Small Update.

We'll see if the power stays on long enough for me to say "hello" to you after you comment.

I received a phone call from a fellow who knew my name and said that he was from KCP&L, our power company. The power will go off around 5 pm tonight and stay off for several hours or even days. The system is overloaded, he explained, and so people in my neighbourhood will just be shut off while they do something or other.

Great. You know, that's a reallllly great way to solve the problem of having too much strain on the ol' power company. You can improve efficiency by shutting off neighbourhoods. Hey, maybe you can run at 100% efficiency by just shutting everyone off! That would work. Make sure to do it during the hottest days of the year. Thanks.

At least it's not January, I guess... but I'm not happy about it. I called my neighbour (who has a fragile child in a wheelchair) to tell her about it and she freaked out. They will either have to give her power or the fire department will have to come over with a generator, she said. Well... not to freak you out, but thought I'd make sure you heard about this...

She called back later to say that she has spoken with about everyone in the neighbourhood AND the power company, and it appears I've been prank called.

Yay, but I sure hope so! But... wouldn't it be better to have asked me for a social security number or a credit card number? Surely you shouldn't let an opportunity like that just go by. Then again, that would alert me instantly to the fact that it was a prank call.

So who knows?

I stuck all the frozens into the big freezer downstairs, and we'll just see what happens. Meanwhile, I've been teaching Elf and Emperor about Ancient Egypt. We did a "make a mummy" game that was a lot of fun. It says that it is graphic, but it really isn't. There's one piece that has intestines drawn in, and another with the brain being removed. But it is so cartoon-y that it is nowhere near disturbing. I'd recommend it.

We also did FOUR math lessons (whew) so that we could finish the sixth-grade Teaching Textbooks. The seventh-grade stuff has already been ordered from CBD. The boys are tired from all that math today, but they can't wait. Emperor says he wonders what's inside! I told him that I was certain that it was... math stuff.

We're working on our Rod and Staff grammar book and have begun Bob Jones 5 Spelling. I want to concentrate more on writing this year, so please check Emperor and Elf's blogs if you're inclined to say hi to young writers and leave a comment.

Do you do portfolios in your homeschool? This is a cute link on how to do one. It concerns younger children, but I'm sure the same idea can be applied with older students as well.