Merry Christmas!!

I know you all have been eagerly awaiting this year's Christmas letter.  Now the wait is over!!

 Here it is, for your reading pleasure ... and hopefully it doesn't make anyone wish that they owned a canary!!

As last year, clicking on the letter will open it up large enough to read.

The mixing of molten metal and ants

I have always loved Chemistry.  It makes so much sense to me; I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.

However, this video is enough to make me think twice about Entomology.  Enjoy!

A Novel Approach to Science

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when it comes to video/computer games or gamers? I was curious so I did a poll at work.  The answers were, in no particular order: Dungeons & Dragons, Teenagers, Atari, and Mario Brothers. 

Hua?  Doesn't it seem odd to you that Molecular Biochemical research didn't come up? 

Apparently a research group at the University of Washington was having some trouble coming up with the 3D structure for an enzyme that they were studying (for the full article, click on this link).  They decided to turn it into a video game on the web and let the gamers at it.  It took them less than ten days to find the lowest energy (aka the optimal) structure.

I guess mom isn't always right.  Clearly video/computer games were not a waste of time for these guys.

Happy Hamster Dance!!

Do Da Dee Da Do Da Dee Do.  Do Da Dee Dee Do!

A few years ago, I picked up a book that looked mildly interesting.  After reading it, I knew that Nick would love it too.  So, we read it together. 

It was such an awesome book!  Nick found the author's blog, and we learned that a sequel was in progress.  That made me very happy, but the author said he was taking it slow.  Periodic checking revealed that the movie rights had been sold.  I was excited for a movie, but was sad for the inevitable slow down for the sequel.

Today, I checked the blog again.  And ... the sequel comes out THIS January!!!!  Another reason to look forward to Christmas!

For those of you who want to read the book, it's called Ms. Perigin's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs.  I highly recommend it.

Honesty in Science

This is awesome!  You should totally check it out.

http://runt-of-the-web.com/best-overly-honest-methods

Thinking Outside of the Box

Boy, those phisers are getting more creative all the time.  I found this little gem in my inbox this morning.  I almost hate to delete it ... almost.

Toxic belly bugs!!  I love it!

Star Trek!!

Facebook only lets you click "like" once ... so I had to share it here.

I so can't wait until we see the new Star Trek move!!  (No spoilers in the comments; we are going this weekend.  And it is going to be worth the headache!)

Baby Logic

It was such a nice day yesterday, that we decided to go to the park and play.  We started out on the playground equipment, and M enjoyed that a lot.  We swung, we slid, we rocked in a boat-thingy, and we played in the wood chips (thankfully M remembered that wood chips are not food). 

After a while the play ground got too crowded.  We started to feel like we were in the way (since M is too small to play on her own, we have to be on the equipment with her ... she isn't quite walking yet), and we didn't want to cause an accident, so we moved to a grassy spot.

M loved playing on the grass.  She even crawled normally!  Previous attempts caused her to crawl like a cat with shoes on.  It was very entertaining.  She found a dandelion, and plucked at it.  She found several crinkly leaves, and tried to eat them.  To her credit, for the first ten "that's not food"s she would put it right back down.  On the tenth, it made a mad dash for her mouth.

She saw a dog, and wanted to play.  Nick took her on a stroll of the park to find a "baby-friendly" dog that M could pet.   I sat in the sun, and loved the feel of it on my skin.

She came back, and crawled around some more.  Then she found a good sized rock.  It was easily twice the size of her fist ... and she was absolutely certain that it was food.  Most of the time a quick "that's not food" would cause her to reverse the course of the rock ... but a few times I had to get my hand between the rock and her mouth. 

After half a dozen failed attempts of eating the rock, she decided to try a new tactic.  She crawled over to her treat cup, put the rock in her treat cup, and THEN pulled it out to eat it.

Oh boy!  **Sigh**  I think we are in trouble.

What if Animals Would Eat at McDonalds?

Every ask yourself "what if?"  Someone did ... and this is the delightful result!



If you would like to visit the source of this wonderful video, it is here.

The proper bedtime routine

Tonight we got schooled on the proper order of the bed time routine. 

After dinner baby kept pointing and gesturing until I took her into the bathroom.  Then she showed me the tub.  Ok.  Message received.  Bath directly after dinner.  (During the bath, she kept saying her new word "bath."  That makes baby's vocabulary "up", "bath", "out", and the occasional "ma" or "da" which really don't seem to mean much.)

After we got jammies on, we came out into the living room.  It's been a few weeks since she has wanted to go to bed before seven (yea!! That makes us feel less like she is living her life away at daycare!) so we figured she would want to play.  Nope.  She acted sleepy until dad picked her up, and sat in the chair with her.  She then made a bee-line to her water bottle and wouldn't let go.  Ok.  Message received.  Bottle right after bath. 

After she finished most of her milk bottle, she was ready to play.  (I may say milk, but the price indicates that it is liquid gold ... only white ... and nonmetallic.)  Ok.  Message received.  After bottle, we play.  So, we decided to go with Nick to fix the computers in the family history center.  (Apparently the printer said something a few weeks ago, and now the computers are not willing to talk to it.) 

We went armed with the instructions that came with the printer.  Unfortunately, it wasn't much help.  While Nick called the computer shrinks at church headquarters, baby and I walked around the building.  We went all the way to the multipurpose room, and found a basketball.  The hoop was down, so we shot a few hoops.  (Baby is an excellent player, by the way.  I should know, I was there.)  We then brought the basketball back to the family history center.  Baby and I chased that basketball all over the place!  She even took the opportunity to stand for about 30 seconds unassisted.  A new record.  Oh, and we found a new wall outlet to attempt to play with.

Finally everything was resolved, and the computers and printers were again communicating with each other.  (Nothing sucks worse than a sullen computer network.)  We brought the basketball back to the multipurpose room, and played a little family ball.  (Baby is still an excellent player.  Now dad can attest.)  We left the ball there, and turned off all the lights on our way out of the building.

Once home, I took off the baby's jacket and handed it to Nick.  He was hanging his up in the closet.  I then handed him my jacket, to add to the collection he just put there.

Nick:  "What are we teaching the baby?"
Baby:  BURRRP!!!

After a good laugh, we brushed the baby's teeth and gave her a water bottle.  She could barely keep her eyes open.

The NEW universal language is ....

Tickels!!

More can be found here.

mom ... Mom ... MOM!!

How many of these phrases do you remember from your childhood?

I am greatful that my mom repeated them enough that this is absolutely hilarious!

Hello 2013!

It's that time again.  That's right, the time in which everyone makes promises that they don't intend to keep, aka New Year's resolutions. 

First, let's give a recap of last year's resolutions.  To find them, check out this link.

1. Increase stockroom security at work.  A little progress, but mostly it was a bust.  Like everyone's get fit resolutions. 
2. Promotion at work.  Nope.  Sadly, the little bit of progress mentioned above did not bring in any new revenue.  And I am not quite ready for the drastic measures recommended by the article.
3. Throw out the family budget.  Nope.  A giant nope.  As Obama becomes more and more fiscally irresponsible, we are becoming more and more responsible.  (It has to all balance out in the end, right?)

 Now for this year's resolutions.

1. Teach Morrigan a trade.  We've been telling everyone she is our retirement plan.  With the current white house residents, she is going to need all the head start she can get. 
2. I will gain a new hobby.  Sleeping sounds like a good one.
3. To stop washing dishes.  It is said that doing dishes on New Year's day will cause a death in the family.  Why risk it the other 355.25 days?!  I am being purely selfless here, and thinking of my one remaining grandparent.

Here's to hoping that Obama plays much more golf this year than last, and congress gets off their collective ass and fixes the things that are broke.  (I know, but we are all entitled to our delusions.  Right?)