September 15, 2010.
Wordless Wednesday: A Look Behind
On April 1, I began three challenges, and have not yet downloaded this week’s photos.
I thought, instead, that it would be fun to take a look back at my very first Wordless Wednesday post, from almost three years ago. Such little children lived here, and Margot the late Manx makes an appearance, too…
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Curious? Click here!
As some of you may know, my theme for this round is trust – trusting myself, life, those around me, new opportunities – and my own intuition. Trusting my gut, my heart, and my soul when they are whispering songs, stories, and wishes into my mind’s ear…
This trust has already led me in some interesting and unexpected directions this round….
Fulfilling her gorilla dreams….
Trust tells me that my family still needs me too much for that. Both kids still remember the 30 hours I was away when Eden Mabee and I went to Maine on a quick mommies’ getaway. They were 6 and 3 then – they are now 11 and 8.
Our budget already accommodates two major trips each year – Unschoolers Rock the Campground and the Northeast Unschooling Conference, which the kids and I attend. Until I am earning a more sizable writing income, another hotel trip is a little beyond us.
Only a few days after I stated that intention, I first heard about WANACon – a completely online weekend writer’s conference. I knew in that moment that I needed to be a part of it. I checked the prices and dates. The entire weekend seemed like more than my family could spare me, and a bit of a stretch for a budget that is already largely spoken for for the next several months. But it fell during Jim’s vacation, and so he could be the in-charge parent for one day.
I’m inspired by their delight in learning.
My gut said to choose Day One, and so I did, attending these sessions:
There were other sessions I missed (damn that need for sleep!), but there will be recordings available, so I can watch them later, and it will be like a conference bonus. =)
There were nice breaks between sessions, and Jim left me with a tidyish house (best we ever get, really, and then rarely!), and took the kids out for the day, so that I could attend without distractions or guilt – - have I ever mentioned that I really, REALLY love this guy?
Learning to value my own learning as much as theirs…
Each session had a video link for the host, and most had a slideshow, too. There was a chat box, and a place for notes. Jenny Hansen even got all fancy and shared pages with us! People could talk, although I was feeling a bit shy and didn’t. Something about hearing too much of my own voice in an atypically quiet house, I think.
I learned a tremendous amount – and I can’t say too much about it, because it’s still all aswirl, working its way into who I am and how I see myself and my writing…I know that there is great treasure in the grokking of it, and I don’t want to rush it.
I know that I will find a way to attend both days next year (I keep saying next year as a not so subliminal message to Kristen Lamb that there should absolutely be a next year!). I know that I will be making many changes and tweaks as time goes on…
The Capital Rotunda ceiling from below…
So what about ROW80?
My BIG TWO:
Homeschool reports:
Target:
WANA 113:
Targets: Word cloud grokking submitted by Sunday, March 3.
Connect with all classmates by Sunday, March 10.
Coral in the invertebrate house – at the National Zoo
Other stuff :
I have an intense need for input right now. I’m READING – lots!
Vinny Reams Lincoln – first sculpture the US government commissioned from a female artist.
Queen of My Infinite Spaces -
Targets:
Sponsor visits: I’m up to date on these.
What’s next…?
WANA 113 -
QUOMIS -
Other stuff:
“We found a rubber duckie in the fountain!”
So, how is your round going? Are you still humming along with your original goals, or charting a new course?
Curious? Click here!
Okay – I promised on Wednesday that there would be some major changes coming along today, and now it is time to deliver on that… I am in the midst of Kristen Lamb’s Blogging for Brand class, and have envisioned my ideal writing life, setting incremental goals to move me toward it. I shared the grand vision here. The first increment is the end of the class, which is roughly concurrent with the end of this round. These new goals look quite different than those I originally chose for this challenge, as they focus on moving me toward my big life goal. I had become accustomed to setting my goals in 80day cycles – the length of one round. Although I tried to choose goals that were aiming toward something, I hadn’t really defined what that something was, so I was moving nearer in a scattered fashion….so energy, time and focus were not being used as efficiently as they might be… I am shifting to these goals, and setting aside the previous (available, if you are curious and scroll down a bit), and I feel like I’m breathing fresher, purer air. I am now aimed at a target I can feel, and see clearly, rather than an ambiguous figure I can barely sense, hiding in the thick forest growth far ahead of me….
Sylvia’s miso vegetable soup….and Quirkle tiles….
In the meantime, I am still wrapping up my Big Three: WANA 113 –
Editing Finding Esta –
Homeschool reporting -
What’s going on? Life’s full and busy. The children and I are visiting New Jersey friends, the Woodmans, this weekend – by the time Sunday is over, though, we will be home and Jim will be on vacation! There’s been:
Quirkle game in progress….
We arrived here at about 8:45pm on Friday, and were all up until close to noon on Saturday….a few hours’ sleep, and then we were up again…in a few hours, we’ll begin the five hour drive home, and Jim will officially be on vacation…since his last one was spent like this, we’re really looking forward to time just to be together, this year! Other stuff….
Purim hamantaschen in the making….
What’s coming up…. With Jim on vacation, I will have the luxury of a second on-call parent for much of the next two weeks, so I am panning accordingly:
And, one final little bit of niftiness, to round out this Sunday report…. I received an email from a publication I submitted a poem to last year. They did not accept it, but this was the most personalized and encouraging rejection letter I have received yet! It included not only things I can improve upon, but also some very specific praise about the individuality of my cadence and rhythm. =) They’ve invited me to submit there again, and I shall…after a very thorough rereading of guidelines and sample copies!
Curious? Click here!
Sometimes, life is a bit like a seesaw, and I strive to find a balance as things shift and swirl….and I am inspired by a girl I know, to whom balance is a natural, integral part of every moment…
Trying something just a little new, here, tonight….
I am at 750 words, typing up my ROW80 update, while in the midst of editing, report writing, and contemplating what is proving to be a very challenging, soul-opening first pondering in the Blogging for Brand class.
I am low on time and focus for other things, just now, and so I am getting in my words, and my update, this way.
I should warn you – there are not likely to be many pithy thoughts in this writing….
For this session, I pretty much set aside everything but my current Big Three:
Completing the Second Edit of Finding Esta -
I am really enjoying this third read-through (and to say that at the third reading within the last month and a half is saying something pretty terrific for Shah Wharton‘s storytelling abilities!). I’ve found a way to edit that doesn’t give Amazon a chance to lose my work, and it’s working well on both sides of the intervening ocean.
I am planning to have this project done by February 15, because the children and I will be heading to New Jersey for that weekend, and, when we return, Jim’s vacation begins (for those who knew me at this point last year; Jim’s motorcycle-deer collision was at the eve of his “vacation” last year, so we are very eager to NOT have him in the hospital, this year!).
Annalise, at 4, weighing it out at the Saratoga Childrens’ Museam, Saratoga Springs, NY
Homeschool Reporting:
I have had a tendency, over the years, to allow this project to menace and loom over me. There was a time when this was not so – but that was before we had two utterly unexpected, and completely unfounded, allegations made to Child Protective Services. We strongly suspect we know who called, and the reasons had much more to do with broken interpersonal relationships than they did with how we are raising our children.
The social workers who visited were able to see that, but the school district we are required to register with and report to got nervous when they were called to verify that we were in compliance with the law…and the result of that was that, for more than two years, everything we did was minutely scrutinized, and many demands were made that were not in keeping with the law (which I have been reading since 11 year old Jeremiah was 2!).
So, I became paranoid, itemizing everything we did, and making it hugely clear that Jeremiah and Annalise are indeed being afforded “an education at least substantively equivalent to that which they would receive in a public school” – and in spades….the simple fact is that no classroom, no matter how well appointed, can compare to the big wide world of choices and connections available outside school walls…..
I digress, and in a big way.
The point is, I am now scaling back the reporting. There is so much evidence, publicly accessible, of what these children are doing, learning, and becoming, that I can provide far more proof than I’ll ever need to, already.
Annalise’s Tower of Plaza, from the summer she turned 5….this girl has inborn balance. Me, not so much, but I’m learning!
So, I am just giving a cursory report, this time, with a few general ways in which we have met each point in the children’s IHIPs. At the end of each, I am noting
“This objective was met for this quarter.“
Schools and other bureaucratic systems like to read that, maybe more than the details. It gives them something to tick off in their minds.
I am hoping to have the rough draft of Annalise’s report completed by February 10.
Blogging for Brand class –
I am going to upgrade my participation in this class, on the reasoning that this first assignment is already shifting so much for me (and that’s with the editing and reporting, which seem to be limiting my energy for getting out and about at WANATribe.)
Upside down, hanging’ out on a swing, age 4.75. I love the girl with the dancing eyes!
I’ve done some other little things, but I will wait until Sunday to post them….it’s nearly 10pm already, and Jim has just gotten home.
Until I have my Big Three closer to completed, I am putting all other goals on standby status.
Are you deep in your goals, puttering around, or somewhere else….I love hearing your stories!
Curious? Click here!
It’s been a bit stormy and wild here, lately…dustups may be par for the course, over a series of windy days…
I completed editing Finding Esta, and sent the file off to Shah Wharton…or so I thought. Turns out I sent her back the same master copy she sent me. When I tried to send the version that I had edited, I couldn’t download it. So I searched my hard drive for the appropriate file…opened it – and, three times over, encountered a Runtime Error that shut down the entire Kindle Reader app.
URGHHHHH!!!!!!!
Fortunately, my mind sees words, so I have begun recreating the process via my LibreOffice program….I can copy and paste, or save to whatever system works best for her…and I can send a few chapters at a time, so she’s not waiting for everything another dozen days or so – I am aiming to complete three chapters a day…
There’s a lot of upheaval going on, in my writing world – good upheaval, but it makes for some stress and floundering as I work out how to fit in all the bustle…
The kids’ quarterly homeschooling reports are due on March 1, and I have joined Kristen Lamb’sWANA 113 Blogging for Brand Class. The first assignment has already posted, and I still haven’t gotten my contacts listed, or stopped by to say hello to my classmates.
At the end of the month, I will be spending a day with WANACon.
In non-writing stuff, we have two kittens to spay this month, before spring brings them into heat, and the male cats in the neighborhood sniffing and peeing around our door.
Deep breaths.
It will all settle, and there may be rainbows….
The skies will clear ahead…..
What I’ve done this week:
Finished editing Finding Esta (and begun again).
Finished my weekly blog posts, flash fiction, visiting, and reading.
Synopsis scenes and pre-rewrite notes for Bounded by a Nutshell.
Synopsis scenes, prewriting notes, and two new scenes forSima Garo Provides.
Wrote an introductory message at Blogging for Brand page, and poked around; read and began first assignment.
Edited sidebar and added to blogroll.
Finally managed to get to the Y with the kids.
Hometending, firewood, began Jeremiah’s bedroom in a tiny way.
Blogs I visited:
Sunday, January 27 Updates:
Wednesday, January 30 Updates:
Writing Article for this session:
Added to Blogroll:
Tumult can be beautiful and inspiring….
Blog entries for this week:
Write at least one post weekly for three major blogs (shanjeniah; TruebornJottings, and The Unfettered Life.
The Unfettered Life:
What I will be up to next session:
Adjusting to the new projects for the month….this may take a week or two.
Blogging for Brand – complete assignment and get to know at least three other writers.
Kids’ reports, and keeping them from becoming a huge monster that sucks my time…
Work on editing Finding Esta, again…
Noveling, blogging, flash fiction stuff.
Researching spaying options…
Exercise and hometending.
That feels like plenty, for this tumultuous time….things will settle out, again, and then, there will be more…
For now, though, I am giving priority to the class, the editing, and the reports, and I will see where that carries me over the next days…
Kinetic art of the natural kind…light and shadow, together….
My bi-weekly in-depth evaluation
Are your writing skies cloudy? Clear? Are you like me – hovering in the midst of it all….?
What do you do when words and comprehension fail? Will you share, please?
Curious? Click here.
I know my updates are generally much more complex than this…but, the truth is, the writing-related things I’ve done this session are not product-oriented.
I’ve been mulling, pondering, musing, simmering, processing, percolating, composting, conversing, gaming, swimming, reading, and commenting…but not writing.
There was a time, not so long ago (like, at the beginning of the year, for instance), when this would have bothered me enough that I would have forced myself to write anything at all,regardless of quality.
Because of ROW80, I am instead choosing to go with this space and energy.
But, because I am who and what I am, I am also filling this post with images of my happy, thriving, peaceful children, in celebration of childhood, joy, and wonder.
Ther
e has been a jolt of sorrow, shock, and horror in the world, and I am responding empathetically on many levels…as a human, an adult, a parent, and as a mother who has suffered the death of a child…
And as a grown child of abuse, as a schoolroom outcast who was the target of bullies – themselves likely abused and hurting.
And as a person who chose, from the beginning, not to send my living children off to school…for many reasons, one of which was an instinctive and unshakeable conviction that they, like all young mammals belong with their mother until they can reliably tend to their own needs in an adult world.
So many facets and perspectives…so many things running through my mind. So much I want to say; so many assumptions I think ought to be questioned….so many people who are so dear to me, and who must be experiencing this even more viscerally than I.
All the children – the victims and the shooters – who died, because people are being broken so severely and often in this society that the brokenness explodes into horrific violence.
So very much I want to say..and so little ability to find words…or even coherent thoughts…for them.
I’m feeling both potent and powerless…
I know there is another way, because I live it, and so do many of my family’s friends. I know it is a more peaceful way, and that its focus is very, very far removed from the world of school. I want to share it, to offer an alternative, but I do not want to offend, or attempt to open minds closed to this reality.
I can’t write about it, or release the need to examine it, somehow fit it into my reality, maybe find meaning in it that I can distill and share…
So this is the longest thing I’ve written since Sunday, when I last updated, and completed the rough draft of my short story, “Morning Coffee”.
I am OK with not writing. I need to be quiet with what’s moving within me.
My goal for this round is to honor myself…and this feels like a time to truly attend to that goal. 
So I am choosing to honor the need for stillness, and to leave my laptop closed for the time I need to…even if that means I finish the round with many dangling projects.
I’m learning how to post from my Kindle Fire, which lends itself to shorter, maybe less profound posts. I’m doing my best to be gentle with myself as well as others.
And I will share my reading list here, for sharing…with a caution that there are many views expressed in this list. I do not agree with everything in this list, as you may not…but all of it seems somehow relevant, because all of these viewpoints and stories are a part of the world in which we live.
What would you do, Mom? (This chilled me. That teachers must think along these veins, that children are required by law to attend school, where they can become targets….this is too big for me. I do not understand why this is in any way okay, and I feel like weeping for all those children while profoundly grateful that Jeremiah and Annalise are not there. Suddenly, the tedium of those homeschool reports and requirements seem far less tedious by comparison….and I am intentionally bathing all the schoolchildren, all of their teachers, and all who come in contact with them in love and peace…because I can’t think of a more useful or healing response…)
I am Adam Lanza’s Mother (this troubled me – that the mother used her child’s image, and that her litany of what she has tried does not seem to have included simply accepting her child as is, with his sensitivity to stimuli that is likely being hugely overtaxed in a restrictive school environment, and her seeming assumption that every outburst is due to a diagnosis, and her listing of the many drugs he’s been medicated with, without seeming to question what effects those drugs may have had on him…but, mostly, I hurt for her child, whose difficulties she has made so very public, and I wonder if she thought to secure his approval before posting these details of his life without ever giving his perspective on any of it. I wrestled with including this link, because I don’t want to spread this…and yet, this seems to me to really point out some of the attitudes and assumptions that may lead to violence, and certainly cause breakage of the child’s spirit and strength of self.)
‘Childism’ – As Utterly Unacceptable as Sexism and Racism (This I loved, although it also disturbed me. It speaks to the blatant public shaming that has become fashionable of late, with Internet humiliations by parents who do not see that their bullying and disrespect of their children will not and cannot lead to true respect from those children, that children are people as much as any other, and deserving of the same calibre of respect as any adult. It doesn’t go so far as to discuss whether laws demanding all young humans of certain ages must attend school are constitutionally acceptable for American citizens. The Supernanny clip really moved me – I used to watch the show and follow those practices – and I will readily admit that they did not help, and had me spending a lot of time as enforcer. Our home was not remotely as peaceful, connected or joyous as it has since become… I wanted to scoop up that little baby boy whose feelings were being so ignored, peel those offensive and trapping T-shirts off those siblings who likely have been given no effective tools for dealing with the inevitable conflicts of a shared life, and get down on that floor to listen to a child so distraught they would allow themselves to be dragged across afloor for the simple hope that their needs and wants might be heard and counted as important. Short of being able to do any of that, I can share this article, and hope it might widen a perspective or two along the way…)
Well, after my comments, I feel that there is something I can say, now…it’s not all I want to say, but it brings a sense of peace.
I don’t need to say more than what I have, just now, so I will simply list my ROW80 Sponsor Visits (sorry, comments have been a little slow, due to my needing to cocoon a bit and be still with my thoughts).
So that’s it, for me, except to echo Tia Silverthorne Bach…
I encourage you to enact some random acts of kindness. Especially for yourself – most of us are far too hard on ourselves, or moving far too fast for our own good.
And for children.
Too often, children are given what are perceived to be kindnesses from an adult viewpoint….but the child does not see life as we do, and, as I go deeper into a partnership connection with my own children, and they confide in me openly, I see that there are many courtesies children would appreciate, but which adults might not even consider…
More on that soon…my own children are asleep, at an hour when they often are awake, and Jim is home from work, and our little nest is feathered with sweet, soft peace. I am going to eat a shrimp and veggie quesadilla made just for me, and settle back into just being for a few hours…
I just realized that this is the official final check-in, but I will be posting mine on Sunday, after the round ends.
I choose to focus on sweetness. Will you join me?
Curious? Click here!
My original goals for this round.
My Thankvember NaNoROW80 goals
My informal schedule for December
It’s been a week since my last update. I make no apologies for this, because I was fully living my life, enjoying friends, learning new customs, embarking upon deep conversational journeys, and mounting expeditions upon untrodden inner terrain…
The physical, product-focused portion of writing was not so much in evidence as the invisible things that feed writing, and living, and make it all worthwhile.
And, when the writing resumed, on Tuesday, it was richer and more textured…
Littlest Pet Shops go Black Friday shopping.
How about you? Do you take time to deepen and refill…or press forward steadily, regardless of everything else in life?
December ROW80 Goals (End-of- Round Housekeeping)
Write and post ROW80: Year One in Review – four seasonal posts, one for each round of my first year.
I’ve begun the rough draft of the essay, which is at 714 words, with a target length of 500-750 words. It will be, it looks closer to a 1000 word essay.
It’s my plan to write only when I can attend to all three sides of the triangle, and to keep a journal on my writing sessions.
I’ve kept more or less to this goal. I had only 2.5 hours’ sleep, but I was as enthusiastic as I was able to be.
On the plus side, I am eager to continue – I like what I have, and what I have prepared for the next writing session.
I have managed well at this goal, which is reflected in the fact that I wrote little here, during our visit with our friends.
Our First Night of Hanukkah with dear friends.
Read posts at My Write Spot and Thankvember Blog Hop.
For Thankvember Blog Hop:
Nothing this session.
At My Write Spot:
Jot some notes for ebook/hard copy poetry book, Queen of Infinite Spaces, which will use my 31 OctPoWriMo 2012 poems.
In preparation for brainstorming and beginning, I have set up a Scrivener file for this project.
I have brainstormed a list of things to work on to bring the shape of this book into focus.
I will be working on these in the coming days, and will have a better idea of direction and timetable when complete.
Menorahs and blessings….
Continue writing Sima Garo Provides, throughout December.
I plan to use Rachel Aaron’s process on this story, noting what I plan to write about before each session, even if it’s only a short one, and time-tracking.
I began Chapter Ten,Scene Four, while we were away, and added to it on Tuesday.
I am feeling that this is the exhale scene, a pause before the escalation of the concluding chapters.
I am keeping track of my time invested and taking notes before writing sessions. I don’t see any words gained, thus far, but it hasn’t been a typical run of days.
I do feel that the note-taking time is clarifying my focus, and, once things start to settle, I think I may find a rather marked increase in productivity for time invested.
Scenes from the Cookie Decorating Party…2012 edition.
Moving firewood into garage, stacking, and stocking house as needed.
First we had cold, then snow, then rain…hoping for a dry day or two, now that I have no looming projects….
I did nothing toward this goal during this session.
There is a chance of snow on Sunday. I would like to move all of the wood and restock the house before then. Hopefully, during the next day or two, because we have outings planned for both Friday and Saturday evenings.
Editing Picasa albums, and sharing them more widely.
Nothing done on this goal for this session.
Our Resident artists and their works in progress.
Add reports and sections to kids’ reporting blogs, and organize blogs.
I began the reporting period, last quarter, with one idea for these blogs, but, as is so often the case, living with it led me to some fairly major shifts.
Now, I will be working toward adjusting the setup to match what’s really working for me, and making sure all of the first quarter report sections are public – I will use this if I need quick proof, or to refer a concerned family member to evidence of “what we do all day” (even though, very often, we are likely to be doing it all night, instead…)
I added Jeremiah’s Foreign Language Arts.
Each post will be categorized, and the category link listed as “Past Reports”on the current report (which will be on the Page for that subject area.
I hope to add photos and links at some later point in time.
More Sweet Moments….
Weekly update posts to both reporting blogs.
I am thinking that these will just be roughly sorted into categories – a sort of laundry list of the cooler parts of our week (Monday sounds like a good day to do them!)
I haven’t posted either update, yet, due to travel. Read below for progress.
Categories may be as simple as “Doing”/”Seeing”/”Making”/”Playing”/and “Talking About”, and may include pictures and/or links.
I have written the text for Annalises’ 12/9/12 Weekly Update. Running a bit late to post this, due to lots of travel and life!
Next up, revision, photo editing, and posting.
I have not yet begun Jeremiah’s update. Plan to begin it Wednesday.
Life unfolding…
I may also categorize using an initial code system, so that the “subject/s” an item fits into will be clear at a glance.
I have added category labels to Jeremiah’s first update.
In the coming days, I will be adding these items to the appropriate categories on their pages, from which the next report will be created.
From there, I will move them into their “subject” and “objective” on the IHIP.
I have done nothing toward this goal in this session,but plan to have both children’s first updates categorized before I post their third updates.
Gabriella made her special cocoa recipe for Annalise.
Guest blogging catchup.
I will be doing a round of checks on previous posts, to answer comments as needed.
I have done nothing toward this goal in this session.
As I move through this process, I will make certain that myWhere on the Web is Shan Jeniah? page is up-to-date, and possibly prettied up a bit…
I have done nothing toward this goal during this session.
I will be sending a completed post to a friend, to see if she would like it, and another where I can send a nifty little bit of flash fiction I wrote a few months back, and contacting another friend where I planned to write during the craziness that was Round 3.
I have done nothing toward this goal during this session.
Annalise’s Cup Castle! Geometry in action!
Prepare items for submission.
I’ve been planning to send some things out into the world, but haven’t done so since the early part of summer. The reasons have been various, and now it’s time to offer up some of my words in exchange for a bit of disposable cash flow…
I’ll begin small -just choosing a thing or two to spruce up and let go….and take it from there. My Writing Bullpen is chock full of potential – time to bring out some new pitches! =D
I have done nothing toward this goal during this session.
I will continue to do this as I read, so that I will have a selection of items to prepare, without any extra work.
I have done nothing toward this goal for this session.
I am toying with the idea of rewriting a story I wrote in 2000, Morning Coffee, for the Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition.
I have done nothing toward this goal for this session.
The next day or two should reveal whether I am ready to attempt this challenge this year.
And my two standing goals, continuing on…
I am serving as a ROW80sponsor for this round.
I have not visited any blogs this session.
I intend to be caught up by Sunday.
I have volunteered to serve as a sponsor again next round – I love this gig!
Haven’t heard back yet. Waiting… =D
Fitness Goals – I will focus on eating before I am hungry (and getting protein and magnesium into every other time I eat). I will be active enough that I can always feel my body and muscles. I will add more fruits and vegetables to my diet, and be more attentive to how much water I am drinking.
I will be recording my progress here, along with my energy levels for that Sunday – Tuesday or Wednesday – Saturday period.
Thursday – Slack Tide
Hometending, lots of laundry, packing, tending pets.
Friday – Slack Tide
Driving ( 4 hours), Minimal hometending at Woodmans’, shopping and errands.
Saturday- Ebb Tide
Moderate hometending at Woodmans’, lots of conversation, music, Hanukkah, gaming, some writing.
Sunday – Ebb Tide
No sleep, Cookie Decorating Party, more Hanukkah, sleep deprivation consequences, more talk, more music, a little reading, walking in the rain with Miah, party prep hometending at the Woodmans’.
Monday – Ebb Tide
More conversation and gaming. Minimal hometending at the Woodmans’, packing, driving 4 hours home.
Tuesday – Slack Tide
More conversation. TV. Gaming. Minimal Unpacking and animal care. 10 hours’ sleep!
I have been following a more intuitive and natural approach to eating and drinking, and allowing myself to feel my body’s wishes.
Travel to friends’ in a neighboring state was not as challenging as I had thought it might be . I listened to my body, and was able to get fruits, nuts,protein, magnesium, and veggies.
I drank more water in the days when I was away than I usually do at home. Something to ponder.
It seems that it is easier to choose wisely in the moment when I remember my goal of feeling good and comfortable and balanced. It isn’t deprivation to moderate, or to consider where an item fits into the dietary puzzle, for me, in any given moment.
And now, a bit about our last few days:
The children and I spent Friday – Monday with out friends in New Jersey, the Woodman family. We had our first experience with celebrating Hanukkah, and time to just be with those we connect deeply with, and a cookie-decorating party. There were minor conflicts and resolutions, and the type of deep, thought-provoking conversation that stirs my soul…
This fits in with our intent to enjoy the holidays in a relaxed and just right for us way…
In other news, Srindi and Squeak grew braver and more confident in their new home while we are away. There is a chance, too, that they missed the attention-from-a-distance we’ve been giving them, since both have allowed us to approach far closer before moving away, and their retreats have been calmer, slower, and seemingly more a matter of preference than fear.
Squeak sat and waited while Annalise and I tended to refreshing her food and water, and moved a step or two in my direction when I came into the family room to find her in the attached kitchen. She swiveled her ears and watched me while I spoke softly to her.
Srindi, the more social kitten, moved out of my reach, but circled just beyond my reach, arching her back while watching me, as though she was tempted to rub against me and claim me for her own. She allowed us to sit in the office chair, only a foot or two from the table where she was eating.
Both of the older kittens have taken to Achoo, who feeds from either bowl. They wait for her to finish and snuggle with her. The worries I had that I would have to protect the baby from the teenagers were unfounded….and the baby is not nearly so little anymore. She grew substantially while we were away!
We’ve been tired since we returned. After very little sleep while we were away (and none on Saturday night), I slept 10 hours Monday night, and nearly on Tuesday.
Tuesday, I unpacked a few things from the car, and that was about it. Out of state trips tend to have that affect on all of us – the kids didn’t move around much, either, although we were all up until Wednesday morning, about 9am. The kids got outside and soaked up the first sun we’ve seen in about five days, before they both slept until well past dark.
Wednesday and Thursday are unscheduled days for us, then we will be out and about for more holiday-oriented stuff on Friday and Saturday evenings.
And I will be moving forward on my personal goals in a way that leaves plenty of space for celebration.
May your week be merry, creative, and blessed, whatever the nature of your winter festivities!
Curious? Click here!
It’s been a productive few days, here, on many levels. Jim spent most of his Monday and Tuesday taking care of seasonal errands. The children both fell in love with my new Kindle Fire HD, and decided that they would like their own as Christmas gifts this year. Jim and I worked the budget, and realized that we could manage it. So we ordered them with the understanding that this was our Christmas budget, so there will be stockings and no big presents on Christmas Day – Jeremiah has asked for a big bag of barbecue chips (his favorite), and five dollars. Annalise has mentioned Littlest Pet Shops and Zhu Zhu Pets – and there will of course be treats of assorted varieties!
I have been writing – mostly the reports, which are due this weekend. I’ve been sneaking in bits and pieces of my NaNo WIP , and a little of my Thankvember Blog Hop posting. That will become a higher priority during the current session, since the blog hop ends on Friday, and I am currently three days behind.
In other news, Achoo the kitten is getting big and strong. Her tiny baby mew is maturing into an actual meow, and she is very interested in connecting with Srindi and Squeak.
Speaking of the bigger girls, they are adjusting. A little more than a week after their arrival, both are easing into the flow of life at our house.
Srindi, Miah’s kitten, seems to like smaller, enclosed spaces, and observing the sights and sounds around her. She has staked a claim to my office, and is gradually exploring it. During the day, she tends to stay behind or under something at the edges of the room, but, once things quiet, she moves out into the open. Yesterday, for the first time, we spotted her on the table where Achoo eats, and also lying, alert yet relaxed, on my office chair. She has let Jeremiah touch her a few times, and likes to be talked softly to. She’s a bit uncertain about Achoo, but is getting used to her.
Squeak, Annalise’s kitten, is more of an adventurer. She likes larger areas to hide beneath, and moves more frequently – first, under our bed; then under the family room couch; and, the last day or two, under the kitchen counters. She and Achoo have struck up a close friendship, but she hasn’t yet allowed any of us to touch her. She seems to have recovered fully from her spaying, and has explored the kitchen, family room, and bedrooms, thus far.
Both of the bigger girls use litter boxes, and Achoo had chosen a cleaning rag forgotten in a corner. She’s now getting the hang of the box.
I’m not sure that Srindi and Squeak know yet that their sister is here, as they have been mostly in separate rooms. We are all looking forward to their eventual and hopefully happy reunion.
All signs say that we will eventually have three cats who get along well with each other, and are at ease living with us. =D
Photo courtesy Amazon Kindle. Click for source.
First, a few New Things, as the November Challenges wind down…
I’ve attained one of my Big Five for November. Two more are well underway. The last two are ongoing, and I am current with them.
That means a little room is clearing up in my mind and my writing flow, and so, I am adding a few small secondary projects to the list, to fill in the gaps that will be appearing as other things are finished or humming along nicely.
Resume using Twitter for reading, commenting, posting, and connecting.
Catch up with comments on shanjeniah.
Modified #ROW80 / #NaNoWriMo Projects November 1-30, 2012
I have completed theNaNoWriMo Challenge . I’m focusing on the homeschool reports, and interspersing smaller projects – “hometending” in my writing spaces, both physical and virtual, so that I can ring in 2013 fresh and ready for new and continuing writing adventures.
I am serving as a ROW80 sponsor for this round.
Curious? Click here!
I will be participating in NaNoWriMo throughout November, writing at least 50,000 words of another novel in my TruebornWeft series, Sima Garo Provides.
Yum! Public domain image. Click for source.
Fitness Goals – I will focus on eating before I am hungry (and getting protein and magnesium into every other time I eat). I will be active enough that I can always feel my body and muscles. I will add more fruits and vegetables to my diet, and be more attentive to how much water I am drinking.
Annalise’s independent magnetic pattern block art – 2010, at age 6.
Moving ahead with the Reporting Pages projects for both children..
Curious? Click here!
I am participating in the Thankvember Blog Hop.
I will be scheduling them ahead where and when I can. When I can’t, I will do them at some point throughout the day.
My overarching goal for this round remains: To Honor Myself– my rhythms, energy, needs, truth, dreams, desires, and emotions.
After I post this report, it’s back to some fairly intensive writing for me, as I wrap up my November goals.
At the next update, I will have a few new goals, as I transition back to my pre-November projects until completed, or the end of the round arrives.
I also have an idea for December, but I will keep that to myself, just for now….
May your days be bright and busy with joyous creation!
Me, on the Atlantic Coast in York, Maine, September, 2007. Photo by Eden Mabee.
Curious? Click here!
Technology -Thankvember Twenty-Third
I live today in a world very different than the one I was born into. I know that there is a tendency in people of a certain age to reminisce about the good old days, but this is not that kind of post.
Yes, there are trivial places in which I think our technology has gone a bit overboard, and critical ones where I feel it’s lagging behind, but I don’t want to focus on those, either, in this post.
This post is intended instead as a celebration of the ways in which technology enhances the lives of this family.
We are all simple people, and we all enjoy taking in mew ideas, information, and inspiration. So, for all of us, the new devices and systems for entertainment and communication are, in a very real sense, fantasy come to life.
It began with getting cable TV. For the first several years we lived here, we didn’t have cable, and could rely on only one channel. The American transition to digital television led to our making the choice to have basic cable installed.
Immediately, we all had access to a much wider slice of the world. Around the same time, Jeremiah, then seven, became intensely interested in handheld games systems. His first was a Game Boy Advance, which he purchased with saved allowance money.
A few months later, we replaced our faltering dial-up Internet connection with a wireless Roadrunner connection, and my new laptop was now connectable everywhere, at a speed that matched the availability of information.
Meanwhile, game systems continued to join our lives – Jeremiah seems to thrive with learning presented within a technological format, and he learned how to connect and use, in fairly rapid succession, the Gameboy, a DS, and a DS-i; and he was instrumental in the purchase of a gaming joystick, a Gamecube, a Playstation 2, and an Xbox 360.
Eventually, I replaced my large laptop, first with an older tablet that was not what I was looking for, and then with a much smaller, but more efficient, Lenovo Ideapad S9. The tablet and the old laptop floated between owners for a while.
Both children eventually acquired Nintendo 3DS units, and our family acquired a Roku and a Wii.We all got simple pay-as-you-go cellphones, and Jeremiah got a laptop like mine.
We have had a streaming Netflix account for a couple of years, and it is used (mostly through the Wii console, or the Roku) on one of our two modestly sized flatscreen TV’s – we bought inexpensive models in smaller sizes, so that we could have the features we most wanted.
This week,after saving my personal spending fund for several weeks, I was able to buy myself a Kindle Fire HD. I am loving this little device, which offers me worlds in the palm of my hand…
For all the technology that has enriched us, allowed us to speak with people on other continents about all manner of things, that spreads ideas and experiences and images across a far-flung network, free for us to partake of.
Our lives are richer because of this technology. We are richer, wiser, and fuller because of it.
The enriching gifts of technology. Public domain image-click for source/
Curious? Click here!
Our lives became more interesting this week! The children were out playing in their giant leafpile, provided by a stand of scrub maples in the woodlot behind our house, when they caught sight of a tiny scrap of a tabby kitten trying to climb a tree.
She came right up and started climbing on Jeremiah, while Annalise came to get me.
When I saw that what they had was a kitten who couldn’t be older than 8 weeks, and maybe less, I knew we couldn’t leave her outside. It was going to be a cold, rainy night, and she weighed almost nothing, was sneezing, and her eyes were runny.
So I carried her inside, and we have made my office into her nursery, until she’s big and strong enough to roam the house and yard on her own. We’ve all fallen in love with this little girl who, although she’s clearly never lived in a house or with people before, has made her feisty little self perfectly and affectionately at home.
She’s had a bath (no fleas, but fly bites on her tiny ears), and I’ve given her a quick tea-bag compress on both eyes, which seems to have really cleared them up (maybe not permanently, but it’s a useful therapy I learned while working for a veterinarian).
We are still expecting two older semi-feral kittens, Srindi and Sqeak, to join our family in the next week or two…we will go from a cat-deficit that has existed since Margot the Manx died on September 11, to a cat-rich family…it may be tricky at first, but perhaps not. All are young and friendly, and the older girls will come to us after spaying when they will likely be calmer and more subdued…we will see. As we have no major away from home plans for the next week or two, we can be here to support everyone through the transition.
I predict much pouncing, adjusting, and purring…and, if felines make valuable muses, I should have some awesome writing ahead!
And now, I introduce to you….Miss Achoo Circles Burton!
Annalise and Achoo, a self-portrait. Photo by Annalise Burton.
Modified #ROW80 / #NaNoWriMo Projects November 1-30, 2012
Due to National Novel Writing Month and the NaNoWriMo Challenge, the landscape of my writing life has shifted.
I began with only five projects as my focal points for the month. Now that I have completed the challenge, I will be shifting my focus to the homeschool reports, and will also be interspersing smaller projects into my writing times. These will include catching up on email, Twitter, and blog comments; preparing and submitting; following up on some guest posting and awards business; and tidying things up so that I can spend the remainder of the round effectively.
Peekaboo!
So, without further ado, here is my own personal (and specific) five point plan:
I am serving as a ROW80sponsor for this round.
Quiet moments…
I will be participating in NaNoWriMo throughout November, writing at least 50,000 words of another novel in my TruebornWeftseries, Sima Garo Provides.
Three new friends!
Fitness Goals – I will focus on eating something each time I am hungry (and getting protein and magnesium into every other time I eat). I will be active enough that I can always feel my body and muscles. I will add more fruits and vegetables to my diet, and be more attentive to how much water I am drinking.
Achoo Circles
Moving ahead with the Reporting Pages projects for both children..
Silliness!
I am participating in the Thankvember Blog Hop.
Sweetness!
My overarching goal for this round remains: To Honor Myself – my rhythms, energy, needs, truth, dreams, desires, and emotions.
There you have it. I am LOVING this month of writing intensity, and focusing on allowing it and all the other aspects of my life to move into a natural, shifting balance, a circle that feeds each point in its orbits.
I plan to dive in, immerse myself to the point that I am able, and to surface when that is what I need or want to.
I plan to keep my life simple and peaceful as much as I am able, this month (and always).
I plan to delve, delight, and discover my way through this month….
And you are all invited along for the ride! =D
