The Fish Amendment

One of my children (who shall remain nameless) is a bit needy.    She/he asks me multiple times per day how she/he looks.  She/he asks me multiple times per day if I like her/his hair, clothes, makeup, shoes, fingernail polish, shoelaces, socks, smile, self portraits, etc., etc, etc, etc, etc...   Yes, I appreciate that my child talks to me, but just don't have the energy & I never have the right answer!!


A negative response gets me in trouble.
Suggestions for change get me in trouble.
A positive response  leads to more questions.  The follow-up questions always get me in trouble


I have resorted to taking the fish amendment. Let me demonstrate.


"Mom,  do you like this shirt?"
"Shark"


"Mom, does my hair look as good as it did the day we had french fries for dinner and I forgot to put salt on them?"
"Giant Kelp Fish" 


"Mom, does my toenail polish match my socks?
"Squid"


"Mom, which of these 700 pictures I just took of myself do you like the  best?"
"Ocean Sunfish" 


I have learned that my response doesn't really matter.  It's attention that is being asked for, not an honest opinion.  It's not perfect, but it works.  You can't argue with a fish.

Ant Wars!

A couple of days after we moved into this house, we witnessed the carnage of our first ant war.  Ants of two different types appeared to have come up from under the driveway, fought a ferocious battle then gone back to their homes, dragging bodies with them.  Since then we've seen the same thing happen 3 or 4 times.  This morning was one of them.  

We have not yet been witness to the battle,  we've only seen the plunder and pillage stage.  A great mass of writhing bodies resolves itself into live ants dragging the bodies of the dead.  Whether to honor their fallen comrades or drink the blood of the slain, they work tirelessly until the battlefield has been cleared.

Painting

The Watson house has been overcome by painting fever. We all have it, I'm afraid! It's been great fun as well as great business for Michael's where we make our weekly trips for paint & canvases.

Lydia & Rowan are working on pieces in Daddy's abstract expressionist style.

Molly put down her iTouch long enough to paint this lovely flower.

Wave did this piece in a day long process. He's planning more for a series.

I tried my hand at impressionism with oil paint.

I also did this one. It makes me think of an island off in the murky distance.

Making Matt Proud (I Hope!)

I spent the end of 2009 in a tiny bit of a panic.  After  uploading some pics from my camera I decided to wipe the card.  Only problem,  I didn't properly upload the pictures.  I felt pretty darn close to crying as I realized Desmond's first Christmas had just disappeared!

It being 11pm on New Year's Eve, I figured my brother (who I always turn to with computer problems) would not be available.  I almost gave up, but decided to try Googling the problem instead.

I wasn't too surprised to find I wasn't the first person to make this mistake.  Luckily for me, that meant several solutions!

The first program I downloaded found 47 deleted pictures on my card!  Since I wipe my card regularly, that was far more than  I had lost.  I breathed a sigh of relief and clicked the 'finish' button to download the pics to my hard drive.  Instead of downloading, I was given the option of packages to buy (starting at $39.99)!

I am sure that many people in my position have felt so relieved to see their presumably lost pictures of babies and fun times, that they have paid any amount without a second thought.  I am not so sentimental and much more stingy!  I went to the next program on the list.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/smartrecovery.html

I was happy to see right away the word 'Freeware'.  It had also received 4 out of 5 stars from the website it was posted on and an average user rating of 5 stars.  There was also a claim that the program contained no adware or spyware.  Having heard all these words from Matt, I figured this was a good choice.

The download took a while, but the results were worth it.  The program found 126 photos, some of which were lost when our last computer crashed!  Almost all of them were in perfect condition, the one up there, of Janet, being the biggest exception.

Such a huge relief, not to mention a much better way to start the new year!  Thank  you computer Jedi Matt,  this paduan is learning.