Cindy Jae at the Zoo

Cindy Jae is finally starting to mature and settle down.

A bit.

We had a long group training session on Saturday and we confirmed that she is the most high-energy, stubborn puppy among them. BUT she also did much better than I expected. By the end, she was down-right compliant - listening and following commands with just a reminder or two. So I decided that more long training days were in order.

To that end, I checked the weather and found it was supposed to be a cloudy and cool kind of morning, but the warmest day this week. Which is perfect weather to enjoy an outside adventure without having to fight crowds, so off to the zoo we went - L, Cindy Jae, and I. After all, where can you encounter so many different sights, sounds, and smells in one place that's fun to visit?

The zoo people let us in without trouble and we went off in search of the new baby koala. Cindy Jae got lots of attention, but mostly from zoo personnel since there weren't many visitors and they were kind enough to stay back.

We went to the reptile house and aquarium where there were lots of different floor surfaces and temperatures in addition to all the sounds, sights, and smellss. Cindy Jae did very well, even when I had her sit-stay and went to the end of the leash to take her picture in front of the big tank.

We rode the tram across the river to the botanical garden. L loves riding the tram.

Whereas Cindy Jae was a bit more cautious.

Even in February, there were some beautiful flowers blooming in the gardens.

And look! Another sit-stay!

Back at the zoo, we visited with the flamingos. I was so proud of her for not barking or carrying on at any of the animals. I mean, she's not *supposed* to bark or carry on, but you never know with a high-strung puppy.

Just before we left, Cindy Jae had settled in so well that we decided to do one more photo op near a family of lion statues by the entrance. And we had another successful sit-stay!

And another!

And then we got really ambitious. This was the moment I was proudest of my little Cindy Jae. She did the much hated down-stay! And she stayed! Down! In front of a huge lion statue! While I went to the end of the leash to take pictures!

Now that's what I call a highly successful day!

February can go away now

At the end of January, I got sick.

Diagnosis: Sinus infection.

1 round of augmentin. I feel better.

10 days later, augmentin is gone and the sick is back. Worse. Much worse.

4 pills of biaxin later, I decide that the horrendous allergy outbreak is due to the antibiotic and so I stop it. The sick and the hives both die down.

Then the sick is back. Even worse.

It took until almost 11 today to feel okay enough to drag myself out of bed and to the doctor.

I love this doctor. He gave me three prescriptions, including the strongest antibiotic on the market, and a steroid shot.

I have officially rejoined the land of the living. Praise. the. Lord. Because life doesn't stop even when mommy's sick.

Since starting the meds at lunchtime, I have taken the little one shopping for some warm weather clothing, let the dog and the little one play outside in the beautiful warm sunshine, swept, mopped, did lots of laundry, took the little one to dance, played catch with the big one, took them both to dinner, then took the big one to softball evaluations (so they can set the teams evenly) and took the dog with us, came home to more laundry, and now I can finally sit and rest. Tomorrow is housecleaning and and planning to have our new pastor and his family over for lunch after church Sunday. Saturday is a pancake breakfast, a puppy training session, and maybe gumbo at a friend's house.

Next week is getting ready for a trip down to Florida for the guide dog school's annual fundraiser. It's a big walkathon and there will be lots to see and do. We get to tour the school where Cindy Jae is from and where she will go for her training. We get to play with the puppies that are there. We can even do a blindfold walk with a fully trained guide dog. It'll be so good to see what Cindy Jae will be able to do if she succeeds. A bit of motivation to keep things in perspective the next time she wakes me up at 4:30am because she puked in her crate.

AND we'll get to see my aunt who lives in FL.

All I can say is this medicine had better work!

Things that are making me happy

1. Lemon Lavender candle from The Yankee Candle Co. - Because the dog spent Sunday morning puking. Lots of it. Until she finally heaved up a 10" piece of rope that had mysteriously gone missing a couple of weeks ago. After all that, I needed something to lift my spirits (and mask the various unpleasant smells) and the candle performed beautifully.

BTW, all 3 missing pieces of rope are now accounted for and I am amazed at the power of the labrador physiology. After all, could *you* send two pieces of rope - one an astounding 10" long - completely through *your* digestive and excretory systems? I didn't THINK so!

And yes, Mr. at Home bought for me the largest Lemon Lavender candle they sell. I love my wonderful husband!

2. The Miss Julia books by Ann B. Ross. - Because they are well-written, lighthearted, and make me laugh because I can just hear some of the older women I've known saying exactly the phrases that come out of Miss Julia's mouth. Whether or not you know what "step-ins" are, you would love these books.

3. My library card - Because after carrying a large fine for a long time (forgot about a couple of movies), I finally "got it out of hock" and can use it again. I've got 3 books checked out and 3 more waiting for me. My evenings are booked for the foreseeable future.

(Get it? booked? Cause I'll be reading books? I crack myself up.)

4. A new couch - Because Mr. at Home has "been cured of buying cheap futons" as he said and we actually found a couch we could both agree on. That was in our price range (because it was the deeply discounted floor sample). That is now sitting in our loft. It has the chaise end I wanted and the dissassembles-into-small-pieces-that-can-be-easily-carried-upstairs factor that Mr. at Home insisted on. Heck, he brought it home in our minivan. It is very comfy and we really like it.

5. The Olympics start Friday!! - Because I love to watch the winter games. We got Cool Runnings to tide us over until the real action starts and I think it's now K's favorite movie.

For the next 4 weeks, I'm going to be parked on that new couch with a book or the remote flipping between Olympic events while bathed in the scent of lemon lavender. Yep, it's a hard life I lead, but you're welcome to come join me anytime.

It snowed!

Well, it's white anyway. I think it's mostly sleet, but it looks pretty.

My parents came into town for a visit and arrived on Friday, just ahead of the impending "TRIPLE THREAT!!" We picked up K from school (which she still loves by the way) and headed over to Wal-Mart to join the masses picking up essentials for the "TRIPLE THREAT!!" Essentials like redbox movies and red velvet cake mix and cinnamon rolls and that new bar thing that goes in the dryer in lieu of dryer sheets (it seems to work well). We stood in a really long line and headed home to hunker down for a couple of days because of the "TRIPLE THREAT!!".

I think the "TRIPLE THREAT!!" referred to snow, sleet, and freezing rain. I could be wrong.

Friday afternoon, the frozen stuff started falling from the sky. By the time I took Cindy Jae out for her last walk, the world was glittery white and the dog was so. very. excited. It took me awhile to make her remember that we were out there for one specific reason and could she please get it over with so I could go to bed?

Saturday morning, the white was even thicker. The girls bundled up and they went out with Grandma to play in the icy snow. I grabbed the good camera and the dog and we went out to get some pictures.

I started playing with the color and lighting effects on the photos.

I love this shot of Grandma.

L was a difficult subject as she didn't stand still long enough to get a good shot.

I got an excellent shot of K.

We didn't stay out too long, choosing instead to spend most of our day like this.

Games, snacks, movies, and reading all with the comfort of warm blankets and hot tea. That's my idea of how to spend a snow day.

Lessons from Public School

Many people have asked how K's transition to public school has been going.

My answer? Very well indeed.

K is fitting in nicely with her new class. She's learning to play the recorder and draw cartoon people. She's found one really good friend, done some group projects, and impressed her teacher. She makes her own lunch and lays out her clothes the night before. She sets her own alarm and gets herself up and ready in the morning. She takes pride in her work and in her class t-shirt that she made sure she had in time for this week's class picture.

There are three important lessons she's learned since starting public school that are very important and more difficult to learn any other way.

1. Not everyone looks the same. Homeschooling tends to be a bit...homogeneous. There are a few "families of color" in the groups and activities we did, but they were the exception. After her first day, K said that she didn't realize there were so many kids "with dark skin". In her school, only about 17% of the kids are white. School has been a cultural experience for her, but she hasn't made any color distinctions since that first eye-opening day. It's a good thing for her.

2. You can't make exceptions when you're dealing with large groups, even when it isn't fair. K's school is big on "AR" (Advanced Reading). It's a program where books are rated according to reading level and you can take short tests about them for credit. The AR tests are taken on the computer and it took K over a week to get her login from the district so she could go online and take the tests. This was a problem because each student has a goal to get so many points from AR tests and the students who didn't reach their goal had "silent lunch" and "silent recess" until they reached their goal (Never fear, they still met the NC requirement for daily physical activity by walking as they read). Even though K couldn't take any AR tests because she had no login, she still got silent lunch and recess. It wasn't fair, but it was easier to make every student abide by the rule regardless of circumstances. It didn't hurt her; it motivated her, so that when she did get a login, she broke a school record by meeting her goal (and then some) in 24 hours.

3. A few bad apples can ruin things for everyone. Even if just a couple of kids are misbehaving, the whole class will lose privileges. You can be doing everything right. You can be the best, the brightest, the smartest, the quietest, the most obedient, the most helpful. And you can still get stuck writing a paper about why your class lost so many points in music class because the others wouldn't stop talking. All you can do is take responsibility for your own behavior. And feel smugly superior that at least it wasn't *you* who made the whole class get in trouble :-)

All three are important life lessons.

Life isn't fair and the sooner you learn that, the easier your life will be. You have to learn to function in groups and you have to learn that you don't always have control over what happens even if it affects you.

Chai Tea Kludge

I am not a coffee drinker.

Growing up next door to my British great-aunt hooked me on hot tea for life. (Growing up in the South hooked me on iced tea, too, but that's another story.)

When Starbucks came around, I wasn't too terribly interested until I found myself in one with a friend and ordered the chai tea latte. I swore they must have put some illegal drugs in that thing because I *craved* it in the following days. Since then it's a favorite thing to go with a book or a friend and a Scrabble board and find a comfy chair and wile the evening away with my two favorite things - chai tea latte and words.

There are other places that serve even better chai tea than Starbucks - Panera, the cafe at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, TX, and Caravan Coffee in Belmont, NC. The chai tea at Caravan Coffee is *amazing*. It's creamy, sweet, and just the right spices. I'd be in serious trouble if it were not inconveniently far away.

Of course, frequenting coffee bars for chai tea lattes adds up. Fast. So when my mom introduced me to a mix I could make at home that tasted fantastic, I was thrilled! And so was my pocketbook!

So I made it and drank it. And shared the recipe. And enjoyed it. And loved it.

But when the weather turned cold and I made up a new batch, I realized something. My allergies started acting up. I was getting more hives. And the only thing I had changed was the chai tea mix. So I checked the ingredients and there didn't seem to be anything "bad" in it. I did a little more online research and discovered that "instant iced tea mix" is not tea at all. And one of the main ingredients that is not listed on the label is caramel color.

I am terribly allergic to caramel color.

It made me sad.

But then I came up with a crazy idea. What if I made the Spiced Chai Mix without the tea? Then I could just brew some plain old black tea and add the mix to that. Today I tried it. And the result was perfect.

So here's the recipe for my chai mix. You can put in the "instant tea" or you can leave it out and have real tea.

Spiced Chai Mix

3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
*1 cup unsweetened instant tea
3/4 cup vanilla powdered nondairy creamer
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

In a food processor, combine all dry ingredients; cover and process until powdery. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 6 months.

To serve: Dissolve 3 tbsp. of mix in 3/4 cup boiling water; stir well. Top with whipped cream if desired.

*You can leave out the instant tea, then prepare as directed. To serve, brew mug of black tea, then add 3 tbsp of mix; stir well. Top with whipped cream as desired.

What I did today

I set my alarm. For 6. Not that it mattered. Between the hives and the stress (which no doubt exacerbated the hives), I don't think I slept at all.

At 6:15, I dug myself out of my warm cocoon and got dressed. With make-up, even.

At 6:30, I climbed the stairs and flipped on the light in K's room seconds before her alarm went off. She had laid her clothes out the night before.

At 6:50, K and I grabbed some breakfast to go, bundled into our coats, then jumped in the car. We drove across the neighborhood...

...to the local elementary school.

Yep. After 4 and a half years at home, K is off to school.

She wanted to go. She's been asking, she was getting a bit bored here at home, it's difficult to tailor our experiences to two different ages and interests, I was having to focus so much time on K's schoolwork that L was doing too much on her own, having everyone here all day every day was overwhelming, I'm just too lazy to deal with everything, and it just seemed like the right time.

Don't get me wrong. I don't feel at all like I "failed" at homeschooling. I hesitated to say anything earlier because I was afraid how other people would react. There are the die-hard homeschoolers who will be horrified that I would send my precious angel into that cesspool of sin known as public school. There are the die-hard anti-homeschoolers who will say, "I told you so!" I've sat and listened as group of women told one overwhelmed young mother that if she would just send her children to public school like "normal people", all her problems would vanish. Neither of those stances are accurate or good for anyone.

Homeschooling is simply one more educational option. K and L have both done very well with homeschool. I am constantly being told how smart they are and what great kids they are. It's obviously worked well for them. I just think it's time to let K have the school experience she wants and I don't think public school will ruin her.

For now, K is off to school and L is continuing her program here at home. L is very smart, but she has some immaturity issues with focus and self-control that would make it a very difficult situation in a classroom. I'm hoping that not having to constantly compete with her sister for attention will help her to mature a little bit.

Our first day went very well. K is enrolled and had a full day of reading, writing, and more reading. L got started with her school early and was done long before lunch and I got to give her some extra attention. The dog went to the vet, the laundry is almost done, I finished putting together all of K's grades so I could take her report cards back to the school, tracked down a few things that needed to be done - it's amazing what you can accomplish when you get up and start your day early.