Random Tid Bits

1. I've had not 1 but 2 companies lately say that I'd get something to review, and to send over my address. Then I never heard from them again. Has this happened to anyone else? I didn't say anything bad, I just sent over my address like they asked. That's like a winner not getting a prize that they spent time entering. 


2. I belong to this app called Nextdoor.
   
   This lady (we'll call her Cally - not her real name) put out a thank you for people getting her groceries and helping her out, when she asked for it.
   
   I was curious to see if I knew her or any of her friends, so I copied and pasted her name into FB. It was the same person on both. She has a dent in her forehead like she was shot, or got something removed and stitched up. She has the same star tattoos on her chest.
   
   On her FB page someone posted, "Cally has moved on to the next life and we (her family) would like people to stop messaging her. Her phone is on so we can hear her voice, but please leave her and us to rest."
   
   Now I'm wondering if there is a true mystery there. Is this girl dead to her family? Was she running from something, and that's why she needed help? My mind won't escape this drama.


3. Has anyone else out there watched Man in the High Castle - the final season?
   
   I love that show, so much! I put the book on reserve at the library, for Mica. Let's hope he reads it. He's mostly into watching videos on his phone, and laughing.


4. Mica fell at recess. Side note: How great is it that he has recess? Isaak doesn't at his school. Well he has Walking Club if he gets done with lunch fast enough. He never does with brushing the food out of his braces. Back to Mica falling...He did something like this: He went to step up, there was no step, so he lunged into a metal step with his ribs, flipped, and landed on his knees.
   
   He knocked the wind out of himself, so he couldn't breathe, or talk at first. Everyone gathered around. He went to the nurse's office. There she told him he bruised his ribs. We were never called. How odd, I thought that was protocol now a days.
   
   We weren't planning on keeping him home the next day, but we did when he fell again in his room.
   
   My Mom made me feel so guilty about leaving him home alone, and not taking him in. He's just uber sore! This is the same lady that sent my sister to school when she had an Appendix that needed to come out, and when she had the Chicken Pox after I just had them. She said they were moles. Moles that grew overnight. So if Mica gets worse it's on me. Ha!
   
   
   
   
   
5. I really wish the lady that helped us get an HSA account knew more to tell us. She didn't even know how to assign us 2 cards.
   
   We overpaid in it. I didn't even think that was possible. Now it's a mess! I think the cap is $6,000, and over all we put in more than that. Here I'm thinking it's a good thing we put money into it. Ya know to pay medical, dental, and orthodontist bills.
   
   Travis had to go to the Orthodontist to have them take that out of our checking account instead of our HSA account. Then he has to go to the tax guy to figure out our options. 

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WW: The Baby Bandit {Linky}

A few weeks ago I discovered that there were little plastic babies on everyone's desk in my student's classroom. Working at an art college odd things happen from time to time.

I thought that would be the last I heard, or saw the babies. The students all though I was the Baby Bandit.

I had those plastic babies when Isaak was preschool aged. He's now in 4th grade. I got them from a baby shower. Isaak loved those things. I got rid of them a few years ago.

The Baby Bandit now reveals clues every single day on the board. There's a baby to be found when clue is answered. This happens daily. I have to admit I'm caught up in trying to figure out who the Baby Bandit is. I've even stayed after class to see if I could catch them in the act. Nope! When I go out in the morning the clue is already on the board. 

The students created this profile on the board:

Here I am:

I don't know what I enjoy the most: 

• The fact that I love pranks, but don't have to go through the work.
• The fact that this got the quietest girl in the class talking. In fact she made the profile board.
• The fact that I can't figure out who's doing it. Literally the full time staff here is so lame. Maybe the one I least expect is the Baby Bandit. 

Do you enjoy pranks and mysteries?

1,000 Piece Puzzle

I love puzzles when I have the time to do them. Some (my husband) might say, "What's the point? Isn't it a waist of time?"

I find them relaxing. When I do them I don't think about anything much, but finding the piece I need to find. It's also fun for me to put things into sections. Yep if you gave me a tub full of Legos with all different colors I'd be the one that would love to color organize them. I did that with my crayon box when I was a kid as well. With puzzles I separate all the edges out, then the blue goes in a pile, greenery in another and so on.

I went to Marshall's and spotted some mystery puzzles. By the way they have some other really neat games and puzzles for older kids there. I wanted to buy a bunch of stuff, but refrained. I had a mystery puzzle when I was a kid. You read a small book, put a puzzle together to help solve the mystery, and back of the book has the answers. You have to read the back in a mirror because it's all backwards.

Mica used to like puzzles, but he really hadn't touched them for a few years. I had no idea if what I got him would be a hit, or not. I thought it would be good regardless because it's something we could do together.

This is the book/puzzle I got him:

Source

I didn't pay too much attention to the fact that it was 1,000 pieces. I was just so excited that it contained a mystery book with it. Yes it's for adults. I'm an adult that helped my tween put it together. 

It took us like 3 nights to put it together. Travis I swear let the cat out of the bag that I'm Santa so many times to Isaak. Travis, "Alissa why did you have to get this thing? I swear you're missing pieces! What's the point?" Blah, Blah, Blah. In his defense we did have a dance party to get ready for. Here a puzzle was all over the floor. When I told him it had a mystery book that went with it, and that we had to solve it he thought that was cool. Nope we didn't have missing pieces, but we did have a missing piece. Down in the bottom middle. We looked all over for it, and couldn't find it. 

Mica picked it up to put it away. I could tell he didn't really want to put it away. He looked annoyed that it was going back into the box. It came up all in 1 piece!

For the record the company makes more. I looked at Sherlock Holmes, and Alfred Hitchcock as well. I think kids Mica's age - age 11 still want toys as gifts, but it's a little harder to find gifts. 

What kind of things would you get for an 11 or 12 year old boy?  

Disclaimer: This is not a review of the puzzle. I just shared because I liked it. 

Do You Ever Feel Better When Something Gets Solved That Doesn't Even Involve You?

There have been two cases here that have gone unsolved until today. Both cases were related. Two people were stabbed to death in 2008. It was a little boy and the house keeper. Then earlier this year two more people were stabbed to death. The Dad more than likely was the target in the first case; he wasn't home, so his housekeeper and son were stabbed instead. The connection between the cases is that they both houses had people that worked at Creighton University. Both parties were well standing citizens, doctors, and teachers.

I thought about the cases a lot just because the killer was still on the loose, it involved a little boy, and I knew their connection to Creighton University meant something.

The supposed killer is also a doctor was fired for odd behavior back in 2001. He lives in Illinois. He was arrested for driving under the influence. Now he's charged with 4 people's murders. He's traveled back to Nebraska twice, during the times that the murders happened.

My sister Terra and I used to watch Unsolved Mysteries on the Lifetime channel right before bedtime. A few times Robert Sack's (the host) voice would enter my dreams. A few of the cases I was wondering what the answer was to them. I always loved it when the show had updates about finding the person that did this, or that.

Now I like to watch 20/20, 48 Hours, and Castle even though it's fiction.

Do you ever feel better when something gets solved that doesn't even involve you?

What's your favorite mystery show (fiction or non fiction)?

Mystery Shoes

Tonight Isaak had his last swimming lesson for a little while.

Mica sat out of his. Since Mica has an ear infection, we played this lesson by ear. We got the doctor's ok, but Mica told us before lessons that his ear felt a lot of pressure. So...he sat out.

After Isaak's lesson, he was getting dried off. I said, "Isaak can you get your shoes?" Isaak said, "I can't find them. It's seriously a mystery Momma!" He's starting to talk all funny like!

For the record Isaak's no help when he gets out of the pool. He wants me to dry him off, me to pull his swim trunks off, and me to put his dry clothes on. All while he wines about being wet, cold, says, "I can't do it!" and spins around in circles the whole time. I love that little punk!