My 2011

I totally stole this, and then took a very long time to complete it because it's a lot of work...but here is my 2011...

1.What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? Went hiking in cave.


2.Did you keep your New Year's resolutions and will you make more for next year? No, I did not. But, I set 3 new ones for 2012: 1. Read more  2. Write more  3. Watch less TV

3.Did anyone close to you give birth? Not that I can think of.


4.Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully, no.


5.What countries did you visit? Does Mandyland count as a country? I didn't visit any other countries.


6.What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? More "me" time.


7.What date from 2011 will remain etched in your memory, and why? 4/2/11 - that was the day I found out Derrick was getting married!


8.What was your biggest achievement of the year? Successfully surviving, and passing, my science class!


9.What was your biggest failure? Not giving of my time to a greater good/cause.


10.Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing bigger than a cold!


11.What was the best thing you bought? Tickets to take Dade to his very first Musical. It was an experience that I will cherish for every...and was worth every penny!


12.Whose behavior merited celebration? Melissa. Even though she will say that she is a negative person, which is not true, she has made me want to be a more positive person, just by her attitude.


13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I choose not to mention names, but a friend of mine became very negative about everything in her life and her stress and anxiety levels made me not want to be around her anymore.


14.Where did most of your money go? Well, the first 4 month of the year, it went to an 8-year-old. The last 8 months of the year, it went to a 9-year-old.

15.What did you get really, really, really excited about? Hiking.


16.What song will always remind you of 2011? Moves Like Jaggar or Just a Kiss...I couldn't decide.


17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder? Happier :)
ii.thinner or fatter? A little fatter :(
iii.richer or poorer? Richer in many ways :)

18.What do you wish you'd done more of? Played more


19.What do you wish you'd done less of? Worried less

20.How will you be spending The New Year? Playing Rock Band with my boys!


21.Did you fall in love in 2011? I guess you could say that I did!

22.Did you attend any concert/musicals/theatre/cultural events? 

Bela Fleck

Huey Lewis

Les Mis

Shrek: The Musical


23.What was your favorite TV program? Once Upon a Time


24.Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I have a general dislike of someone, but that's about it.


25.What was the best book you read? Under the Dome


26.What was your greatest musical discovery? That Dade can play the piano very well!


27.What did you want and get? To take a little family vacation


28.What did you want and not get? To have extra time to write a book

29.What was your favorite film of this year? Dolphin Tale


30.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I enjoyed dinner cooked for me by Scott and served on the Ulmen birthday plate.

31.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? To have spent a couple months in Wisconsin.


32.How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Comfortable

33.What kept you sane? The belief that things will always work out in the end


34.Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Harry Connick Jr.


35.What political issue stirred you the most? The House eliminating all hope of bipartisan cooperation for the next year.

36.Who did you miss? Several people in Wisconsin

37.Who are your favorite people that you met this year? I didn't really meet a lot of new people this year...well, at least not many that made me pay attention. But, of the people that I actually meet this year, I would say Nick would be my favorite.

38. Quote a song lyric that accurately summarizes this year. "Today I don't feel like doing anything. I just wanna lay in my bed. Don't feel like picking up my phone, leave a message at the tone. 'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything." The Lazy Song

To homeschool; or not to homeschool...

I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to blog about, but today I have a topic. I have a feeling, after the events of the day, that this will be monopolizing much of my blog. Today, we officially became homeschooling parents...and I'm terrified. I think this blog will just be me getting my thoughts out so they aren't swimming around in my head anymore.

I will admit that I gave much thought to homeschooling Dade before he started kindergarten. Ultimately, we decided against it, and thought we would see how he did in public school. Regular school wasn't challenging enough for him, and luckily Evergreen had the Excel program for him to transfer into, which was a blessing. 3rd grade Excel went great, but 4th grade Excel just isn't working for him. He is way too advanced in math for what they're teaching him, so he's bored. The science that they're working on is stuff that he's been doing for 2 years now, so he's bored. And, his weakest area, writing, is going a too fast for him to really grasp the deeper concepts. He's been frustrated with school and it has turned something that he loved so much into a nightmare for all three of us.

So, we started talking about options. I could always supplement what he's learning at school for writing, by doing things at home, but it's very hard to coordinate when you can't get enough information about what they're really doing at school.  Which is what brought us back to the homeschooling option. Since Dade has missed so much school over the last month because of pneumonia, he's been doing everything at home, and he's thrived with the one-on-one learning. But, really, we're not teachers, so it's insane for us to consider doing this long-term.

We talked to Dade about what he would like to do, and presented him with the homeschooling idea. At first he cried at the idea of leaving the kids and the teachers at Image. But, then his practical side cam out and he said he wanted to try homeschooling to see "if it would be the best choice" for him. So, we did a trial run over the weekend and he did exactly what we expected, and thrived. 

Well, we had pretty much decided that we were going to do it, but the plan was to wait a couple weeks and start after his term ended, but it appeared that Dade wasn't interested in waiting. He's kind of like his mom in that respect...once his mind is made up, then he is ready to go for it. So, today we signed the papers with the school district to be able to homeschool him.

I cried. And then I cried some more.

I know it's stupid, but I can't help but worry. All three of us believe that this is the best choice at this point in time, but I keep worrying that somehow we're going to break him, or ruin him by doing this. I'm sure that, once everything starts going, I will spend more time worrying about making sure he's learning everything he needs to know, and worrying about making sure we get involved with the right homeschool groups so that he had the opportunities to socialize, and worrying that Scott and I have enough time to spend on our marriage....and so on. but, today, my worry is that we find out, years down the road, that this was the wrong choice.

So...today, I am terrified.

Welcome to Mandyland

I have been inspired to start a blog. Mandyland is a happy place that has been in my head for years. So, now I'm going to try to put some of it into words.