Forgetfulness

Silly me. I had entitled my last post "Black Beans" because I wanted to share a tip my friend gave me about making brownies. She had me try a batch of moist chocolate brownies and try to guess the secret ingredient. They are egg and oil free. It tasted like a hint of peanut butter but, in fact, she told me that you can whirl a 15 oz can of black beans in the blender (water and all) and then mix it with any brownie mix -- no other wet ingredients -- and bake as the directions indicate. She says it works with any mix. Adds protein and fiber. Thought I'd pass the tip along!

Black Beans

May 1st I found out I had to be out of my home by May 14th (in exchange for a $5000 check). My minivan had already been repossessed earlier that week. This is all fall-out from my divorce, finalized the first of May. We moved in a big rush and are now finally settled in the new home and partially unpacked so I can get my mind back on straight and organized enough for me to be back to blogging. How time flies! We moved in on Mother's Day which was lovely. I had help from the church with the move and the girls came back from the weekend with their father to see the new house! I just bought a new truck last weekend, since I'd been borrowing a car from a friend since the van was towed away, and so I finally feel independent.

I just wrapped up the school year so I'm in between projects, although I have been asked to consult on the summer camp curriculum that my friend is putting together at the local gym.

Since our house is half the size of the old one, and we have to pare down substantially in order to fit, I am giving her a lot of my old Waldorf preschool stuff in exchange for a year's membership to the gym. The wooden kitchen, fridge, and washing machine from Angels & Elves, the wooden play store from Magic Cabin, a silk fairy canopy from Sarah's Silks, lots of wooden, hand knitted, and felted play kitchen foods, the clothesline and basket of clothespins, the doll buggy, several simple sewn dolls, the Nautilus puzzle from Spiel und Holz as well as their sanded bark-free wooden blocks, a basket of felt balls that I sewed for my girls, all our dress up costumes (fairy wings, skirts, wands, crowns, princess hats), the rocking horse, the basket of musical instruments (drums, shaker eggs, rhythm sticks, clackers). The gym had a sad, miserable little play room before. It will be quite a joyous and cheerful one now!

For the summer camp, I am contributing story and art projects to correspond with the weekly field trip so when I get the book titles and projects lined up, I will post them here. I am not personally teaching any summer camps this year. I'll be spending most of the summer unpacking and planning the beginning of next school year with a new crop of 1st and 2nd graders. My girls are all attending the school, since I had to get a job after my divorce and it's a good school (an eclectic school that allows me to bring in my Waldorf influences). I've also been approached about speaking at a Waldorf conference again this summer so we'll see if that works out.

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

This is apropos of absolutely nothing, but I wanted to pass it along in case anyone out there is doing a sociology project or a study of scientific theory and method.

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster: its origins and beliefs (Wikipedia article)

There are some interesting arguments here which should be considered. The graph in particular (how global warming is a direct result of the shrinking number of pirates on the planet), and how the "evidence" is presented to support the argument is the perfect way to have a light-hearted but serious discussion with your family about whether a high statistical correlation proves cause and effect. I also love the sociology question of what makes something a religion (is it a set of rituals and a community which forms around them, or does it need to have genuine theological belief at its core?) -- check it out!

Here's the actual website for FSM and the founder's letter to the school board in Kansas (the letter which started it all) complaining that if alternative theories besides evolution are to be taught, then his theory is just as valid as any other and cannot legally be excluded: The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Rocks and Minerals

6th grade Rocks & Minerals MLB (6 weeks) is now up. But that's the last thing I'm going to add for a while since I have just gotten my eviction notice and I have until May 14th to move out, which isn't a tremendous amount of time to pack a whole house...

That notwithstanding, I have always wanted to visit the MD sheep & wool festival and it is this weekend which means that if I don't go, I will have missed my only chance for an entire year. We'll see if I make it or if I do the practical thing which is to start to pack things up.

MD Sheep and Wool Festival webpage

Man and Animal (also known as Zoology I & II)

Hello folks,

Man and Animal is on the website now under 4th grade for those who have a username and password (which come with a paid subscription). I hope people find them helpful! The units are called Zoology I and Zoology II.

Nothing to Report

Nothing to report today... we stayed home because I was sick and N didn't feel well. Just a lazy day except for the big clean-up the girls had to do of the kitchen floor. We have a rule that painting has to happen on the kitchen floor because the clean up is easiest on tile. But it's white tile so it shows even the smallest spill. They had a wonderful time painting. And we did make a Cranberry Walnut Quick Bread at the end of the day, which we will have for dessert after the bedtime story. Tonight I need to finish (hopefully) the baby Moses doll which we are using as a prop for the play. My first Waldorf doll (not counting bunting dolls or needle felted puppets) and I am so proud! I'll take a photo if I can.

Custody

I can't believe the last time I posted was when Leah went to the hospital in February... it seems like forever ago. A lot of people have contacted me, concerned that they haven't heard from me. The situation is that I have been locked in a bitter custody battle, trying to maintain my position as full legal, full physical custodian of my three little girls. My ex has done everything possible, from declaring bankruptcy so that our van was towed away at 4:20 Monday morning and the house is in foreclosure, to deliberately losing his job, stopping payment of child support and leaving us with no health insurance (and not telling me)... not counting all the things he did when I first left him which I won't go into now. April 20 and 21 was our court date. I am happy to report that I WON full physical and full legal, the court preserving what the original judge had decided in the pendente lite custody hearing in December 2007, and then I went to bed for a full week in exhaustion. My legal fees for the domestic dispute and the bankruptcy dispute are over $40,000. But it was money well spent. The downside is that since he is now working 2 evenings a week as a waiter for $3.14 per hour (he used to make over a hundred thousand a year in the computer field), the court hasn't figured out how to give me a settlement for the property he deliberately threw away (like declaring bankruptcy just so we would be evicted from our home, calling in the debit card as stolen, taking thousands of dollars out of the joint account while I couldn't access it ) because he's making no money at all and living with his mother! So anyway...

that's why I've been gone.

I have three units ready to add to the website: Man and Animal (Zoology) parts I and II, and Rocks and Minerals. I will put them up as soon as I can. I know subscribers have been itchy at no new content lately. And I will try to blog my teaching ideas again. This Sunday is our class play in Sunday School for "The Child of the Nile." My students have had an awesome time making the tablets for the ten commandments, planning how to create the burning bush and throw stuffed frogs into the audience when we do the plagues, and one child is so excited to dress up as the Angel of Death and carry Pharaoh's young son away. We have really had a blast!

Thanks to everyone who has written in to make sure I'm okay. I'm surviving! :-)