Objectivist Round Up #253

Welcome to the May 24, 2012 edition of the Objectivist Round Up!

Another short and sweet edition this week, as I have been busy and distracted by preparing for ATLOSCon 2012 (not too late to register!), the third conference of the Atlanta Objectivist Society. Our conferences are a lot of work for many people, but they are SO worth putting on because it brings people who share a love of Ayn Rand's ideas together for a weekend of learning, thinking, and celebrating life on earth.

We truly have a wonderful group of people here in Atlanta, and I am happy to know each member of ATLOS. And I think it is simply fantastic that so many people from outside of Atlanta are willing and able to join us and contribute to our conference. It makes the experience so much richer and enjoyable.

One of the talks I'm doing this year is about our group and how we got started and how we do things. I am very much looking forward to that, and I love swapping ideas with other community group leaders for making our groups vibrant and dynamic and fun and effective. I'm also doing a couple of Positive Discipline-related classes with my partner-in-crime Kelly (always good times!), and participating on a panel talk about fitness (representing Team CrossFit!). And I am attending many wonderful classes myself--I can't wait to learn about classic cocktails! Ryan and Morgan will be attending a couple of classes, and Brendan is going to create and destroy an economy in his two-part class this year.

We are hosting a wine and cheese tasting event at our house, going rock climbing as a family, hosting the BIG party here on Saturday night, hosting Diana's webcast on Sunday morning, "Kid Central" (aka babysitting) during all of the classes, and SEVEN house guests! I'm particularly excited about the special CrossFit workout on Sunday morning with about 16 other people. Yes, that many people signed up to wake up early on Sunday (after the party the night before, mind you!) to go to CrossFit Kennesaw (Gym of Awesome!) to go through some kind of semi-evil team WOD. LOVE IT.

And this is just a taste of what my personal ATLOSCon 2012 experience will be like! There are so many options that the things I'm doing and participating in are but a small portion of what we offer. I can't wait to hear about the experiences of our other attendees and speakers. Each will have a very unique ATLOSCon experience, and that is a wonderful thing to behold.

Whether or not you're joining us in Atlanta this weekend, I wish you a wonderful weekend of living your life on earth! And if you get a chance to attend a regional mini-conference or OCON, please do. Surrounding yourself with others who share your values and passions--there really is no substitute for such an enriching experience!

And now, on to the carnival . . .


Santiago and Kelly Valenzuela presents Image of the Week posted at Mother of Exiles, saying, "I feature an Image of the Week every week, but this week, please click through to see all the images. Every American should know what our government is doing to violate the rights of literally tens of thousands of people, if not more."



Paul Hsieh presents Dr. Orwell Will See You Now posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "My latest PJM OpEd discusses the latest Orwellian attempts to use deceptive language to sell ObamaCare to voters."



Diana Hsieh presents High Heels and Sex Appeal posted at Philosophy in Action, saying, "I don't think that routine wearing of high heels is in a woman's self-intrest, and here's why not."



C.W. presents Comments on Richard Salsman Review of Objective Economics by Northrup Buechner posted at Krazy Economy, saying, "Richard Salsman reviewed Northrup Buechner's book, Objective Economics. It was a very odd review and not what I would expect to see in terms of content or method. Here are my comments."



Earl Parson presents A Little Pre-Summer Interlude posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, "Determined not to let the silence on my blog slide on though the summer, I have posted an interactive panoramic photo I took last summer of some highrise buildings in Chicago's Loop while I was there visiting my sister. Hope your summer is getting off to a good start!"



Darius Cooper presents The options for Greece and the Euro posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, "I list the options facing Greece and the Euro"




That concludes this week's edition! Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Objectivist Round Up using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Food Allergy Awareness Week

Eight years ago today, we were suddenly and dramatically initiated into the world of food allergies. I wrote about the Big Peanut Kaboom a couple years ago if you want to read the whole story.

He hasn't had such a big reaction since, which is wonderful. He hasn't had a contact reaction in years. What's changed in the past couple of years is that I've noticed as he is taking more and more charge of his allergy (remembering and carrying his Epis everywhere, questioning waiters and menus, etc), I am becoming more lax. As the responsibility is shifting to Ryan, it's shifting away from me and his dad.

I'm not especially happy about this. We had a close call at a friend's house over salad dressing made with walnut oil--and I wasn't the one to think to double check the label. My friend did. Geez, I felt like an idiot. And one time at co-op, he interrupted me for the zillionth time and I made him wait (because he'd been interrupting me every 3 minutes for ridiculous things all day). And it turned out that he was scared he might have touched some peanuts. :( He hadn't, not really, but he was really worried. We developed a new interruption plan that day and all was well.

Part of me thinks it's right to hand over the reins slowly to him, and that has been our plan all along. But part of me is surprised at myself. I don't know--have any of you other food allergy parents experienced anything similar? Anyway, I'm having to remind myself to be just a bit more paranoid, when, eight years ago, I was having to chill myself out of being too paranoid. And so the pendulum swings.

And since it's Food Allergy Awareness Week again, always falling on this strange anniversary I feel compelled to mark every year, I'd like to take a minute to say THANK YOU to everyone who has shown concern for Ryan over the past year.

Thank you for helping us look out for this--wow, I was going to say "little boy" but then I realized he's not so little any more--boy in big and small ways.

Thank you to my friends who checked the walnut oil and thought to check it in the first place.

Thank you to family and friends who ask about labels and products and restaurants, and never complain that we go to the same restaurants over and over again.

Thank you for wondering what kind of ice cream is safe and for understanding why we can't go to ice cream places and not making a big deal of such trips in front of him so his feelings aren't hurt.

Thank you for carrying the spare set of Epis in your purse or bag when I've been gone.

Thank you for showing concern and understanding during the times he has been worried or sad (which are few and far between, thankfully).

Thank you for defending me and other food allergy families when you see crazy stuff being written about us on the internet.

Thank you for participating in food allergy walks with us in the past (we are hoping to do it again this year) and helping us raise money for research into treatments and cures.

Just thank you.

The Month of May So Far

I guess I'm on an unintentional blogging break because the month of May seems to be taking up all of my spare time.

So far this month I/we have:

• Met with a real estate attorney to discuss lease-purchasing our old house. (yay!)

• Worked on finalizing the details of the LP with the people who will be renting/purchasing the house. (double yay!)

• Gone to CrossFit as much as possible and making good steady progress with the Oly lifts and can now string together up to four kipping pull ups and up to seven double-unders.

• Visited with my parents who drove down here to celebrate their birthdays with the fam.

• Saw The Avengers when my parents were in town. We almost NEVER see movies at the theater, let alone on opening weekend. It was fun.

• Did a zillionty craft projects that my parents got for the kids. (yay!)

• Shopped for and ordered a new sectional sofa for the living room.

• Worked on a couple of my classes for ATLOSCon 2012.

• Worked on other ATLOSCon 2012 stuff. Because there are about a zillion things that need doing apart from teaching classes.

• Finished up the homeschool co-op school year.

• Learned that Morgan has been invited over to the "team" side of the gymnastics gym and learning all about what that will entail for my future (lots and lots of stuff--she's SO excited).

• Traveled to Chicago with Brendan for a Casey wedding, and met the two new significant others in the fam (awesome).

• Ate Chinese food while in Chicago, including kung pao, wow! I also ate all kinds of other not-great-for-me food, but didn't worry about it for a second because it was a conscious choice and I enjoyed it very much and I know it won't be too hard to get back to normal now that I'm home. 

• Saw The Avengers again. Really, this never happens.

• Read a book. This is what I can do with blocks of free time away from my children. 

• Had fun at the wedding and reception and dressed up all fancy.

• The kids stayed with Kelly and Miranda here at the house, and they all had a great time (find the tag #FavoritesFestival to learn about their weekend).

• Got a pretty birthstone pendant for Mother's Day and had a nice Mother's Day brunch while up in Chicago (though I was somewhat lonely without my kids).

That's May SO FAR.

The roller coaster of fun and busy continues!

• Today the sectional will be delivered. (yay!)

• Still working toward our lease-purchase project, and working on cabin stuff, too.

• Brendan's birthday is on Thursday and I have yet to figure out what we're going to get him. I'm thinking a new sectional sofa might make for a great birthday present, don't you? 

• Morgan has a mini-competition this weekend in gymnastics. Can't wait.

• It's Food Allergy Awareness Week, so I'm hoping to get new videos of the kids recorded and posted.

• ATLOSCon 2012 starts NEXT WEEK. *panic*

• Have to get the house ready for seven guests plus hosting three ATLOSCon events (two of them are rather large). I trust my guests and visitors will realize we just moved here a couple of months ago. *double panic*

And somehow, I have to get to the grocery store, do laundry, pay bills, blah blah blah. Is it any wonder I decided to write a blog post this morning? :P

Anyway, if you don't hear from me here, I'll be back soon. And you can always find me on Twitter and Facebook, where it's easier to share short updates than here at the blog.

An Announcement about the Objectivist Round Up

I just posted this note to OBloggers and the Objectivist Round Up Facebook page:


Hi everyone!

I have been proud and happy to manage the Objectivist Round Up for nearly five years. As you may know, Kim McNeill got the carnival started and I have been managing it since about the tenth edition. It has been, I think, a general success and a fun activism project.

The carnival got started before Facebook really took off and before Twitter even existed (I think). The carnival model of swapping blog posts and hosting was a very effective means of getting more blog traffic and getting to know other bloggers who had shared interests. However, I think blogging has changed quite a bit since the advent of FB and Twitter (and other social networking sites, too).  You may have noticed this, too--less traffic in blog comments and more on FB, etc. 

I've been pondering how this has affected the Objectivist Round Up for the last year or so, and contemplating where it should go. Participation has dropped off dramatically (I've noticed this is true for the other carnivals I read and participate in as well), and because it's super easy to share blog posts and other items of interest via social networking platforms, I believe that the carnival model of blog post "magazines" is less effective and necessary than it was a few years ago. 

And on a personal level, I have more activism projects (and an extra kid) than I did five years ago that I would like to devote my time to. 

So I have decided to retire the Objectivist Round Up effective July 19, 2012, the fifth anniversary of its inception. I think five years of nearly weekly editions is a really good run, and I like the idea of wrapping this project up deliberately rather than letting it fall by the wayside.

We will still have records and links to past editions at Blog Carnival (though if someone could help me compile those links elsewhere in anticipation of Blog Carnival's inevitable demise, I would appreciate it very much). I will keep the Facebook page up, too.

You can see there are still hosting dates available between now and then (http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_2069.html), so if you want to host one last time, please send me an email!

If someone else is interested in picking up the ORU (or doing a new version of it), let me know. I highly recommend starting fresh, though, and to not use the Blog Carnival platform, which we all know and hate. 

Thanks to all of you who participated, hosted, shared links, gave us a Like on FB, etc. It has been a truly fun project and I'm happy to have met so many of my fellow Objectivist bloggers because of it. It's been a great project, and I'm really proud of what we've accomplished.

~Jenn

A Short Note

Dear Readers (Especially People Who Know Me In Real Life):

I would like to ask a favor of you. When you see something like this:

And you read the mouseover message:

I had a hard time with Ayn Rand because I found myself enthusiastically agreeing with the first 90% of every sentence, but getting lost at 'therefore, be a huge asshole to everyone.'

Ask yourself the following question: Is Jenn "a huge asshole to everyone?" 

Then, because I really think it's important to thoroughly examine all premises, truly consider the possibility that I'm doing it wrong. Then ask me some questions about it and give me a chance to convince you that I am NOT doing it wrong. (Because I'm not.)

And if you feel inclined to tell me about some Objectivist you met once who was a jerk to you, allow me a few more minutes of your time to help you see that there are many, many, MANY more Objectivists out there in the world who are non-assholes than those who are.

Sincerely,

Jenn



P.S. I know this week's XKCD upset some of my Objectivist friends. Not me. It doesn't bother me in the least. It's a tired old stereotype (like how homeschooled kids don't have friends or social skills) that I can't even take seriously because it's so untrue. It's so untrue that it drains all of the humor right out of it.

Instead I view this kind of stuff as a good thing, because we have been provided with a golden opportunity for us to counter this false stereotype, to bust this myth.

I hope my many kind, benevolent, happy, fun, non-jerk Objectivists friends and acquaintances near and far decide to use this opportunity (and future similar ones) for a little mythbusting. The contrast is so evident and glaring, it won't even take very much effort.

Objectivist Round Up #249

Welcome to the April 26, 2012 edition of the Objectivist Round Up! It's short and sweet this week, folks. I'm still in between houses in our moving process and busily preparing for ATLOSCon which is LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY! If you want to register, go here. I hope you'll join us. It's going to be our best conference yet. :D


And now, here's our micro-carnival! (Thanks, as always, to everyone who participates and hosts and spreads the word. hint hint)



Diana Hsieh presents Riding Horses: Lila and Elsie posted at NoodleFood, saying, "Thanks to a visit from my mom, I've begun riding my horse Lila's companion horse, Elsie. It's an adventure!"



Paul Hsieh presents Why Science Whistleblowers Are Ignored posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "Government-funded medical science is becoming increasingly corrupt. And this may corrupt medical practice."



Edward Cline presents A Renewed Assault on Freedom of Speech posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi of California and her fellow Democrats wish to “amend” the First Amendment in order to prohibit corporations from saying anything or spending anything during national elections. There is some satisfaction to be had in no longer having to identify her as House Speaker. I never liked seeing her wield that gavel. Someone once remarked that a hammer in hand causes one to search for nails to pound in, and she was always searching for nails. She specialized in coffins."



Darius Cooper presents Guest Post by Florentine signory from 1340 posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, "See the Florentines argue for their freedom"




That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Objectivist Round Up using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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ATLOSCon 2012 Registration

Our registration is open! Go check it out here!

You'll see we have a jam-packed schedule of classes and social events. Register soon so you can get into the classes you really want!

I can't believe it's only about 5-6 weeks away. And since some of ATLOSCon will take place at our house, I'd better get crackin' at unpackin'! (I just made that up.) Really, it's the perfect incentive to scare motivate me to get things kinda sorta put away.

So register now! And thanks to Kelly and Melissa who did all the registration stuff!

It Was 20 Years Ago Today. . .

. . . that I gathered up all my courage and told Brendan that I liked him.

:)

You can read the story here, if you're interested.

Twenty years sounds like a long while, and nearly impossible, since we're still both only about 25 years old. :P

Yup, I got me a good one. I love you, Brendan!

Answering the Unanswerable

Well, I've been trying to figure out what to do all week now. It's been surprisingly difficult.

I've read quite a bit of not-great stuff written about me this week, and I have to say, what's been most shocking is how much of it is built upon half-truths and suppositions and assumptions and guesses. A tower of assumption upon assumption upon assumption can't stand for long, right? I don't know. Maybe it can.

There are some things I don't want to go unanswered, and it's difficult not to want to correct every error I've seen, when I think I'm being wronged, and my friend, too, and even my husband.

But I've seen this show before. I know how the plot twists and how it ends--first a correction, then a counter, then the inevitable degradation into semantics and psychologizing and more character accusations. It's a tired worn-out plot device and I want no part of it.

So why am I even bringing it up? I guess because I can't stand to allow it to go completely unanswered, if not specifically, then at least generally. I need to say: there is a hell of a lot of misunderstanding going on, and a healthy dash of half-truths and insinuations, too. And a near-complete lack of assuming positive intent. If you care, I can explain in person. Though I'd like to hope that if you care, you can already see this stuff, too.

I don't know. I've been searching for a way to handle my moment in the tabloids with grace and aplomb. I guess there's really no way to handle it, really, since I have neither the time nor inclination to devote to correcting all of the inaccurate things that have been written. And since I'm not willing to handle it directly, then I am choosing to let it go for now.

I have a fun weekend planned; I plan to have it.

I have a fun life planned. Again. Gonna go ahead with that plan, too.

I guess that's all I really wanted to say. There is Wrongness on the Internet, but I am choosing not to correct it right now--possibly ever--because I've got better things to do.

And as far as the things I'm choosing to do in the world, to paraphrase Zoe Washburne: I'm not so scared of making a mistake that I ain't gonna try to do what I think is right.

Parenting Through a Move

Howdy! Things are still all kinds of crazy, but I can see a bit of the dust beginning to settle. Just a bit, but I'll take it.

This move has been tons of work--apart from The House Closing from Hell (which I will write about, promise) and the work of physically moving out of the old house into the new, this move, like any adventure, has involved parenting challenges. Some of these challenges are ongoing, but I want to write about how we are handling them anyway.

We moved around a LOT when I was a kid, so I actually have quite a bit of personal experience with this--from the kid POV. Moving always was hard, and though I look back now and am glad I had the experience of living in different homes and in different parts of the country and going to different types of schools (public vs Catholic), each time our parents announced an upcoming move, it was HARD. So I have a lot of sympathy with my kids. And I also kind of don't, which I'll explain. And, obviously, I have a LOT more sympathy with my parents now that I'm doing this from the parent POV! :D

If you know my kids, you can probably predict, by personality/temperament, who has had the easiest time adjusting and who hasn't. My predictions were fairly accurate, though there was a surprise curveball, which I'll explain.

Miss M. She has had the easiest time adjusting BY FAR. No big shocker there. In fact, the only time she has been sad about the move was when I had to explain that after we sold our house located in the swim-tennis neighborhood, we'd no longer get to go swim at the pool. She cried for about five minutes. Then I explained that as long as we did still own the house we WOULD get to swim, and that we'd probably own the house into this year's swim season. And we also talked about how other pools exist in the world. The tears dried up and she has been fine ever since.

Our swimming pool talk happened a couple of weeks before we moved, and she never had any residual trauma after we moved to the new place. She is even happily sleeping in her own bed in her own room, which was the thing I was nervous about for her. Now I'm not saying she might not have more emotions later  about this event, but I think for now, she is happy and content and fairly untraumatized by the whole thing. Check!

Then there are the boys.

Ryan is just exactly like me, and since I moved around quite a bit as a kid, I thought I could fairly accurately predict how he'd feel and behave. And I was pretty much right on, excepting for my tendency to forget how DRAMATIC he can be. (Probably I was DRAMATIC too but Ryan has his own Drama Style.)

It started for him during the pre-house-search discussions, ramped up during the actual house search, peaked during the mortgage/buying of this house process, and has been holding steady through the whole actual move process. I actually think the delays we experienced as a result of The House Closing from Hell helped him because it gave him more time to adjust to the actual moving and gave him hope that it might not happen. He was sad when we did finally close on the house, but the next week or so before we moved into the home, he was (seemingly) happy and excited to play in the huge empty house and help us move boxes.

Sometimes he'd act out on his feelings in inappropriate ways--screaming at us or his siblings over little things as a way to vent his emotions about the move. I always remind him in those moments a better way to express his emotions and redirect him to the thing he's feeling sad about (the move) instead of the thing he is ostensibly sad or angry about (someone looked at him wrong, for example). We reiterate that it's okay to feel sad about this, that this sucks from his POV because this is a decision that is not within his control (the suckiest part about the whole thing, I think), but that it's not fair to the rest of us when he says or does hurtful things to others as a way to feel better.

One thing that helped all of us deal with some of his outbursts difficult emotions was a chat I had with him before we knew if we'd actually get to close. He was having a sad moment and feeling very "woe is me" about the whole thing. So I told him a story about the time my family moved, just a few weeks before my 10th birthday (our move happened just a few weeks before his 10th birthday, which is next week). Only, instead of moving ten miles away and keeping my same schedule and friends and familiar places to go and visit, we moved from Pennsylvania (where we'd only lived about six months) to Connecticut. So I had a whole new place and school and everything was very different. I did not have a birthday party because I was so new at the school I didn't know anyone to invite, really. By contrast, Ryan is having a birthday party with lots of friends.

I didn't tell him this story to lay a guilt trip on him (I am anti-guilt-trip). I tried to keep any type of "see how good you have it?" tone out of my voice. My purpose wasn't to make him feel sorry for almost-10-year-old me or to make him feel guilty for having it better than I did. My purpose was to offer a different perspective about how these kinds of things sometimes happen. He has a difficult time seeing things from other people's points of view in general, so this sharing stories and perspectives is becoming a useful parenting tool for me with him. Laying everything out there in an open and honest way, without a martyred or "told ya so" or "woe is ME" tone of voice is very powerful and he really responds to these kinds of conversations.

I can tell he thought things over and he seems to be dealing with the actual move better than I'd imagined. He is still sad, and going back to the old house often elicits some strong feelings--but only for a moment or two. He seems to be settling in and having adventures and is not acting out in big ways, or in ways I can attribute only to the life upheaval we've all experienced. We've had friends of his over to play and will do more of that once we get all of our stuff put away!

He really appears to be adjusting, and I am very happy. I know there will be residual emotion about this--possibly forever, but he is talking to us about how he feels and we are letting him express and have those feelings as long as he can do so in appropriate ways. Which he is. Wow, it's like he's maturing right before my eyes.

The wildcard in this whole adventure has been Sean. Apparently, I underestimated him terribly. :(

He is 3 and 3/4 (though he'll deny it if asked), and I think I assumed that this move wouldn't affect him so much, his being so young. Here's where I failed to remember that A.) 3 year olds are people, too, and B.) he is enough like me and Ryan, so OF COURSE he'll notice and think about it and feel big emotions about it. I also clearly failed to remember how THREE YEAR OLDS are in general (or at least my three year olds), but I blame parenting amnesia. He is in a serious limit-testing phase, complete with passive resistance noodle legs and whining. AWESOME!

Sean seemed fine when we'd visit the new house and when we discussed moving to the new house. But I don't think I ever really took the time to explain to him what "moving to the new house" would really mean. Such as "this is where we will sleep now" and "all of our furniture and toys will be at the new house now and the old house will be empty." So these concretes, which I might have helped him anticipate, were a big surprise to him.

Since the moment we walked into the new house on the morning of the move, he has been asking to go back to the "regular house." Only he pronounces it "reg-a-ler" which makes it more endearing/delicious/heartbreaking.

I have had many conversations with him about what this means and held him while he cried (and my heart broke one evening a few nights after we moved, when he was trying so hard NOT to cry about it). I have tried to be extra-patient with the increased whining and demands. I have taken time to connect a bit more with him (all of the kids, too).

Then I happened on a fun game which seems to help. Sean is a talker, like his brother before him, and really needs to talk things out in order to process what he's thinking and feeling. So we play the "Same and Different" game. I ask him "What is the same about the old house and the new house?" And he'll look around and say something like "There's carpet." And we talk about that. Then I'll ask him what's different, and he'll say something like "The mailbox." And we'll talk about how the new mailbox and the old one are different colors.

This "game" has been immensely useful and helpful to both of us. It's a way of opening up conversation about this subject and gets him talking. Sometimes he will be sad about something that is different. I don't ever try to convince him not to be sad about what's different, or try to demonstrate why something in the new house is better. Sometimes he will be happy about what is different or the same--again, I try to remain neutral and just let him have his thoughts and feelings. Often, I will share what I'm thinking with him, too, so he can see that he isn't the only one who is going through this. "Yes, I'm feeling a little sad about the old house, too. Remember our old balcony? That was fun." 

Since we started playing that game, he seems to be feeling a bit better and asks to go back to the "reg-a-ler" house less often. He still asks, and we talk about when we're going back next, or sometimes I just let it go. Now, when we go back to the other house to move stuff (still, sigh) he will ask to go back to the  new house. Some of this is his three-year-old-related contrarian way. But I think some of this is accepting a bit that we are really moved in here.

So things are better on the Sean front, but I feel like I completely dropped the ball in not anticipating how difficult a time he'd have adjusting.

Overall, we are all handling things very well, and we're only about three weeks in. We are settling and the kids are settling and we are starting to move forward a bit. I'm sure there will be more emotional fallout over time, but for now, I'm happy with how well we're all doing.

What's What!

There's too much to 'splain, so I will sum up.

• We acquired some furniture and other things (like a tent!) from some friends who are moving out of town (weep). This is great, only it's all sitting outside on the porch because we can't bring it in the house yet because the new carpet isn't coming until Thursday.

• The previous owner's pool table will be leaving tomorrow. I think. He hasn't called me yet to verify this. Thankfully, this pool table lives in a room that will not be getting new carpet on Thursday. 

• New carpet happens on Thursday.

• Various other inspections and maintenance stuff happens tomorrow and Thursday. Like new carpet (did I mention that?).

• Would love the names of good electrician peopleguys around here--got any suggestions?

• Even though we haven't moved all the furniture into the house really (hooray for tarps and very little rain), we have still managed to strew a lot of our crap all over the place and the next two days will be spent by me--and the minions kids--de-strew-ifying. Because, new carpet on Thursday!

• Whoever planted these pretty flowers all over the yard really knew what they were doing. I'm terrified I'm going to kill them.

• It's hard to convince some banks that you have really moved to a new address, and surprisingly easy to convince the driver's license bureau that you have really moved to a new address. (So easy, in fact, that if I were a different person with a different moral code, it would make for a really amusing April Fool's prank.)

• I can't find my homeschool "attendance" (yes that begs scare quotes) records and my paperwork is due. I wonder how easy it will be to convince the Cobb County Home Study Office that we have really moved to a new address.

• An upside to moving--I have never EVER been this caught up on laundry ever in my life. I went into the (enormous) laundry room yesterday to start up a load: AND THE LAUNDRY BASKET WAS EMPTY. I was so startled, I went and did the dishes instead.

• We have so much to do still at the old house, I want to weep. Seriously, it's paralyzing.

• I haven't weighed myself in over two weeks because the scale is still at the old house.  I have no clue how much I weigh and I feel FREE. Maybe I weigh less than I did; maybe more. The point is, I DON'T CARE. I'm considering leaving it there as a "gift" for the new owners. (We received similar "gifts" from the previous owner of this house, though they are definitely less considerate and certainly weirder than a scale.)

• In related news, I am still kicking (my own) butt at CrossFit. And I feel awesome.

• I am researching getting a dog (or a puppy). And I am surprised to find myself wanting to get one RIGHT NOW and sad that we'll have to wait a few more months if we want to do it right. And I do. 

• I want to go to the beach this summer (before we get said dog). Should we go to the Atlantic in Georgia or the Gulf in Florida? 

• Finally, whenever I try to contemplate the enormity of the things I need to accomplish over the next two months, my mind starts to drift and all I want to do is stare out the window at the pretty flowers that someone planted that I will one day annihilate out of ignorance and/or neglect. 

• But then I remember that we will get through it one task at a time. I find that if I approach these enormous overwhelming tasks in WOD-fashion, it helps. Just get through the next set of whatever,  chip away at it little by little, until the timer goes off or you melt into a puddle of sweat or you finally only own one house or what-have-you. The important thing to remember is that we will all live through this.

That is all.

The One About the CrossFit Open

Yeah, so, I did the CrossFit Open this year and I am here to tell you all about it.

I am SO happy I did it--for a $20 registration fee, I got a little taste of what CrossFit competition is like, a good sense of what I am truly capable of at this point in my life/CrossFit career, and an overwhelming feeling of camaraderie with the awesome people I was cheering on at my gym and far away (and they cheered me on, too). A bargain for $20.

And I wasn't even going to sign up originally. I knew I'd be doing the Open WODs as part of the Outlaw Way programming that I follow at my gym, so I figured I might as well save my $20. But--and this could just be the way my psychology works--there was something about forking over that money that made it REAL. That made me want to not miss a single Open WOD. I think I tried harder each time, because this was a REAL CrossFit competition, damnit, and I'm nothing if not up for a competition.

And I wasn't alone--many of my fellow gymmates did the Open, too. It was fun to go check out our team scores and know that my efforts contributed to our overall performance. And, like most things CrossFit, it was fun to share our misery and triumphs during the experience. "Couldn't get that 61st snatch on 12.2? Totally understand." And "Did you hear so-and-so PR'd her push press during 12.3? Awesome!" 

Really. So. Much. Fun. Way more fun than running a 5K. Even if you do that with friends, it's not the same. They aren't cheering for you along the way as you get to the 150th wall ball, and you aren't encouraging them as you are judging their burpees. And there is certainly a sense of accomplishment at the end of a 5K, and often a t-shirt, but it takes a LOT longer (for me) to finish a 5K, and it's A.) boring old running (or walk-bouncing if I'm going uphill, heh), and B.) that's it. With the Open, there was another WOD to look forward to for FIVE weeks! Yes, I'm aware of how insane that might sound. I'm not hating on all you lovely 5K-10K-MillionK people--if that's what you love, oh, please do it. But I love CrossFit way more than running.

My one reservation about officially signing up for the Open was that it would trigger my Perfectionism Monster. But the Monster must be on vacation, or sufficiently subdued these days. I felt competitive, but not perfectionisty. My whole attitude throughout the whole thing was "Let's see what I can do!" and "I got this." and "Wow, I did better than I thought!" And therefore, the Open experience makes me more confident about trying a local Masters or scaled competition. Because, you know, I got this.

How did I do? You may be interested to learn that I finished in 704th place in the South East region (that's for individual women). I'm not exactly sure how many women competed in my region, but I think I landed solidly in the middle somewhere, maybe last third or something. Which I am THRILLED with.

My scores (for full descriptions of each Open WOD, you can go here and click on the tabs):

12.1 82 burpees in 7 minutes. I kept a nice steady pace and didn't have to stop and rest. I'd done 100 burpees in 8:07 a month before, so 82 was a little short of my goal of 86.  I considered redoing this WOD, but decided not to, because I was a bit worried about awakening the Perfectionism Monster (and this was supposed to be fun, after all), and also, frankly, because it's, you know, burpees. Duh.

12.2 60 snatches. Okay, so my 1RM is 90#, so I knew it was pretty unlikely I'd get that 61st snatch. However, I optimistically set out the weights for the 100# snatch in the event I had time to try. And I ALMOST had time to try. I had a good 40 seconds left when I failed the 60th snatch (ARGH!) and had to regroup for about 20 seconds in order to find the strength to get to 60. By then I was out of time to set up for 100 and try for it. SO CLOSE. And I was super proud of my 60.

12.3 200 reps. WAY higher than I thought I could do. Keep in mind, box jumps still freak me out mentally (I did step-downs off the box) and I'd only just gotten real live toes-to-bars the month before. And after all that, it was the push press that slowed me down. Funny, huh? You know there's something crazy when the box jumps are the easiest part of the WOD.

12.4 182 reps. I sighed a little when I saw double-unders finally show up on an Open WOD. It's not that I can't do them, but . . . I really can't quite do them consistently. I've only recently achieved the ability to do one at will on purpose, and have been working on stringing them together, which for me goes like this: single-double-single-single-double-etc. But hey, I figured I'd get at least ONE DU if I had time after the wall balls. And I had about 2.5 minutes after the wall balls (which I got to throw at a 9' target for the first time--I had to actually jump many times!). It was the cheering, and the feeling of competition, and I think I was in the zone, and somehow managed to pull off 32 DUs (and goodness knows how many singles). Lots of people were cheering me (I was the only person in the gym doing the Open and so I had a personal audience) and it was super fun! :D

12.5 5 reps. I knew we'd have pull ups on the Open, and I knew I'd get a low score on that WOD. I only got my first unassisted pull up ever on February 20th, a month ago! But when I saw it was chest-to-bar pull ups?!?!?!? Oh holy cow. My plan was to get my three thrusters and then spend the rest of  my 7 minutes trying for a C2B pull up. I wanted to go down swinging, you know? And I managed to get TWO. So my measly 5 on this WOD includes a PR, so I am not at all sad about it. In fact, I'm just tickled!

Here's the thing, they structured these workouts so that the vast majority of participants could accomplish something, even if it was only a few reps. And that was pretty clever, I think. It was a great way to make the competition achievable for the likes of regular people like me, and competitive for those going on to Regionals and the Games (like this guy who was part of Team CrossFit Kennesaw). There was, as it turned out, literally only one skill I would not have been able to pull off had I made it that far in that WOD--a muscle up. But that was buried deep into 12.4. I hope the CrossFit Games peopleguys keep this kind of structure for future Opens, because it would have been no fun at all for most of us to have a WOD begin with muscle ups.


So that was my first Open experience. I am, if you are new to my blog, 41 years old and have been doing CrossFit for 18 months. Prior to CF, I was doing nothing--no fitness program at all besides occasional walks around our neighborhood or hikes. I'm also down around 65 pounds over the last ~2.5 years (that's mostly paleo and partly CF).

I also homeschool/chauffeur/feed/clothe/boss three children (and I boss my husband as well, heh), manage a couple of small businesses in my spare time, and, oh yeah, got through The House Closing From Hell AND moved to a new house DURING THE OPEN. (I mention all of this in case you're thinking you're too old or busy or tired to keep up with something like, oh let's say, next year's CF Open, for example.)

I was nervous about participating, and seriously nervous before some of the WODs, but I am SO HAPPY that I did this year's Open. There was only one skill in the whole thing that I literally couldn't do, and I have a whole year to improve my weakest areas (double-unders and pull ups) and get stronger (so maybe a 100# snatch might be no problem next time). I can't wait to see what I will be capable of in next year's Open!

ATLOSCon 2012 Speakers and Classes

In case you missed this, we posted a list of classes and speakers for ATLOSCon 2012 last week!

You can click over to our web page, or I can just save you the trouble and list them here. I think I'll do that:

The Blind Leading the Blind: Music in Modern Culture Jordan Alexander

Environmentalism Ken Andrews

Panel discussion and Q & A on Exercise Ken Andrews, Jenn Casey, Tori Press, Diana Hsieh

The Mortal Flaw in the U.S. Constitution: It Isn’t What You Think & It Can Be Healed Stephen Bailey

The Importance and Value of Personal Style Miranda Barzey

Growing Up Objectivist: Part 2 Antonio Barzey and Miranda Barzey

The Ethics of Using Government Services and Employment: A Discussion Aaron Bilger

Exploring Ayn Rand’s Theory of Concepts Stephen Bourque

Economics For People Who Don't Understand Economics: We're All Peopleguys Now Brendan Casey

Temperament Traits: Effective Communication Includes Taking the Metaphysically-Given Into Account Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore

Design Thinking Tim Cheadle and Tori Press

Politics and Current Events Discussion: Presidential Election Edition John Cox

What’s So Darn Special About Firefly?: An Analysis and Guided Discussion Kelly Elmore

Using the Mistaken Goal Chart in Positive Discipline Parenting Kelly Elmore and Jenn Casey

The Selfish Society: Why People Fear It and What We Can Do About It Kyle Haight

Forgiveness, Redemption, and the Virtue of Justice Diana Hsieh

Philosophy in Action Workshop Diana Hsieh

Maintaining Rational Optimism Paul Hsieh

Controversial Topics in Gun Rights and Self-Defense Paul Hsieh

The Method of Invention Atul Kapur

Israeli Dancing Rachel Miner

Romantic “Extras” Rachel Miner

Getting Things Done (GTD) Rachel Miner

Introduction to Firearms Safety Ryan Moore

Style and Individualism in Modern Architecture Earl Parson

Ortega and Rand: A Comparison William Perry

The History and Science of Five Classic Cocktails Tori Press and Trey Peden

Adapting to Change: Up-skilling for Happiness Maggie Roberts

Sexual Attraction and Fantasy: A Philosophical Exploration Jason Stotts

Video Games and the Joy of Living Charles Tew

OHomos Q & A: All I Ever Needed to Know About Homosexuality I Learned In This Panel Tom Varik, William Green, Earl Parson, Trey Peden

Nurturing Persistence Amanda Vogel

Paper Money vs. Gold, Part I: The Problem Keith Weiner

Paper Money vs. Gold, Part 2: The Solution Keith Weiner

Getting Better at Solving Crossword Puzzles Stella Daily Zawistowski




We'll be updating our ATLOSCon 2012 page on our website as well as our ATLOSCon 2012 Facebook page (Like Us! Like Us!) as plans get solidified. We are working on the registration stuff now, so that should be up pretty soon. Stay tuned!

I think this will be the best conference yet! Thanks to Kelly and all of the ATLOS peopleguys and our speakers who are working super hard to put everything together.

Home and Homeless

Well, we did it. We, and the vast majority of our crap stuff, are now all in our new house. These last few days have simultaneously been the longest and quickest days EVER.

Everything really went smoothly, and I now have a sense of where all of our crap stuff is going to go in the new house. Only, we decided that we really do need some new carpet stat, so we'll be in limbo for the next week or so while we get that sorted out. I know, I know. Please believe me when I say that this new emergency carpet is 110% necessary. Those who've seen (and smelled) the current carpet can verify this.

I have the best in-laws ever, who came down and worked worked worked in the old house, and then worked worked worked in the new house. It was wonderful and yet I wish we'd had more time to just hang out and visit.

So now we have two (three, really, if you count the cabin, and I do) houses, but neither really feels like home. The old house, which we visited this afternoon, no longer feels like home, having been emptied of (most of) our crap stuff. It was kind of sad, and Ryan especially has had a lot of sad feelings about all of this. Me, too. It's all bittersweet.

And this new house doesn't yet feel like home. I know from experience (by the time I was Ryan's age, I'd moved about 7 or 8 times) that this new house will one day become home. But it takes time to settle in and get used to new things, and develop a new routine. So we'll get there, but we're not there yet. And we all feel a little homeless, which is not a fun feeling.

Maybe it's because I've done this before, and maybe it's because the decision to move was mine and Brendan's (instead of being a helpless kid who really has no say in such matters), and maybe it's because we picked out a house we thought would suit us well. Or maybe it's really just being a grownup in general, but I can already sense that feeling of home developing.

I love pulling into our new driveway (and I'm certain that one day I will be able to turn around in it without running over a flower bed).

I love the space we have, inside and out, to just be.

I love the flowers that are awakening everywhere.

I love the way our furniture already matches the dark wood trim and accents in the house (wallpaper and crazy paint colors notwithstanding).

I love the quiet now that we are a bit farther from the highway (though that has its disadvantages, too).

I love love love our screened-in porch in the back, where we've eaten dinner every night since Saturday, watching the sunset and talking late into the dark.

So yeah. Two houses, feeling a bit homeless. But not for too long, I think.

It Finally Happened

So anyway, on Friday, we actually closed on the new house! Can you believe it? Neither can I, almost.

I am dying to write up the details of the Fraudulent Scamming Bad Guys before I forget them. But I fear it might have to wait a bit longer, due to an extreme case of The Busy.

We moved two UHaul truckloads to the new place this weekend, and while it seemed like a lot of work to actually do, I'm dismayed that it hardly appears that we've made any kind of dent in all of the things we have to move. Still, I think it was money and time well-spent, because that will cut down on the amount the mover peopleguys will move for us. They are arriving Saturday morning.

I have to say that nearly 18 months of CrossFit has MORE than adequately prepared me for lifting and carrying boxes up and down staircases for hours on end. I'm not even sore today, except for my foot, which I hurt when I tripped/slipped on a piece of sidewalk chalk in the garage. Nothing serious, but if not for that, I wouldn't be feeling any pain at all today. And that is nothing short of AWESOME!

Speaking of CrossFit, I made it through the Open WOD 12.3 on Friday morning before the house closing, with 200 reps, which was a bit more than I thought I could do! The fact that I could get through the first three WODs as prescribed is nothing short of amazing to me. I'm sure my luck won't hold out much longer though, as there are still two more WODs and anything that includes numerous pull ups, dips, or double unders (I can do these, but not very many, or consistently), or any muscle-ups or rope climbs (I can do these not at all) will mean a terribly low score. But my Perfectionism Monster must be on vacation, or terrified of me or something, since somehow this doesn't even bother me. I'm having way too much fun doing the Open to be bothered by perfectionism stuff.

Back to the move. The kids seem excited for the most part. I know from experience (we moved a LOT when I was a kid) that moving is tough, so we are helping the kids (mainly the older two) work through some emotions about it. For example, it just hit Morgan that after we sell the old house, we won't get to swim in the neighborhood pool any more. That was a bit of a shock for her, poor thing. We're hoping to sell this house as fast as possible, but we do at least plan to keep coming to the pool until we sell it, so we will probably have a few more pool trips ahead of us.

The new house is being cleaned tomorrow and homeschool co-op starts up again on Wednesday and my in-laws are arriving on Thursday and moving is Saturday. And I am still planning to keep up with my CrossFit schedule and Morgan's gymnastics schedule as usual. Plus with the packing packing packing up here. So I might not see you for a while.

I'm tentatively planning a Come And See, We Finally Got Our New House party for April 7, so if you're in town, you're invited! My friends have been so supportive and helpful during this process, especially those who listened to my tales of the ever-increasing level of WTFery and sympathized and watched my kids and gave us moving boxes and are planning to come and help me organize (you all know who you are). So I think we all need to celebrate this achievement together! :)

I'll try to check in this week, but if I don't, assume that I am very busy cleaning or packing something, or lifting something heavy.