SWINE FLU or MONO-PIGGLY-OSIS...you decide

1 is the lonliest number?! I think not!!!

Today's blog is kinda cheating. I didn't write it. But, I did read it and I feel it is a great article. I often get so busy that I don't seem to have a moment to myself. That is the one thing I complain about to my husband-no "me time"! I think every mother out there can relate to that!!! Husband, children, pets, housework, laundry, schoolwork, home improvement, yard work....etc, etc. I sometimes feel selfish for even wanting alone time. I think, "How selfish you are! You have the family that you always dreamed of and now you want to be by yourself for a couple of minutes/hours/days!!! Perhaps you don't deserve your family you bi-atch!!!" (As you can see, I am quite harsh during conversations with myself! :)

But this article says you NEED alone time. Since it is in print, I feel like it is actually giving me permission....no, REQUIRING that I start finding some down time for myself. So, for all of you out there who feel like me; you don't have a moment to yourself/you sometimes want a moment to yourself. Read this short article, pretend it is taking longer to read than it is, and carve out an extra 5 minutes to be by yourself today! I think we might all be better for it!!! Enjoy!!!


Do you spend enough time alone? - Healthy Living on Shine

Tell me: What "Ham" I to do about Swine Flu?!

I must admit this whole swine flu pandemic has me more than just a little concerned. (Also I'm a little bewildered as to why a musical group *TheWHO* is monitoring this pandemic so closely....LOL! ) Sorry, stupid joke. That's what I do when I'm nervous, joke...lame jokes I might add. My alarm ratcheted up a notch or two, when I heard that they closed down an elementary school not too far away from us. Seems they have 2 confirmed cases of the stuff. How concerned are we to be about it at this point? How contagious is it? Should we go into seclusion?!





So,to help deal with my fear... I'm honoring (dishonoring?! The WHO, by stealing/borrowing/plagiarising the chorus to their song. I reworded it a little. Ahem....





WHO ARE YOU?





Whoooo warns you:

SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!

The porker's gotta go!


Whooooo warns you:

SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!

This pandemic really blows!


Whoooo warns you:

LEVEL 3! SWINE FLU!

"6" is as high as it goes!



Well, whooo warns you:

SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!

Did mad cow send you?!?! SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!



I really gotta know..

WTF to do! SWINE FLU!

Should we all lay low?! SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!



Please go away!

SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!

We do not want to play! SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!



This whole fricken chicken:

SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!

SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU! SWINE FLU!



Repeat to infinitiy and beyond...... :)

SWINE FLU! SWINE FLUUUUUU!

Science Made Fun!!!

I always found Science beyond dull when I was in school. I wanted to find a way to make Science more interesting for my boys. Thanks to Insect Lore, here is a science experiment that everyone will find fun: We ordered this Butterfly Pavilion kit several years ago.This is what the pavilion looks like:We ordered our kit through Amazon.com. They gave us a coupon to send off for free butterfly larvae. I later found out you can order directly from Insectlore.com That is when I found out that Insect Lore is not just about butterflies. Oh no sir! They have ladybug kits, frog kits, plant life kits, ants, crabs, etc.

A couple of weeks ago, to celebrate the arrival of spring, I ordered our annual celebratory butterfly larvae. They arrived today:

The little caterpillars arrive in these sterile, sealed cups-complete with food. In seven to ten days, they will finish eating all their food and form cocoons (chrysalids). Then we transfer them into the Pavilion....and wait. After these cute caterpillars become butterflies, we will let them loose in our garden. It's a hands on way to learn about science and nature; yet, cleverly disguised in a cloak of fun !!! Trust me, you don't get this kind of interest and excitement from a textbook! But don't take my word for it, let's ask the boys shall we?

Guys, what do you think?

Boys?

Mission Accomplished!!! Obviously, they find Science fascinating! Check back in with us this fall when we learn about tadpoles/frogs with our frog kit! They find it ribbiting....I mean riveting as well!!!

Gardening Update

For those of you wondering how my little garden experiment is working out, "Lettuce" see shall we:

I see salad in our future!

And for dessert I believe we will be serving up strawberries:

Okay, so far it's only 1 strawberry that we will have to split 4 ways. Still,... yeah!!! The berries are growing!!!

I believe we will have plenty of squash to go around:

Look at all these little buds n blooms underneath even:

How exciting!!!

And lets not forget the maters:

Notice how I put them right next to the "salad." So they will know what their purpose in life is :)



I'm getting good results so far don't you think?:

From mators to tators...Somebody absolutely wonderful, and generous took pity on my poor soul and sent me seed potatoes! Can you believe it?! I got my spuds after all! Kiki you are too sweet to ever be au gratin...I mean forgotten :) I am beyond thrilled! Look! It isn't too late to start seed potatoes. Grumpella is full of fertilizer I think. They are growing up a storm. I have to get out later today and cover them up with more dirt. According to the bag directions, I can keep growing these babies thru-out October if I plant them in shifts.( I guess the bags stay warmer than ground soil or something.) So I planted two seed potatoes and saved two more to plant here again in a couple of weeks.

There will be no potato famine on my watch! No way, No how, No sir!

I'm beyond giddy with this gardening venture so far! I'll keep you posted as these beauties progress! My family is excited too... "lettuce" just say: Tators and mators and squash....they make us so "berry" happy!!!

Lost in Translation

Are any of you bilingual? What languages do you speak? I wish I were bilingual. I really need to work on that. I could learn a second language I am sure if I REALLY, REALLY tried hard. Maybe that whole Rosetta Stone set I keep seeing advertised on television. Now I just need to carve out some down time in my schedule. LOL!





Some languages just sound cool to me. Like French, very romantic. I think you could say just about anything in French and it would sound wonderful. You could say "Stacy, I think your stupidity is only rivaled by your ugliness in it's intensity!" I swear I would melt to mush just from the mere sound of my name being mentioned in a sentence. Honest.





Another language I love is Spanish. I especially love to listen to men speaking Spanish with each other. It sounds so fun! I haven't a clue of what they are saying; but, they always end almost every conversation with belly laughs. It reminds me of when my Dad and his brothers get together. They start teasing each other, poking fun, and then do the whole gut busting laughter. Fond memories!





I took Spanish in High School. Can't say as I walked away from the experience learning a thing. (Although I did acquire a fondness for the music! Love it!) I have managed to learn a few words thanks to "Dora the Explorer." But alas , it has still left me ill equipped to deal with the real world. I can say please/thank you, can recite the names of colors, and I can yell "jump" if I see a large snowball rolling down a hill towards someone....but I seriously doubt that the situation will ever arise where I can use utilize my knowledge. "Salto! It's a grande blanco bolo!" Sometimes, I think a little knowledge does more harm than good. I probably got the words out of order. Instead of "Jump! its a large snowball." I probably said, "Jump! If you're a ball of large snow."



Which leads me to my case in point. The other day, George and David conversed in Spanish with each other while they installed the floors in the bedroom. Sometimes you could tell that George was asking for David to grab a tool or cut a board. Short one or two word requests by George. Followed by "Si' " from David. For the most part, they conversed back and forth with each other easily. I tried to pick up a few words as I came back and forth offering drinks and admiring their workmanship.



I kept hearing them randomly repeat the words "Senora." "Casa" and "Guapo." over and over again throughout the day. Now I know those three words. Lady, house and handsome. At least I think guapo is handsome and bonita is pretty. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Unless guapo still means pretty but if a man says it it's "guapo" and if a girl says it, you say "bonita." See, there's a big void in my knowledge. Which leads me to a severe disadvantage.



I don't know who they were talking about. They could have been talking about anyone or any house. Perhaps it wasn't about me or my house at all. But I am convinced that they either thought my house was pretty.... Or...,that I am as big as a house; but would make a very handsome man! Alas, with my insecurity about my looks; I'm convinced it is the latter. I do have freakishly large man hands after all. And my shoulders are waaaay to broad for a girl! Let's face it, I'm a "Feo grande senor casa!"...A big ugly man house!

Which leads me to today's lesson. THIS is what happens when you eavesdrop on a conversation! Especially when you don't understand the language! Perhaps you really don't want to hear what is being said, and it is none of your business! But I must say, Thank you George and David! I have never been insulted and had it sound so pretty before!!! :)

Older than Dirt and Slower than Molasses!!!

In honor of my birthday,(who knew I'd still be alive and kicking at this age ?!) I have composed a little birthday poem....in true Stacy D Briefing style. Hope it will bring a smile to everyone's face who also is contending with this thing we call...AGING gracefully. (ugh!) And in case my dear, sweet, younger, lovely, perfect in every single way, talented sister whom I love dearly reads today's posting... Ahem....PLEASE, PLEASE pay special attention to the poem's last line....VERY IMPORTANT. Just keeping it real. :) (snicker, snort, giggle)


Older than dirt.
Slower than molasses.
No get up and go.
And soon I'll need glasses.

Must stand on my head
to make my body look perky.
And what happened to my neck?!
I look like a damn turkey!!!

Aged 365 days overnight.
Look at me...what a freaken sight!
But it's my day; Yep,... think I'll savor it.
Relishing the fact...that I'm STILL Dad's FAVORITE! :P

Square Root Hoedown

Here at the ol' homestead we are not only knee deep in dog urine. (see previous posts.) We are up to our eyeballs in mathematics.

Math is my least favorite subject to teach. Should come as no shocker, it was also my least favorite subject when I was in school as well. I don't see the relevance in a lot of it.

This week we are doing square roots. They want us to figure out the square root 3 spaces past the decimal point. Which means in square root terms, you have to add 6 zeros after the decimal point. Calculate. Divide. Figure out answer. Check your work. A tedious process to say the least.

I'm thinking of combining this exercise with square dancing and drinking to make it a little more tolerable.

Ahemmm.....

You grab two zeros and doe see doe.
Bring them zeros down below.
Now multiply the numbers times themselves,
Put your answer up on the square root shelf (the top of the division box)

We got more spaces yet to go
A mindnumbing exercise I know.
Down a shot of tequila and a beer chaser,
Don't worry about mistakes son...
That's why we have an eraser!!!

See we learn, we exercise and we keep our sanity. I'm thinking I'm on to something here. The square root hoedown! Yeahaw!

Sorry, I really haven't been drinking....yet. But can I get a "holla" from any of you who thinks math is tedious, dull and mind numbing?

Well gotta put on my dancing boots and head back to the dance. Have a great day everyone!

HARLOW UPDATE

Isn't it amazing how you find yourself doing and writing about things you would have NEVER imagined yourself doing in a million years?!

I said before that I had never imagined myself diapering a dog....well been there/done that. I guess theoretically the diapering thing would work on a normal size dog. Those little pad inserts they supply you with, well lets just say they don't quite cut it. I even tried inserting actual overnight diapers to see if it could handle the job. Nope. Everytime she lays down to sleep-it's like the 100 year flood.


We are now on day13 of cleaning up urine. 13 straight days from afore mentioned dog. 13 days with no improvement. We started her on estrogen. Vet said we should have noticed improvement by now. But, she has never treated a dog this large before for this ailment. So today we tripled her dosage. The game plan is to see if she responds after 4 straight days of mega doses of estrogen. I'm guessing with that much estrogen she will be smarter, even more nurturing, grow eyes in the back of her head, and able to multi-task with the best of them :) I'm also HOPING that the problem goes away. If not, we are on to more testing.

We're no stranger to tests. ( In fact, Harlow now carries a #2 pencil with her whenever we go to the vet in case she has to take yet another test. :) But it seems we have now entered a serious testing zone. Like "SAT" kind of testing. We've pretty much ruled out everything but kidneys at this point. Kidneys are a very serious thing. Tests we don't want to take. So here's to girl power! Here's to hoping that mega estrogen will act like testosterone and kick some ass on the urine leakage!

I know that "urine" this with me. So I'll update you again on Monday.