2. Wednesday was leap day. And we had 2 leap day miracles:

a. I got to go to Target TWICE in one day!

b. This:

This is an excerpt from Max's Math book. And it was from his lesson ON leap day! caaaaraazy

3. Just going to remind you a little teeny bit about my wattpad account. If you like my grammar, the way I put quotation marks around dialogue, or ya know, the story please vote. And comment. I like comments.

4. Is this a cry for help?

Sam? Sam!

5. THE HUNGER GAMES!

6. If you haven’t read The Hunger Games, you absolutely positively must finish reading this blog post and then read it.

7. I haven’t read a book in like 2 weeks. I knew I was feeling an empty hole in my life.

8. I’m supposed to be reading Oliver Twist. My dad is reading it too. Rather, he’s most likely finished with it and I am just slacking!

9. number nine, number nine, number nine

10. One of my children thinks Yoko Ono can’t sing. But he wants to go to Yoko’s Donuts on his birthday. He couldn’t explain the thought process behind this. I have to add that he’s never been there before so he has no idea if it’s good or bad.

11. This same child thinks ’80′s music is terrible. I. am. ashamed.

12. A Treasure Trove

13. Spring?

Look very closely you can see a little bird in the tree. Not my son, an actual bird. This is getting confusing.

Spring! (Ok, I know it’s not official, but it will be in 18 short days–and also, did you see the blooming tree?)

14. I wrote most of this post on Wednesday, thinking it was Thursday and I was getting a jump on it. This was the least procrastonaty I think I’ve ever been. And it was a mistake.

15.

Do you think he minds me going through his wallet?

Every school day I drive up and down a street called McCart to pick up the kids. Located in a dazzling half mile–reminiscent of  the Las Vegas strip–the three fellas shown above stand and wave and dance. They are selling inevitability in silly costumes; dressing up to make light of some of the most serious business out there. First I pass Ms. Liberty with her crown around her neck and a ‘do rag on her head dancing with ear buds firmly in place, reminding us that our taxes are due in less than two months. The newest addition on the magnificent mile is Mr. Toothpaste, as a reminder that mouth issues will plague each and every one of us at some point in our lives. Finally, on the way back home we pass the bird–is that a crow?!–(not to be confused with my oldest son). When it’s not tax season he sells us insurance, and unless you’re an irresponsible outlaw you’d better have some of that.

I wonder if sometime soon I’ll see a break dancing undertaker.

*Please excuse the low-res photography. My oldest, aka the bird (no, not that one) was my photographer and I actually think he did a fantastic job considering I was going about 30mph and nagging him not to make it too obvious…I’m a chicken.

1. Yes, just this one little weekend. Hubs is in L.A. at a nerd convention.

2. Have you ever gone into a store, say, like a Target and started looking at the clothes and one top looks very familiar? You look down and realize you are wearing that top right then. Suddenly, you turn red and leave as fast as you can hoping you don’t get stopped for shoplifting. Yeah, me either.

3. Many people believe that there is a great need for a sarcasm font. I nominate MS Comic Sans. Let’s get this thing rolling, folks.

4. Funny break

5. If you decide to do parent taught driver’s education for your child please be aware that you will be asked to raise your right hand and swear that you will be responsible for your child’s driving until they are 18. They snuck this little ritual in on me after Bird did the eye test, took a picture, and I had paid the sixteen dollars. Yes, PTDE is half the cost of traditional driver’s ed, but I’m not sure I can handle the responsibility.

6. Reading time:

7. Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore: I will read Rosemary until the day she stops writing. I am proud to say that I have read all of her published books to date. I love her style and how she sucks you right in to her stories as though you’re walking right along with her characters. Amy Goodnight carries a solid Texas name but her branch of the family turns out to be quite a bit less than traditional. And, omk, love interest Ben is swoon-worthy.

8. Connected by Jolyn Palliata: Jolyn is one of my writer friends from wayyyyy back to 2009. I know, forever, right? Anyway, she is really getting her stuff out there. Connected is a novella about two souls, one with a living body and one without which are by some twist of fate, interconnected. Rhys’ (my fave male name ever, btw) conscious is stuck inside Addison and at first it is a very uncomfortable situation. Fast, and fun Jolyn will pull you in to their story and won’t let you go even after the twisty ending. Disclaimer: This is not, I repeat NOT for a young adult audience.

9. Next I’m reading Amber Eyes by Jolyn as well. I read this a few years ago when it was in it’s primitive form and loved it, loved it, loved it then. Jolyn has edited it and sent it out into the world. Check it out. And last time I read it, it was for young adults.

10: For writers:

11. Check WeBook out and tell me what you think. I think it’s a very clever idea. I wonder if it will be successful in finding agents, etc.

12. Randomness:

13. So it’s mid January and the high today should be 77 degrees. I really love Texas in the winter.

14. The Sims 3 is coming out with a new expansion pack and Katy Perry is in on it.

15. Check ya later!

There's no more dancing with the dogs when the kids go off to school. No more quiet days of writing and waiting for 2:30. Those days are gone. At least for the 2011-2012 school year. For the past fourish months I've been (drum roll please)...a homeschooler...  I know!

Two still have the hurried morning of shower, dress, eat, brush, brush (teeth and hair, icyw) and gather. But that dear, sweet middle one has been told time and time again NOT to set an alarm in the morning...so he can get plenty of sleep and not yawn endlessly through math. Our reasons aren't many but very real, and I won't go into that. I will say it took us two years from the idea being said aloud and then passed into and out of favor from me to him, him to me before we made the final decision. Unlike almost all my other decisions, this was not an impulse thing.

I have lost my free time, but I no longer mourn for it. How many people can say that they spend every school day one on one with only one bright, super creative thirteen year-old? (That was not sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell.) Will I bring the other two home? Barring a very large change in their characters or performance, absolutely not. For my family, homeschool is not for everyone.

It's for me and my Max.

Hawaiian Haystack edition…

1. If the above picture looks good to you, here’s the recipe. For the love of refrigerator space, please halve the recipe. I did, and I still have mucho mucho leftovers. That’s okay though cause it’s Y-U-M.

2. Debated using half or halve on number one. By the time I post it I will be semi-sure though. English majors, speak up.

3. A week of Pete says:

Monday...oddly prophetic.

Tuesday. A weird question.

Wednesday. I wonder if he gets paid for this.

Thursday. heh heh heh...

Friday. It got a chuckle.

4. I think Pete needs a vacation. He wasn’t very informative/funny/creative this week.

5. So, if you love free stuff…go here. This is my fave site for the week. Thanks for the tip Sara!

6. I signed on for Google+ and I keep forgetting to actually go there. I also forget to tweet. I never forget to Facebook. *sigh*

7. Lala had to have her tooth (molar) pulled on Tuesday. It was rough. But it makes for really cute Dear Toothfairy letters.

8. Let me translate.

Dear Toothfairy,

I can’t put it [tooth] under my pillow because the dentist took it and [pulled] it out hard!!!!!!! Please still give me a quarter.

9. For the record, our fairy gives out a dollar. And she was going to give more than one this time, but when she saw she could get away with a quarter she reconsidered.

10. No new books this week. *double sigh*

11. Only ten days till school starts! And I’ve done absolutely no school shopping yet. Please tell me I’m not the only one.

12. The streak was broken yesterday. There will only be 40 days of 100 degree or over heat in a row this year for north Texas. My oldest was really pulling for us to break the record. Yes, he’s a teen.

13. I can’t wait to try it!!!!

14. I’m really glad no one showed up for my garage sale, cause it so didn’t happen.

15. Glad that I find out about Rockin’ the River at the end of summer vacay. not.

1. You think your commute is bad? Feel better? Glad I could help.

2. Looking over old drafts can be disheartening. See the purple marker? It’s purple for a reason.

3. Purple prose –noun

writing that calls attention to itself because of its obvious use of certain effects, as exaggerated sentiment or pathos, esp. in an attempt to enlist or manipulate the reader’s sympathies. (dictionary.com)

4. So I’m reading The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan right now. It’s the second book in The Wheel of Time series. It’s a fantasy book. Yeah, I lost like 15 cool points just writing that. I think I may be getting dangerously close to negative cool territory.

5. amusing

6. (WARNING: shameless plug) Into android applications (the phones not the robots)? Want to know more? Check out this site.

7. You never know where or when you may come in contact with a rogue elf. It’s best to be prepared.

8. I wonder if they have real elves to practice on?

9. Are children the only ones who take this class? It doesn’t seem fair to have a full grown human fighting against a little elf.

10. I wonder how Santa feels about this?

11. OMK, every time! I get to this point and I just wonder…do I seriously not have 15 random thoughts in my head?

12. Is it okay to have 90 unopened email in my inbox? Looking for validation.

13. There should be a term for the great fatigue felt in the first week or two of school. Back-to-school lag? Sudden routine syndrome? That one sounds good!

14. I once had a guest blogger on here, Jenny Martin, librarian. Well, guess what? She got herself an agent! Way to go Jenny!

15. I think I might look into this wattpad thing. Not sure about it yet, though.

See ya next week!

Some things you only hear or see once a year. Some things you only hear or see once ever. Some things you don’t start hearing or seeing until you listen and open your eyes.

You know that sound you hear when the wind is rustling the leaves in a tree? The swishy, slow but constant sound? Well I found out yesterday that it sounds different when the leaves aren’t fat and green and graciously slap against each other.

It was cold. And windy, which made the cold feel even bone-chillingly colder. But I stopped, steps from entering my car outside the library to look at the up at the tree that stood in the little strip of land between the parking lot and the street. The tree held branches full of dried brown leaves, still clinging. The constant wind was making an altogether unfamiliar but entirely enchanting music from the branches with their leaves. Each leaf could be heard fanning the one next to it. Instead of the light swishing of healthy leaves, there was a slight sharpness to the sound. Like thousands of hands clapping in a far off place.

I didn’t move for a minute, which for me, in the bitter cold (especially sans coat) never happens. What should I do about this new sound? I could tell others with my limited power of verbalization, “Omk! I totally heard these leaves today…they were so freakin’ rad. Ugh! I can’t explain it, I wish you’d been there!”. I could record the sound on my phone and replay it for my kids. “Listen to this guys!”

“What is it Mom?” (as they listen intently–silently–and I dream on…)

“It’s the sound of a tree full of leaves in the wind.”

“Okayyyyy….” (that’s the 13 year-old)

“No seriously, it sounds different than a tree with green leaves. See, all the leaves are dying but almost all of them have hung on to the tree. And they continue to hang on, even in the wind, and they sound like hands clapping!”

“I’ll clap for you Mom.”

“Nevermind…”

But I still had to share. So I share here.

I’m a learn by doing kind of gal. My husband offered to buy me a Joomla manual to teach me to build websites for his business. As memories of vainly following steps in a math textbook shuddered through me I explained that it would be so much better if he just showed me how and let me mess around with the application. In other words, he should save his money. Which for me seems just a little off-kilter considering I adore reading. But for some reason textbook writers don’t usually include characters or a climax, which is a shame.

Don’t ask me why, but this reminded me of fourth grade (textbooks aside). I had a beef with a girl in my class and she had a beef with me. We decided to duke it out 3:00 style. It didn’t matter to me one bit that I weighed less than 50 lbs. at the time and she had to have been twice that weight. Or that she was almost twice my height. My righteous cause would be enough to see me through. I packed the ends of my generic Keds with wadded paper towels because she’d leaked her strategy. She was planning on stepping on the ends of my toes and punching my face like a speed bag. Cartoon physics aside, I thought I was pretty dang smart to give my self foot cramps and throw my center of gravity off balance.

One big difference between teachers today and my teacher (in 1980 something or other): A teacher today would have called authorities. My teacher, dear Mrs. Baker, tried in her own way to dissuade us but never called anyone. Was she trying to teach a lesson? I really think she thought I would chicken out. I didn’t. I lost a tooth. I never picked a fight again. Lesson learned…the hard way.

I’ve got a new “gig”.

Have you ever wondered about the state of Fort Worth charter schools?

Curious about charter schools in general?

You’re in luck! I’ve signed on as the Fort Worth charter schools Examiner for Examiner.com! It’s a cool site with national as well as local folks providing information and educated opinions with the public at large. Check it out and see all the neat stuff you can find.