A few hours after the aforementioned email message, Sis3 sent me an email expressing her thanks for going above and beyond to provide a homey, generous setting for our family Christmas gathering. She also expressed gratitude for the gifts we gave her. I suspect that if I could check my husband's "sent" email, I'd find one to her, sent shortly after her first email arrived. Maybe not, but the possibility is strong.
Yesterday was one of those days containing several appointments, one after the other, and they each turned out to be positive in some way. The cable guy showed up on time and left us a new cable/dvr box, and he gave me instructions for what I can try if the problem we've had recurs. At this point, 24 hours later, the problem with the audio has not recurred, so we're very happy about that. Next, the financial planner revealed that we are better off in our investments than many others through this financial instability, and we may turn out okay by the end of 12-18 months. (Of course he's going to say that, but his track record on such predictions is good, so I'm optimistic.) Finally, at the projected 5-hour meeting of the Tech Council (which lasted about 4.5 hours), Josh the tech/data guy informed us of what computers exist in the school district, including platform, age, location, and level of software installed so we could begin to make recommendations to the IT director about how to proceed. The only unfortunate part was the attack on the superintendent by one townsperson who had demanded information back in April and who felt that he'd been ignored, denied information, and then given only part of it which he was able to decode (because of his clever professional skills) and find that some information had been left out. This guy, a former student whose son was also a complaining student of mine a couple of years ago, has made noise in the district for a while, but now that he's on a committee of folks who have as much or more expertise than he does and data to back it up, his ability to toss around computer jargon doesn't balance out his inadequate view of the big picture. I hope for all concerned that he's now satisfied that no one is hiding anything, and that he can't expect as a private citizen to micromanage the software and hardware choices, location, and purchases made throughout the school district. The overall accomplishment of the meeting was to recommend that the current IT director research what other nearby and similar schools use for software to accomplish state standards and course requirements, and to approach various vendors with "wish lists" of warranty, loaner/replacement, and hardware requests for possible extended contracts so we can get some very much needed laptops into the high school ASAP. (laptops in a cart can be moved to classrooms and shared among classes which is more efficient use of technology and means less need for space required for a lab of desktops) Hooray! We did take a light dinner break, ordering pizzas from a fairly new seafood and pizza place in town, and the pleasant surprise for me was that their veggie pizza includes sizable chunks of artichoke hearts. Yum! This one's worth ordering again sometime.
The Emergency Weather email system just sent the winter weather advisory message that we're in for some snow, 5 inches or more, and that the wind will pick up, making driving hazardous tonight. Hmmmm. Our tentative plans were to go to the movies to see "Marley and Me" because the mister loved the book and then go out to dinner (or vice versa, depending on our mood), and then back home to watch the New Year's Rockin' Eve on tv as the ball in Times Square falls. It may still happen since my husband has his honkin' big truck and he adores bulling around in bad weather. More on that soon.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
of course
After hosting my whole New England family and their significant others, feeding them tasty food, catering to their needs, and cleaning up after them, I've received one email from Sis3 addressed to Sis2 and cc'd to me. In it, she said she was amazed that I could pull off yet another holiday gathering so well, and she felt better seeing how cluttered my house is because it always makes her feel better about hers.
Yeah.
That's the kind of thanks I look forward to from my family. I think I'll let someone else host the next 50 holiday gatherings.
Yeah.
That's the kind of thanks I look forward to from my family. I think I'll let someone else host the next 50 holiday gatherings.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Christmas II
Tomorrow (or I guess today, since it's 1 a.m. as I start writing this) my family will converge on our house for Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Ex brother in law's knee is still giving him pain and difficulty, so he asked if someone else could host this year instead of us doing the holiday at his place, and I volunteered. I've taken my time gathering the gifts and wrapping them, and now I'm waiting for the last of the baked goods to come out of the oven. Three batches of cookies, a double batch of brownies, two loaves of banana walnut bread, and a pan of banana coffee bread, all from scratch, have emerged from my kitchen. For some reason the shortbread didn't come out right, so they may have to do without it this year. I didn't make chocolate chip or sugar cookies but I may make a tray or two in the morning. On the other hand, I think we have enough sweet stuff between my homemade goodies and the boxes of chocolates and other confections that are sure to appear.
My intention is to keep the meal low key by calling it a hot buffet and having the food set out around the kitchen. Then people can nibble or feast at their whim. My mother may expect to sit at a dining table and be served, and if someone else wants to do that, I'll let them. By the time we're ready to eat, I'll be ready to put my feet up and relax. I'm naturally a cluttery person, so over the past few weeks the parts of the house neatened up for Thanksgiving have become hidden beneath stacks of papers, folders, catalogues, and other items of questionable importance. We've moved some furniture around to accommodate the new wide screen television, and to make better use of an overstuffed leather chair that's been sitting in a corner of the dining room. To move some pieces, others had to be removed so it's been quite a shuffling game, and in the process I've found things that've been stored away for years. My first laptop, negatives from a trip taken ages ago, ink cartridges from a printer that's long gone, sections of old newspapers that must contain articles I once thought to be of some interest but now none of them mean anything. It's funny how I hang on to things when I have no more need of them. I guess I think it's wasteful to throw such things away, preferring to find another use for them or keep them just in case they're needed. If I were better at not acquiring things I don't need in the first place, my job of decluttering would be much simpler. That's something for me to work on as a resolution. As for tomorrow, I just need to make the place presentable. I'll do that after the sun comes up. For now, the banana cake is out of the oven, so it's time to head to bed.
My intention is to keep the meal low key by calling it a hot buffet and having the food set out around the kitchen. Then people can nibble or feast at their whim. My mother may expect to sit at a dining table and be served, and if someone else wants to do that, I'll let them. By the time we're ready to eat, I'll be ready to put my feet up and relax. I'm naturally a cluttery person, so over the past few weeks the parts of the house neatened up for Thanksgiving have become hidden beneath stacks of papers, folders, catalogues, and other items of questionable importance. We've moved some furniture around to accommodate the new wide screen television, and to make better use of an overstuffed leather chair that's been sitting in a corner of the dining room. To move some pieces, others had to be removed so it's been quite a shuffling game, and in the process I've found things that've been stored away for years. My first laptop, negatives from a trip taken ages ago, ink cartridges from a printer that's long gone, sections of old newspapers that must contain articles I once thought to be of some interest but now none of them mean anything. It's funny how I hang on to things when I have no more need of them. I guess I think it's wasteful to throw such things away, preferring to find another use for them or keep them just in case they're needed. If I were better at not acquiring things I don't need in the first place, my job of decluttering would be much simpler. That's something for me to work on as a resolution. As for tomorrow, I just need to make the place presentable. I'll do that after the sun comes up. For now, the banana cake is out of the oven, so it's time to head to bed.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Sunny Christmas
Lately the weather has been unsettled more often than not, so I'm happy to be sitting here in the sun (11 a.m.) as I type. I'm wearing a new pale turquoise fluffy robe and my lovely new gold and silver bangle bracelet, chosen and given to me by my husband. He chose it all by himself, and among those of you whose spouses don't seem to have the same taste as you, you know how iffy that can be. Well, he did a great job this time. It's a little fancy so I may not wear it on a daily basis, but it's one I'll be pleased to wear often.
My spouse is out in his truck with the new super duper floor mats, wearing his new super duper jackknife with all the neato features, and trying out his new GPS. He's not usually one to be patient in trying to learn about new technology, but he seems fascinated by this one, so he may be out on the road for a few hours testing the thing. I told him I should have found one that also had a console here at home so I could watch where he is. He laughed briefly, but I know he likes being able to wander around on his own. I don't know how much he'll use the GPS but I'm glad to see he didn't just thank me for it and put it back in the box.
Yesterday was my gift to myself: a day to wander around doing nothing in particular. I need to do that more often this year because of The Troublesome Class, but taking this day to begin a nice long vacation was very sweet. I talked with a few friends, measured spaces and furniture in preparation for moving some of it around, made three necklaces and a pair of earrings, read two newspapers from front pages to last, sorted the gifts that we'll be giving on Sunday to find that I still need to make a few more purchases in the next day or two, and ate brunch in the middle of the afternoon. Ahhhhh that was a delight. :-)
Something odd happened, though. We ran out of milk so I mentioned to my husband he'd have to use some of the half & half in the refrigerator to make the mashed potatoes. For some reason, he chose to use some of the hazelnut Coffeemate. Ewwww. Here's hoping that never happens again!
p.s. (added at 7 p.m.) The GPS is a hit. He keeps checking out how far places are from where he's sitting, and he loves all those beeping noises. Boys and their toys!
My spouse is out in his truck with the new super duper floor mats, wearing his new super duper jackknife with all the neato features, and trying out his new GPS. He's not usually one to be patient in trying to learn about new technology, but he seems fascinated by this one, so he may be out on the road for a few hours testing the thing. I told him I should have found one that also had a console here at home so I could watch where he is. He laughed briefly, but I know he likes being able to wander around on his own. I don't know how much he'll use the GPS but I'm glad to see he didn't just thank me for it and put it back in the box.
Yesterday was my gift to myself: a day to wander around doing nothing in particular. I need to do that more often this year because of The Troublesome Class, but taking this day to begin a nice long vacation was very sweet. I talked with a few friends, measured spaces and furniture in preparation for moving some of it around, made three necklaces and a pair of earrings, read two newspapers from front pages to last, sorted the gifts that we'll be giving on Sunday to find that I still need to make a few more purchases in the next day or two, and ate brunch in the middle of the afternoon. Ahhhhh that was a delight. :-)
Something odd happened, though. We ran out of milk so I mentioned to my husband he'd have to use some of the half & half in the refrigerator to make the mashed potatoes. For some reason, he chose to use some of the hazelnut Coffeemate. Ewwww. Here's hoping that never happens again!
p.s. (added at 7 p.m.) The GPS is a hit. He keeps checking out how far places are from where he's sitting, and he loves all those beeping noises. Boys and their toys!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
A few holiday parodies
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/historical/a/twas_the_night.htm
Enjoy!
Merry Christmas to you and your family. May you have peace and joy in this holiday season.
Enjoy!
Merry Christmas to you and your family. May you have peace and joy in this holiday season.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Just when I think I get it...
I've used Shutterfly, an online service that prints jpegs that have been uploaded into various formats, for a couple of years now, and for the most part I've been pleased. The products - a small poster of shots from my trip to Belgium, and calendars for 2008 and 2009 showing views of the area where I live - are of good quality. The colors are true and bright, the stock on which they're printed is sturdy, and the overall effect is very nice. The problem I have with this service is the complicated procedure required to place orders or re-order products.
Two steps are required to complete an order: purchase of a pre-paid plan (or putting money in the bank) and ordering particular products (charged against the money in the bank). These steps aren't clear on the web page. As a result, I've had to contact them directly to make sure that what I was doing was what I wanted to do. Well, this time I'm even less happy about having to do that. It seems that I duplicated my request to purchase a pre-paid plan, and I didn't specify which product I wanted. After about half an hour on the phone waiting and trying to understand the woman with the heavy Indian accent, I was transferred to Michael who assured me that he cancelled the duplicate request and who walked me through ordering more copies of this coming year's calendar. He also showed me a few tips about how to determine what funds I had left and how many calendars I could still order with those funds. Great! I double checked that Shutterfly had only one of my two orders documented and the amount of money left in the account was appropriately small. Good. Then I went to my bank's web page, logged in and... both charges were still listed there. As of two minutes ago, after checking four more times, I still see both amounts charged to my account. Something is rotten in the state of Shutterfly!
As of this moment, I am NOT a happy camper. I've written several emails to them with no response. I may need to channel this energy fueled by exasperation into a phone call or two or three until I get my funds back in my bank account. This is NOT the end of this story; at the same time, it IS the reminder that just when I think I get how to use the internet to my advantage, I realize how very wrong I can be.
Two steps are required to complete an order: purchase of a pre-paid plan (or putting money in the bank) and ordering particular products (charged against the money in the bank). These steps aren't clear on the web page. As a result, I've had to contact them directly to make sure that what I was doing was what I wanted to do. Well, this time I'm even less happy about having to do that. It seems that I duplicated my request to purchase a pre-paid plan, and I didn't specify which product I wanted. After about half an hour on the phone waiting and trying to understand the woman with the heavy Indian accent, I was transferred to Michael who assured me that he cancelled the duplicate request and who walked me through ordering more copies of this coming year's calendar. He also showed me a few tips about how to determine what funds I had left and how many calendars I could still order with those funds. Great! I double checked that Shutterfly had only one of my two orders documented and the amount of money left in the account was appropriately small. Good. Then I went to my bank's web page, logged in and... both charges were still listed there. As of two minutes ago, after checking four more times, I still see both amounts charged to my account. Something is rotten in the state of Shutterfly!
As of this moment, I am NOT a happy camper. I've written several emails to them with no response. I may need to channel this energy fueled by exasperation into a phone call or two or three until I get my funds back in my bank account. This is NOT the end of this story; at the same time, it IS the reminder that just when I think I get how to use the internet to my advantage, I realize how very wrong I can be.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Santa's Village
The 54th annual Santa's Village held in our neighboring town is over, and by most accounts it was a success. The community center, housed in what used to be a Methodist church, opens its lavishly decorated upper floor to the children of the community, no matter their age. The place has been made into a little village of shops surrounding a mammoth train set that runs through its mountainous loop just outside the cottage where Santa greets visitors. Each year elves (costumed upper elementary and middle school students) give to each visitor a new ornament with the year and location emblazoned on it, and photos taken with Polaroid cameras are given to families to mark the occasion. Several generations of visitors keep the tradition alive every December, and families new to the community are just as welcome as ones who have come every year for decades.
The problem with holding an event like this is the limitation that the old building has on the number of people it can safely accommodate in its upper floor. Fire exits are clearly marked, but for safety's sake, the number of people up there at any one time is restricted. Families bring their children to the basement level first to register, get name tags, have a small figure painted on their cheek if they wish, and then they move up one flight of stairs to the main level to wait. In the interim before they can mount the wide wooden staircase, kids, parents, grandparents, and friends meander through a holiday craft fair located in the wooden-floored gym. Those of us who have booths offer a variety of items for sale ranging from homemade toffee to fishing flies, from hand painted ornaments to jars filled with colorful layers of sand, from jewelry to alpaca and mohair scarves, from quilts and afghans to carved wood items and maple syrup. Some years the number of crafters has been so large that getting around the room was easy only for the quick little children who were eluding their parents' grasp, and others, the aisles were much wider and the tables much fewer. This year was, not surprisingly, the latter.
The nice thing about the Santa's Village craft fair is that once a display is set up on Friday afternoon, it can be covered each evening and left up until the event ends on Sunday evening. Officials of the community center make sure they're the last ones out before the building is locked up tight, so they provide the security. Another nice thing is the fact that the attraction upstairs draws plenty of people who have to wait their turn, so our customers are a captive audience. Still another nice thing is the reunion-type atmosphere as people who live here and those who moved away return to experience the event, and we get to visit with them, meet their children, and catch up on their lives. (Of course I'm always amazed at the ages of their kids and the amount of gray hair I'm seeing on these people who still seem in my mind to be teenagers.) The possible drawbacks are the iffy winter weather and the state of the economy, both of which had effects this year. Friday night was more sparsely attended because of the ice and power outages in parts of the area. (I haven't mentioned it yet: we had no school on Friday due to inches of sleet and ice, downed trees and power outages.) Saturday was the day of people looking more than purchasing. Sis3 joined me for part of that day to sell her magnets, but the lookers weren't the buyers. Today was the most lucrative of the three for me and for the crafters on my side of the room. Earrings, necklaces, wrist watches, covered bridge notecards, and calendars sold, and one woman asked about purchasing multiple calendars. It looks like I'll be making another order of them, and that pleases me.
Now that Santa's Village is over, I have two more sales events - to staff at work, and at a table during the Celebration of Christmas event this Thursday evening - and the seasonal gift shop as the end-of-the-year sales, and then I'm done. It's been a better season than the fairs in early October seemed to indicate it would be, and for that I'm thankful. I'm also thankful for 6.5 work days between now and vacation!
The problem with holding an event like this is the limitation that the old building has on the number of people it can safely accommodate in its upper floor. Fire exits are clearly marked, but for safety's sake, the number of people up there at any one time is restricted. Families bring their children to the basement level first to register, get name tags, have a small figure painted on their cheek if they wish, and then they move up one flight of stairs to the main level to wait. In the interim before they can mount the wide wooden staircase, kids, parents, grandparents, and friends meander through a holiday craft fair located in the wooden-floored gym. Those of us who have booths offer a variety of items for sale ranging from homemade toffee to fishing flies, from hand painted ornaments to jars filled with colorful layers of sand, from jewelry to alpaca and mohair scarves, from quilts and afghans to carved wood items and maple syrup. Some years the number of crafters has been so large that getting around the room was easy only for the quick little children who were eluding their parents' grasp, and others, the aisles were much wider and the tables much fewer. This year was, not surprisingly, the latter.
The nice thing about the Santa's Village craft fair is that once a display is set up on Friday afternoon, it can be covered each evening and left up until the event ends on Sunday evening. Officials of the community center make sure they're the last ones out before the building is locked up tight, so they provide the security. Another nice thing is the fact that the attraction upstairs draws plenty of people who have to wait their turn, so our customers are a captive audience. Still another nice thing is the reunion-type atmosphere as people who live here and those who moved away return to experience the event, and we get to visit with them, meet their children, and catch up on their lives. (Of course I'm always amazed at the ages of their kids and the amount of gray hair I'm seeing on these people who still seem in my mind to be teenagers.) The possible drawbacks are the iffy winter weather and the state of the economy, both of which had effects this year. Friday night was more sparsely attended because of the ice and power outages in parts of the area. (I haven't mentioned it yet: we had no school on Friday due to inches of sleet and ice, downed trees and power outages.) Saturday was the day of people looking more than purchasing. Sis3 joined me for part of that day to sell her magnets, but the lookers weren't the buyers. Today was the most lucrative of the three for me and for the crafters on my side of the room. Earrings, necklaces, wrist watches, covered bridge notecards, and calendars sold, and one woman asked about purchasing multiple calendars. It looks like I'll be making another order of them, and that pleases me.
Now that Santa's Village is over, I have two more sales events - to staff at work, and at a table during the Celebration of Christmas event this Thursday evening - and the seasonal gift shop as the end-of-the-year sales, and then I'm done. It's been a better season than the fairs in early October seemed to indicate it would be, and for that I'm thankful. I'm also thankful for 6.5 work days between now and vacation!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
New England Weather
We're on a two-hour delayed opening for work today because it's raining instead of snowing. Monday was crazy cold and windy, Tuesday was cold and snowy (an inch or two), and today is warm and rainy, but the rain is freezing on to the very cold pavement. With luck, the parking lot won't be a skating rink by the time I get there. I'm hosting an "art attack" this afternoon which means I'll need to carry in an assortment of jewelry making tools and supplies, and I certainly don't want to slip and fall with my hands full of them. Actually, I just don't want to slip and hurt myself. Despite the confidence that yoga classes have given me, I'm still feeling more and more mortal, and I want more and more to avoid pain. My way of doing that is to be more cautious....and to avoid wearing high heels.
Since my brother in law who usually holds the Christmas gathering at his house where the kids grew up is recovering from knee surgery, it looks like we may be having my family here for Christmas, but not on Christmas Day. Both niece and nephew have other obligations on the holiday itself, so the gathering most likely will be held on one of the Sundays around Christmas. I don't mind playing hostess again, but I think this time I'll prepare all food in advance so I can actually socialize.
Since my brother in law who usually holds the Christmas gathering at his house where the kids grew up is recovering from knee surgery, it looks like we may be having my family here for Christmas, but not on Christmas Day. Both niece and nephew have other obligations on the holiday itself, so the gathering most likely will be held on one of the Sundays around Christmas. I don't mind playing hostess again, but I think this time I'll prepare all food in advance so I can actually socialize.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Behind
No, not MY behind....I AM behind!
Synopsis:
School presents new challenges each day as I can't just let my student teacher do her thing, even now in the last few days of her presence. Midterm grades need to be posted today and she still has grading left undone, despite her promises to be all caught up by Monday morning. She's good, but she's not perfect.
New male student in my wacko 4th period class, one I've been advised not to confront or engage in bargaining with, one not to turn my back on. Because there are not enough "coded" students in the class, I can't have an aide in this bunch of ADHD/repeater/low level boys.
Craft fairs continue on weekends, and I do sell enough to stay solvent. The local seasonal shop is also working to my benefit. My web page brings in a little business, so that's a good thing. I should be still in the black by the end of the year but by nowhere near as much as I was last year.
I'm still feeling restless, almost afloat. It could be that my energies feel torn between the creativity of my arts and the responsibilities of my career. Maybe this means I need to make some kind of decision or forge ahead in some particular direction. It really can't be a major change in job since I have three years of car payments ahead of me, but I'll give it some thought.
Synopsis:
School presents new challenges each day as I can't just let my student teacher do her thing, even now in the last few days of her presence. Midterm grades need to be posted today and she still has grading left undone, despite her promises to be all caught up by Monday morning. She's good, but she's not perfect.
New male student in my wacko 4th period class, one I've been advised not to confront or engage in bargaining with, one not to turn my back on. Because there are not enough "coded" students in the class, I can't have an aide in this bunch of ADHD/repeater/low level boys.
Craft fairs continue on weekends, and I do sell enough to stay solvent. The local seasonal shop is also working to my benefit. My web page brings in a little business, so that's a good thing. I should be still in the black by the end of the year but by nowhere near as much as I was last year.
I'm still feeling restless, almost afloat. It could be that my energies feel torn between the creativity of my arts and the responsibilities of my career. Maybe this means I need to make some kind of decision or forge ahead in some particular direction. It really can't be a major change in job since I have three years of car payments ahead of me, but I'll give it some thought.
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