"Eddication"

"Hello, honey, how was your day?"

Sweetie had just walked in from work, clutching his lunch bag and briefcase with one hand, his best suit, the one they wear only twice a year at work for two extremely formal events so he keeps it at work in the other.

Hey, it was okay, i answered.

"Well, if I come home, and there's no bad news, it's been a good day," he said.

So, you've gotten your suit back from the cleaners? i asked.  (After all, i had seen it in the back of his car for a day or two, and knew he needed to have it cleaned before my dad's big, formal event in October.)

"No, of course not!  I brought it home so it could be taken to the cleaners," he said.  When he says "so it could be taken to the cleaners," he means, but does not say, by yours truly.

Now, wait a minute.  You know you need it cleaned, you've had it in the car with you for a couple of days, and you pass your favorite dry cleaner every day on the way to work, and instead of dropping it off, you brought it home for me to take it to the cleaners? i said, somewhat incredulously.

"Well, it seemed like the logical thing to do at the time," he answered.

Note -- this from the man with a master's degree, who can organize anything at work and goes about everything logically there, and can find ways to do things the other people there say are impossible.  This, he couldn't figure out, and couldn't understand why i looked at him so oddly.

At that moment, Bigger Girl was at the computer, doing some math work.  It's a special program with videos to explain how to do the work, and practice sessions.

"Whatever drug it is that this lady in the video is on to make her so perky about doing math, I want to be on it!" she said.  "Math people should not be so perky!"

Math is not the strong suit of the family, as proven by what happened next.

"Mom, I've got my test results, and I'm going to have to take an extra math class," Little Girl said.

Looking at her latest Iowa test score, i agree.  She is grade level 13+ on anything to do with English, vocabulary, reading, history, and science, and is above grade level on comprehension of math word problems and use of resources.

She is 6th grade level at math computation skills. It's a family thing, i'm sure.  Thus, she will be doing extra make up work on computer, and we are getting her a special tutoring computer program to help.

After all, it's fine if you can read, but not okay if you can't figure out how to make change when you buy the book.




Today is:

Animals' Day -- Curacao

Ceremony of Transformation through Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Defeat of Jesse James Days -- Northfield, MN, US (a bank raid reenactment, plus parade, races, rodeo, and more; through Sunday)

Eat An Extra Dessert Day -- internet generated, you have the WWW's permission to indulge today
     note that some sites also list this day, instead of July 7, as World Chocolate Day, so celebrate either one!

Farmers and Threshermens Jubilee -- New Centerville, PA, US (steam engines, threshing the old fashioned ways, and fun; through Sunday)

Fight Procrastination Day/National Do It Day

Immigrant's Day -- Argentina

Ludi Romani -- Ancient Roman Calendar (through the 19th; a festival to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, also called Circensian games)

National Macadamia Nut Day

Newspaper Carrier Day -- US (anniversary of Benjamin Day, publisher of the New York Sun, hiring Barney Flaherty as the first newspaper carrier in 1833)

Peach Days Celebration -- Brigham City, UT, US (delicious peaches and family fun; through Saturday)

Rosh Hashanah -- Judaism (begins this evening; through the evening Sept. 6)

St. Ida of Herzfeld's Day (Patron of brides, widows)

St. Rose of Viterbo's Festival -- Viterbo, Italy (actual feast day of the saint is March 6)

The Masters -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (The international horse show jumping competitions; through the 8th)


Anniversaries Today:

Ford Motor Company introduces The Edsel, 1957
The comic strip Beetle Baily is introduced, 1950
The first Beatrix Potter story featuring Peter Rabbit is published, 1902



Birthdays Today:

Beyonce Knowles, 1981
Mitzi Gaynor, 1930
Dick York, 1928
Paul Harvey, 1918
Henry Ford II, 1917
Richard Wright, 1908
Nigel Bruce, 1895
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand, 1768


Today in History:

Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor in the West, is formally deposed, 476
Edmund Halley, English astronomer, first observes the comet that now bears his name, 1682
The City of Los Angeles is founded in Bahia de las Fumas (Valley of Smokes), 1781
Robert Fulton begins operating his steamboat, 1807
Barney Flahery, age 10, is hired to be the first newsboy, by the NY Sun, 1833
Although he had demonstrated their use before, the first major lighting with electricity comes online as 400 bulbs are lit in offices on Spruce, Wall, Nassau, and Pearl streets in lower Manhattan by Thomas Edison, 1882
The last major US-Indian war ends with the surrender of Apache Chief Geronimo, 1886
George Eastman patents the first roll-film cameral and registers the trademark name "Kodak", 1888
Beatrix Potter first tells the story of Peter Rabbit, 1893
Comic strip "Beetle Bailey" first appears, 1950
The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel, 1957
Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games, 1972
Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University, 1998
A 7.1 earthquake strikes the South Island of New Zealand, causing widespread damage, 2010