I Think I Can, I Think I Can....{toot, toot!}

   As you may know, I have been dieting lately in hopes of seeing the old me again. I actually started out on the Losing Weight 4 Idiots Diet, but gave that up for eating an almost vegetarian diet. The strictness of the the Idiot diet was getting on my nerves and I figured as long as I kept the calories low I would end up with fewer pounds, but it didn't work out that way. So, I'm back to the 11 days of you-know-what on the 4 Idiots Diet. I've lost 3 lbs in 4 days. The diet is driving me crazy, but I'm trying to stay encouraged. [I actually took the kids to Cold Stone Creamery yesterday and didn't have one lick of their delectable ice cream :-) ] But I did not exercise yesterday and I think that is why the scale didn't move this morning as it had the previous three mornings-- oops. Well, I just hope I can stay focused on my goal-- looking good for the beach-- long enough to get rid of my chub. I have seriously packed on the pounds since hurting my foot nine years ago, and another five pounds from my slipped disc. I'm off for my walk now. Thank you, Lord, that I can walk again-- yeah! :-)

My Buddy and Schoolwork: a continuing saga

  My honey had a bad day at work today, so we went out for a dinner date. We had to stay pretty close-by in order to pick up our oldest at tumbling class, but one of our favorite haunts is close enough for a two-hour window. Of course, three minutes after we sit down, we get a call from our son saying he can't concentrate on his homework because his sister has the music on. It's always something among our three cherubim. Unfortunately, when I get home an hour later, he is still on the same math sheet. Did he complain when his younger sister turned on YouTube right beside him? nooo. Good grief! I always try to be patient with my son in preparation for homeschooling him in September. But if people could be described with roadsigns, my boy's is posted in Rehoboth, DE, and reads,"TURTLE CROSSING." Yow.

   Praise God, we are all also "UNDER CONSTRUCTION," as it will take a lot of patience to get my buddy through school. I pray that I am up to the task. He needs one-on-one attention due to several learning differences, so we are pulling him out for his middle-school years. He is behind on his language arts skills, but his organization skills are enough to make his teacher want to choke him. He would get all As on science and math, if he would turn in his work...

  

How Do You Get to the Met?

   I feel like I should get a writers' idea book and just write on random stuff. Nobody reads my blog anyway and I could get practice researching and putting words to paper. My own life is rarely worth writing about, but I still have the urge to write. 'Too bad blogging wasn't around when my kids were toddlers; you can't make up that crazy stuff!!
  
  

Bunny Food for Me !

   Boy, did I make a mistake! While at the Arts Center yesterday, I asked my dear husband to take a picture of me--how dumb was that! I posed on a pretty wrought-iron bench while he tried to get the shot I wanted. Normally I wouldn't subject myself to such torture, but because I'm usually the one behind the camera, I have very few photographs of myself. I wanted one to post on my blog that was more spring-y than my current pic. To make a short story long, the camera wasn't working right, cuz in the picture I looked quite fat and we all know that just couldn't be true!

   So now I've added a cute weight-loss thingie to my blog and yesterday's picture? ...ain't gonna happen! At least until I can get back to walking and the gym (back's still not healed), I am resigned to eating bunny food. I'll let you know how that goes and you do the same! It is swimsuit time, ladies and gentlemen...

Hope Yet

My husband with two of our three kids

   My son had asked for us to visit the Workhouse Art Center (in Lorton, VA) every weekend for a while now, so today we finally went. It was amazing! There were beautiful glass pieces, woven and printed textiles, pottery, paintings and drawings of different media, wood and metal art. Tons of studios, displayed art, and gorgeous items for sale. We had a great time and learned some about stained glass and lampwork bead making from two gracious artists.

This beautiful double rainbow
appeared as we left!

   My title derives from visiting a painter whose portraits were incredible! After falling in love with her paintings at the gallery, we happened to meet her next door where she had just finished a commissioned oil portrait. It was stunning, really. But my hope stems from our conversation where she shared that she had never attended art school and, in fact, didn't pursue art until she was forty! I couldn't believe it! She studied oils for eight years, she said, until she felt she had accomplished something worthy of selling. This energetic woman is truly talented and often works sixteen hours a day on her paintings. I was blown away by their detail and realism              and hopeful...
           that maybe my dreams of painting aren't just in my head. 
                     

I asked to take a picture (photos aren't normally allowed) of this potter's wastebasket to remind me of her comment: "An artist only lets you see the finished piece." How many times does the artist make a mistake and try again before she ends up with the finished product that you finally get to see? Persistence and practice are often more important to an artist than talent.

                                                    

Ah, SOL Time Again

    Well, moms and dads, it's that wonderful time of the school year when our kids must prove to the powers that be that they haven't always been sleeping during class. Yes, while the weather is warming, the flora and fauna are bursting from their winter slack, and the entire northern hemisphere itches to be outside in the sun drinking artificially-colored beverages, our poor, pollen-invaded children must endure another annual barrage of state testing. Sure, we practice with them, send them out the door with their bellies full of hearty oatmeal, and pray that they muddle through the tedium without too many mistakes... but do we actually care how well they perform on SOLs? Should we?

    Personally, I've met more than one good parent who doesn't. I'm torn--I want them to excel on their scores, but if they don't, I don't want to harass them too much about it. If I did, I would be sundering my disdain for the whole SOL system itself. Don't get me wrong: the tests themselves aren't the issue, but the fact that all year, these kids must fill their heads almost exclusively with the information they need to succeed on these SOLs, and it really ticks me off that they are not taught much else. I understand that there are many schools, even in our beloved Commonwealth, which aren't up to snuff. But there's gotta be a better way than drilling the same thing day after day, nothing outside the SOL criteria, blah, blah, blah. In fact--as far as I can tell--one could keep the kids home after the testing is over, because the whole goal of the school year is complete!
   
Hire good teachers, pay them well, oversee the general curricula and let 'er rip! Is that so hard? Apparently.
     

                                     

Happy Spring, Everybody!