Valentine #8

With thanks to Keira for getting me (and Danny) to the train on time.

Valentine #7

My valentine for today goes out to baby sis Tia. I have spent hours last night and today helping her to paint her house. I know she would do the same for me (or better yet, offer to crawl in my attic and wire a light fixture).

Valentine #6

This valentine goes to my travel buddy, Danny. We're leaving for the train station in a couple of hours. We are going down to Portland to help Tia paint her house (there's sisterly love).

I've taken the train to Portland many times, but this will be Daniel's first real train ride. I think he's excited.

Valentine #5

This Valentine goes out to Mike the Mechanic (at Pilchuck Auto). We haven't needed his services for a couple of years or so (since Andrew totalled the Taurus).

When Steve was running for office a couple of years ago Mike gave him one of his few (very few) campaign contributions. Which was cool, especially since Mike doesn't even live in our district. Today he told Steve he should run for president. I wonder how many transmissions he would have to repair to be a major contributor?

Valentine #4

This valentine goes out to my 4th child - who turned 20 today. In honor of my first and only c-section. Happy Birthday Andrew.

Different Drummer/School Daze

Two items of interest on the education front.

First: Alex's Knowledge Bowl team qualified to go to State. Ably assisted by Alex on answers such as "what subatomic particle in the lepton family can pass through a light year..." he buzzed in with the answer "neutrino". The rest of the question was "...of lead without hitting anything?" He's awesome in soooo many ways (as the clip proves).

Second: Took Daniel in for his assessment for the district homeschool program. He did well in reading, not too great in writing (no surprise there)..but what did surprise me was that he did so well in math (supposedly 11th grade - but it must be 11th grade remedial...). After the test our advisor went to get his textbooks. She took a while but when she finally came back she could barely carry the armload of books. At first I thought she was also restocking her office, but no, they were for us. We ended up leaving 4 books there (we will go back and get them as he finishes up the ones he has). The pile was still pretty tall.

Use the Force

My 4 year old grandson has a dark side. He loves to play dress up - put on costumes - but he never wants to dress up "cute" - he only wants to dress up as a monster or the "bad guy". Danny has some furry slippers that look like bear feet with claws. Kaith will put those on and stomp around the house and growl menacingly. He has a Batman costume at home that includes a mask. The mask has eyebrows that go down in the middle - so he has decided that means that Batman is mad, therefore, mean.

Last night I made an attempt (futile) to find something nicer that he might be willing to pretend to be. Not sure why, but I suggested he try being a hobbit. I explained that they were short, were able to hide well, and had furry feet. He wasn't interested. He DID go find the bear slippers and commenced to stomp and growl around the house.

I probably shouldn't have given him that Darth Vadar costume for Christmas.