Tew's Day

Happy Halloween!

Administration
Happy birthday to rafaela!

Medical
I need to take today off if I want to be able to trick-or-treat with Elayna tonight. Yesterday = severe pain. And I didn't even do anything, workwise - just tooled around with fibro_witch, mostly just sitting in the car. But everything hurt, getting worse through the day. My nap helped slightly, but I was feeling rough again by bedtime. And didn't sleep well due to pain. So I think I'll be taking an Ambien-aided nap after walking Elayna to school.

Adam
First day of work went just fine. :)

Elayna
Nyargh. She didn't get to go to school yesterday, as they triple-booked registration, and it was noon by the time we were done. She's going today. They're actually going to assign her a kid whose schedule is similar to hers to walk her from class to class til she knows her way around. Like her elementary school, the proximity of this school to local universities means they have new kids coming in all the time.

Restarting this post a bit later - have just dropped her off! She was excited, and confident in all ways save finding her way around. Her Geography teacher actually stopped us on our way in - "This must be our new student!" All of her teachers knew her name, and at least one knew where she came from. Clearly, there had been a memo. Just as clearly, they were all excited to meet her. I have high hopes!

Boston
My brain hasn't gotten used to the fact that we live here now. It still feels like a very extended vacation.

Daily Science
Neuroscientists have taken a large step towards figuring out just what makes some memories vivid and others cloudy. Researchers have now discovered that stimulating a brain area that releases a common neurotransmitter helps rats create more detailed memories. The finding will be published in the November issue of the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.

"This is the first time that direct stimulation of a brain region has controlled the amount of detail in a memory," Norman Weinberger, the lead author of the study and a neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine, said in a press release.

The research links memory clarity to acetylcholine, a common neurotransmitter. Acetylcholine has been found to function in the acquisition of new memories by sending input to the cortex and hippocampus.

Daily BPAL
Continuing with the Carnaval Diabolique spree... ( let's begin Act II. )

(no subject)

Being a mom means that one can decide at 5 PM that one is dressing up after all - and can become a fairy princess, complete with wings and tiara, by 5:15. (dark_blade - thanks again for choosing gorgeous floor-length velvet dresses for your bridesmaids!) Really, with my craft closet fully unpacked, I can be just about anything... but moving has crippled my options, and I was limited to princess, fairy princess, or classic Star Trek chick.

I am still all sparkly.

The wings and tiara take about ten years off, it seems... Elayna went from amused to mock-exasperated at constantly having to say "No, that's not my sister,that's my mother!" when well-meaning people enquired as to whether her sister would like some candy, too. And yes, seriously. She counted 27 times someone said something outright. There were at least as many times the person peered at me, puzzled, closing the door slowly, giving me time to step up and get candy.

And one creepy time when a guy not much older than me walked up to me when our trick-or-treat parties coincided and said "Well, hello, little fairy!"

Um.

But! I got candy, too. And now I'm getting pizza. And I love Halloween. :) Taking Elayna trick-or-treating is one of my favorite things about parenthood. :)