Chicapuba

What we are up to lately....

2011-03-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

Xander working a Kakuro puzzle.

XuMei on Minecraft.

playing with friends

Halo: Reach

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Minecraft

Little Big Planet 2

Kinect games

Kakuro

Pepakuro

Mario Brothers on Nintendo DSi

Gilmore Girls

Mythbusters

Extreme Engineering

Segway

Solar panels

Quidditch

Dodgeball

Skype with cousins and friends near and far

Phineas and Ferb

3rd Rock from the Sun

Nerf Capture the Flag

Puberty

Dungeons & Dragons

Horseback Riding, Natural Horsemanship

Fluxx

Uno

Monopoly

The Game of Life

Icehouse

Pigmania

Luck of the Draw

MadGabs

Apples to Apples

Spoons

B.S. (the card game)

Dictionaries

Bananagrams

Pokemon

Bakugon

Rubiks cube and other puzzles

Bucky balls

airsoft guns

target shooting

Legos

Lola and all things dog related

Evergreen Space and Aviation Museum

OMSI

The Hobbit

This is a partial list of things we have been interested in or doing for the last 9 months.

Facebook in your Face

2010-08-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

Blog? What blog you say? Perhaps I'll start blogging again. hmmm...perhaps. But only if I can get Facebook to accept my blog URl!! HAHA!

2009-11-08T21:55:00.001-08:00

Ever since I got my new phone I have stopped blogging--- it's easier to post directly from my phone to facebook or Twitter. But I miss the blog. And I still get a lot out of reading other blogs so I want to be able to blog from my phone. I will work on getting photos on here........

2009-11-08T21:38:00.001-08:00

I'm trying to send a picture to my blog from my phone--- it's not working ....

2009-11-08T21:37:00.001-08:00

Hello blog! Are you there?

Saying YES to Life

2009-07-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

Say YES to life (and even though I am tempted to say the universe and everything---that's not what I mean.)
Saying "YES" more......
an unschooling concept deceptive in it's simplicity. It doesn't mean say YES to everything all the time. It also doesn't mean be irritated with your kids for asking permission because, after all, aren't they suppose to be free to make their own decisions. It doesn't mean you have to say yes and feel like a martyr.
Saying YES has become increasingly challenging for me. I don't have resistance saying yes to more cherries, another Popsicle, a trip to the park.
Can I use the camera?
Let's watch Mork and Mindy.
Can we go to the pool? Well....actually I did rail against this request early in the summer when the temperature had not yet reached the necessary 80's for me to enjoy being sopping wet. I did not want to go and the more I thought about it the more I was mad that I "had to go". Then as I was grumbling about not wanting to go, Xander and XuMei said, "you don't have to go Mom."
And all my pissed off resentment melted away and I felt free and light as I walked up to the counter and said "2 kids and one adult".
Saying yes----not HAVING to say yes-- wanting to say yes.
SO this brings me to the things Chris and I have been saying No to.
Can we get chickens?
Can we get a dog?
No and NO.
Why?
It's complicated. My Mom lives with us and is in the last stages of her life. Hospice helps tremendously. But the emotional work of helping a loved one die is ours. And really we are not helping her die-- I am standing on the side of the living helping her live as fully and richly as she is able. It is the greatest privilege second only to welcoming new life.
As I wrap my head around this process I hold my breath waiting, wondering when it will happen, when will she pass? Will I have any warning? Who will find her? Can I really go on living around her? How to squeeze every moment out of the time we have left without seeming to be saying "good bye" every time I leave her presence.
So I keep saying no to bringing more living creatures into our family because it just feels like more work.
More food, more clean up, more stress, more worry, more expense, more more more......
more laughter, more fun, more smiles, more learning, more love.
More life.
All this time I have been saying no to life.
No more life! Dammit! We are trying to die here! We are trying to not be stressed and not be messy and die.
I am not saying that we should bring into our family indiscriminately any scruffy mutt, or squawking meat ball with legs that happens our way----but I am making strides toward expanding our brood. I am reading books, web sites, asking people about their experience, and softening my heart to the idea of a dog.
I am a quintessential cat lady. So a dog is a big stretch for me. And ultimately, like a lot of things about parenting, a tremendously healing stretch for me. I used to be afraid of dogs. I have learned that my fear is not of the dogs but of the owners.
And I don't HAVE to get a dog. I am making a choice. I am choosing to say YES...
to life!

To us and our good fortune!
Be happy, be healthy, long life!
And if our good fortune never comes,
Here's to whatever comes,
Drink la kayim, to life!
~~~Fiddler On the Roof

or this one from Diana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiOcW_YR1G8

2009-06-26T08:53:00.001-07:00

Just testing this text feature....
Testing 1,2,3
;-)

Life is Good and the amazing Schuyler Waynforth

2009-06-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

I started this blog about a year ago in response to attending my second Life is Good Unschooling Conference. I saw that blogging was a good way to communicate with other unschoolers and family and friends about this path we are on. It seems fitting to revisit this idea after returning from the 3rd Life is Good Conference.
The thing about Life is Good and Unschooling is so many other people have already said what I want to say and better that I just want to link their blogs and be done with it.
But there is something pressing me to be able to express this amazing transformation in my life and my children and my family. I am not trying to proselytize--it's been said before (I credit Sandra Dodd) and I'll repeat it here:
Not everyone can or should unschool.
But if you can....if you can see it as a possibility, if it calls to you at all.....I invite you to jump in!
The water feels great (and to my neighbor who has twice told me she thinks I joined a cult--the Kool-Aid is delicious!)

Last year I attended a circle chat called Peaceful Partnerships led by Beth Fuller who also moderates a yahoo group of the same name (click here) The question was asked, "Do you assume your partner is doing the best they can?"
WOW....I had to admit I didn't ---I often assumed the worst intentions of this man I loved. And then the question that really rocked my world, "Do you extend the same compassion to yourself that you want to be able to give to your children and partners?"
I came away from that conference learning, growing and changing. Also kicking and screaming and gnashing my teeth as I inevitably do whenever self-growth is the agenda. In the weeks that followed Schuyler Waynforth posted this profound bit in response to a poster having difficulties with her husband, on the Peaceful Partners Yahoo group:

"At the Life is Good conference Beth Fuller led a circle chat on Peaceful Partnerships. In it she asked who among believed that everyone was doing the best they could with what they had in any given moment. So, I'm going to ask you that question: Do you think your husband is doing the best he can with what he has at any given moment? It is a really important question. Or, maybe not, maybe it is just a question that really resonates with me. I don't do it, I don't believe it, or I didn't. I wasn't among the hand raisers. That question has been sitting with me for almost a month now (has it really been that long?), can I give people the benefit of the doubt to believe that they only and always are responding with the best they have in any given moment? Part of it is that I can't quite give myself that benefit of the doubt. Well, maybe that is all of it. Maybe if I could believe that even in those moments where I am the least of what I want to be, I am doing the best that I can with what I have, maybe then I can extend that trust to other people. " Right now, in front of the television, there are a slew of oragami papers and markers and paper dolls and other bits and bobs from Linnaea crafting one or another thing. As I peer closer I can see a bird she made and drawings she's drawn and planes she designed as toys for the kittens. I will probably go over and tidy it up in a little bit, to keep the pieces safer from folks walking around and to make sure that there isn't food for the ants. It takes only a moment to turn what you describe as rubble into a series of activities, of joyous moments. They are still lifes waiting to be interpreted. I can see the shadow of her sitting there and doing and making and talking and turning to Simon to show him or running to fly the plane she made in the hallway to see if it would fly well enough to engage whichever kitten it was designed to amuse, or calling to me to come and interpret whichever fold the origami book was describing onto the paper she was folding. It isn't rubble, it is her life. I've gotten in social hot water for being to forthright about my feelings about parenting and food, largely. The potential cost for my social faux pas was to Linnaea and to Simon and not to me. Because of that I've worked really hard to change my perspective and thus my approach. One is to recognize that I'm not all that concerned about the parenting, more about the child. That means I can be generous to the child without worrying about what their parent is doing, or at least not so much. It may not seem to make a lot of difference, but it kind of cuts them out of the picture. It allows me to worry less about the parenting and just be the adult I want to be when interacting with the child or children. The other thing that helps is to recognize how lucky I am that I get to do this life. I know that it's not just luck, it's a lot of work and thought and reading and breathing and patience and curiosity and exploration. But I have a life where I can be home or out and about with Simon and Linnaea in ways that so many other people I know just don't seem to be able to manage. And while I am sure if this life was something they really wanted they could achieve it, it is still because of all the wonderful gifts in my life that I am able to do this. It helps a lot to see my life as this wonderful joyous trip that I'm on. Sometimes I screw up, some moments I suck and grouch and say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Who am I to throw stones at glass houses? I get to live with my choices and so do other parents. I try and limit my expression of opinion to appropriate forums. Here is great. Here I'm asked what I think and for help and advice. In other people's homes and lives and company I don't have to be on call as an advisor. And when I'm asked for advice, I need to take it with a grain of salt, and be prepared not to have anything that I say be taken more as a momentary conversation.
Schuyler
http://www.waynforth.blogspot.com

I wrote her this bit:

Hello,
I met you briefly at Life Is Good and then again at Mary Gold's house and went bowling with you and your family. My name is Renee. I come with Xander, XuMei and Chris (spouse).
I want to tell you how much your words (quote from Peaceful Partnerships) meant to me this morning. They are perfect and I needed to hear them (again).
I have been reading several message boards/unschooling groups for the past year and I know you from your posts. Thank you for putting yourself out there, for admitting that sometimes you are "the least of what you want to be" (this is so helpful to me right now as I am being the least of what I want to be). And reminding me of the key element I came away from the conference knowing----I must extend the same compassion to myself as I expect to extend to my partner and children. Somehow in the jumble of life I forgot.
Thank you Thank you Thank you.
Renee Cabatic

And she wrote back to me:
Oh, yay! Of course I remember you. I was just, today, sitting upstairs on the bed looking through the Life is Good directory and seeing you thinking about Chris' dance mat gliding. And wondering about your secret blog. And thinking about your fantastic smile and how you danced at the barefoot boogie and your recharge time. Many things, all at once. I'm glad that what I wrote meant something to you. It means a lot to me to get to write it. It makes it feel more concrete, more directed, more future making of the now, if you know what I mean in my lack of clarity. Let's try again, if I write it, somehow, it becomes a truth that I want to maintain. There we go. By saying it aloud, by telling 196 (or how many members there are of Peaceful Partnerships) folks how I feel, I become obligated to try and make my words and my reality coincide. I like that sort of accountability.
Thank you for writing.
Yay!
Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com

So that brings me back to the reason I want to be able to write about unschooling. Even though I am on a path and changing and questioning all the time, "if I write it, somehow, it becomes a truth I want to maintain." I want that sort of accountability too!

Xander finding electrical wires in the floor of the Hotel lobby at Life is Good. Connections, making connections.

It's a BrickHouse!!

2009-05-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

and a brick apartment complex:and a brick castle:and a brick roller coaster:
and a brick marimba playing robot:
and a brick massage lounge chair:
and a brick orchard:
and a brick work of art:
and a brick space needle:
and a brick city block:
and a brick bonsai tree:
and brick cartoon characters:
and a brick Taj Mahal:
and a brick Eiffel Tower:
and tired Brickfest attendees:
Everything made from Legos. Except the people...unless they are Lego people....:)
I usually build simple square car like things with 4 wheels and then race them across the kitchen floor. I never even considered building a massage lounge chair.....I better get started!
What is the coolest thing you've made from Legos?

Backwards Blog Post

2009-05-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

Just a hint of Brickfest--more on that later. Because before I tell you that story I have to tell you this story:*
Grammie Pam and Grandpa Brian got Xander and XuMei an incredible experience for their 8th birthday,
Spending the night at the Oregon Coast Aquarium!
We learned plankton is any animal or vegetable that can't move against a current (so technically speaking that means I am plankton!:)
Using toothpicks, sponges, silly putty, beads and rubber bands we attempted to make a neutrally buoyant object:
Exploring the aquarium at night:
My Family behind the flounder tank:
Thrilled to pieces:
Somewhat skeptical of the prospect of sleeping in the tunnels of the deep shark tank:
We ended up not sleeping in the tunnel, which turned out to be good because it was super cold in there. We were in a conference room adjacent to the tank so got to experience the sharks without the cold.
Before that we started a bunch of seeds:
And before that we made a lemon battery:

And before that we had lunch at Sunny Side Up with our friends Shelley and Kara and Shelley's girls Lauren and Sara.
Shelley and I are training for the Portland Marathon in October and Kara is a tri-athlete so she is graciously helping us with ...well...everything (especially motivation). XuMei took awesome pictures of all of the restaurant,and all of us.
Here is Kara:Here is Sara:
And a very happy Lauren:
Before that we had a few warm dry days and I bought a bubble machine--which I SERIOUSLY LOVE A LOT. It makes me sooooo happy. It is like looking at a crackling fire or a lively fish tank. Mesmerizing, relaxing, and beautiful. The kids alternately try to catch the bubbles, whack the bubbles, shoot the bubbles and mist the bubbles. Here they were whacking with badminton rackets.
Before that we had The Incredible Hessel Family over to play. We had been watching a Food Network show called Chopped, where chefs compete to create the most delicious dishes using 3-5 ingredients of the judges choosing. I chose marshmallows, whipped cream, graham crackers, tapioca pudding and bagels.
Team Noah and XuMei and their creation:
Team Willow and Xander and their masterpiece:

Before that we had been reading these:
And so interested in chemistry, we made polymers:
Mad scientists negotiating:
AND Before all of that, the two most amazing people I know turned eight:
We had a pokemon party and ate Pikachu cupcakes:
Making the cupcakes was great. It was an assembly line. XuMei cut out ears, Xander colored them, I frosted faces and Xander put the ears on.
Before that I discovered my 2 sweet cats who pretend to hate each other cuddling in private:
And before that XuMei got glasses:
*Thanks to Dave Pilkey and the Adventures of Captain Underpants series for inspiring my extra crunchy backwards blog post .

Sushi making with cousin Sara

2009-04-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Sara is back from Japan and the whole family converged to celebrate her and all things Japanese. Especially food. And candy. Lots and lots of candy.
Xander made a Fire Nation roll:

Beautiful and delicious.

What we are up to:

2009-03-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

Tissue paper spring flowers.

Nerf dart modification and bullet making resulting in epic dart wars:
Come on down to the Marble Cafe:

Marble Cafe food wrapped To GO.
Making money. Notice the 100$ bill dude is less happy than the 1000$ dude. You should see the facial expression on the googolplex bill!!

XuMei made rainbow gift tags, Xander wore it as a bracelet.
Cascading dominoes on the kitchen floor:

The sun came out so out came the magnifying glasses:

"I got smoke!!!"--Xander

and fire!
After fire there is carbon (with a little addition of some artist's charcoal) they did finger print dusting:

CSI: Corvallis
XuMei and I are working on a song that follows the 6teen theme song only it's about being 8 and being unschooled:

If I'da known you were comin', I'da baked a CAKE!

2009-03-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

Xander and XuMei and their two friends made a cake. They did it without a recipe. They thought about what they know about food and cake and baking and they added ingredients. There was discussion and disagreement about what should go into the cake so some smaller cakes were made to allow for different combinations of ingredients.
Where to put the toppings? And which tasty treats on what sections of the cake?
What should the frosting be?
Xander took his cakes off the top to avoid the dairy.
Everything is better with sprinkles.
The cake was delicious, very sweet and filled with fun. Very little of it was actually eaten, though. The joy was in the making.
I was reminded of this cake baking day when I came across a page on Sandra Dodd's site called:
Cake as Sacrifice
fascinating stuff, cake....:)

Since this cake we have baked several other cakes. Lemon Cake, and Vegan Chocolate Cake most recently. The Vegan Cake was awesome and led to discussions about chemical reactions so now I am researching the best Chemistry set and finding more science experiments we can do at home. Xander is watching Robert Kampf --The Happy Scientist, BrainPop and various You-tube videos on chemistry and other science related topics.
XuMei is exploring commerce and economy. She made hundreds of bills and priced everything in our house. It is a store and a bank. She also created debit and credit cards. They have both become interested in very large numbers.
"Infinity is a concept Mom, not a number. What is the largest actual number."--Xander
So off I go to Google largest numbers and we are learning about googol, googolplex, Graham's number, large number notation, exponentiation, tetration.
All that and a little cake!

Monkey Platter!!

2009-03-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Sandra Dodd.

2009-02-16T12:19:00.000-08:00

It was a hair raising experience.
It made my hair stand on end.
The hair was flying.

Happy Birthday ChrisC!

2009-02-14T11:37:00.000-08:00

Thank you ChrisC. Thank you for making me laugh. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for giving me Xander and XuMei, and the opportunity to stay home and be with them. Thank you for being the kind of Dad I wish I had had, and by being that Dad healing me and so many old wounds.
Thank you for being silly.
Thank you for being smart and kind and sensitive.
Thank you for being funny and goofy and my own personal "lazy eyed psycho".
I laugh so hard when I see this picture of you...thank you..:)
Thank you for laying on the kitchen floor playing "HA HA" with us. This is all four of us laying with our heads in each others laps and then me trying to hold the camera up and take a photo of it.
I used to be sad and lonely and now I am not and a whole lot of that is because of you. Happy happy birthday!

Day ? Random Photos: Uzhorod, Ukraine

2009-02-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

Towards the end of our trip I started just taking pictures of everything. Things we walked past everyday. The view from our hotel window. I know how quickly life overwhelms me and how easily the memories would fade. I also knew I would miss things about Uzhgorod. And people, I especially miss the people.
I do not miss worrying about the water. Above is a photo of the inside of our water filter. It started out white. Every night Chris would pump and filter enough water for all of us to brush our teeth and drink the next day. We weren't certain what would happen if we drank the water but we had heard enough stories to be cautious. I forgot frequently and brushed with water out of the tap, also I drank soda and juice with ice, presumably from tap water, with no ill effects.
There were NO ILL effects from the alcohol--none. No hang overs, no headaches, nothing. I am not a huge drinker but I did a bit of celebrating and usually I suffer miserably but not with their good vodka and cognac. I tried to drink and eat local products and aside from catching a cold on the plane on the way home I was a healthy traveler.
In the small local grocery store there was a wall of vodka:

Through the window at the pharmacy next to the hotel:

The pharmacist would not let me take a picture inside the store so I tried to get it through the window. Look at the pink figures on the box slightly left of center. Look very closely. Enlarge it if you want. It is a medicine like Viagra. It made me giggle.
Below is a syringe on the cobblestone street just outside the pharmacy. Xander reached to pick it up. I yelped before he touched it and we talked at length about not picking up used medical equipment.

Dried fish in boxes at the market:
Fruit at the market:
The market was sometimes so busy I couldn't even get through the people. Here it was a slow day:
There was a building around the corner from the hotel that was under construction. We saw several construction projects underway through out the city and Chris and I were amazed at how almost all of it is done without the aid of power equipment and tools.
The view from the third floor of the Hotel Atlant.

Casino:

A church spire off in the distance:

XuMei and Xander walking toward the Philharmonic.

Day 8 & 9 or both: Uzhorod, Ukraine

2009-01-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

This was the first day of the "CITY DAYS"celebrations. It was the 1115 nth birthday of Uzhorod. Chris had gotten up and out early to play with the Maharimbas. The kids and I slept in and slowly worked our way to where I thought the band was playing. This is a town square, with a huge TV screen. Many performances were happening here but I didn't see any of the band members or anyone else we knew.
Local artizens displayed their wares for sale.
It was a cold and rainy day but we traipsed through town and over the river and finally we heard a sprinkling of marimba music! We found them!
They were playing for an enormous and very happy crowd.
So happy!
Logan, Theresa, Hailey, Hanks ear, and Chris. The man way behind and to the left of Chris is Igor the bus driver.
XuMei, Lisa and Xander dancing to the music.
Lisa is trying to get XuMei away from the very drunk man who is trying to take XuMei by the hand to dance. XuMei refused and was shocked that he wouldn't listen.
After the concert Lisa asked us what we were hungry for and we said "Hamburgers!" We walked very far and tried one place--they were full so went to the second best place in town to get burgers. This is such a great picture of Chris I wanted to add it but XuMei is tanking here because she is so hungry.
Lisa and Hailey happy we succeeded in finding burgers!
Xander is thrilled!
And here they are! First thing is they didn't have anything on the menu to go with them-- no fries, chips or potatoes of any sort. Only salads and pizza's! The buns were homemade and the burger patty fried to a blackened crisp with tons of vegetables on it--like cole slaw and cucumbers. But it was DELICIOUS!!!!
Happy girl with a much anticipated burger!
Yum!
In this shot you can see how overcooked my burger was.
Lisa, her sister and Hailey.
After lunch we walked through the crowds of City Days. The market was going strong. This butcher is weighing what looks like a quarter of a pig.
Inbetween the striped blue sweater and the shiney olive green coat you can glimpse a bit of an elaborately braided and decorated loaf of bread.
Bags of produce for sale.
Vegies and flowers.
Metal working was happening at the market also. Xander wanted to stay here all day but we were soaked and cold so only stayed for 1/2 and hour.

We went to the location of the next gig. The old Jewish synagogue turned music hall across town. They call it the Philarmonium. We were wet and bedraggled and had no one with us to prove our connections so they wouldn't let us in. So we watched a marching band arrive out front.
It was seriously cold and these girls were impressive.
Lisa and XuMei watching the show.
Finally other folks with the band and more translators showed up and we were abe to get in. Back stage some traditional dancers were preparing to perform.
The Maharimbas on stage at the Philharmonium.
The audience was full of swankly dressed dignitaries and city officials.
After the concert we walked across the bridge with Lisa and she showed us these locks that couples place here sometimes as part of their wedding ceremonies and sometimes just as a romantic jesture.

Then we walked down a very well known street in Uzhorod and looked at the sculptures.

Heart Moose and XuMei.
Heart Pig and Lisa.
That gorgeous church again. This church has been being built for like 10 years and is still under construction.
Then we saw a shop with belly dancing outfits hanging out front. XuMei has wanted one of these for a couple of months now. I haven't been able to find one in a little girl size and I don't sew. We went in and the proprieter of the store recognized Lisa as part of the band and showed us the cell phone video footage he took just that very morning of the Maharimbas at the City Days celebration. We laughed and he offered us a deal on this outfit:
Ira, Steve, Jolene, Peter, and Theresa winding down in the hotel.
Logan, Sara, Liesl, Jack and Hank.
I think Chris, Xander and XuMei are wrestling, but whatever they are doing they are entertaining us.
In the middle of our revery we hear loud booms and run to look out the window. Fireworks are going off and we can see them from the hall window.

OOOh, AAAAh, WOOOW......
I like this one, this one is my favorite.

Chicapuba

2009-01-26T09:17:00.001-08:00

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Day 7 or 8 or both: Uzhorod, Ukraine

2009-01-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

Meet the two most amazing people I know:

A sweet stray dog who hung out by us as we played at the exercise equipment "park".
An apartment building:
Chris wore his Utilikilt and I would walk behind him to see all the hilarious responses. Men in skirts are very rare.

A typical church spire.
XuMei wanted to go shopping.
Chris in between gigs. I love this picture of him. He is surrounded by Cyrillic writing. Totally incomprehensible to me......a little like him. Because of him I am in another country. Because of his love of music and membership in the Maharimba band, his hours spent planning and in meetings and his hard work my family got to travel and experience this amazing country and culture. Thank you ChrisC.
This became our favorite snack food. Pork Roast flavored chips. It was like the pill in Willie Wonka's chocolate factory. The one you pop in your mouth and then you experience the whole meal from pea soup to pot roast. Delicious.
At the Children's Palace auditorium we waited with friends and translators for an enormous show to start.
There was much speachify-ing and then many wonderful acts. Dancers, musicians, singers and more from the Rehabilitation Center, the Chaslivtsi Orphanage and other schools.

Acrobats:

Liesl celebrated her birthday in Ukraine.

She had a fabulous cake.
Balloons:
And a party in her room.

Did I mention the fabulous cake?

XuMei Horseback Riding

2009-01-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

XuMei curry combing Gabe.

First Ride.
Getting to know Gabe.
Giving Gabe some love.
Happy Girl on a curious Gabe.

Riding bareback led by Robin.

Hood River

2009-01-19T13:06:00.000-08:00

Xander and XuMei spent the night in Hood River. They spent hours with cousins David and Jesse building elaborate Lego cities, Zoos, Military Bases, and Space stations.

Elaborate Zoo:

Elaborate Military Base:

Then Uncle John drove us up Mt. Hood to a sledding spot called "Little John". Thanks for that since I don't have four wheel drive and haven't driven in the snow for 10 years.
The slope had been packed down hard and had moguls. Wicked, evil, icy, ass crunching moguls.
They didn't bother XuMei and Xander, probably because they are lite enough to not hit hard. But David walked up the hill grimacing and asked me, "Is it possible to bruise your butt?"

Even though David looks like a snow terrorist,
he makes a beautiful snow angel.

Traipsing through a winter wonderland.

XuMei with her cousin doggy Big Mac.

Freckly Foreigner

2009-01-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

This is my amazing niece. Check out her totally hot freckles. She is ordering food at a drive through for the first time. Later this month she leaves for Japan. She is going to blog about it here:
http://frecklygaijin.blogspot.com/

Santa, Tears and an Elephant

2008-12-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

I had a dream.
Santa came to town and he was a tiny elfin man with a big ass, red suit and always grinning. He said I was a brown-noser because I told him I believed in him and he could see right through me.
Cut to next scene:
Santa has turned into a stuffed elephant. I cry tears that drip onto the elephant and it turns back into Santa.
Then Santa sprinkles blue sparkly dust on my nose and flies away giggling.
What to make of this?
For entertainment I reviewed The Dream Book: Symbols For Self-Understanding by Betty Bethards.
The book had the following as the entries in the Dream Symbol Dictionary:

Santa- A humorous way of saying a gift is being presented to you.

Cry-Release of stress and tension, frustration; if tears of joy may be resolving a problem, working through blocks; or emotional release from appreciation of beauty, integration of life, filling up with wonderment.

Elephant-Powerful part of self which can be gentle, helpful or destructive. Destructive only when frightened, so if elephant is angry, examine fears. Also, keep the positive lessons for growth, forget the negative dross of experience; you do not have to remember everything, even though the elephant never forgets.

It makes perfect sense to me!!!:)

I'm In Love With 2 Italian Guys.

2008-12-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

Their names are Mario and Luigi.
They're runnin' through my head.
One of them wears green, the other red.

Brush with fame.

2008-12-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

I have been seeing Twilight at the theater as a form of cheap enjoyable therapy. So I asked some of my friends to join me. Christine has long loved her imaginary boyfriend Brad Pitt and lo and behold there he was at the theater. A mission to acquire the enormous cardboard Pitt head was hatched. I would pull the van up to the side door and Christine would grab it and run down the hall, throw it in the van and we'd be off. Luckily, Christine asked the theater management if she could just lawfully have the Paper Pitt and they said , "YES!"
After the Twilight credits rolled a woman in the front stood up turned around and asked everyone how many times had we seen the movie?
I didn't answer. I hung my head in shame.
She was curious because she is the proud Mama to one of the more prominently featured extras. She pointed to him as he was leaving. Like any good crazy stalker fan I ran after him. When he came out of the restroom we exclaimed! He's the guy who sits behind Bella in Biology and whose locker is right next to hers. We asked if we could have a photo. I managed to bite my tongue and not ask what it was like to be that close to Robert Pattinson. Gah, I embarrass even myself.
Turns out his dad works with my friend Cassie's husband (or some such six-degrees-of-separation-small-town-small-world sort of thing). His name is Tyler Nordby.
To read more about Tyler click here.
To find out if you too could be an extra click here.

Christine, Me, Tyler Nordby and Cassie.

Day 6: Uzhorod,Ukraine: October 1st--My Birthday

2008-12-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

We started this day with a tour of the Rehabilitation Center.
Then we went to the Chaslivtsi orphanage. T.O.U.C.H. sponsors many of the children who live here. We set up with lots of help.
A courtyard at the orphanage.

T.O.U.C.H. people and students from the orphanage:
The boy in the red shirt told me he loved to sing and we exchanged addresses. He wants to see the U.S.
The children here were disproportionately boys and Roma. They were eager to help. Here they help Igor run the ramp on the back of the van.
Yesterday Chris lost our Lactaid, so Xander had only tea for breakfast. He was also tired and overwhelmed by the orphanage. The look in his eyes says it all.

Afterwords we went back to our hotel to decompress.

Xander, Lisa and XuMei were giggling and wrestling. I think Xander is stealing a kiss!

Logan, Liesl, Ira, Sara and the back of Hailey and Xander at dinner.
Steve, Lisa, XuMei, Chris, Jack's arm and Jolene.
This is NOT Potatoes. It was listed as "bacon bits" on the menu. It is delicious chunks of pig fat. Yum.

Hailey, Vita and Logan ordering drinks at a club we went to to celebrate my Birthday.

Vita translating for the crazy Americanskies.
What the hell did you order for me??!?!?!?!??!
I am supposed to do all these shots in quick succession. The bar tender looks at me and asks, "Are you ready?"
NO! I am not ready to do 14 shots of syrupy pink booze!?!?!?
"Sure." I say.
But I only managed to do 2 before I shook my head.
After that bar we went to another swanker place on the other side of town.

Logan and Vita behold the awesome-ness of the Hookah!
I am laughing at the absurdity of me trying to inhale. Of course, don't be fooled--I know HOW to inhale, the problem is I have a history of getting the pipe and then beginning to tell a long story prompting my college friends to chant, "Puff. Puff. PASS!!!" at me.
Logan shows us how it's done.

Hailey, Liesl and I feeling the delicious effects of the hookah.
Theresa gives Logan a noogie---I hope my kids will be willing to hang with me at a club when they are older.

Before the Hookah.After the Hookah.

A parting shot of the golden dolphin faucet in the ladies room.
(I seem to have a penchant for bathroom photos)

Day 5: Uzhorod, Ukraine or "Am I on Tour with the Beatles or What?"

2008-12-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

We started the day by going to the Pudiun to pickup the instruments. At this point in the trip the culture shock started to wear off and I began to see all the things that reminded me of home. I would look at something and realize I could be back in Oregon under the same fluffy cloud studded blue-ness.
At Public School #14 we set up the marimbas and immediately attracted attention.
The kids in the school had a fair amount of freedom and so they began mulling around excited by the change in the routine.
XuMei and Xander are practicing the piece the Maharimbas were teaching at the Master Class.
The school.
The play equipment was dangerously high and set over concrete.
Notice the blue/gray fence around the back of the grounds. Read more about it here. Or here:

C-USCA SUPPORTS PUBLIC SCHOOL #14 WITH A NEW FENCE

The Corvallis-Uzhgorod Sister Cities Association board recently voted to approve the allocation of $9000 to purchase a new fence at Public School #14 in Uzhgorod. Currently, the playground for the school is unfenced and used as a pathway for the public. This often creates an unsafe environment for the children when some of those public members may be drunk or hostile. The fence will give these children room to play soccer and other sports in a safe location. We thank the C-USCA for this support of Public School #14.
Just on the other side of this gate is a permanent Roma camp.

XuMei and this little girl started smiling at each other and playing games. All without a single word.
Oh it was fun to be able to climb high!
Happy girls.
My monkey boy!
The school administrators invited us in for a tour and to show us their classrooms. Here the students demonstrated their English skills. They told us they used to teach German in the school but switched to English when the T.O.U.C.H. (Take One Ukrainian Child's Hand) Program began funding them.

They danced for us.
This young woman is 16. Her Grandmother sat next to me. She was so proud. Jack (band member) told us he heard that she was betrothed to be married.
When we went back outside to play I noticed these guys smoking on the playground.
I didn't know what they were saying but it seemed like they wanted the little guy to leave and he wouldn't.
When the band started playing the atmosphere changed.
These three cuties caught my eye. They were shy at first.
But soon they warmed up to the fun of the music.
The Maharimbas.
The energy was electric. The music made people move. It dissolved fear and made people smile.
Pretty soon everyone was dancing.
Dr. Rampton and his wife Alice (co-founder of T.O.U.C.H.) did the west coast swing.
More T.O.U.C.H. folks swinging.

XuMei and Vita smiling down on the crowd.
After we played for them they fed us:

This is the Roma camp just outside the gate of the school.
The kids seem to just wander from home to the school whenever they want.
We packed ourselves and the marimbas into a van borrowed from the Rehabilitation Center. The driver, Igor, was always helpful and friendly while trying to corral all of us and our stuff.
Hailey, Jack, Chris and Liesl above. Jolene squished below.
XuMei, Xander, Theresa, Vita, and Ira laughing while Igor navigates the streets of Uzhorod.
Meanwhile back at the Padiun, the walls were covered in student artwork.
While Xander and XuMei grew increasingly comfortable here I perused the art.

The "Master Class".
Sara is showing a rhythm to 3 students while Lisa translates. The music was so infectious that random people who were passing by would begin playing. There were moments when band members weren't sure who had paid to take the class and who hadn't. Logan and Liesl with 5 students on a marimba:

The music had a pull but so did Logan. He began to have a gaggle of girls around most of the time.
Then while the instruments were transported to the next gig we walked along the Uzh.
It looked so much like Corvallis. I could just pretend like I was home. The same flowers, the same trees, the same sky.
The river.
Approaching the park where they will play.
Set up and begin.
This was a restaurant with outdoor seating next to a park with rides. The giant blow-up slide was up and running but all the other rides were closed. We slid and slid, laughing and sweating until XuMei realized she'd rubbed the skin off her ankles!! Time to take a break and listen to the music.
The band was exhausted but Hank managed to ramp up the energy one last time.
They fed us bolgrach and cognac to warm us up and we all had a fabulous time.
Borsht is a very traditional soup and we had plenty of it and it was delicious but I had never heard of Bolgrach and loved it. Also it was hard to find a recipe for it. So here it is:

BOGRACH

-- 2 onions, chopped
-- 1/4 cup cooking oil (peanut preferred)
-- 2 Tbs paprika

-- 2 lbs. beef, cubed
-- salt

-- 1 Tbs caraway seed
-- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
-- 3 Tbs warm water

-- 1-2 lbs. potatoes cubed
-- 1 bell pepper, chopped
-- 1 medium tomato, chopped

1. Saute onion in oil until soft, lower heat,
add paprika, stir well and heat 5 min.
2. Add beef, season with salt and cook until meat
takes on color and juices evaporate
3. Add caraway, garlic, ant water, cover, simmer
slowly stirring occasionally, up to 2 hours.
Add water if necessary in small amounts.
5. Add potatoes and simmer 10 min.
6. Add peppers and tomatoes and simmer 5 min.
7. Add just enough water to just cover meat and potatoes,
cook until meat and potatoes done.

Total cooking about 3 hours.

From: "Sabotin Peace Park Cook Book"
www.sabotin.net/pdf/cookbook_kochbuch_ENG_DEU.pdf
(Thanks to Chris, Steve and Jolene)

I don't think they mean "ant water" in step 3. At least, I hope not.

Every night the band would meet in the hotel conference room to go over the next days schedule. Usually the kids and I would just hang in our room but tonight they wanted to see what Daddy did so we went to the meeting.
The band meeting:

Meetings are meetings no matter the country. :)

Day 4: this when it all starts to blur together

2008-12-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

Maharimbas
Corvallis + Uzhorod

They played for the Linguistic Gymnasium.
The students sat with rapt attention. Some recorded the performance on cell phones.
Vita took pictures.
Then we walked the boardwalk along the Uzh River to the Padiun. A building that houses all the "extra curricular" activities.
It was here that the instruments would live for the duration of our visit and ever after. We would be here every day for a "master class". The band taught a group of young people to play marimbas.
The building was painted with graffiti where ever it could be reached.
Whoever said graffiti isn't art? Don't be a tool.
The Padiun had a playground. It was rows of exercise equipment.

XuMei, Xander and I exercised everyday.

We went to a traditional Transcarpathian restaurant for dinner. Steve, Lisa, Jolene, Xander and Chris try to decipher the menu. We are grateful (as always) for Lisa's help.
This was translated on the menu as a "Young Lady".
It was chicken wrapped around ham and cheese served over rice with raisins, dates and cherries. I think.....
Sharing a meal with a group of people in a place where none of us speak the language gets riotously funny when it comes time to divvy up the bill. Who got what and owes how much and in which currency? Oh, and how many beers have you had???? Help!!!
The menu gets opened and money is flying and somehow we manage to pay the bill and tip the waitress --I hope!
While waiting for the grown-ups to figure it out Xander made hand animals.
Hank fed the hand animals cutlery.
We walked back to the hotel and stopped at a fancy pastry/cake shop to order cakes for my and Liesl's birthdays.

Imperfect JOY

2008-11-28T10:02:00.001-08:00

My Aunt Rose sends me about 10 e-mail forwards a day-- I rarely forward them on and never worry about the commands at the end---but this one had a line in it I wanted to share with my niece Sara and here:
"But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect."

I am thinking it's like building muscle---when you work hard --it hurts--but that is a sign that new muscle fibers are growing. Becoming bitter is like refusing to move again.
I am growing new heart fibers---it hurts but my heart is growing.
oh, it really hurts...

Day 3: Uzhorod, Ukraine: Sleepy Day

2008-11-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

By the third day we were all very sleep deprived. Chris had to be with his band, but the kids and I could sleep in, so we did. The trouble was we had no cellphones, did not speak the language, and knew next to no one. While this gave me a tad bit of anxiety it was actually quite nice to be in circumstances that required all of my brain capacity so that none was left to ruminate on my personal melancholia.
We wondered through the quaint town coming to this square where an enterprising business person had set up a car and bike rental service for kids. For 5 hrvnya per 5 minutes we rented bikes and terrorized random passerby with our superior driving skills.

There was a festive holiday mood on the stone boardwalk. The banners hang over the walking bridge across the Uzh River.
Later we went to a museum. There was an open air portion, a castle and a small art gallery and souvenir shop. Chris and I really liked this piece. The Mama is so happy.

Xander liked the embroidery.

We strolled through a beautiful outdoor museum with housing and buildings from Ukraine's history. XuMei noticed that this, and other log cabins looked just like the ones described in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House Books. I just finished reading these books to Xander and XuMei last year and we had wished we could go see the museum in Missouri where Pa's fiddle and other artifacts still remain. In Ukraine we saw wheat grindstones and plows, yolks, bedsteads, hitching posts, even a fiddle. How ironic that we went 5683 miles (straight as the bird flies) to visualize tools, and objects from our country's short history. Photography was not permitted inside the buildings.
A wooden church spire with the telltale onion shape.
This was probably a chicken coup but it was fun to imagine that little people lived in this tiny hut in the backyard of one of the cabins.
Iryna, M.D. and Vice Director of the Rehabilitation Center of Uzhorod, invited us all back to her house for dessert and aperitifs.

Steve, Hank, Sara, Jack, Theresa and Logan above, with Vita on the end below.Ira worked very hard to arrange our Tour of Uzhorod, set up gigs, keep us in translators, feed and entertain us all.
Her home was beautiful, the walls covered, salon style in art her father had collected through the years. Liesl, Hailey and Jolene heard the story of the acquisition of the gold mirror behind them. I believe it may have been payment to Ira's Father for services rendered. He was also a medical doctor.
Ira lives with her parents, both retired doctors, and teenage daughter as well as this little munchkin named Jennifer Lopez!

XuMei took this photo of me. Can you tell, I liked the cake.?

Cheddar Ice

2008-11-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

I loved reading the books and so easily enjoyed getting wrapped up in the delicious distraction of the movie hype for Twilight.

Twilight the movie had the perfect amount of schmaltz and coolness. It was cheddar on ice.
Thoughts on the movie:
Casting Cedric Diggory as Edward was hilarious at first,

ridiculously sexy in the end.
Oh, yea...and there is a really cute girl in it too.

Alice was perfect.
Badly cast was Doogie Howser as Carlisle Cullen.
The special effects were comical---Edward running could have just as easily been sped up footage of Wiley coyote.
But all in all I am always up for some good girly porn and this is it.
I consider it a feminist protest move to see the movie as many times as my pocketbook will allow. I suggest anyone who is into it do the same. Let's send a message to the Hollywood powers that be to make more movies geared toward women that are sexy, funny, and entertaining.

Thanks to Mary for reminding me that I can close my eyes during creepy trailers.
Kat for the awesome title.
And Cassie for being as into this silly movie/book dealio as I am and helping me to not feel like the biggest dork in the theater and for reading the series so I can obsess with someone about it.
And Sara......thanks for being you!

Day 2: Uzhorod, Ukraine

2008-11-16T09:46:00.001-08:00

We all tried to sleep as much as we could that first night even though our bodies told us it was the middle of the day. I counted the minutes until morning and I was happy to discover the hotel Atlant had a generous continental breakfast:

juice (random fruit-pineapple, papaya, orange)
coffee or tea
apple, cheese, or sausage stuffed crepes
eggs: fried (sunny-side up and not cooked through--ew!) or soft boiled
hot dogs (just laying, all lonely and bunless, on a plate with a bag of mustard on the side)
slices of ham (from a can) & cheese
cucumbers & tomatoes
coleslaw
butter (lots of butter)
bread (a whole loaf)

The tour guide book said, "Don't try to take pictures of the security guards/police/military." So I waited to snap this shot of them from behind. There was a bank on every block and one of these fellows in front of it. They also patrolled the city and told the farmers (usually older women) who had dropped a sheet on the sidewalk and put out their wears to "pack it in".
Even though we saw plenty of police/security types there seemed to be a general disregard for the law. A kind of "Wild, Wild, West" mentality.
I noticed teenagers drinking beers openly on the boardwalk and said, "Oh, that's not legal in the U.S."
Our translator, Lisa, said, "It's not legal here either."
That first morning, we walked a couple blocks to the grocery store. It was small but well stocked and swarming with people. The deli counter had a line about 10-15 people long. The prepared foods were delicious and many families used this as a method to reduce work in their home kitchens. It was described as Ukraine's version of fast food. When women work all day outside the home they don't go through a drive through for dinner, instead they bring home traditional fried cutlets, meatballs, fish, and vegetables from grocery store deli counters.
At one point a fish jumped out of someone's hands and flopped around on the floor--Xander was excited by how fresh the fish was.
The store had a bulk section in the frozen foods.
It had many choices of flavored whip creams:

I wanted a small amount of milk and could not find anything that looked like a milk carton. There was lots of dairy but I was not sure if it was kefer, yogurt, cream or some other dairy product. I checked my travel guide and found the word for milk: moloko. A kind man who spoke English helped me to see that the moloko had been right there all along. In bags. Bags of milk.
The lowest fat percentage was 2.5% (I am used to skim--XuMei loves cream so was thrilled) .
The cashiers were all seated. We had to pay extra for plastic bags, most people bring their own bags. As we left we noticed this playground across the street from the grocery store:

Walking home from the store:

When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by everyone frantically trying to put the marimbas together so that photos could be taken of them and delivered to the border crossing. They still weren't convinced these "instruments" should be let into their country. They stared putting them together in the hotel lobby but quickly realized that wasn't going to fit so we moved out into the street. We were quite a spectacle.
View from across the street:
For those of us who are familiar with marimbas, this sight might not garner our attention, but for Ukrainians, who have never even seen marimbas, this scene stopped traffic. People pulled out their cell phones to take pictures, shook their heads, stopped and stared.
We packed up the marimbas and headed off to our first gig. It was in front of the equivalent of a city hall where weddings happen. We were met by some Roma children. Many Ukrainians call them Gypsies. This was a powerful and difficult moment for us, Xander and XuMei had never met a homeless person and had not realized that there could even exist homeless children. Everyday after this we packed up the extra bread and meat and cheese from breakfast and handed it to the first homeless people we saw.

Our new friend, Kate. She is the granddaughter of Katherine, an English teacher at the Linguistic Gymnasium (a local high school):

Kate is learning English. Katherine is wonderful and treated us like old friends, inviting us to lunch and a play date for the kids. I felt like I'd known her my whole life.
They played as we waited for the happy couple to emerge married. Apparently the violinist is the usual wedding day entertainment, so we kinda took his gig. He played along with the music anyway:
Kate, Xumei and Xander jumped and played as we waited.
And then there they were! A more resplendent wedding I have never seen. The glitz and glamour was top notch. Hours and hours as well as thousands of dollars had been spent on hair and make-up alone.
It was fun watching the expressions change on the bride and groom as they realized the Maharimbas were playing for them.
Break for editorial input:
(as I write the last sentence Chris thinks it should be:
It was fun watching the expressions on the bride and groom change as they realized the Maharimbas were playing for them.
What do you, dear reader, think????)
XuMei has always loved weddings. She asked for and received a wedding dress for her 3rd Christmas. She loved this wedding.
Everyone who attended dressed to the nines as well.
After the wedding, the kids, Steve (husband to band member Jolene), and I went to a nearby park to play.
XuMei asked why there were empty bottles and other garbage at the park. We played "soccer"-football with a bottle cap and tried to decipher some political posters.
Then we walked the board walk that runs along the Uzh River.
And we were invited to sit in on a master dance class. Somehow it had gotten out that Chris and I like to Salsa dance. We have been taking Cuban Salsa lessons for about a year with a group in Corvallis called Rumbanana. Ira (Vice director of the Rehabilitation Center and one of the organizers of gigs for the Maharimbas) asked us to give a short demo of our dancing! Yikes!
These dancers were athletes, and very professional. I felt a little silly dancing in front of them. But it was fun to show them a style of dance that is more "down and dirty" than the ballroom style Salsa they were familiar with.
After we walked back to the hotel we found out that we were going to have dinner with a local family. In the photo below, Kate is telling me that this street is usually a bustling street market. The gray building on the right opens up and is loaded with merchandise.
Then we had dinner at Magda's house. It was wonderful. Magda and her son Roma hosted. Roma is a music teacher and played guitar for us beautifully. He also showed us a music video of his band, 9 Caliber . The gist of the song called Mamma-Mia, was about how all people (rich, poor, Gypsy, Ukrainian) are one under God.
Then Magda sang a song for us, while Roma played. They stopped and bickered before finishing the song. Vita laughed. Vita then translated that the song was about a mother and grown son having a disagreement.
In Ukraine, hosting is very different then what I am used to. Especially since I am notoriously bad at hosting. I always mean well. I might remember to ask if a guest would like something to drink, but I rarely remember to actually get it. I am more the "feel-free-to-act-like-this-is-your-own-house" type host.
But in Ukraine, everywhere we went, we felt well hosted. Drinks were poured before our glass was empty, food was abundant and delicious, and conversation flowed, in spite of the language barrier. Magda's was no exception, and she shared with us my first taste of cognac. Uzhorod has a cognac factory that just happens to be where Magda works. So along with the conversation, the cognac flowed. There is a tradition in Ukraine that even numbers of flowers, toasts, drinks, etc. are reserved for funerals. Happy occasions must be celebrated with odd numbers. After my first shot, I had to have a second because it was delicious and one is not enough, but after my second, I had to have a third. After the third my judgment was gone, so I had a fourth and than tradition dictated I have a fifth. After that I really don't know.....:)
I do remember one thing: Magda's toast.
Her wish for all of us: Love.
Not like the sun, because it is to hot and can burn,
not like the moon because it is too cold,
rather like the sky.
Endless.
From left to right:
Vita (translator who just got back from a year in Philomath), Magda, her son Roma, Steve (husband to band member mentioned above), Jolene (band member), Chris, and in the front XuMei and Xander.

Magda must have cooked all day. Xander said the food was better than a restaurant. This is an enormous compliment from him. I couldn't stop eating (and didn't want to try). But I exclaimed that I was unable to leave any of the delicious food on the table! Magda told us a Ukranian folk story/joke/parable about a woman who goes to the doctor and asks for help because she eats everything her husband and children leave on their plates because she can't bare for anything to go to waste. The doctor suggests to the woman that she get a pig to help her. The woman gasps in horror and says, "Then I'll have to finish the pigs leftovers, too!!!"
Magda invited her twin granddaughters over to play. They brought their best friend.
Biatta, Kate and Renatta. (Sorry--it might be Renatta, Kate and Biatta!!:)

Even with very little English, the kids were playing in no time. At one point the girls insisted that Vita translate the directions for a game to Xander and XuMei even though Vita tried to tell them she was sure XuMei and Xander would know how to play Hide-and-Seek.

I can hardly believe this was only one day, and I am sure I left a bunch out. Even though we were busy all day we still went back to the hotel and struggled to fall and stay asleep for what was our usual daytime hours.

Just a note

2008-11-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

A friend asked me if I was ever going to Blog again.
I am.
I am practically salivating at the chance to post more about our trip, and Halloween, and balancing peacock feathers, and Mary's Mitsy gift, and Xander's new metal detector, and XuMei's making her own money, and buying her own Webkins, and Obama's election (YAY!!!) and healing and ...and...and...you get the picture.
But my life has gotten bigger then my Blog.
My dear Mother became horribly ill and all of our lives have changed/are changing as we figure out this new chapter.
So until things slow down, please hold on---check back later.
Thanks...

Goodbye Hungary. Hello Ukraine!

2008-10-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

The night before we left Budapest the Hostel was hopping. The kids slept through it luckily, but Chris and I spent much of the night wondering if we should go see what all the ruckus was about. We could hear some of the other band members in the "lobby" . The Lobby of the hostel was open to the sky and on some evenings turned into a pub. When it rained they threw a tarp over the tv and let the rain wash the smoke and dust away. If the hand written sign said "Beer tonight"...well, there was beer tonight!
The next day we heard some of what happened. Apparently some British fellow was so drunk he didn't seem to notice or care that he had sliced his arm on broken glass. Theresa and Logan attempted to help him in spite of his drunken buddies harassing him.
After that evening we needed to get out of the hostel so we walked to the park at the corner. We ate delicious pastries for breakfast. Oh the pastries! Everything from cheese, fruit, chocolate and even bacon. Slices of bacon sticking out of a croissant. Delicious.
We learned to say "thank you" in Hungarian. "Cosonom"--pronounced "Koh-see-numb". We said it often and people would smile at our attempts to communicate.
We played again at the park near the hostel.
After we played and got some energy out we had to cram ourselves, our luggage and the enourmous instruments into 2 vans.
The van driver, who spoke English, was told to transport 13 people, their luggage and "a few small instruments". Sorry Igor!
Xander and XuMei sat on laps and we played ESP , Safari, our version of 20 questions---(which we call a million questions) and then sat tense and waiting at the border crossing. The trucks sat in long lines to cross the border. Easily 5-10 miles of waiting trucks on either side of the border crossing. A Ukrainian women named Zita, who is part of the Sister Cities Program, met us there and helped to explain what the instruments were and why we were bringing these enormous black tubes and wooden crates into their country. Zita arranged that we could go on to our hotel but the instruments would have to come back to customs for further "processing". It took about an hour, not long really, but oh so hideously long to 7 yr old's stuck for hours already in a tight van. Thankfully Zita gave the kids some snacks. Introducing us to the weird and wonderful flavors in Ukrainian packaged foods. Onion crackers and pudding filled mini croissants --yummy. And only the tip of the iceberg of what was to come.
As we drove through the country side we were struck by how much it looked exactly like Corvallis but with blacker soil. Liesl and Jolene said it looked just like Iowa (where they are from) The outskirts of the city were speckled with red tile roofed, single story houses. Each had little gardens with chickens, goats and occasionally a cow crossing the street. Beautiful and varied metal trellises hung heavy with grapes, green, red and black. Then we started to see apartment buildings, square, concrete and gray (soviet era?) some as much as 10 stories high. The balconies had plants and flowers, potted gardens and clothes hung out to dry. Then cobblestone streets.
We had been expecting a city about the same size as Corvallis but Uzhorod was much bigger. About 3 times the population and with a more big city feel.We arrived in the evening at the Hotel Atlant. This lobby became our unofficial gathering place, where we all met to go to meals, tours, gigs and other activities. The receptionist gave us our keys and answered our excited questions but she never smiled.

Our luggage in the lobby. The instruments had to go back to customs as they still were not quite cleared. These were moments when we wondered if we would get to play music at all.
This was our first room. It had 2 rooms, this was our living room.

One room had a big bed and the other this couch. Chris and Xander, who can figure out anything, couldn't figure out how this couch turned into a bed. The next day, housekeeping had turned it into a bed for us.....:) Not that it mattered-- we mostly all slept together, using the couch as overflow for whoever got tired of sleeping like kittens.
One view out of our Hotel window. The buildings were old but covered with neon signs in Cyrillic. I had to ask or investigate to figure out what the stores were inside. Many of them were banks, shopping centers (for clothes especially) and casinos. The streets were cobblestone and the pothole you can see in the picture below was repaired slowly without power tools.
Yay --we love exchanging money. Here in Ukraine it was hrvnya. Pronounced "hu riv nee ya", roll the "r" like in Spanish "Gracias". 5 to 1, which initially made us feel very rich but we soon found that most consumer goods were priced to make up the difference. Food was inexpensive, though. So a pair of jeans might be $50 in the U.S. was 250 hrvnya in Ukraine, a mocha would be $4 U.S. but only 5 hrvnya. But to be fair the size of the mocha was not like one in the U.S. I like this though, since we had no way to reheat leftovers anyway, small serving sizes suited us.

We met a wonderful young woman named Vita who had just returned from a year in Philomath! She suggested an American themed restaurant called Kactus. The theme was Wild West. The door handles were guns and the walls were covered in Native American art. We got a nonsmoking room, thankfully, because the air was thick with smoke. The band was jazzed to finally be in Uzhorod, hungry, and bored with waiting for the food so they lined up the water glasses and started tapping them with knives to play a tune. Sara started it but it turned into a joint project with everyone adding a bit of their talent to the mix. Chris and Xander made the crystal glasses sing by running there wet finger around the edge. Even if the marimbas had never made it in to the country these folks would have figured out a way to make music.

The menus were entertaining everywhere we went. For more of this sort of thing check out Engrish. It has more from Japan, but a few good ones from the old eastern block countries and one from Malev airlines (the Hungarian airlines we flew on between Amsterdam and Budapest)
Fur Coat of cheese turned out to be a pile of sour cream and cottage cheese with shredded cheddar sprinkled on top. As far as Xander was concerned this ruined perfectly good fish and shrimps.
Oh, I so wanted to order the Fried Bath-houses with piknica! Vita was so busy translating everything I never did find out what this was. (If Vita or Lisa are reading this, please tell us in the comments section---I am still dying to find out!)
Oh, and while your at it could you tell me what this sign is saying? I saw it in the WC, or Water Closet.
I think it says, "Did you remember to Flush the Toilet?"
Any other guesses? Place your bets in the comments section!
Lisa and Vita will set us right and who ever comes closest wins a tin of duck liver pate!!!!

Budapest: the next day

2008-10-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Despite taking "NO Jet Lag" Homeopathy every 2 hours of our flight, we still had jet lag. When Chris touched my shoulder to wake us to join the others on a bus tour of the city I was more than grouchy,
"Why are you touching me?"
So we slept ... and slept....and slept. Sixteen hours later we thought it best to get out of our nest and join the living, lest we miss the city completely.
There was a park just around the corner from our hostel.

We marveled at being half way around the world, the similarities, the differences, not being able to understand a word anyone said or anything written. We relaxed into our justifiable culture shock.
Chris loved this:
notice the metal cone at the base of the water fountain (yellow topped do-hickey on the left)----it would stop the erosion that normally occurs where the water drips.
We were on the Pest half of the city and Chris had planned a walking route down Andrassy St. to see a castle. We were all excited to see a "real" castle. The name of the castle is either Mezogazdasagi or Vajdahunyad vara, my memory and the map are unclear! On the way there we saw this bike and thought of our Uncle Gabe:
Andrassy St. is the shopping district--um....yeah, not so much for the small town Cabatics. We are not Guchi, Luis Vitton, or Armani people. It struck me as similar to any big city- like New York, City.
It was pouring rain and yet the architecture seemed suited to the dreary day.

We liked this ornate doorway and rode the lions, drank Fanta, and rested.We played tourist and took pictures of any and every little thing.Pretty flowers, in the background the castle door:

This building sat across the moat. It looks as if they flood it and when temperatures freeze, have a skating rink.
From the other side of the moat we looked back at the castle and threw our snacks to some ducks.

I tried to save some of our snacks but the ducks in Hungary were hungry and who wants to eat old cheese and crackers when there are delicious pastry shops at every corner?
The cars were cool and small, old Mitsubishi vans, Mercedes, and Audi's but this "American" monstrosity stuck out as odd and funny:
The Danube (or Duna) was beautiful at night. Across the river the lights of Buda twinkled and reflected on the water. (Hannah was here!)

Liesl and the kids became very close through the trip and here Liesl shared a story of the history of Budapest that she learned earlier during her tour of the city. It was a horrible story of a "bad guy" being rolled down one of the majestic hills of Buda in a barrel full of nails. ouch.

After walking all over the city we were hungry. And there is nothing more fun than being hungry, having hungry kids and blisters and not speaking the local language. Finally we found what appeared to be a pizza place near the Danube. Ordering was always comical as we tried desperately to convey through sign language and charades that we wanted food with NO CHEESE or DAIRY of any kind for our lactose intolerant boy! Lactose intolerance, we discovered, is not a common condition in these parts.
XuMei got mint chocolate gelato after her teeny tiny pizza. Xander got a tart made from "Forest fruits" after his facsimile of a "burger".

At the end of our day my sweet bug lover XuMei found this creature on a concrete building. OK, I know it's a cockroach, but I still think it's cool that the budding entomologist found it in the middle of a concrete jungle.
It was a fitting end to our first day in ANOTHER COUNTRY!!!!

Budapest

2008-10-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

We finally found someone willing to drive us and our ginormous instruments to our hostel.

Budapest is a beautiful city. We loved seeing gorgeous couples make out unabashedly at the airport, the park, the market, and the street corners. We did NOT, however, love smelling all the cigarette smoke.

The 11th Hour Cinema Hostel on Magyar Street. Right downtown. Our room slept nine and was more of a studio apartment then hotel room.
Exchanging monies became a highlight of the trip. Xander and XuMei wanted to see every denomination. These are Forint and it took nearly 4000 of them for the four of us to have subway sandwiches.
XuMei and Jolene bonded on this first night and spent many hours exercising their ESP muscles with each other.
The restaraunt was smokey but wonderful. Despite this menu item:
Most of the food was delicious. The bread on the table looked like cresent rolls but tasted like homemade pretsels. I have never liked beer but loved it in Hungary. Goulash came in it's own cauldron swinging over an open flame. And (sorry, Ma) was nothing like the elbow noodles with spaghetti sauce I had come to believe was Hungarian Goulash! XuMei ordered the pasta with cheese and we fought over who got to finish it. It was the embodiment of my fantasy food: Bacon Cheesecake.
The kiddo-pies were so tired after filling their bellys, Chris carried the already sleeping XuMei and Xander got a shoulder ride on the bands tallest member Hank Bankenbaggy.

Ukraine

2008-10-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

Sept. 23rd
Portland Airport
9 band members
plus 2 spouses (I am one of those)
and 2 band kids
each of the 13 of us checked one piece of personal luggage and one piece of the marimbas

Here are the marimbas:

After a 10 hour flight we did some Kung Fu in the Amsterdam airport.

In Budapest, we stressed a bit about getting the marimbas through Hungarian customs. But they asked what they were and then nodded us all through. One person asked us if we were going to build a house.

While the adults talked, Xander and XuMei did the only sensible thing:

trippin'

2008-09-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

We are leaving today for the Ukraine. Or is it just Ukraine? I am going to find out. Our family is glomming on to Chris's Maharimba band which is going with The T.O.U.C.H. Project as part of Corvallis's sister cities program. Whew, that is a mouthful.
In order to reduce my anxiety (and because I have had a bit on my mind lately) I've been ignoring the trip. I pretend things are not happening. I go about my life as if we are not about to leave. But eventually the reality hits me and I just realized we are leaving in 1 hour!!!!
We'll be gone for 2 weeks.

See ya later!

More on the "H"

2008-09-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

A dear lifelong friend sent the following to me in response to my question. It is so good I had to share it with y'all.

The Etymology of Jesus H. Christ

by Peter Kirby (May 11, 2003)

Question: What is the origin of the H. in the phrase, Jesus H. Christ? There is no great mind which has not but come to rest on this important question. It is a question which every man must consider in the course of his education, and the answers discovered are as varied as the approaches taken.

The child brought up in a home of prayer, on first hearing the expletive from his father's lips, need only look to the words of the Our Father for the explanation: "Our Father, Who Art in Heaven, Harold Be Thy Name."

A young man who has studied the principles of biology, in contemplating the holy mystery of the Virgin Birth in the light of reason, will inevitably conclude that the H. stands for none other than Haploid, a distinction conferred only upon God's Son of all men, that He would not have the taint of Original Sin.

The theologian will undoubtedly be familiar with "IHS," which stands for the Latin phrase "Jesus Hominum Salvator," which means Jesus, Savior of Man. Note that the J, as a separate character from the I, is only a few centuries old. This trigraph is frequently found in medieval and Renaissance art.

An historian may be familiar with the tale that, before an important battle in 312, the Emperor Constantine saw vision of the cross in the sky and heard a voice saying that he would conquer "under this standard" or "in this sign." The Latin words would be "in hoc signo," which abbreviates to IHS.

The Greek scholar will look to the Greek letters for Jesus: "iota eta sigma omicron upsilon sigma," which is variously transliterated IHSOYS or IHCOYC, the latter when converted to Latin letters using the common curved sigma variant. If one takes the first three letters as initials, it is not difficult to derive "Jesus H. Christ."

The Judaic scholar can supply the reason for taking the first three letters. This is the practice of using standard abbreviations for sacred names, or nomina sacra, accompanied by a horizontal line as a warning that the words cannot be pronounced as written. The two most common forms are abbreviation by suspension, which is to use the first two letters, and abbreviation by contraction, which is to use the first and last letters.

A scholar of manuscripts noted that such abbreviations in early Christian fragments take the form IS, IH, or IHS when writing the Greek name Jesus. This would provide the basis for clever Latin writers later to make this sacred abbreviation of the name Jesus into a three letter acronym, a sort of pun, including "In Hoc Signo" and "Jesus Hominum Salvator."

The earliest writer to speculate on the initials of Jesus is the author of the 2nd century "Epistle of Barnabas" (9:6-7). In Lightfoot's translation, "Learn therefore, children of love, concerning all things abundantly, that Abraham, who first appointed circumcision, looked forward in the spirit unto Jesus, when he circumcised having received the ordinances of three letters. For the scripture saith; And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen males and three hundred. What then was the knowledge given unto him? Understand ye that He saith the eighteen first, and then after an interval three hundred. In the eighteen 'I' stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here thou hast JESUS (IHSOYS). And because the cross in the 'T' was to have grace, He saith also three hundred. So He revealeth Jesus in the two letters, and in the remaining one the cross."

A man who has wondered about the origin of the sacred middle initial, who has traced the etymological thread back to its ancient spool, and who has detailed the findings of his serious inquiry, may take a moment to reflect upon the nature of the question, a question that he has expended great efforts to understand.

Jesus H. Christ!

Circumspectful meta-pondering produces ineffable epiphany. Now that we have an answer, the question is, why did we ask the question? What is it that makes a man concerned to know the details of a matter so trivial, so irrelevant so as to seem beneath the briefest consideration? I am not sure that I know the answer to this question. But at least now I know that I am not the only one who suffers from acute curiosity, for, indeed, you have read it all to the end.

Jesus H. Christ on a Pogo Stick Brownie

2008-09-17T16:44:00.001-07:00

At our favorite local restaurant Sunny Side Up, they make a brownie called "the Oh My God Brownie"
I wanted one.
This led to a discussion about creating a dessert called the Jesus H. Christ on a Pogo Stick Brownie. It would contain numerous and varied treats all hand dipped in chocolate and served with a plastic Jesus pogo-ing happily across the frosted surface of your brownie.

Then XuMei came up with a " XuMei brownie." In it, she wanted "those nuts I like."
"Which nuts do you like?", I asked.
"Um..I don't know", she said this as though I was crazy for expecting her to know the name of such a thing.
She said she knew what the nut looked like just not the name.
I said I know my favorite nut.
"What is it?", they all asked.
"Y'all are my favorite nuts.", (hardy har har, I thought I was so funny)
Xander innocently asked, "What are yall nuts?"

All that aside, when Mary and Qacei, proprietress's (is that a word???) of Sunny Side Up heard that I had miscarried (more on that later....maybe) they made me a ....
.
.

wait for it...
.
.

Jesus H. Christ On a Razor Scooter Brownie!

While we were ogling Jesus and admiring his shiny Razor scooter, Mormon missionaries came to my door.
Ugh, I didn't want to answer the door.
Mary, Qacei and XuMei happily answered the door, graciously offering them our own special form of salvation. One of them accepted, the other declined, they both wondered what the H stood for.
The truth is I am not sure.
Holy? Happy?
DO you, dear reader, have any idea what the H might stand for?

"Tillamook" : A Retrospective (artsy fartsy parts)

2008-09-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

Art in many forms. Flower arranging, light stick parades, witty conversation, face and body painting, stickers, ATC's (artist trading cards), sand castles, rock balancing, the age old art of breathing. Cassie did the amazing face painting.

Corbin as a Green Ninja.

Alden as a superhero, of the red masked variety.

Sawyer also chose the red masked superhero.

Sydney as a mermaid/fairy/princess (?).

Sara painting XuMei's belly.
"Oh!"

Cassie let her body be a canvas.

This is Sawyer's "legster piece"

"Tillamook" : A Retrospective (self absorbed parts)

2008-09-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

Because I was camping with Xander and XuMei and no Chris and no Ma I felt utterly on vacation. I made the kids whatever they wanted to eat, whenever. Because there was always so much to do they wanted very little from me. XuMei even ate her cheese and mac out of a plastic cup held in her bicycle's water bottle holder while she rode around the campground! With very little to do for anyone else aside from heat up the occasion hot dog, or taquito I was left with a ridiculous amount of time for myself.
I took naps everyday, in the tent if it was rainy or at the beach when the sun broke through. I thought a lot. I had moments of boredom and loneliness, but also moments of supreme beauty and joy. I ran my own radio talk show in my head. I sang to myself---sometimes the words would pop out! My favorites were:
"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" (thanks to phenomenal Diana)
and
"Let it be, let it be, whisper words of wisdom, let it be......"
and
Cat Steven's:
"Trouble
Oh trouble, set me free"
Speak to me Cat!
Here is some other trouble I got into:

I kissed a slug

and it turned into a handsome prince

(who showed up on the weekends to help with camp chores and make us all happy)

XuMei painted on a mustache.

The truth is, trouble has set me free.

"Tillamook" : A Retrospective (part B as in Boogy Board)

2008-09-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

Xander had is first "Maytag" and was so proud!

Sydney became a regular "surfer Betty" (as defined by the slang dictionary:

	Betty	155 up, 74 down
	A cool kind of girl, teens in aussie use this word to describe girls. Their generally laid back surfer chicks who just chill out.

She'd surf all day coming in only to eat ham sandwiches and quickly go back out for another "session".

Ayako ----- she is NOT cold, no she's NOT!

Cousin David

Cousin Sara

Friends going to ride the waves.

Um...hang 3 or 4 maybe?!....

um....surfer power! no hang 2, yeah, right on!

um...."I love you", no ...it's Emily Post going Boogy-ing!.....

AW, heck---who cares?!? Sydney is going surfing and XuMei says, "Backock!"

"Tillamook" : A Retrospective (another part)

2008-09-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

Many hours of each day I observed these creatures interacting in the areas between campsites. This one was a pirate ship at least part of the time. Important discussions took place here among the "natives".

Information was passed from the larger to the smaller creatures as they deftly scrambled the length of the logs (er..I mean deck of the ship).

A strict hierarchy was enforced. Here I observed the individual in the hat called "Jesse" remind the younger turquoise dressed female to be careful on the logs (er...slippery deck). She took the advice to heart as she appeared to have a special fondness for the one they called "Jesse".

I was caught taking these pictures and immediately judged a traitor and a cast away. I was thrown piteously into the brig and left there to die until my body was thrown overboard to the sharks.
Notice the little one grinning at me as I take my farewell photo from my prison in the bushes, before being thrown into the depths.

"Tillamook" : A Retrospective (in several parts)

2008-09-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

This is why I am afraid of dogs.

Clearly, this beast is trying to eat my face off. To be fair, the beast has a name. It is Big Mac. Someone mistakenly called him "Hamburger"--I liked it.

Doggies make XuMei VERY happy. If you look into her eyes just right you can see just how much she wants a dog. Someday, Love, Someday. We have to work on Daddy.

Many hours were spent performing unauthorized veterinary examinations on Big Mac. All of which he slept blissfully through.

Back to Blogging

2008-09-05T05:01:00.000-07:00

I'M BAAAAAACK!!!!!

Here it is, the TOP TEN Reasons I have not been blogging:

10. I'm Pregnant!

9. I wanted to tell all the important people, whose lives might be directly affected by this news , in person (or at least personally over the phone) If you are important and you are finding out here now via blog, please forgive me!

8. I must sleep all the time, see number 10.

7. Whenever I am not drooling on the pillow I must be shoveling food into my mouth, again see number 10.

6. I was camping for 2 weeks on the coast with family and have fabulous pictures to share soon!

5. There was the briefest moment of concern that I may not be pregnant anymore, and so I delayed blogging. All is well now!

4. Had Patrick and Ivy, after Not Back to School Camp, and Sara, my lovely niece, staying at our house and Xander and XuMei to play with and a wedding to be in and all manner of wonderful gatherings and fun things to do in REAL LIFE.

3. So very Tired.

2. So extremely Hungry.

And the number one reason why I have not been blogging:

1. Did I mention, I am PREGNANT!??!!?!!??!!!

Salsa Dancing

2008-07-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is my leg. I may or may not have been dancing during the taking of this picture. (I was definitely drinking:)
Take note of my super cute shorts (thanks Christine) and my sexy shoes.
This is my sexy friend Shelley. Her hubby should really come dancing with us--don't you think?
This gentleman dancing with her claimed he was from "everywhere and nowhere". He also said his name was, "Heaven."
hmmmmm.

Christine and ChrisC dancing. ChrisC says it is way cooler (as in temperature) in a kilt.

This guy did a move where he drops to his knees and directs the follower by touching the back of her leg. Loved it....wanna learn it!

I never stop talking and so rarely is there a decent picture of me but my darling husband caught this one. Actually he told me to shut up for one minute and I did!

Christine looked gorgeous and here is the proof:
Shelley and me. Happy happy.

ChrisC was getting tired but still smiling.
We took a ton of other pictures that reveal my more sophomoric humor. Cute butts and lots of cleavage! But I guess you'll all just have to come out dancing with us to see those!

Day at the River

2008-07-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

Spending the day at the river with good friends. Beautiful, impromptu.
Oh, and I learned a little something.

There is a rope swing that teens and big folks use to swing out over a deep spot and drop into the cold water. XuMei blew me away when she decided she too was swinging into the water. ChrisC had to lift her up to reach the rope. I was lounging far away from the event and caught this poor shot with the new-ish (to me) camera. ChrisC is standing just above the sunny, sandy section in the shadows, having just let go of XuMei. XuMei is the squiggly flesh colored (thanks Marley for loaning her monkey swimsuit) wiggle below the barely visible rope in the center of the photo. I ran across the rocks in joy and excitement hooting and hollering like a proud mama banshee, unknowingly slicing my foot on the sharp rocks. I hugged her shivering wet body and helped her to reach the rope again. Let me tell you, I was SCARED on that ledge----vertigo-city. I would be hard pressed to go swinging out over that water and drop at the right moment. Luckily Marley wasn't able to loan me a monkey suit that I could squeeze into so I had that as my excuse!
XuMei swung and dropped 2 more times.
And I wasn't able to get a decent shot of it!

Later I apologized to XuMei for not being able to get the camera to work--for missing this incredible moment.
XuMei, "I don't know why you're saying you're sorry, I am not mad. You must be saying sorry to yourself. You must be mad at yourself."
She hopped off the bench we were sharing and went to make "sand angels".
Truer words were never spoken.
Yup, yet again, it is me that is doing the learning or un-learning as it were.
I used to say sorry a lot. For a lot of things. Things that weren't my responsibility. My Aunt Rose tried and failed to break me of this annoying habit. It wasn't until I had young children and discussions of "making" a child apologize to another came up and I really started thinking about the nature of apology.
Later, I saw Randy Pausch's "last lecture series" and he defined a true apology. If you haven't seen this lecture--see it, watch it now. Here is the 10 minute Oprah condensed version. If you have an hour watch this one--it is so worth it. He is a bit un-schooley and I like his definition of an apology. It made sense to me. And for the record:
No, you cannot "make" anyone apologize.
You can force, threaten, bribe and cajole someone into saying words--but they are just words, and while words can be important, in the case of a forced apology--they lack intention. No one can force another person to feel regret or anything for that matter.
We all, each moment, choose our feelings. And yesterday, on that bench, I was choosing to feel guilty about not getting a photo of XuMei swinging with joy and abandon into the cool green water of Mary's River. And I was asking her to absolve me of that guilt. Not her Job. She knew that and now I do too.
(p.s. --I'll get that darn pic of her next time, and I might jump in with her too!)

oh the horror

2008-07-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

I was just beginning to get into taking photos. I plugged my camera in to charge the battery.
Moments later, I smelled the ozone as the circuits melted and I grabbed my camera--it was as hot as a frying pan. The charger, stolen 2 years ago out of our van (because I left the doors unlocked while it sat next to us at our campsite--doh!!!) was replaced by a general all purpose charger that had a switch to increase the voltage. Somehow the switch had been moved to the highest voltage and my precious camera was cooked. Stick a fork in it.
Here is the Vodka and Orange juice that I consumed in my grief.

All things have a silver lining--even a cooked camera.
Xander has been dismantling electronics and the chance to get inside a digital camera was akin to winning the lottery. He was beaming as he went to work.
So here is my camera now.

B-O-O-H-O-O.

But all is not lost because my gadget obsessed hubby had already purchased a new camera. He liked to have it at work to take extreme close-ups of projects. It is water and shock proof.
If only camera's came Renee-proof!

Upon A Pawn

2008-07-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time,
sat a pawn upon a chair.
Upon the chair I sat upon a pawn,
GOOSE!!!

Written by Grandma, Xander, XuMei, ChrisC and me after Grandma sat down to dinner on a pawn.

Why I love Linda Hessel or The REAL KEY ingredient

2008-07-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

Chocolate is really important around these parts right now. Really Important.

I stopped to pick up XuMei at a friend's birthday party and was caught red handed in the kitchen eating spoonfuls of frosting right outa' the jar. Yeah, it's that important.

This chocolate binge I am on reminded me of a sweet post from an amazing woman who blogs over at:

Four Little Birds.

Here is the excerpt:

After helping me mop up the mess, Jake said, rather pointedly, “I think it’s getting to be chocolate season around here.” And then, when I didn’t respond to his satisfaction, “We need to go into town and get the key ingredient to happiness.”

I mean, really, I’m laughing just writing that out. Who could stay mad? Thankfully the kids got their papa’s sense of humor. Because clearly I take myself and my life way too seriously and occasionally need to be nudged back into the reality that these things don’t matter and that by giving them power I am causing my own suffering (not to mention that of those around me.) “With a little help from my friends”… in this case the ones I gave birth to. Yeah, chocolate is good, but I know what the real key ingredient is around here!

---Linda Hessel

Well, it is Chocolate Season here, too. And not just for me---for all of us. XuMei loves a good piece of chocolate as a soothing balm or a pick-me-up. And my Ma, who lives with us, and at 67 has decided she is deschooling herself , will indulge whenever the fancy strikes her. She points out that it tastes better "without all that guilt". When I was younger I used to wear a button that had a Sandra Boynton hippo on it that said, "If wearer is found depressed, administer chocolate immediately". In another life, I was depressed and I ate a lot of chocolate. Now I agree with Linda, chocolate is lovely, it is the frosting on the cake of life, but if life is shi!!y, it's pretty much just sh!t frosting.

Linda gets at something profound in her story: what really matters. The real key ingredient. And it ain't the chocolate!!!!!

If it's not a Utilikilt, It's CRAP!!!!!

2008-07-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

Beware the Beefy Kilted BAD Guy.
He may use his laser eyes to fry the "goods" of the Beefy Kilted GOOD Guy when he least expects it. Like when the Beefy Kilted GOOD Guy is standing on scaffolding......

- -
(I love the word "Scaffolding". Just say it a couple of times. It feels good)

ChrisC got a Utilikilt at the Oregon Country Fair. I have no time to blog because I cannot keep my hands off him.

Why I love Qacei

2008-07-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

Qacei took a picture of this moth that landed on XuMei's hair. As part of a series of posts about people and ideas that have influenced my thinking I am telling this simple story of a young woman I only just recently got to know:
I seriously love this girl. She is amazing. She blows my mind. She is an unschooler.
I was hanging out with a couple of cool beans: my Nonie (of Babble-On Sisters fame), Kat (of kat craft fever) and Mary (the one who inspired blogging for me with Zenmomma's Garden) and somehow the discussion of breasts and breast development came up and I was mouthing off like I am wont to do and I asked,
"Is that NORMAL?" (about something XuMei had said)
and Qacei responded,
"There is no normal."

Holy Shitake Mushroom.
She is so right on, Sister.
It brought tears to my eyes.
And still does even now as I think back to the look on her face. She wasn't judging me and she had no fear-- she spoke her truth, a truth so loud and clear in it's quiet simplicity....and I am temporarily ~~shamed, shocked, stunned~~ changed.
I might even have evolved a little today!
And you could too if you check out her blog:
Normal is So last week

Maybe they were poisonous?!

2008-07-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

After we spent all day in a tree picking these:

I discovered the kiddo-pies on the couch like this:

And this:

Apparently, the cat thought it was a good idea too.

What bubbled up

2008-07-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

Mary from Zenmomma's Garden said , "Let it bubble up." And so it has. And here it is:

ChrisC brought dry ice home from work and we played and played with it.

He was astounded to discover that I had never played with dry ice. This was my first time stirring the smoking cauldron and when I looked closely I saw these white bubbles coming up and popping on the surface of the water. While I was having a magical moment staring at the bubbles ChrisC and XuMei and Xander devised a cork gun out of a 2 liter bottle and some old pvc pipe we had lying around. They shot that cork 15 feet across our yard!
That is what "bubbled up" for us today!

What we do.

2008-06-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

We "reverse engineer" electronics.

We blow bubbles into our chocolate milk.

We play piano with the cat.

We take our own picture while playing with our Grandma's wheel chair.

We Unschool!

Falling in Love

2008-06-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

This blog is about falling in love.....with me.
In my journey of understanding unschooling I attended the
LIFE is Good
NW Unschooling Conference (http://www.lifeisgoodconference.com/). I realized there that if I am to be able to offer love and compassion to my children and my spouse I must be able to treat myself the same. I have always been paralyzed by fear and insecurity. Unable to write what might be embarrassing to my future self. I lay awake deep into the night churning out witty insightful paragraphs in my mind. Only to delete everything before I post it the next morning.
Falling in Love is irrational. It's self absorbed, it's being absorbed with the object of your love and all that they love. So that is what I am going to do. And while I do enjoy occasionally poking fun at things/ideas and I love more than anything to make people laugh long and loud, mostly I will be falling in love with me.

Day 2 of making it happen

2008-06-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

I want to show how we as a family are coming into an understanding of unschooling. I want to share the wonderful that is happening in our lives. I want to write a bit every day to flex those muscles and satisfy the burning desire to express myself.
I want...
I want....
I want....

If loving is having not wanting then what I have is ....BLOG BLOCKAGE.
Blogstipation--if you will (I wish I wouldn't).
Am I loving it?
Not so much.
But what if I could love being blocked? What if I can enjoy this time. Time for self reflection, for swirling ideas, for possibilities of what might be. Like the feeling before you open the presents under the tree. As much as I love to get presents, I love more the anticipation of what might be.

Right now my Blog is full of potential and possibilities-- it could be anything. It COULD be great. I love that.

I am starting this blog!!!!!

2008-06-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

Starting This Blog on This Date ---if it kills me (which it just might) AAAAAAARRRGGGGH!
This is the blog of our journey.
This is a blog about ME.