CHANGE IN PLANS MUST

Things are going to be CHANGE. But more about that later.  Right now, I am writing my Tales for Tots curriculum for work.  On the schedule for September are... 

Tuesday September 6^th

How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Wednesday September 7^th

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino

Tuesday September 13^th

Zack’s Alligator Goes to School by Shirley Mozelle

Wednesday September 14^th

Invasion of the Grumpies by Thal Dixon

Tuesday September 20^th

The Three Little Dinosaurs by Jim Harris

Wednesday September 21^st

Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Land Crab Cakes Later) by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard

Tuesday September 27^th

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Wednesday September 28^th

What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz

I am most excited for Zack's Alligator because we will make cute alligator magnets out of clothespins and What Makes a Rainbow? because we are doing MAGIC MILK!  I love magic milk!

Have you ever done it?

Magic Milk

Materials needed:

Whole Milk
Plastic Take-Out containers or Deep Plastic dinner plates
Food coloring
Dawn Dish Soap
Q-Tips

With just a touch of your little Q-Tip Wand, you can make EXPLOSIONS of color!

1. Pour enough milk in the dinner plate to completely cover the bottom and allow it to settle.

2. Add one drop of each of the four colors of food coloring - red, yellow, blue, and green - to the milk. Keep the drops close together in the center of the plate of milk.

3. Find a clean cotton swab for the next part of the experiment. Predict what will happen when you touch the tip of the cotton swab to the center of the milk. It's important not to stir the mix just touch it with the tip of the cotton swab.

4. Place a drop of liquid dish soap (the Dawn brand works well) on the tip of the cotton swab. Place the soapy end of the cotton swab back in the middle of the milk and hold it there for 10 to 15 seconds. Look at that burst of color! It's like the 4th of July in a bowl of milk: mini-explosions of color.

5. Add another drop of soap to the tip to the cotton swab and try it again. Experiment with placing the cotton swab at different places in the milk. Notice that the colors in the milk continue to move even when the cotton swab is removed. What makes the food coloring in the milk move?

How does it work?

Milk is mostly water but it also contains vitamins, minerals, proteins, and tiny droplets of fat suspended in solution. Fats and proteins are sensitive to changes in the surrounding solution (the milk).

When you add soap, the weak chemical bonds that hold the proteins in solution are altered. It's a free for all! The molecules of protein and fat bend, roll, twist, and contort in all directions. The food color molecules are bumped and shoved everywhere, providing an easy way to observe all the invisible activity. At the same time, soap molecules combine to form a micelle, or cluster of soap molecules. These micelles distribute the fat in the milk.

This rapidly mixing fat and soap causes swirling and churning where a micelle meets a fat droplet. When there are micelles and fat droplets everywhere the motion stops, but not until after you've enjoyed the show!

There's another reason the colors explode the way they do. Since milk is mostly water, it has surface tension like water. The drops of food coloring floating on the surface tend to stay put. Liquid soap wrecks the surface tension by breaking the cohesive bonds between water molecules and allowing the colors to zing throughout the milk. What a party!

Repeat the experiment using water in place of milk. Will you get the same eruption of color? Why or why not? What kind of milk produces the best swirling of color: skim, 1%, 2%, or whole milk? Why?

Additional Info

Detergent, because of its bipolar characteristics (hydrophilic on one end and hydrophobic on the other), weakens the milk's bonds by attaching to its fat molecules. The detergent's hydrophilic end dissolves in water and its water-fearing end attaches to a fat globule in the milk.

So, ANYWAYS, things, they are a-changin'. Not just at work. Today I had 2 appointments.  One with Larry the Cucumber at Vocational Rehabilitation and the other with my therapist, Jan Levenson-Gould. My first was Larry the Cucumber.  Very nice, but blunt and informed, man. 

We talked about the job market, how much I could expect to make vs. how much I had taken out in student loans.  I was hoping VR could help PAY for school... apparently they can't help much at expensive private schools like Broadview.  If I was going to a state school they might be able to, like, cover the books that the Pell grant didn't.  And so we talked about that...

Not just because of the money, though.  Because my arm/spine thing, is hurting still and not healing yet.  And vet tech is a really physical major. A really physical CAREER.  And I am the kind of klutzy person who GETS HURT.


So, I might love animals, but maybe it is a bad move for me to be a vet tech.  


And the money is an issue.  Not just the school cost, but the fact that Vet Techs make around 25,000 a year... where as ASL Interpreters are, on average $38,850... but can be much much more.  As in, like $40 an hour. (I currently am at the top of my game at Thanksgiving Point at 8).  If I were to go back to ASL and Deaf Studies (which is what I was majoring in at UVU (then UVSC) back before the headaches began), become a 'terp, well, maybe I would have money to pay for a home of my own, have the pets I want, maybe do some rescuing.

Not to mention even if the economy gets even worse, there is a chance vet tech jobs will be even harder to come by... whereas social programs that need interpreters will still be needed.

The other thing is the education itself.  With the Vet Tech program I get a Vet Tech degree.  Which is good ONLY if I really become a vet tech. It's not a bachelor's degree.  But I CAN get a bachelor's degree in ASL and Deaf Studies.  A bachelor's I can do something else with, if I choose not to be an interpreter... a bachelor's I can continue with to get my Master's of Library Sciences so that IF a Children's Librarian job (ie: dream job) ever opened up, I could actually get it.  If it never did, I'd still have ASL.

So, in the next 2 weeks (because that's the date for UVU) I need to decide for sure, but I think I am going to change.  Change Majors... majorly.  Change majors, change schools, change plans, change identities... okay, so not that last one. ;)

BIIIIG Changes.  Kind of freaking terrified?

31 and more than that butterflies

I am here at work writing a 3 hour daycamp on butterflies for 5 year olds. That's a lot on butterflies! We are making butterflies out of coffee filters, butterflies out of paper plates and toilet paper rolls, butterflies out of paint, catapillars out of paper chains, and the catapillar to butterfly life cycle out of pasta.. and ourselves. TOO MANY BUTTERFLIES for one day!

A few days ago I turned 31. THIR-TEE-WON! Whiskey Tango Fox Trot?! I'm old. (However, I have a super awesome boyfriend, so I don't much care. (Yes, MyNigerian)) But the day was pretty awesome.  My mom, BoyKid, Rinny and I went to Macaroni Grill for lunch. YUMMY!  Then, I went with the sybs to Color Me Mine. I made a gnome and a light switch cover for my glider room.
Then my whole fam went that night to Divine Comedy and laughed our heads off.

So there you go... my day. And my birthday and yes, I am still sickeningly in love with MyNigerian.

OH! And I got 3 new hermit crabs! That brings my new colony to 5! Maroon 5, Weezer, Archie McPhee, Jack, and Tolei!  They are all quite characters, too!

How far will Kipluck drive to Get fried balls of dough? TO THE CAPITAL BUILDING!!!!

Yeah. So this week some major ups and downs. First a silly tidbit. Rinny and I had to be at the UEA Convention for work plugging or Field Trips, trying to get high schoolers into The Fairchild Challenge, networking with groups who might give our kids some events to go to for their "Environmental Immersion day," and collecting an inordinate amount of free pencils and whistles. Woohoo! Anyway, after that I really wanted to splurge and get something yummy. As in hush puppies and fish at Long John Silver's which I was pretty sure there WAS on State Street in the Sandy to Salt Lake area. So I figured I would just drive till I saw one.

Well, after awhile even though I pretty much knew there was no way there was a Long John Silver's on that street, it was like playing Chicken with myself. I WAS going to drive the whole street. And so, yeah, ended up at the Capitol Building to take pictures. hee hee!

I love the Lions. And the other statues. And the funky angles (I just adore architecture anyway)! And the random Spanish lady asking me if the Brigham Young in the capitol was the same as the prophet. (Si.).

So, that was Friday and some silliness. Earlier in the week was a bit more emotional.

First, there was Josie. The very first person who called ended up being the PERFECT person for her. A young Grandma who wanted her as a cherished pet. She will live with kids and grandkids to play with (which is much better than goats and sheep who she never really liked and with whom, well, she was the lowest on the totem pole. See how she ate?
This was how she ate EVERY DAY. UNDER the trough, picking at crumbs. MY PRINCESS should NOT have to grovel for food!) Josie is a PEOPLE Goat. She thought she WAS a human kid and liked playing with the neighbor girls (my mom's surrogate grandchildren). Also, Josie HATED the cold and wet and would have been miserable in the snow and yuckiness, especially with less people to visit her... and now she will have attention everyday with a warm goat house (and a lady who admitted she will probably end up inside the house more often than not this winter!) and her fluffy dog bed again. And all this farm stuff is moot anyway since they were going to sell her and who knows who'd buy her! But probably not someone THIS AWESOME.

Even with those scriptures about sheep and goats that now make me purse my lips a bit Heavenly Father surely answers prayers for little goats. I know he did. My mom and I were praying so hard and then this lady... and she hugged me 3 times when she met Josie and told me how beautiful and perfect she was (and she IS but I am glad SHE knew!) and told me all about her missionary son and hugged me again and talked so sweet to Josie and she was just... PERFECT. She is EXACTLY an answer to prayer. Pretty much the only way God could have topped this was to make this better was to magically give ME my own farm to keep Josie on.

But He's not Santa Claus or the Genie... He's Heavenly Father. And He obviously loves his GOATS as much as His SHEEP after all.

(Which totally reminds me of a story I am putting in the other blog. YES. A church story about Goats. Kinda. Hee hee!)

But I sure will miss her.

Then I went to my house (because sometimes I try to visit my OWN house and take care of things (even though my awesome roomie is caring for everyone) to make ME feel better.) after a trip to the Pet Store. I was missing Josie and decided to just poor that into my other pets. So I decided my little gerbil Boo needed some spoiling and hadn't got a new chewing treat in awhile. So I bought it and went home to her... to find her dead.

She had JUST died. The Roomie had seen her acting just fine just the night before. I had to pet her to even be sure she WAS dead because she looked just asleep, but not responding to my voice. I started crying so hard. There were some of those tears in there for missing Josie. But truly, Boo was the BEST Gerbil.

Most gerbils hide when people tap on the glass. BooBonic came out of hiding when you tapped. She would come to the top level to visit you. She would often follow the dogs in her ball. The Roomie works with the disabled, and her main client, J, loved Boo. She never once bit him or anyone else, not in her whole life with me. He loved to help care for her and it was part of his routine. Boo actually became the smallest animal in their Pet Therapy Program! She was so patient with children and the disabled. She was active to the end. She never slowed down or was arthritic. She got a few grey hairs, but other than that, she was very healthy as an old gerbil. I know she likely died of old age... she looked just like she was sleeping. When I burried her, she looked like she was sleeping still. I marked her grave with a stone painted like a pumpkin for one of Rinny's TV spots, then labeled with her name and dates.

She was sweet and funny and a WONDERFUL gerb. I will miss her terribly.

Lifestyles of the Funny and Famous

This past week has been a hard one. I had to give up my Josie girl and do a week long camp. I have been sick, physically... and depressed terribly over my little goat. I miss her. She doesn't belong at that farm, in a swarm of other goats competing for what little food they get right now (stupid hay crisis), one of many, dirty and forgotten. Josie deserves to be a PET. A family pet who is pampered and adored and loved and spoiled and fed fresh hay and grains and only the best nutrition (and maybe a fruit loop or 2 as treat.). I hate that she is there, crying and alone. And I hate that I am working on the other side of the property with 11-14 year olds and stressing out and crying every night.

It was a good class. The kids were funny.

But it was a struggle. And I was hurting a lot and being very ill is not helping.

ANYWAY, finally the week was over... and with it ended the Summer Day Camp Season. Next comes the Field Trip Season. But there is a break in between. And on Friday was -TA DA-The Brian Reagan show!

Oh the perks of clout... of my SISTER. Friday,we totally got in early for Brian Reagan because of Rinny. We got recruited to "VIP services" awhile and were able to lay blankets down on the platform.

Here is the thing. I took pictures and a few videos at Brian Regan. Of where we were, of Rinny accidentally parking in front of his tour bus so we looked like stalkers blocking them in, of us driving around in golf carts, of the crowd coming in all scary like a zombie movie, of Mali and Katie (of the Chums!) chillin' and giggling, and, of course, of BRIAN REAGAN! So why aren't they posted? BECAUSE THEY ARE LOST!!! I have been using the search function and everything and the files are just... gone. So, there you go. BUT, just know this, HE WAS HILARIOUS!!!!!!

As for the fame of my sister, remember how awhile ago she did Good Things Utah and taught them ice cream and Peanut Butter Play Dough? Well, they REALLY liked her and asked her back to show some crafts. When they asked for some ideas she might do she gave them a list and rather than PICK they said "okay, maybe 5 more shows." TGP PR people are THRILLED and are calling her the "face of Thanksgiving Point." Our DEPARTMENT is happy because that makes us and our classes look cool.

But yeah, Rinny is famous again and GUESS WHAT, indirectly, SO AM I! Because she assigned me to make the examples! SO, when you watch this clip, know that *I* decorated those pots (badly... don't look much at those) but she made the flower pens, *I* made the paper chain calendar (CC, yours and my friend Ellie May's birthdays are on that thing), she made the Capri Sun bags, she sewed the lunch bags but I DECORATED them (one with Yo Gabba Gabba! Yes, Thai, I fully credit this new level of obsession to YOU.), and she made the book covers but... the books covered are mine? Yeah. We rock.

OH, ALSO, just another TGP thing, in case you didn't know Tuesdays in August are $2 Tuesdays. That is, like Cheaper than *I* can get you in! $2 for ANY VENUE even the uber expensive MUSEUM! Now, mind you there are very few Tuesdays IN August left and the lines are HORRENDOUS, but still, just letting you know.

("I want my two dollars... CASH!")

And Then.

I have been sick and Depressed.
And then...
Josie got rather sick and I got MORE Depressed.
And THEN...

My house flooded. (Yes, AGAIN. Only this time worse, as this time it has to do with the sewer main. In other words, poop and pee that was FLUSHED came UP INTO MY BATHTUB and even WORSE into the drain in my laundry room... and then family room and bedroom and glider room...

In short, I can't use the water in my house. Nor can our Neighbors. We have no water and my home has sewage in it. We can't wash dishes or take showers. So once again, I am going to the Padres... goat and gliders in tow... to stay for what sounds like may be as long as TWO WEEKS now. As I was hearing 3 days, yesterday, this is not a good thing.

It started like this. I was already all stressed out because I really needed to get to work early. Monday's day camp? SpongeBob Science. And before actually teaching the truth about the biological counterparts of the Bikini Bottoms crew I really needed to:
*Get the Hermit Crabs set up at the Discovery Gardens classroom (Mr. Krabs' got nothing on my little cuties for holding kids' interest, I tell you! ).
*Give Josie her breakfast bottle, and put her lunch bottle in the farm fridge before leaving her at "Day Care" (the sheep pen!).
*Get some last minute supplies to CrazyConnie (who still rocks, p.s.) because Rinny is doing some extensions office thing in Logan. She's all busy right now being famous, too. She has been on the news a few times being all Rinny-ish for the PR people (they like her) on behalf of Thanksgiving Point even though she is just Education, technically. But they have sort of been using her as the poster girl for, well, WHATEVER! So, when Good Things asked for TGP's CHEFS to come, TGP said, "yeah, see, the Chefs don't WANT to be on TV. How about Corinne does some day camp stuff instead?" And they decided okay. You can watch it here. The best part is when the news chick chokes on peanut butter. (I really wish I could SAVE it. It is about to disappear off the site!)

So I was HURRYING to get to work when I stepped in a PUDDLE in my hall. A BIG puddle. My first thought was "Josie, how the heck did you..." but then realized this was way beyond the extent of my little goat's bladder. I was running out the door, and called my padre's, on the verge of bawling. "I think my house is flooding and I am late to work! Can you check my house please?"

Well, they said yes, but apparently DIDN'T rush right over... and by the time SpongeBob Science was over and I could call home Mom had BAD news. The whole hall, bedroom, glider room and part of the family room had flooded with yucky sewer and drain water. All of it has to be replaced. These guys, an EXCAVATION CREW, are coming to take out the main line. There are cracks.

So, yeah, you might say I am struggling just a little.

I NEED SOME FREAKING HAPPY THOUGHTS!!!



(Thanks Sherpa!)


(when I first read the title of Sherpa's Blog entry with those 2 Sesame Street clips "Feist on Sesame Street" My first dumb thought was "THE CAT?!" Yeah. Because Josie's pussycat friend would be on Sesame Street. THAT makes sense. heehee)

Broke, Broken <3ed, and Breaking Away

A couple a days ago I had a "disagreement" with Padre as usual... but this one went somewhere. My Palm Pilot died and I bought another.

He saw it at church and looked up online how much it cost and decided it was way too much. He did the same thing about my camera.

He freaked out.

*I* freaked out back and told him I used my OWN money so it should not matter to him.

His answer was, as usual, that as dependent as I am on them, I DO NOT HAVE "MY OWN" MONEY.

I have heard this before. Mom and I have talked about it and I have said how I WANT to be, essentially CUT OFF just so it is none of the padres' business what I spend it on and be independent. But between how much my medications cost and how little I can work sometimes because of my medical problems, being even REMOTELY financially independent was just not a possibility.

Okay, here is what has changed. I finally got accepted to Medicaid for prescriptions. Therefore, $3 for stuff I used to pay $300 for. I can do that. Therefore, we had a little talk and I said stay out and he said not while I am responsible blah blah BLAH so I said you are NOT.

So, I will see how long my independence can withstand on a part-time job and a lot of pain. But I think it is a good thing. Anyway, I needed to do it (though my mom doesn't agree and is sad FOR me and dad is furious at AT me.). And except for rent right now because mom said dad is not going to charge me rent, I am paying my own way FINALLY. At least... as long as I can. Just may shop as often or ever leave my house.

The Broken Heart part of all this is just DUMB. There is a guy who's done bird shows for us before. He helped with the owls. He is cool (probably married, but whatever.) and funny and has a bunch of awesome birds (I know that's not a turn on for normal people, but hey, I have sugar gliders for children and carry a baby goat with me when I go shopping.). And, even thoough it is hard to tell in the owl slides he also happens to be rather cute and look like Fresno. So he comes over to us while we are cleaning up after robotics yesterday and starts chatting with me and I am talking all comfortable and sort of flirty. Then I get in the car and see myself in the mirror as I LOOK after a whole day of day camp of 11-14 year old boys and plaster of paris and 100 degree weather and catching tadpoles. I started to bawl.

I looked like crap on a crap pile and felt worse. The idea that I 1. talked to a boy pretty much because he looked like Fresno 2. still ever think about Fresno and 3. talked to a boy looking like me... being me. Yeah, I know how emo that is. But that's what I was feeling.

Followed that up with a really hard appointment with Dr. Apparently. Cried a bunch there. Like, non-stop. Went home with the puffiest red eyes, and my muscles aching. I cried into little Josie's fur and she cheered me up with her antics.

Seriously, that kid is hilarious. She just DANCES everywhere. She is a little beautiful animal. She plays on everything and play fights with anyone that moves. We play and she makes me giggle and stuff. What can I say? Little critters cure a host of ills... at least for an hour or so.

Makes me feel better about my plans to be a single "crazy cat lady" (but not with cats, with everything else) the rest of my life. Josie is adorable. My gliders are too. And I love my turtles and other critters mean a lot to me too. My little zoo is my solace.

The Secret Life of Bees [and Boys]

I have had dumb boys on the brain lately. Like, as in, DUMB ones, specifically. Today it bothered me that it was Fresno's birthday. It bothered me even more so that I knew what I was going to give him.... I mean, like, I knew what I had planned. I had parts of this little thing. A silly homemade thing that WOULD have meant a lot, you know... if WE had meant a lot. Ugh. Yuck. BLEH.

And then there was yesterday. Our very first official GEOLOGY Merit Badge Class! We've done Environmental Science and Citizenship in the World but Geology is new and we are launching this big new program. The only hazard for me (besides the unearthly early hour of it starting, I mean! Ugh.) was that Geology meant everything made me think of f'retarded TexasBoy as he was a Geologist, like PROFESSIONALLY, for an oil company who works with NASA. He had all these dumb geology jokes about, like cleavage and schist and I thought of ALL of them during that class. (Thanks, TexAss. You may have broke my heart, but you left me with a butt-load of rock puns! hee hee hee!) But it was a fun class.


We had them pan for gold (they got real gold), mine a rock collection out of a sandy brick thing (we made them. Mixed sand and plaster) and label it in pretty cool little boxes we gave them, they learned about open pit vs. strip mining, stuff like that. THEN we got somewhat distracted from the rocks because 1st we found a couple of garter snakes. THEN one of our new girls found a toad. And THEN... OUR BEEKEEPER CAME TO REPLACE OUR HIVE!!!

Well, not the hive, but the inhabitants. Because, yes, they ALL DIED! And then I wanted to bawl. Seriously. Anyway, yeah, he came to give us new bees. (Heh heh. NewBees. Newbies. Hee hee!) And he was out there, cleaning out the hive and then, like INSTALLING them. Which I found so fascinating I proceeded to follow him like a paparazzi. The writing the 1st grade field trip curriculum lesson plans at the garden has made me slightly OBSESSED with bees. Plus, not that it was really ABOUT bees PER SAY, but I really DID like Secret Life of Bees and highly recommend it. And now I want to know ALL about bees, beekeeping, and honey and probably made the beekeeper feel uncomfortable with the number of questions I asked him.

Anyway, back to rocks. We DID get them (and me) back on track. They learned more stuff, I promise. We took them to the Museum and even with a few rowdy scouts we managed to evade any run-ins with Sgary.

It was good if I weren't feeling so crappy. Very very headache and sick. And stupid and depressed to boot. I just am rather tired of being me. But, yeah, that's pretty par for the course. Yeah. But I still do not want to leave this post on a depressed note, so too mildly inappropriate bee jokes!

What kind of Bees give milk?

>>>>Boo-Bees!


Knock knock.

Who's there?

Bumble Bee.

Bumble Bee who?

>>>Bumble Bee Cold if you don't put on some pants!

this is a sad day!

I have a fever today (and the only cure is MORE COWBELL!!!) which is PROBABLY, almost for SURE, because yesterday I came down with some flu thing and I have been sick all day. HOWEVER, because I almost JUST upped the dosage of Cymbalta and WAS on Celexa the same time, I am being watched for the very scary Serotonin Syndrome. Cymbalta made me sick at first anyway, but I got over it. I think it just is doing it again for going to the next dose. But it has been decided I will STOP, not taper off, the Celexa... just in case.

Anyway, right now I feel like crap.

Also, earlier tonight Steph called me and asked if I was watching TV (I wasn't. I was laying in bed, feeling like crap.) because they had just announced that President Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet of our Church, had died. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I know this sounds weird, but he felt like a GRANDPA to me. Not just the leader of a church, but someone I truly loved. On the other hand I am so happy for him. He has got to be overjoyed to be back with his sweetheart Marjorie again.



Another sad thing I remember today is the Challenger. It meant a lot to me because at the time I was in kindergarten and obsessed with the idea of being an Astronaut. They let us watch the launch in class. And then all that happened. It also meant a lot in my family because my Uncle Bob worked on parts of that Shuttle and when it happened people in his neighborhood blamed him and some still do. They were horrible to his family. It was really sad.

Anyway, to a nerdy kid like me, this was a really really memorable day. I cried and cried. Our teacher cried, too. She had talked SO much about how one of the astronauts, Christa McAuliffe, was a teacher. Anyway, just a little bit of history for ya.



It is Sunday, and I intended to go to church, but to the Padres' ward, where I have decided to go awhile. But this cold/flu/black plague thing I have going stopped me from going to ANY ward today. Or, basically, any room besides my bedroom and bathroom. I spent most of today asleep though, drifting in and out. I have gone upstairs exactly once. The Roomie and her boyfriend are sorta spooning up there and 1. I don't want to interrupt and 2. I don't want to make anyone sick and 3. I haven't gotten DRESSED all day either.

Oh, the Legislator's Night Schmoozing went okay the other night. Not good, but fine. Most didn't even come over to us unless they had kids or grand kids who wanted to do it. And we decided on making cornstarch plastic instead of seed necklaces this year. Some were impressed. Others, not so much. As always, Dave is our hero and ran the show, schmoozed while secretly mocking and called us rockstars. We *heart* Dave! Anyway, glad that's over, even though we ate some of the mighty yummy finger foods once the majority of the big wigs went into the Dinosaur Movie. It was a long day for this medically-frustrated part-timer.

It is going to storm AGAIN. Even though this fever has my face on fire, I really am sick of feeling like I live in a freaking igloo. ENOUGH WITH THE SNOW! EXCEPT that I heard that the DROUGHT HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED! I kind of didn't know that would EVER happen in Utah. I mean, not REALLY end. So I better stop whining about the cold and snow. But still... BRRR!

Anyway, I am going to cross my fingers that the snugglers are done so I can grab some grub for the gliders and go to bed... even though that's where I have been all day. Good night.

p.s. The Roomie is very good and Moral and I am not saying HER Spooning will lead to ANYTHING.

dis jointed

When I am super struggling with depression I either do not write at all or inundate you with entries. I guess this time is the latter. Sorry.

I left church right after the sacrament. Not Sacrament MEETING. The actual Sacrament. I was having a really yucky anxiety attack, and decided it wasn't worth it to be there. I could hardly hear the words being said by the man speaking, my heart was beating all weird and I thought with trying to get my sugars balanced there WAS a chance it might NOT be a panic attack anyway. I felt sick and like I could not sit still. I almost ran out of the chapel. I checked my blood and it wasn't WAY high (just 222) just a little, nor was it low, but I stayed at home anyway, but decided I couldn't do that either. I had to GO somewhere. I felt a little like driving crazy fast in the canyon but decided that was not a safe release right now, so instead I drove to the Padres and decided at least there I could talk to Mom when she got home from her own meetings. She isn't here yet.

What is it about anxiety disorder that makes you feel like your arms and legs are going to go in all different dirrections? Like you have to run away? Like your brain will burst if you STAY somewhere, even somewhere you KNOW you should be.. like CHURCH... a place that is good. A place that is safe. I should have brought my journal. MAYBE I could have written some of my panic out and stayed longer. But I didn't and so I escaped instead.

If Mom doesn't get home soon I may not even get to talk to her anyway (unless this clock has not been changed yet? Let me check. No, it has) because my home teachers are coming over at 4:30. I don't want them to even come. But I do not want to be difficult to visit. They are doing what THEY should. And I should support that. But I don't want to have to face THEM and have THEM wonder (nor do I want to TELL them, though) why I left mid-meeting today.

Bleh.

Oh, and today a song made me cry because it reminded me of Fresno. Sorta figured I was done with THAT, you know? Don't know when I will be. I am certainly not pleased with other "prospects" that like me, and usually the idea of remaining single forever is okay with me so long as I have my critters, but sometimes it sounds pretty depressing. Like when I am, you know, DEPRESSED?!

I am glad I have, at least, an interesting roommate. I really hope I don't chase her away with my clutter and problems. We do weird stuff like learn how to clip bird's wings and other rescue stuff (we have a new rescue right now, a pipit with one wing, who we thought was a thrush) and right now we are experimenting (on us and the animals) with SOUND THERAPY. Basically it sounds like we are listening to alien music... or are robots. It is funny. Some of it is just plain wacko. But some of it is... interesting. Anyway, it is pretty fun and it is something to do.

Sure, it's not roommate stuff like water balloon wars with the boys next door like Rinny, or even wearing wigs in WalMart or driving around making the giant teddy bear wave, which was HILARIOUS... but it is a unique roomie experience. So we have been listening to alien music and giggling at it and the responses of the animals to it.

I should go home for the home teachers now. Also I should feed Bratanik. He probably is a bit confused why we are all acting an hour later than usual.

Daddy and the Death-Trap

...would be a good band name. I can kind of see them playing Ska, mostly. ANYWAY...

Family Night with my actual FAMILY... yeah, always an adventure. Just good to do on occasion so I can remember why I moved out. Hee hee!

So, the Death Trap...

First of all, I would like to say my Padre really ISN'T an idiot or a bad businessman. He has done very well for himself... supported our family, and not just getting by. We have had nice houses. The parents are maybe not rich, but well-off. We used to have a pool.

I say this not to brag, but to explain that my dad is not ALWAYS an idiot. I guess his awesome awesome real estate skills make his complete LACK of car (and computer) skills stand out more. But sometimes he scares me. It's like with the computers.

Despite being a smart businessman and running his own business, Padre can not seem to grasp that whole paying for quality thing. He would rather pay for a new CRAPPY computer every year to replace the one that breaks. AND HE DOES. Rather than buy a GOOD computer that will actually LAST, he just buys the cheapest eMachine Best Buy carries... every time it breaks. And complains loudly every time.

He is also very big on having "guys" for stuff, as I have mentioned before. And one of his friends is a car dealer and can buy used cars cheap at auction and stuff for him. So he has him do that, and take our family's Durango in trade. So his Car Dealer Guy gets him this Jeep Liberty that my dad likes. Except ON THE TEST DRIVE it is shuddering and shimmying!

So CDG says he will get it fixed and Padre says great and *sort of* buys the thing.

They "get it fixed" and the padres are driving it around town as sort of a trial period. Then Dad calls mom and says that he has run out of gas even though the gas gauge says half-full. Apparently the gas gauge is broken. CDG says he will get that fixed, but Dad has some things to do and they can't get him back the Durango BACK yet. So they fill the tank, and they go about things.

Then later, the car dies AGAIN when MOM is driving. She is going home from water aerobics and sees the gas gauge go UP... to Full. Ummm... that's not normal. Then the car dies, the steering goes out and she is trapped in the middle of State Street.

"[Padre], did you FILL the Jeep after you drove it?"
"I might have. No, probably not, but you should have enough."
"No. I do NOT."

And she had forgotten dry stuff so she was freezing in her wet swimsuit, in the middle of a busy street and really MAD at Padre (and calls me to vent, so I am mad at him, too, and think he is an idiot because even though he has not actually PAID for it, he is still PLANNING to pending "getting it fixed").

So CDG tows the Jeep and the mechanic says "Wow, you didn't try to START this car, did you?"
"Well, yeah, of course." [actually, she told me she tried and tried and tried starting it]
"The [fuel something]'s broken, you are lucky there was so little gas in it. If the tank had been full this car might have exploded!"

So now she can't be mad at Dad for not filling the tank because had he not been such a slacker she may have DIED in the Jeep we now call Daddy's Death Trap.

So now it's been "fixed." Only HOW DO THEY KNOW? HUH?

So last night we went to my work because it was the free-for-the-employee-family-night to see the 3-D movie at the Museum (WAY better in 3-D than regular IMAX, by the way). It is Sea Monsters. But we MISS the beginning because just trying to GO in the Death Trap was a pain! Granted, we didn't blow up, but, like, Mom's seat wouldn't adjust, my belt wouldn't buckle, just annoyances. But when Mom and I complain about this, Padre is like DEFENDING the Death Trap! Like what a deal it is, etc. He takes every gripe PERSONALLY! WAY IRRITATING. So, yeah. Already HATING their new car.

The movie was fun, though. 3-D is cool! Plus it is funny because the main "character" is a Dolichorhynchops. Do you know how that's said? Dolly-CORINNE-Cops! So we kept calling the dolphin thing Rinny and every time they almost got eaten Mom and I would scream "SWIM, CORINNE! AHHHH!" And stuff. It was hilarious. I LOVE my mom!

I am going to start spelling my sister's name, Chorhyn.

What Awesome Ska Band Are You?

You Are: The Suicide Machines! hardcore is your style, or you would be. but you see, you're too big of a pansy and a wimp to be hardcore. so you're ska!
Take this quiz!








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Say My Name Say My Name...

1. MY ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car),
Snow White Jeep
(umm, that's more like what I *HAVE* than what would be were I a rock star!)

2.MY GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie),
Caramel Praline Chocolate Chip

(not very Gangsta... OH! GANGSTA COOKIES! That reminds me!

So, today at the 7th grade TLC thing, we were doing the DNA part again and they were ready to go to the Kitchen to learn frosting decorating and most of them knew that because other classes had told them. So this cute kid tells me, "So, I hear your cookies here are pretty gangster."

"Huh. And so, forgive my ignorance, but what does that MEAN in regards to COOKIES?"

"Oh, they are cool."

"Oh, great then. Have fun?"

(Mind you, this kid is Black, but apparently very UTAHN because yes, he even said Gangst-ER, not Gangsta))

3. MY “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name),
B-May

4.MY DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal),
Purple Sugar Glider

5. MY SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born),
Marie Salt Lake

6. MY STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first),
MayBet (Umm... No. NOT very Star Warsy.)

7. MY SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink),
The Red Fresca

8. MY NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers),
Bus J.Lawrence (That'd totally work!)

9. MY WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ),
Jean Reed

10. MY TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Conner Carlsbad (I THINK it was Conner... I actually MOVED mid-grade and don't remember well)

11. MY SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower).
Autumn Daisy (how is THAT sneaky?)

12. MY CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Nectarine Nightie

13. MY HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),
Pills Plumeria
(what the...)

14. MY YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”),

The Bibliophiliac Thunderstorm Tour

I love my job I love my job *muttering to herself while rocking in a fetal position*

I love my job... right? I do, I know I have said so before. I am trying very VERY hard to remember that RIGHT NOW to keep from HATING it.

TLC tours... OH MY HELL. Death. 7th graders... teaching them to extract DNA... make fossil casts... do decorative cookie frosting... be insufferable pains.

Today has been really hard anyway. I mean besides work it is like everyone has to mention it is 9-11 every 4 minutes. I KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS. I don't want to watch "footage" set to patriotic music. I want to pretend my cousin Brady didn't die. But I can't because everyone keeps reminding me what happened 6 years ago. So trying not to think about the date, you know? But it is all over the news. So, umm, HERE!

Hee hee hee!

Funny stuff is... good.

Yeah.

SIGH.

The world is just... sad. I am sorry for the friends and family of the Miners (like Tiff and Big Cade and their peeps) . I am sorry for the friends and family of Camille Cleverly... although I guess closure is better than NON-closure. But still. My mom has been so worried... she kept saying "what if it were Rinny or You?!"

But yeah.

But I am glad that little boy was found quickly.

Also, this is the anniversary of another tragic day, which prompted a very random email to me from an Anti-Mormon stranger demanding that I, as a Mormon, "officially apologize for September dawn!" Yes, not for the Mountain Meadow Massacre... he actually called it September Dawn. Now, even though I should just ignore it, I admit, it took all my power not to respond "Oh, and I DO! I mean, I wasn't involved in making the movie at all, but I for one AM sorry it was made. I hear it REALLY sucked!"

However, I was nice and as I had just read about this (It actually HAS been apologized for before, btw, but yeah, Since it is so "public" right now, fine. Good.), I sent him the link to the official apology at LDS.org. Which says this:

11 September 2007 Elder Henry B. Eyring’s remarks at the Mountain Meadows Massacre Sesquicentennial on 11 September 2007, in Washington County, Utah.

Dear Friends—

I speak today, by assignment, on behalf of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In so doing, I express their appreciation for the invitation to participate on this program.

It is important and appropriate that we meet together on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. We gather as relatives of the massacre victims and perpetrators and as unrelated but interested and sympathetic parties. We gather to remember and to honor those whose lives were taken prematurely and wrongly in this once lush and pastoral valley.

We believe it is our obligation to understand and learn from the past. For this reason, the Church responded favorably several years ago to the request of three experienced and able historians, Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley, Jr., and Glen M. Leonard, to cooperate with their researching of a book about the awful event that occurred here a century and a half ago. The book they are writing is nearly complete and will be published in coming months by Oxford University Press under the title Massacre at Mountain Meadows.

Although they are Church employees, the authors have retained full editorial control and have drawn their own conclusions from the exhaustive body of historical material they assembled. They have been given full access to all relevant materials held by the Church. Two of the significant conclusions they have reached are (1) that the message conveying the will and intent of Brigham Young not to interfere with the immigrants arrived too late, and (2) that the responsibility for the massacre lies with local leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the regions near Mountain Meadows who also held civic and military positions and with members of the Church acting under their direction.

Although no event in history can fully be known, the work of these three authors has enabled us to know more than we ever have known about this unspeakable episode. The truth, as we have come to know it, saddens us deeply. The gospel of Jesus Christ that we espouse, abhors the cold-blooded killing of men, women, and children. Indeed, it advocates peace and forgiveness. What was done here long ago by members of our Church represents a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct. We cannot change what happened, but we can remember and honor those who were killed here.

We express profound regret for the massacre carried out in this valley 150 years ago today and for the undue and untold suffering experienced by the victims then and by their relatives to the present time.

A separate expression of regret is owed to the Paiute people who have unjustly borne for too long the principal blame for what occurred during the massacre. Although the extent of their involvement is disputed, it is believed they would not have participated without the direction and stimulus provided by local Church leaders and members.

We know, too, that many of those who carried out the massacre were haunted all their lives by what they did and saw on that unforgettable day. They and their relatives have also suffered under a heavy burden of guilt. No doubt Divine Justice will impose appropriate punishment upon those responsible for the massacre. Nevertheless, our continued prayer for their relatives is that knowledge of a God who is both just and merciful will bring a measure of peace to their souls.

In 1999, President Gordon B. Hinckley returned and joined with many of you in dedicating the monument that stands near our place of assembly today. The Church has worked with descendant groups since then to maintain the monument and surrounding property and continues to improve and preserve these premises and to make them attractive and accessible to all who visit. We are committed to do so in the future.

Having reflected and commented on both the past and future of this hallowed meadow, we conclude by expressing our love and desire for reconciliation to all who have in any way been affected by what occurred at Mountain Meadows 150 years ago today. May the God of Heaven, whose sons and daughters we all are, bless us to honor those who died here by extending to one another the pure love and spirit of forgiveness which His Only Begotten Son personified, is our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

"DJ takes up Prostitution...

a Very Special Full House... I mean Friday Fave Fives!

e-Missions: Moon, Mars, and Beyond, (the WannaBe Space Camp) Highlights!

1. Best Resource: STELLARIUM. Available for FREE at http://www.stellarium.org/ for download it is really fun and the kids love making the ground disappear, zooming in on planets, and making the PICTURES of the constellations appear over the constellations themselves. You can do a TON with it if you are willing to explore the hot keys.

I HIGHLY recommend it.



2. Best Book: Next Stop Neptune: Experiencing the Solar System by Alvin and Steve Jenkins. Well, my favorite illustrations anyway. I liked the collage-style, especially the cloudy stuff. Awesome.



3. Best way to teach graphing: Draw a Shuttle.


4. Best hands on way to understand the size of the Solar System:
Marking receipt paper with scaled distance. One half did Astronomical Unit equaling one centimeter. But another we did AU equaling a METER... and look how far it stretched!

5. BUT THE VERY BEST PART OF THE DAY CAMP:

It is over and it is the LAST day camp of the summer!!!!!!!!

However, some other, ummm, honorable mentions and basically random stuff from camp.

* glue sticks, scissors, and a lot of patience... build a shuttle that FLIES! (It's a pdf)

* a cool NON-flying paper model shuttle (the other models are awesome too, if you like those things!)

* A TON of logic puzzles like this:

Outer Space Circus Sideshows
by Randall L. Whipkey

Last Tuesday when the Outer Space Circus came to town for a performance, Bobby and Teddy thrilled at the Midway with its panorama of exotic sideshows featuring beings from across the Milky Way. The boys paid to see five sideshow performers, including the Head, a being with no body. Can you find the order during the day in which Bobby and Teddy saw the five outlandish acts: the name (one is No Wa Ben) and home world (one is from PsiReef) of each geek and what makes each Outer Space Circus sideshow material?

1. Bobby and Teddy saw Ji-Dome earlier in the day than the being from the planet New Oz; they saw the New Oz alien earlier than they enjoyed the perplexed look on the Teleprobe's face as he read their minds.
2. Immediately after visiting the tent where they were in awe of the Transparent Man, a creature whose internal body parts are visible through a totally clear skin, the boys took in the native of Ilegate.
3. Bobby and Teddy were wowed by the Walking Stick, a 13-foot alien also billed as the Tallest Being in the Galaxy, right before they saw the Incredible Kreskeno's act.
4. The boys saw TuPaK immediately after paying to see the native of the planet Andromeda-77 but earlier in the day than they saw the Sheebang Charmer, who works with the Milky Way's deadliest serpents.
5. The being whose sideshow they saw 2nd isn't Azaliana.
6. The tents of Kreskeno and the sideshow geek from New Oz were next to each other on the Midway.
7. Ji-Dome, who isn't the Sheebang Charmer, and the native of Andromeda-77 require special breathing chambers to live on Earth.
8. TuPaK was Bobby's favorite sideshow entertainer; the being from planet Qrptn was Teddy's.

(Answer)

* a little rocket Tangram. (another pdf, just fyi)

* hot dog shuttle. Eww. Hot Dogs. But cute?

* hilarious kids. Because, well, they just ARE.


You'll notice I am only talking about the good stuff. That is on purpose. This was a rather hellish week. And I would rather just FORGET some of it, you know?

Yeah, even though I love the SUBJECT, just bad... timing. Emotionally.

Anyway it was the last day today. And the last day camp of the summer. WOO HOO!

So, between field trips and after school classes, my next big project will be to do for the Children's Garden what I was doing for the Dinosaur Museum. Basically make up field trip curriculum that follow state standards. So that's where my job is headed temporarily (like, till winter. (When I will definitely NOT be moving to California...))Well, that and I may go back to substitute teaching if it doesn't give me enough hours, but I am not that worried about it right now... I am a "part-time" employee who RARELY goes home before 7 at present. So, yeah, I am not worried about hours yet. I *will* be... but right now I NEED less. Because I can't really handle things right now.

Last night I set up my Padre's tank for my little boy Tortuga and he LOVES it! It is only temporary (I am BORROWING it... he gets it back for fish when they move. And so I will keep looking for a big tank) but needed and he looks SO much happier already! He LOVES more room to swim. It makes me happy to see HIM happy. He's a good little turtle.

Not doing so well.

I don't want to explain.

It's just been a really really bad day.

I am not okay.

But, on the bright side Rerun of all people stepped up when I couldn't and actually helped for once. If I was a different girl I would bake him brownies or something for not being his usual level of incompetence.

red headed step children and watermelon bombs

I am so annoyed at the Powers-That-Be at TGP right now. We, the Education Department, are always... ALWAYS... the red-headed stepchild of the organization. And it is getting worse. Hee hee hee... Okay, TANGENT... Sorry, the phrase Red-headed Stepchild kind of cracks me up.

When I was little, I overheard my dad say to a friend about his golf game. "Yeah, he beat me like a red-headed stepchild!"

It totally confused me.

I had to ask why red-headed stepchildren were better golfers... which lead Padre to a very awkward explanation to his 5 year old about what child abuse had to do with the situation. HEE HEE HEE!

Which, actually, has amused me ever since, because the idea that a Red-headed Stepchild was a BAD thing seemed to me INSANE since my HEROES were just that.

I mean, Annie was pretty cool. She had a dog, and I was jealous of her for that. And she was tough.

And then there was the fantastically hilarious PIPPI LONGSTOCKING! I LOVED her! I think Gilmore Girls put it pretty well.

Luke: ...You know, Rory is like Pippi.
Lorelai: Pippi?
Luke: She can have adventures and be free, she's smart. The whole world's waiting for her.
Lorelai: You're comparing Rory to Pippi Longstocking?
Luke: Pippi is strong and independent. She can lift a horse above her head. Uh-huh. And beat up bullies and build a hot-air balloon. She's unique, like Rory. But I guarantee you, if Pippi had met Dean, there would be no horse, no balloons. He'd drag her down to his level, spend all her gold coins, and poof, like that, all her dreams would be gone.

I was Pippi one year for Halloween. And the PET THING? She had a horse AND a monkey and probably could have bought more with her pirate gold if she wanted and was just AWESOME.

But the RHS that has meant the most in my life anyway has been, of course, Anne Shirley. I wanted so badly to BE Anne. I loved the movies. Later, I loved the books. I could imagine BEING her. I imagined we were definitely "Kindred Spirits."

"And people laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas you have to use big words to express them, haven't you?"
~ Anne

Oddly, all of this rambling about how much I secretly wish I was a LITERAL Red-headed Stepchild, is just because I was about to say how annoyed I sometimes I am that we, the education department, are the FIGURATIVE RHS of TGP. SGary has hired his own B***h to do OUR job for HIM. But not the same. She is Cheerleader and there are MAJOR problems at work right now. I am worried things are about to get worse.

On the one hand I have the greatest job on the face of the earth. On the other, we are paid very little and are disrespected by every other department.

We blew up a watermelon like these... yet, sort of less... uhh... regulated so there was a bit more fire. It was AWESOME. But here is a TASTE of our Self-Carving Jack-O-Lantern Melon!




Steve Spangler is my HERO!

"It felt like an LSD trip... from the Lord!" - Arthur "Killer" Kane

Today was a, appropriately enough, a Harry Potter themed day camp called Owls, Spells, and Potions. It was fun (we made wands, dissected owl pellets, sucked eggs into bottles... stuff like that.) but everything went wrong with scheduling and the setting up (which can be blamed Rerun... and my sister's inability as a BOSS to actually tell certain people what to do (though *I* am not one of those people. *rolls eyes*) and I ended up wanting to pull my hair out and cry.

I am REALLY glad today is OVER.

However, I am a little jealous of my parents today. While I was TEACHING Harry Potter they were in Salt Lake watching it! As if they are even that big of fans... but they liked it. Their friends invited them and they went. My PARENTS are seeing Harry Potter before me.

When I got home I (finally) watched New York Doll. Can I just say FUNNY, SAD, FASCINATING?! It is good. I may BUY it when I have money. And for me to say that about a documentary is big.

Science! I say Science Again!

Okay, so, you know how sometimes you are ready to write in the MOMENT but later you just don't want to feel like getting into it?

That is the situation with yesterday.

And so forgive me if I move on to today which was more fun anyway (except the movie... Dear Frankie... which was quite good, by the way.)

I admit that most of the day I was within an inch of a melt down (stress and I are not friends) but as it is OVER I can say it WAS a fun day camp. It was "FUNdamentals of Science" for ages 6-8 and it was full... about 30 VERY energetic kiddlets... and funny.

I had them learn mostly about states of matter... with as many (mild) explosions as I was allowed. We learned why Dry Ice was dry. We learned how to make really big bubbles. We made Oobleck.

More specifically, have you ever blown bubbles into a clear container of water and dry ice? The bubbles will bounce on the "smoke."

AND if you have water and dry ice and add dish soap to it, it will blow bubbles itself... that when you pop them are filled with the "smoke." Kids LOVE it. (So do *I*) If you have never done it, TRY IT.

Of course, we also made root beer. We did it wrong. Not their fault. MINE. You should really put only HALF the water in with the root beer extract, sugar, etc. THEN put in the dry ice. THEN the rest of the water. Instead we put in everything put the dry ice at once, and so when the ice went in I got covered in sticky root beer mix.

We also made "CO2 Sandwiches"... vinegar and backing soda exploding plastic baggies, played "Neutron Tag" (basically buddy tag but they are being positrons and electrons), etc.

However, one of my favorite things was still exposing a bunch of little kiddlets to Coke and Mentos! hee hee hee hee hee!



Ours was just, you know, NORMAL, and not so Bellagioesue, but STILL fun. Though we did experiment a few (Diet Coke seemed to go higher than Not Diet. Caffeine Free and Not caffeine free (or as some of the kids called it "Bad Coke and Good Coke" which cracked me up.) seemed to make no difference. However nothing so dramatic (or silly) as this:



But the kids were still pretty dang entertained that I was COVERED in Coke. (yes, what a lovely day to have a social thing after work... I get to go to a party covered in Coke... and root beer... and vinegar and baking soda and Oobleck and sweat and bubbles... and the regular pony hair and goat slobber.

With all the states of matter I thought we ought to have a little fun with non-Newtonian fluids (because, really, how funny is it to make 6 year olds SAY "non-Newtonian fluids") and we made Oobleck. hee hee hee! I *heart* playing with that stuff!
If you were curious...

Oobleck

Materials Needed

• 1 1/2 C. Corn Starch
  
• 1 C. Water
  
• Food Color (optional)

Mix the ingredients and allow children to play with the mixture. When"pushed" together, the mixture will appear dry and solid; as children let go of the mixture, it flows like a smooth liquid.

(However, you usually have to adapt it a bit., or we did anyway... like add more of one or the other... plus, apparently if you have ENOUGH you can do THIS:



Then we made ice cream (shaking it, like we make for the 2nd grade field trip) to put in our root beer and have root beer floats! (Sweeeeeet Science!)

After work I stayed in Lehi for a PARTY!!!! YAY! It was a Baby Shower, but NOT a boring one! In other words we did not have to drop diaper pins into jars or any of those games. It was way cute and planned by the lovely Laurie for Bethany and fam... well, and especially, obviously, the BABY of said family.

It was SUPER cute, good food (I used my child labor connections and brought root beer made by my day camp/sweat shop students for MY potluckery. hee hee!), and fantastic people (many of which are/were Linkster friends of mine. I am sure I am forgetting somebody, but there was GranolaGirl, NerdSpouse, Brentito, CountessKrispy, Travbabe... of course Thai and Scott and Thai's sweet mom... and the STARS Buck and Awesome (and Little Buck and INCREDIBLY ADORABLE mini-mike, Baby David!) and Darci and... others. Yeah. And ponies. It was good times!

And as for the baby, seriously... GORGEOUS BABY, isn't he?

And as for the title... hee hee hee!