Month: June 2007

  • Waiting for the Third Bad Thing

    I’m not really such a fatalist, but I have heard that bad things come in threes.  As you know, Gockle broke his collarbone last night.  That’s #1. Here’s #2.

    It’s around 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday night. Hunter emerges from the basement where he has been weightlifting.

    Hunter: Mom, I was lifting, and I got this sharp pain right here. (Points to back of head)
    Teacherperson: (Not usually given to panic) Thinks, “Brain aneurysm! Brain aneurysm!”  Huh, I wonder if you have a sinus headache.  Why don’t you take an Advil and your allergy medicine and go to bed?

    It’s around 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. Hunter emerges from the basement where he has been weightlifting.

    Hunter: Mom, I got that sharp pain again.
    Teacherperson: Thinks, “He’s gonna die! He’s going to drop dead right in front of me with a ruptured artery in his brain!”   I think you’d better not lift anymore tonight. I’ll call the doctor tomorrow to see what it is. Is your vision okay?
    Hunter: Yeah. Wanders off to IM someone.

    2:35 a.m.  Teacherperson is wide awake imagining Hunter needing emergency brain surgery the next day. Thinks he might be dead in his bed that moment.  Goes to his room and pokes him until he grunts and rolls over.

    Thursday morning
    Hunter goes to the doctor and discovers he’s pulled a muscle in his skull.  He’s sprained his brain!

    Hunter is bummed that he can’t do any heavy lifting for the next few weeks, as he has been on a good weight training routine. Teacherperson is also sorry because her Sonlight order arrived today and the boxes were heavy.  (She is also glad that this injury is not life-threatening and should heal just fine on its own.)

    Do your “bad things” come in threes? How about your sneezes? (Mine do!)

  • Er, Did You Say, “E.R.”?

    Tonight, I was scrubbing the carpets when TGD walked in and grimly said, “Turn that thing off.”
    “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    “Gockle made a diving catch during a practice drill tonight, and I think he broke his shoulder. I’m taking him to the E.R.”

    Two hours later, there was poor Gockle in an arm sling with a diagnosis of a broken right collarbone. Thankfully, he’s not in a lot of pain, although this does mean the end of the baseball season for him. His head coach is so upset that he inadvertently caused this injury. We went by his house to let him know Gockle was fine and actually sees this broken bone as a badge of honor in some ways! I am glad that school is done for my right-handed guy, although I don’t think the idea of writing or typing has occurred to him yet.  He verified that he could still play video games as long as he held the controller near his left hip–always on the lookout for the important.  Tonight, he has to sleep upright, and he’s excited about sitting in the living room and watching TV all evening.

    So, there you go. A bit of excitement for a Wednesday night.  And, I have clean carpets!

  • I Got a Job! (I Think)

    I was asked to write some more math stuff for the publisher I worked for before. This time, it is to be student guides for a series of integrated remedial math stuff. I’d rather write the integrated math stuff because it is interesting paragraphs on various topics. Still, I am happy to have another project, especially since school is over and I have more time. Now, if the editor will just get back to me regarding the first lesson I sent him to tell me if I’m on the right track…  This project is due Friday, so timely feedback is quite welcome!

    I’ve been reading Susan Wise Bauer’s History of the World, Part 1 (Isn’t that a Mel Brooks movie?) I’m really enjoying it.  She wrote a four-volume series for children, but this book is for adults. Her premise is that stories are more interesting than artifacts, and even the mythology of a people can give us a clue to what they were really like. I appreciate the fact that she closes each brief chapter with a time line comparing the previous two chapters. It’s neat to see where Abraham fits in with the Pharaoh line or with the Chinese dynasties. 

    Of course, I’m also reading some fluff to keep my mind fuzzy. Can’t get too knowledgeable, can I?

    One week and LadyoftheManse visits!  That will be fun. Any other Xangans heading to PA this summer and want to visit?

    Jokes!

    A mathematician wandered home at 3 AM. His wife became very upset, telling
    him, “You’re late! You said you’d be home by 11:45!” The mathematician
    replied, “I’m right on time. I said I’d be home by a quarter of twelve.”

    Why did the chicken cross the Möbius strip?

    To get to the same side.


  • Things

    I’m losing in the fridge tour voting. No premium for me. Boo. (Ends tomorrow. I’m only behind by eight.)

    My son now has his own blog ring. What’s with that?

    Does my background make the site slow to load? I can get rid of it if it is.

    It’s raining again.  I’m not complaining at all considering how dead everything was looking.  Yeah for rain!

    My library is offering a free canvas library book bag to any adult who reads 50 books between June 1 and December 31.  Oh, what I’ll do for a free canvas bag!  (As if it is any hardship for me to read.)

    Which brings me to another topic, Summer Goals.  Do you have any?  Here are a few of mine.

    Reading– Read Joy Hakim’s History of US series, Apologia Physical Science, at least five Sonlight readers from Core 200, three “research” books on England, and a bunch of fluff

    Gardening–Keep garden weeded and watered (H ar har har. I give up about the second week of July every year.)

    Exercise–Walk 2.5 miles or ride exercise bike for 40 minutes at least four times a week

    Writing–Write
    at least2000  words a week, not cumulative, on the Veritas novel.  (So,
    if I write 5,000 words one week, I’ll still have to write 2,000 the
    next week, England trip weeks excepted.)

    General–Eat a lot of chocolate, pickled eggs, and fresh tomatoes, drink much Diet Pepsi Jazz Black Cherry French Vanilla, blog frequently, have friends over to swim, have several, large and moderate parties

    Gee. Do you find me as deadly dull as I sound to myself?  I shall take a hot bath and dare to eat a peach. (Ah! She’s pulling out Prufrock!)

    Just so you have something lovely to see, here are pictures from the Spring Ball Saturday night.

    “Caroline Bingley” finally gets her dance with Mr. Darcy




    Scott and KleineKatze (who looked SOOO amazing!)




    Erika and Hunter

    Bkroeker and Flutemom38 looking fine

     

    M and J

    Kleinekatze and Dance4eternity

    Wit and BluSmurfGirl and M

  • Summertime…

    Today is supposed to be our first day of summer vacation as yesterday was Day 180 of school. But, some of the children (who shall remain nameless) did not complete their checklists which I told them 2.5 weeks ago MUST be done.  So, they are under “house arrest” until finished: no music, iPod, TV, reading non-school books, books on tape, going anywhere “fun,” and so on.

    When I mentioned that this plan would come into effect for the Undone, Wit said, “Can we write to Greek churches?”  Hunter chimed in, “To the brethren at Wilsonia. Greetings in the Lord.”  HA!  See what comes from sitting in on Dad’s Sunday school class on the book of Acts? (Although, Greece isn’t quite the geographical area, I know. Also, if you are missing the joke, which I did at first, it’s reminiscent of the Apostle Paul who wrote a number of the books of the New Testament while in prison.)

    Despite the fact that it is the END of school, I bought all our curriculum for next year today. Don’t you love shopping on the internet?  Sonlight and Rainbow Resource now have a large chunk of money from this house.  I’m planning Sonlight Core 200 and Core 6, Apologia Chemistry and General Science, and a bit of this and that.

    In honor of the fact that my trip to England is in ONE month and SIX days, I made this photo collage with pictures found in Google images. (Thank you, Picasa, free from Google!)  If you’d like to see the picture without a big, grey box blocking much of it, go to http://www.marysellers.org/EnglandCollage.jpg.

    What excitement does your summer hold?

    FRIDGE TOUR VOTE