You need to know more about the rainforest? Go check with Nan’s kids.

My family lives in the Pacific Northwest. This makes us Yankees. My mom’s family lives in Arkansas, Tennessee and Lousiana, which makes them Not-Yankees. You can really tell when my son has been spending a lot of time with my ma and with his best friend N’s ma (who hails from Texas). He comes home with a hint of a drawl and putting together sentences in a whole new way.

So when his dad told him just now to go find some pajamas? Wacky Boy told him: “Why Daddy!” (not “Why, Daddy?” but “Why Daddy!”) “Why Daddy! You know I sleep in mah underwear!”

Awww. Just like his great-grandpa!

Mother on Fire. Funny interview — give it a read.

Just finished reading Sharon Creech’s “Love That Dog” aloud to the kids. Wacky Girl had to take over when I started crying.

Have added “Love That Dog” to list of books (“Charlotte’s Web,” “The Yearling,” uh, “Bambi”) that I will not be reading aloud to my students.

Also I think I will skip “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “Then Again Maybe I Won’t.” My sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Bell, bravely read both to us. I am not the man he was. Also, no “Wifey.” You’ve got to have some boundaries when reading aloud to students. “The English Patient”? Nope. Anything by Anais Nin? Nopey-nope.

No to “A Day No Pigs Would Die.” Ditto, “The Pigman.” Basically, no pigs. Nothing with “pig” in the title, nothing with a pig theme. Because even though Wilbur lives in “Charlotte’s Web,” it is not exactly a happy ending now, is it? Contrary to what my daughter would tell you.

Today’s books:

And:

And even more…:

so much depends
upon

— “The Red Wheelbarrow,” 1923, William Carlos Williams

Am smart and talented. Just figured out how to 1) register as a post-bac (undergrad) student in the hopes of 2) finishing my pre-requisites and 3) registering for grad school. (To obtain teaching license and Media Specialist degree.)

(Will assume no GREs are required, but some other, simpler test instead. Maybe involving writing a blog post and posting it. With a Twitter sample on the side. Maybe 3 or 4 recipes, added on to packet. Sure.)

(Yes, it is nice up there in my brain, with the fairies, cupcakes and sparkles.)

Also figured out how to 4) register for an online course (four credits, one of the pre-reqs) and 5) order the books I need for it, too. All online! Why would you ever want to leave the house? It only took six people holding my hand (over e-mail and phone) and answering my questions to complete all this. Dear God, what am I thinking?

love,

wm

No time to review — reading.

(Almost everything I’m reading the next few weeks came from the School Corps trainings I went to recently. School Corps is part of the Multnomah County Library system and you will find some of their incredible book lists right here.)

Bon appetit!

wm

Today’s books:

And:

And even more…:

“Hold me and hold me and hold me…”
our daughter, at age 2

“I just made Love Potion #9. It’s pink.”
our son, at age 6

“For truly it is to be noted, that children’s plays are not sports, and should be deemed as their most serious actions.” — Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)

You know my blog? This one? What the heck kind of blog is this, anyway? (more…)

“Outside of a dog, a good book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
— Groucho Marx

Here’s a good site, if you haven’t already seen this one.

How about this, for instance? Now, that’s a look.

Or this?

Eh. I do need a makeover.

Heh heh. It’s too hot to sleep, yeesh.