Favorite flower

As of about 10 minutes ago I have a new favorite flower.... the plain old tiger lily. Our office is very bland, cream walls and moss green cube walls (as far as the eye can see), but today Deb has a bouquet of tiger lilies sticking up over the cube wall in the main hall. The orange is very striking in the sea of green and cream. I took a really lousy picture but I'm going to share it anyway..... and then get back to work.


I told you the picture was lousy.

This is Texas after all

A friend from work bought another horse. Tre, the one on the left, is five months old and newly arrived here from Canada. Jamie, the one on the right, is five years old and is Texas born and bred. Shannon has a third horse named China. His temperament doesn't lend itself well to being on the welcoming committee. Aren't they beautiful?

Book-free weekend

I'm so proud of myself.  I went all weekend without reading a single book, not even a chapter (except for the Boxcar Children # 5 Mike's Mystery that I'm reading to Sunil).  This meant I had much more time to accomplish household stuff and spend time with the kids. We cobwebbed the hedges in the spirit of Halloween. I made a vest for Sunil's pirate costume, we bought and carved pumpkins, bought poster board and twine for a math fact family mobile, went to the Plano Pacer's Run.  Sheela finished fourth.  Sunil went with Dad to a Cub Scout event called "CUBE".  I have no idea what it was or what they did aside from launching model rockets made out of empty soft drink bottles of various sizes.  We started to clear the family room walls in preparation for drywall repair and repainting.  Sid conned Sheela and Zach into washing his car for free.  You get what you pay for.  Sunil had a school friend over to play.  I bought a bunch of new clothes for me and new jammies for the kids.  They both still love foot pajamas but it isn't quite cold enough at night to wear them comfortably.  I bought them anyway by the time it is cold enough they won't have any at the store.  In another episode of "I'm Turning in to My Mother" I bought Sheela the same pair this year that I bought her last year.  For some reason I can just see her in that fabric when I close my eyes……. go figure.  At least they are pretty and she does like them.  They are bright red with glittery snowflakes on them.

 

Surgical Steel

After extensive human testing we have determined that Sheela can only
wear 14k gold (or better) and surgical steel jewelry. I didn't worry
about it too much before as she rarely wore anything besides her studs
but here lately she has attempted short time wear of some of her
favorite fashion styes with disasterous results. In preparation for
giving away her entire earring collection we have purchased a variety
of replacements. Some of them are really pretty but there aren't too
many styles made with the surgical steel and they get lost too easily
to invest much in gold.

In a related blunder she wore a necklace for two days and ended up
with her neck ringed in red welts.

My Bobcat

Sunil has earned his first rank and the award ceremony was last night. There are no pictures because the parents actually confer the award so the cameras were left unattended, besides that the ceremony is candlelight event so the auditorium (well, the cafetorium) was dark. The Bobcat badge once earned, is work pinned on upside down until we catch him performing a good deed. At that time we turn the badge right side up and stitch it on..... more sewing for me.

PT Conference Round 2

We finished out the conference season with a double whammy. We spoke with both of Sheela's teachers at the same time. There weren't really any big surprises. She reads very well, catches on quickly to new material and likes to have a lot of reassurance that she is doing what is expected. They would like her to read more of a variety of styles. In math they have just introduced double digit multiplication so they are keeping an eye on her for signs of stress (apparently this is one of those hurdles that don't come easily and the kids that are used to it being easy are at risk). She gets along with everyone but spends the most time with her friend Bo. He is in her AIM class also and they work very well together.

PT Conference Round 1

Sid and I had our Parent Teacher conference for Sunil yesterday. Sunil is a strong and enthusiastic reader at school. The teacher has to frequently hold him back so that others can read too. I found this gratifying since it is difficult for us to get him to want to read at home. Apparently he loves it at school. He has begun using the accelerated reader program. This program allows him to select books based on the color dot placed on the spine and then perform an independent comprehension assessment on the computer. This helps him control his reading level and advancement rate. Apparently he did not test very well the first time (the intimidation factor). The upside to this I guess is that he gets to start with REALLY easy books. He should be able to get his confidence up pretty quickly.

He is right on track in math, spelling, reading, etc. He tends to write too quickly so that it is illegible. He has already been prepared to get the answers marked as incorrect if they can't be deciphered. This should encourage him to self correct.

The approach to the math is one that I like. They divided all six of the 1st grade classes up based on how quickly a child gets through a lesson and work sheet. So that the class is tailored to the pace of the teacher. This reduces the number of kids left behind or sitting bored at the end. The make up of the classes changes week to week as the kids start to catch on faster or more slowly.

Official photo

Here Sunil is pictured with Mrs. Norris accepting his Shooting Star Award at school. Even better than the picture and the (suitable for framing) certificate is the "bag tag" he earned. Each student earns a collection of plastic dog tags during their elementary career. Perfect attendance, honor roll, Pride Council, etc are all good for a special tag. So that no one is left out they also earn tags for more mundane activities like having a birthday and pledging to live drug free.

Round Two

I launched another biologic product today.  I'm enjoying these new products and their potential benefits to the world at large.  Take a look at a company called Osiris that does adult stem cell products.  There are some amazing products coming in the next few years.  I was particularly interested in the studies for Acute Graft vs. Host Disease.

 

Harry Pumpkin

Sheela has added her finishing touches and is turning Harry in to the judges today.

DI 2008

Sheela has been placed on a Destination Imagination team with five of her classmates.  It is an all girl team this year.  One was on her team last year, one is my favorite of her friends, one is her favorite of her friends and another is a really good friend.  The last girl I've never met, but I really like her mom.  Overall Sheela is very pleased with the team (and so am I). 

 

Sunil unfortunately has not been placed on a team.  No one volunteered to be the team manager for the little kids.  I'm right on the cusp of volunteering myself, but keep pulling back.  It is a ton of work and I don't know if I have the time.  I've been trying to pressure the other parents to come up with at least one other co-manager but so far no luck,

 

Charles River

Here I am standing in front of the Charles almost directly across from MIT. We didn't actually go over but spent a pleasant hour walking around in Boston and along the river park before heading back to the airport for a late night return to Dallas.

Trains

The cub scouts "Go See It" this month was a light rail trip to the Children's Hospital where a very impressive collection of model trains run through hills, mountains, deserts, canyons, cities and towns. Apparently watched over by an equally extensive collection of superheros. Here is a self portrait of our little cub taken on the light rail.

Fall Pictures are back

Hit by a hawk?

After getting in to my car and closing the door at the library today I noticed a hawk swooping down outside my window. He flew down below the level of my window, misjudged the angle and bounced off my front quarter panel. He proceeded to spin around and swoop back down under the window and then up into the shade tree where he paused for a breather. After a minute I got out to get a closer look, he was only ten feet away but behind the leaves. He flew over a couple of trees when I got closer. He was definitely a hawk and didn't appear to be injured.

Boston

I'm leaving for the airport. I'm making a quick trip to Boston. I'll arrive tonight and be back home really late tomorrow. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the thunderstorms and killer winds hold off until I'm out of range.

Srinigar

The in-laws sent a few pictures today. They have been travelling in Kashmir. It is very beautiful. Here is my favorite picture so far.

The hairy Harry wig

Sheela came up with a great use for the nasty Halloween wig that I bought last year. It was too awful for me to wear and yet I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. It has been hanging on the edge of my mirror for a year.Sheela is entering a storybook pumpkin contest. She has chosen to create a Harry Potter pumpkin. But she had to give that wig a severe trim. It looks much better but still not isn't something I'd want to wear. She also had to cut off the nose and eyebrows off of the toy glasses. She still has to paint the face and scar, whittle a wand and create a robe.

Storm Cells

Once again we have been visited by severe weather here in North Texas. The lighting started while Sheela and I were on our walk yesterday evening. The weather was perfect all weekend.. high 60s at night mid 80s during the days with clear blue skies. The storms held off until we were all in bed but they were very dramatic. We do storms well here. Another cell moved in this morning and just sat over the house for an hour or so. The water in the streets overflowed the curbs all the way to the freeway. It has moved on now... it followed me all the way to work and stayed up here for an hour or so too. It has moved on now to make room for the next line of storms to come through.

Grading Period One - Complete

Report cards came home today for the first grading period. Both kids are doing very well. I love report card day, but I'll try to keep the bragging to a minimum. Parent - Teacher conferences are only two weeks away... I love those too.

Gina returned

A month or so ago we took Gina out for flea dipping. This is easily one of her three least favorite pastimes. Unfortunately, her other least favorites include riding in the car and visiting the vet so this was a triple whammy for her. Our bug bombing of the house was only a partial success so we eventually caved and started spraying flea spray on all of the carpets, mattresses, curtains, etc. All of this combined was too much for my timid kitty and she went in to hiding in the laundry room. We rarely saw her but eventually the fleas drove her out of there and back in to the kitchen allowing us to get close enough to check her out. She was pretty well covered in bites and bugs. Sid gave her a flea bath at home which made a big improvement and went over better than I thought it would with her. For the next week she lived in our bathroom away from carpets and still hosting a small contingent of fleas. Last night she received another bath and was finally allowed to rejoin the household. She slept last night (still wet) between Sid and I in our bed. Today she appears to be flea free and quite happy. I'm glad to have her back.

Memory Lane

One of my college roommates sent me a few pictures of us from our Freshman year. Here we are with her mother at Easter in Lafayette, LA.

Shooting for the Stars

Sunil was honored this morning as a Shooting Star at school. This is a citizenship award by his teacher. The official picture and certificate will come home next week. This is a good thing because we had the flash off for this one and no time for a retake.

20th Semi Annual Golf Tournament

Yesterday was another beautiful day for golf here in the Metroplex. The temperatures were in the upper 80's and the skies a beautiful, clear blue. Once again our IT department hosted a scramble followed by a barbecue dinner. This year saw a three team tie for first place (none of which happened to be my team). Best score on a randomly selected hole chose the winning team (it was too dark for a playoff hole). In honor of the 20th IT outing we were all awarded commemorative golf shirts and a special edition of company golf balls.

Big Tex Welcomes you

to the 2007 Texas State Fair. Monday was Fair Day for most of the local school districts. Instead of a full week of Fall Break the new academic schedule only has a quick break. Unfortunately almost every school district chose the same day. Then they give all the kids free fair tickets that are good any weekday after that day off so the only real choice is to go on that day with everybody else. Big Tex is the Fair mascot and the world's largest cowboy. He's 55 years old now. In his younger days he was Santa Claus. Who says you can only have one career?
The food was good as always. This year's winner for the most creative new fried food was "Fried Latte", I think best taste went to "Fried Frito Chili Pie". We stuck with the traditional fried foods: chicken on a stick, corny dogs, etc.
The kids rode only a few rides but made a point of hitting the bubble house, the glass house and the haunted house (all variations of fun houses). Sheela escorted Sunil on a child's airplane ride rather than join Anna and Kristina on the roller coasters. We rode the skyway tram over the Midway for some stellar views of the chaos below. The extra attraction this day was a concert by the boy band "The Jonas Brothers". Two hundred girls had to be treated for heat exhaustion as a result of the humidity, heat and the crush.

Christmas Trip

We bought (or redeemed miles for) plane tickets to fly to New Jersey
for Christmas. I'm excited about this trip we will get to see Sid's
oldest brother, Ravi, and family. We are hoping to spend a day or two
in NYC and then we are going to drive up state to visit Gramma and any
of the NY cousins that we can track down. It's been a couple of years
since Gramma has seen the kids and I've not seen the NY cousins in at
least a decade... or their kids ever.

Three signs of October

I finally got to flip the page on the otter eating his dinner.  I'm now being watched over by a beautiful big horn sheep.  The kids brought home their state fair tickets last night.  But the truest sign of the new month is that I've mailed off for Christmas Parade tickets.  The parade will be early this year, Dec 1^st.  It is also the 20^th anniversary of the parade and our 10^th time attending.

Bowling

The kids talked us in to going bowling Sunday night. It's a good thing that they had a good time.... it was probably the worst I've ever bowled and I'm usually pretty bad. They should have let me use the bumpers instead of the kids.

3:00AM

Sheela and her three little friends stayed up until 3:00 AM Friday night. I'm counting that as a successful sleepover. Sunil and Sid returned home from their overnight with the Cub Scouts around 8:00 AM. Then I had to try to keep the ever talkative, ever cheerful Sunil quiet for another two hours while the girls slept. It was not an easy task as I was still trying to sleep at the time.