For some reason

I haven't been in the blogging mood for a while.  Probably one of the casualties of having too much going on in life and getting overwhelmed.  I'm saving money for a netbook and think having portability will greatly increase my desire to blog again, something about being able to blog anywhere, anytime.  Its hard being tied to a desktop computer when so much is going on.  I'm also spending lots of time working on crochet projects and such in preparation for the holidays coming up.  Not to mention some projects for some friends before then.  Anyway, thought I should at least say something :)

Piano

Noelle had her piano recital on June 6th and did a great job!

She played "The Campbells are Coming", "Sonatina in C Major Op. 36 No. 1", and "Alma Mater Blues".

FOTR

What is FOTR?  Find out more here -- http://www.familiesontheroad.com/

We are in the beginning stages of figuring out what we need to do for this to become a reality (and I love the idea of downsizing to a simpler life).  There is so much of this country that we haven't seen and this is the only way it will happen.  Not to mention we have friends/family who live all over and we'd get a chance to see them.  And, we homeschool, so it would be a great learning experience for the kids.  They weren't too sure of the idea when I first started talking about it (I grew up in a family that camped and I loved it!) and then we went looking at RVs.  That was an eye opener for them and now they are excited, too.  Even if we don't go on the road, we've decided we want an RV so the kids and I could at least visit different campgrounds while Kirk is working jobs that cause him to drive too many miles everyday (the joys of living in a rural area).  So, either way, it looks like an RV is in our future, provided we can save enough.

I have become friends on-line with another homeschool mom who's family lives this way, and we may be able to meet up with them this summer (Yeah!).  It will have to be in a tent but that's what we are used to anyway ;).  She keeps a blog of their travels if you want to check it out.

Off to daydream some more...

Ah, Spring!

I am absolutely loving warmer weather!  Noelle and I rode bikes and it was so nice to get around quickly.  We walked a lot over the winter and that works but bikes are so much better :-)  For dinner we had grilled chicken, baked potatoes, and Broccoli Normandy.  Kirk and I even had ours on the deck which I spent most of Saturday putting back in order.  I love a simple life!

Networks

Yesterday, we switched internet providers, going from DSL to cable.  With that switch came the need to purchase a router since we have more than one computer, an all-in-one machine, and a Wii.  Set up was fine on our newest computer but total frustration when setting up our older one.  We've had a lot of issues with this computer and we thought it was our previous gateway.  We aren't having connectivity issues to the internet any longer, but still the other issues.  I think the culprit is Zone Alarm's free firewall.  But.  It could also be our filtering software, Net Nanny. *sigh*

Today, I'm going to attempt to get the all-in-one connected to the network.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Education

"Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist; it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges; it should allow you to find values which will be your road map through life; it should make you spiritually rich, a person who loves whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whomever you are with; it should teach you what is important, how to live and how to die."  – John Taylor Gatto

Dance

I started taking a liturgical dance class at our local dance studio in October.  I'm the lone adult taking the class with five teens.  I'm not sure what they think of me but they're nice girls.  I never really wanted to learn ballet (hip-hop, jazz, modern......okay.  Ballet?  Uhm, I never considered myself graceful) until our instructor started using a lot of it in class.  All those French words!  I'm now wanting to learn more. I've asked for a recommendation for a good beginning ballet video as there is no class for this for adults.  Julie says I'm doing fine, but for those who know me well, know that I have this perfectionist tendency ;-) .    Anyway, I'm also an impatient sort of person when it comes to wanting to learn something new (you know, right now?) so I looked on the internet and found some videos done by a professional ballerina and teacher named Jodie Gates.  Guess what?  All those French words are getting more familiar :-)

Learn Basic Ballet
Placement and Alignment for Basic Ballet
Ballet Barre Basics
The 5 Basic Ballet Positions
Moving Between Ballet Positions
How to Move Forward in Ballet