Fewer bumps!

And… this week's addition to roll in the bad luck… our credit card number was stolen!  OK, now there were lots of good things too like a temporary solution for internet that works for email (and light websites).  My kiddo also started at a local school on today and seems to have enjoyed the first day!    I'm a bit worn out, so I'm going to make this a mostly bullet point of good things to share post. 

Good things:

This cool newsreel from the 1930's of Helen Keller… makes me happy, teary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv1uLfF35Uw

Finished selling the Kent home... down to one mortgage!

This week's Objectivist Round Up.

Cute antics:

• when he picked underwear from the clean laundry bin, I later noticed he put on his dad's!  (No way that was an accident.)

• shrieking, "Mom!!!!!  These slug guts won't come off!"

• stating, "We need dad to have a proper meal." (Excuse to keep playing video games for two more minutes before his dad came downstairs, instead of coming to the table.) 

• pronouncing "tsunami" toosmah and insisting that was correct.

• pronouncing error with the emphasis on the second syllable and like a literal roar, "eh-ROAR".

• responding to my play whining "Cameron, Daddy's teasing me!" with "GOOD!  That builds character!"

• dictating this letter to me in response to one he got from his Kent classmates:

Dear Mrs. Kier and her scholars,

Thank you for writing the letters; I enjoyed reading them.  I've been doing homeschooling lately and it's been working well.  Basically, it's like school at home except it's much shorter and there aren't as many subjects and there isn't a lunch and recess.  There's math, writing, reading, but the way we're doing it we don't usually do reading… I read a lot in bed before I go to sleep.  I usually do history and typing too.  To do history, I listen to recordings of a teacher teaching kids over the phone.  I already finished the study of American history and just finished ancient history (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Rome) and now I've started European and I'm in the dark ages of European history.  There's also no PE, but if my mom says I'm like a couch pickle go outside, I pretend to be a general on our deck and fight round and round.  I'm usually the leader of my blue team and attacking the reds, greens and yellows.  

Not everything is going well though, a tree fell on top of our house.  Our house isn't completely crushed as you would think if a giant tree fell on top of your house.  It only made a huge dent in the roof and broke off a railing and made a few holes in the deck.  All the stuff that fell off the tree has been cleaned off, so it's safe to do my games again.  Now, I've made a bonus part of the game that once I defeat each army, I fight the leaders individually.  I've made it so that I usually attack and these guys, that only I can see, defend except the third round where they attack. My pretend battles usually take almost an hour!  Defending is with rifles (sticks that are about two feet long) and attacks are with bayonets which are the same size.  In pistol form you attack with Kentucky Flintlock Pistols and defend with regular pistols (sticks that are ten inches long).  I love pretending.

I visited the school I'm going to try out today.  So far, I don't think it's going to be a really good school, I just have a feeling.  I'm going to try it for a month and see if I think it's better than my other choices.  It might be really terrible or really good.  

I now live in the Santa Cruz mountains and once you get into Santa Cruz, it's not too hard to get there.  There's a beach and I've found a few sticks that are perfect for pretending are guns.  We also found a small lighthouse, aparently no one can go in it.  There are also a few big rocks near the ocean that you can climb on if you don't go to a low one and get a big blast of water pushed at you and be completley miserable and go back and say I want to go home to your mother while poofing water out of your nose and mouth.  I kept on the higher rocks and jumped about and that didn't happen to me.

Today, where I'm living, there are a lot of big slugs that are yellow.  They're called banana slugs.  They are huge and they are very slimy.  Their slime sticks very well.  Water doesn't wash it off.  Water with soap doesn't wash it off.  Water with soap with a small rag doesn't wash it off.  Finally, you have to pick it off with a dry paper towel and a dish rag!

I also do typing.  I'm getting good at typing.  I don't know every single letter or something like that, but I do know most of the letters.  Not many of the bottom ones, n is the only one I know on the bottom. I do know most of the top and the home row keys.  My keyboard has 108 keys on it; I counted them individually.  

There are a lot of boxes upstairs and in my room.  I like having my room be extremely messy and not cleaning it ever.  The toys aren't strewn everywhere; they're all packed up in boxes.  There's this spare storage room where I keep most of my legos.  My dad gave me all of his legos a few years ago and I'm starting to lose interest in them, but I've made this huge fort that even has a moving, rotatable platform and two ships (a rowing boat with a lot of controls and a really cool lifeboat) on both sides.  It also has an aircraft with about five guns, not including the gun the person in the aircraft has and the aircraft also carries a missile in the back that it can shoot at enemy aircraft to destroy them in mid-air.  Every one in the fort has a gun that was used in WWII.

I miss those games back on the playground.  I miss those talks with Mrs. Crutchfield.  I miss the good feeling and finally getting Michael in the friendship category.  Meadow Ridge is a nice school.

Thanks, looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Bye,

Cameron

The latest with the bumpy move...

I'm actually getting used to passing by the drop off down the hill due to our partially destroyed deck.  The estimate for the tree damage has come in at over $25,000 dollars, but it is covered by home owners insurance except for the $1,000 deductible and the work is starting Monday.  It's hard to imagine having an ordered house as the amount of work still to be done seems overwhelming, but I am making a bit of progress at a time and (once the repairs are made) having a garage will certainly help!  Cameron finished listening to the ancient history course and is now fired up to start on the European course because… he likes battles and violence.  His typing has continued to progress and we had fun with reducing fractions this week.  Andrew has been working so hard to find an internet solution, but… no luck yet.  He just returned the MIFI option today and will likely return the $600 of signal boosting equipment that he purchased too.  He's spending so much time and effort on it and hopes that a solution with a booster on a neighbor's property might give us a solid connection within the next couple weeks.  So, I'm traveling and lugging my computer for teaching.  Cameron has enjoyed the extra video time of coming with me, but he'll likely be starting at the local school sometime in the next week.  Cameron wants to check out the local schools, so the decision about next year will be the major one that we tackle over the summer.  We've been having fun, but the last two weeks of homeschooling has been far from systematic as we are spending so much time de-boxing :)  

Other things to share:

This beautifully researched and presented course on the constitution, even though I have some disagreements.

Andrew and I got new CA driver licenses and registrations with the usual amusing wackiness that the DMV involves… actually, my guy went beyond the norm of goofiness as he stared off into space and asked if his shirt looked expensive and wanted checks / ID dropped on the counter (not handed) and insisted on showing me his dream 31 million dollar home by swiveling his computer screen.

This week's Objectivist Round Up.

Cute antics:

• dictating a story about people on Venus, he kept calling them venus-welans (a person from Venus sounds sort of like Venezuelan in his universe).

• after he had mastered reducing fractions, his dad commented that it got much more complex with reducing polynomials and did a quick example to which Cameron answered, "To me, that seems intense."

• giving me the compliment, "You are a good dictator!"   (Um, he meant that I take good dictation.)

• as he was catapulted in the air after sitting on his dad's legs, "This sofa seems to have springs!"

• as I joined the couch snuggling and his dad grabbed his toes, "Mom, get off!  Dad is using the toe insult!"

Caboom!

Early AM Facebook Status:

When the house shakes, it means a tree fell, and down will come decking, gutters and all.

I wish I were joking, but my attempt to fall back to sleep is failing. Well, we're all safe and it's already raining so I don't even need to worry about "It could be worse; it could be raining!"  This is definitely a laugh-out-loud and enjoy the positives period… I actually was laughing and wondering what next as I crawled back into bed… well rain is already checked off the list :)

Side note: After reading that, Andrew came in to snuggle and I got him laughing too.  We contemplated repulser field roofs, armor plating, and other giggle worthy items after being up since 4AM.

Update for the week:

Well, I'd say it's been a better week, but there's still been a hefty mix of good and bad.  We still love the woods, the stream, and the pleasant quietness of our new home.  Andrew has been tackling some thorny coding problems at work and succeeding.  I've been moving forward on home fixing / unpacking and playful parenting :)  Cameron is glad to tackle an array of monsters while racing around the deck and he's well into the second Percy Jackson novel.  As for bad news, we had some chilly nights as the upstairs furnace motor is dying (the inspector didn't even find the upstairs furnace) and the technician said it wasn't safe to run (hopefully it will get fixed today and it looks like the home warranty will cover it).  Unfortunately, we had more bad news with our most major issue… internet connection.  The high speed Internet technician said DSL is not possible for our home despite Verizon assuring us it was and selling us a plan.  Should we mention that we've discovered some floor damage, holes in the walls, and that yesterday's gutter estimator let us know the spouts are not connected to the drainage system underneath the house so that the water is currently undermining the pillars on which our house stands!  I consider it progress that I didn't cry at that pronouncement, but we're working on things one at a time and really are making progress.  I'm hoping that this will be the week we banish boxes to the storage area and garage only… hey, I can hope!

Other things to share:

• This week's Objectivist Round Up:

• a really heart warming video about a kid entrepreneur that has apparently been around for awhile, but I just saw it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U

• catching up on my reading, this is a joke for any of my friends who keep up with the paleo community: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/04/eocene-diet.html

and these are some awesome videos posted by an e-friend

http://blog.dianahsieh.com/2012/04/two-freestyle-dressage-videos.html

Cute antics:

• When not wanting to face that writing requires practice, he wanted to know why we wouldn't "just put that matter aside"

• making me a four page maze that had me winding to the conclusion through portals and lots of narrow caves :)

• hearing during his recorded history class "Julius Ceasar was the first emperor of Rome, but he wasn't.", Cameron declared "That's a paradox!" and then he went on to explain the basics of contradiction to me.  Woah!

After years of reading chapter books yet being baffled by Amelia Badelia, he finally gets her misunderstanding of idioms and laughs away :) 

This shows where the trunk took out part of the deck, but the roof damage will probably be the most expensive.  The insurance guy is here now.

Moved

Good news and bad news.  We're in the new house!  It's gorgeous!  I have re-claimed most of the downstairs from the boxes with womanly herculean efforts.  Andrew has been incredibly efficient at moving furniture and handling so many efforts from work too while also handling work at Groupon!  Cameron has been enjoying playing around and chatting about "Percy Jackson: Lightening Thief"; he even spent hours just listening to it last night.  Unfortunately, we've also had lots of unpleasant and expensive surprises.  The washer hot water spout was broken (no laundry until the plumber came and he told us the water heater sound indicated it was on its last legs).  The upstairs furnace was not evaluated by the inspector and it turns out it has a poor motor and was incorrectly installed.  The gas stove has a broken lighter and fan.  The fridge we had delivered received two significant dents in transport (headache of dealing with the store to get a replacement door).  There was an accident on the main road to our neighborhood to which the authorities responded by blocking all left hand turns both into and out of our neighborhood (that meant we attended the local transportation committee meeting and voiced our disapproval along with the other property owners because the closure leaves us only able to turn right and needing to make u-turns to get home).  The people that the prior owners let "house sit" at the end left it absolutely filthy (adding at least a dozen hours of just cleaning over this week if not more).  However, the most significant issue has been finding us that Verizon basically lied when they sold us DSL service and assured us we could have high speed internet.  According to the technician who came out yesterday, this house has always been too far out for DSL service and Verizon knew that because they promised and could not deliver the same thing to the prior owners.  This has meant that I needed to commute to Groupon, carry my computer into a conference room, and teach my classes from there all week.  This is a huge issue for us because both of us need a quality connection for work… neither Andrew nor I can ever work from home with this situation and that was not what we were looking for in a new home.  So… we're working with neighbors and trying to find unusual solutions since the normal ones won't work.  We really love the surroundings and are hoping that week two in our new home will be much smoother!

Cute antics:

• Cameron's comment on seeing the dented fridge, "Oh, it's the new fashion."

• when I commented that someday our house wouldn't be full of boxes, he broke into singing, "Some day over the rainbow…"

Paper pushing choo choo train :)

Playing on the breakwater in Santa Cruz after the county meeting... talk about cool cement shapes!

Objectivist Round Up

Welcome to the March 29, 2012 edition of objectivist round up.  This one is a little small, so lets start off with some inspiration from Helen Keller.  While she was both deaf and blind from a young age, she famously overcame those obstacle to become an eloquent individual.  While I don't recommend the whole letter, this quote is from a letter she wrote in answer to what she "saw" and "heard" after visiting the top of the Empire State building.  

"...I see in the Empire Building [] passionate skill, arduous and fearless idealism. The tallest building is a victory of imagination. Instead of crouching close to earth like a beast, the spirit of man soars to higher regions, and from this new point of vantage he looks upon the impossible with fortified courage and dreams yet more magnificent enterprises.

What did I "see and hear" from the Empire Tower? As I stood there 'twixt earth and sky, I saw a romantic structure wrought by human brains and hands that is to the burning eye of the sun a rival luminary. I saw it stand erect and serene in the midst of storm and the tumult of elemental commotion. I heard the hammer of Thor ring when the shaft began to rise upward. I saw the unconquerable steel, the flash of testing flames, the sword-like rivets. I heard the steam drills in pandemonium. I saw countless skilled workers welding together that mighty symmetry. I looked upon the marvel of frail, yet indomitable hands that lifted the tower to its dominating height..."

Helen Keller 

1932

Here's to appreciating the beautiful and good in our world!

This week's Objectivist Round Up:


Edward Cline presents Islamic Jihad: Hurry Up or Wait? posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "I liken Islam to an ideological Black Death that must be faced up to by politicians and intellectuals. There's no such thing as a "benign" Islam. It is a death-worshipping ideology from top to bottom. And the only way to emasculate it is to repudiate it in its entirety."



Darius Cooper presents A citizenship questionnaire posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, "I propose a constitution should include a multiple-choice quiz!"


John Drake presents Sunk costs, body image, and rationality posted at Try Reason!, saying, "What do sunk costs, body image, and rationality have in common? More than you may think."



Peter Cresswell presents CUE CARD ECONOMICS: Economic Harmonies, and The Miracle of Breakfast posted at Not PC, saying, “Find out the best lesson philosophers can learn from economics—which is also the greatest lesson economics is able to teach, and the most benevolent.”

Rachel Miner presents Tool Box: Rediscovering Simon Says posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "I briefly share my rediscovering of Simon Says with my eight year old and some of the tricks I used to make it more fun!"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the objectivist round up using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Even Closer...

... this looks like the week!  We have the closing scheduled and should be in our new home by next weekend!


Other good things:
This week's Objectivist Round Up.
Cute antics:
• bringing over his colorful lego weapon with a gleam in his eye and saying, "I just massively upgraded my sniper rifle!"

• insisting that while it was true most animals need male and female to have a baby, two cows could have a calf without a bull, "It's true for other animals but not cows!"  (I'd stumped him on a verbal absurdities question and he didn't want to admit it.)

• so disliking putting on shoes that he ignored both putting his feet over the top of the sneakers' tongues and squashing the heels (makes the walk a wee bit shuffley).

• when it was the pre-agreed time to watch a TV show with my dad, he called in a long, ascending, amusingly demanding voice, "Graaaaaaaaaandpa?!?!?"

• finding his electric toothbrush outside next to his earth worms after forgetting where he'd put it for three days!

• when I tried a playful "simon says" as we were walking out the door he both said we weren't playing and added, "I outrank Simon."

Tool Box: Rediscovering Simon Says

A few days ago, my kiddo asked me to play Simon Says.  Now, my kiddo is eight and fairly bright and I figured this wouldn't last long.  Two hours later (and many, many giggles too), we finished up a rousing evening of fun!

We started off with all sorts of different acrobatics like crab walk, army crawl, hops, twirls, sprints, skips, and summersaults.  Then I started adding in obstacles like having him wiggle under chairs or hop between them or spin on top of them.

About this time, I started adding things he usually avoids like his journal writing and tooth brushing... he didn't even pause, he went off smiling and came rushing back for the next Simon Says!  I even used it to ask him questions like, "Simon Says tell me what sounds yummier for breakfast?" I started making multi-step directions too and being extra tricky and it just kept going with lots of laughs and smiles.  We've now played Simon Says multiple times over the last week and had so much fun!  I hope you find this tool useful!  Here's to rediscovering past parenting tools :)

I was surprised recently by an interest in holding hands too!  I love the growing independence, but it's fun to share the more youthful games / activities too!

Stability Getting Closer

We have an offer on our Kent house and things are moving forward on getting into our Los Gatos house so... we're hoping to have two closings by the end of the month!  Yay!


Other good things to share:
The latest Objectivist Round Up.
Cute antics:

• Informing me that he brought the earthworm inside and put it on my parents' windowsill so he could "see it better"

• getting so into Simon Says that when I said "Simon says enjoy your last half hour of video game time before the computer shuts off.", he asked to keep playing Simon Says instead!

• laughing hysterically again and again while reading himself Calvin and Hobbes comic collections

• talking non-stop for thirty minutes to tell me the story of his latest video game adventure

• playing gleefully with worms and splashing in the puddles with… ONLY pants on and it was in the 40s!

• commenting on his increasing tolerance of zesty foods, "I'm getting into the hang of spicy."

• pointing his gaze down the neck of the wine bottle, "I like the look of this wine!"

Legos are the favorite break time activity at Lindamood Bell

Thyroid? Migraine? Take 2

[ Once again, only for those interested in my health search saga...]

Eight moths ago, while things looked more positive, symptoms and challenges remained and quickly plateaued.   The neurologist confirmed the symptom diagnosis of migraines, gave me Imitirex (which works as a patch), and didn't have any advice regarding the causative agent (although she did point to some potential triggers).  The sleep specialist didn't have anything to add except a book recommendation with was a quick read but did not change anything.  The hearing specialist said I didn't have any significant hearing issues.  So, I was stuck again and decided to seek assistance from a new practitioner.  

Two months ago, I consulted with Chris Kresser.  I have been listening to his podcasts and reading his articles for several years.  I like how he's constantly integrating the latest, scholarly literature and trying to help a growing population of medical patients.  He had both clinical expertise and a focus on the latest science that I hoped would help me get at more root causes.  He also had success with migraine treatment specifically.  While his website is more anti conventional medicine than I am, I have found him not adverse to recommending conventional approaches when he finds them clinically appropriate.  

To start, I completed multiple, detailed questionnaires and got a set of required blood work.  The first consult resulted in multiple supplements targeted at migraine prevention and a highly restrictive diet.  The supplements have been awesome for minimizing migraines.  I have still had several instances over the last month, but they have been much more mild and not required medication.  The diet eliminates / minimizes three substances that can trigger migraines and eliminates anything that is not a lean meat or a non-startchy vegetable.  The diet, a protein sparing modified fast, is designed to spare my muscle by ensuring that I eat adequate protein while allowing me to burn the extra body fat that I have.  The goal is to reset what my body defends as its "normal" weight to what is my ideal weight.  So far, it's been working beautifully!  I have lost 15 lbs easily!  It's been two years since I've been at this weight and it means I'm down to 30 lbs left to lose.  

I had a second consult yesterday in which I found out that my thyroid function is still low and may be contributing to the remaining migraine / illness issues.  So, I have several more supplements on the way that are supposed to support thyroid function.  These last two months have been wild with all the moving prep and changes, but it is really exciting to be seeing progress!  Here's more positive steps toward optimal health over the upcoming year :)

Book Review: "Tea Party Patriots: The Second American Revolution"

Last night, I finished reading "Tea Party Patriots: The Second American Revolution".  I wanted to share my consolidated notes on the book for those considering reading.  I am particularly interested in taking them up on their offer to integrate new ideas into their plan for the next forty years.  This is a great opportunity for activism, fighting for a better future.

The good:

-They begin by choosing solidly  positive values to guide their specific goals / actions.  Fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets are good things!

- Their optimism and enthusiasm for America is delightful and gives one hope that the American sense of life is stronger than the counterculture they aptly describe.

- It's awesome that they very clearly state they are not taking any stance on social issues.  I think that helps them avoid pit falls (that their founders clear acceptance of god's-will would present).  It also helps them appeal to a broader group of Americans who really want the government to focus on economic / political freedoms NOW!

- They have a glorious call to action that puts the power and responsibility back where it belongs, with individual Americans.

My concerns:

- They not only frequently refer to god given rights, the authors all thank god as their primary deserver-of-credit in the book's acknowledgements.  Could the Tea Party Patriots be trusted to protect liberty in this area?  A pro-liberty candidate must vote on laws in a way that respects individual rights in fields other than just economics.  

- In their section on health-care compacts, they again miss the issue of individual rights and seem quite content with the states trampling citizens (just the federal government shouldn't be allowed to impose such systems).  p97 "Health-care compacts themselves don't impose a one-size-fits-all approach on any state.  They allow each individual state to choose what solution it believes is best for its citizens.  Will some states implement systems that aren't compatible with the Tea Party movement's core values of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and constitutionally limited government?  Of course.  Are we okay with that?  Absolutely.  Power to the people."  That sounds like democracy, the tyranny of the majority and a clear lack of focus on individual rights.  The states can say "buy that insurance" (or drink that hemlock), just the federal government can't.

- While making an excellent case for the need for education reform, there is an implied view that states should actually provide the education.  It's ambiguous though and many of the suggestions are intriguing.  I think they would benefit from this article in The Objective Standard:.

Ambivalent:

- The repeal amendment idea smacks of democracy, but also offers an intriguing limit on supreme court errors.  I'd want to study this idea much more thoroughly, but I see potential value. 

- In their chapter regarding popular culture, they quote Ayn Rand's "Romantic Manifesto".  On one hand, it fits and supports their point, but on the other hand it's a throw away reference which brings me to my key concern.  The argument for actually taking action is on a wobbly base.  It seems like what they are saying again and again is: 

-The founders did it this way.

-They were really smart.

-It worked.

-We should do it that way.

If they don't think it is morally right that people should have a right to their own property, but only economically effective, they are more of a danger to capitalism than those who present an opposing argument.  A weak argument is more detrimental because it can give the impression that the idea is wrong when it's just that the argument supporting it was in error (for example saying the free market has failed in America when what we're dealing with is a super-regulated, mixed economy).  I place this concern under the "ambivalent" category because I think the book's core values are good and I think they support individual rights in some aspects.  However, when I see states put over individuals as the primary holder of power for both education and health-care, I am concerned that the Tea Party Patriots' support of individual rights is vulnerable.