by beagooddad on March 10, 2010
Dear School Office People,
If a dad calls in and asks if there have been any known chicken pox cases and you don’t know but will ask the nurse and then ask for the dad’s phone number so you can call him back with the answer, don’t say “Your wife should keep the kid home until that mom can get the kid to see a doctor.” And then after taking that dad’s phone number, don’t end up having the nurse call the kid’s mom’s cell phone instead of the kid’s dad’s cell phone whose number you just wrote down.
Just a friendly reminder that not all sicknesses will be handled by the mom especially when the dad is the one that initiated the phone calls.
Thank you,
A Dad Who Sometimes Uses Sick Days To Take Care Of His Sick Kids
by beagooddad on February 17, 2010
I decided to double up on classes this spring. I am taking MAT415 (Advanced Calculus) and MAT421 (Statistical Methods).
Here is the description of the statistical methods class:
Introductory course for statistical analysis techniques. Topics may include review of basic statistics, multiple linear regression, analysis of enumerative data, analysis of variance, multiple comparisons, design of experiments, and analysis of covariance. Additional topics may be chosen from principal components, factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and nonparametric tests.
And here is what we are going to do in the advanced calculus class:
- Advanced technique in Calculus; including a section on Fourier Series
- Functions of several variables
- Vector calculus/Analysis
- Integral calculus of functions of several variables
- Integral Theorems (Green’s Theorem, Stoke’s Theorem, the Divergence Theorem; with proofs)
- Gamma functions
- Partial differential equations and applications (it time permits)
I’m loving the math!
My company had an "economic adjustment" last month that cause a bunch of our people to start looking for new employment. I was one of the people who made the cut and inherited a really badly managed project. So, I’m working about 50-60 hours a week until I get get it all sorted out.
The projects have me doing a few things that I either haven’t done before or don’t get to do very often. I love when I’m not just pounding out the same kind of work over and over so that’s kind of neat.
I’m also working on 5 work orders for 3 different clients at work. I am a really good singletasker and an absolutely horrible multitasker and frequently forget which client I’m supposed to say I’m working for when I am on the phone. I really need to get better at juggling projects, so this is a good experience, too.
If you are ever in the position to take two fun 400 level math classes while being married and raising 3 kids while working 50-60 hours a week at projects that are both interesting and that give you the chance to improve your multitaksing, I recommend that you not do it. It’s not as fun as it sounds.
by beagooddad on February 15, 2010
Geetle and I are reading The Wind in the Willows
together. Before bed, I read a few pages to her out of the paperback copy that we have.
I just remembered that I have a copy of it on my iPod Touch and the kids love when we read books on the iPod. I mentioned that we could switch to the eBook version if she wanted.
She was excited but then she came up with an even better idea. I will be reading the book on my iPod and she will be following along in the paperback.
I think.
I just realized that she said that one of us could read the iPod version and the other could read the paperback. I bet I’m supposed to read the paperback and she’s supposed to read the iPod. Hmm. She’s a sneaky one.
by beagooddad on February 15, 2010
BAGM did a metric ton of spring cleaning yesterday while I did an imperial ton of stats homework and laundry last night. I think I got the better end of that bargain.
During the cleaning, BAGM decided it was time to take one of the sides off of Giggles’ crib to turn it into a day bed with a wall for the headboard, footboard, and one side. So, Giggles would have free access to getting in and out of the bed by herself. If you had ever watched Giggles eat a meal in a chair without being tied or duct taped to said chair, you would know how questionable of a decision this was.
So, we removed the sidewall and made sure we kept track of all the pieces…just in case.
She got home right at bedtime, squealed with glee at the new, more mature bed, climbed up and down about ten times…and went to bed. When BAGM let Teddy out of the room a couple hours later she was still there.
This morning, she got out of bed, got a book from the bookcase and went back to bed to read it.
So far so good. We’ll see how nap goes this afternoon. She’s been getting a little let’s-climb-out-of-this-crib-because-I-don’t-think-I’m-really-tired before naps so it might be interesting.
by beagooddad on February 15, 2010
Pookie has officially bonded with Nixie.
The kids spent the night with my parents on Saturday. Before leaving, Pookie walked over to Nixie who was sitting on the stairs. He got his face really close and was petting her. Then he asked if Nixie could sleep at Mamaw’s house. I promised that I would take care of her while he was gone.
They came home on Sunday night right at bedtime. He made sure that we would put Nixie in his bed. A couple cat treats and a closed door is all that is needed to get them off to sleep. She was asleep on his pillow when we opened the door a couple hours later.
This morning he was grinning one of the biggest smiles I’ve seen in a long time as he followed her around the house and asked us to put her on the couch with him. I worked on showing him how to play with the cats using a toy that’s a ball on the end of a string attached to a pole.
She escaped out to the garage for a second while BAGM was getting the kids ready to go to the library and he asked if he could go see Nixie in the garage.
In addition to the general cuteness of how fascinated he is with her and how much he seeks her out during the day, I’m even more shocked at how much he talks about her and asks us to help him do things with her.
We briefly looked into professional therapy/companion dogs about a year or two ago but I think we might have just lucked onto a nice cheap cuddly therapy cat.