Look closely at that photo: On Friday she was barfing her guts out with the 24 hour flu; the bucket’s…

First Day of Middle School I’m so lucky. I have a fairly uncomplicated kid.    Now that middle school is…

Yeah, it sounds nuts. What the heck am I talking about? When I learned a long time ago that neuron…

Um, yeah. Katie pretending to be a fish. Don’t ask. I am a fan of Kickstarter. If you don’t know…

There is nothing that rings more true for a single mom. I chose to be a single mom. When I…

I just got back from the Take Back Santa Cruz walk to honor the memory of Shannon Collins. The sound of…

“Mom, you have to stop,” Katie tells me firmly but still calmly. Thank goodness she’s patient. “You know,” I said,…

I turn 50 tomorrow. I was fine with it until about six months ago went it felt like everything went…

Um, no stopping in the red zone! Jeez. I am way too cool and too hip to be such a…

Katie has never participated on a team sport. Yep. Totally true. She thought she might do soccer but on the…

Patricia Heaton as Frankie Heck on ABC’s The Middle. I was extremely moved by the events in Arizona last weekend…

I am talking pop-culture here. Those movies we have all seen that people reference in comedy routines. I am not…

Yeah, that’s a Menorah ANDa Christmas tree. We get around. Katie was groaning the other day about going to another…

Last year, Facebook was all the rage among the fifth grade crowd. Why? Farmville. No more no less – sending…

Katie’s home room teacher rocks. She not only teaching language arts, but she also brings in lots of life lessons…

Okay, so I need to say a bit more about grades. After my last blog about Katie’s addiction – which…

I was there the first time she used. I actually gave her access to her drug without realizing what I…

The coolest thing happened yesterday. I didn’t expect it to be cool. I thought it was going to be a…

I love Halloween. It’s colorful, creative and usually good fun. But there are weird conversations going on this year about…

While I was watching the Giants take game three last night, Katie was focusing on “groking” what she had learned…

Ever since school started this fall, Katie has come home with weird stories about new behaviors she’s experiencing now that…

I woke up yesterday fired up. Fall – my favorite time of year! I had scoped out an event at…

Katie created this award-winning poster for our local water utility. We know water is a limited resource. And I have…

We are a month into school and Katie is humming, almost purring, with the challenge. Sure it’s been a lot…

Ahhh, bullies. We have managed to get through six years of school with very few incidents of bullying. But now…

Okay, so I talked about how much I miss home school and already ranted about one of the things that…

Where else can you see piggie butts! We are so very lucky to live in a county that still plays…

The “Study Nest” where it all happens! I know it’s temporary, it will pass, but today I got a kick…

Pat the real Hamster in a Littlest Pet Shop creation. Oh, a quiet morning – just like the old days…

Last year was great. I really did like home school.  Sure it pushed me to my limits balancing work and…

After plenty of preparation and excitement, we managed to get the child off to school. Sure she was up at…

I thought she was going to burst. It was 24 hours before school would actually start and the kid was…

If you haven’t played Farmville yet, you’ve been warned! Don’t start! It’s totally addicting.  I initially started playing to learn…

We started watching Undercover Boss with the very first episode. I was intrigued that the CEO of Waste Management was…

One year, I took Katie to Henry Cowell the first Sunday of every month and had her take pictures so…

That’s right! We had us a Science Fair and it was great. Despite the hesitation and resistance expressed by the…

I am not writing about the actual Science Fair – I will do that in an upcoming blog. Nope, tonight,…

Today began so simply. Up early, bugged out to breakfast so the housekeeper could kick some butt. Took home school…

Katie and I slept on the USS Hornet! Holy cow, talk about bringing history to life! It was a fantastic…

I figure one of the big “themes” of home school is letting Katie try to do things on her own….

One of the best things that happened in early winter is a friend joined us in home school. Jordan and…

Yep. Last blog was November 16, 2009. Feels like a lifetime ago. Work got crazy, Thanksgiving was just around the…

Unassuming. Intimate. Incredible. Those words barely begin to describe Safari West. (Click on any of the photos to see them…

(This is part two of two on our trip to Gold Country.)We arrived at Columbia State Park just as the…

(This is part one of two on our trip to Gold Country.) Living in California rocks. Um, hard rocks. Like…

If you grow up in Santa Cruz County it’s inevitable you will end up going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium…

At one of the first parent support groups, one of the things the experienced parents talked about was giving Katie…

We have the coolest place in Santa Cruz – it’s called Roaring Camp and they have old steam engine trains…

We are always looking for interesting ways to tie-things together so Katie can engage with a subject in different ways….

A couple of weeks ago Katie came home all excited because she found out she could bring one of her…

We took two friends to lunch today downtown to the Saturn Cafe. It’s uber Santa Cruzy – a vegetarian restaurant…

I was born independent. My mom will swear to it. It was nature not nurture (I am sure my mom…

I’m interrupting this blog for a brief rant. We are relunctant home schoolers. I wasn’t my original plan. And Katie…

Since I lived through the Loma Prieta quake in 1989, I have a pretty good sense of what the heck…

Since we now turn everything around here into a home school activity, I thought I would drag Katie into the…

As this amazing storm continues to pound Northern California, Katie decided to do a little weather reporting. Of course, within…

In 1989, I was at the ball game when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit. Magnitude 7.2 or 6.8, I am…

We had a great time camping this weekend with the home school gang. In an effort to help us get…

Here’s the link to the blog that has the recording for the Steve Wozniak event. He talked about education and…

Here’s hoping there are “educational” properties in Webkinz. Why? Because Katie has spent the better half of the week setting…

Before the rush to Sacramento to help my aunt, we had planned to join my mom’s sister and brother and…

When we found out we had to rush up to Sacramento to help an ailing relative, of course I threw…

I totally blew it. I could have had the coolest “home school” experience for Katie and I choked because I…

It’s five in the morning. I have been awake for over an hour. I can’t sleep – maybe it’s some…

My whole goal of this blog is to help me remember what we did and our experience of home school….

In a rather cool move by our local County Fair, winners in the poetry contest are asked to come and…

Just a quick follow-up to our veggie art story – we went to the fair today and she won! A…

I know this is probably a familiar story to any parent who home schools. The big fight(s) about getting the…

When Katie had a fever of 103.5 yesterday, I figured there was no way she was going to be able…

Woohoo! We wrapped up the second week of home school and it was better than the first. Well, at least…

A year ago I was dealing with a total remodel (which means we moved out), a pair of seniors whom…

I was at an all-day offsite today and that was one of the questions we tried to answer. I have…

Setting the (insane) controversy aside, I am going to have Katie watch and listen to Obama’s speech tomorrow. We won’t…

Now that the elections in the U.S. are over, I am inspired by the culmination of what was a tedious,…