Tuesday, January 29, 2008

New One on Us

You know, we do surveys by e-mail, we do surveys on MySpace...why not post a survey to our blog?

Andrea's Answers to Survey from The Hogue Chronicle.

1. If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say?
Miracle of Miracles!! Sam has had a vasectomy, but if divine intervention occurs, we'd be pleased as punch.

2. When was the last time you flew in a plane?
I think I might not have remembered the last time simply because it was sad. I flew to Pittsburgh, PA for my cousin's funeral in 2005. Oddly, I don't remember the flight at all, in either direction. I know that I flew because I remember the guilt over not having enough money to buy my own ticket (thanks, Mom!), but I don't remember being on the plane at all. Too many other things in my head, I suppose. Oddly, that was also the first time I'd ever flown with a parent along.

3. What did the last text message you sent say?
I don’t text message.

4. What features do you find most attractive in the preferred sex?
I look at smiles, then eyes, then upper torso. I find high intelligence most attractive.

5. What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future?
Bringing my health and finances under control.

6. Shoe size?
10-11 depending on brand and fit

7. Been to Mexico?
Nopes.

8. When is the last time you had a massage?
Sometime in the last six months, Sam gave me one.

9. What was the last TV show you watched?
Sam and I just finished watching Heroes Ssn 1 on DVD.

10. What are your plans for the weekend?
I'm not sure, I tend not to plan that far in advance.

11. If your significant other asked you to marry them TODAY what would you say?
Where are we going to get the money for a wedding (we're already legally married-9 years as of yesterday)?

12. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
Um, some random junk and the back seat

13. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
Instead of sleeping this am, I was at church. It was a special occasion.

14. If you could marry any celebrity today who would it be?
So assuming I'm available for marriage and we're interested in one another...Gerard Butler.

15. Have you ever been to a strip club?
Um, I did go into one once because the owner also owned some apartments I was looking to rent one of. I had to go in to meet him. I decided not to rent, because the only apartment available was right above the club.

16. What is the best ice cream flavor?
Ben & Jerry’s Everything But The...

17. What is the last sporting event you watched?
The 2006 Super Bowl

18. Ever go camping?
Yes! But it has been forever. I went to camp (with cabins) when I was 11/12. I haven't been camping in a tent since my parents were together.

19. Last phone call?
A Friend calling to offer me more free stuff.

20. Are you allergic to anything?
Um, sulfa, lactose, and cedar or something of the nature (seasonal).

21. What is one thing you have learned about life recently?
That unschooling can be a truly workable method of leading children in learning, even my kids.

22. What do you do at work?
At the mo, I spend much time keeping and caring for a family.

23. What is your mom’s name?
Linda

24. Ever cried for no reason?
I don't think I can technically say "no reason." Even when I had tears pouring down my face without accompanying emotion back in 1997, I later realized that I had a nervous breakdown (I had been working 18-22 hour days for 2 1/2 months). My body just couldn't handle any more, so I stood at work (both jobs that day), with tears streaming down my cheeks even though I was doing my job. That's a reason, even if it's not necessarily an emotional one.

25. Can you do the Crank Dat dance?
Never heard of it

26. What is your favorite color to wear?
Blue

27. What is the longest plane ride you have ever been on?
The only plane rides I've ever been on have all been pretty much the same, between Portland, OR and San Antonio, TX (with one trip originating in Austin, TX instead). They were all mostly for custody. Then, I'm reminded that I've also flown from San Antonio, TX to Pittsburgh, PA. I'm not sure which is longer, though.

28. What is the longest road trip you have ever taken?
Ooh, last year, we took a 3 week road trip. We drove from Austin, to TN, to MI, to PA, to MA, to NH, to MD, to TX (home).

29. What are your turn-offs?
Not sure right now.

30. What was your last alcoholic beverage?
Um, I think I had a glass of wine with dinner sometime last year.

31. What are you craving right now?
I just ate a honey bbq chicken sandwich I had been craving.


Bloggers: Copy and paste, answer the questions, and send as a link to this post under comments. Have fun!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

New Directions

At some point in everyone's life (many points for most people), one feels their whole life taking on a different direction. Here in the Dharma Family, we feel the change coming. We've made many changes and hope to make many more in 2008.

Let us tell you about some of the things we've changed and some of what's coming...


  • We mentioned back in November that we now speak to Sam's oldest son fairly regularly. We were on an every other month pattern last year, but we started out this year well by speaking to him both in December and January.
  • We have, as a family, decided to wholeheartedly embrace unschooling. We've done a lot of research and realized that so long as each of us has a deep internal desire for personal betterment, this will be successful. We've also realized that if we don't have that deep internal desire, that no amount of school or workbooks at home will change that.
  • We still want to open up our own store. We've had to put the idea on the backburner with the housing slump because lenders all over are more hesitant to give out their money. This leads us to:
  • We've created a budget. We bought this great book called America's Cheapest Family and we've actually created a workable budget. We've already begun applying some of their money saving principles and plan to start our budget in February. Already though, we've found more money in our pockets just by applying some of their money saving principles.
  • We're also changing the children's allowance system to a work and get paid system that is a modified version of the one found in America's Cheapest Family. We are all excited about it.
  • We plan to move this year, because we're not happy with where we live now. We're still very unsure about where we're moving to, we'll update you when the time comes.
  • Since embracing unschooling, even Sam and Andrea have rekindled their individual desires to learn and so learning is constanly happening around here.
  • We're embracing our sister-in-law's desire to unclutter her house. We plan to spend 2008 decluttering our living space.
  • Andrea is finally taking charge of her health and saw a doctor today to discuss her lack of weight loss and constant fatigue, among other things. She goes in for lab tests tomorrow.

Well, that's about all of the changes. The last thing that we'll be changing is that we're going to make more of an effort to keep our online followers updated. We belong to an unschooling listserv where everyone has been posting their days and we plan to do something similar here.

That's all for now folks!

Lots of love,

The Dharma Family

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Isaac...wonderful Isaac...

This is an update about our friend Isaac Lehr who has been mentioned in previous posts. This update was written by our friends the BareNakedFamily.

This morning as we were standing in line for security check in to fly to Santa Rosa we got the call that Isaac has passed away this morning. We are sitting here in the airport waiting to board our flight and surrounded by the love of Isaac. Even in a busy place like this the love that is God and is Isaac is surrounding us right now. We can't help but listen to the music that is playing right now and see his crazy big grin shining down on us. Isaac has left this world knowing his place with God and completly at peace. It is so comforting to know that he has smiled and been courageous all this time.

I know that he loves everyone of ya'll who have been keeping up and sending amazing love, support, and prayers to him and his Family. It's so awesome that we get to take the love of all of ya'll out there with us today.

Today, we honor the man, father, husband, and friend that Isaac Lehr has been and will continue to be. There ain't no one else like him in the world.Isaac, thank you. You are loved. You are missed. You are celebrated. You are wonderful my friend. Thank you for allowing me to smile this morning. We will always remember 'Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona' together.

barenaked love,
Greg, Jenn, Austin, Kesley, Sunny