80s Baby

SHORT STUFF: Today's entry is going to be brief. I guarantee you that we did all sorts of educational thingees. Like talk ad nauseam about North Korea (CJ's favorite topic of the moment/month/year). Lots of geography talk. Government talk. And birthday talk! Specifically, Big Bro #1 has his 28th birthday today.

This weekend we made him some cookies inspired by his 'era' - the 1980s. That included Ghostbusters, MTV, space shuttles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, vintage Mariners and Huskies logos, and, of course, old Nintendo controllers. I sent them to the weekly trivia contest that Rick hosts, and Christian, who went, tells me they were a hit, as many of the trivia attendees are of Rick's circa, so to speak.

I also made a couple dozen cupcakes for Rick to take to his kiddos today - they were blueberry cupcakes with white frosting topped with metallic silver, blue and green sprinkles, in silver foils. Inspired by the Seahawks. I told Rick they would have tasted a lot better if the Seahawks had won on Sunday. Sorry, no pix of the cupcakes, but they were tasty, per my toughest critics (CeeJ and Bee).

SAY WHAT?:  This morning, CJ was highly involved in some Roblox happenings online when I called him over to me to tend to something. He hustled over and asked, "Is this an AFK?"

"A what?" I asked, puzzled.

"An 'away from keyboard.' Or is my character going to be idle for 10 minutes?"

I told him to relax, it was an AFK.

MIXOLOGIST:  This afternoon we somehow found ourselves in Greenwood, which meant a stop at Chuck's on 85th. While it might best beer place on the planet, the kids love it more than us, as to them, it's the place to chill, play board games, and have a soda or two.

Today, Annabelle decided to mix a Diet Coke with a DRY Soda vanilla flavor.

I'm absolutely NOT a soda fan, but if you're gonna drink a soda, I think you could't do any better than drinking DRY. The Seattle-based company makes a less sweet, all natural soda with never more than four ingredients in every brew.

RIDE RESOURCES:  Though she's been gone for over a year now, Sally Ride's legacy lives on.  This morning we received an email announcing Sally Ride Science’s STEM Central™.

In part it read, "We have reviewed thousands upon thousands of web resources for STEM instruction, and picked thousands of those that are especially suited to the needs of educators and students. That’s what makes STEM Central special. Every resource has been vetted—reviewed and rated by educators, and ready for use in the classroom. You can search by topic, grade level, rating, or by the type of resources you need."

How great is that? Naturally, I paid the site a visit today: Visit STEM Central 

Starting on Nov. 1, users can submit their own favorite links, rate and review resources listed and share tips for classroom use. Neat-o.