I am Back

Hello all.  It has been quite a while since I last posted.  I have decided to reboot this blog.  A lot has changed since I began the blog in 2009 . . .

• In  January 2009 I had just started being the stay at home home schooling Dad , the semester before.  
• My Wife was working full time and I was not employed at all.
• We had 3 children ranging in age from 3 to 9  they were all home schooled

My homeschooling the children was supposed to be a 2-3 year thing and tan longer than that.  I worked some summers starting in 2010 and worked full time in 2012 for 6 months and homeschooled the kids full time as well.

In the Summer of 2013 I landed a full time job and we enrolled our youngest 2 children in public school so we could both work full time for 1 year.

In that year, we paid off nearly 15,000 in debt and once we became debt free (except for our mortgage) my wife went from full time to part time at work allowing  her  to begin home schooling all 3 kids again come the Fall. I now work Saturdays so I teach on Mondays which is our co-op day.   

Our kids will turn 9, 13 and 15 during the Fall Semester.

So, I have decided to come back to this blog in a limited capacity.  I will now take up the more traditional role of principal  of the Izola Becker Homeschool.  So, the blog will have a different feel, then it did in it's first carnation.  For instance, I used to have to cut these posts short because I had to teach in the morning. Now, it's because I have to go to work.

To go back to the Carnival of Homeschooling click here.

Next Episode: The Next Generation of Roller Family Bloggers 

My Hall of Fame Voting

I have not written on this blog for about 18 months.  Tomorrow the results of the  Baseball hall of fame voting for the class of 2014 come out.  Each voter can vote for up to 10 players.  I am not a member of that association but each year I pretend to be and say who I would vote for If I had 10 votes 9 votes and down until we get to one,  I also say what my actual ballot would look like.

This year there are 36 names on the ballot 19 for the first time,   any of these players  who get 75% of the vote or more we'll be elected into the hall of fame.  Any players who get less than 5% of he vote will be removed from next years ballot.  Anyone who gets between 5% and 75% will return 5 % the ballot until they a) receive 75 % or more of the vote, b) receive less than 5% of the vote or c) go 15 years on the ballot without being voted in.  This year Jack Morris is on the ballot for the 15th year.  From 2007 to 2013 his % of vote has increased each year.  Last year he received.67.7 % of the vote 2nd only to Craig Biggio in his first year on the ballot.  He received 68.2% of the vote last year.  Joining Morris on the ballot for the third time or more are:

Don Mattingly 14th year on ballot 13.2%  in 2013 highest %  28.2 in 2001 (1st year)

Alan Trammell 13th year on ballot 33.6% in 2013 highest % 36.8 in 2012 (11th year)

Lee Smith 12th year on ballot 47.8% in 2013 highest % 50.6 in 2012 (10th year)

Mark McGwire 8th year on ballot 16.9% in 2013 highest % 23.7 in 2010 (4th year)

Tim Raines 7th year on ballot 52.2% in 2013 is highest %

Edgar Martinez 5th year on ballot 35.9% in 2013 highest % 36.5 in 2012 (3rd year)

Fred McGriff 5th year on ballot 20.7% in 2013 highest % 23.9 in 2012 (3rd year)

Jeff Bagwell 4th year on ballot 59.6% in 2013 is highest %

Larry Walker 4th year on ballot 21.6% in 2013 highest % 22.9 in 2012 (2nd year)

Rafael Palmeiro 4th year on ballot 8.8% in 2013 highest % 12.6 in 2012 (2nd year)

Players, beside Biggio in their 2nd year of eligibility are:

Mike Piazza 57.8%, Curt Schilling 38.8%, Roger Clemens 37.6%, Barry Bonds 36.2% and Sammy Sosa 12.5%

On the ballot for the first time in 2014 are (in alphabetical order): Moises Alou, Armando Benitez, Sean Casey, Ray Durham, Eric Gagne, Tom Glavine, Luis Gonzalez, Jacque Jones,  Todd Jones, Jeff Kent,  Paul LoDuca, Greg Maddux, Mike Mussina, Hideo Nomo, Kenny Rogers, Richie Sexson, J.T. Snow, Frank Thomas,  and Mike Timlin.

Before I go into my 10 votes I want to say short words for two people one who won't be on the ballot next year and one for someone who should still be on the ballot.

1st Harold Baines -  In 2011 in his 5th year on the ballot Baines received 4.8% of the vote and was removed from the ballot.  I think that the 5% rule should be for the first 3 years and if you make less 5% after that you need to do so in consecutive years to be removed or a total of 3 years in non cpnsecutive years.  I don't make the rules but Baines would be no less than my 4th vote on this years ballot if he was still elgible.

2nd Jack Morris - As I mentioned earlier this is his last year on the ballot, and if the ballot wasnt so stacked this year he'd have a good chance of getting in.  I think last year was his best  to make it and he fell short.  He never did make it on my top 10.  But since Bert Blyleven.  If I did have 12 votes this year and Baines was still on the ballot I would go ahead and make a vote for Morris.

Here is how I would vote based on the 36 names on the ballot.

If I could vote for 10 players, my 10th vote would go to Larry Walker.

If I could vote for 9 players, my 9th vote would go to Fred McGriff.

If I could vote for 8 players, my 8th vote would go to Mike Piazza

I think if I had an official ballot I would vote for 7 or 8 playes. I am kind of wavering on Piazza so for now lets imagineHOF ballot had 7 places.

My 7th vote would go toJeff  Bagwell

Limited to 6 my 6th vote would go to Lee Smith but when compared to my 5th vote Tom Glavine I could easily switch those 2 around.

My 4th vote would go to Craig Biggio

My 3rd vote would go to Tim Raines.  3 years ago Raines got my top vote so that says something about the two players ahead of him.

If I could only vote for who I thought were the 2 most HOF worthy players on this years ballot my 2nd vote wouldo go to Greg Maddux.

If I could only vote for 1 player from this years ballot, I would surely vote for Frank Thomas.

At this time I usually pick who I think will make the Hall.  With so many worthy candidates it is hard to say.  I know Maddux will make it and think 2 of the 5 following will join him: Biggio, Thomas, Glavine , Piazza and Bagwell for a total of 3 elected.  4 will not surprise me, nor would it totally surprise me if Morris squeaked in.
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If my top 3 Top 3 Thomas, Maddux and Raines were the only ones to make it this year I'd be equally shocked as delighted.  I don't generally see eye to eye with the HOF voters, but I'd be very glad if this year was an exception

BILL WATTERSON: A cartoonist’s advice from Zen Pencils

I recently became aware of this Bill Watterson style cartoon at Zen Pencils, drawn to go with words to a 1990 commencement speech Watterson gave his Alma Mater, Kenyon College during the time he was producing Calvin and Hobbes cartoons.

I can really relate to this strip, as I have always followed the road less travelled  in my "professional" career.  I think this has led many people to not "get me" over the years including family members. This was actually before I "stopped working" altogether and taught my children at home.  After that, people really didn't know what to do with me.

Watterson's sage advice paired with these wonderful drawings really encouraged me that even though I am ending my 5 year journey as a happy SAHD, that  my path on the  road less travelled will continue to make all the difference.

Next Time: Being Paid to watch Saturday Night Live

Stop The Clock.

In the movie "City Slickers" Billy Crystal's character starts to talk about the death of the trail boss, Curly and his friend announces "Stop the clock." checks his watch and notes how long it took him to comment on the subject.  It seems Crystal's character, Mitch is so obsessed with death that his friends can conduct a pool to see how quickly he will talk about it.

Our family has a way of adapting movie lines in to our every day activities.  We use this above referenced line when it comes to crying, particularly mine. I am the family crier. I am an emotional guy.  I cry at movies all the time.  I cry when I listen to the radio.  I cry while I am reading books to the family.  I will sometimes even read the books ahead to avoid crying, and I'll cry any way.

I am a pretty astute t.v and movie watcher. This goes for books as well.   I can usually figure out the unwinding of even the best constructed plots long before that unwinding takes place.  The ability to travel well ahead of the pace of the plot and even make fun of the poorer contrived ones does not curb my propensity to bawl when the conclusion is  presented.  When I ultimately do succumb, myself or another family member will utter, "stop the clock."

Sending our 2 youngest to public school this year has been an emotionally verklempt time for Amy and me.  Even though we sense God's hand in the decision and hope this is just a 1 year detour off their home schooling path,  (Spider Droid refers to his middle school teachers as substitutes.) it still sometimes feels more like a trial than a blessing.  For the most part I had  been able to get through their having a commute farther from their bedroom to the dining room table without tearing up. I was, that is until the 2nd day of school.

On the 2nd day of school I walked Wolfina to  her school, which is about 3 minutes walk from our house.  We were running a little late so her class was already walking into the building when we got there.  I put her in the line, and her teacher (who had been Bunny Girl's kindergarten teacher 9 years ago, the last time any of our kids attended public school) went up to me, took me aside, and said, beaming with pride, "you have raised a wonderful daughter."

I said thank you to the teacher, and goodbye to W and started walking home.  But it was time to stop the clock.  I cried so much, I could have swum back to the house.  I was an emotional wreck, but  in a good way.In that moment, I knew that time we spent home educating our kids had made an impact.  She had spent 1 day with our daughter and was commenting on the difference we had made.  We will continue to try and make that difference every day with all of our kids, and that is one of the things that motivates me to make it possible to get Amy back home next year, to continue to build character into our kids.

Next Time: My 2nd job