Life On The Planet

I Am

at my Mother's. Eating her food. Watching her television. Playing with her computer.

Oh, yeah. And those funny people I live with are here, too. It's good because if they weren't here, I'd miss them. It's bad because I have to share Mom's divine chocolate chip cookies. It's always a toss up!

Tomorrow we go to the farm. You remember the farm, don't you? Aunt Sis lives there.

She makes cookies, too.

I am happy.

Happy Tired

Here we are in scenic Carencro, Louisiana, enjoying life and eating well. The kids and I arrived last night after an uneventful drive down. We were all pooped, as we had spent the rest of the weekend camping for Tiger's Cub Scout Graduation! We no longer have a Cub Scout. It was a bittersweet moment.

Sal helpfully packed the air mattress for us. Alas, it was the one with the hole in it.

Last week's exhaustion began Monday when Sal's Scoutmaster told me that Sal would need full Native American regalia for Saturday night's ceremony. Apparently they don't sell that at J.C. Penney. (You've got it right, I had to make it.) It was a hectic week, but the finished product was worth the effort.

I'll post photos of the cultural masterpiece a.s.a.p. 

Today was spent cleaning up for Mom, who recently had her hip replaced and isn't quite up to it, and doing odd jobs.

Shopping tomorrow with a side trip to our favorite Chinese restaurant will be fun. Later in the week we hope to make it to Old Tyme Grocery in Lafayette for po-boys. I'll feel like I'm in college again!

No school for the kids this week!

How will they ever survive?

Life is good for the planeteers in Louisiana. Exhausting, but good.

Time for Tea

Last Wednesday we went to a local Tea Party. As we were running from one event to another, we were a little late for the speeches. However, we made it in time for the sign waving, car-honking portion of the evening. Free speech at its free-ist.  Breathe the clean air, I told my children. We live in a constitutional republic. It's a good thing. 

Favorite signage at the rally:

"Congress: You're Fired!" - The guy holding this one oddly resembled Donald Trump. Go figure.

and...

"We owe WHAT?" - I think that every time I hear the word trillion. My poor future grandchildren.

I'll have to double check this with the CFO, but I don't recall seeing one anti-Obama sign at all. Maybe they were gone by the time we arrived. Mostly, the annoyance was directed at our Pork-Rich Congressmen. We are in Mississippi, after all. Politicians here seem to thrive on pork, and I don't mean barbecue.

We didn't take signs. We just wanted to show our faces and let the kiddos say they were there when. It was a great Civics lesson. Government for the people, by the people, etc. It was all very polite and happy and an overall good experience.

Imagine my surprise to get home to discover that because I attended a Tea Party, I am considered a pawn of that right-wing media, Fox News.

If I'd know that, I would have at least registered Republican.

I guess I missed the memo.

Susan Ryan and Elisheva Levin have write ups on their Tea Party experiences. You might find them interesting.

Girl's Weekend: Sweet Julia, Inspirations & Twilight

Julia is not doing well.

"Mama!" Butterfly called a couple of hours ago. "You'd better come here."

Julia had fallen over trying to drink. She was still down when I got there. After attempting to rise, she fell over again.

She hasn't gotten up since.

I phoned our Vet., who is a friend, and we are doing what we can to make her comfortable. We will have to see what the next few days bring. It doesn't look good.

Butterfly and I had been enjoying "Girl's Weekend." (The C.F.O. is working. Tiger and Sal are camping.) Prior to the Julia incident, we had been having a really great couple of days.

Yesterday we went to a lecture by Dr. Jane Goodall. She was quite awe-inspiring, and I am so glad that Butterfly had the opportunity to hear her speak. Dr. Goodall's telling of how her mother's encouragement and support enabled her to achieve her dreams reminded me of the awesome and wonderful responsibility I have as a mother.  It is more than a little daunting. Her schedule of 300 days per year traveling and speaking would bury me. That she is able to maintain that level of activity in what you might call the evening of her career is phenomenal.

To say I was impressed would be an understatement.

Last night was rehearsal for The Pied Piper.

This morning we quickly tidied the house, and then we picked up Twilight.

We watched it three times.

Copious amounts of popcorn and Thin Mints were involved.

*Edit: Upon reflection "Girl's Weekend" probably should have been "Girls' Weekend." I just thought of Butterfly, and forgot to count myself. I really need to work on the whole self-awareness thing.

Z-O-O (In Memphis)

Random shots around the Memphis Zoo.

*(Note to homeschoolers - Check to see if public schools are on spring break before arriving at overcrowded zoo. You'll thank me.)

Obelisk. That's how you know you're in Memphis.

Sea Lions. Their 11:30 a.m. show was delightful.

The other lions were lounging in rather unbecoming poses. I won't subject you to that!

Meerkats. I wonder if he knows he's blurry.

 I was blurry this morning, and I'm here to tell you it didn't feel good!

Pandas. This one is about a year old.

Oh, sure, he's cute and fluffy now, but pretty soon he'll be out all night partying and end up in a Bamboo treatment program.

Teen stars. It seldom ends well.

Bald Eagles. Our national symbol. He wouldn't look at me.

You can be that way when your face is on the currency.

And finally...

Hooliganus Familius. By the pond in the China Exhibit.

Out of their cages!

Security!!!!!!!!

(Thanks for the zoo membership, Aunt Sandy. We love it!)

Any Reason

Yesterday, I took Tiger to the doctor.

"Patient's name?" The receptionist asked.

"Planetary Tiger," I told her.

"Hmm." She said, looking puzzled and punching data into her computer.
"Date of birth?"

"Blah, blah, October, blah, blah," I said.

"Your appointment is scheduled for tomorrow."

"Lovely," I told her. "We'll be back then."

"Hey, Tiger. Wanna get a treat on the way home?"

Surely getting up early and dragging yourself across town, only to be told you have to do it all over again the next day is reason enough for a treat!

Of course, any reason will do.

Two Words...

Please leave me two words that describe your day.

I'll start: JURY DUTY.

No joke.

Have pity and play along.

Vote

Please don't forget to vote! It's your right. It's your responsibility. It's your privilege.

And for those of you involved in the write-in campaign, Scratchy-Cat is registered as an independent.

I wouldn't say she's a maverick.  As a matter of fact, the word dissident comes to mind.

Go Vote!

Home

The trip home went well for most of us. Aussie Kim and I listened to The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life on CD. The kids mostly slept, played with their electronics and complained that we were listening to The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life on CD. Margins of safety in investments have limited appeal to the fourteen and under demographic. One highlight of the trip was paying $1.99 a gallon for gas in Jackson. $1.99! Oh, happy day.

This morning, Tiger got up and said, "What are we doing today?"

"Math," I told him, "and spelling, and Greek..."

I could be wrong, but I don't think he's happy to be back.

Blog Breaks, Louisiana, Halloween & Driver's Ed

I've been enjoying a pleasant, though unplanned, break from blogging. After Sal and my folks got back to Memphis from Korea they had a day of rest. Then we all piled into Mom and Dad's minivan and headed south to Louisiana. Home, sweet home. Does the sight of Live Oaks give you the warm fuzzies? It should.

The kids had asked to spend Halloween with my folks. They live on a dead end road, and Halloween in their neighbor hood is pretty much a giant block party. (Very kid friendly with none of the scary stuff.) Obi-Wan and Lady Liberty raked in the loot. Sal decided he is too old to trick-or-treat, but he is definitely not too old to swipe his siblings' candy. The Hayleys (of momandkidsathome fame) came over, as well as some of The C.F.O.'s relatives. They're the ones who visisted us during Gustav, so it was nice to see them during a non-hurricane related event.

Earlier in the week, we went to visit my aunt and the farm. Dana, over at Principled Discovery, had a post recently about homeschoolers and driver's ed. Sal will probably be taking driver's ed. in the spring, however this week he had an old fashioned driver's ed. course at the farm. He drove the minivan around the barnyard. I figure he's the third generation to learn to drive there. Hey, it worked for the rest of us! The good news for my parent's minivan - no more cattle in the barnyard means cleaner tires. Eww.

One last thing, yesterday was my grandmother's birthday. Now, I'm not going to tell you how old she is because, well, I value my life. HOWEVER, I will say the her next birthday is going to be a big one!!! Happpy Birthday, Grandma!

I have to get ready to hit the road. Aussie Kim is picking us up on her way back from Houston. Think Thelma and Louise with five kids. And furniture from IKEA. Woo-Hoo. Boy, do we ever know how to travel!