Things Worth Remembering The three habits that lead to success are: Patience, Application, and Vision.
Take care: The person who will tell others' faults to you - will tell yours to others.
It is always better to be underestimated.
There are three things that are better than riches: Health, Freedom, and Honor.
Think swiftly, speak softly, act wisely.
"The world is neither Scottish, English, nor Irish, neither French, Dutch, nor Chinese, but human, and each nation is only the partial development of a universal humanity." - James Grant on founding the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, 1862
All from: The Book of Celtic Wisdom
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“Senator Palpatine?!?” (turns to Panaka) “What’s happening?” – Padme Amidala, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
A lot has been happening, not that you’d know it by hanging out here. In no particular order, we:
Went to see Star Wars in Concert and had a fabulous time. Which was better, the actual program itself, all the people in costume roaming around before the show, watching the impromptu light-saber duels in the seating areas during intermission, or the movie props set up all around the lobby? Hard to say, because they were all terrifically fun. We had what can only be referred to as fantabulous seats – well worth the money.
Padawan Learner’s facebook status, uploaded by his mobile phone while we waited for the show to start, was OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!! Dad Windu’s only regret was not seeing any gold-bikini Princess Leia stand-ins, only mumu-ish white dress ones. Personally, I enjoyed noting that DW’s & PL’s Obi-Wan and Anakin costumes from a few years back (sadly, not worn that evening) were easily as good if not better than many (most) of the costumes there.
Spent the Fourth of July weekend in Minnesota with family, swimming at The Club, golfing (DW), hanging out with Queen Jamillia, Dorme, Verse & Count Dooku, watching the neighbor’s illegal fireworks (brought in from Wisconsin, we learned later), and talking about our whacky spring/early summer weather.
Started teaching PL to drive. He’s doing very well. Doesn’t enjoy it as much as he thought he would, but that’s not surprising. Driving for real is a bit more complicated (and scary) than a Need for Speed: Shift video game. Who knew? Thankfully, it hasn’t been too stressful driving with him. The occasional white-knuckle door grab and “find the center of the lane” comment, but he’s showing good control and decent timing overall. A bit of a grandma in the speed department, but I can live with that.
Little bit of trivia about Iowa: on one’s 14th birthday, one may go down to the DMV and take the written driver’s test. If passed, one is allowed to get a learner’s permit and drive with a parent. Successfully passing a driver’s training program is not a requirement for obtaining a learner’s permit. AND if one does not pass the written driver’s test, one may come back the next business day and try again - without limit - until the test is passed. I’m going to say that again: without limit. Really? Seriously? OK, things that now scare the beejeezus out of me: 14 year olds driving. Doltish 14 year olds driving who failed the written test an untold number of times before getting lucky. Call me crazy, but shouldn’t you have to wait a bit if you fail the test? Perhaps to give you time to study a bit more. And wouldn’t there be some incentive to passing it if you had to shuck out a few bucks to pay for the subsequent testing times? But nooooooo, the place was full of parents sitting there with their dimwits their knuckle heads their would-be drivers. One of the moms next to me said, “Oh, this is our fourth time this week. I keep telling him he should just read the (driver’s manual) book and be done with it.” Let me tell you, driving in IA has taken on a whole new level or terror.
Went back to MI twice. Man, but that drive just doesn’t get any more relaxing or quicker. Not much time for socializing, but did manage to squeeze in a nice visit with Red Leader and her boys, PL got to stay over at Chewbacca’s house, had a quick dinner with an old neighbor and got the scoop on the people who bought our old house (very hermit-crab-ish), grabbed a drink with Padme Amidala and Princess Leia, and spent the night at our Sunday Morning Doughnut Buddies’ place.
Showed off Des Moines to our Sunday Morning Doughnut Buddies and found the ultimate beer bar for DW and them: El Bait Shop. Not being much of a beer drinker, I volunteer as the driver.
Off to the vet’s with the cats. Wish the vet luck. 
Amidala: “We must continue to rely on negotiation.”
Bibble: “Negotiation? We’ve lost all communications!…and where are the Chancellors Ambassadors? How can we negotiate? We must prepare to defend ourselves.”
Captain Panaka: “This is a dangerous situation, Your Highness. Our security volunteers will be no match against a battle-hardened Federation army.”
Amidala: “I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.”
Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Our new home team, the Iowa Cubs, had a day game today so Dad Windu took the afternoon off and we strolled over to Principal Park to watch a few hours of America’s national pastime.
It was a battle of the bats this afternoon. Boom, boom, boom. Some type of negotiation certainly went on last night over a few beers, something akin this:
“These defensive games are just so much work.”
“I noticed the crowd was getting a little bored today, too.”
“How about we just let the ball fly tomorrow for the afternoon game? It’ll be mostly kids and soccer moms anyway, and we don’t want to get them restless.”
“Good idea. I say we start dropping homeruns around the 3rd inning and you take the 4th. We’ll piggy-back every couple of innings to keep things fresh.”
“It’s a deal then. Loser buys tomorrow night’s rounds.”
I mean, seriously people, there were two grand slams and more home runs than you could shake a stick at this afternoon. It was a 30 hit game. Thirty.
And hot. We actually moved into the shade about halfway through the four hour game because Padawan Learner was getting sick from heat. The AC in the apartment felt soooo good after our stroll home from the ballpark.
“Oh, I have a bad feeling about this.” – Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
Dad Windu and I woke to bright sunny skies again this morning. Such a nice way to wake up. After taking a shower, as he was getting dressed for work, he paused a moment and said, “Look at that…” in a low, soft voice of quiet amazement. A wall of dark clouds was stretching from one side of the window to another, pushing the bright sky of morning away in front of it. Creepy. There are some days when the only thing worth doing is sitting in the living room and watching a wall of thunderstorms roll in. This is one of those days.
Bibble : “Your Highness, I will stay here and do what I can…They will have to retain the Council of Governors in order to maintain control. But you must leave…”
Faux Queen Amidala : “Either choice presents a great risk…to all of us…” (looks at Padme)
Padme : “We are brave, Your Highness.”
Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
So here we are, ready for the summer. Internet service is back up and running, which is merely a sign of my weakness and internet-junkie status. My original plan was to put off internet service in the apartment until fall giving us all a chance forcing us to really jump into life in Des Moines. Yeah, I know. Dry your eyes, the tears of laughter sting when they make a path for sunscreen to get into your eyes. The reality is, despite the fact that we have a free (albeit s.l.o.w.) wifi hotspot just below us, we use our wifi connection far more than even I ever realized. Google Maps, search engines, the white and yellow pages for everywhere, community events calendars, weather.com, our Netflix queue, email, Facebook, iCubs game times, coffee shop hours, you name it – we use the internet to access them all.
And to make the siren song of the internet just that much more enticing, we bought an internet ready TV back in early May since our old television set gave up the ghost back in March just a few days shy of Dad Windu’s move to Des Moines. Poor guy made good with our 20 inch (and 20 yr old) set for two months, but it was time for us to get him a Big Boy television set since it wouldn’t even connect to the DVD player and he’d watched all our old VHS tapes (some more than once). So we got a “small” 40 inch, internet-capable HDTV – did you know those things go up to 70 inches now?!?! – on sale and have since plugged that puppy in. Let me tell you how cool the Netflix on-demand feature is, when downloaded directly to your TV set - really, really, really cool.
In unwired news, Padawan Learner and I have joined a secular teen unschooler group. Yes, all three of those words cause me to swoon just thinking about them. I especially like that the group’s definition of unschooler is so fluid. I’ve looked at groups that have real unschooling and not real unschooling definitions, and I find them annoying – ironically – in their rigidity. I have no interest in trying to pass someone else’s unschooling “quiz.” From what I’ve seen, there are teens in this group that go to school part-time and teens who have never set foot inside a school. There are teens who do lessons as they and/or their families see fit and teens who wouldn’t know a worksheet if it jumped up and bit them in the tukus. Teens that take formal classes for something or other and teens that aren’t currently take any outside classes at all. Teens that have home routines, schedules, chores, and – dare I say it … parental expectations in one form or another.
The moms I’ve met are friendly and welcoming, and no one gasped in shock or horror to hear that we’re a family of atheists. Score another one for Des Moines.
One new thing in our homeschooling world is state requirements. Since Michigan is a no registration, no notification and no annual assessment state, the mild to moderate requirements of Iowa seem a bit overwhelming at times. There are registration and notification deadlines – August 26th this year – and testing requirements if not using a supervising teacher. I considered going the supervising teacher route, but decided to just do the pre- and post-year testing instead. PL has never taken a formal assessment test before and I don’t think it’ll be a negative thing for him to go through that type of experience a few times. The initial test, in October I believe, is just a starting-point assessment. In a nut-shell, they just want to know where he’s at “according to the norm” and it will be used to show that he has made academic progress over the next nine months when he tests again in June. Since registration and assessment is only required until he is 16 years old, I won’t be required to jump these hoops after this initial year. While I don’t think it will be a big deal for him academically – he’s a bright boy – I also don’t like being told what to do by a bunch of educational bureaucrats.
For PL, this single round of testing is going to be more of a ACT/SAT warm-up than anything else. If he was going to have a few years of it, I’d likely have gone the supervising teacher route instead. Annual testing requirements get my panties in a twist on principle.
Obi-Wan: (quietly to Anakin) “This time we will do it together.”
Anakin: “I was about to say that.”
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
Time sure flies when you’re entire life is picked up, packed up, carted off, unloaded, unpacked and re-arranged over the course of a few weeks. This is a massively long post, so grab a cuppa because you’re going to be here a while reading this.
I don’t know where I left you all on this journey that has become my life – and I’m too lazy to go find out – so here’s what has transpired over the course of the last 6 weeks or so. We sold the house and are waiting to close this later this week. Huge sighs of relief are being held in check until we get a signed form telling us that, indeed, we are no longer home owners. The woman that is buying our house is using Bank of America for her mortgage, and they are taking for.ev.er to get the paperwork done. This must not be too uncommon because the woman at the title company gave a very audible groan several weeks back when she heard which lender the buyer was using. We were supposed to close today or earlier, but B of A didn’t get their paperwork in on time so we’ve been delayed a few days. Oh well. Did I mention we sold the house in Michigan? Because if not, we did, and selling a house in Michigan is no small feat. Let.Me.Tell.You.
 Four movers showed up on May 20th in a 24 ft truck to box up all our worldly belongings – that hadn’t been sold or given away, that is. After the initial walk-through (in which our nearly empty 1800 sq ft. house looked like it had been robbed), the driver said, “You hardly have anything to move! I’m glad we didn’t bring the semi that we were scheduled for!” As it was, everything filled just under half of the truck and they finished both the packing and loading in a little under six hours – a wee bit short of the two DAYS they had scheduled for the packing (day 1) and loading (day 2). I’m pretty sure they weren’t too impressed with the estimate given by the local subcontractor regarding amounts of goods to be moved.
My mom picked us up on the 22nd and drove us, our liquids, a few perishables, and our financial records out to our new place in Des Moines, Iowa. That’s right, we’re Iowans now. Having never even been to Iowa before Dad Windu’s marathon interview back in February, it seems a little weird to think that this is likely where I’ll spend the rest of my days, but we’re rather enjoying it here. The people have been uber-friendly, there’s no tourist industry to speak of so no fighting traffic on the weekends, Padawan Learner found a gym he’s happy to train at for competitive trampoline, we’ve linked up with an active homeschool teen group, the downtown is awesome and very, very walkable, there’s the most fantastic farmer’s market each Saturday that’s only a ten minute walk away from our apartment, and best of all – Dad Windu, Padawan Learner and I are all together again. Ten weeks felt like a hundred. I don’t know how other families do it long-term.
On the flip side, we’re missing friends and family, we have 79 apartments full of people who are – literally – only steps away, and there’s no giant lake (ok, really more of an inland sea) to flee to when the heat begins rolling up the thermometer.
Still, I do declare: Life is good.
Our worldly goods returned on Monday, the 24th, on a very full 14 ft truck. Two young men tugged, lugged, rolled and dragged all of our things into our 865 sq ft apartment for seven hours. This (different) pair of movers, after dropping off the last box and standing in the last two sq ft of available floor space, said, “You have an absolute TON of stuff!” It’s all about perspective. I tried to get a picture – but it took me all day just to find my purse under all that stuff!
On the 25th, PL, my mom and I headed back to GR for a final week of classes in Grand Rapids. PL’s last piano and Dutch lessons and homeschool and competitive trampoline classes took place over the course of three very busy days. We were even able to grab a little park time with Yoda and Red Leader and their respective boys: Lando Calrission, R2-D2, Wedge Antilles and Lobot, before having dinner with my sister-in-law, Queen Amidala, and nephew, Zebulba. On Thursday, my mother-in-law treated me to a mani-pedi at a little nail place near her and I treated her to lunch. Unexpectedly getting out of work early, Queen Amidala shot me a last-minute call and we ended up drinking eating dinner for three hours, laughing all the while.
Come Friday morning, we were back on an Amtrak train heading for home. Juuuust making our connection in Chicago, PL and I relaxed on the train and I had fun making train tips statements on my Twitter account based on the goings-on around me.
Saturday afternoon found us hanging out and surrounded by other Michiganders at the graduation party for, get this, Qui-Gon Jinn’s niece out in the suburbs of Des Moines! Knowing that we were brand-new to the area, Q-G J’s sister very generously invited us to crash the party and begin the holiday weekend in a social manner. It was fun to meet and put a face to the names of people that I’d been hearing about for the past several years. We even got to drag Qui-Gon Jinn, Endicott, and C-3PO out to our favorite restaurant downtown and show off our new apartment – I’m sure they were impressed by our large assortment of boxes, piles of stuff, and absolutely jam-packed furniture.
Memorial Day was parade-free, at least for us, because we didn’t know anything about where such things began, but that night we found out that they was a large going-on up at the Capital Building. Doh! We did go out to the mall – after we realized that we’d obviously missed all the Memorial Day programs – and saw the new Robin Hood movie. I finally got to go to Ulta and, I must say, it made my X-chromosomes sparkle. Angels sang, the clouds parted, and money absolutely flew out of my hands as I began the process of anti-humidity-fying my make-up supplies. For the record, Smashbox foundation is glorious – it simply does.not.melt.off when the air is hot and sticky. By the way, locals have a favorite past-time with northern newbies: talking about how hot and humid it’s GOING to get. I have been instructed to: wait until August gets here and go for a visit to Kansas/Missouri (preferably in August). From what I can gather, the weather here in August is just a few degrees short of Hell and much, much more humid. *yea*
Oops, out of time. More later.
Boushh: “Just relax for a moment. You’re free of the carbonite.”
Boushh: “Shhh. You have hibernation sickness.”
Han Solo: “I can’t see.”
Boushh: “You eyesight will return in time.
Han Solo: “Where am I?”
Boushh: “Jabba’s palace.”
Han Solo: “Who are you?
Leia: “Someone who loves you.”
Han Solo: “Leia!”
I think most people have hibernation sickness these days, or have recently had it from all the spring-related posts I’m seeing lately. The warm air, the buds on the trees, kids taking to their bikes again (be still, my beating heart), talk of farmer’s markets opening soon here in the Great Frozen Midwest. Ah, it does a weary brain good.
Padawan Learner and I made a trek out to the eye doctor’s yesterday. He, as usual, has perfect vision and just needed a check up. I got a pretty sizable up-tick in my prescription, so I ordered a new set of contact lenses and a new pair of lenses – because they were just a few days off from being older than the sun. These new ones will be my fourth pair of glasses in over 27 years of wearing the bothersome things. Not too bad. Wearing contacts most days has a nice way of extending the life of a pair of frames I guess.
It was nice to take the day off – driving there and back, eating out, haunting a bookstore, watching the orange construction cones popping up here, there and everywhere. Admittedly, I’m a fan of road construction sites in general (they pay my bills), but I’m especially glad to see them popping up around here this year. Michigan’s roads are in such sorry shape because there’s been just no funding for (long, long) over-due repairs for several years running.
We got back around dinner time and after a rousing meal of mac & cheese, I cleaned up the kitchen and then cozied up with another Nevada Barr mystery. They’re getting darker and darker as the series goes on. PL wrote about a spring-loaded mechanism he figured out, read some more about the 20th century, practiced the piano, and played around with a Mobius strip he found in his math book. All in all, not a bad day.
Last weekend, my neighbor and her sun had a “Minute to Win-It” party for the kids on the block, which looked to be great fun. They had kids from 2 to 14 participating in silly games – all to be completed in 60 seconds or less, of course – and even had the local news channel come out for a little “in the city” segment. I was busy cleaning the house for a weekend showing, but PL attended and represented the Jedi in fine style I am told.
What did you do yesterday or over the weekend?
Rune : “We have them on the run, sir…they’re no match for destroyer droids.”
Tey How: “Sir, they’ve gone up the ventilation shaft.”
Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
It was just too beautiful to be indoors yesterday.
After dropping my brother off at work and grabbing a quick lunch, Padawan Learner and I found ourselves about 30 minutes west of town at a park with a fantastic wooden play structure, trails, enormous map of the US fashioned out of stones, and endless open areas for running, jumping and clamoring around. Flowing games of tag and such were played with whomever was around. As it is Spring Break around here, the park was full of other kids but not packed.
We are slightly sunburned but happy. PL slept until lunch, and I napped on and off during the morning thunderstorms – something I never do.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away…
It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has
been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from
their hidden base and pursued them across the galaxy.
Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters
led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base on the remote
ice world of Hoth.
The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker,
has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of
space…
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
It has been a dark time for the rebellion these past few days.
I’ve been doing pretty well emotionally with this whole move thing – “It is what it is” and all that – but I’m also a counselor and I knew the 5 stages of grief were going to come crawling up to bite me before too long.
For the past month and more, I’ve been in full-on moving mode. Decluttering, cleaning, packing, cleaning, realtors, truck rental, long-distance apartment finding, utilities-dealing, using up the food in the freezering, two household budgeting, and so much more. I’ve been – if not happy as a clam about this move – at least in my element. I’m a planner, a to-do list shit-kicker, a woman on a mission. Padawan Learner, on the other hand, has been miserable with all the hustle and bustle of the process of this major life-changing move.
But now everything is pretty much done that we can do. The house is for sale, and we’re just waiting for someone to buy it. Life has calmed down significantly, much to PL’s relief. This weekend really hit me like a ton of bricks. Having to sit in a beautifully decorated, perfectly clean house, with nothing to do but wait made me sad. Really, really sad. Not clinically depressed, not non-functional, but sad.
So I did what had to be done last night. I grabbed my Sunday Morning Doughnut Buddy and met up with Padme Amidala and Princess Leia for drinks last night. One glass of really nice Pinot Noir and a cheese plate and all was well with the world again.
“Offhand, I’d say this mission is past the negotiation stage.” – Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Because I know that you’ve all been losing sleep over the drama of my very exciting life, I’m happy to report that Dad Windu has received a job offer from a very good firm and will be starting within the month. Sadly, it will require a relocation several states away. Padawan Learner is, of course, taking this hardest as this is the only home he has ever known, but he is also being very understanding of the reason for this move. He has watched his dad do everything in his power to work a job search and keep us in the area, but he’s also aware that Michigan is just in a terrible state right now for DW’s line of work.
We’re trying to find all the different ways possible to keep PL in touch with his friends, and we have committed to traveling back to MI as often as practicable to see our friends and family. On FireFly Mom’s recommendation, we have given the task of hunting out interesting things to do and see in our new town to PL. I know he’ll do a wonderful job of it and is sure to find things that I would have never even thought twice about.
Initially, we’re going to be moving from a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1800 sq ft home to an 865 sq ft apartment. Have you stopped laughing yet? While DW works these last two weeks (he’s currently a contract employee for his old firm) getting things re-allocated to other staff members, tying up loose ends, and doing some last-minute training (and then coming home to do last minute home improvement projects), I’ve been culling the house for things that are not absolutely, positively necessary. Anyone interested in a 4-piece, king-size sleigh bed set with matching night stand, armoire, and dresser with tri-fold mirror? What’s that? Why, yes, they are all gigantic pieces! If only I could go back and have a talk with my younger self…
“Oh, excuse me. So sorry.” – TC-14, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
I’ve been riding the job search and homeschooling-in-the-midst-of-the-unknown rollar coaster with Dad Windu and Padawan Learner these past couple of months, and, while it’s been going pretty well, it’s had its ups and downs. That’s the biggest reason this place has been so quiet. I’m driving 6 white horses, coming around the mountain, and – what the song doesn’t mention - there’s this cliff on the other side of the path that’s making me hug the mountain more than I’m used to. So homeschooling is keeping on, keeping on and going well. Marriage is going well. Blogging (my release and often-times entertainment), not so much.
At one point we thought we were going to be moving to almost the very northern-most tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In case you don’t know where that is, it’s waaaay the h*ll up there (technical term) and surrounded by Lake Superior on three sides. Average high of 78 F (25C) in July and 16 F (-9C) in January. 208 inches (528 cm) of snow a year on average. I know! There are two seasons up there, if you ask a local - ”winter’s here and winter’s coming.”
Yes, we were pretty sure we were going to be moving there after DW met with the group leader in the company’s Detroit-area office. Couldn’t have asked for a more encouraging guy. The group leader in the UP though, not so encouraging. Not being ‘a local’ was apparently a big point against DW; the two interviewers spent most of the meeting basically trying to talk him OUT of wanting the job. “No shopping to speak of up here.” “Winters are long and hard, so you can’t try to just wait them out.” “Everything’s a long way from here, so traveling other places doesn’t happen very often.” “We don’t have furniture stores to speak of.” You get the picture.
Meanwhile, while he’s in his interview, I was scraping the local librarian’s brain clean about local homeschooling resources and groups and variety. I was getting more and more excited about the homeschooling opportunities in the immediate area. Oh, and have I mentioned that we found the cutest little house – with a cast-iron circular staircase connecting the main and upper floors – for $27,700? No, I didn’t leave a zero out. For approximately the same price of a new car, we could have owned a 2 bedroom, 2 bath home that was as cute as a button. (Just shoot me now). I was getting geared up and ready to go.
Just to make things interesting, of course, the reality of an impending move really hit Padawan Learner up there and … well, it wasn’t pretty. I’ll just leave it at that.
In the end, DW got a FOAD letter in the mail from the UP leader – as vague as can be, of course. The Detroit guy is disgusted. DW is confused and thinking, “WTF was that all about?” PL is feeling bad for DW but also guilty about feeling relieved that we’re not moving – yet. I’m exhausted about putting so much mental effort into finding ways to make sure this transition goes smoothly – for naught.
*deep breathing*
And now we’re hopping back on the maybe this is it train. Dad Windu and I are headed out into the heart of the great frozen midwest this weekend. (PL is staying with friends.) We’re quietly optimistic, but (truthbetold) we’re afraid to get our hopes up too high. There’s been a lot of “Oh, I’m just doing a little Internet surfing” digging by me. It’s what I do. The job appears to be a good fit for DW and the city looks like we’d be comfortable there.
So, happy thoughts everyone. *fairy dust, fairy dust* We’re going to need them.
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Secular Homeschoolers Unite!
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