I'm just as susceptible as anybody else. I see the advertisements and the pretty 'stuff' and I want it- just like I'm supposed to. But then I turn off the idiot box and actually *think* and I realize I want a whole lot less. Do we go massively into hock for the huge house which will, of certainty, make a large profit because its large and well situated in a ritzy neighborhood? Or do we spend a lot less and build something smaller, simpler, and more reasonable in scale? If we were in the acquiring children stage of life, I think I'd have fewer doubts. But in 3 short years, our family will be about half the size it is now. Will I want to clean 4,000 sf? Heat it? cool it? Pay the property taxes on it? do I want to have so much spare space in my house that they can come back? I'd love to have enough land to let them each build there own homes but I've already been parenting for 21.5 years and I have another 12.5 to go. For the math challenged, thats 34 years. At the end of that 34 years I'm looking forward to being able to walk to the fridge in my undies if I want!

I'm just craving simple and no drama. A house just big enough, a few acres for a garden and chickens and maybe a few sheep, room for the boys to play. Nothing too fancy - just neat and tidy and comfortable. Something we can pay off. A place that will shelter us if (when) things get ugly. Peak Oil. Financial Crises. Idiot politicians ever enacting new policies for social and economic disasters. I need a retreat but its not a retreat if you don't own it. If I don't own it outright it is ever at risk. Everything is ever at risk.

just to see if my LJ will post since Hannah's won't

Having friends who have hit a serious rough patch on the road of marital bliss has me thinking a lot lately about what makes a marriage work and what little things turn out to be hindrances. The standards- inattention, not making time to be friends and lovers instead of just parents and workers- are all present and accounted for. But another thought crossed the frontal lobe tonight: what about the big ideas? How often do married people actually talk about things of greater import than Bobby's baseball game or what color to paint the house?  If one spouse is reading books and absorbing them and the other isn't interested and isn't reading them or discussing the ideas therein, eventually something unpleasant is going to happen. Because then you've got people with different ideas who can't communicate coherently about things that really matter.

A bright woman left to rot intellectually is going to cause trouble. Barefoot and pregnant is a fine distraction for a while but, eventually, there has to be a last baby. I think this strikes homeschooling moms extra hard because we are reading books and trying to introduce big ideas all the time but never get to get past a high-school level.  Intellectually frustrated while living with teenagers and dealing with our own entry (or impending entry) into menopause and the next phase of life - a scary combo, that.  Maybe we should stop sending silly teens to college before they know what they want and wait to send moms once their last child arrives at kindergarten age.  There are a few classes I wouldn't mind taking.

Yesterday was our 18th anniversary. It seems like forever and it seems like a blink - all at the same time. He's still the first person I want to see every day so I guess some rash decisions do work out.

Well- not here anyway. I popped on to write a little about the progress- or non-progress- of the garden experiment. At the top of the page was an advert for  Pole Dancing lessons/fitness classes. Call me silly, old-fashioned, a prude even....but pole dancing classes? Even assuming that the sight of my considerable girth gyrating around a pole to Bon Jovi didn't send my husband at a dead run for the nearest monastic community, does it really require lessons? IF a bunch of your friends think it would be fun to get together and learn to dance like hookers I think you need new friends.

On to the garden....some things are doing really well, some are looking a little sad and yellow. the Nasturtiums are clearly not happy. A few of the tomato plants also need feeding. the zuchini are going great and I think we may have salad greens in the next week or so. Out front, the only things still living in my hanging baskets are the Geraniums. I've had to cut back the delphiniums and foxglove but seem to be getting new growth. the peonies and roses need some help with pest problems so I'll be stopping into whole foods today in Pittsburgh for help with that.

Surprising people is a lot of work and nerve wracking when you think they might not be so thrilled with it. I'll be glad to get to next week. Victoria disapproves of my lame layout and mood theme thingy ma bobbers but she wants a nifty outfit for Celtic Fling so she shall simply have to live with the shame of having such lameness in her own home until I get around to fixing it. Or until I make her fix it for me.....

# of dancers: 4
# of moms: 2
# of dads home with non-dancing sibs: 2
# of medals won: 9


Things we liked:

1. cool AC in a big enough venue
2. signs - its so nice to have the reassurance that one's google directions are working
3. well organized. Everything seemed to work just like it should
4.Results- they were so fast! and easy to read.
5. Awards- this was great too. One line, you give them your number and they pull it all up on the computer. No flipping through a book or digging through envelopes.

Things we weren't so crazy about:
1. some huge fields. 29 girls in a field is too many! Please feis commission folks: split fields after 15!
2. the girls complained about a musician with some timing issues- and one who played hornpipe during the treble jig (the judge had him restart and my dancer won that one to be released from another level of Novice Purgatory so it wasn't fatal, just disconcerting)


Overall: We were all really happy with this feis and will certainly do it again. It would be really nice if the feis could negotiate a block hotel rate. We stayed at the  Comfort Inn in Hamburg. Because of a mistake on their part, we were upgraded to a suite (2 beds and a pullout couch).  The halls and lobby were broiling and smoky, wifi didn't work ( something I got to discuss with a nice young man in bangalore for 45 minutes before he agreed that his gateway server was having problems),  and our AC unit in the room took forever to get us to a reasonable temperature. The whole experience was made significantly more palatable by having $50 knocked off the bill. However, it was not a $130 worth of hotel room in the first place so that made it about right. We found the feis, got right in and settled in easily. The stages seemed to run mostly on time and even my dancer who was on 3rd from the last on one of the slower ones was out of the building, medals in hand, by 3:45.

# of Dancers: 3
# of singers: 3
# of non-dancing kids drug along or voluntarily there to support friends and sibs: 4
# of mom-type folks: 2
# of husbands: 0
total body count: 10

May 25, 2008 at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland.

Things We liked:

1. The hotel. The dancer rate at the Crown Plaza was still a bit high for us, especially since we needed 2 rooms, but what a nice place!
2. The curtains between stages seemed to really keep the noise in check and made it easier for dancers to hear their musicians
3. Medals personally awarded by the judge immediately at the end of each competition. That was a lovely touch.
4. Water coolers and cups in the corners

Not so much:

1. Admission plus parking ....way too much. 
2. No coolers....no chairs...no bucket of toys and small healthy snacks for the involuntary feis buddies
3. the dress bag nazi (see below)
4. Concession prices (lack of) quality and (poor) options. My $3.00 breakfast sandwich was gross. 4 pretzels (cool and oversalted) a lg coke= $16
5. Huge merged fields. 22 girls on a stage. 15 year-olds competing against 20 year-olds. Fields that size need to be split. I'm all for honest competition but is there a point in having so many girls go home depressed, pondering the possibility that they might not only be sitting out another Oireachtas but may actually graduate high school before they dance a hornpipe in prizewinner?


Overall: So far, my least favorite feis this season. The only thing that kept it out of least favorite ever was a temperature below 103F, the fact that it was indoors, and the absence of cicadas (that would be Chicago, 2007). Will we be back? Not to the same venue nor without assurances that fields will be split into much smaller groups. It was a very, very expensive disappointment. I think the best thing that could happen to the Cleveland feis would be for the feis committee to lower the cap to 1000 and move to a more relaxed, less expensive venue.


* the dress bag nazi:   this woman who works for the Wolstein center was milling about around stage 4 in the bleachers harassing anyone in the lower 'telescoping' section who had any bags with them at all. It seems that my size 22 rear end is of no danger to these bleachers but an empty dress bag is a weight that makes collapse an imminent peril.  This was the only section in which I saw an employee doing such a thing. She was there for most of the day, keeping us all safe from those dangerous dress bags and wig boxes. She was, in fact, so busy in her protective role that she was unable to find a custodian to help clean up a spilled soda but consoled the woman whose shoes were ruined by the sticky mess by remarking on how lucky it was that another person had given her some newspapers to put under her feet.

# Dancing: 1
# singing : 2
# of non-dancing kids drug along: 5
# of mom-type people : 2
# of husbands: 0

May 24, 2008 at the Summit County Fairgrounds in Talmadge, OH

Things we liked:

1. super friendly very laid back and helpful feis staff. these folks are NICE
2. stages that run pretty much on time
3. bleachers, room to walk, and room to camp all in the same facility. Plenty of places to hang dresses.
4. room outside for non dancing or not-dancing-right-now kids to run and play
5. Reasonably priced food and options of the non-hotdog sort
6. We could bring in whatever we wished- coolers, chairs, toys, blankets, iguanas....


Not so much:
1. Paying to watch my own kid dance
2. music competitions started over an hour late
3. aisles where people may not camp between stages should be marked- the center aisle was great.
4. Fiddler with incessant problems finding and holding the proper tempo
5. No "Feis" signs out on the roads leading in to the venue. We were SO glad we drove it the night prior.

Overall: Will we do it again next year? Absolutely. Nice people running a well organized feis.

# of Dancers: 3
# of non-dancing children drug along: 2
# of husbands at the feis or home with non-dancing children:0

 Held in the Washingtonville, NY High School May 10, 2008. That's in the rough vicinity of West Point. Certain feis buddies were sad to report not a snappy uniform in sight. We spent the night prior to the feis at the Marriott Residence in Fishkill,NY. That was probably not the closest decent hotel but we enjoyed the super comfy beds, the full breakfast, and enough space for all of us to sleep comfortably.

Things we liked:

1. very nice feis staff
2. clearly marked stages
3. food was reasonably priced and there were options other than hot dogs and nachos!
4. Judges who seemed really interested in helping the kids, especially the smaller/newer ones
5. Trophies all the way down to Advanced Beginner - they were small and somewhat generic but what a nice touch!
6. Free parking
7 Reasonable size fields- they split after 12
 

Not so much:

1. Stages being held entirely for conflicts and the 'charity dance' made it drag on and on and on and on. We were there from 8:45 until 5:30 and our highest level dance was open p.w. reel.
2. Separate lines for each level of award ( a line for first place, a line for second place, etc)
3. Admission for parents. We've already spent how much to be there? I can see it in an expensive venue where the school has more cost to re-coup but $10 an adult for a high school? Is that such a profit center that it's worth discouraging families from all coming together or bringing in new folks who want to see what this Irish  Dance thing is about?
4. Mail in registration. Please....join us in the 21st century. Efeis, feisweb, feisworx...any of them. Make my life easier. Let me register with a click or two. Charge me a fee for the convenience even.  Don't make me find the checkbook, find the pen, write the check, print the form, fill out the form, fold the form, include the check, find the envelope, get a stamp, address the envelope, and then mail the thing. I would pay a fee not to do that!
5. the noise. I know that all feisanna are loud to one degree or another but the dueling accordions on the stages which were separated by only police line was too much, especially after nearly 8 hours. It seemed to be increased by the stage layout- with sound bouncing in all directions.

Overall: the length of the day and the noise sucked the life right out of me. I might do it again if I can go with just a couple dancers in a very fuel efficient little rental car. 297miles each way is a lot at 16 mpg.

# of Dancers: 1
# of kids being drug to the feis who weren't dancing: 3
# of husbands present: 0

The feis was held in Chester WV at the Mountaineer Racetrack Casino and Resort 
 April 5, 2008

Things we liked:

1. Free parking, close in and plenty of it
2. No admission fee for parents
3. Bathrooms adequate for the number of girls
4. Good musicians
5. Stages that run pretty much on time
6. all that chain link on the sides of the bleachers for hanging dress bags
7. nice vendor selection

Not so much:

1. Camping areas not clearly marked and enforced
2. A stage not properly bolted together (my daughter stumbled and we saw at least two dancers fall in the exact same spot - she still took a 2nd place in a large field)
3. My perennial complaint: Nothing but expensive sugar laden junk food available. I realize this is something that they were probably somewhat limited to by the facility but I still hate it and I would have spent good money to feed my crew there had there been a better option.
4. Not enough seating for parents/spectators at the stages. There might have been close to enough had the dress bags and other pieces of luggage 'saving' 1/3 to 1/2 of the seats been removed though. It just bugs me to see dancers clutching their moms, trying to balance to change shoes because there are no chairs for them.

Overall: A good feis. We'll do it again next year. I was pleasantly surprised that the feis was in a building far removed from the casino and racetrack. I had feared a smoky, seedy environment. The cost of the hotels rooms to have stayed right there the night before was simply too high ($170 a room) so we got a priceline room near the Pittsburgh airport.  $50 got me an Embassy Suites so I think the drive was worth $120.

This is where I shall put my reviews of our feis experiences, at least for now. The lineup for the 2008 season for our family is:

West Virginia
Sheahan-Gormley
Akron
Cleveland
Buffalo
Celtic Fling
Rochester
Arlington Nations Capital
Pittsburgh
Williamsburg

At the beginning of the season, we had one dancer (Victoria) plus Hannah. Then we added Georgianna into the mix at Sheahan-Gormley. for Akron and Cleveland we also had Rebecca. At Rochester we will add Thomas and Matthew and Gabriel will join in at Arlington. Hannah and Rebecca aren't my kids but good friends who are our full time dance buddies, priest's kids, and partners in insanity. Victoria is 15 and working on getting her hard shoe dances out of Novice. Georgie is nearly 10 and began dancing just two months ago as did the boys (Thomas turns 11 in June, Matthew is 6, and Gabriel is 5). Rebecca is also 9 and Hannah is 14. Both are freshly moved from Beginner 1 to AB.