It hasn’t even officially begun yet, but already I’m having an AWESOME TIME!  Steve and his staff are absolutely wonderful, and I know that the actual seminar will be fun, fun, FUN – not to mention enlightening.  I’m serious; everyone I’ve met has been fantastic.

In case you’re wondering why a college professor is interested in science toys and methods, let me first say that NOBODY is ever too old – or too young – to learn something new.  That holds true for me and for my students.

Also, there are so many things that can be done for students even at this level with some of Steve’s science stuff, well, you’d almost have to see it to believe it.  I’ve been using his Insta-Snow for a couple of years now to get a certain point across, and it WORKS PERFECTLY!

BE SURE TO GET THE REAL INSTA-SNOW!  There are several fakes imitations out there, and all they do is turn to mush.

Insta-Snow turns to SNOW.  A lot of snow.

If you sign up for Steve Spangler’s Experiment of the Week, you’ll get a free science experiment in your inbox each week and every part and particle of it is absolutely free. It’s summer, the kids are bored already, and some cool messy exploding fizzy bouncing educational science toys would be perfection on a stick.  Did I mention that the Experiment of the Week is FREE?  Tons of Steve’s stuff is free.

Unlike a certain other science guy who charges an arm and a leg.  Honestly, why would anybody go to that guy’s site and pay, when Steve’s giving it away for free?

Steve’s also not afraid to let people comment their true feelings, even if there’s an occasional offity; whereas, this other guy (name on request) won’t allow any comments except the good ones to be seen.  Coward.

There’s still time.  Science in the Rockies doesn’t officially start until Wednesday morning.  Quick, get out here FAST and join in the fun.

I”m serious.  It hasn’t even started yet and I’m having the time of my life.  These people are friggin’ AWESOME.

And tomorrow night, I’m going to see some precious Colorado friends!   Can’t WAIT!

Oh, oh, and in a few hours, I’m going shopping with Hula!

1. By the time most of you read this, I’ll be in Colorado at Science in the Rockies, having a fantastic time, learning incredible things, meeting amazing people,  and collecting unbelievable swag.  There are a lot of people in Colorado whom I love dearly;  CALL ME!

2.  My feet are killing me.

3.  It’s hard to find a little travel laptop mouse any more.  Thank you, Big Lots.

4.  My house is a mess.  I didn’t straighten it up before I left.  This fact does not bother me overmuch.

5.  I did run all the dirty dishes through the dishwasher, though.  I can’t abide a sink of dirty dishes.

6.  My husband will be subbing for me at the college.  We’re leaving in a half hour, so I really should get some lesson plans ready for him.  Ouch.

7.  This has been a lovely, happy summer so far.

8.  I have a potty mouth.  It’s a good one, too.  I was an English major.  This fact shames me, but not as much as it makes me giggle.

9.  I always worry that I’ll say something dreadful and make a roomful of people gasp and draw back.  See #8.  I do not want this to happen.  Ever.  Eventually, it will.

10.  I am very, very, very, very, very shy.  $%^&*()&%^&*())(*&^%^&*)(#$ shy.

2.

Science teachers – and all other teachers as well – please pay close attention to Steve Spangler. He knows how to instantly engage a student, how to involve a student, how to fascinate a student, and how to present lessons in such a way that no student will EVER forget them!

No wonder Ellen is so crazy about him! You will be, too!  Most of you probably already are!  I am!

After you watch here, please go to YouTube and watch again. If you comment over there, I’ll love you forever.

I do now, but it could only get better. . . .

I would do all of those things for a child, but not for an animal. Now you know, and all of the PETA volunteers and dog-lovers can band together and throw eggs at my car.

I do love my cats. They’re loving and affectionate; when they jump on me I don’t fall down; they smell like. . . nothing; they’re independent and cocky; they come around when they feel like it and take off for the woods when they feel like it and I can’t hear them eating from every room in the house. They give themselves baths, and they poop only in designated areas. I can leave for a week and know the cats are fine in the house, with several bowls of dry food and a LOT of water at their disposal.

I know several people who dress their dogs in seasonal clothing and take them to a sitter every morning. To which I say, what a sissy dog! there are an awful lot of little children who have no proper seasonal clothing and who spend a lot of days alone because the family can’t afford a sitter. I have trouble rationalizing buying luxuries for an animal when there are children who are desperately in need.

The holiday season still has a week or so to go before it attacks us on all sides, but soon those big pet stores will be putting up their “mitten trees,” and while I adore my cats, I can not even imagine someone who would ask for a gift for a dog when there are children in need.

Yes, dogs are wonderful companions for the lonely and the elderly. Dogs are fantastic service animals. Dogs are loyal and loving and can pull your child out of the raging rapids. Dogs teach children about responsibility and caring for a living thing.

But as someone with very little money who loves to pull a mitten off the holiday Mitten Tree and make Christmas for a child in need, I will tell you up front that choosing between a dog and a child would not take more than, oh, a millionth of a second. A child needs mittens and warm socks and a dolly to love, far more than a dog needs a bag of expensive designer chow and those socks that keep the ice from forming between its toes and a chew toy.

And frankly, when I see those big pet stores put up those big Charity Trees for dogs, something in me kind of snaps. It’s nice to take good care of a dog, but, but. . . there are so many children who could use a helping hand out there, too. . . . And oh, if you paint your dog’s toenails, you’re nuts, plain and simple. “Best in Show” crazy.

I don’t think people who haven’t worked in schools can really grasp the extent of the need teachers see every day. As long as there are little children with no winter coat and shoes held together with tape and paper clips, charities should focus on them, not on a ‘nice china bowl for a small dog.’

But that’s just me. If somebody prefers to spend their money on knitted sweaters for sheared poodles, that’s certainly their own business.

And, naturally, anything a school or agency gives a child then belongs to that child. Period.

I deleted the rest of this post, which was just another rant about bad parents and innocent children who would greatly benefit from being removed from such homes, but you’ve all heard me go on and on about this subject before.

To sum up: I love cats. Your dog stinks. Some dogs are heroes. If you have money to spare this Christmas, spend it on a child, not a dog. Some people don’t deserve to have children. There are children in dire need every single day. I like animals, but not as much as children. Call your local school and ask if there is a child in need that you could sponsor. Take good care of your pets, but spend your excess money on a child. Pet your cats a lot. It’s hot outside; be sure your pets have plenty of fresh water. Please don’t let your dog jump on me; not everybody thinks his humping is cute.

Now I need to call my cats in, because it’s dark outside and I don’t want the dog packs to dine on another of my babies.

P.S. I haven’t seen “Mamma Mia” yet but the soundtrack cd is great.

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All over YouTube there are videos of people dropping Mentos into big bottles of Diet Coke and running away screaming with laughter as the liquid shoots high into the sky like a, well, geyser. Old Faithful, indeed! Steve Spangler’s Mentos Geyser is more fun than fireworks, and a LOT less expensive!

Item: Although there are several people claiming ownership of the Mentos Geyser concept, let it be known that the Mentos Geyser was first done by Steve Spangler.

My kids and some of their friends did the Mentos Geyser experiment in my back yard last weekend, which is why I ran Nathen’s clothes through the washer and dryer, which is why I took his driver’s license out of his pant’s pocket and put it on top of the dryer behind the bottle of stain remover, which is why he put on his clean pants and left the license on the dryer, which is why he couldn’t find his license the other day which is why he tore his apartment apart searching, which is why he and my daughter drove all the way back down here again yesterday to get it, which is why he got first dibs on being the driver for his trip down to Georgia, beginning this morning.

A lot of people like to do the Mentos Geyser experiment, but not everybody knows the reason why it works. After they read Steve Spangler’s blogpost, they will!

Thank you again, Kimberley and Lindsay, for thinking up the Perfect Post Awards, and for encouraging us all to pat someone on the back each month by awarding him/her this honor.

There was one big bottle of Diet Coke left over after the bonfire/cookout/Mentos Geyser party, so I drank it.

No apologies here, and it was soooooo good.

P.S. Someone, and I’m not telling who, dug the Mentos out of the bottom of the Diet Coke bottle after the geyser and ate them, and the rumor mill tells me they were even better than before.

P.P.S. It might not have been me. There were many others at the party. Did you see me do it? Then you don’t really know for sure who it was, do you.

Mamacita, Scheiss Weekly