Thursday 13

My Thirteen Favorite Movies (in no particular order) 1. Die Hard This movie was an original that has yet to be equaled. It was good enough to convert me from Bruce Willis hater (Moonlighting? gag me) to Bruce Willis fan. Humor, explosions, gorgeous bad guys, a head villain we could respect, Alexander Godunov stalking across a rooftop, and the Ode to Joy. What more could we want? Great quote: "...we'll be sitting on a beach, earning twenty percent." Exception: Some of the abysmal lines they gave Deputy Chief of Police Dwayne T. Robinson. There was no need to make him such a caricature. 2. Raiders of the Lost Ark There hadn't been an action movie like that in decades. Maybe there had never been an action movie like that. Indiana Jones might have been battered and cynical, but we loved him from the first scene. Great quotes: "It's not the years; it's the miles." "Indyyyyyyyyyy, the torch is going out!" Exception: They took too long to make the fourth one! 3. Blast from the Past I think I've seen this one about a hundred times. The dialog is crisp and fun, Adam is admirable and sweet, and the supporting actors are to die for. Sissy Spacek and Christopher Walken stole every scene they were in. Great quote: "There used to be something called a liquor store... Write that down." Exception: Some of the romantic scenes between Adam and Eve bog down a bit. 4. Clueless Pure fun, with one of the most romantic movie kisses ever. I think Jane Austen would have loved this one. Great quote: "I totally paused." Exception: She was probably supposed to be, but Brittany Murphy is overly annoying from time to time. 5. The 13th Warrior An intelligent, fascinating, expertly crafted action movie that I can watch over and over. Great quotes: "The thirteenth warrior is you." "Hurry to meet death before your place is taken." "The dog can jump." "No, boy, this is no day to be close to land." (We can relate.) "I cannot lift this." "Grow stronger!" "It's cavalry!" "I rather prefer a dragon." Exception: Harper, our weapons expert, says many of the props are anachronistic. I never noticed personally. 6. Gross Pointe Blank Take one neurotic hitman, the attractive DJ he can't forget, and a host of entertaining side characters, throw them together at a high school reunion, and watch the fun ensue. Great quotes: "This is me breathing." "Workers of the world, unite!" Exception: The awkward scene where Joan Cusack turns tough on the telephone. 7. Shakespeare in Love If I were stranded somewhere with only one movie to watch, this is the one I would want it to be. It's a delight and includes the best (partial) performance of "Romeo and Juliet" I've ever seen. Great quote: "It will be all right." "How will it?" "I don't know. It's a mystery." Exception: None. 8. The Usual Suspects Who is Keyser Soze? I'll never tell. Great quote: "Well, I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze." Exception: The changes between time and place are confusing to the first-time viewer. 9. Gladiator Russell Crowe seemed shocked when his name was called for the Oscar for Best Actor of 2000. We certainly weren't. His Maximus is deep and strong and I'd follow him anywhere. Great quote: "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." Exception: Dodgy editing in places, with costumes revealing that the scenes were not in the designed order. 10. A Fish Called Wanda Clever, intelligent, sexy, and side-splittingly funny. Great quotes: "It's K-k-k-ken, c-c-coming to k-k-kill me." "Wake up, limey fish!" "Avoid the green ones. They're not ripe yet." "I have dresses with higher IQs." 11. The Sixth Sense The big test: I knew the big secrets when I saw this movie the first time and loved it anyway. Great quote: "Grandma says hi." Exception: The deleted scenes should have been left in. 12. Snatch Guy Ritchie's masterpiece of overlapping stories, wacky characters, Desert Eagles .50, and assorted English accents. The milk-carton sequence alone makes this movie worth watching. Great quote: "Yeah, I like dags." Exception: Just a few very minor imperfections, nothing worth mentioning really. 13. L.A. Confidential A cast of exceptional actors turns this police drama into one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Shotgun Ed. Great quotes: "Something has to be done, but nothing too original, because hey, this is Hollywood." "Some men get the world. Others get ex-hookers and a trip to Arizona." Exception: Ed and Bud don't call for backup at the Victory Motel. Honorable Mentions Love Actually The wedding. The comeback. The crush. Colin (the character). Colin (the Firth). Two hours of bliss (plus some really wonderful deleted scenes on the DVD). Let's get our asses kicked by love! Great quote: "I am Colin, God of Sex. I'm just on the wrong continent." Exception: Mr. Bean. Pride and Prejudice Beautifully condensed into the Good Parts Version, with stunning cinematography and a dreamy Mr. Darcy. Great quote: "I have the utmost respect for your nerves. They've been my constant companion these twenty years." Exception: Jena Malone's overblown portrayal of Lydia. The Long Kiss Goodnight Samantha's transformation into Charly is fascinating. And it blowed up real good. Great quote: "There may be many reasons not to kill you, but among them is not that you'll be missed by NASA." Exception: They missed the obvious line at the very end and it bugs me every time. She throws a knife to kill a noisy cricket and doesn't say, "Chefs do that." Mumford This is my guaranteed feel-good movie. Great quote: "You know what this feels like? When I was in high school, the thing I wanted most when I was stuck in class, the thing that I was desperately in pursuit of, was a hall pass. That's all I ever wanted. I loved moving freely around the school while everybody else was trapped in there. That's how I feel right now. Like I have some giant, all day hall pass." Exception: Martin Short. Except he probably does what he's supposed to do. Star Wars The quintessential space fairy tale, with special effects that are still damned good thirty years later. Great quote: "There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny." Exception: None. Even the flaws are treasured friends. Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Brrrrrrrrr...ight!

Our furnace chose yesterday for its annual "hey, my pilot light could use cleaning" poop-out. I called the gas company this morning and was first scolded for not using the magic words ("we have no heat") and then informed that they could come and help us no earlier than Thursday.

So then I called some repair places. I got quotes for $85, $89, and $470. The gas company would be free, so we contemplated waiting for them. Then Frank decided to try it himself, something he's done once before under the supervision of former gasman Tom.

Success! The house is warm again and all is cozy and bright.

The Movie Project

I decided to do my favorite movies for this week's Thursday 13. This led to quite a little project in categorizing and prioritizing movies, and to the discovery that my favorite movie list is quite long. On Thursday, I will announce my top 13, but here are the top contenders in each category.

Keep in mind...
* I could only count movies I've seen, and the movies that live in our home (and thus could remind me of their existence) had a much better shot of making one of the lists.
* Once I included a movie in a list, it was disqualified from other lists.
* While some of these are Great Movies, most are simply my personal favorites, the movies I enjoy watching again and again. No pretentions here.

If you think I missed something, put it in the comments and I'll consider it for my top 13 on Thursday.

Ensemble Cast
Apollo 13
The Big Chill (added 2/21)
The Breakfast Club
L.A. Confidential
O Brother Where Art Thou
Pulp Fiction
Snatch
Sneakers
The Usual Suspects

Music and Dance
Blues Brothers
Chicago
Coal Miner's Daughter
Sister Act
Top Hat
Young Frankenstein

Paranormal
Ghostbusters
Interview with the Vampire
Resurrection
The Sixth Sense

Fantasy
Field of Dreams
Just Visiting
Ladyhawke
The Mummy
Willow

Sci-Fi
The Abyss
Back to the Future
Galaxy Quest
The Matrix
Men in Black
Star Trek 4
Star Wars
Stargate
Terminator

Horror
Aliens
Blood Simple
Jaws
Pitch Black
Tremors

Epic/Tour de Force
Braveheart
Dances with Wolves
Forrest Gump
The Godfather
The Ten Commandments

Drama
Falling Down
A Few Good Men
Good Will Hunting
Ordinary People
Regarding Henry
The Shawshank Redemption
The Silence of the Lambs

Classic
Arsenic and Old Lace
Ball of Fire
Casablanca
It's a Wonderful Life
The Quiet Man
Roman Holiday
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Leslie Howard)

Sports
Bull Durham
A League of Their Own
Major Leage
Mr. Baseball
The Replacements

Western
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Maverick
Silverado
Stagecoach
Unforgiven

Foreign
Amelie
Das Boot
La Femme Nikita
Sanjuro
Tampopo

Action
Die Hard
The Fugitive
Gladiator
Gross Pointe Blank
Lethal Weapon
The Long Kiss Goodnight
Mission: Impossible
Speed

Action Adventure
The 13th Warrior
Captain Ron
The Count of Monte Cristo (Jim Caveziel)
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Princess Bride
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Comedy
Okay, this category was really hard. In order to include more of my faves, I broke it down into three arbitrary subcategories.

Gutbusters
Animal House
Big Trouble in Little China
A Fish Called Wanda
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Ref
Ruthless People

Light Comedies
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
The Birdcage
Encino Man
Happy Texas
Liar Liar
Trading Places

Comedies with Heart
Accepted
As Good as it Gets
Blast from the Past
Bulworth
Clueless
Dave
EdTV
Mumford
My Favorite Year
My Cousin Vinny
Secondhand Lions
Sixteen Candles
To Wong Foo...

Family
Beauty and the Beast
Homeward Bound
Hook
Monsters, Inc.
Mulan
ET
Hocus Pocus

Romance
Always
Heart and Souls
Love Actually
Moonstruck
Pretty Woman
Pride and Prejudice
Romancing the Stone
Sense and Sensibility
Shakespeare in Love
While You Were Sleeping

NCN details

Check out the new Non-Con North details!

Cardiovascular workout

Did you see that Seahawks game?! It's been over for two hours, but Frank and I haven't recovered yet. As loyal Seahawks fans are all too aware, when things start to go bad for the Hawks, they go really bad.

So imagine our shock when their latest "tanked game" turned into an impressive victory!

Seahawks 35
Redskins 14

Marcus Trufant is our hero of the day. His perfectly timed interception for a touchdown turned the game back around and kept us in the hunt. (video)

Now if the Jags can beat Pittsburg, our joy will be complete. (No, we will never forget.)

And for next weekend: Look out, Green Bay!

Could it be?

From Barack Obama's victory speech in Iowa:

Hope is the bedrock of this nation. The belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

That is what we started here in Iowa and that is the message we can now carry to New Hampshire and beyond—the same message we had when we were up and when we were down; the one that can save this country, brick by brick, block by block, callused hand by callused hand: that together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Watch the whole speech

Friday fill-in

1. This year, I'd like to see regime change in America.

2. Traveling and blogging is what I daydream about most.

3. My secret boyfriend is a beautiful black man.
....................

4. I would like to have more tropical swims in my life.

5. I love to have lots of unschoolers around the house.

6. Seeing a happy kid always makes me smile.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sushi at the Cherry Blossom, tomorrow my plans include cheering the Seahawks into the next round of the playoffs, and Sunday, I want to do something fun to get ready for Non-Con North!

Thursday 13

A quickie!

Thirteen Beaches Worth Visiting

1. Topsail Hill Preserve, Destin, FL – protected, quiet, sugar sand
2. 7-Mile Beach, Grand Cayman – Life's a beach and then you dive!
3. Dog Beach, San Diego – many happy, free doggies
4. Salt Creek, Olympic Peninsula, Washington – tide pools, eagles, and a tide-stranded island
5. Honeyman State Park, Oregon – sand dunes, a lagoon, and yurts
6. Lake Powell hideaways, Arizona and Utah – pick an inlet, any inlet
7. Lowestoft, Great Britain – gaze east, young woman – and bring your coat!
8. Benures Bay, Norman Island, British Virgin Islands – paradise with an octopus
9. The Baths, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands – paradise with grottos
10. Trunk Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands – paradise with stray cats and a sign-posted snorkeling trail
11. Kauai, Hawaii – pick a beach, any beach
12. Redwood National and State Parks, California – it's not just about the trees
13. Alki Beach, Seattle, Washington – sand, sun (in August), and some of the best views ever

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NCN Hotel

News for those interested in Non-Con North, our early February gathering of unschoolers:

I have arranged a discounted rate of $85/night at the Best Western Cascadia Inn on Pacific Ave. in Everett. It is about a mile and a half from our place, is adjacent to a Chinese restaurant and a Denny's, and offers a not-just-muffins continental breakfast each morning.

When you make your reservation, tell them you're with Non-Con North in Veronica Maier's party.

Reservation lines:
Hotel direct: 1-425-258-4141
Toll free: 1-800-822-5876

Click here to see more info about Non-Con North

Another stolen idea

While I very much like Mrs. G's optimistic attitude, I am more taken with the relief offered by Mary's anti-resolution approach.

My Anti-Resolutions for 2008

1. I will not be a perfect wife, mother, daughter, friend, or employee.

2. I will not transform myself into a supermodel (or even a mediocre one).

3. I will not clean my house often enough.

4. I will not have a beautifully landscaped yard, clean gutters, or sparkling windows. (not even for Non-Con North, so brace yourselves)

5. I will not eat any health food unless it's really well disguised.

6. I will not manage my time better nor be any more efficient or energetic than I was in 2007.

7. I will not better my mind (or at least not in ivory-tower-approved ways).

8. I will not jump through other people's hoops.

9. I will not smile when I don't want to.

10. I will not always do the dutiful thing (see 1 through 9 above).

Free association game

You say... and I think...

Memorable :: births
Resolution :: peace
Goal :: resolution
2008 :: busy
Sensational :: diva
Popular demand :: more
Old :: time rock and roll
Music :: matters
Intense :: love
2007 :: done

Inspired (as I so often am) by Zenmomma and reminded by Stephanie

Doings

Well, we've had a little time to settle in and settle down after the Christmas rush and now we're gearing up for the next round of fun. Up first on the agenda is, of course, the Seahawks' final regular season game tomorrow morning. We'll be watching with great interest to see if the running game really is coming alive, just in time for the playoffs. Shaun Alexander must know the entire region is ready to fall in love with him again with very little provocation.

After the game, we do our last bit of making our house moderately presentable before an airport run to pick up the girls' camp friend Harper (17). He's coming up from California to stay for a few days before he works his way back down the I-5 corridor, visiting other campers.

He's arriving just in time for our Crazy Cousins New Year's Eve Bash. MJ did her best to warn him, but can he really know what he's in for? It'll be eight girls and Harper, the poor lad. We'll definitely have to trump up a few sanity errands for him and the older girls, and we might yet get Hunter and Logan over here to balance out the numbers a bit.

After Harper starts south again, we will start getting ready in earnest for Non-Con North, the very informal gathering of unschoolers that we are hosting the first weekend in February. We can't wait! If you're planning to attend, drop me a line!

Made for math

I have news for you: Unschooling works even for math.

Long division
At different times—but at about the same age, interestingly
enough—both girls came to me and asked me to show them how to do long division. So I did. MJ's response was, "That's it?!" Evidently this task gets a lot of unnecessary buildup in our society. :-) (And it is pretty ridiculous when you think about it. I'll bet the vast majority of my readers reach for their calculators any time long division is required.)

Chloe's response was a little different. She watched me doing my thing for a while, said, "Why are you doing it like that?" and proceeded to show me a faster way.

Multiple-digit subtraction
This story took place just a couple of nights ago and is what prompted this post. It all started with Chloe sitting me down to tell me she wants to learn something. "I haven't learned anything for years," she said. Once I quit gasping (doesn't the girl read my blog, for Pete's sake?!), we talked for a while about just some of what she's learned in the last five years*. It turned into a game, with me quizzing her and her happily supplying answers, and it went on for a couple of hours.

Somewhere in there, she started talking about how she uses addition to do subtraction. She grabbed a piece of paper and walked me through a six-digit problem. Here's what she wrote:

234,238
..65,762

The second line is the answer to the question, "What is 300,000 minus 234,238?" I imagine if the bigger number had been more complex, she might have written it down, too, but she didn't bother with it here. (Pop quiz: What's the bigger number in a subtraction problem called? I had to look it up.)

Just for kicks, I showed her how I was taught to do the same problem, with all that borrowing (zeroes are the worst that way). Needless to say, my notation was nowhere near as clean and pretty as hers, and I think she worked the problem faster than I did.

Why this is
So, just how have my kids become so proficient at math computation when they haven't had a math lesson or done a math worksheet or cracked a math book in five years? The short answer is, none of that is necessary for learning computation. The longer answer delves into the way schools have taken math computation out of context—aka, real life—and turned it into an abstract concept that is meaningless and intimidating to many students. For unschoolers, math is simply part of life, and they instinctively move toward the efficient use thereof.

Here are some links for those who want to read more on this subject:
Sandra Dodd's math collection featuring a great article by Linda Wyatt
Senseless School Math (Joyce Fetterol)
Unschooling Math (Joyce)
Joyful Math (Pam Sorooshian's math blog)
Dogs doing calculus
And other animals, too
And Frank has lots to say, in his own inimitable style, on this subject

Finally, here is what I reported about Mary Lewis' "Math Happens" talk at the LIFE is Good conference last April:

[The talk] was given by engineer and math tutor and unschooling mom Mary Lewis, and it served to ease away the last wispy bits of my concern that unschooling math is "iffy." Turns out schooling math is pretty darned "iffy," too. (Did you know that 55% of college freshmen [that is, high school grads who've been accepted into college] are not prepared for college math courses?) She talked about how schooling begins immediately to interfere with the brain's natural ability to do computation by taking math out of the physical too early and moving it into the abstract. Also, that's when we start to tell kids they're "wrong" about math, thereby injecting fear and doubt into something that should be as natural as breathing. She said every one of her students (mostly math-phobic adults returning to school) would have been better off if they hadn't had a single math lesson during their childhoods. And she cemented my understanding of the difference between math computation (can be done on a calculator) and math concepts (must be understood by the brain) and how schooling tends to promote the former to the neglect of the latter.

Oh, and about those math concepts
Are my kids learning math concepts? Judging by the results of their annual standardized tests, they are evidently doing so better than their age-mates. Or maybe they just test better. Who knows?
__________________
* Yes! Five years of unschooling! It's a happy anniversary indeed.

Why...

...does Real Life get in the way of my blogging?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Friday fill-in

Movie quotes edition. I'm not sure what it says about my life that I knew the actual quote, actor, and/or movie for 5 of 6 of these. The exception was the Val Kilmer quote, since my favorite line from that movie is "I'll be your huckleberry."

1. "I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, the incredible pomposity of certain Potions professors." ("bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses" — Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone")

2. "Why is my free time always gone?" ("the rum" — Johnny Depp as Cap'n Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest)

3. "Harold, *everyone* has the right to make an extra-large batch of Fantasy Fudge at Christmas." ("ass out of themselves" — Ruth Gordon as Maude, Harold and Maude)

4. "Nine companions, so be it. You shall be a minor league baseball team." ("the Fellowship of the Ring" — Hugo Weaving as Elrond, LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring)

5. "Nonsense, I have not yet begun to pout." ("defile myself"— Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday, Tombstone)

6. "Mama says they was magic shoes. They could talk better English than myself." ("take me anywhere" — Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, Forrest Gump)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finding something to look forward to, tomorrow my plans include random acts of organization, and Sunday, I want to watch the Seahawks fry the Falcons!

Thursday 13

Thirteen Things You Might Have Seen If You'd Been Here at Christmas 1. Midnight — Cookies and two glasses of milk left for Santa, along with a cheeky note that read, "Jesus Loves You." Not much later, to our wondering eyes did appear, a less than politically correct reply I will not repeat here. 2. 6:30 a.m. — Two excited teenagers yowling out "Silver Bells" at the tops of their lungs, amid much hysterical giggling, in an attempt to torture awaken their sleepy parents. 3. 8:00 a.m. — A wasteland of wrapping paper and cardboard boxes. I suppose there were gifts in there, too, but it was hard to see them. 4. 8:30 a.m. — Frank and Chloe putting together her new desk chair. "Where are the parts?" "What parts?" 5. 9:00 a.m. — Chloe putting together the very nifty drafting-table TV tray Santa found really cheap at RiteAid on 12/23. 6. 9:01 a.m. — MJ asleep on the couch and Frank and Ronnie, back in bed. 7. Noon — Chloe sitting in her new chair at her new table, very happily doing art with some new supplies, evidently having been in that position for quite some time. (She never did nap, preferring to ride the high until well past #13 below.) 8. 12:10 p.m. to eternity — Ronnie talking on the phone. 9. 3:00 p.m. — MJ struggling to decide which of her new irreverent t-shirts to wear. Narrowing her choices down to the red and green ones was easy, but then it got tricky. Her final choice: Emotional Trip. 10. 6:00 p.m. — "Aliens vs. Predator" at the snow-dusted multiplex with Frank and MJ. 11. 7:00 p.m. — Ronnie and Chloe figuring out the round looms left by Mrs. Claus. 12. 10:00 p.m. — "V for Vendetta" on MJ's new DVD. (I'd never seen it before and might have more to say on it later.) This was one of a couple of the movies on her favoritest movies list that we received this year. She also got "Fight Club," and I got "Pride and Prejudice," since it's on my as-yet-unwritten favoritest movies list, too. 13. Midnight — Chloe modeling the new hat she made, not long before the oldest of us called it a (very wonderful) day. Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

From all of us to all of you...

We wish you a happy, peaceful, safe, and fun-filled holiday, and 12 Days like these.

Merry Christmas!

With love from Frank, Ronnie, MJ, and Chloe

Marty's greats

From a little Christmas message in our e-mail this morning, Molly (11 mos.) and Brian (14).

Nummies

Here is one of my favorite holiday recipes. It comes from Nina, who was a good friend to my Grandma Barb (Chloe Barbara's namesake) and later—in one of life's delicious little coincidences—my next door neighbor. Not long after they moved in, Lynn and I knocked on their door for some reason. Nina took one look at us and said, "Who are your parents?"

I've doubled the recipe, because, hey, there's no such thing as too much of a good thing.

Nina's Chess Pie
1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
6 egg yolks
2/3 c. milk
1-1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
2 c. cooked raisins
4 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter with sugar. Add egg yolks, milk, chopped nuts, raisins, and vanilla. Cook in double boiler about 20 minutes until thick(er) and a dark caramel color. Serve in tart shells topped with whipped cream, or (the way we do it around here) as-is by the spoonful.

Guess what!

MJ, Chloe, and I went to downtown Seattle today to soak up the atmosphere. We strolled into Pacific Place, a relatively new upscale shopping complex to go with the other upscale shopping complexes down there, and saw a movie poster for...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!

After doing two minutes of research online just now and seeing how long ago Lucasfilm announced this, I realize many of you might already know this, but...

The film is due out May 22!

And...

Karen Allen is in the cast! Marion returns! Yay!

I was worried they would pick Kate Capshaw—she is Spielberg's wife, after all—but maybe they realized that Marion was always our favorite Indy chick.

The release date coincides with the start of LIFE is Good 2008, so I foresee an unschooler invasion of the theater nearest the Vancouver Red Lion. Who's with me?

Friday fill-in

1. Snow once trapped me in downtown Seattle for two days. Seattle has so many hills and its drivers are so underprepared for the white stuff that it takes about 10 minutes of snowfall for most of our major roadways to be blocked by stalled-out, sideways cars. The first night, I slept on the carpet-over-concrete floor at my workplace. Brr! The second night, I got a room at the Westin. And I sure got a lot of Christmas shopping done!

2. I'm looking forward to an entire list of activities, events, and trips. I'm also looking forward to having a new president. But you probably knew that.

3. Unschooling is the best change I instigated in my family ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is — and you probably knew this,
too — Firefly!

5. I'm done with something. I'm sure of it! It's just hard to see it past the crowd of things I'm not done with.

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is festive decorations all over the place. And rocking my kids' world.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to downtown Seattle (risky, I know) with my girls to enjoy the festive decorations all over the place and the energy of the crowd, tomorrow my plans include a whole lot of wrapping, and Sunday, I want to relax and watch the Seahawks ruffle some Raven feathers while imagining my buddy Lori at the game in the new lime-green scarf I made for her! Go Hawks!!

Back peddling

I was searching for a new quote and came across this entertaining little set:

"I don't want to spend the next two years in Holiday Inns."

"I said I didn't want to spend most of my life in Holidays Inns, but I've checked and they've all been redecorated. They're marvelous places to stay and I've thought it over and that's where I'd like to be."

Both by Walter Mondale

Thursday 13

Thirteen Memories Hanging on Our Christmas Tree 1. Our Dalmatian family. When MJ was born, my friend Stephanie gave us a set of three Dalmatian figurines: Pongo, Perdita, and a puppy. I later augmented that set with an additional puppy to represent Chloe. Fast forward a few years, and Frank's sister Judy sent us a Dalmatian ornament set with Cruella, Pongo, Perdita, and three puppies. We found this third puppy a little alarming and made jokes about a post-vasectomy miracle baby. Instead, by the next Christmas, Chiara had joined our family. 2. My three faeries. These represent Chloe, MJ, and Chiara. 3. As close as Frank and I have ever come to divorce. Let's just say it was a very stressful trip. (This is from '96, not our Wilma evacuation.) 4. A circle of friends. Back in the dim time before I came on the scene, Frank's coworkers at good ol' Book Publishing made him this lovely office-supply ornament. It used to be more elaborate, but the years haven't been kind. 5. The artist formerly known as Marjie. 6. Chloe: Wreathed in smiles (as usual). 7. Aero-commemoration. "The one plane your mom let me have," Frank says, purchased not long after he received his pilot's license. 8. O-stretch. I picked her up a few years ago in lovely downtown Edmonds while Christmas shopping with my best buddy, Steph. Steph moved away to Athens, GA, a couple of years ago, and I haven't been back to Edmonds since. It's just not the same here without you, Steph! 9. Hong Kong filler. I had a lovely, nearly free trip to Hong Kong several years ago with my mom-friend Cherie. In Hong Kong—a truly amazing city—it's all about the shopping, baby! So, we have silk fans, dragons, and little Chinese couples. Our ornament collection has grown so large that nowadays we use these sparingly in the bare spots on the tree. 10. Han Solo should have one of these. This reads, "Millennium 2000." Having aliens arrive to beam us all up is just one of the things that didn't happen at the turn of the millennium. No rapture. No major computer problems. Nothing but a really fun Crazy Cousins party at our house (our usual New Year's Eve thang). 11. Handmade and just a little homely. Crocheted by yours truly when I was in high school, during a little holiday crafting party at my boyfriend's grandparents' house. 12. Posterity. Rosie and Frank made these together. 13. Still searching for the goose. I purchased this (supposedly as a gift for someone else) at the Silver Sands outlet mall in Destin, Florida. At the time, the outlet mall was in the boonies, well away from everything except Sandestin. Nowadays, Destin extends all that way out Highway 98. We *really* should have bought the yellow house we loved there, or at least a condo; we'd have doubled our money. Honorable mentions: Purchased on a little solo visit to buddy Caroline's place in Albuquerque. Purchased during a STUN event in October. Purchased—in what may have been my first mail-order purchase—in the early days of my relationship with Frank. This was the year we were bombing Libya, which I found very frightening. And a memory from Christmas past: our beloved holiday Mezza Luna. Photo credits: All photos by MJ except Mezza and the dragonfly (which I took). Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Counting down to everything

We have so much we're looking forward to!

• Christmas
• Annual Crazy Cousins NYE Bash
• Non-Con North
• Lynn's wedding
• Chloe's 14th birthday
• Alicen's wedding
• Frank's 60th birthday
• LIFE is Good and the "I can't believe how many unschoolers are Geminis" community birthday bash
• My next 100-day break
• Steph's visit
• NBTSC
• Live and Learn
• Visiting Chiara in Italy
• Finally getting to go to Ireland
• MJ's Sweet 16 and driver's license
• Christmas again
  ...

And counting way too high

these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?
— e.e. cummings

http://www.infoshout.com/

Be sure to scroll all the way down that page. They're worth it.

Ho-Ho-Ho Me-Me-Me

Tired of memes yet? No? Good! Here's another! I picked this up from Diana's blog.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Ovaltine!

2. Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, in special only-for-Santa wrapping paper, left in front of the fireplace.

3. Colored or white lights? Colored, of course!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? It's been known to happen. Mwah!

5. When do you put your decorations up? First week of December usually. This week this year.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Nina's Chess Pie.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Stockings.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I learned what some people consider the truth about Santa at about age 7 from kids at school. I continue to discover my own truths about him to this day.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We have a family gathering Christmas Eve at which I get to open every gift I receive. The quantity varies from year to year.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Lights first, then with much oohing and ahhing over the ornaments, then with tired determination to finish (we have a lot of ornaments).

11. Snow: Love it or hate it? Love it unless it lasts more than three days.

12. Can you ice skate? Enough to give you a good laugh.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Ooh, tough one. My diamond earrings. A doll my stepbrother gave me when I was small. A cashmere scarf a few years back from my half-brother. And whatever Santa delivered each year when I was a kid -- the gifts have faded from memory, but not the glee I felt.

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Ecstatic children.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? See #6.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Sitting in the dark looking at the tree lights.

17. What is on top of your tree? A lighted angel.

18. Which do you like best, giving or receiving? Giving (and I'm not just saying that).

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? "Christmas Wrappings"

20. Do you like candy canes? In moderation.

21. Favorite Christmas movie? I said "It's a Wonderful Life" before, and I mentioned "The Ref" in another post, so today I'll go with "Love Actually."

12 Days

One of our favorite traditions around here is to do the "12 Days of Christmas." My mom did it for Lynn and me, and now I do it for MJ and Chloe. They love it as much as we did! On each of the twelve days before Christmas, the girls each receive a little gift. The gifts are always inexpensive items, but having that little surprise each morning makes the looooong wait for the big day a little easier to bear. This year so far, the girls have received pretty bookmarks, paperback books to use them in, and, today, Pirates of the Caribbean notebooks to use, perhaps, in creating their own stories.

The picture above is from the finale from a nifty Jacquie Lawson online greeting card that we received from Grandma Cherie and Papa Steve. Since I almost never find time for sending Christmas cards at all, I thought I would share the picture with all of you, along with the same wish they sent to us: the happiest of holiday seasons and a world at peace.

A commute to write home about

Most days, no matter how light the traffic is, I am frustrated by commuting. In fact, it is sometimes more frustrating when the traffic is light, because then the shameful behavior of the left-lane hogs is even more evident.

But this morning's drive was pretty awesome. I think half the world took today off, and the ones who were left actually moved right some of the time. As a result, I had a lot of free air, and I got to really drive all three of the cool curves of my commute: I-5 to I-405 interchange, I-405 to SR520 cloverleaf interchange, and my cloverleaf exit ramp onto 148th north. It was very fun! Normally, I count myself lucky if I get to do just one of those.

Friday fill-in

1. Away in a manger, no room for a bed (resisting—in the spirit of Christmas—all sorts of snarky fill-ins).
2. Dashing through the snow, in a 3.2 liter Ferrari with torsion bar suspension and those ported venturi carburetors.
3. Hark! The herald angels sing (still resisting).
4. It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees (I wouldn't presume to mess with Joni).
5. When I was small I believed in Santa Claus, and I still do.
6. That Christmas magic's brought this tale to a very shiny middle.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to shopping, tomorrow my plans include getting our tree finally after illness delay, and Sunday, I want to continue getting caught up and have a festive STUN movie night!

Our movie theme for Sunday is holiday movies. You know, great films like "Die Hard," "Life of Brian," "Enemy of the State," etc. It'll be really interesting to see what the kids show up with.

Thursday 13

Thirteen Books and Movies that Show How Cool Unschooling Is Books 1. Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan 2. Stargirl and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli 3. Skellig by David Almond 4. Birds, Beasts and Relatives by Gerald Durrell 5. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (also a great movie) 6. Diary of a Fairy Godmother by Esmé Raji Codell Note: If you think you're too old for any of these, think again! Each is a great work of literature, suitable for all ages. Movies 7. Accepted 8. Breakfast Club 9. Ferris Bueller's Day Off 10. School of Rock 11. Groundhog Day 12. Adventures in Babysitting 13. Mumford 13. American Dreamer (Okay, okay, so that's fourteen, but I couldn't decide which one to leave off.) Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

No fair tagging the sickie!

But she did.

The rules (edited because I couldn't stand the bad grammar and punctuation):
Once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog of ten weird or random facts about you, your habits, or your goals. At the end, choose ten people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don't forget to leave each a comment (such as, "You're IT!") with instructions to read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you, but you should let her know when you've posted to your blog so she can see your answers.

My ten weird or random facts:

1) My internal editor Never Shuts Up (and is even now complaining about those extra capital letters).

2) I have started collecting shoes. Funky ones. Okay, it's not really a collection, but I definitely have far more shoes kicking about (ha ha) than I used to.

3) If Frank weren't here, I'd probably be living in the beige-walled house we bought, not because I don't prefer the color he's added, but because if it's functional, I'm content.

4) I love to look at paintings but almost never go to the museum or print shop. When I do go, I like Renaissance paintings most, which is why the art prints we have all run that way.

5) Some decisions paralyze me. I'm always looking for the perfect choice. If there isn't one, I can't choose anything.

6) The space between my front teeth is hereditary, and I was a little disappointed that neither of my girls ended up with it.

7) The reason this blog so rarely has family photos on it is that I am incredibly resistant to copying them to computer, sizing them, and uploading them to blogger.com.

8) I said "incredibly resistant" in #7 above because I hate the word "lazy" with a passion. It has been applied to me too many times in regard to tasks that I just didn't care about.

9) I have a little box in my room that holds all but one of my children's baby teeth. (The missing one is in a scrapbook the girls made when they were little.)

10) The calendar year has a shape in my mind. I can see it clearly, but I've never been able to draw it. I think it only works in the abstract. Hey, maybe it's a spiral!


I'm supposed to tag people now, but I'll leave it up to you. If you do play, leave me a comment and let me know!

What unschooling looked like yesterday

I am home sick with a cold, so I snuggled into Frank's new recliner with a notebook and kept track of most everything the girls did yesterday. Like all days in an unschooler's life, it was all about the small moments that connect to other small moments, that connect to other small moments, and so on, and so on, and so on.

Morning
Chloe has cycled into a day schedule, so she was the first one up. She spent the early hours crocheting a scarf and reading "Drowned Wednesday," the third book in the "Keys to the Kingdom" series by Garth Nix. When I got up, she joined me in the livingroom for a private chat. (Let me just say for the record that one big reason I write about acceptance so much is that I see how much pain rejection causes my kids.) While we talked, she finished her scarf and added a clever little crocheted pom-pom to each end.

MJ was up late and then picked up again this morning with the following activities: writing in her journal, touching base with pals on MySpace, reading blogs, researching drinking and smoking restrictions in Italy and Ireland, and planning her photography for the trip we hope to make there next fall. (Side note: Frank and I were *thrilled* to learn that both countries have recently instituted bans on smoking in public places. Yay!)

Afternoon
Later, we all came together in the livingroom for some family conversation. Topics ranged from "Look! There's a moose!" (an inside joke with their cousins); driver's ed and MJ's unique visualization technique (she puts other characters where she's supposed to be and has them walk through the routine, such as having a hopped-up chipmunk doing the walkaround); knock-knock jokes; crocheting; Christmas shopping and decorating; food; the "Golden Compass" (which they saw Sunday), original sin, the role of religion and the Church in society, and whether Philip Pullman's atheism necessarily means he had an agenda when he wrote the book. We also shared a moment of grief over Gillian's egg.

Then Frank and MJ had to leave for driver's ed.

Evening
Chloe and I talked about the distribution of the world's religions. I got on the Internet and found maps and piecharts that are fascinating but perhaps not organized quite the way we would do it. (For instance, we wondered whether Catholicism, Mormonism, and evangelical Christianity can really be grouped together...?)

Next, we talked about the girls' recent trip to the mall with their cousins. Chloe was frustrated because MJ and the other girls wouldn't let her nap during the return bus ride. We brainstormed their possible reasons, and then asked MJ when she got home (they wanted to help her stay on a daytime schedule, and no real reason).

Frank brought home some delicious Romio's spaghetti for his poor, sick wiff. While I ate, we talked about oil painting — or rather oil-paint drying, since Chloe's oil painting from a week ago is still tacky in places. From there, the conversation touched on sleep, metabolism, melatonin, housing, mortgages, privacy, overpopulation, living in the desert, honor, respect, worship, whether Jesus' love was conditional, and how one might fall prey to one's own weaknesses. Chloe also went through my calendar page by page, and we talked about our plans for the coming year and the meaning of various holidays.

Chloe went to bed early, so MJ — after another stint on the computer, reading Zenmomma and creating an animated greeting card on jibjab.com — and Frank and I watched "Men in Black." Then she and I stayed up WAY too late for a couple of sickies, watching "Firefly" episodes and the abysmal film version of "Queen of the Damned" (from the excellent book by Anne Rice).

Academic translations
comparative religions
philosophy
arts and crafts
biology
reading
writing
photography
civics
statistics
financial planning
oral reports
sociology
memory tricks
environmental sciences
...and whatever dozens of subjects they encountered in their literary and Internet "travels" yesterday

And we got green gloves

I said: "...and Sunday, I want to bond with my buddy Lori as we scream ourselves hoarse and generally have a blast watching the Seahawks demolish the Cardinals—AT QWEST FIELD!!!!"

Well, not only did all that come true, but the Hawks clinched their division AND Frank and I each got a pair of these:


Oh, happy, happy day!

That's my boy

Lofa Tatupu, our valiant center linebacker and the player whose number I'll be sporting on Sunday, has been named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Week.

Here's the ballot writeup about his performance last Sunday:

"Tatupu totaled 11 solo tackles and three interceptions in the Seahawks’ 28–24 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Tatupu intercepted Feeley's first pass of the day and his last one to help lock down the Seahawks' win."

It's very cool to see "my boy" getting the recognition he deserves. :-)

Friday fill-in

1. I dread Christmas until it gets here, and then I adore it.

2. Bright colors are my favorite colors for the Christmas tree lights.

3. The candles in the window have no bulbs, of course, but you'll have to imagine the candles, because they aren't really there.

4. It's a Wonderful Life is one of my most favorite Christmas movies.

5. My favorite Christmas lyrics are "You mean you forgot cranberries, too?!"

6. I'm dreaming of a surprise Christmas visit from Chiara. (sigh) If only.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing off a glorious weekday home with my family, tomorrow my plans include a gathering of my maternal extended family, plus dropping Chloe off for her date with Logan at the SCA Good Yule celebration, and Sunday, I want to bond with my buddy Lori as we scream ourselves hoarse and generally have a blast watching the Seahawks demolish the Cardinals—AT QWEST FIELD!!!!

Thursday 13

My Thirteen Best and Worst Memories of Childhood* * That I'm willing to share The worst 13: 1. Death of my aunt and two cousins in the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980. 2. Saying good-bye to my dad every summer. 3. Learning my young niece had been raped. I guess I was 19 when this happened, but it feels like a childhood trauma just the same. 4. Flying down to San Francisco one Christmas when I was, oh, 10 or so. I got queasy and, even after a couple of increasingly frantic trips up and down the length of the plane, all of the toilets were occupied. I tossed my cookies right there in the aisle. I was mortified and still feel huge sympathy for the flight attendants and all the poor people who were sitting near there. Maybe someday I'll work up some sympathy for that poor 10yo. 5. When my best friend pulled away from me in high school because her boyfriend was jealous of the time she spent with me. 6. Coming home to find my (first) stepfather had taken my Irish Setter—a stray I'd adopted and really connected with—to the pound. 7. The drunken melodrama that occurred between some of the adults at my graduation party. 8. Getting in trouble for staying with the neighbor boy I was babysitting even after his dad came home. He had begged me to stay until his mom returned so he wouldn't have to be alone with his dad. Being forced to leave him... Phew! Still hurts. 9. Getting kicked out of choir for chewing gum in the fourth grade. I'd never been in trouble at school before and found it utterly devastating. 10. Getting sent to detention in middle school for letting a cat into the cafeteria. I wasn't any better at handling being in trouble by then. 11. When someone left a note in my locker in middle school that accused me of thinking I was "King Shit." Even at the time I was as puzzled by that as I was hurt by it. How could a girl be a king? And how could someone so self-conscious and desperate to belong think she was king of anything? 12. The trauma (no joke) of getting a B in Physics, second semester of my senior year. This was compounded by my counselor pulling me out of PE class when he learned about it. Instead of expressing concern and asking what was going on with me (because something had to be going on with me for me to get a B), all he could talk about was how I'd made his life difficult because he'd already told the principal there would be three 4.0 students at graduation and couldn't I please do better? 13. Getting spanked. I don't know if I remember every time it happened, but I remember a few times vividly. The best 13: 1. My mother scratching my back at bedtime. 2. Crashing our car into my stepfather's cop car. I didn't do it on purpose and I felt bad at the time, but the memory has sweetened with time. 3. Receiving a HUGE box full of dozens of Christmas gifts from our new grandparents in Nebraska. 4. Christmases in general. My mom really made them shine. Stockings. 12 days of Christmas gifts. Lights and angel hair on the mantel. 5. Halloweens and scavenger hunts. Anything that got us out running the streets in the dark. 6. Traveling with my dad. 7. Weekends with Cherie/going to the ballet. 8. Sitting next to my cousin Dave at graduation. He made it really fun (B or no B). 9. Crawlstrokes! (This was the code word for guys' buns. It's a long story.) 10. Dancing at Studio 59, a teen club in Everett where we had many adventures. 11. My friendship with my sister/running loose in San Diego. 12. Learning to SCUBA dive. 13. Playing in the woods near our house/making Matchbox highway systems in the gravel out front/playing Barbies. I need more than 13 for this one. :-)

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There goes the rug again

http://www.slate.com/id/2112318/fr/nl/

Gearing up for the holidays

I've got something to say. I hesitated over saying it here, because I'm worried the wrong people are going to think it's aimed at them. So, if you read this and feel hurt, assume it wasn't aimed at you. :-)

And if you read this and wonder if it's aimed at you, maybe it was, because I don't know anybody who's perfect (especially not me).

A recurring theme over the holidays is the stress people experience at gatherings of extended family. If you don't know what I'm talking about, rent "Home for the Holidays," a gem of a movie about how family can both anchor us and, special-occasionally, drag us down.

But I'm sure we've all experienced it for ourselves. Uncle Albert thinks your politics are loony. Cousin Joanie criticizes your lifestyle. Grandma expects you to do everything. Your brother-in-law bosses your kids around. For unschoolers, this, er, natural phenomenon is compounded by the fact that most people in the world just don't get us. I could share dozens of stories about the rude-to-horrid treatment unschoolers (not us!) have received at the hands of their relatives. But it's more universal than that.

Have you seen the commercial where the young man struggles to find a gift for his mother and ultimately settles on buying a suit for himself, because he knows that will please her most? It's a charming story and has as its punchline Mom ripping off the tags he forgot to remove. Sweet, right?

Wrong. I hate that commercial. The thing that pleases his mother most is to have her son change. To please her, he has to put on a costume and pretend to be somebody else. It's very sad. But this is what we do to each other whenever we focus on appearance, manners, conformance, and expectations instead of interests, humor, fun, enjoyment, and dreams.

Here's what I wish for you and yours this holiday season: acceptance. Love and enjoy each other for the people you really are rather than the people you "should" be. Laugh. Play. Converse. Be.

And have truly happy holidays.

Don't be taken in (again)

News yesterday: Iran discontinued its nuclear weapons program years ago.

From the Washington Post:
President Bush got the world's attention this fall when he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran might lead to World War III. But his stark warning came at least a month or two after he had first been told about fresh indications that Iran had actually halted its nuclear weapons program.

The new intelligence report released yesterday not only undercut the administration's alarming rhetoric over Iran's nuclear ambitions but could also throttle Bush's effort to ratchet up international sanctions and take off the table the possibility of preemptive military action before the end of his presidency.

Here's hoping.

Read the entire article here.

Washing away

Well, with a warm(er) rainy deluge following hard on the the heels of our big snowstorm, Western Washington is pretty much in a liquid state today. Roads are closed all over the place, including a 20-mile stretch of I-5; sinkholes are, well, sinking; Amtrak is out of service between Eugene and Vancouver; and people are being evacuated from more than the usual floodplains.

KING5: Gregoire declares statewide emergency
CNN: Pacific storm brings mudslides, blackouts to Northwest

Even for those of us on higher ground, the water is causing problems. Frank has spent the entire day trying to stay ahead of the flood in our basement, spending several hours running the ShopVac and then dumping out its 40-pound load. He's alternated this with cycling the laundry (now drenched) that I had let pile up in the laundry room. The girls have been helping out with folding, and they moved all the books their lazy mother was "storing" in the flood zone. MJ (whose driver's ed class is canceled tonight because the Rosehill Community Center has been damaged) has been using the hair dryer to try to salvage the books that got wet.

Fortunately—unlike my poor coworker who has suffered several thousand dollars' damage to his basement belongings—Frank has us all set up to cope with these crises. Most of our living space down there sits on an elevated subfloor. And he installed a laundry sink a couple of years ago that has significantly shortened his dumping-the-ShopVac route, not to mention sending all that water to the sewer instead of out into our yard where it might seep right back in again.

And where have I been during the crisis? Tucked up safe and dry and clean in my office, working on the SDK, which suddenly doesn't seem like such a nasty job.

Time for a little gratitude for all of us.
An 'attitude of gratitude' chases away stress

P.S. The photos above are "borrowed" off the Internet and do not depict our neighborhood.

The 12 Questions of Christmas Meme

Okay, okay, I'll play, too.

1. Christmas is a disquieting mix of joy and stress.

2. In memories, what was the best part of your Christmases past? My childhood: opening our stockings Christmas morning. Early years with Frank: (1) Back when my siblings and I were the kids and we all exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve. LOOT! (2) The year Frank and Jerry got really creative putting all the bows and ribbons on the gifts. My kids' childhood: (1) It wasn't always so fun at the time, but that we never got to sleep past 3 a.m. because they were too excited to sleep. (2) Our Christmas in Destin, Florida, with lots of improvised decorations on the tree because we didn't bother to drag all of our Christmas supplies cross country. (3) The year Chiara was with us and Mezza and Snowball arrived. (4) The year after Chiara was with us and I found the little note she had tucked into the Christmas decorations the previous January, knowing we'd find it when she was back in Italy.

3. Was Santa ever good to you? Many, many times. The year I received my diamond earrings springs immediately to mind, since I rarely take them off.

4. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or both? A few Christmas Eve at my mom's with the extended family, and then the free-for-all Christmas morning at home with just the four of us.

5. Is there something you make each and every year? [craft or recipe] Make? Well, if you stretch the point a bit, I make a lot of joy in my kids' lives. That's always my top priority for the holiday.

6. What are your favorite five Christmas songs/hymns?

Christmas Wrapping, The Waitresses
Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24, Trans-Siberian Orchestra
What Child Is This?
Carol of the Bells
Most of the fun and wacky songs on our beloved "Cool Yule" album, such as "Surfer's Christmas List" by the Surfaris, "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto" by James Brown, and "Christmas in the Congo" by the Marquees.

7. Is there a new tradition for Christmas since your childhood days? Well, those 3 a.m. wakeups, I suppose, although I think we got to sleep until 5 or 6 last year, so that one is hopefully fading away. Umm, setting the angel at the top of our tree; she was picked out by my mom and a couple of wide-eyed toddlers several years back.

8. Describe one of your Christmas trips. [whether it's across town or across country] I'll save the first part of this for an upcoming Thursday 13 about my worst memories of childhood, but there was the year that my sister, Lynn, and I flew down to San Francisco on Christmas Day to be with my dad and Cherie (his second wife, now one of my most cherished friends). We got TWO stockings that year, since Santa came again on the 26th. That was pretty cool.

9. Do you have a special Christmas outfit to wear for the day? Pajamas, often all day long.

10. Have you or any of your family members sat on Santa's lap? Indeed. My favorite time was when Mr. Stokes, the cutest teacher at my high school, played Santa one year. Hubba hubba instead of Ho Ho Ho.

11. What is/or will be on your Christmas tree this year? Lights, the aforementioned angel, wonderful store-bought ornaments, possibly little rats, as much tinsel as I can sneak on when MJ isn't looking, and some handcrafted ornaments made by various people in our lives over the years. We have some of Rosie's quilted balls, awesome pull-string wooden puppets Marty and Rosie made together, a crocheted bell I cobbled together in my teens, a beaded bell that I think was made by my high-school sweetheart's grandmother, and, of course, adorable little odds and ends the girls made when they were younger.

12. Do you decorate or have you decorated your yard for Christmas? No. Too much work. I enjoy looking at the results of other people's efforts, though.

Bonus #13: The question that wasn't included in the meme but that I want to answer...

13. What's your favorite thing about the holiday now? Staying home on Christmas Day. It is really wonderful to settle in together, knowing we have all the time we want to play with our new stuff, be together, go back to bed, etc.

It's snowing!

And it's sticking!

And it's supposed to turn to rain again tomorrow, so we can just enjoy the heck out of this!

Except MJ is bummed because her plans to go to Seattle to see Rocky Horror tonight—skimpily clad no less—are seriously threated. But smart Western Washingtonians don't drive anywhere in the snow, not because we lack the skills, of course, but because so many of our fellows do.

NaNoWriMo results

Well, another year of NaNoWriMo is complete. Here are our results:

3. Ronnie — I wrote less than 1800 words, but I might have gotten as much out of having one deadline I could blow off as I would have had I finished. :-)

2. MJ — Her wordcount is 37,000+ and climbing. She didn't actually start writing until the 8th or so, so she still has a good shot at doing 50,000 in 30 days.

1. Chloe — Goal reached! She got way behind—so much so that I certainly thought she sh/would simply give up. Instead, she started fresh, dug in her heels, and cranked out some words, baby! She was surprised to find herself starting her last chapter two days ago, still a bit shy of her wordcount. So, she's including in her total wordcount the 5,000 words she put in on her first attempt at the beginning of the month. Seems fair to me.

And a note about responsibility
One of the oft-heard criticisms of unschooling is that our kids will never learn responsibility if they are never expected to do anything. To that, I simply say, "Ppppbbbbbllllttt!"