We turned in Lucas’s application to Kindergarten at Sacramento Waldorf School today.
Technically we are applying to Pre-Kindergarten, but since the Pre-K and K years are mixed into the same room with the same teacher (4, 5, and 6-year-olds together), it amounts to the same thing. Because we turned in our application on time, we are guaranteed to get a parent/teacher/student interview in the coming weeks. I’m looking forward to this dialog with the K teacher and observing Lucas’s interaction with her as a mean of determining whether he’ll be ready to go there at 4.25 years old next fall.

We also attended a Parent Information Meeting at the Golden Valley Charter School. This is a Waldorf Methods charter school that is about the same distance from our house (in the opposite direction as Sac Waldorf School on the way to Ian’s office) and is a public school. That’s right: Public school, as in FREE. Well, they do want you to contribute money to help fund the school, but this option would be MUCH cheaper than private school tuition. Unfortunately–or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint–the charter school must adhere to State testing standards, must deal with the No Child Left Behind legislative mandates, must be absorbed into San Juan Unified School District, etc. This school must fight to survive, to attract teachers with credentials and Waldorf training, to get parents on board with contributions and volunteerism, to get funding through attendance, etc. While they are valiantly trying to implement a Waldorf curriculum, they have a lot of outside influences that they must contend with. Then there’s the fact that the school is in an old SJUSD school with it’s typical grey military barracks aesthetic. They’re not even allowed to paint the walls of the classrooms.

I would love not to pay the tuition. Yet, I hate the insecurity of the charter and the possibility that it could cease to exist at some point, or be forced to move to another school site because they’re only renting. It looks like we’ll either have money stress for the next 14 years or political/security stress. I am not at all sure which I would prefer.

We will likely apply to Golden Valley too. Ian pragmatically mentioned that we could try GV for a year and get one year of free Kindergarten (saving $6 to $8K), and then transfer if we don’t like it.

We can also keep Lucas at Hidden Treasure Nursery another year. We like it there. I guess it’s good to have options.

Although I would love to be plotting out my master’s degree and adding a bunch of art and creative writing classes to my already full schedule, I must settle, for the time being, on obsessing about my son’s education.

You scored as Satanism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Satanism! Before you scream, do a bit of research on it. To be a Satanist, you don’t actually have to believe in Satan. Satanism generally focuses upon the spiritual advancement of the self, rather than upon submission to a deity or a set of moral codes. Do some research if you immediately think of the satanic cult stereotype. Your beliefs may also resemble those of earth-based religions such as paganism. Satanism 92% Paganism 71% atheism 58% agnosticism 58% Buddhism 54% Islam 54% Hinduism 50% Judaism 38% Christianity 29%

Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)
created with QuizFarm.com

My friend Kelly called last night and asked if we could babysit Ambrosia on Saturday. Kelly has to go to a funeral: The three-and-a-half-year-old son of her friend died in a car crash.

This shocking fact is bouncing around inside my head; I cannot look at it straight on. It sneaks up on me regularly–when I’m doing the dishes, when I’m working, when I’m driving to pick up Lucas. It jerked me out of my doze a few moments ago, when I was lying down with Lucas to help him fall asleep. This is THE nightmare–the one that makes my heart race and the tears fall. This is the unendurable event. The most crushing disaster. The unfaceable fear.

This is exactly why I cannot watch or read the news. My mothermind is on too much of the time for stories like these to roll off me. They crash into my heart and take up residence for a long painful time. My empathizer is turned up too high.

It isn’t even my son.

Please, please never let it be my son.

A word to the wise: When Kimkimkaree calls you on the phone and says, “What night this week can I come over and cook you dinner? I have this friend I’d like you to meet,” you respond affirmatively, “Any night!” or “Today!”

Last night the lovely Lady K showed up with an Atkins-friendly meal and two charming friends: our darling Dakini-grl and Kerry from Ireland. It was a wonderful meal and delightful company. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet Kerry, since I was unable to attend the Faces dance party last week or to stay long at Dakini’s place last Sunday after he arrived. We enjoyed talking about travel, hair, kids, Ireland, our childhoods, etc. He was friendly and warm to Lucas, who, underneath his shyness, liked Kerry very much.

Meeting Kerry really makes me want to hit the road again. It’s been so long since we traveled–twelve years since we were out of the country learning new stuff about other people.

Can’t wait to see him again. Thanks Kimkim!

Today a big portion of my current receivables arrived. Thank the gods! I rushed to the bank to deposit it. It is big enough that a portion of my dough will be held for 11 business days! That totally sucks because the well is dry right now.

Because we spent money in Hawaii, I’m feeling guilty and nervous about it. I have so many goals and I’m terrible about waiting. I hope I can pay for day care on the 1st.

It’s slowly dawning on us that Lucas has been a lot easier to deal with lately. That super-oppositional monster that lived with us a few months ago seems to have moved out. Our new roommate is much more likeable–he’s much more likely to say yes, or to tell a story, or suggest a game we can play together, or tell us something he likes about us, what we’re doing, his friends, or his home. It’s such a relief not to have him fighting us at every turn.

We had a really pleasant and suburban weekend. Ian and I went on a date on Saturday night to an exciting lecture on child development at Steiner College (very geeky). It was interesting and different, and it gave us more to talk about afterward at the coffee shop than a movie would have. Lucas stayed with VoVo and DiDi and was a peach for them.

Sunday morning we went to church at the UUSS. Unlike previous visits to the “play room,” Lucas actually kind of looked forward to going to the child care for an hour. We had lunch afterward with Kelly and Ambrosia. Lucas and Ambrosia actually got along well! In the bathroom, Ambrosia said, “Lucas is my best friend” and gave him a hug. I was both surprised and delighted when he graciously received her clumsy embrace and didn’t slug her in return.

After lunch, we all headed over to the Sacramento Waldorf School for an open house. I got to show Kelly the Kindergarten classrooms there, which is nice because now she knows why I’m always raving about Waldorf education. Ian took care of the kids while they played on the playground, while Kelly and I spoke to the teachers and asked questions. Then I switched duties with Ian and he and Kelly got to roam around and explore the grades classrooms.

The culmination of the weekend, though, was a dinner party with some friends at lovely Dakini_grl’s new pad. Lucas brought some toys along and played quietly (for the most part) under the table in the corner of the room. I was able to talk to friends, eat dinner, and relax without having to ride him the whole time to behave. He joyfully wrestled with Daddy and Sandy a little while, and was a little shy at times, but he was mostly friendly to the adults.

On the drive home, I realized how grateful I am for his good behavior, friendly manner, and sweet disposition. I really have a wonderful young son. I can’t believe it’s only a few months ’til his fourth birthday. Can he really be almost four years old?

Yesterday afternoon I picked Lucas up from preschool, and took him to Ancil Hoffman park on a whim. The sky was blue and clear and I felt like being out in the wild for a little while. We parked at Effie Yew Nature Center and walked the trails for a while. We saw a group of three deer grazing right next to the trail. We stood still and quietly watched them for a time. I explained to Lucas that they weren’t bothered by us being there because we were being so quiet. He asked questions in a whisper, “Are they wild, Mom?” We also saw wild turkeys, more deer, a hawk, and some white egrets. We listened to songbirds.

We meandered all the way down to the river’s edge and tossed rocks into the water. Sometimes they bounced when they hit the other rocks already in the stream. Lucas isn’t satisfied throwing little rocks into the river; he’d much rather pick up the biggest rock he can lift. The American River is running very high and fast right now, thanks to the winter rains. I secured Lucas’s promise not to get into the water, not to get wet–and bless my soul! He didn’t! He didn’t argue when it was time to walk back. He didn’t whine and drag his feet on the way back to the car. He carried a huge stick all the way from the riverbank to the car, and carefully made worm holes (for the worms to live in) in the soft earth with the tip of his stick. He brought back a dozen rocks in his pockets. We spent about an hour and a half together on our nature walk and it was simply lovely.

My Internet connection has been up and down and up and down a hundred times a day for the last several days, maybe a week. I finally got fed up and called Comcast again. After much denial and hemming and hawing, Comcast admitted that it might be the refurbished RCA modem they sold me a while ago. They sometimes stop working when they get hot.

This morning, the cable guy is supposed to come and check it out. Until a few moments ago, I was praying it would break, so I could tell him it’s been down at least once this morning. Well, it did go down at least once today. Yay! It’s working now (or at least, I think it is. We’ll see when I hit the “upload” button on this entry.)

I hope it’s busted when he arrives, sometime between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. today. I don’t know why this is, but usually my computer won’t produce a recurring error whenever a tech is nearby to observe it breaking. Usually everything works brilliantly until that guy leaves.

Apparently, Lucas is up on all the latest slang–much more so than I am.

I mentioned that he dubbed my brother’s girlfriend, Courtney, “Bou.” It seems I’ve been spelling it incorrectly.

Here’s what the Oxford English Dictionary has to say:

boo 2
• noun US informal a person’s boyfriend or girlfriend.
— ORIGIN 1980s: origin uncertain; probably an alteration of French beau ‘boyfriend, male admirer’. (<--Careful and geeky readers will note the British punctuation here.) Also, Lucas informs me with deadly certainty that the word "awesome" means yucky or bad, and that the word "awful" means good. It has a certain logic to it when you consider the meanings of "loathsome" and "wonderful." Kids these days...

I got a call last night from the lovely and talented Wyethia. She is in town consulting for a few days. I’ve missed her and Greg and Phoebe a lot.

She came over last night for dinner. Before she arrived, I told Ian I had a surprise for him but didn’t give him any hints. Then, while he was cooking stir-fry for dinner, I watched out the window for Theresa’s car. As she drove up, I hid in the bathroom so Ian would have to answer the doorbell. He was shocked and delighted to see her, and we visited ’til after 11 pm.

I think it’s been a rotten six months or so since we saw her last. Stupid Tucson!

I’m happy to report that all three of them are all doing very well. Theresa’s business, Coffee News, is taking off and she’s looking at possibly expanding into other nearby territories. Phoebe is approaching her third birthday and loves animals with a passion. Greg is primarily caring for Phoebe and learning jewelry-making and other stuff while Theresa works 6 days per week (she’s consulting part-time for a company in Rancho Cordova and working the rest of the time on her paper, networking, and selling advertisements).

We wish them well now and always.

Regarding work… I’m back into some frustrating projects and poking around for something more interesting.

I have a book that should die but won’t. I’m probably not going to make any more money on it, despite the fact that it looks like it will drag on for another month, preventing me from taking on projects. I think it’s a case of the publisher having a desperate need to throw good money after bad; They’re just crossing their collective fingers and hoping it all works out. In the process, they will drag a handful of very dedicated, very burned-out people through the ringer, AGAIN.

I also have a book that is so, so painfully slow to get rolling, it’s killing me. Of the three “partners,” only two of us are doing any substantial work. (At least I wasn’t the schmuck who got saddled with the last big chunk of work. I skipped off to Hawaii while J did it.) Remind me why my royalties don’t match those of Dingy? How did that work again?

I have a strategy guide to edit, which should be a slam dunk. At least that one doesn’t (at this moment) appear to have any unusual hurdles waiting on the horizon.

Finally, I may be about to step into editing fiction. I’m bidding on a novel right now and the author would be my client. That’s very scary, because I generally avoid working for individuals, especially first-time authors. Authors can be a huge pain in the ass, and you never know if you’re going to get stiffed. So I’m reading his book proposal and a bunch of sample text and wondering if I really have what it takes to edit fiction. I’ve always wanted to, but haven’t broken into that field yet. I would like to get my foot in the door.

I’m raising my rates soon.