With a Song (and a scalpel) in His Heart

I know some of you were pretty grossed out by the eye dissection photos, so I tried to put a warning in the title this time. If the warning was lost on you and you find yourself to be the squeamish type, this is your last chance:

GET OUT NOW!

I hope y'all don't find these dissection photo essays boring. This is a (supposed to be) a homeschooling blog, and I am raising a future surgeon after all . . . so it's a formality that simply must be done.

Let me say again, in advance, all intelligence is courtesy of Baby Boy. Proof positive that you don't have to be smarter than your children to teach them . . . otherwise everyone over here would be in big trouble.

He labeled the points of interest on each photograph. It looked pretty good on my computer, but once I uploaded them, I noticed how small the text is. Since going back to redo them simply will not be happening today, you can always click on any photo to see a larger more detailed version.


So . . . without further ado . . . The Cow Heart Dissection.

Intact Cow Heart in Baby Boy's Hands

View of Open Main Ventricles of the Heart

Bisected Heart

Open Pulmonary Trunk

So, there ya go.

In other news, we are all doing well here.

We had a super busy week, but since it's Friday, we aren't even going to worry our pretty little heads about it anymore. My Mom had to go out of town for the weekend to a funeral and I sent her with my Dad, so I'm off duty as the nurse de jour this weekend. We're all so excited about having the house to ourselves for a couple of days (although we love Mom and she's more than welcome to stay as long as she wants )

Baby Boy's taking next week off from school work, so you can probably hear him bouncing off the walls from wherever you are. I have some work to do that will keep me very busy, but hopefully we'll have a little time for some interesting, educational and exciting field trips. We'll see!


I hope you all had a great week and have a wonderful weekend coming up!


Until next time . . .

Who Would've Thought . . .

. . . That an opera about the beheading of nuns would be so interesting, entertaining, and even inspiring.

Baby Boy and I starched our best jeans and went to see the Dialogues of the Carmelites.


I will admit that, when pressed, Baby Boy described it as "interesting;" no more, no less. So I won't say it's a show for all, but I really did enjoy it.

It was different from all of the other operas we've seen in that it was done in French, not Italian. Also, the nuns often performed prayers/chants in Latin. LOVED THAT!!! Of course, if you know me at all, you'll know that I love all things operatic. I adore absolutely everything opera, and as long as they continue to offer those educational discount tickets, I'll be front and center at each and every show. You know, until Baby Boy hits 18. (Boo! Hiss!)

Now . . . I just have to get them to organize something like this for the ballet. They only offer educational discount tickets to The Nutcracker, but I want to see them all!

As you know, too much is never enough! ;-) Oh, you just gotta love the arts!


Have a great week!


Until next time . . .

Someone's a Year Older Today!!! (Thankfully, NOT ME)

Today is Baby Boy's Super-Spicy-Sixteenth-Birthday (he has advised me that there will be no sweet sixteen references today - at all)


But, you know, as a Mom, I need an answer to one simple question . . .

How does this little fresh-faced kiddo . . .

Turn into this . . .

And THIS . . .

. . . right before my very eyes????

WHAAAAHHHHH!!!! Where does the time go?


Oh well, I still love you, Baby Boy, even if you are growing up WAY too fast!


If y'all are looking for me later today, I'll be hyperventilating through driving lessons. Yikes!


Until next time . . .

Do You See What I See? A Photo Essay.

Our tools of the trade.

I didn't find this particular beef at my local super market.

Almost 16 . . . and he still can't wink!

Separating the cornea from the sclera.
This cow's eyeball was tough! That's my scrapbooking X-Acto knife! Craft day will never be the same!

The cornea.

The iris and pupil.

Eye lens removed from socket with the vitreous humor surround.

The lens with the vitreous humor removed.

Eye ball flipped inside out to reveal the tapetum, which is a portion of the eye that human beings do not have. This is what makes animal's eyes glow in the dark (or when you try to photograph them) and allows them to be able to see in low-light situations.

Getting down to an entirely different kind of work.
Please pass the bleach!!!

I see a wonderful weekend up ahead. I hope you all see the same!


P. S. All of the above knowledge is courtesy of Baby Boy. I'm just glad that, with the assistance of extremely strong contact lenses, I can still see.

Until next time . . .

Life and Stuff ;-)

Thanks to everyone who has commented and emailed regarding how we're all doing over here.

Everything is going along pretty good. We are slowly but surely finding the new maddening chaos rhythm that is our lives. Baby Boy came through his surgery without a hitch and with him being young and in terrific shape, he's back to normal like nothing ever happened.

I've been severely pressed for time with all the running hither-thither-and-yon I've been doing. Mom is seeing both a psychologist and psychiatrist and I drive her to her appointments, so that takes up a big portion of my day. Oh, and don't forget, I'm still attempting to home-educate my son (HA!!!)

The main thing that has me short on blog posts these days is that I've sort of permanently donated/given/loaned my laptop to Mom so that she can stay the heck out of my way while I homeschool check on her Mary Kay website and read her emails. ;-) If I want to post, read, pay bills, etc . . . I have to literally get up, go into the office/classroom, and use the desktop computer. Because I've been trying to catch up on my Young and the Restless spend quality time with Baby Boy and Mom #2 whenever I get a spare moment, blog posts have become scarcer and scarcer, but do rest assured that I am thinking of you all. Your encouragement is highly cherished and I do appreciate it. I have been dropping by all of your delicious blogs (oh, I LOVE reading blogs) even though I don't stick around long enough to comment . . . I do speed-read through them . . . so feel free to keep you posts short and sweet, if you can. I know I can't talk, because here at Two Moms' Homeschool, long winded is the rule, not the exception, LOL.


So keep the positive energy flowing, and take good care of yourselves!


Until next time . . .