I completed an interview today with Lynn for Homeschool Talk Radio. Now everyone can find out the following answers to burning questions - How do you pronounce that last name and does she have a southern accent?

I'll be talking about what our first year was like and how I learned to relax more and really commit to homeschooling. I don't have an air date yet but I'll post as soon as I do. I'm also talking about my book. Lynn with have links available to the website as well as a link with the preface and first 5 pages available in pdf format. Remember that the links are also available on the right side of this page. You can order a softcover, wire bound book from Cafe Press or you can order a download version from ebay.

If you follow the link to the radio show for this week be patient. They are moving to a new host and trying to work out some things. If you can't access an audio file please keep coming back to try. I've listened to the archived shows and they are very well done and very interesting.

I know, how creepy is this? I'm such a geek.

Star Wars is now complete. We saw episode 3 last week and I loved it. I know many hate the new ones, but I feel they were well done and a lot of questions have now been answered for me. I'm planning to move the VCR into the other room this weekend so we can watch episodes 4-6 in comfort on the couch. We only have them on VHS. When the complete set comes out on DVD we'll be one of the families shelling out the dough and hoping someone out there will still buy the VHS copies on half.com.

I also watched my Tivo'd episode of the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise. It was good to see Riker and Troi again on the final episode, and the Enterprise D. I admit it - I teared up when I heard Capts. Picard, Kirk, and Archer give the final words.

So, with Star Wars and Star Trek finally over, at least for now, what shall a minor sci-fi geek do? I've heard good things about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Even though my friends in high school loved the books I never read them. Maybe that will be my summer project and we'll see the movie on video later this year.

But I am so happy at seeing the trailer for the Narnia movie coming in December. I'm definitely going to see that one. The Harry Potter movie will be out this Thanksgiving and book 6 is being released on my birthday! I'm also planning to see Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, it sounds like a wonderful story, and I want to rent Diary of a Mad Black Woman. I've heard wonderful things about that movie.

I need something to read! When does the next Sue Grafton come out! Anyone with any ideas comment away on your favorite book that I must immediately go to the library to check out.

Carrie at Mommy Brain asked if I'd ever written about why I stopped going to church. I haven't because we stopped going just before we began homeschooling in 2003. I'll try to explain what happened and hope it doesn't come across as blaming anyone or being bitter.

My husband and I attended a Baptist church then moved to a local, independent church when our son was young. He was probably 3 or 4 at the time, this was maybe 1997 or 1998. We enjoyed the church, the upbeat music, the pastor who told it like it is, and the people and were there for many years. Due to my personality problems - and no one else - we don't have any really close friends from that church, despite being there many years. I'll try to explain.

I can be very outspoken online, but in person it takes me a long time to make friends. I don't trust people easily and I need to get to know people over a long time, not quickly. When people ask "How are you?" I wonder "Do they really want to know?" As a consequence of that behavior whenever people did try to say hello to me I was usually very short and only answered in one word sentences, like "Hi", "Fine", "Good", like that. I wasn't even aware that I was doing this. As a result people thought I didn't want to be bothered, so they left me alone, even though many times I was crying inside for someone to be my friend. Now that I am aware of this behavior I have to try very hard to keep from letting it short circuit any type of possible friendship. It's too easy to want to sit back in my corner and not get out there and be with people. At a risk of analyzing myself, it stems back from childhood. People I trusted with secrets would let me down, so I learned an adaptive behavior - you need to prove yourself to me before I let you in. So, if you ever greet someone who is like that, don't leave them alone. They may just be shy. Be their friend and get them to trust you. Anyway, it wasn't the church's fault entirely, it was mine.

A few years later though, my son was beginning school at this same church, and even though the school is under a different charity name and is run as a private school the pastor was the administrator of the school. When we disagreed on things at the school it bled over into the church. There were some things said at times that hurt us, even though I don't believe he ever did anything to hurt us intentionally. As we were there for some time we tried to be active in the church but it seemed we were stopped almost every inch of the way. Things that we proposed to do or be a part of were always shot down and it was very discouraging, but we saw others enter the church and immediately be put in positions of authority and welcomed with open arms. We didn't necessarily want to be in a position of authority, I just wanted to hold a class on finances! These other people were more outgoing and they were invited here and there and everywhere and we felt shunned at times. However, we tried to hold on in the church. At one point it was my lifeline as my husband and I went through a brief seperation. The pastor and his wife spoke to me many times, gave me encouragement and prayer as I struggled for the words to pray myself. When my husband and I reconciled they were there as well with us in happiness.

In 2001 I took a job as a church secretary for a local Baptist church, not the one I had attended previously. I thought it would be wonderful. I would get to use my computer skills, I would be in a Christian environment, I would be part of a team. The pastor asked me in the interview "We've told you what we would expect of you. What would you expect of us?" I told him I had a child - at the time he was 6 or 7 and was attending the school at my home church. I told the pastor that my family came before the job. If my son was sick I was going to be home with him. If he needed to be picked up from school, I was going to do it. The pastor discussed this with the personnel committee and all was well - he said.

Things are different in a Baptist church. Everything is run by committees and rules. Many of the people didn't like me because I attended a "different" church. Some didn't like me because I didn't do what the previous secretary had done. She knew many people by name and I didn't. I tried to be friendly and courteous, but it wasn't enough. Many people just didn't like me.

I also don't like to dress up. I would wear khakis and polo shirts to work with comfortable shoes. After a while they asked me to wear dresses and slacks. I was very uncomfortable and found it difficult to enjoy my job. I also had a major personality conflict with the music minister. She was very much a perfectionist. She wanted things done just so. That led to a lot of stress, and I loved the computer and financial aspect of my job but I was not the best at organization. I also discovered I was not part of the team. I was a grunt, and I didn't like it.

I let out a lot of my frustrations to the youth minister and the pastor, and I felt they were on my side. However, the following year when new committees came around, the new personnel committee decided they didn't like anyone, and I was the first to go.

First, they didn't like the newsletter changes I'd made - with the permission of the pastor. They didn't like how I dressed. Apparently some of the members found it rude that I didn't remember their names and forgot to put into the newsletter when they donated money in memory of someone. The woman who decorated the church for Christmas - whom I never thought I had any type of problem with - apparently didn't like me because I was supposed to help her decorate, even though no one told me this. The conflicts with the music minister came out to the congregation as well, but the biggest thing was my family. We had one car for some time and my husband worked nights, midnight to 9am. I would take him to work, leave and pick him up at 9am and come back to work and work through lunch. This was done with permission of the pastor - who was supposed to be my boss. The committee didn't like it. So my dh had to wait 20 miles away for me to take my lunch hour, drive to pick him up, and go back to work. Some days I didn't get to eat lunch due to this. Also, picking up my son from school became a problem, even though it wasn't a problem before. It didn't matter that all of this had been discussed when I was hired. The pastor did nothing to stand up for me.

At the same time at my home church and the school things were changing. The school implemented some rules pertaining to designs on clothing and the snacks that kids could bring to eat and I felt many were just silly. One little girl was sent home because of a butterfly on her shirt. Due to the stress at work as well as the stress at the school we decided we would homeschool the following year. Within a month after that decision was made, I was fired from the church. I was the first to go. Within a year the music minister and the youth minister were gone as well. The pastor is still there, but I've heard some people are withholding their tithes in opposition. They also advertise for a secretary about every 6 months.

I was able to work with my parents and I got a severance package from the church, which they really didn't have to give me. We used the severance to fix my dh's car so I wouldn't have to drive him to work all the time and we pulled William from the private school early to homeschool. For a long time he came to work with me and did his school work, then went home with his dad and finished it.

Due to all the junk with both churches and the school we've just never gone back to church on a regular basis. I've been a few times here and there with my parents when they've gone. I've gone to a few funerals, including the one today for my former pastor, but it's really been hard to forgive and forget everything that happened to me at both churches and let it go enough to trust again.

The funeral wasn't held at my old church, either. It was held at the Baptist church that fired me.

I just learned that my former pastor passed away from cancer. This was the pastor / administrator of the school that we removed William from. Even with our disagreements, I always appreciated the things he did do for us and he and his wife helped me through a very difficult time. We are discussing going to the funeral as Scott is friends with his son. We still need to tell William.

It's hard to believe how upset I am. I always thought he would outlive us all.

I hadn't seen him for some time but heard about him as his illness progressed. The church was doing a lot to protect him and only family and close friends were allowed to visit.

I wonder if his death will be what makes me return to church?

The worst thing was when Mom had to work and I had to follow instructions on the white board. The good things were when Mom read books. What I want next year is a chemistry set.

I liked the field trip to the petting zoo (Wild Animal Park). I liked going to the state capitol building in Atlanta and the trip to Washington. I liked the emu and the baby goats at the animal park. Getting licked by the ox was nasty! I liked seeing the model of the capitol building and learning about the building. I liked walking around the museum and seeing the artifacts. I liked seeing the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and the WWII memorial. I liked walking around the mall area in Washington.

My favorite book from this year is Robinson Crusoe.

I learned in math that there are a lot of numbers. I don't like multiplication. I sorta like roman numerals.

I sorta liked writing the letters in english.

The most fun was when we got to eat.

I liked doing the Adventure Club reports and eating after the reports. I liked doing the Powerpoint program.

My most favorite thing this year was learning about Washington and the Capitol and the Coca-Cola factory. Jamestown was also fun.

Next year I would like to concentrate on chemistry.

Today ends the end of 4th grade and the end of our 3rd year of homeschooling, if you go by a school calendar. As part of state requirements I have to write up an evaluation for the end of the year, so here it is.

This year has been different than the others. I think I'm really finding myself now as a homeschool parent. We're enjoying being together as a family more often and we are learning a lot together. I think it was January where I started slacking off, though. As I read back through my blog I'm not finding many homeschool posts in January.

The school year brought a lot of changes. I'm working at home instead of out of the house, which brings different problems but also wonderful solutions. My husband went back on night shift, which has been difficult for us as a family.

Academically, I believe William is doing much better in his reading. He always speaks with a large vocabulary and uses the words correctly. He still needs helps with spelling and he still doesn't like to write. He's enjoying our read alouds. We finally finished Princess and the Goblin and he still wants to read Princess and Curdie over the summer. We are still working on Robinson Crusoe. Hopefully it will be read by August so we can do some new things.

We're watching Colonial House on PBS and that is going along with his reading about the Jamestown colony in This Country of Ours. It's a very good program and we always find a lot to talk about after an episode. He also learned a bit about more recent history as well when we attended my grandfather's WWII Navy reunion.

With math he's still struggling with multiplication. I think we spent too much time on addition and subtraction review this year. If I had been able to start on multiplication earlier I believe we could have gotten a grip on it. He also needs more help in telling time.

We also finished Minn of the Mississippi finally! William still wants a turtle to put in his room. It may be okay later, when he gets the big room. We did find a turtle near our porch and we spent some time watching it before it waddled off somewhere.

William has gone from a blue belt to advanced blue belt in karate this year. He's been with this teacher for about 3 years now, give or take, and is still enjoying it very much. He has his moments when he gets upset about a move or a technique he is struggling to learn, but he eventually gets it.

William also took part in a Geography co-op with a local homeschool group. He's done reports on many different countries and has learned to use Powerpoint software with my laptop. At the last class of this year the coordinator gave all the students a copy of a public speaking class on CD Rom. He is looking forward to going through the CD Rom and learning how to make better speeches or "talks" next year for the co-op. Our geography text has been "Kon Tiki". I'm sorry to say it's still not completed. Now that we finally got to where they are on the raft it's gotten more interesting, but it's taking a long time to finish.

We took part in many field trips. We went to the State Capitol and the World of Coca Cola in Atlanta. We visited Andersonville, a POW camp in south Georgia during the Civil War. We also went to FDR State Park and took part in an astronomy night. We got to see Saturn, the Orion Nebula, and the moon through these huge telescopes. We went to the Wild Animal Park with our homeschool group and had a great time in the van we rented. We finished off the field trips with a trip to Washington DC and Jamestown, VA.

While we didn't finish everything planned I still feel it's been a successful year. As far as behavior goes, William seems to be much better since the neighbor boy moved away. I didn't agree with many of the things he did, but I know William loved having a boy close by to play with. I really need to get together with a friend so her sons and William can spend an afternoon together. During the trip to Washington DC he did dress up for the fancy banquet and was very well behaved. He ate his dinner without complaint and wore his new clothes. My uncle, a school teacher in Atlanta, told me he was very impressed with William's behavior, not only at the banquet but for the entire trip.

Changes for next year - Do more read alouds with CDs or tapes. Do more fun things, like science experiments. Plan a longer school year with only 4 days. Don't take off the entire month of December. Use the library resources more than I have been.

I will be posting during the summer, and if I know me it will be about planning and more planning :) We'll also finish our room swap around this summer so we'll have an actual school room area, William will have the bigger room as his bedroom and I'll have a tiny office where I can work away from the dogs. This project should be completed by the time we begin in August.

Next I'll be posting William's assessment of this year. Since he hates to write, he'll dictate it to me and I'll type it.

I now have my book listed on ebay as a pdf file download. You can click a link that downloads the preface and the first 5 pages so you can see if you like it. The downloaded book is cheaper than the Cafe Press publication and there is free shipping since it's a download. You can purchase it here:

Ebay Auction

Don't forget about the Cafe Press version though, if you would rather have an actual book in your hand. That link is here:

Pineywoods Books Cafe Press Store

Homeschooling / Education in the News

Nevada Senate bill 402 - An Act Relating to the Protection of Children

5 Year Old Brings Gun Home From School

At Homeschool, Kids Kept from Bullies and Taught Christian Values

Homeschool Graduations Tug at the Heart

Real ID

Real ID is a Tragedy for Asylum Seekers

Real ID - Real Big Brother

California Set to Ban RFID IDs

I love finding cool sites to share! I was at my mom's today and she was watching the Science Channel on Dish Network. I swear, I'm about this close to cancelling my cable and getting satellite. She has all these cool channels that William doesn't complain about :) We watched 2 shows about robots today while at her house and I noticed a link they gave for science information, so I had to check it out.

Well, I couldn't get that particular link to work for some reason, something about the flash player not working, but I found this one - a list of all the web links they use on the show "Discoveries This Week".

There are enough links on this page to fill in a year of science curriculum. I think I'll copy it over to William's ID on the computer and science can be unschooled next year using the links from the site as well as field trips. We will also stick to the science biographies I have planned.

I have finished the book I've been working on. It's a compilation of journal entries from our first year of homeschooling. I've added comments to my journal entries and tried to detail honestly what the first year of homeschooling was like. I also include updates on what we are doing now.

The book can be purchased here at my Cafe Press store.

William has been sick most of this week so a good bit of what was planned didn't get done.

We did some reading and some math on Monday. He's been watching Magic School Bus and the TLC Elementary School science programs, but now he's saying they are boring.

He started getting a cold on Wednesday. Since then he's watched more Magic School Bus and started reading his collection of Yu-Gi-Oh books again. He was supposed to take his karate test on Thursday for advanced blue belt but since he was sick dh went to the gym to talk to the instructor about rescheduling the test.

He's been on the phone now for the past hour trying to figure out how to rent a game from the video store when I can't find my driver's license. You have to have a picture ID and dh is at work. He's just not willing to wait until dh gets home tomorrow.

I am ready to start more planning for the year, actually getting stuff down on paper, but I'm making myself wait until July to actually order material. I'll be ordering just a few items and then heading to the library for a day of planning. It's easier for me to sit at the library's big tables and be able to see all of the books I plan to use at one time instead of trying to do it at home at the computer desk.

I set up some google alerts for homeschooling, home education, and Real ID and I've read a lot of interesting articles recently. Here are a few I've found:

Homeschooling
From the Duh! department:

"A school is not set up to handle everything," Mandelbaum said. "They are not therapeutic organizations or jails."

Some 3- or 4-year-olds aren't ready for school and need another year at home before they can handle class, and parents are coaxed to keep them home, school officials say.

Read the article here.

Homeschooled students aren't socialized, huh?

No Shortage of Activities for Homeschooled Students

My dh watched an episode of South Park (which I do not watch) and wanted me to see how they portrayed homeschooled students on this episode. The homeschooled boy who wanted to attend public school was duck-taped to a bench at recess and again at lunch and was constantly picked on as being a know-it-all. Then he said at the end that parents couldn't teach their kids socialization - that kids needed to work it out themselves. I thought school was for learning? And when was the last time you went to work and was duck-taped to your chair or tripped in the lunch room? School bullying like this is not true preparation for life. They also portrayed the parents and the homeschooled sister as scared people who never ventured from their home. The kids at the public school asked if they lived in the woods or something. They had never met the kids before. Homeschooled kids are out almost all the time doing something. Saying that homeschooled kids don't know how to socialize makes people think they are locked in their houses studying calculus at age 10. This is so far from the truth it's funny.

Real ID

Opinion Piece on Real ID from Conservative Voice

Counterfeit ID Statistics

According to the above article, fake ID is used for terrorism purposes only 4% of the time. Theft and immigration violations are the main reasons fake ID is used. My point against Real ID is this - if the birth certificate or passport used by the person wanting a driver's license is faked, then how is Real ID helping the situation?

Hispanics oppose Real ID

Opinion piece on how Real ID may increase identity theft

Opinion on how the RFID tags in Real ID cards can be compromised

Why am I seeing more opinion pieces than real news reports? Why won't the media speak out on this?

There is a yahoo group that will be reading John Taylor Gatto's book, The Underground History of American Education. The book is available online here.

The link for the group is here :

Edutalk yahoo group if you would like to join in.

I've never read this book but I am looking forward to reading and understanding the beginnings of public education.

By 2008, if your driver's license doesn't already have your fingerprint or some other type of readable mark on it, it will. You will also not be able to enter any type of federal building or board an airplane without a new Real ID card.

This bill was snuck into an appropriations bill for monies to go towards our troops in Iraq. I am all for the troops getting what they need. I do not enjoy our government sneaking in legislation.

Real ID would not have prevented the terrorists from boarding a plane on September 11, 2001. They entered this country on valid visas that would be now required under the Real ID act, so how is this going to help against terrorism? Another scary thought - each document required to prove identity can be forged. How is that going to help anything?

By 2008 I guess I'll have to make a decision. Will I fold and give into this act or will I spend the next 3 years fighting it? And if the law continues, will I allow my son to get a driver's license under new provision when he turns 16, or will I have to stand my ground and say no, son, I guess you can't drive because I don't agree with this law?

This affects the privacy of all American citizens. Learn about this law and let your Congressmen and your President know you are not happy with their deception.

News links:

http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/articles/2005,0516-siskind.shtm

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050513/NEWS01/505130346/1006

People may say today that this is nothing, but if we let this happen today, then what will happen tomorrow? When will we wake up and realize we are allowing our government to require more and more from us?

Here I go, planning again.

We'll be doing Ambleside Online's year 5 beginning in August. I'm not going to buy many books this year due to money contraints, so I'm going to use what they recommend if I can find it in my library. Otherwise I'm going to have to substitute what I can find. I will be buying the health books from CBD and there is a science curriculum I would like to buy, but it will have to be a good price off ebay as it's pretty expensive right now. I'll continue to use other items that I already have.

My schedule will be for 5 days a week, 4 weeks on and 1 off, probably taking off the month of December for the holidays. I'm not really sure if I'm going to stick to terms or not, or the dates for those terms, but each term should be approximately 3 months long.

Term 1 - August - October
Abe Lincoln Biography
Lewis and Clark Biography
World Geography - Follow Tenn's info on country studies and use the country that we'll be discussing in our homeschool group's Adventure Club.
Isaac Newton Biography
King Arthur and His Knights
Carry On Mr. Bowditch
Story of My Life by Helen Keller
Health - What's the Big Deal?
This Country of Ours
Kipling Poetry
Age of Fable
Math (use Living Math links once a week)
English - use current book plus spelling from Spelling for Pennies 3x week.
Art and Music appreciation - once a week
Public Speaking CD lessons - once a week, do a presentation for Adventure Club once a month
Science - either a book already at home or purchased new curriculum, experiement once a week
Shakespeare once a week - use the Lamb's book on CD I purchased
Free reading

Term 2 - November - February (if we take December off)
Finish Abe Lincoln Bio
Lillias Trotter Biography
Continue World Geography lessons
Alexander G. Bell Biography
Oliver Twist
Rifles for Watie
Across Five Aprils
Continue The Story of My Life
Health - Face the Facts
This Country of Ours
Longfellow Poetry
Age of Fable
Math - use Living math once a week
English - Book and Spelling for Pennies
Art and Music appreciation once a week
Public speaking CD lessons
Science - experiments once per week
Free reading
Shakespeare once a week - use the Lamb's book on CD I purchased


Term 3 - March - May
Book about the 20th century
Teddy Roosevelt Biography
World Geography continued
George Washington Carver biography
Kim, by Rudyard Kipling
Finish Rifles for Watie and Across Five Aprils
Rilla of Ingleside
Falcons of France
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Finish Story of My Life
Health
This Country of Ours
Poetry - Whittier and Dunbar
Age of Fable
Math - use living math once per week
English and spelling
Public Speaking CD once per week
Art and Music appreciation once per week
Science - book and experiment once per week
Shakespeare once a week - use the Lamb's book on CD I purchased

Free reading

Once I get the books I need to buy then I'll be spending some time in July at the libary, checking out books I can use for Term 1 and making my schedules.

We may take a field trip to Gettysburg, PA, since we'll be studying Lincoln and the Civil War. We may also go back to Andersonville here in Georgia and see what other sites are in our local area that pertain to the Civil War.

My grandmother has a sister that lives in another state, and a few times she's discovered that her sister has come through town and visited other family members but hasn't visited her. She never even called my grandmother and said she would be in the area. Because I knew how hurt my grandmother was when this happened and how rude it was to be in an area and not visit someone I tried to visit a family member during my recent trip to Washington.

Between phone calls we had something set up, then it was cancelled. Then we set something else up closer to their area and I was told they would try. Then phone calls weren't returned and no explanation was given. I left the area without seeing the family member.

Now this family member's wife is in the area and called yesterday to set up a meeting with us. My dh works nights and has to be up by 4pm for work. We are also an hour away from where they are. We set this up and today we're told "we'll get with you tomorrow". We were supposed to be on an Army base with them tomorrow and get paperwork to get onto the base today. We don't even know where to go. Needless to say that we will not be going to meet with them now. We don't have a cell phone in order to be in contact on the road and we are not able to drive an hour away every day to possibly meet with someone, especially when we don't know where to go and don't have the proper paperwork.

I understand this family member is in the area for a reason other than to see us, but it's also rude to set something up then not show up or offer no explanation or change the plans, especially when we have no way to be contacted once we leave home and we have to drive an hour to keep these plans.

William told me that we have some things that we were supposed to give to one of these family members when we saw them today or tomorrow. Now we are going to mail these things back.

I am very hurt at being blown off by these family members. Please, if you are going to make plans with a friend or a family member, don't just not return phone calls or not show up. Say yes or no, and if you say yes then keep your plans.

I took a communication class at college last summer and my speech was about my state of Georgia requiring fingerprints on driver's licenses. I have been against this since it started in 1996. I stated in my speech that it would not be long before we were required to have a national ID card. This is now a distinct possiblity since HR 418, the Real ID Act, has now passed the US House of Representatives as part of a spending act. The entire act is supposed to send money to the troops for the war in Iraq, with which I agree. It's the addition of the Real ID Act that I am opposed.

I believe that a national ID card will continue to invade the privacy of law abiding citizens. Criminals don't obey the law. There will always be people who evade the laws and find ways to pay people off or to forge the documents needed.

You can read HR 418 here on the US Government website. You can contact your state Senator using this site. I urge you to not wait and to please contact your senator before this act becomes law. If it does become a law, then your information can be shared between states. If your state doesn't require fingerprints on your license at this time, it will in the future. After fingerprints, who's to say that retinal scans or DNA won't be next? Orwell was a few years late - it took until 2005 to begin to enter the generation of Big Brother. Within the next 10 years we could be seeing the computer chip technology that is now available for ID become mandatory.

Visit this website and sign up for updates. Contact President Bush and let him know that the American people will not give up their right to privacy.

Revelation 13:16-17 - And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

I am from blue jeans, from Lee and Chic and Covergirl makeup.

I am from the rural town, the one stoplight, the fireflies in the twilight, the humid air.

I am from the farmland, the woods, the pine needles, the yellow honeysuckle.

I am from chocolate rolls at Christmas and pride in a job well done, from Williams and Thompson and Jones and Sosebee.

I am from the family arguments and the family pulling together.

From "She's ugly" and "You can't do that".

I am from a Baptist father and a Methodist mother, from church at Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day, to understanding true salvation, to trying to depend on God and not people.

I'm from England via North Carolina via north Georgia via central Georgia, brown sugar ham with pineapple and cherries and pecan pie.

From the widowed grandmother raising 8 children, the high school drop out and the good girl who didn't wear makeup.

I am from MawMaw's picture wall, Mama's mantle, the old hope chest, the storage shed, the information in the computer, Aunt Estelle's family Bible.

I am from the 1980's, Madonna and Bon Jovi, "Open Arms" and "Right Here Waiting", Dirty Dancing.

I am from the South.

**Found on Mommy Brain. Fragments From Floyd has a pattern if you would like to check it out. I added the last 2 lines. I added the decade that still seems to identify me, my favorite singers and songs and movie. It didn't seem finished, so I added the last line as something that meant the most to me.

I am home from Washington DC. What a trip! There was some good and some bad, and I want to share it with all of you. I'll have pictures on the family website tomorrow, hopefully.

Day 0 was travelling day. We ran into traffic due to a wreck on I95 and decided to take Rt 1 up to Alexandria. By doing that we went through a lot of little towns and stop lights. We stopped at a Walmart as well for my cousin and her boyfriend to get some things. I also bought some hose and socks for William for the banquet. We finally got to the hotel at almost 10pm. We went to check in and I found out my mom had not brought a credit card and the rooms were not paid for. My father doesn't want her to carry a credit card because he's trying to pay them off, so she told the desk that she'd left it at home, her husband was on the phone and he would verify the card. Well of course no one is taking a card over the phone anymore. She paid cash for the first night and they were supposed to fax a credit card authorization form to my dad and he was supposed to fax it back with a copy of the card the next morning. We ordered a pizza for dinner that night. William and I had a budget of $41 per day and by the time we ordered the pizza we had $10 left, so I paid for part of it and my mom paid for part of it.

Thursday was Day 1. We didn't have anything to do for the reunion until that night, so we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then headed into town. We took the Metro train. I highly recommend that anyone in a big city learn about the public transportation and use that instead of driving. Traffic was a nightmare!

We got off the train at the mall and we were going to head to the Natural History Museum, but William wanted to go see the Lincoln memorial first. By the time we walked down past the Washington monument and to the WWII memorial and saw how far Lincoln still was, I couldn't walk any farther. It was a long walk, and we still had to get to the Capitol building by 2 for our tour. My neice was wearing sandals and was complaining about her feet. I had to have a talk with William when I told him we couldn't see Lincoln that day. We walked back up to the Natural History Museum. We saw the Hope Diamond and the dinosaur displays. Then we walked to the Capitol.

That was a walk. I thought I was going to fall down by then. I had no idea how large this area was. It was very crowded as well. School field trips were going on and there were kids and busses everywhere.

We met with my cousin and her boyfriend at the Capitol and walked over to the building. I had no idea where we were supposed to go, and that was my fault. My neice said she couldn't walk anymore so my mom stayed outside with her. The rest of us walked around the side of the building and found the line to the gallery. I asked someone there about the tours and she sent me to an office building next door. After going through a security check we were told we had to go 2 buildings over. We'd been walking since 10 that morning and I hurt, but I wasn't going to give up. We walked the 2 buildings over and got to the representative's office. We then started out on our tour. We found out how they get from one building to another so quickly - they have tunnels under the streets from the office buildings to the Capitol!

We saw the old Supreme Court room and the area called the crypt, where George Washington was going to be buried at one time. It's still called that, even though no one is buried there. We also saw the many statues and paintings throughout the Capitol. We were also able to go into the rotunda, and that was worth it. It was the most beautiful area there. The walls were covered by paintings and frescoes depicting major events in American history. There were also many statues in this area. We then went into the old Senate chamber and heard a whisper from across the room.

By then it was time to head back to my mom, so we left the representative's office and headed back to her. It was another long walk. She had walked with my neice down to the Smithsonian castle and they were eating lunch. It was after 3pm and we were starving as well. What we should have done is take the Capitol South metro down to the stop she was close to, but we walked. It was very difficult as well and my feet hurt badly. My cousin and her boyfriend walked faster than William and I and they were very far ahead. We finally had to rest, so we sat on a bench for five minutes before continuing. The mall is very pretty with lots of trees and grass and benches. We rested and watched the birds for a while before continuing to walk towards the castle.

William and I sat for a moment then shared a hot dog. It felt so good to sit and rest, but we had to get back to the hotel, we couldn't sit long. We got back on the metro and rode the train to the airport. Our hotel had a shuttle bus that carried guests to the airport and back and also into downtown Alexandria, so we were able to catch that back to the hotel. We were later than we'd wanted to be, but we'd had a full day.

I rested for a while and discovered I had a blister on the bottom of each foot, which is why they were hurting so badly. After a rest I went to the meeting room where we received our name tags for the reunion and had a snack. I didn't stay for their business meeting. I rested upstairs for a while until I got a call from the front desk about our room. Apparently they never received the authorization form from my father. I had to go down to the meeting room and get my mother and she talked to them again. The room wasn't squared away until the following morning. I had an argument with her about the room and told her that the next time we went on a trip I wanted her to have the card on her or the room needed to be paid in advance or I needed the cash to use my debit card. I'd already given her my half of the room fee in cash to pay on her credit card, and one reason I was so upset was because the room hadn't even been paid for yet on the card!

We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant that night, I think. William was upset about ordering from the kid's menu but it was all we could afford by then. The service was slow and the prices high. It took over 2 hours for everyone to receive their order and eat.

Day 2, Friday, was the day we went to Mt. Vernon. I was still very achy and was wishing for some Aspercreme. We took the bus to Mt. Vernon and walked down the hill to the river. The older people took a van down to the river. There were a lot of kids around on a field trip that day. We were going to do the memorial wreath ceremony then take a river cruise up the Potomac. The veterans do the wreath memorial at each reunion. They read off the names of the shipmates killed at Normandy and the ones who have passed away recently. Then the wreath is placed into the water. It's biodegradable and breaks down in the water.

I thought the cruise wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be, but I did get some information on Mt. Vernon and a fort we came close to. It was also nice to sit and rest my sore feet a bit and we had some cocoa. It was a chilly day as well so it was nice to be out of the wind.

After the cruise we walked up a less steep grade and went past Washington's tomb and the slave cemetary. Then we headed up to the restaurant for lunch. We had half a sandwich and vegetable soup. I ate my lunch, my neice complained about hers, and William only ate his sandwich with no cheese because it was Swiss cheese. The soup was fabulous. The only complaint with the restaurant was they only served water to drink and no coffee until dessert. You had to ask for a drink if you wanted it with your meal.

We had about an hour then before the bus so we decided to look around the grounds a bit. We were happy to find the line to the mansion tour was gone - it had been almost all the way from the mansion to the restaurant - so William and me, my cousin and her boyfriend were able to take the tour. The colors in the rooms were vibrant, especially the green dining room and game room. The guest rooms were yellow and blue and Washington's bedroom, with the bed where he died, was all white.

By then it was time to head back for the bus so we looked at some outbuildings and found a restroom before heading back. We got on the bus 2 minutes late and headed back to the hotel.

William and I then got ready to go back into DC. He wanted to see an Imax movie at the museum and we found out my cousin and her boyfriend were going into town as well to see the White House, so we went with them. We walked down to Pennsylvania Avenue from the metro stop. I got quite a few pictures of the White House, but I thought it was farther back from the fence. William and I headed back to the metro to watch the movie while my cousin and her boyfriend walked around the White House and took pictures from the other side of it as well as where we were. They said the view that I was expecting was from the other side.

William and I took the train back to the Natural History Museum and saw the T Rex Imax film. It was very well done and a bit scary as it was in 3-D. It looked as though the dinosaurs were coming right at you.

We headed back to the hotel so I could meet my mom by 7 for our ghost tour. She wasn't there and I found out she had gone to dinner in Alexandria. I found that the shuttle into town only ran every hour. We'd planned to do the 7:30 ghost tour and I called her cell phone to let her know that no one was at the hotel to keep an eye on William and the ghost tour started soon. She told me she had decided to do the 9:00 one instead, and I got angry at that because I had no way to know she'd decided that. William and I ate dinner at the hotel restaurant again and we both hopped on the 8:15 shuttle, the latest one I could get to go into town. My mom was at the stop and was going to go back with my grandparents to the hotel. I told her he wasn't coming back for an hour, she couldn't go back with them. She had someone from the reunion make sure they got off at the right stop and William and my neice rode back to the hotel with them. They were going to stay with my grandparents while we did the ghost tour.

The ghost tour was great. The owner of the company was our guide. He led us through 6 blocks of Alexandria and told us ghost stories and the history of many buildings in the area. He also told us stories of life in the 17th century. He was very engaging and a wonderful storyteller.

William and my neice were asleep when we got back to the hotel. We took them down to our room where they fell onto the bed and back to sleep immediately. We had to get up early Saturday so I went to bed as well shortly after 11.

This is turning into a book so I'll save Saturday & Sunday for tomorrow.

I'm actually logged into work but it's really slow tonight, so I should be able to give an update while I'm sitting here. I do have a bag partially packed next to me, a list of things I still need to get packed, and some items are already in the car to keep errant cats from wanting to lay on them. Cats always want to lay on nice clothes.

I want to start by posting about the movie "Warm Springs" by HBO films. As I said before, the movie was partially filmed in my hometown of Warm Springs, GA and is about Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, before he was President. Here is a link to pdf file about the city.

The movie was very well made and Kenneth Branaugh was excellent, as usual. My son asked why all the people in the movie that were local to the area were portrayed as poor. I told him many of them were. The owner of the Meriwether Inn told Pres. Roosevelt that the people in the area went to bed many nights with empty stomachs and his legs were the least of their worries. It touched on the familiarity the people in the area had with FDR but didn't go into detail. I have heard many stories about him being seen riding in his car with the hand controls, talking to the people and stopping by his favorite sites to buy moonshine.

According to this site on the history of Roosevelt in Warm Springs, he did own the inn and the surrounding area. The Inn was known as "the fire trap" and did eventually catch fire and burn*. The Inn in the movie was made of brick, but I believe the original was wood. I have seen a picture of the Inn before it burned and the porch of the Inn the movie was very realistic to the actual Inn.

I'm not sure about how they portrayed his relationship with Eleanor. They only touched on the fact that he did cheat on his wife and the movie only had a blurb at the end regarding his death at his cottage in Warm Springs, which is now the Little White House historic site. They did not mention that is secretary / mistress was with him at the time he passed away. The cottage he stayed in while at the inn is not the Little White House - this was a home he actually built for himself for his visits to the area.

The pools in the movie are the pools used back then. They have been renovated and have only recently - within the past few years - been reopened for tours. Much of the scenery looked very familiar to me, similar to the FDR State Park that is nearby and where he liked to picnic. Of course, I could just be fooling myself :)

There is a rehabilitation center still here as well, and it was all part of the land previously occupied by the Meriwether Inn. Part of the land, where the the Little White House now stands, is part of the state park system and is close to FDR State Park that reaches from just above Warm Springs and over Pine Mountain to the town of Pine Mountain, home of Callaway Gardens. The rehabilitation center is state run, and if Pres. Roosevelt were as eager to help others as he was portrayed in the movie, I believe he would be very happy with what the facility is accomplishing today.

*Information I'm now reading says the inn was torn down. Who knows?

I have to log back into work again at 7 so I need to cut short what I wanted to say so I can finish packing. I just wanted to give an update on the past few days.

I got the books on CD to listen to during the drive, but my mom's CD player doesn't play mp3 files and neither does William's portable CD player, so we made a run to Walmart last night to buy a CD player and a cassette adapter for it so we could play the CDs in the car. William also had purched a Digi-cam for his Gameboy SP off ebay but we didn't have a PC cable. We'd hoped to find one at Walmart since the cable for my digital camera didn't work with it. We had no luck, so decided to travel to Columbus today and hit Best Buy.

We went to Best Buy twice, Radio Shack and Gamestop with no luck for the cable. Thank goodness, though, for Best Buy's Geek Squad. Those little cars outside the store are so cute :) We spoke to the Geek on duty and he said the cord I had was the only one they would have, not the other one, so he recommended that we contact the manufacturer of the Digi-cam and see if they had updated software. The software I had downloaded from their site apparently didn't recognize the USB port - it was looking for a serial cable.

We got home and called the company, Nyko. The phone was answered by a real person who transferred me to tech support where I spoke to a real person again within a few seconds. He let me know that the camera only worked with their serial cable and asked where we got the camera. I told him we bought it from ebay. I was about floored with what he said next! He says, "Send it back to us with a letter explaining how you purchased it and that you don't have a cable and we'll send you a new one with the proper cable." You could have knocked me down! I swore he was going to say a cable was going to cost some God-awful amount.

I took down the address and told William I had good news and bad. The good is he'll get a brand new digi-cam - with a cable! The bad - we have to send it back and there is no way it will work with the USB cable, which means he cannot take pictures with it while on the trip because they can't be saved. He's bummed about that, but I told him he could use my camera to take all the pictures he wants.

William's words on the way home - "I'm glad we have geeks in the world". And then he said "Geeks are smarter than nerds. You're a nerd, not a Geek, because you don't know everything they know."

So that has been my life over the past 2 days. I'm now off to check on laundry and update my list of stuff that I need before getting back to work in 30 minutes.

I should post again soon if we have a connection at the hotel in Washington, and I'll have pictures!

// posted by Admin @ 5/03/2005 04:32:00 PM

I need to pack for Washington STILL! I am so behind.

Read this post about the Warm Springs movie and let me know if you saw it. I watched it the other night and will post later about my thoughts. Overall I thought it was well done.

The past few days have included a lot of running around and now it's after 3 and I need to pack. I'm supposed to log into work at 4pm so I need to get moving. I'd like to have most of the clothes packed by then.

Tomorrow is the big day! I know the ticker says 2 days, but we're leaving tomorrow with our first full day there on Thursday.