In which trek introduces the WWW

If you have a child or ever were a child, you can appreciate that summers can be busy times. Sure, you can opt to kick back, refuse to sign up for any activities, and basically embark upon a completely lazy sort of summer. This wouldn't work here at chez trek, however, and I am pretty sure that it doesn't work for most American families these days.

Given the scheduling changes which strike us at the end of the school year and my recent lack of blogging inspiration, I've decided to scale back blog posting to a regularly scheduled weekly post; I am calling it the Weekly Wednesday Wrap-up, or WWW. Most likely these posts will assume bullet point format but, hey, you never want to assume things, right?

What sorts of things might appear in the proposed bullet lists? Reading, School at Home reports, thrifty scores, fitness stuff, crafting - basically whatever happened in the preceding week is fair game. With that in mind, let us wrap-up the past week...

• Even though school is nearly over for this year, we are still collecting Box Tops for Education. I think that Neatnik's school might have met their goal for the 2009-2010 school year. I sure hope so, anyway.



• Thank you once again to everyone who sent us Box Tops!



• I saw the most lovely prickly pear cactus flowers yesterday morning. Their stunning yellow blossoms just shrieked summer.



• No, I didn't have my camera with me. I was busy schlepping library books back to their place of origin.



Opuntia engelmannii


• Went back this morning, with my camera.



• I decided to ride my bike to the library this morning, so I stopped, dismounted, and lined up the prettiest flower, just for you.



• Since we were just speaking of books, I have a bit of 411 to share with the parents of elementary school-aged children. Back in February, Neatnik's school participated once again in the Six Flags Read to Succeed program.



• Once again, I have been shanghaied into purchasing a ticket to the amusement park strictly for the pleasure of their company and to support my reading child.



• Once again, it is time to start looking for discount ticket promotions.



• Other companies are also encouraging youth reading with incentive programs this summer.



• Barnes and Noble is giving away a free book to any child who reads eight books.



• Ditto for Borders but the child has to read ten books in their Double Dog Dare challenge.



• One nice thing about the free book lists: even though the child gets to picks just one book to bring home for free, the rest of the list serves as a resource for new authors/series for the elementary school set.



• Double win.



• TD Bank is coughing up the big bucks this summer: if your child reads ten books, TD will deposit ten bucks into their youth savings account.



• I heard that McDonald's is offering a free Happy Meal for reading five books but I haven't seen the coupons yet. Our library usually gets them later in June so I have to keep an eye on the reference desk in the children's department.



• No, I am not letting Neatnik double-dip: each book read goes on one incentive form each.



• Our county library is sponsoring an adult summer reading challenge as well as the annual children's program.



• Well, of course we are signed up already.



• Time to research additional new authors... again... anyone??



• An outbreak of contact dermatitis due to close proximity to poison ivy vines looks like a blistered, festering mass of contagious, oozing, suppurating, leprous flesh.



• Especially when slathered with a generous coating of calamine lotion.



• Neatnik brought home a flyer from a local tae kwon do school last week. The instructor did a bullying seminar at her school.



• We have been shopping for a replacement activity for ballet. Tae kwon do may very well be it. Neatnik has completed four trial classes and is still talking about earning a yellow belt.



• They have a six-week summer program and adult classes and they will honor my previously earned rank as well.



• Ooh!



• School is almost finished. The kids are merely marking time at this stage of the game.



• At least two or three rounds of Vacation Bible School are already on the docket as well as a week of drama camp.



• I took TazzMom on a thrift shop crawl last Thursday morning. We each brought home some pre-loved duds so it was definitely a win.



• While searching for some badge information on the Brownie Girl Scout web site, I came across a link to the American Volkssport Association. They offer a Walk-Together Program, in which the Brownies can earn a patch.



• Our troop leader has already given me the green light to run walk with it. I really hope that we can make this happen!



• Spending an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon re-sizing three t-shirts is a good use of one's time.



• Especially when you start with a babydoll tee and only have to adjust the width of the body.



• Run out of tailor's chalk while sewing? Never fear: the white chalk your kid uses on her blackboard pinch hits very well.



• Ever bought something at the store and immediately upon returning home find a coupon for the sale that starts tomorrow?



• Call the store and ask them to honor the coupon. Often they won't even require you to bring the merchandise back with you - just the original receipt and your coupon.



• An inch of anything sounds like a tiny bit of whatever you are measuring.



• Unless you are measuring rainfall predicted for Wednesday afternoon.



• Better break out the umbrellas for Brownies today...

Until next Wednesday...