Brine Shrimp

On October 1st, Violet made a brine shrimp hatchery. She had quite a colony going. Problem was, we couldn't figure out how to clean it. The little guys are so small, how do you get the waste and stuff out without scooping them out too? The problem was even worse because we followed the science kit's instructions and used a 2 liter soda bottle cut in half. It isn't very big, or sturdy, or filtered, or oxygenated.

It is a miracle they've lived this long.

Most of them are now dead. There are a few swimming very weakly around. I doubt they'll last much longer.

Am I a bad mom because I am anxiously awaiting the last of them to go? They've been a pain to take care of. I really didn't think they eggs were going to hatch in the first place. I want my desk back. They've been sitting on it with a desk lamp keeping them warm for 4 weeks now. It isn't pretty.

We should have fed them to the bigger fish tank at their prime.

Violet enjoyed having them and watching them hatch and grow. But I don't think she's crushed by them dying either. I'm hoping she doesn't ask to hatch more of the eggs. Maybe if the other eggs get "misplaced" before she thinks about it.

Can I mail anyone hundreds of tiny brine shrimp eggs?

Worst part, the little buggers are too small to put on skewers and dip in cocktail sauce.

I'm a bad mom.

Tee hee.

Productive Day

Gosh, I got a lot done today. No wonder I'm tired and heading for the couch very shortly.

This morning I got Violet's sales dropped off. As I was pulling away from the fall product chair's house I remembered I didn't keep a copy of her candy and nut sales. I usually do. We always get the form back, but I always keep a copy too. Just watch, this will be the first time we won't get it back and we won't know what anyone ordered. Ha! That'd be a kicker.

I went to Target and Walgreens and managed to get us ready for Halloween. Violet stayed home with Mr. Incredible. I found candy, probably more than we need, but enough to make Mr. I. happy. He's always worried we'll run out. We never do. And if we do? So what, I say.

I also now have Violet's white cat costume ready. I couldn't find any white sweatpants, stretch pants, or white bottoms of any sort. But I did find boys white long underwear. Shirt and pants. I don't think she was 100% convinced until she tried it on and found it did look rather cat like. And several times last winter we said, "Violet doesn't have any long underwear." Usually when we were headed out on the snowshoes. Well, this year she does.

I spent the afternoon sewing white felt over the tiger ears and tail. I put a pink felt bow on the end of the tail. And pink felt in the centers of the ears. I also bought her some white knit gloves ($1.50 for a combo pack of the white and a pair of black, we'll use them). I put pink "paw pads" in the palms of the gloves. I even put a pink bow on ears. I think it looks pretty good. I'll get pictures posted.

Speaking of pictures, I didn't take any of the pumpkins and straw today. It rained all day. I didn't feel like going out in it to photograph anything. Blech.

In school today we took a slight step backwards in math. She was doing Miquon a year or so ago. We'd left off in book 5, the yellow book. She was getting bogged down with memorizing her math facts. I took a chance and moved her into Key To, measurement, decimals, fractions and lately percents. She's not all the way through any of them, in book 2 of most. I decided it was time to go back and reinforce those basic math principles. She was very receptive and actually seemed to enjoy doing addition problems today. I think we'll keep working in Miquon for a while before going back to Key To.

That's what I love about homeschooling only one. There's no competition. No saying, "You're in fifth grade, why are you doing a third grade book." The books aren't graded, but kids figure these things out. She can do what's right for her.

Swim lesson went very well. She even held up when she and a boy crashed into each other doing the backstroke. I was sitting near his mom and we were both holding our breath watching them about to crash. Neither reported it hurting much. Hard headed kids I guess.

The swim club is starting up a swim team in a month or so. They are moving to a new, permanent location (they've been renting pool space). Once they get there, they'll announce the non-competitive swim team. We are going to look into it. I think it would be good for Violet's confidence. And she has no interest in competing, so it might be just right. But I want to know how often the practice. I don't want to be driving to the pool 5 days a week. I'm lazy like that.

Tomorrow we have nothing planned. We might try to get into a make up swim lesson. If not, we'll just hang around at home. I like hanging around.

The Weekend

Another busy weekend at the Freak Household. I worked a lot on Saturday. I feel good about the amount I got done. Plus I feel good that after I had finished one thing and sent it to my boss, I had a reply back from her (she must have been catching up) saying it was great. Positive feedback is good.

Violet has decided to be a white cat for Halloween, like Marie from The Aristocats. Ever try to find white cat ears? I bought tiger ears and white felt. I have some pink felt. We're going to try to convert them. I found a white sweatshirt for her. Tomorrow, I'm going to try another store to look for white sweatpants or leggings. Worst case, we have white tights and a pink skirt she can wear.

We bought our pumpkins today. We went to our favorite pumpkin patch (it is the most sincere). We also bought a bale of straw to keep Violet's strawberry patch warm and toasty all winter. Tonight the straw and pumpkins are on display on the front porch. Hmm, I'm betting you want me to go out tomorrow and take a picture and post it. I'll see what I can do.

I listened to a podcast on health reform this morning for work. While listening to it I tried to do a little research to figure out what we can do for health insurance come January 1st when ours ends. We won't be able to do Cobra since the company is closing and besides there were only 7 employees left. I can't qualify from my company (I've asked 2 or 3 times, they keep saying no). There is some sort of mini-Cobra program in Illinois, but from what I can tell online you have to have been dumped from your health insurance or denied coverage. We're healthy. I'll have to call the State for more information. Yay, calling the State, always a fun thing. We really need an insurance agent I guess. I'm afraid we'll have to buy privately.

So that's what gets my goat. (Well, if you've been reading here long you know A LOT of things get my poor goat.) Why are some people so violently opposed to a voluntary, government health insurance program? Because their taxes will go up? Boo hoo, your taxes will go up anyway. Because it would be serving the poor, the wretched, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free? Well, I'm not wretched or huddled yet. I'm not poor, at least not in the eyes of the other State insurance programs although I'm not quite sure how we are going to pay our bills and health insurance on my part-time salary. So it is really so offensive to these people that I have proper healthcare coverage for my family? It isn't our fault we're soon to lose ours.

And the kicker is, I'm a healthcare consultant. I need an insurance agent.

On a less stressful topic, Violet and I made potato-leek soup for dinner tonight. On our way back from the pumpkin patch we pulled in our local grocer and bought leeks and a big loaf of French bread. Dinner was delicious. Violet and I each had 2 bowls of soup. Mr. I. had 3 bowls. He likes soup.

Tomorrow I will turn in Violet's fall product sales. Thanks again to those of you who played along at home. She earned all the patches and all the incentives! She'll get $60 in vouchers for the Girl Scout store or program fees. (She'll spend much of it on cute little stuffed toys in the store.)

It is a less busy week coming up. We are looking forward to hanging out at home some days. Violet has a field trip planned with my parents on Wednesday. I'll tell you about it after they are home. I don't like advertising her whereabouts, even though my dad does hold a black belt in karate and usually has an itch to get in a fight. It will be simpler and involve less bail money if I just wait. I'm also hoping we can get another make-up swim lesson in sometime too. I'd better be careful or our light week will implode!

As for tonight, I'm off to read with Violet. We are reading, "Chester Cricket's New Home" by George Selden. It is one of the sequels to "A Cricket in Times Square." We've loved them all!

Fudge, Rain, and Videos

Sorry, the fudge of which I write tonight isn't gooey, yummy fudge, but the character Fudge from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. We made it to the play today. It was freaky, we were the only homeschoolers there. Usually there are a couple of families. The ushers and theater manager kept checking on us before the show started. We had the entire back half of the theater to ourselves and got to pick our seats. The manager knows we prefer the back and not sitting right next to the stage. Guess we've made an impression on them. That or they feel bad because they never credit my account correctly for my payments, claim I'm overdue, then find that yes I did pay. Anyway, there were only 4 school groups and us in the theater. We moved to one row behind the school kids, in the center, but not with Violet directly behind the teacher.

Side note: why can't the teachers and chaperone parents SIT DOWN when they arrive? They always have to stand until the show is starting. Then they manage to sit down in front of Violet. We've traded seats or scooted to empty ones more times than I can remember. Maybe the ushers could ask the teachers to get their butts in their chosen seats so we can find a good view before the show is starting. I think it is more of the power trip thing. You know, the one authority figure over all the cookie cutter underlings. Just like in real life. Uh huh.

So back to the show. It was good. The actress who portrayed Fudge (yes, as Violet and I said walking back to the car, very Shakespearian) certainly was good at portraying an annoying 3 year old boy. Ack! Was she good. I'd wished I'd taken some Tylenol before the show. We did enjoy it. In two weeks we go back for "Click, Clack, Moo."

It has rained non-stop for two days. It was clear on Wednesday when we were at the zoo, but it had been raining Monday and Tuesday before that. Things are so floody. Next week's homeschool project should probably be building a canoe.

I just 2 put videos on order from Freshwater Fred's Lending Library. If you live in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio or Wisconsin you can check out free of charge all sorts of educational materials for 30 day periods. They have all sorts of stuff like videos, DVDs, curriculum, books, computer software. They mail you the stuff and send you a postage paid return envelope for when you are done.

Tonight I ordered 2 videos about women inventors. I think Violet may have seen them before. But oh well. I wanted them for Violet and Butterfly for their Girl Scout Journey about energy. They are supposed to meet with an engineer and ask her about her job. Well, I'm lazy. I'm not setting it up. The Girl Scout police can come and get me and take away my s'mores stick. They are going to learn about female inventors instead by watching a video or two. And I think Violet already saw them, but double oh well. The other mom doesn't care that I'm cutting some corners. The girls are learning stuff and having fun.

I'd say that should be the point.

Keeping busy

Our busy week is actually going pretty smoothly. Violet has been making it to all the stuff without getting too overwhelmed. In fact, I was even able to get her into a make up swim class tonight. Between the pool closing for a week for cleaning, labor day and our trip, we had 4 lessons to make up. One down, three to go.

Tomorrow is "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" at the local theater. I bet that schoolday performance is going to be a germ fest. Would it be wrong to have Violet wear a hazmat suit and slather her hand sanitizer afterward? I'd really, really like to avoid the flu. But after much deep contemplation, a long talk with my dental hygienist and many posts in a homeschool forum, I have decided to skip the seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccinations. Our plan? Avoid people as much as possible. Kind of the lifestyle Mr. I, Violet and I prefer anyway.

A special thanks to Rosie. The Halloween goodie bag arrived today. Online friends are the best friends! The Smarties seem to help make Violet smarter while she is doing math problems.

Work is back to being smooth. My boss is back in town. She is just the voice of reason in a chaotic department. I guess that's why she's in charge.

Our day at the zoo was really nice. We had the most perfect weather. It was sunny-ish and in the upper 60s. Today it has rained non-stop. We couldn't have picked a better day in October to go to the zoo.

Tomorrow our new dishwasher arrives between 8 am and 10 am. Mr. I. will be working from home so he can take care of it and deal with the delivery/installation guys. I'm always relieved when he can do it. I usually do Wii Fit around that time. Not happening tomorrow as the Wii is in the family room which is only separated from the kitchen by a half wall. Maybe I'll do it later in the day. Probably not. I haven't missed a day in October yet. Oh well, like the trainers say, "if you are feeling tired, it is a good idea to give your body a rest."

Speaking of rest, soon it will be my turn for reading aloud with Violet, then time for a snack and a glass of red wine. Let the good times roll!

Another week another to do list

The weekend flew by. That's what happens when you work. I did get a lot accomplished and I feel better about the start of this week. Always good.

Violet and her girlfriend Butterfly worked more on the Get Moving journey for Girl Scouts today. They made their energy pledges (Violet is going to try to use fewer paper products like paper napkins, paper towels, and shhh, she's not telling the whole world this part...less toilet paper - only what is really needed. She's going to kill me one day for sharing so much of her childhood on the internet, isn't she?)

Back to business. Mine is to turn off lights in rooms when I'm not using them and to sleep my computer more. I'm bad about leaving things on because I'm likely to go back to them, eventually. Butterfly is still working on hers, but she thinks she wants to eat more locally grown foods. I told her to take her time.

The girls practiced folding furoshiki cloths. We talked about excessive packaging and about buying bigger boxes versus individual serving sizes. And they started to make coffee cup cozies (you know, like those paper sleeves Starbucks sticks on all the cups to make it easier to hold on to them) out of an old pair of jeans. They measured and cut out the cozies, then decorated them with fabric paint. Next time they'll sew on some Velcro.

This morning I had a dentist appointment, tonight is swim practice, tomorrow is Violet's orthodontist check up. You'll all be proud of me, I asked for help this morning. I asked the lady from the Girl Scout council who is often driving around our area if she'd be near my house later this week. I have a bunch of registration paper work to turn in. She said yes, she'd be happy to pick it up from me on Tuesday afternoon. Yay! One less trip to make. I think Violet and I will go to Trader Joe's after the orthodontist tomorrow instead. Closer and more fun!

Wednesday the three of us are taking the day off and going to the zoo. We all need it. We have a membership so parking and admission are free. And we're going to take sandwiches. The weather is much warmer this week, low 60s, so it will be perfect for going there.

If I don't post much for the next day or two, you'll know why. We aren't home. But at least some of it will be having fun.

Wii Fit Plus

What do you know, I did get birthday presents yesterday! I'm here tonight to tell you all about them.

Mr. I. and Violet gave me Wii Fit Plus and Alton Brown's new book, Good Eats: The Early Years. I haven't had much time to peruse the new book yet, but I did get Wii Fit Plus fired up.

Many of you know I am a Wii Fit devotee. Even if my weight has gone up since I started using it a year ago, I still love it. At least it hasn't gone up much. I'd hate think what I'd weigh if I didn't exercise. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Anyway, Wii Fit Plus is an add on to the game. It pulls in all your current stats. And gives you more yoga poses and strength exercises and more advanced tracking. It counts your calories burned. And more stuff that I haven't gotten to because I've been too busy playing the new balance games. And trying to get the game back from Violet who has been playing the games whenever she can.

We both like snowball fight a lot. She's good at it. I like the new table tilt, I was a big fan of the old one. This one has a feature that "pops" your ball into the air to move it to different levels. It is hard. There's one game where you hip bump mushrooms with numbers on it to add up to a total number. That requires too much thinking. Violet really likes the parade game and juggling. I found that the cycling made me ill. I got really dizzy. I'm afraid to try the Segway.

You can also register your pets. Violet has set up Marbles, our biggest and youngest cat. He then shows up in some of the games. Pretty cool.

I also got a box in the mail yesterday from my inlaws. They always remember my birthday. I often exchange whatever I get. This year is no exception, but it isn't an issue of taste this time. They gave me a new outfit (which I desperately need now that I'm going into the office more). But unfortunately the pants are 2 sizes too small, and the sweater is a medium, and a large would definitely fit better. I guess they still remember the 21 year old girl their son/step son brought home from college. Well, she got bigger over the last 22 years. (Goodness, I've now been with Mr. I for over half my life. Yikes! When did that happen?)

Anyway, they included Kohl's gift receipts in the box, so I'll be heading there to find a new outfit that will actually fit. But it was really nice of them to remember and send something. But I don't think any amount of Wii Fit Plus will get me to cram into size 10 pants ever again.