Have you ever felt trapped in a particular situation in your life?  Trapped by circumstances beyond your control?  Control-freak that I am, I’ll admit that doesn’t happen to me much, but once in a while, I wake up and realize my back is against the wall, and there isn’t a single crappin’ thing I can do about it. 

I’m in one of those situations right now with our house.  Our beloved 94-year-old house.  The house that we bought because it was in the city, which we love, and had a big fenced in yard, which we love.  But it is also the house that is beginning to fall down around us, and which we have no money to repair. 

So what do YOU do when you are trapped?  Do you drink?  Do you curse?  Do you pray?  I guess I do a little of each.  But of course, then I am still trapped.

So I take it out on the people I love.  Like I did today on poor Resistant-Techie.  He had been gone on one of his hikes in the mountains this afternoon, which gave me time to enjoy the sunshine out in the backyard. 

Enjoying the sunshine in the backyard, though, means walking through the sun porch which is basically slanting downward from settling, over the deck, which has actual boards that have come loose from their moorings and are waving hello in the air, down the steps which are like a splinter factory, past the basement door which has nearly rotted in. 

By the time I got to my favorite chair in the backyard I couldn’t enjoy one single minute of the gorgeous weather; I just sat their stewing in my own juices until R-T got home and I could finally boil over.

R-T, (who, by the way, had nearly been knocked unconscious on his hike by a wayward laurel limb) came in dazed and totally unprepared for my graphic comparison of our home of ten years to the cells at Guantanamo. 

But that’s what I do when I feel trapped.  I react a bit like a wolf caught in a steel vice.  I growl.  And flail around.  And nearly gnaw my own leg off in the process.  It isn’t pretty.

But then R-T brings me a dark chocolate truffle left over from my birthday festivities, and for a few minutes I can ignore the chain around my neck and just chill.  At least until I throw away the wrapper and see the crack underneath the window sill.

Sigh. Grrrrrrr.

In a cool turn of events, and according to Random.org, the winner of the Topsy-Techie Birthday Giveaway is…

Rational Jenn, the other birthday girl this week! 

Unfortunately, Jenn won’t receive her prize in time for her own birthday, but she says she might do something jazzy for Thanksgiving or Christmas with her new set of tools!!

As for me, I’ve already had a lovely day – - including gravy biscuits in bed, thanks to my incredible hubby – - AND I’ve got a lovely night ahead of me.  R-T is taking me out to the Melting Pot for a night of fondue fun. 

(Yes, for me, birthdays are now all about the calories)

So a BIG thanks to everyone who entered, and for the creative birthday cake ideas.  I enjoyed every single one of them!!  Thanks so much for sharing my birthday fun this week, everyone!!

Image via Wikipedia

So yesterday, I gave into the whine that had been building up, and gave it free rein.

But today, I have been privileged to sit on the sidelines and watch and listen as my two wonderful young men have made their plans for learning today.  Thanks to the suggestion of Stone-Age Techie, we have begun to read aloud the first in the Percy Jackson series to supplement Uber’s current interest in Ancient Greek culture.

This read-aloud has led to a natural interest on H-T’s part in Ancient Greece as well – - especially the different gods and their attributes. So, the boys have added a documentary on Ancient Greece to the Instant Watch queue on Netflix.  Then, together (yes I said TOGETHER), they have decided to watch that documentary over the network, on our new BluRay player.

Then, as I have sat hear quietly eavesdropping from the bedroom, my two free-form scholars have begun watching and making the most awesome comments back and forth about things like airborne illnesses, Sparta, and the Coliseum.  It is a beautiful thing to listen to!

So I think at least PART of the prescription for the illness that is teenage-dom must be taking charge of one’s own education.  Perhaps it meets some of the cravings for independence that are so common at that age.  Whatever the reason, I’m feeling pretty doggone happy about this educational experiment.

For today, I have my young men back.  And I have unschooling to thank.

p.s. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to head back to Monday’s Topsy-Techie birthday giveaway to enter for a chance to win the Martha Stewart cake decorating kit!

For many of you who have been following me for a while, you may already be aware of this, however it is completely new to me.  Why someone hasn’t given me a head’s up on this before now, I’m not quite sure.  It certainly would have been the compassionate thing to do.  But instead, everyone has simply let me find this out the REALLY HARD WAY.  No one thought enough of me to fill me in on the fact that…

I am the mother of two teenagers!!!!

For the past year or two, I have gone about my life blissfully unaware of this fact.  But in the last month, it has become all too clear.

Uber, for instance, who as a general rule is a VERY laid-back young man with a soft-spoken demeanor and a heart of putty, has recently turned into an emotional roller coaster of drama, defensiveness, and diva-tude – - especially in regards to his girlfriend (aka “soulmate”). 

Have you ever seen a documentary about those weird carnivorous plants in the rain forest that sit there so peacefully and beautifully, and then some insect lands on them unawares and WHAMMO – - bug soup??!!  Well, I’ve experienced that phenomenon up close and personal by happening to drop the slightest of negative opinions about a recent action of said girlfriend within earshot of Uber.  WHAMMO!  – - Mom soup!!

But the real metamorphosis has taken place in my youngest spawn.  Dearest H-T, who has always been eager to please, slow to anger, and cuddly as heck, has morphed into this smart-alecky, know-it-all whose main goal in life is to push each and every one of my buttons.  In fact, I dare say his ability to go to sleep at night would be direly affected if he couldn’t look back with pride on his ability to turn me into a crazed demon at some point in the day. 

Have some advice for him?  Be ready for the snickers that will ensue.  Some words of wisdom?  Prepare to get not just an eye-roll, but a full on sneer of disgust.  Actually make the suggestion that he has fallen short in some manner?  Be on the lookout for a  lovely door-slamming, curse-mumbling display. 

Yes.  I know.  I’m wallowing in a bit of self-pity today.  I guess it is because up till now I thought I had successfully snuck by the line where they checked your “mom of teenager” credentials. I had “opted out” of the whole teenage drama-thing.

Why does life ALWAYS have to catch up with you???

So THIS is my good deed for the day.  Have a young man or woman around the house who is edging nearer to those lovely teen years? Unless your skin is much thicker than mine, go ahead and stock up on some titanium full body armor. 

Consider yourself warned.

Ok, normally I let my birthdays slide by like sands in the hourglass, but this coming Friday happens to be a celebration of my very last year in my 30’s, so I’m puttin’ on the ritz.

R-T is taking yours truly for a night of fondue fun at the Melting Pot, AND, of course, I already was the recipient of a kick-ass Blu-Ray player, so I’m feeling pretty doggone generous this week.

Therefore, I’m sponsoring a giveaway at Topsy-Techie to honor the occasion. I thought it would be a hoot – - me being the absolute antithesis of Martha Stewart and all – - to give homage to my lack of domestic skills by RE-GIFTING this beautiful Martha Stewart cake decorating kit that I received and will NEVER, EVER use.  (Don’t worry, the giver doesn’t read my blog and will never know!)

The kit has never been used (duh – - this is me we’re talking about!), boasts 52 pieces, and retails for 80 bucks at Macys.com.  (Ok, now I’m having mixed feelings. I mean I feel a little guilty re-gifting something someone was willing to shell out 80 smackeroos for. BUT they obviously don’t know me at ALL if they think I would ever take time away from my computer long enough to actually decorate a cake!!!!)

Anyway, all you have to do to get a chance to win this beautiful cake decorating kit, is comment on this post about what you would put on a cake that you were decorating for my birthday.  Now, maybe that makes this an unfair challenge for those of you who don’t know me as well, or haven’t been around Topsy-Techieland for long, so YES, I will choose a random winner…but you still have to try to be creative because it’s my birthday and I SAY SO!!

So pull out all the private jokes on me you want this week.  I’ll pull on my thickest skin – - just for the occasion.  I can take whatever you can dish out. 

What would you put on my cake, dear readers/friends/family???

May the best cake decorator win!!!!!!

(Winner will be randomly chosen and announced on my birthday, this Friday, November 20th!)

You’ve heard, haven’t you??  The great news??  The news to beat all news??

Yup. 

Kindle for the PC is here!!!

Ok, perhaps that is CRAPPY news to those of you who shelled out 300 or so smackeroos for the little handheld doodad.  But for the rest of us who either were too skint to splurge, or just knew that if we waited long enough it would come, we are PSYCHED today!!

Today, we feel justified in our reverse snobbery, and are not one bit sorry for rubbing it in the faces of those elite Kindle owners. Nope. Not one bit.

So now that it is here, I find myself just a bit overwhelmed.  I mean there are THOUSANDS of books to choose from.  What do I pick first??  I could really use some input, folks.  What have you read lately that knocked your socks off? 

And please hurry.  My "Click here to Purchase” finger is twitching like crazy!!!

That’s right.  Someone has actually nominated Topsy-Techie in this year’s Homeschool Blog Awards for the category of “Best Unschooling Blog”.  I even get a button!!

Of course I never know about these things until its almost too late, but thanks to one of my gal-pals who IM’d me tonight, I found out in time to be able to grovel and beg and humiliate myself enough to actually ask you to vote for me. 

That’s right…a contest I didn’t even know I was in until 15 minutes ago, now has my competitive “ire” up.  I blame it on Firefly Mom.  She created this monster by taunting me with her fieldtrip bragging.  Now I’m like a bull who has seen the red cape.  I’m out for blood, baby.

So I’m not sure who to thank for this lovely honor, but I figure I owe you big time.  So whatever the prize is for winning this thing…if I get it, you’re entitled to half.

What’s that you say?  There is no prize??

Oh, in that case, you can have the whole thing.

You head to the microwave to warm a cup of tea, and discover that the clay version of the angel of death (complete with sword) beat you to it…

(warning: this could become an occasional regular feature.  You have no idea the crazy things that randomly show up around my house!!!)

So I had a whole other post idea ready for this week’s HHH, but, the Sesame Street 40th anniversary has really done a nostalgic number on me. 

Which number you say?  Well, the number THREE, of course…ah, ah, ahhh!!  (I used to love the Count and be terrified of him all at the same time!!)  I had this Fisher Price Sesame Street playset, and I would always make sure that the little figurine of the Count was poked deep inside the little Sesame Street garbage truck – - with the little plastic doors closed – - before I went to sleep at night. 

ANYWAY…

This trip down memory lane made me think back to all the wonderful ways we studied phonics when the boys were younger.  We definitely watched our share of Sesame Street episodes, but we also found all kinds of other creative ways to have fun with letter sounds. We created letter sound “hopscotch” on our front sidewalk, listened to phonics songs, and played phonics board games.

Of course now, there are also plenty of great online and software-based phonics helps.  One of my fave of all time is a program called Read Write & Type.  It addresses multiple learning styles at once, by teaching phonics, reading, writing AND keyboarding in one seamless program.

Another terrific site that unfortunately came along after my boys were past the beginning phonics stage was Starfall.  This free program is one of the very best programs I’ve ever seen for introducing phonics in a fun, non-threatening, go-at-your-own-pace kind of way.

And speaking of Sesame Street, one of PBS Kids other flagship shows, Between the Lions, has a terrific website with some really engaging phonics games, activities, and printables.

I can’t forget to mention Time4Learning’s preschool program either, which has been completely revamped and created with all new activities this year.  When I was in FL in July, I even got to read for one of the interactive stories in the new curriculum, so if your kids use the program, don’t be surprised if you hear my southern “twang” from the computer! 

And not to leave out you iPhone’ers, there are of course multiple phonics apps coming out just for your portable needs.  One I think shows real promise for its interactivity is Alphabet Air, which is designed for even the youngest of toddlers who are showing interest in letters and letter sounds.

If you have any favorite phonics software programs, websites, or mobile applications, how about sharing them in the comments?

I see those hands.

We are pretty proud of our doesn’t-fit-in-the-box kind of learning, aren’t we?  Knowing that no matter how much someone tells us “how” to do it, we are probably always going to forge our own path and create our own techniques.  (cue self-satisfied smiles)

I LOVE being a buccaneer…well, except for the fact that I don’t look good in an eye patch.

Other than that, though, I’m so excited to be going on this brand new unschooling adventure this year.  I get almost giddy watching my oldest son make incredible leaps and bounds in his programming skills, and seeing my youngest son take risks and try out chemistry experiments completely on his own! 

It’s thrilling, I tell you!

You know who would probably agree with me?  James Bach.  If you don’t know who James is, it’s time to get with the program, because James actually COINED the phrase “Buccaneer Scholar,” and has even written a great new book called Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar, which describes how he found success in a highly technical field without the benefit or burden of a conventional education.

If you haven’t read this book, you need to, and you might not even have to buy it because I am giving away a copy over at SecularHomeschool.com this month!!  (As well as other great giveaways).  So stop by and enter, or head to Amazon via my link if you need to get your hands on it immediately.

And then keep right on buccaneering out there in homeschool land, OK??