Six Degrees? Not Even Close...

Six Degrees of Separation, for those that don't know, is the idea that everyone is at most six degrees away from any other person on Earth. Social networking puts this to the test: you connect to people you know, and those people are connected to who they know, and so on.

Yesterday the idea failed miserably. Let me explain:
1. I am connected to a blogger in L.A. on Facebook.
2. I commented on a post she'd made.
3. Later in the day, someone else she knows commented on that same post, chastising me for stalking her through her good friend (jokingly, of course...read on).
4. That person is someone I worked with 10 years ago nearby in Lakewood, WA, and hadn't seen since, and hadn't heard from in like 5 years. and now she's in Nashville.
5. Turns out, she's known that blogger in L.A. for a very long time...like 20 years.

It's a small, small world...and seems this whole six degrees thing gives far too much leeway.

Must Be Getting Close...

JoAnn's been doing laundry like crazy today. And now actually packing the bags we need for when we have to head to the birth center.

Should I start getting nervous yet...?

Tick Tock...

We now have 1 week and 5 days until the baby's due date.

Yikes.

Michael Jackson's Death

I apparently hurt some feelings with comments on Twitter (and by proxy Facebook) about Michael Jackson's death. I'd like to apologize, but I cannot...but I will explain better why I made the comments I did.

If we are to honor him, let's be honest about his life rather than ignore the circus and the big elephant in the room. Yes, his music was remarkable, even revolutionary at the time. But take a look at the past 20 years: he's lived off the marketing of his name, the music of his past, and really bad "business" loans. He's been the poster child of the odd, freakish behavior from a lifestyle of fame and excess. And he's done nothing with his amazing talents during that time.

If you wish to honor him, honor the music. But if you wish to honor him as a man, then you honor those other things as well, whether you mean to or not.

Some mourn him as if he was a member of the family. The first question I have is if you actually had someone in your family that lived and acted in a comparable manner as him the past 20 years--talent and fame aside--would you mourn the same way? If not, then take him off the pedestal, and give that honor to people who actually make a real difference in your lives, not some celebrity.

And my second question is this: if you mourn him as a member of your family, do you really wish to dishonor your actual family by doing so? Because by doing so, you are effectively saying that this celebrity that you likely never met, who you only know by his music from more than 20 years ago, and from the media circus that was his life, is on equal standing to those who are close to you, who impact your life on a daily basis. Is that fair to them? I don't think it is.

Remember the music. Remember the man...but don't ignore the truth, and don't give him greater honor than he is due.

The Countdown is On...Yikes.

So yesterday we went to Target to get a few things needed for the upcoming birth and create a registry, since several friends had asked for one. Since we are expecting/hoping this one is a girl, we got girly onsies, receiving blankets, hats...but just the basics. And just those basics for the very fact that we don't know whether the baby will be a boy or girl...(Yeah, it's kinda circular logic, but just run with it, ok?)

But amidst that and getting Mika's room ready...it hit me. This baby will be here very soon. Within a month, maybe sooner, and possibly even longer. But soon. We're going to have a newborn again...




PS Names? That's still up in the air too.

Taken: Ruminations

Have you seen the Liam Neeson movie Taken yet?

I'd wanted to see since I saw the previews way back when, and we got it via NetFlix this week. And watched it, of course. While this post isn't going to be a review, I do have to say that I ended up liking the movie even more than I thought I would. And I expected to like it a lot.

The premise of the movie is that the daughter of an American former military/paramilitary man, played by Neeson, is abducted. He uses his "particular set of skills" and his paramilitary network of friends to track down the abductors and hopefully rescue his daughter. But he pulls out all the stops--all of them--for that one purpose.

Which got me thinking more about something that I've thought about for years as I watched my kids--and especially my little girl--grow up: what would I do if one of mine was abducted, or someone attempted to harm them? The truth is that I know the answer, and have for some time. This movie reinforced that. 'Nuff said.

How about you? Are you on the side of letting the police do their work and hoping they might do something, and do that something in time...or would you do more than that? What would you risk?

As Goes California, So Goes the Nation

The undeniable bias in public schools--especially in California--is appalling. Check out this video on things going on NOW on silencing Christians and promoting Islam in public school.

Help Name Our Baby!

Checked the app on my phone and saw that we have approximately 37 days until the baby comes. [For the record, the reason I use an app on my phone is simply that it is easier to keep track of...and frankly, there's far too much info stuck in my head. The app provides it as a countdown, rather than having to manually counts days. Plus, there's the whole sheer panic effect when the numbers get down...like today.]

So here's the deal: we need ideas. Especially for first names. I'd give you the rundown on requirements for the combination of first and middle names that JoAnn has, but it's nearly as complex as the current tax code...

I cannot guarantee the names will be used, but it may help jumpstart us with ideas. And no, naming rights are not for sale...except, perhaps, if the amount is unreasonably high.

So whaddya got?

What Are Your Reasons for Homeschooling?

From the previous post (and the reason for it), it is apparent that there are a lot of myths and assumptions about why people choose to homeschool. So I wanted to share why it is that we chose to, and invite other homeschoolers to share their reasons so that we can hopefully dispel some of the notions regarding our reasoning.

Our daughter showed an interest in learning to read at a very early age, and picked it up quickly and very well. By the time she was five--and before entering kindergarten--she was reading 2nd-grade level chapter books and adding/subtracting with regrouping. My wife went to register her for school, and despite her abilities, the district or school refused to test her into first grade, and would have forced her into kindergarten by age alone. We were not happy.

So that began our homeschool journey. Since kindergarten is not mandatory, and because our district doesn't force declarations of intent until age 8 (unless they've already been in the public school system) we had time to test the waters. Despite occasional struggles finding curricula to match the kids' learning styles, they have thrived. Standardized testing has demonstrated this quite well.

Are there other reasons? Absolutely, but it was the rigidity of the system that started us. We simply want a better and more comprehensive education for our children.

That being said, we've not been strictly homeschoolers. Shocking, isn't it? Our oldest son was diagnosed with speech apraxia and began a specialized preschool within the public school system when he was 3. That program helped him immensely. And currently, we are a part of a program here in WA State where we are actually under the covering of the public school system. We have accountability, we have approved lesson plans, and we have use of some of our tax dollars. For us, it's kinda the best of both worlds. However, if the program were to change and become overly burdening or invasive, we'd go back to strictly homeschooling in a heartbeat.

So how about you...why do you homeschool? Share with us!