Alice's Adventures Underground

My computer has been dying a slow, painful death (or come to think of it, maybe that's just me; my computer probably doesn't care a whit) and it's been hard to find time to write about anything lately.  Couple that with several Big Work Things and what you get is a lame minutae post.

The Dormouse has had a rather rough last half of the school year.  Who knew that Mean Girl thing started in second grade?  I've vacillated between wanting to march on down to more than a few little girls' houses to throw eggs at their windows and trying to get The Dormouse to accept her part in all the interpersonal relationship stuff and try and work it out on her own.  Needless to say, I was probably more greatful for summer than any kid you know this year if for no other reason than that all the little friends in her class which will most likely all be paired in the same class next year will get a break from each other.  But now, what to do with them?

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Camp Sweatshop started with the best of intentions and a plan to focus on one academic thing for each child.  For The Caterpillar, it was to learn to read.  For The Dormouse, to catch her math skills up to her reading skills, specifically to learn her multiplication tables.  But then The Dormouse went and learned all her multiplication facts in the last two weeks of school. Too bad there's not a School House Rock division song.

Despite my big plans for Camp Sweatshop 2011, I have also been continuing to give my all at my job.  This week I made a mistake that cost the company over a grand.  I think my plans for that Employee of the Year Award are completely cinched now.

I wussed out on starting Camp Sweatshop out right this week because of trying to fix the Big Work Thing I messed up.  So instead, on the days they didn't have summer camp this week, I let them watch too much TV and ignored them while I wrestled with my computer.  When I took time to look up, I realized that they started Camp Sweatshop without me in the form of some sort of sugar crystal project The Dormouse devised.

From what I'm told, they were conducting an experiment to see which concentration of sugar and water would grow crystals around the snippet of yarn the fastest.  I don't know the answer, but I can tell you that bags left on the counter full of sugar water that have tiny holes in them bring cats to the counters to knock over stuff at exactly 3:23 a.m.

The second Camp Sweatshop activity of the day turned out to be yanking up some Queen Anne's Lace that was growing in our front yard and putting it in colored water to see if they leaves would turn the color of the water.  This one ended up a little more positively because it was better supervised.

Their hypothesis was correct.

We have been working hard on Hectaro Lagrimoso, North Forty division and have replaced a portion of dead hedge row with tomato plants, much to our neighbors' dismay.  I'm pleased to say that we have a splendid array of potted pepper plants as well.  I suppose there are people out there who don't plan their fall harvest according to how many different kinds of salsa they can create, but I don't want to know those people.  I also better not catch my neighbor stealing my tomatoes.

About the same time we planted the tomato and pepper plants, The Caterpillar brought home that old put a seed in a plastic cup o' dirt project from school.  For a change, instead of letting that cup o' dirt get over-watered and moldy and then watching the poor little seed try and fail to become a beautiful butterfly I mean, flower, I bought a funny pot on sale at the drug store and replanted her rye grass and marigold mixture in it.  She now refers to this as the "Momma Pot."  I don't know whether to be offended or flattered.

Other events of the week included putting marshmallows in the microwave and then cackling hysterically as they ballooned up to three times their normal size.

And dissolving egg shells off the eggs in a bowlful of vinegar. 

We are nothing if not eclectic.