Paradise Found

 not june cleaver asked for it. 

1. I love chocolate, but I refuse to eat Tootsie Rolls, chocolate ice cream, or milkshakes made from chocolate ice cream. They taste fake to me. And the milkshake? Completely cheating; a proper chocolate milk shake is made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup!
2. I lived in the same state – California – until I was 38.
3. I will not use shampoo with sodium lauryl sulfate. Sure, the studies don’t confirm that it can cause any health problems, but come on. It’s used as an industrial floor degreaser. Do I really want that on my head?
4. Few people know what ALS is. You might recognize it by the name of Lou Gehrig’s disease. I have the unfortunate claim to know *three* people who suffered with this rare and debilitating disease, two of whom have lost their lives to it.
5. I grew up on an apple farm. I can pick up six apples at a time, drive a forklift and identify worm holes, bitter pit, and water core.
6. I have never read Gone with the Wind. And I’ve only watched bits of the movie. (I know, I know!)
7. The official publication date for all three of my books is 2006. The odds of that happening again are slim.
8. I have been featured in a text book. When I was about 12, a photographer from Harcourt Brace wanted to feature a rural farm family in one of their social studies books. My sister and I became “Josie” and “Karen” and we posed in pumpkin patches, at farm stands, picking up our toys (Josie and Karen were good girls!), and ice skating.
9. The ice skating photo shoot was the final one. I broke my leg that day and spent 3 months in a hip length cast.
10. Both of my babies were born via C-section. One included an ER style mad dash through the hospital hallways to surgery, scalpels before anesthesia, and general scariness. Both had happy endings.
11. BONUS: Huey Lewis once used my bathroom.
    

This made me laugh.

This island is big enough that seeing the other side of it requires a 2 hour drive over and again on the way back. We had a number of things we wanted to do in Hilo, so instead of cramming all of that driving into one day, we made plans for an overnight vacation. The last time we went over – in April – we found a great little hotel off the main drag. We stayed at the same place this time. In true island fashion, the front desk is only open from 7 am to 7 pm, though the hotel and office is left wide open for people to come and go. At 7 pm, a sign goes up telling visitors to come across the street to the owners’ house for any after hours needs. Bananas, papayas and limes are available in the lobby for guests. And the coqui frogs serenaded us to sleep. The hotel is not elegant by any means, but it’s clean, comfortable and just our speed.

In Hilo, our first stop was the fabulous farmer’s market.

Smoking Teeth – short movie showing mercury vapors released from amalgam fillings

Library in the Sky – Educational Web Resources

Library Thing – catalog your books online (since some people apparently still haven’t found it!)

100 Mile Diet – Local eating for global change

Hungry Girl – Tips and tricks for hungry chicks

B ~ now 14 ~ has his first job interview lined up for Wednesday of next week. At the library.

Those books will be calling to him!

So, my baby boy turned fourteen today. After weeks of indecision about what he wanted to do for his birthday, he finally settled on going to the beach. Turns out that was a good choice for him. The surf was up, but not too much, making a perfect day of boogie boarding for him and his buddies.

Sitting on the beach with another mom that I’ve only known for a short while, I had the chance to discuss homeschooling with her. Turns out she leans as heavily to unschooling as I do, and – not surprisingly – has faced the same concerns. Those questions that seem to hover at the edge of the conviction that this is the right choice seem to be universal: Are they getting what they need? Is it doing them a disservice to be so different in our education plan? Are they going to be successful?

That final question led to a great conversation about just what defines successful. I have always said that if my kids grow up to be happy and can provide for themselves, then they will indeed be successful, regardless of whether or not the rest of the world would classify them as such. And, you must know that when I say “providing for themselves” I simply mean that they no longer depend upon me or their dad to pay their expenses. I have no financial expectations for the boys. I will not measure their success by how much they earn – to me, that’s not important. If they choose to spend some time touring the USA in a VW Bus and working their way from town to town, I say go for it; what a great opportunity that would be. If they choose to work part time and live a frugal life so that they can pursue their non-paid interests, just grand. If they choose to focus on becoming a millionaire, that’s fine with me too, so long as they remain true to their hearts and are happy.

Happiness and a passion for life are much more important to me than a big bankroll. I believe that the style of education, the style of life that my kids are living creates that passion for life. Even if us moms have to talk through it on occasion to be reminded that we are doing the “right” thing.

I’m just starting to play with Library Thing. Can any of you seasoned users answer a question for me? Is there a way to create a custom widget? I want to pick and choose specific titles from my library and sort them into categories to show up in my sidebar in an organized fashion. I can’t figure out how to do that though. Is it possible? Also, can I remove the “recent books from my library” tag that automatically shows up?

A couple of days before the earthquake, we had weird weather that included a number of funnel clouds west of our house. I snapped pictures of a couple of them.

Caveat – it has to have a 2006 pub date. A group of literary bloggers have gathered themselves and created the Cybils – The 2006 Children’s and YA Bloggers’ Literary Awards. Organizers are accepting nominations for the best of the best. If you have a must read, whether it be middle grade fiction, young adult fiction, picture books, non-fiction picture books, or non-fiction middle grade/YA, share your thoughts! Simply click on the correct category under “nominations” in the right hand sidebar. 

Check out the list of tremors that have hit this area since Sunday! Yikes.