Jabober

http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/

Stop by the CHN Booth and say 'Hi'. I'll be sitting there most of the day, answering questions on homeschooling.

EDIT: It was an awesome day. Talked to a LOT of people. Sold a lot of lanyards. I would not recommend taking small children to this event, however. There were over 50,000 people there. Older children and adults, who like books, would enjoy it, if they don't mind crowds. One day perhaps I'll be an author there, instead of a homeschooling volunteer. I can dream, can't I?

Posted by Tammy at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In my continued efforts in procrastination, I decided to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding; a netflix movie that has been sitting on our shelf for over a month.

Cute movie. Good characters, fun premise... and predictable, yet enjoyable resolution. I particularly liked John Corbett, and of course his long hair.

Apparently, there was a sitcom based on the movie. It didn't do too well though.

Posted by Tammy at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a previous post, I mentioned an astronomer who came and talked to the kids last week. He believes that Saturn is really an almost-star, not a planet, much like Jupiter. Well, I told this to my friend and he widened his eyes and said, "OOOOOOoooooK, right," in a very sarcastic tone.

Well of course, in response to my disbelieving friend, I had to go do research and find out the dealio. I looked around, found Bob's information and learned he worked with John Dobson. I found out that Jupiter is indeed considered an "almost-star" and that Saturn and Jupiter are very similar both in composition and rotation. I couldn't find anything, however, that specificially questioned the classification of Saturn as a planet.

Now my curiosity is seriously perked, and I'm going to *have* to attend the next sidewalk astronomer meeting to ask them if their theory is brand new, or just super-secret, or if Bob is crazy. In any case, it got me interested in astronomy. Before that "crazy" remark, I was pretty uninterested in the solar system.

Posted by Tammy at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today in science class, we were surprised by a guest speaker. Formerly a professor at UC Berkeley, Bob gave us an introduction to the universe. He told us some fascinating things and showed us slides of all the planets and some astronomical phenomenon.

A few things he told us: Pluto is not a planet, it is one of Neptune's moons. Also, Jupiter and Saturn might be stars. Both of them spin way to fast to be planets, they are almost entirely made up of gasses and they both have a large number of moons. Also, the ring around Saturn used to be a moon that exploded.

Another thing he told us was that only three percent of college students study science. Sad.

Overall, it was a nifty lecture. Cameron asked some really great questions, one of which was, "What about Charon?" when Bob told us Pluto wasn't a planet. Everyone was all like, "What's Charon?" Charon is Pluto's moon. Damn good question (and where did Cameron learn that Charon was Pluto's moon?) Bob didn't give us a straight answer on that. So, if Pluto's not a planet, why does it have a moon? A moon has a moon? What do you think?

Posted by Tammy at 05:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Homeschoolers are not NICE. Perhaps that is why I am one. I was never NICE. I was the one asking "why?", "Is there another way?", "Can I do something else?", "Can I decide for myself?". Not just in school, but in social settings, at work, in my family. I am considerate, understanding, respectful, fun, and very honest. But I'm certainly not NICE.

Gets me into trouble sometimes. But I can look back and remember all the changes I have made, and movement I have instigated.

Perhaps that's why it's so hard for homeschoolers to all get together and work for the same goal. We're a group of not-NICE people. That's also why I doubt that homeschooling will ever grow beyond a tiny minority. I think that's a good thing. I doubt a country could even function if the entire population wasn't very NICE.

Posted by Tammy at 08:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Circus Circus, in Las Vegas, has a lot to do for kids. That's true. What's also true, is that Circus Circus is like Chuck E. Cheese on speed, and fifteen times as big. I suppose, it's a good way to gear kids up for the loud, flashy, dense gambling halls for when they are adults.

On the other hand, there were some gems there, such as the miniature circus acts performed on the half hour, as well as the "every game has a winner" carnival games. The amusment park was fun and would be a great place to take kids ages 5 and up for endless roller coaster riding.

I was invited to a homeschooling park day on Wednesday. We'll try to head over there if we have time before we head home. Tomorrow's going to be another day of swimming and walking. I'm still unsure if I'll have time to drop any coins in the casinos. If I do, it will be pennies, since we're pretty much down to that after the 3 dollar coffees, 9 dollar sandwiches and 10 dollar sunscreen we bought today. Man there is a WHOLE heck of a lot of money moving around in these casinos. I can't even imagine how much work the bookeepers for these companies have to do to keep up with it all.

Posted by Tammy at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So we're here in Vegas. We have an internet connection, but we have to pay $10 per room, per computer, per day. We brought 3 computers. So we're debating whether to hook my computer up or not. I'm trying to get my email to work over the web. If I can't get that to work, I might just have to splurge on internet access, lest my inbox gets full.

Vegas is expensive! We are staying at the Mirage which is right smack in the middle of it all. Good, in that we can walk everywhere we want to go (except for the Chocolate factory, which is on our list, but we'll see if we actually make it over there.) Bad, in that since everything in this area is a casino, there are people everywhere and everything costs double or triple what one would expect.

Well, that is, except the slots. I thought that five cent slots were obsolete nowadays. Not true! Five centers are all over. Not only THAT, but there are *penny* slots now. If I play any slots this weekend, it will be at the penny slots. I don't care really about winning the jackpot. I know I won't. I just want to try out the slots and see the cute mini games they have on the Unicorn and Froggy slots. If I do win ten bucks in pennies, so be it. It's nice to see, however, that the casinos are catering to entertainment seekers, in addition to those who want to try and win money.

As I expected, there's a ton to do here (especialliy if you have a lot of money to throw around.) Shows, shops, more shows, slots, more shows, and some shows too. And, there is little need to drive anywhere. Yoshi and I were saying that it would be really nice to come here sometime, just the two of us. It's been added to our list of possible 10-year anniversary trip destinations.

Today, we were fortunate to have Yoshi's company. Tomorrow, it's just me and the kids. It will be interesting, no matter what happens.

Posted by Tammy at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We are leaving for Vegas in about an hour. We're staying at the Mirage. Internet availability is unknown. The kids and I are on our own while Yoshi attends NAB. I have a feeling we'll be at the pool a lot, and we'll watch the Mirage volcano, oh about 100 times. Maybe I'll throw a quarter in a slot or something, hit the jackpot, come home a thousand-aire.

Posted by Tammy at 07:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I love watching a good romance. The more tissues I go through, the better. If a movie can make me get inside the skin of the characters so that I can feel the emotions that they are portraying on screen, they did something right.

This week, I watched two movies: Must Love Dogs and Anger Management. Both have romance in them, right? I did not even come close to caring about the characters. That's saying a lot from this sucker for romances. I was able to appreciate John Cusak's character in Must Love Dogs purely because of having seen him play essentially the same character in many other movies. And in Anger Management, well, it's only peripherally about romance. It's mostly about being in uncomfortable situations and laughing at them.

Yoshi thought Anger Management was pretty funny. I thought it was too contrived. I stopped watching it after about 30 minutes. Yoshi thought Must Love Dogs was too contrived. I thought Dogs lacked substance or depth.

Next on the Netflix list - Brokeback Mountain. I've been looking forward to this movie for a long time. Nobody will see it with me. I guess it will just be me and my two boxes of tissues. That's gonna be a good time.

Posted by Tammy at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When we checked this morning, the squirrel was gone. We have no idea what became of him.

The Cadbury eggs, on the other hand, are still awaiting their fate on my shelf. I have not yet decided whether to taste them. Right now, I feel way over-sugared. So if I do taste them, it won't be today.

Posted by Tammy at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yoshi brought home the new MacBook Pro to "test it out for work." On the outside, it looks exactly like my powerbook. The only difference that we can see, is a tiny camera on top center above the screen. After playing with it for a while, Yoshi says, "Ya, I think a Mac will be my next computer. Too bad this one is a departmental Mac."

My mom brought me Cadbury mini eggs for Easter. When I was a kid, I used to LOVE these things. Now, as a sensitive-to-sugar adult, I am actually afraid to pop one open and consume it. Will I ruin my wonderful memories of eating these treats as a child by tasting them with an adult palate?

When we went out in the backyard to play this afternoon, we found part of a large squirrel nest sitting on the ground below our grapefruit tree. Looking up, we could see an elaborate weave of leaves and white fluff sitting at the top of the overgrown branches. Then, we noticed a small squirrel sitting at the base of the tree. It looked young, and unable to climb the tree to get back to its nest.

At first we thought it was hurt, but then we thought perhaps it was just too young to climb. I called animal control to ask what we could do, for it was too much to bear to watch it cower at the base of the tree, screeching when we got too close.

Animal control said to leave it there. Its mom will either come get it, or a fox will. He also said that this is the season that squirrel mamas push their wee ones out of the nest. He gets 2-3 calls a day about squirrels this time a year. Next month, he said, the calls will be about owls.

So we left the squirrel sitting there. Yoshi said he could see another squirrel come towards the tree, but it turned around once it saw us. We gathered the kids and came inside, wishing the squirrel good luck.

Posted by Tammy at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is a blog of one of my co-writers, Stephanie, over at LifeWithoutSchool. I love the title of her blog. She also was so kind to trackback to my LWoS entry. Pay it forward, I say.

I'm planning on turning on trackbacks for Jabober, if I can figure out how to do it on Moveable Type.

Posted by Tammy at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I received my first trackback today for an entry I posted on the LifeWithoutSchool blog. It feels odd, like a cyber coming-of-age event.

Thank you My So-Called Homeschool blog for your encouragement.

Posted by Tammy at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yoshi's playing a game called Oblivion. I looked over my shoulder to see what he's doing, and he has a screen up that says this:

Expert armorers can repair armor over 100%, increasing their effectiveness.

Blink. Blink.

BTW, this game crashes a lot. And no patch available.

On a totally different topic, the kids made mini pizzas for dinner (yes, they made their own dinner!). I told Cameron that homemade pizzas were the best. He said, "but it wasn't totally homemade. We bought all the stuff at the store." We started musing about how we could make everything homemade. Then we got to the pepperonis.

"We could put a cow in the back yard," I said.
"Then what do we do to get pepperonis?" Cameron asked.
"Well, we'd have to kill it and chop it up into little pieces," I said.
Cameron didn't believe me. I said, "I'm serious! That's how it works. Where do you think meat comes from?"
So Cameron said, "I don't want to put a cow in the back yard. I want to buy our meat from the store."
I nod. "I so totally agree with ya there Cam."

Upon doing some research, I found out that pepperoni is actually made from pork and beef (or just pork). So we would have to keep a cow and a pig in the backyard. Making pepperoni also is very time consuming. I admire anyone who has the patience and stomach to make pepperoni for a living.

Posted by Tammy at 08:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Cameron had a piano recital on Saturday. Here's Megan dressed up and ready to go!



Here's Cam waiting for his turn to play.



Here's Cam playing his pieces.



Here's Cam holding up his award for... BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE!



He also won an award for "Most Productive Student". That basically means that he learned the most songs over the course of the year. Cameron loves his music.

Posted by Tammy at 07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So what do you think? Graphic artist or game designer in the making?

Posted by Tammy at 07:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Cameron: Today, at lunch, he ordered a cheeseburger. To his horror, they put lettuce on it. Not the big slices of lettuce that are easy to remove, but the little teeny chopped up lettuce that sticks to the cheese. Yoshi and I gave him a hard time about being freaked out by the three or four pieces that were still attached to bun after we helped him rid his plate of the awful greenery. After a few minutes he stopped eating, but he wouldn't tell us why. After a few more minutes, he relented, "I don't want to eat my hamburger because I don't want you guys to complain that I'm complaining about my lettuce." Damn good reasoning and self-explanation. We no longer bugged him about his hamburger and I gave him the rest of my waffle.

Allison: She's had a recent interest in her journal. Many times, I'd find her sitting on the couch, tucked into a ball, keeping her pages securely away from anyone's view. "I want to write stories," she said. "What should I write about?" she wondered out loud. On one of these occasions, I snuck a peek at her efforts and saw that it was a lot of squigly lines and pictures. One other day this week, she came up to me and said, "Mom, last night and the night before, I dreamed about Power Puff Girls and the Carebears." She has never before told me what was in her dreams, although she experiences them often.

Megan: She's starting to discover that she can control when she goes to the bathroom. After two successful potty trips today, and a new bag of pull-ups, she told me with great enthusiasm right before bed, "I went potty!" When she has to go, she squeezes her legs together down to her knees. "I go diaper!" So I scoot her towards the bathroom, as she shuffles along trying to hold it, knees securely in place.

I realize that sometime soon, we will have no more diapers in the house. For almost 8 years, we've been on daily diaper changing duty. Soon, it will be over, indicating the end of the Takahashi baby era. I just can't believe it.

Posted by Tammy at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)