Okay - I'm a little Freaked.......

My in-laws are in Egypt on a vacation of a lifetime... They are visiting Cairo and taking a cruise along the Nile.... Today 1/28/11 - they are scheduled to check into a hotel on the last leg of their journey in Cairo..... Today in Cairo there is Major Unrest.... Violent protests are happening in Cairo - right now... all week... Per the article I just read - there is a curfew from 6PM - 7 AM...

Today the Egyptian government shut down all internet into the country 0r so says the article I just read.....

What happens to travelers during something like this? What happens to non-citizens? What happens to Americans who are staying in an "American Hotel" in the middle of an Arab country? I do know that we are allies with Egypt.. at least I think we are....

The unrest, protests, and violence is about the current President - President Mubarak. Mubarak who has been in power since 1981 and many of the citizens want him to step down. Their country is suffering and they want a change from "youth unemployment, corrupt government, human-rights abuses, and a leader in power for an entire generation who showed no sign of being ready to leave".

Praying for my in-laws for a safe return home... I'll keep you posted..

Information and photo obtained by Yahoo News.

Getting Ready For Independent Study #1

The past couple of days my daughter has been watching and participating in her on-line orientation for her new on-line/independent high school. She starts this Monday. In the process of the orientation it asked her to take the LASSI-HS Student test. This is a test with multiple questions - many questions are similar - it's a great way to analyze the test takers true tendencies... I have to be honest here... I was not too surprised with the results... She has a long road ahead of her to get back on track and I pray that I will have the knowledge, the patience, and understanding that she will need to help her in a positive and productive way... There are many prayer warriors out here in Bloggy Land - and I am asking you to please pray for her... and for me and for our family during this major transition in our lives...

In the LASSI test she scored extremely low in five areas - Anxiety, Attitude, Concentration, motivation, and time management.... This is what the test advised her to work on in these areas...

Anxiety - needs to develop techniques for coping with anxiety and reducing worry so that attention can be focused on the task at hand.

Attitude - needs to develop a better understanding of how their academic performance relates to their future life goals.

Concentration - needs to learn to monitor their level of concentration and develop techniques to redirect attention and eliminate interfering thoughts or feelings so that they can be more effective and efficient learners.

Motivation - must accept more responsibility for their academic outcomes and learn to set and use goals to help accomplish specific tasks...

Time Management - needs to develop effective scheduling and monitoring techniques in order to assure timely completion of academic tasks and to avoid procrastination while realistically including non-academic activities in their schedule..

I truly believe that this is the right thing for my girl in this season of her life.. I pray that her direction.. her motivation.. her love for learning... her love for herself will come to her... I pray that she will soon realize how precious she really is....

** image from Picasa

Science Project - Making Bread With Yeast

For Science extra credit my daughter had the opportunity to make bread using yeast and I ended up getting a science lesson from my girl.... Which I have to say was really cool.... As she was adding the ingredients -she is quizzing me on the science of making bread with yeast... She asked me - Do you know why the bread rises when you use yeast? My answer - Uhhhh - no...
Well - she knew.... Yeast is ALIVE - yeast is a single-celled organism.. When you add sugar and warm water the yeast wakes up and starts eating - the eating causes the yeast to basically fart pass gas bubbles - releasing carbon dioxide.. These bubbles get trapped in the dough and make the bread rise.. Putting the dough in the oven - kills the live yeast and the bread is ready to eat... Oh and Yeast - is in the family of fungi.....

I am not a scratch baker so I searched the Internet for an easy recipe and found this one on allrecipes.com - Amish White Bread

In a large bowl - dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast - allow to proof until the yeast resembles a creamy foam.





Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time - Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.






Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes - shape into 2 loaves and place into well oiled 9x5 loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above the pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes..

Sea World - Not As Magical As Before...

This past weekend my husband and I took our girls down to San Diego for the weekend..... I have always been a huge fan of Sea World and was very excited to go... It was a beautiful day... The weather was in the high 70's (yes in January) - the sun was shining and the park was not full... In fact - we did not have to stand in line for any event - that was a nice change... But I have to say - the shows - were no longer magical...

The Shamu show was always a favorite of mine... To see these incredibly large mammals jump out of the water 20 feet to touch a white ball was beautiful... To see their trainer riding on their backs made it even more exciting.... In addition to the trainers playing in the water with these killer whales - the show would also invite a guest down to have a meet and greet with Shamu... The meeting would always end with Shamu giving a kiss on the cheek.... Aww - so sweet.....

Now the show is completely a "non-participating" show. The trainers do not go in the water with Shamu and the guest gets to say "hi" through the glass tank (like everyone else)... I feel like I was completely ripped off.... Granted a trainer was killed in a show a while back and I am sorry for that BUT does a race car driver stop racing if a driver gets killed on the track? Or does a jockey stop racing horses because a horse turned around to bite him? Does the circus close down when an elephant decides to push their trainer? No - they don't.. There are risks in this kind of entertainment.... Sea World has been around as long as I can remember and the incidents of injuries - fatal or otherwise is so very low...... To completely change the show around - in my opinion is wrong... And the whales no longer jump out of water 20 feet.... They are no longer personable..... There is no longer any magic.....




The dolphin show was not much better - yes, the trainers interacted with the stars of the show BUT over 50% of the show was acrobatics by HUMANS - hanging from a cord and diving.. The dolphins and pilot whale were not the main attraction and that made me mad... I am definitely writing a letter to Sea World.... I did not pay $70 per person to see HUMANS perform instead of dolphins - If I wanted to see HUMANS - I would have gone to Cirque Du Soleil!!!!


I did enjoy the penguin encounter.... I did enjoy the flamingos.. The flamingos were herded across the park and it was very cool to get up close and personal with them... We even had the opportunity to have them "nibble" on our hair.... That was fun... I loved watching the polar bears AND my girls and husband had fun petting the dolphins... There's a trick I learned many years ago from a trainer to get a dolphin's attention and it still works... It worked so well that many of the people around us were talking about how all the dolphins kept coming to us... (Do you know the secret?)










I have to say I miss the old Sea World.. The beauty and magic of watching "beast" and man in a wonderful entertaining show... I hope to experience it once again someday..

Follow Me Back Tuesday

FOLLOW ME BACK TUESDAY BLOG HOP JANUARY 11, 2011

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I Have Fallen In Love...... With My IPAD!

My husband had asked me what I wanted for Christmas... I told him I wanted a Kindle.. I love to read and thought that a Kindle would be perfect for me... Well... my Sunday school teacher bought himself an IPAD and he made the mistake of showing it to me one morning.... From that moment on - I knew the IPAD and I were destined to be together...

This is what I do....

There's are free IPAD applications for the Kindle AND the Nook.... I can use the gift cards from Amazon and Barnes and Noble that I received for Christmas and buy books for my IPAD.. There is also "Ebooks" that I can get through ITUNES.. What's really cool is that there are over 25,000 books that are completely free... including my NKJV Bible...

My husband and I love games - we have been playing Scrabble, Battleship, and Trivia Pursuit.. I can also play games through Facebook and other on-line ways - Yes, all of this through the IPAD... My girls have gotten me addicted to Doodle Jump... (don't ask) My sister who lives over 3000 miles away has an IPAD too and we plan to play Scrabble soon....

Last night I was playing Doodle Jump and my husband asked me find an quote about multi-tasking or plate spinning for a lecture he was to give the next day... I touched my Google search engine (on the IPAD) and found some great quotes AND a new blog to read... I discovered I can read and comment on my favorite blogs through What???? My IPAD!!!!

My husband was watching his sports last night.... Supposedly there was some big football game... So I went into my office to "multi-task" myself... I was reading Facebook, reading blogs, AND on my IPAD I was watching Season 2 Bones... Yes, you guessed it - I can streamline Netflix through my IPAD... I'm telling you I'M IN LOVE....

On line School - The Wave of the Future?

The count down begins for my eldest to start home school... I am not sure if we could really call it "home school"... I'm not teaching her - there's no way I could... I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the concepts she is learning now... What I mean by home school is that she will be taking her classes on line through an on line high school that is accredited with all the UC and State colleges.

Tomorrow - her and I will participate in the Master's agreement on line seminar.. This will explain how everything works... I have checked out the site and it's pretty cool.. It's paperless, very detailed, and organized... The organized part is exactly what my "day dreamer" needs... At the end of the month she will participate in a 3 day seminar and then the following Monday - school is in session....

Most of the tests are on line via a web cam... The software is state of the art in technology.. no way for cheating... which is a good thing... Because she will be on the UC/CS track - her finals will need to be at their headquarters.. all other tests will be on line.

Today - I started getting everything ready... Optimized one of the desk tops and added a web cam and mic.. Geek squad will be by soon to connect her desktop with the printers in my office. She will also have the capability to do her classes on her laptop... but for the time being though - she'll do it at a proper desk in the office....

What I like about this opportunity for my kid is that - she can study and learn mostly at her own pace. She is a brilliant girl and can succeed in anything she chooses to do.. The online school makes it possible for her do more... in a less stressful environment... If she wants to do a class in the evening - she can do that too... The stress of getting to school on time will no longer be a problem.. The wasted time between classes... the teacher taking attendance or helping other kids - will no longer exist... All her time in class will be "productive" time... and this is a good thing.

The school is like any other school... It has a newspaper... a yearbook.... community service groups... This is a very exciting for my creative one... She was on yearbook in junior high and loved it... Her talent for the written word is incredible.... Another cool thing is that she can now play more tennis with her coach... She can also take a few cooking classes for fun... Volunteer in the church sports program... take belly dancing classes... The possibilities are endless... In case you were getting concerned... No, not all opportunities will occur in the same time frame... My point is that she will have more time to enjoy herself as a kid... Get the education she needs for her future college dreams.. AND socialize in the right situations...

I have done my research and I believe that on line school is the wave of the future... With our state's deficits and less monies going to public education - it makes sense for on line school.. The overhead is so much lower.... The expense of books is gone - buildings to buy/rent - utilities to pay for.. The teachers work out of their homes... the classes are paperless (good for the environment). I also believe that this will be a good thing for the students.. Smaller class rooms and more individual attention....

I will let you know how it goes...

What are Your thoughts On Home/online school?

I love My 'Pooping' Dog...

I have to tell you that I love my Dog... She is the badge for my Kelly's Ideas blog.. She is adorable and cracks me up.... It must be nice to be her... She sleeps... She eats... She cuddles.. and occasionally she'll poop in the house..... She is very strange in this bad habit of hers... She likes us to watch her? I don't know... The door would be wide open and still she'll go for all to see - Not all the time but enough for us to call her our 'Loving Pooping Dog'..... This is not one of her finer qualities... But she is loved..... Right now I can hear her snoring... Evidence below....





One of her favorite spots is hanging out on top of my desk....

She loves boogie boarding in the pool but hates swimming... Whenever we are in the pool she looks for the boogie board and when she finds it - she walks onto it by herself.... and goes for a ride...


She is a total lap dog... King Charles Cavaliers were breed for this purpose.They are well known for being the dog of choice for the King of England... They are the largest "toy" size dog...




I have to say that she is by far the most loving and easy going dog I have ever owned... Not a mean bone in her body... She loves without reservation... I could learn a lot of that from her....

Sometimes You Gotta Piss Off Teach Them A Lesson

On the last day of school before Christmas vacation - I allowed my high schooler to skip her last class... The only activity in that class that day was a movie to pass the period - so I thought "why not?"

When school started up on Monday - I gave her the absence excuse letter to turn into the office... Tuesday evening comes and the school calls me advising me that my daughter was marked as truant and if her absence was not a truant to please be sure to have a signed note from the parent sent in no later than Thursday morning..... On Wednesday morning - I told her to go straight to the office and turn the note in.... I said to mark her hand to remind her.....

This morning on the way to school - I asked her if she turned the note in... And again she forgot... Soooooooo - I told her that I will walk with her to the office to turn the note in to make sure that it gets done...

Daughter: "No, Mom!!!!"

Me: "Yep - I've been telling you to turn it in since Monday."

Daughter: (I wish I could have taken her picture.. hee hee) "No, Mom - Please - I'll bring it to the office......"

Me: "No, I'm walking you to the office because next time I ask you to do something - you will remember..."

Daughter: (Gets out of car and starts walking very fast ahead of me)

Me: "Nik, if you continue to storm ahead me and show attitude with me - I will embarrass you more...."

Daughter: (She slows down)

We walk into the school office - they advise her to put the note in a box and to make sure her student ID number is on it..

Daughter: (she tosses the note in the basket)

Me: "Is your ID number on it?"

Daughter: (very loudly and disrespectfully) "I don't know, you wrote it!"

Me: "Well, they just told you to make sure your ID number is on it - so don't you think the best thing to do would be to check?"

Daughter: (smoke is coming out of her ears) "I didn't know..."

Me: (thinking "huh?" - picks up note "What is your ID number"

Daughter: (she tells me too fast... again too fast.... again I can't understand her.. Her attitude is beyond respectful and she is starting to cause a scene and many of the workers are looking at her...)

Me: "Nik, If you don't want this to happen again - be sure to turn your note in on time."

Daughter: (turns her back on me and storms out into the quad)

One of the things that I have learned about this particular daughter is that her appearance is more important than anything else to her.... And I knew that my walking with her to the office (sans make up - hair in a ponytail - and very uncool clothes) would embarrass her... It doesn't matter that no one is paying attention.... I think at this age - they assume everyone is watching them.... I have a pretty good idea that she will do her best for this to not happen again..

What have you done to Piss off teach your kid a lesson?

The Obligation Present.. The Obligation Anything...

One of my favorite things about Christmas is giving gifts... I love that much more than receiving... Crazy - I know... There are people in my life that I love and I will spend weeks.. months.. looking for the perfect gift.... There are also people in my life that are not into the gift giving thing and that's okay... Sometimes it's best not to give a gift because the other person may feel obligated to reciprocate and that's a gift that I so do not want..... The OBLIGATION Present.... I hate those!

I have to say - When I receive a present that is obviously an "obligation" gift it does hurt my feelings... I know some might say "suck it up" or "get over it".... Hurt feelings may be viewed as greed but it's not the item I am hurt over but the lack of thought that was put into it... I hope I don't sound like the kid who got clothes for Christmas rather than the IPOD touch with 1000 applications to play with.... Because that is not my intention... The best way I can describe this is that: The obligation gift could be a snow hat and gloves for someone that lives in Hawaii.. There's a gift... yep... But did the giver give any thought? I may be sensitive but I see that as a shout of "I don't care enough about you to think about you... but I have to get you something... so here goes....."

Obligation gifts are much like obligation "Let's get together"... A friend may say let's go to the movies... or lunch.. or whatever.. and you try several times to connect and the friend is not available or "doesn't know if they are available and will get back to you".... You never hear back but you find out that friend went out with someone else that particular time... It's the "I will do something with you ONLY if there is nothing else to do.." People can be careless and in that carelessness they are hurting others and they probably do not have a clue they are doing so...

This year I am going to try to be more aware of what I do and say... The gifts I give.. The casual promises and comments I make... I do not want to make anyone feel they are an Obligation to me...

Copying Other Parents....

One of the things I remember most about high school is trying to fit in.. Wanting my friends and others to accept me.. I was shy and unsure in many ways... And now that I am the mother of two teen girls - I have learned that the feelings I had were very normal... Self -esteem in teens can come in highs and lows... I think as parents it is critically important to praise our children often... and when we have to discipline or correct - it must be specific not general... I have not done a great job on this... Many times in my frustration - I will say things like "You always keep messing up" or "I just don't know if I can trust you".... Looking back on those comments - I realize how harsh they sound... They sound as if I had given up on my own child... But that is so very far from the truth...

Instant wisdom and the right words did not come along just because I become a parent.. And unfortunately, I know that I will continue to screw up time to time.... I pray that the screws ups won't cause harm to my kids... I pray that as the years continue to go by - I will gain the knowledge to say and do the right things...

I think to be a better parent... a better person... We can copy from those that do it right... I remember years ago listening to Tony Robbins speak - he said that the way he became successful was copying successful people.... Copying the things that work... As parents - we can copy traits and actions from others that we believe are getting the job down... Creating long lasting loving relationships with their kids...

I am currently reading a wonderful book called How to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble and What to Do if You Can't by Dr. Neil I. Bernstein. I am not done with the book but I have to say that the advise I am reading makes sense to me and I believe I can put much of it into action... The most important people in my life are my girls and I want it all for them.. I want them to be blessed with long, happy, and healthy lives...

How do you parent?