Okay, so not really CAMP. But how cool is it that this group of people still speaks Aramaic? I love hearing about these kinds of stories, where researchers have found a small segment of a population who are the only ones left who speak a language, and about the efforts to keep that language alive. The thought that the language Jesus spoke might become extinct is a pretty interesting one.
So I’ve been asked by several people how I am doing.
I’m doing much better, thanks. This new chiropractic office I’ve been going to for the past few weeks seems to be helping a lot. The numbness/pain/tingling/pins-and-needles feelings in my arm are gone. My neck feels much better and my shoulder isn’t hurting as bad. I’m still a little frightened of doing something mundane and wrenching myself out again, but I’m feeling 95% better.
Joshua told me I was definitely feeling better because I’m not bursting into tears every 30 minutes.
My pubic bone still hurts quite a bit, which might be partly due to running on the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday hand-in-hand with Mary Judah. The chiropractic care seems to help with some maintenance, though. When I had gone without any for a couple of months, it got really bad, but now the pain is back to its regularly scheduled programming.
Most importantly, I feel like the chiropractors who are working on me now are empathetic and are listening to me and validating what I’m saying about what I’m going through. I’m not put through any guilt trips or implications that this pain is somehow my fault as if I’m not doing what I’m told. So I feel much more comfortable there. They also don’t pretend to have the magic touch and and expect that as soon as I’m adjusted, my pain will instantly disappear. They are also open and encouraging when I talk about other therapies I’m considering. They don’t get huffy and act like it’s a personal affront.
Woo-hoo!
So I also went to my primary care physician this morning, to talk to her about all this and see if she had any suggestions. I have the numbers of some physical therapists to check out and a prescription for some Vicodin (I think Mom called them “happy pills”), for when the pain gets bad. I can’t wait to get that filled.
In other news, the appeals court has officially reversed its earlier decision and has stated that parents DO have a right to homeschool their children in the state. Hopefully I will have a separate post up about that and maybe - MAYBE - that long ago promised series on what was wrong with the ruling.
This makes me so mad, I can hardly think straight.
Can you say “sexist?”
This is nothing but outright discrimination against women. Perhaps they should deny their husbands insurance unless they get a vasectomy, since these women are only worth insuring unless they are sterilized. Just like the drug company is only targeting Gardasil to adolescent girls when they get HPV by having SEX which usually involves SOMEONE ELSE, and more dominantly, a BOY.
OR just like all the main symptoms for heart disease we are told to look for are predominately found in men, while the symptoms women face are hardly understood or studied as much.
Or just like how women used to be diagnosed with female hysteria and subject to ridiculous, harmful, and demeaning treatments because some “had a tendency to cause trouble.”
I don’t know, or just like how women are told if they nurse their babies longer than six months they’re abusing their children.
Or how stay-at-home moms are pitted against working moms as if we’re all a different breed from each other.
Or, you know, how the rumors about the casts from Sex and the City or Desperate Housewives are always cat-fighting, but no one starts rumors about the Sopranos, because you know, women just cat-fight and men are rational.
I’m effing sick and tired of the establishment discriminating against us just for being women.
How ’bout that pay raise now?
This is ridiculous.
American is going to charge $15, ONE-WAY, to check your bag. Never mind that they just raised their ticket prices. How is a family of four supposed to fly without checking bags? I’m supposed to have everyone lug their carry-on, plus their personal bag, not to mention two car seats and a stroller, to the gate?
It would cost us $120 for our family of four, just to check our bags for a trip. Hell, I might us well just FedEx them all ahead of time. At least that way, I know they’ll get there. FedEx actually tracks your packages.
If the fuel costs are rising, then just raise the price of the ticket, again. Make everyone share the burden. It’s not like they just suddenly ran out of cargo space on all their airplanes. I’d rather know what I’m getting into ahead of time that have a bunch of fees tacked on when I get to the airport.
And the worst part? If your bag doesn’t arrive with your plane, you don’t get your money back. That’s just poor customer service - I pay you for a service, you don’t provide it, and I have no recourse. If you’re gonna charge me money to check my bag, then it had better get there. Oh right, this isn’t a customer-service improvement measure - they’re not doing a better job, now that they’re tacking on fees, to ensure more consistent service and satisfaction. They’re just watching their asses.
And because there’s so much room in the overhead bins in the cabin, this is SUCH a great idea. They should then have a rule that if the space under your seat is empty, you aren’t allowed to stow your bag in the overhead bin. People are complete hogs when it comes to getting on and off the airplane - they MUST be the first ones on so they get good overhead space and first dibs on the armrests, and they MUST be the first ones off so they can knock you in the head with their bag in their rush to get off the plane.
I appreciate the speed with which flying gets me to where I’m going, but man, I really hate flying.
This is why we’re driving next time we go to Texas.
PROVO, UTAH — A newspaper photographer got a little too close to the action at the state high school track championships _ and was speared through the leg by a javelin.
Ryan McGeeney of the Standard-Examiner was spared serious injury in Saturday’s mishap, and even managed to snap a photo of his speared leg while others worked to help him.
“If I didn’t, it would probably be my editor’s first question when I got back,” McGeeney said later.
The 33-year-old McGeeney, an ex-Marine who spent six months in Afghanistan, was taking pictures of the discus event and apparently wandered into off-limits area set aside for the javelin throw.
Striking just below the knee, the javelin tip went through the skin and emerged on the other side of his leg.
“It wasn’t real painful. … I was very lucky in that it didn’t hit any blood vessels, nerves, ligaments or tendons,” McGeeney said.
Much of the javelin was cut off at the scene. The piece in McGeeney’s leg was removed at a hospital, and he received 13 stitches.
The javelin was thrown by Anthony Miles, a Provo High School student who said when he saw what had happened, “my heart just stopped.”
“One of the first things that came to my mind was, ‘Good thing we brought a second javelin,’” Miles’ coach, Richard Vance, said Monday. He said Miles was “in a little bit of shock,” but he assured the athlete that it was not his fault.
With a subsequent throw, Miles went on to win the state title in javelin for teams in Provo High’s size classification, 4-A.
So, for some reason, I can no longer post photos to the main page from my Flickr. I have no idea why, since I’m about as tech-savvy as… someone who’s not tech-savvy. Anyway.
I’ve posted a couple of new photos since the one that appears on the site. Just click through to see them. As soon as I find my card reader and upload photos from the Nikon, I’ll have post-haircut pictures and pictures from our camping trip this past weekend with some friends.
It’s still nice and warm here. I woke up sticky this morning in my sheets and for a minute, thought I was in Texas. I went downstairs to get some things out of the car, and when I stepped on the brick right outside our front door in the hallway, I cringed, waiting for my bare foot to touch cold brick, since the stairwell is always cool. When it didn’t happen, and the brick stayed warm under my foot, I cackled a little bit.
There’s always a chill in the air here - everyone carries a bag so they have a sweater and a scarf available at all times. A comment on the weather article on the Chronicle’s web site that said “I don’t even know how to dress for anything over 65 degrees” made me laugh out loud. Everyone has been practically basking in this heat - it’s been a welcome respite. I’ve never seen so many people wearing black at a beach.
A woman visiting from Florida who was quoted in last night’s article was recounting her cab ride where the driver refused to turn on the air-conditioning even though it was in the 90’s outside. She was baffled.
At one point in my life, I would have been, too. Now I understand. Everyone here is trying to soak it up and store it, just like Vitamin D.
This past Friday morning, I woke up, got dressed and logged onto my computer to check my e-mail. While I waited for my e-mail to download, I began to get a cup of coffee together. My daily SFGate headline news e-mail popped out at me, with this article in the subject line:
“Homeschoolers’ setback sends shockwaves through the state.”
I hadn’t even finished the article before I had received two separate phone calls from people, each with a seemingly benign, “So, how are you?” that was actually loaded to find out whether or not I had seen the article yet.
I felt utterly and completely broad-sided. I actually told that to Robin when she called at 8:30, and I think I scared her at first, judging by her startled, “what?!?” in response. I had to clarify that I hadn’t been physically broad-sided - I had yet to leave the house, after all.
We haven’t said anything publicly yet about our decision regarding our kids’ education, though a lot of people already know. We have decided to homeschool Mary Judah during the next school year, which will be her kindergarten year. Beyond that, we aren’t making any commitments (though I have to say my stubborn side is leaning toward homeschooling just to stick it to that judge!). I have been doing a lot of research and studying and talking to people and praying and evaluating and trying to figure out what it is we’re supposed to do regarding her education and the choices we want to make as we raise her the type of opportunities we want her to have in life. Same goes for Killian, and that should go without speaking, though Mary Judah’s formal education is much more imminent.
I never in a million years thought I would ever homeschool, ever. I actually said to people, “I will never homeschool my children.” Of course, that was during those light and care-free days before morning sickness, and rotund bellies, and screaming in the middle of the night as I pushed a human being out of my own body.
Then I took one look at my daughter’s face, fell hopelessly in love with her, and the seeds were planted. What can I say? I couldn’t imagine ever being separated from her. As she’s grown and I’ve gotten to know her and helped to shape her into the person she is and will become, I’ve questioned my resolute decision not to homeschool. I started asking myself, why? Well, why not?
I began reading and researching and having come to grips with the misconceptions I’ve had, and through all of that, decided to go for it. This ruling that came down late last month has infuriated me. There are so many holes in it, it’s not even funny. From the education code, to what makes a private school, to religious reasons for homeschooling, to teaching credentials, to parental rights, to the real reason for compulsory education, there are just so many things wrong with it. And I’m going to talk about all of them. That’s right. Like you thought for a second I wouldn’t.
Here’s what happened in a nutshell. If I don’t have details as accurate as I think I do, I will most certainly go back and change them:
According to the ruling, the homeschooling parents of eight children were taken to court in a child welfare case. As the case progressed, the attorney for two of the children asked to court to direct the juvenile court to order the children to enroll and attend a public or private school. The parents asserted that they had a constitutional right to homeschool their children.
The ruling states that no, parents do not have a constitutional right to oversee their children’s education at home and that according to the education code, in this particular case, the parents were not following any of the provisions allowed to educate their children.
The court then asserts that homeschooling in general cannot fall under the private school allowance in the education code, and actually goes so far as to consider the process of parents who establish private schools in their homes as a means of following the law and then teaching their children at home to being a “ruse.”
The court also states that parents who wish to teach their children at home must hold a valid credential in the grade level being taught.
From the ruling:
It is clear to us that enrollment and attendance in a public full-time day school is required by California law for minor children unless (1) the child is enrolled in a private full-time day school and actually attends that private school, (2) the child is tutored by a person holding a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught, or (3) one of the other few statutory exemptions to compulsory public school attendance applies to the child.
Exemptions to compulsory public school education are made for, among others, children who (1) attend a private full-time day school (§ 48222) or (2) are instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught (§ 48224).
Such representation does not constitute a statement that the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles County Office of Education knowingly gave their stamp of approval to children being deprived of an education in a public or private full-time day school setting, or by a credentialed tutor, through the ruse of enrolling them in a private school and then letting them stay home and be taught by a non-credentialed parent.
One of the issues raised about the ruling by the Homeschool Legal Defense Association is that “the decision is categorical and was not written to be limited to just the facts of this case,” which means that if the Supreme Court ratifies this ruling, it can be applied to homeschoolers across the board, not just to the people involved in the case, resulting in a benchmark case to be able to prosecute homeschooling parents across the state. Lovely. Also keep in mind that, like it or not, California is a bellwether state and the decisions made here can have dramatic impacts reverberating across the country.
Where do things stand now? From what I understand, the parents are appealing to the state’s Supreme Court. The HSLDA is getting involved, along with other homeschooling organizations, on several fronts. The gubernator has said he will support homeschooling families and said that “if the courts don’t protect parents’ rights then, as elected officials, we will.” Several state legislators have promised to introduce legislation to protect homeschooling and the California Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell has said he believes homeschooling in still legal in the state.
The HSLDA also has a petition you can sign to ask the Supreme Court to depublish the ruling, which would prevent in from being used as a precedent and limit its scope to the particular case.
I’ll have another post tomorrow.
That if enough parents getting angry over Hannah Montana ticket scalping could bring about investigations and legal action, then parents getting angry over the courts taking away their right to homeschool without a teaching credential could bring about positive change as well.
I mean, come on. The Hannah Freaking Montana Bill? Actually, the “Freaking” part isn’t really a part of it. I added that myself. I think it sounds better.
I’m going to be doing a series of posts (rather than one LONG post) with my thoughts on the ruling handed down by a California appellate court late last month, now that my initial anger is out of the way, so for those of you who have told me you miss “hearing my voice” on the internet - this one’s for you. Okay, not really for you. But kind of.
I’ll be giving up my nightly hot bath to do this, just so you know I MEAN IT.
Since news of Eliot Spitzer’s “alleged” involvement with a prostitute, I’ve been getting A LOT MORE hits off of google for “Kristen.”
I’m not her, by the way.