Beyond Binkies, Code and Make-Believe

Winter, get back in line with the other seasons!

Let's see, one week ago we ushered in Spring with a day outside on the deck.  Today, our daughter is out making hail balls and throwing them in the back yard.

I'm not doubting global warming, but this doesn't help the argument. It's Spring, right?  It started a week ago.  Neighbors were out in their yards cleaning out and replanting beds.  I'm mopping the floor from muddy boots caked with ice.  This is a good distraction because we are caught between figuring out a RAM issue or a motherboard issue.  Either way, the prospects are not good.

The bunny funeral

The story of Harley the dead dog reminded me of a bunny funeral I orchestrated and attended.  Our family tends to find humor in death as a way of dealing with it.  At some point I'll tell the story of my dad's funeral in 1989.  Truly we had humorous moments; but I'll save that for another time. Right now I'll tell the story of the bunny funeral.

AdAge speaks to my heart about spelling

When Did It Bekome Acxeptable to Spell Incuhrrectly?
Sloppy Mistakes Tarnish Your Personal Brand

Posted by Marc Brownstein at adage.com on 03.26.08 @ 12:10 PM

Suddenly, everyone's misspelling words. In e-mails. In formal documents. In cover letters. In Power Point presentations. What's going on? OK, I admit, I'm a stickler for spelling. English was always my thing in high school and college. So I look for attention to detail in communications to me, especially as it relates to taking the time to spell properly.

Harley the dead dog

We have a dead dog in our yard.  He moved up here with us.  He was old then, but he made it through the very important move.  I'm not sure if it was for my sake,that of the children or his dopey dog brother, Max.  Three months later Harley died.  It was a big deal for our daughter and we decided to bury him in the back yard.  We laid three concrete blocks over him.

MilkBone

I love my brother.  He has some treasured qualities that make for fantastic anecdotes, especially when combined with our children.  Here is the story of "MilkBone and the Thanksgiving Visit."

Rice Rock Museum was a wonderful surprise to the weekend.

At the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt, I ran into my friend who invited our family to join hers at a rock museum.  She assured me it was very cool.  She also had visiting relatives so I felt her silent request for support.  Sounded great to us.  We were not disappointed.  This brought back fond memories of Route 66 and the types of treasure there used to be in the various roadside stops and small towns.

http://www.ricenwmuseum.org/

Uncle Geoff's White Board Party

We weren't able to be with Uncle Geoff to celebrate his birthday.

The children worked for about a half-hour on this white board party. 

I particularly like the labels, streamers and spiky hair on the boys.

My friend Camryn

This is our new category.  I am really enjoying the quick art created in the kitchen on the white board. We use it for quick greeting cards when we didn't mail it in time.

The children draw something for the person and then we are able to email it quickly with a note.  It's been a hit with the family - they still like one in the mail too, but they like the spontaneity of the white board.

The markers were a gift from my brother when he came to visit at Thanksgiving.  He asked what they would like and laughed when I told him this is all they wanted - dry erase markers and an eraser.

Tried and True Betty

Each year when I color eggs or just make hard-boiled eggs I usually break out the Betty Crocker cookbook I've had since my first apartment in 1987.

Even though it's Easter, sometimes it's not good to smell hard-boiled eggs.

Ah Spring!  The flowers are blooming in the neighborhood, little animals emerging - well not all of them are emerging.  Sometimes class projects don't go so great.