Junk

Some cultures do have more rust in their yards than others. It may have something to do with space. If we lived in town, we would not have the need for all of the rust (tractors, plows, etc.) and not have room for the extra cars. Here in the country, it is easier to park things and hope that one day you will either fix them or get rid of them. When we moved to this property, I told Toby that one of his goals in life should be to get rid of some of our rust. So yesterday, he sold the Honda. It made us all a bit sad like selling memories, but it really is for the best. Even Lindsay was sad because she enjoyed driving it too. Jesse said it was their "havin’ fun car." As a side note, the guy who bought the Honda is not from these parts. He is here in the area to dismantle the old oil refinery south of Duncan. Apparently, he has a crew that travels the USA tearing down buildings (and rust). He mentioned that they had torn down the King Dome in Seattle, something on the Bering Sea (Alaska), and that they were tearing down part of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco this weekend. The guy explained that he was buying the Honda for a friend who lives on some coast where it is difficult to buy old cars because the salt air tends to rust them (hmm, more rust than us?) This is obviously a man who knows his junk.

Speaking of junk, I bought a few kitchen gadgets at the Pampered Chef party yesterday. PC has great products – they are not junk at all. I just use that phrase because I do not really need more gadgets in my kitchen. What Tim Allen is to tools, I am to gadgets. I could easily be the Tool Lady. A friend of mine once told me that without the right tools, it is all just work. Also, I like a party - especially where food is cooked before your eyes and then you get to eat it. The PC lady demonstrated the different kitchen items that would make life easier – I wanted it all. She showed a pitcher with a built in stir–er to stir your lemonade without making a mess. I thought, "Gee, that would work great on my fine washables – similar to the gentle cycle." I didn’t buy it. A spoon still works pretty well on my lemonade, and I have a washing machine. I did buy the chopper/dicer and a new spritzer. The spritzer is a fairly new item that works like a can of Pam or cooking spray. I wanted the cheese grater, but I will wait until the next party. There is always another party.

Rust

This morning I got a call from some guy wanting to buy our '92 Honda Accord. Toby and I had discussed selling it, but I did not know that Toby had stuck a sign on it. He still drives it to work now and then because it runs great. Being a five speed, it is fun to drive. The problem is that we each have a vehicle (that makes three not counting the Honda). It is just an extra car to have to pay taxes on and take care of. Although it is very acceptable here in OK to have several old cars in your driveway, yard, garage, around the farm, etc, we try to keep our junkers to a minimum. We sold the old Dodge truck and traded the old Ford truck for a new Nissan earlier this summer. I am not sure if the old tractor and old bulldozer count as vehicles to litter your farm. Then there is the horse trailer, the flatbed trailer, the welding trailer, and the four-wheeler strewn about - do they count as junkers? I won't mention all of the rusting farm equipment like plows and planters and feeders. Jesse took pictures of our place when she flew over last spring. Sure enough, there is lots of junk. Maybe we should sell the Honda, but it has been such a fun little car. Although it started out as my car to drive to town and run errands, both Bo and Jesse have driven it to college. Even after Bo married, he used it off and on. Someone even tried to steal it from his apartment in OK City. All of the covering is pulled off from around the steering wheel where the thieves tried to jump start it. Jesse liked the way it looked - very mechanical - so we left the covering off. I have taught several of nephews and friends to drive the little five speed using our country roads. Selling old cars is hard on me. There are just lots of memories in the Honda. And yet, there is a time to let go. If you don't, you start looking a bit junky or Okie.

This picture was taken last spring when the pond was still fairly full of water. That is the house at the end of the driveway with all of the smaller dots (rust and piles). Above the house is the cement slab poured for our future barn (to hide some of the junk and rust and piles).

I am headed to a Pampered Chef party today at my friend, Beverly's. I don't really need the kitchen gadgets, but I know the company will be good, and they will probably serve lunch.

Kathy

My family owned the Green Mountain Lodge in Red River, NM, during my growing up years. It was an older lodge with a large lobby area and small living quarters on the first floor. The lobby had a fireplace and several sitting areas – it was a great place to gather or curl up by the fire. My mom turned the two guestrooms on the first floor into her beauty shop. The second floor had eight bedrooms with a bathroom between each room that was to be shared. In the early days of Red River’s resort business and today’s world of Bed and Breakfast businesses, the Green Mountain would have been perfect. But in the late 60’s and early 70’s cabins with kitchenettes and your own personal bathroom were more popular. My parents chose to rent several of the rooms to college students who worked through the summers in the resort. We had several college girls who shared a couple of rooms upstairs. We had a few boys who shared a room that was separate from the main lodge. We called that room the "fox pit" for some reason. As a side note, Ray Wylie Hubbard was one of the boys who shared the fox pit. As fascinating as Ray was, it was the college girls who held my attention. I often hung out in their rooms or sunbathed with them on the roof of the garage out back. They laughed and told great stories. They shared clothes, and just always seemed to be having fun. I called them my summer sisters.

From the earliest time I can remember, I wanted a sister - one to share with. Every birthday wish, every falling star wish, and every prayer was that I would have a little sister. I would have settled for a pet monkey, but I really wanted someone that I could share things with as my summer sisters had done. By the time I was 12 ½ years old and my mom was 39, I was beginning to run out of hope of ever having a sister. But then it happened. Mom announced that she was to have a baby. I knew it would be a girl – no doubt! Sure enough on August 29, 1970, all my prayers and wishes were answered. Mom gave birth to a baby girl. They let me name her Kathy.

There was such an age difference; we did not get to share clothes or a room or much of anything. She was six years old, when I got married. It was not exactly what I had in mind, but at least I had a sister. Now that she is a grown woman with a family of her own, we have lots more in common. She is the girl my mother never had – thank God – and the sister I always wanted.
Happy Birthday Kathy!

The picture is me and Kathy on Wheeler Peak, tallest mountain in NM, in 1987.

Airplane Pic

It seems that I have been seeing lots of airplane pictures on my favorite blogsites. It reminded me of this picture that Jesse and Lindsay took last spring when they went flying. They were hoping to fly in the plane pictured, but it was not to be. Instead, they took this silly picture and went flying in a cessna.

Good News - Bad News

Toby loves to play the "good news – bad news" game. He comes in and says, "Do you want the good news or the bad news?" I have come to know that most of the time he has only bad news, but will make up something for the good news. It is usually something funny, but knowing that the bad news is the real news, I usually say that I want the bad news first. Years ago when we were in the process of moving from one town to another, he was bringing the last load of things in his truck. I was at the new house setting things up and unpacking. He came in and said, "Do you want the good news or the bad news?" I said, "Give me the bad news first." He said, "While I was driving down the highway at 65 mph, the rabbit hutch fell over and the rabbits flew out onto the road. They were pretty bad off, so I had to put them out of their misery." With a look of utter horror on my face, I said, "Oh my gosh! That is horrible! What is the good news?" Without missing a beat, he said, "We are having rabbit for dinner." Of course, he was teasing!

Good news! We got some much-needed rain this weekend. Bad news! The mosquitoes are out in force. The ticks and other Okie critters are enjoying the rain too. Good news! Jesse and her buddies drove to Edmond to eat German food and attend Shakespeare in the Park. Bad news! It got rained out. They went to the cheap movies and watched "Cars" instead. Good news! It rained some more Sunday morning before church. Bad news! It was like walking around in a steam room after church when the sun came out. Good news! It rained enough that there were actually mud puddles in the church parking lot. Bad news! The Grand Baby likes to step in them, and she is fast.

We are pretty laid back on Sunday afternoons. We usually eat a light meal, play with the Grand Baby, take naps, and watch a little sports on TV. I rarely cook on Sunday nights – everyone just snacks. Yesterday evening, while Toby and I went for a walk on our trail, Jesse cooked noodles with a homemade Alfredo sauce topped with shrimp scampi – yum! She had garlic bread and wine with her wonderful meal. That was Good New. I can’t really think of any bad news to go with it. I was even content to watch more pre-season football.

Off Again

It is off to WF today. Mom is home from the mountains. She had a great time and has shared several funny stories on the phone. I thought I would head over to see her and do some grocery shopping. I need to get myself in gear and get going.

By the way, on yesterdays picture. The horizon line is not really at a diagnol. I just can't seem to take a good picture. It looks okay on the replay of the camera. But when I post it and can see it better, it is not always great.

Picture of the Week 3

This is the pier at San Vito, Italy, the little village where we stayed a few years ago. Every day, Jesse and I would walk out on the pier, hang out, and then walk into town to do some shopping. The pier seemed to be a gathering place for locals - mostly men fishing, but it was a great place to stroll along. We often walked along the beach and picked up shells, but in April, the water of the Adriatic was bit cold. The fishing nets were pretty interesting, athough this painting does not do them justice. This painting did not turn out quite like I thought it would, but it is done.

Taking a Break

It is time to break from all that serious homeschool stuff. I thought I would put my hammer away and quit pounding it. Yesterday, I went to lunch with my friend Sherry. She is the mother of one of Jesse's best friends. It was nice to just sit and visit (and eat out). This summer with my high school reunion and family reunion, I have felt way too busy. It is taking me awhile to get my life back - make some needed changes. Having lunch with good friends is a great way to relax and be normal.

Jesse update:
People have been asking how Jesse likes her new job. Well, she is loving it. She thinks the people she works with are all very friendly. They play card games at lunch. She was invited to dinner by one lady. Things are just going great. She will eventually have her own cubicle and computer, but not yet. She is looking forward to decorating her cube with pictures of her friends. She said everyone else has family pictures - most of the people in her dept. are married.

I ran into Jesse's old boss from the frameshop/art gallery. Janice is missing Jesse - bigtime. She said that Jesse was very talented and smart and could do anything (I knew that). She also said that Jesse was very innocent. I knew that too, but it was interesting to hear it from someone else. While Sherry and I were having lunch we discussed our daughters and their innocence (both were homeschooled). Our girls often seem much younger than they actually are. They dress modestly, but stylishly. They are lots of fun, but there is just a mark difference in their public behavior compared to some girls their age. While they are not ignorant, there is an innocence about them. Here is an example of Jesse's innocence:

We went to Lawton last Friday to run some errands and eat at our favorite Mexican food joint. It was packed on a Friday night. We ordered margaritas while waiting on our table. Jesse was very animated telling us about her new job. She was laughing and her eyes were dancing. She had no idea how charming she looked. When our waiter brought sopapillas, I said, "Wow, he knew just what we wanted." Normally, you have to ask for sopapillas, and we had not done so. Then before we left, he came back to our table and handed Jesse a to-go box full of sopapillas (totally unheard of). Toby and I started laughing, and I said, "Thanks Jes!" She said, "What? I didn't do anything. They probably just had a surplus of sopapillas in the kitchen." And she was serious. Toby and I just laughed harder.

Bo provided a link in my comment section on how children learn differently. It is worth the read. Kids will be kids, but they are definitely different. It reminded me of my public school days.

One day in a teacher’s meeting, we were being encouraged to get our bilingual certification. Although the students did not speak Spanish any more than I did, the district would get more money if more teachers were certified. Bilingual education is big bucks. One of the new teachers leaned over and said, "I don’t get it. What exactly is bilingual education if it is not speaking a different language?" This is what I told her: bilingual education is teaching a child in the language he learns best. All of these kids speak English. Sometimes when you teach a new science theory, you may give the info verbally. Some of the students won’t get it. So you write it on the board. Some will get it: others won’t. So you do a hands on experiment to better teach the theory. You teach the theory over and over in different ways until they understand. Bilingual education is finding how best each kid learns and teaching him in that way. Unfortunately, this does not work well in public school. Sometimes, you have teachers who are willing to compromise and try new things. Most times, those teachers are few and far between – not because they don’t want to do a good job; they just do not have the time.

I hope you know that is not what bilingual education really is, but it should be. Most public school students eventually learn to play the game of education, but others do not. The old adage, "You can’t fit a square peg into a round hole" says it all. I have seen parent, student, and teacher in a death struggle. The teacher gives 20 problems in class. The square peg student’s eyes roll back in his head. He only gets five problems done. The teacher keeps him in from recess as punishment. He still does not get them done. The teacher adds more problems and sends them home with a note to the parent. The parent is now struggling to get the student to do the work plus the extra problems. The parent goes in to talk to the teacher. The teacher thinks that all students should be able to do the 20 problems and won’t budge. The student now has to finish the first 20 plus do the next assignment. Everyone is crazed at this point, and what is the point – to learn a math concept or keep each student busy or cause severe frustration? The teacher thinks that the parent is not doing a good job, the parent thinks the same of the teacher, and the student just hates school.

Hang in there. Kids are worth it and school is not the end all.

Homeschool Part 3

Homeschool or home school (I don’t think there is a correct way of spelling it yet) has been around forever, but really took off as a viable choice of education in the late 1980’s. Just think. Where did the early Americans attend school? Where did George Washington or Ben Franklin go to school? I am sure there were some community classrooms, and I know there were Dame Schools taught by local ladies in the neighborhood (without college degrees), but many of our famous fore-fathers were homeschooled. If you check statistics, those early Americans were a very literate group. The Puritans, just off of the Mayflower, enacted a law called the Ole Deluder Satan Law that all kids must learn to read. Even as our country began to grow and education laws were enacted, public schools were few and far between. The school bus system could not possibly have been in place until the 1900’s and even then it was very limited. Children were homeschooled and they did quite well. Of course, the public school system grew and every community had some sort of classroom, but there were still people who lived so far out in the woods, that they had to homeschool their children – even people of my generation. Many missionaries homeschooled their children. It was a very normal thing, and no one thought much about it. There were no laws against it – it was necessary.

Somewhere in the 1980’s more and more people began to homeschool. Many did so because of religious reasons feeling that God had been taken out of the schools or their children could no longer get any sort of religious learning along with their regular schooling. You have to wonder why churches did not pick up the ball here, but those churches that did start private schools were very expensive and many had long waiting lines. There was also a movement toward homeschooling by those who were not religious. Maybe they felt schools were not adequately educating their children and in some cases it may have been rebellion against "the establishment". I think some people started homeschooling when discipline was removed - schools became dangerous. There were lots of reasons to homeschool. I do know that if you join a homeschool group, many are religious groups and many are not.

Whatever anyone’s reasons were, homeschooling began to grow. This did several things. It freaked people out. "What do you mean by not sending your children to our public school? What’s wrong with our school? You are not qualified to teach – you are just a parent." It also angered the public school people. "You have to attend our school. We have compulsory attendance laws. We get funded by how many students we have enrolled in our classes – no matter what a sorry job we do." Then as homeschooling proved to be a success, PS folks including the NEA got really upset. "What do you mean by doing such a great job without spending so much money? Money is the answer to all education problems, and we need more money from the government. How can you possibly succeed when you do not have all the latest technology and new buildings?" With all of this anti-homeschooling, homeschool parents were fighting just to be able to raise their children the way they felt was best. There were all sorts of court cases across America. Home School Legal Defense Association (hslda.org) was established to help parents fight for their rights. You mean it is not in the Constitution that you have a right to raise your children as you want? You mean the government can tell you how and what you can do with your kids? Does this sound a little anti-American or socialistic?

When we began homeschooling some states had tough laws concerning homeschool. New Mexico had laws that you had to be a certified teacher. Did you know that in most private schools you do not have to be certified to teach? That is how some parents got around the law – they claimed to be a private school. Other parents just went "underground", and some got waivers from the state. Eventually, the law was challenged and overcome. Today, many states have laws protecting homeschool or at least okaying it. Texas and Oklahoma are good places to homeschool. Some states are still struggling with anti-homeschooling rules. You can visit the HSLDA website to see what the laws are in your state. Most homeschooling families today do not realize the fight that went on to assure the right to educate their own children.

It seemed to me that whether you choose homeschool, private school, or public school, Americans would want to fight for their individual rights in raising their children. But I was wrong. It amazed me how many people were willing to give up their parental rights thinking "the State knows best." Who says so? Since when? Like I said yesterday, it takes strong parental commitment. If your kids are in public or private schools, you still need to be watching those teachers and administrators like a hawk. Who is ultimately responsible for your child?

Homeschool Part 2

This morning I typed up a whole page of thoughts on homeschooling, but I could not get blogger to work. It gave me too much time to consider what I wrote. Maybe I will post it; maybe not. Maybe I need to get to the point much faster and stop trying to explain my life and my choices.

Homeschooling is not for everybody. It has its successes, and it has its failures - like every education system. Whether you choose public school, private school, or homeschool, there will be real challenges. The secret to success for each system is good parenting with strong commitments.

We tried public school – believe me I wanted to make it work. We gave it our best shot (this is what I tried to write about earlier today). We eventually chose to homeschool. It turned out perfect for us. Once we made the decision and started to homeschool, people, friends, and family treated us as if we had lost our minds or were some sort of traitors to the public schools. One long time friend came up to me at the grocery store and said she had heard that we were homeschooling. I told her that was correct. She turned without a word and walked away from me. We got lots of odd comments and took a lot of flak on our decision. Sometimes I tried to explain or answer back. Sometimes I just let people be stupid and rude. The bottom line was that we made a choice that we thought was best for our children – key words being "our children". Everyone must make a choice in how best to raise and educate his or her children. Like I said before, good parenting and strong commitment are critical no matter what you choose.

We were at a business dinner with the big dogs of Allied Waste, the company Toby worked for, when one of the men said, "Lou, I hear you homeschool your children." I said, "Yes, I do." He said, "Well, you are a public school teacher. You are qualified to teach. My sister-in-law is not a qualified teacher. She should not be homeschooling her children. What do you think?" My husband probably cringed at this point not knowing what I might say and knowing I would rise to the challenge. I said, "Well, I think if you love your children, you can teach your children. If you cannot teach your children, you probably should not have had them in the first place." I still stick with this statement.

My sister-in-law who is an elementary teacher (and I love her dearly) said, "I could never teach my boys. I would probably kill them." Hmm, so you expect a stranger who does not love your children to be able to teach them? You don’t expect them to be obedient to you, their parent, but you expect them to obey their teachers?? Something is wrong with this picture. On the same subject, my brother said, "We want our kids to be normal." What? You think my kids are abby-normal? What he really meant, was that he wanted his kids to be cool, popular, socially-in kids who play sports and go to proms – after all, isn’t that what is most important in education? For some people it is.

Ah, the "social" problem – people brought it up all of time. "What about socialization?" has to be the biggest question addressed to us. Sometimes I was a smart aleck and said something like, "Yes, socialization is a problem. Schools are becoming more socialistic every day," or "That is exactly the reason we took them out of public school – the socialization!" How do you explain that homeschool allows you more free time than public school for socialization. By starting school at 8 am, we could be finished with all subjects by noon and finished with all our regular schoolbooks in March. We could visit anybody any time we wanted. We could go on family vacations. We could go to the bank, grocery store, or out to eat whenever we wanted. We could do special projects. We could participate in all sorts of activities such as 4H or Little League or Boy Scouts. In fact, we usually took Mondays as a ski day. I would say that homeschooled children were actually more socially intelligent than many public school kids, because they were use to interacting with the real world – not just classroom settings and kids their own age.

Another comment we often heard was, "Some people say they are homeschooling, but they really don’t." One lady followed this up with, "And their kids are two grade levels behind in their reading!" My reply was that if that were true, then they were right where most public school kids were – two grade levels behind. "But they should be held accountable!" Hmm, who holds PS kids accountable? When kids fall behind, do they fire teachers? Are kids taken away from their parents? PS students are given all sorts of achievement tests to measure their level of achievement. If a student is behind the norm, sometimes he is given remedial classes. Most of the time nothing is done especially if no one complains. If a student is above the norm, usually nothing is done either. So who is holding the PS system accountable. The PS systems are busy just trying to get their students to pass a basic skills exit test. Basic skills for Pete’s sake!!

It is hard for me to sound like I am not bashing public school. Maybe I am. I do think the whole PS system is a failure, but I do not know how to change things. I know I was not willing to sacrifice my children to try and change the system. Keep in mind that it takes commitment to be successful – especially in public school. Unfortunately, people just turn their kids over to others without question and hope for the best. Is that loving your children?

Picture of the Week 2

At art yesterday, I worked on another small watercolor. This one is 8"x4". I painted it from a photo that I took while in Italy several years ago. I need to figure out how to best take the picture of my art work. Watercolor often looks better from afar. It also looks better matted and under glass. These, of course, are just the bare picture taken in sunlight on the kitchen table.

Last night Jesse and I went to the Art Guild meeting. Dull as dirt! My friend Susan, whom I call Trixie, was there, and we did manage to giggle enough to get called down like jr. high kids. Even Jesse got in trouble for shaking her head trying to get something out of her hair. You would think that artists would be more fun, but these people take themselves way too serious. So, I guess, I will continue to attend and cause as much trouble as I can. Rock the boat...

Sarah

This is one of my art students, Sarah, working on a huge painting. What I love about Sarah is that she just attacks her work. She can come up with a painting as she works. It all just comes together in her mind and on the canvas. She is not afraid of going large. She is a whirlwind. And the truth is, she has surpassed her teacher.

Homeschool Part 1

Some of you have asked me to post about homeschooling. This is the first of my thoughts on "why we chose to homeschool". I will eventually tell you more about homeschooling itself.

After finishing high school in 1976, I went on the seven-year plan to finish college. Although I started out strong taking lots of classes, marriage changed everything. One husband, two kids, and four colleges later, I graduated in 1983 with a BS in Education. My first teaching field was English, and my second teaching field was art. Two weeks after graduation, we moved to McAllen, TX. I got my first teaching job at Mission High School in Mission, TX. I taught 9th grade, Regular English classes as opposed to Honors, College Prep, or Remedial classes. MHS was a large AAAAA school, which graduated 600 to 700 seniors, but had about 1000 freshmen students. I believe at one point, there were nine freshman English teachers. It was an eye-opening experience.

I was very lucky to get a job at MHS because the superintendent was a man from the "old school". He supported his teachers and administrators. Corporal punishment was still allowed and was implemented often. He and my principal, Gustavo Zapata, ran a tight ship. There were four vice-principals – some who were helpful and some who were not. It did not take long to figure out who would support you and who was a slacker. The same goes for teachers. Everyone knew who actually taught and who was just biding time. I could digress here and talk about teacher competency tests, but I will save that for another time. I also figured out pretty quickly to make friends with the school secretary and the janitors - they hold the power to get things done.

That first year of teaching was pretty tuff. I had five classes of approximately 30 students each. The students came and went according to migrant worker jobs. As I have said before, most of my students were graduates of ESOL programs. The real problem for me was not discipline or language (I'll discuss those issues later), but motivation. How do you motivate kids who do not care about school? If I assigned homework, no one did it. If I gave a reading assignment, no one did it – even if I gave time in class to do the reading, no one did it. How can you teach literature when no one reads the story? I began to read the stories to the class having them follow along and sometimes read aloud. I wrote notes on the board that covered any tests having them copy the notes. At the end of the day, I was hoarse and covered in chalk dust. I gained weight and my face was constantly broken out. I tried everything to motivate my students. Still, it was hard to get them to do anything. They spent more time trying to cheat on a test rather than just studying for it. I probably failed half of my students that first year because I did not know what else to do for them. My principal backed me up – he just had to hire an extra English teacher to cover the extra load the next year. Possibly, it was just an odd class of 9th graders, and I should say that there were some good students. At one point this kid did a complete turn around in his grades. He went from making F’s to A’s. The light bulb just came on for him. He told me he had just figured it all out finally. He went on to College Prep classes. The light came on for me, too. He gave me hope, yet I still fretted over how to get other students to learn.

On parent/teacher night, my teacher friend who taught College Prep classes would get classrooms full of parents checking on their children. I might have five parents total for the evening. Even the parents did not care. Things had certainly changed in the seven years since I graduated from high school. Were kids always such a problem? Was I just from the "Leave It to Beaver" planet?

My father told me, "There are kids who will learn – no matter what you do. There are kids who will not learn – no matter what you do. It is the kids in the middle – the ones who have not decide which way they want to go - that you must work to win over." Let me tell you, trying to win them over or motivate them is one hard job, but it is a job that I loved. I found I really liked teaching young people. It was the love-job of my life.

I tell you all of that to tell you this: Although I loved my students and I loved teaching, I also realized that the public school system was not what I wanted for my own children. In this post, I have written about motivation of students. I have not mentioned behavior and lack of respect and other problems in public schools. This was just the tip of the iceberg that made me start thinking, "What am I going to do with my own kids when they get into public school?"

Art Girls Again

Normally, Toby gets up at 5:30 AM, but today, he left the house at 5:30. Being a morning person, I don’t mind getting up with him. All’s quiet and I can drink all of the coffee before Jesse gets up. Toby has some sort of breakfast – work related. He is taking some sort of leadership class that started yesterday. He said the speaker started off by asking if anyone knew where Old Glory, TX, was. Yep, been there, too. He said the speaker also spoke about Rick Rescorla, which I thought was interesting. Rescorla was definitely a leader and a hero. Google him if you have never heard his story.

Eight young ladies came to my art class yesterday. These are my high school girls who have been with me for a few years. It was a bit hectic at first – like the first day of school, but I got everyone settled and working. It is such a big class that there is rarely time for me to paint. I just hop from one girl to the next – pastel to oil to acrylic to pencil. This year I want to encourage them to paint their own work rather than copying famous paintings – although that is not a bad thing. They need to plan and execute their own work more often. They need to learn to see paintings in everyday life. Half of being an artist is seeing. I read to them the article on Duane Keiser and his Painting a Day blog and encouraged them to at least draw every day. I had bought several small sketchpads at Hobby Lobby (big sale this week) and told the girls they could have one if they did not already have a sketchpad. All of the pads were taken – so I must have encouraged them somewhat. Now I need to go back to Hobby Lobby for more sketchpads. I think I need more paint too. Toby says I keep HL in business. My new students will start next week. I have about five brand new students. This class will have three young men. My classes started out with only girls until one of the guys was brave enough to join us. Since then, I have had a few more boys – I like that.

The next big project in my life is an art show that is put on by the Duncan Art Guild in October. I am in charge of the Youth Show. Because entry forms have to be in by Sept. 15th, I have to get them to the schools ASAP. There is not much work involved until right before the show. Then I am matting and framing and pushing my students to finish on time. I will also enter the adult competition meaning I need to get my act together too. My art students love the show or I probably would not bother with it. Sometimes dealing with the Art Guild is like dealing with a bunch of old biddies. For a group of artists, they are the most anal group of people I have ever met. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but still they could relax and be more accommodating.
I did not want to do or think politics today. I think I need to relax more, myself.

Tidbits

Jesse’s first day at work went well. Although she did not have computer access yet and was not able to do any work, she has her own cubicle, and they played cards at lunch. That’s my girl – a very social creature. When she was four years old, we lived next door to the Red River Elementary. She begged me every day to let her go to school. When she finally started kindergarten at five years old, she was so excited. The first day of school went well, but she said she did not need to go back. She only liked recess, and they did not do enough of that to suit her.

My day in WF went well too. Mom and I had lunch, ran some errands, and went shopping. She told me a funny story about her friend, Yvonne. It seems that Mom and Yvonne went shopping together recently. They had been trying on clothes when Yvonne tried on some brown pants. She was complaining that the pants did not fit right, and having lots of trouble with them – she did not like them. Mom said, "Yvonne, isn’t that your pants – the ones you wore in here?" Yvonne looked down and said, "You’re right; they are mine." Then they collapsed into laughter.

When I got home, I read through my blogs. Mike Fay has a post on Joe Lieberman, but it is the comments that get crazy. Buck has interesting items on the British Muslims and their Prime Minister. It seems that the British Muslims want to blame British foreign policy for acts of militant, radical Muslims. And they want the British government to do something about these radical Muslims while not taking a stand themselves. Amazing!

The excuses, and blame game that the British Muslims are playing reminded me of the Blanco brothers whom I mentioned in my blog the other day. All four brothers had serious anger issues that needed to be addressed. They caused lots of problems in public school. They were disruptive to the whole education system with their behavior, which was often abusive and obscene. The lack of discipline for the Blancos was an encouragement for bad behavior in all students. If nothing could be done about the Blancos, nothing could be done about anyone. Not only were they discipline problems, they were dangerous to others. They were often violent. They were constantly the topic of discussion in the principal’s office, faculty meetings, and teacher’s lounge. Nothing was ever done – excuses were made for their behavior – divorced parents, stepfather can’t handle them, anger, hurt, etc. Teachers and students steered clear of the Blancos and treated them with kid gloves when dealing with them. And then everyone would say, "but their mother is such a nice lady. You should meet her." Something was wrong here! This picture was not making sense. Why wasn’t something being done about the Blancos if she was such a great mother? Don’t you try to help people you love? I figured it was small town politics, friendship with their mother, and some Hispanic unity that played a part in the lack of dealing with the problems. I did meet the mother at one point. She accused me of picking on her son and being prejudiced against Hispanics. I could not convince her that I wanted to help her son. A week later her son spit in my face and hit me – nothing was done. Several years after I quit teaching, one of the Blanco boys rammed his vehicle into the backend of the car that his mother was riding in with her husband. The car went flying out into a pasture. The mom fell out and was killed. Very sad.

I think when you turn your back on violence, pretend it is not there, make excuses for it, and blame others, it will eventually come back and bite you on the butt.

New Day

Today is Jesse’s first day as a drafter for Halliburton. She has worked lots of little jobs here and there, but this is the real thing – full time with benefits and vacation. As I write, she is hogging the bathroom getting all gussied up. It makes me think two things: one, she is all grown up, two: we need another bathroom. You may think that I am making a big deal of her first job, well, I am. It goes back to that homeschool thing that I will blog about some day soon. I just have to decide how much of myself I want to reveal. I took this picture as she left (notice the new lunch box - she called it "nerdy").

I am going to WF today to see Mom. She is planning a trip to the mountains later this week with some of her buddies. This is great. I love it that she is doing more and more on her own. Mom has always been a sharp lady – classy and smart. The four years of staying home to take care of Dad were good – she did a great job, but it became a way of life. It is often difficult for a person to break out of the rut and start life anew. Even today, I find it odd that I am going to have lunch with Mom, maybe shop, and do whatever we want to do. After years of planning our life around Dad, it is just very different to be so free. I am looking forward to my day with her.

There are other things I want to write today, but not right now – gotta get movin.

Picture of the Week

The idea of doing a picture a day intrigues me, but I know it is more than I really need to commit to. Maybe I will try to get one a week - maybe I will think about it some more. Here is a 9x12 watercolor that I started and finished yesterday. One of my art girls was working on this picture and she needed help with the railing. Sometimes to help, I will paint the same scene in order to try some technique. Then they can follow my lead if it works well. My art student was much further along on the painting - so I had to hurry to catch up. It is a bit sloppy, but we figured out the railing. We also figured out that this is a painting that needs to be viewed from far away - fire up the airplane. It was fun to start and finish something in one setting. It gives you a sense of accomplishment. We will see how it goes for future paintings.

Three Fights

I may have blogged about this before or maybe I thought about it so long that I thought I blogged it. If it is a repeat, sorry. The war in Iraq and the fighting in Lebanon have made me think of other fights and what I learned from them. I thought I would share three fight stories and the lessons I learned. Understand that fighting (especially in public school) is unacceptable and is to be avoided, but it happens. I never actually got into any fights myself (my sister did, and that is a funny story – later). I remember my mother saying, "Ladies do not fight; never get into a fight, but if you do, you better win." I thought that was rather confusing at the time, but I eventually figured it out. After becoming a teacher, I broke up more than my share of fights. Those are the fights I will tell you about. The three years that I taught at Mission High School (a huge 5-A school) I never saw any fights, but I occasionally heard about a few. The principal ran a tight ship there. Punishment for fighting was sure and swift – no questions asked. The three years that I taught in Northern NM at rather small schools were a real eye-opener on fights. Punishment was a joke. That is one lesson learned right there.

Fight No. 1: I taught a remedial English class with about eight boys in the class. They were all buddies and it was a great class. One day Gary Barela, whom I often called Gary Gorilla because of his size, went over to Little Archuleta’s desk (can’t remember his first name, but he was a small kid) and began giving him the "what for" – chewing him out royally. Because they were good friends, I did not think much about it at first, but I did have a "stay in your seat" rule. About the second time I told Gary to set down and before I could walk to where they were, Little Archuleta came up out of his desk and hit Gary square on the nose with such force that Gary went over backwards. Desks went flying, blood went spraying - end of fight. The other boys in the class quickly grabbed the two fighters – not that Gary could see to fight anymore, but they were separated. I sent Gary to clean up and head to the office. As I walked Archuleta to the office and we all calmed down somewhat, I asked, "What were you thinking!?" Little Archuleta said, "Mrs. B, Gary is a big guy. I thought if he was going to fight, I better get the first punch in. So I hit him hard." I did not say it to Archuleta, but I thought, "You know, that was probably a wise decision."

Fight No.2: Juan Gonzales was one of my all-time favorite students. He was a good-looking athlete with an easy-going, gentle personality. Whenever I am in Questa, I still stop at the Gonzales gas station to get hugs from the Gonzales brothers. The Blanco brothers are a whole other story. They were serious bad boys known for trouble – and I mean trouble. I could tell you some stories on them, but just understand that they were to be avoided. They were bullies and a bit wacko. One day after soccer practice while Juan was waiting for his father to pick him up, Jeramy Blanco jumped on Juan and started a fight. Juan tried to avoid the fight, but his father showed up and made him fight with Blanco. At one point, Blanco was winning and Juan tried to get out of the fight again, but Mr. Gonzales threw his son back into the fight telling him to whip Blanco – finish the fight. Eventually, Juan whipped Blanco. It did not make Juan a fighter (he hated the whole thing), but the Gonzales brothers never had any problems with the Blanco brothers again (or anyone else for that matter). I think Mr. Gonzales was very wise.

Fight No.3: It was the beginning of the year at Taos Jr. High. My homeroom kids were at their lockers in the back of the classroom when a fight broke out between two 7th graders. One was a pesky, bully type boy, and the other was a sweet, pretty little blonde girl named Ariel. Ariel looked like a wildcat in the fight. She was all over the young man before he knew what was happening. I separated the two and sent them off to the office. The next day Ariel’s father came to see me. He was horrified that his sweet little girl had gotten into a fight with a boy. I am sure he thought I should have done more to prevent the fight. Instead, I told him, "Ariel did very well – you should have seen her – she was all over that kid. Sure, she got a busted lip, but that was his only punch, and it was a lucky one. She whipped him good!" The dad was now really horrified. So I continued, "This is jr. high. These kids are establishing themselves. That boy is a pest and a bully. He had been picking on Ariel for weeks. She finally got tired of it and did something about it. I know fighting is not okay, but she has made her reputation, and she will never have to fight again, because now everyone knows that she will fight and she will win. Now, you don’t have to worry about her anymore." Being a typical Taos hippie, he had his doubts on what I said, but Ariel had a great year and no more fights or problems.

I use to tell my students that fighting at school was for chickens because they knew someone would stop them – break them up quickly. Fighting at school was "all for show" – bullying. I learned that sometimes a bully needs to be taught a lesson. Sometimes a bully needs to be whipped. Sometimes a swift hard hit is just what it takes to surprise a bully – one that thinks everyone else will stop the fight before he gets hurt. Sometimes you need to let the fight go on until someone is whipped or too tired to fight anymore. Stopping the fight just eggs the bully on to fight another day. Once again, I do not condone fighting in school. Fighting in school is dangerous for everyone and has to be taken seriously. My point is that I learned some things about life from these fights. Terrorists are like bullies. It is time to do something about them – like a good whuppin’.

Barker Brothers

My computer is giving me some problems today. Besides bumping me off numerous times, it would not let me post this picture, but I kept at it - trying new things. I am still not sure it will show up very well. This is a picture taken back in 1989 at my cousin's wedding in College Station (yep, I come from bunch of aggies). These are the Barker Brothers - My Uncle Eli, my dad, and my Uncle Bobby. My uncles are all that is left of the Barker children. Both live in South Texas. Uncle Eli is a retired engineer. Uncle Bobby is a retired LTC. My Dad died last December. He was a school teacher. Uncle Eli was the sweet one while my dad and Uncle Bob were the wild ones. Can you see it in their eyes?

My Kids

Bec and Bo gave me some pretty sound advice on my comments yesterday. Trying to complete a painting a day is probably more than I can handle. If I was not blogging, I might be able to do it, but I am not willing to make that change – I love my blogs. Bo, my SN1, knows me well. In fact, the apple did not fall far from the tree when it comes to procrastination. By the way, Bo is the one who introduced me to blogging. He has his own blog, although he stopped for a long time. He is now blogging again so you might give him a read (backup to his "General Anesthetic" post). As a little boy, he kept albums full of baseball and football cards, which is not unusual for a boy. But what set him apart is that he could recite the statistics of just about all his favorite players. During World Cup soccer tournaments, he kept charts along with the statistics. If you like to talk sports – any sports – Bo is the man.

My daughter, on the other hand, keeps us laughing. She is such a combination of innocence and smart aleck. She gets the smart aleck from both Toby and me. Toby often calls her a double-bred smart aleck, and like her father, she shows no fear of making remarks that will get someone in trouble or make fun of someone. Last night, she got me in trouble and made fun of her father, but had us both laughing. She announced that I had told her not to worry about trying to please her dad because he had a "little red hen complex". Well, I did say that, and he can be a "little red hen", but she was not suppose to tell it. The innocence part of her personality comes from the way we have raised her. Homeschool keeps kids more innocent. Some people think that homeschooling makes kids un-social or socially retarded. It does not, but sometimes they just have different information or knowledge than PS kids. Someday I will blog about homeschooling, if you want, but today I will just share these stories to explain the innocence of homeschooling and give you a good laugh.

When Jesse’s best friend, Lindsay and her cousin Lila were about 12 years old, they took a hunter safety course. Because they were both homeschooled they were not use to filling out bureaucratic forms like public school kids have to do. At the beginning of the safety course, they had to fill out the usual forms to get their hunting licenses. When the class broke for lunch, both girls asked what "SSN" stood for – they had left that blank on the forms because they did not know what it was. As parent/teachers we laughed at the girls and ourselves. We try to give the best education possible, but sometimes, we miss the simple things that public school kids do every day – innocence.

Last night, not only did Jesse get me in trouble, she told a silly story on herself – one that showed her innocence. She was at the Halliburton Human Resource Office filling out forms for her new job as a drafter. She said the room was full of young men filling out forms and applying at Halliburton. She struck up a conversation with an older black man sitting by her (She is very social. Keep in mind she is also very cute). When she got up to turn in her paper work, the man asked if she was going to take her "UA test". She replied, "Yeah, what is a UA test?" To her embarrassment, in front of a room full of young men, he told her, "Urine analysis." She said that she tried not to look embarrassed, and replied, "I knew that" and laughed at herself. She said she felt stupid because she knew she was going to have to take a drug test; she just did not know what it was called. "UA? Why not call it PP test?" Toby and I are still laughing at her.

Change

My baby sister just called. She caught me at a bad time. I told her I was entering checks into the computer and having a hard time with the program. She said, "Do you pay the bills?" She asked it with such incredulousness in her voice, that I was taken back for a moment. Does she think that I am mathematically challenged? Does she think me incapable of paying bills? "No, I am not paying bills. I am just entering them into the computer, but I could pay ‘em if I wanted too!" I know she was thinking, "but your husband is an accountant. You are an artist." "Look here!" I said. "I don’t have the market cornered on procrastination. Don’t mess we me. I’m a woman on the edge, and I am looking for a fight." She said her husband was presently working on their computer because she had pulled all of the cords out of it to move it and rearrange things and now it did not work. About that time, her husband came in and said that she was not to take the computer apart again – that she had things plugged into the wrong holes. I said, "You mean they have to go in specific holes? She giggled and said, "I guess so! I have been banned from the plugs." Hmm, maybe I could get banned from entering checks…

August is a tough month for me. It is the heat. By August, I am just tired of the heat. I am ready for a change. It is probably not a good time to make decisions about my life, because maybe I don't really know what I want - I just want out of the heat. This year I seem to be doing pretty good. I am ready for my art classes to start back. With all of my reunions out of the way and my jewelry party over with, I feel free. Free at last and ready for a change.

With Jesse going to work for Halliburton, I know there will be some changes around here. She has been my running buddy for a long time. Slowly, she has let me work into this next change. By working her small jobs, I have gotten use to her being gone more. Now, it will just be more permenant. She will not be as free to come and go from her work. She will have vacation time. She will have an income. Change is good. We went shopping over the weekend to find her some "professional" clothes. It was a good time - she actually liked some of the things I picked out - that is a sure sign of maturity and change :)

I read an article in my "Artist Magazine" about a man who did a painting a day and showed them on his website. Hmm, that is interesting. Could I keep up with a painting a day? It would definitely be a change in my routine. First, I got to get all of these stupid checks entered - then I will be free to paint. Oh no, that sounds like I am procrastinating already. I quit my aerobics class so that I will have more time to do the things I want - I just have to decide what I want - what I am willing to do. Change my lifestyle - that is the ticket!

Day Brightener

I hope this brightens your day. Here is Lindsay, Jesse's best friend, and my dog, Ranger getting into her kayak, earlier this week.

Don't Grow Weary

At the end of a lesson/sermon, our preacher usually has everyone stand. Then he says to turn to someone and give them an encouragement - like - Don't grow weary in well doing. It is such a simple thing, and yet, it is so important. In several of the blogs I read, people seem to be tired of the media bias, anti-war, anti-American, anti-Israel, leftwing crazies, and out-right lies that flood our lives. Don't be swept up in the flood. Know that there is good in the world, and there is right. Fight against hate and stupidity, but leave vengence to God. Do all with patience and forbearance and love. Know when to shake the dust from your sandals and move on.

New Trick

The high temperatures here in OK have called for drastic measures. Toby has decided that it would be cooler if we sleep with our heads at the foot of the bed. Being a good wife, I have submitted to this request without too much argument. But let me tell you, it has confused the heck out of our rat terrier that normally sleeps at the foot of our bed. The first night when we moved the pillows to the foot of the bed, Ranger, the rat terrier, just snuggled down in the pillows as if to say, "Thanks, guys, I needed pillows." He was rather hurt when he got shoved to the foot (head) of the bed. Last night, he just sat by my side of the bed, occasionally poking me with his cold nose and whining. Due to Toby’s poor hearing, the dog knows it would be useless to whine on Toby’s side of the bed. If Toby did hear him whine, it would probably lead to a swift swat. No, the dog knows who is the soft touch in the family. I finally had to get up and pick the dog up and put him at the appropriate end of the bed and sooth his distressed feelings (while Toby began to snore).

I have to admit that it is cooler at this end of the bed. Due to a miscalculation when building our home, the ceiling fan is not directly over the bed, but closer to the footboard. Although it is cooler, I am not sleeping well, and I am having weird dreams. We just flipped over to the other end of the bed, but now I am on the wrong side of the bed. I don’t want to be an "old woman who is set in her ways", but this is throwing me somewhat. Toby has taken his usual spot (the middle of the bed) and seems to be sleeping peacefully. I seem to be bumping into his arms and legs when I turn on my side, which makes me have to turn to my other side. That’s not right! Now I have to flop around like a floundering fish (more that I usually do). And still, he sleeps.

I was sleeping like a log when Toby brought me my coffee this morning. I guess I can get use to this end and side of the bed. I can deal with the weird dreams. If I am dreaming that means I am asleep - and that is good. The dog is still confused and is sleeping-in this morning. He looks pretty comfy. Maybe I will join him in a morning nap – at least until us old dogs learn this new trick.

Great Links

I picked this link up at Buck's blog. It is a must read so I am linking it, too. When your read down to the end, there is another link that is interesting called Milking It.

Tidbits

I am feeling a little "out of sorts" this morning. My soldier that I support through Soldiers Angels is home - which is great! Yet, he no longer needs my letters and packages. I am truly glad he is home and starting a new job and that all is well for him. Yet, I will miss him. I have already written my SA mentor to send me a new soldier.

My jewelry party went well yesterday. When all was said and done, I got $315.00 worth of free jewelry. I enjoyed having a house full of ladies visiting, shopping and eating - what could be better than that? Now Jesse and I have to make some decisions as to what jewels we pick for ourselves.

While I was getting ready for the party ( I cleaned house, made 7-layer dip, bruschetta, and set out a cheese and meat tray) Jesse called and said she had an interview with Halliburton again (it was 2:45 and the interview was at 4:00) She was in town and on her way home because she needed to freshen up and grab her portfolio. She needed me to iron her black pants. No complaints here! Afterall, I am a Mom. It's what I do. If she lands this job, she will be much more independent - making her own money, having her own insurance, etc. Hmm, now I am feeling "out of sorts" again - much like I do about my soldier. I guess you can only mother them for a short time. Then they must fly on their own. I am happy for her. And yet...

Belligerent But Not Drunk

This morning I googled "Hollywood Ten". Knowing the basic story, I just wanted to read up on the subject of the blacklisting or boycotting of certain people in the entertainment business because of their alleged beliefs. The movies and info put out today about the Hollywood Ten seems to say that what happen back in the 50’s was wrong – people should be able to say what they want, be apart of any organization including the Communist Party – freedom of speech and all of that stuff. So why then did Charlie Gibson on ABC World News last night ask if Mel Gibson should be "punished" for his anti-Semitic remarks? Charlie suggested that people in the entertainment industry were going to call for a boycott/blacklisting of Mel. It seems a bit ironic to me that the very people who are against blacklisting for speaking out on your beliefs would turn around and suggest blacklisting one of their own for his drunk-talk. So is Hollywood saying that freedom of speech applies only if you are saying what Hollywood wants to hear?

I want to be clear here. I am not saying that being drunk and belligerent is okay or that saying anti-Semitic things is okay with me. I have been around "mean drunks" who say and do things that they would never do when sober. It does not mean that when they are drunk the truth comes out. It means that they are out of control, and often, hateful things are said and done which is certainly not okay. Whether Mel is really anti-Semitic is not my point here. Whether Mel needs to enter rehab is not my point. I think that the general public, me included, often boycotts people in the entertainment business whenever they spout views that we disagree with or when they do things that we do not agree with. It is pretty much the only way the general public can let Hollywood know that we are in disagreement or disapproval. The public will make its own decision on Mel.

I have often thought that the entertainment industry has its own agenda – a very leftwing, liberal agenda. In the past whenever some entertainer has spouted a controversial view in public, the industry has stood up for them. Whether it be views on homosexuals, gun laws, or treasonous anti-government statements, we are suppose to go along with or let them have their say. In the past there have been lots of entertainers who were drunk and disorderly in public saying and doing some pretty stupid things. So why the blacklisting of Mel? Why now? Does Hollywood have an agenda that you better go along with – or else? Are there conservative entertainers out there who are afraid to speak out publicly – afraid that no one will work with them if they do not go along with the Left? Has Hollywood come full cirlce? Are they just big hypocrits? Where is their "anything goes" attitude now? Just wondering…

As for me, I will probably make up my mind on Mel all by myself. I really don’t like Hollywood telling me what to do and think.