Kid Interview

I borrowed this fun idea from Ordinary Life Magic, one of my favorite unschooling blogs. The idea is that your kids answer questions about you, and you get some insight into their view of you. I thought it was pretty fun, so I interviewed my two. Try it with your kids - it's a lot of fun!

Dryst, age 14 (well, 15 in just one week):

1. What is something I always say to you?
I love you.

2. What makes me happy?
Cats.

3. What makes me sad?
Arguing.

4. How do I make you laugh?
Usually by laughing yourself.

5. What was I like as a child?
Shy.

6. How old am I?
Forty...um...one? Is that right? (yep)

7. How tall am I?
Five foot one-and-a-half. (he’s very aware of this, having recently passed me!)

8. What is my favorite thing to do?
Uh, have fun, I don’t know...you enjoy a lot of things.

9. What do I do when you’re not around?
Rejoice (heh heh). That’s funny, come on!

10. If I become famous, what will it be for?
Your Feline Dreamers.

11. What am I really good at?
Um, smart things. Writing. Cooking.

12. What am I not very good at?
Sports.

13. What do I do for a job?
Feline Dreamers.

14. What is my favorite food?
Uh, Indian food?

15. What makes you proud of me?
Lots of things. How smart you are, how nice you are, everything, I don’t know!

16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be?
I don’t know, that’s are hard one... Wait, Velma!

17. What do you and I do together?
Uh, swimming a lot. We haven’t really done anything just the two of us for a while.

18. How are you and I the same?
We’re about the same height, we have about the same color eyes, and we’re related. Oh, and we’re both Virgos.

19. How are you and I different?
You’re a chick and I’m a dude. Um, I’m sporty, you’re intelligent.

20. How do you know I love you?
Because you’re nice and loving.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?
This test is interesting. It seems like it was made for younger kids, though.


ElvenTiger, age 12:

1. What is something I always say to you?
Hmm. You say "meow!"

2. What makes me happy?
Kitties.

3. What makes me sad?
Um, arguing, and when kitties pass away.

4. How do I make you laugh?
Your smile.

5. What was I like as a child?
Quiet, and you loved to read all the time.

6. How old am I?
41.

7. How tall am I?
Five foot one-and-a-half, almost two.

8. What is my favorite thing to do?
I have to say either swimming or reading, but you love a bunch of stuff.

9. What do I do when you’re not around?
Read, be quiet.

10. If I become famous, what will it be for?
Writing.

11. What am I really good at?
Grammar - you’re an English major.

12. What am I not very good at?
All the sports, except for soccer.

13. What do I do for a job?
You write.

14. What is my favorite food?
You don’t really have a favorite food, you like all kinds of foods.

15. What makes you proud of me?
Um, well, you’re always happy, even when things are tough.

16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be?
This is gonna be a fun one (thinks about it). The cat on Tom and Jerry!

17. What do you and I do together?
A lot of stuff, mainly swimming, but also reading together.

18. How are you and I the same?
We both love to swim. We both don’t like fighting. We’re related. Our eyes. Oh yeah, and how much we love cats!

19. How are you and I different?
Our hair is one of the ways. I don’t know...

20. How do you know I love you?
Because of the way you smile, and just... you! I know you love me because you’re you.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?
You’re awesome!

Mermaid Goes Wandering

I've found myself wandering, as Rob Brezsny tells me, in exile this past few weeks. Not a permanent exile, but definitely a place outside the comfort zone. When I'm feeling positive about it, I think of it as the wilds of the imagination. Wandering in exile tends to conjure a mental picture of an emaciated fellow trudging through the desert. However, my personal form of exile is more like being a mermaid swimming in the far reaches of the deepest emotional seas.

As I wrote in my journal, "swimming and floating, never touching the bottom. Sometimes it's stormy, sometimes quite calm. Can it be called wandering if you're swimming? Well, why not?"

It's not quite time to come back to the mainland, for there are still lessons to be learned. Yet I have found some new allies, and alerted some longtime friends, and they have sent me messages in bottles and texts on my shell-phone, so I know I'm not entirely alone. I expect that I'll return with new thoughts, ideas, and ponderings to share. Stay tuned, dear readers, and perhaps I'll swim back with some pearls for you.

My Favorite Movies

For as long as I can remember, when asked what my favorite movie is, my answer has been The Princess Bride. And then the Lord of the Rings movies came out, and as a fan of the books, I truly loved them and thought they did a fabulous job. Well, now the Harry Potter series of movies is complete, and we just saw the final one tonight. And now they are right up at the top of the list. Wow!

Seventeen of us, the core members of our Maine Wholeschoolers group, filed into the movie theater ten days ago, ready to watch the final installment. We had our 3D glasses, popcorn, and candy, and we were ready! But before we even got to the previews, the electricity went out in the theater. Yikes! We waited a while, but the theater staff came back and said that they were canceling that showing, and we'd have to come back. Right. Just try and get 17 people from four busy families to all come back at the same time.

Well, time passed, but we did it! And the movie was just so fabulous. Yes, I cried. I also laughed a lot. We spontaneously cheered when Bellatrix LeStrange met her well-deserved end...even though we loved how Helena Bonham Carter played her to the hilt. I had goosebumps several times throughout the movie. They just captured it so very well! And yes, I absolutely love the books.

My favorite characters are all women: Hermione, of course. As a fellow bookworm, I can relate, and I love how she grows into such a powerful witch. Luna Lovegood, oh yes, I also identify with her. I was just reading about the actress who played her, Evanna Lynch, and a quote about how the other actresses who tried out for the part could certainly play Luna, but Evanna IS Luna. So true! And of course, Professor Minerva McGonagall. I adore Dame Maggie Smith anyway, and she turns into a cat, for heaven's sake! Perfect!

Well, that is all for now. I freely admit that my first words after the end of the movie were "again! again!" And I might just have to do that.

First Harvest

Happy Lammas everyone! No, not llamas, although they are pretty cool. Lammas is the Pagan celebration of the First Harvest. Abundant early crops like wheat and corn are featured in the celebration - so homemade bread and corn on the cob, along with tomato dishes featuring fresh herbs like basil and cilantro, are often included in the feast. A friend of ours has an overabundance of zucchini to share, so our own celebrations this week will have grill-roasted zucchini as part of the menu. Yum!

Along with the literal harvest, we can also give thanks for that which we're harvesting in our lives. The projects that we conceived of in Winter and planted as seeds this Spring are now, perhaps, coming to fruition. They may not yet be complete, but hopefully we can see the energies coming together. It's time to patiently continue to nurture them as they grow. Not everything we've planted will thrive, so there may be things to let go, too.

I'm tending to some cherished creative projects that are still coming together. One big project that I thought I'd given up on has rallied and is progressing well, and I'm in the midst of writing several articles that I can visualize being completed in the next couple of months. I'm letting go of my expectations in other areas, and seeking some new options for financial abundance. What is your First Harvest? Are there things you're ready to let go? Are there others you will continue to tend carefully?

Blessings of Lammas to you! May your gardens thrive and bring you a bountiful harvest!