this and that

Haven't had a whole lot of time to blog lately. I started my yoga teacher training class last week, which is three days every week so that has been eating a lot of my time up. It's exciting to be moving towards my goal of being a yoga instructor. My kids are handling it really well and being very supportive of my endeavor. Martin has been going to work as late as he can get away with, which usually only leaves them alone for two hours on those three days. I will be teaching classes by the middle of December so it is pretty short-lived.

It's been an interesting month, getting used to being in the public school system and being on their schedule. Lots of adjustments, some good/some bad. Kev went on a rant last night about how school is such a waste of time. He feels like some parts of it are fun but that it is just such a waste of good time. He doesn't have time for the things that he is passionate about, those things that are relevant to him as an individual, those things that he is actually going to do something with. He also feels like he really hasn't learned anything new. Even in his English class, which is his favorite class (next to Japanese), he feels like he isn't really learning anything; he is writing some awesome essay's but not really getting much feedback on his writing. He just gets A's but doesn't really know what he needs to work on to write better. He also is realizing that the social part of it, the part that he thought was going to be the biggest plus, is really not social at all. He is finding out that you can't really socialize during school and that he had a much richer social life out of school. At this point he knows he is not going to continue in the public school but he isn't sure whether he will pull out after semester or after the year. I think he would like to pull out now but he says that he wants all of those people, that thought it was going to be such a great experience for him, to know that he did a year and that "it sucked".

The funny thing is that he has 4 A's, 1 B, and a C (in math). He has never had formal schooling before this; so much for the notion that you have to "prepare kids" for this sort of thing. Apparently, unschooling has equipped him just fine! I think grades are a joke anyway, but that is a subject for a different day:) I think school is unatural for many, many reasons but again, that is a subject for another day. Kev definitely thinks that it is not real life, in fact he made the comment the other day, "If people think that school is a mimic of the real world, why not just LIVE in the real world? Why bother with school if you can just LIVE?!" Amen, it's what I've been trying to tell people but not everyone gets it!! At least he knows now what it is all about right?

Happy Birthday Kev!!

My firstborn just had his 15th birthday. He happened to have a swim meet, in Soldotna, on his birthday so we all drove down for that and yelled happy birthday at him all day:) Yesterday we took 7 of his closest friends in to Anchorage for dinner at Red Robins and a movie. Debbie and Ryan came with and helped haul in kids. We had a great time, movie was kind of stupid (Dragon Wars) but we had fun anyway. Five of the kids crashed at our house last night. I love hanging out with his friends, I wish I could adopt all of them. I'm just glad they all like to hang out here. It's a little strange having a 15 year old, since I remember almost everything about that year in my own life, sure doesn't seem like 20 years ago! Happy Birthday Kev, we love you!!!

My little brother got out of prison yesterday too. Robin picked him up and we took him into Anchorage, fed him, and put him on the plane back to Fairbanks. All day I just had a pit in my stomach. It is so frustrating that we can't do more to help integrate these prisoners into society. He has fetal alcohol syndrome, which makes it a little harder for him to function in this world, and he has nowhere to go once he gets to Fairbanks. And to make matters worse we can't really take him in because he is on the sexual registration list, due to a conviction of statuatory rape, because he was caught having consensual sex with a girl who was under 16, when he was 19. My sister, Dana, picked him up yesterday and gave him a warm place to sleep, for a couple of nights, and then first thing tomorrow morning I am going to go on a mad search for some kind of assisted living for him. We just want so badly for him to make it but he also has to want it just as bad. He has found it easier to be in prison though because he always has a warm place to sleep and food in his belly. It's the easier route, ya know.

My sister, me, cousin Jason, family friend Sarah, and all the kids.

"Grandma"

My aunt Karen with Tristan, Rylee, and Calista. Kev stayed home because he wasn't feeling too well. She is more like grandma to my kids.

Cousins

This is me and my cousin Jason, who is exactly, to the day, two months older than me. We grew up more like twins, always together and often living within a block away from each other.

Fairbanks

Had a wonderful weekend, with my family, in Fairbanks. It's been a while since I spent an entire weekend with just the family so the trip was overdue for that. My aunt, who moved to Texas last year, was up visiting, which made it extra special because we hadn't seen her in two years since we were on our trip when she left. It was just good to be surrounded by my mom's immediate family and to have that feeling once again that my mom's spirit still lives in others that loved her so much. It was good for my kids to be around a "grandma" that loves and adores them without judgement.

The picture of me was taken tonight. I know it might not be as cute as the last haircut but it sure is EASY, especially with all the yoga I do. Martin likes it so I guess that is all that matters.

New tat

Here is the latest. My good friend, Tanya, got it first and then I decided to get a matching one.