11. The Paparazzi

There are all these damned paparazzi out in the yard today. A 2 day gap in the 30 day blogging challenge has caused quite a stir on social media:  Is she sick?  Is she giving up?  Did her husband leave her? Will she fail at a challenge yet again?

People, just calm down.  I'm fine.  I had a dinner date on Thursday and then a field trip on Friday. The 30 Day Blogging Challenge is still happening.  Chillax and get off my freaking lawn.

10. The Bees In Your Eyes

Imagine four sweat bees inside your eye, feasting on your sweat.    Sure, your eyes are stinging and swollen, but don't get all keyed up.  Just go to the doctor and have them pull the bees out.

9. The Georgians

Lotus Blossoms came to our school today, with a group called Adilei.  They're from Georgia and they sing crazy harmonies with a bit of yodeling thrown in.  The group invited people to come to the front to dance to their music and I was sorely tempted to jump up and throw down. I resisted the urge and restricted myself to some fast-moving foot tapping and hearty head bobbing.

I'm now an Adilei groupie, so I'm planning a trip to Georgia sometime soon. Besides Adilei, Georgia has four UNESCO world heritage sites, including the Gelati Monastery.

8. The Museum

If you feel like seeing a movie called Museo, you should go ahead and see it.  Husbandman and I saw it last night.

La película (the film) is loosely based on the true story of a major theft of el museo (the museum) of anthropology in Mexico Ciudad (city) in 1985.

Super good movie.  I don't usually like heist movies por que (because) no me gusta (I don't like) watching movies about pathetic losers, but this one was quite bueno (good).

Two dropouts from veterinary escuela (school) planned the heist on Feliz Navidad (Christmas Eve).  The guards were not vigilant and some report they may have been borrachos (drunk).  The thieves pilfered some great archaeological tesoros (treasures).

I wonder if the thieves are still in jail.  I was unable to track down this (informacion) information.

7. The Tiny Houses

Peter Menzel is an amazing photographer.  His collection called Material World fascinates me.   

We looked at, and mapped, Menzel's photos, and then we read about wants and needs, stuffocation and carbon footprints.  We also read about people who want to live with less stuff and people who live in tiny houses.

Using cereal boxes, we created tiny houses.  In the spirit of Material World, we also displayed some wants and needs, using play dough, outside of our houses.

We ended with some writing, reflecting on the impact of buying stuff and on whether or not we'd like to live in a tiny house. Most Thirdlanders are ready to move into a tiny house tomorrow, but a few prefer more space.  "I just love my big house," wrote a cheerful Thirdlander.  I myself am looking into buying a tiny house for my elder years.  I'll probably keep it in the backyard because Husbandman does not want to live in a tiny house.  Best of both worlds.

6. The Headline

I love the DIAGNOSIS column in the NYT.  Just today, as I scrolled through headlines, I got a shiver of excitement running through my entire skeletal system as I spotted, "The Boy Was Feverish, With a Swollen Testicle."  I could barely contain myself.

Sadly, today's column was a little disappointing.  There didn't seem to be many clues that directly led to diagnosis.  Parental intuition ultimately tipped off a specialist that the kid might be suffering from Dengue Fever. The teen in question eventually recovered.

 I've read a bit about dengue fever, and it's nothing to laugh about.  It comes from mosquitos and now with global warming, infected mosquitos are slowly coming around to new neighborhoods, right nearby. There's not a ton you can do for dengue fever, but know this.  If you get dengue fever a second time, all bets are off.  You're on your way out, my friend.

The commenters were harsh about this article because the family had wealth.  While their son was ill, they continued on with their European vacation, exploring London and then Rome.  I was surprised that not one person commented that since nothing can be done about the dengue fever, the family was right to continue on with vacation activities.  When in Rome, or London, I personally believe that it's okay to ignore your child's incurable medical condition and enjoy your adventure.  Your kid is comfy in a luxury hotel with room service.  Win win.

5. The Volume

I think I have hyperacusis, a growing inability to tolerate everyday sounds.

The Thirdlanders were loud today and I found myself struggling to tolerate their volume.

  We were creating tiny houses with cereal boxes and colorful tape, which was fun, but I started twitching because of the noise level.

Because of my hyperacusis, I'm sure my doctor will tell me I have to start wearing noise cancelling headphones whenever I'm at work.

By the way, there's no cure for hyperacusis.

4. The Fox

A Thirdlander told us that he saw a fox at the park this week. I asked him what the fox was doing and he said, "Oh, he was just doing fox things."  Today, his mom sent a picture of the fox, lying down in the middle of a solid rubber playground surface, near the swings and climbing materials, emitting a certain air of nonchalance. That really didn't seem like a "fox thing" to me, but come to find out, I was wrong about that.

Come to find out, foxes are not true forest animals.  They are an "edge species."  They like to live in between two habitats and quite enjoy hanging out near humans.  I read a fascinating article about a fox slipping into a suburban home when the family was carrying in groceries.  The fox lived in their home for 3 weeks, happy as a clam, sleeping most of the day away in their coat closet and wandering around the house at night. The parents could see the fox slinking around the halls as they prepared for bed.  They never fed the fox because they knew not to do that, but the fox found plenty to eat on its own.  They could hear it catching squealing mice at night in their kitchen.  What's weird is they didn't even know they had a mouse problem until the fox came to stay. 

So, bottom line, foxes are an edge species and they're not dangerous to us.  They are relatively lightweight---topping off at around 15 pounds. They eat mice.  They like to do fox things, so just leave them to it.  

3. The Piano

Our piano is dying.

Our piano is 90 years old, so that makes sense, but we're trying to decide what to do. Replace almost the entire piano for quite a lot of money, or say goodbye to our piano.

Right now there's a fine gentleman here talking to Husbandman about our piano.  It's sounding kind of bleak.

Here's something I learned today as I've been eavesdropping on the piano conversation. The sound of a piano depreciates.  With a cello or violin, the sound appreciates, or improves over time, but with a piano, that's not how it works.  The sound gets worse as time goes on.

The depreciation situation has nothing to do with our eventual decision.  I just thought it was an interesting fact.

2: A Tale of Heroism

I didn't do or learn much of note today, so here's a story of heroism, texted to me by a family friend who works with my sister in a Veterinary Clinic.

A stray dog was running around the clinic and it ran out in the road and was hit by 2 cars but got up and ran away. Faith and 3 others from the clinic went after the dog and Faith was the first to him but even the owner who came up could not touch the dog. Your sister took off her shirt and grabbed the dog and it was biting her. I got a blanket out of my car so she could hold on to the dog with it. She is crazy but saved that dog's life chasing it down. She is a hero.

Faith is my sister.  She does brave stuff like this quite frequently. She sent me some photos of her injured hand this afternoon.  I'm more the Look-The-Other-Way-Kind-of-Gal when confronted with crises. It doesn't occur to me to intervene most of the time.  We all have our strengths and flaws.  Faith sent me a photo of the bite marks on her hand.  I wondered if she might have needed a stitch or two, but I learned from Faith that sometimes animal bites aren't sutured.  I hope she got some antibiotics.  What if it gets infected? 

1: The Changing Times

We had an extra recess because of a Thirdlander birthday.  The Thirdlanders play this game called Infection.  It's a ramped up version of tag, as far as I can see.

A Thirdlander came over to me to tell me another Thirdlander was cheating at the game.

So I called that kid over to talk to him.  He admitted he had been cheating.  Then he said, "But that kid called me an idiot and kicked me."

So I had to call over the original kid, who admitted he did both those things.  So I told them both to stop the shenanigans.

Recess is always like this.  Either kids get injured, or they start yelling at each other.

 Back in the day, when it was recess time, we played happily, relieved that we didn't have to be in our classrooms.  I wish for the glorious times of yore.