Chefeiram

 The details of the treasure box story are being discovered and will be presented here soon.  Please check back tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Sunday as the rest of the world calls it. For the members of the Catholic Church it is the first Sunday of advent. Today we get to find the parts of an advent wreath. TJ is not in religious education program any more so he is not making them in class and as a home schooled student there are no craft projects making the trek home on the bus. In the last couple of years I have used a place mat with a holly and evergreen pattern, 5 votive candles in the respective colors. It becomes a challenge to light the one candle; maybe we’ll replace them this year. We are starting a new advent adventure and gift giving event. We have small stockings with our names on them, and small slips of paper we will write what we like about that person, how we Christ in them. Thank them for something they do, complements and positives. We will open them on Christmas Eve to celebrate the light of the world shining in our hearts and lives. TJ and I are at the moment feeling mostly ok. So we are...

Good morning to you all Source: Meridian, Idaho Destination: Cascade Locks Oregon Yesterday’s travel was filled with incredible views and wind. We traveled consistent through the eastern part of Oregon. I knew that there was better to be seen. There were many comments of Oh mom look at that! Oh that is beautiful. Lots of oh’s and awe’s. TJ is our navigator and keeper of the travel log. He has truly taken this task to a new level. We played the license plate game, where you keep a list of the ones you have seen. We have 20 some states and 4 Canadian Providences. It feels odd to be posting to face book and my blog from a camp site. I do like the fact that we are not in the wilderness and that we don’t have to pack food for 5 days. We had one small bump in our plan; there are no Maverick Gas Stations in Oregon. TJ and I are living the Thrifty part of the scout law. My friend who was a large part of why we are in Oregon is doing well and is using her extra time off work to catch up on...

Hello all, Well the paper work came through today TJ will be attending the Idaho Virtual Academy for 6th grade. Due to many factors TJ and I feel this next year will be his best opportunity to explore a different learning environment. I have looked at this program before but did not have the right time structure to make it work, I have another year of school where I am at home for the majority of the day to help and guide (read "crack the whip"). After 5 years of trying to fit a round peg in the square hole of a traditional classroom we are both excited. The battles over homework and unfinished class work have made going to school a negative event, when a child that loves to learn as much as TJ does, will fake being sick so he can stay home and read all day. You know it is time to make a change. To all my teacher friends, I have huge respect for what you do every day. TJ has some of the best. I thank you for the wonderful foundation of learning and skills you have given...

Hello By the time you read this it will probably be out of date. As we know technology now moves faster and it updates faster than we can actually read it, ponder, and process it. But this is my effort to try and get all of my communication technology methods connected. So that when I am done with school, I'll be ready to launch into my third and hopefully retirement career of connecting the food world and technology. I have no idea what that will look like but I do think that having my blog, Facebook, twitter and all the other social networking options connected in one space will be to my advantage. For my English 101 class I'm currently researching how technology will change the way we learn and how information for education is delivered. One example is my method of creating this post, it Is being done with Dragon Speaking Naturally dictation software. It is taking some effort to get used to how to use it. I did not realize how much thinking I do while typing, even though...

Hello all, TJ is in the 5 th grade and is learning a new level of ownership and responsibility. He is riding the bus and is responsible for getting out the door on time with all he stuff, including packing his lunch. It is hard not to remind him but I know it is the best way for him to learn. So far he as missed the bus once. I find my self doing too much reminding. Some habits are hard to break. Speaking of habits I am at 3.5 months of not smoking. There were a few days last week that were real hard, not sure why. But I made it through with out falter. Jackie is doing well also. We now have only Mike and Doug in our office to join the ranks. Maybe next we can talk Billy into giving up an hour a day so we can hit the gym? Work is still a challenge each week I learn something new or improve on something I have been doing. I have been using an hour or two a day to read and study for the A+ Certification. I would like to take it before the end of the year. I need to stay focused on th...