My reputation, restored

Earlier this week, my younger daughter could not figure out how to do her math homework. Alas, my reputation as the all knowing parent was destroyed when I had to admit that not only did I not have a clue, but I never even took pre-calc in high school (I was a victim of the open classroom movement of the 1970's). And, the fact that DH could not do the math problem, either, was no salve to my ego. Eventually, and with the assistance of a third party, DH did figure out the problem. (note to the mathmatically inclined: do not try to explain a math problem to a non mathmatically inclined spouse at 2:15 in the morning, the explanation will not stick).

Tonight, my daughter needed help with her music theory homework. Hooray! This I was able to do. Whew, and again, I say whew.

Banishing with laughter

if you need a little help, try here.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/06/naked-mohawk-baby-carrot-jockeys.html

I passed the test, now what was the question?

Last night, I had a dream with snakes in it. In and of itself, this may not be remarkable, except that it was not a nightmare. Starting at the very tail end of 2006, going all the way through 2007 (that wonderful year) and into the beginning of 2008, I was regularly having nightmares in which I was being threatened by snakes. Not colorful diamondbacks, or sinuous cobras, the snakes of my nightmares were thick in body, dull black in color, silent and scary. They would appear out of nowhere, from under doors, through restaurant walls, from swamps that would suddenly appear in my yard, always going after me, and getting between me and whatever symbolized safety in the dream.

Whatever the message was, whatever the test or assignment was, I clearly wasn't getting it, because by autumn of 2007, the snakes were joined by alligators (or crocodiles-I never got close enough to see which they were). This went on through the beginning of the New Year. (Every now and then, when someone would complain to me about not remember most of their dreams, my response would be “sometimes that can be a good thing.”) And, then, toward the end of February, I dreamt of climbing through a brushy waste, and about to step on a log, realizing that it was an alligator (or croc). I stepped back, the alligator (or croc) looked at me, and left me alone.

Last night, I dreamt of releasing baskets of snakes in an animal preserve. The snakes flowed over the edges of the baskets, gracefully. They were beautifully colored and patterned. Their tongues tasted the air. Each snake looked at me, and then slithered off. I felt satisfaction for a job well done. It was only when I woke up that I realized that this was my first snake dream since January, and I didn't wake up trying to scream or cry out.

But it still leaves me with the question: what job was it that I had done? I realize the PTB (Powers That Be, to those of you who never watched any of the shows in the Whedonverse) have no requirement to make things easy for me. But if I've learned an important lesson, or passed a test, I would dearly like to know what it was. I know there will be others, I would love it, if the I didn't need that kind of “encouragement” next time.

Well, that was fun.

I got one of those political poll phone calls tonight. This one was from Marist College (isn't caller id grand?) All standard questions; Will I definitely vote in November? What if the election were to be held tomorrow? Which candidate do I support? Is my support strong or weak? Etc, etc, etc. And, then, the catagorizing questions. Age range, household income range, county within the state of New Jersey.
And finally, do you consider yourself Christian, Jewish or Muslim?
My response was "do you have an 'other' catagory?"
The pollster said that there was one.
"Fine," I said, "Other." (damn, this is New Jersey. How come Hindu wasn't up there with the big three?)
"What is your religion? I have to put something down."
"So it can't be just 'other?' OK, put me down as Judeo-Pagan."

Looooooooooong silence.
I get my fun where I can grab it, and something tells me that fun is going to be in very short supply this campaign season.

Another Old Joke

(I know, I know, stop me if you've heard this one...)

A Priest, a Pastor and a Rabbi are discussing "when does life begin?"
The Priest says, "Life begins at conception."
The Pastor says "Life begins when 'quickening' is felt within the womb."
The Rabbi says, "No, you are both wrong. Life begins when the youngest child leaves for college and the dog dies."

Well, the dog has been gone for a couple of years, but the youngest child isn't leaving for college yet. On the other hand, she did start school today (high school junior-how did that happen?), so I do feel that some of my own life and my own time is being returned to me.

So, now, back to my own projects.

Update on the circle

The circle, as it looked last week, when DH risked his neck and the gutters on the roof to get a good picture.

And, the circle, when it was first planted, 2 years ago. The angles of the photos are different, so its hard to tell, but the trees were all about 18 to 24 inches tall when we planted them, now the trees are all about 6 feet tall and beginning to fill in at the sides. In another couple of years, we will have to think about replacing the grass with a different ground cover. But there will be a lovely semblance of privacy.

For those folks who are badly affected by Merc Rx's

Tomorrow, Mercury will be the same position as it will be, when it reaches its most "backward" point in the coming retrograde. You may want to take notes.