Those Crazy Kids

I was going to blog at you last night, but Brian was hogging the computer, messing with hard drives and such, and I fell asleep on the couch waiting for him to finish whatever he was doing.

I think he was installing this thingamajig. Kids these days...

I woke up this morning and the computer is a zillion times faster, so I guess whatever he did worked. I swear, I don't know where he learned to do this sort of thing. Or maybe this sort of thing is really basic and I'm just really dumb? Beats me.

Brian also spent an inordinately large amount of time this week explaining to me what the download folder is and how to use it. I know! It's as if he knows he is leaving and has to impart to his aging parents as much computer wisdom as we can handle before he goes.

No, I didn't know what to do with the download folder before this. Before, I would email myself a picture from my phone, download it from the email, copy it, and then paste it to my desktop, so I could find it to upload to my blog.

Whew - I'm tired just typing all that.

But that photo up there? I uploaded it directly from the downloads folder. I am very proud of myself. Who says you can't teach an old mom new tricks?

So, the homeschooling conference last weekend went well and I got to chat with Melissa Wiley, who is a sort of homeschooling celebrity (because, yes, we have celebrities) and was perfectly fun to talk to because she also has 6 kids. She has a blog that is listed in my sidebar over there; it's read by way more people than this drivel here is, but who's jealous? Not me. Not much, anyway.

I also got to see all sorts of homeschooling friends who actually live way closer to me than the conference location was, but somehow we never get together except when we drive hours to something like this. Go figure.

Okay, let's try some more downloads folder magic. Abracadabra!

These bags are all quite full. You just can't tell because, hey,
I'm a writer, not a photographer, dammit.

That photo up there, my friends, represents $86 worth of groceries from Aldi's. Quite a haul, I think. Especially when you consider I bought the item below for only 99 cents. (Hey, what happened to the "cents" key? How long has it been missing from the keyboard? Am I the last one to know?)

Great on roast beef sandwiches

I love this stuff. I always forget it isn't just mayonnaise and put way too much on my sandwich and WHEW! Instant sinus clearer! Side note: the Burman's brand mayo is only $1.89 at Aldi's and tastes just like Hellmann's or Kraft.

Enough scintillating talk about groceries, though. Let's move on to Panera's:

This is what's left after Rachel and Brian and Susie
raided the contents of this Panera bag of wonders

Apparently, someone at Rachel's Civil Air Patrol unit works there and was giving out bags of this stuff last night. It was a veritable sampler of all their pastries and we didn't have to stand in line and then talk to an underpaid, overworked Panera cashier to try them. Woo-hoo!

And why is it that any time I go to a Panera's, I end up in line behind someone who has evidently NEVER been to that august establishment before? Someone who needs to have everything about the menu explained to them, including the concept about HALF a sandwich and HALF a salad?

I suffer. Oy, how I suffer...

Moving on again...

I don't recognize anything pictured here.

This is what shows up in your letterbox when your son is an engineering student involved in all sorts of weird engineering stuff. What the heck are those things? Why would anyone need them - I mean, on a personal basis?

David? Come get your mail - it's making me feel inferior.

Have I mentioned David recently? I don't know. He's on a spring-semester internship, doing work he loves and making more money than any liberal arts major makes even AFTER they graduate. We are very happy for him; but I'm telling you, engineers will rule the world soon, people, while the rest of us slave away at places like Panera's, serving clueless customers. It's the new world order, with the technocrats at the top.

Hey, David, your parents gave you a good childhood, filled with duct tape and craft sticks, lots of Legos, and a crappy old laptop to resuscitate - in short, everything you needed to get where you are today. So don't forget about them on your way up, you hear now? Stop by Panera's every once in a while to say hi - we'll even toss you some pastry.