mathmom's blog

By "entertaining", I don't mean that this post is supposed to be funny, just that tomorrow I have the book club over to my house. Right now I'm trying to shove some of the detritus we've collected back to more contained locations. It's working somewhat, but it reminds me of a sign my husband had on his closet door (I think from his high school graduation party?) "Closets are for closing when company comes". Also, a cross stitch from my high school friend: "Law of household geometry: horizontal surfaces are soon piled up." (I'm pretty sure I have that wrong, but I can't remember well enough to fix it.) Since I'm not eating dairy or soy because baby Luke won't tolerate it, I won't be buying a yummy cake from the whole foods, I'll be making peach blueberry crisp. We'll have hummus and crackers and chips and chocolates as well. Also, I'll brew some mint iced tea. That sounds like enough, doesn't it? I ...

I got a "river tank" from my brother and sister-in-law when they moved to NY. I love it! (Thank you thank you thank you!) It's the most beautiful fish tank I've seen, with fish swimming up waterfalls and plants helping filter the water, and lots of other neat features. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to set it up yet. I'm not sure exactly what happens to me when I look at all the pieces, but my heart rate goes up, I start sweating and forgetting what I just read... You'd think I could handle something like this, seeing as I got my PhD in mathematics, but there are pumps and enzymes and stress coats, and 10 easy steps to set it up... It shouldn't be so hard. Not only that, but I have had a black thumb and therefore don't have any of the houseplants I need to take cuttings from. Probably my hesitation stems from unhealthy perfectionism and I should just jump right in! On the other hand, I don't want it to die a horrible messy death and ...

Well, we went to the gym today---Eleanor and Michael got to go climbing, Amanda and Luke and I got to go home to eat lunch and put the groceries away. The plan was to get together after climbing and lunch so that the family could swim together. Amanda and I got to the gym at about 2, E. and A. and I got into our suits by about 2:30, and at about 2:45 there was an announcement that the pool was closed due to another incident of fecal contamination at the pool. Apparently this has happened every day this week! As far as I know, most public pools don't close every day because of accidents: are the kids of Cary just more productive than the kids other places, or the parents less observant and thoughtful? Of course I say that my  children would never do that, I suppose that's how everyone feels until their child has done it. I hope that parents would learn from the experience and not let it ever ever happen again to them... Perhaps by the end of the summer everyone will ha...

Hi all! Here's my first attempt to write a blog... I had to start because my Mom is in Seattle, my Dad is in MN, my sister is in MD and my brother is moving to NY. They all need to keep track of my kids somehow! Also, many of my friends have blogs, and it didn't seem quite fair for me to find out what they are up to without giving them some idea of what I'm up to. Finally, I keep thinking of brilliant things to say, and noone in my house really wants to listen to me. So here goes nothing!