Snapshot 04.08.15
–It’s been a big, exciting week with lots of things happening and still more yet to come. Last week saw Easter, two gatherings with family, Isobel’s sixth birthday, Spring break for Isobel, a round-robin of family colds, rain, medical crap, Isobel’s first lost tooth, and the return of Hummy to her nest. Over the next week we’ll be babysitting cousin Victoria, more Spring break, throwing Isobel and Elias a joint birthday party, still getting over colds, and prepping and undergoing a colonoscopy. I’m able to eat a meal or two of solid food everyday, which is helping, but mostly I’m looking forward to being done with everything, especially the colonoscopy, so I can try a new and hopefully more successful treatment for my Crohn’s disease.
–This is my first Spring break as a mother with a kid in school, and I’ve been trying to keep the kids busy with a loose guide to spending the day: listening/dancing to music, working on reading, practicing writing skills, doing some math, playing outside, and doing one fun activity together. Mostly I’m trying to break up the day with structure that still allows for improvisation and going with the flow. After we’ve accomplished the things we have to do the structure helps me change up activities when boredom sets in and it lets us know when to stop and clean up to move on to the next fun thing. There’s something about having a list of fun things to do that makes Isobel excited and engaged. It’s also important for me to have ideas on hand because my life doesn’t stop just because she’s home from school. I spend lots of time with her but chores still need to be done, errands need to be run, and my to do list never gets any shorter.
–Isobel has also re-discovered Skyrim, which Anthony has been playing while he’s home sick, and she is becoming obsessed.
–Hummy the hummingbird has returned to her nest on our patio! We weren’t sure if she would return this year or if her patio nest was a one-time thing, but we are happy to host her little family. It’s worth noting that she’s back two months earlier than she arrived last year, probably because it is so unseasonably warm. If it’s this hot now, in March and April, I am dreading–no, terrified–of summer. We will burn. Join me in signing my petition to change the name of Summer to “barf.”
–Isobel had a fantastic six birthday, and thank you for all your kind well-wishes! Anthony was really sick that day but I was well enough to have a Girls’ Day with her, including dressing up to the nines and going to our favorite local bakery for a special treat.
–While having a conversation with Anthony I accidentally called April Fool’s “April Foods” and this sounds like a vastly superior holiday.
–I made some simple, thrifted & cheap Easter basket goodies for the kids that were a huge hit. I didn’t have a basket handy for Elias because I totally forgot he didn’t already have one from last year, so I used a chicken-shaped wire basket I bought at Jake’s family yard sale. Elias thought it was a toy in and of itself.
–We’ve all been taking turns with this gd cold now because that’s what we do. Who needs hobbies when your entire family can pass around every virus found in a kindergarten classroom? I, of course, had it the worst and for the longest, because that’s how I do.
–A few weeks ago I had a nightmare that Isobel made me order her an Ann Romney costume.
–I would like to somehow take credit for Sauce Castillo. Which, since we aren’t having any more babies, will be the name of our next cat.
–Quite awhile ago, when I was still pregnant (or Elias was just a little nub of a baby) I found a collection of colorful plastic balls while thrifting. It must have been part of a ball pit set that someone bought for a party or a game that had outlived its usefulness. I remember excitedly showing them to Anthony when I got home and he was kind of like, “Uh, what are we going to do with those?!” but I knew. I mean, I didn’t know exactly what I’d do, but I knew their potential. Their promise. For awesomeness. I didn’t have a bag large enough to store them in so put them in a large thrifted pillowcase and shoved them in the back of Elias’ closet for later. Cue the arrival of Elias’ new high chair. (He had figured out how to Houdini himself out of the old one and it was no longer safe.) It was two gifts in one because it came in a large box, and suddenly I remember the plastic balls. This has been hours of entertainment and happy shrieks, for both kids and even the cats. (The high chair is okay I guess, too.)
Little Big Collection: California Pottery.
Little Big Kitchen: Memories of Mexico.
Scrapbook: Playground Playdate.
Would You Rather: Sherlock Holmes or John Watson? “…He shares a face with the beautiful lizard prince of the BBC…” Unbelievably hilarious.
I refuse to accept any responsibility for this. Me either.
3D printed ice cubes are works of art.
Sea temperatures along much of the California coast have cooled steadily since mid to late March.
“What do you mean? There’s no sexism/homophobia in tech.” Turned my stomach.
Depression Isn’t What You Think It Is. I have seen so many permutations of depression. Via Eric
If I’m feeling down, I look up pictures of the baby from Twilight. I need occasional reminders this movie wasn’t a mass hallucination.
Utterly terrifying Easter Bunnies. I’ve posted this on previous Easters, but it bears repeating.
SHE WORE RASPERRY BERET!!! The kind you find at a second hand store.
Things you shouldn’t say to a woman who isn’t also velociraptor. Via ruthbrarian
State imposes first mandatory water restrictions in history.
No snowpack to melt in the Sierra Nevada mountains for the first time in at least 75 years. Holy fucking shit.
Dangerous Cliff. Awww.
So excited to announce that @worldcatorg has officially adopted the new logo! More cats for EVERYONE!
Play Pac-Man inside Google Maps.
I think we have definitive proof a late night host is a time traveler. This kind of freaks me out a bit. Well spotted by nevesytrof
“It’s simple. We kill the Batman.”
Digitizing One of the Largest Seed Catalog Collections in America.
SHITTY MACRAME OWLS TUMBLR. “THIS ASTOUNDINGLY TERRIBLE WASTE OF YARN LOOKS LIKE A POT HOLDER HAD SEX WITH ONE OF THOSE FUCKING SQUIDS FROM MARIO BROS.” This is so great.
Publisher DK launches free education research site. Fantastic! I can’t wait to share this with the kids.
Glaciologist uses topography data to recreate Antarctica in Minecraft.
Feminism isn’t to blame for making life hell for “shy, nerdy men.” Patriarchy is. Via tnr
Today, in important goat news.
Any adventure game fans, read this about monkey island and ron gilbert’s genius. Anthony and I have spent many an hour on Monkey Island.
Nano Beauty – Photographing the chemical reactions with a microscope.
Seafloor topography of the San Francisco Bay.
Little Big Kitchen: Guide to Dried Shiitake Mushrooms.
Follow Friday: Farmer’s Market Haul.
