Favorites From the Holocron
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“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.
Anakin Skywalker: (eyes closed) “Don’t go.”
Padme Amidala: “I don’t want to disturb you.”
Anakin Skywalker: “Your presence is soothing.”
Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
We were all a little nervous about Dad Windu getting laid-off and being home all.the.time. Rightfully so, I think.
- Were we going to get on each other’s nerves?
- Would DW start channeling his inner professional and start managing the way I ran the house and our homeschooling?
- Would Padawan Learner get distracted having someone else walking around, talking, and moving in and out of our ’school’ space during the day?
- Would I begin to chafe at having to share the computer, the kitchen, and the teapot more than a few hours each night?
It has, thankfully, worked out very well this past month and a half. Dad Windu has his own routine going for large parts of the day, and he and I are getting out for a daily walk nearly each afternoon. PL has benefited from having Dad Windu right there for some of the math questions that I would normally have to go look up. I’ve enjoyed having another adult around to talk with during the day. DW helps with the house picking up, meal prep and chauffeuring tasks, freeing me from having to do all the day-to-day boring tasks myself.
In the end, we’re enjoying each other’s company on a day-in, day-out basis, and truth be told, I’m going to be a little sad to see him go away for 9 hours each day once he’s back working someplace.
Yoda: “Yes, run! Yes, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.”
Luke: “Vader. Is the dark side stronger?”
Yoda: “No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.”
Luke: “But how am I to know the good side from the bad?”
Yoda: “You will know… when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
I’m feeling that way today. Calm, at peace, passive. I’m doing what I can and letting the rest slide.
Dad Windu is officially unemployed, and that’s ok. We can meet our basic bills – home, utilities, food – on his unemployment benefits and that’s about 3 steps further than many families right now. Chalk one up for common sense, frugal living, and good luck over the years.
DW’s getting some (long overdue) things done around the house. We’re keeping Padawan Learner’s life as normal as possible, with both trampoline class and piano lessons for the time being. We’re surprisingly relaxed about the whole process, one of the side benefits of waiting for this to happen for.months.now, and taking our time enjoying the holiday season, our families and friends. We’re entertaining job postings from all over the U.S. and DW is working his network here at home.
We bought Padawan Learner some new snow boots today, nothing like a winter storm to highlight the need. He got off easy from shoveling snow the last 4 days, “I’d love to help, but I don’t have any boots. Bummer.” How a kid that wears a EEEE width can just walk in and find boots that fit, several pair no less, is beyond me. I think there’s a widespread athletic shoe conspiracy in force every six months when he’s outgrown yet another pair of shoes.
“Remember, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force.” – Yoda, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
We did something tonight that we always do after returning home from a trip, we marked the map with our route using dry erase markers. We keep our US map on the wall next to the kitchen table so we see it often. After marking up this trip, we decided to touch up the routes of previous trips as many of them had gotten smudged (and even almost rubbed off completely) over the years. The updated map can be seen here.
 PL marks up the map with our travel route. Padawan Learner drew out the line as Dad Windu and I recalled the route we had taken. It’s always interesting to look back on our trips with this new piece of information. Somehow it’s easier to put a long road trip in perspective when it’s laid out before you on a map. Not including any of the bits and pieces of extraneous driving that we did for side trips, we learned from Google Maps that we drove 4244 miles point to point, over the course of 18 days. Per PL, that’s an average of roughly 236 miles a day. (I’m not one to miss a chance to throw in some math practice when I can.)
Another friend has a large table in her dining room, so her family keeps full-size USA and world maps right on the table with a large, clear plastic tablecloth over them. Because of this, their meals often have geography content. If one of her sons hears a tidbit about Latvia on NPR, for example, the entire family can find it on the map and understand why Latvians get ansy when politicians in Moscow start reminiscing about a return to “the good old days” of the USSR.
Does your family do anything special with maps?
“We will not be hostages to be bartered, Dooku.” – Mace Windu, Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
There are a few things that could make me feel like a hostage around here, if I let them, but overall I think we’re settling in nicely after our trip.
- Laundry was kicked to the floor immediately post-trip and was begging for mercy within hours of being home, if only because I don’t have too many clothes and was in danger of having to wear my jogging gear full-time (shudder) for lack of anything else if I didn’t get to it ASAP upon arrival.
- I still have a shameful amount of trip-related clutter strewn around the house, but it’s getting put away bit by bit. The kitchen isn’t pristine, but it’s usable – which is an improvement from two days ago.
- We began a few mini-lessons again on Saturday, after pretty much dumping our regularly scheduled homeschooling routine after just one attempt en route - just little “meant to do that” stuff that we’d begun and then dropped from the week before – with our normal routine again starting this morning. It went far better than I was anticipating. You know how it is coming back after vacation. Algebra was still Padawan Learner’s least favorite part of the day, but I think it’s beginning to dawn on him that his pre-Algebra dread is playing more havoc on his ability to do the work quickly and easily than the actual math problems assigned. Let’s hope(!) anyway.
- I finished knitting and fulling (or felting, if you prefer) the camera cozy and slippers that I began while traveling. The slippers ended up too big for me by a long shot (a bulky yarn that didn’t tighten down as much as I had expected, even after multiple extra trips through the washing machine). Despite the pink color, PL and DW are having a good time “fighting” over who gets to wear them so at least the wool didn’t go to waste. If one takes them off, I find the other one wearing them within moments. Score one for guys secure in their masculinity. I’m going to try another pair for me again with a more traditional weight wool – in purple this time. We’ll see how the next pair goes. I’ve got a huge cross-stitch piece to get started on, but it’ll have to wait until I have a little more time. Since I only get the urge to do this stuff in the colder months, it’ll very likely still be waiting for me come next fall.
- The cats are settling back into more of a normal reaction to us being home. Bobbie, our Ocicat stray, followed DW around from the minute we got home until yesterday afternoon. She’s very dog-like in her devotion to DW. She wouldn’t even stay at her bowl to eat if he walked out of the room for the first couple of days. She seemed convinced that he was going to disappear long-term again whenever he left the house. Poor thing! Stretch has been extra social these past few days, which is nice. Generally she’s more cat-like in her ability to take or leave us. She also has her full winter coat now, so she’s extra plush to cuddle. Double score.
- PL is glad to be getting back to his trampoline class again this coming week. He’s lost a little of his 6-pack abs in the past couple of weeks and was commenting on feeling less limber than normal. It’s amazing how quickly our bodies lose fitness if we give them half a chance. DW began soccer last night, so let’s all keep our fingers crossed for an injury free season. Yes, you too. Get those fingers crossed now. I need all the help I can get with that one!
- Dad Windu is making his list of things that he wants to do while he is laid-off (in addition to his job search, that is) such as get back to drawing again and learn Spanish. We even found a nice starter program for $5 at the local bookstore yesterday. Should he get bored or run out of ideas, I also have a good-sized list of honey-do activities to keep his days filled productively. What can I say? I’m a giver. :-)
What about you? Got anything that’s holding itself over your head at the moment, just waiting to be done?
“It’s all Obi-Wan’s fault. He’s jealous. He’s holding me back.” – Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
Just like UPS. They’re jealous and holding my package hostage.
Friday morning I bought a laptop. I know, a laptop! Finally, I can surf the web check my feed-reader obsess over email label my photos further Padawan Learner’s education anywhere we happen to be. Just like nearly everyone else. Pretty soon we might even get one of them fancy cell-u-lar telephones. But probably not. (There probably isn’t really a future in such technology.)
Because Microsoft is bringing out Windows 7 in just a few days, one of the local electronics chains was off-loading PCs at knock me down prices. I was lucky to find one that suits our needs well, offering what we wanted and needed most – lots of RAM & storage with a speedy little processor. I ended up having to order it online, because the only one they had left was a display model (with no discount for that concession, either). Generally I’m happy to get a display models, with a corresponding price reduction of course, but not for something as delicate as consumer electronics. While I did hang out and pet a MacBook Air for a while, I just couldn’t justify the extra expense to Dad Windu. *Please excuse me while I go cry into my sleeve for a moment.* Now I can only ask myself: “What have I done?!?” When did spending money get so hard? I used to be so good at it!
So I ordered it online yesterday morning and it was shipped out speedy quick – by early yesterday afternoon. It is now sitting in the UPS shipping hub, approximately 15 minutes from my house. UPS does not deliver on Saturday. You may not pick up your package personally on Saturday. They have it just sitting there. Mocking me. Monday will not come fast enough.
Now I just need a suitable Star Wars name for my new plastic friend. What do you think of Probe Droid?
Leia: “They’re getting closer.”
Han Solo: ”Oh, yeah? Watch this.” [Han throws a lever, only to have the engine sputter and die.]
Leia: “Watch what?”
Han Solo: ”I think we’re in trouble.”
C-3PO: “If I may say so, sir, I noticed earlier the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged. It’s impossible to go to lightspeed.”
Han Solo: ”We’re in trouble.”
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
It’s that time of year again. Time to realize that a large portion of our summer’s Big Plans just didn’t fan out.
- I didn’t have a girls-only camping trip – not when your camping buddy’s mom gets her leg amputated the day before you’re supposed to head out.
- We didn’t get the garage painted before September – waiting on replacement parts for our custom cut siding. And for the record, who puts custom cut siding on a frickin garage?
- Padawan Learner didn’t get his science and logic books finished (from last year’s program) – despite being perpetually “almost done”. (He’ll finish them today, under my watchful eye.)
- Dad Windu still doesn’t know the long-term status with his job – he’s been on the one week at a time plan since mid-March.
- I didn’t pick up a single Dutch book all summer long.
- My yard is still full of weeds and the flower beds aren’t cleared out completely either.
- We didn’t make it out to BC or CA to visit friends and family – and it looks unlikely for fall as well.
- We got one, single, minuscule tomato to ripen – thanks to a cold, wet non-summer.
What didn’t you get done?
“I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate. You have anger. But you don’t use them.” – Count Dooku, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
Yeah, well he got to use them yesterday afternoon and he’ll get to use them again this weekend because we’re scraping and painting the garage. WooHoo! That’s right, folks. Life here is red hot.
As Mrs. Sunday Morning Doughnut Buddy says, “It builds character.” I’ve been re-reading The Complete Calvin & Hobbes this summer, so that sounds just about right to me. I’m going to make him go camping in a few weeks, too. Maybe it will even rain to round off the experience.
I’m going to re-read The Complete Far Side starting this fall. I wonder what that will eventually lead to…
Chancellor Palpatine: ”Anakin, I’m appointing you to be my personal representative on the Jedi Council.”
Anakin Skywalker: “Me? A Master? I’m overwhelmed, sir. But the Council elects its own members. They will never accept this.”
Chancellor Palpatine: ”I think they will. They need you, more than you know.”
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
I have yet another reason to love Star Wars. Without it there would have been no need to sell those ridiculously heavy replica light-sabers – the ones made with a metal base and a glass “beam”. If I were without this weighty piece of Star Wars memorabilia, I would currently have no clean clothes. For how else would I be able to unclog the laundry chute?
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