He was shortish. And oldish. And brownish. And mossy. And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy.

My absolute favorite children's book of all time is being made into a full-length animated film.  Its plot and message were almost singlehandedly the basis for my curriculum as a science teacher.  It contains powerful and insightful lessons for not only children, but all of us.

The Lorax will be out sometime in 2012 and will feature the voice of none other than Danny Devito.  I couldn't have dreamed up a better fit myself.

Counting the days until I can introduce MY LITTLE BOY to this gift from Dr. Seuss.

One Day I Will Be Able to Dance Like Dr. Ken Jeong

The Assault on Comic Sans Continues

The world's unified assault on Comic Sans always gives me a good chuckle.  Poor Comic Sans was in the news again recently when the owner of the Cavaliers wrote his rant letter about Lebron leaving using the playful font.  "You see, he wrote in Comic Sans so that you would know he's serious" said a blogger.  

My absolute favorite defense of the font is I'm Comic Sans, Asshole by Mike Lacher.   And I love that neither of my grandmothers would have a clue what any of this is about.  When did we all turn into such geeks?  Geeks with senses of humor, no doubt.

Viva le lego!

It will soon be socially acceptable for me to play with Legos again.  And Lincoln Logs too - whoohoo!

The Special One

I've become The Special One at my office recently, mostly due to my new office best friend.

I've had a stability ball at home for years, but it isn't quite big enough to serve as a chair so I use it mostly for exercise.  Over the past month I've had back pains like an octogenarian from my crappy office chair, so I figured it was time to invest in a better ball. 

I bounce to music.  I keep my feet off the ground and balance.  I rock from side to side.  I close my office door and have my own private yoga/core session during lunch.  It rocks, it rolls, it makes my day fun again.  And I go home with much more energy.  Who cares that my coworkers compare me to that special kid in elementary school - I'll take it!  When one spends over two hours a day commuting, she'll find any way she can to buy back time by fitting in some exercise during the day. 

The Splits

I'm a little out of practice, but at least one of my dogs can still do them.

Colossal Snowball Fight!

Sad I missed out on this huge snowball fight in DC. Looks like it was so much fun!

Must Have Book

"Featuring over 150 suicidal pets!"

Simple Pleasures

I get the impression that that some children today have difficulty entertaining themselves. Today I watched my cousin's children have a blast with none other than a mop bucket on wheels.






A boogie board also became a great Florida-style sled.



Of course the boys had some modern-day diversions as well...



...followed by nap time with Daddy.

*Dance Parters For Life*

One of my favorite things about being married =]

Welcome Potus to the Sembera-Peters Family!

Potus joined our family this week and we are so happy to have him!

Top Ten Things I Can't Wait to do Post-Graduation

1. Read for FUN. I have dozens of books that have accumulated over the past two years and I can't wait!!
2. Cook on a regular basis. No more 3-meals-in-a-coffee-shop days.
3. Reestablish Saturday and Sunday as fun days rather than work days.
   
4. Garden. And make use of my beautiful herbs who are loving the rain.
   
5. Train for a bike race. Got all the ingredients right now except for time.
   
6. Benefit from employer-purchased health insurance. Oh god, what a wonderful day that will be.
   
7. Reunite with Barton Springs and other glorious places that miss me.
8. Play games or socialize at a coffee shop. Or more specifically, go to a coffee shop for reasons other than work.
9. Rediscover photography. I see classes in my future.
10. Be outside every possible minute of my favorite season.
    

RealRyder

Check out the RealRyder, an excercise bike that twists and turns, requiring better form and harder work. These would be awesome in spin class!

Here's an article if you'd like to read more about the RealRyder.

Crayon Physics Deluxe

I heard about a simple yet innovative game that was recently released. It was created by a 25 year old Finnish guy and won the grand prize at the Innovative Games Festival last year. It's called Crayon Physics Deluxe, and it's so fun! You draw anything on the sketchpad and it applies the laws of physics to your drawing. Here's a demo.


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Isn't that so awesome? I wish I would've had it in the classroom :)
You can download a demo of the game (PC only) here. Hopefully the Mac version is coming soon.