Stage Combat workshop

Billy took part in a 6hr Stage Combat workshop today with Blake Wells from the Sydney Stage Combat school.  From the reports I've heard back, they did things like fake slapping, punching, pushing etc and they got to do the really cool stuff (in my opinion lol) and learn some basic sword skills :)

It looked like a great day - he really enjoyed it.  Thanks to Blake and Upstage Youth Theatre for organising it. 

50K in 30 Days

Starting tomorrow, I'm joining in with RWA's 50K in 30 Days - like NanoWriMo but in June :)  And we get to set our own goals - we don't have to go for the full 50,000.  There'll be writing sprints, motivational quotes and the wonderful support of a group of others aiming to do the same thing.  (There's over 50 participants registered so far).

I'm aiming for 20,000 words.  666 per day.  Let's hope that number isn't an omen :)

Currently, I'm sitting at just under 50,000 words in my work in progress.  I haven't written in a week so I have some catching up to do to make the 80,000 by mid-July.

So if you see me too much on Facebook throughout June - you have my permission to slap me with the wet fish!

The last couple of weeks have been crazy.  I normally average about 5-6 hours paid work each week (as well as homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, taxi driving etc etc etc).  Last week I did 15 hours paid work.  This week I'm sitting at 7 with a couple of hours still to go.  It seems like every project I've had going has needed to be finished in these two weeks!  I've sent 2 new websites live, finished off working with a client on his Powerpoint presentation (to be presented by him tomorrow), worked on a heap of RWA stuff that has to launch tomorrow, done all the usual household stuff and dealt with a sick child.

Now I just want to rest - instead I'm signing up to write 600+ words / day.  Sometimes I think I'm insane :)

Field archery

Last week's archery was moved outdoors due to our usual venue being unavailable. 

We had gorgeous weather and had fun doing something different.  We were a lot closer to the targets than we normally are when we're indoors (we normally shoot at 10m for the younger ones and 18m for the older ones - this time we were all at 5m and 10m).  Our coach made it tricky though by changing up the scoring - things like reverse scoring, so a bullseye was only worth 1 point, and the outside circle worth 5.  Or only scoring if we shot an arrow into the corner of the target etc.  It was actually quite challenging and a workout for the brain :)

This week we were back indoors - luckily, as it is raining here today.

Waterwatch day

On Friday, we met up with a small group of local homeschoolers to learn how to do water testing to determine the health of the Hunter catchment area.  Some of us had done this a few years ago, so it was a good refresher and we learnt new information as well.

It was in a beautiful spot on the Williams River at Dungog - and we had perfect weather.  Not too hot, not too cold!

Firstly they gathered together to listen to what we'd be doing.  We then continued down to the river and did a site assessment - things like how much vegetation was there, was the area affected by erosion, pollution etc.

They were then taught how to take the water sample...

And the kids took it in turns to do their own...

They then measured air and water temperature,

measured the pH of the water..

a perfect 7 in this case,

then measured the salinity of the water (measured by electrical conductivity),

and the turbidity of the water (how clear it is).

Then after lunch, we went back down to the river and did dipnetting and bug identification.

Thanks to the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority for a great day.

Finding my mojo

Thanks for the support on my last post - I wasn't all that down about it, more frustrated, but it was good to hear your lovely comments.  Especially those who said I inspired them - I'm honoured :)  (And no, I wasn't really denying myself chocolate - I'm not actually that much of a chocolate person.  Chips / crisps on the other hand - they're my downfall!!)

It did make me look at what I did achieve in a more positive light though. In that time (since mid-Jan), I've:

• added ~36,000 words to my WIP (work in progress), and
• exercised ~55 hrs

That's not bad at all :)  I do forget to stop and celebrate what I've achieved.

We had our writer's meeting today and yes, I did have to wear the 'hat of shame' :)   I was the only one this time - so well done to everyone else for meeting their goals!

I've set my goals for the next 2 months.  I'm aiming for approx 80,000 words in my novel, and am currently up to 47,500.  I'm going to aim to get it finished (as a first draft) by 21st July.  I really, really want to say I've completed it! 

I've drawn up a schedule - to add another 30,000 words, it's 500 words per day with a couple of days free where I know I have a full day out.  It's doable, but I need to focus and make the time.  And not leave it until the last thing in the day when I'm tired and it's all too hard.

Now to get motivated on the exercise again too!

111 and out

Anyone who is a cricket fan can tell you that 111 is an unlucky score.  (Just a disclaimer, I'm not a cricket fan - I am just married to one so knowledge comes to me by osmosis!)

Well, it proved unlucky to me.  111 days in a row of exercising AND writing.  Then came the weekend.  I didn't exercise at such - I soothed my guilt by saying that I was hard at work at the camp and walking lots etc etc.  I'm good at justifying...  I may have let myself get away with it too, except I didn't write either.  I tried the 'but I thought about the plot' justification, but I was feeling harsh and wouldn't let myself off the hook.

So the streak has been broken.

Unfortunately, since then I've found it hard to start again.  The streak is broken.  I don't have to prove anything.  I can take a couple of days off.  I deserve a break - just like I deserved that chocolate I just ate! (See, told you I was good at justifying..)

I need kickstarting again.

The fact that I have 10 days left before my next writer's meeting and 7,906 words to write in that time to meet my goal isn't even enough to work yet.  I can see me wearing the hat of shame at the next meeting...

Butt-kicking welcome :)

District Cub Camp 2012

Billy went on a District Cub Camp on the weekend, and once again, I went along as a parent helper.  (I was in the 'kitchen' which meant food prep, cooking and serving for ~100 people, using BBQs and gas stoves!)

Our tents set up at Clarence Town - Williams River Holiday Park

Our 6 cubs, leader and 2 Scout helpers...

joined with around 60 other Cubs, lots of leaders and helpers..

for a weekend of Scouting traditions..

learning about morse code..

semaphore...

braille (also phonetic alphabet and using communication devices)...

They ate lots..  (this was our kitchen - state of the art!) - and then came back for more!

And even got in some fishing..

while the fog burnt off for two gorgeous days..

And what finishes a perfect day better than a campfire!

Homeschooling Monthly Memories - Apr 2012

Most of this month has been school holidays here in NSW (and in our household).  So while there's been a lot of learning, we're still not back in the swing of 'intentional learning' yet.

Cubs:

Kite making

Carrying the pack flag in the ANZAC Day march

Games learning countries & their flags

Other activities:

Started a new circus class

AFL season has started back up - with their team winning 2 out of 2 so far

 Friends:

It's been a big month of visits with friends including having a friend sleep over.  He also spent time with cousins from both sides of the family.

We farewelled friends who are about to travel Australia for an indefinite period of time.  This is the most awesome piece of play equipment I have ever seen in a free playground!!

Intentional Learning:

We travelled to Sydney Opera House to watch the Bell Shakespeare production of 'Macbeth'.

There's also been time spent 

• coding
• making videos with friends and editing with special effects (like reversing the film, slow motion etc)
• more card tricks
• lots of Minecraft, TF2, Portal 2 etc
• and lots more...

Orange Belt Grading

Saturday was Defendo grading day for me.  I went into it feeling focused and reasonably confident, but for some reason, once we got to the techniques part, it was as if everything I knew flew out the window.  You know that feeling when you sit down for an exam and nothing looks remotely familiar?  I was completely blank.  My training partner seemed to be suffering from the same problem, and I think our nerves were feeding off each other.  It didn't help that we were the only two going for the higher belt.

Afterwards my sensei said that by half way through the grading, he had decided to only award us black tips (kind of like a half-way mark to the next belt).

But we rallied, somehow, and dug deep enough to scrape through to our orange belt!

So I have a mixture of pride that I did it, and disappointment because I know I could have done better - but regardless, I have my orange belt!!

I have at least 12 months to prepare for my next belt - so I need to practice enough to transfer the knowledge from my head to my muscle memory.  Obviously it doesn't stay in the head under pressure :)

I love this photo - this was before round 3 of 4 of 'back-to-back' ground fighting, with about 5 minutes to go of our hour long grading.  We all look completely and utterly exhausted!

I did it!!

Homeschooling Monthly Memories - Mar 2012

This is part of a monthly wrap-up post meme run by "Our Worldwide Classroom".

Once again, I'm amazed at how much we pack into a month!  So here's Billy's March...

March has involved days out:

Circus Workshop

Media studies - Harry Potter exhibition

A water-pistol day (in the rain!)

Another nerf day.

And learning new skills:

Cubs has provided plenty of fun and learning opportunities:

Billy carting

Clean Up Australia day

Making a Jungle book resource and running the game on the pack night

Weekly activities are back into full swing - dragons martial arts, archery and drama.  Footy training has started back, with a trial game today.

We're focusing on a few areas this year as far as 'intentional learning' goes:

Australian history

• Watched an episode of My Place series 2
• Viewed an exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum about shopping in the 1800s.
• We're reading a couple of great books by Jackie French:

 

Computers

• Billy's been continuing to change his plugins for Minecraft using Java.  
• He's been learning how to use 3D animation software called Blender. 

Maths

• Watching Cyberchase for maths concepts, and playing the Cyberchase Quest online
• Life maths like measuring (cooking), budgeting
• Building scale models using Minecraft - he's currently using our house plans and Google Earth to build a scale model of our house.

Science

• Watching Backyard Science and Scope
• Reading  George and the Big Bang by Lucy & Stephen Hawking


• Trip to the Powerhouse Museum - hands-on exhibitions on steam, experiments and space
• Built an LED clock using a kit
• Reviewing particles in matter - how solids, liquids and gases move.  Triggered by this video demonstrating the 3 states of matter using Minecraft.

Reading

• Finished the 1st Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda
• Started Peter Pan