We Are All Connected

I'm a nerd.  I haven't worked as an engineer for 16+ years now, but it's still how I think.  I'm still fascinated by science - right now it disappoints me that JC doesn't need more help with his chemistry.

So when I checked out Knitting to Stay Sane tonight, and she had a post about "Geeking Out", I was highly amused.  And then I watched the video that she embedded.



I love this.  I love that all of these people of science - that cold, dispassionate field of study - are really REALLY passionate about what they are doing.  I miss it, a bit.

But this helps.

March Madness

I've been trying to avoid complaining about the weather.  I spend way more time than I should complaining about the weather on this blog.  So the lack of posts lately is somewhat related to this goal.

BUT.

This is just a little nuts.  John snapped this picture from the bus stop on Wednesday morning, which, may I remind you, was the 2nd full day of Spring.

Really?

We are so DONE with winter.  Even William, die-hard sled and snowball enthusiast, has been taking this as a personal affront.  "Doesn't Nature know it's SPRING?!"

So instead of planning and planting the front bed for the house, which we tore out last fall, I was scraping my car this morning.

Happy Spring.

Words to Live By

I'm a news junkie.  I'll admit it.  (Hi, my name is Ann, and I'm addicted to knowing what's going on.)  I feel very cut off and isolated even going a day without watching or listening to what's going on in the world, and our local paper isn't enough (even though I generally read almost all of it every day).

But lately?  It's a little overwhelming.  The whole Egypt thing (sorry Tunisia, we didn't get as much coverage about you), which of course segued into Bahrain and Libya and Yemen and who knows how many countries in that region.  That "little" earthquake in Christchurch, protests in Wisconsin, our own very combative governor in New Jersey (he's a jerk.  There are even some of his policies I grudgingly agree with, but the guy's a jerk).

And now Japan.

It would be heartbreaking enough to see the pictures of the aftermath of a HUGE earthquake.  Then you add on a truly biblical tsunami.  We could stop there, thank you.  I can't imagine the horrors those people are living through right now.

But no, now they have impending nuclear disaster to deal with, as well.  And while I know (here in my safe suburban intact house) that the worst case scenarios you are hearing on the media are more than a little on the sensationalized side, they are living with even more fear and uncertainty and a justifiable mistrust in what their government is telling them.

Whatever religion or higher power you believe in, or even if you don't believe, take a moment and think prayers/good thoughts for all the people struggling right now, whether in Japan or Libya or New Zealand.  I don't know that the world is more tumultuous than it was 100 years ago, but we are certainly more aware of it now.

I did receive a little ray of hope today, though.  When I was filling out the online donation form for Doctors without Borders, the captcha (security words) that came up were "ndstedi calm".

And steady calm.

Something to remember.

Maybe I Should Do This More Often

William has been home sick for three days (Sunday he woke up with a 102F fever), so he's been mostly living on the couch in our family room.  This morning, as he was looking for his shoes (which he hasn't worn in three days), he walked into the front hall and said, "Mom, why is the front hall so...clean?"

When your 9 yr old boy a) notices that something is clean and b) realizes that it's a change, I think it might be a signal to clean more often.

Random Stuff

1.  I have a cold.  It started Monday with that little scratchiness in the back of my throat, and now has progressed to coughing fits that would make strangers stare in alarm, if I were going out of the house.  No fever (or at least, not that I've really noticed), no major body aches.  Just stuffed up and coughing.

2.  It's my first real cold of the season, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  It is kind of a bummer, though.

3.  The kids got their report cards in the last couple weeks.  I have one who is on the verge of failing some classes because s/he doesn't do his/her homework.  I have one who missed straight A's by one B+ (and is really annoyed by that) and one who's trending kind of upper average.

4.  Does this mean that I'm trending upper average in parenting skills?  Or am I assuming too much guilt/responsibility for the brilliance and/or laziness of my children?  It always amazes me that three such different people should have come from the same parents.

5.  The weather has finally decided that it could think about moving towards Springtime.  This means that it is sunny and cold instead of snowy and cold.  And it's windy of course.  It is March, after all.

6.  At this point, I'm very happy with sunny and cold.  Even though the season of Mud has arrived.

7.  My front entry is filthy (see #6).

Change of Seasons

Yes, the weather has improved a bit (although tomorrow will be back below freezing for the high), but the true sign that Spring is approaching?



Road Construction.



Everywhere you go (at least, that's what it felt like today!).