Thinking of you and yours, Chris. :grouphug:

Dear, dear Kari. :grouphug: I think of you often, as I know others do. Celebrate, and grieve. :grouphug:

I was pregnant with my first, so hmm...maybe late winter/early spring 1980 is when NASA came to visit our area? Very cool you got to hold the tile! They seemed small for the job they had to do. Gosh, NASA space programs hold lots of memories for me. First moonwalk? Our whole neighborhood was in our living room, because we had the "only color TV set on the block". Haha! We were all shocked when it came on in black and white!

Mine hardly ever goes out, maybe 1X a year for a couple hours before it's restored. However, I'm in a co-op. If I lived a quarter mile down the road, I'd have Consumer's and would lose power every time the wind blew, just like everyone else in the area. I accidentally bought the right house. Now, my landline phone service is a different story...grr! A fine mist can shut it right down, let alone a good soaking rain!

Where was I? Living as a young mommy in West Texas. We didn't own a television at the time, but I would have read about the first launch in the newspaper. There's a good chance I was busy making my son's 1st birthday cake the day of the launch, also. What I do remember is about a year or so before that, some NASA employees came to the local school one evening to show anyone interested a sample of the heat shield tiles and a model of the shuttle. They put a torch to the tiles until they were glowing orange on one side, yet were safe to touch with our bare hands on the other side. This demonstration was at the tiny little school that my MIL worked at, and was at her invitation (she was the lone science teacher). I was fascinated by the identification numbers on the individual tiles - no two tiles the exact shape or size, IIRC. Only about a dozen of us bothered to show up for the demonstration. Challenger disaster is a clearer memory. My son came home from kindergarten and started telling me a fantastic tale of an exploding rocket "all over the sky". It took me a while to catch on that it was a launch day with a real disaster, not just a little boy's wild tale. He had watched it in school, and mommy and daddy had to catch up later on the news. My MIL had applied, so the what-ifs shook her a bit.

Happy Birthday, Joanne!

:iagree:The lion looked like she was in a playful mood to this non-expert. Great videos, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Swirly Hyrum one shows up on Ellen or Good Morning America's Play of the Day. My Big Cat story: I used to take my (then toddler) son to Carlsbad's Living Desert Zoo, where the resident Mountain Lion would definitely stalk and hunt him when we went by the enclosure. It made me horribly nervous because the cat would jump down from wherever it was perched and crouch along the rocks with tail twitching, staring at him. My son would be oblivious because I would literally scoot him through there, hidden behind me. There was no way to avoid her cage, as the path winding through the park is edged with rocks and cactus, with nowhere else to go except the one path. Loved the zoo, not crazy about their mountain lion set-up.

I rarely cry, or even tear up. Sometimes I wonder if I have a heart of stone. ;) I hurt deeply, I feel sadness, but no tears come. Frustration is the only thing that turns on the waterworks, and that has become even more rare as the years go by and I feel frustration less often.

He Bear, She Bear was the only one we owned. I bought it for my oldest around 1980-83 or so, and he loved to see and dream about all the possible careers for when he grew up. When my girls came along much later, they loved that book just as much as he did.

Same at our house.

MrTea is an old softie, and I voted that he cries "with some frequency". I consider it crying if he is tearing up to the point that tears are rolling down his cheeks and he reaches for a kleenex. He'll sniffle a little, but not sob. He cries at movies, concerts, church, and if a little kid he loves is being extra cute. My dad always did, too. :001_smile:

My Cairo-born friend hosted and did most of the cooking, and it was a wonderful meal. She made several dishes she grew up with (grilled meats, roasted veggies, rice, salads, dips) and I added in some more salads. Both of our kids made the desserts (cake, cookies, and baklava). The men kept us all in beverages. We talked for hours, the kids jumped on the trampoline and played wii, some of us went for a walk in the woods, and we all played with the dogs and laughed at the pet ducks. It was a glorious day!

Mirror Mirror was a treat! Three of us saw it (husband, young teen, and me) and it kept us all entertained. Nathan Lane is a favorite of ours, and true to his usual style this movie was very theatrical and full of fantastic costumes. So visually appealing, and a good story line as well. I have no patience for Disney's Snow White (some day my prince will come, blech). Mirror Mirror was a nice twist, busting through some stereotypes while still giving little visual nods to the animated version. Isn't that song at the end so adorable? (And "Bollywood"??) We've youtubed it several times since seeing the movie. It's a catchy tune.

MrTea works as a maintenance man for a food manufacturer. He has a highschool diploma, and does continuing education through work that is industry specific. These online classes are optional and done in the computer lab at work while the company pays him overtime wages. The certification he receives through these courses translate to increased wages and the ability to work in the areas that interest him the most. Incredibly, not all his peers take advantage of this opportunity. He just shakes his head.

Education: Highschool and some college (drafting and accounting, back when both were done on paper with a pencil LOL). Work history: Mostly blue collar work in small manufacturing businesses, including some owned by family. When I worked for family, I usually did payroll, tax records, and inventory when I wasn't needed on a drill press or other machine. I also had a housekeeping business for several years - my favorite job!

Angela, thank you for highlighting the points I didn't hit on clearly. Yes, notify the school about the withdrawal aspect so they aren't wondering why a child is suddenly a no-show. Bethany, very cool your son will have a playmate hs'ing also.

Ooooohhhh, big groan on that perimenopause malarky! It's not for wimps, is it? Okay, once that's behind you (my menopause was artificially induced by a hysterectomy), well then it seems to be smooth sailing for the most part. I LOVE being 50! Not even sure why, but it was a birthday I looked forward to and celebrated with glee. I let my family know it was going to be a good one, and we celebrated for 3 days! (Little silly things like extravagent cupcakes and geocaching and flowers and a new tea cup just for me - it all added up to be a very special time) There's been a new level of respect from my senior friends, can't explain it though. - think it may be that I am throwing out a more positive vibe since menopause??? Mostly it's just been a great catalyst to start some self-improvement, and that's always a good thing. I hope the 50's are good for you. I am making sure mine are. Sure, the eyes and joints aren't what they were, but hopefully brain and humor and personality will kick in to fill whatever I feel like I'm losing. PS: don't forget your colonoscopy.LOL. Sorry for spacing issues and typos, I am on a roadtrip using a phone with a teeny keyboard

Bethany, this will be brief as I am on a phone but your friend is not required to do a thing according to state law, including notifying anyone. Having said that, I chose to talk to our school's principal and my daughter's teachers to let them know we would be homeschooling starting on X date. (I also wanted to let them know our choosing to hs was no reflection on the fine job they'd been doing up to that point.). Anyway, there is nothing you are required to do by law. Individuals within your local system may not be clear on that point, though. LOL. Michigan's Dept of Ed has a very brief pdf explaining the state homeschool laws. Very clear and easy to search. Hth

:lol: I printed off about a dozen of these posts this weekend and MrTea and I worked our way through other's plans, subject by subject, looking to pilfer.

"I'm sorry I'm not understanding you. Would you say that again using your regular talking voice?" has been effective on visiting whiners at my house. Oh, wait. It also worked on the resident whiners.

I can't get my work done when there's a ladybug dive-bombing my head! I can't get my work done because my sword handle keeps poking me in the ribs. I'll be right back, I promise. I just have to grab my camera because that hawk is back. Are you sure that was lunch? I thought it was just a snack so I didn't eat very much... This, from an 8th grader...:lol: Oh, brother!

rollerskating snow sledding and tubing Zumba classes treadmill and weights at home wii Zumba and DDR :D martial arts classes (in the past, but not this year) community open gym basketball starts soon

Thank you, 8. I've printed the list and will show my girl tomorrow. She may as well know what one professor's expectations look like! (Ignore that exclamation point. It was accidental.) Cohen was in especially fine form from about #29 on, I'd say. :lol:

(((((Joanne)))) You are heard and loved.

Oranges. Best enjoyed when one slowly, methodically peels it by hand and eats it one section at a time while daydreaming. There's something so basic about eating an orange this way, and what's more cheery than that little spray of orange oil that comes from the peel? Washers and dryers. Seriously?! All I have to do is dump in the clothes, add soap, turn a dial, and WALK AWAY while it does all the work? Then I return when I am good and ready and spend all of half a minute moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer, push a button, and walk away AGAIN?? And the choice to fold or not fold is all mine. We've all bemoaned the mountains of laundry, and it's not like I've ever had to carry my clothes to the river to beat them with a rock, but I am still blown away that a couple of machines inside my house do all this work for me whenever I decide it's to happen.