How many different shapes do Lego come in?

This is not a rhetorical question. Our dining room table was taken over this weekend by a project of mammoth proportions: sorting the Lego. The Lego was sorted by shape only.


By Sunday night, about 1/3 of Muffin Man's Legos were sorted into compartmentalized boxes. Twenty-five compartmentalized boxes, with a minimum of 17 compartments each. Some items were doubled up. Oh, and the thick 2x4 bricks and their baby siblings, the thick 2x2 bricks each had their own box.

So I've got a bone to pick with the Lego Corporation. I mean, look at this picture, and that's just wheels and axles. WHEELS AND AXLES. They take up a whole box on their own.

When I was a kid, you had the 2x4 bricks, the 2x2 bricks, two kinds of window, 2 kinds of door, a brick that was about the length of a Lincoln Log, and two different slanted bricks for roofs, and a very large (comparatively) green piece that was a floor or grass, depending on how big you built your house. That was it.

I'm not complaining that there is more variety now, but over 425 different types feels like a bit of overkill. And that doesn't count Mind Storms.

On the other hand, it's worth it to see Muffin Man create a Mondrian Moon Buggy.

Blogging for Choice

This was really supposed to happen yesterday, but yesterday I was working for Choice in a different way (the NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia C3 Board met).

Today I'm going to blog for Choice by asking all my pro-Choice readers in the MD-VA-DC region to buy a ticket to this Thursday's Roe v. Wade Anniversary Dinner.

Over 60 anti-abortion, anti-birth control, anti-women statutes were enacted last year. This year, as many or more are being introduced. Please help us save women's lives, help us keep abortion safe, legal, and RARE by buying a ticket, attending the dinner, and working to make every baby that is born a welcomed and wanted Choice.

Knitting

I went to my first local knit night here in Virginia. Lordy, I missed knitting and chatting and knitting. It feels so good!

I'm working on Cloisonne Mittens (a pattern by The Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Perl-McPhee). Main color is white, with deep purple, fuchsia (yes, that yarn again!), and turquoise on the wrist band.

Outfit blogging

Today, in honor of 14 degree F weather, I am wearing LL Bean flannel-lined jeans, thick woolen socks, my nice leather boots (to make everything look work appropriate), a white turtle neck and a lavender cashmere v-necked sweater.

This outfit works for the office and for knit night at Panera.

What are you wearing?

Stop #PIPA and #SOPA.

I just left a message for Jim Webb asking him to oppose #PIPA and #SOPA. Won't you call him too? 202-224-4024.

If you live outside Virginia, you can find out who to call by asking the Wikipedia for help.

Bright

I've been in a bit of a funk lately, and am trying to use garment therapy to pull me out.

Today I'm wearing a deep pink shirt from Land's End (two years ago). It's less purple than fuchsia, more red than salmon. A deep, saturated color.

If I don't feel chipper, at least I look chipper.

Outfit blogging

Today, I'm wearing this sweater

over a white lacy square-necked camisole, with a denim skirt and these tights in red

I can't find the shoes I'm wearing online. Apparently Rockport has given up the heeled practical business black penny loafer in exchange for stuff that is merely pretty but looks wildly uncomfortable.

What are you wearing?

CFLs are horrible for picture taking

Especially when you're taking that picture with your cell phone.

Case in point: Here is a picture of a nice tweedy yarn:

Yarn. Tweedy. Is actually green.

What colour would you say this yarn is? Judging from the picture, a sort of greyish-blue right?

Wrong. This yarn, in reality, is green. Yes. I'm sure. It's really, truly green. A light spring green, like new growth on a willow tree.

CFLs make liars of cellphone cameras.

You, and I, and Sir Lancelot jump out of the rabbit...

Wooden block castle

Mr. Spock, and Muffin Man, and I took turns adding blocks to this castle. It is made of 67 individual blocks. They were a gift from MakesBooksForGrandkids and SingsLullabyes, and are handmade in the US. This is the starter set.

This set is an example of a high-quality product made domestically. It's also an example of something I maybe wouldn't own if it weren't given to us as a gift. If you have someone in your life who you think would like something like these awesome blocks, won't you consider getting a set for them?

6 years

Yesterday marked six years to the day that Muffin Man started at Posh Place. He still attends their after-school program, and loves it. DeepVoicedThirdGrader and SheIsNowTallerThanMe, and many of the kids in the picture on this post are still there, too. I recommend them to everybody. I wish every child could have a Posh Place to go to.

Happy Anniversary, Posh Place. You've made a big difference in our family. Thank you so much.

Starting the New Year off right

New Year's day was spent getting some hardware sorting boxes from BigBoxHardwareStore (and a rug to cover the speaker cables in the living room, because I was sick of tripping over them), and then helping with Muffin Man with the sorting of the pieces of his brand new Lego Mindstorms NXT set.

Monday, we rearranged the play room, so that he could have a work bench upon which to build a robot to rule the world (Mwahahahahaha!)

Pictured: Most of MM's Legos. There are more scattered throughout the house, but this is the bulk of 'em. That blue bag on the workbench is filled with Minifigs.

Pictured: Just a few of what the bag contains.

Also under the tree this year were a subscription to Lego Master Builder Academy (new kit in the mail every other month) and the Lego Ideas Book .

First sentences

Most years, I do a post of the first sentence of the first post for every month throughout the past year. Here they are for 2011.

• January:

  This year, my resolutions are to send my son to school with a packed lunch at least 3 times a week, and to be a better house-keeper.

  I wasn't perfect on this front, but I did pretty well. Keeping these as my resolutions for 2012.


• February:

  Here's the birthday boy, playing Epic Mickey (one of his birthday presents)

  Muffin Man's birthday is on the first of February, so the first post tends to be about that.


• March:

  Over ten inches off!

  Mystery Mommy gets a haircut, a story in pictures.


• April:

  I'm wearing this in aubergine.

  Still one of my favorite things to wear.


• May:

  Muffin Man's science class is talking about habitats, the environment, the food chain, and all that kind of stuff.

  I should have posted the picture myself. Mr. Spock's blog is gone.


• June:

  This jacket from Nordstrom, it's by Halogen and it breaks my rule about pockets near the rack of doom.

  Outfit blogging, with pictures.


• July:

  Please keep my Grandma in your thoughts.

  She's recovered well and is back home. Celebrated her 93rd birthday the other day!


• August:

  We've switched things around at Chez Mystere.

  A picture and description of my bedroom.
• 
  
• September:

  So, 11 days ago, I got a Droid X2 to replace my Droid Eris, which died an ignoble death (dropped from a height onto uneven pavement. Smash).

  I still don't know how to plug ICE phone numbers into an iPhone. Do you?


• October:

  Yesterday morning, after breakfast, I hauled out of the fridge several pounds of beef cubes, a sheaf of golden beets, a bunch of young carrots, a bag of red potatoes, a package of chopped crimini mushrooms, a leek, a large onion, and a quarter of a stick of butter.

  And now I'm hungry.


• November:

  We didn't know when Muffin Man asked to be the Cone Head Zombie from Plants vs. Zombies this year that it would be so topical!

  I'm pretty proud of that costume.


• December: There are no words on that first post. It's just a video of The Roches singing "Star of Wonder" as the first song of 25 for the December Holidays. Here they are again.

Happy New Year!!

Christmas memory

The first Christmas after my parents separated, my sister and I spent Christmas Eve at my Dad's place, a rail-road apartment on 11th? 12th? Street in Park Slope.

We shared a bedroom there, and my dad had painted a bright and cheerful rainbow on the wall above my bed. My sister's side of the room had this magical built-in cupboard, with drawers underneath.

So, it's the night before Christmas. The first Christmas we weren't a whole family. I couldn't sleep. BigSister couldn't sleep. We were whispering and speculating and wondering if Santa knew where we would be. Did we remember to give him this address? Would it confuse him that we were going to be switching houses? We just. couldn't. sleep.

So BigSister said, "you know, when EldestCousin babysat for me a while ago, I asked him to tuck me in and he didn't know how. Here! Let me show you what he did!"

And she bounced up out of bed, and came over to my side of the room and pulled the covers up to my chin and then went "TUCK!TUCK!TUCK!" and tucked the blankets in around my body like you would tuck a flat sheet under a mattress.

And then she went back to her bed. And I bounced up (after detangling myself) and I went over to HER side of the room and I pulled the covers up to her chin and went "TUCK!TUCK!TUCK!" and tucked the blankets in around her body like you would tuck a flat sheet under a mattress.

And then I went back to my bed and she bounced up (after detangling herself) and....well, lather, rinse, repeat about seven times. We were HOWLING with laughter. And it became a Christmas tradition that we continued for years.

The moral of the story is that even the most difficult holidays can bring fun memories, and build new traditions. I don't remember what I got for Christmas that year, but I remember that night with my sister.

Twenty-five songs for the December Holidays - part 25: Finale

'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime, when all the birds had fled...




Yes, that's Muffin Man singing the first verse. I couldn't be more proud.

Twenty-five songs for the December Holidays - a brief detour

My intended twenty-fifth song is still on the camera, so here is a bonus song: Julia Murney singing about what happens to the gifts AFTER Christmas

Twenty-five songs for the December Holidays - part 24

My favorite version of this one:

Twenty-five songs for the December Holidays - part 23

Because even Godless Unitarians want a week's vacation.




Roy Zimmerman. Yes.

Twenty-five songs for the December Holidays - part 22

The Indigo Girls bring a country feel to the Festival of Lights.
 

Twenty-five songs for the December Holidays - part 21

Once upon a time, I could name all the artists in this video...that time is long gone.

Trees

Muffin Man did the lion's share of trimming the trees this year.

I participated by stringing the lights and topping the taller of the two trees with the star with his hand print angel from '03. His hands were so tiny!

Also in this picture, but hard to see, are Spottie and Runner.