Why Geek Dads Are Great For Girls

I admit it, my husband is a geek.

He's smart.  He's a computer expert.
He loves legos, Star Trek, ham radio, and Dr. Who.

And he's an AWESOME dad for our daughter!

In fact, I would argue that Geek Dads are among the best dads for girls.

Here's why:


Why Geek Dads are Great for Girls

1. Geek Dads tend to be well-educated.  They will encourage higher education for their daughters.

2.  Geek Dads will introduce their girls to Geek Dad things like Dr. Who, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings.  This will enable girls to "hold their own" when Geek Boys start discussing these important subjects.

(Our daughter examines the cat with her Sonic Screwdriver.)

3. Dr. Who, Star Trek and Star Wars are very "sciency."  During the teen years, many girls shy away from math and science, which is a crying shame.  Geek Dads will help ensure their girls LOVE science (or at least appreciate it.)

(She determines that the cat is, in fact, an alien.)

4.  Girls raised by Geek Dads will understand references to "The Dude Abides", Napoleon Dynamite, the Tardis, and various cartoons (including Sponge Bob, Adventure Time, and Invader ZIM.)

5.  Geek Dads will raise their girls to appreciate brains, as well as, brawn.   They will know that it's possible to have both in one cute, geeky package.



P.S.  And as a balancer, there's always Mom to teach her daughters to appreciate Downton Abbey, Pride & Prejudice, and that girls make kick-butt Pirates!

My Bliss List

Looking back over the past week, I'm choosing 5 things that make me happy.  This is my Bliss List.

I'm linking up with Liv over at her Choosing Beauty Blog.  Check it out if you want to do a Bliss List too.


My Bliss List

1. I'm happy for a three day weekend and the fact that we're not going anywhere.  I'm relaxing at home with my family.

2. Before all the rain hit this week, my Oriental Poppies were amazing!  I love how their petals look like red-orange paper.  Beautiful!

3. I'm thrilled to be taking the Build A Blog You Truly Love e-course.  I believe it will help me make my blog better and more focused.  I look forward to sharing my discoveries with all of you.

4. There are only two weeks of school left!  Since I work at the same school that my daughter attends, we're both done soon.  I'm not tutoring students over the summer, so I'm excited to plan "adventures" with my daughter!  She goes to high school in the fall, so I really want to share a great summer together.

5. Sandals!  I love, love wearing sandals and flip flops.  It means the weather is warm, sunny and awesome.  I know in my heart that I will someday live in a place where I can wear flip flops all year round.  For now, I'll be wearing them till next fall.


Have a great weekend everyone!

My "Tuties"

I've posted before about how I'm an Algebra Tutor at a junior high school.

When I'm talking about the kids I tutor, I call them my "Tuties."  My daughter thinks this is silly.  But what else should I call them?


Here are two of my Tuties from 5th hour.

Let's call them D and S.

Lately, I've been tutoring D (in red) every day.

We get along great!  It's lots of fun.


Yesterday, the head of the tutor program said, "You two always seem to be arguing!"

We laughed.

I guess we do argue.

But in a good natured way, as in:

Me:  Yes, you have to do that problem!"
D:  "But, I don't want to."

OR

Me:  "Oops, I'm wrong again."
D:  "See, I told you so."

OR

Me:  "Let's do this worksheet first."
D:  "No, let's do this one."


5th hour always goes quickly.  And we've been getting a lot done.  There's only two weeks of school left.  Yikes!

I'm feeling a little stressed.  Several of my Tuties have to re-take tests, plus keep up with their current assignments.  I wish there were a few days to just "catch up" before the end of the year.  But there aren't.

So, for the next two weeks, I'll do my best to help my Tuties do their best!

I Blame The Cat

This is why I don't get any writing done.

It's the cat's fault.

He's lying on top of my desk.

On my papers, no less.

I have so many writing projects to work on.

I have so much to do.

And yet, they're not getting done.


It couldn't possibly be me.

It can't be the web surfing, emailing, Facebooking, Twittering, Pinteresting, snacking, TV watching, reading, and general laziness getting in the way!


Look how smug he looks.

I blame the cat.

Build a Blog You Truly Love

I've been blogging for about 9 months now and I'm having lots of fun!

But, I feel like my blog is a bit scattered.  What is the real focus?  What do I want it to be?

A friend told me about an online course that gets you thinking about these exact things.

So, I signed up!

Liv over at Liv Lane offers this class and writes a great blog called Choosing Beauty.

Click here for more about this class.

I'm super excited!!

Today was Day 1 of the six-week class.

This week we're figuring out what we're passionate about.

The problem for me isn't figuring out what I'm passionate about, it's figuring out what I'm MOST passionate about.  Or, in other words, which of my MANY passions do I want to blog about?


I started compiling a list of my passions:

• Parenting a teenager - I have a 14 year-old daughter.

• Writing for children - I've published 3 books for kids.

• Teaching other people about writing for children - I teach at The Loft Literary Center.

• Children's Books - I know a lot about kids books.  I was a children's book buyer at a great bookstore.

• Tutoring Junior High Kids - This is my "regular" job and I'm good at it.

• Creativity (Design, Craft, Art, Writing, Self) - I'd like to do more with this area.

• Inspirational Women - I love stories of women who have re-created themselves, who are awesome, cool, or fierce!

• Helping myself and others with SAD - I haven't talked about this much, but I suffer big time from Seasonal Affective Disorder every winter.  It sucks!  I'd like to figure out more ways to help myself and others with this debilitating condition.


So, I have a long way to go in figuring out what I want my blog focus (or foci) to be.  I'll let you know how things go along my journey.

Model United Nations

Today I'm linking up with Galit and Alison for Memories Captured May.

My daughter just participated in a Model United Nations Conference.  It was a regional event at a local college.

She and her partner were representatives for the country of Chad in Africa.  They were members of the UN committee on refugees.  Since Chad has a lot of refugees, this made a lot of sense.

The amazing thing about the Model UN is that Juliana learned a lot about Chad and worked on solutions and proposals that have real-world, current applications.

Juliana does not enjoy speaking in front of groups.  But, she did at the Model UN.  She spoke for her country in front of the whole committee.

I am soooo proud of her!


This makes me realize how grown up she's getting.  She'll be starting high school in the fall.  She is ready.  But am I?  I believe so.

Horrors of Orthodontia

My awesome, brave 14 year-old daughter is letting me post this picture today for Wordless / Wordful Wednesday.

At the orthodontist, I couldn't help snapping this photo.  I never had braces, so this is all new and surprising to me.

They are holding her mouth wide open to get at all her braces.

Her mouth looks like something out of science fiction.  The movie Alien, perhaps.


Here she is, looking beautiful, after she successfully represented her country of Chad at the Model UN Conference.

In the end, all the torture orthodontia will be worth it when she has beautiful, straight teeth.

Unlike her mother.

Today for Wordless / Wordful Wednesday, I'm linking up with Parenting by Dummies, Seven Clown Circus, and Angry Julie Monday.

Mother's Day With Some Sheep and Wool

Mother's Day yesterday was a lot of fun!

The weather was glorious and I got breakfast in bed (for the first time ever!)

Of course, I told my husband and daughter exactly what I wanted the day before.  But they delivered in style.  Plus, they joined me for breakfast on the bed.  It was like a bed picnic!

After breakfast, we all headed over to the Sheep and Wool Festival in Lake Elmo!

Neither my husband or daughter were keen on going to a sheep and wool festival, but I insisted since it was Mother's Day after all.

And it was a lot of fun!  We saw sheep, llamas, alpacas, and lots & lots of wool.

But the main reason I wanted to go to the festival, was to meet a blogging friend - in person!

That's the funny thing about blogging.  You meet great people online and become friends.  But, you often never meet them in person.

But this time, I did.

Kristi Pohl is a blogger, mother, and jewelry-maker.  Her blog is Oh Fer Cute.  Kristi was selling her jewelry at the festival.  Her necklaces and bracelets are awesome, and can be found on her Etsy site.

Here we are:

(Kristi and me)

Kristi and I both have one child.  She has a boy and I have a girl.  Both our kids will be starting 9th grade in the fall.  We figure we can go through the high school years together!

Here's some of her jewelry:

It was awesome meeting Kristi in person!  It's so fun to actually meet someone that you've been talking to online for months.  

Now we need to make a coffee date and discuss teens, blogs and life!

Happy Mother's Day!

Yes, I'm an Algebra Tutor

I tutor 7th and 8th grade kids every day.

It's an actual class they attend - 4th, 5th or 6th hour.

These are my AWESOME 4th hour kids.

They are the only tutor kids in Advanced Algebra.

And I get to work with them.


How many of you remember what the Point Slope Form is?

Yeah, me neither.

At least not at first.

I was good at Algebra - once upon a time - and re-learned it super quick.



My "Tuties" are (from left to right):

-  Mai Mai
-  Joe
-  Stewie
-  Durant

Theses are not their real names.  They picked their own aliases.  Also, I took a photo of their backs to not reveal their true identities.  That way, they don't have to admit they know me!


-  Mai Mai is smart, quiet, and sometimes wears blue contacts.

-  Joe is smart, funny, and plays baseball.

-  Stewie likes to say, "When will I ever use this?"  I tell him, "Do the work!"  He's also smart.

- Durant is smart, has short dreadlocks, and plays basketball for a traveling team.


And, I think they're all GREAT!



Tutor Kids, if you're reading this, you better be done with your homework!




I'm linking up with Parenting by Dummies for Wordful Wednesday, like Wordless Wednesday but with words!