Monthly Archives for January 2010

Museum of Science

Today was an early release day for the kids, so I played hooky for a few hours and took them to the Museum of Science.  It didn’t feel like I was playing hooky considering the number of evening meetings I’ve gone to lately.  Anyway, we had free admission because we have a membership to another science museum, so we only had to pay for the admission to the Harry Potter exhibition, which was $66 (!!!) for the 4 of us.  Come to think of it, it didn’t feel like free admission either but I guess it would have been worse without the membership.

The Harry Potter exhibition was really cool though, and the best investment was the audio tour.  The kids each had a little handheld gizmo, and each exhibit had a number that you could punch into the gizmo and hear about the exhibit.  The exhibit was fully staffed by British-accented guides so that added a nice touch.  We weren’t allowed to take any photos in the exhibit, but I found pics on the internet of two of my favorite parts – Dobby the House Elf, and the Mandrakes (the squeaking really adds to their ickiness). 

The museum was not busy at all so it was very low-stress, no lines, no whining.  We spent about 3 hours total and everyone was exhausted so I think the timing was just right.  At 5 o’clock there was an announcement that the museum was closing and you’ve never seen 3 kids hightail it out of anywhere as fast.  I think they’ve seen Night at the Museum too many times.  They were sincerely afraid of being locked in, and having to ward off the dinosaur skeletons, stuffed bears, and the family of beavers.

On the way home we hit a complete white-out just after the Weston tolls – freaky!

Here are a few photos:

Whale or Mermaid

Recently, in a large city in France, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym.  It said, “This summer do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym with the following:

To Whom It May Concern,

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans).

They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia.   Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and have virtually no predators other than humans.  They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don’t exist.  If they did, they would be lining up outside the offices of psychoanalysts due to identity crisis – fish or human?   They don’t have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex?  Just look at them … where is IT? Therefore, they don’t have kids either.   Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me:   I want to be a whale.

PS – Today media promotes the idea that only skinny people are beautiful. I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a piece of chocolate with my friends.

With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.
Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, “Good grief! Look how smart I am!”

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Thanks Susi!
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Lily the Black Bear

Just in case I didn’t have enough to distract me from the things that I don’t want to do, along came Lily the Black Bear and her webcam.  You can sit and watch her breathe for hours, hoping for a glimpse of her cub which was born a couple of days ago.  The researchers are looking for volunteers to take 2-hour blocks of time and document anything exciting, like when the cub squeaks.  I like the highlight videos myself.  Here’s a video of the cub’s birth:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBNtANbW5vE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]

And a link to the North American Bear Center’s den cam.  There are currently 1791 people watching Lily sleep.

And here’s Lily’s Facebook page.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  Lily and her cub, Peace, will be the cause of worldwide productivity reduction.  😉
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Survey SAYS…

A couple weeks ago I posted about a survey I was conducting regarding fire doors.  Thanks to everyone who spread the word and asked their friends and family to participate, I currently have 700 responses!  Many of the participants asked for more information about fire doors, so I am posting the survey results on my other blog this week.  Feel free to check it out and/or to share the link with anyone you shared the original survey link with.  Thanks!!

Fire Door Survey Results
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The Principal’s Office

On Thursday I brought the kids to school late after a dentist appointment, and (eek!) the principal saw me and asked if I would come into her office.  Unfortunately I knew exactly what she wanted to talk to me about.  (The principal, Minerva Gonzalez, is pictured at right with our governor, Deval Patrick.)

Last weekend Adlani handed Ben $40 in cash, and when Ben asked him where he had gotten it Adlani said that he had taken it from Ben the day before.  Ben didn’t have $40 the day before, so he thought Adlani took it from me.  When I used my *special* interrogation techniques on Adlani, he told me that he had gotten the money from his friend Dante* on the bus.  When the full story was finally revealed, it looks like Dante took the money from his mother’s purse and put it in his coat pocket, and Adlani took it from Dante’s coat pocket on the bus.  Ugh.

I don’t know Dante, but Adlani told me that he lives in the apartment complex behind Burger King.  I wasn’t sure how to handle it since I couldn’t exactly go over and start ringing doorbells, so I wrote a note to the bus driver, enclosed the money, and asked Aliya to give it to her.  The bus driver apparently gave it to a teacher who gave it to the principal.  The principal questioned Adlani on Wednesday, and was planning to talk to Dante about stealing from his mom on Thursday.

Two good things came out of my visit to Sra. Gonzalez’ office though. 
1) She assured me that this is a common issue in the development of kindergarten boys, and that I don’t have to worry about whether Adlani will ever get to 1st grade. 
2) I had Norah with me and I mentioned that her teacher was worried that she was too advanced to wait until 2012 to start kindergarten.  Sra. Gonzalez didn’t make any suggestions about how to squeeze her in early, but at least she met her and interacted with her a bit.  I’m going to talk to Norah’s principal soon to see what our action plan should be.

I just hope I can keep Adlani out of jail long enough to learn how to read.  Watch your wallets, people.

*Dante is not the kid’s real name.
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