Spring 2001 Term Started Today!

...And it was a pretty good start!

N. grumbled a bit when I shook him awake at 7:30.
He was drowsy at the breakfast table--but who wouldn't be? The outside temperature was -1.5 degrees F.

He perked up when we prayed the morning service. I let him lead today even though he still uses the Shabbat nusach (tunes). Tomorrow, I will take charge so that he can learn the weekday nusach and so that I can shorten the service to a manageable time.
After the service, I asked him to collect his dirty clothes before we started math. (He left some things out as I discovered when I went to sort them).

Math was LONG! There is a lot to do with Saxon and it took him 20 minutes to practice 100 simple division problems--even though he had the Times Table Grid right in front of him!
He was easily distracted and the dogs kept barking at some MLK day skiers who were cavorting in our meadow. I chalked it up to first day back after the Bar Mitzvah and a break. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. However, it was nearly 11 AM by the time we got done with Math.

I sorted the laundry while he did the Lesson practice sheet. I noticed that there were some missing socks from his skiing trip--so when he finished and checked his work, I had him do a "redo!" on the dirty clothes gathering. This time, we got it all.

After the "redo," we did our first activity for Brain Engineering. In this one he had to find 17 hidden pictures in a picture puzzle. As he circled each one, I dropped a coin into a cup. This is supposed to help him connect his "Opticoder" (that part of the brain that processes visual information) with his "Lexicoder" (that part of the brain that processes verbal information). He did this readily in a little less than 3 minutes. He wanted to do more of that--he felt very successful with the hidden pictures after having a difficult math morning.

However, he had an appointment with his room! I gave him a trash bag and told him to go through his room and pick up every piece of trash. "Trash in the trash bin, on the floor, under the bed, in the closet, on his desk, under his desk and in his book crates." He pointed out that I forgot to mention the trash on his night table and under it, but cheerful did the job. His room was a royal mess due to having his cousins sleeping in it last week--but after 15 minutes of "trash detail" it looked considerably better! (I was happy that pointed out my omission because it means that he is "getting multi-step directions).

After "trash detail," N. took the dogs for a (short) walk--it was only 17 degrees F outside, and nobody wanted to be outside very long. While they were out, I made hotdogs for lunch.

After lunch, we began reading "Black Ships Before Troy" together. I find it easiest to get him to read some of the literature that goes with the Ancient History spine, by reading it together. He has one book and I have another. I read aloud most of the time and sometimes he does. Reading aloud is difficult for him, although his Bar Mitzvah gave him a significant boost in ease and confidence. We talk about the story as we go along, giving N. a chance to identify important characters and events that move the story along.

When we were finished reading, N. and I loaded Word Roots A1 onto the computer. This program is from Critical Thinking Press. We had begun last fall with the workbooks--but N. hates workbooks! I think this goes back to third grade, when he called his teacher "the ditto queen" and claimed that she "worshipped at the altar of the Xerox machine." (This is what comes of reading the Torah to your child with emphasis and meaning!) At NAGC in November, I visited the Critical Thinking Press booth and purchased the Word Roots series for computer. So anyway, N. worked happily away on the computerized version, in which he is building a city out of bricks made from Latin roots.

Now he is writing Thank-You notes to people who gave him giftes for his Bar Mitzvah. I gave him a template:

Dear _________________,

Thank you very much for the _________________________. (e.g. check for
$18.00). I plan to ______________ with it. I was happy that you joined
me for my Bar Mitzvah.

Sincerely,
N.
When I checked his first cards, I noticed that he wrote the message on the back of the card instead of inside of it. I corrected that, but I left his other innovation alone. He was putting a smiley face instead of sincerely! (Anything to get out of writing more words!). N. has great difficulty with writing out anything by hand, much preferring to use Microsoft Word (TM)). But Thank-you notes must be handwritten! (We discussed the meaning of the word etiquette). So he will do 5 a day--I will address them for him because the envelopes are so small and his printing is so big. (He is much better at cursive--but refuses to use it! Go figure).

Soon, we will watch a video about Ancient Greece from the Wonders of the Ancient World series.

For tomorrow, I have to figure out how to add a 1.5 hour phone conference at 8:30 AM to our schedule. That is the weekly Brain Engineering "Ask the Doc" session. Unfortunately, I think I will have to get up half-an-hour early (6:00 instead of 6:30 AM) so that we finish the morning service BEFORE 8:30 AM. Then I can start him on his Math and Logic work. We can check the work after the conference. OY! One point for homeschooling was that I could rise a little later in the morning! Like at twilight instead of full dark. Well.

Four Weekends in a Row...

Last night, when I went to sleep shortly after midnight, it was clear above, I could see Orion and Canis Major in the southwestern sky, and the temperature was 37 degrees F.

This morning, I woke up to 2 and 1/2 inches of new snow, wind and a temperature of 15.1 degrees F. Although they had predicted some snow, I thought we had escaped this one.

Look at our street, unplowed, but you can see our footprints as the dogs and I returned from our walk.
South Mountain is gleaming beneath the clouds in the middle left of the picture.

To the right is a picture of the snow blowing at the top of the drive, as we returned from our walk. It was a cold walk, but the front porch bench area was actually warm from the sun hitting the outside wall of the house. I sat comfortably to take off my boots and soak up some rays--but the air temp was well below freezing.

So far, it has snowed here every weekend since December 21st! We really need it, but, oy! the shoveling! I am trying to persuade DH Bruce to get a snow blower. He says we're not old yet and we need the exercise. :)

In other good news, the Bears won today against Seattle, 27 - 24 in overtime. I am not much of a sports fan, but I do follow my Bears and Cubs. So far, the Cubs have managed never to go to the World Series in my lifetime. But the Bears did go to the Superbowl in 1985. They could go again. Along with the Whitesox, the Bears give this Illinois girl some hope.

They still haven't plowed our road, so I took the opportunity of being alone in the house to vacuum the bedroom, wash our bedding and dust and vacuum the living room. Tomorrow, the spring term begins at Los Pecos Homeschool and at the university.

Just me and the girls...

Today it has been just me and the girls!

Aren't they cute? They are currently sleeping on "their" daybed here in my office as I write. (They posed for their picture in the dining room).

The men in my life are at Angel Fire with the boy scouts, skiing, tubing and (snow) boarding. They are also freezing--the cold snap made it into northern NM today, but it is still above freezing here in the partly-cloudy center of the sunny southwest!

I was feeling that post-major event letdown today. Haven't had much energy. So I went into town and got my toes done. I also bought Loreena Mckennitt's new CD An Ancient Muse. I had Thai food with my daughter. She told me to leave the porch light on for her. That means she'll be home late. I'll be asleep. Funny, but today seemed like a quiet Holy Shabbat and last week was such a joyous, noisy one. We get approximately 52 Shabbatot a year--and each one is a little different!

We will be starting back with the routine on Monday. My university classes start on Tuesday. I am taking a course in Special Education Law and one in Neurobiology. I am not ready! Oh, I am so not ready for the daily round to begin again. But at the same time I know that it needs to or my energy crisis will continue indefinitely! Spring term--here we come!

Winter Break Field Trips

N. didn't really have a winter break during the holidays because he was so focused on the Bar Mitzvah. So this week we took a "winter break" and we will be starting up with school work next week.

On Sunday and Monday, while the relatives were still here, we took two field trips.

On Sunday we went to Old Town Albuquerque. Old Town is the original village that Albuquerque once was. Here's the five cousins and Grandma at the Gazebo in the middle of Old Town Plaza.

Old Town was also the site of a little-known Civil War battle. Although New Mexico was a territory at the time, the southern half was allied with Texas and the south and the north was indifferent. Two battles took place in New Mexico, first the one in Albuquerque and then a more famous one at Glorieta Pass.

Here are the boys, N. (at left) and cousins D. (ducking) and T. (at right). N. is pretending to set off the Canon, and D. is ducking. T. is looking at the plaque.

On Monday, the cousins went to the Lobo store to get Brian Urlacher T-shirts and UNM sweatshirts. Since they are from Illinois, they got T-Shirts with the UNM Lobo and Urlacher's number on the front, and the Chicago Bears logo and Urlacher's Bear's number on the back.

After the Lobo store, we went up to Sandia Peak on the Longest Tram in the World. (No Sherpas, No Oxygen Tanks, and Dinner at the Top). Here is N. on the tram. He was a little unhappy because I made him turn around so his face would be in the picture. Fish Rock is in the upper left of the picture.

The Sandia Mountains are about 300 million years old. They rose from an epi-cratonic sea long before the Laramide Revolution raised the Colorado Plateau 65 million years ago. They are fault-block mountains
that rose due to faulting along the Great American Rift, and they tilted as they rose, so that the Albuquerque side is steep and the East Mountain side is gentle. The rock that was exposed is pink granite and the mountains are capped with Pennsylvanian limestone. The same Limestone that is a mile above Albuquerque on Sandia Peak is about a mile below the surface in the Rio Grande Valley. Here is the mountain front looking south from the Tram. In the foreground you can see pressure ridges that were created by the mountains going up.

And here is the five cousins at the top of Sandia Peak. We had the perfect day for our Tram Ride. It was perfectly clear and there was no wind. It was actually warmer at the top of the mountain than the bottom.because of the solar heating of the west-facing rock. The kids took their winter jackets off.

After coming down the mountain on the Tram, it was off for Pizza and a movie. We saw Eregon together. The perfect ending to a very good day. Next morning the cousins flew back to Illinois.

It is amazing how much was learned during the two field trips. The history of Old Town. The geology of the Sandias. And what a perfect beginning to our new unit on Earth Science.

D'var Torah for Shabbat Vayechi

As promised, here is N.'s D'var Torah (Words of Torah = Sermon) about his Torah portion from the Bar Mitzvah. Our rabbi and I helped with the structure of the piece, and our cantor helped with editing and font, but the ideas are all N.'s. ("And they told me he would never read or write...")

D’var Torah for V’Yechi
January 6, 2007
by N.

Shabbat Shalom! My parasha is called V’Yechi. V’Yechi is the last parasha in B’reshit, which is Genesis in English. In my parasha, the action takes place in Egypt. Israel, who is also known as Jacob, knows that he is about to die and he makes Joseph swear to bury him in the cave of Macpelah in Hebron, in the land of Israel. Near the time of his death, Jacob claims Joseph’s two sons as his own and blesses them, crossing his hands so that Ephraim, who is younger, is favored over Menasheh, who is the older boy. Then Jacob calls his 12 sons to him and blesses them, telling each son something that is important about him. After Israel dies, Joseph and his brothers take his body up to Hebron to the cave of Macpelah to be buried with his fathers Abraham and Isaac. At the end of my parasha, Joseph makes his sons swear that when they are redeemed from slavery in Egypt, they will take his bones with them to the land of Milk and Honey.

The part of my parasha that I find the most interesting is the last part, where Joseph asks his sons to return his bones to the land of Israel. I think that this is a story about assimilation. According to dictionary.com, assimilation is the process in which a minority culture adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing group. Minority cultures are often pressured to assimilate because it can make the dominant culture more powerful and more unified. When Joseph and his brothers went down to Egypt, the Egyptian Empire was busy making itself richer and stronger by assimilating conquered peoples. Joseph was assimilated into Egyptian culture and he even became the prime minister who ran the government for Pharaoh. Joseph had an Egyptian name, an Egyptian wife and children, he spoke Egyptian and he dressed like an Egyptian. He probably even “walked like an Egyptian.”

When I think of Egypt, I think of the Borg: “We are Egypt. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile!” In the Star Trek series, the Borg is a culture of evil. It destroys worlds and assimilates other intelligent life-forms into the Borg Collective against their will. The Borg has the hive-mind, a collective in which there is no individuality at all. The Federation and its allies, fight the assimilation of the Borg. In Star Trek Voyager, there is an episode in which some Borg are infected with a virus that allows them to go to a place called Unimatrix Zero. Infected Borg come to Unimatrix Zero and are able to remember their individual cultures. The Borg collective tried to destroy Unimatrix Zero and three Voyager crew members went to the Borg ship and infected the hive-mind with a virus that allowed the infected Borg to remember Unimatrix Zero all the time. In order to continue to be who they were, the Voyager and the infected Borg had to continually fight total assimilation. For Jews, the Torah and the synagogue are like Unimatrix Zero. When we read the Torah and come to pray and study in the synagogue, we can remember who we are all of the time.

The story of Joseph in Egypt is like the first encounter with the Borg. Even though he seems to be totally assimilated, Joseph had a kind of Unimatrix Zero in his bones. He knew deep down that he was really a Jew. Because of that he was able to save Egypt and rescue his brothers. And he knew that G-d would eventually bring Israel out of Egypt. So he told his sons to bring his bones out of Egypt because he knew he was a Jew.

Jews throughout history have encountered the Borg. They were Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Europeans and Nazis. The message was the same as the Borg: “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.” But we have Torah, which like Unimatrix Zero, helps us to remember who we are and defend our values. Jews have always stood for the value of life and human freedom. The story of Joseph teaches us that it is vital that we remain who we are in order to bring holiness into the world.

My education at Congregation Albert taught me that I do not need to allow the dominant culture to dictate my values. By becoming a Bar Mitzvah, I have accepted the responsibility of being a Jew and living by Torah. I am now a member of the congregation and it is my responsibility to serve the congregation and be an example of Jewish values to others. One Jewish value is to keep on learning! I will continue my Jewish education through confirmation and beyond.

Another Jewish value is Tikkun Olam—doing something to make the world a better place. My Mitzvah project is volunteering at the Albuquerque Animal Care Center in order to help homeless animals. My dog, Lily, was rescued from the shelter. I am collecting needed items to make “welcome home” baskets for people who rescue dogs from the shelter.

Many people helped me to become a Bar Mitzvah. I want to thank Cantor Finn and Rabbi Black for teaching me Torah. I want to thank my mom for always being there, tutoring me in Hebrew and teaching me to pray and chant Torah. I want to thank my step-dad Bruce for encouraging me and driving me to religious and Hebrew school and for taking me to get my T’fillin. I also want to thank my sister because she is the one who insisted that I go to camp! And I really want to thank my teachers, especially Cookie Gillespie, for seeing my individuality and finding ways to teach me so that I could learn. All of you, my parents and family, my teachers, and Congregation Albert, are part of my Unimatrix Zero!


Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Sovreign of the Universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this joyous time!

Bar Mitzvah

The party is over, the relatives have departed for California, Illinois, and Orgegon. And I am still kvelling! N. became a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday morning, January 6, 2007. He lead the service, read from Torah and Haftarah...and he made it look easy!

To the left is a photo of my husband Bruce adjusting N.'s tie after helping him don his tallit (prayer shawl) before the service.

Here is N. pointing to the first word of his portion with a yad (pointer) before he practices reading his portion. (We do not take pictures during the service, so this one was posed on Friday morning).
The Torah is written by a scribe and does not have vowel marks or cantillation marks, so the student of Torah must chant with the proper cantillation without these aids. Leyning (chanting Torah) takes much preparation.

To the right is a picture of N. putting on his tallit in the Cantor's study just before going into

the sanctuary to begin the morning service. He was very proud of his new suit and the Tallit, but he was just a tad bit nervous!

Praying with a Tallit is a commandment for adult Jews, so this was the first time that N. donned the Tallit while saying the blessing for fulfilling the commandment. Some communities have reserved the tallit for a married man and others for anyone over the age of Bar Mitzvah. Our community follows the latter custom. We ordered the tallit from Israel. I had N.'s Hebrew name embroidered on the shoulder of the tallit.

Here is another picture from Friday's practice. N. is chanting from the Torah and the Cantor is preparing the roll the Torah forward for him. His portion was Vayechi, the last portion in Genesis. The Torah had to be rolled to the very last line: "...And Joseph died at the age of 110, and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt."

In the foreground is one of the Torah crowns, called "Rimonim" (pomegranates). Just as a pomegranate has many seeds, so Torah has as many meanings as there are people to interpret it.

Here is Netanel ben Elisheva, Bar Mitzvah, holding the Torah before the open Ark on the morning of his Bar Mitzvah ceremony. Rabbi Joseph Black is on the left side of him and Cantor Barbara Finn is on the right.

My baby boy...in a suit and tie. He looks so grown up!

And he did such a good job of his Bar Mitzvah responsibilities...I am still kvelling!

Our New Year: Digging Out, Home Improvement and Puzzlemania

It's been a quiet New Year in Sedillo. On New Year's Eve we woke to clear skies and 32" of snow. We took the picture above as we started out on our morning walk on December 31, 2006.

This is what the road up to the top of our ridge looked like on Sunday morning. Great for walking, but horrible for driving, although our friend K. did drive it with his 4-wheel drive vehicle. Most of Central and Northern New Mexico was like this. We decided on a quiet New Year's Eve at home. As of today (January 3, 2007), the city of Albuquerque is still digging out.

We did not lack for things to do while waiting for the snowplow. We are putting in a new tub for the master bathroom. On New Year's Eve,we

moved the tub into the bedroom so that DH would have an easier time making measurements for the plumbing and the tile. The bathtub is still in the bedroom tonight because of difficulties with the cutting of tile. It breaks every time that my husband touches it with a drill. He says he'll need to call in a tile expert. And I have relatives coming in less than 48 hours! Oy vey iz mir!

DH says that we'll move the tub back to the garage and he will get everything else ready to go. We will then deal with it AbM (After the Bar Mitzvah. I can clean tomorrow.

We have already spent a good deal of energy on this weekend (?) project.
It has been four (4) weeks since the old bathtub was taken out. Here is DH working on cutting the tile in order to fit the new bathtub. That job and the using a rented jack-hammer to cut the concrete in order to accomodate the new plumbing created so much dust that I had to vacuum twice--and wash every towel and piece of clothing in the bathroom. It will be worth it when we get the new tub up and running. I am just wondering when that will be....

DH has big cracks in his hands from the drying effect of the concrete dust, the wood, and the tile.

My bathroom looks pretty bad at the moment. But I have been promised that I can get in there and clean tomorrow.

We have had other amusements over the New Year holiday, however.

N. received three different puzzles for Hannukah and his birthday. He is a great fan of puzzles and his current wish-list includes a three dimensional puzzle (and a snow board). He set us his new map of the world puzzle on the coffee table in the living room on his birthday. Since there was no place else to go (Let it snow!) we all had a hand in working the puzzle on New Years Eve. Here is DH and our dog Zoey supervising while N. finds a piece of Greenland.

We all helped at one time or another, although N. has done the bulk of the work. This puzzle is really cool because there is no picture, so N. has had to learn the geography of the world in order to put the puzzle together. On the oceans, he used longitude and latitude lines as well an piecing together geography facts that are printed on the ocean pieces in order to find the right pieces. To the right is the puzzle as it looked at 12 AM, January 1, 2007. It is now nearly finished. This is good because I need my coffee table back! Tomorrow! As my contribution to the puzzlemania that has overtaken the family (my DD helped yesterday), I bought a puzzle map that rolls up around a central pillar so that the puzzle can be rolled up rather than be taken apart. (Target, $5.95). This has been our sole non-Bar Mitzvah educational activity in the past 3 weeks.

N. did not take a winter break yet--we have been too busy with all of the learning surrounding the Bar Mitzvah. We are going to take next week off. Monday and Tuesday we will be accompanying relatives to old town, and other interesting places. Wednesday-Friday we will be resting. We will start schooling again on Monday, January 16.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!