Another favorite, this one remixed by the artist himself, just for Trueblood. Cry Little Sister "Bloody Swamp Version" by G Tom Mac



I've always loved this piece and normally, I don't like remixes, but this one is a stunner. Just fabulous.

A very bluesy rendition of Radiohead's "Creep", as performed by a homeless man. I sat here with tears rolling.

Mustard sings Creep from Rex Kramer on Vimeo.

From this post:
http://thenorthelevation.blogspot.com/2009/12/listen-homeless-man-covers-radiohead_17.html

Down she goes

Bethany's been getting her hip worked on in physical therapy to strengthen it due to muscle/tendon weakness that was causing hip pain. That's been going well and she only had one appt. left this coming Wednesday.

This past Friday she was trying to change a light bulb that was a bit too far out of her reach, overstretched on the step ladder and wham, fell off it. She only fell about a foot and a half or so, but she hurt the right foot. This is the one she had previously had surgery on to repair the stretching from repeatedly rolling the ankle.

She wrapped it up and iced it here and there over the next two days and tried to keep off it as much as possible. Sunday she decided it was more than just a pulled muscle and off we went to the ER at SOCH. Diagnosis: a fracture in the right foot. Now she has a matching set...since she fractured the other foot in pretty much the same place back in 2007 on her senior trip. No weight bearing until further notice, so she's back on crutches again.

She's miserable and complaining about being broken. I told her that she might want to consider getting those fractures repaired, since we already know that the left foot involved a piece of the foot detaching that really should be reattached. It's probably the same situation with the right one. Already made the appt. with the foot and ankle doc to follow up on the ER visit.

Joy.

I hate October 17th

Galt Aureus - Album: Citadels
"Coming Down" by Saher Galt

Missing Dad! This date will always suck.

I know it will get easier as each year passes. It's better this year than last year, but being sick at the same time really bites.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Asperger's makes life interesting

It also makes life difficult. Xander needs to be exercising and so do I, so I purchased Zumba.com dvd set. It's fun and I'm going to like doing it.

He had a meltdown over even the thought of using a dance/exercise method. He told me he couldn't do it, I tried to coax and when I turned around to talk to him again he was gone. Didn't answer when I called, wasn't in his room or the bathroom or the back yard when I went looking. Finally found him in my room sitting on the floor in the corner, hiding like one of the dogs does during a storm and looking no less panicked than they do.

We've settled on me doing Zumba during our exercise periods with him doing regular exercises. I'm looking into a dvd/online home school martial arts class for him that might be more his speed.

Chess for Critical Thinking

The course online that Xander is taking is pretty basic, since it assumes that you are learning chess from scratch. Since he already knew the basics, he's pretty bored with it and probably will blow through it quickly.

However, it has spawned a new daily ritual and the chess board is never off of the dining room table for more than a few minutes. I think I need to invest in a chess table, although I'm not sure where I'd put it. I'm not playing much, since my brain is over full atm with all of our school stuff plus work (not to mention Aion), but Scott and Xander are at it all day, either sitting down together or playing an ongoing fly-by game.

The most wonderful thing? Our dad's old chess set is being lovingly used. Who could ask for a better memorial than that?

Whiteboards have a magnetic attraction.

It has nothing to do with the ones that are made so that you can stick magnets on them. We just got one today to make our lessons a little easier.

It's the allure; the temptation of it. Place a whiteboard on the dining room table, leave the markers by it and a quiet little dance ensues. Xander puts a latin phrase on it from his current worksheet and translates it to try out the markers. I drew a smiley in the corner. The new expo markers retract btw...something else to go oooo! about.

Later on, I stroll by, the phrase is gone, replaced by a large pi sign in a circle. I laugh, erase that, and write "Tempus Fugit" with a clock face. Xander tells me he translated it and are we going to have a phrase of the day? I walk by it later and someone added a fish, it turns out that was dad, putting his two cents into the fun.

This morning when I looked at it, the simple blue fish now is red spots and red fins with a lovely dorsal fin. Look's like Thany's been there, lol.

Ah, the joys of homeschooling

Pros:

• You can sleep in; even though we didn't today, due to the doctors appt., physical therapy trip and all the other errands that had to be run, but you get the point.
• There are NO bullies. No crowded hallways. No swearing...except from us while we work, lol.
• You work at your own pace. Take as many or as a long a break as you need.

Cons:

• I had no idea how much work would be involved!
  
• It's harder for Xander, too. He is enjoying himself part of the time, others he moans and groans. Ok, so that's pretty much the same as regular school. :)

I just ordered an Effective Teaching Power Pack, to help me learn how to construct lesson plans and goals. It feels like a life preserver today. I'm building up my resource links and I've found some useful tools on the internet, like nature.com.

I will always treasure that day last week when Xander took a break from his work to come over to where I was researching for his biology class and give me a big hug with a thank you. So worth it!