Long Waits...

I know it's been *ages* since I wrote on this blog.  I just have been quite busy and have been on my toes all week.

My Darling Son was "excused" from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills for lack of ability to withstand the long minutes--about an hour at a time, but up to two hours a day--of testing.  The first test he tolerated for most of the time, but near the end, he slumped in his chair, slithered onto the floor and was a royal disruption to the class.  It was recommended that since this is only 2nd grade and not required state testing, that perhaps it would be best if he were excused for the hours that they will be conducting the tests, which is mostly in the morning.  It gives the other students the opportunity to concentrate and is easier on the teacher, too.  After Monday's adventures, he stayed home all day on Tuesday, was home for the morning on Wednesday and today, and will not need to be at school until a little after 11:15 tomorrow.  Just what I wanted to do...make extra trips into town and have to put off running errands because I have a child underfoot.  I wanted to finally get a chance to go to the GS store to get badges that the girls have earned, but it's too far to go for a quick trip, he'd be bored, and it doesn't open until 11.  Lame.  I was hoping to have the badges on hand for Tuesday's meeting, but I'm thinking that I'll have to postpone it until late February.

However, on the bright side, we have had an opportunity to spend more one-on-one time with him, and today Ben and I picked Kelly up from work and went to have lunch at a sushi restaurant.  The little Japanese ladies there were impressed that he wasn't one of those chicken-nugget-and-soft-drink kids; he ordered the five-piece sushi lunch, miso soup and tea.  He ate all of the sushi--salmon, tuna, red snapper, albacore and shrimp!  Three ladies came over and talked to him about his choice of lunch and thought he was charming!  He was, of course, very charming... :)

We go to get sushi fairly often--a couple times a month, if we can--the kids love it, especially those conveyor-belt types.  We have a big stack of plates at the end, and in this case, Emma ate half of these. She joked that when she starts to date, she's going to have to go out with someone who can afford to feed her.  Yeah, she's not one of those salad-eatin' chicks.  We went on to say that besides screening them for genetic mutations, we'll also have to do a credit check to ensure that they can afford her.

Last week Thursday was our Girl Scout event, World Thinking Day.  Now, traditionally this is held on February 22nd, but apparently it can be held at any time during the month of February, as our service unit has proven.  Ours was about three weeks early, was not as heavily attended as last year, but our girls looked fabulous, were gracious hosts, and had a blast.  Mrs. C. dressed us up with clothes from her closets and a few borrowed pieces from friends.  Cammie and "Mini" (kneeling in pink) wore saris from our collection, which Mrs. C. carefully and expertly pinned and wrapped around the girls.  We had a bonus troop member for the evening--the littlest girlie in brown, Miss S.  Now you can see why I didn't know how to answer the question during the interview: "What will you do to encourage diversity in your troop?"  This looks like a Benetton ad, doesn't it?  We can't get much more diverse.

Tara's last Packer quilt came off the frame recently.  I'll be handing it back to her on Monday.  I understand this is the last of the late Christmas presents that will be mailed off to the grandkids.  This picture, of course, is the unfinished quilt; I have to take pictures of the finished product yet.  I have another of Tara's quilts on the frame now, and have two more waiting in the wings.  I miss being that productive--I've been in a slump these past few months, focusing on other projects instead.  This weekend is the next in the gathering of the Patchwork Pirates...the Pirate Retreat commences and I hope to get a bunch of 1930s pieces cut out for the big retreat the weekend after, and maybe start sewing them together.  I'm hoping that over the next two weekends I can get a lot done.

I really should look at my box of UFOs and see if I can get one or two of those finished and ready for the summer quilt show.  I have enough UFOs that I have taken to calling my closet "Area 51"...time to clear out some of these aliens and make more projects that I can show off as Stuff I've Made.

I did finally complete the bulk of the Retro Girl Scouts book.  I have a little more space to fill here and there, some clip art to tweak, spell and grammar checking, as well as a final once-over for layout, but this 225 page magnum opus is ready for print and limited distribution.  I will be making copies for all the girls and we'll be working from that more than the Big Purple Binders that came out this year, or from the lame "Journey" books that they're also selling.  Apparently I am not alone at thinking this massive change was a huge fiasco--not just that it took too long for the binders to come out, but they have little substance for the expense.  It seems more and more that GS USA is in the business of selling books, clothing and trinkets and raising a new group of activists rather than being a group dedicated to teaching girls to be strong, independent, adventurous contributors to society.  To learn and grow within themselves is not as important as "changing the world."

Dad's surgery went fairly well--he ended up with a triple bypass and was sent home after five days of recovery.  It's been a long uphill battle with his home recovery, but it's not easy having your chest cracked open and put back together.  Love ya, Dad...get well soon!  The view from his hospital room was quite nice, though.  It was a lovely sunny day when I came up to visit. The skies were mostly clear, you could see the river and the heart of downtown from up on the top floor.

K