Gallbladder gone

Just a quick blog post. Had it out yesterday by keyhole surgery, I was the first one in so no waiting around, yay, and came out of hospital this afternoon. Should only take a couple of weeks to recover.

The Home Education Witch Hunt

Let’s call it what it is.

Submissions to the Select Committee who were looking into the Badman review have been released. Have a guess at what the first question Graham Badman asked Dr Paula Rothermel, the UK’s leading academic in home education research, I bet you wouldn’t get it in a million years, here it is:

His opening question was to ask me if home educating mothers suffered from Munchhausen’s by Proxy

(the whole submission is here)

I cannot even begin to process this. He thinks home educating parents… no, no, ignore that, he specifically says, mothers, he suspects women who home educate are mentally ill. Not sure what he thinks about fathers who home educate, but I suppose the implication is that they’re perfectly sane and it’s only us hysterical, presumably over-attached or attention seeking women who are crazy.

Their second meeting didn’t go any better because despite the research covering 1099 children, Badman had his own ideas:

At our second interview Mr Badman was dismissive of my work. He insisted that my study covered just 30 children. He indicated that someone had told him this and insisted that my conclusions and findings, therefore, were of little significance. Nothing I could say would sway him from this view. He had clearly not informed himself about my work by reading it.

My look at the original review is here.

A very interesting submission to the committee here, including the actions of Badman’s daughter, and the fact she works for a neither good nor bad county council held up as good practice. Plus the link to an educational management company called Nektus of which Badman, his wife, their daughter and her husband are all directors.

Well I have to go now, to get dressed and head up to the hospital to visit FiL or I would write more.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Bet that title has never been done before! And there actually were lions and tigers and bears!

First this morning we went to the supermarket on the air force base and picked up some things to bring back, including choccy-mint candy canes which are delish (er… one broke ) and some pumpkin spice and gingerbread coffee creamers… for when I can have coffee again, which won’t be long now! Then we decided FP, G, and I would go to the zoo before the hospital so G could get rid of some of his energy! As it happened we spent hours there, unsurprisingly, and were worn out so didn’t end up getting to the hospital.

Yes, so that’s what we did today, spent a lot of it at Henry Doorly Zoo.

First up was the Desert Dome:

I love the 1970’s look of the building, even though it’s only a few years old!

Plus more proof I am really juvenile:

And also Kingdom of the Night, which was really cool! I loved this one swamp room which was really humid, quite dark, with piped animal sounds in it. You have to stare a lot to see the animals, but we saw a beaver swimming in the water and some crocodiles.

We saw lots of bats as well, a huge swarm of them in one part, and giant fruit bats in another, which were so cool I’m subjecting you to my really blurry photograph of them anyway!!

We spent ages watching otters because FP loves them:

And this is what happened to G when he saw something to play on!

There were just loads of things there, snakes, birds, bees, butterflies, insects, cats, monkeys, apes, goats, giraffes, bears, a prairie dog exhibit that seemed a bit redundant as there were prairie dogs running round all over the place. And even to G’s delight, peacocks in the men’s toilets! Freakiest thing I saw was this one kind of armadillo that scuttered all over the place like a wind up toy. I’m sure I’ve missed some things. It was also mostly empty which was great as previously we’ve visited in summer when it’s packed.

Museum Visit

Today MiL and I took G for his hair trimming while FP went straight up to the hospital. After that we met him and FiL and played our regular games of dominoes (we actually play Mexican train dominoes which is much more fun than plain dominoes). Then FP, G, and I went to Durham Western Heritage Museum.

While there I tried to recreate some ten year old photos which I will have to find up, but which my mum and/or sis should recognise!

And obviously it was educational for G as well, some US history and explanations of how cities grow.

After that we went to the park again as there was another playground G didn’t get to play on the first time. As it was completely empty FP and I had a play on it as well… and FP nearly broke his finger on one last slide!

Then tonight FP and I went shopping and I picked up some US history books for G as we think it’s important he learns about both sides of his heritage and a Betty Crocker Christmas book for myself!

Walking across the Missouri

This morning FP went to hang out with FiL, while MiL, G and I went shopping. G got a new toy and some new shoes, which really look like school shoes, I had hoped he would choose something a bit… well… cooler but he thought they were great! And MiL got me some lovely Christmas plates, bowls, and snack tray, and this year’s Swarovski crystal star. Then in the afternoon FP, G and I went to the footbridge across the Missouri, which had been built since we were last here:

View of the Missouri from the bridge, Lewis and Clark landed somewhere around there:

And got tourist shots from the middle, half in Nebraska, half in Iowa!

There were plaques on it about river wildlife, uses of it, and the Native American perspective. In the little park beneath the Omaha side (the park planned for the Iowa side is under construction) had a quote from the Ho-Chunk Nation of Nebraska and also a stone showing how the river had changed:

After that we handed G over to Grandma in the parking lot of the cinema! They went to see Astroboy which he apparently loved and FP and I spent ages in bookshops then went for a sandwich/bagel and spent a pleasant while chatting without being interrupted by a small person!

Warm Day!

Can’t believe how warm it was today, in the 60’s at least!

Today we went to play dominoes again with GP, where I found out I didn’t win last time, not on points anyway, but I did win 2 games out of 3, same today! G has a thing about zombies at the moment, there was a thing about them on the news this morning which he gave all his attention to, and while we waited for GP to come down we looked at the hospital complex map and played a game FP started with him yesterday which is to defend it from a zombie attack!

After that we went downtown to Omaha Children’s Museum:

Which is all play. G’s favourite part was this room:

Which has all kinds of tubes and things you put plastic balls in, some get suctioned up, others get blown out, some you have to jump on to launch them up the tubes, some use water to get balls on the right track, or giant corkscrews to make the balls move it. Some are separate, but plenty of the balls end up in this tank type thing over the middle, then an alarm goes off as warning and all the balls get dropped out. It’s lovely to see all the kids working together to get the balls in, then grouping together beneath it to get them:

After that we went to Heartland of America park:

And we had a look over the Missouri:

Then we went to another park next to the Missouri nearer to the in-laws house (G is in the middle of the roundabout):

Then as we drove back there was a gorgeous sunset:

And when we got back the grandkids of a friend of MiL’s were there and so G and they had great fun mostly chasing each other around with various toy weapons!

This is Halloween… Halloween, Halloween!

Not just on Halloween, but the night before as well!

On the evening of the 30th we went to a Halloween event at Simmon’s Wildlife Safari.

We weren’t sure whether we were going to go or not as it had been mostly rainy all day and really cold, but it brightened up an hour before it started and so we rushed out… leading to the laziest Halloween costume ever, which was make G look dead so he could be Dead Boy!

On arrival G got a goody bag, and there was candy after playing every game, which included pumpkin bowling:

Throwing beanbags at targets:

throwing rings over elk horns, and G’s favourite, fishing, which he spent a good ten minutes doing at the end of the evening!

We walked on a haunted trail:

and toasted plenty of marshmallows, which were delicious, and listened to a ghost story:

Unfortunately, I lost my lens cap after that! But I did have a way to find it in the dark, which was to take flash photographs and see if it turned up, I must’ve looked a right idiot! But it worked, see!

It only took two more photographs and some scrabbling round in the dirt to actually get to it

Then on Halloween itself, first we visited GP in the hospital and played dominoes, which I won!! Then FP, G and I went to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch.

Which was a little busy!

And where they grow a lot of pumpkins!

G, was in his new Ninja costume for it (this photo was taken outside the hospital):

(He even got to have candy in the hospital as they were bringing it round the cafe!)

The pumpkin patch had plenty of spooky things in it:

G really wanted to go into the scary house!! I don’t think he realised it would be that scary, luckily there was an escape door a little ways in, poor kid was nearly in tears with the compressed gas and pitch black and loud bangs and flashes of light! Afterwards he kept talking about how it was the worst thing about the whole day and he was never going in it again! However, there was a “mine” later on that he went through a couple of times and that was a bit dark and scary enough in a nice way for a 5 year old!

Although I found this slightly disturbing for some reason!

There were various kid things to do, trikes, slides, climbing things, a few old tractors to sit on:

And we just had to go on a hayrick ride which stopped at one of the pumpkin fields, though we decided not to pick our own!

There were also animals to feed, and little shows, and other stuff we didn’t do, including a corn maze! We just didn’t have time!

We got back, had tea and then FP took G out trick or treating up the street and came back with a huge haul of candy!!

Howdy Y’all!

Yes I’m in America!!

And I never did get that essay written! Well, I got it nearly half written and I am now writing the other half, which is obviously why I’m doing another blog post It’s due in tomorrow though, so it’ll actually get finished today!

Also, in other news, my gallbladder operation is now back on! Yes, on Thursday afternoon I got a call from the hospital as they’d had a cancellation for the 9th of November, the day after we get back! Obviously I jumped at the chance and they squeezed me in for a pre-op assessment on the Friday afternoon, which was actually another reason I didn’t get the essay done when I had planned as the bus journey times alone added up to 2 hours with waiting time, which was a bit of a pain in the rear to say the least.

Anyway, we stayed over in Bradford before the flight and it was nice hanging out with my mum and my best friend and the flight itself went pretty well! G was basically an angel! He complained, certainly, about the queuing, but he was so good.

Nice being back in Omaha, it’s like an old sock now, and the smell of certain places, like Dragonslair (gaming/comic/geek shop) or the Family Fun Centre (video game arcade) takes me back to when we used to live here. I always get a renewal of love for FP here because it’s where we spent the early years of our marriage, where we grew to love each other. Those days of hanging out in bookshops for hours upon hours chatting and planning novels, of buying cd’s and singing to them as we drove round exploring, of standing side by side plastic guns in hand, shooting at enemies on a video screen, of playing miniature golf in sweltering in 98F (36C) heat, and humidity so thick it’s like wearing a damp blanket made of air. They’re all here are those memories, alive when I return as if they only a handful of years ago rather than the shadows of themselves I remember when we’re in England.

But enough about me

FiL is looking good and of course looking immeasurably better than when FP was last here. We wondered how G would be, but he loves his GP and was not cautious at all about hugging, chatting or playing with him, and was downright curious about all the machines. He was also very happy to see Grandma, he bombed it up the slope at the terminal exit in the airport when he saw her!

Oh, and speaking of Dragons Lair. FP is in the process of turning G into a little geek clone! LOL! He’s got him playing Magic cards. Not for G the playing of age appropriate games, no, the more complicated the better for him! Of course he’s fairly clueless, but he’s loving it! So, we went to Dragons Lair (G initially asked if there was a real dragon there ) for more Magic cards and G was lovingly going through them like a pro. Then he wanted some figures but FP said they were too expensive there and he could get some from a toy shop. The young geek behind the counter said he had some cheap little game figures in a box and so he got them out for G to look through and even got him a footstool to stand on! Oh Americans and their customer service Although I secretly think the guy was delighted to help in the grooming of another little geek! LOL! We’ll be getting G a stick on ponytail and goatee in no time at this rate They do have some cool games there too, I’m considering getting the Killer Bunnies card game for us all, G would get a real kick out of it! LOL!

Other than that, not much going on at the moment, we’re still recovering from jet lag and of course I’m studying. Don’t know what tomorrow will be like! There’s snowstorms in Colorado at the moment that will be moving this way, although the forecast here is just for thunderstorms and rain at the moment, we’ll have to see.

Okay, back to the grind! (And I really should make an effort to change my banner photo, it’s so not appropriate for this time of year!)

I should be writing an essay…

… so obviously I’m writing a blog post! It’s to have a break from staring at a blank word document or a pile of notes and trying to form them into something coherent! Plus, my usual essay writing crutches of caffeine and chewing gum are out of the equation now, yes, chewing gum bothers my gallbladder.

So, what’s new?

Well, this time next week we should be in Chicago, or on our plane to Omaha, can’t remember the exact times! But we will be staying at my mum’s in Bradford over the weekend, so I’ve got to get my essay done this week. I do just imagine it dragging on and me having to finish it with jetlag in the US! Thank goodness for electronic submission of essays with the Open Uni is all I can say.

FiL came out of hospital, but then had to go back in as it was a lot for MiL to cope with. FiL is understandably upset and miserable at not being home and there are restrictions on children visiting, but he can always get a wheelchair and escape a bit to see G.

Oh yes, I’ve so come to terms with this news that I almost forgot it. My gallbladder operation has been cancelled. Apparently they will give me a new date as soon as one becomes available. I was VERY upset as you can imagine, especially as we want to start trying for another baby and can’t do so until it’s out. So with that in mind we are looking at G and I extending our US trip. There are blessings even among the upset. Although maybe I won’t be looking at it like that when I’m staring at everyone else eating lovely Christmas food!!

Well better post this, got distracted by accidentally picking up the phone and calling my mum for half an hour And now FP is back from his driving lesson!

G’s First Story

So today I asked G if he wanted me to write the story he was “writing”. As he can’t yet write he was scribbling on a piece of paper and describing the goings on that had just happened when he played with his figures.

He was absolutely ecstatic about it and I’ve read it to him multiple times now and we had storytime with Daddy after tea as well so he could hear it.

I’ve done punctuation as best I can, and at his request I put the right words in for the past tense because he’s still in that phase of language learning where he applies regular verb rules to all verbs.

Anyway, enjoy!

Level 1 – The New Battle
The encounter of the deep dark place. And what they have for army is candle throwers and fire men. And what they encountered, the big guy, was the Power Ranger and the big fist and the gun hand. And they encountered me with soldiers and a flick-rocker. And of course I had to encounter the red Power Ranger.

Level 2 – The Ever Hope
I re-encountered the leaping Power Ranger and we were in a big space about the size of a big cave and most of my soldiers are dead. I needed to have life, but I found a person to put out to kill zombies. But there was only one person and he killed one because he only had bullets. But then I found somebody to get him to make a big cannon. We will grow our men today. But now we shall be big to make my own fire bullets machine. And we shall do the biggest army ever against zombies ever to be seen. We shall kill the zombies because we have that machine.

Level 3 – The Army of Us
He didn’t encounter me first on level 3 because he didn’t want to be dead. He knew he would be dead. We are going to encounter his army for the dead against humans ever to be encountered ever. Zombies ever. They were too strong and we were sad because we weren’t the first ones to kill zombies. But I ran away. I would go back to the camp and see what it’s like to be dead because there would definitely be zombies there. There’s a big fortress so there will be lots of them so we will bring our big bullet machine and kill them. I killed the gun hand Power Ranger with the bullet machine and I bowed after.

Level 4 – The Army of Zombies
And we destroyed all the zombies finally, but there was only me left and I was so sad. Then I heard something, the sound of treasure. Then I found someone with treasure, with marble treasure, and we played marbles. Two each. We had a happy time, but then zombies came and my friend shot one but he died and I ran away. I found another friend and we went to that bullet machine to get protected because it’s the safest place because it can kill zombies to death. Then they bombed them. There was zombies coming but we killed them with the bullet machine. Then he ran away and I said, “Wait!” and then I ran to him because he was my only friend left because I knew he was the only one living. But he didn’t want to be with me. I put his marbles in a bag and he drove away and went home. And then his mum and dad were zombies and he died and then I killed the zombies and I was the only one living.