He likes his carseat

This morning, Nolan crawled into his carseat all by himself. It was in the living room because we used it in Jerry's truck last night, and needed to switch it back to my Jeep. I guess he wanted to go for a ride. 

Nolan LOVES the kitties

Max is pretty patient with him. Nolan can pretty much do anything at all and Max just lays there. 

Nolan as of late

Here's the little tyke, so big and strong! He can go just about anywhere in his walker now, or by crawling. Here, he's in his walker and Paris is watching warily to make sure he does not run her over. 

And Yet More School

And Yet More School

I’m really getting in the groove of this school thing.  I’ve always liked school, but now that I have a clear purpose and goal, and I *KNOW* what I would like to do (it only took me a decade to decide!) I’m truly enjoying it.  I like it all.  The papers, the tests, the lectures, the lab.  Fun, fun fun.

This semester, I have Biology 1 and American National Government.

The government class is not too bad, since I believe that every person should have a working knowledge of his/her government, and especially in the US where every person has a say in what the government is.  The people that believe their vote doesn’t count just irritate me…hello?  George W. Bush’s first presidential election???!!!
Anyway, I digress.  For my degree, I need to become “core certified” which  means that I have several general education classes I must take before I can get a degree.  I already have an AAS in Computer-aided-drafting, but an AAS (Associate of Applied Science) is a technical degree, not an Academic one, so I skipped all the “extraneous” stuff.  Basically, I have to take a Social Sciences class and two humanities classes.  American National Govermnent had the added bonus of being an independent study course.  So I go once a month and take a test on the reading assigned in the study guide.  The first test wasn’t bad, but man, this second one…so many court cases to memorize!  I am certain I pretty much bombed it.  I haven’t gotten the results back, though…and it’s been a couple of weeks.  

My Biology course is a different story.  I love everything about it.  I love the lecture, the lecture instructor is a kick in the pants and very knowledgeable.  She also makes it fun to be there and easy to understand.  And the lab.  Cool as beans.  I love doing the experiments.  In fact, we have a practical exam tomorrow.  I even love those.

Next semester may be a different story.  I’m taking only one class, it’s Chemistry 111…basically, it’s one I need, and fits into my schedule, but it’s a five credit class, 1 hour four days a week and three hours one day a week for lab.  Whew!  That’s going to cut into my time, for sure.

Knife of Dreams

I'm an avid reader of the fantasy genre. Not so much the Forgotten Realms D&D stuff. I mean epic fantasy. Robert Jordan. George R. R. Martin, Elizabeth Haydon. But especially Robert Jordan.

I've been reading his series since I was a sophomore in high school. The kid sitting behind me in English class loaned me his copy of "The Eye of the World" and I was hooked. Since then it's been a waiting game. The books have come out roughly 18 months to 2 years apart, and I just got book 11 the other day.

At first, I'd wait very impatiently for the book to come out and buy it on the first day available. I'd take a day off work and just sit there and read it all in one go. I also used to read the entire series again just before a new book was published. The story's so involved it's good to refresh your memory.

Then books 8, 9, and 10 came out. Ugh. Talk about plot disaster. I think a few weeks of time were all that was covered in 3 books! SSSLLLLOOOOWWWW. I even quit rereads before I got a new book.

So, for the first time, I did not show up at Barnes & Noble at opening to get Knife of Dreams, the 11th installment of the Wheel of Time. But once I got into it, I was pleasantly surprised. Would you believe there was *plot advancement*? AND, even better, some plot *resolution*

I'll be surprised if it only takes one more book, like RJ says, to finish the series. But he at least got a good start. There were some *great* moments, like Mat, the confirmed ladies man, getting married, and figuring out how to rescue Moiraine, the series' Merlin/Gandalf character. Everyone's thought she was dead since about book 6. Of course, in true RJ style, she wasn't actually *rescued* in this book.

All in all a good read. Nothing compared to the first three books, but good just the same. It gives me hope for the finale.

On Vacation!

This weekend we ar roadtripping through Yellowstone, and will go down to Jackson, WY. Here are some pictures from Bear World in Rexburg. Nolan was good in the car


This is Nolan petting the baby moose.

This is me feeding the baby black bears.







These are the two grizzly cubs. Their names are Bridger and Bridgette. Those are donuts that they are eating that you can purchase to feed them from the tour truck.












These are two bears reaching up the truck for slices of bread and donuts. In the background are the two wolves that also live at the park








This is a grizzly at the bear park in West Yellowstone.