Saturday 24 December 2011

Conversations with Clover

Clover: Did you ever not get picked for a nanny job?
Me: Yeah. I interviewed for a job with a woman, and she ended up choosing another person.
Clover: Crazy, insane, stupid person. Who would do that??
Me: Well... your dentist, actually.
Clover: Dr. Dentist?? Crazy, insane, stupid person.

For the record, I did explain that one could choose NOT to hire me, and still not be "crazy, insane, or stupid," and that Dr. Dentist's reported reasons for not hiring were due to our schedules. And, in fact, it worked out for the best, as a lot has happened this year and my schedule never would have worked if I'd ended up working for the Dentist family. But in the end, I was mostly just flattered by her passionate belief that anyone who chose not to hire me was an idiot.

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Read this now

Just... this. How wonderful that there are teachers like Melissa Bollow Tempel in the world! I hope that I can live up to her example when I have a classroom of my own.

http://togetherforjacksoncountykids.tumblr.com/post/14314184651/one-teachers-approach-to-preventing-gender-bullying-in

Sunday 18 December 2011

Conversations with Grandpa

My cousin had the following conversation with our grandfather this morning:

Grandpa: When you go to the big city don't let boys put little white pills in your drinks at the bar.
Cousin: *laughing* Right, I won't let that happen Grandpa.
Grandpa: You laugh, but I'm serious. They do that you know. I think it's probably marijuana.
Cousin: You know, I think you're probably right.
Grandpa: Or heroin.

My grandfather is full of useful advice!

Monday 12 December 2011

Thoughts? Feelings? Emotions?

Just as soon as I save up the money, I'm going to get myself a snazzy new camera. I adore my little point and shoot Canon S90, but I'd also like to have something with which I can take some higher quality pictures. I'm looking forward to learning how to mess with aperture, shutter speed, etc, but as of right now, I don't actually know how to do any of this. (Yes, I'll be buying a "....For Dummies" book, and yes I have been given the link to Ken Rockwell's site, which is great.) I've been reading a lot about the different cameras available, and I'm pretty sure that what I want is either a Canon or a Nikon. They both get really positive reviews online, but I wanted to get your opinions.

For what I'm looking for, I want either the:

Canon EOS Rebel T2i

OR

Canon EOS Rebel T3i

OR

Nikon D3100

OR

Nikon D5100

What do you think?

Friday 9 December 2011

So, this is a thing that people do.








There are even video clips you can watch-- just google Extreme Dog Grooming. Because, yes. It is a thing.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Wait, who's the adult here?

Clover: It's a really cool game, where we have to get from the elementary school to the middle school, in the dark, without getting caught by the high schoolers!
Neptune: Whose parents would let them go play in the dark with a bunch of people they don't know?

Saturday 3 December 2011

Mazel Tov: Part 3, the Bar Mitzvah

Ok. I'm not sure why this has gotten soooo draaaawnn ouuuuttt, but it has. Blame it on my verbose way of communicating. As anyone who has ever read my writing can tell you, I suffer from a complete inability to be succinct. After this post, though, it will be back to shorter, easier-to-digest posts, with more pictures. I can't put many pictures on these, because I don't post pictures of the kids, and I did a pretty bad job of taking pictures without kids in them.

So.

Ok.

Saturday morning, we got up early and headed for the synagogue, where professional pictures were to proceed the actual ceremony. At the temple we met the rest of the extended families, and swarms of kids played while different family groups were photographed. There are even some pictures of the kids and ME! All of the children did a really marvellous job being patient and smiling on demand for photos. Hundreds were taken, and then we headed to our seats to await the beginning of the ceremony. Mitzvah did a WONDERFUL job on what must have been a rather nerve-wracking project. He sang in Hebrew confidently, calmly presented a lovely speech, and generally conducted himself with poise and good humour. What an accomplishment for anyone-- never mind a 13-year-old! I was, I must admit, almost equally impressed with the ability of the children in the family to sit through a two hour service, focused and quiet. They could even tell you about it in some detail afterwards. Amazing! I haven't ever seen them focus that long on ANYTHING before.

And then.

THEN!

There was the party. Ohhh my. I had heard about these shindigs before, but never experienced one personally. Friends, let me tell you. There was a PHOTOBOOTH-- with PROPS! There was lots of FOOD! There was MUSIC! There was DANCING! Both of which were orchestrated by two men who put a great deal of energy into getting everyone to have fun. (Side note: How does one end up as a DJ for bar mitzvahs? Because, personally, I can't imagine doing that every week-- attending one was GREAT fun. Attending one a week? No way. Exhausting.)


There was a BUBBLE WRAP DANCE FLOOR!


And there was a CANDY BUFFET!


The party lasted for several hours, during which Neptune won at Black Jack, we all took pictures in the photobooth, met many wonderful people, wrote in the guest/photobook, and generally enjoyed ourselves. When the party had died down, we left to get some rest at the hotel before gearing up for the Next Event-- a BBQ dinner for the family and out-of-town guests.


It was Neptune's dream-come-true, a whole range of options of BBQed delicacies (can barbeque be called a "delicacy?"), though Clover, as always, struggled to find something she would be willing to consume. Instead, she largely spent her time with her new friend, putting peppermint candies in different types of soft drinks to see what happened. A few of the little boys tried to irritate the girls by drawing unflattering pictures of them, but the girls saw the humour in it, so the effort was wasted.

That night we got an extra hour of sleep, thanks to the bizarre nature of Daylight Savings Time. It was definitely needed!

Sunday morning found us happily brunching at Mitzvah's house, with his family and their friendly dog. Before too long, it was time to head to the airport and back to the PNW. The airport and flight were uneventful (though both children worked on math homework or studying on the plane, with no complaints... that counts as remarkable as far as I'm concerned!), and we all made it home safe and sound.

THE END