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All responses Most smiled responses
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Aw, thanks! Slowly, but surely, I'm finding more and more unschooling families online. It's a good thing.
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I'm SO not organized. I just have a lot of stuff and I obsessively straighten and arrange it, which makes it ...sort of... look organized. Open a drawer in my kitchen and there is about a 33% chance it's one of the junk ones, stuffed full of random stuff.
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I love this question! Being recently diagnosed with Bi-polar II ( a long time coming), I really relish my rhythms and rituals more than I ever have before. They help keep me calm and grounded.
As far as implementing those rituals in the new place, the first thing I did in the new house was arrange the living room JUST SO and set up my coffee making area in the kitchen. Then I put all the books on the shelves in an organized fashion. There's still a lot to be done, but having a place to sit, a cup of coffee, and knowing where to find specific books... after living among boxes for the past 6 weeks, these things are indispensable. Next on the agenda - organizing the shoes. -
This sounds like you know me in person and I am wracking my brain, trying to figure out who you are, which kind of defeats the point of you asking this question anonymously, I know... so I apologize, but I'm neurotic and have trouble leaving something be once I've got my brain focused on it. I wonder what I said/did to make you feel like I was shutting you out from getting to know me? And I'm bummed out by thinking about that. I try to be open and friendly with people, but I'm incredibly socially awkward and come off as nervous and high-maintenance (and recently, a close friend pointed out that I often seem defensive). I can't figure out what it is I do/say to project this image, since it is totally not my intention, but I am aware that's what I put out into the void...
So, whoever you are, I want you to know... any shutting out was purely unintentional and I'm a lot clearer in my writing than when operating in real time. -
I finally got the gumption to answer this one. It ended up being a video and blog post, so here you go!
http://www.bytheseatofourpants.com/2010/03/kock-knock-knockin-on-heavens-door.html -
asked by kellyhogaboom
I don't know if I'd want to set any kind of schedule for "the perfect day" or even make any kind of to-do list, since I don't operate well under pressure and would probably just drive myself nuts trying to stick to the schedule/list. I DO know my ultimate "perfect day" would include the majority of these things:
- a BIG strong cup of coffee in the morning and maybe breakfast out. We only go out to breakfast a few times a year and I love it dearly. Maybe Biscuits and Gravy at Sweet Laurette's something.
- Thrifting. Lots of thifting. And maybe some browsing time in Target. I'm kind of a sucker for that store. I just know my ideal day would involve some serious retail therapy.
- It would have to be sunny and warm, somewhere in the high 60's/low 70's... not too humid! I'd want to go for a roadtrip in the sun, preferably with myself in the driver's seat. I'm a little bit of a control freak behind the wheel and being a passenger sometimes makes me batty.
- LOTS of music on my roadtrip, music I can sing along with. Also, milkshakes. There is nothing better on a sunny day than a vanilla milkshake or maybe some crazy flavor like peanut butter or blackberry, as long as there aren't any chunks.
- The evening of my perfect day would be a game of scrabble, wrestling with Silas, cuddling with Seth... and going to bed late after tons of tipsy conversation with friends. They could come over AFTER I wrestled and cuddled with the guys.
This day would really only be possible if I was a total extrovert, incapable of sweating, and had boundless energy... so I doubt it'll happen anytime soon, but a girl can dream. ;) -
asked by mamakatz
Thank you! I've amassed quite a collection of accessories in the last few years, all on the cheap. The majority of the shoes were under $15 and the majority of the earrings and things were bought on buy 2, get 1 free type sales or from Forever21 (seriously cheap jewelry. So cheap you may only get to wear it three or four times before it breaks, but it was $4.80, so it's all good).
I have no idea how to describe my style. What I'm going for is kind of an "in your face fat girl who looks kind of legit but could also pass at the park with her kid without drawing too many awkward stares". Heh. Living in a little hippie town full of dreads of old-man ponytails and blue collar types who live in and work on boats makes it easier. This place is pretty eclectic. -
It's now been an entire year since we pulled him out of school and I'm not sure if it's all turned out as I expected, or if I even know WHAT I expected. In the beginning, I had color coded binders and lesson plans with different folders for each subject. I had pages upon pages of notes of what I wanted us to cover, how to go about it, what order to do it in. I wrote out daily and weekly schedules and tried to follow them to the minute. I gave us no wiggle-room... and those first few months... were HELL. It wasn't until I realized why we had pulled him out of school that I stepped back from the binders and lesson plans and schedules - he is a natural learner who doesn't thrive when he's told what to learn, how to learn it... etc. When I first backed off and let the unschooling approach wash over us, it didn't go smoothly. My ex-husband was upset and angry, and still doesn't understand what we're doing or why. He feels I'm completely ruining Silas' "education", even though he has no evidence of that. Silas and I have finally settled into a rhythm and routine that works for us and hey! The kid is still learning! So it's working for us. :)
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Oh gosh... that's a hard one. I read a lot and tend to re-read things I really enjoy over and over. I can't even count how many times I've been through A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I just read Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres for a second time and would highly recommend that one to anybody with a evangelical unbringing. Silas and I are going through Life of Pi right now, albeit very slowly. I'd like to read throw it faster, but we're going at the pace where he can actually absorb it, that book is kinda deep for an 8 year old, religious allegories and all.
I'm a sucker for memoirs and one of my favorites that I've read in the last year is I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela DesBarres. God, it's addicting. I like to like vicariously through books. -
'Tis a 1995 Legacy wagon with a roof-rack. It's green and severely badass.
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Morning. I am usually in bed by 10:30 at the latest... but this does not mean I am one of those people that gets up at 6am, ready to greet the day. The alarm goes off at 8 and I'm pretty much a useless mess until I have coffee in my system.
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I'm indecisive. And also, I only really embraced my inherent awesomeness in the last month or so, whereas that first answer was 2 months ago.
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asked by kellyhogaboom
I ain't make-up free no mo, ho.
I reclaimed it and have been playing with some ultra-femme applications. BUT... I have not yet bought any new cosmetics. Not even mascara. This old stuff is somehow still working, though I know it must be terrible for my eyes. I dig retail therapy in a big way. My favorites are scarves (hello, cheap!), shoes, and furniture. -
In our culture, girls aren't supposed to toot their own horns. It makes us look conceited and bitchy and like, so full of ourselves. So I'm going to toot away, unabashedly.
I am a VERY good singer. I have near-perfect pitch and can find you atleast 2 harmonies, even in the murkiest of musical waters. So there. -
I think being a musician would be more rewarding for me. I'm a horrible actress and a pretty okay singer.
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Loading...Jasie VanGesen’s Bio
mother. divorcee. fiance. fat. liberal. unschooler. recovering religious zealot. feminist. port townsend-ite. seamstress for the band. jasie.
