New Bathroom

At last, the work is done!

Before: Dark and dreary with an unusable shower due to the wood paneling on the shower surround. After: We've lost that dungeon feeling,
Oh oh that dungeon feeling...
When we took out the large mirror that was in front of the sink I noticed a 1981 date stamp on the back. Yep, it was definitely due for an updating!

Take Your Child to Work Day

Yesterday was Take Your Child to Work Day in the US. Barb the Evil Genius echoes my sentiments in her brief summary of how this tradition was started by the Ms. Foundation for Women.

I'm glad the focus has changed to include boys and dads. You might say it's come a long way, baby, in the last 15 years.

Thank you, Kate5Kiwis for asking about it!

Rick's company participated in grand style. The day turned out to be one terrific field trip for the Artist. It could have been have- your- child- read- a- book- in- your- office/cube- while- you- work- day instead. That would have been a supreme bore.

The day was planned as follows:

8:30 - 9:00 am: Children arrive. Doughnuts/Juice/Milk are provided for breakfast. Children will create their own name badges.

Once all children have arrived, we will go over the rules for the day and discuss what we do at this company, and the schedule of events for the day. Digital photos will be taken of all children for projects later in the day. Children will be separated into 2 groups.

9:00 - 12:00 pm: IT department hosts the following sessions--

Internals of Computers A hands-on lab to crack open & remove components from decommissioned PCs. Includes an explanation of the main components (hard drives, memory, bus, etc.).

What's a Database? A hands-on lab where each child will become oriented to how data is stored (database), and build a table in Microsoft's SQL Server.

Building a Web Page -- A hands-on lab where each child will build a real web page including adding the database table they created to the web page.

12:00 – 1:00 pm - Lunch time. Children/Parents will have lunch. Pizza and Drinks provided.

1:00 - 3:00 pm - IT department to host the following sessions--

Claims Presentation Interactive presentation of Insurance claims and how the company helps people when they need it. Includes property damage photos and how the company determines how much to pay for damages.

Buying on the Web and Troubleshooting Interactive exercise explaining the systems infrastructure and how to find a computer problem when someone tries to buy insurance (or anything else) online. (Presented by Rick!!!)

3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Sundae cups/goodie bags. Children make their own sundae cups.

4:00 - 5:00 Shadow parents. Children will accompany their parents to their workstation. Children will be provided with a questionnaire to complete and with the Bring Your Child to Work Day Activity Book.

The Artist had a great day. Rick's company designed the day for children ages 8 - 13. Being right in the middle there, she had a great opportunity to make some new friends. I'm also thrilled that one of the session leaders asked all the kids to send her an email telling what they learned in her session. Something tells me we might see those words as quotes in the next issue of the company newsletter.

The Artist had a blast, and cannot wait to go again next year. But perhaps I should let her explain. Here is her field trip write up for her field trip scrap book.

Today was "Take Your Child to Work Day" at (Dad's company). I had so much fun! First, everybody learned what a database is. After that, we made our own web pages! The name of my page was "The German Baker." The color of the background for my picture was cyan. On top of my picture I wrote: "My dad is a project manager at (the company). I take martial arts. My name is German for (mom is censoring this on-line).

Next we got to take apart computers. I think the RAM was about one inch wide and four inches long. We had a big processor.

After lunch, we saw pictures of damages cars. We learned that people can use their car insurance to fix their car, and if the car is too damaged for fixing, they can use the insurance to buy a new car. Then Daddy gave a presentation about how computes "talk" and work together. Then everybody had ice cream!

Womentown

Oh Yeah. Guys will line up in droves to spend their vacations here. And the ladies will love spending their vacations with sulky perturbed men.

Brewing

The rain is here and it is dark enough for our front lantern to shine brightly. Severe weather is brewing. But that is not all. Inside I have a delightful new tea set to lend cheer to the drear, a gift from the Artist's friend, Tante Lila. I'll have a cup of tea while I wait to learn whether the Cleveland Indians noon start will be rain delayed, a rain out, or a go.The Artist joined Rick at work today for Take Your Child to Work Day and the Engineer does not like to drink anything but milk, so this will be tea for one.

Loud thunder echoes through the house as I enter this post. I'm glad the Indians games are broadcast on the same station that I listen to for severe weather warnings. I'd better save and post while I still have power.

Vogel Haus

Many thanks to a kind friend who had no place to put this sweet little bird house in her home. It moved to my home this afternoon.It is made on tin and I'm afraid it would roast any little sparrow or wren who tried to make a nest inside. Indeed, the glitter paint on the fallen snow would not fare well outdoors either. It is a lovely touch. As the children get older we would like to see this Florida room transform from seasonal play areato something more like this outdoor eating/game/knitting space (only with the half walls rather than all glass walls).
For now I have it hanging from a hook in the porch rafter. It is just a little too high up to appreciate. Next time I run into the hardware store I'll see if I can get small length of decorative chain to coordinate with it.

Garden Problem-Solving

Maybe I should have reconsidered my title today. Perhaps Garden Pest Control Ideas Needed would be more suitable. The deer have already been visiting my yet-unplanted vegetable plot this spring. Thankfully, the parsley clump and the two chive mounds are unmolested.

Over the weekend I turned over all the soil in the garden,
worked in some peat into the clay, arranged the stepping stones, and tossed some 30,000 sprouting acorns out of the area. Sunday morning there were fresh fawn prints deep in the newly turned soil. Now a second generation of deer have our yard as a regular spot on their nightly foraging routes.

The other chief culprits in my garden are rabbits and chipmunks. I need to find some kind of covering to keep the deer from jumping in and keep the little critters at bay. I'd hate for the deer to jump the wooden fence from my neighbor's driveway and then get stuck inside my garden.

I have no experience in this area. What do you use or what have you seen used to protect the plants from nibblers? What has not worked? Do you have any experience with, recommendations or advice about deer repellent products?

The series of burning bushes we planted as a hedge at the back border of our property have also been nibbled nearly to death. This was the year they were to approach four feet tall. We've readjusted expectations based on the deer damage. Hopefully they will all live and grow back to the two and one-half foot height.

Buddy Night

Friday was Buddy Night at Tae Kwon Do. This is the first Buddy Night since the Engineer has been old enough to join his sister as a buddy. He was excited as all get-out! He could not wait to line up for class and join the fun.

After the students teach their buddies how to do some punches, kicks, blocks and agility drills each of the students gets to perform a move in front of an audience of all the buddies and parents.

The Artist selected flying side kick:

I've got to get better at timing these photos! She did hit her target spot-on and it made a delightful thwack! sound.

The Engineer was sometimes distracted and sometimes an eager audience member:

The Artist breaks her board with an inside axe:

The Engineer breaks his board with a palm heel strike:

Crunch Time

This morning I made a report card for the Artist. Her Tae Kwon Do instructor gives academic achievement patches for the students to wear on their uniforms when they have good report cards.As I look through the volume of work the Artist completed in the last quarter, I can see we have indeed been busy. Still, the number of pages remaining in the math book, the biography reading I had planned for her, and the time the history project is taking all seem to be consipiring against me and I am feeling the crunch.

The kids have begin asking to go to the park and the sunshine makes me want to say yes, but the school work yet to be done is daunting.

I will need to exercise much more self-discepline when planning the schedule for next year. There must be a balance between what is necessary and what I want them to have. I will be teaching first and fifth grades and I'll have many more demands on my time. The Artist can do more for herself, but the Engineer will need my attention for much of his school day.

None of us likes the idea of continuing the school year through June.

Red Beans and Rice

One big bonus to having an Easter ham is the post Easter meals of New Orleans style red beans and rice! Mmm Mmm. It is simmering on my stove right now.

I got it started last night by soaking the kidney beans overnight in water. This morning I added some ham I could cut off the bone, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Then I put the rest of the ham in a stock pot to simmer and soften so I could remove the meat from the bones. When the kids and I got home from an appointment the whole house smelled so good!

While the kids lunched I let the ham cool, and started chilling the liquid from the stew pot. It will be de-fatted and frozen for soup. Then the rest of the ham went into the beans and vegetable mixture with a little bit of Tabasco sauce.The meat and beans will simmer all afternoon. Just before supper time I'll make some rice. I serve the meal in soup bowls over white rice.

Skillets, Pans and Wooden Spoons

I don't ever remember my mom seasoning her wooden kitchen utensils, our cast iron skillet, or in later years, any teflon-coated saute pans.

How are these to be seasoned?
I recently read the instructions that came with a hand-me-down cast iron wok. They talked about the method but left out the detail of what kind of oil to use. Perhaps it originally came with some oil, the way high-end purses sometimes come with a moisturizer to rub into the leather. (Don't ask about my low-end worn and peeling genuine vinyl purse!)

Last time I got new teflon saute pans the slip of paper inside instructed me to season it occasionally with oil too.

My wooden spoons don't especially need it. I think the business ends of the spoons get enough oils simply from being well used. My kitchen carving knife handles, utility knife handles, and salad serving pieces, on the other hand show lots of wear and I'd like to spruce them up a bit.

The first order of business there is to stop cleaning them in the dishwasher. But what else should I do? For the last couple of years I have taken to rubbing a little olive oil into the salad spoon and fork before I put them away. I suppose I started with those because I never ever put them in the dishwasher.

What do you use to season these various kitchen tools? Should I be using olive oil for all the these seasoning applications?

Another Yankee Stadium?

I listened to the Virginia Tech leaders, the Governor of Virginia, and
President Bush at the Virginia Tech Convocation this afternoon because that was what was on the radio. But I had to turn it off when the civic leaders had finished and I realized this was about to be Yankee Stadium [Debacle] II. I did not want to witness that.

Are people who wish to meet with clergy unable to seek them out of themselves?

Blue & Green

The Artist earned her blue belt at Tae Kwon Do last week. And last night I completed an all-green outfit for Honey. The skirt and hat patterns are free patterns from Knitting On The Net dot com.

For the sweater I began with a free pattern but I don't remember where it was found. That is just as well! It seemed to have errors in the number of stitches it called for in the cast on compared to the number needed to complete the ribbing pattern. I only followed the pattern to get an idea of how many rows to knit on the pieces. I had just enough yarn to complete the set. What is left of the ball of yarn is the size of a large grape.

Pieces

This weekend Rick, the kids and I enjoyed a quiet weekend together. We had a few errands to run on Saturday and Rick planned to take us out to dinner for a surprise.

We shared a wonderful appetizer and we each had a plate of crab legs. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed those! The crab we catch for crab boils in Louisiana don't have much leg meat. I reminisced how my brother once took a crab claw in his lunch box to school! He enjoyed showing all the kids in his class how the tendon operated the claw. Now the Artist is enjoying something similar. So here is the first piece of my weekend:Saturday night Rick got the hankering to do a puzzle. We made the mistake of not beginning until 9 p.m. Somewhere around 12:30 this morning we go the last two pieces in place. It was the other 998 pieces that had us hung up for a while!
And speaking of things being hung up -- it is so nice to be able to hang up a bath towel after using it! Two more pieces of the new bathroom are in place. Yesterday we hung a mirror and a towel bar. We are excited -- two steps closer to being done and the last piece (wall cabinet) should be coming in next week.Finally, when the puzzle was making me cross-eyed I took a break to do some knitting. I'm working piecemeal on the Trellis toddler sweater on the Knitty dot com site. I started with the sleeves, hoping I'd get the hang of it there. When working on the second sleeve I did discover I had misread a note in the pattern (I made the sleeve boarder in seed stitch instead of pearl stitches) but I am not unhappy with the result. So I made the second sleeve to match the first and I think I will keep these sleeves. I'll know for certain when it comes time to attach them to the back and front.

Field Trip Friday

Today the kids and I went on a field trip with some other members of our home school group. We went to the home of a railroad enthusiast. He gave quite a presentation to the children. He showed us his view of a working rail line from his family room picture window, but no trains passed when we were there. Instead we watch videos of historic engines and rail lines.

He spoke about his favorite train, the Nickle Plate Line , his amazing memorabilia collection, and his model trains. He also showed us this controller's station which he purchased when it was decommissioned. Controllers would sit before the panel and monitor the trains, throw switches, and keep everyone on schedule. Our instructor today kindly borrowed a high-impact educational video from Operation Lifesaver, Inc. and gave the kids coloring books to reinforce rail safety rules. After seeing the rail road videos, we went to the basement where an elaborate rail system was set up.


After we learned about the trains we gathered at a friend's home for lunch, playtime and time for the moms to talk. It was a lovely day.

Science Center

Yesterday the Artist, the Engineer and I joined friends on a trip to the Great Lakes Science Center. They very generously used their membership to bring us along on this otherwise unaffordable field trip.

We arrived early and enjoyed the Baseball as America exhibit. It was a wonderful collection of baseball memorabilia and artifacts. I was most interested in reading about the Cleveland Forest City's, the club that organized the area's first team in 1865.

After that we browsed many of the museum's regular exhibits and saw two shows: What's the Matter? about solids, liquids and gasses and Bubblemania (you can guess what that one was about).

Artist and Engineer enjoy a flight simulation.

The Engineer and Friend play with water clocks.

The Artist gets a static charge.

The Engineer feeds balls into a launching tube.

The Artist and Friend set a machine in motion and watch the design they created as it is traced on paper.