A family of 7

We have a new family member. For the past several months we have been feeding Twinkles and she has lived on our front porch. Erik even made her a little house and we put a blanket in it. Well she came inside a few days ago and the kids are ecstatic! Twinkles is not a huge fan of Panda and hisses at him. So the girls always want them to be friends and lock them in rooms together so they will like each other. Even so, Twinkles seems to be happy here.

Twinkles and Sarah

 Sarah had her first daisy troop meeting last night. I have signed up to be a leader and am overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork and bureaucracy that exists within the Girl Scouts. They have taken the fun out of girl scouts and replaced it with TPS reports. And for every $4 box of cookies the girls sell they only get 60cents for the troop. Yikes.

Sarah's Daisy troop

Tomorrow my mother-in-law is getting her knee replaced. This is a major procedure and we are praying for a quick recovery. She has been so helpful with the kids as I've been really busy this semester. Soon one of my course redevelopments will be complete so I'll just have the courses I'm teaching and one redevelopment. I've also been selected to be on the editorial board for a scholarly journal we are starting. I feel very editor-like. I'm excited that some of the people from our church are bringing her meals. It will be hard for her to go up and down the stairs for a few months.

In other news:

1. I bought a Raspberry Pi and the book Raspberry Pi for dummies. This is something I've wanted for a long time so instead of waiting until Christmas I bought one. Now I can't wait to play with my new toy!
2. Our Coo* book club is reading The Once and Future King by T.H. White. It is a whimsical book (that's my best word to describe it) about King Arthur. I like it but it is not gripping.
3. I'm reading the Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. This is a well written story but like the Once and Future King, it is not gripping.
4. I'm also reading The Gripping Hand by Niven and Pournelle. Again, even though the title might promise otherwise, it is not gripping. 
5. So I like the books I'm reading and want to see what happens but I'm okay putting the books down. The next book I read had better be so exciting I can't put it down.  
6. Erik and I went running last weekend while the in-laws took the kids to chick-fil-a for lunch. Erik noticed that I clomp my feet when I run. I've known this for awhile and have wondered if my bad form will actually hurt me in the future.
7. I scored an abysmal 49 points in Quiddler today