Good stuff...

When I was pregnant with William, I suddenly became hyper-aware of all the germs out there. Public restrooms especially freak me out. Here is the best plan I've ever seen for getting out of a restroom clean:

Here is the procedure for being germ-free:

1. Flush toilet with shoe bottom. Sometimes I look like a Kung-Foo master.
   
2. When washing hands, dispense the towel BEFORE you wash your hands. Do not remove it yet.
3. Turn on the water and wash hands with soap for at least 30 seconds. DO NOT TURN OFF WATER. (You will recontaminate yourself.)
   
4. Tear papertowel, with towel turn off the water.
5. With towel, get more paper towel if necessary. DO NOT THROW PAPER TOWEL AWAY YET.
   
6. Use paper towel to open door. If there is not a trash bin by the door and not one easily accessible (like at a McDonalds), throw the paper on the floor. Sound terrible? It is the establishment's own durn fault that there is no sanitary way to exit the bathroom. Especially in a restaurant, you can be sure that your food is being touched by contaminated hands if a trash bin is not near the bathroom door out because the worker must touch the door with a bare hand if he or she also throws away the papertowel. If you find throwing paper on the floor beneath you, at least use part of your shirt to open the door. If you touch the door handle, you might as well have not washed your hands.

The whole post is here.

Now that I've finished reading "The Hobbit" to William...

I'm starting him in on "Watership Down" by Richard Adams. Yes, it's more fantasy. I remember the first time I read this book in high school. This kid in my physics class (which was kind of like a study hall) asked what I was reading.

Me: Watership Down.
Him: What's it about?
Me: These rabbits are looking for a new place to live, and...
Him: Bunnies?
Me: What?
Him: You're reading a book about bunnies?
Me: Well, yeah, but it's this adventure, and their old home is poisoned and they're looking for a new...
Him: Aw, the poor wittle bunnies have no pwace to wive...
Me: Shut up. It's on the college recommended reading list.

But seriously, it's a good book. I think William will like it. And instead of talking about dragons and goblins, he'll be talking about bunnies. :)

I'm copying Desiree, who's copying Jon...

so it's just as well that "original" is not on the list.

Describe me in 6 words or less.

My name is Michelle and I'm addicted to curling.

I've heard that admitting you have a problem is the first step in recovery. I couldn't find a group here in San Antonio, so I'm confessing in the (insert sarcasm here) oh-so-public spotlight (end sarcasm) of my blog that I am using, and influencing my son, an innocent minor, to use terms such as "spot rock" and "the hammer." I delayed starting homeschool today because I wanted to see if the US women's team could win their first match today after losing some heartbreakers. My only consolation is that 2 weeks from now, curling will fade back into obscurity and my addiction should return to dormancy. I only hope William won't be scarred for life by then.

In other news...I finished reading "The Mauritius Command", the fourth book in Patrick O'Brian's "Master and Commander" series, today. Good book. Good series. I'm also a huge fan of the Horatio Hornblower books. And books in general. I'm almost finished reading "The Hobbit" to William. We read the part today where Smaug flies out to attack Lake Town. Then I had to stop because the baby (did I mention that I'm nannying two days a week?) respectfully requested a bottle. While I was feeding her, William got out his legos and bristle blocks and made a big dragon and a small town and enacted what he thought the rest of the story would look like. He was uncannily accurate in his prediction. I'm kind of wishing I'd waited to read it to him, though. It makes me nervous when he talks about dragons and goblins and stuff around other people. Or maybe it's just my guilty conscience.

Now I'm guilty of corrupting my son on two counts! First fantasy and now curling.

Hibernation is sounding really appealing...

You know bears are pretty smart. Spring, summer, fall--the really enjoyable seasons of the year--they wander around pigging out and generally being bears. Then when winter comes--the harsh and stressfull season--they find a snug hole and go nappy nap. Since moving to Texas in September I've been pursuing legal action to stabilize my custody of William. I'm so tired now of the persistent stress. It's just one thing after another. God has intervened so many times already, so I really shouldn't worry; it seems kind of ungrateful. But I would dearly love to just be able to hibernate until it's all over. Which hopefully will be March 29th, unless that gets postponed for a third time. It's really hard to compose a light and airy blog post when my son's future and well-being are hanging in the balance...although I know they're not really. He'll be taken care of by his real Father. Still...a nice snug hole sounds really nice right about now.