Gentlemanly behavior

I had the very pleasure of being in a car accident about a month ago. And I am not being sarcastic in the least. It really was a pleasure to meet the gentleman who hit me. I was at a stop light preparing to turn onto a very busy street in a nearby city when this gentleman hit me from behind. It caused some damage to an already damaged bumper but other than spilling my smoothie and having my Jason's Deli sandwich knocked to the floorboard, I suffered no ill affects. We quickly moved our vehicles to a parking lot adjacent to a fast food restaurant to discuss the matter and decide what to do. The offender turned out to be a gentleman in his eighties (at this point I am sorely tempted to take this opportunity to use the word octogenarian, which I have always wanted to use when writing, but I won't). His old beatup work van had seen better days and his clothing was smattered with paint. He had a carpenter's pencil tucked behind his ear and hands that shook with affirmity that only age can bring. He was charming and polite. Very concerned about me and the condition of my vehicle. After talking for a whle we decided to forgo calling the police and exchanged information; rather, he gave me his information, I did not think to give him mine. He asked me to consider allowing him to pay for my repairs out of pocket instead of applying it to his insurance carrier, which I decided right away that I would do. He assured me that he was "not a tramp, like I look cher", the cajun french accent and words slipping easily into his conversation. He was so very polite and gentlemanly, that I left with a smile on my face, even though I now had a dent and scuffed paint on my bumper.

My husband readily agreed to not turn the accident into the insurance, we decided to take a chance, and sent the car to repaired. When we recieved the estimate (very modest as my husband took the vehicle to one of his accounts, and we decided to just have the bumper repainted instead of replacing it.) I called Mr. Lewis with the information. He was concerned because he had not heard from me in a few days and did not get my name and phone number. Again, such a sweet and adorable character that we spent quite a while on the phone chatting about this and that.

Upon having the van repaired, I placed a second call to tell him the final total, and he assured me he would send a check, which did arrive very promptly. Again, we chatted for a while on the phone and I hung up smiling and thinking that there is something missing in the generations between he and I. Some semblance of chivalry that this man presented towards me.

The check arrived in the mail with a note, written in a shaky script, that read:



Your kindness and graciousnees are exceeded only by your beauty.


It makes me smile to think of even now, a few weeks later. It was such an honor to meet this man who had such kindness and poise. A true gentleman, who I am glad I had the pleasure of crossing paths with. I will keep the note to remember the way I want to raise my son. And I will smile everytime I read it, as I recall the gentleman that represents a lifestyle our culture has seemed to eskew.

Amelia Bedelia 4 Mayor

My boy picked this out for his read aloud book tonight. I had read it to the oldest a few years ago but had forgotten how very funny it is. We were both laughing so hard that I could barely read. We could barely breath... the first part of this precious book is much funnier than the end. I guess all the hype of election year and the "change we can believe in" bologna also put a different spin on it for me, but this discourse had me rolling:

" I would vote for (Amelia)" said a reporter. "we need some change."
"Here's 43 cents," said Amelia Bedelia. "That's all the change I've got."
"Wait a minute," said the mayor. "I want to put in my two cents."
"How nice,"said Amelia Bedelia. "That makes 45 cents"


What a hoot, it goes on to talk about the mayor not having ANY cents/sense... ah.. too cute!

Maybe Amelia Bedelia could "throw her hat in the rink" for the presidential election. At least she's got some change that we can all relate to. Of course it could only buy her a tablespoon of gas! OR could it?

Screen time

Well, we broke down and bought a new computer. Actually it is not new, rather it is a slightly used computer but new to us! So I spent the better part of a week moving the old one into Daniel's room (hey he's gotta play Zoo Tycoon when it's raining right?) and then setting up this computer. We had the inevitable day of trying to get the kinks worked out of setting up a computer that you did not buy new, so you are NOT completely sure how the thing works.. little snags that meant it really took 2 days just to get the computer up and running for me. THEN of course, since it is second hand, I needed to clean some things off of it, things I did not want/need. WE snagged some cool new music though, as the computer belonged to my brother in law and he has GREAT taste in music... 80's rock, even though he is a decade younger than Marc and I.

Inevitably, as this computer is faster, better and I am able to once again do the things on it that I need to do, which has gone undone for months due to issues with my older computer, I have spent way too much time on this thing in the last 2 weeks! UGH.

But I HAD to get caught up on my message boards, right? And I just NEEDED forms made up and printed out, for school and home management... then don't get me started on blogs to read. That is like rabbit trails. (Margaret, your blog can be dangerous cause it always sends me to other blogs I like and then I MUST give those bloggers their due and spend countless minutes perusing them!)

I am beginning to wonder if my kids will only recognize me by looking at the back of my head... and does the rat-a-tat-tat of the keys being struck lull them to sleep at night? Will they pour out their woes to therapists years from now about having a bowed back, curled fingered mom, who alternately stopped typing and reading blogs to fix them an ocasional sandwich?

Guess it is time to get off my new toy and back to my life. But ain't it fun to play?

Any body in the mood for some Cindy Lauper?

Kids and sewing

Sarah recently turned seven.. Boy how the time flies. She recieved a small sewing kit from her great grandmother. This particular grandmother was an upholsterer during a portion of her life so it is not an uncommom gift for her to give. I am very fortunate to have this lady in my family. She has taught me a few things about sewing to expand on the knowledge that my mom handed down and now she is available to encourage and help train my girls. Even better is that my own mom, who can sew, also knows how to crotchet very well so Sarah has been learning to crotchet from her. SHe spends time at my moms and always comes home with a ball of yarn and a crotchet thread started. Well, having recieved her sewing kit this past week, she expressed a deep desire to make a blanket for her soon to be newest cousin (a little girl that my niece is due with) so I pinned the edges of a precut square of fabric for her and she has been diligently sewing in that awkward, uneven stitch of a "newbie". It is so refreshing to see her sitting on her little pillow with my sewing kit beside her laboring at a hobby that I enjoy. THough I haven't sewn in well over a year, maybe two, since homeschooling has taking such a chunk of our time. It is time for me to get back to this and I am lookign forward to getting the belt replaced on my machine and tackling a few sewing projects this summer as well as teaching Sarah and Mallory a few things.

If you are interested in some simple sewing projects to work on with your children, check out the projects found here

Happy Sewing!

Give me a break people!!!

This morning while enjoying my breakfast and morning paper I stumbled across an article concerning the troubling economy and child rearing expenses. The focus of the article was splurging on children and how much of that will/will not change due to the economic situation. IN discussing things like pricey strollers and name brand kids products, the expense of extracurricular activities came up. The subject of the interview for the report has a 6 year old and a 3 year old, who attend various extra curricular activities (such as Italian lesssons, Music classes and Yoga)... The following comment really got to me. Concerning the "need" for these activities the mom is quoted as saying "We do it for ourselves and we do it for our kids. Those things are really important when applying to middle schools and to make them well rounded individuals"!!!!!!!!!! GIVE ME A BREAK. Ok, I totally agree that extra curriculur activities make for much more well rounded people, especially when we are meeting a child at an interest level or bent.... but when dealing with young children these things are simple not NECESSARY to get a good upbringing. And come on... APPLYING TO MIDDLE SCHOOL!! GEE WHIZ people!!! Ok, I realize that I have a more simplistic, less-is-more mind set than many people and while I see nothing wrong with Extracurricular activities; having enrolled my kids in them as we could provide, to me this society is pushing kids too hard too fast. That is why so many of our kids come out of high school not really knowing what they want to do with their life.... They get scheduled out, pushed to excell, and burn out!! What happened to being a kid and learning to entertain ourselves.

In my experience, coming from a rather unprosperous single parent family of 6, Extracurricular activities, or rather lack thereof, did not affect the ability to do well in life. My siblings are all living very well rounded and happy lives. ONe brother in particular has held positions in management that far exceeded his age/education for a long time. He is currently working towards a masters and a VERY successfull father, husband and businessman. His extracurricular activities included pick up football, baseball and basketball games in the neighborhood and time and people management skills learned from living in a family of 6 kids (hey, he had to finagle tv time to watch his favorite sporting events, you can't get any more difficult time and people management than that!)Three other siblings have raised their families and been productive assets to society, working and doing very well on their own. My youngest brother manages police mentors in Afghanistan.... Which extracurricular activity did he miss that would have better prepared him for that?

I am not saying don't do extracurricular activities if you can provide them and they fit in the budget ect.. I am just frustrated at the mindset that we need to push our kids to meet "goals" that we have set. This is where identity directed learning means so much to me and where I wish more people had some knowledge or understanding of the way true education works...

Yes, the economy has called for some changes, and we have been hit by it as well as everyone else. We will have to discontinue horse riding lessons for our oldest two and dance for our youngest this year, and while that decision was a hard one because I know that there will be disappointment.. it was not hard in that I also know that we will find cheaper/free alternatives to fill those gaps and they will be just fine in the end.