Monday, November 22, 2010

Blog Post #1000!

Wow, time flies!!! I can't believe this is my 1000th Along The Crooked Path blog post. I've known this was coming up for the past several weeks and have been desperately trying to decide what I wanted to post for my 1000th entry. There's sort of a lot of pressure here, I mean, you only post your 1000th post once!

All I could come up with was to take a quick peek back to post #1 and see how far we've come. Then I realized that post #1 didn't have a photo with it. So here's the photo from post #2, from March of 2007:

It's only been 4 years (well, OK, closer to 5 at this point....) but WOW, have we changed! Well, not The Map Man so much -- he's still just as handsome and tolerant as ever. Maybe a little less hair (and a little less color to what's there). But still, you'd recognize him anywhere.

Me too, I guess. I actually think I'm heavier at this point (which is VERY disturbing...really need to do something about that). My hair got longer. Then shorter (right now it's very VERY short). I assume I'm wearing a different pair of glasses now, but can't tell for sure from that photo.

J stopped keeping his hands in his mouth years ago. In fact, J's undergone the largest transition since that time. We were still dealing with Autism on a daily basis back then. Now we go days at a time without even thinking of that term. I know for sure he wasn't potty trained yet back then. I think he had weaned (but probably only recently). Wouldn't he be thrilled to read this....

Zoo Boy has grown a whole bunch, but he's still basically the same funky little dude now as he was back then. And I say that in the most loving way possible -- he's a unique entity. He just recently expressed an interest in becoming an Author (which both surprised me and made total sense to me at the same time), and outlined his story idea for his first book to me just the other day. It's a great story line, he's already got fascinating characters developed and an interesting plot. I offered to be his scribe if he wanted to start writing it, and he's giving that some consideration. "But would anybody want to read a book written by a kid?" he wondered out loud. I think he'd be surprised at just how many would. My guess is that, even without having put down a single word yet, he'll be published before I of the many-pages-needing-editing will.

I'm on my third computer since starting this blog (will be on my 4th as soon as finances allow me to replace this borrowed dinosaur -- it's QUITE limiting not to be able to view or edit video). To our farm we've added a horse, lost a horse, added turkeys, lost several wonderful dogs, gained several more including a Lab and a Big White Dog, both of which I wouldn't have ever thought we'd have. We've changed hay suppliers several times. We've changed grain dealers twice. We survived a major financial upheaval. J has plunged our family head-first into the world of dance, causing a major shift in both my work schedule and time for pursuing my own hobbies. We've gotten involved with an incredible group of fellow homeschooling families who have become good friends and valued fellow travelers on our journey.

I guess we've just sort of matured into our lives. And it's good. It's all good.

Ok, your turn. Valued reader, why do you read this blog (all 1000 posts of it!)? What are your favorite types of posts? Whatever the reason, I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to become a little part of our lives, and I hope you're still reading when I hit my 2000th post!

7 comments:

Alisha said...

I read because Enki intrigues me and has for a long time. And your blog shows me how it can be worked out. I did finally purchase it, but alas, it just doesn't work for me the way it seems to work for your family SO well! Possibly because I did not embrace it early on when my kids were just beginning school. Anyway, it still intrigues me and I enjoy reading how you implement it.

Cathy said...

Hello from New Zealand!

I enjoy reading your blog largely because you post about the content of your educational work and the photos of your good books.

Although we are homeschooling using Waldorf, I am curious about Enki (it was too expensive for us), and of course there are many similarities to what we do.

It is also great to see some boys - not too many bloggers out there doing this kind of homeschooling with their boys.

Look forward to the next 1000 posts.

Cathy

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your 1000th post! I've been reading your blogs since J was...oh, maybe 5 years old? Before that, I followed your posts on J's autism blog and on the RDI-HS group.
I love to read about your boys and all the amazing progress they have made...you and J have been a huge source of inspiration to me over the years. You guys have given me so much hope...and often, I see my own son (8 1/2 with ASD) make similar progress, just a year or two behind J, so reading your blog often gives me a preview of the wonderful things to come in the future.
We don't use Enki ourselves, but I enjoy reading about the wonderful things you do with it....Matter of fact, I actually bought "Five in A Row" from you several years ago and it's been a great fit for our family.
Thanks again and keep those wonderful posts coming!

Alyss said...

Congrats on 1000! I just finished two years over on my blog and wow, it's crazy to look back on this whole body of work I've created :)

Thanks for this awesome blog. I read it (faithfully :) because I love hearing about your work with Enki, and I have come to know and care about your family. You do an AMAZING job of describing the school work your family does and I am waiting with bated breath to hear about Enki third grade. I think you and I would be awesome friends if we lived closer. I envy your farm. I love hearing about what J is up to and how Zoo Boy is coping with this next thing in his life.

Oh, and you are a great writer. Ya know, the basics like full sentances, editing and being able to string thoughts together into coherent paragraphs. You'd be amazed at how many "bloggers" can't do that :)

Thanks for being so awesome. I look forward to 1000 more posts! :)

Anonymous said...

I read just to see what you guys are up to!

taisa said...

I love keeping up with your blog, to see what you are up to and to see Enki in action a few years ahead of us. I love that I can read the Enki curriculum and then see how it looked in practice in your home. I've also loved your lists of seasonal books and go back to those regularily. Thanks for keeping this blog and letting us in on your lives a little!

Stacey said...

Congrats on 1,000 posts. I enjoy seeing your schoolwork in action! I have gotten some great ideas from you on painting, storytelling, and movement. I also appreciate the peeks at farm life.