Wordless . . . Saturday?

I love my kids—they keep me in blog posts. This from Deb, I think from a movie theater:


Be thankful ~

Karen

*shaking my head*

You know the economy is hurting when this is the box of Girl Scout cookies you get for $3.50:


(That's a six inch protractor.)

Be thankful ~

Karen

Ho-hum.

Abbie was looking through old black and white photos the other day in her search for something to draw. She's almost finished with one of a girl in our Sunday school class. I'll try to show you a picture of it when she's done.

Anyway, Ben and I are the only people in this house old enough to have been the subject in black and white photos, so Abbie was limited. Here's one she found that cracked me up.


This is the picture my mother took of my first ponytail. Of course, I couldn't do it without Bobo, who went everywhere with me. You can see he is completely flattened from being slept on. My mother will appreciate this picture.

In other exciting news, Ben has put a new alternator in the truck. Now that may not seem like a big deal to you, but the truck has been sitting in the driveway since last week, full of trash, waiting for this new part. So we're happy, but the neighborhood cats are not.

He is also replacing a valve under the kitchen sink and took the tiller to get serviced. What a guy, right? I think I'll keep him.

And on that note, let's hope something more exciting happens tomorrow so you won't have to endure my inane ramblings.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Wikiwhatever has the answers.

Ben and I had a short phone conversation this morning that included a discussion of whether or not this really IS the first day of spring (we've always thought it was the 21st, but who are we to judge), in which I commented that I always thought the equinoxes and solstices were on the 21st of whichever month they fell in. That got us started on a discussion of the proper plural form of solstice. Can you see why we've been married 25 years? It's the excitement we manage to bring to our daily lives. Since I am OCD about grammar-y stuff, I had to come in and research it. Here are my findings:

1. According to many sources, the proper plural is solstices, not solsti. The latter is a word that might be a good guess if solstice were really a Latin word, which it is not. Just add s. But in my searching, I found a thing called Wiktionary. How cool is that?

2. The facts are not so cut-and-dried with equinox. Depending on which source you believe, the plural could be equinoxes, equinoctes, or equinoctials. Who makes this stuff up? At any rate, the first official day of spring coincides with the vernal equinox. Here's the explanation copied from WikiAnswers:

Spring comes in between the 19th to the 23rd of March and at different times. It changes on a yearly basis because the first official day of spring is the (Spring) Vernal EQUINOX. This is when the sun is directly above the equator. It rises due East and sets due West and does not do so on the exact same day every year since the calendar is not exactly 365 precise days every single year. In 2009, spring will arrive on March 20th, as stated above and the sun will be above the equator, crossing to the northern hemisphere at 11:47pm (ish)

So on this happy vernal equinox, I'm going to hang out by the fire because we are freezing in Northern Virginia. And I might see what other Wikis I can find. Do they make one that vacuums dog hair?

Be thankful ~

Karen

ps. I just realized I had a naked blog. My apologies! I've fixed it with a beach and a palm tree. And what can't be fixed with a beach and a palm tree??

A mini tirade, because that's all I have the energy for.

Daylight Saving Time stinks. Whoever decided we needed more light at the end of the day than at the beginning? It's not like we're actually getting more light, you know? I mean, one rotation of the earth is still one rotation. I think those of us who prefer morning light should be allowed to stay on "slow time", as the Amish call it. Seriously, the little town in Tennessee where we used to live, which is inhabited mostly by Amish and Mennonites, stays on slow time. Makes it tough to schedule appointments outside of the community, but it's easier to drag my sorry rear out of bed in the morning and it doesn't confuse the roosters.

Be thankful ~

Karen

This and that.

You're right. I only blog when bad things happen.

But, surprise! This time, nothing bad happened. We actually had a bang-up day without anyone getting banged up.

Abbie and I finished three Excel projects and her math homework. I did laundry, ironed 13 shirts, made dinner, went to the store, baked a cake for Sunday School, and even answered a few e-mails. Not a bad day. We let the fire go out and opened all the windows to a lovely, warm breeze. It was heavenly after the months of stuffy, dusty wood heat. Not that I'm complaining--wood heat is toasty warm, but the dust and mess get old after a while, so I really enjoyed the clean air today.

No more choking, no more passing out. The black eye is now a bright yellow, and, for about ten minutes last night, no one was sick. That's right. Everyone was healthy. But now Elijah has a cold, so we're back to keeping the Lysol company in business.

I think I remember reading somewhere recently about keeping a spray bottle of either bleach and water or alcohol and water and spraying down the bathroom with it. It's got to be cheaper than those Lysol wipes (though they are really handy). It might have been at Econobusters. Those people are incredible--the things they find and share! Check out their site. They post money-saving tips many times a day. I'm heading there now to learn how to kill germs on the cheap.

Be thankful ~

Karen

The pictures you don't want to see.

It's sad when all I have to blog about is a grammar mistake.

My kids and I were in a shoe store yesterday where a big sale was underway. There were signs all over the place, proclaiming, "EVERY SHOE ON SALE . . . " followed by this:

Isn't that sad?

I'll spare you the exciting details about one family member choking, forcing other family members to perform the heimlich maneuver while said family member was turning purple, and another one passing out cold and falling, face-first, on the kitchen floor, since I don't have pictures of those momentous events, even though they are forever seared in my mind.

Be thankful ~

Karen