High School Visit #1

Yesterday, my daughter "shadowed" at a high school. She's in 8th grade and it's time to choose a high school. Most of us never had to choose. We just went to the only high school available. Where we live, there are a few to choose from, so my daughter's checking them out by "shadowing" (following) a ninth grader around for the day.

Here are some things she learned.

Shadow Day #1

1. High School #1 has around 2400 students. My daughter's junior high has 800, so it's 3x the size. (The other high school J's checking out has 4000 students. Way bigger.)

2. H.S. #1 has approximately the same racial make-up as J's junior high. (Approx. 32% White, 31% Asian/Pacific, 28% African American, 8% Hispanic, 2% American Indian.)

3. J said it felt "just like" her junior high when she was walking through the halls.

4. She recognized lots of kids.

5. The teachers were nice.

6. The orchestra is small, almost like a chamber orchestra. J liked that. She plans to play her cello in high school.

7. They have good cross country running, nordic skiing, and track teams. These are the sports J's interested in.

8. There's no football field.  H.S. #1 has to use other high schools' fields for games.

9. H.S. #1 has more than 30 Advanced Placement classes. That's the most AP classes offered in the district.

10. There's a 7 period day, which J likes. Her junior high has a 6 period day. If you take your 4 core classes, orchestra, and a language, that's your entire schedule. There's no room for electives like art, drama or mythology. Seven periods allows for that.

11. H.S. #1's early lunch time is 10:00 am! Who's hungry that early?

12. H.S #1's mascot is the Cougar. (This past fall, I blogged about the potential troubles of being a sports-supporting "Cougar Mom.")

Overall, J enjoyed her visit and liked the school. She'll shadow at another high school in early February. Then it's decision time.

Harry Potter Marathon

This past weekend, my daughter and her friend had a Harry Potter Movie Marathon. They started on Friday afternoon and went till Saturday evening watching every Harry Potter movie in a row.

They are big fans of Harry Potter.

We shook our heads, but we let them do it.

On Saturday morning, they popped in a movie and never paused once. They would quick get food to eat, or use the bathroom, then run back to the couch.

They never got out of their jammies.

The thought of watching SEVEN movies in a row makes me exhausted.

And yet, I'm a little jealous. To be so relaxed, so lazy. To hang out with your friend all day and night, to watch movies, to never get out of your pajamas. That sounds pretty great.

Maybe I should call up a friend and suggest a movie marathon.

Then again, maybe one movie with a friend is enough. That would be a real treat.

Smells Like Home

Every home has it's own smell. It's hard to describe, but you recognize it when you walk inside. It's hard to smell your own home because you live there every day. But, walk into a someone else's house and I bet you know what I mean.

My friend's home smells subtly like Tide to me. Her home reminds me of clean.

My grandmother's home smelled like baking. Even when she wasn't actually baking, her house smelled like that to me.

Sense of smell is one of the biggest triggers of memory. You can walk by someone or into a place, and instantly a memory comes to mind. A smell, a whiff of scent, reminds you of a different time and place.

I have an excellent sense of smell. It's my best sense by far. This can be a blessing and a curse. When I was pregnant and had a heightened sense of smell, my husband called me a wolf. I could smell everything so strongly.

This weekend my daughter and her friend had a Harry Potter movie marathon at our house. They started on Friday and went till Saturday evening, watching all the Harry Potter movies in a row. It makes me exhausted thinking about it.

The next day, my daughter's friend said our house smelled "soft." I like that.

I sometimes worry that our house smells like cat box or dog breath or dust. Soft is so much better.

Do you have a memory of a home smell?

NOTE: The photo is of a room in the very cool dollhouse we received as a gift. I'll blog about the dollhouse another time.

Resolutions my Daughter Made for Me

I'm not a big resolution-maker. My resolutions would basically be the same every year. Eat better, exercise more, etc. Not very interesting. So I thought I'd jazz it up a little.

For Writer's Workshop today, I chose the prompt: "What are your New Year's Resolutions for 2012." But I added a twist, inspired by Traci over at Sellabit Mum.

New Year's Resolutions that my 13 year-old daughter made for me:

1. Go to the gym with Dad and stick with it. (OK, there's the obligatory exercise resolution.)

2. Pay my daughter's allowance on time. (I could be better at this.)

3. Write more. (Excellent idea. Of course, I can't drive her everywhere if I'm writing more.)

4. Don't complain so much. (Moi? I never complain.)

5. Try not to speak when we're in public. (What the . . . ? Now that's classic from a 13 year-old.)

What resolutions would your kids make for you?

Wordless Wednesday - Wide-Awake Sloth

There's a cool little zoo near our house. They have a sloth. This is what she usually looks like. A ball of orange-brown fur tucked in a tree.

In all the years my daughter and I have been going to the zoo, we've never seen the sloth awake. Until one day. . .

She's awake! And eating a piece of lettuce.

Apparently she rarely leaves this tree.

Sloths aren't lazy . . . they're just very mellow!

I'm linking up with these great Wordless Wednesday blogs!

Olive Farmer

Today I asked my husband if he wanted to ditch his career in computer security and become an . . . OLIVE FARMER!

I mean, he is part Greek after all. They grow olives.

He said, "I don't want to be a farmer."

I was disappointed.

As I do every January and February, I started looking for homes in warm, sunny locales. I love Minnesota, but winter can be very long.

So, I found a great place in the middle of California that is a olive farm. What could be better than having acres and acres of farm land with olives growing?

Unfortunately, I know nothing about growing olives. And California is pretty far away.

But, it sure is pretty. That area reminds me of Tuscany, Italy. Rolling hills of olives and grapes.

Hey! If olives won't work out, maybe we need to grow grapes. Having a VINEYARD sounds awfully romantic and wonderful.

Maybe my husband would like to be a grape grower! We like wine.

I'll go ask him and let you know what he says . . . .

He said, "No."

Hmmm, onto Plan C - Win the Lotto and live on an olive and grape farm, but have someone else grow everything. Sounds like a plan.

Counting the Books

Today was Inventory Day at the bookstore where I work. This is the day - once a year - that we count every book in the store.

Since we're very "old school" we have paper tally sheets and clipboards. We write down the price and how many there are at that price. It's labor intensive, to say the least. Luckily, we have about 15 volunteers helping us each year.

This year I had a great helper. My daughter! She was a champ. We tackled the kids book section, which is the section I'm the book buyer for.

We took turns reading the price of the book and writing it down on the tally sheet. She worked with me for FIVE hours, with only a short break for lunch. She was AWESOME!

For her hard work, the owners are letting her pick out any book for free. Plus, I'm paying her $20. I think she deserves it.

Thirteen year-olds can be very grown-up . . . sometimes. :)