On another note, I came across this quote today and thought it was pretty funny:

I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top. – An English Professor

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2007. | Permalink | 6 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

And a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “America” in the Western Hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or lack thereof, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

(Public Notice As Required By Law: By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal, it is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and is limited to replacement of these wishes or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher. Please note: Some quantum physics theories suggest that when the recipient is not directly observing this greeting, it may cease to exist or will exist only in a vague and undetermined state. Important notice to users: The entire physical universe, including this greeting, may one day collapse back into an infinitesimally small space. Should another universe subsequently re-emerge, the existence of this greeting in that universe cannot be guaranteed.)

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 3 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

No, it’s not a fan gathering of people honoring Pink Floyd, although that would be pretty cool, too. It’s a three day celebration of music from around the globe, held annually in the little town of Floyd, Virginia. 2002 was the first festival and it has continued to grow every year while maintaining a down-to-earth eclectic feel. It’s a kid-friendly event, with lots of attendees camping out with their entire family for the weekend. People come from all over to listen to great music, browse the goodies made by skilled artisans and enjoy the laid-back fun-loving community.

FloydFest, as it’s commonly known, strives to showcase the best in World, Bluegrass, Reggae, Folk, African, and Appalachian music. This year the organizers are expecting around 7,000 people. A few of the 50+ performers scheduled for 2006 are Los Lobos, Cyro Baptista, Donna the Buffalo, Eddie from Ohio, Railroad Earth, Adrienne Young, Akoya Afrobeat, Rory Block, and Garaj Mahal. Last year the lineup included Ani DiFranco, JD Crowe, Hot Tuna, African Showboyz, and Cadillac Jones.

I am really excited about going this year. Several of my friends and their families are planning to attend as well, so we’re converging on the festival Saturday to make a day of it. It’ll be fun to catch up and watch the kids dance in the grass. It’ll be neat for them to experience music from different cultures and genres around the world.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

Friday night we took the kids to go see Pirates of the Caribbean, whooho! Mehalje is all about pirates and Captain Jack Sparrow in particular. I have to admit I like Johnny Depp for a whole other reason, hee he. We checked with our local theater but decided it would be very crowded and since it’s a long movie (about 2 hrs 40 min) we thought our youngest might not sit still that long and would entertain himself by torturing nearby patrons being disruptive. So we opted for the drive-in.

The drive-in is about 30 minutes from us and was built fairly recent, so it’s a nice setup. The sound is broadcast via radio, so no more hooking that speaker to the window. We watched Pirates and then stayed for the next movie, Cars, as well. We thought for sure the kids would be asleep but they stayed awake for the whole thing and were well behaved the entire evening. Cars was very cute.

Saturday we helped my sister move. The lease was up on her apartment but her “new” house (which was built in 1920 and is being remodeled) wasn’t quite ready. So we moved her furniture into storage and for the time being she’s staying at one of the those extended-stay micro-suite efficiency hotels. She’ll probably be there for a couple weeks. She’s not really pleased about this because her house was suppose to be ready but the contractor she hired is taking his good old sweet time. She threatened to move into his house until hers got done.

Late Saturday afternoon we went to our own “new old house” that we’re still renovating after a year and a half. It was built in the late 1800s, probably around 1875, and is a beautiful Victorian structure but needs electrical and plumbing upgrades as well as a kitchen remodel. This house had electrical lighting a full decade before the White House, and this original system was still operating when we bought the house in January of last year. We’re working on it as we have time and money, and neither of those things seems to be in abundance lately. We’d like to move in sometime before our kids are in college! Several planned “move in” dates have come and gone and it’s still not ready.

Anyways, we did yard work and mowed the grass. Chris cleaned out a refuse area designed for garbage pickup near the curb. We discovered occupants of an apartment building nearby were using the trash receptacle. He gathered the trash, bagged it up, dug out several tall weeds by their roots and then trimmed the area. Underneath all of this stuff was rich, thick organic soil, almost like compost material, probably from years of having dark, moist environment supplemented by rotting plants, kitchen scraps, and other decomposing natural substances.

When he was changing clothes afterwards he discovered three small dark brown spots of his leg, almost as if someone had dotted him with a permanent marker. He tried to wash it off but it appeared to have stained his skin. We just figured something in the soil had splash on him while he was weedeating. We didn’t think much else of it at the time.

Sunday night Chris started his new shift. He is still working nights but moved from “B” shift to “D” shift, which is a directly opposite schedule. At first we feared this would mess up our vacation plans as all the days he would have been off he is now working and vice versa. There was a bit of tension over this matter and Chris debated over whether he would go willingly or file a complaint. If he’d fought this decision the company probably would have been forced to make someone else change shifts, as others have less seniority than he does. I mean, he was required to submit his vacation schedule at the beginning of the year and we’ve paid deposits and made plans with other families who are counting on us, so this was no casual matter. But in the end, after much scrambling around, we were able to switch vacation days and move things around to accommodate his new schedule.

Sunday was also the day we tested Mehalje. I know, pretty late to be doing this as the deadline for turning in proof of progress is Aug 1st, but it’s the way things have worked out for us time-wise. She did really good. I created a few practice tests for her so she could get used to the concept of testing, which involves, among other things, my not being able to answer her if she asks “Is this right?”, filling in little circles in a precise manner, and sitting quietly for an extended period of time doing “desk work”. All things we don’t normally do in our day-to-day unschoolish life.

Even though I think these sorts of tests do not measure real intelligence nor potential worth, I am glad that she did well on the test. Back three years ago, before we even became “official” homeschoolers, we first went over our options for turning in proof of progress (in Virginia there are several acceptable routes) and the only thing that made us really nervous was the idea of testing. I mean, these were kids that had IEPs and special therapists at one point. I was very doubtful that testing would ever go well.

But since that time my confidence in the kids has grown immeasurably. I felt comfortable ordering a test this year for Mehalje to take because it seemed the easier, quickest way to jump through the “progress” hoop. And surely enough, she did great, only missing 3 out of about 130 questions. Now I am just awaiting the scoring results so I can submit them to the school along with my NOI and be done with my paperwork for another year.

Tuesday (i.e. yesterday) I had a meeting I wanted to go to in a nearby town. A group of women from our UU have been getting together on the full moon for about a year for sisterhood, celebration, and to share sacred space. Recently we decided to add another meeting each month so now we also get together during the new moon. I haven’t been able to make it to every gathering, but I wish I could. They are always fun, intimate, deeply moving, and happily irreverent. If that seems contradictory, I you assure it’s not. They are wonderful occasions. So last night was the July full moon meeting and as I had not been able to attend at all in June I was looking forward to seeing everyone.

The meeting was great as always. This time we shared books that have inspired us in one way or another. I spoke about Tales of Female Nomad and Hope for the Flowers. I also brought several children’s books which have been inspiring to us as a family and that I feel uphold or expound upon one or more of the UU principals. The Peace Book by Todd Par, Love Is by Wendy Halperin, and The Circle of Days by Reeve Lindbergh are a few of the books I shared.

Afterwards we went to eat with my mother and sister. It was a late-night meal, we ate slowly and did lots of talking and laughing. We didn’t leave the restaurant until nearly midnight. We went back to my sister’s hotel “apartment” to check it out. It’s not a bad setup – maybe not quite as nice as having a finished house – but it’s definitely livable short-term. She made it through several years of college and never once had to live in a tiny dorm with a crummy roommate, so I don’t want to hear any complaints!

Before we headed home for the night I asked her and my mom (who both have experience in this area) to take a look at the spots on Chris’ leg. By Sunday evening the skin had turned red around each black dot and on Monday the skin was raw and sunk in, as if an acid was at work on the skin tissue. By Tuesday the three places were ulcers, about the size of a dime, with dark black centers. (I know, you really wanted to read this, didn’t you? Just be thankful you didn’t have to see it.) They said it looked like a serious bacterial infection and suggest he get to the ER asap.

Chris had cleaned the wounds and covered them with band aids and had made a casual comment about going to the doctor “sometime” if they didn’t get better “within the next few days”. You know, the typical manly “it’s just a scratch, I’ll take care of it myself and it’ll heal just fine, don’t make a fuss” kind of attitude. But their concern caused him to rethink this and since we were already in an area with a good hospital we decided to head over to the ER.

It was a Tuesday night, not much happening, so he got seen pretty fast. The doctor was like “Oh!” He said Chris was working on a major situation and after examining the three areas closely and asking lots of questions he said it is most likely Streptococcus (strep), Staphylococcus (staph), or Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) infection, either way the treatment is the same. We were surprised to learn that anthrax is a naturally occurring (but rare) bacteria which can be found in soil and 95% of cases are contracted through a scratch or cut in the skin. The ulcers with black centers are common with anthrax, hence the concern.

He gave him a prescription for Cipro and a topical cream to apply. It is hopefully not contagious, it cannot be transferred from person to person through normal transmission routes as long as we don’t touch the affected area. With proper treatment the risk of complications drops to 1%. A potentially serious situation but with the meds he should heal up just fine. Of course we’ll make fun of him for this for oh, say, the rest of his life.

Now we just have to figure out what to do with that mulchy compost-like soil lurking at the garbage can area. We have calls in to the Health Depart and the Dept of Agriculture. As always, they don’t seem to know what to do and haven’t called me back as promised. I love competent govt employees!

I’m telling you, if anyone could find a freak accident or a rare way in which to injure oneself, it would be Chris. Who else ends up with this sort of thing from engaging in one of the most common, mundane, everyday things such as trimming the yard?

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 4 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | One comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

We sometimes camp a bit further down the mountain, just a short but safe trek away from the exposed peak, because well, let’s face it, Chris is a lightning strike waiting to happen. When we’d had our fill of food and panoramic views we hiked down to a little-known lake tucked back into the mountain side. Chris skipped rocks and tried not to fall in, the kids poked under under rocks, and I took pictures of everything but rocks. Here are some photos from our romp in the woods.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 3 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

Hummingbirds are tricky animals to get pictures of! They never stop moving. They take a sip, hover, sip, hover, zoom away. Their wings beat so fast it’s hard for a human eye to see, and you’ve got to have a pretty fast shutter speed to get it on camera. After much patience where I inched ever closer to the feeder, I managed to get a couple shots I’m pretty happy with. The kids were amazed at how loudly their wings hummed.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 7 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

They’ve declared, “No, I don’t need a nap!” but you notice the house has become eerily quiet. Silence in a house with kids is worrisome, so you must investigate what’s causing the absence of sound. You check and sure enough, they’re out cold, sleep has stopped them in their tracks.

My daughter likes to sleep in pretty normal places, like her bed and the car seat. She does not like naps and she is the queen of bedtime delays.

On the other hand, my son is a sleep-anywhere, anytime kinda guy. When the mood strikes that’s it, he’s going to sleep no matter what. If you try to move or wake him up he’ll growl at you. He doesn’t look menacing, but that’s because you’ve probably never tried to move him from the floor into his bed.

He’s notorious for falling asleep in high chairs and in the middle of the floor, or pretty much anywhere he happens to be when he finally holds still for more than a second. And just in case there is any doubt where he gets these sleeping habits from, please witness:

But none of this wins the cake. Ree over at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman took the prize when her three year old decided it was naptime on the sidewalk. I could learn some stuff from her, she’s a smart lady. She knew better than trying to move him. She just enjoyed the peace and quiet for a while.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 4 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

About halfway through the drive, which is spotted with many interesting features including old growth forests and historic structures, there is a tailhead to Grotto Falls, a 2.4 mile roundtrip hike. Grotto falls is unique in that it’s the only waterfall you can walk behind in the Smoky Mountains.

We had thought early on about hiking to a waterfall and had debated going to Laurel Falls, but decided against it for several reasons. It’s the most popular waterfall and therefore the most crowded and the trail is paved which would not only add to the hotness of the day but also distract from the natural surroundings as well. So we opted for Grotto Falls and we were not disappointed.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 2 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

This is, of course, the exterior shot. We had three levels of balconies in the rear of the cabin and also a large porch on the front. The top balcony contained a hammock… ahh. We were very tempted to try sleeping outside and probably would have if not from fear of waking up in the dark of night covered in bugs. The middle balcony had a grill and a large hot tub (which we made good use of after a long day of hiking) and the bottom had a table and a walkway that led to the front.

Here is the view from the rear balconies. The website description called this a “waterfall” but it’s more like little rapids. The stream went through another series of rapids just out of sight and at night the rushing water could be heard… it was the perfect sound to lull us to sleep.

This was the pool table, which Chris was so excited about. He loves Billards and will use any opportunity to play. The table didn’t get used quite as much as he anticipated because we had other stuff going on, but it was neat nonetheless.

The kids really enjoyed the cabin. There was enough room that they could play and not be underfoot and not be squished right on top of one another. They could also find a quiet spot by themselves if they needed a few minutes of alone time. We’re really proud of them – they played together very well and were in a good mood the whole trip even though they went to bed late and got up early every day.

If you want to check out more pictures of the cabin or book one of your own just go to Gatlinburg Cabins. Ours was a two bedroom called “Creekside Charm”. It was a really pleasant rental experience.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 4 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

I was going to take the kids and ride the tram down while everyone else drove the vehicles and met me at the bottom but the tram filled up just a few people before us. The waiting area was windowless and stuffy and I was sweating within seconds. It was also very nosiy and the kids were not going to patiently wait 20 minutes for the next tram, nor did I think I could stand there in the dead heat much longer so we bailed on that idea.

Coming out into the parking lot I saw two vehicles that caught my attention – one was a gas-sucking Hummer with hunting stickers on it, whose driver had pushed over a huge concrete container while trying to park (if you can’t drive it then maybe you shouldn’t own it, but I digress). In direct contrast was the small car beside of it that had this sticker in the window, which I really dig:

Does anyone remember Ober Gatlinburg having a view? As in being able to look down on Gatlinburg and across over the mountains? I really think it used to but now the vegetation has grown up quite a bit and there is not the first picture worthy view that I could see. On the other hand I don’t remember the road up there being so twisty and steep, so maybe my memory is going. It’s very possible.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 2 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

We were still a few hours outside of Gatlinburg when we decided to take a coffee & restroom break. Beside the coffee shop was a nicely landscaped water garden with an arched bridge, a gazebo, and a pond. It inspired me to attempt something similar at our house one of these days.

I really dig this picture of lily pads.

A pond wouldn’t be complete without a resident frog.

This next picture will forever be known as the Quicksand Expression, as in there is no imaginable reason to make this expression other than if we’ve asked you to pause in the middle of sinking quicksand to let us take a picture. So much for a family photo in the Gazebo.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | One comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | One comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

We hiked up a short trail which leads into a small flat area surrounded by a rock wall. We aren’t sure if the wall is the remains of a foundation or if it was built expressly for the overlook, but it looks old and makes for a nice quiet spot in the woods. Perhaps the most spectacular thing about our picnic is the pictures I got of the kids. They’re usually running, pouting, rolling their eyes, hiding, wearing several pounds of dirt or otherwise unsuitable for a nice still shot. But miracles of miracles, I managed to capture a couple good ones during our stop.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

We guesstimate that this guy has been around for a long time. We’re no turtle experts but he’s probably very old. Don’t let appearances fool you, however! If Chris looks slightly worried it’s because he has reason to be. Just a few seconds after I snapped this shot the turtle snapped his head back and nearly got a finger. It was incredibly quick; if I’d blinked I would have missed it. I didn’t know turtles could move so fast.

After the kids got a good look, and fortunately before Chris lost a finger, he placed the turtle back in the grass away from the edge of the road. It looked as if he was on his way down to a stream. I hope he made it there safely.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | 2 comments

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.

A bearded iris near my front porch. My favorites are the purple ones, which bloom several weeks earlier than the yellow and white varieties. I didn’t get a good shot of them before they began to wither, which is unfortunate because they were beautiful. I look forward to their delightful fragrance every Spring – they smell just like grapes.

This is one of several small white flowers which are blooming on plantlets stems of my spider plant. I’ve never noticed these plants having flowers before but I understand they’re quite common when the plant is happy, so I must be doing something right. The blooms are the size of a quarter and last for about two days.

© imperfectgenius for Imperfect Genius, 2006. | Permalink | No comment

Add to del.icio.us

Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Life Without School.

If you are reading this without feed reader, then the above content has been reposted from the originating website without the author's permission or knowledge.