Out of the Loop

Wow. I can't believe that my basic business skills have completely left me in the last 8 years. I never was all that stellar but I was competent and didn't embarrass myself or my employer at every turn. Today, I've managed to trip every time I turn around.

• An attempt to fax this am, failed.


• Only to find that I could have emailed it.


• Then I transcribed all the info and emailed the form noting that it may be a duplicate.


• Only, to do a triple check while printing it out for my own files and realize I lost a person in the transcription.

And of course when I talked to this person on the phone 3 weeks ago she was short and snippy with me so I can only imagine that she is totally annoyed at my ineptitude.

:sigh: is there a Administrative Assistant refresher course out there?

If I'm going to be taking a larger, volunteer, roll in our local community then I have to get these bugs out before I embarrass myself further.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. _Continuing Ed Class, Train Trip to SD, Getty Villa, Earth Science class, and hopefully a party at the cabin__ are some of the things I'm most looking forward to in October.

2. Sometimes I _am sure I am losing my mind_.

3. _I had children_ and that's why there is a saying, "never say never"!

4. When I'm down, I _eat_.

5. _With the kids_ is where you'll find me most often.

6. A rainy day is good for _a fire and a good book or watching others play in the rain_.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to _a PJ party in my bed with the kids_, tomorrow my plans include _making fire trucks with the kids__ and Sunday, I want to _dh to be home as early as possible__!

Friday FIve

1. Who is your favorite author?

All time favorite would be Orson Scott Card. I first read his work in the late 70's (thanks Dad!) and as recently as 4 days ago I was sharing some of my OSC collection with some dfs.

2. What is your favorite book/series?

OSC's 7th Son series.

3. Who is a book hero you most wish to be like?

I really like being myself so I couldn't choose one.

4. Who is a book character that you envy?

I try hard not to "envy" and when I do it sneaks up on me and I get rid of it asap.

5. Which book do you wished you lived in?

:) My autobiography. It is a great place to live.

Apologize

:sigh: as much as I work to never undermine someone publicly I did it again yesterday. Not with just anyone, but a kid, an older teen but still a kid. Not just the kid but in front of the parent and a group of adults that had known the kid for years!

Opened mouth, inserted foot.

I have apologized via email to the parent and asked that it be passed on to the child if appropriate.

But GOSH it bugs me that with a new to me group I could do something that thoughtless.

I should have been thinking KMS. Keep Mouth Shut.

It wasn't really *that* bad but since it is one of the things I strive to not do it was a step back for me.

9/19/08 Friday Five

That One Girls - Friday Five

1. What did you want to be when you were a kid? --- The first female vice president of the United States. That was short lived, by the time I was 12 I knew politics was not my thing. Then I wanted to be a professional volunteer. I was going to marry my knight in shinning armor (I did) and then be a volunteer for the rest of my life (hsing mom is pretty much that) and I was going to skip the Mommy thing and go straight to the Grandma thing (I messed that one up when my hormones got in the way)


2. What is your proudest accomplishment so far? --- It is not my best work but my proudest accomplishment. The Strength and Hugs quilt that I made in about a week. When my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer in 2002 I put out an APB to IRL and on-line friends for favorite scraps and fabric and made my mom a quilt. From conception to completion was about 14 days. Mom got to look at that quilt every day of the rest of her life knowing all the people that were sending her strength and love. She requested a 2nd, smaller, quilt to take with her to her different treatments. I had enough extras from the first to make another similar one but smaller, more of a twin/lap size.


3. What is your dream job? --- It used to be something where I can be on a laptop on the beach somewhere warm and check in every once in awhile to do some problem solving. Now, I find that I'm doing it. This educational facilitator gig for my kids is amazingly satisfying and challenging at the same time.


4. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? --- In a similar space. Still facilitating the kids education but to a lesser degree. Still learning and growing every day. Still enjoying life while creating and researching.


5. What does it take to make you happy? --- Sunshine, fresh air, and warmth.

Magic Words

I'm reading a wonderful book that has many tools and I'm impressed enough to want to record it here. Little helpful phrases that sometime I need to be reminded of.

First and foremost # 5. KMS. Keep Mouth Shut
#37 Hey, It's Only the Second Inning.

I'm only on 59 out of the 101 but I'll get there.
Quick easy for those "I've just got a minute" moments to read.

Click on the pict to go to Amazon to check it out.
Or got to your local public library. :) That's what I did.

Magic Words 101 Ways to Talk Your Way Through Life's Challenges by Howard Kaminsky and Alexandra Penney

Spark Thoughts

I've really got to go back to SparkPeople
I lost 50 pounds in the last 15 months. But a trip down photo memory lane last night has me motivated to get back on the bandwagon after a two month hiatus.

This was at my mom's "funeral"

January 2004

I gained 65 pounds in the course of 18 months between her diagnosis and her death. And it wasn't until June of 2007 that I was ready to do anything about it.

With Spark People I lost about 50 pounds in 12 months. June 2007 to June 2008

And I've been taking a break since then.

It is time to go back.

I miss the hard body.

The weight hasn't changed much but the body is flappier.

I've been chewing on this word for about 6 weeks.

It is a word I had heard in the past. A word I understood. But a word that was given more weight in my mind after a group discussion at a confrence.

The word is "unschooly" or would it be "unschoolly" or "unschool-y" or even "unschoolie"?

It is being used as a way to describe a type of non-institutional learning.
Not just homeschooling because much of it does not occur at home.

The idea is that the form of education being described is like unschooling but not exactly unschooling so it is "unschoolly" "unschool-y" "unschooly" "unschoolingy" "unschoolingie" oh crud some of those are ugly words..

I'd really like to figure out how it is actually spelled.

Why? Why do I care? Why does it matter?

Well, it matters to me because people get all caught up in the check list that is, and is not unschooling, unschooled, unschool. The intent, the execution, what it looks like to the kid, parent or outsiders. No, it really doesn't "matter" matter but it matters in context of attempting to communicate a philosophy of education.

I'm using it as "having properties of" unschooling. So would that mean the word would be "unschoolingly". Oh goodness, I'm in over my head.

So, if it is my call, I decide, until convinced otherwise, that the word is "Unschooly"

If Merriam-Webster defines "girly" as "girlish" and "girlish" as "of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a girl or girlhood" then I can extrapolate "unschooly" or "unschoolie" to "of, relating to, or having characteristics of unschool"... but should it be "unschoolingy" instead of "unschooly".

Ugh, I'll just decide that I don't have enough knowledge to decide. Nor the inclination to gain the knowledge needed in order to make a decision.

Definition from John Holt Grown Without Schooling
http://www.holtgws.com/whatisunschoolin.html
A short snip from the full definition given on the site.

"When pressed, I define unschooling as allowing children as much
freedom to learn in the world, as their parents can comfortably bear. The
advantage of this method is that it doesn't require you, the parent, to become
someone else, i.e. a professional teacher pouring knowledge into child-vessels
on a planned basis. Instead you live and learn together, pursuing questions and
interests as they arise and using conventional schooling on an "on demand"
basis, if at all. "

Unschooling.com definitions of unschooling

http://www.unschooling.com/library/faq/definitions.shtml
List of definitions from Sandra Dodd's site.
http://sandradodd.com/unschool/definition

Interesting....

I can tell when I'm actively into sewing.

My sewing area is clean... Yes, I took a break while hemming the pillow cases to take a picture.

The cupboards hold some of my stash.

The boxes on the shelf house most of my thread. The other shelf currently has a bolt of interfacing and a bolt of soil separator for tracing. It recently held what was left of my Warm & Natural but I used the last of that on a recent quilt sandwich.

The stack on the sewing machine cover is stuff to be turned into bags.

My serger and coverstitch machine are hiding behind the sewing machine. All 3 use the same foot pedal so I just plug it into what ever machine I'm using at that moment.

Why is it...

... that I garden for my own pleasure.

Everything dies.

I plant special items per dh's request.

They grow, and some thrive. See dh's jalapenos on right.

This may be why I had given up on gardening. It had been so long since I'd been successful that I decided to give it another shot this year.

One dozen zucchinis on 12 plants does not equal a successful harvest in my mind.

Better luck next year.

NVC Stuff

Nonviolent Communication has been a buzz word in my circles for years.

http://www.cnvc.org/en/what-nvc/nonviolent-communication

I think we did our first book club on it back when dd was an infant.

Here is a wiki how on how to: http://www.wikihow.com/Practice-Nonviolent-Communication

My motivation for bring it up is that a df had a set of NVC GORK cards. http://www.nvcproducts.com/product.sc?categoryId=2&productId=5

Cards, playing card like, that listed feelings. I can see what an asset it would be to have a set of cards with feelings on them to help identify what exactly we are feeling in a trying situation. For children, for adults, for families or in groups. For personal use for journaling, for couples use for problem solving.

Friday Five 9/12

I'm new to this so please forgive me if I don't do the correct attributions.

Todays Questions
1. If you were to die today, what would your last words be? I love you.

2. What would you want your epitaph to say? I don't want one. I want my ashes scattered in the ocean.

3. What song would you want played at your funeral? There is a party at the end of the world.

4. In lieu of flowers, what should loved ones do in your honor? Drink margarita at my fav beach while watching the sunset.

5. What unfinished business would you wrap up? I'd do a final round of phone calls to say I love you. We say it often to our loved ones but if I knew today was the day I'd say it again even though it has been said to all that matter in the last 48 hours.

Banned Book Week 9/27-10/4

Every year I add Banned Book Week to my calendar.
Every year I let it slip by without a second thought.

This year I will read at least one Banned Book.
It may be a re-read, it may be a new read of a familiar author.
With the little research that I'm doing as I write this I see many of the books that I have read over the years on the lists. Now it I could just find a definitive list with the reasons why then I might be able to shed some light and do some learning. For now I'll just keep searching and thinking.