LAQ's Writings, Thoughts and Ramblings

Why we are just not that 'cute'

2012-02-12T17:06:00.002-05:00

In honor of Valentines day I attempted to 'help' my daughter Eva-Marie figure out 'dating' and 'cuteness'

We started discussing 'cuteness' with Brangelina and continued on to my cousin Michael and his husband
Brian, aka Brichael. Brichael is 'cuteness defined'.

In an effort to be 'cute' I tried merging her name with some famous teen heart-throbs:

Boy names:
Eva-Marie+ Daniel = Eval
Eva-Marie + Taylor = Evor (sound like evil eeyore)
Eva-Marie + Justin = Evin

okay- that didn't work! How about some common boy names....
Eva-Marie + Neil = Evil
Eva-Marie + John = Evon (at least it's not evil!)
Eva-Marie + Evan - Evan (isn't that a water?)
Eva-Marie + Juan = Evan (again water... )
--
Girls names, I'm open minded (and it couldn't get worse)
Eva-Marie + Michelle = Evell (Back to evil)
Eva-Marie + Sue = Eve (hmm... I see a theme, all we need is an apple)
--
Dog names? (hey, I got desperate)
Eva-Marie + Fluffy = Evffy (sounds like a 90 year old blue haired lady)
Eva-Marie + Buddy = Evddy <-- WINNER .. i guess???
..
Soooo... basically Eva-Marie can never date... or if she does she'll never be 'cuteness defined'
--
Notice the EVIL theme of her name.... hmmm....

According to her; she is not evil, just diabolical.

Luckily, she doesn't actually WANT to date.

2012-01-26T12:48:00.005-05:00

The changing face of education is here.

Last week (1/19) week apple changed the face of education AGAIN. With 3 major announcements apple has once again proved that it's time for a new way of thinking and moving forward.

While I don’t know how our local schools will roll this into the classroom, I know how I’ll use it right here in our homeschool, as we like to stay on top of technology.

FIRST iBooks textbooks!

Goodbye broken backs and forgotten textbooks at school (and excuses for not doing your homework). iBooks 2 is now textbook capable. While only a few books are currently available. More are already on the horizon.

This new approach to textbooks offer the opportunity to manipulate 3D images, and zoom in on photos, search for information, highlight (without damaging a book). Gone are the day of missing pages, or non-interactive learning. Imagine studying DNA and seeing a 3D DNA strand you can manipulate. Picture a 3rd grader zooming in to see a bug’s eye, or the lacing on a dragonflies wing. (see the links below for a sample textbook and iBooks - both FREE)

The best part of the new iBooks Textbooks is that ALL books are $14.99 or less. How districts are going to handle that is going to be interesting. Do parents pay for it? Coupons? Fundraisers? Dare I say you might even see some ‘marketing’ programs geared towards schools to pay for these fancy new textbooks.

As a homeschooler, who is used to paying for textbooks, $14.99 is a DREAM (most new textbooks cost upward of $200), making an iPad pay for itself in under a year! When the iPad and Kindle app came out, I figured out the money saved on 'free kindle classics' alone over 2 years paid for an iPad. Our town library never has what we need when we need it (yes, planning could ahead could fix that but our homeschool is just not that organized) and our district does not allow homeschoolers to borrow books from the school libraries (check with yours before you quote me to your spouse and get me in trouble for that new iPad purchase).

If they stick to the $14.99 per book for college students an iPad would pay for itself in one semester! No one mentioned at the apple education event what college texts will cost. If you add a bluetooth keyboard, and google docs (or apples free doc cloud named, yup you guessed it, icloud) and your student (or you) have a 'ultra portable' and can edit and create documents without lugging around your laptop saving your, I mean, your child’s back.

On board for iBooks already is: Person, McGraw Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Harourt. These 3 publishers alone account for over 90% of all texts books sold in the US. Person has Environmental Science and Biology ready for download. Algebra 1 and Geometry will be available shortly. These are the same textbooks used by over 4 million students in the US today. McGraw hill is working on Algebra 1, Biology, Chemistry, Geometry, and Physics texts which are used by over 3 million students today. Based on photos, these all appear to be there K-12 texts.

This new iBook platform cupeled with the millions of educational apps already out there for the iPad allow for everything from virtual dissections even a wimp like me can do, to learning to speed reading. Using an iPad to read allows instant access to a dictionary while reading, we know kids are not going to get up and 'look up' a word they don't know now they can do it with a touch of the finger.

Apple didn’t stop there...

For you budding authors out there apple has iBook Author, an app for your mac that lets you write and format iBooks.

Like pages it's all drag and drop. Apple has included 1000s of templates that are innovative and ‘eye catching’. You can even import a Word file and have it automatically build sections, headers, and lay out pages. iBooks Author can even use a keynote presentation to create a book.

iBooks created with iBooks Author can be sold on the iBooks website.

If your not a budding author of textbooks or ebooks, this app is still for you, and your schools. A book of school, classroom, or grade level writings is a great way to make kids feel good about their writings (and raise money). Having a way for high school students publish their work creates a writing class that they will never forget, nor will colleges.

True to form, and never to be undercut by Microsoft, the price of iBooks Author is FREE! (see the link below)

For groups and organizations this means you CAN publish a book about your group (be it a historical, or cookbook type) and sell it without incurring the overhead of printing.

If that wasn’t enough.....

Apple once again puts education in the hands of all by providing a way for anyone with an iPad to take classes at the best universities in the world, usually for free. Proving that anyone CAN get an education and better themselves apple re-wrote iTunes U making it an app to be noticed.

iTunes U .. this is NOT your iTunes U of 2006!

iTunes University was also released last week (the 19th) and already has a 5 star rating with 1000+ downloads. This differs from current open courseware in that it contains the lecture handouts and worksheets.

Over the last 4 years over 1000 Universities have supplied content that has been downloaded over 700 million times. Students can hear lectures from other universities or, in some cases, from classes they missed at their own University. Up until today these were all 'voice' only lectures. These lectures are great, I’ve used many in homeschooling (and for furthering my education too!).

Professors and students alike wanted more! More info, More ways to “see” the lecture, and just MORE! In response apple has created a new app iTunes U.

While the app looks like iBooks on the main screen it is nothing like iBooks under the covers. This is not just about a book or just about a ‘voice‘ on your iPod.

This new approach to open education includes: course overview, syllabus, teacher details, info, posts, notes and materials. In fact many of the lessons were created in iBooks Author!

Students can keep their notes right in the app in the notes tab.

The materials tab has everything needed for the class: pdfs, keynote presentations (did you expect to see a MS program here?), audio, video, and even other apps. If you need something that does not come with the open course you selected you can purchase it right through iTunes U.

MIT, Duke, Yale and Stanford have already (or are about to) roll out pilot programs for iTunes U. While the app is free not all the courseware is apple said it could ranges from $.72 to $430. I searched iTunes and found all the courseware is still currently FREE. I found FREE classes from Harvard, and Duke as well as Harrisburg Community College Trigonometry(which is the first community college to offer an iTunes U course). These classes were re-written specifically for this app.

iTunes U will also open it's doors up to K-12 schools. This would be a first, allowing top teachers in lower grade to reach millions of students for pennies, or FREE (I’m a BIG proponent of free education). I'm thinking my local school district could offer some IB programs this way, they are offering Theory of Knowledge to the parents and it would be the perfect fit for this app, and a great way to introduce non IB students to the class.

LINKS

FREE sample textbook

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/e.o.-wilsons-life-on-earth/id490270998?mt=13

FREE iBooks 2 (in case you don’t already have it)

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iBooks/id364709193?mt=8

FREE iBooks Author

http://www.apple.com/iBooks-author/

FREE iTunes U app

I DO NOT WORK FOR NOR HAVE I EVER WORKED FOR APPLE. I'M AN UNEMPLOYED HOMESCHOOLING MOMMY. I JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE A PASSION FOR TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION. I PROMISE IF MICROSOFT EVER DOES ANYTHING THIS REVOLUTIONARY AT THIS PRICE I WILL BLOG ABOUT IT TOO! ... now stop laughing ... you never know .... if vampires can sparkle like diamonds then microsoft could offer products for free.

Apple Aperture, Pixelmator & Nik work on People

2009-10-27T10:01:00.000-04:00

The People Test

-way more then 20 minutes-

Time to really see how good this software is. I challenged it to un-mangle dimly lit restaurant iphone shots.

These shots are about as bad as you can get (I really hope your photos are better). My Aunt and Uncle don't like their photo being taken so I had to do a quick iphone photos.

These were taken either at my Uncle's 97th Birthday Celebration or at My Aunt's 93rd Birthday Celebration a month later.

LET THE TEST BEGIN

The Original

This photo is dark, almost all black and more then a bit out of focus. I may love my iphone but it is NOT going to be replacing my Canon anytime soon.

Pixelmator (the $50 software)

It took some work but I was able to lighten this photo without loosing all color completely. What You see is grainy due to the lightening. His vest is dark brown and his tie has a blue/grey strip going down the center.

Over all this is NOT point and click, but I was able to salvage a really bad photo saving a memory for years to come - but not one I will proudly show anyone.

APERTURE

I didn't have to lighten this one as much to see the photo. It's still grainy but not quite as much. This is a photo I could work with to get a good final product.

Remember for the purposes of the test I'm NOT layering effects right now. This was just a few simple adjustments on the adjustments menu. Not point and click but not hard either.

Nik Color Efex Pro

This IS point and click.

I selected the pro contrast and let Nik do the work. It does have a lot of noise but Nik can take care of that by applying another filter (yes a two step process is coming)

Nik Color Efex and Define

Taking the previous photo and applying the Define filter (plug in really) really reduces noise.

Normally you would do this prior to editing the photo but for this test I did it in reverse order so you can see the difference. When you reduce noise you do loose some amount of focus (not a bad thing when your 97, but not always wanted)

Silver Efex Antique II

and a quick brush edit in Aperture to remove the fork

Using the EDITED photo I made this black and white. To remove the fork I selected the brush tool in Aperture and brushed over it. Aperture automatically samples the surrounding area and removes the item you brushed over.

At 97 I figured My Uncle deserved an 'old time photo'

NEXT TEST

Original

The iphone finally came through and gave me a shot I could use. Of course this is indoors at home in full light, not in a dim restaurant (lighting is everything).

The colors are off a bit, she's not really red.

Nik Color Efex

Each of the following are Point and Click effects of Color Efex -

I just SELECTED the filter nothing eles!!!!

Dynamic Skin

Works better then any cream on the market. Softens the skin and removes wrinkles.

Soft Focus

This is the traditional way to deal with older skin, as you see it blurs the photo and does not do as good a job as dynamic skin did.

Pro Contrast w/Dynamic Skin

Combining the Pro Contrast and Dynamic skin gave me a photo I like. One I would show my Aunt.

This may seem an easy contrast fix, but the bright window behind her and her skin / couch simularity color adjustment is a bit difficult (normally) but with just a click Nik took care of it like a champ.

Silver Efex Soft Skin

With ONE click again I turn it into a beautiful black and white. Her skin is soft, and the color rich. Amazing. My Aunt is only 93 so no 'old time' photos for her.

WAIT I'M NOT DONE

What photo editing would be done with out that warm fuzzy group shot. After all after 64 years of marriage they deserve a nice photo by their favorite Irish Pub.

Original

Yes, I used my iphone (I my Aunt would have shot me if I brought my Canon). Notice the No Smoking sigh and the funky tinge.

Aperture

The No Smoking Sigh is gone, the menu was a bit big to remove without leaving a ghost. I cropped the photo too.

Silver Efex Antique II

This was a 1 click fix.

Now my Aunt and Uncle have an old fashioned photo of the two of them. They don't have any wedding photos so this will have to do.

I'm sure I can layer plugins and really edit these but I wanted you to see simple point and click fixes.

Overall the $50 program is well worth $50 Personally I like Gimp more (and gimp's free).

Aperture and Nik are on my Christmas list, the problem is I think I'm getting coal (I have been a bit naughty)

LEGAL STUFF:I have not in any way been compensated for this blog, I have not received any free hardware or software or books from any of the companies mentioned nor do I work for any of them. Now the FTC is happy.

I will be more then happy to receive free hardware, software, compensation or employment from them however if they so choose. So Apple and Nik how about some free software? No. Oh, well I guess I'll have to be good till Christmas.

Apple Aperture and Nik Complete Software

2009-10-26T18:11:00.000-04:00

Photo Editing is something I do wether I like it or not. As I move farther and farther away from my XP desktop it is apparent I need new photo editing software.

The standard route for high end photo editing software is Photoshop CS4 route ($600 ) and Nik Complete (another $599) <- a bit out of my price range at the moment.

So it's time for alternatives:

OPTION 1 Apple Aperture ($199) and Nik Complete (Aperture version $299) <- possible maybe

OPTION 2 Pixelmator ($50) for iphoto ($0) <- in my price but can it do the job?

Luckily all the software is available on Demo 30 days (apple) and 15 days (Nik) so join me as I free Demo some amazing software.

THE 20 MINUTE TEST

I had 20 minutes (the software was pre-installed but never used) to learn and do this test. Why, my daughter was at Piano and she only has a 30 minute lesson.

I'm starting with a photo i took on my iphone of fall foliage (not the best camera for the job so this is a real test) You will notice the colors are a bit washed out and it's dark. It does show some field of depth but it's a typical iphone photo.

The First test is just Aperture without the Nix software

You'll notice I added some reds, and made the colors pop a lot. I did this just by playing around with the saturation and vibrancy. A quick and easy fix. Exported the photo as a .jpg and I was done.

Now for some fun

After a bit of playing around I figured out how to use the Nix filters (reading a how to might have helped but I'm a hacker at heart)

Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0

Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 is the first place I started because the photo is in focus and wasn't horribly noisy (we'll test those later)

I used the Indian Summer filter, and increased the intensity just a wee bit. SO EASY I think this photo pops and is exactly like I want it.

Granted the Aperture photo comes close but it was more tweeking and Nik has hundreds (or perhaps) thousands of adjustments that I could play around with.

So, I'm done right? NO of course not. What about Black and White I LOVE black and white!

Nik Silver Efex Pro

Nik Silver Efex Pro is specifically designed for black and white, we are not talking gray scale here. True black and white.

So....

The first thing I noticed is that on the left side of the screen it doesn't just name my black and white options it previews my photo in each of the options! COOL!

With a touch of a button I got this wonderful black and white. No fussing at all. Look at the depth, the contrast and the detail. Remember the original is not a 'wow' photo.

Well you KNOW I had to check all the other options out and I did. All I had to do was click and I was done. Saving was a bit of a pain as I had to go back to Aperture and export as .jpg each time and re-import my original but that is an Aperture issue (sure photoshop does this better-at least I hope it would).

So here are some FAST easy features of Silver Efex Pro

PINHOLE

ANTIQUE 1

ANTIQUE 2

REMEMBER:
I had 20 minutes to figure out how to use the software, make my changes, save and complete the test. I did play around quite a bit too!

I have used photo editing software before, but I have NOT used Aperture or Nik.

Note:

In Aperture to export you have to right click the photo to export as .jpg .. there is no way to export on the drop down menu that worked.

To use the Nik plugins you again have to right click the photo and select edit with and the Nik software to use.

I could have saved a ton of time if i knew that to start with.

LEGAL STUFF: I have not in any way been compensated for this blog, I have not received any free hardware or software or books from any of the companies mentioned nor do I work for any of them. Now the FTC is happy.

I will be more then happy to receive free hardware, software, compensation or employment from them however if they so choose.

2009-10-21T16:32:00.000-04:00

As some of you know Steve Jobs is my all time fav. person. The one person more then any I would both love to and be terrified to meet.

I first fell in Love with Apple computers in the mid 80's when I was working at a Generic Pharmaceutical Company doing computers. I lusted after Apple computers for years.

My job unfortunately dictated that I have a Microsoft computer, and since I like eating on a regular basis I always had a Microsoft computer at home. Okay, so I often had/have MANY MS computers at home. Over the years I did get to use Apples at work but not enough to warrant the purchase of one.

How many computers can a girl have? Notice I didn't say can a girl need.

My lust for Apple has went unsatisfied for decades, then this summer I finally got my first Apple. An Apple Macbook Pro 15".

So now I'm drooling over a time capsule 4G router, and planning my next mac purchase (mac mini server?, macbook pro for daughter?, hmm a 17" macbook pro? so many choices) Don't get me started on the new magic mouse it makes me wish i used a mouse again.

Luckily I stopped drooling over Apples slick hardware to find this awesome book Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs which is available for the kindle iphone app.

While the lack of economic funds means I will have to continue to drool from afar at the slick new hardware Apple has just released. I can read about and learn from the Master Presenter himself on how to speak in front of a group and present.

So for all you corporate executives, executive wannabes and homeschoolers this is your opportunity to learn from the best on how to present like a pro.

ENJOY,

LA

FTC DISCLAIMER: NOT PAID IN ANY WAY NOR HAVE I RECEIVED ANY FREE PRODUCTS FROM ANY COMPANY/PERSON MENTIONED IN THIS BLOG - BUT I AM TOTALY OPEN TO RECEIVING FREE STUFF IF YOU WANT TO SEND IT TO ME STEVE/APPLE

Product Description

“The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs reveals the operating system behind any great presentation and provides you with a quick-start guide to design your own passionate interfaces with your audiences.” —Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points and The Activist Audience
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s wildly popular presentations have set a new global gold standard—and now this step-by-step guide shows you exactly how to use his crowd-pleasing techniques in your own presentations. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs is as close as you’ll ever get to having the master presenter himself speak directly in your ear. Communications expert Carmine Gallo has studied and analyzed the very best of Jobs’s performances, offering point-by-point examples, tried-and-true techniques, and proven presentation secrets that work every time. With this revolutionary approach, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to sell your ideas, share your enthusiasm, and wow your audience the Steve Jobs way.
“No other leader captures an audience like Steve Jobs does and, like no other book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs captures the formula Steve uses to enthrall audiences.”
--Rob Enderle, The Enderle Group
“Now you can learn from the best there is--both Jobs and Gallo. No matter whether you are a novice presenter or a professional speaker like me, you will read and reread this book with the same enthusiasm that people bring to their iPods."
--David Meerman Scott, bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and World Wide Rave

About the Author
Carmine Gallo writes a bi-weekly column for Businessweek.com and has been a featured contributor to several other major websites including MSNBC, Military.com, Always On, AOL and Yahoo Finance. Gallo personally coaches leading executives for keynote speeches, media interviews, product launches, and book tours.

TOP IPHONE APP FOR PARENTS FROM MASHABLE

2009-10-10T11:58:00.004-04:00

Here is the MUST HAVE app from Mashable's top 20 top apps for parents

(and 2 i couldn't not pass on - gotta have coffee and come on Disney rocks)

1. KidStatz LITE

KidStatz LITE is an app that enables you to house basic information about your child, his/her physical characteristics, medical information and a photo. In the horrible event that your child goes missing, this will help you have immediate access to crucial information. The lite version enables you to email the information directly from the app, as well as call the police, but does not offer the option to enter information for multiple children, as the full version does. This type of app is a must-have for any parent.

2. myStarbucks

Parents with young kids are usually sleep-deprived. Sleep-deprived parents usually need coffee. Use this app to find the nearest Starbucks location and refuel on caffeine.

3. Disney World Wait Times Free

Ask any parent what the worst part is about going to Disney World and they will likely say the exorbitant prices and the constant waiting. There isn’t an app that can reduce the cost of admission, but this app certainly addresses the wait times. The app’s by-the-minute updates on how long the lines are for rides at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, can keep you one step ahead of the crowds and help you to plan your day at Disney more efficiently.

I was not Non-paid or reimbursed in any way for this (FTC is now happy)

This information is COPIED from Mashable, and they get all the credit for finding this app you can see their full list here http://mashable.com/2009/10/10/iphone-apps-parents/

While i LOVE mashable's web site (http://mashable.com/) it takes time to sort through their stuff to find the best of the best.

My wish list.. for my camera anyway...

2008-11-17T09:02:00.006-05:00

I have given in and used photoshop to modify some of my photos usually what you see is exactly as the photo was taken, but here are some of the modified photos (and .. ummm.. I do like them).

I have been hunting and hunting for items that I need for my camera... and here it is.. after 100's of hours of searching my wish list for my camera...

a camera bag that is UNDER $100, can hold my Canon S5 IS it's lenses, flash, and all its other stuff .. I like the Lowepro CompuTrekker AW plus, the Naneu Pro Alpha, Lowepro expidition 6, and the think tank 360, and of course the crumpler bags are always nice (yeah for Bill Gates!)
ExpoImaging Rayflash, Ring Flash Adapter for Canon 580EX II Flash (and yes I NEED this)
a CANON teleconverter lens.. I have a different brand and it's edges are soft.. :(
a light tent.. yes I know I can make one out of a cardboard box but I want it to fold
lights for the light tent with GOOD light
Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce in white, green, gold for my 580ex II (hey it is a wish list, I KNOW the white is the only one I HAVE to have)
a tripod, I have one that came free with my camcorder but it it way to light for my camera and flash.. of course I don't know what I would get if I could I just know it needs to be tall, light, and strong and NOT expensive

Now if you want my wish list camera look at that Canon EOS 5D Mark II plus the canon macro lens, standard lens (28/200mm) and a telephoto lens... a camera lens set that would be MORE than my CAR! ..(although if I hit the lottery really big I am SO buying it.. of course that would mean I would have to PLAY the lottery).

I dooooo have one other wish, I wish I could sell some of my photos...

well that's it.. my wishes are done for the day and it's time to get QTQ3 to do her school work...

But if you have any ideas of

Enjoy,

LAQ

(oh, and you can see some of my photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/lauraannq )

Feeling down after Disney

2008-10-02T19:25:00.003-04:00

I WENT TO DISNEY!

AND

I broke my foot!

See I normally wear flip flops, or go barefoot... so wearing sneakers for days at a time was just to much for my foot... and I managed to get a stress fracture on the top of my foot.

So now I sit here with a big ugly HEAVY air cast on my foot... I am NOT happy.

I have been in the air cast for almost a week and my foot was starting to feel great so I took it off and walked around without it for a bit... ooppss... I kind of felt that re-cracking of my foot!

So yesterday and today I actually tried to stay off it all day (sort of) but it still hurts.

Okay so I still have to drive QTQ3 to dance, cook, and do wash and stuff.... but I am sitting on the couch right now ... watching Hanna Montana... I am SO getting up to find that remote... BRB..

Okay that's better food network challenge is on... family friendly and mommy acceptable (sorry Hanna I just can't take your show)

I can't tell you how happy I am that I have a Microbook.. my Asus is definitely the hero of the day or I would go nuts stuck with my foot up.

I must admit that although I have to 'think' about my foot the most disturbing thing right now is a bill on the table in NJ that if passed would change the homeschool laws to make NJ have the most restrictive homeschool law in the nation. Currently NJ is VERY homeschool friendly.

I keep wondering just how "Trenton" in it's infinate wisdom will deal with a 11 year old 10th grader. Remember we are talking about a state that is almost bankrupt (kind of like America at the moment .. not that I trust Uncle Sam to educate my daughter either)

So now my barefoot, anti-conformity, free spirit want-a-be self is tied to a couch thinking about the possiblitiy of the state dictating my homeschool life... not a happy day in my life... even BiscuitQ looks down today.

About the only thing that got me through the day is that my "Mommy" came over to 'take care of me' (she was visiting family in DC so she didn't know about my foot till last night) AND QTQ3 is always here to give me a hug (Biscuit is moping cause I won't let her lick her foot.. she already licked it raw!)

So while I sit here getting fat (have you ever sat on the couch with nothing to do? It is so Mallomars time) without excercizing (normally I walk Biscuit 2 tenths of a mile 3-5 times a day (don't be inpressed my driveway is a tenth of a mile.. so that is just 3-5 walks a day to the end of the driveway).

Well I should go... I am sure your asleep by now.. sorry... I will be 'happier' when I can get back on my feet... promise!

A few of my NEW favorite things

2008-10-01T09:50:00.002-04:00

HAPPY MORNINGS, and Things I like

For those who know me my saying I am NOT a morning person is like saying the Grand Canyon is a cute crack in the earth.

My family knows Breakfast is NOT a meal I partake in, even after a few cups of coffee. You can forget about me MAKING anyone breakfast (even the dog knows better then to look for food first thing in the morning).

So when my darling, loving, caring husband (now you know he did something VERY right at this point) came home with Organic Batter Blaster... pancakes in a can... I was happy.

A Dairy Free, Organic, EASY, to make breakfast that I can teach my daughter how to make WITHOUT her making a mess.

We got up this morning and I made them (yes ME)... okay so I got up at 7:15 so I was functional at 9:00 when she got up.... okay so I made breakfast around 9:30.. but give me a break that is still only 2.5 hours after I got out of bed!

I showed her how to make them (very easy) heat pan, add non-dairy butter, shake can, press top thing (like a Ready Whipp Can) and wait... then flip... all done!

Of course the test was TASTE ... they are light and airy... almost like whipped pancakes... I LIKE THEM! I actually ate a few small ones (and yes I did have a few cups of coffee first).

This means she will actually EAT in the morning, making her a nicer person to be around. Normally we argue over breakfast (not that I care what she eats for breakfast just that she eats!). See when she skips breakfast (and she tries to everyday) she is cranky till lunch.

If she went to school I would say "tough" be cranky your friends can deal with it... but we HOMESCHOOL so I am the friend who has to deal with it.

Because of the tip it is easy to make fun shapes (okay so a smile is not rocket science but in my defense it was only 9:30!)

I tried a Q but had some issues flipping it (it was kind of large (like the size of the plate.. remember this is early for me). so it looked like a half Q when I was done.

Since we are talking about my favorite things (this being one of them) I will tell you about my next favorite thing... the Handi-Vac bag. You can vacuum seal a ziplock/Reynolds bag with it and cold cuts, prosciutto, etc. stays fresh for a WEEK... great for Biscuit's prosciutto!

Well it's that time. She is almost dressed (another benefit of breakfast, she will get dressed rather then stay in PJs all day). So I need to go and conquer Geometry, Chemistry, English, Lit, and History... enjoy!

2008-09-05T20:52:00.007-04:00

Dinner and Laughs

While many people go out to eat to ... umm. .. eat? We like to go out and laugh... and laugh we do...

Often when we go out waiters, patrons, and others look over at us in what appears to be wonder at our uncontrolled laughter.

To our defence we never laugh in High Class establishmets.. but Bensi does not qualify as High Class in my book... sooooooo

Well tonight ... as many other times.. we had dinner and laughs at Bensi

The laughter started when a baby across from us smiled at me and I smiled back... causing great consternation for QTQ3.

In case you don't know QTQ3 gets jealous easily and my paying ANY attention to small children often kicks off jealously and causes her to move to my side .. or lap...

Her reaction was true to form and she moved next to me... which I like ;) ... I quickly realized she was making 'mean' faces at the baby when the parents weren't looking ...

The problem is that her 'mean' faces were funny... Causing my camera phone to come out and photos to be taken... so here they are

mean face 12
the eye roll
my least favorite face!

mean face 70
personally I think this is a ICK face
but apparently this is supposed to be intimating
got me????

mean face 71
I think it's a "potty" face

at this point the waiter came over and wanted to too see the faces too...

he agreed not 'scary' but funny....

then she did mean face 27
I thought is was a bit of a "Argh, Matey.. did ye swab the deck"
the waiter liked my pirate voice....

we were NOT intimidated....

We decided to skip the mean faces and just relax and laugh... us the waiter, and some of the other people in the resturant.

So while some just eat out,

we like to go out laugh and enjoy life.

So the next time you are eating out, because you just don't feel like cooking, and you hear laughter and see the flash of a camera phone.... look around... it could be us....

or

maybe it's you just having fun and enjoying the moment,

recording the memories and insuring that years from now when the kids are grown up (or they're teens) and the laughter you can pull out the photos and remeber the joy shared over pasta and iced tea.

Enjoy...

LAQ

FREEDOM!

2008-08-23T09:16:00.004-04:00

Picutred above is about HALF of the view from my deck... it's just more of the same so you get the idea.

I am a happy woman!

This is why I have dreamed of having a lightweight portable... I can sit outside in my backyard and drink my coffee and blog (alritght in my dream it was the 'great american novel' ... only it's more of either a kids book or a chick lit/beach read... although poetry and a cookbook would be fun too... mmmmm fooooodddd.....)

give me a second while I wipe drool off my keyboard, i was just thinking some nice challah french toast would be nice right now (winter must be comming)

You know that a great view might make me smile but what you ask would make me happy after only a few hours sleep?

I LOVE THIS ASUS that and I now have photo editing tools on it!

It has been years (like more then 14) since I worked with Unix... so this is all new to me.

apparently my old brain forgot it all!

Installing software and getting my camera to work with it was a unknown blob... I knew I could just pop out the SDHD card stick it in a card reader and transfer the photos that way

Iwanted to be able to connect via USB ... I was not sure I was going to be able to do that...

AND I CAN

I simply (I use that term lightly) installed Picasa.

The install process was not bad at all.

Go to googles picasa linux sight. Dowload and run the software... when it fails to 'self install' (and it will) follow the directions on the screen (yeah that part had me hosed up for hours... I never bothered to read the screen) .... and here's the inportant part add a bookmark to it in file manger (it's in the /usr/bin directory)...

The site I used for this is called Gizmos Grabowski (http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/2008/07/asus-eee-installing-picasa.html)
I found a lot of wrong stuff before finding that sight Gizmos is the best!

While that sounds easy it took hours because a lot of sites had the wrong directions!

I also found a web site shutter talk that reviewed the ASUS 900 for use with cameras and talked about other photo editing software.

I used their directions and downloaded gimp and it is basically (and here is the important thing) a FREE verion of Photoshop Essentails.

The cool thing to remember about linux (or in my case xandros) is that everything is free!
I have everything I need and it's all FREE

open office FREE .. replaces and edits MS Office documents
Picasa FREE ..........replaces Adobe photo essentials (also for windows)
gimp FREE ............replaces Adobe photoshop or corel photo editor
a schedule program like agendus FREE (from the advanced menus only, but I'm working on that)
connects to palm devices FREE
connects to ipods FREE
AND SO MUCH MORE

The best part is that that company whose 'name I dare not mention' is no longer in control of my life...

Did I mention my system can run on 1M ram and is faster then my 4G ram desktop running XP or my daughters 4G desktop running Vista! Both desktops are dual core, and this is just a little intel machine! Both desktops cost THOUSANDS and this cost less then $400!

Now this will never replace my desktop (I'm not trusting my taxes and financial data to shareware) but it is great to be free to have coffee outside, sit and type while QTQ3 reads on the couch...

Most of all it's nice to BE FREE!

Well it's time for donuts (yes my life runs on donuts and coffee)

Enjoy!

The Joy of Spontaneity... a forgotten treasure

2008-08-22T19:01:00.000-04:00

The Joy of Spontaneity... a forgotten treasure

Have you ever had one of those moments where you just said “screw it” and dropped everything to just play even if you didn't have time? When is the last time you were spontaneous?

I am NOT that type of person. I like to make sure that I have plenty of time for whatever I need to do. I don't like to over schedule life, I AM not a parent that over schedules anything... I like everything in my day timer and everything on schedule... maybe even to the point of, well being boring. But hey, that's just me.. and my parents... and my daughter ... and even my dog....

Well today is different!

Every Friday after piano we go next door to the music shop for a donut. Today as we sat in the back of the car eating our donuts enjoying the warm air QTQ3 informed me that I “broke my promise of going to the park this week with her friend.”

A promise that was made a week ago and she forgot too....

When she admitted that she also forgot about it and was wrong to say I was mean I thought "WOW did MY child actually admit she was wrong?"

I handed her the phone and told her to call her friend and we could go to the park for an hour, so much for taking out the meat and making dinner.

So now here I sit at the park, typing on my ASUS and taking photos enjoying what is probably the last trip to the park this year... and only 1 of 3 park trips this year.

I have discovered that almost 11 year olds don't often embrace their inner child (at least not in the tri-state area) and play at the park. She is running and climbing and swinging, all of it being documented on 'film' by me... do almost 12 year olds ever go to the park?

As we enjoy this last vestige of summer, on this warm August afternoon she is playing tag as if she doesn't have a care in the world. She is enjoying life as only a young unencumbered child does.

She doesn't care that she got an A in Eng Comp 1, that her book is going so well her teacher could not put it down, or that she needs to write more of it. She doesn't care that she is dirty, messy, or not acting like a 'girly girl' she is simply being a child.

What possessed me to allow this last minute un-scheduled romp in the park that will interfere with dinner is beyond me... but perhaps I have learned the importance of just letting go and enjoying the moment.

Dinner will be late, again. My schedule will be off, again. The dog will get fed late, again... hmmm for someone with a schedule I seem to be off schedule a lot.....

...

So being free to type and outside I came up with this "Photo Poem' (I just made that up, I don't think there is such a thing as a photo poem... but whatever.. I am being free)

It is in the face of a child that we find ourselves

We find the freedom we desire
We find the joy we long for
And the laughter souls yearn for

We balance on the walls that confine us to adulthood, we teeter ever closer to falling into the abyss of old age loosing forever the ability to run.

We climb corporate ladders striving to reach the top forgetting it is the joy of the climbing that started climbing to being with.

It is the sound of running feet in rhythm to our heart's precious beat that reminds us of the purpose of life.

Life is for living.

Well that is my "Photo Poem" written on a sunny day in a park while enjoying a freedom I have dreamed of (working on a laptop free from walls, what can I say... "I'm such a computer geek!")

Laura-Ann

2008-08-22T00:16:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I admit it ... I am addicted to technology... I am a gadget junkie!

The latest gadget I received just today ... a very small very light weight computer...

it is the newest in the "micro-laptops" I picked up an ASUS eeePC 900 20G with LINUX!.

no more mircosoft for me!

it weighs less then 2.5 lbs has a 9.5" screen (up from the 7" screen on the 701).

the keyboard is kind of small, so i am forgoing caps for now... sorry...it's the price of gadgetry..

setting it up took about 3 minutes (and that includes un-boxing and "reading directions".)

i plugged it in and started it up. it found the wireless lan in my house (and my neighbor's too, ops) and i was on the internet in minutes....

getting to my xp files was not so easy...

i can ping my xp and vista machines but can't connect with file manager...

apparently i have 2 networks in the house one for wired machines and one for wireless (think security)...

of course i found this out after quite sometime a i didn't set up my router...

so tomorrow i get to configure a router to allow my ASUS through to my files on xp because i know it won't get done any other way!...

in the meantime i have played games, checked out online forums, and enjoyed my computer.

this small wonder is great. here are the details

1G RAM upgradable to 2G
4G internal solid state hd, 16G sdhd card (so you can't loose your hd by banging it around)
smaller then a sheet of paper when it's closed and maybe about the size of one when it is open
light weight, as i mentioned less then 2.5 lbs...
mines white, they also come in black...but with white i can pretend it's an apple..LOL
comes in linux or xp if you want to slow it down with garbage

linux looks like xp/vista and if you do primarily office and internet you can switch no problem (some.. okay a lot) of applications are not on linux YET.. and open office is FREE and works!

it comes preloaded with open office, mail, firefox, virus software, etc...
the battery lasted for 3-4 hours (much longer then i expected) but playing games did drain it.
has a 1.3M web cam, speakers
3 usb ports
ethernet port but has built in wi-fi
can hookup to an external monitor, but why would you?

all this under $375!

the ASUS 900 is not a replacement for a desktop but it is a great .. bring along device for college students, high school students, coffee shop internet, salesmen, or anyone on the go...

or anyone who likes freedom to work where ever they want.... (frees me up to write... i hate writing facing a wall)

so now i can leave our 'office/class room' to blog, pay bills, surf the net, read the news (news papers are icky... and germy). when qtq3 wants to do school work outside, in the kitchen, dinning room or family room i can still be on the computer (great for my carpel tunnel)

we can look stuff up from anywhere in the house, no walking accross the house for wiikepdia anymore... (okay so maybe now i am going to have to work out or something)

when she takes her next college class i can use the computer while she learns (i read 3-5 books a week over the summer during ENG comp 1 and honestly i am totally out of books to read)

it has a built in web cam so biscuit can blog via web cam, that should be interesting my dog on web cam (for the record you have a beeter chance of seeing big foot then ME on the web cam, i don't "do photos" just ask my family)

this is a really cool computer! i have to say that is is even better then the underwater camera i could have gotten instead of this.... although if i ever get to take suba diving lessons that camera is mine!

well i have to go... i'm out of stuff to say about this cool computer... but if you have questions feel free to ask...

enjoy!

Goodbye Microsoft, Backing up your computer and other thoughts

2008-08-02T14:32:00.002-04:00

GOODBYE MICROSOFT OFFICE????

As most of you know I am NOT a Microsoft fan. I have a problem buying software every time I replace a hard drive, or a PC. The software is NOT cheap and therefore should be mine for life!

So I am trying OpenOffice.org apparently it is seamless, works similar to word, and can be used on those “small notebooks”, or netbooks, or mini notebooks (what every it is you want to call them) and those small works of modern marvels are light, and cheap (relatively) this is something to be aware of. More importantly they are almost indestructible.

Personally I like the ASUS and the MSI mini. While the mini is more powerful and very similar to the ASUS PC 900 I like the eee 4G (I like the price on the 2G better though). At $299 for the 2G it's a great deal.. and maybe even a possibility for the future).

The desire to be able to blog while QTQ3 is sitting in her college class sounds great, otherwise it is hours a week I loose. I could also surf the web and keep up with other computer related things.

I must admit I did add on to openOffice.org with a writing tools add on (free) and sun system's weblog publisher (free for 30 days, cost unknown). The spell checking works just like work (very important for those of us who are 'spelling challenged').

I am impressed! I have not tried the bibliography function (with QTQ3 in college she does use this function)

For a small and FREE product openOffice.org is the best and I can whole heartily recommend it.

NEW EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE AND BETTER BACKUP SOLUTIONS

If you are looking for other recommendations think about upgrading to a Western Digital MyBook Raid 1 drive. My Maxtor drive failed AGAIN and I just upgraded, easiest thing possible. I simply plugged it into an available (yeah, right) USB 2.0 port and copied my backed up data to it. This drive has LOTS of air holes and a long cord (it's now sitting in front of the fan that blows under my desk to cool the computers).

The MyBook Raid 1 drive automatically uses raid technology to keep your data safe.

For those of you who do not know what raid 1 is..here is a quick lesson...

Raid 1 automatically writes each file you save/copy/change/ to 2 drives. The drives are mirror images of each other. If one drive fails the other drive has your data, ALL your data, no delays!

With this in mind realize that a 1 Terra byte raid 1 drive (which is what I have) has 500 G usable space. Which for me is fine.

There are drives out there that allow raid 1 technology over 2 separate drives (in separate cases) allowing you to have more space. Personally I only needed 500 G so this was fine and I just don't have the room for any more physical drives (I also have a 1 T external backup drive).

ONLINE BACKUP SOLUTION

I am also now using Mozyhome for my online backup it is the lowest cost for large amouts of data, and free for up to 2G.

While I have over 50G of data (photos and videos mainly) they have a modest charge of $50 per year for unlimited space.

For those of you with realistic data backup requirements try their free service 2G plus an additional 256K free for each person you sigh up (the 256K is given to both you AND the person who signs up for the free account). This is the account I am using for my daughter... if you use the links you and my daughter will each get extra free storage...

The initial backup for me was a nightmare (like I thought 50+Gig would go quickly) this of course was exasperated by the insistent thunder storms in my area, causing me to turn my PC off every night along for hours a day. But MozyHome does run in the background and I am typing this while backing up my PC (after turning my PC off 3x already today due to thunder... sometimes living on a mountain kind of stinks).

I AM NOT PARANOID I JUST DON'T TAKE CHANCES WITH MY PHOTOS

So I currently have a Raid 1 drive (remember this means all data is always backed up) have Norton ghost doing backups of my internal C drive (where my programs are) and my data drive onto a 1 T Western Digital Mybook AND am also backing up online!

Now you may think this is overkill, however I will never again fear loosing my data due to lighting strike, fire, or theft (as I live at 1200 ft. above sea level if I flood out, I don't think my data will be a concern... finding an arc will!).

While I realize I should be most concerned about loosing my financial data (what small amount of it I have (like balancing my checkbook) that stuff is fully accessible online through my bank.

To me the most important thing I have on my computer is photos of my family, the source for the 2 books I wrote, the photos for my art calendar the source for photo products and my photo art I have on line for purchase.

Well those are my thoughts for now... I promise to update my ramblings more often... enjoy!

Laura-Ann

Pursuing the dream

2008-05-12T14:23:00.010-04:00

Well there is a lot to be said for pursuing your dreams, and I think I sum it all up when I say...

....

IT'S HARD

It sounds so easy ... find what you love, and do it...,br />

Okay, so I like photography and writing. I have been working on in... problem is I want to SHARE my work with others ...

and as we ALL learned in Preschool/Kindergarten "Sharing is hard and kinda scary, too!"

So ... here goes...gulp....

After recovering from taxes, buying a new washer/dryer AND dishwasher I took some time and finished some projects I have been working on....

MY FIRST CALENDAR

I made a calendar with photos that my daughter and took and put together for Mother's Day, we set it up to run from June '08- May '09.

We gave one to my mother and one to me (you can buy one if you want at my lulu store http://stores.lulu.com/lauraannq ). I think my mom liked it. At least I hope she did... gulp..

My daughter (QTQ3) is giving one to her tap teacher who goes to NYU..

...Gulp..

GIANT GULP... I really hope her tap teacher likes it, college kids are intimidating....

Here are a few of the photos...

MY BOOKS ARE FINALLY DONE

After years of being afraid to do it I self published my books they are available on my lulu store at http://stores.lulu.com/lauraannq ..

Rainbow flowers, is full color and great for young girls (up to age 8). This IS the final version, it's changed a LOT over the years but this is it!

This book is about Eva-Marie a homeschooler who is learning about thinking
for herself, growing up, and achieving in her dreams.
The photos are from life, not posed, and are of my daughter and her garden.
When I used to teach I read this to my class every spring when we would plant
flowers for Mother's Day, or vegetables for the summer.

West African Folk Tales are good for all ages, it is available with art in either black and white or color... I like the color but hey, it's my art.. so I may be partial... lol...

These are ORIGINAL West African Folk Tales, edited compiled, and put in book
form. The art in the book is mine. This book is great for anyone who loves folk tales, is studying West African culture, or wants their child to know the rich, timeless stories told
in West Africa hundreds of years ago (some of which you will recognize as they have been integrated into many other cultures).

Well that's it... for today...

Thanks for reading .. and as always your comments and email is ALWAYS appreciated!

LauraAnnQ

My passion

2008-04-15T09:55:00.007-04:00

Over the years I have searched for my "passion" and never found it. I worked in the computer field and enjoyed it. I taught preschool, and loved the kids. I wrote a multi-cultural curriculum for my preschool and enjoyed it.. a lot...

hmm..mmm... now I homeschool and enjoy it...A LOT

Then one day my daughter and I began playing The Sims 2, it was a way for us to approach building, geometry, and teenage behavior. We created people and played side by side... I realized (after she pointed it out) that all my sims where stay at home mom's who homeschooled and wrote books/painted...

hmmm interesting..............

Could it be my passion is what I am doing? Homeschooling my daughter, and writing, and photography of course.

My photos adorn the walls of my house ranging from 8x10 to poster size, My mouse pad has my photo of "static puppy" (http://biscuitq.blogspot.com/). I have had some (only 3) articles published in the local paper and am writing children's book (in final edit... now to get an publisher). I write poetry and songs constantly... but honestly I don't share my work...

so...

umm...

I guess it is time...

Here is one of my photos... and a short poem about it...

A Prayer for Peace

Just for a day, for I know it can not stay

Grant us peace, if only for a day.

A day of peace, love and harmony

A day of respect, understanding, and equality

A day without malice, hate, or prejudice

A day without war, murder, or abuse.

Just for a day, for I know it can not stay

Grant us peace, if only for one day.

Grant us one day of peace the world over

Grant us one day without looking over our shoulder

Teach us to love if only for one day

Teach us to respect perhaps it will stay

Just for a day, for I know it can not stay

Grant us peace, if only for one day.

Thanks...

Laura-Ann

I HATE COMPUTERS... and puppies know nothing about computers

2007-12-28T12:49:00.000-05:00

Well my internal HD finally died, two days before Christmas, and installing the new one has been a nightmare... Dell can join Bill Gates in that hot place in the center of the earth....

My seagate drive died (oohhh, surprise a seagate drive failing). I replaced it with a western digital but.... xp does not have SATA drivers built in for my computer, so it could not see my HD... of course this took some time to figure out....

Dell did not send the drivers on a floppy (why would THEY do ANYTHING to make things easier) so I had to search for them (thanks to the kind folks who post on dells forums I found them) PROBLEM my other computer does not have a floppy drive and they can only be used off a floppy.....

After some interesting words erupted from my mouth, we found a really old portable with a floppy drive, copied the files to a flash drive and installed them onto the floppy then installed XP ...

IT ONLY TOOK A FEW HOURS TO GET TO THIS POINT

Of course XP takes forever to install... and I think vista might have been better but I know my machine runs with XP so why mess with it.

Then I had the joy of spending HOURS AND HOURS downloading all the drivers/fixes needed for my hardware (Dell is the spawn on Satan for not including them with my machine).

I had chipset patches, driver patches, cd/dvd drivers, video drivers, sound card drivers, all of which required time figuring out which ones I needed.

Then I had to load all the XP fixes......
Load office 2007 (that is where all this nightmare began a month ago)
Load office patches

Load norton (these people know about failures, I logged on their web site and it downloaded the software and installed it with ease... no searching for stuff)

Loaded Quicken (have to pay the bills or they will come and take the computer way.... hmmm that's a thought....

and now I have a minimal system.... just have to load print drivers, wireless keyboard drivers (umm... wireless mice don't work with install packages.. lucky me I purchased a usb mouse and keyboard after the last failure)...

and get a new SATA cable... the one that came with my hard drive is not set up to be installed next to the computer wall and so I can't close my computer.. I need a right angle cable.

I had the honor of doing all while my puppy helped...
she found the SATA cable for me (tried to chew it but found it)
sniffed the inside of the computer to make sure it was okay (it WAS on at the time!)
licked my hands as I tried to install computer parts (water and computers don't mix)
chewed the corner of the plastic CD case (not a good thing)
tried to lick the CD (it's shinny so it must have looked good)
sat on my CDs that I was sorting, knocking them over and un-sorting them
sat on my lap while I was checking cables (not easy to move with a puppy on your lap)

and then gave up and barked at me over and over ... letting me know she was tired of my being in the office working on the computer....

she is happy right now because she updated her blog, and is sleeping at my feet thinking of all the wonderful things she will write later about how much she "helped" me fix my computer.... I am sure her side will be funny... it always is.

I guess being an ex-nerd is a good thing, I can fix my computer single handed ... even when it is a Dell running XP..... now all I have to do is reload all my software, my data is all on my external drives (I fixed that issue last month when the hard drive started to fail... I just thought I would be able to hold off on replacing the internal drive till after the new year... guess not...)

well I should go... I have drivers to load, software to install and a family to take care of...

I am thinking of chicken liver appetizer (my way even my 10 year old eats it), with a main of ???, Edamame w/sea salt, and garlic/goat milk Parmesan Polenta

chicken liver/bacon appetizer

finely chop onions, mushrooms, garlic, and saute in GOOD olive oil put on the side
cook fatty bacon to almost burnt point in a pan (copper pot is best)
you will need a lot of bacon for this (hey, the liver is healthy it offsets the bacon... Paula would love me on this one)
keep the fat in the pan but remove the bacon and crumble/chop into bits
saute the chicken liver in the pan (don't over cook it)
put the cooked chicken liver in a food processor with some of the bacon fat and make it mush (finer the better)
put the liver, onions, garlic, bacon in a bowl and add
dill, pinch of Tabasco (green Tabasco is best, you can substitute red devained/seeded jalapeno), pinch of mustard powder, parsley, (bread crumbs if it is still to strong)

eat on nacho chips. (oh, if you plan on giving some to your dog you have to put their's on the side BEFORE you add the onion and garlic as these are bad for dogs)

enjoy... laura ann

Who needs stress, my dog matches the carpet!

2007-12-17T17:03:00.000-05:00

Can you find the dog in the photo?

Okay, so now I get it… maybe I actually make my life more stressful by the stupid things I do..
What things you may ask…. Hmmmm… lets see…

· This morning instead of paying bills I drew a picture
· Instead of cleaning, I fixed the kitchen sink
· I cook all the dogs food instead of buying dog food
· I homeschool
· Oh… yeah I BOUGHT A DOG THAT MATCHES THE CARPET!

I realize I like to have everything match… and I realize that neutral is my favorite color in the house but…

MY DOG MATCHES THE CARPET! While this may not seem important at first… try walking without stepping on the darn dog!

If you look closely at the photo above you will see it is a photo of my dog (Biscuit) sleeping on the carpet.

So take all the stress of homeschooling, having a 10 year old in college, living in the frozen tundra of NJ, and then throw in dog/carpet issues then I think you get the idea…

Umm… okay so maybe white carpets, tiles, and off white walls aren’t the best for kids/animals… but like I said I LIKE STRESS…..or I just like complaining ;)

Well have to run, my daughter is sick and her biology final is tomorrow… … I hear some people have a glass of wine on days like this, I just may have to think about that…

The vet bill HOW MUCH? and what's that hanging from your b###?

2007-12-10T16:25:00.000-05:00

The vet bill is HOW MUCH? ...

Last week I took my adorable, loving puppy to the vet to get fixed and microchiped. The microchipping was only $45 (I asked about that price). I did not however ask how much the fixing would be... .... silly me

I dropped her off at 8:15 AM (I am SO not a moring person) then came home and waited ... and waited ... and waited... and waited.... they finally called around 1pm to tell me she was fine and I could get her at 5pm...

......so I waited some more... (yes, there was a large amount of coffee involed in all that waiting).

I picked her up promptly at 5, and they handed me the bill for $500...

YES FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!!!!

okay let me get this right, this dog (yes at this point she is "this dog")

cost me $1,200 to buy her
never mind the 6 hour drive to get her
then more money for shots $200
another $50 for the tic bite that got infected
then more shots $150
add in her kennel, beds, toys, and all the home cooked organic food ...
... maybe I shouldn't do the math.... it might scare me!
OH! THIS DOG SO NEEDS TO GET A JOB, or I do!
(maybe I should put adwords on her blog)

Today I had the JOY of returning to the vet because "golden princess Biscuit " has an ear infection!

Okay, so it looked red Friday.....

I thought it was that cone thing she has to wear on her head...
it looked better Saturday after the cone was off all day...

but it looked and SMELLED really bad Sunday.

So today, Monday, I took her back to the vet... for $130

YES ANOTHER $130

okay, so there might have been a small charge for the poo she got stuck to her butt!

see... it all started when I put her in the car (no she did not poo in the car)...

she is afraid of the car... it scares the 'poo' out of her
when we got to the vet she did her thing on the grass outside his office...
THEN I SAW IT... DANGLING POO....
a BIG long poo stuck in her white fur........ i tried to get it out... it was stuck!
The vet was nice enough to shave it out (don't ask... total ICK)...
...... it was majorly smelly, and icky!... he is a very nice vet!
.... sooooo maybe it was worth $130.
.. he did shave her butt.. oh he checked her ears too..

So the "Biscuit head" (her nickname when I am annoyed at her) landed up costing me another $130 today... I can only immagine what the charge for taking out the stiches will be...

Sleeping Beauty is drooling on my foot (I think she is smiling.... maybe she thinks the whole ... mommy I have poo on my butt thing is funny.... me I found it a little embarrising...) so I better go...

She is so lucky she is cute....

NO IT CAN'T BE!

2007-12-10T10:25:00.000-05:00

Let me get this right... I finally got the "Family Christmas Newsletter" done and I forgot to order the stupid holiday stamps! ..... well I guess they are just going out with flag stamps this year...

what could I have been thinking...?????

oh, yeah...

the house needed to be winterized, those pesky central air conditioners were letting in cold air...

the puppy needed to get fixed.... (don't' even ask how much that cost)

my computer crashed.....I still hate Bill Gates, only now Maxtor is on my list to.... they sent me a new external hard drive that did not work... and I spent a ton of money fixing the stupid thing..... I WANT AN APPLE!

I needed to educate my daughter .... not an easy task... she is kind of cranky lately... something to do with being 10 and having finals....Christmas coming, having all sorts of papers due and ... ummm ... well .... BEING 10!

truth is... QTQ3 has really what has been taking my time.

She had a 3 chapter test 10 days ago, has another 3 chapter test tomorrow, has a research paper for science due tomorrow, has a summary on global warming (Al Gore's movie really) due at her final in a week! This means I get to proof papers, teacher what MLA format is, help type a bibliography, help her make index cards for her test, test her, and keep her semi-calm (and we are both type A personalities... so it is a scary place around here at the moment).... so she has been more then cranky....

okay... and due to stress I needed to read so in the last 4 days I have stayed up late reading Harry Potter books 2-5 (I need to got the library to get book 6)...I NEED COFFEE.......

so I forgot to get the Xmas stamps... and yes this TOTALLY bugs me... I LOVE STAMPS and I am a type A so I WANT MY STAMPS... I just don't have time to run to the post office.

I should go the puppy has to go to the vet for an ear infection,
I need to call maxtor, I have was to do,
I need COFFEE ....
and my daughter refuses to get her eye glasses (apparently walking up a flight of stairs is to much work for her....okay so I am typing this without my eye glasses too)
and
I NEED COFFEE! ... you have no idea what I would do for a Starbucks MocaFrappachino right now!

bye.... hope you have a good one.....

its my blog

2007-12-07T20:25:00.000-05:00

its my blog and i dont have to use punctuation if i dont want to

i just finished working on our first ever family christmas letter and qtq3 was nice enough to help edit

she informed me that i got a D- because i did not punctuate properly

hmmppphhh

so i missed some periods...... had some run-on sentences.... i liked it....

so here i am sulking and typing... and NOT USING ANY STUPID PUNCTUATION!

okay so i homeschool.... maybe I am the one who taught her all that fancy grammar stuff to start with but must she correct me?

lets be honest no one is going to read the thing anyway.... if they cared that much about my life the would read this blog, or email once in a while

this is a very stressful time of year, the dog got fixed (which she is NOT happy about), it's cold (which I am NOT happy about), qtq3 has her first college finals coming up (which NO ONE in this house is happy about... there is a reason kids go AWAY to college).

the stress never stops.... i tried to paint the refrigerator with magnetic paint and chalk board paint... we decided to make one side magnetic (once we painted over the magnetic paint it was no longer magnetic) and the other chalk board.....

i ordered liquid chalk pens.... and we had fun.... and it WOULD NOT COME OFF!

so..... i repainted the fridge... and now we are are going to try different chalk board paint...
me and my dumb ideas....

so i am here on my blog pouting... only the food is here to i have to go eat... maybe i will pout some more AFTER i eat....

laq

Why I believe in Homeschooling

2007-11-13T09:25:00.000-05:00

I was on one of the homeschool yahoo groups this morning, reading and and putting in my two cents on whether or not someone should homeschool their child and realized I should post my answer here.

I can honestly say that the damage done to my daughter in school by the teasing is permanent, or at least long lasting. She still feels she is not as good as the other kids, and often wishes they ‘liked’ her. Her self-confidence is shot, and she often feels she needs to prove worth to everyone. The reality is she is talking community college classes, at 10, and the kids all like her. She is well liked and respected in the class. But she still fees she does not fit in. The question you are asking appears to be:

should you pull my child out now, wait for his/her IQ test then decide, or is your child smart enough for me to pull out of school to homeschool.

My answer plain and simple is ….Pull your child if your child is not happy don’t wait. Who cares what his/her IQ is… IQ is nothing more then potential….

A jaguar in a cage has the POTENTIAL to run at amazing speeds over great distances, but it never will because of it’s environment. …

A pug has almost no potential to run at great speeds or go far (as any pug owner will tell you) but it outruns the jaguar everyday because it is given room to run….

It is not what our potential is but what we DO with it. It is the environment we grow in that form the people we are, and are to become.

Time to Catch Up..stress... bio..blood and halloween!

2007-11-12T14:23:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a busy few weeks. I thought I would update you on the the last few weeks

The dog still won't eat her food, QTQ3 hates adding/subtracting fractional polynomials with different denominators, and I have a zit the size of Texas on my chin, and QTQ3 is sleeping in the dog bed!

The only thing going right today is QTQ3 is making lunch...although I think she just wanted to get out of doing history... but I will take what I can get.

I did have a wonderful dream of moving to the beach, and living there year round...okay so it was a sucky dream... we moved to a trailer that we shared, it was cold in the winter, and the furniture was brown colonial plaid (I am a modern, sleek, all white/off white type of girl). But it was nice to see the ocean... if only in my dreams...

So this is my update of my life.... I promise to update more often... I think things are turning around... if not... I will just turn this into a fictional novel and tell you the whole truth about how 'odd' my life really is.....(just think about it and realize that the above dream is the ONLY dream I have had in the last 5 months!... scary huh?)

BIOLOGY TEST

We took another Biology test. It was only 3 chapters this time, yea!

Unfortunately for me she wanted to study alone... translation... I did not study ....

sooooo ......

true to form I looked at the test, broke into a cold sweat and thought

"ummm.. I think he gave us the wrong test... we never did any of this stuff"

... then it hit me... everyone else was flying through the test!

QTQ3 did what she always does, took her time.. went through it carefully and then said "that was not hard" after the test. I on the other hand inspired a good case of PTTS (post-traumatic-test-syndrome) in QTQ3.

I managed to make her doubt her grade.... so for 2 days she went nuts thinking she failed (she got an A..again). I on the other hand requested the teacher not grade my test (thank goodness I am auditing the class).

WOUNDED KNEE

Quite a while ago, like September, QTQ3 fell off her razor scooter and was rushed to the hospital. She had x-rays taken of her knee, which was not broken and checked for a concussion, and other serious cuts.

Her helmet protected her head (thank goodness) but I gave in and let her skip the knee and elbow pads that day ... at least she had on the wrist guards...

The next day her doctor sent her to a bunch of specialist because her jaw hurt so much she could not eat.

.......at the end of a long day of more x-rays and more doctors we learned....

QTQ3 had a damaged disc in her jaw (did not even know there was one there to damage) but her jaw was not broken... she would be on soft food for 6-8 weeks (yes it still hurts sometimes).

Her knee was badly cut up and would most likely scar, her elbows would also most likely scar, her face should be okay... her chest/abdomen was also cut up but should not scar. Because she just got off antibiotics for an ear infection she was not put on any, just topical antibiotic ointment...

..... 1 week later...
the knee looks pussy, red, swollen and MRSA is going around so back to the Dr. we go... She was put on antibiotics, but the Dr. assures me it is not MRSA (but looks worried just the same).

10 days later...
more antibiotics and a new topical... the knee is still blistering, oozing, and running clear but ... ICK! Her stomach TOTALLY hurts by this point, she can't have dairy so there is not much we can do... lots of bread.. but it is not helping and she is in constant pain (now we have to watch her for ulcers!)

6 days later more of the same... the Dr. is sure it is not MRSA but is referring her to another specialist.... I go home and just feel horrible (thus the stress build up for Halloween and not studying for the Bio test)...

In total desperation I read that sheet that comes along with the topical ointment... and what does it say... allergic reactions include redness, blistering with clear oozing, and burning...SHE IS ALLERGIC TO IT! I stop the topical that I was applying 2x a day, and by the next morning her knee is just red, bumpy, and sore... ...

HER KNEE IS OKAY! ... okay so it looks really bad (big red bump and still hurts) but the infection is gone. She is off antibiotics (did 3 rounds in 35 days). Her stomach hurts 24x7, but we are working on that!

Maybe if her jaw stops hurting she could have stake soon, she ate a bagel for the first time since the accident yesterday so .. who knows....

Halloween

Halloween was great fun. She may be in college, but she IS only10!

....Sooo....
We went to grandma's! We live in the woods, so trick-or-treating here stinks -- the deer don't normally give out candy and the bears tend to trick more then treat.

Grandma on the other hand lives in a condo --and oddly enough we do go down the hill and through the woods to get there....

QTQ3 and the dog dressed as black cats! (you can see what the dog thought of that on her blog
biscuitq.blogspot.com ).

QTQ3 had so much fun trick-or-treating. Her dairy allergy may prevent her from eating the candy (that is what mommies are for) but she enjoys getting just the same.

One family decorated there deck/entranceway to be the inside of a witches' castle ... it was SO SCARY, then the owner dressed like a scary witch..

I have never seen scenery so good not even at a Broadway play! It was truly creepy.... in fact it creeped QTQ3 out more then a little!

Grandma fussed over us all night, and while I said it was totally not necessary, it was SO GREAT! I have been more then a little stressed out lately so it was nice to de-stress for the evening.

When we finished trick-or-treating (about 40 minutes) we gave out candy. We all watched Hoodwinked and enjoyed the night.
_______________

I guess overall I have a pretty good life... I do have a lot of stress and the dog is a nut (or is it me and I just make her sound that way).

well bye for now!

Even the Dog is fussy

2007-11-08T13:10:00.000-05:00

Okay you know life hit a new low when not only do you spoon feed (and home cook for your dog) but she complains about the food too!

Biscuit has decided that the same food daily is not 'acceptable' I know her food tastes good (we eat it sometimes, fresh that is... okay so sometimes we steal her food out of the oven and serve it for dinner to ourselves and let her have what is left.. .. ... hey it is really good...

before you think we are 'sick' for eating the dog's food here is the recipe
.......

By the way you are welcome to try my recipe on your dog, or family, and let me know what they think… my dog often has to fight my family for dinner on days I make this… the family likes this with homemade biscuits and a little brown sugar on the squash)

LAQ’s Chicken Dinner

1 organic whole roasting chicken
Wash and remove innards (put innards in pot for gravy)
Stuff with
1 orange, cut in half and
1 gala, or Fiji apple

Mix together and coat then marinade chicken with
Dill about 1 tbs
Cinnamon (small pinch)
1 /2 cup Orange juice
1 /4 cup olive oil, extra virgin
Pinch allspice
Pinch cloves
Pinch chives minced
Parsley crushed/minced
NO SALT OR PEPPER (dill makes salt not needed, I NEVER cook with salt for my dog or my family)

Put on a rack in roasting pan with 1 cup orange juice and 1 cup water on bottom of pan. Add to the pan (around chicken) various veggies (carrots, acorn squash) and sweet, red or white potatoes cut in 1 /4s ..

Cover the potatoes and veggies with tin foil, leave the chicken uncovered to brown

Place in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes per pound (insure internal temp is 180). Marinade chicken AND potatoes/ veggies 20-30 minutes. When the chicken is brown cover it with tin foil

Remove chicken from the bone, throw out the skin and pull apart, cut veggies and potatoes to appropriate size for your dog (remove skin from squash and from potatoes as desired). Add some gravy and mix.

Gravy
Innards, chunks of veggies, spices as above, apple/orange as above (they need to match in flavor) 3 cups water, simmer till chicken is done. Add pan drippings (for dogs include oil for humans without the extra oils is best) boil till you have about 1 /2 cup liquid (really condensed for dogs, about 1 to 1.5 cups liquid for humans). For dogs don’t thicken (for humans go for the flour/butter mixture and thicken).

I have also boiled the chicken in a similar mixture and just discarded the skin, it was very yummy.

Yesterday she ate 2 bowls of my homemade chicken noodle soup (cold no soup) today she looked at me like I had two heads and she would rather die then eat it... I personally enjoyed it for lunch.

Well have to run to take QTQ3 to her college class and lab .. we get our tests back today... I will tell you about the horror of that later.

Test, Tests, Tests and a type A personality

2007-10-20T12:18:00.000-04:00

Tests, tests, tests……

One of the main reasons many people (us included) homeschool is to avoid standardized tests.

Why teach for months just to pass a test when you can teach to expertise and pass the test without limiting instruction. While this sound good is can limit the amount of tests a homeschooler takes. .. not so good sometimes...

While we do ‘tests’ they are friendly little things, verbal quizzes, vocabulary tests, spelling tests, math tests, timed multiplication tests (... the kid is finishing algebra II that is a hard test) all taken when we are ready to take them…. no cramming or taking them when you don’t feel ready.. except math (she never feels ready for them....always gets an A but never FEELS ready) .

The idea being that the test confirms that you know the subject as well as you think you do…and that I don’t have to live with days of stress from a type A 10 year old… who does not think 95% is acceptable.

So…. What happens when a 10 year old takes biology for majors at the community college? She
has to take tests... and hard ones at that!

Oopsss ... forgot about that….

Well QTQ3 (see her side of life on her blog http://www.qtq3.com/) has to take a biology tests, and turn in biology labs. For years she has been saying ‘you are to easy on me’ and ‘I only get A’s because you make stuff easy’... ...trust me I don’t…..

She got panicky ...(who doesn’t for their first big college test - only 3 tests during the semester are given)... she got cranky.... she got a bad case of "teenager 'tude".. and I GOT no sleep!

So from class Thursday till the test on Tuesday she reviewed the material, panicked, and studied, nothing new there....... she always works hard, she also played… outside … with the dog, … on the computer and had fun… even if she said she didn’t… she studied just as hard as she does for a math ‘test’

Well the day of the test came… she took it

… seemed okay …

even felt pretty good about it. I took it too and WOW was it hard.

It was all applied knowledge, no regurgitation of facts. I worried that she would not know some of the answers …. I worried that she would get upset and freeze… I worried that … well I worried…. (hey, I’m a mom that is what I do best)

Then the next day came the doubt… then on Thursday in class when the test was handed back…panic… “Mom, you look at the test and don’t tell me my grade till we get home tonight (she has lecture and lab on Thursday so it is a LONG day)…

I looked… WOW she got an A! Then the ‘curve’ came into play (it was a really hard test. By the time all was said and done she got a 99.9%!

All that and she drove me crazy for days! I even threatened to pull her out of the class!..

She is not happy because someone got a better grade then her! She still complains about that!

Notice I am not complaining about my pre-curve B or post-curve A- … I am just happy I pass the thing….

Well know she knows that I don “hand her As” she earns them… She got 1 of her labs back yesterday got 10/10 and is happy with that!

While I never told her college at 10 would be easy, I did know she could do it… maybe next time we can take basket weaving 101 (do the have that?)

Now on to her new worries ..... her nick name would not be Monk with out them.....

… the next test is only weeks away and a lab is due Thursday… She needs to read the next 2.5 chapters by Tuesday and finish the lab (which is 99% done already) … she NEEDS to work on her paper due in December for class… she needs to…. (you get the point….)

…. and I wonder why that bottle of wine in the fridge looks better and better every day..... (shh don't tell but sometimes I even have half a glass with dinner to relax… ... but don’t tell anyone…. It’s just between us… ... sometimes I even have half a glass, and take a really long shower with the door closed and her not in the room asking me questions the whole time... ahh, 30 minutes without her at my side... we really are together 24x7)

IF ONLY SHE FELT THIS WAY ABOUT CLEANING!... Oh, who am I kidding I hate cleaning too!

Puppy Love!

2007-09-16T21:32:00.000-04:00

Puppy Love!

Well we are well into our 3rd week of puppy ownership. Our ‘bundle of joy’ was born on May 24, 2007 and we picked her up just before labor day. She is a Hananese (a rare breed originating in Cuba). When she grows up she will be between 8-12 lbs, and have long hair. She is hypo-allergenic, good for all of us, and cute!

This is QTQ3’s first dog and it is going … well … interesting… the ‘germ-a-phob’ seems to be okay with being licked on (and sometimes in) the mouth by a dog who just licked their privates. On the other hand, picking the puppy up after ‘going’ is not an option… their privates could be wet…. Go figure…

Typical to being a homeschooler (we like to do things the hard way) we are not feeding Biscuit (the puppy in question) dog/puppy food that would be to easy. We are cooking for the dog. This required quite a bit of research on my part. Barker’s Grub was my favorite source for ‘dog/puppy nutrition’. I cross referenced this with numerous other resources for accuracy. So now on top of cooking for my family, making bread for QTQ3 (she is dairy allergic), and homeschooling, I am making puppy food… apparently I am nuts… and this proves it….

Biscuit is enjoying being fed organic meat (chicken, lamb and beef) with organic veggies, and fruit. She likes baby New Zealand lamb chops the best, followed by Porterhouse (medium rare)… while these were ‘leftovers’ … okay so I over bought so she could have some… I don’t want you to think we spoil the dog… really. Tonight I made her next batch of food (I make a week at a time and freeze it) and used the bones from the stake, and lamb to make a broth for the free range organic chicken cutlets, and stew meat. I added some apples, peaches, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, oatmeal, and rice along with some leftover Porterhouse from yesterday’s company. She sampled it and appears to like it. … I really need help … I need to remember this is a dog!

Who am I kidding this is my second child, she is sleeping at my feet right now! She is SO cute! The dog whisperer is going to hate me!

Just to make sure you understand that the entire family is nuts here is QTQ3 feeding the dog.

Yes she likes to be spoon fed… she has little teeth and hates to get her face dirty. … when the dog whisperer shows up here I am … so going to hide! Although he will be proud I do put her in a calm submissive when she gets nippy (I lay her down, say calm submissive and she relaxes… glad she trained me quickly).

We are ‘clicker training’ well we were till our clicker broke.. I think the dog ate it… so now we just say ‘good Biscuit’ instead of clicking and reward her with a little (yes little) piece of fresh mozzarella cheese… well I need to get QTQ3 to bed, we were doing Biology reviews today and I am beat… although now I do know what a photon is, what a polar covalent bond is, and my favorite… entropy (the constant state of my house!)

I would like to mention, that my nephew Christopher came over and it was so great to see him. He just started college at St. John’s and it is going to be great to get to know him (he previously lived out of state and I only had the chance to meet him a few times in his life). He played with QTQ3, the dog and generally had fun visiting. … hopefully you will read more about him over time.

I don’t know if Chris has a blog or not but if he does it will read something like this… at least I think it will….???

“I met my nutty Aunt today, and I mean nutty. She homeschools her kid, grows her own herbs and vegetables, eats organic, and get this her 10 year old goes to college. On top of that she sent me home with HERBS! I know I am in college, and I need to cook or eat what the cafeteria tries to pass as food, but homegrown, dried herbs? Do I look like a chef?

To tilt the ‘nutty meter’ to the max, she cooks for her dog and feeds it off a spoon. Luckily she is almost 2 hours away so I don’t have to worry about her too much… I hope”

Hey did you know that QTQ3 has her own blog? Go to http://www.qtq3.com/ to read her blog.

Well Biscuit is waking up, so I have to walk her. We are 'potty' training and I must say I have been trained very well I walk her every 2 hours, watch her like a hawk and so far so good... .. I think I just saw the dog whisperer come around the corner... I have to go hide now...

Biology is fun?

2007-09-11T11:26:00.000-04:00

Well we completed our first week of Inro to Biology (bio 164) at the local community college... yeah?

Now I know that everything I learned in Biology is wrong. There are no longer 5 kingdoms (like I even remember what they are..? ) now there is this HUGE tree of life and n-dimensional hyper volumes of 'echo overlaps' and 'echo niches'.

While you say 'who cares' and I say why am I doing this QTQ3 (aka Eva-Marie) is loving it.

Our lab was less then 'thrilling' a let down for the 10 year old college student. We simply talked about how to do an experiment and then got to 'track' pulse rates before and after stepping up and down a step for 3 minutes.. (I sat out due to the fact my lungs felt that air was optional at that point... allergy season...) Then we got to think about independent variables, dependent variables, and treatments ...(when I get it down 100% I will let you know)... ... are we having fun yet??? ...

This was all topped off by my QT having a sleep over on Friday night for her 10th birthday, and declaring Saturday afternoon that here head hurt. Followed by a Sunday of 'my throat hurts' and Monday morning of 'my ear hurts'.... she is now on medicine for a severe ear infection, and pink eye....

So as we get ready to go to college today, it's raining... the dog won't "go" outside... apparently it's too "icky" for my Havanese puppy to "do her thing" in the rain. Eva-Marie is tired, cranky, and sick.... me you ask? My ear hurts, my head hurts, and I hate rain.... but no one around here seems to care... My job is to get the puppy fed, walked, and tired. Feed and care for Eva-Marie, do her wash (sick or not, she MUST look good for college) and drive to and sit through Biology.

....

okay so maybe I am a little cranky today... and yesterday... and maybe even last week... hey I have been feeling like ... $%#%% for about 8 days! At least my voice is back, and I can breath... what's an ear ache among Moms?

Well off to college... maybe we will start homeschooling next week... I hope....

About time I posted....

2007-08-30T15:14:00.000-04:00

Wow summer is almost over and I have not blogged in a while....

I would say we have been busy but, honestly, we did nothing much... well no camps, vacations or anything.

What we did do was go Green

This took some doing, we used more paper towels, and napkins then the State of NY!

I just snapped one day….really really snapped!

I had just bought a big, mega pack of bounty paper towels and 3 days later we were out. … how could that be, I must say…’don’t use to many paper towels 100 times a day’ ..

I always remind everyone that trees are special and need to grow not be turned into paper… yet we are constantly buying paper towels and computer paper….

I looked at my precious family (both of them, Eva-Marie and her dad) and said that I would not buy another paper towel unless they agreed to ‘go green’.

They fussed, they pouted, they looked sad, and I said I ment it…. they shrugged and walked away saying ‘okay, fine by me you have to do the extra wash, and stuff’.

I WON! WE WERE GOING GREEN! .. I never won anything this easy... wow the power, the controll, the ... realization that I was in a room alone ... but I won...right?

Okay, so now what… I looked for napkins on line, in stores… oh, my they are expensive… eBay here I come (20 napkins, peach to match my plates) were just $4. A mixed set of 30 .. for sticky messy food, was $2.50… WE HAD NAPKINS.. well we had napkins on the way...

I wanted kitchen towels too, hmmm.. to the store I went .. and if you knew me you would know me GOING to the store is a big deal, I hate shopping –except on line, I shop online all the time...

I looked and looked and did not see what I wanted…. Then I saw it… towels with COFFEE on them… snatched those right up, came home and made a cup, in my single serving Kureg.. southern pecan if I remember correctly… this was going to work great!

Had another cup and thought about cleaning supplies, didn’t do much till around midnight (okay, 3 am) when I saw micro fiber cleaning cloths on a shopping channel… hey, nothing is on that time of night and I had just finished my book… went online, and ordered them (I don’t like to shop on the phone either).

We were all set… that was till food shopping day came and I realized that plastic and paper bags were off our list… back online. Researched companies that make string bags, hemp bags, canvas bags.. man they are expensive… ordered the string bags.

Found wrap-n-mats ..hmm Eva-Marie and I like to have picnics … now we did not need to use plastic wrap for our sandwiches… ordered them.

Found mesh produce bags, I could use them for the supermarket, as lunch bags, and SO much more… ordered them too, see I like shopping on line….

And we were green!

Marcial, my husband.. Eva-Marie’s dad.. my grown up child (yes he is all those things) did what he always does, deals with it… I will tell you about sprouting (another summer adventure, another day).

All this ‘Going Green’ made Eva-Marie realize that we need to do more and in a way people could afford it... so EcoGreen was born. .. and you wondered why I started selling Green Stuff…

EcoGreen is a endeavor of Eva-Marie and I, have you ever tried running a company with a 9 year old? … you can stop laughing now…. really you can…

We liked the products we were using here, so we started selling with them first…. That is AFTER we convinced her dad this was a good idea, hmm he did not just go with it this time, I had to actually convince him… … he is still not sold on it… but he gave in.

I did the research, sent emails to become wholesalers, figured out the finances, and she looked over my shoulder and told me what I did wrong… don’t you just love 9 year olds they know so much… and if not they just voice their thoughts anyway.

So between, running around to see family, growing sprouts (more on that later), and playing with friends, I started a business… lucky thing I don’t sleep.

The time has come to move EcoGreen off of homeschoolcomplete.com, it had to be done, and get a domain name of it’s own… not easy with a poetic 9 year old… ecogreen.com was taken (hmph the nerve of some large corporations) so we went with ShopEcoGreen.com

.. of course finding this name required some work… as all the really good ones I came up with were taken … yes I came up with Ecogreen.com… that’s it but it was good ..

Eva-Marie came up with ecogreenuniverse.com, echogreenearthsave, ecogreenworld, ecogreenclean, leavenofootprint.com, and many others

I came up with ecogreengogreen, ecogreen-shop, ecogreen-products, and gogreenecogreen … okay so I am not the best with names, Eva-Marie picked EcoGreen too!

I am not sure but most likely Eva-Marie came up with ShopEcoGreen.com so we just need to get a site, set it up, and move everything over… until then keep shopping here!

Well the new puppy is eating my carpet so I need to go. Oh, yeah we got a puppy last week …

Opps forgot to say we loaded a bunch of stuff to cafepress.com for sale..

the stuff is homeschool and green related. In case you don’t know cafepress has bumperstickers, t-shirts, hats, teddy bears, etc with various sayings on them. You can see and buy them at www.cafepress.com/ecogreen

I took at the photos myself, and the flowers were all in our garden… guess we have been busy this summer.

QTQ3s second news paper article

2007-08-07T16:31:00.000-04:00

QTQ3s second news paper article came out, and I missed it! ... bad mommy :(

My neighbor, who I share a driveway with but only see a few times a year, stopped her to say he liked it... I got the look -- as it was MY job to check the paper weekly...

Then the realization that I just threw all the newspapers out hit! NOW WHAT? Thinking quickly I asked my neighbor if he still had it... he did!

He sent his wife right over with it, and his daughter too, so the kids could play... defusing what was sure to be a MASSIVE EXPLOSION!

Lake George’s Dam, Draining, and Dredging
By QTQ3

Where’s the water? Schooley’s Mountain Park’s Lake George, otherwise known as the duck pond, has been drained. A few years ago when many dams broke and caused floods, New Jersey officials inspected dams throughout the state. Engineers found Lake George’s dam was weak. The county finally decided to repair the dam, and in order to fix the dam, Lake George was drained.

In April, Lake George and the Silt Pond, a small neighboring pond, were emptied. Officials and citizens have said it is “needed” and “a great opportunity to improve Lake George”.
People feel the project is needed because the dam will be stronger when it is repaired, preventing floods. This is a great opportunity because they have removing the polluted water, and may use local plants to strengthen the sides of Lake George. Mike Wilson, project manager and horticulture specialist for Morris County, hopes they will plant flowers and herbs native to New Jersey by the lakeshore. The project should be over soon, so now is the time to go to the “duck pond” if you want to see this spectacular sight.

The bottom of Lake George has been dredged. Dredging is a process where machines cut deeper into the lake’s floor, removing mud and fecal chloroform (duck and goose waste). Dredging the lake will make it deeper and cleaner.

Silt Pond feeds into Lake George. It is filled by local brooks and underground springs. Two pumps are currently keeping Silt Pond from refilling Lake George. The water is being pumped through rubber hoses, to Lake George’s waterfall bypassing the lake.

The ducks and geese, which called Lake George their home, flew away. When the pond was halfway drained, crews checked fish to make sure they were natural to the area. The native fish were transported to Budd Lake. Fish that were not indigenous to the area were killed to protect the ecosystem. Many of the fish killed were goldfish. The DEP will restock the lake with local fish when the pond is refilled.

Once the lake is refilled, paddle boating and fishing will resume. Feeding the ducks is discouraged, as they will take over Lake George and cause the fecal chloroform (duck and goose waste) to pollute the water again.

Rochelle Contracting Company has been hired to do the project. Many people (several crews) have worked on Lake George. According to Arthur Vitale, Morris County Park Commission’s Assistant Director of Engineering , the project will cost $1,018,215.

I feel this is needed and a great opportunity to improve the park. As a kid 1 million dollars seems like a pretty penny to ‘pooper scooper’ some ducks. I know it is needed and I look forward to visiting the park, with a cleaner pond and safe dam but seeing the lake empty was an experience of a lifetime. While I would not recommend it (and it is probably not allowed), some kids have trekked across the muddy floor of Lake George. If you want to see an empty lake, an opportunity of a lifetime, go to Schooley’s Mountain Park soon.

NY Latino Film Festival here we come!

2007-07-12T16:21:00.000-04:00

Papi Goes to the NY International Latin Film Festival!

Eva-Marie enjoys working in 'theater' as well as perusing her academic 'career'. This has brought us to many strange places -- well strange for me .. the stay at home on my computer type person that I am. You can see some of them on her youtube page http://www.youtube.com/karma9797 .

She has dragged me to Bryant Park during fashion week -- totally crazy ... paparazzi really are nuts!

She has dragged me to the set of a Music Video for the Indie group Calexico (cruel is the name of the song)-- that was fun, the guys were so nice and she really enjoyed it.

She even dragged me to a live TV set, she and her choral group sang 'The 12 Dogs of Christmas" live on Fox and Friends.

And she continues to drag me to her voice over jobs...she even managed to get me a job editing and re-writing scripts...okay so that was nice of her... and Tom (the guy who she works for)... he arranged the job for me......

Well about a year and half ago she has dragged me toConey Island to make a 'short' (a movie that is less then 20 minutes).

The original black and white film went to the Toronto 1 minute movie festival, and onto some other small festivals. ..... Now it will be in the HBO/New York International Latin Film Festival 'On the Edge' (NYILFF On the Edge). She loved making the film, and keeps asking when she can do another one... like we have time with everything else she is involved in!...but of course, if one came up she would do it!

She did this film with some WONDERFUL people, and she can't wait to go to see it on the 'big screen' ... apparently our 61" TV is not big enough (and I don't even like TV). So we are planning our 'premiere moment', and getting ready to go to our first film festival.

So while she is working hard at writing for the newspaper, taking a college class, finishing up our year of homeschooling, and planning a graduation party ...oopps I forgot about the graduation party till now... we are adding going to a film festival.

I am proud that none of this goes to her head..... okay so I remind her that she is just like everyone else, and everyone has a cool life.... well maybe everyone but me...I am just the chuffer. ... .... I love my job... I get to spend time with my child, and share her dreams every day....

2007-07-08T16:24:00.000-04:00

Her Newspaper Article Hits the Stands

She submitted her newspaper article on Tuesday and it hit the stand on Thursday. Here it is hot off the press:

The Most Memorable and Charming Rooms of the Franklin Institute

By QTQ3

One of the best trips in a lifetime occurs at the Franklin Institute. Recently, long term attractions at the Institute have been outshone by KingTutankhamen. People visit just to see Tut, when there are other remarkable rooms as well. Visitors should view everything.King Tut is an awesome exhibit. There is a wing dedicated to the artifacts of King Tut and many other Pharos. One of the most amazing things was a chair Tut sat in as a boy. It looked modern, a wooden latter back with a straw woven seat. A set of artifacts that was spectacular were the large jeweled collars. Their jewelry and makeup cases were huge. A pot used for eyeliner was about 2 times the size of this paragraph! King Tut and the Egyptians were a remarkable advanced civilization. I recommend reading background information on King Tut and the Egyptian culture prior to your visit.There are many different science themed rooms in the Institute. A room dedicated to Isaac Newton, called Sir Isaac's Loft, is all about physics. In Giant Heart, a chamber which is dedicated to anatomy, there is a life-sized beating heart that people can walk through. The Train Factory is dedicated to movement and, of course, trains. The Franklin Institute is one of the North Eastern U.S.'s best hands-on science museum.Sir Isaac's Loft is a remarkable room dedicated to physics. In one experience, a wrecking ball in a small Plexiglas chamber approximately 5feet long and 2 feet wide swings dangerously close to visitor-victim's nose, which is inside a triangular hole. Visitors experiment moving a long, couple hundred-pound, bar that has 4 ropes attached in various places from the axle to the edge. In yet another activity, people sit in chairs with ropes connected to a pulley and pull themselves up a shaft. Sir Isaac's Loft is a great way for a physics student, or any other person, to understand physics.Giant Heart, a room with an anatomical theme, is positively pleasurable. There are different animal brains on a spiraling metal pole in one exhibit. An artery-tunnel playground adds to the fun. My favorite exhibit, best of all, is a giant heart in which visitors climb through "arteries" and "heart chambers", up staircases to thumping noises and a light show of white blood cells in one corridor. Approximately 5 minutes later, descend down an exit staircase and back into Giant Heart. A short video of an open-heart surgery is to the left, on in a mannequin's chest, making it look like a real surgery. Want to eat healthy? Glass cubbies show all different foods, and when visitors press buttons below the cubbies, a video on the opposing wall tells how it really is with the selected food. Giant Heart is a magnificent room.Next to the planetarium rests the Train Factory, a room dedicated to movement and trains. There are 2 life-sized steam engines looming in the Factory. On a foot-long track, launch wheels and see which one stays on the track. The one balanced is what real trains use. Take a short ride on a big steam-engine that the Institute bought for a dollar. One lucky kid is picked to operate the brakes on the train, while others stand on bolted metal floors. They watch as the entrance ramp rolls away and the exit ramp comes into view. The guide gives an informatory speech about trains and unlocks chains on doorway, used so nobody falls off. Then people step off the train onto a metal ramp with a few exhibits. The train factory is absolutely special in its own way.The Franklin Institute has many other rooms, such as the "Sports Challenge", but of the long-term rooms, these are the most memorable. For kids 4-11, $11 is a small fee to pay for a day of fun and learning. I stayed for 2 days in Philadelphia to visit the Institute. On the first day, a few hours were devoted to King Tutankhamen, on the second, another few hours where devoted to 5 other rooms. I did not cover all of the rooms, attractions (such as the sky bike) or theaters (Imax). There are 6 things I was unable to see at the Institute. I would recommend 2 long days to see everything. Seeing the Institute is a journey to many scientific extents.

Back to Normal?

2007-06-06T16:29:00.000-04:00

Back to “Normal”

We just finished ‘dance recital/show’ weekend. The all encompassing weekend dedicated to all things dance. Eva-Marie’s dance school does a ‘show’ that lasts for hours. While I usually like these shows, this years lacked ‘logic’ – I had no idea what was going on!

After watching the show twice on Saturday, and preparing for two more shows on Sunday I was almost giddy when Eva-Marie announced she did not feel well. I was disappointed I would miss her dance, I was relived to miss the ‘show’.

The question became would she be able to go to her class at the Community College on Monday. After having her Critical Reading class canceled last week, due to a death in the professor’s family, getting to class on Monday was imperative.

Summer classes at the Community College are so compacted that missing class is ‘ill-advised’ normal, missing after class was canceled for a week…. not a good idea. … missing class after class was canceled for a week AND being your first college class ever AND being 9 … definitely not a good idea.

Monday morning came, and I waited to see how she felt…. She woke up, vibrant , happy and eager to attend class! I on the other-hand felt like I was hit in the head by a bus… but that’s okay .. Sudafed is a great thing!

She went to class, came home and edited her article for this weeks paper. She emailed it in, and was informed hours later that it would again be run… 2 for 2 ! I will post it Thursday.

Math went smoothly, although she found adding polynomial fractions “booooorrrringggg”. History of the High Middle Ages would wait for another day. She wanted a break and had a TON of homework from her Critical Reading class.

Tuesday was a reflection of Monday -- at least in my ‘Sudafed state of mind’. I did feel like I could start updating my records and figure out what classes I would give her high school credit for…. It is that time of year I guess… or else the Sudafed sufficiently ‘fogged me out’ that I could do it without caring.

Today I broke out the ‘summer work’… and the perplexes were immediately grabbed and completed. The biology review book (prepping for her Bio 145 class at the Community College in the fall) was eagerly started. The Art of Problem solving (algebra 1) was not well received upon… how can someone so gifted in math hate it so much?

She asked one of her new ‘college’ friends to lunch, and she said yes!

She was invited to the summer picnic at the Community College by the student body president… he even asked her if she wanted to attend the student council meeting.
While I am still in a ‘Sudafed fog’.. I think this just might be a good day…. It may even be a day without conflict…..I can always hope!

Life of a 9 year old: College Student and a Bucket of Water

2007-05-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

Life of a 9 year old: College Student and a Bucket of Water

Well the first week came and went. The first day was great socially! She fit in, found a friend and enjoyed class. The girl that sat next to her is sweet and kind, the other kids treated her like she was one of them. Not one person made her feel out of place, who says teenagers/young adults are not nice.

Her class is Critical Reading in the 21st Century. She was overwhelmed with the topic of the day: Marketing to today's youth. We don't really watch much TV, or read traditional magazines so most of this was over her head. She wanted to run away (so did I, it was a very confusing essay that they read). The author must has wanted to show the world he had a good vocabulary and used every obscure word he could find, and mixed it with marketing terminology. She pulled through, read the next 2 essays before class (just in case) and went to class for day 2.

The topic before the class started was "That was the hardest essay to understand ever!". She felt better knowing, no one got it (apparently me not getting it just did not count). She hung out with the kids during brake, and chatted with them before class. The essays they read were still in marketing, but after the indoctrination the day before she understood them. The rest of the week flew by.

She learned how to used the library's online search engine, and laughed off the IT directors comment when he said "I just stopped in to meet the prodigy". She said it was nice that he thought she was a prodigy, but she was more then that and it would have been nice if he would have stopped in to meet ALL the new students.

While she is all business at college, and school time, she enjoyed her 3 day weekend like a 9 year old. She played on the jungle gym in our yard, rode her bike and played in the hose. When the hose got boring she got out a bucket and played with that. When the bucket got to small she pulled out her old baby bath tub and played in that. When that got to small ... I got her a 'baby pool' and she played in that. She took the baby bath, put it in the baby pool and pretended to be George Washington Crossing the Delaware, then every other famous person who crossed a river. She enjoyed the warm sun, water and days off.

OKAY so we did some High Middle Ages from the Teaching Company.. they professor is funny and we like him... we still laugh at glaciers crushing villages and the occasional slow footed villager.... we enjoyed his joke about some monks not wearing underwear, as was seen on any particularly windy day.... somehow this very serious professor slipping in these one-liners in the middle of a lecture on the high middle ages strikes us as funny... I never said I had a particularly fascinating life!

We may have even snuck some "White Fang" reading in and compared it to our cultural anthropology lesson on the development of society. ... you know how given the right situation any of us can revert to barbarians, and that there is a fine line between what is barbarian and civilized. A dog will become wolf like if it's life depends on it and a person will become a 'barbarian' if their life depends on it. It was interesting to see her think about herself as a different person if she was born in a different life.

If she was born in Kansas who would she be: a farmer, use the internet for information, she would wear jeans and sneakers more often and not be afraid of bugs.
If she was born in a poor inner-city who would she be: just another kid, a face in a classroom staring out the window, probably fail out because she was board, day dream of a way out, may or may not fight her way out.
If she was born in an upper-class NYC neighborhood who would she be: VERY HAPPY!, who she is now, ... she got stuck on this one...I think she was day dreaming of a life she longs for..
Who she is: An upper-middle-class suburban-rual living person who goes to NYC often, she likes skirts, dressing funky but pretty, and enjoys being pampered, she does her nails all the time, her hair is long and curly, and she has never been stopped by her multi-ethnic background, she is glad she is who she is....

I like books! They make her think, me too! I wonder who I would be if I lived a different life.... .... Honestly, if changing anything in my life (no matter how bad) I wouldn't for fear that she would not be in my life... I enjoy being her mom... .... even if it does mean she never sleeps, and gets cranky.

All 9 year olds Need a Job Mom!

2007-05-16T16:48:00.000-04:00

A Summer Job

My daughter has decided that she wants a summer job.

Apparently being 9, taking her first college class, swim lessons, doing voiceovers, and homeschooling are not enough to keep her challenged.

She took quite a few business books out of the library, searching for a job a 9 year old can have. She researched various ideas, and discussed why they would not work

…we live in the middle of the woods so a lemonade stand was out… the deer and bears don’t need lemonade.

… I don’t do mornings, so newspaper delivery was out…. Hmmm I thought this was her job?

….I offered to let her clean the house for $10 a week… she laughed… wonder why?

….then she was quite…. too quite…..for quite sometime……hmmmm

…she asked for an envelope, and stamp without saying why… not an accepted practice in our house… while I like her writing, I do like to know who she is writing to. I played along for a few minutes, then asked who she was writing to….

… her reply required her to make me a cup of coffee… hmmm feeding the hyper-mom coffee is usually a form of a bribe…

…then she asked me to sit down…. (she’s nine, how bad could it be?)……

. … I sat…. and said a few Hail Marys (and I am not even Catholic, problem is Lutherans don’t have that fall back prayer and I just could not think of anything except…help!)

………then she started speaking…..

“Mom, I have been thinking about this. I know you have written several articles on early childhood development and education. I know you have even had a few published in the paper. I think it is time for me to have my turn writing for the town paper, if you don’t mind.”

…. (thank you God!)… okay so maybe I was not totally off the hook, she competes with me on everything… and usually wins…. and writing for the paper was a good goal ….. getting published that could be hard…..hmmmm

… then she handed me the letter she wrote… it was good….. but would they go for it?

Dear Observer Tribune,

I am a nine-year-old girl who would love to write for your newspaper on a short-term basis,
such as over the summer. I am submitting an article for your consideration.

I am homeschooled, and just completed a high-school
level writing course in which a 5 is a perfect score, with a GPA of 4.88.

I could write articles about good preteen/teen news instead of bad [news].

If you included a sprinkling of good news for kids, it would be different from competing
news companies and more people will buy the Observer Tribune because it will motivate
preteen/teens to read your paper.

There is too much sadness in the world, and a newspaper should carry happy news, too.
I would be pleased to write and put some happiness for kids in your news.

Regards,

……… I told her I liked her letter but that she should email the local editor (I knew that is how he preferred to be contacted)…

….and after some discussion we did … nothing is ever easy around here…

…. now the hard part waiting… while the local editor gets back to me within 12 hours or so I have heard some people complain he never emails them back at all ………

……about 5 minutes after sending the email my computer announced I had mail… it was from the editor… he wanted her to call to discuss her column….

……column? Did he actually write column? …..

…. she called him back, introduced herself, and then handed me the phone… he confirmed this was okay with me….(obviously a good Dad)… and told me he looked forward to her column…

. ……she could write about things she and her friends talk about, tv shows, news anything… he loved the idea….

…. well once again I am happy for her… and sit and wait to see if he publishes my article on Strawberry Quick ……

……… if she ever wonders why I hate it when they compete with me …. the truth is … she usually outshines me by a mile….. (actually I am okay with this… after all she is the one who got me my job re-writing children’s TV scripts)

Moving up / Graduation, a new way to look at it.

2007-05-10T16:45:00.000-04:00

Moving up / Graduation, a new way to look at it.

Every year we celebrate the end on one school year and the beginning of another with a moving up ceremony.

Our family always attends, we are a small group (5 including grandparents, parents, and child) who share every part of life we can together.

We decorate the house with school work from the previous year.
We display science projects and photos, social studies timelines reports and projects, math books, English papers, and of course art work.

My daughter prepares a brief speech giving an overview of her work for the last year.

She includes enjoyable memories, and things she would like to do in the up coming year.

We always finish off the ceremony with food, and lots of it. We talk and laugh about the year we have also shared together.

While this is a ceremony for my daughter, it is also a celebration for us.

We have managed to get through another year, and we have each other. This year my daughter will be graduating from 8th grade.

While I am over whelmed with the prospect of her officially being a High School student, she has been doing High School work since January of this year.

She will be taking her first class at our local community college in June. I know it is time to let her graduate from middle school and embark on her High School years.

We are going all out and getting her a cap and gown. I have her diploma ready. She is already planning on what school work to show. She is preparing her speech in her head, and dreaming of the future. She is excited about becoming a High School student!

My heart is heavy with the knowledge that she is growing up, and in a few short years she will be going off to college. We will celebrate with joy the wonderful year we have had, but I know the adults will all have a heavy heart.