Friday bullets, Feb. 10, 17

And here we are at Friday again. I'll take a break from the endless cleaning and boxing extravaganza to share a few things from the week.

• R.'s eye patching is going better. You want to know what turned her around (for the most part)? Three minutes of computer time. I found a website with eye strengthening exercises and she really likes the game where you touch the place where the little ladybug shows up. It moves pretty fast, so I was completely unsure of whether she would be able to do it or not, we are talking about the child who screamed, "I not see!!" when the patch first went on. But we tried it and though she is about a beat behind, she can do it. And she loves it. She watched other children play computer games and now feels she has joined the party. I worry about fatigue and her tendency towards perseveration, so we keep it short, but it is enough. At least once this week, she has asked when it's time to put on the eye patch so she can play the ladybug game.
• We officially signed the papers to sell the house and have a goal of getting it on the market by the end of March.           That space is my silent scream about all that has to be done. Is it too big a prayer that a buyer just shows up out of the blue with a decent offer before then? Anyone want a house?
• I think some of my children are hoarders-in-training.
• For most of the week, many children have spent many hours creating wooden swords in the basement with hammer, nails, and scrap lumber. This has been a good occupation for a cold week. I like happily occupied children. The result, though, is that I now have many children armed with wooden swords with which they like to practice their fencing skills. Inside.
• Bratty horses are not always pleasant to saddle. Here is what P. showed me after her riding lesson this week.

Yes, that horse bit through one jacket (which she really likes and was most annoyed about) and one long-sleeved shirt in order to get through to the skin.

• I was going to apply for the TEDx conference happening this spring at North Park, but couldn't decide on what to talk about. And then the whole house-thing happened, and it seemed for the best. Then yesterday, I had a great idea pop into my head and briefly thought about whipping something out last night. But, I missed the deadline which was noon. This time procrastination did not have positive reinforcement. Oh well, it would have been utter insanity anyway. 
• This is going to be shorter today because I need to run out the door to see the eye doctor for new contacts. Packing would be easier to accomplish if I had no appointments for the next couple of months. Ha! But I suppose being able to see will help the packing process.
• Don't forget Sapphire! Let's find her a family sooner rather than later, OK?