Drive by photo by ChristineMM using iPhone4 and Instagram 12/10/11 in Houston Texas.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Meadow Along Feeder Road
Drive by photo by ChristineMM using iPhone4 and Instagram 12/10/11 in Houston Texas.
Getting Photos to Grandparents
I am sure I'm not the only person whose parents are still not on the Internet or networked in any way (i.e. smartphone or email). Since we went digital with our photos nine years ago I have been getting flack from my parents and in-laws that they never see photos of their grandchildren anymore. They want print photos.
Now that we've moved long distance the guilt factor has hit and I've had to figure out what to do about this. Before I kept telling myself they got to see them in person and that would have to suffice (plus they took their own photos when they wanted to).
I hit upon an easy idea. I find a chain store near the grandparents (i.e. their favorite drugstore) that prints photos. I go on the Internet and upload the photos to the store, and place the order. I indicate the photos are for pick-up (not to be mailed out). The account name is in the picking-up-persons name with my email. I place the order and then tell them to go get them. At their convenience they fetch the photos (and pay for them at pick-up).
Done.
Everyone's happy.
(And it didn't cost me a penny either.)
Now why didn't I think of this when we lived closer to them?
Now that we've moved long distance the guilt factor has hit and I've had to figure out what to do about this. Before I kept telling myself they got to see them in person and that would have to suffice (plus they took their own photos when they wanted to).
I hit upon an easy idea. I find a chain store near the grandparents (i.e. their favorite drugstore) that prints photos. I go on the Internet and upload the photos to the store, and place the order. I indicate the photos are for pick-up (not to be mailed out). The account name is in the picking-up-persons name with my email. I place the order and then tell them to go get them. At their convenience they fetch the photos (and pay for them at pick-up).
Done.
Everyone's happy.
(And it didn't cost me a penny either.)
Now why didn't I think of this when we lived closer to them?
Friday, January 27, 2012
Sunset on the Way to Austin
Drive by photo by ChristineMM using iPhone4 and Instagram October 2011 on the road on the drive to Austin Texas.
Homemade Crouton Recipe (Using Old Bread)
Here is a frugal living slow food recipe I made up for making homemade croutons from old bread. In this case I had three rolls from the grocery store bakery that were three or four days old. They were not moldy yet but were a bit stiffer than I like for fresh eating.
Homemade Croutons
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Using a bread knife and cutting board slice the rolls then cut to make cubes.
Place bread pieces in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the bread and use your hands to try to get the oil onto as many pieces as you can.
Dump the bread pieces onto a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and spread them into a single layer.
Sprinkle fine grained salt over it. Take dried garlic granules (sold in the spice section) in your fingers and carefully sprinkle it around trying to get it on all the pieces. If desired, so the same with black pepper.
When the oven is hot, put the croutons on the oven and shut the heat off. Leave it alone for a few hours or overnight.
When cooled place in an airtight container or zip top bag. Store in a cool place and use within a week. Since there are no chemical preservatives and these have oil on them they are at risk for going rancid or becoming moldy.
Take note of the garlic flavor and decide if it was too much or not enough then remember this the next time you make your own croutons.
I can’t believe I’ve turned into one of those cooks like grandmothers are, who don’t tell you quantities and expect you to know how much is enough. Well sometimes, that is just the truth. How much oil and seasoning you need will depend on how much old bread you are trying to use up. That’s just the way it is.
Ciao Italia Family Classics Book Review by ChristineMM
Title: Ciao Italia Family Classics
By: Mary Ann Esposito
Publication: St. Martin’s Press, October 2011
Publication: St. Martin’s Press, October 2011
My Star Rating: 5 stars = I Love It
My Summary Statement: High Quality Hardbound Book with Excellent Photographs and Truly Classic Recipes
I’m not of Italian descent but grew up in Connecticut with a large Italian immigrant population. We had access to Italian import grocery stores and family run restaurants were everywhere. I married an Italian American man who loves to cook so my exposure expanded and I began to cook more and more Italian “slow food” at home. When I moved to Texas last year I realized I’d taken access to these foods for granted now that I have a hard time finding high quality ingredients and imported Italian foods. I can't even find decent restaurants that make authentic type Italian food or even a decent pizza. So we're cooking slow food at home now more than ever before.
My first impression of this cookbook was one of familiarity, because it is has over two dozen recipes that our family already enjoys eating at home or in favorite Italian restaurants. Now that we have the recipes we can make these at home. The other 150 recipes are new to me and I can’t wait to go through the book and try some. Esposito explains that some recipes are from her grandmothers, some are newer recipes served at gourmet restaurants in Italy and some are her own creations using classic Italian ingredients.
I want to stress the word classic that’s in the title. There is a whole chapter on pastas and another on sauces, a chapter on bread and pizza, and I’m thrilled to have a chapter on risotto. In the Introduction she mentions family dinners served in courses and eaten leisurely over multiple hours’ time. The recipes in the book are meant for this purpose, so it starts with antipasti and then goes through the courses: soup, bread/pizza, pasta and sauces, rice, fish, meat, vegetables, salads then desserts. Of course not all of us eat long meals in courses so we often take one food or two, and eat it as the whole meal (pasta, pizza, or a meat or seafood entrée with a small salad on the side). The recipes stress using high quality ingredients. Many don’t use many ingredients at all, yet these are slow food recipes and some take work (risotto and handmade pasta) or long cooking (sauces, soups). That’s just the nature of slow food, and it is worth it.
The book opens with an explanation of what a well-stocked pantry for Italian cooking should look like. The plea to use high quality ingredients and the comment about using only real cheese is made (and I agree with both as being a firm foundation for good Italian meals). There are some stories in the book and some explanations about some of the food such as telling about her visit to the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese making factory which make this an enjoyable read not just a book of recipes.
The book is hardbound and high quality. The pages are sewn into signatures which are longer lasting than binding with just glue. The pages are thick and glossy (and not see through). There are a lot of full color, full page photographs that tempt me into wanting to make everything. The ingredients are in decent sized font down the margin edge for easy reference with the directions taking up most of the page. The over 200 recipes span 450 pages which makes this a hefty book.
Mary Ann Esposito has over twenty cookbooks on the market but this is the first book of hers that I’ve read. I enjoyed Ciao Italia Family Classics so much that I am curious about her prior publications. Esposito is the host of the PBS cooking show by the same name – Ciao Italia which boasts as being the longest running cooking show on television.
I highly recommend this book for slow food cooks who want to know how to make classic Italian dishes and to learn some new twists using classic Italian food staples.
I rate this book 5 stars = I Love It.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Amazon Vine for the purpose of reviewing it on the Amazon.com website. I was not required to blog this review. For my blog's full disclosure statement read the link near the top of my blog's sidebar.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
A Read Aloud Day
Yesterday it was chilly in the house when we woke up and my eleven year old asked that I do a read aloud. This is the first request for that in at least eight months, probably longer. I declined and cracked the whip about getting the same old - same old homeschool lessons done.
Today shortly after starting homeschool lessons for the day we got a tornado warning. This was our first since moving to Texas. The kids helped me put away loose items on the deck. The tornado warning expired before any inclement weather hit. Then we got a severe thunderstorm warning, and the rains came pouring down and there indeed was a lot of booming thunder and lighting. It was so bad that we shut the computers off meaning online math lessons and other computer related learning ceased.
Again I was asked to read aloud. This time I obliged.
My eleven year old's eyes lit up and he asked for Story of the World "like we used to do all the time!".
My fourteen year old asked for short stories from a new book Steampunk! which I received an advance reading copy of from Amazon.com's Vine program.
I read from Steampunk! because our copy of SOTW is in a box somewhere in my garage, surrounded by other good homeschooling books and curriculum, waiting to move to a place with more bookcases.
I read aloud for a couple of hours, going much longer than I usually last. (The two stories I read aloud were dark and there was child abuse and murder and revenge. We have certainly come a long way from reading Goodnight Moon. I guess if you want to continue read alouds with boys who are teens and tweens the subject matter shifts over time!)
It was like old times with the three of us on the couch snuggled under a large blanket with cats on our laps. The only problem was the kids are so big now that I had knees and elbows poking into me since they were in various odd sitting positions, and I was squished in the middle since they both wanted me next to them.
While the rain downpoured and the thunder rolled, we sat next to the window with the blinds up and looked out at the gray scary day out there. We were comfortable and relaxed.
It was one of the best types of homeschooling moments. I needed one such moment!
P.S. Actually I left something out of the story. During the second read aloud my ninth grader asked to make homemade pudding from scratch while I kept reading. He has never done that before but I made it last week and he loved it. I told him where to find the recipe. So I read aloud while he made the pudding. By the time we were near the end of the second story the pudding had cooled and we enjoyed some while I kept reading. It was so delicious I couldn't wait for the end of the story so I read aloud in between spoonfuls of custard. I like the way that my home baking and home cooking has rubbed off onto my kids....I'll read aloud anytime in exchange for kids making delicious desserts from scratch for me!
Today shortly after starting homeschool lessons for the day we got a tornado warning. This was our first since moving to Texas. The kids helped me put away loose items on the deck. The tornado warning expired before any inclement weather hit. Then we got a severe thunderstorm warning, and the rains came pouring down and there indeed was a lot of booming thunder and lighting. It was so bad that we shut the computers off meaning online math lessons and other computer related learning ceased.
Again I was asked to read aloud. This time I obliged.
My eleven year old's eyes lit up and he asked for Story of the World "like we used to do all the time!".
My fourteen year old asked for short stories from a new book Steampunk! which I received an advance reading copy of from Amazon.com's Vine program.
I read from Steampunk! because our copy of SOTW is in a box somewhere in my garage, surrounded by other good homeschooling books and curriculum, waiting to move to a place with more bookcases.
I read aloud for a couple of hours, going much longer than I usually last. (The two stories I read aloud were dark and there was child abuse and murder and revenge. We have certainly come a long way from reading Goodnight Moon. I guess if you want to continue read alouds with boys who are teens and tweens the subject matter shifts over time!)
It was like old times with the three of us on the couch snuggled under a large blanket with cats on our laps. The only problem was the kids are so big now that I had knees and elbows poking into me since they were in various odd sitting positions, and I was squished in the middle since they both wanted me next to them.
While the rain downpoured and the thunder rolled, we sat next to the window with the blinds up and looked out at the gray scary day out there. We were comfortable and relaxed.
It was one of the best types of homeschooling moments. I needed one such moment!
P.S. Actually I left something out of the story. During the second read aloud my ninth grader asked to make homemade pudding from scratch while I kept reading. He has never done that before but I made it last week and he loved it. I told him where to find the recipe. So I read aloud while he made the pudding. By the time we were near the end of the second story the pudding had cooled and we enjoyed some while I kept reading. It was so delicious I couldn't wait for the end of the story so I read aloud in between spoonfuls of custard. I like the way that my home baking and home cooking has rubbed off onto my kids....I'll read aloud anytime in exchange for kids making delicious desserts from scratch for me!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Ice Cream Sundaes
Photo by ChristineMM with iPhone4 and Instagram at Pappas Burgers in Houston Texas. These were on display, we didn't eat them!
Trying My Best at Parenting and Homeschooling
I have a few blog posts in draft that were not easy to write then never were published. So here is what I was trying to say. I'm just going to try to get it out, and however imperfect this post is, here it is.
I'm trying my best to raise my kids well. That's all I can claim that I know about parenting and homeschooling my kids.
I am not preaching on this blog. I am sharing information and stories. I hope the information helps you. I am not sure what value the stories are but hope they are not a waste of your time to read.
Some days I ask myself, "Who cares what I blog? Who actually is reading this?" Someone told me the only people who write about themselves must think they are a luminary. Do people think I think I'm some luminary? I don't think I'm a luminary. I'm just a mom who raised her kids with attachment parenting and I'm homeschooling them too.
I don't know why writing is viewed any differently than talking. To me writing is talking but in text not in auditory sounds. Writing is easy for me, easier than talking. Perhaps those who say negative things about people who write struggle to write and find talking easier. Would anyone criticize anyone for talking? "Who do they think they are to tell someone a story that happened to them? Do they think they are a luminary?" Doesn't that sound ridiculous? Why do people want writers to justify the fact that they write? I don't get it.
But back to parenting...
Years ago when I used to watch Oprah she said something to a Mom, "You do what you felt was best at the time and that's all you can do". There was some problem that happened, I don't recall what it was, but in 20/20 hindsight it was apparent that something should have happened differently to avoid the big bad thing. But the mother claimed she didn't feel there was any other option so whatever it was that the viewers wished never happened did happen. Oprah was trying to dig into the past to see what might have happened to make that thing happen or to see what didn't happen to stop that thing from happening.
Back when I used to volunteer with La Leche League to help mothers learn to breastfeed their babies and to mother them, while expressing happiness over breastfeeding a baby a mother would sometimes say she felt bad for not having breastfed an older child (or multiple older children). The word regret was incorrectly used by mothers. Regret is when there were two do-able options and you knowingly chose the worse one then later felt bad about having made that choice. Remorse is the right word that most should use, it means you now wish you'd done something differently if you had only known there was another way and that the option was something you could have done. It does no good to feel bad about not having done something that was not a choice for you anyway, even if the reason was just ignorance.
For example one mother I spoke with had a life threatening medical emergency after her first baby was delivered. She was bleeding out and nearly died. She had to have additional surgery and was not conscious for a couple of days, and was loaded up on strong drugs. The baby was put on formula and the bottle by the hospital staff. The mother lived and was healthy (Thank God!) but she was beating herself up over not breastfeeding. She was trying to get the baby back to the breast, it's not usually an easy process but it's something that some mothers want to try to do. I don't feel it does anyone any good to beat themselves up over past actions unless you really did have a choice and chose the worst thing of your own free will.
I mention regret and remorse and guilt because those are things that parents (probably more often, mothers) think about when they think about their parenting journey. Mothers can be very hard on themselves. The current psychology is so outcome based lately, the experts advise to do this and that and don't do that and that, and then your child will have that outcome. This is the case for both parenting a child and the education of a child. However since 99% of American kids attend school the responsibility of the education is taken away from the parent and put onto the school system.
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Sometimes I feel like I should stop blogging. I sincerely hope that people don't think that I think I know it all about parenting or homeschooling. What really do I have to share that is of any worth?
I am just living and writing and publishing some of my writing here on the blog. If you think it's funny or entertaining to read what I say here, then good. Read on and laugh.
I don't think I'm funny much at all anymore. I was a funny kid. I laughed almost nonstop with my friends when I was growing up. I started losing my sense of humor when bad things started happening in my life. When I became a mother and things started going wrong I became even more serious. These were high stakes! I was responsible for a human life!
Later other challenges that adults face, like unemployment and moving long distance further put a damper on general enjoyment of life. In the trying times, I have a hard time even finding something funny to laugh at on most days. In the most stressful times I sometimes realized I was going days without even smiling. The stress of life sometimes squashes the ability to enjoy the good things happening on that same day.
I don't know it all and never pretended to. I know what I don't know and that's one of the things that make me a more serious person who has concerns and worries. I can see the possible negative consequences and I don't want to see them happen to my children. I want my kids to have options that I didn't have. Besides being raised in a loving home with open communication and without the fear of corporal punishment I want my kids to enjoy learning and to know how to think and communicate well, I want them decently educated and to not get turned off by learning thanks to the worst part of what happens to some students who attend school. So, not using school was a major decision we made early in our parenting journey.
Mothering has been the most rewarding thing I've ever done but it's also the most work of anything and it's been the most stressful also. How can it be all three of those things? It just is, for me at least.
Good mothers are not perfect people, there's a myth I'd like to bust. I think I'm a good mother. Yet, I am an imperfect human. I make mistakes. I am not a Stepford Wife, I'm not a June Cleaver. I have real emotions. I get annoyed. Especially as my children grew older I stopped always talking to them in a perfectly pleasant tone of voice. Although I don't use profanity regularly anymore I have slipped and let out a few curse words with my kids sometimes. Mothering has taught me patience but I am not a saint.
I have less patience for other people's kids. Even in my well-intentioned volunteer work I have been tested and tried while dealing with other people's kids and some of them have seen my imperfections and flaws. If there is one thing that kids know, it is that no adult is perfect. They know their own parents are not perfect, and neither is any adult they come in contact with. So when other people's kids see my imperfections they are not disappointed or surprised, they are used to imperfection.
I know when I've reached my limits and may be causing more harm than I am doing well. After the fourth year volunteering at Cub Scout day camp I realized I was burned out when I had no patience left for their nonsense and when I couldn't deal with the kids who were creating an unsafe environment for the good-behaving kids one day I lost it. Nearly all the volunteers yelled but I never did, until that day and I let them have it. I still wasn't as loud or demeaning as some others I'd been hearing rant and rave all week but for me it was an all-time low.
For the kids to have a better program I knew it would be my last year doing that particular volunteer job. I knew I would leave a void to be filled with some other parent. The problem was those parents were not volunteering as they were telling me that they felt you needed some special talent to handle the job, but it wasn't true. All the kids needed was a person who was fresh and un-jaded who had just a mild amount of enthusiasm.
My talents and energy could be used elsewhere in the Scouting program to do good for the boys in some other way, if the organization needed me and wanted my help. (They found something else for me to do immediately. It really is true when you close a door God opens a window of opportunity for something else.)
About homeschooling: my self-confidence is getting less and less the older my kids get and the closer they get to college. I am getting to a point where I realize my limitations and I want a certain good (better) outcome for my sons (than I think I can personally deliver). I'm trying to decide if certain changes will truly result in something better happening.
I have been thinking about enrolling my older son in public high school. I've been wondering if it would be better than homeschooling at this point. If putting him there will give me less stress than homeschooling does (good for me) but the program is not good enough then it's not worth the trade-off (could have some bad for him outcomes). Sometimes things that seem like a great thing bring unintended negative consequences. Then there is the question of asking if the devil I know is better than the devil I don't know. Anyhow with the medical treatments he's getting three times a week right now there is no way he could attend school this semester as he'd be out on medical leave with home tutors anyway! So apparently there really is not any decision to make. Homeschooling will continue, for this year at least.
I'm willing to put forth a certain amount of work and effort (which is not always joy-filled) if it means a better outcome for my kids. The outcomes I refer to are not necessarily huge things, they can be small things like thanks to homeschooling I was able to change my son's math curriculum so now he loves algebra and understand it easily. Another is that homeschooling allows us freedom with our schedule so that my son can get the medical treatment he needs. Another is letting a sick kid sleep until they are well rested instead of forcing them to get up to go to school while still sick so they don't miss another day.
The good things with homeschooling and parenting add up over time and make any of the hard parts of my parenting journey worth it. These things do not necessarily happen every day. The easy and the challenging moments don't always occur in paced out equal shares so that it is easy at the end of the day to say "two crappy things happened but two good things happened today so it's a wash" or "three bad things happened but four good things happened so I get to feel happy about the day, it was a success".
Two months ago I was wringing my hands with worry over quitting the online math class and feeling terribly that the supposedly fantastic program was not a good fit for my son when today I'm elated that the new one he started is resulting in real learning and enjoyment in the process. Now it seems silly that I had anxiety over making the change! Sometimes it is not until months later that we can give ourselves permission to let go of the worry or negative thing so we can let ourselves feel happy about the current good situation.
Sometimes I worry that my blog readers think I think I'm perfect. To further bust that myth here's some dirty laundry on me.
Ways that I'm an imperfect homeschool mom are:
I'm not confident about doing high school science with labs. I am trying to find options to help my son through this that do not rely just on me teaching him in the home.
I am not at all capable of teaching my kids a foreign language. We're getting down to the wire with procrastination getting us to the last minute. Last year's Rosetta Stone use was okay but this year the kids hate it and say they are learning little. In the fall of his grade ten year my son had better be taking a foreign language class: either at a community college or online. We have to make a decision and make some plans and just do it.
My kids read a lot more than studies say schooled kids read, and they read more than the high school syllabi list, but we may not be discussing it enough, and my ninth grader has not ever written an essay about a work of literature that he has read.
I could go on and on but won't.
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Outcomes Depend on Strangers Too
Other times things are outside of my control and strangers contribute to my children not having optimal outcomes.
Right now I'm having a struggle over lacrosse for my younger son. When this situation is over maybe I'll blog it. I can tell it is developing into the type of juicy talk that moms share over coffee. I'd better not spill the story at this point since it is still in process. Maybe, just maybe, the outcome will be good.
My children's life experiences are not all in my control. I never thought they were, I just am trying to do my due diligence to help my kids do the things they want and do things that are good for them and to do what the parent is supposed to do. My own effort toward that goal does not always result in the good thing happening, but at least I'm trying to do what I think is best at the time.
Kid's Outcomes Depends on Them, Too
As kids grow up they should become more and more independent. It is right and best for parents to step back and let teens make more decisions for themselves.
Sometimes the teen makes a mistake that contributes to something not happening as planned or hoped. The teen needs to accept ownership for that. The parent has to let them make their mistakes sometimes.
Last year my older son wanted to rank up in Boy Scouting at a certain Court of Honor but he procrastinated about finishing two merit badges and he left them to the last minute. The merit badge counselor didn't show up at their planned meeting so finishing one badge on time was not possible. He pulled off the second but he needed both to rank up.
My son's error in judgment and choice to procrastinate meant his ranking up was put off for another six months. I was let down that the counselor failed to show up but I was not angry. Unlike some other parents who threw fits about the situation, I did not pitch a fit. Rather than focus on the adult's misstep that caused a less than optimal situation for the Scouts, I focused on my own son's personal responsibility error. I told my son the bottom line was the responsibility was his and that if he'd not waited until the last minute this would not have happened.
My son was disappointed but he survived. There was no huge negative consequence. It gave him another opportunity to learn to cope with negative emotions about something relatively small. That is good practice for when he needs to cope with a larger problem someday.
Some people have told me they don't like homeschooling parents because they are overly controlling and try to manipulate all the situations the child is in, in order to try to create a state of perfection for their child all the time. Parents cannot and should not control everything in the teen's life just to try to create an optimal outcome for the teen. Sometimes the teen can grow and develop only by taking responsibility for the process. They learn by doing the process. They do not learn anything by having perfect situations created by someone else delivered to them all ready for them to step into.
If a teen using their own judgment makes an error, they have to live with the outcome of their actions. Hopefully the stakes are not too high. They learn from their mistakes, but not always after making the mistake once. Sometimes they make the same mistakes over and over before they decide to change and do things a different way to try for a different outcome. I find myself biting my tongue and holding back from intervening to help my son not do that thing again. I am letting him stumble and sometimes fall. It's part of growing up.
Adversity is a normal part of life. Adversity builds character. You can't avoid all the adversity in life.
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What I want to say to parents is you have a responsibility to try to do well by your kids. In this land of opportunity when we're not living in a third world country where life is not a literal day to day struggle for basic survival we feel pressure to create some kind of utopian childhood and to help our kids be the best they can be and arrive at the adulthood healthy and happy and ready for anything. I think that's a tall order.
Parenting is not typically all fun all day long. Parenting is not struggle free. There are good things to celebrate if you take time to notice that they happened and do not just look at what is going wrong or what is sub-optimal. It is normal for life to throw you problems and challenges in the midst of already being busy parenting your kids. We have no choice but to deal with whatever life has dealt us. It's too bad that sometimes dealing with regular life can keep us so busy that we can't notice something good happening right under our nose, or if we're under stress we can't even feel the happiness that we realize we should be able to feel when something good happens.
I don't know what it is about our society that makes parents feel we are never quite doing the parenting job well enough. If I could identify what the cause is then I'd call for parents everywhere to team up and work together to put a stop to it.
Active parenting is tiring. I can't do it all and neither can you. Sometimes I just don't have enough energy or time to do it all the way I think is right and best. I try. We shoot for the stars and if we hit the moon we'll be more than okay.
Someday soon my children will have flown the coop and I get to decide what I want to do with my life next. I'll have plenty of time on my hands, and probably less stress. Life will be easier. For now I truly am happy to have this responsibility and privilege, even though some days are tiring and life's not easy most days.
I'm trying my best to raise my kids well. That's all I can claim that I know about parenting and homeschooling my kids.
I am not preaching on this blog. I am sharing information and stories. I hope the information helps you. I am not sure what value the stories are but hope they are not a waste of your time to read.
Some days I ask myself, "Who cares what I blog? Who actually is reading this?" Someone told me the only people who write about themselves must think they are a luminary. Do people think I think I'm some luminary? I don't think I'm a luminary. I'm just a mom who raised her kids with attachment parenting and I'm homeschooling them too.
I don't know why writing is viewed any differently than talking. To me writing is talking but in text not in auditory sounds. Writing is easy for me, easier than talking. Perhaps those who say negative things about people who write struggle to write and find talking easier. Would anyone criticize anyone for talking? "Who do they think they are to tell someone a story that happened to them? Do they think they are a luminary?" Doesn't that sound ridiculous? Why do people want writers to justify the fact that they write? I don't get it.
But back to parenting...
Years ago when I used to watch Oprah she said something to a Mom, "You do what you felt was best at the time and that's all you can do". There was some problem that happened, I don't recall what it was, but in 20/20 hindsight it was apparent that something should have happened differently to avoid the big bad thing. But the mother claimed she didn't feel there was any other option so whatever it was that the viewers wished never happened did happen. Oprah was trying to dig into the past to see what might have happened to make that thing happen or to see what didn't happen to stop that thing from happening.
Back when I used to volunteer with La Leche League to help mothers learn to breastfeed their babies and to mother them, while expressing happiness over breastfeeding a baby a mother would sometimes say she felt bad for not having breastfed an older child (or multiple older children). The word regret was incorrectly used by mothers. Regret is when there were two do-able options and you knowingly chose the worse one then later felt bad about having made that choice. Remorse is the right word that most should use, it means you now wish you'd done something differently if you had only known there was another way and that the option was something you could have done. It does no good to feel bad about not having done something that was not a choice for you anyway, even if the reason was just ignorance.
For example one mother I spoke with had a life threatening medical emergency after her first baby was delivered. She was bleeding out and nearly died. She had to have additional surgery and was not conscious for a couple of days, and was loaded up on strong drugs. The baby was put on formula and the bottle by the hospital staff. The mother lived and was healthy (Thank God!) but she was beating herself up over not breastfeeding. She was trying to get the baby back to the breast, it's not usually an easy process but it's something that some mothers want to try to do. I don't feel it does anyone any good to beat themselves up over past actions unless you really did have a choice and chose the worst thing of your own free will.
I mention regret and remorse and guilt because those are things that parents (probably more often, mothers) think about when they think about their parenting journey. Mothers can be very hard on themselves. The current psychology is so outcome based lately, the experts advise to do this and that and don't do that and that, and then your child will have that outcome. This is the case for both parenting a child and the education of a child. However since 99% of American kids attend school the responsibility of the education is taken away from the parent and put onto the school system.
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Sometimes I feel like I should stop blogging. I sincerely hope that people don't think that I think I know it all about parenting or homeschooling. What really do I have to share that is of any worth?
I am just living and writing and publishing some of my writing here on the blog. If you think it's funny or entertaining to read what I say here, then good. Read on and laugh.
I don't think I'm funny much at all anymore. I was a funny kid. I laughed almost nonstop with my friends when I was growing up. I started losing my sense of humor when bad things started happening in my life. When I became a mother and things started going wrong I became even more serious. These were high stakes! I was responsible for a human life!
Later other challenges that adults face, like unemployment and moving long distance further put a damper on general enjoyment of life. In the trying times, I have a hard time even finding something funny to laugh at on most days. In the most stressful times I sometimes realized I was going days without even smiling. The stress of life sometimes squashes the ability to enjoy the good things happening on that same day.
I don't know it all and never pretended to. I know what I don't know and that's one of the things that make me a more serious person who has concerns and worries. I can see the possible negative consequences and I don't want to see them happen to my children. I want my kids to have options that I didn't have. Besides being raised in a loving home with open communication and without the fear of corporal punishment I want my kids to enjoy learning and to know how to think and communicate well, I want them decently educated and to not get turned off by learning thanks to the worst part of what happens to some students who attend school. So, not using school was a major decision we made early in our parenting journey.
Mothering has been the most rewarding thing I've ever done but it's also the most work of anything and it's been the most stressful also. How can it be all three of those things? It just is, for me at least.
Good mothers are not perfect people, there's a myth I'd like to bust. I think I'm a good mother. Yet, I am an imperfect human. I make mistakes. I am not a Stepford Wife, I'm not a June Cleaver. I have real emotions. I get annoyed. Especially as my children grew older I stopped always talking to them in a perfectly pleasant tone of voice. Although I don't use profanity regularly anymore I have slipped and let out a few curse words with my kids sometimes. Mothering has taught me patience but I am not a saint.
I have less patience for other people's kids. Even in my well-intentioned volunteer work I have been tested and tried while dealing with other people's kids and some of them have seen my imperfections and flaws. If there is one thing that kids know, it is that no adult is perfect. They know their own parents are not perfect, and neither is any adult they come in contact with. So when other people's kids see my imperfections they are not disappointed or surprised, they are used to imperfection.
I know when I've reached my limits and may be causing more harm than I am doing well. After the fourth year volunteering at Cub Scout day camp I realized I was burned out when I had no patience left for their nonsense and when I couldn't deal with the kids who were creating an unsafe environment for the good-behaving kids one day I lost it. Nearly all the volunteers yelled but I never did, until that day and I let them have it. I still wasn't as loud or demeaning as some others I'd been hearing rant and rave all week but for me it was an all-time low.
For the kids to have a better program I knew it would be my last year doing that particular volunteer job. I knew I would leave a void to be filled with some other parent. The problem was those parents were not volunteering as they were telling me that they felt you needed some special talent to handle the job, but it wasn't true. All the kids needed was a person who was fresh and un-jaded who had just a mild amount of enthusiasm.
My talents and energy could be used elsewhere in the Scouting program to do good for the boys in some other way, if the organization needed me and wanted my help. (They found something else for me to do immediately. It really is true when you close a door God opens a window of opportunity for something else.)
About homeschooling: my self-confidence is getting less and less the older my kids get and the closer they get to college. I am getting to a point where I realize my limitations and I want a certain good (better) outcome for my sons (than I think I can personally deliver). I'm trying to decide if certain changes will truly result in something better happening.
I have been thinking about enrolling my older son in public high school. I've been wondering if it would be better than homeschooling at this point. If putting him there will give me less stress than homeschooling does (good for me) but the program is not good enough then it's not worth the trade-off (could have some bad for him outcomes). Sometimes things that seem like a great thing bring unintended negative consequences. Then there is the question of asking if the devil I know is better than the devil I don't know. Anyhow with the medical treatments he's getting three times a week right now there is no way he could attend school this semester as he'd be out on medical leave with home tutors anyway! So apparently there really is not any decision to make. Homeschooling will continue, for this year at least.
I'm willing to put forth a certain amount of work and effort (which is not always joy-filled) if it means a better outcome for my kids. The outcomes I refer to are not necessarily huge things, they can be small things like thanks to homeschooling I was able to change my son's math curriculum so now he loves algebra and understand it easily. Another is that homeschooling allows us freedom with our schedule so that my son can get the medical treatment he needs. Another is letting a sick kid sleep until they are well rested instead of forcing them to get up to go to school while still sick so they don't miss another day.
The good things with homeschooling and parenting add up over time and make any of the hard parts of my parenting journey worth it. These things do not necessarily happen every day. The easy and the challenging moments don't always occur in paced out equal shares so that it is easy at the end of the day to say "two crappy things happened but two good things happened today so it's a wash" or "three bad things happened but four good things happened so I get to feel happy about the day, it was a success".
Two months ago I was wringing my hands with worry over quitting the online math class and feeling terribly that the supposedly fantastic program was not a good fit for my son when today I'm elated that the new one he started is resulting in real learning and enjoyment in the process. Now it seems silly that I had anxiety over making the change! Sometimes it is not until months later that we can give ourselves permission to let go of the worry or negative thing so we can let ourselves feel happy about the current good situation.
Sometimes I worry that my blog readers think I think I'm perfect. To further bust that myth here's some dirty laundry on me.
Ways that I'm an imperfect homeschool mom are:
I'm not confident about doing high school science with labs. I am trying to find options to help my son through this that do not rely just on me teaching him in the home.
I am not at all capable of teaching my kids a foreign language. We're getting down to the wire with procrastination getting us to the last minute. Last year's Rosetta Stone use was okay but this year the kids hate it and say they are learning little. In the fall of his grade ten year my son had better be taking a foreign language class: either at a community college or online. We have to make a decision and make some plans and just do it.
My kids read a lot more than studies say schooled kids read, and they read more than the high school syllabi list, but we may not be discussing it enough, and my ninth grader has not ever written an essay about a work of literature that he has read.
I could go on and on but won't.
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Outcomes Depend on Strangers Too
Other times things are outside of my control and strangers contribute to my children not having optimal outcomes.
Right now I'm having a struggle over lacrosse for my younger son. When this situation is over maybe I'll blog it. I can tell it is developing into the type of juicy talk that moms share over coffee. I'd better not spill the story at this point since it is still in process. Maybe, just maybe, the outcome will be good.
My children's life experiences are not all in my control. I never thought they were, I just am trying to do my due diligence to help my kids do the things they want and do things that are good for them and to do what the parent is supposed to do. My own effort toward that goal does not always result in the good thing happening, but at least I'm trying to do what I think is best at the time.
Kid's Outcomes Depends on Them, Too
As kids grow up they should become more and more independent. It is right and best for parents to step back and let teens make more decisions for themselves.
Sometimes the teen makes a mistake that contributes to something not happening as planned or hoped. The teen needs to accept ownership for that. The parent has to let them make their mistakes sometimes.
Last year my older son wanted to rank up in Boy Scouting at a certain Court of Honor but he procrastinated about finishing two merit badges and he left them to the last minute. The merit badge counselor didn't show up at their planned meeting so finishing one badge on time was not possible. He pulled off the second but he needed both to rank up.
My son's error in judgment and choice to procrastinate meant his ranking up was put off for another six months. I was let down that the counselor failed to show up but I was not angry. Unlike some other parents who threw fits about the situation, I did not pitch a fit. Rather than focus on the adult's misstep that caused a less than optimal situation for the Scouts, I focused on my own son's personal responsibility error. I told my son the bottom line was the responsibility was his and that if he'd not waited until the last minute this would not have happened.
My son was disappointed but he survived. There was no huge negative consequence. It gave him another opportunity to learn to cope with negative emotions about something relatively small. That is good practice for when he needs to cope with a larger problem someday.
Some people have told me they don't like homeschooling parents because they are overly controlling and try to manipulate all the situations the child is in, in order to try to create a state of perfection for their child all the time. Parents cannot and should not control everything in the teen's life just to try to create an optimal outcome for the teen. Sometimes the teen can grow and develop only by taking responsibility for the process. They learn by doing the process. They do not learn anything by having perfect situations created by someone else delivered to them all ready for them to step into.
If a teen using their own judgment makes an error, they have to live with the outcome of their actions. Hopefully the stakes are not too high. They learn from their mistakes, but not always after making the mistake once. Sometimes they make the same mistakes over and over before they decide to change and do things a different way to try for a different outcome. I find myself biting my tongue and holding back from intervening to help my son not do that thing again. I am letting him stumble and sometimes fall. It's part of growing up.
Adversity is a normal part of life. Adversity builds character. You can't avoid all the adversity in life.
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What I want to say to parents is you have a responsibility to try to do well by your kids. In this land of opportunity when we're not living in a third world country where life is not a literal day to day struggle for basic survival we feel pressure to create some kind of utopian childhood and to help our kids be the best they can be and arrive at the adulthood healthy and happy and ready for anything. I think that's a tall order.
Parenting is not typically all fun all day long. Parenting is not struggle free. There are good things to celebrate if you take time to notice that they happened and do not just look at what is going wrong or what is sub-optimal. It is normal for life to throw you problems and challenges in the midst of already being busy parenting your kids. We have no choice but to deal with whatever life has dealt us. It's too bad that sometimes dealing with regular life can keep us so busy that we can't notice something good happening right under our nose, or if we're under stress we can't even feel the happiness that we realize we should be able to feel when something good happens.
I don't know what it is about our society that makes parents feel we are never quite doing the parenting job well enough. If I could identify what the cause is then I'd call for parents everywhere to team up and work together to put a stop to it.
Active parenting is tiring. I can't do it all and neither can you. Sometimes I just don't have enough energy or time to do it all the way I think is right and best. I try. We shoot for the stars and if we hit the moon we'll be more than okay.
Someday soon my children will have flown the coop and I get to decide what I want to do with my life next. I'll have plenty of time on my hands, and probably less stress. Life will be easier. For now I truly am happy to have this responsibility and privilege, even though some days are tiring and life's not easy most days.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Twain's Feast Book Review by ChristineMM
Title: Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens
Author: Andrew Beahrs
Publication: Penguin Press, June 2010
My Star Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It
My Summary Statement: Excellent Storytelling by an Informed Food Writer – A Great Escape Read for Foodies
When I received this book I assumed it was what I call a project memoir, where a person wants to know something and travels around and does research and shares what they learned in writing and bundles their essays up and publishes a book. A pure project memoir is usually done by a novice who knows nothing of the topic and learns everything along the way, and is written from the perspective of a newbie. These are sometimes published by laypeople hobbyists or amateurs who are not writers, and as a result the books are sometimes uneven or just mediocre pieces of writing, with storytelling skills being a crapshoot. This is NOT a project memoir. And that is a good thing.
This book is more of a travelogue than a project memoir. It was written by a person who going into the project, already has a decent knowledge base about food and gourmet food topics. Beahrs is an experienced and skilled food writer, and is an excellent storyteller. Thus, this book is well written and interesting.
Beahrs set out on a journey to sample foods today that Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) mentioned in his book A Tramp Abroad, about a hundred years ago. A challenge is the world has changed, the landscape has changed, and not all the foods are really available (wild prairie chicken being one). Some foods are no longer daily staples for poor people but are served once a year at a festival (raccoon).
Beahrs’ writing pulled me in. He writes with a good flow from topic to topic and weaves between present day observations to history and facts and then to his personal opinions and experiences. This weaving in and out is seamless. He is able to write in a way that never was boring yet educated and discussed facts and things I never thought I’d care to know. Reading this book was an enjoyable escape reading experience.
I should also mention I am a home slow food cook and from scratch baker and enjoy fine dining in restaurants whenever I can, so learning about food and I like reading about food.
If you enjoy good storytelling escape reads, and are a foodie or are a big fan of Mark Twain, or enjoy travelogues or books about the history of food in America, you will enjoy this book.
I rate this book 5 stars = I Love It for the excellent storytelling, engaging escape read and interesting foodie subject matter.
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from Amazon.com’s Vine program. I was not obligated to blog about the book. For my blog’s full disclosure statement see the link near the top of my blog’s sidebar.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Tiger and Fire Hydrant
Photo by Christine at a Spring Texas nursery 12/11/11 near Houston with iPhone4 and Instagram.
Megg's History of Graphic Design Book Review by ChristineMM
Title: Meggs' History of Graphic Design 5th Edition
Authors: Philip B. Meggs and Alston W. Purvis
Publication: Wiley, November 2011
My Star Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It
Summary Statement: Massive Tome of Chronologically Arranged History with 1400+ Color Illustrations - Teaching & Study Aids on Publisher's Site
Megg's History of Graphic Design 5th Edition is a massive textbook which has been expanded and improved. The page size is large: 8.5 x 11 inches, it's 600 pages long (and weighs five pounds!). The paper is high quality glossy, thick (and not see-though). Each of the 1400+ illustrations is in full color. The book is also available in eBook format.
Meggs spent over 25 years research and working on this book and after his death, Purvis has expanded the book for the 4th and 5th edition. As it always has been, this is a chronological history which starts with prehistory of early man's cave paintings then to the invention of writing and goes to the present day. This is a wide sweep, a comprehensive survey of graphic design. This 5th edition adds content for some previously unrepresented countries. It adds new information about the latest technologies such as magazines for iPad with moving graphics that breaks new ground for graphic design and makes it more complicated and enhanced.
On the publisher's website are free companion materials for teachers: study guides and sample tests and answer keys as well as study materials for students. There is also an app that can be purchased for iPhone or iPad to help students study with visual flashcards.
This book is a visual feast, filled with eye candy for graphic artists and artists to both educate and inspire. I found the writing easy to read and interesting, since I have a personal interest in this subject, it held my attention. This book is used by graphich design college course students. I'm an adult who has been teaching herself about art due to a personal curiosity and interest in the subject. It is not a dry and boring textbook. This is a unique and impressive text that people consider the Bible of graphic design history.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the Amazon.com Vine program. I was under no obligation to discuss it on my blog. For my blog's full disclosure statement see the link near the top of my blog's sidebar.
Authors: Philip B. Meggs and Alston W. Purvis
Publication: Wiley, November 2011
My Star Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It
Summary Statement: Massive Tome of Chronologically Arranged History with 1400+ Color Illustrations - Teaching & Study Aids on Publisher's Site
Megg's History of Graphic Design 5th Edition is a massive textbook which has been expanded and improved. The page size is large: 8.5 x 11 inches, it's 600 pages long (and weighs five pounds!). The paper is high quality glossy, thick (and not see-though). Each of the 1400+ illustrations is in full color. The book is also available in eBook format.
Meggs spent over 25 years research and working on this book and after his death, Purvis has expanded the book for the 4th and 5th edition. As it always has been, this is a chronological history which starts with prehistory of early man's cave paintings then to the invention of writing and goes to the present day. This is a wide sweep, a comprehensive survey of graphic design. This 5th edition adds content for some previously unrepresented countries. It adds new information about the latest technologies such as magazines for iPad with moving graphics that breaks new ground for graphic design and makes it more complicated and enhanced.
On the publisher's website are free companion materials for teachers: study guides and sample tests and answer keys as well as study materials for students. There is also an app that can be purchased for iPhone or iPad to help students study with visual flashcards.
This book is a visual feast, filled with eye candy for graphic artists and artists to both educate and inspire. I found the writing easy to read and interesting, since I have a personal interest in this subject, it held my attention. This book is used by graphich design college course students. I'm an adult who has been teaching herself about art due to a personal curiosity and interest in the subject. It is not a dry and boring textbook. This is a unique and impressive text that people consider the Bible of graphic design history.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the Amazon.com Vine program. I was under no obligation to discuss it on my blog. For my blog's full disclosure statement see the link near the top of my blog's sidebar.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Tree at HEB
Photo by ChristineMM at HEB grocery store parking lot The Woodlands Houston Texas on 12/12/11 with iPhone4 and Instagram.
Instagram Tips
Here are some things I have learned in playing with Instagram.
If you are in a situation where you must shoot fast and not make decisions about filters, or if you are shooting in bright sunlight and can't see your screen well, shoot with the regular iPhone camera. Later when you have time, feel like it, and can see well, pull the photo from your iPhone photo album, crop it and filter it and share it. Just be careful to allow room for cropping the rectangle image into a square.
If you are trying to shoot in the Instagram app but want to zoom, you cannot, so exit Instagram, open your iPhone camera and use that to take the photo. I use this often for shooting city landscapes when I want pieces of buildings but when close objects would ruin the shot. When I'm passenger in the car I can zoom and shoot some interesting landscapes.
Take photos while stopped at a red light. We have some lights here that are 90 seconds long! That is a long time! I grab the camera and take shots of lovely clouds and sunsets as well as cityscapes.
If you are the driver ask your passenger to shoot certain objects you see while driving, that would be unsafe for you to attempt.
If you want to do multiple filters on the same image save the first crop as normal. Then start a second Instagram using the "normal" photo and use the filter. Then repeat. In this way you can get a series of identical shots that use different filters.
Use down time for Instagram. I have filtered shots while standing in line to pay the cashier at stores, while in waiting rooms, and while sitting in my car waiting for my kid to finish what he's doing so I can drive him home.
Using Instagram is so fast and easy. You don't have to do the whole process right on the spot. Instagram should be fun and should not have any pressure attached to it.
Speaking for myself I rarely waste time playing with Instagram, I'm just using up spare moments here and there. It's fun and it actually diffuses the stress for me because it prevents me from getting aggravated at a slow cashier or a forever red light.
If you are in a situation where you must shoot fast and not make decisions about filters, or if you are shooting in bright sunlight and can't see your screen well, shoot with the regular iPhone camera. Later when you have time, feel like it, and can see well, pull the photo from your iPhone photo album, crop it and filter it and share it. Just be careful to allow room for cropping the rectangle image into a square.
If you are trying to shoot in the Instagram app but want to zoom, you cannot, so exit Instagram, open your iPhone camera and use that to take the photo. I use this often for shooting city landscapes when I want pieces of buildings but when close objects would ruin the shot. When I'm passenger in the car I can zoom and shoot some interesting landscapes.
Take photos while stopped at a red light. We have some lights here that are 90 seconds long! That is a long time! I grab the camera and take shots of lovely clouds and sunsets as well as cityscapes.
If you are the driver ask your passenger to shoot certain objects you see while driving, that would be unsafe for you to attempt.
If you want to do multiple filters on the same image save the first crop as normal. Then start a second Instagram using the "normal" photo and use the filter. Then repeat. In this way you can get a series of identical shots that use different filters.
Use down time for Instagram. I have filtered shots while standing in line to pay the cashier at stores, while in waiting rooms, and while sitting in my car waiting for my kid to finish what he's doing so I can drive him home.
Using Instagram is so fast and easy. You don't have to do the whole process right on the spot. Instagram should be fun and should not have any pressure attached to it.
Speaking for myself I rarely waste time playing with Instagram, I'm just using up spare moments here and there. It's fun and it actually diffuses the stress for me because it prevents me from getting aggravated at a slow cashier or a forever red light.
iMainGo XP Ultra-Portable Stereo Speaker and Protective Case for iPad 1 and iPad 2 Product Review
Product: iMainGo XP Ultra-Portable Stereo Speaker and Protective Case for iPad 1 and iPad 2
My Summary Statement: Easy and Convenient Portable Audio System for iPad (and Can Use in Limited Ways with Kindle Fire) but Not for Everyday Carrying Case Use for Me
This is a hard plastic case that fits on the iPad1 and iPad2 with portable speakers. The two doors open outward to reveal a right and left stereo speaker with the device oriented horizontally. There is a separate plastic folding system to use to prop it up on a table or desk. The iPads fit into it perfectly. The sliding mechanism to open the doors is hard to operate. My eleven year old really struggled to open it.
Disclosure: I received this product for review from the Amazon.com Vine program. I was not under obligation to blog this review. For my blog's full disclosure statement see the link near the top of my blog's sidebar.
My Star Rating: 5 starts out of 5 = I Love It
My Summary Statement: Easy and Convenient Portable Audio System for iPad (and Can Use in Limited Ways with Kindle Fire) but Not for Everyday Carrying Case Use for Me
This is a hard plastic case that fits on the iPad1 and iPad2 with portable speakers. The two doors open outward to reveal a right and left stereo speaker with the device oriented horizontally. There is a separate plastic folding system to use to prop it up on a table or desk. The iPads fit into it perfectly. The sliding mechanism to open the doors is hard to operate. My eleven year old really struggled to open it.
This weighs two pounds. I am not complaining of the weight as a problem of design, common sense says that a speaker system has components that will weigh a certain amount. I mention this as heaviness may not be convenient for everyday use. Also I don’t like the outward door speakers for everyday use of the iPad2. If you used this as a daily protective case and wanted to use the iPad in a vertical position the speakers would orient up and down, and are in my way. If you want your iPad to be lightweight and slim for everyday carrying around, I’d recommend a neoprene sleeve protective case. So, you may choose to buy both of those two things for two different uses.
The speakers are fine at mid-range. At the upper half of the range they vibrated and the sound distorted. However that was too loud for my liking when sitting close enough to have a good view of the screen. In other words this does not convert your iPad into a home theatre with top quality volume at blasting volume levels. But who wants that anyway since when sitting at a distance you can’t see the screen! I played music at the mid-range volume and could hear it crisp and clear from thirty feet away in my home. Using it in that manner allows me to use this device in place of a home docking station speaker system. (It would be nice if we didn’t HAVE to buy every single type of accessory for these devices, especially if we own multiple devices! I’m trying to combine these to have more than one use.)
I am pleased with the quality of sound for the volumes that our family uses. It is convenient to have the speakers as a case system instead of freestanding speakers that are inconvenient to carry around. Because we don’t need to use this everywhere and every day we are using a neoprene sleeve case for everyday and using this when we know we want to a louder and higher quality sound system.
(The Kindle Fire has the same jack so you can actually use this on the Kindle Fire, when the unit is on a table or desk. Since it was not designed for the smaller Kindle Fire it doesn’t fit snugly and it wouldn’t work as a carrying case for it. However if you own both devices (as my family does) you can “make do” with this for stable tabletop surface use.)
I rate this 5 stars = I Love It because I feel the quality is high and it is great for watching movies and video clips with sound and also is a good enough for me speakers system to play music into a room with.
Disclosure: I received this product for review from the Amazon.com Vine program. I was not under obligation to blog this review. For my blog's full disclosure statement see the link near the top of my blog's sidebar.
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