New Pet Peeve

I find credit cards more convenient than cash for large purchases.  Last year I got one with a chip, but it still required a signature and not a PIN, which confused some Danish merchants.

What confuses me is why any American credit card reader would be set up with the accept-the-signature button on the left.

I write from left to right and the pen-thing is right there and ready to press accept on the right.  I accidentally erased my signature because the cancel button was next to the end of my name.

After that happened I signed my name htimS enaJ.

Breakfast

What's a kid to do if there is no leftover challah for French toast?  Mom to the rescue.

a gift from my mom

The recipe for crepes required two hours refrigeration, so I eliminated that.  The Crepe Suzette recipe had a little lemon zest and more sugar, but I didn't hear any complaints.

sorry the photo is blurry, but it still looks good to me

The crepe was thicker than I thought it would be.  Maybe I shouldn't have folded in the stiff egg whites?

filled with Nutella

Despite my worries it was a big hit!

Mathematics

Claremont Unified School District has adopted an integrated approach to math, which means instead of studying geometry one year and algebra the next, each year has a mix of subjects.  This has trickled down to the elementary school and instead of working with Everyday Math, which was also integrated, they may adopt California GO Math at their next board meeting.

Families received an email inviting them to check out the materials.

Good evening Claremont families!
Instructional materials for elementary mathematics have been reviewed by District staff and are being recommended for adoption by the Claremont Unified School District.  As part of the process, these materials will be on display for public review and input prior to their recommendation for adoption at the August 7 meeting of the Board of Education.  
Materials will be on public display between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the Atrium level of our District Office at 170 West San Jose Avenue, Claremont.
We welcome your input and look forward your feedback!

I felt as though it were my civic duty to take a look.

K-6 materials

Sixth grade materials, including class book, homework book, teacher guides, enrichment guides, common core guides, assessment guide, differentiated instruction guide, and digital information.

a sample page, with a real life problem about texting

 I hope these books don't have to last more than one year since the pages are perforated.  I have concerns about the use of color, too.  But those are minor relative to the content.  I am hoping for the best.

College Life

Last week all other family members were staying in a residence hall!

You may remember that R. is at Smith College.  Non-academic highlights have included field trips to Hancock Shaker Village, New York City, and Six Flags New England (f.k.a. Riverside Amusement Park).

Shaker Village, with solar panels

D. was at a Gordon Research Conference at the University of New England's Maine campus along the Saco River and the Atlantic Ocean coast.

I know he accomplished a lot, but he also had time to cycle to the ocean.

A. was at soccer camp at Cal State Channel Islands.  It is not on an island and you can't see the coast from the campus, but that didn't dampen his enthusiasm.

They worked him on the field, but he also enjoyed swimming after the second training session, playing in the game room, and eating in the dining hall.

I used the time on my own to earn a swim cap by going to every team practice,
including our weekly unofficial bonus swim on Friday mornings.

I got a few things done, but trying to balance goofing off and being productive was a challenge.  May that be my biggest problem!

An Evening on the Town

When a new pedestrian-oriented open-air mall was built in Rancho Cucamonga the city chose to build a library and a theater, too.  

This summer the community theater performed Willy Wonka.  I have seen only the original movie and never the play, but it seemed like an easy play to see with A. and a friend.

 We arrived early and took a bit a time to explore a few places off the beaten track.

Shakespeare outside the theater

old citrus label on a building

eye-catching fountain

There were some clever touches, like this curtain and the use of two side stages.
There were some strong singers and it was fun to see the oompa-loompas.

We saw these plates on the way to our car.

It was nice to get out and about!

Air Travel

We try to minimize our impact ecologically by commuting by bicycle, hanging laundry outside, and having a xeriscaped yard.  What puts us the high-impact category is our air travel, especially this summer.

After dropping R. off at camp and visiting central New York I flew home on three flights.

• ITH-PHL
• PHL-PHX
• PHX-ONT

The first flight was memorable.

Even the walk to the plane made me sad to leave Ithaca.

I have had a seat above the wing before but this was
my first experience having a seat under the wing.

The wheels get tucked away,

giving me a great view of the town and Cayuga Lake.

We must be close to Philadelphia because the wheels came out again.

Back to reality.

Summer Camp

It is camp, but the kind where you sleep in an air-conditioned room and do academic work during the day.  R. loves it!

This is just part of the code from the first day.

It resulted in having the light flash S-O-S

Each student writes a blog post each day.
It is a nice way for the parents to have a little view into camp life.

Library Memory Project

I received a gentle reminder to send in my library memory, which is being collected to honor the Claremont Library's centenary (in Australian speak - or maybe other people have a noun that substitutes for centennial, which sounds like an adjective).

more information here

I encourage you to share your with the Friends of the Claremont Library, or maybe just share it here.

Signal Box

The latest public art in Ithaca is a set a of decorated signal boxes.  I thought it was original but found a page with a similar project in Brisbane.  I wish I had found them all.

Memories

Cornell University 

Looking down the street where we bought our first house in 1995.

Just a short walk from our house - Ithaca is Gorges

When we moved to Ithaca there were three main roads that fed to one bridge and then went back to three roads and it was nicknamed The Octopus.  This intersection near our house had smaller roads but was still an mess so we called it Little Octopus.   

Right by the Little Octopus were a set of stairs I took when I didn't cycle to the pool.

Along the Cascadilla Glen Trail, which leads to campus except when part of it is closed, which is often enough that they have a large gate at the trailhead.  They may not have a booming economy, but sure beats the commute on LA freeways!

Ithaca Falls - I have so many pictures but I wish it were just as easy to capture the sound.

I pulled over to get a picture of the layer of fog above the lake as the sun was setting.

How can I choose one good thing of the day?  I haven't even mentioned GreenStar (the grocery co-op), the science museum, or the library.  More tomorrow!

Off to College

R. seems way too young to be touring colleges and
there was nothing officially open on Sunday morning,
but we got a map and walked around.

The Seeley G. Mudd Building, which houses math and computer science, 
looked good to R. despite this sign. 

Only one of many cool things on display in the lobby.

The physics building was open, too.  We found this great art machine.
You can learn a lot more here.

It was hard to pull ourselves away and see more of campus.
The views were great and we enjoyed the kinetic sculpture and
Stearns Steeple outside the art museum.
But onto the main attraction!

Down the road (not nearly as close as I had pictured) we found Smith College and checked in.

The girls live in houses (not residence halls) and R. has her own room, as do many other people.  And it has air conditioning!!  R. was very excited, happy to meet the other girls in the program, and was ready to say good-bye.  We aren't supposed to be in touch for 24-hours and only once a day after that (not enforced but encouraged).  So it was time to move on.

Leaving Massachusetts
Come Back Soon.

Glad to see they still have humans in the toll booth.

It was a long but beautiful drive to Ithaca.  Even though I wish I could make the trip with D., I will still have fun visiting people and places.