New Year Honey Moon Phase

Wow! 2011 is off to a pretty good start. I don't really want to jinx it. But can I start off by saying how thrilled I am to drop off all three kids at the same school at the same time everyday? It's like a dream! Not only that, but Rex is actually happy when I pick him up and drop him off.

On Monday, our first day back from break, Rex was a little nervous. What if the teacher was strict? What if he didn't like it there after all? What was it going to be like? Well, I have to admit to helicoptering around a few moments to make sure he got into class okay (as if he somehow wouldn't?) Then I mentioned to his teacher that he was a little nervous. She looked at me like I was the parent of a kindergartner and said, "He'll be fine. But if you want to come in, you may." I suddenly realized I was the nervous person here, and she knew it. Of course he was going to be fine. So, I sauntered off down the hall. As soon as the door to the classroom was closed, I sauntered casually by the door again to peer in the window to see where he was sitting and try and figure he mood based on his facial expression. I couldn't figure a thing except that I was a meddling mother of an independent fifth grader and I was only likely to embarrass him or myself. Needless to say, at the end of the day he was all smiles and so was the teacher.

On Tuesday when I came to pick up the kids Rex informed me that he was placed in sixth grade math. His teacher told me that she had about four students in sixth grade math. Rex followed with, "Yeah. It's easy."

On Wednesday when I came to pick him up Rex informed me that he was now in seventh grade math. You should have seen the grin on that kid's face. He just dropped his math text book on the table near me. I asked if he had finished his math homework. He said, "Yeah. It was fun!" I looked over at the book and saw that it said "pre-Algebra" on the front.

I hope the honeymoon lasts.

In other news, I started another candida cleanse. I officially started on January 3rd, but unofficially started on December 25th (the day after the two martini Christmas Eve). I have to say I was just getting myself used to the idea of being deprived of sugar. I slipped only twice that week, which was forgivable. One night I had a sinus headache and reached for the homemade Sambouca given to me by my friend Holly. I had maybe a table spoon of the stuff and realized I was pretty buzzed. I thought it couldn't have happened from such a small amount. Then my friend Jamie asked me today if I'd tried Holly's elixer. Apparently she experienced something similar. No more elixer on this cleanse. It's the netty pot for me.

What I've found to be the secret to getting through this cleanse is the fat. I find fat to be very satiating. So, quite frankly, it's been coconut milk, coconut oil and ghee on everything for me. I'm allowed to have 1/2 cup non-glutenous grain 5 days a week (per my doctor). So, I have to choose if I'm going to have amaranth smothered in ghee and cinnamon with nuts or if I'm going to have a couple of eggs over easy in a big old pile of ghee. I've also cut out the coffee and substituted it with green tea. I have to say that I miss the ritual of coffee. But, quite frankly, I feel a ton better not having coffee. I'm not so snappish and anxious and speedy. Of course the down side is that I'm a little sleepy too. Or maybe it's just called being relaxed and I have to get used to that? Well, haven't been on the cleanse very long. We'll see how long THIS honeymoon lasts!

Happy New Year!

2011 is definitely starting off on the right note. No, I don't mean the children who woke up whining about the french toast I was making for breakfast. I guess they are a little "hung over" from staying up past midnight (for a change). What made this New Year great was that the first call I got in the year was from my friend Christina in Greece. I even mentioned my friends from Greece in the last blog post (albeit briefly). They must have sensed my thoughts of them. So, there is nothing like having an hour long conversation to catch up on everything in both countries and families. They are definitely my kindred spirits on the other side of the world!!

Last night we actually attended a New Year's Eve party -- for the first time in years. Usually I'm in bed by 9pm on New Year's Eve. I figure it's midnight in New York, yippie, good-night. I guess it was a couple of years ago when the kids realized that all their friends were staying up until midnight to celebrate and they had no idea it was even a holiday. I guess that comes partly from my history with New Years. It's usually a holiday for couples. And I traditionally went through some sort of monster break up at the holidays and was left solo for the New Year. So, New Year's Eve and Valentine's day, I felt, were two contrived holidays out to mock me as a lonesome single person.

My life went a little something like this: Oh! Look at the calendar. It's December already. I guess it's time for one of us to end this thing. And then it would end. I would spend Christmas crying into my stocking and then just get all jaded in preparation for New Years. It seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.

And although I haven't been alone for several years now, I'm still not generally inclined to celebrate them. I think Valentine's Day is a cruel joke. And New Year's still seems like a last ditch effort squeeze another party out of the winter holidays. And frankly, by New Year's I'm done.

But I digress. So, last night we went to a really nice New Year's Eve party with the kids. It was nice and mellow with good people and good food. The teenagers and kids were all really well behaved, as well as the adults in attendance. We weren't even sure what to expect since we hadn't been to a New Year's party for years.

We brought a nice gluten free cherry/blueberry crisp as well as some good champagne ... and then we realized this was our chance to ditch the giant bottle off Cook's that's been in our garage for the last four years. Let me say that again: Cook's. GARAGE. FOUR. YEARS. Ewe! Let's call it our "white elephant gift". And it didn't seem fair to pass it off without a warning. So, Michael created a special label for it:



I love having a graphics guy for a husband. He can make anything!

So, now my plans for the actual living in 2011? Well, I'm starting off with another candida cleanse. Yes, it's three weeks of some harsh dietary restrictions (which I sort of started last week to get used to the idea ... no sugar. no grains. no fruit. no vinegar. no mushrooms. no coffee. no dairy. Ouch). Last night I sipped at my water. I will confess to tasting the crisp I brought. MMMMmmm! (if I do say so myself). But now, the real deprivation.

I did do a cleanse last spring. But someone kindly sent me a box of See's candy right near the end of the cleanse. Just as I came off it, I thought one piece of candy wouldn't be bad. Then I promptly at the entire box. Doh! Totally un-did the cleanse. So, this year I will try it again and put chocolate far from my mind for the next several weeks. And wine. And baked goods. And dairy. And coffee. Go ahead, feel sorry for me. Okay, don't. It's self inflicted and temporary. I guess I can try for a little self control this time.

And with the kids all going back to school Monday (yay!!!) will have the whole house to myself ... imagine all that time to clean and fold laundry without interruption?

Happy New Year, everyone!

Holiday Homestretch

According to our calendar, most of us are 7 days out from sitting amongst a pile of discarded wrapping and packaging at the base of a dying tree in someone's living room listening to the squeals of delight and laughter but dreading the impending Yuletide meltdown. So, really, I should savor the moment of today and reflect back upon the really nice week we just had.

Upon Rex and Michael's return from Europe, we settled back into our home school schedule with Rex. Our home school reality was, sadly, far from my dream of fun and creative ways to learn. Basically it was me going to bed at night looking for ways to make the curriculum more interesting, waking up hopeful only to have those hopes be dashed by a boy who wakes up surly and full of dread. After only four days of him being back I sent him out for "recess" and immediately started calling schools.

It wasn't working because Rex is a social creature. And sitting at home with me doing anything was just going to be no fun. And when I make corrections, it comes across as criticism. And when I assign work, it comes across as punishment. Regardless of my intent. I mean, there were days I took him to a cafe, got a hot chocolate, played a game of chess, discussed characterization (direct and indirect) and read Bridge to Terabithia with him. We followed that by meeting a couple of other home school friends for skating in a park. And as much as he enjoyed it at the time, he reflected back on how it just wasn't for him. Some kids need to be in a classroom going through the trenches of learning with others. You know what they say, "Misery loves company. And by company, I don't mean your mother."

I had long said I didn't want to have to straddle more than one charter school. But at this point, I was willing to do anything to get out of home school hell. It just wasn't working for us.

Fortunately, being the time of year that it is, change was on the wind for other families too. And I guess a few of them decided to leave Blue Oak Charter School for greener pastures. This opened up an opportunity for Rex at Blue Oak. Yay! Finally, all three kids at the same school during the same hours? Oh, this will be a happy New Year!

I did a dance, high fived several people and then called home to give Michael and Rex the news: THAT WAS THE LAST DAY OF HOME SCHOOL FOR US! In fact, Rex is so excited to go back to school in the New Year he actually woke up happy on Friday morning. I hadn't seen that in a long time.



In other news, Blue Oak had it's extremely impressive Winter Concert Thursday night. Valerie performed recorder and sang with the fourth grade. She even sang in Japanese. for one song. When her fourth grade class came out to play violin, she got to sit up with her cello next to them all and play. And she got to perform one more time with the orchestra. Of course we were proud and impressed. But the performances by the other classes were amazing too.



As part of the 8th grade curriculum studying American history the 8th graders created a "jug band" and played some really cool music. Also, this school has an advanced orchestra. It was amazing (as usual). I was totally blown away. I wanted them to keep playing. It's open to the community. Many of the older Blue Oak students are part of it as well as a couple of teachers and some parents. It was truly a magical experience that we just won't get at any of the other schools in Chico.

And our bonus concert experience was that Rex met the other boy who would be entering the 5th grade at Blue Oak as a new student along with him in January. They both seemed really eager.

So, now we are on break. Rain and wind are moving in and plan on settling here for the next week. Kids are home and climbing the walls with anticipation. And I'm really looking forward to January when I have all three kids back at one school. They will have music and art and handwork infused in their daily lessons. What an amazing school that cultivates life long learners instead of jaded test takers. If I could go back to school, I would totally go there!