Monday, January 15, 2007

Monday, Bloody Monday

Seems I've done that title before. Ah well. . .

We've had ice and stuff from the sky and it looked SO COOL out there this morning! After dragging our totally unmotivated butts to TKD, we returned home to do lunch and I got out the (still bug infested) camera to take some pics of the bizarre icy wonderland out there. The roads had been simply wet rather than slippery, so thus lulled into a false sense of security, I stepped boldly out the door. My feet promptly shot out from under me, and I flailed my arms wildly, all the while thinking "save the camera!" Somehow the camera and I managed to produce some sort of anti-gravitational field, and neither of us hit the ground. Whew!

After that, I managed to creep and crunch carefully around the yard, taking pics of all the strange new sculptures rendered in ice. Sadly, the photos are all trapped in another computer, so no pics here until tomorrow. :-P

Tonight it's snowing on top of the ice. I'm hoping it will make for some more fun photo ops.

The kids are working on a "knots" badge, so today we did overhand knots, figure eights, and bowlines. I couldn't believe it when The Prawn showed me her perfect bowline. I had been trying to help Fishy and she had, apparently, been listening. I asked her how she had done it and she replied "I just did what you said to do!" (duh, mama! - OK she was kind enough not to add that) Maybe we have a sailor in the making. ^_^

They're also working on a chess badge, so Sluggie and Fishy had an epic battle that lasted about 45 minutes and ended very, very badly for Fishy. (as in, she ate everything but his king, LOL!) Not too unexpected, considering he had started out the game by pointing out pieces for Sluggie to take in order "be nice" to her. As Mollusc told him, "there's no 'nice' in chess." ^_^

Flushed with the success of my own rapid victory over Empire, I've started The Historian, and it promises to be fascinating as well, so I'm off to read more of that.

22 comments:

egan said...

I could use some help learning knots. Can you fly Fishy and/or Sluggie to Seattle for a presentation? Thanks.

muthacomputer said...

Next, you should teach the kids about Don Knotts.

"Yo what the talafel? You gotta get up awful, Early to fool Mr. Furley!" -Beastie Boys

muthacomputer said...

Oh! And I'm so happy you didn't fall. That would have sucked the bag.

~d said...

(chess?!)
How cool is that?
And I thought I was doing good teaching thing 1 strategy with checkers!

Joe Jubinville said...

Your recent reading has given you antigravitational powers.

Do you remember the macrame craze a few years back? Seems you could make just about anything with knots - hats, bags, wine cozies, maybe even grand pianos if you put your mind to it... I still have a wall hanging, made by a friend with rough twine and a few wooden beads, haning in the kitchen.

ldbug said...

Be careful out there! Many years ago I bruised a tailbone on the concrete steps outside the micro building after a nice freeze then snow. Ouch!

Anonymous said...

For whatever reason I read it as 'cheese badge' which led to some very interesting mental images as I continued to read the sentence.

armalicious said...

I almost spit my water out reading Polyergo's comment. Classic.

Good thing that neither you or the camera fell on the ice. That's horrible. Especially having to make sure that no one saw it and in the event someone did see it, then pretend that everything is great even though you want to start bawling like a little baby. At least, that's how I am when it comes to falling.

C said...

Egan - maybe we can make you some YouTube vids. Nah - better yet, you send us your strings and we'll tie knots in them for you. ^_^

Pete - I just came across Don Knotts 2 days ago when looking for GuTTer MuNKi pics. I hadn't thought about him in years. Weird.

I'm trying to dance to your song, but I keep falling down.

Thanks! I'm glad I didn't fall, too. That would have sucked not only the bag, but - um, whatever was in the bag as well.

~d - they like chess, but like me, they need to work on their endgames. (hence Gordy being down to only his King and still not checkmated. :-P

Joe - LOL! maybe it was reading about the hovercycles that helped.

OMG do not say the word "macrame" to me. I failed 3rd grade art because of macrame and crocheting. I am t3h suck at both, apparently. ^_^ Grand pianos? OK, that would be worth trying it again, I guess. Though something tells me mine would come out more like Max Rebo's keyboard thinggy. (geeky Star Wars reference)

Snow - I shall be! Oh, ACK! That had to hurt so much! Falling on ice is the worst. Between the rapid descent (SLAM!) and the ultrahard surface, there's no winning. :-P

Jess - ROFL! We could study microcultures and bacteria and proper wheel-pressing technique. . . ^_^

Arm - ESPECIALLY if I'd busted the camera. I'd probably still be bawling.

tshsmom said...

The bowline is the BEST knot to learn! L and SME are hopeless at knots, but Z and I are quite proficient.

Jacob said...

Our troop was very poor. I only got the Carrion and Maggot badges. Thank god for roadkill.

C said...

Tshsmom - the real trick was seeing who could still do it today. :-P More practice is definitely required, LOL!

Gawpo - How many cuts of meat do you have to be able to discern for roadkill? Did you try for the panhandling badge or was your area too rural?

I have a badge in bargain hunting. ^_^

Bugs said...

I've got a black belt in macrame and an elephant stamp in crochet lol :P
Glad you didn't fall ! I've had a few of those wavering-in-thin-air moments..usually with a full audience of laughing co-workers ;)

egan said...

The Speedo™ has been sent.

Jacob said...

Panhandled a fellow scout and he GAVE me the badge. Said he didn't stinkin' need it.

tshsmom said...

LOL, same problem here! Knot tying is a skill that needs a LOT of reinforcement.
BTW, I have a black belt in knitting and crocheting.

C said...

Bugs - you have wicked skills! ^_^ Oh, yeah, I definitely did a lot of flailing/windmilling. :-P

Egan - you mystify me. Give me a moment. Maybe the lights will come on. . .

Gawpo - HA! Niiiiice! ^_^


Tshsmom - More wicked skills! If you and Bugs
got together you could do something really knotty together. ^_^

egan said...

Mystification is a good thing, I think.

Anonymous said...

Ah, Chess. The beautiful game...

C said...

Efo - True enough.

Winters - Something tells me you're very good at chess. :)

soubriquet said...

Oh, that knottery can be a pain, http://www.animatedknots.com/
will take the sting out and make you and yours gurus of the string world.

Loved the ice pics, and those colourful, expectant little birds.

C said...

WOW! That is the COOLEST page! Thank you!! :)