am going to have to go on to read "Einstein on Race and Racism" it looks like it could be a good book and cover some of the questions I have. There is a whole list of his writtings and speaches on racism in the back of "The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Moat Famous Scientist" I am not going bother to type them up here. Anyone who is interested now knows they are there and can go look at them themselves.

I know I should do goodreads.com, I haven't been able to get into it at all. I think it has to do with the fact when you come here and read my blog, you know about my reading and writing issues, at goodreads.com when I review a book I feel that I do not do the book justice.

Being a copy cat :-)

2008-03-23T20:07:00.000-04:00

Other friends did this quiz so I had to do it too. :-)

I am an
Iris

What Flower
Are You?

"You are a very sensual person. You like to experience all the sights, smells, tastes and textures the world has to offer. Ordinary be damned, because you want to do it all."

Gary Gygax

2008-03-19T19:39:00.000-04:00

Gygax Memorial Cat" style="word-spacing: 700314px; font-size: 700314px;">
see more crazy cat pics

I know Gary Gygax died over two weeks ago, but I just ran into this today. I loved Dungeons and Dragons and other role playing games. I was upset by the death of Gary Gygax, but he will be remembered by geeks everywhere. ;-) I found out about D&D when I was in 8th grade...I think....it might have been Freshman in high school. It ended up putting me on the road to where I am now. I learned geeks could be fun, which caused me to hang around computer labs more which caused me to meet Fly Guy. Well that is all a simplification of the path, but more or less correct. :-)

Gifted and Talented and Learning Disabled

2008-03-18T20:19:00.000-04:00

I have been reading a lot lately about what some people call twice-exceptional people. People with learning disablities and are gifted. Reading some of these research papers and journal articles about this subject is just freaky for me. It is like looking into some sort of mirror. I read about the typical traits for twice-exceptional people (I have trouble with term, but it could be from my self-critical part of me..which is a personally trait that is talked about a lot) and they hit my major personally traits right on. Then to read about how people who are both gifted and learning disabled and how they tend to deal with depression and be prone to suicide. I have always concidered my depression and suicidal thoughts to be a seprate issue then my learning disablity. Maybe that isn't the case. Since I have been having an emotionally down period the last couple of weeks reading these articles have caused me to think a little differently about my depression. I don't think it will cause me to change anything I do for my depression it just is making me think about it differently.

Gifted and talented

2008-03-15T18:04:00.000-04:00

Horse Girl's school tests all the second graders for the Gifted and Talented program. When I was Horse Girl's age my parents were told I qualified for Gifted and Talented, but the teacher at the time didn't think it would be good for the G/T kids if I was in the program since I was special ed. Of course we all know special ed means you are barely functioning. Tell that to Albert Einstein (well he is dead so telling him would be hard), if I want to continue down the road of dead dyslexics John Lennon, Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci.....if we want some live dyslexics how about Orlando Bloom, Tommy Hilfiger, Bob Weir, Greg Louganis....any how I was not allowed in the G/T program and it has been a chip on my shoulder my whole life. It might be why I pushed myself so hard. So when I got the notice that Horse Girl was being tested I had a flashback to my childhood. I emailed Horse Girl's principal right away and asked what sort of test was it and told her that I wanted to make sure Horse Girl had a fair shake at it. Fair is not necessarily equal. The principal had no idea what sort of test it was. To her credit she got on the phone and found out for me and she got back to me and told me it was completely non-verbal and it was a bunch of logic puzzles, so no accommodations needed. I don't know if Horse Girl will qualify or not, but at least I know I have done all I can do to make sure she will have a fair chance.

Baseball season

2008-03-04T11:19:00.000-05:00

It is nearly the start of baseball season and I have bought a bunch of Portland Sea Dogs tickets and few Red Sox tickets.

Being a Red Sox fan it is hard to know what to think now. Normally this time of year it is ok to be positive, but in the back of your head you know they won't make it all the way, but this year. It is sort of a niggleing in the back of your head that since there hasn't been any major player changes that they might go all the way again. Shhhh...I didn't say that...can't jinx things you know. So Red Sox fans have no idea how to act or feel this time around we all want to think positive, but we know how that has hurt us in the past. The Red Sox may not be the loveible losers any more, but there is to much hurt still in the Red Sox fan soul to willing just be positive about things. So here is to being cautiously optimistic to this season.

So here is to a good season.

First things first wrapping up Movie Meme

2008-03-04T10:45:00.000-05:00

I am not a big person on hints so to me either you know it or you don't. That is my basis on arguing for extended time on standerized testing for people who have learning difference so I can't change my view just for this Movie Meme. I gave people extended time now time for the answers. :-)

1. Dreyfus once wrote from Devil's Island that he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Brittany he realized they had only been seagulls... For me they will always be - *glorious* birds.

Is from "Harold and Maude" it is an amzing movie and it defined a large part of my high school years. Maude said this quote.

2. Johnny Damon, you got the sweetest ass in the league!

Is from "Fever Pitch" which is the best Red Soc movie ever made, plus it has Drew Barrymore in it need I say more? Viv says this...she is one of the people that Ben has made friends with because her season tickets are next to his.

3. Yes, and I'm the bastard son of a peasant. What does that have to do with anything?

Is from "Ever After" which is a Cinderella story with a twist, the fairy Godmother is Leonardo da Vinci. It is just a a refreshing look at the Cinderella story and it has Drew Barrymore in it. (yes I have a crush on Drew Barrymore. :-) ) This quote is said by Leonardo da Vinci.

4. Rambling Mom got this one correct. Arsenic and Old Lace.

5. He was their friend, and he betrayed them. He was their *friend*! I hope he finds me! Cause when he does, I'm gonna be ready. When he does, I'm gonna kill him!

Doc Thelma knew this one but couldn't say because she had already given one answer. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"

6. Doc Thelma got this one. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" I just love this Star Trek movie I know it is not most people's favorate when it comes to the Star Trek movies, but it is mine.

7. A souvenir. I thought it'd be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. I actually had to pay for the souvenir *and* the real one, so you owe me $35, plus tax.

This is from "National Treasure" my whole family loves this movie. I think it might be History Girl's favorate movie. I enjoy it and think it is well done, I am worried that they are going to ruin it with sequls though. This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin Gates.

8. Nicole got this one. It is from the "Wedding Singer" once again a Drew Barrymore movie....yes I do have a crush on Drew Barrymore, have you seen her Covergirl TV ads? :-) Almost enough for me to buy Covergirl make-up. ;-)

9. addittothelist got this one it is from "The Big Chill" I have always loved the music from this movie.

10. You see, their young enter through the ears and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex. This has the effect of rendering the victim extremely susceptible to suggestion. Later as they grow follows madness and death.

Doc Thelma also knew this one but couldn't say "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" just the clasic Star Trek movie, no lover of Star Trek can make a list of movies without this one on it. :-)

I have to say I left off one of my most favorate movie quote ever. I will leave it here and see if anyone can figure it out.

"Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud."

good luck. ;-)

Movie Meme

2008-02-25T18:49:00.000-05:00

I just had to steal this meme from Life in the Minivan Lane

Rules:
1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions.
6. One movie guess at a time. Give people a chance to guess before you steal all of the awesome!

1. Dreyfus once wrote from Devil's Island that he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Brittany he realized they had only been seagulls... For me they will always be - *glorious* birds.

2. Johnny Damon, you got the sweetest ass in the league!

3. Yes, and I'm the bastard son of a peasant. What does that have to do with anything?

4. We were married today. We were going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Your brother tries to kill me. A taxi is waiting and now you want to sleep on a window seat. You can take the honeymoon, your wedding ring, your taxi, your window seat, and put 'em in a barrel and push 'em all over Niagara Falls!

Rambling Mom said... #4 is the poor newly married Mrs. Brewster (Elaine Harper) from Arsenic and Old Lace

5. He was their friend, and he betrayed them. He was their *friend*! I hope he finds me! Cause when he does, I'm gonna be ready. When he does, I'm gonna kill him!

6. ~~Oh, him? He's harmless. Part of the free speech movement at Berkeley in the sixties. I think he did a little too much LDS.~~

Doc Thelma said...Capt. Kirk, from Star Trek IV

7. A souvenir. I thought it'd be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. I actually had to pay for the souvenir *and* the real one, so you owe me $35, plus tax.

8. Not porno tongue. Church tongue.

9. They're either married or gay. And if they're not gay, they've just broken up with the most wonderful woman in the world, or they've just broken up with a bitch who looks exactly like me. They're in transition from a monogamous relationship and they need more space. Or they're tired of space, but they just can't commit. Or they want to commit, but they're afraid to get close. They want to get close, you don't want to get near them..
addittothelist said...#9 is from The Big Chill - the unmarried woman from the UofM group that wanted to have a baby. I can't remember the charactor's name, but can picture her. She had redish brown hair. (Close enough....her name is Meg.)

10. You see, their young enter through the ears and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex. This has the effect of rendering the victim extremely susceptible to suggestion. Later as they grow follows madness and death.

Reading time with Horse Girl

2008-02-20T20:08:00.000-05:00

Every night before bedtime I read to Horse Girl. Tonight we read one chapter out of "Little Town on the Prarie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder and then we read "Thank You, Mr. Falker" by Patricia Polacco.

After I was done with "Thank You, Mr. Falker" Horse Girl told me she likes that book a lot because it is like her. I told her I like it a lot too, but it makes me cry every time I read it. She asked me why. I told her that Mr. Falker is a lot like a teacher I had and the story reminds me of me and that teacher. She understood.

"Thank You, Mr. Falker" is about a little girl's journey though the school system with kids teasing her because she can't read and feeling dumb because she can't read. She starts hating school because of all this. Then she meets Mr. Falker when she enters 5th grade. Mr. Falker sees her as the bright kid she is. Asks the kids who teased her which one of them is so perfect that they can tease someone else. Mr. Falker ends up helping the little girl to read in the end.

Yes it could be a corny feel-good story, but the thing is the little girl in the story is Patricia Polacco who grows up to write these wonderful children's books. So it is really a very moving true story.

I like it also because it shows how important good teachers are for kids. I believe people have a calling to be teachers. You can tell the ones who are following their calling as soon as you walk into their classroom. Everyone has a teacher they know that they can say that about. To me if being a teacher is a calling, being a special ed teacher is something even more. It is something that a person really needs to be born to do. Yes you can study it and learn about it, but working one on one with this gentle soul who may already be hurting because they can't do what their peers can, takes a very special person. I had three special ed teachers growing up. Each and everyone of them would have done anything to help me become the best student I could be. I owe everything to them. When I see Horse Girl's special ed teacher I see the same traits in her as I did in my special ed teachers. I know because of what this teacher does for Horse Girl, that Horse Girl will remember her for the rest of her life.

I once tried to tell Horse Girl's special ed teacher about how highly I value special ed teachers and she started to tear up, so I stopped. I am not suprised because I know I tear up when I think about her and how she helps Horse Girl and when I think of the teachers who helped me.

Thank you, all the teachers who really make a difference.

Grande Finale Tickets

2008-02-20T10:12:00.000-05:00

I was able to get ticket's to The Police grand finale in NY on August 4th. I was able to get them within 10 minutes of them going on sale. My girls knew not to talk to mom until I said ok. :-) *happy dance*

Feburary Vacation

2008-02-18T08:27:00.000-05:00

Well today is the first day of Feburary vacation. Horse Girl is on her back with the flu. It seems that she can't even keep down her own spit...so she is vomiting often. I have just given her some flat ginger ale and that seems to be helping.
Horse Girl just had her first sleep over this weekend, it was to celebrate her 8th birthday. Then last night we went to my parent's to celebrate her birthday. She was doing fine. So hearing her vomit in her bed this morning was the first time that we had a clue she wasn't feeling well.
Feburary is normally a good month for us. Both my birthday and horse girl's birthday is in Feburary. Swimming is going in full swing so my depression is normally dormant. Most importantly we are over the hump when it comes to winter....we only have March and April left. (April only if it is a really hard winter......I am betting we will have snow in April this winter because of how hard this winter has been.)
Yay...Horse Girl just sate up without vomiting.....that is a very good thing. :-)

The Police are coming around again

2008-02-14T09:29:00.000-05:00

The Police announced yesturday that their Grande Finale Concert will be August 4, 2008 in Wantagh, NY. I just got the concert listings today. They have that Grande Finale concert. They also have a concert in Boston (which would be cheaper and easier to get to) and they have one concert by Fly Guy's mother (so we could have her watch the girls rather then my parents.)

So the major question is where to go.....where to go.

It would be cool to go to the grande finale, but would it be worth the extra cash. Fly Guy and I had a blast seeing The Police in Boston last year, so why not do it there again. Or we could tie in a trip to see my in-laws and see them there.

Choices choices........

Page 123 meme plus musings

2008-02-08T09:55:00.000-05:00

I am stealing this meme from Trees and flowers and birds. I have a vaige memory of doing something like this, but hey if I did it is a new book so might as well do it again.

The Rules

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)

Find page 123

Find the first five sentences

Post the next three sentences

The book is "The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist." I just got this book in the mail a couple days ago that is why I know I didn't do this book before. :-)

"Each time Hoover's agents drew up a summary of Einstein's "Red front" affiliations, they included more groups. For several years during the early 1950s, his "subversive" list grew at the rate of nearly one new "front group" per month. It wasn't that Einstein joined so many organizations during those waning years of his life, but McCarthy-Hooverism expanded its power, the Subversive Activites Control Board (SACB) and HUAC, the authorities on "subversive" groups, kept enlarging their lists."

So far I have really enjoyed the book. I went on to this one after reading

Einstein: A Biography by Jürgen Neffe and Shelley Frisch. Which was a great book and having have read a handful of Einstein bios in high school it left me with more questions about him and Hoover, so I had to get this book I am reading now.

A little note here. Horse Girl's teacher is making noices about holding Horse Girl back next year and I have already decided I am not going to allow it for many reasons, but one of the big ones is that when I was her age I was like her. I could sort of maybe read depending on your defintion of reading. It didn't really click until I was 8 or 9 years old. (Horse Girl turns 8 this month.) So for me fast forward 30 years and here I am reading Einstein bios with no problem. I don't read fast, but I read and comprehend which is the most important part. So I really believe Horse Girl will figure things out and be fine just because of my history. That doesn't mean that Fly Guy and I are just sitting back and waiting, we work with her and her teachers work with her and she works hard at every thing she does. I know in my heart that she will be fine with time. I think sometimes it is harder for people who haven't been there, done that and bought several t-shirts, get too tied up with the here and now and don't look down the line.

There isn't a better bio to read then a good Einstein bio when you want to feel like a dyslexic can do anything. ;-) Dyslexics just see the world a different way. Which is why I don't like being told I "suffer" from dyslexia....I don't suffer I see things different then other people, which has bad parts to it and it has good parts. Einsein is one of those people who took the good parts and ran with them. Hmmmm.....a peace loving, socialist, dyslexic who becomes the world's most famous scientist, no wonder he is one of a handful of people who I would view as "my hero."

Responce to comments

2008-02-04T09:03:00.000-05:00

I never quite know where to put a responce to a comment, but I will try here. TDR commented on my post called "Learning Disablity Musing" talking and squeeze balls and therapy putty to see if it helps. I can stand the feeling of those things they cause my whole body to shiver because of the feeling. Christina also commented asking if there was anything telling be how to prevent or treat the pain that comment made me do more research and people seemed to be devided about if the pain is muscular or nerological. So if it is nerological I am not sure that having my hands have a daily workout with squeeze balls and the like would help or not. I guess how look at it is that I am greatful I was born when I was and I have had access to computers since I was 11 or 12 years old and have very little reason to write by hand at this point. I even use a computer to write my grocery list and notes to teachers and stuff like that.

Fly Guy and I have talked about getting a lap top for Horse Girl to see if that helps with some of her problems. I am thinking it might be a good idea so I can borrow it to do the research I want to do without writting by hand. ;-)

Once again I am having problems with the spell checker on Blogger....I might have to figure something else to do to deal with my spelling here, because having an unworking spell checker is just no good for me. So sorry for the lack of spell checking once again.

Tarot

2008-02-03T21:22:00.001-05:00

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Which comic strip character am I?

2008-02-02T09:45:00.000-05:00

OK I am a lemming...all my friends are figuring out which comic character they are so I did it too. :-)

Which Comic Strip character are you???

You are Calvin!!!!!! You are a kid, and you act like one!!!!! You hate anything green, and you love your stuffed animals!!!!!!! I love little kids!!!!! Anything sugary makes you happy!!!!!! Have a great time being a kid!!!!!!!!
Take this quiz!

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Your Score: Franklin

Good grief!

So you're the token black character. But that's okay, because just like Franklin you'll work pretty hard to get noticed anyway. You're everyone's best friend although lacking any major traits that stand out.

United Feature Syndicate says: Franklin met Charlie Brown at the beach in 1968. They'd never met before because they went to different schools, but they had fun playing ball so Charlie Brown invited Franklin to visit him at this house across town for another play session. Later, Franklin turned up as center-fielder on Peppermint Patty's baseball team and sits in front of her at school. Franklin is thoughtful and can quote the Old Testament as effectively as Linus. In contrast with the other characters, Franklin has the fewest anxieties and obsessions. He and Charlie Brown spend quite a bit of time talking about their respective grandfathers. When Franklin first appeared in the late 60s, his noticeably darker skin set some readers in search of a political meaning. However, the remarkable becomes unremarkable when readers learn that Schulz simply introduced Franklin as another character, not a political statement.

Link: The Which Peanuts Character Am I Test written by Upstart_Crow on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test
View My Profile(Upstart_Crow)

A random Meme

2008-02-01T21:22:00.000-05:00

A new meme that I have taken from Alto2 over at Tales From the Testosterone Zone

1. Spell my name as it sounds: I have no idea, if I could sound stuff out I wouldn’t have the spelling problems I have.
2. Am I a worrier? Yes..
3. What’s my favorite CD? Ghosts In the Machine by The Police
4. Favorite color(s)? Royal Blue
5. Does my home have an attic? Yes, but there is only this little tiny hole in the ceiling to get up to it, so Fly Guy and I plan to put in some pull down stairs in to make it easier to get up there

6. Have I ever been to Canada? I live in Maine. Maine is practically Canada’s 11th province or its 4th territory...though I would like to think Maine would be a province. I have been to Canada many times...normally Quebec.

7. Have I ever gone fishing? Yes, but it isn’t my favorite thing so I leave it to Fly Guy (remember his name is because of Fly Fishing) and Horse Girl who also loves fishing.
8. Have I ever been on a motorcycle? No.
9. How much money do I have on me right now? $5.50 in my wallet
10. How many cars have I owned? three
11. How many jobs have I had? Eight.
12. How tall am I? 5Åå9Åç
13. Last person to call me: Fly Guy
14. Last thing I yelled out loud: I don’t remember. Normally it is something about History Girl cleaning her room or me snapping and yelling at Horse Girl to stop talking for a few minutes.
15. Last person I was in a car with: Horse Girl taking her the Dyslexia Learning Center
16. Last time I ate at McDonald’s: No clue...no clue for any fast food. It might have been in December.
17. Last thing I bought: Milk and a Propel water. I was coming home from morning swim practice and realized that we might not have enough milk for breakfast and I also realized that I was still sweating from my workout even after a cold shower and even colder weather so I needed something to drink ASAP.
18. Last person I saw: History Girl...she is sitting behind me.
19. Last time I cried: The last major one that I remember was in December when work got to me.
20. Last time I laughed: About 30 mins ago when Fly Guy showed me some funny photos
21. What is the temperature outside? 27ºF, but with wind chill it feels like 17.
22. What time of the day did I get married? May 21, 1994 4pm
23. What did I do two nights ago? No idea...Fly Guy was out so I think I read.
24. Whose birthday is coming up next? Mine....tomorrow.
25. What time did I go to bed last night? At 8:45 lights out at 9:15 ish...I had morning swim practice at 5:30am and Horse Girl didn’t sleep well the night before so I needed my sleep.
26. What was the first thing I thought this morning? I have no idea. You see I get up at 5am and my brain isn’t working yet. Then I get to swim practice 5:30 and swimming is done a little before 7am. Sometime between 5:30 am and 7am my brain starts working. This morning was a bunch of sprint drills so I bet my first thought was about my freestyle technique and what I needed to fix it.
27. What are my plans for this weekend? Officiate at a swim meet. Celebrate my b-day.
28. Lemonade or iced tea? Iced Tea.
29. What do I dislike at this moment? The fact my shoulder isn’t 100% back to normal
30. What did I dream about last night? I don’t remember my dreams often...and normally if I remember them they are too strange or too scary to remember later.
31. What’s the last TV show I watched? Fly Guy and History Girl are watching the movie The Incredibles right now and I watched a bit. The last show I watched was Psych.
32. What is my favorite piece of jewelry? a necklace History Girl gave me on her 2nd birthday. I wear it nearly every day.
33. Am I a dancer? No
34. Have I ever cut my own hair? Yes...when I was six I hated how my hair was feeling so I cut off a chunk.
35. What is my favorite treat? Dark chocolate...darker the better
36. How many piercings/tattoos do I have? no tattoos and the only piercing is one in each earlobe
37. Where’s my favorite place to be? Villas at Wilderness Lodge
38. Is there someone I haven’t seen in a while and miss? A friend of mine from high school...she and I were close friends, but haven't seen her for awhile. We e-mail back and forth and she helps me with music stuff for History Girl, because my knowledge about music is not much
39. Who was the last text I sent to? Fly Guy
40. Do I care what strangers think about me? Not really
41. Last person I talked to on Instant Messenger: My friend Kerri
42. Last person to make me cry: My boss.
43. Who can I tell anything to? Fly Guy and my friend Kerri
44. What am I doing tomorrow? officiating a swim meet and celebrating my birthday
45. Do I have alcohol in my home? Yes, but I don’t drink except on very very rare occasions
46. Do I like ketchup? Yes
47. Do I think I will be on a vacation this summer? Maybe I don’t know. Summer in Maine is so wonderful that I never feel the need to leave Maine in the Summer
48. What color is my master bathroom? My master bathroom is butt ugly. That is the problem with buying a house and seeing potential and not having time enough to do the work. My bathroom is brown. :-P
49. Do I wear a bikini at the beach? No I have never worn a bikini. I don’t like beaches for the most part and I have so many racing suits I don’t buy swim suits to wear a the beach I just grab the best racing suit I have
50. Have I ever been to the Grand Canyon? No
51. What is my favorite fruit? watermelon and grapes
52. What did I really want to do today? pick up the house and go grocery shopping, but Horse Girl was home sick so I got little done.
53. Am I always cold? It my feet are cold I am cold. Living in Maine I have had to learn ways to stay warm even when it is very very cold and damp....cold and damp is the worse
54. Does it annoy me when someone says they’ll call or text, but don’t? Yes.

Learning Disablity Musing

2008-02-01T19:46:00.000-05:00

A friend of Fly Guy asked Fly Guy some questions about learning disablities because this friend is worried about some stuff his son is doing. So Fly Guy tossed it over to me so I could try to help this friend figure out the best way to figure out what is going on with this friend's son.

No problem I pull up websites about Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. First of all I learned something new. I never realized the pain in my arm and body when I write wasn't normal. I always figured everyone felt that. So it is nice to know after all these years I learn more about my learning differences.

This pain that I feel is the main reason I have never been able to write a diary or any long handwritten papers. The paperwork I need to do for the girls at the begining of every school year is torture for me. I normally write a bit and then get up and walk around shaking my arm and then write some more and then shake my arm more. It takes me forever to finish the paperwork. I never quite figured out when I was in school why nobody else was shaking their arm. I always figured I was just weaker then they were or something like that.

Reading the other symptoms of Dysgraphia caused my heart to race and remember awful teachers. One of the symptoms is "talks to self while writing." Yes that is very much the case for me. I did that in a college class and the instructor (he not a professor yet, but he wanted to be) yelled at me in front of all the class telling me I was distracting my neighbors. I cried my way through that class and as soon as class was over I went to the Office of Students with Disablities. The director of that office called over to the Poli Sci office and talked to the head of the department (who happen to have Tourette's syndrome). The director told the head of the department what happened. The instructor called me at home later that evening and aplogized, but he never aplogized to me in front of the class. It is taking all my willpower not to state the guy's name here and state how much that hurt me and have him find it while ego surfing, but I am a better person then that. At least I try to be, but I don't always make it. This instructor ended up never being offered a professor position and now worked in the insurance industry. I don't feel sorry about it at all he shouldn't be allowed to teach anyone anything.

Anyhow back to what I was saying. It sometimes suprises me how much pain I remember from events that happened because of the different symptoms. It isn't like I haven't gone on with my life. It isn't like I don't have a good life. These memories just haunt me sometimes.

Thinking about the pain while writing. I have been planning on doing some research lately, but some of the documents I would be using for my research would mean transcribing and the thought of sitting there and writing with the pain, just has been something I have been having trouble getting over.

I have to say I have been fairly good at figuring out what helps the pain. For example a ballpoint pen is just the worst. A Cross fountian pen with a fine nib works well. I don't know if it is because of the different barrel size or the flexiblity of the nib. Also a Shaffer fountian pen works well also....my Shaffer fountian pen I have had since I was in 6th grade it got me through high school. My Cross fountian pen got me through College. Just so you don't think it is fountian pens that help me...I also have a Mount Blanc fountian pen....it is a nice pen, but it doesn't dull the pain like the other two pens. I have no idea what the differance is, there is just a differance.

Blah....it seems that blogger's spell checker is having problems tonight so you got my horrible spelling in all its glory. :-)

8 Things Meme

2008-01-09T09:06:00.000-05:00

8 Things I’m passionate about:
1. Fly Guy
2. History Girl
3. Horse Girl
4. Swimming
5. Russian History
6. Russian Politics
7. Chocolate
8. Reading

8 Things I want to do before I die:
1. Take Fly Guy to Russia
2. Go to the Summer Olympics
3. Go to Alaska
4. take a train trip across the US
5. take a train trip across Russia Doesn't that just look like fun?
6. swim an ocean race
7. do an Olympic length Tri
8. write a book

8 Things I say often:
1. Awesome
2. That is too bad
3. Just be quiet for a bit
4. I love you
5. If I have to tell you again you are going to the office
6. What number are you?
7. Can you write a short story on the back?
8. Have you done your homework?

8 books I’ve read recently
1. Einstein By Jurgen Neff
2. Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend by Carrie Jones
3. Teaching is a Learning Experience: A For Better or For Worse Collection by Lynne Johnson
4. Incident at Sakhalin by Michal Bruns
5. Putin’s Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy by Anna Politkovskaya
6. Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the End of Revolution by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser
7. Inside Putin’s Russia: Can There be Reform without Democracy by Andrew Jack
8. A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches From Chechnya by Anna Politkovskaya

8 Songs I can listen to over and over:
1. Visions of the Night by The Police
2. Through the Long Night by Billy Joel
3. Sugar Magnolia by Greatful Dead
4. Me & Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin
5. Can’t Find My Way Home by Blind Faith
6. I Ain’t Gonna Play No Second Fiddle by Bessie Smith
7. Green Suede Shoes by Black 47
8. De Do Do Do De Da Da Da Da by The Police

(in reality I can listen to most of the song by The Police over and over again without a problem, but I did not just want to make a list of their songs. ;-) )

8 things that attract me to my best friends:
1. Knowledge of Russian History
2. Humor
3. listens
4. Able to keep up with me swimming
5. Intelligent
6. Gives good advice
7. Fun to be with
8. Able to bounce ideas off of

8 People who should TOTALLY do this meme

Any 8 random people who feel like they want to waste their time this way. ;-)

Privilege

2008-01-02T07:58:00.000-05:00

Update: this actually has a copyright

This blog-game is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University as reported by Quaker and Social Class. The exercise developers hold the copyright and ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.

1. Father went to college - a BA and two MAs

2. Father finished college

3. Mother went to college - a BA

4. Mother finished college

5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor

6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers

7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home

8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home

9. Were read children’s books by a parent

10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 - ballet, percussion, swim lessons, a member of a swim club

11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.

13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18

14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs - I think they did....I am not 100% sure...I took out student loans, but I know my parents paid for a bunch also.

15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs

16. Went to a private high school

17. Went to summer camp - I went to a Summer Camp program run by the town I lived in, which was a day camp....

18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18

19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels - not every year, but often enough

20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 - Well my mother made a lot of my clothing, in the 1970s she loved working with valour it was quite entertaining ;-)

21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them

22. There was original art in your house when you were a child. - I had no idea that you could have copies of artwork until I was in college....I thought copies were just used in art apresation courses...ok I was a bit slow figuring that one out

23. You and your family lived in a single family house - Yes it was designed and built for my family

24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home - well they owned the mortgage ;-)

25. You had your own room as a child - I had to share a room with my brother between the ages 4 and 6 years old because our house was being built and we shared a room until our bed rooms were done....our shared room ended up being the dining room.

26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18. - but not my own number

27. Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course

28. Had your own TV in your room in High School

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 - then when I was 16 I traveled in the Soviet Union with people from my after school Russian Class.

31. Went on a cruise with your family.

32. Went on more than one cruise with your family

33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up. - Yes they took me to a lot of them and then they also took me to botanical gardens...the museums were ok....the botanical gardens wanted me to poke my eyes out. Vacations in my family were not for the kids at all....no kid like things...adult museums and botanical gardens. I think I have rebeled from that. Most all of my vacations now center around kid things.

34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

2007 meme

2007-12-28T19:30:00.000-05:00

I just found this in my drafts that I never published. Teaches me to check my drafts more often and finsh things ;-)

1. Where did you begin 2007? I think I was at home. I might have been at my parents, but I can't remember when we left to come home.

2. Did you have to go to the hospital? No.

3. Did you have any encounters with the police? None with law enforcement, but yes I did have an encounter with The Police. ;-)

4. Where did you go on vacation? No big vacations this year, but a lot of long weekends. San Antonio with the August Moms. Old Stirbridge Village a couple times. Pittsburgh for a 5 days to see the in-laws. Boston for a weekend with the Fly Guy to see The Police at Fenway.

5. What did you purchase that was over $500? We remodeled our living room, so I don't think any one item was over $500 but the whole project was well over $500 seeing that I spent $400 on lighting alone.

6. Did you know anybody who got married? Nope

7. What sporting events did you attend? some Sea Dogs games and my first Red Sox game in about 20 + years.

8. What concerts/shows did you go to? Saw The Police at Fenway....can you already tell that was a highlight of my year. ;-)

9. Where do you live now? same place I have for years

10. Describe your birthday: I don't remember my birthday this year...which is a very good thing....bad things seem to happen on or around my birthday, so having one I can't remember is sometimes a nice thing. :-)

11. What’s the one thing you thought you would never do, but did in 2007? Saw The Police in concert. I had long ago given up that they would ever get together and go on tour. (see it was a highlight of my year)

12. What’s something you learned about yourself? How important reading is to my life.

13. Any new additions to your family? My brother's wife had a baby so I finally have a niece.

14. What was your best month? July

15. What music will you remember 2007 by? The Police ;-)

16. Made new friends? yes several I love my Masters swim team, I am always meeting new people.

17. Favorite night out? Well I should say the night of The Police concert...it was my favorite night out, but I also had some great parties and stuff with my swim team that I really have enjoyed. Plus Fly Guy and I have subscription tickets to the local theater so we go out about once a month and I wouldn't get rid of that for anything it the world. I look forward to those nights out.

18. Any regrets? None, but I try to live my life with no regrets, no matter how bad things are.

19. What do you want to change in 2008? Maybe get a real job with benefits and such.

20. Overall, how would you rate this year? from 1 to 10...ten being the best this was an eight.

21. Other than home, where did you spend most of your time? A horse girl's school.

22. Change your hairstyle? No

23. Buy a new car? I didn't but Fly Guy did.

24. Any car accidents? No.

25. How old did you turn this year? 37

26. Do you have a New Year’s resolution? none

27. Do anything embarrassing? can't think of anything off the top of my head

28. Be honest - did you watch American Idol? no I have never watched it and I wouldn't know anyone who had been on it even if they came right up to me and said hi.

29. Start a new hobby? I became a swim official

30. Will you be happy to see 2007 go? no

31. Been naughty or nice? a little bit of both....I believe in all things in moderation ;-)

Christmas Questions

2007-12-28T09:45:00.000-05:00

I stole these questions from the other August Moms. ;-)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I use wrapping paper. Though I have plenty of gift bags on hand for Fly Guy to use. ;-)

2. Real or artificial tree? Is this a question? Of course a real one. I live in Maine for Pete's Sake where there is a Christmas Tree farm in nearly every town.

3. When do you put up the tree?

Normally the weekend after the first complete week in December

4. When do you take the tree down? New Years Day

5. Do you like Eggnog? One cup a season is good

6. Favorite Gift you received as a child? a My Friend Mandy doll

7. Do you have a nativity scene? yes a Fisher Price nativity scene, but we keep it out all year round...maybe now the girls are older I will put it away during the year....I will have to talk to them about it

8. Hardest person to buy for? I am not sure. I think my Sister-in-law is the hardest because I don't know her as well as I should

9. Easiest person to buy for? Horse Girl

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? some of the sweaters my mother has gotten me....LL Bean rules they take back anything they have sold even if it has been monogrammed. ;-)

11. Christmas Cards…Snail mail or E-mail? snail mail, but I haven't gotten them out yet

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Nester the Long Eared Donkey...not really a movie, but a TV special

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In August most years

14. Have you ever ‘recycled’ a Christmas present? yes.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Seafood newburg

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? colored and clear...the clear blinks if I can get it to work. I used to be all clear lights non-blinking, but after 9/11 I needed something wild and crazy and I haven't turned back.

17. Favorite Christmas Song? Such a Night by Aaron Neville

18. Travel at Christmas or Stay Home? stay home for the most part...we drive a cross town to see my parents, but that is still home because we don't need to stay there or stay at a hotel.

19. Can you name Santa’s Reindeer? yes and there is often a debate in our household is Olive a reindeer...so is there 9 or 10 reindeer.

20. Do you have an Angel or a Star on top of your tree? Angel

21. Open the Presents Christmas Eve or Morning? Both....Christmas Eve we exchange presents with my brother and his family, Christmas morning we open presents to each other and Christmas afternoon we go to my parents and open presents over there

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? people do something charitable during this time of the year and feel that covers them in being a pain in the butt and selfish the rest of the year

23. Shopping…Mall or on-line? both

24. Do you decorate outside for Christmas or just inside (or at all?) normally with are both inside and outside, but with my lack of time this year I barely got the tree up, since we are now doing 100% hydro electricity and it is quite a bit more expensive, we decided not to do window lights. I would have put lights outside, but we got too much snow too early and I refuse to put lights on a tree that already has snow on it, because the snow is prettier then the lights ever could be.

25. Favorite Christmas cookie? Filled cookies that my Great Grandmother used to make and now my mother makes once and awhile.

26. Do you own Christmasy clothing or jewelry? Yes working for the toy fund I have a couple sweaters

27. Do you believe in Santa? yes...I work with many people who have Santa in their heart all the year. There is a man I know who traveled to New Orleans after Katrina and helped people, he went to California to fight the wild fires, he packs toys for kids in need. He is 75+ years old and he is the personification of Santa to me. He gives and gives. I also know a couple who travels around the country in their RV and they stop places and build for Habitat for Humanity and do work for Churches and do charitable work feeding the hungry....they also pack toys for kids in need. They also are Santa.

28. Favorite ornament: Mice made out of corn husks. Growing up my parents had a corn husk mouse selling candied apples and now I have a set of corn husk mice dress in Victorian outfits ice skating. I have loved all these corn husk mice.

Update covering the last two months

2007-12-28T08:15:00.000-05:00

The toy fund season is over. We were able to give nearly 8000 needy kids toys this year, so it was a rewarding, but crazy holiday season. We had so many new applicants because of heating oil prices being sky high, it was a choice between oil and toys for very many families. I didn't get my house 100% decorated. I didn't get my collection of Santas out until Christmas eve. I still haven't sent out my Christmas cards and this year is the first year I have done real Christmas cards rather then Holiday Peace cards. I wonder how late is too late to send them out?

Other things that happened during these two months is November 1st I was hurt by a student at my school job. My shoulder has been in constant pain until two weeks ago. Since it was a Worker's Comp case the school sent me to this Dr. that deals injuries that are school workers comp stuff. I ended up hating the Doctor. He never took X-rays. He didn't take my depression seriously. Because of him being that way I never told him about my PTSD acting up because of being restrained in the way the student restrained me. He would give me medication without telling me why he was doing it. Because of my history of attempted drug overdoses I steer clear of drugs unless I know 100% why I am taking them. He had this view of that was his job and I shouldn't be bothered with it. At my last appointment with him he told me that he "knew my personality" and that I must work harder to get better and he said that I would need 3 PT appointments a week. Well I went to the PT appointment and the physical therapist thought he was crazy since she didn't know of a person working harder to get better then I was.

Well the worker's comp people called me and asked me how things were going. I let the flood gates out and told her everything and how awful the Doctor was and how I felt he was trying to pad his bill. (The physical therapist I was going to was on his staff.) So the workers comp person checked with the school to see if it was ok for me to switch Doctors. I got into a new place. She spent 3 hours with me at my first appointment talking about my depression and PTSD. She took X-rays. We talked about the options. What drugs might be good for me. We decided to go with a cortisone shot right then and there. I feeling my normal self within a day or so and a week and a half later I am cleared as all better.

So this makes me even more angry about the first Doctor. He drags out my treatment for nearly two months...I am in pain 24 hours a day. I can't swim and I need to swim to make sure I don't start getting depressed. The pain was making me feel awful. So a good part of these last two months I have been feeling depressed between the pain and not being able to swim. But I couldn't let the depression get to me too much because I needed to get toys to the kids who need them. I ended up calling Fly Guy in tears a few times because I wanted to crawl up in a ball and hide from the world and from the toy fund. Once I was no longer in pain things turned around fairly quickly.

Other stuff that is going on. Horse Girl is reading more and more. The Scottish Rite Dyslexia Learning Center has been doing an amazing job. She has been able to read some subtitles on movies and things like that. She has come a long a lot faster then we ever dreamed possible. So there is a lot of excitement in this house because of that. She is also showing how good she is with math. She just loves school and her teacher is one of the top teachers I have met in my lifetime. The scary thing this is her first year teaching....what will she be like when she get more experience. She is going to be much more then amazing.....I don't think that there is a word for how good she will be.

History Girl is doing well. She has close friends which she didn't have last year. Moving to a bigger school helped with that a lot. She is finding school very boring and isn't working hard at all. We have decided to bribe her with money for grade. I am never quite sure about that, but Fly Guy said that it is what worked for him and he and History Girl are a lot a like when it comes to school. He says in the real world people get paid for performance so History Girl should be paid for performance. I figured it can't hurt. History Girl and I go head to head often about her schooling, because she is so gifted and she doesn't use it....so more or less I have decided to let Fly Guy handle History Girl and I will deal with Horse Girl since she is more like me and I understand her needs and figuring out her needs sometimes frustrate Fly Guy. So it is divide and conquer.

I have to say History Girl is very person to know and I have to say I am pleased that she is my kid. She figured out the Santa Claus myth and rather come to us and talk to us about it. She created a word puzzle telling us she knew and left it by her stocking. Fly Guy figured out the word puzzle and then we invited her down and told her she could now join the elf club. We talked about things we did to make the myth even more real for her. She seemed to appreciate the effort we put into it and she also seemed happy to be on the other end of things this year and help be an elf for her sister. We talked about how Santa is in people's hearts and stuff like that and how she should protect the people who still believe. She was willing to take up all those responsibilities.

Also on a Christmas note....having seen my grandmother two days in a row. I would like same rights we give pets and if life is just sucking please just put me out of my misery. My grandmother is just a shell of the person she was. Physically she is healthy for the most part, but she doesn't know who any of her family is. She didn't know what Christmas was, she vaguely knew some Christmas songs. If she can't remember songs 100% then she is truly gone. My grandmother has sung all her life at her church and with Sweet Adelines...singing was the biggest thing in her life and the fact she couldn't remember the words to songs she has sung her whole life, to me means that she is really gone and is just a shell of who she was.

I am sure I am missing things that happened the last two months, but that was the over view of it all.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and will have a great New Year. I am glad to be back even though my house is still a mess, but I will get around to that sooner or later. ;-)

The Badger

2007-12-16T19:16:00.000-05:00

Ok I have been wanting to write about this for awhile, but I haven't had time to sit down lately and write.
Just before Thanksgiving our garbage disposal broke and needed to be replace. I knew the brand I wanted because it has been the brand my family has used for generations and they last a long time and do a great job. One of the model names I was researching was called "Badger." I knew I had to buy it because it reminded me of one of my favorite songs when I was a teenager..."The Badger Song" by Dead Milkmen. So I just had to get that model. Now I am sure the garbage disposal company didn't name the garbage disposal Badger to get ageing punk rock listening people to by their product, but that is what happened in this case.

Does it in the water...hmmmm

2007-11-23T15:43:00.000-05:00

Lets101 Quizzes - Fun Quiz

Abstract thoughts: Well I would like to think so.
Loves reality and abstract: Yes
Intelligent and clever: I would like to think so.
Changing personality: Yes, but who's personality doesn't change over time?
Attractive: Depends on who you ask.
Very sexy: Also depends on who you ask.
Temperamental: Yes I can be
Trustworthy: I hope I am.
Unpredictable: No I don't think I am
Loves freedom: yes
Rebellious when restricted: yes
Too sensitive and easily hurt: this is way way too true
Easily angered: also way way too true
Romantic on the inside not outside: yes

ABC meme

2007-11-23T15:31:00.000-05:00

Well I was tagged with the ABC Meme over at Tales from the Testosterone Zone. Yes it was several days ago, but as I said before I have been busy. :-)

A: August Mom

B: Brave

C: Crazy

D: Disney stockholder

E: eclectic

F: family

G: Giving

H: Historian

I: iron willed

J: jeans...what I wear 95% of the time

K: knowledgeable...at least I try to be

L: Learning Disabled and proud makes me see things differently then other people

M: Mainer

N: nondrinker

O: official...I am a swim official

P: Polar Bear...for many years I did an ocean swim of the coast of Maine on January 1st...I haven’t done it in a few years

Q: quiet until I get to know you

R: russophile

S: Swimmer

T: Tonks...who I dressed as for the Harry Potter book 7 release....purple hair and all....see U. ;-)

U: Unusual....my husband says strange works for me, but I can’t use strange because I am a swimmer before nearly everything else.

V: valued....well at least by my husband ;-)

W: water...between my love of swimming and my need to live on the coast water is a major part of my life.

X: Xmas charity....I work at a toy charity that gives parent’s toys for their kids during the holiday season, we give the toys to people of all faiths, but the majorty of the toys are for Christmas.

Y: young...I am the world’s oldest 16 year old ;-)

Z: zoom zoom....I drive a Mazda

Busy busy busy

2007-11-12T07:47:00.000-05:00

It is that time of the year that I am just to busy to post often. I have a seasonal job that between November 1st and January 1st makes me so busy that I don't have time to post. We are ahead of schedule this year so I actually have Veteran's Day off so I might a few posts done today. We will see. I do have a few things I need to take care of today so we will see.

"Tessie"

2007-10-18T10:06:00.000-04:00

Now this is very important. I need all of Red Sox Nation to find a version of "Tessie", either the original one or the Dropkick Murphy's one. We all need all play it today in hopes of a Red Sox turn around.

For you who don't know the history of "Tessie". The Royal Rooters were the first sports fan clubs as we see them today. They were Red Sox fans. In the 1903 World Series, Boston was down to the Pittsburgh Pirates (they were down 3 games to 1 out of a nine game series, so 5 games win). What the Rooters did was sing every song they could think of, but Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy got the sheet music for Tessie which was a song from a Broadway musical that didn't even 5 months. Nuf Ced, had all the Royal Rooters sing "Tessie" and "Tessie" helped win the day. Pittsburgh outfielder Tommy Leach even credited Boston's win to "that damn Tessie song." Well Royal Rooters ended up changing to words to "Tessie" to taunt the Pittsburgh Players. Boston ended up winning the series. It is said that the Rooters stopped singing "Tessie" in 1918, which was the last World Series until Boston won in 2004.

What happened in 2004, Dropkick Murphys came out with their version of "Tessie" which is a song about the original song "Tessie" and how the Royal Rooters used it to help the Red Sox win games. A coincidence that Red Sox won the World Series that year? I think not.

So Red Sox Nation break-out "Tessie" today and play it loud and proud. Help Red Sox win.

My info for this blog posting came from Rooters: The Birth of Red Sox Nation, it was on NESN ( for non-New Englanders that is New England Sports Network) a few weeks ago and I watched it with great interest. I found it interesting to find out that Red Sox fans have influenced games in that way. I might have to buy the DVD set because there is more info on that then the one they played on NESN.

" The Rooters gave the other team a dreadful fright
Boston's tenth man could not be wrong
Up from "Third Base" to Huntington
They'd sing another victory song"

-"Tessie" by Dropkick Murphys

First Reading at Church on Oct 14, 2007

2007-10-18T08:10:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday the first reading at Mass was 2 Kings chapter 5:14-17, which reminded me of something that I have wanted to post here for awhile. Back on June 25, 2007 a posted how rather use the term Shoah rather then the term Holocaust and I didn't go into it then because it wasn't the blog posting for it. As time went on I got busy and forgot about posting about it. Well this reading reminded me of it.
2 Kings 5:17 is "Naaman said: "If you will not accept, please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth, for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the LORD." In this sentence holocaust is a religious sacrifice ( animal) that is completely consumed by fire. Holocaust is derived from the Greek holókauston (ὁλόκαυστον = ὁλον [completely] + καυστον [burnt]). A sacrifice is something that is done to please a god or goddess. So then a holocaust is a burnt offering that is pleasing to God.
Now why would anyone name the slaughter of 6 million Jews, plus all the other categories Soviet POWs ( 2 million), Serbs (600,000), Poles (200,000), Roma (250,000), Freemasons (100,000), Homosexual men (15,000), Spanish POWs (10,000), and Jehovah's' Witnesses (5000).....why would anyone call the slaughter of these people a burnt offering that is pleasing to God. To even think that the events in Nazi Germany were pleasing to God in any way makes my stomach turn.
Now because the term holocaust has become a synonym for genocide, people think they know what holocaust means, but most people do not track down the meaning of the word. I know I did not until I had nearly completed my BA in History. I hate the fact I did not research the term before I did my Senior Theses, because I used the term Holocaust in it, if I was to do it again, I would not.
So now you know why I use the word Shoah what happened during Nazi Germany. Shoah means "catastrophic upheaval" in Hebrew. Which seems to fit so much better then "an offering pleasing to God."
For other times and places I use genocide, because I believe holocaust should no longer be used in that way, it is a misappropriation of a word, so it should be fixed, but I know I am bucking the tide.

A number of posts

2007-10-18T08:09:00.000-04:00

There have been a number of post rolling around in my brain lately that I need to get out, but the amount of time I have is getting so short with all the stuff going on. So just know that I am not depressed, just busy. ;-)

What do my Halloween habits say about me?

2007-10-18T08:02:00.000-04:00

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

The scariest thing on Halloween is you! You definitely don't want any kids in costumes crossing your path - and you're willing to scare away any who do.

Sneaky and devious, people should really watch out for you. You are usually underestimated and forgotten.

Your inner child is full of wonder and very sweet.

You truly fear the dark side of humanity. You are a true misanthrope.

You're logical, rational, and not easily effected. Not a lot scares you... especially when it comes to the paranormal.

You are picky and high maintenance. If you wear a Halloween costume, it's only when you really feel like it. And it has to be perfect.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

What kind of Monster Am I?

2007-10-18T08:01:00.000-04:00

You Are a Werewolf

You're unpredictable, moody, and downright freaky.

You seem sweet and harmless, until you snap. Then you're a total monster.

Very few people can predict if you're going to be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde.

But for you, all your transformations seem perfectly natural.

Your greatest power: Your ability to tap into nature

Your greatest weakness: Lack of self control

You play well with: Vampires

What Kind of Monster Are You?

Well...this sounds about right. ;-)

Moms' weekend

2007-10-12T08:22:00.000-04:00

Colubus Day weekend for the last 10 years the August Moms list has had a reunion in different cities around the US. I have gone every year. I wouldn't miss it. This year it was in San Antonio. I had a good time...it wasn't a place I would have picked to go by myself, but I am glad the August Moms went there because that means that I got to see some of the Missions and the Alamo and learned more about Texas history.

That is what is wonderful about these trips, I would go no matter where it is. It could be in the middle of no where and I would still go. As I said many times over the weekend, I don't care what we do I am just there for the company.

We ate more TexMex then I can handle. It was good, but I am going to need a break from it for about a month. We also went to Ruth Chris' Steak House. Fly Guy found this funny that I went to Ruth Chris' because I don't eat meat, so he wanted to know what I ate. Well for my meal I ordered the appatiser of crab stuffed mushrooms and shared a bunch of the sides with other people. I have not eaten red meat for long enough that I have no problem figurering out how to feed myself at a resturant. :-)

The sad part of this time of year is that there is a whole year before we get together again. It is still too early for us to pick next year's location so I can't even start thinking about next years reunion because I don't know where it is going to be except some where on the West coast.

History Girl's First Swim Practice

2007-10-01T19:42:00.000-04:00

History Girl had her first swim practice this evening. Maybe I should change her name to Swim Chick here....maybe, but not yet. I am so proud of her I could burst. History Girl is known for not really working hard at anything. She coasts, she is very smart, and because of that she can do well and not really apply herself. It is something that she gets from Fly Guy....I am not being mean or anything if you asked him he would tell you the same thing. Any how back to History Girl and her swim practice. They were working on stroke drills to prefect their swimming form. Drills can be hard to do because you really have to think about what you are doing, but History Girl did it all and without a fuss. She listened well, she took criticism well and the coach was very good at complementing her when she did do what he wanted her to do. She swam about 500 yards in the hour practice, which is a fraction of what I do, but for a kid who is just starting that is pretty good. She does have a natural breaststroke...with a little refining she really will do well at it. I am so proud of the fact that she really worked hard at something and she did an amazing job. I told her how proud I was of her and how she did a great job.

Fly Guy is out this evening so I can't even share with him how proud I am of History Girl. I tried to call him on his cell phone, but he didn't pick up, so I am stuck gushing here. :-) Can I say again how proud I am of her? :-)

San Antonio next weekend

2007-09-30T10:25:00.000-04:00

On Thursday I get to go on my yearly vacation away from being a wife and mother. I go meet up with my August Moms in different cities around the country. This one is the 10th annual one that we have had and I wouldn't miss it for most things...I can't say I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world, there are a few things I would miss it for.

Say in the future if one of my girls end up getting married on the August Mom reunion weekend I wouldn't be going. There are few other things that I would stay back for.

I am the type of mom who realizes that there are many things that Fly Guy can do with the girls and do them better then I can. I know the girls eat better when they are with him then when I am feeding them. *shrug* What can I say cooking is a chore for me, not passion. Fly Guy is their dad and a good one at that and so I don't think twice about leaving. Plus my parents live close enough for back up if he needs it.

People I talk to are surprised that Fly Guy is ok with me going away for the weekend. He goes away for fly fishing a few weekends a year, plus he goes away on business at least once a year. I figure I go away maybe twice a year for a weekend. Once with the August Moms and once with college friends. They don't question me being left with the girls, but they do when I leave they question it. Which is a bit double sided don't you think?

Well I am looking forward to being with my August Mom friends.....eating good food, talking into the night, wandering around a city without having to worry about kids getting into things or yelling "Mom!" and stuff like that. :-)

Swimming and History Girl

2007-09-30T10:11:00.000-04:00

Yesurday History Girl got a chance to try out for a swim club. The coach really liked her. History Girl is going to try it for a week before I am willing to sign her up for it. Not only it is expencive, but it takes a lot of time and effort.

I have been swimming competively since I was a little younger then History Girl. My mother expected me to get myself to swim practice on my own. Which I did without a problem. My mother only made it to one of my swim meets and that was only because my Grandfather (her dad) wanted to see me swim, since he was a swimmer. My dad made it to the meets he could because he worked nights at the time. If you work for a morning paper then you work nights to get it ready in time.

Ever since I became a Mom I wanted a daughter who would be a swimmer. Even though I wanted that, I never said anything about it because I never wanted them to feel like they had to do it. I told them both they had to learn how to swim. A child of mine doesn't grow up on the coast without learning how to swim. If they didn't learn how to swim I wouldn't let them go on boats/ships/etc. So they learned how to swim.

So I am so excited about this. I hope she likes it, but I needto make sure that I stay the suppoter and not become her coach, because having swum competively off and on for 25+ years, I have coached many of my teammates. I shouldn't coach my own daughter because it would hurt our relationship.

We are already having one minor problem. The swim club has a parent/child meet. History Girl has already told me that if I swim agaist her and win, she will be upset. I reminded her that she won't always win there will always be someone better then she is. She said that she understands it just would hurt if I beat her. Well I am one of the top backstrokers in the state in my age group, so if we swim backstroke I will beat her and a good number of the younger kids in the club...I am not delusional...I know the senior swimmers would beat me to a pulp. :-) Maybe I will do an event that History Girl isn't doing and then have Fly Guy swim agaist History Girl. ;-)

What color crayon are you?

2007-09-30T10:10:00.001-04:00

You Are a Red Crayon

Your world is colored with bright, vivid, wild colors.

You have a deep, complex personality - and you are always expressing something about yourself.

Bold and dominant, you are a natural leader. You have an energy that is intense... and sometimes overwhelming.

Your reaction to everything tends to be strong. You are the master of love-hate relationships.

Your color wheel opposite is green. Green people are way too mellow to understand what drives your energy.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Grammer Test

2007-09-30T10:03:00.000-04:00

Well with using all the little tricks I have come up with over the years and I lot of thinking it out, I got an A. Which I find it hard to believe, my grammar is bad. I was pulled out of English from the time I was 7 to when I was 12 to work on dealing with my LDs. My grammar is bad and I have to admit it was taking a foreign language helped me finally figure out English grammar.

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct.

It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors.

If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs.

As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human.

And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

Which Sesame Street Personality are you

2007-09-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them!

You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you

You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil

How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

What Soda Are you?

2007-09-30T09:58:00.001-04:00

You Are Diet Coke

You are energy in its purest form. No need to complicate things with sweetness.

And while people may hate your aftertaste, you are seen as a necessary evil.

Your best soda match: 7 Up

Stay away from: Coke

What Kind of Soda Are You?

Red Sox and being green

2007-09-29T07:45:00.000-04:00

Well I bet the people who follow baseball would expect me to write about how the Red Sox has won its first division title in 12 years. Yeah yeah...that is great, but it isn't what I am going to write about.
It turns out a couple of my favorite things are converging. :-) Fenway Park is going green. They are making the grand old stadium environmentally friendly. I think I am more excited about this then the division title. They are planning on collecting empty water and soda bottles in the 5th inning. They are changing to a more efficient lighting and expanding their recycling program. My favorite is that are going to offer more locally grown, organic produce in the concession stands.
They are making these changes over the next 5 years in order for it to be all done by 2012 and Fenway Park's 100th birthday.
So the Red Sox might be Division Champions, but they are also doing the right thing. Which to me is always the more important thing.

Swimming and being social

2007-09-26T08:52:00.000-04:00

Swimming started up for me on Monday so I am back to waking up at 5am. Yes it is early, but I need to remember that swim practice is the one sure way to snap me out a a long running depression. Not only it is because of the hard work...more work then if I was swimming a lone, but it is time with my friends.
Fly Guy for the longest time thought I never spent time with my friends and then he realized that he was looking for me to have the same pattern he has. He gets home from work comes home hangs out with me and helps get the girls to bed and then he goes out to hang out with his friends. It took him awhile to realize, but pattern is to wake up at 5am and get up go to the pool hang out with my friends pre and post workout. We talk about swimming, family, friends, work, school, etc. I have put in a workout and I have been social for the day even before Fly Guy wakes up. So once he realized that he no longer asks me why I don't go out with my friends. He realizes I hang out with my friends three times a week between 5:15am and 7am so I am good. ;-)
I saw this quote in a competitive swimming supply catalog and I had to cut it out because it is really true:
"Try explaining it to a non-swimming and you'd think it was rocket science. They ask you, "How is swimming a team sport? You're out there by yourself, it's all about individuals." But invite them to a practice, if they're willing to get up that early and they;'' see true teamwork. Friends pushing each other. Every practice, every lap, every race. Everything you do, you do it together, as a team. You pace each other. You race each other. It's personal."
I get goosebumps when I read that, because it is so true for me. Swimming helps me on so many different levels that it is hard to explain. Yes there is the obvious..the exercise, but there is the emotional well being part and the social part and it is all something that a non-swimmer doesn't get and I need to remember when I feel myself sliding in to a longer stretch of depression then I feel I can handle.

Red Sox

2007-09-26T08:38:00.000-04:00

Well ever since I started my thing of listening to songs related to the Red Sox they started winning again. They did lose on Sunday, but I had stressful stuff going on at my house that day so I didn't listen to any music that day.
Yesterday I had "Who Killed Tangerine" by Tears for Fears going through my head. (It is a song from the Fever Pitch soundtrack...Fever Pitch is a great Red Sox movie and it doesn't hurt that it has Drew Barrymore who I could watch forever.) Any how the part that was going through my head was " And when you think it's all over It's not over, it's not over" and I thought it was going through my head because swim practice has started up again and that describes swim practice pretty well...you think it is all over, but nope it isn't the coach has thought up something new to do....well it turns out that it had nothing to do with the swim practice, all to do with the Red Sox and Yankees. When I went to bed I wrote the Yankees off as having won the game. A-Rod got a grand slam they were beating Tampa Bay 5 to 0. Tamp Bay is last place so of course with a grand slam and all that the Yankees will with against Tampa Bay...so I went to bed. Well "And when you think it's all over It's not over, it's not over." Imagine my surprise when I woke up and found out the Yankees lost by one run.
Also when I went to bed Red Sox were winning, but it was close, and they brought up Gagne. Well in Maine we call him GAG-nee, because he tends to give up a lot of walks and hits and stuff so when he comes in at the end of the game Red Sox might not win. So I figured well it looks like the Red Sox might have lost this because of Gagne....well once again "And when you think it's all over It's not over, it's not over."
So that is why I had this song virus. Because I need to remember that things aren't over until it is over. ;-)

Happy Berth Day

2007-09-23T09:33:00.000-04:00

Well the Red Sox have earned a playoff berth. I was worried there for a bit. Of course being a typical Red Sox fan things I do in my daily life effect how well the Red Sox play. :-) Since Friday I have listened to songs that are related to the Red Sox in some way and then they turned around. ;-) Of course they only started having problems because my dad left his lucky hat at our house the last time he visited. ;-)

What kind of chocolate are you?

2007-09-20T08:18:00.000-04:00

You are Milk Chocolate A total dreamer, you spend most of your time with your head in the clouds.
You often think of the future, and you are always working toward your ideal life.
Also nostalgic, you rarely forget a meaningful moment... even those from long ago

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

I love chocolate of all kinds though dark chocolate is my favorite and has been since I was about 10 years old, so I am a little disappointed I didn't get to be dark chocolate.

Update

2007-09-19T21:38:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, but I have been busy and have been fighting of a bit of depression.
History Girl has settled into the Middle School without a problem. She has made new friends and she is loving taking French and she is doing her homework without me being on top of her about it all of the time. I am very proud of how well she has bounced back from her awful year last year. What upsets me is that her teacher from last year will take the credit for History Girl stretching herself this year, but nothing could be farther from the truth. If History Girl didn't have Fly Guy and myself backing her up and helping her when she needed it her teacher from last year would have driven History Girl into the ground without a second thought.
History Girl has joined the drama club and she want to be a part of the girls only book club and she is planning on joining the swim team. So she is really stretching her wings.
Horse Girl has had a cold for the last few days, but even with the cold she has been working so hard and has impressed her teacher with her work ethic already. I was pleased with her teacher when I first met her at the beginning of the month, but the more I interact with Horse Girl's teacher the more I am amazed with her. Teaching is her second career, she has her masters degree in city planning and she is two courses shy of her masters in education. What has impressed me more then anything else, is that she has been teaching them how to do quiet reading. She first had them start with only reading 3 minutes the first day and they talked about what worked and what didn't. They are now up to reading 20minutes quietly. She is also teaching them how to work independently. She will have them work in small groups later, but she thinks it is pointless for them to work in groups if they don't know how to work independently. She is working closely with Horse Girl's special ed teachers and actually having them guide her to make sure she give Horse Girl enough challenge without frustrating her which is a hard balance to find sometimes.
The other thing that is interesting about this teacher is that she was born in the United States, but as a child she moved to Argentina and didn't speak Spanish and she was dropped into a school not knowing how to communicate with the teachers and her peers. She ended up living 12 years in Argentina and learned to speak Spanish fluently. Now she has English as a second language students in her classroom and she can completely relate to what they are going through. She uses her Spanish to talk to the Spanish speaking parents and so those parents are getting more information about what is going on in the classroom then they have gotten in the past which is nice. She is developing an new curriculum because in second grade at Horse Girl's school they study the neighborhood and how cities are laid out and stuff like that. With her city planning background she is creating a new way to teach that segment.
Oh it is becoming more clear that second opinion we got on Horse Girl and ADHD was correct. Now that she is able to read and write more, she has no attention problem and only a very little bit of fidgeting problems. Her teacher said that Horse Girl was one of the few kids she knows listens to her all the time and gets the directions the first time. There have been times that she has been made an example of because she listened and got to work without any more prompting. The teacher even used to word attentive to describe Horse Girl. So this all makes me glad that it is more clear that it isn't ADHD...with it being up in the air before and me feeling in my gut it wasn't ADHD and the first person saying it was and the second person saying she didn't think it was, but she would have us wait and see how Horse Girl was doing when she was 10 because then the dyslexia should be under control and not a factor in figuring it out if Horse Girl had ADHD.
I was reading this article. A couple paragraphs really stood out to me.

"If you're born with a brain that harbors dyslexia, I would say, "Lucky you!" You have untestable and immeasurable potential. You're a surprise package; no one knows what you can do, including you. But I can tell you from years of experience that you can do special things. You have many talents that can't be taught, and a brain that eludes the predictive powers of our wisest sayers of sooth.

But I would also say, "Watch out!" You need a guide, one who has been down these trails and can show you how to get through the desert and over the mountains. You need someone who will never let you give up, someone who can make you know that there's more to you than you can show or tell right now."

These paragraphs are what I would love to be able to say to Horse Girl and maybe someday I will. I am proud to be able to be her guide. I know more about what she is going through then most teachers. Even her teachers know this because it is not often that they get a parent who has the same LD as the child and the parent was diagnosed and treated for the LD since she was 6 years old. It has really given them some insight that they didn't have before.

Well it is getting late for me and I should try to get a better sleep schedule if I want to keep this depression at bay. So that was my overly long update on what is going on.