Adding Sticks to the Nest

Right before you have a baby, expectant parents often go through a process called, "Nesting." They have an urge to clean, organize, and prepare their home for the new baby.  I think I'm experiencing a similar phenomenon.  I'm only going to be gone for 5 1/2 months, but I feel the need to go through all my closets and drawers, organize my papers, have medical check ups, revisit and update my will and more.  I feel the need to have everything in order before I go. It's a change from how I normally do things which is to think of it, but not actually do it...procrastination.
One thing I really notice that's different, is the way I love my husband.  I know I'm leaving him for a long time and I know I'm going to miss him so much!  So, I've noticed that little things that used to irritate me, don't.  Small arguments that may have been larger in the past, aren't.  There's no time to be mad because our time together before the trip is short.  I don't want to waste my time with him, not enjoying him.  I also want to do nice things for him...make sure dinner's ready, arrange date nights, send him text messages.  I'm thinking that maybe this is how I should be all the time.  As someone who has lost one husband and nearly lost another, you'd think I'd NEVER take him for granted, but life happens and I forget how very blessed I am.  Knowing we will only be side by side for a couple of more weeks and then it'll be a few long months apart, brings a great awareness to how very fortunate I am.  I think appreciating Mike is the best nesting I'm doing. I think I'll try to make this a way of life, because appreciation breeds contentment and happiness.  I'm going to miss Mike so much, but I'll worry about that once I'm on the road.  For now, I'm going to text him a smile and buy tickets for a date tomorrow night.

Talking to Strangers

I've always talked to strangers.  Some say, I've never met a stranger because after a few minutes I think they're my friend.  I love talking to people and hearing their story.  My kids are used to it, they don't always love it, but they accept it.  So, I talked to a couple of strangers yesterday.  Salesclerks at the mall.
First one I'll tell you about was in shoes at Macy's.  I exchanged my cute furry boots, that I'd actually never wear,  because I just feel too old to wear boots with my jeans tucked in to expose the furry band.  So, I was trying to find just the right boots for the trip.  The sales girl asked where we were going to which I gave my usual answer, "Around the United States for 5 1/2 months."  Her response surprised us!  "I did that!"  She then went on to say how much she loved it and how much she learned.  She told us the places she went:  Disneyworld, the Grand Canyon, the Empire State Building, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, and more.  I asked what kind of car? A volkswagon van.  Who did she go with?  Her dad.  How old was she?  9 and she still remembers it all.
Wow, 9 years old with your dad all around the U.S?  She told me, "He had cancer, so he wanted to take me."  He lived only about a year more after the trip.  She had tears in her eyes and so did I.  She said that now she really understands, now that she's older, what it meant to him and her, and how grateful she is.  That's no stranger...that's someone who values life with gratitude.

Homeschooling is CRAZY!

Homeschooling should have another name:  Crazymaking!!!!
We've been at it for three days and staying home all day for three days is absolutely crazy!!! We've reached delirium and we know this because we alternate between bouts of screaming, dancing, and laughing hysterically.  We've danced, sung, and eaten way too much food because the "school cafeteria/our kitchen" is open all day long-and the food is better here.
We try to be disciplined and stick to a set plan and curriculum, but there's a tv here and Facebook, and You Tube, and Itunes, and snacks, and Wii, and animals to pet, and laundry, and on and on and on.
Things I've learned:
1.  13 year old girls cannot learn Algebra from their mothers-if the mother is absolutely NOT sure of what she's teaching.  So, Mr. Pilarsky on You Tube has become Hana Girl's new math teacher.  We like him and so far, he likes Hana Girl (because he can't see her roll her eyes to him)
2.  I'm good at teaching Kealia's math.  So far.  I think.  I really have no idea.
3.  Vocabulary is all three of our greatest weakness, as we just were trying and trying to determine the meaning of the word, "puny" and we couldn't figure it out because we thought it was a Filipino word for something that makes you laugh.  "That joke was very puny." (funny)
4.  After taking a Reading Comprehension test, Kealia and I were reviewing her missed questions and when asked about the mood of a passage, (which I read) we couldn't determine the answer.  When we looked up the answer and found out it was-Humorous-, we reread and I guess I could see it but Kealia said, "That does not make me laugh." which made me laugh, and laugh.
5.  We are going through school withdrawals!!!!  We even miss the people we don't like!  WE are going stir crazy!
6.  Homeschooling is hard.  It makes you gain weight.  It makes you crazy.
I admire all those people out there doing this....I don't know how you do it.
Well, we have to go.  We need a field trip.  We're going to study something out there....outside, out of this house.
I'm sure homeschooling will go better once we get on the road.  Hahahahaha, yeah, because then we won't be trapped in a house...just in a minivan.  Should be much better.

Whoooop Whooooop We Picked Our Colleges!!!!!

This has been a HUGE challenge to select the schools we would visit for my sabbatical work.  We needed to select 10 colleges, universities or trade schools that would appeal to our local students.  We will visit each campus and create a virtual field trip to appeal to our local students.  It's been so hard because we really wanted to pick the schools that were best for our students.  We used many resources including:  Washington Monthly, Inside Colleges, US News and World Report, Hawaii Association of College Advising Counselors, the Aspen Institute, and  Community College Week. We also interviewed the college counselors at Honoka'a High School, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, and more.  We interviewed teachers, students and college students.  We also showed various websites to our current students to see what appealed to them.  We rated schools on tuition, location, proximity to other schools for transfers, housing, athletics, crime stats, programs and academics, requirements, membership in WUE, and overall appeal. We selected large schools, small schools, rural schools and urban.  We wanted some familiar schools but also some our students never heard of.  We considered over 200 schools and FINALLY have narrowed it down to 15.  We only have to do 10, but will visit 15 and select the top ten in which to create the virtual field trip.  This has been an ongoing task that has taken well over a hundred hours.  So....here's the list!!!! (In No Particular Order)

1. Northern Arizona University
2. New Mexico State University
3. Oregon State
4. University of the Redlands
5. Colorado Mesa University
6. University of Northern Colorado
7. Portland State
8. Vermillon Community College
9. Santa Barbara City College
10. University of Nevada Las Vegas
11. Skagit Valley Community College
12. Yavapai College
13. Snow College
14. Taft College
15. Wisconsin Indianhead Tech College

So glad this part is done!  It will really help us with our travel plans!!!!!

All Over the Place

I will hopefully get better at this blog, but for now, I'm too scattered to be together.  So I'm writing in a way to demonstrate how I'm feeling...
Yes!  We're set to depart in about 45 days!  I can't believe it...I've gone from saying that I would do this trip in, "8 or 9 years, to 45 days!"  Yikes!  I wake up every morning and go to bed each night planning and planning.
I can't believe how unprepared I actually am.  I realize so much is on my shoulders and I keep praying that it will all just work out.  As I put together the first couple of weeks, I begin to realize this is going to be a very very busy trip!  We will be on the move, a lot!  It's also very exciting.
As I try to choose between activities and itineraries, I also try to determine what's the most important parts of this trip.
Always, first is the time I spend with the girls.  I SEE the growing up happening and I am craving the time away from school, activities, commitments, chores, and other distractions to be together.
Second on my list of what's important is visiting family and friends that I haven't seen in years and years!  I absolutely can't wait!  I'll even have the chance to get to know new family members which is super cool!  Third is the chance to share our lives with others through visits, hula, and help.  We want to serve others as much as we can as we travel.
So, again, I am so close, and plan and plan...but I know that we can only plan so much and that life is what's happening while we're busy planning.  Life has a way of changing on us and exceeding our expectations and sometimes throwing us a huge challenge or difficulty.  I know that no matter what, God will be our ever present source of strength and guidance.
I'm anxious, but grateful.  I'm humbled by the opportunity.
Most of all I'm going to miss my wonderful, supportive, funny, and very handsome husband!
Hope gas prices go down some more.  Sledding in Oregon!!!  Skiing-No Way, we'll break something, or at least Hana Girl will.  Yosemite in the snow?  YES!
Yep, I'm all over the place.

Trapped with Eyeball Rolling in a Moving Vehicle

When you plan something to occur in eight years, you try to imagine what things will be like, but it's not an easy thing to do, when one of those things is your child.  I started planning this trip when Hana Girl was five years old and Kealia was two.  I planned the trip to occur just prior to Hana Girl starting high school, and then I realized...that meant she would be 13!  The dreaded age when girls start to hate their moms and talk sarcastically and listen to loud music and Roll their Eyes!  Surely this won't happen to me I thought...but what if it does???  Then, I tried to see it from her perspective, trapped in a minivan with her mom and little sister for five and half months, while being 13. Ugh!
Here we are three months before we're set to depart and I have a happy, joyful, enthusiastic soon to be 10 year old named Kealia.   So soon, her BIG double digit birthday is in two days.  I also have a full fledged thirteen year old.  The good news is...it's not so bad.  Yeah, she is starting to figure out that I don't know everything and that I make lots of mistakes, too.  She is getting sarcastic and at the same time witty, so I try to appreciate her humor and let the sarcasm ease by (like a spoonful of sugar with medicine).  The loud music is mostly Bieber which is not as bad as it could be, AND, the eyeball rolling, well, let's just say it's a good thing those beautiful big brown peeps are attached to their sockets.  They go round and round.
The truth is, Hana Girl is one very special girl. She's 13-ish, but still a joy!  She is beautiful, smart, compassionate, talented, hard working, patient, determined, kind, and funny.  I love my Hana Girl and I wouldn't have her any other age.  I kinda like this 13 year old thing.  She won't be 13 forever.  In fact, she should have her 14th birthday somewhere around Colonial Village Williamsburg.  She was complaining about that and her aunty told her but it's such a great place to learn about history and our nation and proud traditions.  Her response, "I was hoping for Mall of America."  Of course you were Hana Girl.  That's just as it should be!