Hopped up on Puppy Love

No, these are not our puppies. They belong to Aunt D and Uncle M. They are for sale, though, so if you'd like a cute, smart dog, let me know. (They're Mini Australian Shepherds.)

Operation Entertain

1. Find Camera - Check



2. Get the kids to stop whining about how hot and bored they are - Check

Need Sleep. And Camera.

I can't find my camera. It has pictures on it that I would like to put on the computer. It has the potential to take pictures that could be put on the computer in the future. It is AWOL. Annoying.

While we are definitely getting closer to our move date, we still aren't exactly sure when that will be. Art starts work on June 20, but we may not try to move the whole family until we have an actual home to move into. We hope to go look for a house next week. Wish us luck.

The kids are enjoying their summertime freedom. I've already packed most of the books, so we've made the first trip to the library. I imagine there will be many more. I plan to pack the video games last. That may make me a bad parent. It also may keep myself and the children alive until this move is over. I call that a worthwhile risk.

Both children are already awake, and it is 6:40. I'm just saying. I suppose I can't complain since I was awake before them, but went to bed at midnight. Why is this the case? I have no idea. I blame my internal alarm clock on my mother. Therefore I blame the fact that my children are also awake on my mother. You're welcome, Mom.

If you know where my camera is, please let me know. Thank you.

Glub, Glub

Zaya fluctuates between interests in various branches of science, and I'm never sure what will crop up next. Lately it's been chemistry. (Or maybe earth science? Sometimes hard to separate the two.)

Last night he wanted to know all sorts of details about uranium, and this morning as well. We had to look it up on my ipod while we were waiting for class to start. Then he told me the following:

"Mom, I have a theory. I think fish can produce hydrogen. When they take oxygen out of each water molecule, there are two hydrogen atoms left, so they must release those through their gills."

I frankly had no idea about the accuracy of this, but Aaron reminded me that fish only breathe the diffused oxygen that is in water. They aren't separating the actual molecules. I knew that. Really.

I'm so glad I will not be homeschooling alone next year! Daddy and Wikipedia will both receive a lot of information requests!

The Cleansing

I'm ruthlessly purging my book collection. It's painful, like attending a funeral. Some of these books have been in my library for a very long time; some were gifts; some have been read so much that the spine is broken and falling off.

I have to honestly ask myself, though, "Are you going to read this again, and if so, can you find it at a library? Will it soon be available for free on Kindle, or is it already?" (i.e. Jane Eyre and my Complete Sherlock Holmes).

My fear is that I'll get rid of some books that will soon be unavailable in the libraries through lack of use by the fickle public. I'm keeping all my Mary Stewart books because I know our little library here recently sold all of her books on their bargain rack, meaning they probably aren't going to be re-printed anytime soon. I'm also keeping Dorothy Sayers. I just can't send poor Lord Peter to the scrap heap. We've been good friends for far too long.

However, I am letting go of the following authors: Alistair MacLean, M.M Kaye, Rex Stout, Helen MacInnes, Ngaio Marsh, John Le Carre, Ellis Peters and Agatha Christie. Oh, and I'm only going to keep about half of the Terry Pratchett books. You have to understand that I owned every book by most of these authors, and they were very prolific. Yes, it takes up a lot of room. That's sort of the point.

Will I be hating myself tomorrow? Will this be a release or a regret? I don't know. The garage sale is Saturday, so I have time to recover treasures if I decide that I just can't do it.

To paraphrase the ubiquitous plaque: God grant me the courage to purge the books that I should, the serenity to keep the books that I ought, and the wisdom to know the difference.