Inventions, Inventions, Everywhere!

Mr. C's junk drawer and dresser top

At church this past weekend, the pastor talked about how we all have these plastic, perfect facades we put on for the world. There was some point about taking them off, but I happen to like my plastic family. They are so much prettier than the real-life versions.

In real life Mr. C was making an F in Language Arts up until last week. He has since pulled it up to a C. This is not the kind of info I usual brag about on the blog. But I thought I would make an effort to portray the reality a bit more realistically. What doesn't make sense to me is how such a bright kid can be doing so poorly in school. Is it him? The school? Me? All of the above?

This is the kind of thing that Mr. C spends hours on.

Mr. C's invention for a magnetic motor. Hubby looked at it and said it is how an electric motor works. But how did this get inside an 11 year old's head? And yes, "magnet" is spelled "magnent". UGGG!

He is constantly inventing things. And not just on paper. He takes things apart all the time to get to the small pieces inside. Maybe he can use them for something he's working on. Does he care that we need all the parts to make the TV remote work? He isn't too concerned about it at the time.

I was lamenting about his Language Arts to Hubby this morning and his response was, "He doesn't really need all that Language Arts. If he gets the basics he'll be fine." OK. Take a deep breath and let go a little.

My Tennessee

There are tons of people in the woods. It is good to see so many families out doing stuff together.

Tennessee is different things to different people. To some it is Elvis, Graceland, and BBQ. To others it is Nashville, The Grand Ole Opry, and country music. And to others it is Gatlinburg and the Smokeys (and the over-commercialized Pigeon Forge which Mr. C just visited on a field trip Friday).

Mr. C over a fall

My Tennessee is hiking in the woods. It is finding that waterfall that can't be seen from the road. It is time spent with the kids without any electronics or modern devices.

Notice how the rock fractures horizontally and vertically--interesting

Ironically, we found all this in Georgia, not Tennessee, this weekend. Well, it is in Dade County which is barely in Georgia. If you want to learn more about the Independent State of Dade, click here.
***There was another post about me starting a new job that has disappeared. You didn't imagine it. That was just a passing fancy, which I have thought better of. So I remain unemployed, or a stay-at-home mom, or a kept woman, or whatever else sounds good at the moment.

Kitchen Space

In response to the size of house I would like, I thought I would address kitchen space. I don't mind having small bedrooms, or giving up a master bath or rec room, but I definitely need a workable kitchen.

This is our current apartment kitchen. If I try, I can get a cutting board onto the counter next to the toaster. Maybe we just have too much stuff out on the counters, but we honestly use things everyday.  And the cabinets are full right now anyway. I have utilized some of the above cabinet space and even put the spices on top of the fridge (aren't I clever?).

This is our South Carolina kitchen. It isn't overly grand, but it is large enough to work in. I think I also need to have a breakfast nook, or eat-in kitchen now that I'm used to it.

I know smaller is better for the environment: smaller carbon footprint, less resources used to build, less to heat and cool. But I don't think I can live with a tiny kitchen longer than I absolutely have to.

By the way, if you are facebook friends with M then you'll have heard my take on our current refrigerator. She apparently has "Mom quotes" on her page every once in awhile. This is something that I have not authorized (like she cares).

Weekend Roadtrip

Artsy photo by Mr. C

We went down to visit Smarty this weekend. We went when there was not a home game, so we would be able to get around. We did watch part of the game while we ate lunch and Auburn was ahead. But somehow they ended up losing. So that ended the longest winning streak in college football. Eighteen games, I think.

S and Mr. C on campus

S walked us around campus and showed us where all her classes are. Then we took her shopping to stock up on some things. Daddy checked her oil (empty) and filled it up as well as the gas tank.

Streamers on her door are decorations from her roommates for her birthday

She has painted her room yellow and decorated it with a giant construction paper flower that mirrors those on her bedspread. I didn't realize this was Granny and Grandpa's wedding bedspread until after she had moved to college. She takes good care of it.

Before we knew it, it was time to leave. It is a 3 1/2 hour drive. We stopped to eat a half hour from home. I personally thought we should motor on and wait to eat until we got home. When we got back on the interstate the traffic was stopped. It took us an hour to go 3/4 of a mile. When we reached the accident scene, I was glad that we had stopped to eat and not been involved in it. Two people killed. Awful.

It was a long day, but definitely worth it!

FYI to Grandma--She was in much higher spirits and not as worried about Calc II!

Beginning of a Dream

Our dream property

I don't think it is any secret that we aren't thrilled to be living in an apartment. It takes care of a basic need and that's about it. We spent several months looking for a house and now we know we have a year (closer to 11 months!!!) to decide what we are going to do permanently. Since we have the time, we are considering building.

We built a house in South Carolina and I swore I would never do it again, because it entailed living in an apartment during the building phase. Well, we're already in an apartment so that argument is dead.

Driving around we found this property. It is "for sale by owner" and we haven't called about the price. For now we are just dreaming of what it would be like to be able to sit on the back porch and enjoy this view every day.

Some Good Eatin'

Strawberry cake and banana pudding

We found this amazing restaurant. I'm sure it's not in any guide books but, if you come visit us we'll take you to Casey's. They have an all-you-can-eat buffet for only $6.50. And it is real food. Like what you would get at Granny's on Sundays. Yum!

The Physics of Swimming

I like to take Mr. C to the pool after school, before homework. That way he gets his energy out and is ready to focus, hopefully, on his work.

It isn't unusual for him to stand in one position running his arms across the water or flicking water to create ripples. Today he walked around the deck and placed one toe at a time into the water, before moving on to another place and repeating the toe thing.

"Are you going to get in?" I asked.
"Wow! Did you see that?" The toe thing again. "I just barely touch the water and all those ripples go out across the pool. Do you see it?"

A few days ago he was making waves by pushing the water with his arm.
"Do you know the energy is behind the wave, not in front?" He demonstrated again. "You would think the wave would be pushing everything in front of it, but it is actually pulling it from behind. Can you see it?"

I may not be able to always see it, but I'm glad he does. And I hope he never stops looking.

September 11

It is hard to believe that it has been ten years.

Weekend, Before & After Lee

We went to the outdoor free concert on Saturday night. They have them along the Riverfront every week during the summer. There are three more left. I'm not sure who this band is, but they were energetic.

The rains started sometime Monday morning after midnight. We had about two inches by morning. We are almost at four inches now. We went out to do the grocery shopping--hey we still have to eat--and saw some roads that are impassable and closed. We saw one car get stuck and a firetruck stopped, firemen got out and pushed them out of the road, then continued on with their sirens going, supposedly to the next emergency. If you are familiar with the Hamilton Place Mall area, the road behind it was flooding up to the tops of cars this morning. Stupid cars for driving into it. Needless to say we are currently under a flood warning and a tornado watch. The kids are happy though because they have a two hour delay for school Tuesday.