Bought a new one on December 30, 2005.   Moved January 17, 2006.  Put the old house on the market March 1, 2006.  Sold it May 11, 2007.

Mowed two yards every week last year.  Paid utilities at two homes for more than a year.  Paid property taxes and insurance too.

Have to remind myself that I was VERY CLOSE to signing a lease on office space for pretty close to what our new house mortgage payment has been.  Would have spent about the same amount for FAR less value.  Each kid has his or her own room.  Office at home is awesome.  Pool/Bar room has been used MANY TIMES.  I love our new house.  Thank you, Mom and Dad for helping us with this - both the initial purchase and covering the cost of the old house - THANK YOU.

What I am thinking lately:

1. We as a community don’t have a clear definition of what we mean by ”educated”.  We are arguing about the methods when we don’t even understand (or perhaps it is only that we cannot articulate) what we are trying to accomplish.
2. We don’t have a clue about how to measure or value the components.  When we actually do agree on some component of what we are trying to do - we still are fighting over whether some specific activity or policy is effective.
3. We don’t listen and we don’t want to learn.  (Would that make it on YOUR list of what it means to be educated?).  We have structures and policies that are “tried and true” - and yet they don’t seem to be effective (THAT has to be the definition of cultural neurosis).  It doesn’t matter that the kids are unprepared to compete in a global economy - we have another generation of administrators, teachers, parents, and community members who will not challenge the system.

This is BIG stuff - I think I will limit this post to addressing #1 above:  

We don’t have a clue about what it means to be educated.

Educated in WHAT?  Does it matter that kids graduating from school this year have never heard of Plato, Socrates, or Homer?  I like that my kids are learning about great contributions to literature from Africa, Latin America, Asia and other cultures.  I realize we need to de-emphasize some topics in order to make room for other topics - but what are the shared-understandings of America today?  When I hire my next programmer, can I expect that we have a common language?  It may be that MY generation has to learn some new items to correct for arrogance and bigotry that distorted our education, but when we get the current collection - will that be the “right stuff”?

What is the difference between being educated and being INFORMED?  My desire for my kids is that they would emerge from school no less-than informed about what is important to our culture.  Far more important to me is that they be equipped to be life-long LEARNERS, committed to the scientific-method, open-minded and skeptical of information.

What level is appropriate?  All three of my kids thrive in the school environment they are in (this is subject to change regarding our oldest at the next report-card issuance).  I am so grateful that Pike schools provides amazing opportunities for my kids to learn far above and beyond what most schools offer.  But this doesn’t mean that this should be the standard for every child.

1. If a child is truly gifted, should the school strain itself to provide challenging curriculum at this level?
2. If a child is really struggling, should the entire class slow to the pace that enables this child to keep up (some may think this is what “No child left behind” means).
3. If a child is really trying but is not catching on, can we still “pass” him or her for “Effort”?
4. What is our responsibility to the child who has no interest in learning?

Where we cannot agree on our objectives, we need to back off from our debates about methods.  We need to stop protecting STRUCTURES and review GOALS.  NO further debate can be productive until we at least understand the goals we are working toward.

• I have sought-out this song 7 times out of the 100 times I’ve been in my “Bluesy Mood” (see profiles, below) - and skipped it 0 times. 
• When in my “Rockin’ Mood” - I have sought-out this song 0 times and skipped it 110 times. 
• When I choose one of the above profiles - what do you think the player should do with that song?  This is far more appropriate than “RATING” a piece of music.  I DON’T KEEP WHAT I DON’T like.  But some music appeals to me in certain moods and not others.  This is also different than “assigning” a clip to a category.  A single song can fit in several different categories.

B) “Listening Profiles”:  Allow me to create ranges of music BEYOND genre and having to manage play-lists.

C) [NOT RANDOM] Ad-hoc play lists - Provide means to ADJUST factor in selecting next song:

• Select1:  [Profile] - Select Existing or Define New Profile
• Slider1:  [Rating] - emphasize songs I LIKE (within this profile - based on Learning Above PLUS rating).
• Slider2:  [PlayCount] - emphasize songs I haven’t listened to a ton
• Slider3:  [LastPlayed] - emphasize songs I haven’t listened to in a while

I have truly “gone over the edge” of computer geekness and am restraining myself from building my media-player out of database engine!  Somebody please show me the ready-to-use player that works for my crazy-ecclectic tastes.

- Office is already about 10% decorated (1/4 of the lights went up tonight).

- Christmas music is already going (two new purchases this evening:  Sinatra and a Target-Compilation)  Plus several purchases from Borders/Amazon (DO NOT ask how that purchase could have been any more painful) on the way.

 - Candles are ready to light.

I used to think people were crazy to get the Christmas season started before Thanksgiving - but I’m no longer willing to cram such a WONDERFUL season into 30+/- days.  I LOVE the sounds, smells, memories, and IDEA of Christmas.

A) We celebrate the arrival of THE MOST IMPORTANT VISITOR this planet has EVER had.

B) We celebrate the birthday of our GREATEST FRIEND.

C) We remember family and friends - this annual “milestone” marks the passing of another year - connecting us back to our past and launching us out into our future.

D) We EAT.  We watch syrupy-sweet movies.  We play music 16 hours a day.  We bake (something not all that common in the JKLMN house).  We decorate (how many other seasons do we mark with even 3 or 4 “indicators” that anything is going on?).  We gather with friends and family (as much as can be tolerated - [My brother had a great idea for a "best-of" holiday gathering:  select only those family members "worthy" of participation and enjoy your holiday even more]).  We think about Christ (see A and B above).  [How much longer will we be able to pickup a CD at Target that still includes the ACTUAL words "Christ", "Jesus", "Savior"?]

ENJOY THIS SEASON:  don’t wait for any “official” (or even “reasonable”) start.  Get serious now!

1) Pickup J after Cross-Country practice (approx. 15 minutes in rush-hour traffic each way)
2) Drop K off at high-school for middle-school-band participation in homecoming game (25 minutes round-trip)
3) Drop J off at Cross-Country team dinner (approx. 10 minutes each way)
4) Take K jacket and cash (it’s REALLY chilly) 50 minutes, including waiting for her opportunity to meet me at gate.
5) Pikcup J (20 minutes round-trip)
6) Pickup K (25 minutes - including waiting to get to front of line of cars to pickup kids at H.S. game)

GOOD THING WE LIVE CLOSE TO THE SCHOOL!!!