Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

 

 

 

Outside my window... A gorgeous sunny morning - a perfect day to get out on our bikes!

I am thinking... About a horrendous derogatory comment that was made by retiree Bobbie Lucier (wife of a veteran, from Manassas, VA) about the First Lady during a story about Mitt Romney visiting the American Legion that aired on NPR on August 30th.  I've been ruminating about it for a week, now.  Here is what this woman says:

"I just - I don't like him. Can't stand to look at him. I don't like his wife. She's far from the first lady. It's about time we get a first lady in there that acts like a first lady and looks like a first lady."
 

Reading her quote is not enough - you have to listen to the audio - you can actually hear the vitriolic contempt in her voice. 

Exhibit A                                                        Exhibit B 

Hmmmm... I wonder what the difference is????

 

 

I know - it's the pearls!!!

 

 

 

 

Shame, on you Bobbie Lucier.  Hater.

 

And shame on you, Ari Shaprio, for not throwing out a follow-up question at this blatantly racist comment - that would have been 'gotcha' awesomeness!  Oh well - at least this leaves the door open for the bloggers of the world to publicly shame her and expose her for what she is. 

 

Two things:

 

1.  I think the First Lady is one classy lady.  I love that she has chosen to promote healthy living - this nation of fatties (myself included) needs constant reminders to take better care of ourselves.  She is also one shrewd momma - I admire the high expectations she and Barack have laid out for their girls.  That much can't be said for the Bush twins...

 

2.  My grandfather, a WWII veteran, patently refused to join the American Legion after he came home from the war.  To him it was a social club full of drinkers and complainers.  He chose instead to join the Lion's Club and dedicate his time to attending to the needs of his community.  One of my fondest memories is going to the Lion's Club with my grandma for a community lunch for seniors and low-income families.  Member after member came over to greet my grandma and say kind words about my late grandpa.

 

 

I am thankful... For my dad and stepmom coming over last night and relieving me of a ton of extra garden produce.  It was beginning to get a little scary out there...  I am also thankful that my mom and dad (and extended family members) raised me to be a member of the world community - to accept one and all.

 

 

From the Learning Rooms... We had an awesome week of firsts!  A bit of a shorter week due to Labor Day, so we had to condense some things.  Jordan's science curriculum arrived last weekend, but there wasn't time for me to go through it and get stuff prepped for this week, so we will begin this coming week.  Rylan's Core Knowledge history and geography pack arrived on Wednesday, which was the last item that we were waiting for.   Next week we go whole hog!  Jordan started his new English curriculum (Shurley English) and I just love it.  Part of the work is to write journal entries, so Jordan is doing that bit at bedtime.  He came and asked me if he could write about how he doesn't like that he is going through puberty - he doesn't want his body to change.  (I tried to keep a straight face).  I said that he could write about whatever he wanted - and I wouldn't read it unless he invited me to.  This is the first time that he has ever taken up writing - willingly!

 

This past week we concentrated on math, and celebrated the fact that the kids logged a full lesson each day- plus time on IXL.  Jordan's MEP lessons are about geometry at the moment - measuring angles and such, and the Greek symbols for alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon were introduced.  This is new to me.  All he is doing is using them to name the angles, but I asked Dean when they really start to come into play and he said Trig.  Geesh.  I must really be worried about it because it came to me in a dream last night.  I dreamed that my SIL Karen was giving me a phone number - but in code, using only Greek letters.  I know that makes absolutely no sense, but in the dream I was really upset about it and pleading for her to use just plain numbers.  That would be the first time I ever dreamt about Karen - or - Greek letters.  Sorry it wasn't a happy dream!

 

Rylan moved into her next Explode the Code book (2) this week, and complained that the print size was bigger than the last book (1 1/2), and therefore that meant it was 'babyish'.  Then she fell apart because the book starts of with the blends 'cl, fl and gl' - all blends that she has already seen in All About Spelling and Reading Eggs.  All of a sudden Explode the Code was just WAY too difficult.  Even with the babyish big font.  Such big drama from such a little person...

 

Rylan had her first ballet/tap combo lesson this week, on Wednesday.  She loved it.  I took a picture with my phone, but her eyes are closed and it's dark, so I'll take a better picture this week.  She is also learning to ride her bike!  Her training wheels came off last night (per her request), and grandpa and grandma got to see the first few attempts.  She was on a grassy slope at the time.  Today we will go to the neighborhood park and try again on the bike path - with soft grass on either side.  I'll be prepared with a camera and bandaids.

 

Owen had his first gymnastics lesson yesterday and he absolutely loved it.  He needs to work on listening skills, so this will be the perfect opportunity.  Owen spent a tremendous amount of time with math and Reading Eggs this week - which is a first, because he is the one that resists sitting down and doing anything.  He is *almost* getting the hang of using the mouse.  A thought just popped into my head  - is there such a thing as a kid-friendly mouse?  One that doesn't have a right-click?  I'll have to search around...

 

Also - Rylan had her first Girl Scout meeting this week.  I didn't think we were going to go down this road, but at the last second the stars aligned, the situation felt right and we made the jump.  It took some persuading by friends, but I am happy we did it.  It feels so much different when you don't have the burden of leadership on your shoulders.  And it also feels different when you work with a very nice dynamic of moms.  All of the moms are involved, so a group effort is so much easier!  I am excited for all that is planned for this year.  And best of all - Rylan is so happy to be back with her friends.

 

 

In the kitchen... an absolutely delicious-smelling breakfast pastry called Butter Braid. My mom was cleaning out her pantry/fridge/freezer of all things gluten, so we inherited it all.  It smells awesome - what a treat for breakfast.  The sad thing is - if we really love it, it will be difficult to get a hold of some more!

I am wearing... a new LLBean denim skirt (fast becoming a favorite) and purple shirt.

 

 

I am creating... not much at the present... well, I take that back.  I have a new game on my iPad called Gardens of Time.  I'm addicted.  It's the first game that has hooked me like this...   So, I am busy creating my garden...in the oodles of extra time that I do not currently possess.

 

 

I am going...  no plans for the kids outside of school and activities for the coming week, although I am going out with my bookclub friends for some long-overdue wine, coffee and conversation.

 

 

I am wondering... hmm. I'm truly drawing a blank on this one.

 

I am reading... Same: Lev Grossman's The Magicians  It is now been overdue at the library by a week.  whoops..

In the garden... too many cucumbers!  Lots and lots of mini-pumpkins that look just beautiful.  Everything else is doing its best to wither away...

 

I am hoping... that transitions between schooltime and activities goes much smoother this week.  We're all adjusting to the new bustle n' go routine.

 

I am looking forward to... catching up with friends and a playground-cleanup service project with the scouts tomorrow.

 

I am learning... about the speed of light, neo-classical Mexican architecture, Mesopotamia and the Gardens of Babylon, and how to present a grammar jingle w/o laughing.
 

 

I am hearing... About the 5th or 6th straight episode of Sponge Bob. Time to stop ignoring the kids....

 

Around the house... A massive search for shoes is underway...
 

I am pondering... why, why, why... even though we have provided each child with their own personal shoe bin, they continue to leave them under the couch, in the bathtub (?), under the trampoline, and wedged under their car seat.

 

One of my favorite things... My new casserole dish set (birthday gift) from my brother and SIL.

 



 

 

Potluck awesomeness!

 

A few plans for the rest of the week... I feel like I've already answered this.  How about 9-10 loads of laundry, at least 6 loads of dishes, and karate belt promotions next Saturday. 

 

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

Labor Day at the local spray park

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You might be a narrow-minded racist redneck....

I present Exhibit A.

 

(which happens to be our van)

 

 

 

 

Exhibit B

 

(A bigot who resides in...oh, look!  Arizona!)

 

 

Question.

 

Which do you find more offensive?  Hmm?

 

 

Because today some beer-bellied, foul-mouthed, poor-excuse for a human being decided that MY van's bumper stickers were a tad bit offensive for his conservative tastes, and proceeded to shout out to his friend, sitting in his truck, that - and I quote - "Look what some fucking idiot pasted on their van!  Obama lovers... what a fucking joke!"

 

 

Well, the problem is, he said this as he was walking not ten feet away from my vehicle.  Which was occupied by myself and my four impressionable children at the time.  With the windows down.  Yes.  We heard every. last. word.

 

I think you would have had to use high-speed film in order to capture my exit from my vehicle.  I was on him before the chickenshit could jump in his truck, but the glee in that fat-fucker's face said it all - he knew what he said, he knew who he said it in front of, and he didn't care.  Not a whit.

 

This will be the third, maybe fourth nonprovoked run-in I've had with an asshat whose got a problem with my democratic ideals.  (But this was, by far, the most vitriolic exchange I have had the pleasure of partaking in.)  All of which were instigated by my bumper stickers.  My bumper stickers that mention a person's NAME and the YEAR of the election.  Oh, and that we like the Sooners.

 

I did not single any ethnic group out.

 

I did not insinuate anything about someone's moral character.

 

I did not make false accusations or judgements.

 

I did not use offensive language or symbols.

 

 

 

So which party has the true image problem here?  What THE HELL is wrong with these people?

 

 

 

Here is my personal wish for Mr. Arizona (proud owner of Exhibit B)

 

* you lose your job to an immigrant who is willing to do the work you think you are too good for.

* you lose your healthcare because you are so damned determined in your quest to ruin our country.

* you will have to depend on government assistance in order to get by.

* your son comes home one day and shares with you that he is, in fact, gay.

* your wife leaves you, and takes your dog with her.

 

 

Because you know what? 

 

You will always have your pick-up truck...and a narrow mind to go with it.

 

 



Field trip: Berry Patch Farms

We visited Berry Patch Farms, in Brighton, CO, on August 15th.  (So...yeah, this post is a little delayed...).  A lot was happening on the 15th - my nephew, Connor was turning sweet 16, our dog, Abby, was turning 8, and Jordan was arriving home on a flight from OKC.  There was also a preschool-aged event happening that morning at the Berry Patch Farms - a place I have wanted to visit ever since fellow homeschooling mom, Kristina, arranged a field trip there a couple of years ago.  (we didn't go - Colin was only 6 mo. old and I was not up for it).

So the scheduling stars aligned that day, and we went to the farm that morning and then hightailed it over to the airport to pick up Jordan by early afternoon.  The event ran from 9:30 - 11:30.  The website was a little lacking in it's description... it sounded more like 'a class' than an: 'arrive whenever you want to, do some stuff, and leave whenever'...  'And pay us $5 per kid that you bring.'... 'Thanks.'

So I was sweatin' buckets when I pulled in at 9:39am, thinking we were late for a class.  Parking was difficult but we managed to find a spot amongst the other 128 minivans.  I didn't think to grab a backpack for myself when we left the house because I am still in stroller-mentality - which is a method of transportation we rarely use anymore.  It sure would have been helpful that day, and I think I will have to go that route for any future events like this.  When you take into consideration the waterbottles, sunscreen, camera, phone, keys, money, snacks, blah, blah, blah... I can't really wing it anymore.  Fortunately we did have Colin's little backpack, which has morphed into the on-the-go diaperbag in recent days.  ('THE' diaperbag - the bag we have used everyday since Rylan was born six years ago, had run it's course a couple months ago.  It was also something we rarely used anymore.  I had this little backpack, and it was perfect to hold 2-3 diapers, small box of wipes, and a large baggie of kiddie first aid stuff - bandaids and antiseptic wipes, which is all we really need anymore)  So I put my phone, keys and money in there too (no pockets that day), and hoped that he didn't run off!

Sunhats and sunscreen were next, and we finally left the car around 10 am.  No kidding.  Nobody exactly felt like being compliant that morning.  It didn't help that we were parked next to a goat pen, with an extremely friendly goat to distract the kids.  We wandered into the farm area and I got my bearings.  I figured out from some other moms that were milling around that we needed to go into a big barn/produce & product farm stand to pay.  That's where I found out that there wasn't really a schedule, and that we could wander around from activity to activity.

Here were the activities:

1. Each kid received a pint-sized container to take to the berry fields to fill with strawberries.
2. A craft project.  The craft project this day was rolling a beeswax candle.
3. Watch out for the resident bad-tempered farm pig.  Don't pet him. 
4. Chase the chickens.
5. Watch a video about bees.
6. Ride on a hayride out to the fields and back.
7. Climb on a wooden tractor and let your mom take a picture of you.

And that was about it for the agenda that morning...  slim pickin's IMHO, but I guess it was perfect for the preschool set.


So, first things first - try and drag the diaperbag-backpack laden two year old away from the nasty-tempered pig. (who didn't appear to be all that mean, but the resident farmer sure hustled over when he saw this mob scene...)

I steered the kids over to some picnic tables so that we could do our 'craft'.  It took about a minute and a half to roll up a sheet of beeswax around a long piece of sting.  Thirty seconds if you are an impatient six year old.  Twenty seconds if you are four, and your name is Owen.

So with that difficult task out of the way and the finished product safely stowed in the little backpack, we were off to the berry fields.  It was very hazy that day due to some smoke from wildfires in Idaho and Wyoming.  This view is looking west, and you can't even see the mountains!  Besides berries, there were long rows of flowers and herbs to pick from as well.  (if you paid for that)

The tractor dropped us off at the field and we tried to wander away from most of the people in the hopes of finding some strawberries.  The fields were already pretty well picked over, unfortunately.

We did manage to find a few.. Owen was eager to pick, and so was Rylan.  But it was hot and the kids were a little cranky.  Especially Colin.  He was all about the tractor, and was *really* pissed off at me that we had to leave the tractor behind as we walked into the fields.  And he let everyone know it too.  To the degree in which he wandered around, carrying our one lone waterbottle, bawling his eyes out and refusing to follow us.  Nice.

See?

 

So once we had picked a very measly collection of less-than-stellar looking strawberries, I made Colin happy by snagging a ride on the next tractor ride back to the main farm.  And then we had to get off.  I was once again the meanest mom in the world...

 

 

There wasn't much to do after that because the kids were hot, tired, cranky - and now hungry, so a little educational video/talk was out of the question, so we left.  We ambled towards the airport and hit a Sonic for lunch and good-mood inducing shakes.  I needed as much leverage as I could get because I was about to not only take the kids into the airport, but get concourse passes, go through security and meet Jordan at the gate when his plane arrived.

 

We were tight on time, and the only parking available was in one of the most remote spots in the outdoor short-term parking lots.  I did use the stroller this time (it's almost always in the car, still) and loaded Owen onto it too so that we could huff it through the lots and up to check-in.  The process actually went very smoothly.  We got our passes and then went through security.  Both Rylan and Owen have done this before, but never Colin, and never as a whole group.  In the past it was mostly Dean, taking only one designated child with him as I circled the main concourse waiting for him to come back.  We got ushered through a different area so that we didn't have to do the full-body scan thing.  The TSA were very polite and patient with us, I must say.  We went down to the trains and rode all the way out to concourse C to meet Jordan - which is nice because it means the longest train ride.  The kids loved it.  We arrived at the gate just as Jordan walked off the plane, so our timing couldn't be better.  We rode the train back, picked up his suitcase and then did the long walk back to the car.  Jordan was thrilled to be back in Colorado, after the awful heat he endured in OKC.

 

We drove home, had dinner, and then made a 'birthday cake' for Abby.  We do things fancy in these parts and spare no expense - so the cake consisted of a peanut butter sandwich with 8 dog biscuits set in additional globs of peanut butter.  I'm sure we shortened her life just a little bit...

 

The Ultimate Sandbox

It's Labor Day!  I hope you don't have too much planned in the way of labor today.  In honor of today (and because I have neglected to for almost three months now), I will show you the fruits of our labor we did in days past.  Several days in fact.  Well... it took just over a year to complete.  Not because it actually took that long.  Just lots of 'thinking time' was involved.

Anyways, we built a sandbox!  We got the whole thing framed and filled with sand, but we had no idea how we wanted to finish the 'roof', so there it sat.  For a year.  We knew that shade fabric had to be involved because there is no shade to speak of in our yard, except from 2 - 8 pm on summer days, just below those aspen trees in the back corner.  Which is also where the dirt pit from hell is located.  Along with stubby aspen roots.  Not a fine place to play at all.  So the cool shade made by the aspens is absolutely worthless to us, but the dog enjoys it.  We do have two other trees in the backyard - a maple and a locust.  The maple is doing its best to die.  I think it might actually succeed this winter.  The locust is growing....slowly.... but we planted it in such a weird location that it will be years before it shades anything of consequence.  In the meantime our backyard will continue to be the most unpleasant place to be from May - September.

I dreamed up the idea of a sandbox, thinking that it would be an awesome place to park rowdy kids.  Slap some shade on it and make it big enough to fit all of them so that they would be out of my hair.

Caution!  I did not think this through.  A sandbox in the yard means lots of sand in the house.  And in the mouth...the diaper...the garden...the window well...the drain pipe...the bbq grill.

You've been warned.

We decided to locate the sandbox right in front of the kitchen bay window, so that we would have something 'nice' to look at in the wasteland that is our backyard.  We started building on April 16th...last year.  I wanted the finished size to be 8' x 8' square, so Dean cut the boards and Rylan helped me stain/seal them.

We all helped in the endeavour to remove the sod.  Which wasn't hard because you can't really call the random green patches in our yard, 'sod'.  The ground is as hard as concrete, with lots of divots and several ant hills.  Dean laid out the frame, bolted it, then cut the corner posts and we stained them as well.  If I remember right, they are five feet tall.

The next day (17th) the kids and I excavated down a few inches and carted off the dirt.  When Dean got home from work we filled in the bottom with a couple inches of rock, for drainage.  The rock came from another part of the the yard.  Then we laid down two layers of weed fabric - running in opposite directions.  We picked up the entire frame to pull the fabric all the way up from the underside.

(Colin, 14 mo.)

Look at those chubby cheeks!  I want to bite them!

The peanut gallery...

The following day Colin did this...

And I evidently did this, because that's all I have pictures of...

These were the first books that we rowed with FIAR.  We really did enjoy the process - especially creating watercolors of the Yellow Ball.  I also must have ordered sand on this day, because the next morning, (the 19th), this is what arrived in our driveway...

The 19th was actually a very sad day.  My grandma Betty passed away shortly after the sand arrived.  I remember, because I was shoveling as I was waiting for the news.  Grandma's health had deteriorated quickly in the previous days, and we knew the end was imminent.  The shoveling really, really helped me focus instead of falling to pieces with grief and frustration because I wanted to be there with her.  Grandma lived three hours away, and there just wasn't time to get there.  She was also unaware of her surroundings, by that point...and it would have been inappropriate to bring all of the kids.  But I still wanted to be there, to hold her hand as she slipped away.  Gosh I miss her...

(and this is probably why I have waffled on writing this post - I don't like to think about it)

Anyway, I shoveled, carted and dumped all of that sand in just a couple of hours.  In the following days we did some school (the middle part of the art project), enjoyed some snow, installed a new sink and celebrated Easter at home because everyone was sick.  But at least Owen got outside on Easter Sunday (the 24th) to play a little in the sandbox.

And then May and June came and went.  In July Dean worked on drainage issues in the area between the sandbox and the house - he installed a French drain to deal with soggy ground.  And the kids, of course, played in the mud.

Evidently, as you can see in the picture above, Dean completed the cross pieces to complete the upper portion of the frame.  I think he did that shortly after the funeral, but I don't remember - and I don't have any pictures of it.  But this is where we remained stuck.  We knew we wanted to top it with shade fabric.  But we were stuck on how to go about it.  There needed to be some sort of framework for the fabric to be attached to so that it wouldn't sag or rip away in the wind.  It also needed to be removable, in the winter time.  And stuck we were... for a whole year!  And there was another problem as well.  The area between the sandbox and the house used to be covered in rock.  I hated the rock and we eventually removed it - ultimately using most of it in the sandbox for drainage.  What remained was dirt.  Which would promptly turn to mud any time water was applied.

9-1-11

7-23-10

Since nobody was very fond of the clean-up process, we needed to solve this issue.

 

 

1-9-12
 

2-6-12

 

3-15-12

 

5-25-12

Aha!  Now we're getting somewhere...

 

And finally inspiration hit.  We were actually surfing the web looking at pergola ideas when a roof design popped up that Dean was pretty keen on.  So he went with it...

 

6-3-12

I poked fun at the math that was involved...

I made a plastic template for the pattern needed for the shade fabric.

 

My zucchini and pumpkins finally sprouted after four weeks in the ground...

 

6-21-12

7-8-12

And then, as soon as we got back from vacation to OKC, we finished it.  One evening I pulled out the plastic template that I had made, we laid out the shade fabric on the kitchen floor, and cut out four triangles.  I sewed along the seams, and made a seam large enough to accommodate metal conduit along each edge.  I used heavy-duty nylon thread and double-sewed everything.  The next morning we stretched the fabric out, cut the conduit to length and notched the inside of each crosspiece.  The fabric is pulled tight, and the tension between all of the sides holds it in place.  When winter arrives, all we have to do is pull the conduit down on one side to release the bar, and then all of the other sides will release and we can store it until next year! 

 

7-30-12

8-14-12

One way to ease the amount of sand coming in the house is to place a bucket of water near the door.  The kids dunk their feet in the water to rinse the sand away, and then wipe their feet off before stepping inside.

 

I have no answers to the dilemma of sand in the diaper.  You're on your own, there....   If you hear of one - let me know!

 

 





Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

 

 

Outside my window... It is just after 7 am and the neighborhood is absolutely quiet, except for the crows.  There is a little cloud cover, so the sun is partially hidden - which means I can have my front blinds open for a short while, at least.  The leaves on the trees are beginning to turn just a bit - and some are even falling!  This year has been so weird - several weeks ahead of schedule, all the way through.

I am thinking... how nice it would be to be out walking right now, since it is so quiet and cool.


I am thankful... for today and tomorrow - the 2 out of 4 empty spaces on the calendar for the month.


From the Learning Rooms...  On Monday we had Rylan's first Suzuki violin lesson.  She learned how to hold the violin at rest and how to hold it when she will play.  It is actually much harder than it looks to find that 'sweet spot' where you can hold it with your chin alone.  You Tube videos have been helping us, along with the photos I took during the lesson.  We went to karate T, W, Th and F - but not yesterday because they were closed for the holiday weekend.  We got some work done, but not nearly what I would have hoped.  Tuesday was thrown off with a Dr. appt.  Normally we would be taking the last week of the month off - which is the ideal time to schedule Dr. appts, but we schooled through it this time, so it couldn't be avoided.  Several new items of curriculum arrived this week for math, science, English and writing.  The rest of the English and history/geography is scheduled to arrive midweek this coming week.  I am looking forward to the next three weeks, where we have nothing scheduled but school and the extracurriculars so we can dig into the new stuff.  Another monkey wrench in the schedule is the fact that we passed a milestone this past week: Owen is no longer napping, so our afternoons just got a lot more interesting.  And noisy.


In the kitchen...  nothing worthy of note, here...  although I am more than ready for wet, cold days and steaming crock pots of stew or chili.


I am wearing... pj's.


I am creating...   finishing the tweaking rest of the school schedule - throwing out the old and putting in the new stuff - it's getting streamlined!


I am going... nowhere - and I love that!


I am wondering... how much longer Colin will continue to afternoon nap. The days seemed numbered...

I am reading... The Magicians, by Lev Grossman.  I've read three pages.  Reading time has been scant these days....  It is our bookclub pick for September.


In the garden... Too many cherry tomatoes to count, but only maybe one or two larger tomatoes.  This season is going down as one of the worst in history.  The corn withered in the latest hotspell of the past couple weeks.  I'm curious about what the potatoes are doing.  I'm tempted to dig, just to find out.  The beets are doing well - I just keep giving them away to my dad.  I suppose it is time to think about fall planting and such, but my heart is just not in it.  I'll give it a couple of weeks.


I am hoping... That we finish the budget this weekend.  It is #1 on our project list.  We haven't had a spending guideline since April, and I hate flying financially blind.


I am looking forward to... My second cup of coffee and a bike ride with the kids later today.


I am learning... About space and Mexico.  It's what we are starting up next week.


I am hearing... Young Blood, by The Naked and Famous. I love the whistling part.


Around the house... Dean swears that he will have time to frame a doorway to the shop area in the basement this weekend.  I told him we HAVE to get the budget done.  We'll see who wins.

I am pondering... an American History curriculum for Jordan called Trail Guide to Learning.  It has a decidedly Christian slant, but with some tweaking, I think I can secularize it enough.  I'm still on the hunt for another option, but this curriculum is pretty hard to pass up.


One of my favorite things... my new iPad.  I just wish I could have some quality time with it!  At least the kids are making good use of it - and so many of the educational apps out there are so cool!


A few plans for the rest of the week... New this week... ballet/tap combo for Rylan and gymnastics for Owen!  Yep - I bit the bullet and signed them up.  The great thing is that both classes run concurrently with karate, and are within a few blocks of the dojo, so I have minimal running around to do.  I feel like a scheduling superstar!


Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

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