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That title has no bearing on this post, other than the fact that I stated to Lloyd and Brad that every second of my upcoming vacation was precious like gold, not like the trickly nickels of their own abundant vacation time. Plus, it is crazy fun to say ‘trickly nickels’. Go ‘head – try it.

Anyway, I used a small amount of my precious time to make a little bit o’ happy. I discovered that I like to have a jar of Starbursts around so I can eat one or five at a time, but all that unscrewing of the jar lid was really wearing me out.

Problem. Solved.

So, if you read Brad’s site yesterday, you know that I gave him money because it eased my guilt. He always buys something for the yard and it eats at my soul because….well, it just does.

I had told Lloyd before Brad came that I wanted to give him something, and Lloyd said, “You should stick ’em together. Lon used to make the detasseling notebooks.”

Well, that started off a world of day dreaming and prototyping!

It turns out that we’re not the only one to have made a notepad out of money, so if you do a search on the internet, you might get better directions.

What I can tell you is:

1. I went to the bank and got new, consecutive bills, but it works just fine with regular money. (You’ll want to make yourself a pad out of old ones so you can just have the pleasure of ripping them off one by one.)

2. I cut a piece of card stock for the back ‘bill’ so I could glue it down to the inside of the card.

3. Rulers or some sort of thin pieces of wood are necessary. The vice is nice, but binder clips alone would have done the job. Clip the bottoms of the bills, then arrange the top.

4. I used about three thin coats of rubber cement along the top. Apparently Elmer’s Glue would have worked, but whatever. A hair dryer will speed up the process if you’re in a big, impatient hurry.

5. I made covers out of cardstock and did a not-so-careful job centering text and folding, but hey – it’s a book made of money, so I don’t think anyone’s going to quibble.

6. If in the future I cannot think of a gift for you, I am giving you cash.
And you will love it.

Well, the new grill works for grilling pizza, if by ‘works’ we all agree that it was pizza that was edible, not fantastic. I was too timid about the whole thing and pulled them off before they got good and crispy/burnt.

I had enough dough for 3 12-inch pizzas, which was too much for just the two of us, and I’ve learned a bit about the method. You throw the dough on the grill for a couple of minutes (lid closed) then take it off and put the toppings on the grilled side. Back on for several minutes until done. Don’t keep peeking or you’ll let out all that heat, you!

In the future, I’ll know to par-grill all the rounds and bake them all at once. I bet I could get four pizzas on that thing. Four, I tell you! Also, I know to knock the excess flour off the bottom before eating. That last bite was not good. *jibblie*

Wednesday was the Early Childhood conference over at Concordia University. They put on a very nice event. People travel from all over the state and surrounding states to attend. They often have nationally and internationally-recognized keynote speakers. We shut down the CDC so we could attend, and I’m glad – it’s great to be refreshed and energized. Kim, who has commented here before, presented and she was fantastic and thought-provoking.

This year Brent, Brad and Beth’s brother, did a presentation on Physics Toys. It was great – like an hour-long infomercial for Educational Innovations! He acknowledged that many of these things wouldn’t be appropriate for young children, but it was great to see all the stuff and be able to play with things. (I got to hold a lead brick!)

His only mistake was after the lights went out and he made a tiny fire using air combustion, he should have ‘disappeared’ when the lights came back on.

Those Royuks – always doin’ somethin’.

You know that I love to buy cameras, right? Well, how about buying three cameras in two days? Pretty slick, huh?

I’m trying to be better about putting photos of the kids up on my work’s website and Facebook page, but couldn’t figure out a good way to get photos of the school-age children. I had tried asking some of the college staff to take pictures with their phones and e-mail them to me, but that was a pixelated disaster.

Did you know that they sell cameras in blister-packs? Like how they sell…….. and here I am having a difficult time thinking of other things sold in blister packs.

Anyway, the first one was an underwater one – more money than I wanted to pay but they could take it to the pool. After purchase, I read reviews that said it was awful. Back to Target to exchange it for a toy:

When I tried to put batteries in it the next day the screw that held the battery cover just spun and spun. Not good. Took it back.

Hello Kitty to the rescue!

It’s priced midway between the toy and the scuba camera, and took some fairly decent pictures in the sunlight. It’s toy-like enough that if it gets dropped, I can’t imagine that it would hurt the innards. Great – I just jinxed it.

(I believe it is the tenth camera I have acquired in my life. Yikes.)