Go Norway!

I'm so proud to be half Norwegian.

Not only do their skiers dance on a mountaintop,



but also the Norwegian curlers' pants have their own Facebook page.



Go NORWAY!

School Stories part Whatever

It's been an exciting week at Smalltown School, and it's only Tuesday.

Yesterday, at Ernest's Upper Campus, the science teacher did an experiment with potassium and there was a lot of smoke and the alarm went off. That was perhaps the most exciting science class ever.

In my first grade neck of the woods, we've found interesting things on the playground. On Monday, it was a giant pile of doggie-doo. Today, it was a dead crow. Yes -- there it is:



First graders are sooooooo curious about these strange things! And of course when you tell them, "Step back, move away," they all creep closer.

Tomorrow will be equally thrilling -- the 8th graders have to be at school at 4 a.m. to leave for their 3-day trip to Catalina. I envy the two families that live right across the street from the school -- they can just push their kids out the door and they are there. The Handy Husband suggested drawing straws to see who will take Matthew to school, but I don't think he was serious.

Who is going to have to take Ernest to school at 4 a.m.? Smalltown Mom Handy Husband Frank view results

UPDATE: In a boldly surprising move, the Handy Husband volunteered to take Ernest at 4 a.m. Then he went to work early. Hooray for the HH!

Don't Call Me

Tootsie's got a complaint about telemarketers. That brought back vivid memories of one of my earliest blog posts (the fourth, to be exact) about the time when the Soap Opera Digest telemarketer swore at me. I can still hear his nasty voice in my mind. Ah, memories.

Funny thing, they still keep calling. They called today, as a matter of fact. I've asked them over and over again to put me on a "do not call" list. I try to keep my temper, really I do.

But I no longer succumb to phone solicitations. My alma mater, police charities, cancer societies, surveys...those are this month's most recent callers...sorry folks, you are SOOL (def. #2). I signed up for the national "Do Not Call" registry. Why isn't it working?

Please feel free to vent here...what's your biggest telemarketer complaint?

Mon Amour Secret

Valentine's day seems to be the perfect time to express my love for...



Ah, Pepe. Pepe my love.






Happy Valentine's Day.

National Condom Week

My M-I-L clued me in that this is national condom week, but I haven't found an official website. I love the line from The World According to Garp. "No glove, no love." If the glove fits, wear it.

Condoms are comical in Japan: all photos by Frank, 2008.

Pants Kingdom

What the ?? you are asking? I don't know either. A friend in Taiwan sent this to the Handy Husband today. Click on the picture for a better view.

"Even the biggest of birds can fit in our pants."

Methinks their translator substituted "birds" for another word meaning male chickens. But that's a green owl in there.

100

Today is the 100th day of school. That's a big thing for the little kids. They bring projects with 100 things, make hats and noisemakers, and parade around the school. For the staff, it means it's downhill from here on -- 80 days left!

What are you celebrating today?

The Wrong Box

I have an update on the mysterious package, which was supposedly sent by me (it wasn't) to the wrong address in England and caused me a very annoying 5 a.m. phone call.

Well, it came back to me. From England. Even though it really wasn't me that sent it. The customs declaration said clothing valued at $700. I was tempted to open it, but instead...

I took it to our local UPS store and fortunately was able to talk to someone who knew what he was doing. Here's a shout out to competent customer service personnel!!!

Probably my phone number was entered by mistake (one slipped digit can make a lot of difference -- I've had a lot of wrong numbers for a local cabinet shop). After he looked it up, he recalled some other packages going to England that day, sent by English people. He said he'd look into it, so I left the package there. This mystery is out of Nancy Drew's hands.

And as far as the real Wrong Box? That's where I learned everything I know about tontines. If they never find the owner of the box, maybe I will get it back in the end. That's sort of tontine-like.

I still wonder what was in it.

Jelly Beans

Ernest's 8th grade class took a field trip to the Reagan Library last week. I skipped this one...hanging with the whole class of 8th graders is too much like lunch duty! However, I am driving to Hearst Castle for the next CJSF field trip.

Ernest liked Air Force One a lot, but he couldn't take pictures inside. He was fascinated with how they built the building. The side walls were built, the plane was put in, then they added the end walls and the roof. My curious architect.


Now this is an interesting portrait.

Scary jelly bean teeth!


The kids were told to dress like you're going to work at the White House. Ernest had a white dress shirt and tie, and since he didn't have a suit jacket he wore his trench coat. I'm sure they wear trench coats in DC in the winter.

I did find a blue pinstripe suit jacket in my costume closet, but Ernest didn't want to wear it. It clashed with his black pants. That was a thrift shop find for Frank when he had a history class dress-up a couple years ago. I found a packet of Pop Tarts in the pocket. Eeew, gross, 2-3 year old Pop Tarts!

I wonder how old those jelly beans are.

Temptation

That donut hole lasted about 5 seconds after I took the picture. I'm trying to save the rice krispie treat for dessert.

But this is the real temptation:


Alice in Wonderland jewelry. I want.

What have you been tempted by today?

Excuse me?

I was sitting at the computer Friday afternoon, wasting time until I had to pick up Ernest from tennis try-outs, when I had an unexpected visitor.

Excuse me? Pee on my post, will you?

Aww, how can you resist that face?

Ernest says he lives down the street.

Diary

The Diary of Anne Frank is in the news. Not having read the new version in question, I can't comment about the new inclusions that might be offensive to some. I do wonder why the school knee-jerked and pulled it on the basis of one parental complaint, rather than following their normal procedure. And then I also wonder, did they upgrade to the new version without reading it first?

Ernest read the older version last year in 7th grade, and was able to visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam on his trip last summer. Entering the museum he said he "went through metal detector like a security line in an airport." The actual diary is on display, encased in "something like bulletproof plexiglass." This is a replica that they were allowed to touch.

Ernest bought a copy of the book at the museum. "I don't think I'll ever read it again, it was just something I wanted to have." Hey, I can read it now and see what the fuss was about.

(Photos and quotes by Ernest.)

Even Big Boys Need...

Even big boys need...


...naps.

It must have been a boring movie.

Comments

To answer some questions, I don't mind anonymous comments at all if they make sense. But I've been getting a slew of spammy comments on old blog posts, which irritates me. I'll just keep deleting them for now.

Sleuthing

For several weeks now, my Tupperware glasses have been disappearing. I have interrogated the usual suspects, who claim they are not and never have been in possession of the missing items.

Today I took my trusty torch, and spied over the side of the primary suspect's bed. Bingo. The 5 missing items were located, along with a real glass and 7 partially used water bottles.


The suspect (Ernest) was later apprehended and was appropriately embarassed.

Just call me Nancy Drew.

Lost Weekend

Yes, it was LOST. Frank and I spend most of the time catching him up on many of the Lost seasons he's missed. I was happy to rewatch what I had forgotten. It was nice to hang out with him.... He has a season and a half to go before next Tuesday.

Now we are taking a Lost break and finishing a House disc. Spoiler alert....House discovers that cats like to sleep on electric blankets. No surprise here.

What did you do this weekend?

Storm Stories

We've survived our week of storms with very little trouble.

Not surprisingly, I've been too scared to navigate through the teenager's room to search in the depths of the closet lazy to find my negatives of the 2008 El Nino storm, when we lost 5 trees in the back yard.

But this year, in 5 days of storms, I am thankful that all our trees are intact, although I see two tipped over down by the creek in the neighbor's yard. (The clean and tidy neighbor not the messy one!)

I had a small leak in the place that always leaks if the wind drives rain sideways into the house.

Around the corner, a fence has fallen over. This house was for sale for ages, was bought a long time ago, and is still vacant. They've had a dead tree for 6 months. Glad it didn't fall over. Wonder when that will get fixed.

The city water meter reader was doing his rounds yesterday when it was raining heavily...as I passed him I saw the meter hole was gushing out water. Today I saw him with a pump slung across his back. Good thinking!

The kidlets at school must have cabin fever. Why are those huge fifth graders in such a small classroom? Fifth was moved to the lower campus a few years ago. OMG, they can hardly get around the desks. They should be in the larger regular classrooms, not the portables. At least they'll be out of there next year when the new building is finished.

We had several breaks in the storms, so Ernest and McQueen seized the opportunity for bike rides. They came home either muddy or soaking wet. Falling in a deep puddle will do that to you. This time, his shoes did not kick open the dryer because I put some old towels in, too.

I'm hoping for some clear weather this weekend...McQueen has his birthday party tomorrow and Ernest has a zoo day Sunday.

Searching...

We're in day 3 of what is supposed to be almost a week of consecutive rainstorms.

I wanted to post some photos of the big storm of 1998, but I didn't want to pull apart the scrapbook to scan them, and wouldn't you know I can't find the negatives. So this afternoon is going to involve some tearing apart of Ernest's closet (which used to be my storage catch-all) to find the box. I usually know where everything is, so I hate it when I can't find something.

Direct Relief International

Another good and safe place to donate --

Direct Relief International, located down the street from the Handy Husband's office, provides medical supplies all over the world and is rated by Forbes magazine as 99% efficient in fundraising. They have already made emergency shipments to Haiti.

I have donated to DRI, Red Cross, QIFD, and Doctors Without Borders.

Help for Haiti

My beloved niece's best friend from high school worked with the Peace Corps in Haiti. She has strong ties to the country and many friends there, and has compiled a list of aid sites on her blog. Please click on that link for information.