Productive in Pajamas

I had an interesting conversation a couple of days ago that I just keep thinking about.  

A woman asked if I homeschool my kids, and I told her I do.  She said that she has been considering homeschooling her kids for the coming school year.  (This is common, in case you wonder.  Everybody is apparently thinking about it.  Many think, but few act-- which is not necessarily bad!)  

She said she just can not imagine what a homeschool day would look like.  How would it be scheduled?  What would she and her kids do?  I invited her to come over some time and see one family in action.  (Just FYI: Lumping all homeschoolers together would be like lumping all mothers together.  You cannot watch one mother in action and decide you have seen how all-- or even most-- mothers behave.)

She said, "That would be great!  I can tell you're an organized mom.  I've been to some homeschooler's houses at noon and..." she leaned in little closer to share a horrible secret, "their kids are still in their pajamas!"

Oh! goodness!  how shocking!  Like young George, I cannot tell a lie, but I felt like I was confessing on the spot to raising lazy, unsocialized, uneducated bums, as I cleared my throat and said, "Well, actually.... we have days like that ourselves."

She looked embarrassed-- although if that was for her comment or my confession, I couldn't tell.  

Since then I have been especially sensitive to how my kids and I are dressed.  I have been remembering the other day when my friend Emma showed up at the door at around 9 am and looked surprised.  "You're dressed!" she said.  Well, yes.  I do occasionally shower and pull on a pair of jeans before noon.  Not often.  But sometimes.  

But here's the thing this woman did not consider.  It is possible to be productive in your pajamas!  I know those people who go out into the world at the break of dawn have a reason to force themselves into the shower and shirts with buttons before the sun comes up.  But, as Bill Nye would say, Consider the Following...

Suzy wakes up and comes downstairs to breakfast.  On her way to the table she sees the book on iguanas she checked out from the library yesterday.  She brings it to the table and reads about different species while eating her Cheerios.  The book mentions the ancient Aztecs, so after putting her bowl in the dishwasher, she pulls out the A encyclopedia and looks up the Aztecs.  Her brother sees what she's reading, and tells her they own a book about Aztec artwork, which she finds and reads, cover to cover, on the couch.  When she's done, she pulls out her clay and beads and creates some Aztec artwork of her own.  She includes some pretty realistic iguanas in her mosaics.  Mom walks in and asks if she's done her math, and Suzy quickly gets up and grabs her math book from the bookshelf.  She lays on the front room floor to work out her problems.  Some of them don't make a lot of sense, so she gets out the counting blocks and the play money to figure them out. 

Ding dong!  The doorbell rings-- and there is the lady who's thinking of homeschooling.  And what does she see?  Suzy-- in her pajamas at noon-- laying on the front room floor with blocks and pretend money all around her.  A kitchen table with clay, beads and construction paper out.  Books and an encyclopedia on the couch.  hmmm... this doesn't look good, does it?

(Granted, Suzy could use some practice at putting her things away when she's done with them.  Her mom is probably working on that.  Don't worry.)

I suspect that Suzy might remember more about the Aztecs, iguanas, and her math than Betsy, who is in her fashionable mall-bought clothes, with her hair brushed, sitting in a school desk passing notes to Billy and wondering where Amy got her new shoes.

Not that there is anything wrong with getting dressed.  I do it myself almost every day.  I simply propose that it is possible to be productive in your pajamas!  =)     

  

The Odyssey, Homecomings, Vacations, and Rock Concerts

Our play for this spring is The Odyssey, and our kids are excited!  Peter and Naomi have non-speaking parts.  Peter's only request was that he be on stage as much as possible.  (surprise!)  Naomi's was that she be in a scene where she gets to eat.  (surprise again!)  Bethany is Helen of Troy (yes, she's lovely) and the Muse of Epics (whose name I do not remember).  She will, I believe, narrate much of the play along with the other Muses.  And Josh is Odysseus!  Lots of lines.  Lots of work.  He's happy.  In fact, they are all happy!

Rachel and Elizabeth get home in TWO DAYS!  Can you believe it? We are So excited to have them home!  =)   They will only be here a couple of days, and then we're off to Panama!  a break!  a vacation!  no school!  no appointments to remember!  no deadlines!  My brain seriously needs this.  If only I didn't have to plan it before we go... but that's ok.  It's for a good cause.    Do you ever have that feeling that you have shoved so many things into your brain that it's about to burst?  And when you look behind you-- there are your thoughts all spilled out on the floor?  It's not a good feeling.  I'm hoping-- really hoping!-- that a vacation will give my brain time to recover from the beating it's taken lately.  Mental exercise is one thing.  The breaking point is something else all together.

Josh has been working on his Eagle Scout project.  I used to wish-- many, many years ago-- that I could be a Boy Scout.  They earned badges and got awards and people clapped for them at award ceremonies while I sat on a folding chair in the audience.  They built model rockets and launched them in the field behind our church while I stood to the side and watched.  Need I say more?  But there is one thing I Do Not envy...  The paperwork!  Josh has filled out, written, lost and kept track of more paperwork for this project than most kids do in all of high school.   Granted-- he is doing an amazing project.   He's putting together a charity rock concert to raise money for a children's home in Uganda.  No small deal.  But if that was all he was doing, it would be no sweat.  Josh is an amazing kid.  It's the paperwork!  All I can say is, Wow.  

And-- you can do it, Josh!  (assuming you get yourself un-grounded, of course.)  =) 

Finally, speaking of paperwork-- about 300 pages of it, actually-- the publisher who has my YA novel, The Other Side of Jacob's Peak, emailed me to say she has finished reading it and would like an electronic copy to share with her coworkers!  =)  Incase you're not sure, this is good news.

I sent out a few copies of the first three chapters of this book last August.  They were accompanied by a synopsis of the entire book.  Before Christmas Lisa Graff from Farrar, Straus & Giroux emailed and asked for the whole manuscript.  She's now read it all, and is interested enough to want to share it with others in the company!  In order for a company to publish a book, the editors all have to agree that it's a good risk, the acquiring editor has to present it to a group including marketing and several others, and everyone has to agree.  Not a short process.  To put it mildly.  Even after they accept it, they almost always ask for edits, and then printing can take another 12 to 24 months.  (sometimes longer)   If it's a picture book,  you have to add time (lots of it) for the illustrator to create the artwork.  And no.  The author does not usually choose the illustrator.  That's the editor's job.  It's amazing anything ever gets into bookstores and libraries.  But I'm working on it!  If this publisher does not work out, I'll send it out again.  If this one does... well... I hardly dare to even think about that.  Like wishing to hard might break the spell.    

      

Now, since my girls are coming home soon, and my mom and sister come a couple of days later, and I haven't cleaned the house or done the laundry, and since I'm LATE to pick up my kids-- I'd better go!

=)

Cool! Fun! and Free!

I was looking on the Hoagies web site today and found an online site I really like.  They have online lessons on a variety of subjects-- from the Periodic Table and Amusement Park Physics to the Renaissance and Cinema, all online, all interactive, and all free!  Each "class" has a few different lessons, with decent animations, and is followed by an online quiz.  Most of them are on a high school level, but there are a couple for younger grades.  

This reminds me of when I found EdVentures online several years ago.  At the time they were just getting their site together, adding more things, and I was amazed at all the classes online, for up to 10 kids in one family, for $60/year.  Now, I have to say, they have gone more toward the public school venue, and are not nearly as homeschool friendly.  Which is too bad.  They had some fun stuff.

Anyway, enjoy! 

A little Patch of Spring

The Time! The Time! Who's Got the TIme?

I'm getting so bad about writing on here regularly.  Sorry.  I run from one thing to the next, and fall into bed at night wondering why I did not get more done.  I keep thinking any day now things will slow down.  

After Utah I'll have time... After we get our passports submitted I'll have time... After I finish the backyard I'll have time... When the play starts I'll have time (yes, I should know better, but I do think this sometimes!).... When the kids get older I'll have time...

Anyway, you get the idea.  In reality, I probably won't have more time 'till I'm in my grave.  Nothing to do but lie about all day...  And night...  Forever... With the worms... Ugh.  Sorry. 

My friends Emma and Karen have invited me to go to Nepal with them next month to visit our friend Michelle.  But... you guessed it!  I don't have time!  In this case, however, it's ok.  They will be getting back two days before my family leaves for Panama.  If I went, I'd miss being here when my girls get back from school, celebrating Elizabeth's birthday, being here when my mom and sister arrive, and would just be back in time for our Easter celebration.  (Which is not going to be on Easter this year.)  I'd also miss auditions for the Odyssey with my kids.  And who would pack for Panama and prepare for Easter?  Umm... probably nobody.  Or I'd get to Panama and discover my kids had packed swimsuits, a Gameboy and Mad Libs, but nothing else.  That would be a real adventure!  I can just imagine.  

So, I am passing on Nepal.  And while part of me can't believe I'm saying that, it is true.  

And, just in case you wonder, Rachel seems to be recovering well from her surgery.  Our friends Dan and Kim have a new little boy!  (Congratulations!)  =)  Elizabeth is learning to SCUBA dive.  (See her blog for more info)  And while I was in Utah, Spring came to Virginia.    Life is good.  =)   

Rachel's Surgery

Just FYI-- Rachel had her gallbladder out on Friday and is doing well.  The surgery took about an hour, was done laproscopically (sp?), and although she is bruised and sore, she is doing well.  =)

I'm here in Utah helping her- driving her to classes, handing out Ibuprofen, and giving hugs.  Airplanes make so many things possible!

When I get a chance, I'll post some photos of the mountains (and a moose!) that Elizabeth and I took the day after surgery while Rachel was sleeping.

Love you all!  =)   

Winter Comes to Virginia! Better Late than Never!

This beautiful window is from the National Cathedral in DC.  I just love that place!  =)

We had a snow day yesterday.  A real one.  10 inches of snow, no school, and all.  This is the first time since I've been in Virginia that I've seen a real snowfall!  We have had dustings, and even an inch or-- maybe if you measure a place where it's drifted-- two inches.  So when the wether men were saying we'd get anywhere from 2 to 13 inches of snow overnight, I knew which it would be.  We'd get one and a half.

That night as I slept I dreamed, like Ezra Jack Keats' Peter in The Snowy Day, that all the snow had melted.  I dreamed of rivulets of water running down the street and little slush piles beside the sidewalk.  But when I woke and looked out the window I could almost see Keats' pink and blue snowflakes.   It had snowed!  For real!  And for just a moment I was back in Minnesota, land of 10,000 snow storms, land of my childhood.  

My kids, who did not grow up in Minnesota, were very impressed.  They kept pointing out to each other the snow on the grill, the way it clung to the bushes,  and how amazingly DEEP it was.  =)  

And I began to remember why, other than my husband's job, we do not live in Minnesota.  Coats, hats and gloves all over the floor.  Clumps of snow and puddles of snow-melt on the wood floors and carpet.  Boots to trip over in the entry way.  And sleds dropped in the front room, of all places.  

All of which begs the questions-- why do we own sleds, boots and gloves if this is the first time it has really snowed in 5 years?  To tell you the truth, I have no idea.  

Perhaps next time AmVets calls about donations I'll have lots of things to put out.  Then in another 5 years, when it snows again, we can all wonder what ever happened to that sled that used to be in the garage.  And by that time I will have completely forgotten about what I did, and I'll be able to honestly answer, "Hmm.... I have no idea!"

Happy snow days Virginia!  =)