Bits & Pieces

[shiredancer]

Wow, work and life have been busy, busy, busy lately.


Last night was the 8th Grade Science Fair. It was amazing! Kidlet didn't win a prize, but her project and display were fantastic (or so thinks the proud mom). But so were most of the others! Kids are just astonishing -- so creative, so smart. Clearly they all learned a *lot* with these projects. It was fun to see how they tied their own maturing interests in with their projects -- the girl who evaluated the effects of various herbs on insomnia (valerian is best, not chamomile, and mixed with lavendar it's even better) or the one who measured the bacteria growth on lip balm (tip: use one of the little jars, not a stick! Eeeeeuuuuw). And I couldn't help but think of linaelyn when I viewed the project on natural ant repellants. Lin? Try catnip oil if you're still getting those pests!

And when we brought the plants home and left them uncovered for a short while... Sasha the Bad Cat ate the rest of them. LOL! His picture was prominently displayed on the project as the "unplanned variable".

Work... meh. Hugely busy, trying to work through admit letters, routing sheets, and email inquiries. I can't tell you how many hopes I've dashed when the applicants call or email for results. *Sigh* One young woman burst into tears when I told her she wasn't admitted. *Sigh* And trust me, I tell them as gently and as kindly as I possibly can. *Sigh*

But I'm at least proud to state that I've been much better about the FreeCell.

Kidlet occasionally vegges out watching junk TV, so I caught some of the E! Celebrity Slimdowns this weekend. No shit, this is TV at its junkiest. But has anybody seen Peter Jackson lately? He lost a *bunch* of weight and, swear to Buddha, he looks half his age, half his size... and dang if the dude doesn't look *hot*!

And for my Sentinel friends: saw a bit of Desperate Housewives on Sunday night -- did anybody catch RB pulling a Blair on the gay kid? Yep, threw him right up against the wall and growled threateningly right in his face. The kid was *way* more intimidated than Blair, though -- hee! *shoulda been the stupid mom getting growled at... homophobic much?*

Comments

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

Catnip oil? Okie dokie! I'll see if Food for the Rich Whole Foods stocks that. I'm sure to need it! :-D

Yay for Science Fair!

[shiredancer.livejournal.com]

LOL! Yep, and she had the photos of the raw hamburger to prove it. She made up a little sample vial that she concocted of alcohol, water, and the catnip oil (don't know the formula, of course).

Heh, hope it works!

[nonniemous.livejournal.com]

I'll see if Food for the Rich Whole Foods stocks that.

*choke*

*snarfle*

*snerK*

[nonniemous.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you let people down as gently as you can, but it's not fun to have to be the one who says "no." Meh.

Yay for Kidlet at the science fair! Wish I could get my kids interested in something like that.

I almost didn't recognise Mr. Jackson the last time I saw him. He is a shadow of his former self.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh yeah, saying no right on the phone is *way* hard. I much prefer the email queries -- I have a nice response all ready to go. Meh, indeed.

And, heh -- I don't think Kidlet is all that interested in science, per se. It was 50% of her grade, though, and she's such an overachiever, so she really applied herself to it. The good part is that she learned a lot about carrying something through to completion, overcoming obstacles, and oh yeah, about science too. Things I've never mastered all that well myself... Oh, and she had a really cool college mentor too -- that helped a lot, especially when she was at the stage of total frustration with Dad trying to help her. Ha!

[maaaaa.livejournal.com]

The science fair sounds great. I wish my 14 year old's school held one. My kiddo has been a science geeky-mon forever. He transformed his bedroom closet into his lab when he was in 4th grade. *g*

I've never seen DH, but the scene you describe sounds like it would have been worth tuning in for. *g*

[shiredancer.livejournal.com]

LOL! I actually don't care much for the show -- sometimes it's hysterically funny, but not often enough to make it worthwhile. But RB *is* worth looking at -- that man just seems to get better and better (and a little longer hair helps!). GM, well, I can't let go of the long-haired Blair image -- and Blair is always just twenty-something (or *ahem* younger) in my mind!

We're *very* fortunate in our school district, yup. They continually impress me.