Bad Scheduling

I was informed today that K's preschool Christmas play is exactly at the same time I'm taking my final exam. I'm trying to get Mr. K to go attend her play. K says she doesn't want to go to school that day if one of us isn't there. I told her she may have no choice since I need her in class so I can take my exam.

The Pie

The turkey

Happy Thanksgiving

We were supposed to go over to a friend's house for a weird Thanksgiving. We were going to bring over some venison and rabbit the night before to go into a Brunswick stew that our friend was going to start cooking over a fire pit early this morning. Anyway, I got a call Monday morning that it was cancelled. Their daughter had broken up with her boyfriend (I think he was living with her and her kids and probably helping make the rent). Anyway, the family is in disarry and is having financial problems so they just couldn't do the dinner after all.

It was hard to get my turkey thawed in time. I had it out of the fridge last night for a while, and I filled the space in the fridge with the pumpkin pie and some overnight refrigerator roll dough. We kept the thawing turkey in the trunk of my car. It got down to refrigerator temperatures last night. I still had to thaw it the final bit in water this morning.

Anyway, dinner was an hour or two earlier than I was expecting. Normally the turkey just won't cook and I run very late. This year I put the lid on the roaster for the first couple hours of cooking. I think it moved things along much faster.

We'll be eating turkey for a couple days. I got the turkey for less than $6, and it was just over 16 pounds.

Lunch With K

I'm back from having a Thanksgiving lunch with K at her preschool. Last year we had cheese puffs, raisins, and M & Ms. This year I ate first so I wouldn't starve. It turns out the teachers had put together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with roast turkey, green bean casserole, stuffing, a roll, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. I didn't have any pie because I was too full after just eating the dinner (except for the green beans, which I don't like if they're from a can).
K is still at school for Stay and Play, and I've come back home. I need to study after I post this.

Fall

Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees now, but some are still left. This picture is from last week. It's of the Japanese maple in my front yard, among other things. It's beautiful in the spring and fall. It came with the house. They're expensive so I doubt I'd have purchased one had it not come with the house.

All the kids go to school tomorrow. It will be the only time this week K goes and the last time N and J go this week. I'm not sure what we'll do this week, but plans have changed. We were supposed to go to a friend's house for Thanksgiving, but they called to cancel this morning. Their daughter has just broken up with her long-time boyfriend and it sounds like things are just chaos for the family.

I bought a turkey on sale for 29 cents a pound since I spent over $50 at the supermarket. I figured for less than $6, it was a bargain. I was going to save it for some other time. Now the girls are asking for it for Thanksgiving dinner. I guess I should get it out of the freezer and start thawing it so it will be closer to ready by Thursday morning. Mr. K will do the pumpkin pies Wednesday night. He usually does if I buy him frozen crust and the rest of the ingredients. I got some Stove Top stuffing on sale last week (including turkey-flavored). It's not as good as homemade stuffing, but it sure is easy. I think I have a can of cranberry sauce left from last year. I love that stuff. So, anyway, I need to round up the fixings for an entire Thanksgiving dinner.

N and K just left for a camping trip. N is a Webelo II (final year Cub Scout), and the Boy Scout troop connected with this Cub Scout pack invited the Webelos (I and II) on a camping trip that has a Thanksgiving Feast. They cook the turkey baked in clay over hot coals. The girls and I could show up for dinner, but the place is over an hour away so we'll just stay home. It looks like tonight's low is 40 °F so it won't be much fun to be camping, but I've survived colder. I think on a Girl Scout trip I did one September in Michigan we hit 27 °F. Any time it's been colder than that, I've been in a cabin and not a tent.

I guess it's about deer hunting season. I think we have a lot longer of a season here in Virginia, but my mom in Michigan has been telling me about all the mornings her husband has taken off to try to get a deer. He's over 80 and still likes to hunt.

My class is still keeping me very busy, but it's over in less than a month. I've signed up to take the final exam on December 15 at the college's testing center. That will be it, but I'm taking the second part of the class next semester.

Not entirely adjusted

Well, I'm not entirely adjusted to the loss of daylight savings time. Some days I sleep in until the clock says it's time to get up. Other days (like today), I wake up at the old time, but then I lie in bed for about fifteen minutes, and I get up. You'd think I'd get the house to myself, but no, K gets up early too. She hears me and figures it's time to get up.

I hope I continue to have these days were I wake up "early," but the temptation to sleep that extra hour is so strong. I just know how much losing that hour will hurt in the spring when we resume daylight savings.

Saturday

N got invited to a sleepover party last night. I have to pick him up in about half an hour. I also need to take one of his friends home since his parents are out of town, and his 17-year-old (but driver's license-less brother) is watching him and his sister, who is J's age, for the day.

This weekend I need to do an anatomy test. So far the quizzes have been open-book but the test closed book. I've spent the week studying with that expectation. Then Friday (yesterday), the professor posted about the test and told us we can use our books and notes! I am so happy. This is about all the muscles in the body, where their origins and insertions are, and what movement they bring about in the body when they contract. Also it's about all the joints in the body and the microscopic anatomy/mechanics/electrical changes of muscle contraction. It's so much that I was just studying with the goal of being able to come up with the right answers if give multiple choice questions. Anyway, open book will be great. I know the quite well for a test of that nature. Also, instead of just giving us a window of barely over 24 hours to take the test (2 hours allowed for the test), we have a window that starts at noon today (Saturday) and ends at midnight Monday. That will make things easier for finding a time for Mr. K to watch the kids. I don't know what's gotten into my professor, but I appreciate it.

Fog over the water

Strange Noises

Last night, when I was taking the trash out with N, we heard a strange noise. It sounded like a single honk of a goose. We got our flashlights and went on a hunt. It sounded every 30 seconds or minute, but not with a schedule. We thought it was coming from a very tall tree in my neighbor's yard. We got Mr. K and looked for it when we told him about it and he mentioned he had heard it the night before. He agreed about the tree, but we couldn't find anything in the dark. He said I should come out at the break of dawn and wait to see what flew out of that tree. It sounded like a very large bird. It wasn't a goose, because they don't perch in trees.

Anyway, I didn't get up at daybreak, but when I did go out, nothing was in the tree. I did notice, though, that there was lots of fog over the pond down the road. I went back home, got my camera, and came back and took pictures. This one is of a reflection of a tree.

Later, I was up in N's room, all alone in the house, with some laundry. I thought I heard some thumping, but I know my cat is pretty silent. I often hear mysterious noises when I am in the house alone. I figured it was my imagination. Later, I found a stunned bird on my back deck. I guess it had crashed into my back sliding glass door. That was one thump. Then I found an Avon catalog in my front door. That was another thump.

I still don't know what the animal was that was in my neighbor's tree. It's a little cold for it to have been a frog, but they can make huge noises.

Persimmon of Fertility?

I got this persimmon from my persimmon tree. It is strange looking. Mr. K insisted I take pictures. He jokingly said we should sell it on Ebay. Instead, we ate it. It's a fuyu persimmon. It doesn't have to freeze and turn mushy to be sweet. Right now it is nice, sweet, and crisp.

Mr. K is 40 today. We're going to Denny's for dinner. J made a cake from a mix last night, and I frosted it today.

Refusing to Adapt

I don't know how long I'll be able to hold out, but I don't want to adapt to the loss of Daylight Savings Time, which started today. I don't mind getting to sleep in the extra hour. In fact, I love it. The problem is in the spring. I find it so painful to move the clocks forward. I expect to fail due to the lure of sleeping in, but I'm going to try to get up at 6:15 instead of 7:15 so that my body doesn't adjust to the time change. If I can pull this off, I'll just change my alarm time back to 7:15 when Daylight Savings Time resumes. I wish we'd just keep one method (preferably Daylight Savings) and not switch back and forth. It's the switch that's so hard.

Halloween Picture

I was looking at some old posts, and I noticed how much more interesting my blog was when it had more pictures (and when it had better post titles). I don't have time to take pictures much any more, and I'm not good about coming up with titles since I usually don't know what I'm going to write about when I sit down. I also don't have much time to post these days. I've got a little extra time right now because of "Stay and Play." As soon as I post, though, I need to go read some articles about muscle fibrils I got off the Internet to see if I can use any of them for my discussion question I have to have answered (with citations) by the end of Saturday.

None again

N just finished reading A Wrinkle in Time. I haven't read that book in years, but I liked it a lot.

I got a postcard in the mail from the friend I sometimes meet for lunch. She sent it from Australia. I think she'll be back next week. She'll be gone for about three weeks. She and her husband are taking a trip to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. They don't have kids and never will, hence the fantastic vacation. I don't even have a passport.

The elections came out okay, but there is always room for improvement. If the Republicans don't screw things up, we may be able to pull the country back from the brink of socialism in a couple years. Trusting them not to screw up, though is about impossible. If they're not already bought off by special interest groups, they will be soon enough.

N and I got new Mazin Hamsters for our Webkinz. J was crying because she doesn't have even one yet. She asked me through her tears if I will teach her to clean the kitchen every evening since I've told her before if she can put everything back in order (dishes, counter, sink, floor sweeping) so that I don't need to be involved, I'll pay her a dollar an evening. I bet I spend over half an hour doing it some evenings. She wants the money so she can buy her own Mazin Hamster.

My first day of "Stay and Play" at K's preschool was today. I sure got through a lot more material with the extra couple hours of K not being home. That's good because the assignments keep piling up.

None

November is here. I think next weekend we set our clocks back for the end of Daylight Savings.

I went to N's and J's conferences today and found out how they're doing in school. N needs to write more neatly and expand upon his sentences. J's doing fine, but she talks a little too much.

Tomorrow is election day. I am hoping we "clean house" across the country and get in a lot of people who aren't necessarily politicians, but who will consistently vote to lower taxes and repeal intrusive laws. I want to go back to the days when the Constitution counted and the federal government had no powers that weren't specifically given to them by it. We shall see. I think all I'll have to vote for is my federal representative and three state constitutional amendments. If ever I were going to go to or have an election party, this would be the year since I think there's a good chance the elections will go the way I am hoping this time.

I got my paper back in my anatomy class, and I got all points possible on it. I am very excited because after I turned it in, I thought of several things I could have done to improve it. We also got our next assigned paper, which is due in December. I think I'll like this one much better.

Here's the part of what is listed for this assignment:

Most of the medicine we use today is derived from plant sources that stored in the leaves, stems, and roots of plants but has been experimentally altered in specific concentrations according to what our body can tolerate (and with as little side effects as possible) and in a purified form. Plants evolved to release certain chemicals to avoid an insect feast and to promote the survival of their species. The chemical or generic name for aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid. The discovery of aspirin provided the foundation for other similar medications. Complete an in-depth study of aspirin by answering the following questions or providing the following details. Do not just answer the question as in a worksheet assignment. Research information and make sure that the questions are addressed. Format this in a discussion/essay type format. Be extremely detailed as possible and explain every step of the processes involved. Since the purpose of aspirin is to alleviate pain, then explain the mechanism for pain in your research. Pain chemistry is not as simple as one may think:

v Provide some history on the discovery of aspirin: Who discovered it? How was it discovered? Why was it discovered?

v Explain how aspirin can be extracted from willow bark.

v How does aspirin affect your body?

v What are differences between salicylic acid and acetylsalicylic acid in terms of structure, function, pH, and effect on the stomach?

v Provide a mechanism on how aspirin serves it purpose. (Hint: What is the purpose? Hint 2: How does aspirin satisfy that purpose?)

v How does aspirin affect blood clotting?

v What are other medications that serve similar functions as aspirin?

v Complete a thorough discussion in essay format with organized and complete paragraphs incorporating the detailed answers to the questions above and also addressing the requirements of the essay prompt below.

Anyway, this is more interesting to me than where sperm and eggs come from and how they unite.