End of July Update

Can you believe it is time to wrap up July? Here are some brief thoughts, pics that didn't get posted, and updates on various items mentioned earlier this month.

While Kat and Miss Munchkin were here two weekends ago, we visited the beach. I did not think to check for beach advisories before we left, so we were rather disappointed to discover one when we got there. That meant no swimming. It was hot and sticky and there was no breeze and it was not much fun if you couldn't get into the water. Miss Munchkin played some with her sand and shovel and chased some birds, but we did not stay very long. Next time Grandma will remember to check online for advisories.

I keep telling her Mommy that she needs a haircut!

Penny Update - I took Penny back to the vet on the 23rd for a follow-up. She was doing better and then she wasn't, so the vet decided to do an x-ray to see if she had any kidney stones. Good news: no stones. (Bad news: wasted money on an x-ray!) The vet decided that she likely has a leakage problem that is fairly common with spayed females of her age and size. So she is now on a twice-daily dose of something to prevent bladder leakage. It does seem to be working, which is good news for my carpets! Now to retrieve my rug cleaner when I go back to Alabama next month.

We had a lot of rain yesterday, maybe close to two inches. The pond in the apartment complex is much higher this morning and Mr. Alligator is having fun cruising around. He seems to be enjoying the higher water level. And I notice this morning that the bird that has been fishing around the pond the last week was now staying out of the water, just fishing from the stone bank. Maybe Mr. Bird is more concerned about Mr. Alligator now that Mr. Alligator is getting around the pond more quickly? I don't know what the bird is, maybe a heron or egret. I will try to get a pic tomorrow.

The boys signed up for Kenpo Karate last week. Now they just need to get into a routine again, hopefully one that will not involve me doing all the driving! With David as a driver now, it would seem like I should be able to stay at home when they go.

I have been working on updating my Alabama Church School listings the past several days. Each summer I contact every church school listed (and many, many that are not listed) in my attempt to have the most up-to-date listing of church schools online for Alabama homeschoolers. It is a lot of work, but necessary. There are just so many lists online that are not up-to-date, with inaccurate URL's, e-mail addresses that no longer work, and church schools mentioned that no longer exist.

David's Freshman English class ends next week. It appears that he is doing well in it, perhaps even a B average. That would be great, compared to how he did last year at Evansville. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

And I think that is it for the updates! Tomorrow is August 1st. That is my Grammy's birthday, or would have been if she were still alive. I should make molasses cookies in her memory; she always made the most delicious molasses cookies! I wonder if I have her recipe with me or if it is packed away back in Alabama?

Visit Two

The boys visited The American Karate Studios. They had a quick private lesson to learn a couple of forms and then joined in on the evening Adults class. This dojo has a much different style than the one they visited Wednesday evening. Again, some things are similar to what they are used to doing at their old dojo and other things are very different. If they were to join, it would be the same as the other, they would need to begin at white belt and would work their way up the ranks as quickly as they were able to catch on. The cost of each place is about the same. I have not heard a final verdict yet, but I think the boys are leaning towards going with the first dojo they visited.

Visit One

Last night the boys joined in on an hour class at the Kenpo Karate & Kickboxing Center. They were assessing whether they wanted to join there and, at the same time, the instructor was assessing their skills and style. The style of karate seems very similar to what they are used to, but not exactly the same. Charles tells me that there is no such thing as a standard karate, that every dojo has it's own style. If they decide to join there, they will have to begin at white belt level, even though they both have black belts already. But Master Ingle (the owner) said that, based upon the skills he saw, they would move up through the ranks very quickly. They rank based upon accomplishment of skills and not based upon any time frame.

I was pleased that both boys said they should still try the second dojo we checked out, even though they were favorably impressed with this first place. It's been nice to listen to them explain what they are looking for and the plusses and minuses of each place we have visited. We have left the choice up to them, as they are the ones with the experience and knowledge upon which to base a choice. Tonight we will visit the second place and then the boys will make their choice.

I am still figuring out the traffic patterns here in Tallahassee and how to judge how long it will take to get somewhere. So much depends upon whether it is rush hour and how many red lights you hit. Tallahassee has the longest stoplights I have ever experienced. You can sit several minutes if you pull up to a light just as it is turning red. Tuesday when we went to first check out the two dojos, it only took us about 25 minutes to get to the first one. Last night it took 45 minutes, which meant that we were just a bit late. Part of that was because it was later in the afternoon and we got caught in rush hour traffic. And part was due to the fact that I took what appeared to be a more direct route, which was obviously a mistake. The side streets would have gotten us there much faster. I am still trying to decide how much time to give for getting to this second place tonight. It is further away, but there are fewer side street options.

On another note, Penny is feeling better. She is more energetic when she goes outside and less smelly inside. This morning we took a very long walk, going around the whole complex once. We usually take that walk in the evening, but I am trying to up her exercise level (and mine!). By 7:15, when we began our walk, it was already 78 degrees and 80% humidity. We have gone several days now without any rain, so this weekend's forecast of 60% chance of rain sounds good. Of course, that means thunderstorms, not just a general rain. Supposedly July is the wettest month of the year here, but like most of the southeast, we are still in a drought situation. So any rain sounds good!

Technology, Love it or Hate it?

Charles got an iPod for his birthday Tuesday. He had an mp3 player already, but it was about wore out and he had requested something bigger and better for his birthday. Of course, bigger and better also means more complicated! Charles does not deal well with most computerized technology. He has a difficult time reading something and translating that into action. If he can see it done, he is fine. But he has inherited my technology-blindness, if you will. I have tried to help him, and we are finally making progress in understanding how to convert his existing songs into the proper format, but man, has it been a struggle. It's like learning a new language, reading some of the technical jargon. I'll read something to myself, then read it aloud to Charles, and the two of us try to decipher what I just read. But, like I said, we are finally making progress.

Now, if you were to show Charles a new karate form, he would get it right away. Or if you were to put him in charge of a class of karate students, he would have no problem with that. The class would continue calmly and smoothly. But show him something that needs tools to work on, like a car, or something with technological jargon and pop-up warnings, like a computer, and he is lost. He has had to learn to deal with more of that, though, this year with David away to college. No more can he just throw his arms up in defeat and cajole his brother into helping him.

And what is Charles doing now? While his iTunes is finally converting all the files the way he has been trying to get it to since late last night? He is out squirrel hunting. I am not sure if he took his blow gun or his bow. I do know the squirrels are not in any danger, though. The cats trailing after Charles will successfully warn away any squirrel silly enough to get within shooting range.

Vacation Trip - Part Three

We planned to spend Thursday night with a friend who lives just south of Youngstown, Ohio. Thursday morning we were still debating just what route to take to get there, until I heard the weather report on the radio! Lake-effect snow flurries were forecasted for Wyoming County, New York. The snow wasn't supposed to stick, just flurries. A flurry was more than I wanted to see, so we headed south on 15 into Pennsylvania, taking 220 west and picking up I-80 across to Youngstown. The area around Lock Haven and further west as you join onto I-80 was real pretty. I've often thought Pennsylvania was a pretty place to visit, in the summertime or early fall, but not somewhere I'd like to live. As we got closer to Youngstown, we ran into some brief snow flurries. Ack!

As for the "non-sticking lake-effect snow" in western New York? Seven days later they are still talking about it on the national news, reporting that there are still large populations without power. My aunt said that the Thruway was closed for over 24 hours on Thursday / Friday. It seems some places west of Leroy received up to 24 inches. That's a lot of snow for early October and a lot of sticking!

Our stay with our friend's in Youngstown was very pleasant. She has a beautiful house and certainly pleased Charles with her mashed potatoes and gravy! We met several members of her family and just had a nice visit. Friday morning we were on our way bright and early (7:30 a.m. Central), as we had a long day of traveling ahead of us if we were to get all the way to Evansville, Indiana, by nightfall. By two in the afternoon it seemed like we were making good time, so we decided to take the scenic route across Indiana rather than staying on the Interstates. Wrong decision. Lovely countryside, but a bit longer trip than necessary, especially when we hit a traffic jam the first few miles and only drove about 10 miles in 45 minutes! It was 7:30 p.m. (Central) when we rolled into Evansville, meaning we spent twelve hours on the road.

Poor Miss Munchkin, she was getting so tired of her car seat (as were we all!). After darkness fell, she really began to fuss. She would only be quiet if Kat learned over and stroked her or talked to her. Finally the kids turned on the DVD player and she quieted down. We don't think it was the DVD, just the light from it enabling her to see people around her again. She did the same thing Saturday night after it got dark, fussing until Kat turned on one of the inside back lights. Then Miss Munchkin seemed happier.

Friday night we picked up David and his friend Ashley and all went out to supper. It was nice to visit with David, although I think he was more interested in food than seeing us! Miss Munchkin seemed to remember him, even though it had been about two months since she'd seen him. At least she didn't fuss any when David held her.

Saturday morning David gave Kat (and the rest of us) a tour of the campus. He needs a bit more practice with that! "Here's a building. I think they do art classes in here. I never come to this building, so I don't really know." Very informative! After lunch and winter coat shopping for David, we loaded up and headed for home. We dropped Kat off at the mall so she could ride home with Shawn when he got off from work. Then we dropped Charles off at karate so he could be a part of the last bit of graduation. And we got home about 8 p.m., in time to watch the last half of the Nextel race and see Gordon suffer another late race DNF.

Nine days of vacation, six of them on the road, traveling 2370 miles. Are we crazy or what? Everyone did really well until Friday. By then we'd had enough togetherness. It's a good thing Charles was able to sleep at David's dorm Friday night. Another night of sharing a motel room with Charles and there's no telling what Kat might have done to him with the TV remote as he channel surfed!

Jujitsu Black Belt!

Last night was Graduation and Charles received his Jujitsu Black Belt. Quite an achievement! Charles worked so hard the past several days, helping teach classes because his instructor had hurt his hip, and also helping prepare for graduation. I think he was too tired to really get the full joy of graduating and receiving that black belt. But he did look pretty happy.

On the extreme left is Honshi Rawls, a 10th Degree Black Belt in something, maybe Jujitsu? I can never keep it straight. And then Charles is to the right of Honshi Rawls. And then to the right of Charles is his instructor, Donnie Chappell, who is a 4th Degree Black Belt in Karate and 3rd Degree Black Belt in Jujitsu. And to his right is his daughter (Charles' girl friend) Rebecca, who also received her 3rd Degree Karate Black Belt last night. Not a bunch to pick a fight with!

So, now Charles has two black belts, one in Jujitsu and one in Karate. And he is about halfway to being ready to test for his second level karate black belt. It's a three-year process, so another year and a half to go. Amazing what a can happen when a sibling wins a month's free lessons in something! That's how our karate adventures began. Kat won a month's free lessons at a homeschool seminar in 1999, I think it was. Charles watched Kat that month and immediately wanted to sign up! Ever since, his first love, basketball, has paled in comparison to martial arts.

Oh, for time to crochet!

It must be summer. I've had barely any time to crochet lately. I almost miss having to drive David to his dual enrollment college classes at Calhoun each morning. At least then I had an hour, some days almost two hours, solely devoted to either reading or crocheting. Or maybe I should begin to go sit at karate again in the evenings, waiting for Charles to get finished with classes, instead of just dropping him off and letting Bill pick him on his way home. I got a lot of crocheting done there. But here at home it seems like there's always something else I have to be or should be doing. Dishes, laundry, e-mail, playing with Miss Munchkin, playing Mah-Jong, paying bills, working on webpages, etc., etc., etc. No time for crocheting. And this month the Nextel Cup races are on cable stations, so I can't even plan on a Sunday afternoon of race watching and crocheting.

I'm currently working on an afghan for David for college, but at the rate I'm going with it, there is no way I'll have it done by the time he heads of to Evansville. He'll be lucky if he gets it by the time the snow flies up there. And then I've several projects I want to work on. Each day, Annie's Attic has a free pattern on their website:

http://www.anniesattic.com/free_pattern_day/index.html

So now, in addition to the dozens of books and pamphlets I have with crochet patterns, I've been saving many of the patterns from Annie's Attic. I'll never have enough time to crochet them all. It's like books … so many to crochet, so little time!

I do need to begin planning Christmas presents, if I'm going to crochet anything for Christmas. There's a lion I'd love to make for Miss Munchkin. And my niece Chelsea graduates from high school next year, so I need to think of what afghan to make for that present. Oh, and I know of a new baby that'll be making his/her way into the world around the first of the year, so I'll have to make a baby blanket. Lots of projects! Guess I better quit blogging and get to work crocheting!

Black Belt Tests

Last night our two boys (Charles and David) participated in a friend's Jujitu Black Belt test. They were two of the three ookies (sp?), the helpers in the test. Charles just did his own jujitsu black belt test about a month ago, with most of the same group of kids participating. Last night's test resembled a "last man standing" competition, with one ookie gone from injuries, a second somewhat impaired, and blood coming from the nose of the third. I know our two will be moving a bit slower today. Whenever I see our boys volunteer to help out with a black belt test, I am amazed. They know they are volunteering for a minimum three hours of kicks, rolls, punches, grappling and sparring. They know that in all likelihood someone is going to get hurt (although usually not seriously). And yet they always step up and say yes. What makes someone do that? But then, I've never quite understood why they (and our daughter Kat) enjoy karate as much as they do. I'm usually one to avoid doing something that I know could end up being painful! Karate and Jujitsu have been very positive experiences, though, for all three of our children. It has been one of the few sports that David, the least competitive of the three, has been willing to participate in and has enjoyed. We were all, David included, quite pleased and just a bit surprised when he tested for his Black Belt in Karate last year and passed. It was quite an accomplishment for our non-physical child! Kat has been practicing the moves she remembers from when she took karate/jujitsu to get herself back into pre-pregnancy shape. And, of course, Charles still plans to make martial arts his career in some way. So I guess karate has been a welcome addition to our lives, even though I feel sometimes like I've put in way too much seat time in the dojo! But then, I use that for my reading and crocheting time, so I guess that's a good trade-off.