BECAUSE I SAID SO: I Resign

BECAUSE I SAID SO: I Resign

Hmmmm....this must be a common theme for moms, I wrote in a similar vein a few years ago.

Funny Grocery Shopping Story

What happens with a mom inadvertantly buys an item which her children have snuck into the grocery cart? She takes her revenge on ebay, makes a few times over the money she spent, and publicizes her blog! Hysterically! A friend of mine shared the ebay link, which also includes the link to her blog.

Ain't motherhood grand?

Sew What?

So the Freecycle machine did not work out. I read the repair book, it was still beyond me how to fix the machine, which was getting the thread tangled and caught in the bobbin casing. I decided to send it back out into the Freecycle-o-sphere. However, I posted an honest offer, detailing the shape it's in and the inability to procure a manual. I got a taker and it's out of my house. Phew!

Meanwhile, my friend who is trying to draw me into her web of crafting has not given up on me and gave me her old machine! (Thank you!) She scoffed at the idea of an instruction manual, but the machine is only a few years old and I was able to get the manual off the manufacturer's website (bonus because I thought I'd have to shell out $15 to buy one).

Of course, there is always an obstacle and right now, it's that I don't have a full-size spool of thread. The Freecycle machine came with one and I left it on there. So someday, I will get to a craft store or a fabric store and get some thread. I will buy good quality thread, having learned from a sewing machine book that people should not cheap out on thread (the chapter was titled something like "People get cheap in the weirdest places"). The implication being that they have already spent perhaps hundreds of dollars on the machine.

Meanwhile, I look at the sewing porn and ponder all the wonderful projects I could undertake. This has resulted in a number of spirited e-mails among other friends who have experience sewing and own machines. Perhaps it sounds too stereotypical, homeschoolers who sew their own clothes, but you've got to see some of the projects we're considering. Corset necktie belts, anyone?

Once again, option paralysis sets in and I have no idea what to make. I am thinking I might stitch a simple cover for the sewing machine. Another tidbit I picked up from the sewing books, never cover your machine in plastic, it makes the machine "sweat." That and use crocous cloth (available at your local hardware store) to gently buff out any 'burrs' on your machine needle or plate.

Yup, once again I have acquired a whole lot of knowledge that doesn't enable me to do anything.

2012 follow-up -- I'm finally sewing!

Sew...

wow, it's dusty around here. This blog seems almost abandoned. Or is it merely dormant while homeschooling takes over? Maybe it's just that I've found other ways to ignore my kids.

Anyway, I recently acquired a sewing machine from my local Freecycle list. Whether it works or not is a matter of debate. The offeror said it works and from the standpoint of plugging it in and pushing the pedal, the gears do operate. However, the thread gets tangled in the machine. So, I wouldn't call the thing operational. Maybe it's a simple fix. Unfortunately, the free machine did not come with a manual, so I'm posting here in case someone has a lead for me. The label says "Montgomery Ward." It's model UHT J 1984.

I headed to the library when I first acquired the machine to get all kinds of 'how to sew' books. Now, I am requesting all kinds of "how to fix sewing machine" books. Both of them.

I've been visiting the websites mentioned in the "how to sew" books because they uniformly tell me the most important piece of equipment is the instruction manual. Turns out, I've got a 'rare' machine that's not listed on the websites. But some get close.

Anyway, I'm having fun, picturing myself as a tinkerer. I do like to play with machines and might have made a good engineer, but who wants to take all that math? Maybe I would have been a good mechanic, they aren't required to take calculus.

Why do I want to start sewing on a machine? One of my friends made an adorable dress for her child that she found on this site and I thought it might be fun to become 'crafty.' So far, my path is not leading to 'crafty' but to machine repair work. Who knows.

Thats Why I Unschool

-- no guarantee my kids won't hate me anyway, but they'll have to find a different reason.

Why We Hate Our Parents
Western parents feel it is their job to make their children into who they should be rather than relate to who they already are.
By Mark Epstein, M.D.

I was not unschooled myself and I don't hate my parents. They always accepted me and encouraged me, but never made me feel like I should be anyone else.

Thanks Mom and Dad.

How Did I Miss This Story?

Must have been hibernating -- I live for this stuff. More than a decade ago, I headed off to law school with dreams of becoming a sex crimes prosecutor. How I ended up as a homeschooling mom is a long, sad story (with a happy ending, because I am, after all, a homeschooling mom).

Anyway -- wow, what an interesting story. A brief summary for those not interested in reading it -- a woman was drugged and raped at a fraternity in 1984. She received an apology in the mail from the perp as part of his 12 step program. Long story short, she has reason to believe he's not coming completely clean (she suspects it was a gang rape or at least it was spectator sport and he's pretty dismissive on the point). His apology is what we like to call "an admission" and she forwards it to the appropriate police department. He is prosecuted and takes a plea agreement. Two years. Looks like he got off a bit lightly because the prosecutor is looking in it being a gang-rape. Hope that means they'll find the others. I say subpeona everyone in the fraternity that year -- come on, someone put something in that drink, at least another frat boy shoved her back at the perp when she was screaming and trying to get away. There were more who at least knew what was going on and I'm guessing this wasn't an isolated incident.

The article was interesting because it mentions that the victim has been contacted by "Christians" criticizing her for "pressing charges" and admonishing her to forgive. One thing I was taught at the prosecutor's office where I worked was that the victim doesn't "press charges" the charges are the State's the victim is a witness. Sure, the victim can make things hard for the State and refuse to cooperate, but its not the victim's case. Of course, I think this victim should explore her civil remedies, in which case she would be pursuing him in what some might call an "unforgiving, unChristian" way. Well, good for them. Me, I'm a harpy.

Anyway, this leads me to all recriminations of Christians in the Episcopal church these days. To recap, some are annoyed over the consecration of a gay bishop in New England ("unbiblical and all that." Can't help but wonder why these people don't go Catholic, didn't the Anglican church start off by kicking out church doctrine of the day -- no divorce and all that? So why should anyone be surprised that the Episcopal Church is continuing the trend?).

The non-gay bishop of Virginia voted in support of the prospective consecration of the gay bishop (for various reasons) and I guess that was the 'green light' for some conservative parishes to try to take the money and run. Only they aren't running, its a land grab. They are incensed about there being a homosexual bishop, don't mind the "adultery" issue of many of their twice-married priests and bishops (the Bible goes on about divorce and remarriage, not just homosexuality). Now, these parishes are attempting to separate from the diocese while also kicking out any members who are not hate-filled homophobes (am I editorializing?). Lots of pain and gnashing of teeth. And we're supposed to fear hell? Seems like a lot of people are already there. And this is church? Where we're supposed to find God? Supposed to follow Jesus' teachings? Let he who is not vindictive cast the first stone. Ridiculous -- the defectors expect those loyal to the diocese to leave and call them vindictive if they want to stay. Don't they realize that they could be called vindictive because if they don't like church policy, shouldn't they be the ones to leave? What are they doing in an Episcopal church to begin with is a question I've been wondering. There are plenty of conservative churches and denominations out there. Its all about money, certainly not about God and clearly less about Jesus.

Okay -- where's that rock? I'd like to crawl back under it.

Misogyny in Candyland

This has bothered me for awhile. We are the happy owners of two versions of Candyland and a while ago I noticed a discrepancy between the versions. In the first version we received, there were characters Princess Lolly and Queen Frostine, in addition to King Kandy, Lord Licorice, the Professor and Mary-Ann...whatever.

Well, in the newer version we received, there have been strange political changes. Lolly has been stripped of her princessness and Queen Frostine has been demoted to Princess. So whats the deal? She was one married to King Kandy and now is his daughter? What kind of sick-reversed-Oedipal-twist is that? Maybe its so the line "hey, little girl, want some candy?" works better.

I must admit, I haven't noticed any change in the men. And Grandma Nutt looks goofy as always. So whats the deal? Women are only young and nubile or old and senile, but never equal in power to men?

I think Chess is a better game for my girls. While the King is the most important player, the Queen is the most powerful.