Today, as i happily watch Scout walk around as normal (phew), i'm exploring LibraryThing. This application catalogs one's books and being hosted online, is accessible available anywhere there is internet access and a computer. See the sidebar for a partial listing of what i've been reading to Scout and Eva.

i took a break the past couple of days from my learning exercises because one year and one day after Scout broke his femur, he fell again and spent the subsequent day very much out of sorts and refusing to walk. Man, i've said it a million times, but i'll repeat: Parenting is not for the faint of heart.

Thankfully, a Monday a.m. visit to the doc confirmed my intuition that he wasn't seriously hurt but did have a knee boo-boo from the fall. He's scooting around more each hour and in good spirits, but the experience reminds me so of the six weeks he spent in a cast that had both of his legs splayed out and immobilized.

Christopher and i were talking last night about how we got through that time partly by the patient and inspiring Scout, who remained chipper and happy while unable to move his legs. We also realized we tried hard not to dwell on the horror that it is when your child is injured. This may sound self-centered, but Scout's broken leg was the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

In any case, just like with the broken leg, we are beyond blessed to have two healthy,beautiful, smart kids and Scout is again just fine.

Back to techno-learning. Today, i explored wiki's, which i learned means "fast" in Hawaiian. While i knew about wiki's prior to this lesson, i learned more about their uses, like creating real-world community sites online.

My current favorite wiki is Dikipedia.org, which is NOT adult content, but rather about people who are, well, dicks. It's surprisingly well-written and somewhat Onion-esque. (credit to Christopher for turning me on to it.)

Part of my study practice is to read a bit of the three or four blogs that i've ID'd as worthwhile for "social media studies." They include:

www.jobsinsocialmedia.com
www.chrisbrogan.com
www.socialmediarockstar.com

i'm trying to stay in the present, resisting an urge to jump ahead of the learning and figure out how i could translate this edumacation into cold, hard cash. Ha, i mean of course, how i might find paying work with this knowledge.

Ok, now i'm being Bad Mommy by finishing this, talking to dear husband on the phone and telling Scout, "I'll be right there." Enough multi-tasking, to the children.

Going through the exercises on my Mom's blog has turned into going through the Learning 2.0 23 Things exercises.

As i turn my attention to re-entering the paid work force after 2.5 yrs. caring for Scout and the recently added Eva, i realized how much i needed to update my skill set. i also began to notice a lot of jobs under "Social Marketing," i.e. ones that combine public relations/communications with using the so-called Web 2.0 tools.

i love the irony that my Mom had led me to this! She also introduced me to blogs in 2002, when i started my first one to chronicle Peace Corps service in Ukraine.

So far, i've learned about RSS feeds, updated my understanding of Flickr and played with online image generators and Flickr tools.

The only thing i'll add to the list of 23 things to learn is Twitter.com, which i haven't checked out yet.

i'm really enjoying taking 30-60 min. each day to devote to this, and am surprised how scheduling this somehow helps me feel more focused and productive. sometimes i sort of feel lost in the days spent at home with the wee ones.

Part of the recommendation for this learning is to write it, so i'll follow that exercise.

As i'm going thru some of the Web 2.0 applications/tools from my Mom's blog, 23 Things, i found the following. My poor children are being neglected!

Wendylu's Travels thus Far

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

i just discovered the most amazing list of free online courses from several prestigious universities. i am amazed and have a new nap time hobby.

i also want to post a brief ad for my Mom's blog, 23 Things, while it still lives online. it's a great intro to some of the premier fun and amazing Web 2.0 applications. to be honest, i didn't know what "Web 2.0" even meant before reading her posts!

Finally, on the last technology comment, i am still amazed by the detailed photos on Google Maps, like this one of our address, though it actually shows a house down the hill from ours. One mystery of Southern Living is why people park on their lawn when they have perfectly usable driveways. Classy.

View Larger Map

Two random thoughts from a morning outing with Scout and Eva.

One. Assuming that the human race survives but Western civilization is wiped out, future anthropologists may wonder at finding numerous fossilized banana peels in climates unsuitable for growing them. i was eating a banana and wondered if the peel might last a long time in the landfills. Banana peels are certainly not the most interesting of the artifacts we'll leave behind, assuming there will be anyone who cares to study us.

Two. While packing up the babes in the car, then turning to fold up our really super excellent double BOB stroller, a still sprightly elderly man who must have been dashing in his prime passed by and offered to help get the stroller in the car. Possessing a charm and accent from when our Atlanta suburb was still a small town far from the city, he easily chatted about his daughter and her three children born within the same calendar year (twins then a singlet), and asked after mine.

i had initially turned down his help, but also being Southern, i did so softly and in a way that doesn't want to offend. this therefore leaves room for people to sometimes assume i don't really mean no.

My first thought after this encounter was about safety and that had he been someone who possesses both a charming and psychotic nature (ala Jeffrey Dahmer) then we would have been gone, baby, gone. Then i felt sad to think like that and wished that i could just enjoy the kindness of strangers.

i think that while i don't like it, stranger danger must rule the day, particularly when i'm on duty with my charges.

While i'm here and babies are sleeping, here are some recent Scoutisms for posterity:

• "The airplane is making roads!"
  (watching the plume of exhaust or smoke from a jet in the sky)
• He calls "marshmellows" "marshmelons"
  (i'm just starting to relax a tad about his food but try hard to keep him from mucho sugar and most processed foods)
• He likes to begin sentences with these two phrases:
  1. "How about," as in "How about we read these two books for bedtime?" (we usually read one book at bedtime)
  2. "I wish," as in "I wish that Eva could play with trains."

Scout is super interested in spelling and can spell several words from memory, mainly three letter words, with the exception of his name, truck and train, probably his three favorite things. He uses blocks to spell words and also spells out everything in books. i'm trying to teach him the phonics of each letter so we can then sound out words. i think after that he'll be reading.

i love how much he loves books. i have a problem at our local Goodwill in the children's book section. There are just so, so many wonderful books to read and they're $1.25 there! While i rail at the obscene amount of toys we have, there always seems to be room for one or three more books.

Yesterday's haul from Goodwill netted us:
Once Upon a Potty boy edition
Little Fur Family (with a brown fake fur cover!) by Margaret Wise Brown of Goodnight Moon fame
Richard Scarey's Longest Counting Parade Book Ever

Wow, i finished an entire post. It is a miracle to finish a task in one sitting these days. Not a complaint, mind you, an observation.

i realize upon re-reading this that i only mention Eva in passing. She's a lovely, smiley almost four month old now but not doing as many exceptionally noteworthy things as her older brother.

Ciao for now.