Not wanting to complain about the weather, which has actually been relatively nice if a bit cold, I haven't had that much to say. Keeping busy as usual, I guess.
My husband's been in China for the last week together with a friend. They went to the world's largest tool show.
My daughter had a friend sleep over for the first time last weekend, and it went surprisingly well. I suppose it helps that I pointed out to her that if she misbehaved, it would be a long time before she'd get to have a friend spend the night again. I was particularly impressed that as soon as the Disney movie they were watching ended at 8:15, they promptly got ready and went to bed. At 8:45 I pointed out to them that if they wanted me to think they were sleeping, they should at least whisper instead of laughing at full volume. It got quieter, and I was totally shocked that at 9:00 it was actually quiet for real. They slept until 7 AM.
On Sunday, none of her friends were available to play, so we ended up baking first blueberry muffins for breakfast then cupcakes for dessert. In between, we made a quick visit to friends who showed us some meteorites that they had collected.
On Tuesday morning, my daughter showed me a "meteorite" that she'd found at school. At first I was very skeptical, expecting an ordinary rock with a dose of imagination. Then I realized that the rock was unusually heavy, and magnets stuck to it. What were the odds of a child finding a meteorite in the grass at school? About the same as getting struck by lightning, I figured. It was much more likely that a meteorite had found its way into her pocket when we were at our friend's house, and that thought made me sick to my stomach.
When I picked her up from school, I explained to her my views on the situation and gave her several opportunities to take back her story, but she stuck to it. We called our friends and they agreed to take a look at it the next day (and check if anything was missing.)
It turns out that the stone really did look like a meteorite, but not one of our friends' meteorites. They did some tests on it and determined that it was some iron slag, perhaps as much as 2000 years old but not from outer space. I guess we'll have to find an archeologist to show it to, but best of all, I'm so relieved to find out that my daughter was telling the truth after all. I feel pretty bad for not trusting her, and I hope that doesn't leave her scarred for life.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Fall has fallen
The weekend of the election was the last of the "summer" weather. After that, somebody threw a switch and the temperatures dropped from around 18 C/64 F to 12 C/54 F pretty much over night. (OK, summer ended for me already when we came home from California at the beginning of August because I really don't consider 18 C/64 F to be summer weather, but I'm spoiled.) I awoke Monday morning to fall colors and fog. Since then, I've been freezing. However, I did hold out until October before breaking down and putting on my long underwear or starting a fire in the fireplace.
Last Saturday, we were invited to a party on an old London bus. It was hilarious watching people come out of their houses to stare and even take pictures as the enormous double decked bus bounced and lurched its way through the narrow streets of residential neighborhoods picking up other guests. The kids thought this was loads of fun. The traffic that was eventually stuck behind us was probably less than thrilled.
The bus was eventually parked beside a lake and the bus driver got a ride home. The bus wasn't heated, so we were all bundled up. The kids ran around and played, and the adults settled in at the dining table upstairs. From there, we had a nice view of the lake, the sunset, and the enormous flock of birds or bats that circled the lake after sunset. We had each brought our own food and beverages, but there was plenty of sharing going on. Several people, including our host, brought crayfish. That was good for my husband, because I never cook those stinky little bugs. I brought s'mores brownies. Yum!
Unfortunately, every time somebody moved around on the bus (which was pretty much continuously considering the kids were downstairs), the whole bus swayed a little. As people drank more, they would make the bus rock on purpose too. For me, this was just enough that I was on the verge of being motion sick the whole time. I wasn't sick enough that I wanted to go sit outside by myself in the dark, but it was enough that I wasn't having that much fun. I took some Dramamine, and I think that made me a bit sleepy. I would occasionally close my eyes and go into the "sleep through the turbulence" mode that has pretty much become instinctive for me. I know this is really rude, but I couldn't help it. I was pretty embarrassed.
The kids were begging to go home by the time they finally called the driver to come take us back to town, and it was midnight by the time we got home. I know that's really not late, but I was mighty glad to get home.
Last Saturday, we were invited to a party on an old London bus. It was hilarious watching people come out of their houses to stare and even take pictures as the enormous double decked bus bounced and lurched its way through the narrow streets of residential neighborhoods picking up other guests. The kids thought this was loads of fun. The traffic that was eventually stuck behind us was probably less than thrilled.
The bus was eventually parked beside a lake and the bus driver got a ride home. The bus wasn't heated, so we were all bundled up. The kids ran around and played, and the adults settled in at the dining table upstairs. From there, we had a nice view of the lake, the sunset, and the enormous flock of birds or bats that circled the lake after sunset. We had each brought our own food and beverages, but there was plenty of sharing going on. Several people, including our host, brought crayfish. That was good for my husband, because I never cook those stinky little bugs. I brought s'mores brownies. Yum!
Unfortunately, every time somebody moved around on the bus (which was pretty much continuously considering the kids were downstairs), the whole bus swayed a little. As people drank more, they would make the bus rock on purpose too. For me, this was just enough that I was on the verge of being motion sick the whole time. I wasn't sick enough that I wanted to go sit outside by myself in the dark, but it was enough that I wasn't having that much fun. I took some Dramamine, and I think that made me a bit sleepy. I would occasionally close my eyes and go into the "sleep through the turbulence" mode that has pretty much become instinctive for me. I know this is really rude, but I couldn't help it. I was pretty embarrassed.
The kids were begging to go home by the time they finally called the driver to come take us back to town, and it was midnight by the time we got home. I know that's really not late, but I was mighty glad to get home.
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