Going off script

In primary I'm teaching the sharing time lessons for the month of May (with the exception of last week because I was sick). The third week of May I went of script and talked about stories in the Book of Mormon (go figure--in a lesson on the BOM I actually talked about stories in the BOM). That lesson didn't go all that well. In hind sight I should have picked the exciting, well-known stories; instead I talked about the Liahona, compared King Noah and King Benjamin, and then talked about the people of 4th Nephi. Really, it was a bit over the heads of the kids.

Last week the kids got the BOM lesson as scripted, which was a little too bad--I was hoping the other teacher would take care of the priesthood restoration lesson and let me do a lesson on the Relief Society (the lesson manual only provides four lessons for the five weeks of May). Because I really wanted to talk about Relief Society (and because we get tons of lessons on the Priesthood) I decided to talk about both.

I wasn't quite sure what to do, but decided to come up with a list of facts about the Relief Society (things like the motto, descriptions of notable service efforts--work shirts for those building the Nauvoo temple, saving grain, sending quilts and other supplies to war-ravaged Japan and Europe, etc.) and then what Priesthood holders do (bless and pass the sacrament, baptism and confirmation, temple sealing, etc.) and then had the kids guess whether something was done by the RS or by the Priesthood. At first I was just going to have the kids keep score, but then I thought we could play it as a board game where if the kids got it right they moved and if they got it wrong they had to try again. The board included a bunch of songs to sing, and then I sort of rigged it by making the spaces between move forward or back to the songs. So, we got some singing practice in and the kids really liked it.

I love going out on a high note.

Day at the beach

Yesterday I took Sylvia to the Birch aquarium, where she had a blast looking at all the animals living in their tide pool. Since that was so much fun, we decided to go see the real ones today.

Skuut away

We tried to get this for Sylvia's birthday. Unfortunately, patience is in short supply 'round here.

Love me some antibiotics

This past week I've been a little under the weather. By under the weather I really mean I've felt fine except that I've had swollen lymph nodes and an associated sore throat. The worst part of the illness (other than the constant pain and inability to swallow easily) was that I couldn't sleep very well, so all week the longest single stretch of sleep I've had was maybe 2 hours. That's not all that conducive to getting well, which is perhaps part of the reason why I wasn't getting better in spite of staying down all week long.

This morning, after another night of just a couple of hours of sleep, when my throat was at least as swollen as it had been for days and I was on the verge of tears, I decided it was time to go to see a doctor. Apparently being 30 weeks pregnant means they take illnesses very seriously. After a rather brief look at my throat (since opening my mouth was painful enough I flinched and squirmed like a recalcitrant child) the doctor decided I had an abscess in my throat and prescribed a shot of antibiotics and a 10-day course of antibiotics, and gave me a prescription for Tylenol-3. Yeah.

The shot wasn't so bad, though the stuff was pretty viscous so it sort of sat there all day. Tylenol 3 is wonderful stuff (I've never taken it before) though I don't think I'll be taking any more of it while pregnant. The doctor said it was safe during pregnancy. Reading through the label it's more like take this only if the pain is so bad you seriously can't function. The best thing about all of it--the antibiotic and the super-duper strength Tylenol: I feel better. Not perfect, but oh so much better. I've been avoiding talking for days because it hurt so much. This evening the three of us went to a friend's house (not really intentionally--we went on a walk with the dog we're sitting for another friend and Sylvia ran up the steps and had an invitation before we really could say no) and I admit, I jabbered on much more than usual, simply because I was so excited to feel better and not be in pain.

Sugar and spice

This evening, while I was cleaning up after dinner, Sylvia discovered a huge cache of slugs living under one of our potted plants. As she loves to share her discoveries with her parents, she ran inside and insisted I come out and see the slugs. Twice, since apparently my first examination of them was too short.

At least she didn't insist I hold any of them. When it rains she goes around the yard collecting snails, most of which I have to hold while we walk to school.

It brings to mind the nursery rhyme,

What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice and things that are nice,
That's what little girls are made of.

What are little boys made of?
Sticks and snails and puppy-dog tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

Except in the case of my daughter, it's probably slugs and snails and puppy-dog tails.

Is it coincidence I caved to my daughters wishes for lip gloss this evening?

Cambrian explosion

Derrick bought some woodworking books online recently and this morning Sylvia discovered the one on toys that included a bunch of train car plans. She spent a good 10 minutes looking through the book, talking about the different kinds of train cars, all while Derrick and I slowly, luxuriously woke up.

Derrick used her excitement as another reason he should just get the router table he wants. Having a router table would open up so many woodworking options it would, as he said, be like the Cambrian explosion of woodworking.

I love being married to a nerdy scientist.

So when they called it the Wild Animal Park...

...they really meant it.


In case you're wondering, that's a duckling being eaten by a kingfisher. Both zoo animals. Yep, wild.