April 30, 2015

Extraordinary Book

Recently I finished the book, The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. This was a book selected by my Book Club...3 months ago! Well, I may have missed the deadline but I'm glad I read it. It's based in Manhattan in the early 20th Century when part of this famous island was still wilderness. It is a work of fiction but the author incorporates some actual historical events that involves Coney Island and the implorable working conditions in clothing factories. The book is a little dark and a little disturbing but the characters are interesting and you grow to care about them. A very extraordinary read!

April 29, 2015

Safety First

Our little Maxwell is sheltered from the outside- it is a scary place when you are teeny tiny and only 2 pounds. We also live in a bad neighborhood with several miscreants. Besides the obvious coyotes, we also have hawks and just recently, pelicans. Not to mention snakes, voles, and bunnies with attitudes. Just in case his furry paws may end up on the wrong side of the fence, I had a tag engraved for him today. The fashionable tags with bling were way too heavy so I had to make myself go with a small plain one. However, engraving has come a long way. Now it is a laser machine and very cool to watch! You also are able to engrave more lines on the tag so I could include address, name, phone number, blood type, and bank PIN number in case of kidnapping....

April 28, 2015

No

I am a team player. I am a helper and I like to assist people whenever I can. I say "yes" often and usually don't regret it. Today, however, I decided to say "no." I was asked to do something at work that I started to agree to but decided later to decline. "Yes" would have pulled me away from my work which I decided was more important. It was extremely hard for me -"the people pleaser" but I felt empowered afterwards and now know that I need to put my big girl panties on more often!

April 27, 2015

Tell the Truth

While working with 4th graders today, I learned some interesting things:

When I asked a boy if he had any hobbies, he said, "not really." Prodding him further, I asked him what he did in his free time....nothing. I jokingly said, " so you just sit in a chair and stare at the wall?" He looked at me in a serious way and said, "sometimes."  

A girl shared that she liked pickles. I agreed that pickles are delicious and asked if she ever tried drinking pickle juice. She said yes but her mom doesn't like her to because it gives her diarrhea!

Moral of this story: we should all be as honest as 4th graders!

April 26, 2015

Meet Max!

Friday night we became parents again! Besides my lingering head cold and the drive to Fort Collins, this was my easiest labor yet. A few weeks ago, my friend Karen made me aware of a dog that needed a home. It had a bad bite. Why would I want a puppy that bit everyone? However, I soon realized that the puppy had an overbite and would need dental work. After much discussion and convincing my better half that we needed a. A new puppy b. A teeny, pocket dog puppy c. Said husband to do the dental work since he is, conveniently, a veterinarian  - we decided to expand our household although not by much. This little "morkie" (Maltese, Yorkie, Poodle) is currently a mere two pounds! He is 10 weeks old and as cute as a button. After much deliberating, we decided to name him Maxwell - as in Maxwell Smart but recently the Max he resembles is Max in the children's book, Where the Wild Things Are! He is a wild thing! Maggie is adapting and I think she kinds of likes him. We have fallen in love with him and will adore him even more when he is housebroken!

Maggie meets Max

My two furry kids!

April 23, 2015

Mystery Solved

We travel to Fort Collins quite often to visit Paige, attend CSU football games, and other CSU events. We like taking Hwy 287 because it is more scenic and less stressful than I-25. Last Fall, we noticed books tossed on the side of the road and median. Unfortunately, I wasn't driving or you can be sure I would have stopped and rescued all of these wayward works of literacy. Was this just a result of poor packing or someone's equivalent of book burning? The mystery continued when we came across discarded books on a few more trips after that. I wasn't the only person wondering about this- so was the Department of Transportation. Today Channel 9 posted on Facebook that they caught the perpetrator read handed! The article below does not explain why the man felt the need to throw books out the window-hopefully there will be another chapter to this story!

http://www.9news.com/story/news/2015/04/23/csp-nabs-book-dropper-red-handed-along-highway-287/26261483/

April 22, 2015

Grown Up Science Fair

As a part of a program Paige is in, she has to present a poster about a project she is working on in her lab on campus. It's like a grown up science fair. This is her third poster presentation but this one is special. This poster is about her very own project that she did - not just what her lab did. Of course, I don't even understand the title but I know how hard she worked on it and I think it looks great! Why don't they let moms be on the judging panel? Anyway, great job Paige!