Random Thoughts Thursday

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I love being able to borrow library books on my Kindle.  I don't love it when the loan expires before I've finished the book.  But at least there's no fear of overdue fees!

I wrote a poem today.

After next week I will have an 8th grader, a 6th grader, and a 2nd grader.  Only one left at elementary - how crazy is that?

Lexi & I started a Couch to 5K program last week.  So far I haven't died.

Tabs currently open on my browser: Gmail, Blogger (x2), Facebook, Recreation.gov (campground reservation website) (x3), Google Maps, Campsitephotos.com, Google search results (x3), local exterminators (x6).  Multi-tasking much?

I am in the slow process of updating my photo blog.  I'm devastated that I missed a day in April and didn't realize it until this weekend.

However, I did manage to take at least one picture every freaking day for over two years, so, really, that's kinda impressive.

The girls discovered this new game that's honestly kind of stupid, but also very addictive.  I don't understand why, but it is.  It's called Little Alchemy.  Check it out.  And if you get more than 200 elements, let me know what they are.

I didn't get into any of the nursing programs that I applied to, so Plan B is now taking shape.  I think I'm going to retake a couple of classes to try and turn B's into A's and then reapply with a shiny upgraded GPA.

We're planning a camping trip with some good friends.  It's going to be awesome.

I wish I could think of things to blog about anymore.

I will be trying these soon.  Possibly tonight.  Heaven help my waistline if they turn out.

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Random Thoughts Thursday (evening edition)

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It's a miracle!  I blogged!  (did you miss me?)

Did you know Wait Wait Don't Tell Me has a Tumblr?  I laughed.  I laughed so hard.

Then I discovered that Radiolab has one, too.  It's entirely possible that I spent WAY too much time on the internet that day.

An excerpt from a "happy birthday" exchange with my brother a few weeks ago (he's the one speaking): "Thanks! Sunshine received. Still waiting on puppies. Pop-Tarts arrived, were homicidal after all. Situation mostly under control; may have internal bleeding, odd rash."

My family is awesome.

Vicki is mad that we won't let her watch Dr. Who without us.  But if she watches it without us, we'll miss out!  We are raising a house full of nerds and it makes me so proud.

I have been made aware of the very best place to seek refuge in the event of a zombie apocalypse: Costco.  Think about it - there's food, clothes, cases upon cases of bottled water, TVs, no windows, heavy doors...what more could you need to stay safe from the walking dead?  Consider yourselves informed.

Lately I've been getting up about 45 minutes earlier than I used to.  It's amazing what a difference that makes in how our mornings go.

I finally sold my old desk!  Of course, I had to drop my price by $40 in order to do it, but it's finally out of my garage!

This seems like a very boring post.  But at least I posted!

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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Yesterday morning I did a google search for "daisy girl scout petal ideas" and stumbled onto some random person's Pinterest.  While scrolling through her pins, I noticed a picture that looked awfully familiar.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered that it was actually my picture.  I do not have a Pinterest account, so it's a little surreal that something of mine has now been repinned 53 times.

I really, really hate confrontation.  But I made a commitment to  myself to stand up for what I think is right.  Sometimes that makes things a little challenging.  Especially on Facebook.

Vicki and her friend Kate were coming up with a list of the best words to use for hangman.  On their list: antidisestablishmentarianism, supercalifragilisticexpealidocious, and pneumonomicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.  Don't play hangman with Vicki and Kate.

I have a student who was trying to sound out the word "far" and couldn't do it (the -ar words are hard to sound out).  But as soon as I added a "t" to the end, she had no problem.  Go figure.

It's kind of fun to be a soccer mom.

If a genie granted me three wishes, I'd wish for my house to always magically clean itself, my children to get along, and everyone to approach new ideas with an open mind and a desire to learn from differences.

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Random Thoughts Thursday (Friday Edition)

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**I actually had this written yesterday, but I forgot to post it.  That still counts, right?**

The other night we had our first "I'm running away" experience.  Apparently someone isn't getting enough attention.  *sigh*  I will be so happy when this term is over and I have a break from school.  It's hard on my family.

She packed a bag with a change of clothes, but forgot underwear.

I am so ready for a few months with all three girls in school and me not.  I realized this morning that I actually haven't really had that, since I started school as soon as Ellie did, and have been going straight through since then.  Of course, I'll still be working, but at least I'll have time to clean my house, and maybe read a few books just for fun.

Even though I haven't finished this month's book, I'm still going to my book club meeting.  I can't give up my favorite "me" time.

Between all the girls, we sold 831 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  Not bad.

I'm so glad that's over with for another year.  So, so glad.

The ants are coming back.  The other night, I dreamed that they were each an inch long.  Ugh.

I love that I can check out library books on my Kindle without even leaving my house.  Now, if only the selection was bigger...

Tonight we have Parent/Teacher Conferences for Lexi and Ellie.  It's nice that I've never had to dread those. I get to look forward to them and be excited to hear how awesome my kids are.

I really need to update my picture blog.  I don't think I've missed a day yet, but I haven't posted since the middle of January.

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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Is it wrong that I'm a little sad I don't have kids at home during the day anymore because it means I have no excuses for eating Kraft mac & cheese for lunch?

I got all my homework done before the kids got home from school today.  This is a major accomplishment.  Now I only have a quiz and I'm done with school for the day.  Yay for getting to enjoy an evening for once!

Although I'll probably enjoy it by going to bed early.  Such is my life.

Probabilities are fun.  Did you know that if you take a quiz with 20 multiple-choice questions and guess on all of them, the probability of passing is only 0.0000039?  Study, folks.

Only two more weekends of cookie booth sales.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

I wish I had a maid.  But if I did have a maid, I'd be too embarrassed to have her come in my house, because it's such a mess.

It's really kind of embarrassing that I can't spell "embarrassed" right, even though it was on my high school English teacher's "No Excuse 50" list.  Sorry, Mr. Daniels.

After we finished our semester abroad, three of my friends and I agreed that one day we'd all take a European vacation together.  This summer we're spending a weekend at Bear Lake in Utah.  That's kind of the same thing, right?

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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I slacked last week.  On blogging.  But I did a heck of a whole lot else, so we'll call it good.

Maybe I should start calling this "Random Thoughts Every-other Thursday".  That's a little long.  How about "Thoughts on a Random Thursday"?  No, that sounds like the title to a bad poem.  Maybe we'll just stick with it, and once April rolls around and I'm done with school for a little while the blogging will pick back up again.  One can hope.

Being sick is no fun.  Being sick and a student is excruciating.  Despite having the flu, I've had countless homework assignments, three quizzes, and two exams all due this week.  I don't think my grades are going to be what they should be for these units.  Bummer.

I want to write something that's not whiney, but I can't think of anything.

Here, enjoy these communist dictator Valentines (we'll pretend they were all dictators):

via

I've been giggling over Leon Trotsky all day.

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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Why is it that if one of the girls gets a stomach virus, it usually only affects that one girl and leaves the rest of us alone, but if someone gets it while we're on vacation, the whole family gets sick?  Mind you, I'm not complaining about only one person getting sick, but it seems really strange that it works that way.

So many people are sick right now.  The hypochondriac in me wants to lock myself up with a bottle of hand sanitizer and hide until everyone's better.

Good thing I work in an elementary school, huh?

Look!  Sweater ponies!

via

I'm bummed that I didn't blog at all last week.

I know I've said this before, but I love, love, LOVE that my girls' favorite music is showtunes.

How does blogger not recognize "showtunes" as a word?  There's something really wrong with that.

I have to watch a video of a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery for my A&P class.  After the knee surgery video and the heart valve repair video, I'm learning to not be grossed out by stuff like that.

I finally took down my Christmas decorations.  But my neighbor still has a Halloween cat on her front door.

Do you have any idea how awesome it is that my kids will choose programming a robot over watching TV?

And that all three of them can quote The Princess Bride at the drop of a hat?

Face it, my family is cooler than yours.

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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Every time I start feeling bad that our Christmas decorations are still up, I look at my neighbor's front door and realize that she still has Halloween decorations up.  I guess when she takes the black cat down, I'll know it really is beyond time to take down the tree.

In Tic-tac-toe, why is it called a cat's game?  Where's the cat?

I have decided that I'm getting old.  I don't know how else to explain my increasing hatred for being cold.  It just seems like I can't get warm, no matter how many layers I put on.

I do think I need some more hoodies, just so it doesn't look like I'm wearing the same few shirts day in and day out.  I promise I'm wearing a different shirt underneath the hoodie each day, okay?

I think it was Mark Twain who said something about "Lies, damned lies, and statistics."  I think of this quote whenever I sit down to study for my statistics class.

I finally manged to take pictures for an entire year!

Aaaaand, I guess I'm out of random for today.

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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(The "Hey, it's actually Thursday!" edition)

I'm not even a full week into this term and I'm already stressed.  I need a vacation.

I've submitted one application to nursing school and have at least three more underway.  Fingers crossed that I get in somewhere!

I'm learning the implications of what it will mean to be in the health care field: people feel comfortable telling you about their bowel movements.

I got knives for Christmas, and it only took me three days of using them to discover just how sharp they are. Ouch.

We discovered over the break that Vicki is only about an inch shorter than my sister.

And next year Lexi will be in middle school.

I'm getting old.

When I was in middle school we wrote out our assignments.  On paper.  In one of her classes, Vicki has a blog. (Granted, it's a technology class, but still...  My "technology" class used Apple II computers, and that was in high school.)

Lexi did a report on her family for school.  My favorite line: "My dad's side is very, very rowdy."

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Random Thoughts Thursday (Friday Edition)

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You'd think that being on vacation would give me more time to blog on Thursdays.  Not so much.  Of course, I'd have had more time if I hadn't slept until 9:00, read for three hours, showered at noon, gone sledding, and taken Ellie for a playdate at her cousins' house.  Pity me for my busy day.

I was informed yesterday in no uncertain terms that it's not a playdate if I stay.  I stayed anyway.  Talking with my sister-in-law is a playdate for me.

While we were sledding, Ellie dubbed herself The Sledding Master. The she said, in all seriousness, "I don't know how I got so good at sledding.  I wonder if any of my ancestors were professional sledders?"

Having a Kindle is dangerous.  It doesn't feel like I'm spending money if I don't actually have the paper book in my hand.

When I showed Vicki how to check out library books using the Kindle app on her new tablet, it was like she'd died and gone to heaven.  "Are you serious?  I have the whole library at my fingertips!"  All she needed was an evil laugh.

A few days ago Ellie spilled chili on the ceiling.

Chris and I watched the movie Sleepwalk With Me.  It wasn't quite what I expected.  It was funny, but also kind of depressing.

I need a new profile picture.  But I'm always the one behind the camera.

I left my phone with Lexi for a little while and when I got it back, it was full of pictures like this:

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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Vacation is so nice.

I got a Kindle for Christmas.  I used to consider myself a book purist, but I've decided that the convenience of carrying lots of books in a very small package is so much easier than trying to haul around a whole stack.

The girls got the white Christmas they've been dreaming of for two years now.

And I've discovered that I've turned into an old person.  I have no desire to play in the snow.  It's too cold.

I do wish I could go skiing, though.  Stupid costochondritis.

You can never watch The Princess Bride too many times.  And watching it with a roomful of people who also quote every line is a bonus.

The girls are spending a few days with my parents while Chris & I stay with his parents.  I think we're all winners here (except maybe Chris's parents...sorry about that.)

We got a robot for Christmas.  Best present ever.

Trying to coordinate a group of people to go see a movie I've been dying to see was probably not the best idea, because I have to wait til everyone can go.  So not fair.

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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It's been two weeks since I posted.  I have been super busy.  Did you miss me?

If you don't think I'm weird enough yet, you should read this post of mine (although unless you simply stumbled across this blog, you've probably already read it.)  I hope it will help people, especially my fellow Mormons, to understand that there are all kinds of people in the Church, doing the best they can with what they understand the Gospel to be about.

I am done with another term of school!  Wait, let's add some more exclamation marks to that!!!  !!!!!!  You truly have no idea how very, very relieved I am about this.  The bad news: I didn't do as well as I would have liked.  The good news: I didn't fail.  My GPA will not be as high as I would like it, but I made it through two very tough classes and I'm not ready to call it quits.

Next term is smack in the middle of Girl Scout cookie season.  Ask me how excited I am to sell cookies again.  Someone save me the trouble and buy 50 cases...please?

I can't wait to get my house clean and have Christmas already!

Over the course of the past week I have had a chest x-ray, a blood draw, a CT scan (and a miserable fail at an IV.)  Turns out that, except for an alarming lack of accessible veins, I'm completely normal.  I'm just in a lot of pain on my left ribcage.  Good times.

There are some who might argue about the "normal" part of my last sentence.

I have the most awesome sister.

I'm looking forward to Vicki being able to help me with my math class next term.

We may have splurged a little bit on Christmas this year.  But it will be pure awesome.  Chris is finally getting what he's wanted since he was three (so he says.)  I just have to make sure the girls get a chance to play with it, too.

My brothers are pretty awesome, too, by the way.

After seeing it all over facebook lately, I finally figured out what SMH means.  Why do we need more acronyms?

A few years ago I adopted Gandhi's admonition to "be the change you want to see in the world" as my mantra.  I'm proud of myself for stepping outside my comfort zone and speaking up so others can see things from a different point of view.  And I'm trying to remember to let myself see things from a different point of view as well.

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Your turn!

Random Thankful Thursday

Since it's Thanksgiving, but also Thursday, I think I'll share some random things I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for modern technology.  Because of it, I can be a college student and still be home when my children are home, and I can stay in touch with far away friends and family.

I'm thankful for good cookbooks, so I can make and enjoy super tasty food.  And I'm thankful that I won't have to have my mouth water for too much longer before I get to enjoy today's feast!

I'm thankful for Mythbusters, because they've helped teach my daughters that science is cool.

I'm thankful for a warm bed and a roof to keep me dry.

I'm thankful for chocolate.

I'm thankful that I've learned how to make healthy food that tastes good so I can enjoy the chocolate.

I'm thankful for Blaine and Mel.  It's nice to have family that aren't too far away.  I'm thankful they're here right now to entertain the girls while Chris & I cook dinner (and I'm thankful to hear them tell the girls that they don't associate with kids who fight.)  And I'm thankful for the great-smelling food they brought with them.

I'm thankful for good neighborhood friends.  We are blessed to know some amazing people.

I'm thankful to be a part of a book club.  Over the past two years I've read books I would never have read otherwise, and I've been able to participate in entertaining and enlightening discussion with a wonderful group of women.

I'm thankful for a job that I enjoy.  It's been a long time since I've had a job outside the house, but I get to spend three mornings a week being entertained by a handful of kids.  I hope they get as much out of our time together as I do.

I'm thankful for a bond of friendship that has lasted over 20 years.  I wish we got to see each other more often than we do, but I'm grateful we've been able to keep in touch all this time.

I'm thankful for my parents.  I'm the person I am today because of what they taught me.

I'm thankful for my wonderful family.  I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who loves me in spite of me and three healthy, amazing daughters who make me smile every single day.

Happy Thanksgiving, indeed.

Random Thoughts Thursday

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I would like to know how it is that I managed to get 331 pages into the second book in a series before I realized that the main character is blonde, and not brunette like I'd been picturing her.

I still haven't missed a day this year! (the blog isn't up to date, but the pictures have been taken, I promise!)

I was going to share a video, but apparently it's been pulled from YouTube.  Bummer.  It was really funny.

Christmas break needs to come quickly.  I'm very, very much looking forward to not having any classes at all between Spring Break and next fall.  Happy, happy days.

My brother-in-law in Australia posted a guide to Aussie speech on his blog.  My favorite term is "budgie smugglers", which refers to men's bathing costumes, specifically speedos.

Hey, did you hear about the clowns who went to the KKK rally?  Sounds like the beginning of a joke, right?  Watch this:


Dwight Power for the win.

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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I had all kinds of things in mind to put in this post today.  I just can't for the life of me remember what they were.

My first baby turned 12 yesterday.  It's very strange.  I loved that little baby so much.  But I love the person she's becoming, so I guess it's okay to say goodbye to the baby and welcome the young woman with open arms.

Ellie and her best friend were each selected to be "Super Student of the Week" in their classes.  They spent the afternoon working on their posters.  It's amazing how big of a deal something that small can be.

I am already tired of school.  The two classes I have this term are killers.  I am very much looking forward to the fact that I won't have any school at all from Spring Break until Fall term starts again.

My brother-in-law Russ is awesome.  He fixed the family picture I want to use for Christmas cards this year so that I'm not wearing sunglasses anymore.  Like I said, awesome.

Wait, is he still my brother-in-law if he's married to my sister-in-law?  As in, his wife is Chris's sister, so not actually related to me.  How does that work?

I wish I had a constant recording of my life so I could always remember the hilarious things Lexi says.  She cracks us up on a daily basis.

Halloween candy is a curse and needs to be exorcised from my house.  Post haste.

I was just told by Vicki's piano teacher to "work with her on a dead hand."  Best piano teacher ever.

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Your turn!

Random Thoughts Thursday (the un-random Halloween edition)

We interrupt this regularly scheduled Random Thoughts Thursday to bring you a Halloween-themed post.  This post is brought to you by the knowledge that there are far-away grandparents and an uncle in Australia who really want to see the girls Halloween costumes, and by the fact that I actually have time to blog today.

Random Thoughts Thursday will return at its regularly scheduled time next week.

About two months ago, Ellie told me she'd decided once and for all what she wanted to be for Halloween.  This is the girl who has fairly readily molded her costume ideas to my will for the past six years.  I should have enjoyed that more while it lasted, because this year she decided to be...a volcano.  I usually make the girls costumes, but even if I'd wanted to buy them this year, I have no idea where one would go to find a volcano costume.  So we got creative with the several yards of black felt that Chris has had stored in our cedar chest for the past 10 years, and here's what we came up with:

Pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself.  Here's another angle:

And one more, because I was feeling artsy:

Her original plan was to have her hair all ratted up and sprayed red, but we tried that for the church Halloween party, with traumatic results when it came time to clean it up, so we came up with the headband instead.  She got pretty good at explaining to people what she was supposed to be, and was over the moon when someone actually guessed right.

Lexi usually goes for simplicity when it comes to costumes.  Her main goal is to just have fun and get candy.  I completely understand that, and appreciate how easy it is to create her costumes.  This year we just had to hunt down a Viking helmet, and the rest I threw together in a few hours using a couple of t-shirts and some fake fur.

And the "okay, stop taking pictures now" picture:

Vicki originally wanted to create an elaborate steampunk costume, but as much as I would have loved to do that (and make something for myself, too, I just didn't have the time.  So she decided to be "Alberta" Einstein instead.

We had fun fluffing up her hair (you can't really tell, but we sprayed it white), and those eyebrows and mustache were a fantastic find.  This is one of my favorite pictures of her, ever:

Here are all three together:

And it wouldn't be Halloween without Chris and I in our goth costumes:

Scary, no?  We also had tattoos:

(That picture is from a party we went to a few days before Halloween.)

So, there you have it.  Hopefully this satisfies those of you dying to see what the girls came up with this year. The only things that scares me now is wondering what, exactly, Ellie is going to decide to be next year.  What could possibly top a volcano?

One last shot of all three girls:

And thus concludes the Ebert family costume roundup of 2012.  Join us again next year when we discover just how much weirder it can get.

Random Thoughts Thursday

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Life has become so much more insane the past couple of weeks.  I started my job, which means I'm gone all morning Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  It's amazing how cutting just those few hours out has made my craziness even more crazy.

We went to Parent/Teacher Conferences for Vicki tonight.  We talked to her four core teachers (science, social studies, language arts, and math), and every single one of them commented on how she's "good at advocating for herself in class".  Basically, what that means, is that my daughter is Hermione.  It's fitting.

Less than a week until Halloween, and it's entirely possible that I may not have even begun working on the girls' costumes.  Never mind that we have a Halloween party to go to on Saturday.  Good times.

I'm grateful that Lexi chose to be a viking.  Horned hat and brown dress, and she's good to go.

Now, anyone know how to make a volcano costume in less than two days?

We finally got our print from the family pictures we took this summer!  I can't wait to get it framed!

On Saturday we went to the corn maze with our good friends, and afterward we went to the pumpkin patch.  We told the girls they could pick any pumpkin they wanted, as long as they could carry it.  The one Vicki chose weighed 33 lbs.  It may have taken her 20 minutes to cover the ground it took every one else five minutes to cover, but goshdarnit, she carried that pumpkin.

After watching the Presidential debate Monday night, Ellie told Chris she plans to be the first female President.  And the first thing she plans to do is paint the White House purple.

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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Am I crazy for being appalled that my college classmates would use emoticons and "lol" in a graded assignment?

The sun has been shining for the last couple of days, and it's heavenly.  Of course, it was shining for the last several months.  But the two were separated by a week of rain, and I'm mourning the passing of our gorgeous Indian summer.  I love Fall, but I love it best when it's crisp and sunny.

I need to get busy on Halloween costumes.  That volcano outfit is not going to make itself.

I love listening to Ellie read.  She's come a long way in just the last few weeks.

There's no school for middle schoolers tomorrow, so Vicki and her friends are going on a "field trip" to the Portland Art Museum.  We did this last year, and it was great.  Even if they're not learning, they can still learn.

Lexi told me this morning that her iPod isn't quite as exciting as she thought it would be because she can't take it to school.  Translation: she was hoping to look cool with it.  Poor kid.  Life's tough.

I am fundraisered out.  Please let there be no more fundraisers at either school for a long, long time.  At least until Girl Scout cookie sales are over.

I'm not looking forward to cookie sales.  It doesn't start until January, but I'm already dreading it.

My brother-in-law moved to Australia last month.  Now Ellie wants him to send her a koala.  Secretly, so do I.

Also, he wants the girls to make a video of the toilet flushing so we can compare and see if they really do swirl the opposite direction down under.

Vicki's been complaining of a stomachache for the last several days.  We finally figured out the problem - gym class.  She's using muscles she hasn't been using before.  Definitely a good thing.

My kids hate my nutrition class.  It's ruining their lives.  I love it.

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Your turn!

Random Thoughts Thursday (nearly Friday edition)

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My life these days has evolved into a very boring routine.  I get up, take the kids to school, go to work (3 days a week), come home and sit in front of the computer to do schoolwork, pick the kids up from school and take them to dance classes or piano lessons (where, assuming the laptop worked, which it doesn't right now, I would do more schoolwork) or Girl Scout meetings, come home, make dinner, do more schoolwork, and crawl into bed.  Boring.  I guess I'll get "me" time in four years.

So far I still have high A's in both my classes!  I haven't had any exams yet, though...

I almost cried when I discovered that Dave's Killer Bread is, indeed, 100% whole grain, and therefore actually good for us.  Unlike the "whole grain" white bread I've been buying, which is not, in fact, whole grain.  Too bad my kids won't eat bread with seeds in it.

There is no school tomorrow, and for this I am very grateful.  Sleep is a beautiful thing.

We told the older girls that we'd pay them to do research projects outside of school.  Vicki's response was pretty much, "meh", but Lexi jumped on it, and tonight she gave a PowerPoint presentation on the states of matter.  It was awesome.

On Saturday I did something I haven't done for a long time: I fell off my bike.  My hands are scraped up, my knees are bruised, and my dignity is lying somewhere on the bike path in Maywood Park, but otherwise I'm fine.  There are a lot of things that are hard to do with scraped hands, though.

I haven't updated my 365 blog in a few weeks, but I'm fairly certain I've still taken a picture ever day.  At least, I hope so!

Okay, so that "me" time thing up there...not entirely true.  I'll finish my pre-requisites after Winter term, but the nursing program (assuming I get in) won't start until the following Fall.  So I'll have a few months of "me" time before the craziness sets in for real.

I like that I get paid to spend time at the girls' school, which is what I was doing all the time anyway.

Halloween costume preparations are underway, and my kids have become incredibly creative.  Vicki is going to be "Alberta" Einstein, Lexi is dressing as a Viking, and Ellie wants to be...a volcano.  I am so not making this up.

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Random Thoughts Thursday

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This afternoon I was driving down the freeway and had to swerve to another lane to miss cases of toilet paper that had fallen out of someone's truck.  It sure looked pretty blowing in the wind, though.

I'm hosting book club at my house tonight.  Too bad I haven't finished the book yet.

You know who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?  Me, that's who.  I thought I was intelligent until I started reading To the Lighthouse.  I know what all the words mean individually, but I have no idea what they're saying all together.  No idea at all.

Taking a nutrition class is fascinating, but it's also a little depressing because it's made me realize that we have hardly any truly healthy food in our house.

I wish I still remembered how to speak Spanish.

Saturday is Ellie's 7th birthday.  She's not excited or anything, though.  Nope, not at all.

Saturday is also the harvest carnival at the elementary school.  Busy day.

Did you know October is Anti-Bullying Month?  I didn't until today, but now that you know, too, you should watch this video:



Educate your kids and the kids you have contact with.  Bullying is wrong, no matter the sentiment behind it.  Treat other people the way you want to be treated.  Don't be a bully.

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