Interesting Weekend

::::::::::::::::Congratulations:::::::::
To my brother and sister-in-law on the birth of their second child, a boy, on Halloween. Marcus, another of Michael's brothers, suggested calling the baby "Boo". Benjamin and Missy declined, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be a favorite nickname.

::::::::::::::::My Dad Called:::::::::::
This is an unusual occurrence that had both of us laughing. He called to check on us and let me know that his sister, Doris, has terminal lung cancer. My dad is the middle of nine kids and he dearly loves his family and he is very sad. My stepmom, Alice, went to see her. I'll try to find out more information, this week.

::::::::::::::::Busy Friday:::::::::

My day was full on Halloween...along with everyone elses, I guess. Here was my schedule:

Wake kids,
Feed them,
take Rachel and Charles (the neighbor boy) to school early for Christmas Musical practice
Go back home and get Eve and Noah on the bus
Get Aaron on the bus
drive to Walsmart for pipe cleaners (I forgot to buy them earlier)
Ride bike to elementary school
sign in... drop off pipe cleaners
Grab some yearbook checks and process the paperwork
take pictures of 4th grade field day
run in for 30 minutes to help with Book Fair set up
eat a chocolate glazed doughnut
Go back to the field and take photos of 3rd grade field day (Noah's class)
run to Eve's Kindergarten class to help with Halloween crafts for 45 minutes
***Potty Break***
run to the field to take photos of 5th grade field day (Rachel's class)
run back inside to help with Noah's class crafts for 30 minutes
stop by the art room and check on caricatures for the yearbook drawn by the art teacher
found out about a pie throwing contest at 3pm.
stay and take photos
grab purse and more yearbook stuff
jump on my bike and race home to beat the school bus
eat a non-healthy bowl of chocolate ice cream
greet the kids at the bus and yell, "I WON! I Beat the bus!"
Kids think I'm really weird...normal reaction

That was all finished by 3:45pm. Then came Halloween, which was surprisingly relaxed.

Michael left from work to be assistant quartermaster at the scout leader training. He told me he cooked all weekend. He was quite exhausted when he arrived home on Sunday, but he and I took Noah and Eve for a walk to the library and park. The kids only played for a short time because Eve popped the blister on her hand and a little girl puked all over the play area. Michael and I saw this little girl, about 5, go down a slide that some other children had covered in sand. She sputtered, walked to her dad (or grandpa) and puked at his feet. He didn't even get off his cell phone call. He stood up and walked her over to a different slide where she promptly puked again. He walked her over to the swings and asked her if she wanted to get on...still on the cell phone, mind you. As she wandered away from the swing I told Michael, "I bet he lets her puke in the sandbox". DING DING DING, Alex...what do I win?!? She puked in the sandbox. Michael and I called for Noah playing on the other side of the park and said we are going home. The dude finally got off the phone and got the little girl her shoes to take her home. What a blithering twit.

::::::::::::::::



:::::::::::::::Book Review::::::::::::::

I finally finished this book after a few months of off and on reading. I don't completely understand most of the explanations in the book, but I still enjoyed delving into the concepts. Who needs mind expanding drugs...just sit down and try to understand physics for the history major. The concepts of nano technology are mind blowing and relevant to more and more things. Kaku talks about such ideas as Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Apparently, Harry would have to be melted down first, which, I believe, would be life threatening.
Kaku also explains why the Large Hadron Collider could not destroy the Universe, as some had feared. We don't have the technology to muster the Planck energy needed. "This is truly an unimaginably large number, a quadrillion times larger than the energy attainable with today's most powerful machine, the Large Hadron Collider..." He also discusses the different theories on parallel universes and time travel. Whoa, that is some crazy stuff...but I still think evil Spock with the crazy goatee was quite a cutie.
This book touches on so many fascinating concepts that are written about in science fiction stories and Kaku writes in a way most people can understand...(me, well, I still need a Babel Fish for my brain). Not light reading, but truly cool stuff!

::::::::::::Off to Walk...see ya later!