Today:

Was beautiful--about 85 degrees.

Zach caught 3 crayfish, 2 tiny trout, and a salamander for his tank. They are so cool looking. The crayfish, which he has never had as pets before, looked like miniature lobsters.

Nobody used the saggy, ancient volleyball net that Zach and I laboriously put up yesterday, sweating buckets all the while, and taking forever, making many dumb mistakes, including Zach pounding the ball down the bank into the brush. Just because you "build it" doesn't mean "they" (as in skilled players) will come.

William the strong-willed, the shouter, the defiant, is quickly and beautifully adjusting to my speaking quieter, being more patient, training him better with a few things I read about child training by the Pearls (Debbie and somebody).

Researched more about homeschool English, grammar, and writing. Still need to decide and order.

Met Zoe's 4th grade teacher and saw her classroom at open house.

I saw a shooting star at 12:30 a.m. from my beautiful, moonlight deck. And heard curious bugs and a frog. The sky was clear, and the stars lovely.

Free Windy!!

My dog was born free and likes to run free. Don't tell me , "Your dog needs to be on a leash." Them's fightin' words. Who do you think you are, you superior, uptight, hoity toity runner/biker/walker? Or "Hi, I'm with the Foothill Trails Coalition. The signs say clearly, 'All animals need to be on a leash at all times.' Can I have your name? Can I have your name? (Silence) Okay." Because, I will stare at you, I will stare at you icily and will not answer. I will just barely not say, "Bite me". I will not apologize, and I will most certainly not give you my name!!!!!! My dog has enough energy to light up my neighborhood, if only I could figure out how to harness it. I am doing my arm and my dog a favor by letting her off her leash on paved trails, WHEN HARDLY ANYONE IS AROUND; and she is as gentle and dumb as a lamb, doesn't chase people or hardly even balls and sticks. You should get a life and understand, and look the other way. And have leash law amnesia. Me and my dog, and my misuse of grammar by saying "me and my dog" should be excused, just because I am so incredibly special and unique and want it that way. You are not the boss of me. As long as I don't find a fine in my mail box or windshield.

I don't know why my links list shows only 3 names visibly. The rest, you have to scroll over. INFURIATING, it is, to be in the dark on this maddening mystery. Suggestions?

Yesterday I took the kids to the river again, since it was actually a summery day. There were also 2 extra boys, friends of Zach's. They all brought their fishing poles and tried to catch bass, but only got tiny rockfish (that's what Zach calls them, anyway) to bite. I brought a book, but, really, when you're at a river and the sun is shining, it feels good to just sit and stare and be blinded by the sun on the water, doesn't it? I built a few pathetic stone pillars, and made everybody check out this paved walking/biking trail very nearby cuz I was really bored after awhile. Will was thirsty, and we were out of beverages, so I told him the blackberries that grew along the side of the trail were "blackberry juice balls", and that made them more interesting. He actually ate them after that! We saw a cool yellow frog, pretty good-sized, in a mucky pond. Everyone, including me, gets pretty excited about frogs. Zach is the original frog whisperer, or at least, frog catcher/handler.
Today was a very busy and diligent day of sorting through accumulated, unorganized junk to put in my new old file cabinet (yay for Craigslist!!). I threw away a bunch of junk, started a bunch of files, and ended up unexpectedly attacking Zach's messy lair. It was very bad, but it's groovy now. I corralled him and made him finish it. He also had to wash my car for free for disobediently leaving his clothes everywhere, clean and unclean, despite being told 2,006 times that that is what dressers, hampers, and closets are for. I just bought him some new pants cuz I thought he was so freaking desperate, and then we clean his room and discover 1 dirty pair in the closet, another good pair with a missing button in his drawer, and there may have been more. He really didn't have any room for clothes in his dresser because it's full of stuff--boy treasures. Snips and snails and puppy dog tails and all that. Found the missing math book, though, thank God. It was under the full junk box on the floor. Been wanting that for 2 months. He was supposed to do math through the summer, but the book got "lost."
Had hamburger barley vegetable soup for dinner. And my good buddy Liz at work only has 5 more days and then she quits. I am jealous and sad to lose her.

Viva la cheese and chocolate, blemishes be darned!!

Is there anything more comforting than a cheese sandwich--grilled or otherwise? Makes one think of elementary school lunch in the cafeteria--a hug from Mom from home whilst one braves the big ol' world of school. A fudgesicle chaser is another hug...from one's self for having braved another day. :)

i write wateva i like...

Has anyone ever clicked on "Next Blog" repeatedly just to see what will happen? English, Spanish, Russian, blogs is what I get. I did find one really interesting blog about literature, with lots of great quotes. And then I got to this young Asian girl's that I have to share, exactly what I saw at the top right of her blog. Enjoy. I copied everything precisely--spelling, capitalization. etc.

"if U dun like this page..Fine!
Just leave it!!..Dun waste ur time Here
Write ur real name to Tag me..
No CopyCaters
Dun juDge me if ur not God!
coz i write my feeling here..
i write wateva i like anyway...
if u wanna write ur feeling,u can write here too...
TAG ME Enjoy my blog..."

Does anyone know the Ms. Swan skit? "He...looka like a man...."

After much thought and consideration and prayer, I have decided to take Jessie on board to homeschool in a few weeks. Zoe--not at this time. I got some, inspirational, confirmational, lovely Bible verses in response to my diligent inquiries of God about whether I should go for it. Still, I am nervous about the work load. It's funny, when school ended, I seemed to check out of extra toil and thought, and sleep as much as possible for 2 straight months. Now, all of a sudden, I'm ready to be a zealous, diligent, overworked, organized dynamo. This really shocks me. The break was so great. The inertia so complete. But I truly have a sense of great purpose and urgency taking on another child to home school.

What's new? I got a bold new hair cut--short and asymmetrical. She actually screwed it up. I asked for Victoria Beckham but got half Victoria( I flatter myself there) and half Reba MacEntire. A week later, the tortured misery has finally started to ease. Some people have complimented, some have looked away with a smirk, some have studied without saying anything. Yes, I am vain, and disappointed. I was actually really depressed for days. But I am getting the hang of making it look as cute as possible with my thin locks and long neck.

So...we are probably going to move next spring to a house my Dad is going to build. That's what it looks like so far. Our current one might have a for sale sign up soon, and if it sells before the other is built, we'd have to rent.

Should I be bold and crazy and homeschool all the kids next month? That'd be stupid, right? And hasty? With me barely able to spare 5 minutes straight for 1 kid for anything many days.

How do I know what's right? Or do I just say, again, the girls will have to wait till a more opportune time, like hopefully, next year. One of the hopes for moving would be that we could live there on one income, which would dramatically change my homeschooling capabilities.