Visual Reminders

AS IN KIDS

Sometimes we forget what is important in life.  Sometimes I get so caught up in homeschooling that I forget why I am homeschooling.  Here is why . . . 

Happy Anniversary

 

AS IN J JUMP JOYFUL JUMBLE

Today is my 14th wedding anniversary.  Yes 14 years today I woke up as a single man and went to bed as a married man.  There has been good and bad in my life since that day.  But the truth is that our life really has been a joyful jumble. 

I found out that the traditional 14th anniversary gift is Ivory while the modern 14th gift is gold.  Both these songs are golden oldies and notice that Barney is tickling the ivories in the video below. 


Happy Anniversary Amy, I heart you big time. 

State Quarter Give-A-Way

 AS IN ILLINOIS

Yes, to celebrate I day on A to Z Blogging, I am giving away a quarter from my home state of Illinois. 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

In order to be fair, I will also be giving away the state quarters of Indiana, Iowa, and Idaho.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!

I will also give away all the state quarters that have the letter i in their name.  Such as Maine, South Carolina, and California. 

AND AS IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH. . . .

To give the winner an idea of how majestic the letter I is when it appears in the name of states a little perspective is required.  I will also give away quarters from every state not fortunate to carry the letter I in their name such as New York, North Dakota and Delaware.

THAT'S 50 QUARTERS!

3 years ago I gave away 50 state quarters here and it turned out to be one of my most popular endeavors.  I have been wanting to give away some more for awhile and was waiting for the right opportunity.  I am actually going to be giving away

NOT ONE BUT TWO

sets of state quarters.  That's right two sets.

Set one will be given away in the traditional way.  At the end of the contest, I will draw a name from all the entries and choose the quarter winner.

5 entries will be given for every comment on this post.  One entry will be given for each comment on my A through H posts and my upcoming J through R posts. If you blog, tweet or post on FB about this contest just leave a comment for an extra entry.

 And A week from tomorrow on April 18th (Q day) I will announce a winner from all the entries.

In an effort to bring my followers up to 100 and beyond.  I am having a follower only give away for the second set of state quarters.  If you are already a follower of this site you automatically get 5 entries to the second drawing.  If you sign up now you will get 10 entries and if you are the lucky 100th follower you will get 100 entries and 10  state quarters (If you don't snag the set of 50). When I get 100 followers all previous followers will get an additional 5 entries.  All followers after 100 will get 20 entries.  On April 18th or when I reach 100 followers, whichever comes later, I will do a second drawing for the remaining set,

Excited?  You know I am.

Please pass on the info on this incredible contest.   

No School Today? A Review

 

AS IN HOMESPUN


I have been meaning to review Christina Ramos-Payne's fine collection of homeschool comic strips for some time now. I have been a big fan of Cristina's blog Home Spun Juggling for some time now. This book, a collection of her early strips is fantastic.

I love comic strips and have most of my life. The Home Spun strips remind me in some ways of the excellent comic strip, For Better or For Worse. But Home Spun is definitely it's own animal.. Cristina really gets to the heart of homeschooling. I relate very easily to her work because my children are much like hers.   But even in the areas I can't can't empathize with she does a masterful job crafting her narrative so that the humor is obvious to all.
 
I guess the best way to review this book is to share some of the strips from the book ad tell you what I think of them. 
 
 
This is a great strip in so many ways. The thing I like most about it is the sentiment.  The Mom is glad that her daughter showed such kindness to her little brother.  At the same time she is bemused that her daughter will not be able to shine as the star of the show.  But you can tell by the wistful glance in the last panel that her daughter’s decision does make her the star of the show. 


I had my daughter write a short review of this  book for her blog.  This is the strip she liked most.  This strip rocks, because proficiency can never replace passion. 



I don’t know the technical terms related to comic strip writing.  So I just make up my own terms.  Each comic strip usually has one main punch line that the strip builds up to.  Sometimes there’s a joke at the end wholly unrelated to the continuity.  I would probably call it the non sequitir if there wasn’t already a strip with that name.  So I’ll call it the late hit.
The strips that I think do the late hit the best are Calvin And Hobbes and Fox Trot.  The above strip is of that caliber.  I also can relate quite well to it as Bunny has finished many a book just checked out from the library before we ever left the building.


I guess I don’t have to say why I like this strip. 

I would strongly recommend this book for both homeschoolers and comic strip aficionados and folks like me who are both.  No School Today can be purchased at Amazon,  Barnes And Noble and Create Space

Keith Rhymes with Grief.

 IS FOR GRIEF

Wait one minute, you might be thinking.  In yesterday's post you basically promised that G would be for Give-A-Way.  You indicated that you would be giving away some state quarters. 

That's true, I really did.  Then I realized that today (April 7th) is the 3 year anniversary of my brother Keith's death.  I just didn't feel like putting my Crazy Uncle Dave hat on over my mourning brother one.  So, the quarter give-a-way will be soon.  You won't have to wait all the way to Q, I promise.

I have spent better than an hour rehashing Keith stories here and then deleting them.  I do that because this post is not really about remembering Keith.  I do that often.  This post is not really about his life. This post is about the grief I feel from his death.

I thought that it might be good to give a working definition of grief.  Since I decided to check in at Show My Face for Six Word Saturday. Here are my 6 words:

Grief - Deep stress caused by bereavement*.

*Bereavement is generally associated  with the loss of a loved one by death.

Pushing 50 as I am, I am not a total stranger to death.  Most of that death has come as a result of old age.  My grandparents all died between the ages of 79 and 97.  Keith was 7 months from 39 when he passed away.  Sometimes, even now, I can't wrap my head around him being gone. 

I do still have deep stress about his passing.  This stress is not daily, nor weekly, or even monthly.  It will sometimes hit me at random times but generally hits at 3 times during the year: On or near his birthday, the anniversary of his death, and Christmastime.  Teaching school, blogging or just about anything becomes difficult to focus on and I become quite a bit more irritable. 

A few months after Keith died I won a book from the Library Thing Early Reviewers Program about bereavement.  I still haven't read it fully or reviewed it.  I guess it's hard for me to imagine reviewing a book for early reviewers 3 years after it came out.  The book's title "In the Grip of Bereavement"  accurately describes my episodes of grief.  I really do feel like grief has a hold on me during these times.

Keith has now been dead longer than he was sick.  Our sister who is 3.5 years his junior is now the same age he was when he died. Life has gone on without him.  His children were 8 and 5 when he died that means they are 11 and 8 now.  In just 2 years his daughter will have lived longer without a father than with one. 

My faith in God has been a great sustainer over the past 3 years.  Even so,  sometimes the grief is so strong it is all I seem to be able to feel.  Sometimes I am even frightened that someday I may not grieve at all.  These thoughts and feelings are not the entirety of who I am.  but like today's post, which is neither well crafted nor polished, they are incredibly real. 

For more 6 word Saturday Click Here.

To see other G posts in Blogging A to Z click here.