High School Redo

I can now say with certainty that nobody should be really concerned with what they may have missed academically in high school. You will have plenty of opportunity to go over it again. And again and again. With each and every child you help with homework. For instance do you know what Golgi bodies are? Turns out I missed that in 1980 when I was a freshman. I missed it again a couple years ago when my oldest was a freshman and we were staying up late doing science definitions. But tonight, on round 3 of freshman science, I can confidently tell you that, a - they're a real, as in not made up, thing and b - they have something to do with cells. I can also confidently tell you that I have successfully gone through my adult life never once needing to know what a Golgi body is.



So high schoolers, enjoy your high school days. Don't wear yourself out because you can't remember every possible little piece of (mostly useless) information they are trying to cram into your head. Develop some people skills. A work ethic. Be a self motivated starter, a thinker, a solver of problems. Learn to respect a deadline, however ridiculous it may seem. These skills you will use every single day of your life. Your bosses will live you for it. And if you turn out to be a small business owner? Even better.

All that other random info you are being exposed to? It's important in that you need to figure out what piques your interest. That's the stuff you'll remember, study in depth in college, and, if you're fortunate, is what your career will center around. But Golgi bodies...unless it turns out that science, specifically, Golgi related science, rocks your world...don't stress about it.

Xoxo,
~Sherri,
Who still thinks the public school system could use a major overhaul but doesn't have any great ideas as to how to fix it.

Olives and itches.

Hello blog fam...I'm trying to do this from my handy iPhone. Because I don't yet own a laptop. You see my technology MO is one of total and complete rejection. All up until I Can Not Live without whatever the thing is. So I desperately absolutely completely need a laptop. In the same way I woke up one morning and HAD to have an flatscreen tv. But I digress.

Last night I smelled like a pasta dish. And I itched. Well to be exact, my arms itched. Nope they aren't in casts. I HAVE A RASH. Who, at 44, gets a rash?! Well, if you have recently tried a new body gel oil, which is what I'm squarely placing the rash blame on, and only your arm skin has a reaction to, you might just get a rash. So you might also be desperate enough to google home rash remedies because it's 11pm and You Are Desperate. And you will find several websites that tout the magical skin healing properties of olive oil. So you'll raid the kitchen pantry, slather olive oil on your rashy arms...and wait for relief.

But you'll wait in vain and just get hungry because it turns out that olive oil is not magical on your particular rash. So here I am, still itchy, wishing something would make it go away!

Love you to the moon and back,
~S

Black Swan and Watermelons

Whew,  we started off last week with a Monday morning trip to the ER and all of a sudden it's a week and half later.  It goes like that around here sometimes.  I try to surrender to the chaos.   It feels good to be in the middle of next week. 

Hallucinations.  Ever had one?  Me?  Nope.  At least not that they're telling me about.  


Spoiler Alert:  If you have not watched Black Swan, as I hadn't 24 hours ago, and it really bugs you when you know anything at all about a movie, then skip on down to the yummy eating part below.  I don't usually mind a spoiler...and really, for Country Strong, I would have greatly appreciated one.  Even though I saw the ending coming.  I kept holding out hope.  Ugh.

I have, however, had courtside seats while somebody else hallucinated, and I can assure you, that person's hallucination is very real to them.  And pretty freaky for the guy sitting next to them.   So this morning, I had about 47 THOUSAND loads of laundry to do and I finally popped in the Black Swan DVD that Netflix is probably about to thank me for keeping it and charging me $60 because that's how long I've had it.

Why the delay?  Partly because I knew it was dark.  Partly because I'm not a huge Natalie Portman fan.  Partly because school started a month ago too early, and I've been busy signing school forms and buying endless school supplies.  Partly because my husband had no desire to watch it with me.  And it was on Blu Ray so I had to watch in the living room, when the prims were otherwise occupied.  Partly because I'm not eagerly awaiting anything else from Netlix.  It's an extensive list.

But this morning I ran out of reasons, and was completely, utterly, mesmerized.  The layers with Swan Lake, the ballet, the descent into madness, the wondering if something was indeed real or a hallucination, and yeah, they leave you hanging on a couple.  Which usually I detest, but not this time.  Nat deserved her Oscar, and you should watch this film, even if she kind of bugs you too.

Then you should, because you purchased ANOTHER ho-hum watermelon and it's Mexico hot and humid outside, make this Watermelon Granita.  It's from Pioneer Woman, and if you haven't yet checked out her blog/website, and all her recipes, you should.  We've pretty much liked all of them we've tried.  And we've tried a LOT of them.  But back to the Watermelon Granita,

You need about 8 cups cubed watermelon (that's about 1/2 a largish one), 2 whole limes-juiced, and 1/3 cup sugar.  Put half of each ingredient in your blender and blend until smooth (it really can make something besides smoothies and margaritas).  Pour into a 9 x 13 dish.  Do the other half - we don't want it to feel left out.  Put it in the freezer and go watch Black Swan for 2 or 3 hours.  Scrape the top, frozen layer with a fork.  Keep doing this until it's all frozen and is pretty much a dry slushy.

Sneak off to your bedroom, with the whole dish and a spoon and eat all of it while you watch Nat dance into crazy town one more time.  Or share it with your family.  I'm not sure how it's going to go down here.

XOXO

~S