Dog Days of Summer

This Saturday, Mason joined the Barnacle crew!

Described as 75 pounds of handsome, he is a one year old black labrador rescued from a high kill shelter in Idaho.  Aside from being truly handsome in that dorky lab sort of way, Mason is one mellow and awesome pooch.

Our family took the ferry over to Port Orchard to meet him and instantly fell in love.  At first sight he showed all the right signs of friendliness and moderate levels of activity, plus the tendancy to sit when confronted with odd sites (the huge black cow down the lane qualified as very odd in his book.) With a lovely, thick, soft coat, some level of leash training and few obvious commands in his vocabulary, it is clear he lost himself from a careful, loving home.

The weekend whizzed by in a lovely mishmash of getting to know Mason and teaching him about our home and family. I think we're all going to be very happy together.

Welcome, Mason!

How Legos Are Made

A truly awesome video.

Why Underwear

Here is one of the more random things I learned this summer.

Underwear exists for a reason.

I figure at least several of you reading this are thinking, "well, duh."  But as a parent, I try to pick my battles around most things that create resistance from the kids.  Our modern culture seems filled with so many random rules, I prefer to hold my ground for the more meaningful ones.

Coming from Montana, I guess I always figured panties served as a second layer of protection for my bootie from the harsh chill of winter (can't explain much about the summer reasons, though).  So when certain short members of the family began fighting putting on unders, I just shrugged it off.  Winters just aren't that cold here.  Recently, though I learned better.

If you're squeamish, this is the point at which you might like to move on to the next task in your day.

Turns out, underwear serve two purposes.  First, they absorb any little extra drops of urine that a good wipe might miss.  Second, they act as a protective layer between the world and our more funky parts.  Underwear end up being a nice little social convention that keeps our everyday interactions with others fresh. Basically, it keeps people from being too stinky.

Pretty random, isn't it?  But good.  Good to know.

Racism Defined from RaceBending.com

From previous posts, I'm sure you've gathered I really enjoy Racebending.com and support their mission.  Most of what prompted me to add their blog to my RSS feed came from my deep admiration for their succinctness regarding the identification and definition of what racism and it's resulting symptoms are.

In the hopes of keeping my thinking and communications clear, I copied these definitions into my email so I could revisit them from time to time (I'd link to the exact page, but now I can't find it). Take a few minutes and read over them, it might help you see your world differently this week, too.

Institutionalized racism:  a form of racism and institutionalized discrimination that takes place in institutions of societal power and influence. These policies and practices are generally set in place and remain unwavering because:

1. they have been in place for decades/centuries, despite the evolution of civil rights

2. they are advantageous to the people who are part of this institution, whether they know it or not

The difference between individual bigotry and institutional racism lies in the set policies and practices of an organization that actively or unintentionally discriminate against an ethnic group and subsequently disadvantage that particular group or race. We want to make the distinction between individual 'racism' (eg: bigotry) and institutionalized discrimination, which is a pervasive societal system.

Discrimination: A distinction based on the personal characteristics of an individual resulting in some disadvantage to that individual.

Prejudice: most commonly used to refer to a preconceived judgment toward a people or a person because of race, social class, gender, ethnicity, age, disability, political beliefs, religion, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics. This judgment does not need to have any basis in fact.

Bigotry: A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.

Colorism: is a form of discrimination in which people are accorded differing social and economic treatment based on skin color. Colorism occurs across the world and can occur within an ethnic group or between different ethnic groups. In most entertainment industries–including Hollywood–lighter skin tone is given preferential treatment and darker skin tone is considered less desirable. Oftentimes, heroes are cast with lighter skin and villains are cast with darker skin.

I Suck At Finances

While this is by no means a sudden revelation, it dawned on me this summer that right now in my life, I suck at finances.  The part of finances that requires attention to detail on a regular basis.

Actually, I'm sort of a disaster at anything that requires my focused time and attention, because honestly I make no space in my life for such things.  Mornings and afternoons are scheduled to homeschool work and activities.  The gaps of time that I leave unscheduled for children to play and create, I seem to fritter away instead of scheduling time for the work for which I hold myself accountable.

The poor results create waves of anxiety and frustration for me.  The avalanche-worthy mountain of paperwork that is my desk, the constant fire-fighting of taking care of things that should have been done yesterday, the fines from late-paid bills, even the stress of never really quite understanding where we are in the broader financial picture.

Years of being organized and great at attention to detail reminds me that my skills for getting things done exist.  Somehow, I'm not making time or priority for important tasks.  What I struggle with defining is why I don't make time.  Am I lazy?  Are my expectations for what I can do in addition to a full homeschool day totally unrealistic?  Am I creating to do's that are actually unnecessary? Do I spend my time on the wrong tasks?

These are questions I'm not even sure how to find answers for, though I keep looking.  How about you? Do you struggle with similar issues?  How do you handle the drone of logistical tasks in your life?  Any insights to share with me?

On Tent Camping

Bill and I love road trips.  We once spent 9 months RV'ing around the country.  That trip hugely influenced us in our decision to homeschool our the theoretical children.  We traveled 30,000 miles and experienced many great adventures.

Now with 2 kids and RV-less, Bill and I still love the idea of road trips.  So this summer we decided to try a 3 week trip.  Our destination was Pact Camp in Monterey, with plans to camp back up the Pacific Coast to Mt. Rainier where we'd meet with about 30 other homeschool families for the mother of all car camping experiences.

As homeschoolers, we spend a large amount of time in the car.  The kids and I are clear on what makes car travel fun and bearable.  We packed the minivan full of books, drawing materials and snacks.  In the end, the driving part was a breeze, especially as Bill brought the first 2 Harry Potter books along to read aloud.

What took me by surprise turned out to be the assembly process.  With an RV, we'd pick our spot, back in and spend a few minutes settling our rig.  Done, time to play.  Leaving is equally simple. With tent camping, we'd pick our spot, drive in and spend the next hour unpacking our gear, setting up the tent, setting up our bedding, setting up our "kitchen."  Which was fine the times we arrived early and settled in for a few days.  And a SUPER giant drag the times we struggle with traffic, pulled in close to supper time and then needed to move out early the next morning.

Next year - because I love road trips and hope to do several next summer - I'll plan our travel differently so that each stop involves at least 2 nights stay, with several much longer stays so that the set-up amortizes better.  I'm pretty sure next year Bill plans to buy an RV.

Funny how married people don't always carry the same goals and expectations. Secretly, I'm sure I'm the more realistic of the pair, but I hope he's the one who's right!

September NaBloPoMo

Well.  The rain has set in (Honestly, it's summer, it's August, it's pouring rain and 67s degrees out.  Do I get some sort of winter credit for this?  Like say a trip to Arizona in February? Somebody please talk to the rain gods for me and straighten this mess out.).  Our school schedule starts up again in a few days.  My summer, though cold and cloudy, filled my brain with new information.

Sounds like time for a NaBloPoMo.  For September, I commit to blogging everyday.  I'm also going to add a new category, "What I Learned On My Summer Vacation."  Because I learned a ton and because it amuses me to no end.

Hope you enjoy the ride!