Not-so Cold Squid

Turns out I over dressed. This morning I donned silk long-johns (tops and bottoms), silk sock liners, wool pants, wool socks and an alpaca sweater. This kept me fairly toasty while cleaning the ice off of the car (when supplemented with a heavy jacket, cashmere hat, two scarves, fingerless mitts and alpaca/wool mittens). Once in my office I discovered that things were cool but not overly cold. As long as I was in my office I was actually pretty comfy.

A day at my computer, however, was not what I had planned and while my office was unheated, the rest of the school was not (unheated). After just 20 minutes in the gym I was glowing. Another hour of roaming the building had me doing some decidedly unlady-like sweating. Retreating to the ladies room, I removed the silk and was much cooler for the rest of the day ... until I had to reline to make sure the kids did not toss snowballs at each other during dismissal.

Yes, we finally had some "real" snow if you can call 6 hours of sleet followed by two hours of flurries real snow. It really is not good for making snow balls and was a pain to clean off my windshield before going home.New York City Snow. It isn't pretty. (One of these days I will give you a pristine snow picture. My city can be pretty, before people start driving in it.)
Yesterday I was presented with this:

Squid do not celebrate Valentine's Day. Something to do with all of the people eating calamari on this day. We do, however, attempt to do for others every day and today was no different. I figure that my 15 minutes of nagging teens to put on their hats and mittens was a good deed. That or maybe the few extra minutes I took after dismissal to teach a young man to knit so he could make something for his mom for her birthday. And I share the candy I was given. *g*

And finally, some studious Squid.

Squid Who Study

As traditionally educated Squid, Papa and I have a fairly low opinion of the math curriculum in the schools that the Squidlings attend. We are of the "drill and kill" school of thought -- the attitude that repetition is necessary to make the basics automatic.

To that end, Papa Squid (by license, a teacher of Mathematics) procured two sets of math books from a well regarded company. Most nights he yells "math books" and the squidlings come out of their rooms and dutifully attend to their math. Tonight a new rule was instituted. Not only do the squidlings have to do their math, but the parental Squid also have to study.

Now Papa Squid is always reading non-fiction and educating himself. I, too, tend toward self-education but my areas tend to be a bit more soft-core, according to himself. Knitting, weaving, and crafts in general were ruled out. A suggestion of "New York City History" was met with laughter. And so this evening I found myself reimmersed in Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. Before you all start telling off Papa Squid you must realize that I do want to read this book but tend to put it aside in favor of pretty much any decent novel. There are several other books on tap that I have intended to read so this daily 20 minute study period will force me to focus for a change. That said, I did manage to prop the book open and knit a bit on Little Squid's scarf while I read. And yes, I did absorb what I was reading and even kept on reading when time was up, until I reached the end of my section.

Now for some serious fair isle knitting!