Pi Day

In addition to Daylight Savings Time (which I didn't realize until yesterday!), it is also Pi Day.

Remember our Pi pie?

Happy Pi Day, everyone.

CapyBabies

I've expressed my love of capybaras before. We are so lucky! The zoo has 4 new capybaras, 3 males and one female. We saw them on Sunday! New friends for Caplin Rous! Here are 3/4ths of them.




The zoo has a video of them on Facebook. I wonder what their names are.

I was so happy to have the company of my Beloved Niece and Great-Nephews. Mr. Thomas does not like creepy crawly bugs, but he does like snakes. McQueen is partial to the snow leopards. We had a fun time, while Ernest went to a meeting. Next Saturday is Princess Day (a thinly disguised frog appreciation event). Ernest usually has to play a frog. I wonder if he gets kissed?

In the Pink

This one's for Debbie, who always makes me feel in the pink!

The flamingos were gorgeous on Sunday.








While I love my little point and shoot camera, it is impossible to see the display in the sunlight. Usually I am shooting blind, so I was happily surprised that these pictures came out. I miss a viewfinder.

PupPees

Don't get me wrong, I love Barbies and confess I have a collection of them, but the other night I was screaming in disgust over a Barbie commercial.

For her Barbie's piddling dog.

I can't find the exact commercial on YouTube, but they've apparently updated the toy since this one was made:



Because now, the paper turns YELLOW.

Eeew, just eeew.

Sunday Funnies

Hello, did they just photograph my sons' rooms? It's uncanny! Frank's even got the Christmas lights.

For Jen

This post has been dillying and dallying and whiling away its time in my drafts area, so the references are a little out of date. But still....I think it's worthwhile.

Here's a shout out to someone who makes my day every time I read her blog, a great friend and blogger: JenontheEdge. We've had a few things in common lately.

Like Jen, I also write on my hands. Only on the front, where I can see it.


That does not stand for Up-Chuck, University of California, Un-Clear, or even Unlimited Calimari lunch, or something else that might be interesting -- it's just to tell me, "Small Town Mom, you have to do upper campus lunch duty at the last minute so you better not forget it!" (I took the photo after I got home.) And there's nothing wrong with a Sharpie, Jen. I used to do belly dance tattoos with Sharpies. The ink comes off nicely with a baby wipe.

The really funny thing is that I scrubbed this note off that night, but the next day? I had to write it again! (We've had a lot of people out sick.)

Jen also had an informative post about recycling glasses. I can barely see out of these but they work OK for the stumbling to and from the bathroom to put in the contacts. I donated 5 pairs of Frank's old glasses to the Lion's Club.


Just recently, Jen saw an interesting Barbie display. Stay tuned tomorrow for my most recent Barbie reaction.

Saving Someone's Job

This story caught my eye, about an employee who volunteered to be laid off so someone else's job would be saved.

I was in a similar position 10 years ago. I worked for an insurance company TPA (Third Party Administrator, but we didn't put cover sheets on the TPA reports!). We were unsure if our contract would be renewed. If it was, we were told that one person would need to be laid off. And I volunteered to be that person. I was dithering about staying home with the then-4-year Ernest, my elderly mother needed more assistance, and my husband and I agreed it would be the best thing for our family. Unfortunately I couldn't save someone else's job -- the contract was not renewed and everyone was laid off.

Now I work as an aide at an elementary school. I get laid off every year. I am on a strange cusp, always the last aide to be laid off, and the first to be rehired. I feel a similar dilemma coming on this year. I won't have a child at the school next year, I don't really need the job, and I'm a little burnt out. There is a wonderful young woman, hired after me, who has a teaching credential, but she is working as an aide. She was a long-term sub last year...I think if the school had an opening, they would hire her. However, just like last year they are now pink-slipping all the nontentured teachers, so there is slim hope of her getting a teaching position. And she's pregnant! And...

I tell you right now, if my quitting would save her aide job I would do it in an instant.

Baby Steps

For the first time since I started this blog in December 2006, I changed my template. Adventurous, huh? I mean, I don't want to rush into things!

But there were so many choices, I was a little overwhelmed.

I always find when I am overwhelmed, inaction is the easiest course for me. Like the thought of dusting all my knicknacks is overwhelming, so they just sit there growing little coats of fur. My beloved niece was telling me about weeding her garden...baby steps, she said. That's good advice, my dear.

I'll go dust one thing.

Catalina

Frank had some great class trips in middle school:

• 6th grade - Yosemite in winter. Snow! I know many of you are sick of snow right now, but that was his first time in the snow and it was so exciting.
• 7th grade - Band trip to Great America.
• 8th grade - Mexico with his Spanish class. That's when he came back with this hairdo:

Ernest has not been so lucky with his middle school trips.

• 6th grade - Yosemite trip cancelled permanently because too many chaperones slipped and broke bones the year before. They went to Hollywood instead. It doesn't quite compare.
• 7th grade - no band trip because the current band teacher doesn't do that.
• 8th grade - no Spanish trip because there is no Spanish class any more. No Washington D.C. trip either because no one wanted to plan it.

However, the school administration came through and planned a trip to Catalina for the 8th graders. Ernest and classmates went last week and had a great time -- there was snorkeling and kayaking and a lot more. Only, he DIDN'T TAKE A CAMERA! Sigh.

It's Cool, Dude

Priceless! Thanks to my Friend Debbie W for the picture. They are playing R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
They're doing it again tonight at a fund raiser for our school's music and art programs.

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.

Stay Silly

Lori wrote a beautiful birthday post about her son. I hope they always have fun together and do silly things!

I think the world needs more silliness. Sometimes I get silly at school. It happened again last Friday. I was watching some first grade girls on the play structure, while their teacher did P.E. with the boys, and something clicked and I climbed up the structure and slid down the slide, squealing with delight as I reached the bottom. The girls loved it. The superintendent was walking across the schoolyard at the same time -- I wonder what he thought! (I think he's OK with silly -- sometimes he wears a Tigger tie.)

So do something silly today.

La Tour Eiffel (de Lego)

Ernest loved his architectural Lego so much that I found this for him:

3428 pieces. We didn't have nearly enough muffin tins. Thank goodness most of the bags contained only one type of brick. Grey. Dark Grey.

Ta dah! That thing is huge.

And here's the real thing. All photos by Ernest, from his trip last summer.

"Straight up now tell me
Is it gonna be you and me together oh oh oh
Are you just having fun"

Yes, he's having fun.






What's next? The Taj Mahal? And maybe, someday? This?

Things I Shouldn't Do?

Yahoo just had an article about things men shouldn't ask women to do. It's been so long I don't remember if my husband ever actually asked me to do these things or if I just took over...but I am guilty of the top 4:

#1. His laundry
#2. Buy gifts and cards for other people on his behalf
#3. Plan an entire vacation without his help
#4. Make him a sandwich

And #6 is for the kids:

#6. Be his wake-up call

In return, he takes care of the cars and major home repairs. I think it's a fair deal.

For My Friends

My bookshelves are overflowing. The piles on the floor are towering. I have to declutter a little, so I have some books I'd like to pass on.

Heat, by Bill Buford (thanks, Vanessa, now I am passing it on to someone else) Jenn @ Juggling Life's got heat!
A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity, by Whitney Otto
Forever, by Judy Blume
The Last Song of Dusk, by Siddharth Dhanvant Shangvi
The Last Wife of Henry VIII, by Carolly Erikson -- goes to Jen on the Edge!
Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand (yellow cover)

Leave a comment if you want one or more.

A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

You know you live in a small town when...

...the big event on a Friday night is the annual Christmas tree burn. The fire department took the opportunity to talk about fire safety.

One little tree sure went up fast.



Then they lit the pile.



Whoosh!






Afterwards we went to a smorgasbord. Then I watched The Accidental Husband, a lame movie where the wrong guy got the girl. Team Colin! (I Googled Colin Firth Hot and that's what I got.)

What's hot for you this weekend?

"Where's The Ice Cream?"

Ernest is having a little problem waking up this week. Only this week? No, it's ongoing.

This morning, after his second "wake-up" call from me, he called out, "Where's the ice cream?"

Huh? Wha? He was dreaming. He said it was a line from one of the zoo skits he did last summer.


The night before I woke up to hear a noise -- thump -- everything on my husband's dresser was knocked to the ground and my electric blanket controller was pulled out on the floor. I got up to find an ugly brown cat just outside the door, staring and taunting me. I went back to bed. And WOKE UP. It was all a dream. I wish I'd dreamed about ice cream!

What have you dreamed about lately?

Olive You

Why is it that the best picture I take every holiday is the one of the boy with olives on his fingers?


Olive you, too!