madameblogalot

I did not realize I could turn the comments box off for each individual post. It is easy to do. When I write the post, I simply scroll down and uncheck the box which allows comments. I won’t do this often, but it’s good to know that it is available.

Saturday evening my son was on his way from his girlfriend’s house to a football game. On his way, I asked him to stop and get some baking soda (for the stinky refrigerator!) He said no problem. He stopped at a CVS pharmacy to get it for me as it was on the way and convenient. After looking around a bit, he called me and asked if I knew where in the store the baking soda was, but I did not, and was not 100% sure they even had any. So he asked the manager where it was.

While in the midst of his shopping, he saw a guy that he knew from high school. He said hello to the kid and met the kid’s friend. My son paid for the baking soda (.69 cents) and went out to his car. As he went out the door, the kid that my son had just met caught up to him and wanted to “wait out here with him for his friend.” My son being the social, trusting, good kid he is said no problem.

My son got in the car, threw the baking soda in the back seat. Meanwhile the “new” kid got in the passenger side of my son’s car. He asked my son if he wanted some gummy worms. My son said no. Just then two cop cars screeched up on either side of my son’s car. My son’s new “acquaintance” let out a cuss word and jumped out. While he did so, he threw the gummy worms in my son’s lap (which my son did not realize just yet.)

My son was thoroughly confused, but it was dawning on him what was happening. He got out, with gummy worms falling out of his lap, and immediately started saying he was not with the two other boys, he was running an errand for his mother…but all the while he said he could hear himself and it sounded lame even to him.

All in all, after being detained nearly an hour, having the manager vouch for him and seeing the store surveillance tape, my son was free to go. He came straight home after that, forgoing the football game. As he walked in and said “I am so mad. You will never believe….” I KNEW something was not right!

Even though he was cleared, it certainly was not worth the .69 cents! We had to laugh when we heard him tell my husband that he was nearly arrested over baking soda!

I have done isometric exercises before, without knowing the proper term for them. But over the weekend I found an isometric exercise workout, using only four moves. I thought I would give that a try! For each move, you are to hold the position for one minute, then rest for 30 seconds. Doesn’t sound too bad right? Repeat this for three to five times. Still doesn’t sound too bad. And really, it’s not too bad.

I was able to do the first move five times, one minute each. The second move, I did three times, went and did something else and came back for a fourth minute. The third move (which I had to do w/ a bent arm) I held 45 seconds, 50 seconds, 60 seconds, then went back to the arms, and then back to the third move for one more minute. The last move, I was tired. The first minute, ok. Second, my legs were shaking. The third minute, I asked some guy who was resting from his exercise to talk to me! That’s all I could do on that last move.

While I did not sweat profusely nor did I feel like I’d had a hard workout, my muscles were a bit shaky when I got home. If you want to try a challenging, easy routine, try these four isometric moves. Maybe I am just weak, but I hope to be able to build up on these. I will definitely be adding this routine to my rotations.

Spark notes is like Cliff’s notes for the 21st Century. I have heard the kids talk about it. Today I visited the website. It is definitely set up for today’s kids! It is full of information floating all around the page with everything from blogs, to video notes to apps for your iPhone/iPad! So you can get Shakespeare on your iPhone or learn MacBeth in less than ten minutes! I am not sure how helpful all the info is as I did not stay on the site for a full ten minutes, but I am sure there are things there that will help today’s teen get by and hopefully succeed in today’s educational setting.

I went Thursday to try cycling with my clip pedals. I had only done this a couple of weeks before I had surgery and so am not completely used to them. Even so, I was determined never to fall, even though my husband has warned me that it would happen.

I left late morning for a short ride, but started getting sprinkled on within three miles. As I did not want to be out and caught in the rain, I came back and decided to wait until the afternoon. Even though it was still cloudy, I thought it was no worse than the morning, which turned out to be no rain at all. As I got about seven miles in, I felt it begin to sprinkle again. I turned a corner and could see it was raining hard at the end of the street. So I turned around and headed back to a community pool I had just passed, hoping there would be somewhere to take cover. There was a small awning covering three steps with the upper step being the most sheltered from the rain. That is, until the wind started blowing in that direction!

After nearly thirty minutes, the rain had almost stopped and the sun came out. I figured that at the other end of the street, it was probably now clear. So I got back on the bike taking a much slower pace. As I was going through one neighborhood, I came to a stop sign. At an intersection, a car was coming, so I knew I would have to stop. If s/he was turning my way, I could have just taken a right turn and not had to stop. As it was, I could not get unclipped and went down on the pavement. Just as s/he turned right next to me! S/he did not even stop to see if I was ok!! I fell his/her direction and s/he just went right past! I was mad and embarrassed and disappointed. And it all could have been prevented. But now I know I only have about one second to get unclipped before going down. I guess I have now been initiated.

The senior year of high school *should* be “the perfect year”. It is the culmination of all the previous years you have put into your education. As my son started his senior year this year, my husband and I sat down with him and talked with him about this “transition” year. We want things to be moving toward more independence, toward more decision making/real life consequences, more toward the adult world.

What has followed for us is my son’s decision to homeschool and take dual credit classes at a local community college. He has also bought himself a car. He is looking for a suitable part time job. He has the privilege and responsibility of being a high school student and college student all at once. I think that the way this is working out for him, it could in fact turn out to be a perfect year for him.

It is quiet. Very quiet here. This summer has brought changes our way again. It seems we have been living a topsy-turvey life for several years now.

Today my daughter started her first day of public school. High school. I can’t say that I am particularly happy about it, but we let it be her choice. She will be gone all day for classes and volleyball. On the flip side of that, my son has decided after three years to return to homeschooling for his senior year of high school! He is taking outside classes three days a week, one day at a homeschool co-op and two days at a community college. The other two days will be for classes at home and homework. He is also planning on playing basketball.

So while it is quiet right now, we have plenty of craziness to keep us busy for the next school year!

I was thinking that it would be a good idea to just rent a text book for a semester and sure enough, there are several sites available that do just that! I found a site that has my son’s books for rent and/or sale cheaper than I expected. There are rentals available from 30-130 days at reasonable rates. I also found that to buy the book was half what it would have cost us locally. Since he will likely need the book for two semesters, I chose to purchase the book, which was only $9 more than renting it for the semester. His other book we rented for $10 for the semester.

When renting, you are allowed minimal highlighting while using the book to study. And the shipping is free as is the return shipping. They are also looking for students to be campus representatives. These kids can then earn certificates for future book rentals/purchases as well as bonuses.

As parents, our job is ever changing as our kids grow and change. We have struggled through our kids’ teenage years, but we have always tried our best. And when things get really tough, we are not afraid to ask for help. This week, we learned a new parenting tool, that, at least for now, seems to be pretty effective.

In a tough situation, it was suggested we treat the nearly adult child with love and respect and appeal to the child’s innate intelligence. We saw that as a good approach, but were still a bit unsure how to proceed. Our tutor had us come up with a plan that used the “I think, I feel, I need” approach. We asked our child each of these questions and we too in turn went over the statements from our own perspective. Though the conversation could have become volatile very quickly, our teenager told us it was greatly appreciated that we treated the situation as an adult and that we offered love and support.

While I doubt we are completely through with every detail of our tough times, I know that this approach is working for us right now. And that seems to be about all any parent of any teenager can ask for!

I’ve heard the saying that everyone’s an author, especially in today’s world of daily blogging. When I saw that you can get your writing analyzed to find what author you write like, I had to join in! When submitting two posts from this site, both a sponsored post and a non-sponsored post, I was told that I write in the style of:

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Since I did not know who this was, I had to look it up. Doctorow is a Canadian born sci-fi writer and notorious blogger. Some of my other blogs are apparently written in a different style, as those post submissions tagged me as other authors. If you want to analyze your writing style, just click the highlighted link in the box.