Simple Physics

Yes, I am working on my PhD. No, I am not a science major. Nor am I a math major. But I can handle really simple physics. Like this physics problem that I stumbled across yesterday.

You may recall back in June we fostered a mama cat, and five kittens were born. Or maybe you recall my talking about how having kittens in the house is kind of like having toddlers. Well, those cute little kittens are now six months old, and almost as big as our adult cats. Unfortunately, one of them has developed the habit of jumping up on anything and everything. He especially likes stuffed animals, so everything in the house with stuffing (including my Pal Mickey) has had to move to the closet for awhile.

So what does this have to do with physics, you ask? Yesterday I heard a crash of falling plastic in my bathroom/laundry room. The room looks like this:

Note that up on top of the cabinet is the plastic insert for my dryer - you know, the one you put sneakers on if you want to dry them in the dryer. I've had the dryer for nine years now, and haven't used that gizmo once, but I still keep it handy in the laundry room! As you may have guessed, Pepper jumped up on the cabinet tops, hit the plastic, and down it came.

I looked on top of the cabinets, but no guilty cat eyes were staring back at me. No guilty kitten ran out of the bathroom. No kitten was hiding behind the dryer. What happened to that darn cat?

Look at the photo again - notice that if the plastic insert tips up the trajectory is straight into the shower stall. And when I moved the hamper in front of the shower door, and opened the shower door, there was a guilty looking, frightened, but thankfully unhurt kitten.

I don't think he'll try that again. Maybe I ought to put plastic launch pads on top of all of my cabinets!

Holiday Madness!

What is it that brings out the worst in my home at this time of year? No, I'm not talking about the people in the house - I'm talking about the THINGS in the house.

Last year, you may recall reading that our waterbed mattress required replacement, so we got two new mattresses (might as well replace them all while we were at it) for Christmas 2008.

This year we decided to treat ourself to a new camera - a digital SLR after many years of camera envy toward our SLR toting friends. We were just ready to hit the 'buy now' button when there was a loud 'pop!' followed by a thunka-thunka-thunka coming from the laundry room.

Kilowatt took my nine year old washer apart, and yelled to Diva, "do you know what catastrophic means?" Uh-oh, this doesn't sound like he's got my washer fixed. He brought a piece of the washer in to me to explain that it wouldn't be getting fixed.

Looks like I'll be getting a new washer for Christmas this year....

December Already!

As you may have guessed from my long absence, things have been busy around here. I hadn't realized quite how busy until yesterday morning. As I grabbed a few minutes of peace and quiet in the shower, Diva yelled through the door - It's December 1 - hurray - I wonder what I got today?

There went my relaxing moment, replace by an "aw h*1l - forgot the advent calendar!" You may recall the masterpiece Kilowatt made from this post - our tradition has been that each day of December, Diva gets some small gift from 'Santa' in the calendar. Of course, that requires 'Santa' to remember to buy those little items, and then to remember that the calendar needs filling each night! (Note to new parents and parents to be: make your holiday traditions lower maintenance than this, you'll thank me.)

I hopped out of the shower, and quickly threw on a robe, wondering how to deal with this. Diva comes running up the stairs and proudly shows me her December 1 treasure - an LED votive (she's been begging for one, really). Whew - looks like Kilowatt wins the parental memory contest. Unfortunately, the only thing we had to put in for today (12/2) was another LED votive. Diva says this morning - "these come in 24 packs - am I going to get one of these every day?" And she wasn't happy about it.

So dutifully off to Target I go... stay tuned for info on the treasures I found!

It promises to be a busy month - we have a band concert, ice skating exhibition, dance holiday show, final exams, company coming, Kilowatt's birthday - ahh, December.

Is my tree up - no, are you kidding?

So until I get around to posting about those advent calendar treasures - here's a photo from last years' dance holiday show. As the tallest girl in her class, Diva often ends up center stage!

I Can't Watch!

Today is a beautiful fall day in NH - so I decided to go out into my yard and snap a couple of pictures of things that you can only see for a few weeks each year.

First, the tree in my front yard (I have no idea what kind of tree it is) has these red things growing on it.

Next, we have lots and lots of these

Anyone who wants to come help with the raking is always welcome!

Then I rounded the corner of my house, and was immediately reminded why I needed to stay inside today:

Yikes! Yes, our garage needed a new roof, and after pricing just the shingles and other materials Kilowatt decided he was the man for the job. But it sure is a long way down, and on two sides the ground is asphalt and concrete.

When Kilowatt (KW) caught me snapping pictures, he said "wait a minute, and I'll climb down and lay on the ground and you can take a picture." Ha Ha, funny.

I remember back when Diva was about 3, KW cut down some trees. Like now, I hid in my office and occasionally looked out to make sure no emergency services were needed. Suddenly there was a 'boom' and the house shook, as the gutter ripped off. Diva yelled "Mommy, is Daddy flat now?" Or something like that.... After determining that the only thing crushed was our gutter, I could breathe again.

So for now, I'm holding my breath, saying an occasional prayer, and trying not to watch.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about that odd shaped garage - no, it will not accomodate either of our vehicles.

Wanting what you got

I received three totally unrelated items in my mailbox this morning. Or are they? The first was a newsletter from the NH Food Bank. The front page article referenced the phrase "happiness is not getting what you want, it is wanting what you get." A nice phrase to start the day on a positive note.

The next item in my mailbox wasn't quite as uplifting. It was an invitation to join AARP. I'm celebrating #45 this month - isn't this invitation coming a bit early? I mean, in this economy I'm all for any discount I can get - except the AARP one. A lousy way to make me realize I'm not as young as I used to be.

The third item was a news magazine called American Profile that comes tucked inside my original hometown newspaper. That gets mailed out to me from Illinois, so it is often a few weeks late arriving. But the cover story, the link to which is provided above, was about working Centenarians. That's right, people who are 100 years old and still working! Now some days I might look at this as a pessimist and say 'great, I've got 55 more years of work ahead of me.' But not today, fresh off my AARP invitation. Nope, I had the optimistic viewpoint of 'I've made it this far and I've got the potential to still be productive 55 years from now!'

Okay, so I must admit in the back of my mind I did think "and it's a good thing, because my 401k still hasn't recovered so I'm going to need a good job at 100."

So how does this relate to wanting what you got - well I'm not totally sure, but somewhere in my mind I have to say that it has something to do with being grateful that I'm still here, and healthy, and doing something I love (most of the time). And that is the essence of wanting what you got, isn't it?

You Can Hide, but You Can't Run

Last year, Diva chose the clarinet to play in band. I have to admit that I influenced her choice a bit. I remember back in my band days that I wanted to choose a unique instrument, and because all of my friends picked the flute, I picked the clarinet. Well, actually, I started with the Baritone, but the fact that the instrument was bigger than me led me to change my mind.

So when Diva came home wanting to play the flute, I pointed out all the advantages of the clarinet. And so she brought home a clarinet. As did half of her beginning band class. It seems the clarinet is the most popular instrument because in our band, you have to play clarinet before you can proceed to the saxophone.

Diva did well with the clarinet. However, the orthodontist and his device of torture have created a bit of a problem because she can't play as well with all the hardware. I spoke with the orthodontist and with her band director, and both assure me she will be able to play just fine with a little practice.

Fast forward to today - band practice. Early this morning, I hear the sound of running feet going down the stairs. Why on earth is Diva up so early? I slowly head down the stairs and brew my morning tea. Then I realize - the clarinet is not where we left it last night. That would explain the running feet.

After I found the clarinet (Diva isn't very good at lying, and let's hope it stays that way), I sent her off to school with the reminder that her band director has my email address, so I'll know if she skips today. I'm hoping that after she gets used to playing with the hardware, she'll enjoy band again. I'm hoping that once she is with her friends, she'll enjoy band again. I'm hoping that next Monday morning, I don't have to play hide and seek with a clarinet....

Toddlers

I have to admit, having kittens in the house is a lot like having twin toddlers. I can no longer work with my office door open, because there are just too many cords and other goodies in here that the babies can't keep their paws off.

And then you have to be really careful with appliances:

Yesterday, the little angels unrolled the toilet paper and emptied the tissue box in the upstairs bathroom. Can you believe this angel face did that?

You can't? Well maybe you can believe that this one did: