It's Been a While

 Long time no blog, but I'm going to make an effort at catching up!

Big stuff:

Me and Pa after the second shot

1. After a year of being very tightly locked down to protect Mumpy and Pa from Covid, all of us except Choclo and Oob have received their second shot of the Pfizer vaccine.  We will all be immune on St. Patrick's Day, which I see as a gift from our beloved St. Patrick!

 2. Late last year, it looked like Mumpy and I both almost definitely had breast cancer.  In January, we learned that Mumpy did not, and I might not have breast cancer.   In February, I had a biopsy surgery that was way more involved than I thought it would be, but I now know that I do not have breast cancer either! 

I learned that I didn't have cancer the same week that I learned that we would be able to get the Covid vaccine, and I was amazed at how much energy and brain space that freed up!  I've been catching up on all the things, and that finally includes this blog.

3.  We've had two birthdays which I will get to in their own separate posts.

4.  We've had plenty of ups and downs with other health related problems, but we seem to be settling down to an even keel now (please God!).

5.  I have done a ton of home schooling!

6. It's Lent, and I have Gospel Desserts!

The Third Random Thing

 

The Glorious Turkey has returned!

Every November, The Glorious Turkey returns from his basement exile to lord it over our table.

You can read more of his history  here.

In the meantime, may the Thanks be with you!

Two Random Things

Since I don't seem to be able to get my act together for Seven Quick Takes lately...

1.We have switched over from the Spooky Aesthetic to the Thanksgiving Aesthetic.

It's part harvest, and part "things we are thankful for."

We were able to recycle a lot of the cute small gourds and pumpkins, however, I was horribly disappointed when I tried to cook the heirloom pumpkins: every single one (even the pie pumpkins!) was tasteless and spongy inside!

In retrospect, they all came from North Carolina, and they have had a lot of flooding, so I think everything grew big, but not tasty.

2. I have discovered, in my giant bin of cookie cutters, a cute little squirrel cutter that turned out to be the exact right size to cut a hole (in bread) that will be completely filled (but not overfilled) by an egg. 

Not only does this conclude a search of many years, I can tell people their squirrel eggs are ready!

Yet More Random Things

 I don't think I've mentioned it, but the Emperor had minor foot surgery in January... and again in February when the first surgery didn't work.  I think he's doing better. At the very least, he certainly looks dapper with a cane!  He's supposed to be all healed up in a few weeks.



Completely unrelated, how amazing is it that Klenda can copy a Michelangelo sketch in his style, and also sketch herself and her sister in a completely different style on the same day?

Leena (who backed the big honking van into this tiny parking space perfectly on the first try) is taking her driver's test for her license next week!   I think she'll do great, but prayers would be appreciated!

I'm trying to stretch my brain around the concept that we will have 6 drivers in the house...


And, speaking of stretching my brain, I've been working on a new science class for younger kids: Paleontology!!

It's been super fun to work on, but tricky to  work out how much to cover and in what order.  I started out planning it sequentially, like: this is how life on Earth developed, and then realized that, while perfect for a high school class, it was way too much detail for the age group (7-13 year olds).

On the plus side, I think I've figured out a hands on way to explain radiometric dating to young kids.  It involves chocolate.  I'll be posting those classes as I do them starting in March.





And, lastly, one of the great joys of feeding birds in the winter, is finding your yard covered in teeny tiny bird footprints, along with the occasional little squirrel prints.

This and That

 I love January and February because they tend to be the quietest time of the year: after the holidays, but before things start up again in earnest.

So excited!

Unlike summer, we don't plan a ton of activities since we know we're bound to get sick, and when we do, we can just hunker down and rest.

Near the end of January, Leena and Zorg started up some new college classes including Music Theory, which Leena loves, and Public Speaking, which she does not.

Zorg, meanwhile, has been really enjoying both Philosophy and Business Management.

They are actually also taking a home school economics class from a Catholic U professor of Business Ethics who also happens to be a fantastic and in demand speaker.  He is also my friend Shelli's husband, and Zorg's friend Eli's dad!!

 Can I just say that having an affectionate and clever bird around is more fun than I ever would have guessed.

He sings a wide variety of songs, usually to the person who taught him that particular song.  He also has learned a few words, mostly "hello" and "pretty bird."

I can't whistle, or even sing very well, so he likes to sit on my shoulder and jabber, jabber, jabber, and then laugh!

Just in case I ever wonder what I sound like...

In other news, thanks to all who prayed for my dad, he's doing much better!

With amazing irony, the good news is that he has bone marrow cancer.

We had thought that the Parkinson's he's been fighting for nearly 30 years was finally winning.  Nope, he was actually extremely anemic because his bone marrow had stopped making new cells.

In case that still doesn't sound like good news, the hematologist was able to get his bone marrow working again, and told us that his form of cancer is extremely slow growing and they should be able to manage it comfortably for a decade or two.

My sister, who had come home to help out, just went back to North Dakota last week.

Speaking of which, yes, it's been shockingly cold this past week, down in single digits (-15 C) with wind chills below zero (-25 C), and yes, the people from Northern North Dakota are laughing at the rest of the country.  To them, cold is only worth mentioning when it passes 40 below (mostly because -40 F = -40 C), and only really remarkable at -60.

Look, Mom! Can You Put This on the Blog?

 Sure!

1. Leena: I made Aphrodite bite herself!

(No plants were harmed, I got the stem out of the "mouth")






 2. Choclo (table setter) I made a nest!

(Yes, it's a nest out of plates, cups and flatware.  Yes, we have been watching David Attenborough's Life of Birds.)

 3. Random child: I made this out of Legos!

(I can't remember who made it, or what, exactly, it is, but, as requested, it's on the blog!)



4., 5. and 6. Take a picture of me looking like this!

Sharing from Zoom

Oob (indignantly): Choclo won't share!

Me (wisely): Were you GRABBING and TAKING his stuff?

Oob (surprised I had to ask): YES!  I tried to MAKE him share.

And if that is not edifying enough, and it's not, try this delightful non sequiter:


I found it in a round a bout way from my new favorite internet time vacuum: The Kid Should See This.  If you haven't seen it, you should!

An Appalling Thought

Do you remember A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court?

A 19th century smith is transported back in time, and wows King Arthur with modern technology.

If that happened to me, with 2 centuries more technology, they would be considerably less impressed.

What would I do? Build them an airplane? How about a computer? Umm. A car? Anything?

I think the best I could do would be to pull out my cell phone and show them the screen lighting up (until the battery ran out)!

I'm not worried that I am going to be swept back in time (with a career as the Village Idiot), but it is an uncomfortable realization that my own level of technology- the things I understand well enough to recreate, is probably lower than that of the average person 100 years ago.

My friend Bill, on the other hand, probably doesn't need to worry about these things!

7 Quick Takes

1. Cool home made present for kids: get 2 ten foot lengths of 1/2" PVC pipe and one bag each bag of (1/2") end caps, T connectors and elbows (make sure they are "slip", not threaded). Cut the pipes to various lengths and sand the edges (if you want to be fancy). Presto! A building set which can be used plain, with water, or air pressure. Total cost: $13. This is what the Zoomlians used to build marshmallow blasters.

2.I really like to knit...scarves. I don't have the, how shall we say? Attention, precision, presence of mind, moral fortitude to do sweaters. I like to just sit and knit while listening to the Emperor read without really having to think about it much. And all my hats come out funny. OK, the matching blue frog hats I knit for my parents were meant to be funny, but the rest of them weren't.

3. Secret of the Universe: If you don't want to be late, don't try to be on time. Aim for a little early and the last minute traffic/diaper change/baby blurp will be factored in. You will be a little early some of the time, on time most of the time, and sometimes a little bit late. If you think I'm being extreme, I'm a moderate: my Dad always says, "Five minutes early is ten minutes late."

4. Oob has learned to say, "Pleeeeese!" The only way he knows how to say it is in the tone of a starving child begging for a dry crust with large eyes and furrowed brow. And he says it often. I feel like Scrooge: No, you can't eat the entire package of marshmallows, bah, humbug!

5. I want to visit Mongolia. When I was a kid, my Dad traveled the world and brought me dolls from different countries. I look at the cluster map here and think, I have a doll from your country, and your country...

6. Ah, Mongolia... As I got older, he brought me a wide variety of Mongolian arrow heads. From rough cast in sand to a sleek barbed 3D triangle, I could touch the evolution of the arrowhead. I devoured all information about the Khans. Then I got older and saw The Story of the Weeping Camel. Some people wish for gondolas or towers; me, I yearn for a yurt.

7. My husband would like some of the quality attention I have been lavishing on this blog.

But you can read more with Jen!

7 Quick Takes

Thanks Jen for starting this!

1. If I do one random thought about each Zoomlian, does that still count as random? Why do I worry about it?

2. Oob: Dorito breath is bad. Coffee breath is worse. Both are lovely compared to fish food breath.

3. Choclo: I forget that he confuses his pronouns, so we have conversations like this:
Choclo: Mommy, you like chocolate milk?
Me: No, actually, I don't like chocolate milk.
Choclo: (perplexed): You like apple juice?
Me: Yes, apple juice is nice.
Choclo (getting concerned): Mommy, you like metalmaid (lemonade)?
Me: Ooooh! YOU want a drink!
Choclo (nodding vigorously): YOU want a drink!

4: Leena is very concerned about the acorn shortage. The squirrels are everywhere: into our garbage and climbing on our window screens. After a few days of handing out the spare Brazil nuts from last Christmas (someone must like those, but no one here), I finally broke down and bought squirrel food. We haven't seen a squirrel since.

5. Zorg: I would have home schooled for no other reason that this rough and tumble, wrestling, weapon crazy, cub scouting boy still loves to snuggle up and give everyone in the family hugs and kisses.

6. Klenda and I saw the Dancing White Horses! I've wanted to see them since I was a horse crazy 9 year old myself, but it was incredibly more fun to see them for the first time with her! That's something we'll both remember all our lives and it was a window into my childhood. I'd forgotten how beautiful horses are!

7. I told Mxyl that our home school portfolio review was coming up and I'd like to be able to show his advancing skills in robotics. Could he build me a robot to take in? Sure! He is in the last stages of programming Spike, a scorpian robot. When it senses something in it's path, it backs up. If the thing advances, Spike "stings" it. It's very cool, even though all actual arachnids give me the screaming heebie jeebies. But then, I don't live near any actual scorpians (sorry, Jen!).

Eight Random Things

I have been tagged by Her Majesty to post 8 random things about me. I shall in all my best obey you madam!

1. I missed being a teenage bride by 9 days. I've always been grateful that I found True Love early, even if I had a few years there where I was asked, "You're old enough to be married?"

2. I worked in 2 labs over the course of 5 years and my favorite thing was meeting people from all over the world, but my second favorite thing was liquid nitrogen.

3. I was nervous about having kids because I didn't like babysitting. Ha! I also knew only one large family (more than 3 kids). They were crazy! They had 6 kids and were always yelling and screaming and then hugging and crying. I hoped I never had that many kids! Turns out they were just Italian. I am having the best time of my life with my 6 kids!

4. I make all my own bread and baked goods except for Oreos.

5. I must grow things. I once grew 16 kinds of fruit (not counting all the other plants) on 1/3 of an acre (counting the house and garage). I would rather weed than mow.

6. I love to ice skate, but don't see the point of doing it inside going around in crowded circles.

7. I have been blessed to meet some truly amazing and admirable people (some in the blogosphere!), but the most amazing have been in my immediate family. People are impressed with me until they meet my parents.

8. I am never bored.

I am supposed to tag 8 that haven't been tagged... Lets see: My amazing SIL, Danielle, the Princess' Mom, Sea glass hearts, and The Emporer and any three others reading this! If you don't have a blog, leave it in the comments section!