Senator Obama says he'll be announcing his Vice Presidential running mate via text message.
Are you on the list?
Today Taylor starts back to school. I admit that, in my flurry to get kids registered at the high school, I really hadn't thought too much about him starting. I have intentionally NOT shopped for his school supplies, just getting him some paper and writing implements. There is usually a list as long as my arm of supplies and then he ends up not using them all. Last night he said, "What time does the bus come?" Hmmm...hadn't really thought about that one too much. I told him to shoot for 7:45 and the driver would tell him more in a few days. We are happy to have our favorite driver this year again. We didn't have him last year as his route got too large and he was moved to the other side of the neighborhood.
So Taylor will be getting himself up and out to the bus on time. This scares me a bit because he has never been good at getting up. I told him last night that he gets three times to miss the bus and then he has to come to work with me for the rest of that semester. That would mean he'd have to get up at 6 instead of 7 and come to work with me at 7. There would be nothing for him to do for 90 minutes while he waits for school to start. Hopefully that will be enough incentive to keep him on track with getting up.
We aren't leaving him out there to sink or swim, though. Mensa Boy will try to get him up before he leaves the house and then will call him 10 minutes later. I'll call or text him when it's time to get out the door. So really? He should be able to do this.
It's time. Time to get greet the kids coming back to school! Big Day! I LOVE THIS!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Cups of Derision
It hasn't stopped them from actually using them, but my guys are not too thrilled about these $1.49 Hannah Montana drinking glasses I picked up at the food kitty the other day. The photo doesn't look that great because these are the snazzy kinds of cups that change when you wiggle them around.
I See How it Is
This morning I left our bathroom to begin my day, going down to put my waffles in the toaster oven. (Lifestream Pomegran Plus waffles, I might add, which I top with natural peanut butter and dried cherries)
So back to my anecdote: I found my little vitamin tube on the counter. Each morning I fill a little metal tube with my daily vitamins and I carry it around with me until such time as I have enough food in my stomach to keep the fish oil from coming back on me...usually after lunch. The tube was still empty from yesterday, so I scooped it up and went back upstairs to fill it.
As I entered the bathroom, I noticed that Mensa Boy, in the 2.5 minutes I was gone, had spread all his stuff all the way across the bathroom counter, some of it right on the edge of my sink.
"Oh. I see how it is," I said.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"If I die prematurely you are just going to take over completely. You'll spread all the way across the bed the first night, too," I accused.
"No. I'll take all my stuff, put it over there, and leave it out!" he said.
So back to my anecdote: I found my little vitamin tube on the counter. Each morning I fill a little metal tube with my daily vitamins and I carry it around with me until such time as I have enough food in my stomach to keep the fish oil from coming back on me...usually after lunch. The tube was still empty from yesterday, so I scooped it up and went back upstairs to fill it.
As I entered the bathroom, I noticed that Mensa Boy, in the 2.5 minutes I was gone, had spread all his stuff all the way across the bathroom counter, some of it right on the edge of my sink.
"Oh. I see how it is," I said.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"If I die prematurely you are just going to take over completely. You'll spread all the way across the bed the first night, too," I accused.
"No. I'll take all my stuff, put it over there, and leave it out!" he said.
Monday, August 18, 2008
School's Starting
Did I post this photo somewhere already? Maybe it was on my old blog. (Which reminds me that I need to continue moving those old entries over to this one. Maybe in my spare time...ha! Well, actually I do have spare time, I just like to spend it sleeping.)
School will start on Thursday. Apparently right in time for a big ole tropical storm to come through and dump feet and feet of water on us. Funny. We keep hearing dire warnings of flooding, scattered through with happy sounds about our drought ending, but when you go to the 5-day forcast on Google, it just says 40% chance of rain. Go figure.
Well, as you can imagine, things are quite hot at school these days. I don't mean temperature-wise. Our air conditioning works extremely (probably too) well, thank you. What I'm saying is that our schools are hotbeds of activity as we get our usual influx of new students, along with the crowds of kids wanting to change their schedules. Some of the schedule-changers will outright admit they want to change so they can be in some other teacher's class, or be with their friends. But many will dance around the issue, inventing all sorts of reasons why they need to change. We are getting quite adept at sniffing out the imposters and sending them packing.
And speaking of packing...the manchild here has done none of it so far. Neither has he read the required reading ("Peace Like a River" by Lief Enger) or done the required 3-hour online alcohol class. Last weekend I was prepared to go head-to-head with him about the packing issue when my good friend and Principal told me to just let it go and let him deal with it. "Just say 'I hate it for you,' when he whines about having to do it all the night before," she wisely said. And so I let go and we had a nice weekend.
Friday night Mensa Boy, Nate and I sat around in the living room playing with our webcams, setting up Skype so we can all call each other. And then of course we had to test everything several times while Taylor cooked us supper. Feedback noises are kind of cool on computers.
Saturday night Nate and I went shopping at Target. I bought him 3 more pair of shorts and a few incidentals. And I had a chance to talk to him about what was stressing him. And I was surprised to learn that he's totally stressed about stuff I hadn't thought of, and not at all concerned about stuff I'm concerned about. So there. My "mom bubble" was expanded a bit.
Sunday buddy Tambri and I did our toes and watched a movie. This is the second time we've spent Sunday afternoon doing our toes and visiting. It's very relaxing and we might keep it up even after sandal season is over. Maybe we'll move to funkier colors then.
And now it's 9:35 and I need to go to bed. As a T likes to say, "Last night I slept as well as bacon cooking in a frypan...flip...flip...flip."
School will start on Thursday. Apparently right in time for a big ole tropical storm to come through and dump feet and feet of water on us. Funny. We keep hearing dire warnings of flooding, scattered through with happy sounds about our drought ending, but when you go to the 5-day forcast on Google, it just says 40% chance of rain. Go figure.
Well, as you can imagine, things are quite hot at school these days. I don't mean temperature-wise. Our air conditioning works extremely (probably too) well, thank you. What I'm saying is that our schools are hotbeds of activity as we get our usual influx of new students, along with the crowds of kids wanting to change their schedules. Some of the schedule-changers will outright admit they want to change so they can be in some other teacher's class, or be with their friends. But many will dance around the issue, inventing all sorts of reasons why they need to change. We are getting quite adept at sniffing out the imposters and sending them packing.
And speaking of packing...the manchild here has done none of it so far. Neither has he read the required reading ("Peace Like a River" by Lief Enger) or done the required 3-hour online alcohol class. Last weekend I was prepared to go head-to-head with him about the packing issue when my good friend and Principal told me to just let it go and let him deal with it. "Just say 'I hate it for you,' when he whines about having to do it all the night before," she wisely said. And so I let go and we had a nice weekend.
Friday night Mensa Boy, Nate and I sat around in the living room playing with our webcams, setting up Skype so we can all call each other. And then of course we had to test everything several times while Taylor cooked us supper. Feedback noises are kind of cool on computers.
Saturday night Nate and I went shopping at Target. I bought him 3 more pair of shorts and a few incidentals. And I had a chance to talk to him about what was stressing him. And I was surprised to learn that he's totally stressed about stuff I hadn't thought of, and not at all concerned about stuff I'm concerned about. So there. My "mom bubble" was expanded a bit.
Sunday buddy Tambri and I did our toes and watched a movie. This is the second time we've spent Sunday afternoon doing our toes and visiting. It's very relaxing and we might keep it up even after sandal season is over. Maybe we'll move to funkier colors then.
And now it's 9:35 and I need to go to bed. As a T likes to say, "Last night I slept as well as bacon cooking in a frypan...flip...flip...flip."
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Backyard Butterfly
It's late. And the end of a very busy weekend. To be honest I'd blog a lot more if I could do it at work. It doesn't take but a minute to write an entry but the school filters to do not allow access to either Flickr or blogspot.
I shot this with my 55-200 zoom on a tripod this afternoon. Shutter priority, of course. Butterflies move pretty fast.
We visited Erskine College all day yesterday. We left very early and got home about mid-evening. I'll write about that later.
I shot this with my 55-200 zoom on a tripod this afternoon. Shutter priority, of course. Butterflies move pretty fast.
We visited Erskine College all day yesterday. We left very early and got home about mid-evening. I'll write about that later.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Late Bloomers
I'm a late bloomer myself, so I don't hold anything against my Crape Myrtle tree for choosing to bloom almost a month later than the neighbor's. Sometimes I wish it were a more exciting color than white, but we should strive to accept some things and people for the way they are, shouldn't we?
I've been shooting this tree for a couple of days, hoping to get a photo for a special project I'm working on. I like this one, but am not convinced that it's the one I want. We'll see.
It's been a bit hectic here, as you can imagine. Nate leaves for Erskine on August 23, so we are busy getting him to doctor appointments and shopping for dorm supplies. It's tax-free weekend here, but I'm not really mustering up the courage to go out and battle the crowds in the 90+ heat to save 7.5%. I might go to Wal-Mart today. Yup. Wal-Mart. On a Sunday afternoon. But I need his bedding and there is a pretty nice store here in Tega Cay. We'll see.
Taylor and I spent a few hours cooking yesterday for a story I wrote this morning on tailgating food. We did a cranberry walnut coleslaw recipe that I got from buddy Rena and a marinated shrimp recipe I got from buddy Sarah. We also made another batch of peach lemonade because Mensa Boy didn't get any of it last time. This was the second food story I've done in a week. The other was my annual treatise to the South Carolina peach. That one should be in next week's paper, so I'll post some photos and recipes next week.
It's been great having Taylor with me in the kitchen. Periodically I have to tell him I don't want help, though. Cooking is, after all, my hobby. So sometimes I like to just put on some tunes (typically Norah Jones), pour a glass of wine and just cook. But he does have a knack for it. Especially grilling. He pulled off some wonderful butterfly chops last week that absolutely were fantastic. They were done perfectly, very moist and yet cooked through. It took me a long time to perfect pork chops on the grill without drying them out. He's also become a bit of a grilled corn aficianado, although our attempt to cook cobs on the cast iron grill pan on top of the stove was not so great. We had copious amounts of smoke alternating with very slow cooking as we turned the heat up and down to find the right method. He finally decided he'd rather do that outside from now on, too.
I started back to work on Thursday. I was surprised to roll up to the building only to find everyone else already there. Apparently we were still on the 4-day workweek, so I had to work 10 hours that day! Since I didn't show up until 7, I was stuck there until 5:30 or 6. More like 6:15, since I kind of dithered around at lunch. But, it did mean I had Friday off, so that was cool. And this next week will be the last 4-day work week. So one more Friday off!
That's it. It's Sunday afternoon, which means NAPTIME!
I've been shooting this tree for a couple of days, hoping to get a photo for a special project I'm working on. I like this one, but am not convinced that it's the one I want. We'll see.
It's been a bit hectic here, as you can imagine. Nate leaves for Erskine on August 23, so we are busy getting him to doctor appointments and shopping for dorm supplies. It's tax-free weekend here, but I'm not really mustering up the courage to go out and battle the crowds in the 90+ heat to save 7.5%. I might go to Wal-Mart today. Yup. Wal-Mart. On a Sunday afternoon. But I need his bedding and there is a pretty nice store here in Tega Cay. We'll see.
Taylor and I spent a few hours cooking yesterday for a story I wrote this morning on tailgating food. We did a cranberry walnut coleslaw recipe that I got from buddy Rena and a marinated shrimp recipe I got from buddy Sarah. We also made another batch of peach lemonade because Mensa Boy didn't get any of it last time. This was the second food story I've done in a week. The other was my annual treatise to the South Carolina peach. That one should be in next week's paper, so I'll post some photos and recipes next week.
It's been great having Taylor with me in the kitchen. Periodically I have to tell him I don't want help, though. Cooking is, after all, my hobby. So sometimes I like to just put on some tunes (typically Norah Jones), pour a glass of wine and just cook. But he does have a knack for it. Especially grilling. He pulled off some wonderful butterfly chops last week that absolutely were fantastic. They were done perfectly, very moist and yet cooked through. It took me a long time to perfect pork chops on the grill without drying them out. He's also become a bit of a grilled corn aficianado, although our attempt to cook cobs on the cast iron grill pan on top of the stove was not so great. We had copious amounts of smoke alternating with very slow cooking as we turned the heat up and down to find the right method. He finally decided he'd rather do that outside from now on, too.
I started back to work on Thursday. I was surprised to roll up to the building only to find everyone else already there. Apparently we were still on the 4-day workweek, so I had to work 10 hours that day! Since I didn't show up until 7, I was stuck there until 5:30 or 6. More like 6:15, since I kind of dithered around at lunch. But, it did mean I had Friday off, so that was cool. And this next week will be the last 4-day work week. So one more Friday off!
That's it. It's Sunday afternoon, which means NAPTIME!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Bat Tower
This is the AT&T building in downtown Nashville. Buddy Chris says they refer to it as the bat tower. I can see why.
And many thanks to the anonymous reader that identified the red sculpture. It is called "Ghost Ballet," and was done by artist Alice Aycock. Anonymous put a link to a Nashville photo blog that tells about it and has a photo from an entirely different perspective. Take a look.
Here is Aycock's official website. Definitely worth a look.
Yesterday's quest for a new comforter for our bedroom was fruitless, but I may go back today and pick up one I saw in Macy's. I kept getting stymied by the browns because I keep thinking the walls in our bedroom have a sort of rosie-ness to the brown color. But really I won't know how it works out until I bite the bullet and buy one. The thing is, I DESPISE doing returns so I'm trying very hard to get as close to what I want as possible.
Today will be doctor appointments all around and a lot of extra errands. Yuck. But then they will be out of the way!
And many thanks to the anonymous reader that identified the red sculpture. It is called "Ghost Ballet," and was done by artist Alice Aycock. Anonymous put a link to a Nashville photo blog that tells about it and has a photo from an entirely different perspective. Take a look.
Here is Aycock's official website. Definitely worth a look.
Yesterday's quest for a new comforter for our bedroom was fruitless, but I may go back today and pick up one I saw in Macy's. I kept getting stymied by the browns because I keep thinking the walls in our bedroom have a sort of rosie-ness to the brown color. But really I won't know how it works out until I bite the bullet and buy one. The thing is, I DESPISE doing returns so I'm trying very hard to get as close to what I want as possible.
Today will be doctor appointments all around and a lot of extra errands. Yuck. But then they will be out of the way!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Broccoli Pesto Lunch
One of my favorite tomato-season lunches is pasta tossed with pesto and tomatoes. You may recall that in this post I mentioned Broccoli Pesto & Fusilli Pasta, a recipe I found on one of my favorite food sites, 101 Cookbooks. At the time I said I didn't even shoot that supper because their photos are so much better than mine anyway.
But when I took the leftover pesto, tossed it with the leftover fusilli, threw in the rest of the chard and tossed in a yellow heirloom tomato, I pretty much couldn't resist shooting my lunch.
I've done a bit more food photography these last couple of days as I've worked on my annual peach story for the paper. I made a peach lemonade and then some peach pasta, which we put on top of some excellent butterflied pork chops that Taylor grilled up for us. I will post those after the story is written. Which I really should do today.
This is my last week of summer. And not even a full week. I start back Thursday. I'm sad to see the summer end, as I've really enjoyed just relaxing and not working...either physically or mentally. There is a lot to be said for having a job that stays at the job and doesn't follow you around in your head like writing does.
I will spend the next three days doing those summer things that should be done before school lets out. A couple of doctor appointments and then I need to get eye exams done for the guys too. But I will also start the "dorm shopping" this week. This will probably take up quite a bit of time in the next few weeks. That list is rather long. Nate received his roommate info and room assignment in the mail Saturday, so we should contact his new roommate to see what he has so we can coordinate stuff like televisions and microwaves and refrigerators. Also lofts. Erskine has loft kits we can buy for $50 and Nate wants to do that. If Matthew does too, then it will be easier to figure out the dorm room. We'll see the room a week from Saturday during orientation and we can map it out and plan it then. But tax-free weekend is this weekend, so we should do some buying now.
And that's it for today. I'll need to start figuring out how to balance the blogging with work and jazzercise and home care. Blogging kind of went by the wayside there for a while.
But when I took the leftover pesto, tossed it with the leftover fusilli, threw in the rest of the chard and tossed in a yellow heirloom tomato, I pretty much couldn't resist shooting my lunch.
I've done a bit more food photography these last couple of days as I've worked on my annual peach story for the paper. I made a peach lemonade and then some peach pasta, which we put on top of some excellent butterflied pork chops that Taylor grilled up for us. I will post those after the story is written. Which I really should do today.
This is my last week of summer. And not even a full week. I start back Thursday. I'm sad to see the summer end, as I've really enjoyed just relaxing and not working...either physically or mentally. There is a lot to be said for having a job that stays at the job and doesn't follow you around in your head like writing does.
I will spend the next three days doing those summer things that should be done before school lets out. A couple of doctor appointments and then I need to get eye exams done for the guys too. But I will also start the "dorm shopping" this week. This will probably take up quite a bit of time in the next few weeks. That list is rather long. Nate received his roommate info and room assignment in the mail Saturday, so we should contact his new roommate to see what he has so we can coordinate stuff like televisions and microwaves and refrigerators. Also lofts. Erskine has loft kits we can buy for $50 and Nate wants to do that. If Matthew does too, then it will be easier to figure out the dorm room. We'll see the room a week from Saturday during orientation and we can map it out and plan it then. But tax-free weekend is this weekend, so we should do some buying now.
And that's it for today. I'll need to start figuring out how to balance the blogging with work and jazzercise and home care. Blogging kind of went by the wayside there for a while.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Just Like His Father
"Here Taylor," I said as I handed him my old cell phone.
"Sweet! Is it broken?" he asked enthusiastically.
"Uh. No. It's your own cell phone," I told him.
Well of course that made him even happier. I asked him if he minded getting my old one. "I don't care," he said.
Cool kid, huh?
"Sweet! Is it broken?" he asked enthusiastically.
"Uh. No. It's your own cell phone," I told him.
Well of course that made him even happier. I asked him if he minded getting my old one. "I don't care," he said.
Cool kid, huh?
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Red Sculpture in Nashville
I have no idea what this sculpture is. It's in downtown Nashville and I've googled around quite a bit trying to find out the name, artist, etc, all to no avail. We had a good time speculating on it.
It's going to be 100 degrees here today. But right now it's very pleasant on my patio with my smoothie and coffee. I need to leave for Jazzercise in a few minutes and I'm experiencing quite a pull to just stay here and enjoy the outside as long as I can.
Yesterday I took Taylor and Fred to my friend's pool and we hung out there for a couple of hours. It's so incredibly relaxing to just float around listening to them play and talk and catching a bit of NPR. We'll probably do that again today. After the run to the farm, of course. And I need to get on the ball with a couple of food stories. One with peaches, the other with "cheap eats."
It's going to be 100 degrees here today. But right now it's very pleasant on my patio with my smoothie and coffee. I need to leave for Jazzercise in a few minutes and I'm experiencing quite a pull to just stay here and enjoy the outside as long as I can.
Yesterday I took Taylor and Fred to my friend's pool and we hung out there for a couple of hours. It's so incredibly relaxing to just float around listening to them play and talk and catching a bit of NPR. We'll probably do that again today. After the run to the farm, of course. And I need to get on the ball with a couple of food stories. One with peaches, the other with "cheap eats."
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Guitar Shop
I'm in a black & white mood today. Probably because we watched a b&w foreign film last night, "Angel-A." I enjoyed the movie, but wouldn't give it my highest rating. It was a bit risque but I thought worth it for the story. An angel comes to help straighten out a loser in Paris. The movie was in French with English subtitles, which I always enjoy.
I shot this in a guitar shop in downtown Nashville last week. I never did take note of the name of the shop.
Oh by the way! Had a wonderful supper last night! Broccoli Pesto & Fusilli Pasta from the website 101 Cookbooks. It was superb. The photo on the website is delicious. I didn't even bother shooting my own.
I shot this in a guitar shop in downtown Nashville last week. I never did take note of the name of the shop.
Oh by the way! Had a wonderful supper last night! Broccoli Pesto & Fusilli Pasta from the website 101 Cookbooks. It was superb. The photo on the website is delicious. I didn't even bother shooting my own.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Payback
I am a stalker. I stalk my friend Rena when I get a chance. Usually I leave something on her car for her when I'm out shopping near her work. It might be a stick of gum, an orange with a smiley face drawn on it, a jar of wild capers...whatever jumps into my hand and says "I need to be on Rena's car.
The other day, with Lis' assistance, I wrote a message on several pieces of post-it note paper and stuck it all over her car. The post-its were perfect for Rena because they said "blah blah blah" on the top, which is something she always says. Most of the pad of 100 notes was left so I stuck the pad on her back window so she could use them later.
The prank was good. The execution was good. But the notes did not stand up to the light breezes we had that day. Rena and her boss had to pick them up from the parking lot ground, grass and bushes when they got off work. The next morning she stuck them on my mailbox. Her timing was impeccable. She managed to stop by minutes after I'd come in from walking the dog, and just before Mensa Boy left for work.
She did not leave me the blank ones.
These are the days winding down to when I go back to work on July 31. Days that are quite hot in the middle, but pleasantly cool and breezy at the beginning and end. I'm spending a lot of time on the patio reading during those times. I like this schedule.
The other day, with Lis' assistance, I wrote a message on several pieces of post-it note paper and stuck it all over her car. The post-its were perfect for Rena because they said "blah blah blah" on the top, which is something she always says. Most of the pad of 100 notes was left so I stuck the pad on her back window so she could use them later.
The prank was good. The execution was good. But the notes did not stand up to the light breezes we had that day. Rena and her boss had to pick them up from the parking lot ground, grass and bushes when they got off work. The next morning she stuck them on my mailbox. Her timing was impeccable. She managed to stop by minutes after I'd come in from walking the dog, and just before Mensa Boy left for work.
She did not leave me the blank ones.
These are the days winding down to when I go back to work on July 31. Days that are quite hot in the middle, but pleasantly cool and breezy at the beginning and end. I'm spending a lot of time on the patio reading during those times. I like this schedule.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Car Finders
I saw this little sheep painted on the side of this used-car business while we were sitting at a traffic light in Ridgetop, Tennessee. We made a point of stopping there on the way out of town the next day and I'm glad we did, because then I saw the sign on the front door of the business. I wish I'd shot that, but for some reason I didn't think to. The sign had their business hours posted on it and then on the bottom it said, "In case of emergency call xxxxx." A phone number. I remarked to Lis that it's cool that they are thinking of people that might have an emergency need for a used car.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Get Lost
Anyone who knows me a little bit knows that I love signs. I've always been a sign reader. And package reader, too. Maybe it's because when I was growing up our television watching was limited? And of course we didn't have gameboys and movies to watch when we traveled in the car...which was how we always traveled. And we traveled a good bit. I always had a book with me and did copious amounts of reading in the car. But every trip was heavily punctuated with Mom and Dad saying, "Hey, look at that!" and pointing out the windows. When I do that with our guys they generally don't. (Look, that is.)
The sign above was on a business in downtown Nashville. I didn't even notice the name of the store.
This one is not so terribly interesting, but it caught my attention nonetheless. This high school in a suburb of Nashville (is it Hillsboro?) has a burro for its' mascot:
But I think I like this one best. It is on a closed feed store in downtown Nashville(you may have to click the photo to read the entire postscript on the bottom):
The sign above was on a business in downtown Nashville. I didn't even notice the name of the store.
This one is not so terribly interesting, but it caught my attention nonetheless. This high school in a suburb of Nashville (is it Hillsboro?) has a burro for its' mascot:
But I think I like this one best. It is on a closed feed store in downtown Nashville(you may have to click the photo to read the entire postscript on the bottom):
Monday, July 14, 2008
Truckin' Tigger
On our way to lunch at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville (an event that didn't happen because they don't open until 5 p.m.), we were sitting in traffic and noticed this truck driver had Tigger wired to his grill. Tig doesn't seem to mind too much.
We also saw this cool fish statue in front of the Boy Scout headquarters:
We also saw this cool fish statue in front of the Boy Scout headquarters:
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Writer Lis
Lis has been with Taylor and me as we've traveled to and from Minnesota. Here she is writing a letter in our hotel room the other night.
We arrived home last night around 7:30 or so and after about 90 minutes of unpacking and settling in, we chilled out (as well as you can when it's still in the 80s after dark) on the patio with some crunchy bread, rotisserie chicken and hoop cheese. A very pleasant wind-down to the journey.
Today will be church and then probably I'll have to look at this enormous stack of mail we have here, as well as assess the damage to our checkbooks. As I write this Bear is settling in too. He has a bone that was left in the garden, RIGHT OUT IN THE OPEN WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE IT!, and is walking around with it trying to find a new hiding place. He's wearing a new harness I bought for him. It's a Gentle Leader Easy Walk Harness with the leash ring on the front of his chest. I'd like to use that when walking him to keep him from pulling so much.
That's it for now. Here's a photo of the dying butterfly we saw in the grass at a gas station in Illinois:
We arrived home last night around 7:30 or so and after about 90 minutes of unpacking and settling in, we chilled out (as well as you can when it's still in the 80s after dark) on the patio with some crunchy bread, rotisserie chicken and hoop cheese. A very pleasant wind-down to the journey.
Today will be church and then probably I'll have to look at this enormous stack of mail we have here, as well as assess the damage to our checkbooks. As I write this Bear is settling in too. He has a bone that was left in the garden, RIGHT OUT IN THE OPEN WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE IT!, and is walking around with it trying to find a new hiding place. He's wearing a new harness I bought for him. It's a Gentle Leader Easy Walk Harness with the leash ring on the front of his chest. I'd like to use that when walking him to keep him from pulling so much.
That's it for now. Here's a photo of the dying butterfly we saw in the grass at a gas station in Illinois:
Friday, July 11, 2008
William Jennings Bryan: A Recurring Theme
I took this photo at Bryan Memorial Park in Selma, IL. As in William Jennings Bryan Memorial Park. Yesterday.
I took a photo of old William too. I'll probably just upload that one to flickr. (In case you are forgetting, Bryan was the prosecutor in the Scopes Trial, arguing that evolution was both "irrational and immoral." And no, he never became president, but many of us think of him as one. I suspect because he RAN for president 3 times. And is such a prominent name in American history.)
Today Chris, Lis and I went to downtown Nashville and walked around. I shot many photos and I'll post them when I get home. We had a great time just wandering around and poking in shops and taking in the architecture of the place. We stopped in at the Ryman Auditorium, but did not take the tour since it was $16 a pop. The auditorium has been called the "Mother Church of Country Music" which, I'm sure is in part due to the fact that riverboat captain Thomas Green Ryman originally built the building to be the Union Gospel Tabernacle. Interestingly, William Jennings Bryan once lectured from the stage there.
I got a great shot of a the bronze statues of Minnie Pearl and long-time love interest Roy Acuff. I'll post that later too.
And now this evening it's wine, hot dogs, corn on the cob, and fried zucchini for supper. Tomorrow morning we'll head for home.
Oh! I nearly forgot! Tambri sent me a text that there's been a BIG FIRE at Erskine College. Yikes!
I took a photo of old William too. I'll probably just upload that one to flickr. (In case you are forgetting, Bryan was the prosecutor in the Scopes Trial, arguing that evolution was both "irrational and immoral." And no, he never became president, but many of us think of him as one. I suspect because he RAN for president 3 times. And is such a prominent name in American history.)
Today Chris, Lis and I went to downtown Nashville and walked around. I shot many photos and I'll post them when I get home. We had a great time just wandering around and poking in shops and taking in the architecture of the place. We stopped in at the Ryman Auditorium, but did not take the tour since it was $16 a pop. The auditorium has been called the "Mother Church of Country Music" which, I'm sure is in part due to the fact that riverboat captain Thomas Green Ryman originally built the building to be the Union Gospel Tabernacle. Interestingly, William Jennings Bryan once lectured from the stage there.
I got a great shot of a the bronze statues of Minnie Pearl and long-time love interest Roy Acuff. I'll post that later too.
And now this evening it's wine, hot dogs, corn on the cob, and fried zucchini for supper. Tomorrow morning we'll head for home.
Oh! I nearly forgot! Tambri sent me a text that there's been a BIG FIRE at Erskine College. Yikes!
The End of a Long Day
We saw these guys catching a catnap in the back of a pickup yesterday. We were all hurling down the freeway at 80+mph. It was nearly 90 yesterday, so I can certainly understand how workers could be so tired that they could sleep even in an open pickup truck.
I forgot to run this through the noise reducing software, so it's a bit grainy. And in the interest of full disclosure I should admit my stupidity in taking this photo:
I was driving. Lis took photos out the front windshield, but we weren't totally happy with the angle. So naturally I pulled up to where I was nearly tailgating the truck, (did I mention 80 mph?) and took the camera, one hand on the wheel, Lis' hand also on the wheel, and I got off two shots. And yeah, we had a minor child in the car.
We got to Chris' house outside Nashville right around 6 p.m. We had to let ourselves in because Chris and Kevin had to take 5-year-old Sammy to Urgent Care to have a pebble removed from her ear.
"I fell down and the rock got in there," she told the doctor.
In actuality she was in time-out for a dust-up she had with her friend Ryan when she stuck the pebble in her ear.
After a nice supper of spaghetti, which Lis made, we sat and drank wine and chatted. Today we will wander downtown Nashville for a bit, taking in the sites.
I forgot to run this through the noise reducing software, so it's a bit grainy. And in the interest of full disclosure I should admit my stupidity in taking this photo:
I was driving. Lis took photos out the front windshield, but we weren't totally happy with the angle. So naturally I pulled up to where I was nearly tailgating the truck, (did I mention 80 mph?) and took the camera, one hand on the wheel, Lis' hand also on the wheel, and I got off two shots. And yeah, we had a minor child in the car.
We got to Chris' house outside Nashville right around 6 p.m. We had to let ourselves in because Chris and Kevin had to take 5-year-old Sammy to Urgent Care to have a pebble removed from her ear.
"I fell down and the rock got in there," she told the doctor.
In actuality she was in time-out for a dust-up she had with her friend Ryan when she stuck the pebble in her ear.
After a nice supper of spaghetti, which Lis made, we sat and drank wine and chatted. Today we will wander downtown Nashville for a bit, taking in the sites.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Bear the Traveler
Here's Bear in the hotel in Bloomington, IL. We are staying at the Baymont Inn, a pet-friendly hotel. We stayed here on the way to Minneapolis (see the Beep Beep Flash Flash entry).
Bear seems to be quite the natural traveler. He sleeps well in the car and doesn't make a sound when we start or stop. He drinks when we give him water, and pretty much makes no demands on us. Last time, on the way up, he basically held his appetite and bowel habits most of the trip...except for that deposit he made behind the couch at Chris' (sorry!)...
We are staying here tonight (obviously) and then going on to Nashville tomorrow to sponge off Chris and her family for two nights. We'll pal around town with her on Friday and then head out for home Saturday.
It was a great visit, a good chance to see the family and hang out with buddy Julie (even though she about wore me out yesterday ripping wallpaper off the walls in the parsonage kitchen!). But I will be glad to have a couple of free-and-easy weeks at home before going back to work on July 31.
My friend Debbie Burgess, she of the Hungry Fox, has taken it upon herself to try to blog for 21 days straight to try to establish the good habit of blogging every day. I think I may try to do this with photography. I kind of gave up the 365 day flickr group because of the stress of coming up with self-portraits every day. Maybe just to take a photo every day will be a good step toward working on my photo taking and editing skills.
Bear seems to be quite the natural traveler. He sleeps well in the car and doesn't make a sound when we start or stop. He drinks when we give him water, and pretty much makes no demands on us. Last time, on the way up, he basically held his appetite and bowel habits most of the trip...except for that deposit he made behind the couch at Chris' (sorry!)...
We are staying here tonight (obviously) and then going on to Nashville tomorrow to sponge off Chris and her family for two nights. We'll pal around town with her on Friday and then head out for home Saturday.
It was a great visit, a good chance to see the family and hang out with buddy Julie (even though she about wore me out yesterday ripping wallpaper off the walls in the parsonage kitchen!). But I will be glad to have a couple of free-and-easy weeks at home before going back to work on July 31.
My friend Debbie Burgess, she of the Hungry Fox, has taken it upon herself to try to blog for 21 days straight to try to establish the good habit of blogging every day. I think I may try to do this with photography. I kind of gave up the 365 day flickr group because of the stress of coming up with self-portraits every day. Maybe just to take a photo every day will be a good step toward working on my photo taking and editing skills.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Mom's House of Whimsy
Yesterday I fooled around a bit with my camera...something I haven't done much of this summer. I decided to challenge myself by setting it on one focal length and then shooting with just manual focus. I'm pretty pleased with my results. I do have one shot, though, that I will do again with autofocus. I didn't bring a tripod and I need the vibration reduction to help with it.
But this is not that shot. These are some items my Mom has on the coffee table in her porch. The little green guy is made of a gourd. And the bowl is too. The statue is one of many she has that are made by Isabelle Bloom. (Just looked for a website and can't find one)
But this is not that shot. These are some items my Mom has on the coffee table in her porch. The little green guy is made of a gourd. And the bowl is too. The statue is one of many she has that are made by Isabelle Bloom. (Just looked for a website and can't find one)
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'
"Though the streams are swollen
Keep them doggies rollin'
Rawhide"
And roll we did. 19 miles from Cannon Falls to Red Wing, 19 miles back. All along the swollen Cannon River we kept our doggies pumping the pedals of our bikes.
My brother Ted and I met at Cannon Falls at 7 a.m. and took off about 15 minutes later. We stopped in Welch for a potty break and then went on to Red Wing. A guy at Welch told Ted there was "nothing at the other end but a McDonalds!" Dork. There's a whole freakin' town at the other end, loaded with gastronomic possibilities!
Farther into town. Away from the trail.
Right on the edge of town, where the trail dumps out, there're a couple of shopping areas with some restaurants that were not open. We rolled up to a gas station that said it had a restaurant attached and found it locked.
As we sat there on the bench outside the gas station, chuckling at our stupidity (we had spent several minutes lining up our bikes and meticulously locking them together before checking the door), a pickup rolled up.
"Are they closed?" the fellow asked. He looked about Dad's age.
Ted walked up to the open window of his truck and told him they were closed.
"I'm hungry!" I shouted from the bench.
The guy said that sometimes Econo Foods has a pretty decent breakfast. He told Ted to stay put. He'd drive over there and look and come back to tell us.
A few minutes later he came back and said, "Well, how about Perkins?" By this time I'd checked my Magellan and saw there was one 1.2 miles up the road. Ted asked if it was that far. "Probably." was the answer.
"Throw your bikes in the back and I'll run you up there," he offered.
And so was my second hitchhiking experience of the trip.
I missed the guy's name. I made Ted sit in the middle in the guy's pickup cab (that was a humorous sight...260 lb, 6'1" Ted hunched in the middle of this mini-pickup cab and me by the window.)
The fellow, I'll call him Roy because Ted said he couldn't remember his name but it was an "old guy's name like Roy," was a semi-retired building inspector and part time project manager for commercial properties.
Nice fella. I was glad I sat next to the window. At the end of the ride he said, "Watch your arm, sweetheart," when he rolled up the window as we got out. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. But it would have creeped me out if he'd called me that and I was in the middle.
So we had an enormous breakfast around 8:30 or 9 and then hit the trail to come back. Believe me, it was a LOT harder on the way back. Poor Ted had a racing saddle on his bike, which is not terribly friendly to the bottom. And of course we were getting slightly tired. And there was a breeze against us on the way back, as well as a lot of bike traffic on the trail. Everyone was out to enjoy a nice ride on the 4th.
We got back to Cannon Falls around 12, which kind of astounded us. Could we really have taken 5 hours to cover 40 miles? So we were standing there saying to each other "Well we stopped here, we stopped there, we had breakfast." Finally I said "You know, we prolly actually covered it all in about 45 minutes if we take out all the stops."
And then we were pleased.
Keep them doggies rollin'
Rawhide"
And roll we did. 19 miles from Cannon Falls to Red Wing, 19 miles back. All along the swollen Cannon River we kept our doggies pumping the pedals of our bikes.
My brother Ted and I met at Cannon Falls at 7 a.m. and took off about 15 minutes later. We stopped in Welch for a potty break and then went on to Red Wing. A guy at Welch told Ted there was "nothing at the other end but a McDonalds!" Dork. There's a whole freakin' town at the other end, loaded with gastronomic possibilities!
Farther into town. Away from the trail.
Right on the edge of town, where the trail dumps out, there're a couple of shopping areas with some restaurants that were not open. We rolled up to a gas station that said it had a restaurant attached and found it locked.
As we sat there on the bench outside the gas station, chuckling at our stupidity (we had spent several minutes lining up our bikes and meticulously locking them together before checking the door), a pickup rolled up.
"Are they closed?" the fellow asked. He looked about Dad's age.
Ted walked up to the open window of his truck and told him they were closed.
"I'm hungry!" I shouted from the bench.
The guy said that sometimes Econo Foods has a pretty decent breakfast. He told Ted to stay put. He'd drive over there and look and come back to tell us.
A few minutes later he came back and said, "Well, how about Perkins?" By this time I'd checked my Magellan and saw there was one 1.2 miles up the road. Ted asked if it was that far. "Probably." was the answer.
"Throw your bikes in the back and I'll run you up there," he offered.
And so was my second hitchhiking experience of the trip.
I missed the guy's name. I made Ted sit in the middle in the guy's pickup cab (that was a humorous sight...260 lb, 6'1" Ted hunched in the middle of this mini-pickup cab and me by the window.)
The fellow, I'll call him Roy because Ted said he couldn't remember his name but it was an "old guy's name like Roy," was a semi-retired building inspector and part time project manager for commercial properties.
Nice fella. I was glad I sat next to the window. At the end of the ride he said, "Watch your arm, sweetheart," when he rolled up the window as we got out. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. But it would have creeped me out if he'd called me that and I was in the middle.
So we had an enormous breakfast around 8:30 or 9 and then hit the trail to come back. Believe me, it was a LOT harder on the way back. Poor Ted had a racing saddle on his bike, which is not terribly friendly to the bottom. And of course we were getting slightly tired. And there was a breeze against us on the way back, as well as a lot of bike traffic on the trail. Everyone was out to enjoy a nice ride on the 4th.
We got back to Cannon Falls around 12, which kind of astounded us. Could we really have taken 5 hours to cover 40 miles? So we were standing there saying to each other "Well we stopped here, we stopped there, we had breakfast." Finally I said "You know, we prolly actually covered it all in about 45 minutes if we take out all the stops."
And then we were pleased.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
The Weather Outside is DELIGHTFUL!
I snaked an arm out from under the covers this morning to grab my cell phone.
"Ok. Its July and I'm huddling in my bed not wanting to get out because its only 55 degrees and I left the windows open last night," I text(ed?) to Rena, Sarah, Tambri, and Chris.
Yup. July 3. 55 degrees. Bracing! I got up and put on my jeans, SOCKS (!) and my warmest t-shirt. Now at 4:45 p.m. it is a really nice 78 degrees out...warm enough for crops.
My morning expedition was to ride my bike to downtown Farmington. I strapped my Jazzercise mini-backpack to my handlebars and set out to gather provisions: 2 bottle of wine (a red Rioja from Spain and a Piesporter Riesling I hadn't tried yet), a movie (The Great Debate with Denzel Washington), a bag of Foglifter coffee by Millstone and a loaf of crusty bread from the Farmington Bakery. I was pretty amazed that I could fit the two bottles and the bag of coffee in my little backpack.
Mom went strawberry picking this morning. She left at 6:00 when I was still dead to the world. So for lunch I had a grilled cheese sandwich and a handful of berries. I finished reading my book, "The Titan," by Fred Mustard Stewart. GREAT BOOK! It kept me riveted...very hard to put down.
This afternoon we sought out National Camera Exchange and I bought a small folding reflector and 3 lens caps. I've lost 2 caps so I replaced those and bought another to have as a spare. And of course the obligatory Target stop. I bought some shirts for Nate that were on sale.
While Dad's in the hospital Mom has been carrying his wallet around in her purse. When we sat down for coffee, she said, "Hmm...this is like going to the bank." And she pulled out his wallet, took $20 out, and put it into hers. "I just made a transfer," she said.
Now tonight we'll have steak. I'm in charge of cooking that when Mom's at her piano lesson. Tomorrow I think Ted and I will ride the Cannon River trail. We'll see. The day will end at Julia's with a bonfire.
"Ok. Its July and I'm huddling in my bed not wanting to get out because its only 55 degrees and I left the windows open last night," I text(ed?) to Rena, Sarah, Tambri, and Chris.
Yup. July 3. 55 degrees. Bracing! I got up and put on my jeans, SOCKS (!) and my warmest t-shirt. Now at 4:45 p.m. it is a really nice 78 degrees out...warm enough for crops.
My morning expedition was to ride my bike to downtown Farmington. I strapped my Jazzercise mini-backpack to my handlebars and set out to gather provisions: 2 bottle of wine (a red Rioja from Spain and a Piesporter Riesling I hadn't tried yet), a movie (The Great Debate with Denzel Washington), a bag of Foglifter coffee by Millstone and a loaf of crusty bread from the Farmington Bakery. I was pretty amazed that I could fit the two bottles and the bag of coffee in my little backpack.
Mom went strawberry picking this morning. She left at 6:00 when I was still dead to the world. So for lunch I had a grilled cheese sandwich and a handful of berries. I finished reading my book, "The Titan," by Fred Mustard Stewart. GREAT BOOK! It kept me riveted...very hard to put down.
This afternoon we sought out National Camera Exchange and I bought a small folding reflector and 3 lens caps. I've lost 2 caps so I replaced those and bought another to have as a spare. And of course the obligatory Target stop. I bought some shirts for Nate that were on sale.
While Dad's in the hospital Mom has been carrying his wallet around in her purse. When we sat down for coffee, she said, "Hmm...this is like going to the bank." And she pulled out his wallet, took $20 out, and put it into hers. "I just made a transfer," she said.
Now tonight we'll have steak. I'm in charge of cooking that when Mom's at her piano lesson. Tomorrow I think Ted and I will ride the Cannon River trail. We'll see. The day will end at Julia's with a bonfire.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Running Around
We have been very pleased with what a great traveler Bear is turning out to be. The first day in the car he was a little unsettled, but not a lot. He didn't cry or anything. He just looked a little "on edge." Never really relaxed much that day. But by the second day he was all about enjoying the ride. He stretched out on his seat and dropped off to sleep, not really even moving around much. He did a good job in the hotel, not barking even once if people walked down the hall.
He's also had good house guest behavior with just one accident at Chris' and one at Mom's. Both poop incidents. I don't understand why they do that, but dogs seem to need to do something in a house the first day they are there. Every dog that has visited our house has done that too.
Each morning I get up and walk him around Farmington before breakfast. He also loves Mom's fenced-in back yard, running around and exploring the gardens. At Julia's he seems a little lost out there. Julia said they would let him out and he didn't come back. They would go looking for him and find him hunched over under a tree. I think he found some mulch pile in her back yard and rolled in it, though. He really smelled like gardening manure last night when I picked him and brought him back to Mom's. So he had a 10 p.m. bath.
Sunday was a little more exciting than I would care for. Dad ended up in the emergency room at the Northfield hospital and ultimately had surgery to remove portions of his bowel, which had perforated. He will be in the hospital until at least Friday, maybe even as late as Sunday.
Yesterday brother Ted, sister Julia and I took the kids on a bike ride down the Minnehaha Parkway. We rode from Lake Nokomis to Fort Snelling State Park. It was fun to ride the old neighborhood. Everything is in full bloom and Minneapolis has done a wonderful job updating the Minnehaha Falls area. Ted and I are thinking of another ride on Friday morning.
After the ride we went to the Malt Shop for an excellent lunch and then I spent the afternoon and evening at John and Julie's house. They moved into their new parsonage a couple of weeks ago so I helped with some unpacking during the afternoon. I was in charge of the workshop room in the basement, which I brushed out with a stiff whisk broom and then organized with all Julie's tools and such. It was a satisfying project. After cleaning up, we walked back to the 50th and Lyndale area and at the Blackbird Cafe, which is next door to the Malt Shop. I had a wonderful spring pea ravioli dish.
This morning I'm just hanging around and this afternoon Lis and I plan to go to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to see the Frielander: Photography exhibit.
He's also had good house guest behavior with just one accident at Chris' and one at Mom's. Both poop incidents. I don't understand why they do that, but dogs seem to need to do something in a house the first day they are there. Every dog that has visited our house has done that too.
Each morning I get up and walk him around Farmington before breakfast. He also loves Mom's fenced-in back yard, running around and exploring the gardens. At Julia's he seems a little lost out there. Julia said they would let him out and he didn't come back. They would go looking for him and find him hunched over under a tree. I think he found some mulch pile in her back yard and rolled in it, though. He really smelled like gardening manure last night when I picked him and brought him back to Mom's. So he had a 10 p.m. bath.
Sunday was a little more exciting than I would care for. Dad ended up in the emergency room at the Northfield hospital and ultimately had surgery to remove portions of his bowel, which had perforated. He will be in the hospital until at least Friday, maybe even as late as Sunday.
Yesterday brother Ted, sister Julia and I took the kids on a bike ride down the Minnehaha Parkway. We rode from Lake Nokomis to Fort Snelling State Park. It was fun to ride the old neighborhood. Everything is in full bloom and Minneapolis has done a wonderful job updating the Minnehaha Falls area. Ted and I are thinking of another ride on Friday morning.
After the ride we went to the Malt Shop for an excellent lunch and then I spent the afternoon and evening at John and Julie's house. They moved into their new parsonage a couple of weeks ago so I helped with some unpacking during the afternoon. I was in charge of the workshop room in the basement, which I brushed out with a stiff whisk broom and then organized with all Julie's tools and such. It was a satisfying project. After cleaning up, we walked back to the 50th and Lyndale area and at the Blackbird Cafe, which is next door to the Malt Shop. I had a wonderful spring pea ravioli dish.
This morning I'm just hanging around and this afternoon Lis and I plan to go to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to see the Frielander: Photography exhibit.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Beep Beep Flash Flash
The sights and sounds outside our hotel room in Bloomington, IL on Tuesday night.
Wonderful hotel. We stayed at the Baymont Inn. It's a pet-friendly hotel, which I'd never stayed in before. Rather I should say I've never stayed in a hotel with a pet before. I guess I could have stayed in a hotel that allows them, but I've never brought one with me.
Anyway. My expectations were low. My parents had tried staying in pet-friendly hotels before with mixed results. The principle concern they had was that they seemed to be given smoking rooms, even when requesting non-smoking. Dad's theory was that they must just put all the "bad stuff" in those rooms...smokers and pets.
So Lis made the reservations (she's an AARP member) and I told her, "be sure sure sure it's a nonsmoking room!"
The hotel was spotless. And smelled crisp and clean. They were changing out carpet and furniture in some parts of it, so it was being remodeled as well.
We checked in, confusing the heck out of poor Bear as we kept taking him outside every 15 minutes trying to get him to pass some solid waste. But we did settle down and have a meal of Wendy's chili and salad. And wine. Then Taylor settled in to watch the tube and Lis and I repaired to the pool deck with our other glass of wine. It was a gorgeous evening out. No bugs, perfect temp. We settled in to bed around 10:30 and dropped right off to sleep.
Around midnight we heard what sounded like a loud clock radio beeping over and over. Lis got up to investigate and saw a red SUV parked under our window (we were on the 2nd floor) with the car alarm going off. The headlights were flashing and the beeping was persistent. We figured someone would come shut it off soon, so we went back to bed. About 3 or 4 minutes later it stopped.
An hour or so later it started up again. Lasted 3 or 4 minutes, stopped.
Every 90 minutes or so it would start again. All. Night.
I did not call the front desk. I figured someone else would. I actually slept through it for the most part. I'd hear the beeping sound, identify it, drop back off to sleep. I woke pretty refreshed except for a migraine, which was unrelated. So I was good. Taylor never knew about it. Lis said she was good.
We were in the elevator with our bags the next the morning and I said to Lis, "I see someone did stick a note on the windshield of that car." And the other woman in the elevator said they had complained to the front desk a few times during the night, once running into the fellow that was staying in the room right in front of the flashing headlights. The hotel staff didn't seem to know what to do.
That kind of blows my mind. They take your vehicle information when you register. Why didn't they look up who it belonged to, call his room, and tell him about the problem? If they couldn't reach him they could have gone to his room. And if that didn't work, they should have had it towed.
So Baymont? Nice hotel. Kind of stupid staff, however. At least at that one.
Wonderful hotel. We stayed at the Baymont Inn. It's a pet-friendly hotel, which I'd never stayed in before. Rather I should say I've never stayed in a hotel with a pet before. I guess I could have stayed in a hotel that allows them, but I've never brought one with me.
Anyway. My expectations were low. My parents had tried staying in pet-friendly hotels before with mixed results. The principle concern they had was that they seemed to be given smoking rooms, even when requesting non-smoking. Dad's theory was that they must just put all the "bad stuff" in those rooms...smokers and pets.
So Lis made the reservations (she's an AARP member) and I told her, "be sure sure sure it's a nonsmoking room!"
The hotel was spotless. And smelled crisp and clean. They were changing out carpet and furniture in some parts of it, so it was being remodeled as well.
We checked in, confusing the heck out of poor Bear as we kept taking him outside every 15 minutes trying to get him to pass some solid waste. But we did settle down and have a meal of Wendy's chili and salad. And wine. Then Taylor settled in to watch the tube and Lis and I repaired to the pool deck with our other glass of wine. It was a gorgeous evening out. No bugs, perfect temp. We settled in to bed around 10:30 and dropped right off to sleep.
Around midnight we heard what sounded like a loud clock radio beeping over and over. Lis got up to investigate and saw a red SUV parked under our window (we were on the 2nd floor) with the car alarm going off. The headlights were flashing and the beeping was persistent. We figured someone would come shut it off soon, so we went back to bed. About 3 or 4 minutes later it stopped.
An hour or so later it started up again. Lasted 3 or 4 minutes, stopped.
Every 90 minutes or so it would start again. All. Night.
I did not call the front desk. I figured someone else would. I actually slept through it for the most part. I'd hear the beeping sound, identify it, drop back off to sleep. I woke pretty refreshed except for a migraine, which was unrelated. So I was good. Taylor never knew about it. Lis said she was good.
We were in the elevator with our bags the next the morning and I said to Lis, "I see someone did stick a note on the windshield of that car." And the other woman in the elevator said they had complained to the front desk a few times during the night, once running into the fellow that was staying in the room right in front of the flashing headlights. The hotel staff didn't seem to know what to do.
That kind of blows my mind. They take your vehicle information when you register. Why didn't they look up who it belonged to, call his room, and tell him about the problem? If they couldn't reach him they could have gone to his room. And if that didn't work, they should have had it towed.
So Baymont? Nice hotel. Kind of stupid staff, however. At least at that one.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Hitchhiking in Mount Vernon, IL
I am very late with this entry. No real excuses. Sorry.
Tuesday we traveled from Nashville to Bloomington, IL. Lis and I like to get out and walk and see stuff, so after a couple of hours on the road, I asked Magellan to tell me about some points of interest. As it turns out we were just an exit or so away from Mount Vernon, IL.
The AAA information built into Magellan pointed out that the Appellate courthouse was where Abraham Lincoln argued cases and also served as an emergency hospital under the guidance of Clara Barton during a tornado in 1888. Magellan also said that there was an historic village to see in the town. So we told Magellan to take us there. And she did. Right to the center of Mt. Vernon.
We looked around and didn't really see anything that looked like a replica of a village, and no real signs about the Appellate Court. So we parked and started wandering around downtown. Taylor and Lis periodically said, "There's an old building. Maybe that's it." And so we would walk to that, ultimately finding an old church and a couple of other buildings.
Finally we saw a postal worker and asked her. She directed us down a street, told us where to turn after a bit, and we set out walking.
What turned out later to be something like 2 miles, we ended up outside the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts. We didn't go in there because we figured the village was on the other side, but as we walked by the center we were able to enjoy the many wonderful sculptures that dot their park.
Finally we came to a sign that sign that directed us to the village...to go down one more street. At this point Taylor said, "I want to go back to the car." I suspect we all did at that point. It was in the low 90s and we were pretty hot and thirsty and sweaty. Bear was dragging along on his leash. I told the other two that I would go to the car and bring it back. I suspected that we had come the long way to our present location and my internal compass was telling me that I could turn around and go straight down the street we were on and find downtown. I assured Lis that I would ask someone.
And so I set out and, after about 3 blocks, I saw an elderly gentleman outside a house pounding a "For Rent" sign into the ground. We had noticed a mailbox right there that had the name "T--" on it, and above the mailbox was another sign that said, "The house that Jack built." I had commented on it to the others when we walked by the first time.
"Are you Jack?" I asked the gentleman.
"Yes!" he said, with a quizzical look on his face.
I walked toward him with my hand outstretched. "I'm Karen and I'm lost," I told him.
He chuckled a bit and then I told him I was from South Carolina, traveling to Minneapolis to visit family with my friend and younger son. We had stopped here to stretch our legs and ended up walking pretty far from our car. I asked him to confirm my suspicion about where downtown was, and he immediately said, "Hop in the car. I'll run you down there."
And so we moved his extension cords out of the way and hopped into his Taurus.
"So when did you build your house?" I asked.
"Oh, my wife and I did in '67," he said.
"So you've lived here almost all my life," I said.
"Oh, I think I'm about three times as old as you are," he chuckled.
"Now Jack, I doubt that," I said. "I'm 48."
"Well I'm 86, so I guess almost twice then," he laughed.
As we drove back to the car (and here I proudly mention that I was correct about its' location...thanks to my great sense of direction), we visited for a bit about our lives. He lost his wife in 1992 and has three living children. One lives about 40 miles away and the others close to 300. He's a retired boilermaker and then did some arrangements for land leases to oil companies. "I still do a little of that," he said.
And we got back to the car. We exchanged email addresses and I got into my car to go back to the others.
The village was closed and is obviously a tourist thing...but it seems well put together. I was disturbed by the real gravestones that are just leaning up against the church in the village. My theory is that if old gravestones fall over or break, they should be left on the gravesite if they aren't going to be repaired. There is a great cemetery by the village. But we were too hot and tired to do any more walking around, so we left. We never did go back to the Appellate Courthouse to look around. That's the real attraction there, to my way of thinking. I guess you can call for a free tour. We'll have to do that some day.
So kudos to Jack, of "the house that Jack built!" Great guy!
Tuesday we traveled from Nashville to Bloomington, IL. Lis and I like to get out and walk and see stuff, so after a couple of hours on the road, I asked Magellan to tell me about some points of interest. As it turns out we were just an exit or so away from Mount Vernon, IL.
The AAA information built into Magellan pointed out that the Appellate courthouse was where Abraham Lincoln argued cases and also served as an emergency hospital under the guidance of Clara Barton during a tornado in 1888. Magellan also said that there was an historic village to see in the town. So we told Magellan to take us there. And she did. Right to the center of Mt. Vernon.
We looked around and didn't really see anything that looked like a replica of a village, and no real signs about the Appellate Court. So we parked and started wandering around downtown. Taylor and Lis periodically said, "There's an old building. Maybe that's it." And so we would walk to that, ultimately finding an old church and a couple of other buildings.
Finally we saw a postal worker and asked her. She directed us down a street, told us where to turn after a bit, and we set out walking.
What turned out later to be something like 2 miles, we ended up outside the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts. We didn't go in there because we figured the village was on the other side, but as we walked by the center we were able to enjoy the many wonderful sculptures that dot their park.
Finally we came to a sign that sign that directed us to the village...to go down one more street. At this point Taylor said, "I want to go back to the car." I suspect we all did at that point. It was in the low 90s and we were pretty hot and thirsty and sweaty. Bear was dragging along on his leash. I told the other two that I would go to the car and bring it back. I suspected that we had come the long way to our present location and my internal compass was telling me that I could turn around and go straight down the street we were on and find downtown. I assured Lis that I would ask someone.
And so I set out and, after about 3 blocks, I saw an elderly gentleman outside a house pounding a "For Rent" sign into the ground. We had noticed a mailbox right there that had the name "T--" on it, and above the mailbox was another sign that said, "The house that Jack built." I had commented on it to the others when we walked by the first time.
"Are you Jack?" I asked the gentleman.
"Yes!" he said, with a quizzical look on his face.
I walked toward him with my hand outstretched. "I'm Karen and I'm lost," I told him.
He chuckled a bit and then I told him I was from South Carolina, traveling to Minneapolis to visit family with my friend and younger son. We had stopped here to stretch our legs and ended up walking pretty far from our car. I asked him to confirm my suspicion about where downtown was, and he immediately said, "Hop in the car. I'll run you down there."
And so we moved his extension cords out of the way and hopped into his Taurus.
"So when did you build your house?" I asked.
"Oh, my wife and I did in '67," he said.
"So you've lived here almost all my life," I said.
"Oh, I think I'm about three times as old as you are," he chuckled.
"Now Jack, I doubt that," I said. "I'm 48."
"Well I'm 86, so I guess almost twice then," he laughed.
As we drove back to the car (and here I proudly mention that I was correct about its' location...thanks to my great sense of direction), we visited for a bit about our lives. He lost his wife in 1992 and has three living children. One lives about 40 miles away and the others close to 300. He's a retired boilermaker and then did some arrangements for land leases to oil companies. "I still do a little of that," he said.
And we got back to the car. We exchanged email addresses and I got into my car to go back to the others.
The village was closed and is obviously a tourist thing...but it seems well put together. I was disturbed by the real gravestones that are just leaning up against the church in the village. My theory is that if old gravestones fall over or break, they should be left on the gravesite if they aren't going to be repaired. There is a great cemetery by the village. But we were too hot and tired to do any more walking around, so we left. We never did go back to the Appellate Courthouse to look around. That's the real attraction there, to my way of thinking. I guess you can call for a free tour. We'll have to do that some day.
So kudos to Jack, of "the house that Jack built!" Great guy!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
No Beans, No Potato Salad
When the Magellan Maestro 4250 suddenly went black and seemed not at all interested in being revived, we found ourselves without a safety net: NO US Atlas. Huh. AND no map of Kentucky, which was kind of bad because we were on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. Outside Paducah, on hwy 24, going around a region called "The Land Between the Lakes." The lakes being Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake. Got it?
So we decided what better thing to do than just eat lunch? And right down the road, on the way to a lock and dam, was a BBQ place.
Knoth's. That's what it was.
I opened the side door to the place and immediately said to Lis, "This smells like a good BBQ place." An older lady behind the counter greeted me and smiled and I said, "But is the tea sweet?"
"No. But I can sweeten some for you," she said.
And so we commenced to telling the other waitress at the counter about our plans for a picnic lunch by the Barkley Lock & Dam and she helped us figure out what we wanted. "Anything we have on the menu you can take away," she said. "But we don't have beans or potato salad." That was just fine with me.
While they put together our lunch, we wandered around and read the signs posted all over the walls. As I gathered up the sacks, I asked the waitress if she gets a lot of grief about not having beans and potato salad.
"Well, when he (she gestures across the restaurant) opened the place in 1964, there were no beans or potato salad. The menu is still exactly the same as it was. It's worked just fine."
I said, "I just asked because I see you have it printed on the back of your shirt."
Her friendly expression changed to mirth and she leaned in and patted my arm. "Oh! We have new shirts printed up each year and one year we put that on there just to be funny! It's my favorite one," she said.
Then she told me about one customer a while back that was kind of grieving her about beans and potato salad. "I told him we've never had it and that's that," she said. "Then I turned around and showed him the back of my shirt."
She said the customer seemed a bit puzzled, so she turned around again and pointed to her back.
"I don't understand what you are showing me," he said.
"So I turned around to her (points to the other waitress) and said, 'What does it say on my shirt?'" She told me.
"Catering," the other woman said.
And she gave a big laugh and leaned in and patted my arm again. What a great story!
So we went to the lock and watched some barges go through, ate a fantastic lunch and then got back in the car. Magellan was clearly considering retiring. Screen still black. As we drove back to the highway, I played with it and hit 'reset' a few times. Finally, just as we pulled in to a truck stop to buy an atlas, it came on.
I still bought the atlas. It's just dumb to fly without a net.
Tomorrow I'll tell you about the hitchhiking I did in Mt. Vernon, IL.
So we decided what better thing to do than just eat lunch? And right down the road, on the way to a lock and dam, was a BBQ place.
Knoth's. That's what it was.
I opened the side door to the place and immediately said to Lis, "This smells like a good BBQ place." An older lady behind the counter greeted me and smiled and I said, "But is the tea sweet?"
"No. But I can sweeten some for you," she said.
And so we commenced to telling the other waitress at the counter about our plans for a picnic lunch by the Barkley Lock & Dam and she helped us figure out what we wanted. "Anything we have on the menu you can take away," she said. "But we don't have beans or potato salad." That was just fine with me.
While they put together our lunch, we wandered around and read the signs posted all over the walls. As I gathered up the sacks, I asked the waitress if she gets a lot of grief about not having beans and potato salad.
"Well, when he (she gestures across the restaurant) opened the place in 1964, there were no beans or potato salad. The menu is still exactly the same as it was. It's worked just fine."
I said, "I just asked because I see you have it printed on the back of your shirt."
Her friendly expression changed to mirth and she leaned in and patted my arm. "Oh! We have new shirts printed up each year and one year we put that on there just to be funny! It's my favorite one," she said.
Then she told me about one customer a while back that was kind of grieving her about beans and potato salad. "I told him we've never had it and that's that," she said. "Then I turned around and showed him the back of my shirt."
She said the customer seemed a bit puzzled, so she turned around again and pointed to her back.
"I don't understand what you are showing me," he said.
"So I turned around to her (points to the other waitress) and said, 'What does it say on my shirt?'" She told me.
"Catering," the other woman said.
And she gave a big laugh and leaned in and patted my arm again. What a great story!
So we went to the lock and watched some barges go through, ate a fantastic lunch and then got back in the car. Magellan was clearly considering retiring. Screen still black. As we drove back to the highway, I played with it and hit 'reset' a few times. Finally, just as we pulled in to a truck stop to buy an atlas, it came on.
I still bought the atlas. It's just dumb to fly without a net.
Tomorrow I'll tell you about the hitchhiking I did in Mt. Vernon, IL.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Who Is This?
Today I went shopping for a SKIRT.
To wear to a WEDDING.
A wedding I invited MYSELF TO.
And with the SKIRT I bought a long NECKLACE
And DRESSY SANDALS.
hm.
Brother Becky's kid is getting married while I'm visiting Minnesota. To be honest, I don't even know which kid it is. Don't know if it's the boy or one of the girls. I suspect it's the oldest girl. The wedding is July 5.
Brother Lis told me I have to go with them if I'm going to be in town. "I was not invited," I said. "Well, that's because you live in South Carolina," she said. "You know she just didn't want to seem to be asking for a present. The rest of the brothers will be there."
So we called Becky. "I hear you're having a party!" I said. "Can I come?" She sounded delighted, so there you are.
I told my friends here about the wedding. "I suppose I can't wear slacks," I said.
"NO!" was the resounding reply.
The whining commenced.
Finally today I decided to just pop into Coldwater Creek and have a look around. I decided to give it 30 minutes, tops. Tambri rode along. Right off the bat we found a long, brown skirt and a cool, embroidered white blouse. Tambri threw a necklace on the pile just as I was paying. Walked across the parking lot to get dressy sandals at Off Broadway. And so in 60 minutes I was ready.
I sent a text to Rena, who had promised to take me shopping tomorrow.
"Mission Accomplished. Skirt, shirts, shoes, and shiny bling," I said.
"Who is this?" she texted back.
Text to Sarah...same thing.
"Who went with you?" she texted back.
Sheesh. Do they know me or what? I got good buds. And now I'm somewhat excited about the wedding.
And so that's what's going on here. Monday morning I run down to Columbia to pick up Lis, who is visiting her in-laws. We'll drive to Nashville to stay the night with Chris and then stop in Bloomington, IL Tuesday night. Should be in Minnesota by Wednesday.
I finished work last Thursday. I report back July 31. I plan to play as much as possible in the next month.
To wear to a WEDDING.
A wedding I invited MYSELF TO.
And with the SKIRT I bought a long NECKLACE
And DRESSY SANDALS.
hm.
Brother Becky's kid is getting married while I'm visiting Minnesota. To be honest, I don't even know which kid it is. Don't know if it's the boy or one of the girls. I suspect it's the oldest girl. The wedding is July 5.
Brother Lis told me I have to go with them if I'm going to be in town. "I was not invited," I said. "Well, that's because you live in South Carolina," she said. "You know she just didn't want to seem to be asking for a present. The rest of the brothers will be there."
So we called Becky. "I hear you're having a party!" I said. "Can I come?" She sounded delighted, so there you are.
I told my friends here about the wedding. "I suppose I can't wear slacks," I said.
"NO!" was the resounding reply.
The whining commenced.
Finally today I decided to just pop into Coldwater Creek and have a look around. I decided to give it 30 minutes, tops. Tambri rode along. Right off the bat we found a long, brown skirt and a cool, embroidered white blouse. Tambri threw a necklace on the pile just as I was paying. Walked across the parking lot to get dressy sandals at Off Broadway. And so in 60 minutes I was ready.
I sent a text to Rena, who had promised to take me shopping tomorrow.
"Mission Accomplished. Skirt, shirts, shoes, and shiny bling," I said.
"Who is this?" she texted back.
Text to Sarah...same thing.
"Who went with you?" she texted back.
Sheesh. Do they know me or what? I got good buds. And now I'm somewhat excited about the wedding.
And so that's what's going on here. Monday morning I run down to Columbia to pick up Lis, who is visiting her in-laws. We'll drive to Nashville to stay the night with Chris and then stop in Bloomington, IL Tuesday night. Should be in Minnesota by Wednesday.
I finished work last Thursday. I report back July 31. I plan to play as much as possible in the next month.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Hearing the Un-Hearable
I bought a remote bark control to try to gain some sort of ground against Bear's barking. It's the territorial, you-are-walking-in-front-of-my-propity barking.
It works.
Too well.
Nate and his girlfriend can both hear it. They call it the "Devil Box."
But they don't bark, either, so I guess it works really well.
It works.
Too well.
Nate and his girlfriend can both hear it. They call it the "Devil Box."
But they don't bark, either, so I guess it works really well.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Leavings
Last night was Tony's last Friday dinner with us. He leaves for Aynor, SC (35.1 miles from the BEACH!) on Wednesday. At Taylor's suggestion, I made a batch of homemade chicken noodle soup...Tony's favorite. I did a twist on the noodles this time, though. Because of a shortage of flour, I used half Masa flour. They turned out well, and I think I may do that more often. They are a sort of unappetizing gray color, though.
After supper I shot some portraits of him, which I have not uploaded yet. I'm hoping to get a really nice one to give to some of our church members. He's become my little brother and also a sort of son to a couple of the ladies at church. So I hope to have a nice one I can use to print 8x10s and give them away. Sometime this weekend I have to write a story about him. It will be column, not a news story. And it will have quite a few examples of how he's managed to crawl into our hearts to reside.
I have another few days of work this week. I've lost track of how many days I owe the district, but I'm pretty sure it's 4 or 5, so I'll work all next week and be done of the summer. Sort of. I'm organizing our vault of student records, and I won't have time during the school year, so if I don't get it completed this week I know I'll stop in later on to finish up. Taylor and I will be going to Minnesota for a couple of weeks, so it'll probably be late July before I stop in there again.
We have records of every Indian Land student dating back to 1923. That includes not only graduates, but also drop-outs and withdrawals. I've already moved the graduate files to plastic totes with lids so that the records won't be damaged if there's a fire and they get sprinkled. Now I'm working on the drop-out/withdrawal files, which are held in several 4-drawer file cabinets. Most of the drawers are too full to get your fingers into, so when you get a request for records it's hard to pull the file you want. I've decided to pull out all the ones that are more than 10 years old and put them in plastic totes too. For now I'm piling those totes on top of the cabinets, with the hope that I can get facilities management to build me more shelves up there.
The drop-out files are not filed by date, just alphabetically. So this necessitates pulling each file and checking inside to see if there is some sort of clue as to what year they left. I generally don't read students files -- just pull them, get what I need, and get out. But in some cases I have to search for a date and this can lead to some interesting finds. Most of the time there is no reason given for dropping-out or any mention of where the student went when they withdrew. But occasionally I find a poignant comment that gives me pause.
One file said that this 6th grader had been withdrawn from our school for "failure to report." Scribbled across the page was "Ran Away." And in another file was a request for a transcript a couple of years ago from the Ohio Department of Corrections. The request said that they had an inmate who indicated he'd attended Indian Land High School in the 70s and now wanted to pursue his GED.
And there are others that indicate how much personal attention our students receive. I found a note written by my friend Trish when she taught second grade many many years ago. A student of hers was moving to a new state and Trish wrote a brief note to the new school telling them what a delightful little girl the student was, and that she's an excellent student, but needs to get more sleep.
And now it's time to go to Jazzercise. And then maybe a little shopping this afternoon.
After supper I shot some portraits of him, which I have not uploaded yet. I'm hoping to get a really nice one to give to some of our church members. He's become my little brother and also a sort of son to a couple of the ladies at church. So I hope to have a nice one I can use to print 8x10s and give them away. Sometime this weekend I have to write a story about him. It will be column, not a news story. And it will have quite a few examples of how he's managed to crawl into our hearts to reside.
I have another few days of work this week. I've lost track of how many days I owe the district, but I'm pretty sure it's 4 or 5, so I'll work all next week and be done of the summer. Sort of. I'm organizing our vault of student records, and I won't have time during the school year, so if I don't get it completed this week I know I'll stop in later on to finish up. Taylor and I will be going to Minnesota for a couple of weeks, so it'll probably be late July before I stop in there again.
We have records of every Indian Land student dating back to 1923. That includes not only graduates, but also drop-outs and withdrawals. I've already moved the graduate files to plastic totes with lids so that the records won't be damaged if there's a fire and they get sprinkled. Now I'm working on the drop-out/withdrawal files, which are held in several 4-drawer file cabinets. Most of the drawers are too full to get your fingers into, so when you get a request for records it's hard to pull the file you want. I've decided to pull out all the ones that are more than 10 years old and put them in plastic totes too. For now I'm piling those totes on top of the cabinets, with the hope that I can get facilities management to build me more shelves up there.
The drop-out files are not filed by date, just alphabetically. So this necessitates pulling each file and checking inside to see if there is some sort of clue as to what year they left. I generally don't read students files -- just pull them, get what I need, and get out. But in some cases I have to search for a date and this can lead to some interesting finds. Most of the time there is no reason given for dropping-out or any mention of where the student went when they withdrew. But occasionally I find a poignant comment that gives me pause.
One file said that this 6th grader had been withdrawn from our school for "failure to report." Scribbled across the page was "Ran Away." And in another file was a request for a transcript a couple of years ago from the Ohio Department of Corrections. The request said that they had an inmate who indicated he'd attended Indian Land High School in the 70s and now wanted to pursue his GED.
And there are others that indicate how much personal attention our students receive. I found a note written by my friend Trish when she taught second grade many many years ago. A student of hers was moving to a new state and Trish wrote a brief note to the new school telling them what a delightful little girl the student was, and that she's an excellent student, but needs to get more sleep.
And now it's time to go to Jazzercise. And then maybe a little shopping this afternoon.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Sox
My life is pretty much a continuous battle with socks. Oh sure, I have the usual battle with pairs going into the laundry and only singles coming out. But the main problem I have with socks is finding them where they are not meant to be.
The other day I sat down in the downstairs bathroom and there, out of the corner of my eye to my right, behind the trashcan, was a pair of socks.
I decided to leave them there.
For two days they lay there. Finally I gave up and put them in the laundry. As I grumbled my way back downstairs from the laundry room, I scooped up my keys and went out to car to go to Jazzercise.
On the floor of my car, between the front seat, where two pair of my own athletic socks.
People who live in glass houses...
The other day I sat down in the downstairs bathroom and there, out of the corner of my eye to my right, behind the trashcan, was a pair of socks.
I decided to leave them there.
For two days they lay there. Finally I gave up and put them in the laundry. As I grumbled my way back downstairs from the laundry room, I scooped up my keys and went out to car to go to Jazzercise.
On the floor of my car, between the front seat, where two pair of my own athletic socks.
People who live in glass houses...
Monday, June 09, 2008
The Turnip is your friend
Listen to the dog barking in the background and then the abrupt end...is that a gunshot?
I Think Bear Saw the White Light
Some may think I was being overly dramatic, but I have to tell you I've seen many pets near death in my life (when in high school I helped out a veterinarian twice a week) and I'm quite certain I nearly lost my puppy last Tuesday.
We got up and walked at 5 a.m. Tuesday like we usually do. We were rounding the last leg of the block when Bear stopped to investigate what looked like a paper towel on the curb. He's a fast little devil and before I could yank him back he had it in his mouth. I snatched him up and stuck two fingers in his mouth to flick the object out. I had it in my grasp but he swallowed before I could get it out. He had some kind of slimy drool dripping from his lips. My thought was "egg... paper towel."
We continued on. About 20 or 30 feet later he started heaving and spit up something on the opposite curb. It was still dark and I didn't really stop to look at the item but it seemed like maybe he'd spit up as much as he'd taken in, so I was good. He was good.
But he wasn't. As we came around the corner toward our house he started slowing down and then finally plopped down. This? Never happens. He's still pretty much a puppy. Incidentally, it was his first birthday on Monday.
I got him into the house where he spread out on the tile floor and went still. Very, very still. His respiration slowed and his heartbeat slowed even more. I bent over him and tried to turn him over and he felt like molten lead. His eyes were glazing over and he really looked bad. It was 5:30 a.m.
I ran upstairs to put on clothes (I was pretty much wearing my pajama top and sweatpants) and told Bob I was going to rush Bear to Charlotte to the Veterinary ER. I didn't know exactly where it was, but had a general idea. He asked if he should come and I said "yes," but then it became obvious that he would want to brush his teeth and put on clothes. I told him I couldn't wait. He put Bear in the car next to me and I lit out.
I called Sarah as I drove down the road. She was fast asleep, but popped wide awake when I told her something was wrong with Bear. She told me where the clinic was. As I drove toward Charlotte, Bear didn't seem to be getting any worse, but he was not getting better, either. He was just lying there, eyes partially opened and still.
I turned onto Westinghouse and then onto Tryon and he suddenly sat up and looked around. As we pulled into the parking lot of the ER, I saw one vehicle there and it was lit up and unlocked. I carried him into the building, but he was not prone by this time. He was up, looking around, and I was carrying him upright with my hand between his front legs and on his chest. He seemed alert.
No one came to the desk when I entered. I wandered around the clinic, but did not go through the "Authorized Personnel Only" doors. I called "Hello? Hello?" several times. By this time Bear was wanting to get down. So I snatched one of their disposable rope leashes off a hook on the wall and walked him around more, still calling out. No response.
So we went back outside and wandered around on the grass, Bear acting completely normal and me watching his every move.
He seemed fine. I told him we'd go home and then see Dr. Curtsinger later if he was still not feeling well. He seemed to think that was a good idea, going over to the car and looking up at me to be put in.
And so we drove home.
He was fine the rest of the day, although pretty quiet. Especially considering we still had my parents and their dog, and sister Julia and nephew Jake all here. I took the day off. There was just too much stuff going on, with Bear and the visitors and Dad's brake problems. And Nate had an interview with the Leroy Springs Foundation about their loan program. Throughout the day Bear stuck close to me, but he does all the time, and I periodically looked at him and said, "I'm glad you're not dead."
The next day I went back to work. We had an all-day planning retreat off-site and at 4:45 Nate called and said, "I think we should take Bear to the vet. He's acting weird. He doesn't act happy to see me and he just lays there." So I told him to pile him in the car and drive straight up to Curtsinger. I'd meet him there. Nate walked in just as they were closing up shop, but they very cheerfully turned stuff back on and ushered him in.
They ran a bunch of bloodwork and determined he had no serious system issues. "He's quite depressed though," they said. "Definitely not our Bear." The final verdict was that whatever he ingested probably had irritated his esophagus and stomach. They gave him fluid under the skin to pep him up a bit and then a shot of something to sooth his gastrointestinal system.
Bear was back to normal in just a couple of hours and by the next morning he was is usual peppy self. Curtsinger's office called to ask about him and they were relieved to hear of his recovery. And here I will tell you: there is no reason that you can't have a vet that treats your pet like a valued member of the family. If your vet doesn't give you this kind of personal attention, then fire him or her.
We got up and walked at 5 a.m. Tuesday like we usually do. We were rounding the last leg of the block when Bear stopped to investigate what looked like a paper towel on the curb. He's a fast little devil and before I could yank him back he had it in his mouth. I snatched him up and stuck two fingers in his mouth to flick the object out. I had it in my grasp but he swallowed before I could get it out. He had some kind of slimy drool dripping from his lips. My thought was "egg... paper towel."
We continued on. About 20 or 30 feet later he started heaving and spit up something on the opposite curb. It was still dark and I didn't really stop to look at the item but it seemed like maybe he'd spit up as much as he'd taken in, so I was good. He was good.
But he wasn't. As we came around the corner toward our house he started slowing down and then finally plopped down. This? Never happens. He's still pretty much a puppy. Incidentally, it was his first birthday on Monday.
I got him into the house where he spread out on the tile floor and went still. Very, very still. His respiration slowed and his heartbeat slowed even more. I bent over him and tried to turn him over and he felt like molten lead. His eyes were glazing over and he really looked bad. It was 5:30 a.m.
I ran upstairs to put on clothes (I was pretty much wearing my pajama top and sweatpants) and told Bob I was going to rush Bear to Charlotte to the Veterinary ER. I didn't know exactly where it was, but had a general idea. He asked if he should come and I said "yes," but then it became obvious that he would want to brush his teeth and put on clothes. I told him I couldn't wait. He put Bear in the car next to me and I lit out.
I called Sarah as I drove down the road. She was fast asleep, but popped wide awake when I told her something was wrong with Bear. She told me where the clinic was. As I drove toward Charlotte, Bear didn't seem to be getting any worse, but he was not getting better, either. He was just lying there, eyes partially opened and still.
I turned onto Westinghouse and then onto Tryon and he suddenly sat up and looked around. As we pulled into the parking lot of the ER, I saw one vehicle there and it was lit up and unlocked. I carried him into the building, but he was not prone by this time. He was up, looking around, and I was carrying him upright with my hand between his front legs and on his chest. He seemed alert.
No one came to the desk when I entered. I wandered around the clinic, but did not go through the "Authorized Personnel Only" doors. I called "Hello? Hello?" several times. By this time Bear was wanting to get down. So I snatched one of their disposable rope leashes off a hook on the wall and walked him around more, still calling out. No response.
So we went back outside and wandered around on the grass, Bear acting completely normal and me watching his every move.
He seemed fine. I told him we'd go home and then see Dr. Curtsinger later if he was still not feeling well. He seemed to think that was a good idea, going over to the car and looking up at me to be put in.
And so we drove home.
He was fine the rest of the day, although pretty quiet. Especially considering we still had my parents and their dog, and sister Julia and nephew Jake all here. I took the day off. There was just too much stuff going on, with Bear and the visitors and Dad's brake problems. And Nate had an interview with the Leroy Springs Foundation about their loan program. Throughout the day Bear stuck close to me, but he does all the time, and I periodically looked at him and said, "I'm glad you're not dead."
The next day I went back to work. We had an all-day planning retreat off-site and at 4:45 Nate called and said, "I think we should take Bear to the vet. He's acting weird. He doesn't act happy to see me and he just lays there." So I told him to pile him in the car and drive straight up to Curtsinger. I'd meet him there. Nate walked in just as they were closing up shop, but they very cheerfully turned stuff back on and ushered him in.
They ran a bunch of bloodwork and determined he had no serious system issues. "He's quite depressed though," they said. "Definitely not our Bear." The final verdict was that whatever he ingested probably had irritated his esophagus and stomach. They gave him fluid under the skin to pep him up a bit and then a shot of something to sooth his gastrointestinal system.
Bear was back to normal in just a couple of hours and by the next morning he was is usual peppy self. Curtsinger's office called to ask about him and they were relieved to hear of his recovery. And here I will tell you: there is no reason that you can't have a vet that treats your pet like a valued member of the family. If your vet doesn't give you this kind of personal attention, then fire him or her.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
So. Where Was I?
Oh yeah.
Monday morning came and the lingering smoke from the night before had pretty much cleared. There was still a slight tinge of burned bean odor in the air, but for the most part things seemed pretty good. I went to work, arriving at 6:15 a.m. We do 4 10-hour days in the summer. I owe 2 weeks and a day to the district. But I'll be dragging those days out for a quite a while, as I planned to take a day or so here and there to visit with my sister and to work the primary election for Cassie.
Mom and Dad said good-bye to us Sunday night, planning to head out of their campground early Monday morning to begin the trek back home to Minnesota.
I started in with the post-school clean-up and shut-down. This necessitates quite a bit of running around the building and also a lot of file-shuffling in our records vault. The vault is nice. It's quiet and there are no phones in there. Unfortunately, there is no cellular signal in there, either. So whenever I've been in there a while, I go back to my desk to check my cell and my desk phone to see if there were calls.
At 8:30 I happened to be at my desk when my cell rang. It was Dad. "We are at Food Lion," he said. "The brakes aren't working on the camper. Do you think your mechanic can help us?"
I called Derek Patterson and told his receptionist the situation. They said they'd take Dad right away and I knew if they couldn't fix the problem, they'd get him to the right place. So I sent Dad up the road about a mile and went back to the vault.
A couple of hours later I checked messages and had one from Dad saying they were stuck at the mechanic and couldn't get back to our house. They needed a ride and couldn't find Nate. The message was 2 hours old. Hmmm. So I called and they had finally found him and were back at my house. They needed to take it to an RV repair place in Charlotte and didn't have a way to get it up there. So called my friend Steve, who is a home handyman. He was around and they did some more diagnosing and testing. Mom and Dad ended up staying until Wednesday morning getting it all done.
During all this time I was getting text messages from Julia saying they were stuck at the airport in Minneapolis. Needed a new plane. Then needed flight attendants. I never understand why flight attendants can't just go to the new plane with the passengers. I told her not to worry about being late getting here...I'd given her bed to Mom and Dad!
So as you can imagine Monday night was pretty chaotic. Everyone was here and I don't even remember what we fed them all. I'm glad Mom and Dad stayed a couple of days. They hadn't seen Julia since February, so they caught up a bit.
Tuesday morning, however, I had an emergency with Bear that really shook me up for a while.
Monday morning came and the lingering smoke from the night before had pretty much cleared. There was still a slight tinge of burned bean odor in the air, but for the most part things seemed pretty good. I went to work, arriving at 6:15 a.m. We do 4 10-hour days in the summer. I owe 2 weeks and a day to the district. But I'll be dragging those days out for a quite a while, as I planned to take a day or so here and there to visit with my sister and to work the primary election for Cassie.
Mom and Dad said good-bye to us Sunday night, planning to head out of their campground early Monday morning to begin the trek back home to Minnesota.
I started in with the post-school clean-up and shut-down. This necessitates quite a bit of running around the building and also a lot of file-shuffling in our records vault. The vault is nice. It's quiet and there are no phones in there. Unfortunately, there is no cellular signal in there, either. So whenever I've been in there a while, I go back to my desk to check my cell and my desk phone to see if there were calls.
At 8:30 I happened to be at my desk when my cell rang. It was Dad. "We are at Food Lion," he said. "The brakes aren't working on the camper. Do you think your mechanic can help us?"
I called Derek Patterson and told his receptionist the situation. They said they'd take Dad right away and I knew if they couldn't fix the problem, they'd get him to the right place. So I sent Dad up the road about a mile and went back to the vault.
A couple of hours later I checked messages and had one from Dad saying they were stuck at the mechanic and couldn't get back to our house. They needed a ride and couldn't find Nate. The message was 2 hours old. Hmmm. So I called and they had finally found him and were back at my house. They needed to take it to an RV repair place in Charlotte and didn't have a way to get it up there. So called my friend Steve, who is a home handyman. He was around and they did some more diagnosing and testing. Mom and Dad ended up staying until Wednesday morning getting it all done.
During all this time I was getting text messages from Julia saying they were stuck at the airport in Minneapolis. Needed a new plane. Then needed flight attendants. I never understand why flight attendants can't just go to the new plane with the passengers. I told her not to worry about being late getting here...I'd given her bed to Mom and Dad!
So as you can imagine Monday night was pretty chaotic. Everyone was here and I don't even remember what we fed them all. I'm glad Mom and Dad stayed a couple of days. They hadn't seen Julia since February, so they caught up a bit.
Tuesday morning, however, I had an emergency with Bear that really shook me up for a while.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
A Night to Remember
So. The party has ended. The people had all gone home. Mensa Boy and I were tidying up as much as we are willing to, when I said "I think I'll clean the oven."
I checked in there. Nothing had been left. It was dirty, but seemed okay to go. So I shut the door and hit "Clean."
After 20 minutes, black sooty smoke began pouring from the oven vents. Mensa Boy was starting to get extremely nervous and was opening windows and setting up the fan to blow the smoke out the kitchen window.
After another 10 minutes, we started to worry that the smoke was getting thicker and was very acrid. It seemed somewhat toxic. All I could really tell MB was that it would have to burn off. The other alternative would have been to cut power to the kitchen. So we decided to wait a few minutes more.
Finally after a total of about 45 minutes, the smoke seemed to be stopping. But we still had a lot in the air downstairs. And it really reeked pretty bad. I was worried enough that I wondered if we might sustain smoke damage to the furniture.
But the fire/smoke thing turned out to be just the beginning of a series of events that would keep us on edge for a couple of days. Stay tuned.
I checked in there. Nothing had been left. It was dirty, but seemed okay to go. So I shut the door and hit "Clean."
After 20 minutes, black sooty smoke began pouring from the oven vents. Mensa Boy was starting to get extremely nervous and was opening windows and setting up the fan to blow the smoke out the kitchen window.
After another 10 minutes, we started to worry that the smoke was getting thicker and was very acrid. It seemed somewhat toxic. All I could really tell MB was that it would have to burn off. The other alternative would have been to cut power to the kitchen. So we decided to wait a few minutes more.
Finally after a total of about 45 minutes, the smoke seemed to be stopping. But we still had a lot in the air downstairs. And it really reeked pretty bad. I was worried enough that I wondered if we might sustain smoke damage to the furniture.
But the fire/smoke thing turned out to be just the beginning of a series of events that would keep us on edge for a couple of days. Stay tuned.
It's all OVER!
The boy is graduated, the party has been thrown. Thank you notes are the next thing on the agenda. I thought the red eye on this photo was just too humorous to correct!
Graduation was Friday afternoon at Winthrop Coliseum. The venue was really too large for a small school like ours (only 100 graduates), but it was pretty with all the red of the Winthrop Eagles basketball team, and the setup really seemed intimate. I liked it better than the auditorium we've used in years past, which has always seemed dark, run-down and haunted. But the coliseum cost us $3000 more too.
Nate looked quite mature and calm during the ceremony, which went off without a hitch. I was more nervous about the ceremony than I was about Nate graduating. I was in charge of the diplomas and I think I checked them something like 11 times to be sure they were laid out on the table in the correct order and that we had one for each graduate. We had a graduate decline to participate the day before the ceremony, and another show up unexpectedly, so there was much shifting of seating arrangements and all that.
After commencement we all went to Olive Garden for a great meal. Nate's girlfriend Erin came with us, as did Tony. Olive Garden does very well with service for large groups, which I find remarkable considering that they don't take reservations.
Then Mom and I popped over to some shops to see if I could find crops and tees to wear for the open house Sunday. That was harder than I thought. I had a hard time finding crops in my size at all of the stores we were in.
Saturday was errand day and prep for the event. It was blistering hot too, which made me worry a bit about it being too hot for the party the next day.
Sunday we did the church thing and I had the beans baking all day. We retrieved 5 huge trays of bbq pork from the fire department cooler, along with 1 1/2 gallons of sauce. I think the biggest stressor was worrying about how to get the right amounts heated up to serve and how to keep the rest safely cool. Mom made a big batch of cole slaw from the recipe I managed to get from the Masonic Lodge...the only cole slaw I've ever had that I like.
The afternoon clouded up and we had some lightning for a few minutes. But by 3 or 3:30 it all looked good. So we scattered tables and chairs around the back yard and people started pouring in around 5.
Altogether we had more than 60 folks here. I only know this because I bought 60 cups and we had 2 left. But I know there were more because the posse showed up with wine around 6:30 and we used wine glasses. And there were some graduates here, who got special "Class of 2008" glasses I had for them.
The real action happened after the party. Tune back in for details. I promise, the blog will be updated more regularly now. Really.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Burnett Garden
Yes, we're still alive. Nate will graduate on Friday, if I let him live that long. Mensa Boy seems to have JUST ABOUT conquered influenza. Taylor and I are just coasting along...he's primarily on poop patrol, I'm shopping and planning for the open house on Sunday.
But today I got to go to June Burnett's house and take photos of her garden for the newspaper. She and her garden will be in Southern Living magazine in July and our papers want to write a story about the story. Delightful lady, beautiful home. Mom and I went and spent 90 minutes with her walking around and talking plants and trees and shrubs and cats.
But today I got to go to June Burnett's house and take photos of her garden for the newspaper. She and her garden will be in Southern Living magazine in July and our papers want to write a story about the story. Delightful lady, beautiful home. Mom and I went and spent 90 minutes with her walking around and talking plants and trees and shrubs and cats.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Yellow Roses
I planted this rose bush last year and I'm proud to say it survived the nightmare that was my flowerbed then, a rest in the woods for a week, and then a transplant to the newly-conditioned bed. My first bloom of the summer. Walmart: $5. I shot this 3 or 4 days ago and have had several other blooms from this plant since then.
Yesterday I was buddy Tambri's "glitter girl." We put together the signs and art for the backdrop for the recital, which is next Saturday. It will be a long, grueling day as we set up, have dress rehearsals, then the show, then clean up. I plan to extract my pound of flesh from her two weeks after that when we do Nate's open house.
And speaking of open house, I think now I'm going to change the time. Yesterday I went to a local church's BBQ fundraiser and it was pretty warm. I started really thinking about our back yard and realizing that we ought to move the open house to 4 or 5 o'clock, when the sun gets over the trees. Otherwise it will be too hard on everyone to be out there. Then they will all pile in here, which I definitely don't want!
And I've really been thinking about Nate's cake. I wanted to do something different, but I couldn't figure out what. Finally it occurred to me that I should have his Erskine acceptance letter scanned on top of it. I'll order a sheet or half sheet and then we'll make cupcakes and frost them in Erskine colors. I'm pretty excited about that. But I pulled the letter out and it's kind of bad looking. It was obviously folded up before the ink had already dried, so we've got quite a bit of smearing. Tambri suggested copying it on a color copier first to see if that would clear it up, but I think I'm going to call Erskine tomorrow, tell them what I'm up to, and see if they'd mind doing me a new one on plain, untextured paper. I'm willing to be they would.
Today the cleaning lady comes at 4 to walk the house and give me an estimate. I will be so glad to have a "big clean" done.
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. It will be a quiet, standard Sunday here, I'm sure. Mensa Boy is not around and I think Nate is working all day. I'm reasonably certain the guys have not thought about getting cards or anything. That's alright.
Yesterday I was buddy Tambri's "glitter girl." We put together the signs and art for the backdrop for the recital, which is next Saturday. It will be a long, grueling day as we set up, have dress rehearsals, then the show, then clean up. I plan to extract my pound of flesh from her two weeks after that when we do Nate's open house.
And speaking of open house, I think now I'm going to change the time. Yesterday I went to a local church's BBQ fundraiser and it was pretty warm. I started really thinking about our back yard and realizing that we ought to move the open house to 4 or 5 o'clock, when the sun gets over the trees. Otherwise it will be too hard on everyone to be out there. Then they will all pile in here, which I definitely don't want!
And I've really been thinking about Nate's cake. I wanted to do something different, but I couldn't figure out what. Finally it occurred to me that I should have his Erskine acceptance letter scanned on top of it. I'll order a sheet or half sheet and then we'll make cupcakes and frost them in Erskine colors. I'm pretty excited about that. But I pulled the letter out and it's kind of bad looking. It was obviously folded up before the ink had already dried, so we've got quite a bit of smearing. Tambri suggested copying it on a color copier first to see if that would clear it up, but I think I'm going to call Erskine tomorrow, tell them what I'm up to, and see if they'd mind doing me a new one on plain, untextured paper. I'm willing to be they would.
Today the cleaning lady comes at 4 to walk the house and give me an estimate. I will be so glad to have a "big clean" done.
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. It will be a quiet, standard Sunday here, I'm sure. Mensa Boy is not around and I think Nate is working all day. I'm reasonably certain the guys have not thought about getting cards or anything. That's alright.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Testing Vortex
I shot this at the end of a long morning of Advanced Placement testing yesterday.
I recently set my camera's "optimize image" setting to "more vivid." It makes my shots a little darker, but I like the way it makes the colors pop a little more. I cropped this to 5x5 and then applied a vortex blur, which I then erased from the student.
I have not done much shooting since I started the job, mainly because I haven't done any newspaper work since then either. I'm hoping to start doing more shooting for fun now that I don't feel compelled to work at home anymore. Today I am going to a church BBQ fundraiser to get some shots for the paper, though. I'm looking forward to that.
The patio project is nearing completion. Steve is coming today to do the mortar. I need to get out and take some shots of that, too.
Last night Taylor and I ate an odd supper and watched "Die Hard." He'd never seen it before. I asked him what he wanted for supper and he said wings. I knew I had a few. But wings take 90 minutes to bake so that they are crunchy. So I picked up sushi too. So we started grazing with sushi, then went to french fries, and then wings, topping it all off with movie candy. It was a fun night.
I recently set my camera's "optimize image" setting to "more vivid." It makes my shots a little darker, but I like the way it makes the colors pop a little more. I cropped this to 5x5 and then applied a vortex blur, which I then erased from the student.
I have not done much shooting since I started the job, mainly because I haven't done any newspaper work since then either. I'm hoping to start doing more shooting for fun now that I don't feel compelled to work at home anymore. Today I am going to a church BBQ fundraiser to get some shots for the paper, though. I'm looking forward to that.
The patio project is nearing completion. Steve is coming today to do the mortar. I need to get out and take some shots of that, too.
Last night Taylor and I ate an odd supper and watched "Die Hard." He'd never seen it before. I asked him what he wanted for supper and he said wings. I knew I had a few. But wings take 90 minutes to bake so that they are crunchy. So I picked up sushi too. So we started grazing with sushi, then went to french fries, and then wings, topping it all off with movie candy. It was a fun night.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Tenth Avenue North - Love Is Here
My new favorite group. Their debut album is due for release in about 10 days.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Clematis
I planted one clematis last fall next to the copper obelisk that Taylor and I made in cub scouts a few years ago. But really I knew it would want company...at least two more. So this spring I bought two nice, big plants from Lowe's Home Improvement for about $8 each. This is the first bloom from the three...it's one of the spring plants. I'm starting to see nearly daily changes in my garden now. It's pretty exciting!
Things are hopping around here as I ramp up prep for Nate's Open House June 1. Friend Steve is putting in the flagstones now that will extend our existing patio out slightly beyond the pergola. It looks much more finished back there now. I guess I'll need to shop for some furniture next.
I've also secured someone to do a deep cleaning of the entire house before the open house, and she'll come every week or every other week after to help out. That will help a lot. I can manage the cleaning, but it's a stress I really don't need, and if I'm doing it when Mensa Boy is here, he feels obligated to help.
So. that's all I know for now.
Things are hopping around here as I ramp up prep for Nate's Open House June 1. Friend Steve is putting in the flagstones now that will extend our existing patio out slightly beyond the pergola. It looks much more finished back there now. I guess I'll need to shop for some furniture next.
I've also secured someone to do a deep cleaning of the entire house before the open house, and she'll come every week or every other week after to help out. That will help a lot. I can manage the cleaning, but it's a stress I really don't need, and if I'm doing it when Mensa Boy is here, he feels obligated to help.
So. that's all I know for now.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Cap&Gown
This is from yesterday as well. The best, probably, of all 250 shots. I did pull a major novice boner. When I uploaded all the pix I noticed that I'd shot them all with the ISO set at 1600. That made them all much noisier. However, the colors are good and the lighting seems to be working well. It was about 6 or 7 o'clock last night when we did this.
My idea was to do this task this weekend while Mensa Boy is home is because I knew Nate would have a really bad attitude about it. My theory was that Dad would be able to make it a little more fun and try to josh him into enjoying himself.
That totally backfired. MB is so inside-out getting ready for his trip to China that his head wasn't really in the game either. I could have actually killed them both!
But we did get a few and I hope to have another run at this today. If I can't make it work out then I'll ask a friend from school, who was Nate's Biology teacher, to get together with us and help.
My idea was to do this task this weekend while Mensa Boy is home is because I knew Nate would have a really bad attitude about it. My theory was that Dad would be able to make it a little more fun and try to josh him into enjoying himself.
That totally backfired. MB is so inside-out getting ready for his trip to China that his head wasn't really in the game either. I could have actually killed them both!
But we did get a few and I hope to have another run at this today. If I can't make it work out then I'll ask a friend from school, who was Nate's Biology teacher, to get together with us and help.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Shooting Him
A semi-miserable photo shoot with Nate ended with about a half dozen shots where he actually looked like he might be enjoying himself.
We'll have another go tomorrow without the cap and gown. If I can't get something I really want, I have a friend at school that will shoot him. We are hoping to use these for the invitations to his open house June 1.
We'll have another go tomorrow without the cap and gown. If I can't get something I really want, I have a friend at school that will shoot him. We are hoping to use these for the invitations to his open house June 1.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Walking Walking Seems so Easy Now
It's been a busy week. I am fully aware that I have not been keeping up with the writing since I took the job on March 25. I'm having a hard time figuring out when to write. I can not reach Blogspot from my computer at work, so blogging for a few minutes during a break in the mania is not really an option.
hmm....that reminds me...I think there's a way to post via email. I should check into that.
There is not really anything I can say about work on the blog. Which is pretty sad because that's where the action is. But since my position is in Guidance, there is a lot of confidentiality involved and so that pretty much means I can't write about stuff there. I could maybe write about my interesting coworkers, but this community is so small that I'd worry that someone would find it.
I will tell you, however, about my first passive-aggressive act at the office.
We have a parking lot that is not large enough to accommodate every staff member. If everyone is there, the lot is full and some have to park in the driveway.
So when someone parked their brand new SUV in a space-and-a-third on Monday, I thought that was a little thoughtless. Since I was driving Mensa Boy's wearable car (buddy Tambri calls it my fashion accessory), I went ahead and parked in the little space that SUV left and was careful to leave enough room for everyone to maneuver.
However, when the same situation happened again yesterday, it seemed more like a deliberate act on the part of the other driver.
So I parked my little fashion accessory as close to the door of the SUV as I could.
Then I went on a stake-out. I was able to see the scenario from our suite and I hung around until 4, when most of the faculty leaves. I will here honestly admit I was hoping for some huge, fat woman. Although I couldn't think of any on the faculty.
Pretty soon an old, bald, limping man came out and squeezed himself in there.
I have to admit I felt a little guilty about that. But then this morning one of my coworkers told me the guy's limp was temporary. Caused by a car accident where he totaled his vehicle. Hence the new SUV.
Guilty no more.
hmm....that reminds me...I think there's a way to post via email. I should check into that.
There is not really anything I can say about work on the blog. Which is pretty sad because that's where the action is. But since my position is in Guidance, there is a lot of confidentiality involved and so that pretty much means I can't write about stuff there. I could maybe write about my interesting coworkers, but this community is so small that I'd worry that someone would find it.
I will tell you, however, about my first passive-aggressive act at the office.
We have a parking lot that is not large enough to accommodate every staff member. If everyone is there, the lot is full and some have to park in the driveway.
So when someone parked their brand new SUV in a space-and-a-third on Monday, I thought that was a little thoughtless. Since I was driving Mensa Boy's wearable car (buddy Tambri calls it my fashion accessory), I went ahead and parked in the little space that SUV left and was careful to leave enough room for everyone to maneuver.
However, when the same situation happened again yesterday, it seemed more like a deliberate act on the part of the other driver.
So I parked my little fashion accessory as close to the door of the SUV as I could.
Then I went on a stake-out. I was able to see the scenario from our suite and I hung around until 4, when most of the faculty leaves. I will here honestly admit I was hoping for some huge, fat woman. Although I couldn't think of any on the faculty.
Pretty soon an old, bald, limping man came out and squeezed himself in there.
I have to admit I felt a little guilty about that. But then this morning one of my coworkers told me the guy's limp was temporary. Caused by a car accident where he totaled his vehicle. Hence the new SUV.
Guilty no more.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Laundry Dreams
[darnit! I knew no one would take stuff out of the dryer. And here someone has left a kleenex in their pocket again. While I fluff the wrinkles out of these, I'll start a load of whites. For Pete's Sake! Why can't they shake the grass out of the socks before they put them in the basket? I guess I should just be glad they put them in the basket. Hey! Gimme that, you mangy cur! On second thought, here...let me open Taylor's door and you can deposit that pair of dirty underwear right on his bed. Hmm...I wonder if this shirt should be washed in hot? ach...what do I care? It's not mine.]
"Good morning and welcome to NPR news!"
stretttchhh. hmm...I wonder if I should start a load of laundry this morning? I don't think I need to. I think I'm all caught up.
"Good morning and welcome to NPR news!"
stretttchhh. hmm...I wonder if I should start a load of laundry this morning? I don't think I need to. I think I'm all caught up.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Plan B
Yesterday was definitely a "Plan B" day. I started out here at my desk planning to do some benefit CDs for The Clevelands. But the internet service provider went down mid-way through my blog posting and never came back up all day.
So after wandering around aimlessly for a bit, I decided to do a little gardening. I'll get out there and shoot some photos this afternoon. I saw my neighbor digging around in hers and asked if she wanted to go plant shopping. She's always up for that! So we headed out to Pike's Nursery in Ballantyne.
What a gorgeous place! The plants are so well-cared for, too. I bought some Bee Balm, Japanese Anemone, Salvia, Summer Phlox, Spike Speedwell, a Dwarf Red Columbine, Lantana, and a plant called Jacob's Ladder. Those are all perennials. Then to get some color to look at now, I put in some annual Salvia and some Dianthus. The plants were about $30 all together, and then I bought a water wand for the hose. On Friday I'll go back for herbs for the herb pots. I've also decided to put in 3 or 4 tomato plants to supplement what I get from the farm and some chili pepper plants. I love dried chili peppers, and last year we really only got a handful from the farm. They are pretty plants too, so I'll put scatter them throughout the flower garden to add interest.
Every time I dig in this garden I'm so glad that I had my friend Steve prep it last fall. I don't even have to put soil conditioner in when I plant new stuff. And using a spade to dig the hole for the new plant is optional, too. It's so moist and loose I can pretty much just scoop out handfuls with my fingers.
The stuff I planted last summer is doing just okay. The Gardenias are really not coming up the way I'd like. Actually, most of them are not coming up. I think I planted something like a dozen of them, and I can only find 3. I had to excavate for those, too. The rest seem to just be gone. I'm having better luck with the Scabiosa and Coreopsis. I also had some Penstemin and Gaillardia, and I think I'm seeing some of that. The little Clematis I planted is doing really well and starting to climb the obelisk. But it needs a couple more to keep it company. I couldn't find any at the garden center yesterday. The stuff that really looks great is the Astilbe. Yesterday before planting the new stuff I "fluffed up" the entire garden and did a little gentle digging where I'd placed flags signifying new plants.
So after wandering around aimlessly for a bit, I decided to do a little gardening. I'll get out there and shoot some photos this afternoon. I saw my neighbor digging around in hers and asked if she wanted to go plant shopping. She's always up for that! So we headed out to Pike's Nursery in Ballantyne.
What a gorgeous place! The plants are so well-cared for, too. I bought some Bee Balm, Japanese Anemone, Salvia, Summer Phlox, Spike Speedwell, a Dwarf Red Columbine, Lantana, and a plant called Jacob's Ladder. Those are all perennials. Then to get some color to look at now, I put in some annual Salvia and some Dianthus. The plants were about $30 all together, and then I bought a water wand for the hose. On Friday I'll go back for herbs for the herb pots. I've also decided to put in 3 or 4 tomato plants to supplement what I get from the farm and some chili pepper plants. I love dried chili peppers, and last year we really only got a handful from the farm. They are pretty plants too, so I'll put scatter them throughout the flower garden to add interest.
Every time I dig in this garden I'm so glad that I had my friend Steve prep it last fall. I don't even have to put soil conditioner in when I plant new stuff. And using a spade to dig the hole for the new plant is optional, too. It's so moist and loose I can pretty much just scoop out handfuls with my fingers.
The stuff I planted last summer is doing just okay. The Gardenias are really not coming up the way I'd like. Actually, most of them are not coming up. I think I planted something like a dozen of them, and I can only find 3. I had to excavate for those, too. The rest seem to just be gone. I'm having better luck with the Scabiosa and Coreopsis. I also had some Penstemin and Gaillardia, and I think I'm seeing some of that. The little Clematis I planted is doing really well and starting to climb the obelisk. But it needs a couple more to keep it company. I couldn't find any at the garden center yesterday. The stuff that really looks great is the Astilbe. Yesterday before planting the new stuff I "fluffed up" the entire garden and did a little gentle digging where I'd placed flags signifying new plants.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Dog's Dinner
When Gordon Ramsay is criticizing a chef's dish on his show "Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares," he often will say "That looks like a dog's dinner."
Well, that's pretty much what we had last night. Actually, it was the dog's leftovers we had last night for supper.
Geriatric house guest Kelly still is suffering from some mild bowel upset, and not eating terribly well. I decided yesterday to make her a nice, easy-on-the-tummy meal of chicken and rice. Often I have chicken parts in the freezer..wings and necks that I drop into a gallon ziplock for making stock. But all of that was gone. So I went to the grocery store and picked up a $4 bird and simmered it up. After I made her a container of chicken and rice, I still had most of the bird, so made chicken and rice soup for the rest of us. Taylor was somewhat taken aback when I told him we were having Kelly's leftovers for supper!
Well, that's pretty much what we had last night. Actually, it was the dog's leftovers we had last night for supper.
Geriatric house guest Kelly still is suffering from some mild bowel upset, and not eating terribly well. I decided yesterday to make her a nice, easy-on-the-tummy meal of chicken and rice. Often I have chicken parts in the freezer..wings and necks that I drop into a gallon ziplock for making stock. But all of that was gone. So I went to the grocery store and picked up a $4 bird and simmered it up. After I made her a container of chicken and rice, I still had most of the bird, so made chicken and rice soup for the rest of us. Taylor was somewhat taken aback when I told him we were having Kelly's leftovers for supper!
Yesterday I also went to the school district office to become bona fide. Completed all the paperwork, waived all the insurance benefits and arranged for direct deposit. And finally found out what my salary is. It's pretty low for someone of my age and experience, but it's double what I've made the last couple of years as a freelancer and I'll only work 210 days a year. How can you beat that?
Monday, April 07, 2008
it's all about poop
Not our dog this time. Sarah's. We are taking care of buddy Sarah's aged golden retriever, Kelly. She can not really go to the kennel anymore when they go out of town. The stress upsets her gastrointestinal tract and she ends up sick as a...well...you know...for several days. Sarah's husband Rick likened Kelly going to the kennel to taking your grandmother to the dorm. How appropriate!
Kelly's got an upset tummy this time anyway. She got into their puppy's food and the richness of it all caused her bowels to basically explode. She had been pretty clear by the time she arrived here yesterday morning, but she's not producing much solid waste...just small amounts of watery discharge. So I'm taking her out, then Bear out, then her out...feeding her, then Bear, etc. The gates are back up all over the house to make it easier to take care of them both. And we use them to separate the dogs so that she doesn't get into OUR puppy food!
She sleeps in Taylor's room. He let her up on the bed, he said, where she slept all night. But this morning when I went in to get her she was on the floor next to him. Kelly has quite a bit of hearing loss, so I had to turn lights on in the hallway, then open Taylor's door, to let her know I was there. I can see her startle sometimes when she's sleeping and I come around the corner or walk through a door. She's a very sweet dog.
Today I got a call from the school district. They are very sorry they have not contacted me before to take care of paperwork for the new job but apparently my file was in the pile of terminations! hmmmm
Kelly's got an upset tummy this time anyway. She got into their puppy's food and the richness of it all caused her bowels to basically explode. She had been pretty clear by the time she arrived here yesterday morning, but she's not producing much solid waste...just small amounts of watery discharge. So I'm taking her out, then Bear out, then her out...feeding her, then Bear, etc. The gates are back up all over the house to make it easier to take care of them both. And we use them to separate the dogs so that she doesn't get into OUR puppy food!
She sleeps in Taylor's room. He let her up on the bed, he said, where she slept all night. But this morning when I went in to get her she was on the floor next to him. Kelly has quite a bit of hearing loss, so I had to turn lights on in the hallway, then open Taylor's door, to let her know I was there. I can see her startle sometimes when she's sleeping and I come around the corner or walk through a door. She's a very sweet dog.
Today I got a call from the school district. They are very sorry they have not contacted me before to take care of paperwork for the new job but apparently my file was in the pile of terminations! hmmmm
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Scholars Day
Yesterday we went to Erskine College for Scholars Day. I did not count how many students were there but it appeared be the entire class of incoming freshman.
We had a nice chance to hear from administration about life at Erskine while the students went to hear the same from current students. The administration made a point of assuring us that they will take care of our kids and give them individual attention. Class sizes are very small and the student:teacher ratio is 12:1. Total enrollment around 600. So it's easy to see how they are able to catch kids that are slumping.
Because the campus is out in the middle of nowhere, the campus has a ton of stuff for kids to do right there. Many of the students said they never lack for anything to do.
One thing the President said really stuck with me, and I hope it sticks with Nate when he hears it next fall at freshman orientation:
"You were a success in high school because you are bright. But at Erskine, everyone is bright. You will be a success here because you apply yourself."
Pretty cool. I sure hope he does!
I was impressed with the way Nate handled conversations with all the strangers. He maintained good eye contact (something I've not seen him do well before), and spoke politely and intelligently. Looking at him as he spoke to the music professor, I was impressed with his obvious engagement in the conversation and his open and interested body language. I was very proud. I'm also noticing that he's really a good looking kid! He's got a shy thing going on and those big brown eyes and the way he tilts his head down and looks up kind of through his bangs is simply adorable.
We had a nice chance to hear from administration about life at Erskine while the students went to hear the same from current students. The administration made a point of assuring us that they will take care of our kids and give them individual attention. Class sizes are very small and the student:teacher ratio is 12:1. Total enrollment around 600. So it's easy to see how they are able to catch kids that are slumping.
Because the campus is out in the middle of nowhere, the campus has a ton of stuff for kids to do right there. Many of the students said they never lack for anything to do.
One thing the President said really stuck with me, and I hope it sticks with Nate when he hears it next fall at freshman orientation:
"You were a success in high school because you are bright. But at Erskine, everyone is bright. You will be a success here because you apply yourself."
Pretty cool. I sure hope he does!
I was impressed with the way Nate handled conversations with all the strangers. He maintained good eye contact (something I've not seen him do well before), and spoke politely and intelligently. Looking at him as he spoke to the music professor, I was impressed with his obvious engagement in the conversation and his open and interested body language. I was very proud. I'm also noticing that he's really a good looking kid! He's got a shy thing going on and those big brown eyes and the way he tilts his head down and looks up kind of through his bangs is simply adorable.
Friday, April 04, 2008
"She's Daid!"
Yesterday I placed a call to a dead person.
Of course I didn't know until the gentleman who answered the phone told me. It's horrible to do that. All I could do was say "I'm sorry. I was calling about the scholarship offered by the Eastern Star."
Gulp. Couldn't I have left that second sentence out?
Anyway, I had to give the counselors a bit of grief for having me call a dead person. If this had happened Tuesday, I probably would have thought it was an initiation rite.
Today is the last day before Spring Break. The principal announced to the teachers that she would allow a dress down day (jeans) today. I'm wearing jeans, but I sure don't remember hearing an announcement or seeing an email telling us all we could. I can't imagine she'd let the faculty dress down and not the staff. We'll see.
Tomorrow Mensa Boy, Nate and I will go to Erskine College for Scholars Day. It's touted as being a day to recognize students for their academic achievements. You may remember that Erskine awarded Nate an $8,000 per year scholarship. I assume it's just the scholarship recipients that are invited. I'm looking forward to it, although we will be gone all day, so I imagine I'll be pretty tired tomorrow night.
A word about Erskine. And Winthrop University. And the University of South Carolina. Last week we saw the handwriting on the wall, telling us that Nate belongs at Erskine. It was handwriting we were very glad to see because it's Nate's first choice and MB and I loved what we saw of the institution last summer during our brief visit there.
The handwriting came in the form of financial aid letters from Erskine and Winthrop. Shortly after Nate received notice of his acceptance to Erskine, he got a letter telling him about the Garnet Scholarship. The day the letter came, I had just pushed the button to send the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). So they gave him this award without even seeing our financial situation. By the time all was said and done, Nate had an award letter worth $19,500 from Erskine, and only $3000 of it was a federal student loan. The rest is all free money (well, there's the work study).
We didn't hear from Winthrop until last week. They did not offer him any of their school money. They didn't offer him a federal work study program. All they put in the letter was the South Carolina HOPE scholarship and a bunch of federally-backed student loans. No grants.
Doing the math, it's actually going to be less expensive for Nate to attend Erskine, where the total bill will be almost $30k, than to go to Winthrop, where his bill would be about $20k.
USC? Nada. No letters.
Of course I didn't know until the gentleman who answered the phone told me. It's horrible to do that. All I could do was say "I'm sorry. I was calling about the scholarship offered by the Eastern Star."
Gulp. Couldn't I have left that second sentence out?
Anyway, I had to give the counselors a bit of grief for having me call a dead person. If this had happened Tuesday, I probably would have thought it was an initiation rite.
Today is the last day before Spring Break. The principal announced to the teachers that she would allow a dress down day (jeans) today. I'm wearing jeans, but I sure don't remember hearing an announcement or seeing an email telling us all we could. I can't imagine she'd let the faculty dress down and not the staff. We'll see.
Tomorrow Mensa Boy, Nate and I will go to Erskine College for Scholars Day. It's touted as being a day to recognize students for their academic achievements. You may remember that Erskine awarded Nate an $8,000 per year scholarship. I assume it's just the scholarship recipients that are invited. I'm looking forward to it, although we will be gone all day, so I imagine I'll be pretty tired tomorrow night.
A word about Erskine. And Winthrop University. And the University of South Carolina. Last week we saw the handwriting on the wall, telling us that Nate belongs at Erskine. It was handwriting we were very glad to see because it's Nate's first choice and MB and I loved what we saw of the institution last summer during our brief visit there.
The handwriting came in the form of financial aid letters from Erskine and Winthrop. Shortly after Nate received notice of his acceptance to Erskine, he got a letter telling him about the Garnet Scholarship. The day the letter came, I had just pushed the button to send the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). So they gave him this award without even seeing our financial situation. By the time all was said and done, Nate had an award letter worth $19,500 from Erskine, and only $3000 of it was a federal student loan. The rest is all free money (well, there's the work study).
We didn't hear from Winthrop until last week. They did not offer him any of their school money. They didn't offer him a federal work study program. All they put in the letter was the South Carolina HOPE scholarship and a bunch of federally-backed student loans. No grants.
Doing the math, it's actually going to be less expensive for Nate to attend Erskine, where the total bill will be almost $30k, than to go to Winthrop, where his bill would be about $20k.
USC? Nada. No letters.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Work, Shop, Sleep
That's about it. I get to the school at 7 a.m. to open the office. I work like a crazy woman all morning, and then go home to walk the dog, maybe eat lunch or maybe take it back to the office, work all afternoon, run some errands, cook supper, and then go to bed.
The body is very slow in adapting to the new lifestyle. Last week were a few painful days, paying the price of a sedentary, desk-bound job. But I've made a point to move around more. Probably the hardest part for me is forcing myself to get up and walk around when I have a pile of tasks on my desk. I tend to stick to something until it's done, not wanting to break off for fear I'll lose momentum. I think I'm figuring it out slowly now.
But I absolutely love the new job. It's great already knowing my coworker's names, and I'm learning students names every day. As a rule, they pretty respectful and very grateful when we are able to help them with transcripts and scholarship information, etc.
I have had a couple of funny incidents. Here is one of them that I wrote to my posse last week:
The body is very slow in adapting to the new lifestyle. Last week were a few painful days, paying the price of a sedentary, desk-bound job. But I've made a point to move around more. Probably the hardest part for me is forcing myself to get up and walk around when I have a pile of tasks on my desk. I tend to stick to something until it's done, not wanting to break off for fear I'll lose momentum. I think I'm figuring it out slowly now.
But I absolutely love the new job. It's great already knowing my coworker's names, and I'm learning students names every day. As a rule, they pretty respectful and very grateful when we are able to help them with transcripts and scholarship information, etc.
I have had a couple of funny incidents. Here is one of them that I wrote to my posse last week:
Three students came into my office and stood respectfully in front of my desk. I looked up and smiled.
"You ask her," one girl said.
"Are you Mrs. Paulson?" the middle girl said.
"Yup. That's me!" I replied.
"We were wondering when you are going to have cheerleading tryouts," she said.
"HUH?" I said.
"Cheerleading tryouts. The lady who had this job before was our cheerleading coach," the middle girl said.
Third student (guy) laughed nervously.
"Oh. I'm pretty sure I'm not your cheerleading coach," I told them. "Trust me. You DON'T want me cheerleading!"
The first girl turned to the others and said, "See? I told you that having a new person here wouldn't necessarily mean she'd do the coaching too!"
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