Another Scatterday Brain Dump

All those things I thought I was going to get done this week?

Not so much.

1.  Of course, there was the whole situation with my dad.  He got to go home from the hospital on Tuesday and is much happier recovering at home, but he's still got a lot of recovering to do.  His leg is still too tender to bear any weight, so he's hobbling around on an assortment of crutches and walkers.  Yes, he's following up with his docs, and we all appreciate the prayers and concern.  He says he's found new meaning in James 3:2  "We all stumble in many ways."

But I can't blame it all on him ;D

2.  Welcome to the Grasshopper Home of Germs.  I started feeling rotten Tuesday night.  Tate already is fighting a cold.  And now Kerry is feeling sick.  We're just a bundle of good times!  

Making chicken soup for dinner.

Fortunately I did manage to get Tate registered for the class he needs at the Tech College, and Kerry took him to the career night there before he started feeling sick.  And hurray for the flexibility of homeschooling, because we sure needed it this week!

3.  Crazy, crazy weather.  Lots of wind.  And rain.  And did I mention wind?

Yet in spite of the temp being all over the place (even up to seventy in February) there's this:

Our local ski area - Mt. Baker - has received over 515 inches of snow this year.  So far.  And another storm is coming in tomorrow.  Batten down the hatches.

4.  My friend Breanna, who is living in Myanmar, posted this.  It's a guide to differentiating between Asian scripts.

5.   Since we're all laying low today...  I'm getting ready for taxes.  NOT my favorite job.

Which means I deserve this:

Hot chocolate with toasted marshmallows.  (And it still probably has less sugar than those fancy "coffee" beverages ;D)

6.  The boybarians are having an educational afternoon.   Any guesses what they're doing?

Bonus testoster-zone points if you guessed

They're making a foundry.  

Because you were thinking it, weren't you?

The goal is to make some objects by sand-casting.  But they're run into some problems, aka learning experiences.

First, the martini shaker they found at Goodwill and used as a crucible couldn't take the heat.

So off they went to the hardware store for some steel pipe.

Second, the steel pipe...

 ... couldn't take the heat.

Possibly because they borrowed my hair dryer to use as a bellows, and had it running on high the entire time.

According to Uncle Google, aluminum will melt at 1221F and steel melts at around 2500F, so they had their little oven about twice as hot as it needed to be.

And blew up my hair dryer, which is no great tragedy, as I use it, oh, maybe twice a year.

They did manage to melt some aluminum...

but most of it ran through the holes in their crucibles down into the charcoal.

What was it Edison supposedly said, while inventing the light bulb?

I haven't failed.  I've found 10,000 ways that won't work.

And nobody has burned themselves or the house down, so... success ;D

Now clean it all up, because it's supposed to blow like crazy again.

 7.  Remember...

*sigh*

How I feel about that?