Cute quotes

Well – I’m safely back from Australia.  I’d like to post something thoughtful, insightful, or personal.  Alas - the new synchrotron run started this week and my life is crazy (and the jet lag isn’t helping).  So in the meantime, here are some quotes from the ordinary daughters.

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Oh dear, oh dear

The other night, I was facing a big pile of dishes (the dishwasher still isn’t fixed)…

ordinary (mostly): Look at all of these dishes that need to be washed.  Oh dear, oh dear.

Middle Daughter (to herself in the other room): Oh dear, oh dear, I cannot hear.  Will someone please check my ear?

You may recognize this from “Red Fish, Blue Fish” by Dr. Seuss.

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Compound words

Apparently, Middle Daughter is learning about compound words in kindergarten.  She and Ordinary Mommy were playing school, and MD was teaching OM about compound words.  She didn’t actually say “compound words”, but it became apparent to OM that this was what MD was talking about.  MD would take one of OM’s hands and say the first word, and then take the second hand and say the second word, and then clap OM’s hands together and say the compound word.  And so we have:

Middle Daughter:

     Snow.  Flake.  Snowflake!

     Dog.  House.  Doghouse!

     Buffa.  Lo.  Buffalo!

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Patterns

Oldest daughter was a bit tired of having nuts in her oatmeal every day…

Oldest Daughter: If there was a pattern like “nuts – no nuts – nuts – no nuts”, I’d be pretty satisfied.

Yes – must be learning about patterns and symmetry in second grade.

Blog of the 9s

The current time is…

09:09:09 09/09/09

Earlier this year on my grandfather’s birthday:

12:34:56 7/8/9

Thought you’d like to know.

The Arboretum on Labor Day

Ordinary Spouse sent me off to the Morton Arboretum today…

 Thanks, honey!

Give the gift of life

Live blogging from a platelet donation!

(Please excuse typos – I only have use of one hand.)

One of my early memories is of my father’s office at the college where he teaches.  I spent a fair amount of time there, and there were plenty of things to distract a young kid.  Most of it related to his subject matter – he’s a biology prof.  So there was a microscope, various specimens (some of them still living from time to time), posters (one an Escher; one about Lyme disease), and so on.  And if that weren’t enough to keep my attention, I could wander down the hallway to visit the labs to see  what other weird stuff I might find.

Along the top of his bulletin board (and unrelated to his job), he had a whole series of pins with blood drops on the top – souvenirs from blood donations.  He’d give whenever a mobile blood drive came to campus.  So I grew up thinking that it was normal to donate blood.

When a blood drive first came to my high school, I was mad that I wasn’t old enough to give.  When I went to college, I started to make it a habit.  I’ve donated every place I’ve lived: northern Indiana, western Pennsylvania, southeastern Michigan, Long Island, and now the Chicago ‘burbs.  The people at Heartland in Naperville are my friends.

And I think you should donate, too.  Why?  Well, you’ve heard the reasons before (and if you haven’t, you can read these quick facts from the American Red Cross or these stories from Heartland).  But it comes down to this: the need is huge and the supply is small.  And someday, someone you know is going to need blood.

So find your local donation center and schedule an appointment.  It’s only going to take an hour of your time and someone is going to thank you.