~POSTMANIA~

I’ve gone mental on doing my blog. It’s like, pause for a minute. Take a step away from the technology and upon return find myself a total ignorant as to how things work.

Now, I’ve never really gotten the beat of what ticks beneath developing software and the internet application that speaks behind the ins and outs of sharing info over the World Wide Web. No, I am a pretender. But then, we all are some where, aren't we.

Still, I want to play. And I think I have something to say. So try my hand at it when it suits me. Not nearly as much as I think I want to…

Procrastination is a bugger. It dresses itself up in busy mundane tasks of familiarity and whispers sweet-nothings that tell me there’s always tomorrow. I succumb to its charms. And another day passes…

The question isn’t really whether one choice is more valuable than another. I’ve learned long ago there are no ‘standard’ hierarchy of values, but rather the order each of designates according to what we believe most serves us.

The question for me then is, at the close of another ‘busy’ day, do I know myself any better, my children? Was I present? Did I laugh; feel deeply and happily enjoying my busy-ness? Or was the day fraught with inattentiveness, wishing I were somewhere else, in another time, when the all the tasks were done.

The thing about being a giver is that if you’re not sincere; in other words, attempt to give what you don’t have. It is a mark of maturity to recognize that the only thing we can ever share is ourselves.

I can’t begin to tell you how many years I lived in this kind of un-presence, where when ‘enough’ was done; there would be time for me… Today, it bores me. I prefer the peace that can only be found in total presence…

See, here’s what I did with the ‘keeping a blog’ thing, as I have with other things along the way:

It starts with making a compartment in my mind for said particular thing, putting a label on it of sorts, like “I’m a blogger”. Now naturally, whole lists of defining terms start lining up under the heading. All manner of expectations and criteria, complete with procedures to follow and necessary training flood in; exciting, complicating, confusing and actually hampering the actual production. And before I know it, and if I’m not paying attention, I could find the label ‘failure’ stamped in red across the whole show.

Now see. Nothings really happened here, just a mental exercise in busyness, a distraction from reaching in and being fresh in each moment, learning and understanding for simply the delicious experience that being joyously fully present when doing anything brings…

That’s what this little explorative exercise is all about, zeroing in the troops of my mind, previously delegated to expectations and other unnecessary constructs; and getting naked with my mind again, and exploring the endless little nooks and crannies that make me tick.

I am forever fascinated by what I find in my mind. This is, it turns out, what interests me. What turns me on... Would it interest others? I can’t know. And, I find, I can’t care… Am I a blogger? Who knows? I enjoy this…. and, Joy is what I’m about, after all.

~CLIFF-HANGER~

Now, this is my idea of schooling. fun-schooling that is : FUN, FUN, and more FUN!!!

Last month we joined a great group of family-learning based families for a day riding and laughing and sharing at Cliff’s Amusement Park
Here are a few pics from our yummy day:

We're totally doin' it again, this week

~Unschoolin'/Free-Schoolin' College For All~

We watched this fun movie last night. The title is Accepted. It's based totally in the free-schooling (formerly referred to as un-schooling, but for me a more specific and appropriate) philosophy, always coming at learning in a completely unorthodox way. But then again, that is what free-schooling is all about. There were some subtle as well as very direct messages that speak to what isn't working with the education system we've got now, which this movie addressed in a very funny and bold way. And of course the underdog wins out in the end, enlightening the so-called experts to a new way of viewing education. Plus all the student who weren't form-fitted for regular collage, found that their way of learning was not only perfect for them, but could help others as well. We all have something to teach...

link to learn more about the movie: Accepted

~BATTER-UP~

Isotopes baseball

I took this picture, the first of many at the baseball game,

which we went to with friends (a family also subscribed to the unschool philosophy).

We so enjoy them.

The Albuquerque Isotopes played the Nashville Sounds.

It was a good match (by my ignorant account anyway).

Our friends used to be from

Tennessee which added to the fun.

But the Isotopes won out in the end.

It was a great game and terrific fun with this yummy family.

The ball park also has a kids park area, for moms like us to take kids when they get restless.

The boys loved it!

Check out the slide show below.

Thanks Tina Dennis, Haley, Luke and Cade, for a great time!

~un-family~family FUN

Ok now, continuing on the family theme, we spent this memorial holiday weekend with members of our unschooling family. Saturday, we went to a sort of new-home celebration, bar-b-que with great friend/family. While the adults visited and prepared food, the children indulged in some serious swimming in the hot tub. These are the same folks we had over for super-bowl partying and whom we egg-spressed our Easter creativity with. Hours of family fun and learning and sharing. Lots of love and acceptance. So easy to be with them.

The thing about choosing to let all things; people, circumstances, situations, etc., be exactly as they are, resisting not what is but channeling that creative nature (that might be used up trying to be right or better or some competitive score), is that there is so much fresh, alive interest and ideas to share and learn about and try.

hhmmmmm... Quinn...there's a bit of Quinn in all of us.

I love it when I feel so delicious... Everything is right....

I love watching the show, playing roles like mom and chauffeur and friend and confidant … Cole’s good friend Quinn, from Las Vegas, has been visiting during his spring-break from public school. They display tremendous respect for each other while being goofy and inquisitive and creative together. Check out this film they made as a case in point

Quinn has been full of questions about the life of the ‘unschooler’. Its been fun to share with him. Here's a yummy, useful quote in describing the unschooler,that I loved: “Unschooler: one who learns from life and love and great books and late morning conversations and big projects and eccentric uncles and mountains and mistakes and volunteering and starry nights - not from dull textbooks and sedative lectures and interfering homework."

It has been fun to observe this young man ‘observing us. life is so much fun, yes?

Zero-degrees of separation: the adventure of life~

Inspiration strikes like magic. Sometimes waiting for it is exasperating. But I got no talent on my own. So I wait and work on my willingness to be intimate with inspiration ~or avoid. My environment always supports the level of my mind. All I have to do is look around at what seems to be going on around me’ and I can see the texture and nature of where my mind is on a particular topic. Today’s topic is blogging. The resistance amuses me. I got notin’ without inspiration, yet inspiration has never failed to show up when I have… So, as always, its all me…
The past few weeks have been delightful, engaging and bordering on the spectacular …. How do I capture that?…. It seems that to just begin, any which way, is a good start. I know inspiration can do something with my willingness …

Somewhere around a month ago, we broke ranks and went off on a new adventure in living-learning- adventuring- embracing- assimilating. I can’t really describe the context of what the shift was, but I note it by the energy of ‘trust’ that permeates the family system. It’s not just an increase of trusting one’s Self (or better, the One Self) as whole, it is marked also by the absence of otherness… still, I can only hope to point to the experience of trust and freedom and allowance, for there are no symbols to accurately articulate it…

What might look to many as a family vacation, to radical unschoolers as merely ‘doing business the RU way’, to this one it has been a coming to-gather of pure in-joy-meant.

The physical destination was Utah, the internal location: here, now.

I'm calling it what “zero-degrees of separation” looks like…

We hung with innocence and bliss, laughs, enjoyment and commitment, with risk and courage and togetherness in the form of Lucas and Becky and Noah and Egan. Early morning prayers and power-talks to games and loves and restful belonging, we experienced all the elements of good family relations. See the film below…

One of the fun days took place at Hogle Zoo. We had a great time! Here’s a little film strip documenting the fun…

In the mist of this family encounter, the fingers of togetherness reached out to include extended family. Gary, (my first husband/love) and his beautiful current family/love, through their arms and home open for visiting and bonding; Randi and Lucas with their dad and brother/sisters. See the pics that follow, marking that yummy time…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch of Danét, the sisterhood of the traveling feminine, met for a sleepover in the enchanted cottage spirit-space of the eternal goddess Patricia. Those attending were my Self, Patricia, and the candor and courage goddess; Nan Richel …. Oh, how we laughed… and cried and shared and admired and became more….

And, oh so yummy… We got the opportunity to hang out with Clay and his now love/partner, Shaurice, we had a delicious time with warm heartfelt conversation and being together, filled with children’s laughter and banter… ah, what bliss…. Children we share from seemingly ‘past’ relations, all in attendance… see pics below

I want to say how much I love and respect Clay, (Cole and Parker’s dad). We met in spirit, defying all physical constructs to what ‘relationship’ was ‘supposed’ to be and let spirit rip. We knew somewhere, somehow, we had made an agreement together that we were meant to fulfill, so we set about allowing that to happen (often with resistance on my part- but also much faith and courage). Always faith, innocence and love’s purity took the lead through difficult passages and Clay remained the embodiment of these, forever teaching love’s tenacious flow. Thank-you Clay.

Oh, the day beckons and I feel moved to answer… I’ve hardly begun the expression of this past month’s adventures, so this will be the first of however many entries …

~T A D A !~

*KNIT & TELL* (knitting...knaturally...)

Okay, so we have knitting projects up the wazoo (hope that spelling’s right~ haha)

Turns out, if you’ve got the balls (yarn that is ~) you can knit (heehee) it done. Check out the pics of where our busy little hands have been up to… sheeeep, what a bunch of wool…

Turns out, that when a blossoming flower offers her scent (that’s assistance to those who don't speak floral), others around her bloom as well. Randiflower

~Sheep man ~ I've been tagged!~

So I see I’ve been tagged… Here are the rules: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as clearly state this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says, "You’re tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

Humm…. Will I play?

First off; to sight weird things about myself is like saying describe YOU, yes? What’s weird, and to whom? Nes’t pas? Okay, save it to say it might be easier to ask those around me … for to me, I am normal. But I assure you, to those who have spent any significant time/space around me… the jury is still deliberating… but alas, I’ll play! Accordingly, I’ll do my own deliberation and hope for enlightenment…So… none… Here’s the jury selection’s appraisal:

1. apparently, I hum constantly
2. I get up at 3:00 am
3. apparently, I’m too nice
4. Silence is my favorite sound
5. I’d rather have a Mocha brevé form Starbucks than any other food at any given time.
6. General Hospital ~ need I say more?

Oh, lets face it, I’m a @#%&in’ whack job…

Linking now:

Lucas

Parker

so far they're the only ones I can find that haven't already been tagged... but, still looking...

~altered matchbox Atc's rule~

We have been making altered matchboxes for an ATC (artist trading card) trade and what fun and yummy sense of creative accomplishment. Hey, I just got a new digital camera, increasing my 2007 technology life-course I signed myself up for. So, I think I’ll try to take pictures of the matchboxes before I send them… find them posted below:

~What does serenity look like?

I’m looking out the window while I write this morning and the snow is falling gently, blanketing everything in white…. It matches my mood; peaceful, serene, at rest…. It’s beautiful! That is the scene as well as my mood. It’s been delicious to enjoy the boys enjoying the snow. I was committed to disliking the snow for many years. The story I told was that I hated the cold and I felt personally assaulted by it. What a silly burden that was for me to carry, yes? I’m the one that couldn’t be present with what is, yes? Nice to shed that little blip…. It feels great to be here instead, decided to love whatever is and be ‘full-on’ about it. What I’ve been doing is knitting! I made myself a fabulous French blue scarf. Ok, it started out to be a shrug, but…. Anyhow, I love it. And Randi made me gloves. And now, I’m nearly finished with a new, better, improved technique/skill, model shrug… and as soon as I can get some more yarn, I’ll wrap it up! Arrh, arrh,... wrap it up!

It’s not looking like ‘drive’ weather.... perhaps, its ‘snowman weather… Yes! I do believe it’s a SNOWMAN kinda day…. Well, off to enjoy our winter wonderland…

My beautiful, love-spreadin' friend, Brian, sent this out today, seen it before, and as it was with him, just wanted to share ~thanx Bri xoxo

What does Love mean?

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca- age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7 (ummm!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6 (yummy)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image) Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

unschool and be free

“I am as God Created me”, this is the only truth as far as I'm concerned. And I am accountable in my so-called life, for whatever recognition of this one truth I have allowed. This is why I felt so yummy about signing on with the unschooling philosophy, as a methodology to assist in the seeming role of parent with children. It‘s a groovy way to do it while apparently sucking air in a body, playing the earthly game. The philosophy is aligned with my life lessons of forgiveness: seeing the false as false, and only recognizing the truth Love is what we are, for the love of God, and nothing else will ever satisfy … There’s only one logical choice, although we may come at it from a myriad of perspective directions, but it always comes down to; “Love did it right in Creation in the first place, and there’s no improvement of the Self that God created One”. So the undoing of the thought system that thought otherwise is the only requirement in this world. Well at least the learning of the world for me has had to be undone (or forgiven) one belief at a time as it was in direct opposition with the truth. Every system made for this world is more of the same ~ designed to blot out love’s awareness through conformity and competition and right/wrong judgments. Levels of learning and ordering of values, all serve to mask our brilliant, vibrant oneness and perfection.
I have felt that having children in this life has been a direct line to the purity of innocence and love (often through the main-line forgiveness I.V.). As a parent; when anger, frustration, the desire to control outcomes, surfaces up, there’s not far to look to see the source of my discomfort. I love you, see, so if I seem to be feeling something else, it must be that I have lost touch with my love, which incidentally, is what I am and you are. In other words, I have slipped into amnesia, and forgotten who I/we are…. I wish only to re-member us…

as always~ reflections in the mind given over to spirit

Yesterday we went to Explora, where science rules… everything you do is geared to express scientific principles for one to learn through experience. Kinda like how life is a series of learning opportunities that reflect directly, the contents of the mind that perceives them and seemingly experiences them. We are constantly given the chance to review our minds via the world around us and distinguish if we are happy with what we see, and if not, choose to see it differently, in other words change our mind. It is the science of forgiveness and I for one have never been bored a minute, nor without subjects for review. It is exhilarating to let go of judgment and let the space where hate or irritation parked, be filled with love or at least possibility. I have a situation with my boys; we’ll call it my current science project… Here’s the thing, I see them hurting each other. They hang out constantly with each other, in fact they seem to feel incomplete at times playing without the other. So they seek each other out and then at some point companionship has turned to and audience-ship, ya know what I mean? They forget they wanted to have fun together and start feeling slighted by the other’s self interest and apparent lack of interest in them…. Attack follows…. Now, I’m seeing that this is the same old-same old, the only game the ego knows and what I’m investigating is why I feel there is a ‘me’ in all this. Ok, on the ‘me’ level, I don’t like the way I feel. I judge that they would be happier if they didn’t hurt each other. And that sounds reasonable as far as that thought system goes. Then, next stair; that I would be happier if I didn’t make that judgment and actually that thought that ‘there is someone and that someone is vulnerable to being hurt by someone else. Who is this ‘I’ that I’m referring to and who is the ‘someone’? We are all one are we not? So its so obviously a place in my mind vulnerable to ego reign, due to the decision for preference and special relationships. I prefer harmony. And I want my children to be happy. These are values that I have made more important that the truth, more important than seeing with the Spirit what Love would have me see. So, I obviously believe in disharmony (try as I'd like to to deny it). And only a person could be hurt, so there’s the belief that the body and various persons are who we are... so, there's that belief too... Ah… I would have said that wasn’t still active… yet, there it is plain as day. The persistent chance to see the error of my thinking shown me by the innocence of my children humbles me in gratitude. I ‘m willing to have any and all unloving perception healed…