Quick Takes Friday

--1--

Is it Friday already? Yesterday's post was short and sweet. Today's Quick Takes will be, too (sort of). My attention is so fragmented I can't seem to turn out much of anything. Life in general seems a bit fragmented, with each day passing away in chunks instead of hours. I've tried to write a little about it, so some of it may show up here as I sort things out.

--2--

After all, a fragmented attention span ought to be dealt with. I blame the Internet.

I read this when it first came out, and it made perfect sense to me--I modified some habits in response, and saw a difference. But so much of what I did everyday was somehow connected to using the Internet, and the old habits didn't stick because they didn't take that into account. Now I'm assessing how I use things like Facebook and news sites and blogs and readers, and I'm making a new plan. I'm going to be a lot more intentional about my online engagement. I don't know what it's going to look like, but I know that it includes turning the computer completely off for the majority of the day.

I know I'm not the only one who has taken steps to master their computer use. Any thoughts? (Especially from you super-blogging mom writers if you, um, happen to be reading this. Jen?) Links welcome. Irony noted.

--3--

For a while we only had one computer, and my husband needed it for work. Now that I have my "own" computer, as well as an older PC that Jason's mother gave us, the kids are rediscovering the thrills of Timez Attack.

This game teaches multiplication thoroughly and the kids cannot wait to play it every day. It's so good I use it as a reward. (I got a discount on the purchase price by recommending it to others, but I've already done that twice over en masse.) We bought it in 2009, and on loading it to the "new" computer, we discovered that the updated version has an additional character to play as. The original one is a little green guy that my kids have called a bug, an alien, and a mouse. Now there's a girl version with long red hair--the ponytail toss cracks me up.

Here's an intro.

--4--

I cut Cate's hair Thursday. It's not the first time, but I still got nervous three snips into it. She wanted it short. Fortunately, she has just enough curl in her hair to make it very forgiving. Now Natalie wants me to do hers. Her hair is straight, fine, and thick like mine. But I'm going to give it a go. Sometime.

--5--

Despite some lost cards, some ruined artwork (little brothers and all), and a futile rush to make last Friday's postmark, we got our artist trading cards finished. We explored books, found some new heroes, and learned some new things. Did you know that St. Gabriel is thought to be the angel sent to strengthen Jesus in Gethsemane? That Adam and Eve are traditionally held to be in heaven and therefore saints? That the saints are a vastly diverse set of people from all walks of life and widely different manners of holiness? Well, yes, we knew that already, but it was a delight to rediscover it with this swap. I look forward to learning with the kids about all the saints about whom we receive cards.

--6--

One thing I've noticed is that because (I am assuming) of our host's personal background, there is a vastly diverse set of participants in Quick Takes. I typically blog as a Catholic mother (throw in "of many" or "homeschooler" when it fits) but sometimes I link at more "secular" sites when it's not so much a Catholic or Christian post. So, sometimes I receive comments from people who would not otherwise consider themselves part of my target audience. (The term "cross-pollination" crosses my mind. Sorry.) Anyway, I want to say to people who find themselves here from any path: Welcome, and thank you for being here.

--7--

For my mom: Cate and Caleb.