Forest of the Plains

Did anyone else have to learn this in school? In eighth grade science we spent a two-week unit fine-tuning our SQ3R skills. (The link explains it all.) We spent time chanting with the teacher, "survey, question, read, recite, review". We had assignments where we had to parrot back the virtues of the SQ3R system.

I hated SQ3R. Not that I had any study skills of my own, but it seemed silly to have so much science class time not devoted to science. And it probably didn't help that my eighth grade science teacher was the worst teacher - professionally, emotionally, and ethically - that I ever had.

I had forgotten about all this until Friday when I spent time in a high school library. They had a poster on the wall that simply said, "SQ3R". It took a minute to jog my memory, but when I remembered, it took all my inner strength to not remove the poster from the wall.

Now I have spent the past three days silently chanting "survey, question, read, recite, review". AAGH!

Jacob is being dedicated soon and we’re hosting dinner afterwards.

The guest list includes the pastor and his family, a retired pastor and his wife (aka my grandparents), and two persons who are aspiring to be pastors. Other assorted family will also be there.

I need the collective knowledge of the blog-o-sphere:

Who should be asked to pray before the meal? Are there rules about this?

I walked into the bathroom and smiled. All I had to do was pee. No vomit. No diarrhea. No trying to calm a crying baby while I was vomiting or having diarrhea. No thought process about whether or not it was worth it to change my clothes that had the baby’s vomit was on them. For the first time in about 52 hours I felt normal.

It was a happy minute and I knew you’d all want to know about it.

Does this phenomenon exist outside of Kansas? I suppose it must, though this is the only place I’ve seen it. We are in the middle of a snowstorm and are expecting to get 4 to 8 inches. While the snow is coming down very heavily, there is also thunder and lightening. The whole thing is rather cool, although probably not what organizers of the big sale would have requested.

I dedicate this link to Cliff because of all my regular readers, he will probably laugh the hardest! If you tend to be easily offended, just skip this one.

Positive Proof of Global Warming

Last Tuesday morning, Jacob looked around the house and said something that sounded like “Where's Dad?”. While telling myself that there was no way my six-month-old baby could have uttered a sentence, I answered “Dad is at work.”

Over the past week Jacob continued to refine his ability to say “dad”. Sometimes it is “da-da-dad”, or “da-da-dee-dad”, or just a string of “da-da-da-da”. (It is also possible that Jacob is calling me “la-la”, but I'm not quite sure about that one. I haven't forgotten that John saw Jacob's first smile and saw Jacob roll over first. Maybe I just think this so that I'll feel better that he said “dad” first?)

This morning Jacob and I were in the office. This time I am very sure that he did actually say “Where Dad?” I answered back, “Dad is at work.” Then, remembering a child's sense of time and wondering about Jacob's comprehension level, I added, “He will be back after you eat your vegetables.”