Ruth's Miscellaneous Musings

Jenny's Cabin

2009-07-23T22:27:00.008-05:00

Arrived here late yesterday after a 12 drive across Kansas and half of Colorado. It was pouring rain coming up the mountain on US 24 from Colorado Springs. I went through Divide and started up Cedar Mountain Road to the cabin. I thought I'd missed the cabin when I finally saw the last landmark in Jenny's directions and then the turn. As i got out of the car, the rain stopped and there behind me over the mountain was a rainbow.

We are located just a bit northwest of Pike's Peak on the edge of the Pike National Forest. The cabin has this front porch with a drop dead gorgeous view of the next mountain range between here and Aspen and Vale.

After dinner tonight Jenny took Rory and I hiking in the national forest. Rory probably went twice as far as either Jenny or I. It was nice to be able to let him run without his leash. He's worn out now and finally relaxed here at the cabin.

When we got home, the light was fading, the sunset this evening was too good to miss, so here it is for all of you to enjoy.

Summer Again

2009-07-19T13:25:00.005-05:00

Well, here it is the third week in July already. Where has the summer gone? I was just looking at some of Jud's pics on his Facebook site and they are leaving their summer retreat in Franklin, ME, heading back to UT on Tuesday. I can't believe they've been there three weeks already. I can only imagine how short the respite has seemed for them. If you’re a friend of Jud's on Facebook and haven't seen the photos, go take a look. They're outstanding.

So, by now, dear reader, you're wondering, "Why all of a sudden is she back on her blog? Surely it's not just to let us know her best boy is posting photos yet again?"

Well, no, it's not just that. I am getting ready to go off on another adventure. This time it's to Colorado to visit my friend Jenny at her cabin in Divide.

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So, dear reader, I am madly getting the house ready, doing laundry, starting the packing, and generally seeing more action than I have since May when I went off to see the kids in UT.

Friday I stopped in the campus computer store, Union Station, to pick up new Airport WiFi routers. The Airport Express that has served so admirably for 6 years routing tunes to the stereo, suddenly quit on me. It said it was online, but no amount of resetting, firmware updating, etc. could get it to connect. So I went for a new Express and came home with new Airport Extreme (802.11n) as well. It occurred to me that if I was getting an 802.11 n Express, then I probably ought to have the Extreme to match, especially since the MacBook Pro I'm using also has 802.11 n WiFi.

WOW! What a difference that made in speed. Took me about a half-hour/ 45 min to unplug all the old stuff, break open the Fort Knox packaging and get everything up and running. Love that Apple product line. They all work together so nicely. So now I can blast my tunes through the stereo---hear it ALL over the house.

Yesterday, I spent the day out with the MoKan LoW's at their campout in Osceola, MO. Had a great time with all the RVing singles---one old gent, one 9-year-old young gent, and a dozen single ladies, mostly retired. We had our Loners on Wheels area director and her grandson with us. It was interesting to hear what she had to say about things at LoW headquarters in Deming, NM. after seeing a copy of our newsletter, she asked me if I wanted to do their national newsletter, too. I respectfully declined, asked her to get back to me in 5 years.

Today the Colorado prep takes on the household chores. Got the laundry running and Ralph the Roomba has finished one of the living room rugs. I'm now moving him to the dining room. Gotta make the guest bed in case Kat is staying and not just dropping by to check on the kitties. Then there is more laundry (durn stuff fornicates in the hamper), prep the crock-pot curried chicken, and work on getting knitting and reading ready to go.

Check back soon, dear reader, to see how the prep is coming.

She's Baaaack!

2009-05-14T02:45:00.003-05:00

Yep, it's true, I'm back at the ole blog. Been on FaceBook a bit lately, but didn't want to start a new blog over there and the wall thing is just not a big enough space for vacation ramblings. The semester is over. Wow! What a time with four student teachers and three classes; that's more than a full load. The money is nice even though you get paid only a portion of what one normally gets for the semester.

Right now I have three weeks to catch my breath, visit the wee ones in Utah and do a camping weekend. Then I have three summer classes in six weeks. By mid-July I will be ready for a jaunt to Jenny's cabin in the Colorado mountains. She's invited me year after year, so this year I am finally gonna pack up the pooch, trek across Kansas, and spend a couple weeks at her place.

So there ya go. That's the plan for the summer. Check back for pics and prattle. I'll try to keep this linked on FaceBook, too.

Brrrrr!!!

2009-01-15T14:03:00.004-06:00

Okay, so it's not North Dakota or Minnesota and it IS January, but, Good Grief, does it have to be this cold? Got up this morning and it was -4℉. It was so cold that the door to my unheated, detached garage took SIX tries before it would open with the auto opener. I was thinking I might not get the car out, when it finally opened. then I remembered that you can release it so it can be opened with human muscle power. How easily we become dependent on the gadgets and then have to think hard to remember how we used to do it before the automatic toys came along.

There are other inconveniences with the cold. Yesterday with the 15 mph wind from the NW I had to close the pet door. It kept blowing open and with that little gale racing through the kitchen all I could see was little greenbacks ($$$) blowing out the door. Now I have to remember to let the dog out and back in instead of him helping himself. The cats, fair weather felines (oh, wait, that's redundant) that they are, sometimes use it, too, but they're having no part of the frozen yard right now. That litter box in the basement is looking pretty good to them.

I put the little foam insulators on the outside faucets last night. Yes, I know it;s a bit late, but I figured this was the coldest of the winter, so, better late than never. I'm not really sure how well they work anyway.

At least it's only supposed to last a couple of days. Today is Thursday and by Saturday they are forecasting highs in the mid-40's again. This up and down roller coaster temps can't be good for man nor beast nor vegetation.

iChat Video Fun

2009-01-12T22:27:00.007-06:00

Tonight we finally got cameras going in both directions to initiate a video chat session with daughter M and her family in Salt Lake City. My new 'puter has a built-in camera, so I took my iSight camera to M at Christmas. She hooked it up with their Mac and we set up a time to talk. Both ER and V were still up, so I got to see all of them. we played with the video effects, made faces at each other, and sang silly kid songs (Eensy Weensy Spider and The Wheels on the Bus).

Eventually hubby S joined M and they all sat on the floor far enough away so they all fit into the screen. Both M and I were surprised at how long V stuck with it. A half-hour is a long time for a two-year-old. One thing we did decide was that they need better light so it's not so yellow. I have a couple of three-way bulbs in my living room where I was online and you can see what a difference that makes.

Last week I did a video chat with a colleague on campus. Now I'm wondering who else has these capabilities?

Let It Snow, Let it Snow, Let It Snow!

2008-12-26T23:02:00.004-06:00

OMG, so much snow! I had planned to drive down to St. George to visit the other set of grandkids, but with I-15 closed overnight and over 30 crashes reported in Salt Lake County, I called it off. West Jordan, right next to M's, reported 14" of snow; that's a lot for road crews to keep cleared. I looked at the webcam down towards Beaver, UT, and the road was open late this morning, but in no way would I call it clear. S went to work to clear sidewalks at the E Center in West Valley and M went to her office downtown. She had the '99 Lexus RS with 4-wheel drive, but only one of her clients made it a half-hour late for her appointment, so she was home early.

When he got home at 11 a.m. S went out and shoveled sidewalks, driveway, and paths for the dog. Then he took V and they went in the hot tub. It sure was bizarre to see them in the hot tub with snow coming down. I didn't bring a swimsuit. Dumb me just couldn't imagine that folks would be doing that in this kind of snow. They do have nice thick towels and fluffy terry robes for afterwards.

Well, there is the weatherman on TV with another band of snow right now and they are forecasting another 1"-2" on Sunday. In the meantime, home in Warrensburg it's 63º and they have a severe thunderstorm warning with TORNADO and flash flood watches until 5 a.m. Tornados in December!?! What crazy weather!

Wherever you are, stay warm and dry as you visit friends and family this holiday season.

Winter Solstice or Yule Celebration

2008-12-24T13:56:00.005-06:00

M and her family celebrate Yule on Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and, in some cultures the middle of winter, usually the 21 or 22 of December. I arrived at M's in SLC on 20 December and Winter Solstice was on Sunday, Dec. 21st this year. We got up early to open the gifts "Santa" had left. V (2.5 yrs) was entranced by her new red Classic Radio Flier dual-deck tricycle. (Wow! So many different kinds of trykes made by Radio Flyer.) It's been the hit of the season. Santa also brought her a couple of new dresses and "long socks" (tights) to match, a Lego DUPLO set, a child-size guitar to match Daddy S's, and assorted other little goodies. I had three books and the Disney Tinker Bell video for V. For ER I had a bottle warmer that Daddy S also liked. (Although he is still breastfed full time, when M goes to work, S feeds him breast milk that has been pumped, saved, and needs warming.) S got a Gorilla Pod tripod for his camera. I ordered it and didn't realize they came in different sizes. This one was the short one. Maybe the birthday faerie (Jan 9) will find one of the bigger ones for him. For M I got a classic Parcheesi game.

Earlier I had received at home in MO a HUGE cooler on wheels to add to my camping gear. Here I got a battery operated tent fan, something small to open and easy to pack and carry home on the plane.

M used to have three cats, Beansie, Ladie Bird (Bird for short), and Sassie. This fall Sassie disappeared and has not been seen since. M has asked around the neighborhood, but no one has seen her. What's amazing is that now the other two cats, Beansie and Bird, are much more friendly. They come out whenever and pay no attention to the dog. I could go for a whole week's visit and never see Bird, but this time I have seen bird several times already. Beansie comes out all the time, sits in laps, and asks to be petted. M thinks Sassie may have been bullying the others so they wouldn't come out from hiding.

So, Sunday afternoon M had a Yule party. It was a pot luck dinner after the Broncos football game that really made S angry. (Broncos lost when they really should have played better and won.) M made a ham and a turkey. I made mulled cider with brandy in it. Put it in a crock pot and let it sit all afternoon on low. Folks raved about it and there was none left at the end of the night. We had quite a feast: mashed potatoes, ham, turkey, cookies, pies, salad, macaroni salad, and more. Pot luck is always so much fun when you have lots of folks brining lots of food.

There were also lots of drinks. Plenty of beer and so much pop that some who brought 2-liter bottles took them home again. The beer was amazing: the later it got, the more beer consumed, the louder they got. There were stories about incidents with vicious dogs, and more. Got to be a contest of my-dog-bite-story-is-bigger-and-badder-than-yours. I've never heard so much one-ups-man/woman-ships in quite some time. Amazing what alcohol does to tongues.

Today is Christmas eve and we'll be going to S's dad's house for more feasting. He loves to cook and was planning quite a spread when he was at M's on Sunday. His current live-in woman was planning on making an assortment of candies. She loves to make deserts, my favorite thing and where I think all meals should begin. Yummy!

Update on Adventures in Airline Land

2008-12-24T13:23:00.004-06:00

Sorry to not have updated you all earlier, but once I got to Salt Lake City (SLC), things got to be quite busy. So where was I ... Ah, yes, questions to be answered.

Well, I spent 3+ hours in the Denver Airport. The plane coming from KC going to SLC (yes, I could have taken a later plane and gone direct) was late coming in. It was only about 15/20 minutes late, but that was par for the day. We all got onboard in good time only to sit and wait for the rest of the passengers from another connecting flight that was even later. Then we had to wait for their luggage to get transferred. Finally we were ready to go and the pilot came on the intercom, apologized profusely for the delay but indicated we were #30 in line for takeoff! We were 20+ minutes in line for the runway. However, once we were cleared for take-off, that pilot roared down the runway and we were off in no time.

It was 11 p.m. when I finally got to SLC. (Should have arrived at 4:55 p.m. So I was only 6 hours late! Then there was a half hour wait for the luggage to come up. Seems 4 planes had come in all at once and the luggage handlers were overwhelmed. Low and behold, my luggage (2 of them) finally came up. Gotta hand it to Southwest, they do get the job done and with the weather the way it was all over the country, they weren't doing too badly. There were a lot of flights listed on the board as being and hour or more late, which, of course, means a longer delay than i hour.

I had called M and she was there in no time. Sure glad I had my new down coat from Land's End. It's so nice and warm and the nylon shell keeps the wind out. It kept me toasty warm while I waited for M to drive up to the pick-up spot. She double parked, got out and opened the back of their "new" '99 Lexus. I was by the side of the car by the time she got it open. She lifted one case, I lifted the other. We closed the back of the SUV and were off before the car next to the curb even got the their last case loaded and they were there first! M's comment, "They just don't know how to load a vehicle."

We got to M's house and all were asleep except Daddy S. He was assembling a tricycle for Santa to deliver in the morning. M celebrates Winter Solstice/Yule instead of Christmas, so we open gifts on Solstice morning. But more about that in the next post.

Adventures in Airline Land

2008-12-20T18:16:00.004-06:00

Just a little bit of nasty weather anywhere in the U.S. and the whole airline system gets f*****. I started out this morning from home in W'burg, MO. Had to first take dog to kennel. No problem there. I usually plan to wait 20 minutes before they even get to ask me, "May I help you?" But not today. Got to belly-up to the counter right as I entered the door. Was in and out of there in less than the usual 20-minute wait.

So I was off to KC airport, McDonald's in hand. Lots of spaces in the "B" long-term parking lot, so I parked within two spaces of my favorite "B12" bus stop. (I always park there 'cause it's far enough out that there are almost always parking spaces near the bus stop and B12 is such a nice common vitamin that I can remember when I get back a week and a half later.) Man, was it COLD! Wind was blowing and temps were actually around 28ºF, but wind chill had to be in the single digits. Thank God for those nifty bus top shelters with infrared heat.

Bus was only a few minutes out and when I went to get on, there was a young man helping with luggage. He took the big one (40#) and hoisted it up on the rack. Plenty of time to spare with the flight not scheduled to leave until 2:05 p.m. CST. Flight was about 20 minutes late getting in from St. Louis.

UhOh, I have a tight connection in Denver for Salt Lake City.

Oh well, pilot has called ahead and they are holding flight.

So we had a nice smooth ride to Denver until our approach. Kinda bumpy, but no big drops with people flying out of their seats. (Yes, I have seen that happen.) We land 20 minutes late and the first hint of a problem is when the flight attendant says, "They'll take care of you at the Courtesy Desk." Not what I wanted to hear. Would have preferred, "Yes, ma'am, go straight to Gate ##." I've been down this road before and it wasn't my best trip.

So I stood in line with others in same predicament (must have been 15 of us at least). Well, when all was said and done, it wasn't so bad. Next flight to SLC is 7:45 p.m. MST, only a 3-hour wait. So here I am in a nice comfy arm chair waiting at the gate for my flight. It's scheduled to get into SLC at 9:10 p.m. MST and I have time to get some dinner.

The only questions remaining are, "Where is my baggage? Will both bags be there to greet me or will they have gotten lost in the shuffle?" Stay tuned dear reader for the update to a LONG day of travel.

Really Really Weird Weather

2008-12-18T20:58:00.008-06:00

A friend and colleague sent this to me this morning. He lives north of town and took this picture in his yard. It's "frostcicles" formed when fog hit the trees and instantaneously froze, or freezing fog which forms rime ice. The temp was somewhere in the low 20's. Even though the day was totally overcast, the temperature rose steadily to 33º by 2 p.m. The fog lifted to become a low ceiling by mid-day when the rain started. We have had light rain off and on all afternoon. The temp dropped back to 32º this evening and remains there. About an hour ago we had snow and in the last 20 minutes we have had thunder and lightening. Thunder snow?

So now at almost 10 p.m. we're back to freezing rain with reports of hail in Kansas City. What next?

Oh, well, it's Missouri and they say if you're not happy with the weather, wait an hour and it'll change.

Update on Broken Tooth

2008-12-15T22:33:00.006-06:00

Sunday before Thanksgiving I was at Costco in Portland and broke a tooth on a piece of bone in a Polish sausage. I had an emergency trip to my bro's dentist on Monday. When I got home to W'burg, I went to my dentist who put some glue on the broken part that was left to protect it while I waited for him to have a one-hour opening in his schedule. Today at 10:20 a.m. was the appointed hour in the dentist's chair.

Two shots of anesthetic later, half my face was numb. Then there was that wonderful high-pitched, high-speed drill. Holding your mouth open for all that time can really make your jaw sore for the rest of the day. Well, it wasn't sore until about 2:30 p.m. when the anesthetic wore off. Now the tooth is sore from being drilled, opened, pushed, pulled, jammed with packing, cast with gooey stuff, and finally covered with a temporary crown that's got a gaping whole at the bottom of it.

Since I got back from Portland I have received a copy of a letter from Costco to Sara Lee, the sausage vendor. A rep from Sara Lee has called and is sending paperwork outlining where and how to send dental reports to them. I'm really hoping they will simply settle up with the dentists. The whole thing is going to amount to about $1000. Pretty expensive Polish sausage. (Costco did refund the $1.50 we paid for the sausage.)

Sure hope the tooth settles down so I don't have to call dentist and go back for more time in his chair before I get the permanent cap on 6 January. (What an Epiphany that will be!)

Brrrr! Double Brrrr!!!

2008-12-15T09:39:00.004-06:00

OMG, I just looked at the temp in my backyard. By the house, on the side of the garage warmed by the sun, it's a toasty 11º F. But out in the yard it's single digits, dear reader, 8º F. The official Weather.com temp is an also a thrilling (or should that be "chilling?") 9º. And it's 9:45 a.m., so it may have been considerably colder. I'll have to check the stats later.

there is about 0.25" of sleet on the ground from last night and with these temps, it's not going anywhere fast. Even sublimation is going to take a while.

Got a dentist appointment this morning, so must run. Ya'll stay warm.

Grades Are DONE!!!

2008-12-12T22:11:00.005-06:00

TA DAH!!! Finally the grades are all calculated. I only have one more thing to do--post them on the secure site in Banner for the official registrar recording. I have emailed all students so they can check their grade on BlackBoard (course management program) and let me know if there are any discrepancies. Sometimes the discrepancy is something submitted in hard copy and it's still sitting on my desk. Sometimes they think they submitted the assignment, but forgot to hit "Submit" instead of "Save." "Save" is for their personal use so they can go back and make changes, I can't get to it that way. Sometimes I think they close the browser window before submitting the assignment and then are mystified as to why they have a zero for the assignment.

Then there are those who make bad choices and now that they don't have the grade they had hoped for they want to know what can they do. My favorite is the ones who couldn't get the original assignments in on time and now want "extra credit" to make up for the missing points. I want to say to them, "If you didn't have time to get it done in the first place, what makes you think you will have time to do EXTRA work?" DUH!!!

Well, now that the grading is done I can go back to my life. I have a couple of knitting projects that are in need of finishing. I'll post pics when I get them all done and presentable.

It's REALLY Snowing!!

2008-12-09T18:42:00.005-06:00

Finally, after a very cloudy and threatening day, it is seriously snowing. On the radar map above we are right under the space between the "s" and "C" in Kansas City. That band of snow has been slowly advancing to the east all afternoon. Today the Kansas City SnowFlake Contest ended with over 1" of snow this afternoon. One of my colleagues received a number of phone calls from her husband in Lee's Summit. He was concerned about her driving home in the snow. Seems there were a number of wrecks reported, cars sliding off the the road into ditches. On the 6 o'clock news there was even saw a school bus sideways on a side street in KC. This slip-sliding thing always happens with the first snow of the season. It's like over the summer people forget how to drive in the snow. Highway patrol officers REALLY hate the first snow. Me? I love the first snow: chance to wear the boots I haven't seen for 9 months, excuse to stay home from office with hot toddies and a fire in the fireplace.

The MoDOT trucks were out earlier putting down a layer of salt solution to try and keep the roads ice-free. Now they've got the plows down and are going up and down the street. (I live on a snow route.) Sometimes when I hear the plows scraping the asphalt I think they must surely be going to take the pavement with them. All that scraping and bumping can't be good for the surface. But then, if they didn't scrape the surface, the snow would pack and make the roads a lot harder to drive.

Sure am glad I bought those sweaters and fleece in the Red, White, and Blue Thrift Store in Gladstone, OR. Wish I were closer to that store. Think I'll go to Yelp and see what comes up for KC thrift stores.

Commin' Up for Air

2008-12-08T21:31:00.005-06:00

Yes, kiddies, I am still out here in the blogosphere. It's end of semester time and I am buried in grading. I've also been working on four program reviews for accreditation and a newsletter for the camping group MoKan Loners on Wheels. I've got two out of three under control. Still have the grading to do, but it will get done. Students are anxious for their grades and keep emailing me. what they don't seem to realize is that every email slows the grading process while I try to answer their email.

This morning I was up bright and early to take friend Jen to a colonoscopy appointment at the local hospital. She wasn't allowed to drive for 24 hours after the procedure, so I went out to her place near Knob Noster State Park, picked her up, and dropped her at the hospital. Afterwards a nice lady at the hospital called me to come get her. I was home since that's only a couple of blocks from the hospital. She was in really good shape for having been knocked senseless, but she was REALLY hungry. We went to Country Kitchen for brunch. They have full menu all day, so you can get breakfast any time. We each had yummy skillet meals. Mine was two eggs, hash browns, and French toast.

We had a good time talking about how theories in education come and go in what seems to be 20 year cycles. The theories may have different names, but they are quite similar in substance. Then tonight Jen sent me a link to a YouTube video on that same topic. It's hilarious and reminds me soooo much of some of the stuff we see in education circles.

And, hey, I've figured out how to embed a YouTube video in my Blog! Cool.

Well, now that I've been out from under, the work is calling again.

Trip Home and Thanksgiving Break Ends

2008-11-30T22:51:00.005-06:00

This is it---the end of the Thanksgiving break from classes. Got on a plane in Portland, OR, this morning and was on the ground in KC by 3:30 p.m. Luggage came up promptly and it was off to long term parking. Not so fast, chick-a-dee! Look at the snow and ice on all those cars! Whoa! My poor baby had half an inch of snow and ice all over her. Fortunately the brush/scraper was where I had left it last spring --- in the back seat. Other than that, I was totally unprepared for the cold, white stuff--no gloves, no boots. I did have my winter jacket with me and could put the shell and fleece together to stay warm.

Drive home was a bit surprising, but uneventful. There were flurries and snow showers most of the 90 miles home, but the roads were warm enough that it melted on contact. Tonight on the news they talked about the wrecks that were happening because of slick bridge decks. That's the sort of thing that happens with the first storm of every winter. Fortunately I didn't see or participate in any of that nonsense.

There were delays posted in the KC airport, too, but my nice through flight from Portland was on time and uneventful. Way to go SouthWest Airlines! I was surprised that the plane wasn't full. There were a number of middle seats that were empty. I had one next to me, so that was really nice. We had snacks, "Take as many as you want," and then we got the full can of beverage. What a nice FREE treat! It's the little things that make for traveling pleasure.

Tomorrow it's back to classes for the final week of the semester. Even though it's good to have the break and I'm glad to be home, I don't look forward to all the work that needs to be completed this week. I have reports to write, newsletter to get out, and grades, grades, grades to complete. Oh, and then there's pick up the dog from kennel, dentist to fix tooth, decorate house for Student MNEA Christmas party. So if you don't see any new posts this week, don't be surprised.

Australia

2008-11-29T14:14:00.004-06:00

So last evening we (Bro, SIL, and I) went to see the new movie Australia. First let me tell you about the theater. It was this little theater in Lake Oswego, Lake Twin Theater, not your stadium seating, multiplex like the big city, but two screens with adequate seats and a nice big cup rack for each seat. We went at 5 p.m. to get the "senior" discount, so it was the ridiculously low price of $6/person. You can show up with your StarBucks cup in hand and there is a snack bar/concession stand with the obligatory candy bars, popcorn, and soda.

Now, about the movie...

The scenery is spectacular. I had no idea Australia looks so much like parts of southwest U.S. with mesas and rocky prominences.
Costumes were great, expecially Lady Ashley's.
Nicole Kidman (Lady Sarah Ashley) was outstanding. Loved the characters spunkiness.
Hugh Jackman is definitely eye-candy and does a good job as "Drover."
Brandon Walters (Nulla) debuted in this film. He is aboriginal and was just wonderful.
David Gulpilil (King George) has a long list of film credits and does a wonderful job.
There are some moments, especially earl in the film, that are quite humorous.
It's long--2 hours and 50 minutes. Mostly moves along quite nicely, but there were times when I thought we surely must have reached the end, but then it goes on, and on, and on. I figure is I'm wondering how long we've been there, the script could have used some work.
Movie has all of the stuff of an old time romance/adventure movie---lust, love, lost child, war scenes, man vs woman, man & woman vs the elements, man & woman vs. man.

Final verdict: I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5. Wouldn't go see it again, but would watch it on DVD or recommend it for an evening of entertainment. Definitley a date night movie with something for men & women. Not for children--too long, too much violence, too much of an adult theme, and not something that would interest kids.

Thanksgiving Feast

2008-11-28T13:15:00.006-06:00

This year was really different for me. In recent year's the Thanksgiving holiday has only been the three days of Wednesday through Sunday. It's the most crowded holiday travel because of its compactness, so I have opted to stay in Warrensburg and share the day with friends. This year, however, the university rearranged the calendar so classes were cancelled for the entire week. Not only did I have all that time, but as you'll recall from earlier posts, dear reader, I was going to be in Portland to see the Mythbusters at the NSTA regional meeting. I therefore invited myself to Bro and SIL's house for Thanksgiving dinner. And what a dinner it was!

SIL is a WONDERFUL, MARVELOUS cook. We started with wine and hors d'oeuvres: brie, crackers, hummus, an albacore tuna dip from nephew Jon, and banana bread. For the main feast, she brined the bird. It means soaking the bird in salt brine overnight before roasting it. I'd never heard of doing it this way, but she thanked Alton Brown of the Food Network for inspiring her. The meat was moist and fork-tender when the bird finally reached our plates. To accompany this wonderful bird, we had the usual sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. There was a fruit salad with a yogurt dressing that was scrumptious. Instead of the ubiquitous green bean casserole, she made broccoli salad. I love that salad: the broccoli florets are so crunchy, the raisins are plump and sweet, the sunflower seeds are another crunch, and the bacon adds saltiness. We had both kinds of cranberry sauce, jellied and whole berry, as per nephews' request and celery stuffed with cream cheese.

At the table for this magnificent feed were both Jon and Dave with respective partners, Dan and Jess. Dave and Jess were married in September, so we spent a good bit of time discussing the behind-the-scenes stuff that went on at the wedding. It was actually a rather tame wedding, only one particularly drunk, obnoxious relative. Not the sort of stuff you can make stories to tell your children, "Now, when we were married....."

After dinner, we all retired to the downstairs family room to watch a movie, but instead were sucked in by Dirty Jobs. We watched an episode of that and then had pie and coffee. SIL made the mince pie with a very nice rum sauce. Dan made a pumpkin cheesecake that was very nice. (Dan and Jon are excellent cooks subscribing to the all organic, low fat school of cooking.)

All in all, it has been a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I have much for which to be thankful: family that is willing to have company for more than a week at a time (Thank you, Bro and SIL), good health, dentists that will help out with broken tooth, a smart little dog Rory, a job at a university with supportive colleagues in a town I can afford, friends to watch over my wonderful house while I am gone (Thank you, Kat), a church community with wonderful friends, and generally a good and comfortable life in a wonderful place.

Yes, it has been a good holiday break. 8-)

Touring Wine Country

2008-11-28T00:23:00.008-06:00

Yesterday, Wednesday we toured the Willamette Valley Wineries. Wow, there sure are a lot of them! Sister-in-Law (SIL) had mapped out a route to take us out through a number of interesting ones.

We started with Montinore Estate, advertised as a Demeter Certified Biodynamic vin

eyard. I really liked this one the best. That may be because it was our first stop or because we were the only guests at the wine tasting and we were lucky enough to have Marc Hinton, chef, wine critic, and author as our host. He was most knowledgeable and gave us lots of good information about the wines and the vineyard.

Next was Elk Cove Vineyards where there was a spectacular view from the wine tasting room and a charming gazebo where George and JoLee had once managed a wedding for friends. This winery is expanding its acreage so that eventually all wine will be pressed from their own grapes. I didn't do much tasting here as most of their wines are the Pinot Noir types (reds) rather than the Pinot Gris or other white varieties. The reds go right to my face, flaring the rosacea providing my own little sunburn heat effect.

From there we went to Carleton Farms to pick up some pork and summer sausage that SIL craved. They had all sorts of meat---lamb, pork, beef---and i could see why she wanted to stop. On our way out, we saw a family loading a half-pig all ready for the spit on the grill. Happy Thanksgiving in a non-turkey way!

We then went to lunch at The Filling Station Deli in the town of Carlton, OR. I had a great gyro filled with the typical lamb and beef mixture and covered with the wonderful cucumber sauce. Could go back there tomorrow. I'd rate it on UrbanSpoon if they covered that part of the universe, but will add a review on YELP!

Following our lunch we went for a few more vineyards. Next was Anne Amie perched atop a huge hill and very proud of the fact that all of their runoff is "salmon safe." Their web site says they are "sustainably farmed." Their speciality is the pinots, but I wasn't all that impressed with their wines. I think I was spoiled by the first tasting.

The final vineyard was Tori Mor, a winery started by an Army veteran who had spent a lot of time in Japan and the winery has a definite Japanese theme in its buildings. The wine was better than Anne Amie's offerings, but still not up to Montinore's.

Tomorrow's post will feature the Thanksgiving Feast.

The Dentist

2008-11-24T22:35:00.003-06:00

So today I had an appointment with Bro's dentist's associate to look at my broken tooth. (See immediate previous post.) Nice fellow with a Ph.D. in dentistry. He practices four days a week and teaches one class at the university.

But about the tooth... turns out that it was a not so nice crack. Big piece of #11, the bicuspid on top left right behind the "eye" tooth. He x-rayed it, then numbed it real good and pulled the loose side off so at least now it isn't cutting into my gum with the sharp edge. If I were going to be here longer he would have capped it, but I leave on Sunday and with the holiday there is no time for that.

The good news was that the crack didn't expose the pulp in the center of the tooth. That meant that he could just leave the tooth as it was when he took the piece off without filling so it is ready to be worked on when I get home. I have an appointment for Monday morning to evaluate where we are and what to do next. Too bad the nice fellow here in Portland is so far. I had a thought about charging COSTCO for travel back and forth so I could get it fixed here.

Haven't heard from COSTCO yet. If don't hear by Wednesday, I think I may give them a call. Today's trip was nearly $200 and we have just started, so I really want to know who pays and how and when.

More to come.

Is this really Oregon?

2008-11-23T23:25:00.003-06:00

This morning was a slow start. Yesterday's wonderful breakfast, plus lunch at the deli, and then a really nice dinner at Gubanc's followed by dessert of pumpkin & eggnog cheese cake (shared half piece of each) was too much for my poor old digestive track. Indigestion for most of the night gets you little to no sleep.

Bro & sis-in-law were up before me and in the hot tub with coffee. I got up later and decided to pass on the hot tub; drank coffee and read the Sunday paper instead. After breakfast (10:30 a.m.), bro and sis-in-law worked in the yard cleaning leaves and such while I worked on courses. Along about 3 we took off for COSTCO for a few things needed for the FEAST. I got three more pairs of wool and silk socks that are just the best for cool weather wear.

On our way out of COSTCO, we stopped at the snack place for a Polish sausage with sauerkraut. I was happily munching along when , WHAM, I had chomped on something VERY hard. I finally found it among the half chewed sausage---a piece of bone about 5 mm. in diameter!!! Then I realized the pain in my mouth was not the piece of bone stabbing me, but half of the bicuspid tooth that was cracked longitudinally, still attached, and nearly piercing the gum with every bite. Here I am in Portland for the next week, the biggest eating event of the year, and I have a broken tooth that only allows me to chew on one side of my mouth. What a way to limit your Thanksgiving feeding frenzy!

Sis-in-law sent me to the service desk to report incident. I filled out the paperwork. the Assistant Manager Hannah was very nice. We kept the piece of bone in the empty sauerkraut container and gave it to the ass't manager. She said she would FAX the report to corporate office this afternoon and i should hear from them this week. Glad that all I have is a cell phone number for a home phone and it's with me here in Portland.

As time has passed since that lunch/snack, the tooth has gotten more and more annoying. Now it's pretty much a continuous ache. Sis-in-law has emailed her dentist about the problem and to expect her call in a.m. Stay tuned for details to follow. 8 )

Saturday in Portland

2008-11-22T17:49:00.003-06:00

What a nice day we've had in Portland! It started raining last evening while we were in the hot tub, but when we got up this morning it had stopped and wasn't even as foggy as yesterday morning.

We all sat around, read the paper, and drank coffee. Then we had Dutch Babies, a really nice fluffy, pancake with strawberry/raspberry jam and powdered sugar on the top. I love these, but almost never make them at home for just me.

Then we got dressed and went downtown to the Portland Saturday Market. We walked and walked. There were all sorts of arts and crafts booths as well as food stalls offering all kinds of ethnic foods. JoLee bought some scented soaps that had been formed to look like little bonbon candies. They really smelled good in the car. I got an idea for some porch/garden decor made with spiraled copper tubing and heavy glass balls. I have some tubing in the basement at home. It was left from the replacement of the HVAC system this summer and I was reluctant to toss it as it was made of copper.

After wandering through the market (it's a couple of blocks long and three or four aisles on each block), we headed for Kenny and Zuke's Deli for lunch. we waited about 20 minutes for a table and then had the "hugest" sandwiches ever! I had the rare roast beef and George and JoLee shared a ruben. Took forever to get a box for the half sandwich I couldn't eat and to get the check. I swear we could have left without paying, it was so busy, but we're basically honest folks and were patient.

After lunch we walked a couple of blocks to Powell's Books. OMG, Kat, you would have thought you'd died and gone on to your reward! They give out maps to let you know where to find stuff. There is the Orange Room with home arts kinds of books (I was looking for knitting books, but there were a LOT of cook books and home repair books, too.), the Rose Room with Children's books, the Green room with new volumes and check out, the Cafe with coffee, of course, and oh, so much more. We spent over an hour and I bought three books: a knitting book specializing in felted items, a book of knit toy patterns (some felted), and a paperback of Dean Koontz's latest, The Darkest Night of the Year, for the plane trip home.

On the way back to West Linn the sun was out and the highlights on the trees with the red and yellow leaves was really spectacular. Checked and the weather here is about the same as Warrensburg, cool, but wetter here than Missouri. Tomorrow here is forecast to be sunny, a rear treat for this time of the year in Portland.

NSTA Portland Day 2

2008-11-21T23:53:00.003-06:00

Spent a second day at the Oregon Convention Center where NSTA is having its western regional conference. Saw a couple of good sessions and spent time in the Exibition Center, too. I went through there yesterday, but it was so crowded that I really didn't have time to interact with any of them. One that I found that was really interesting was Loose in the Lab. Back in the late 1980's or early 90's I used to have some science materials from a company called Wild Goose Science. They had these really great, funny lab safety posters. When I tried to find them to replace one of the missing posters, i couldn't find the company any more. Then I did finally find them online, but the posters were out of print. Today I was going by one of the booths when I saw art work that reminded me of Wild Goose. The sayings were as irreverent as the Wild Goose ones were.

So I cornered one of the rep for the company and asked if they were Wild Goose reincarnate. And they are! Apparently the owner went to work for another science outfit, but now is getting back in the business. He has to use a different name since Wild Goose is out there with the new owner. Now, if I can just contact him to get those posters back in print...

The other thing I found was this guy selling invertebrates and small vertebrates. He was handling a black scorpion. It was really interesting, so I took pictures of them in the cages. there was the black scorpion in the cage with the white lid and a tarantula in the one with the black lid. The one with the turquoise lid held a leopard gecko. If I had a classroom full of fourth or fifth graders, I would have ordered one of these to have at school! Only problem is they have to be fed crickets, healthy crickets that have been raised on a variety of foods. I'm not so much into cricket farming.

Another vendor i talked with was at the NOAA booth. they showed me this cool website for weather instruction in schools. They had a really great cloud chart and told me how to get a quantity of them from the weather service in Pleasanthill, MO, so I don't have to lug them around and then take them home on the plane.

Tomorrow's schedule doesn't have all that much on it and the conference closes at noon, so I'm skipping out to play with bro and sis-in-law. Night all.

Mythbusters @ NSTA Portland

2008-11-20T23:31:00.004-06:00

So a couple months back I was looking at the NSTA schedule of fall area conferences and saw that there was one in Portland, OR, where my bro lives. Okay, so that was interesting, but then I saw that the Mythbusters were featured speakers. OMG, the Mythbusters, my rock stars!

So then I looked at the calendar and realized that it was the weekend before Thanksgiving break. UCM has whole week off, so no classes to interfere with a trip to Portland, so I checked to see if I could use travel money for the trip. Yep.

So here I am in Portland again. I was here in September for nephew Dave's wedding down at Sisters, OR, and here I am back again for 10 days---three for the conference and then I'm staying for T'giving.

Today was the first day of the NSTA conference and Jaime and Adam were AWESOME!!! They sat on the stage on stools and just answered questions. But, oh, how they answered questions. They told stories of things they liked best, stories they wouldn't do, and things we would

never see on TV. They ended with film of things we hadn't seen on TV which ended with pictures of explosions set to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The best is the take off of the exploding water heater that takes 15 seconds to return to ground.

The science teachers gave them a standing ovation when they arrived and when they finished. It was truly awesome.

Beyond Therapy

2008-11-14T23:26:00.004-06:00

Tonight my friend and co-worker Christine picked me up and we went to Rib Crib for dinner. It's great to go places with her driving. She has rheumatoid arthritis severe enough that she has a handicap tag for her car, so we usually get to park relatively close wherever we stop. We parked right next to the door at Rib Crib.

Got there around 5:15 and figured even though it was Friday we should be able to get a table. What we forgot was that it was also payday!! We had a 20 minute wait for a table and then it took another half hour after ordering to get our food. That was really excessive, especially since we didn't order anything that required more than reheating. Christine had a bowl of chili and I had a sliced brisket sandwich, beans and slaw.We had to ask for the checks so we wouldn't be late for the play. Won't do that again any time soon.

We got to the theater area on campus, Black Box Theater in Nickerson Hall, only to find it is right opposite the Multipurpose Building where there was a wrestling match and a Jennies Volleyball Game. Parking was scarce. Event he handicapped spot was a block and a half away.

The play was Beyond Therapy, a comedy. The Black Box Theater is a small, intimate theater in the round; actually it's square, not round. There were three rows of tiered seats on each side of a square stage area in the center. There were six of us in the group and I was the only faculty person. The rest were Christine and EB, office professionals, a German exchange student that lives with EB, and two other students from the office. EB, Christine, and i really enjoyed the play and will more than likely be making references to some of the lines in the play in the office.

Beyond Therapy is definitely an adult play loaded with jokes about psychotherapists, gays, bisexuals, singles dating and more and liberally sprinkled with adult expletives. No stereotype is safe from the author's wit. We all laughed. It was such fun and the company was so positive and upbeat. A great evening. Must do it more often.

Project WET

2008-11-08T23:14:00.004-06:00

Spent most of today at Project WET. We had a Project WILD workshop in September and a Project Learning Tree workshop in October, so today was the last in the series for this semester. I had never participated in Project WET, so I went as a participant along with my friends Kat and Sally, both instructors here at UCM.

We had 18 other participants including two inservice teachers and 16 students from Dr. Frazier's and my class as well as a couple of secondary students from the science departments.

B.J. and Sally came from the Department of Conservation as facilitators for this workshop. They always put on a great workshop. I got a new t-shirt as a prize in the contest to find stuff in the great book of lesson plans that come with Project WET. The workshop is $20, but that only covers the cost of the book. The rest of the materials they hand out are paid for with the sales tax money the State of Missouri pays to the Department of Conservation. They have some really great posters an curriculum materials on their web site, and all are free to Missouri residents.

Hopefully starting in January we'll have another series of WILD, Learning Tree, and WET workshops for next semester's students. I've sent some dates to B.J. and she is working with her supervisor to make the arrangements. It means I have to be on campus for those Saturdays, but the students seem to agree that it is a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday. Some of our participants today were repeaters from the other workshops, so they must like them.

Long List of Blogs

2008-11-04T16:19:00.005-06:00

If you've scrolled down the page here, you've probably seen that all of a sudden the list of blogs has grown. That's because I'm teaching a computer skills class for wanna-be teachers and one of the assignments is to create a blog and post on it. I thought this might be a good way for me to keep an eye on who's posted what without having to actually go to each blog every day to see if something new is added or without subscribing to them all and having my email inbox displaying this long list of blogs. So, if your not interested in what my students might have to say...

On the other hand, if you're a fan of ye ol' CrockPot, do check out A Year of CrockPotting. Just saw it today on WantNot.net. She's got some some cool recipes on there. Too bad I didn't find it sooner, but, hey, better late than never.

BTW, if you haven't already subscribed, check out WantNot.net. She posts shopping discounts, freebies, etc. there every day. Today there was this posting on More Crayola Deals and another for Line Chaserz, a car that follows a line drawn by a child.

Fall Back Time Change

2008-11-03T19:29:00.002-06:00

It's that time of the year again when we fool with the clocks. This time it's Fall back an hour. I like this one a whole lot better than the Spring forward where we loose an hour of sleep and have to be up and going an hour earlier, but it's still unsettling. Yesterday morning in church, the woman sitting next to me had her blood sugar bottom out with another 20 minutes of church to go. When you're in the choir, getting up and leaving isn't a good option. Seems she usually eats lunch between 11 and 11:30 a.m. While it was only 11:45, that was on the Central Standard time and she is used to eating lunch at 11:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time, a whole hour earlier.

Fortunately for her, I had one cinnamon raisin granola bar in my purse. I just didn't want to see her fall out right there in church. It did the trick and she was most appreciative. Just glad I tossed that one in the purse as I went out the door.

Now, if I can just get my own schedule adjusted....

It's happened!

2008-10-28T22:20:00.006-05:00

I saw it with my own eyes this afternoon---the Phillips station around the corner from my house has regular gas for $1.99! Wow! Makes you want to install a tank in the yard and fill it with gas for later when the price goes back up. Not gonna happen here. The way I use gas, it would probably go inert and be money wasted by the time I got around to using it all. Then there is the cost of the container, not to mention the hazards involved. Oh, well, it was a thought.

Just checked Gas Buddy online. seems the Murphy I reported yesterday has dropped again and is now down to $1.96. A bunch of stations are at $1.99 with the most expensive at $2.09.

All this makes me think of the Gas Wars of the late 50's and early 60's. I remember my dad watching the prices of two gas stations across the highway from each other. One would lower the price a penny a gallon and then the other would do the same.

Now, the original price would start at $.21/gal. Yes, that's 21 CENTS per gallon. sometimes they would get a low as $.15 trying to outdo each other and gain all the business. Of course

Dad only got maybe 10 miles to the gallon in the Plymouth "Green Dragon" station wagon and 12 miles to the gallon with an empty ElCamino, so it took quite a bit of that gas to keep them running the 18 miles each way to work every day.

Ah, yes, the good ole days...

Under $2/Gal

2008-10-27T19:07:00.004-05:00

I thought maybe I was seeing things this morning when I went past the Murphy Gas Station and saw Regular gas advertised at $2.01/gal. But then there was a news story out of Kansas City this afternoon with gas under $2/gal. And to think a couple of weeks ago we were rejoicing to see gas under $3/gal! My guess is the oil barons are none too happy.

So, when the elections are over will we see the price go soaring back up to nearly $4/gal just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday travel? What about the price of airline tickets? Will they be forced to drop the surcharge for fuel?

Looks Like It's Going to be Colder

2008-10-26T23:26:00.003-05:00

There's a freeze warning up for tomorrow morning. They are forecasting a low of 29 for tomorrow morning. I spent the weekend taking in the plants and winterizing the fish pond. Some of the plants were looking a little the worse for wear, so I just tossed them. I trimmed the water iris and dropped it into the fish pond. There's a tank heater in the fish pond, so the water temperature stays at 40 all winter. It's cold enough for the fish to hibernate, but not freeze.

Then I covered the grill and patio furniture, put the gnomes in the garage, turned off the sprinklers on the front porch, disconnected hoses, and emptied the bird bath. Put screening over the fish pond, too. It keeps the leaves from falling in the pond and using up all the oxygen when they start to rot. Turned off the waterfall, too. Yard looks wintery now. Grass is still green, but after the freeze it will not need mowing any more. Now there's a saving---won't have to pay the lawn guy for a couple of months.

Weather's supposed to warm up after Tuesday. Maybe I can get the new front screen door painted. It's been hanging all summer and still isn't even primed. Think I may try to take it down and paint it in the basement.

Living in a "Battleground State"

2008-10-26T23:06:00.004-05:00

Who would have thought a person could be grateful for kitty litter, diabetes testing supplies, and pharmaceutical ads? Here we are a week from the election watching the news is an ad marathon for ever official running for office, 20 minutes of news and 10 minutes of political campaign ads here in the BattleGround State of Missouri. One accuses the other and then the accused fires back. It has gotten really ugly in some places.

One of my favorites is the McCain ad running about how the first crisis after the election will be O'Bamas first crisis and he doesn't have enough experience to deal with the crisis. And McCain has this experience? Won't it be his first crisis in that chair, too? Man, when folks are desperate they say some really stupid things!

I sure will be glad when all the campaigning is done and the winners decided.

It's been a while...

2008-10-12T22:57:00.010-05:00

since I posted here on the blog. The start of the semester and then a bunch of weekends all one on top of the other has kept me busy. So, I'm back and vowing to be better at posting.

This past weekend I went camping in Lyndon, KS. The campground was Crossroads RV Park near Pomona Lake. Met up with the MoKan LoW's for a week-

end event. Looked like it might be a rainy weekend, but the rain held off and all we had was a lot of wind. I have a tent, so wind was a bit of a problem setting the tent. Thought I was going sailing for a bit, but one of the

other women at the park saw me struggling with it and recruited a gentleman to help. With three of us, it was up in no time. Turns out the fly is a great help in keeping everything tied together. It has hooks and loop that tie it to the tent poles and anchors the fly to the corner rings. Once it's all put together and tied down with stakes (12), it stays put. There were gusts I'd estimate at 20 - 25 mph, so the nylon fabric rippled quite a bit, but we didn't take off.

It's really quite comfy in the tent with a queen size AeroBed and a sleeping bag it's quite nice for sleeping. Dog Rory settles right down in a corner of the tent and only stirs when critters come too close. The one time I was glad he didn't bark at the critter Friday night when the skunk went past close enough to leave a rank odor trail. I had visions of him barking, skunk taking offense, and all of us getting sprayed. Thank goodness the skunk just kept on moving along on its nightly journey and the odor soon dissipated.

Home Again

2008-07-20T15:33:00.003-05:00

As much as I enjoy visiting with the kids and seeing the grandbabies, it sure is nice to be home. Got in around 8:30 last night. I had a grad student (GS) house sit for me. Only saw three problems: (1) battery died on the sprinkler system for porch plants. (I lost the hanging basket of fuschia and will have to work on the revival of the giant peace lily, but the rest of the baskets and plants survived); the rope lights around the back porch are out and I couldn't find the problem; and the newspaper kept coming even though I had made a special trip to do it in person on paper. I have three weeks worth of papers that GS had picked up. Except for the papers, the other two might have happened even if I'd been here.

Rory and the kitties were just fine. They have all three not let me out of their sight all night and all day today. Rory had a full bowl of food, so I'm not sure whether that's how much he got fed or he just didn't eat while I was gone.

Fish pond looks like it did okay. I was afraid it would be green with algae, but I can still see the gold fish swimming in it and the fountain is going just like it should. I'll have to clean it this week.

Woke with a start this morning. I thought it was Monday and I'd missed a meeting, but it's only Sunday. It's amazing how unimportant the name of the day becomes when you're on vacation. Tomorrow I will have to get back to work. Got to grade papers in only one more of the three classes, and then post the scores in Banner. Next is reworking my dossier so I get tenure and promotion this next year. Does it ever end?

Ooops, I've done it again!

2008-07-20T14:47:00.006-05:00

Left S & M's for the airport yesterday morning around 10. flight wasn't until 12:10 p.m., but I hate to have to rush in the airport. I like to be there so that if they are overbooked, I can be among the first to volunteer and get the perks for waiting a couple of hours for the next plane. If that doesn't happen, I can always get a Starbucks and check my email, read a book, or whatever. It's lots of fun to watch the people.

So I get check-in, go through the security check without a hassle, and get to Starbucks for my treat. I'm rummaging through my purse and discover I have no iPhone. PANIC!!! Where's the phone? Last I had it, M was handing me baby ER, so I set it down... OMG, I have left it at M's. What to do!?! More PANIC!!!

So I run through a few scenarios--- contact M and have her overnight it to me, get a new one (with the new G3 that was tantalizing, if expensive)--- and decide the best option is to open 'puter and see if I can text S/M and see if they really do have the phone. If you go back to almost the beginning of this blog there is a post about leaving iPhone in bowling alley. That time I really did have it with me, but this time it was definitely not in the purse or my pocket.

So I wait patiently for the 'puter to boot, find out I have to pay for AT&T wireless connection, install software (not really), and just as I pay the fee for the day's access, I hear my name on the paging system. There used to be white phones on the wall to answer those calls, but now one of the two remaining pay phones is covered in a white plastic shroud and is the pager phone.

I figured it was M calling to tell me she had it. Nope, it was S, bless his heart, on his cell phone at security with V and trying to get the phone to me. So I hiked all the way back to the beginning and the security exit. I can see him with it. My thought was, "Just slide the phone along the nice tile floor and I'll pick it up and be off."

Not so fast...TSA fellows are telling me, "Phone has to go through screening."

(Cue the fine whine) "But I have a full venti machiatto I just bought and a brand new bottle of water that you all are going to make me toss."

Turns out even the TSA guys were split as to what to do. One is telling me I have to go out be re-screened, but the other, who appears to be the first guy's senior, is saying, "No, no, no, Tony can do it for her." Tony? Who the heck is Tony? (Hey, that whine thing works pretty good.)

So senior TSA guy goes out and calls Tony, who trots over, grabs the iPhone, puts it in a little white bowl, and sets it on the belt for the scanner. The TSA woman on the other side of the scanner sees the phone in the bowl, picks it up, and personally hands it to me. What nice people at the SLC airport!!!

S is wonderful for finding it; the TSA folks are wonderful for getting it to me. I'd have been really lost without it---no way to call Kat when I got to KC, no phone at home, no games to play or music on the plane, etc.

When I got home, I sent S a text to say I was home and thanking him for his quick thinking and hard work getting it to me. He texts back that the car broke down on the way home from the airport and he had to have his friend/boss tow him home. Thank goodness they are only 15 minutes from the airport and it was a Saturday morning.

Other than the phone incident, the trip was uneventful. The gates in Phoenix were right next to each other---in one and out the other.

Cousin-palooza

2008-07-19T00:27:00.010-05:00

Today, Friday (I know it says Saturday above, but I started this when it was still Friday.) was my last day visiting here in SLC and what a day it was. For lunch V and I met THE cousins at McDonald's. By cousins, I suppose I ought to explain. My son, Jud, is in SLC for the SENG conference this weekend. Mostly, his wife is attending for both their children and for continuing ed as an educator. He is staying at his in-laws here in West Valley. His mother-in-law, BJ, bless her heart, is taking care of three of her grandkids while their mother is in Oklahoma for air traffic controller training until 15 September. She also takes care of two other grandkids while the parents work. So that's five cousins right there. Then Jud comes to stay with two more grands. These last two are also my grands. So Jud took the oldest six, ages two to seven, loaded them in his van, and V and I met all the "cousins" at a McDonald's with an indoor playground.

What a wild bunch! V and Savannah (6-year-old) were the only girls. The other five were rowdy boys. Savannah was used to them, but V hung with Grandma and didn't say a word. Finally after chicken nuggets and fries, she decided that if Grandma would go with her, she wanted to investigate the playground. I couldn't go on the equipment with her as I would probably get stuck, but the circular staircase inside the "tree" had holes where she could play peek with me, so it was okay as long as she could see me.

She got about two-thirds of the way to the top where there were tunnels and slides, when a handicapped girl who looked to be 11 or 12, came down the stairs hitting and kicking all of the other children. Cousin Tate reported that she kicked him and I actually saw her smack V. I was really angry, but she was awfully handicapped. The children's caretaker tried to get her to come out after explaining she was challenged (not apologizing, just explaining), but it was another 5 or 10 minutes before she finally came out and could be led to her lunch.

Now, while I do understand that handicapped children need outings, I do think it's up to the caretakers to provide for the safety of the others who will encounter them. Being handicapped is no excuse for hitting and kicking. We spend a lot of time teaching a two-year-old that is unacceptable behavior. It's really hard to explain that because this older child is handicapped, she should be excused for her dangerous behavior. She was large enough and strong enough to really hurt the little ones.

I had such a touching moment in the car on the way home. While eating her ice cream cone, V told me she didn't want to go home! Every other time when I have had her out, that is one of the themes that is repeated, "Go home. See Mommy and Daddy." Today, even though it was nap time, she told me she didn't want to go home. I hadn't mentioned nap time. I really didn't think she would go to sleep, but she did about half way home. I didn't take any chances with getting her out of the car. I asked S to do that for me. Daddy's are so good for that sort of thing.

After nap time, S put the sprinkler under the trampoline and the squirty beach ball on top. Then he and V bounced and played in the cold water until V was shivering and her lips were turning blue. They had such a good time.

After supper, Jud came to the house with his two young-uns and Savannah. They are quite a noisy rowdy bunch. He also brought BJ. She wanted to see ER and brought boy outfits and photo books. Jud brought some outfits and the cutest, smallest flip-flops I have ever seen. BJ also had a toy pet carrier with a little stuffed dog with toy veterinarian tools in it. V loves it.

It was so nice to see BJ. She and Bill are among my favorite people. Bill stayed home with the two youngest boys, so I missed seeing him.

Tonight after the gang left, I packed most of my stuff. I leave for the airport around 10 tomorrow morning for a 12:10 flight to Phoenix and then on to KC arriving before 7 p.m. if all goes according to plan. Kat is meeting me, so I should be home by 9 p.m. CDT.

Trampolines and Playing with a Two-Year-Old

2008-07-16T15:58:00.003-05:00

There are no pictures, at least not yet, but this 64-year-old has for the first time jumped on a full size trampoline. S & M have one in the back yard. It used to be in S's family, but no one was using it, so it got brought to their yard for V.

She loves to go on it and bounce and walk on it. Last evening S was at work, so I got on with her. It takes a bit of getting used to, but with knees bent and feet about 18 in. apart, I found I could bounce standing up. Then V said, "Horsey style!" So it was down on all fours and bounce up and down horsey style. That works pretty well, better than standing.

This morning she got out a box of play food pieces and after dumping them on the floor, started throwing them at me. So I threw them back and the game was on! We tossed pieces at teach other and she tried to catch them. She is used to catching a large ball, so the hands and arms were wide apart and didn't work so well for catching small pieces of plastic.

We have now grown to the point that she will even let me take her potty, although she prefers Mommy or Daddy. In fact, I think "Daddy" is her favorite word. Today is a concentrated potty training day. Timer is set for every half-hour for V to try going potty. There are no diapers, no pull-ups, just "big girl panties." M had said that the reason she always had to go potty in every store we visited was because while I was training her, I drove across Pennsylvania on the Turnpike and stopped at every rest stop for her to go potty. Now V will have to go every time the kitchen timer goes off. She'll have an awful time getting a meal on the table or cookies baked.

Everybody has gone downstairs for nap time, so I think I'll try to grade a few of the assignments I haven't taken time to grade just yet. That way when I get home, there won't be so much grading to do and I can work on other projects.

Here's ER!!

2008-07-12T14:31:00.006-05:00

He's arrived, he's arrived, he's arrived, and wasn't at all late! ER (named earlier as Jr) arrived this morning, Saturday, 12 July, 2008, at 1:21 a.m. He's a big fellow weighing in at 9 lbs. even, 21.75 in. long, and 14.5 in. around at the head. He was covered in vernix, that wonderful white waterproof coating babies have. They tend to loose most if it just before birth, but this fellow had it all over him. That meant he was not quite done, but at 9 lbs. it was a good thing the 'midlifes' encouraged his arrival.

Melissa and Jess were just wonderful. Made sure everybody knew what to do for the next couple of days and will be back on Sunday. Much better care than the MD's and cheaper, too. Unfortunately, most insurances won't pay for it. I won't get started on that one!

Got to run. things are happening, Auntie L is visiting with her fam. We're all kind of blotto from a long night, didn't finally get to bed until after 4 a.m. More pictures on my me.com Web Gallery.

V & Me Out on the Town

2008-07-11T19:52:00.005-05:00

Today I spent all day with V in Salt Lake City. We started out at 10 a.m. with a trip downtown to the Discovery Gateway. It used to be called the Children's Museum, but they moved it to the Gateway Center, a block north and west of the planetarium, and renamed it Discovery Gateway. They sell a lot of Discovery Toys in the gift shop, too, so I'm thinking there's a corporate connection here.

We got there around 10:30 and played until around 1 p.m. There is a a water play feature that's the simplified almost right version of the water cycle, a farm with plastic veggies, a horse with saddle, costumes to dress up and pretend to be a sheep, cow, or cat, a store for the farm veggies with an announcer voice that asks for a price check on Register 1, a Jeep at the filling station, a house with all the stuff, and a construction area with a crane to lift foam filled blocks to lift. There are also various musical instruments and Little Tykes cars to ride.

There was a second floor with a helicopter (pretend, I'm sure) and assorted meeting rooms on the third floor, but we didn't go up there. V had enough to investigate on the second level. At first she hung back and didn't want to interact with the kids or the exhibits, but after about 20 minutes, she decided to check things out as long as I was right there where where she could turn and find me. She wasn't into the cooperation or playing together with the other children even though many were her own age, but then her own age usually does the parallel play thing anyway.

One interesting thing was the mouse hole in the exhibit house. V had looked in it, but it was dark and she couldn't see anything. Then one of the mothers came along and one time showed her daughter how to press the button to make a light in the hole. V watched and as soon as the other mother went away, lay down on the floor and pushed the button right off. V sure doesn't miss a thing.

After Discovery Gateway, we went to the Food Court and McDonald's for V's favorite, fries. It was at the Food Court rest rooms that I discovered that PullUps with a full load of urine are not StayUps! V was walking along saying, "Help me. Pants down." Dumb Grandma was not sure what she was saying until I saw her pants down around her ankles! Fortunately she was wearing a dress, so I just pulled them back up, picked V up, and carried her some. They seemed to stay up for a while, but 15 minutes later I heard the same plaintive complaint. This time I checked further and the durn things were soaked. I tired one more time to get them to stay up, but finally just pulled them off and threw them in the trash. We went back to the car in the parking garage a block and a half away without the panties. Found a new pair of PullUps in the diaper bag in the car and were good to go for a trip to Pet Smart.

As we were leaving Gateway, we went past the UTA Trax line. Between the trip to Gateway and the trip leaving we must have seen seven or eight Trax trains. V loved them, made all sorts of train noises. I was tempted to park the car, buy a couple of tickets and just ride out and back for V. If I have to do the entertainment tomorrow, I may just do that.

Just about got to Pet Smart, when V fell asleep in her car seat, so I got on I-215 and drove out to Draper. Normally that would be a 20-minute/half-hour ride, but today there was a big smokey fire beside the highway. It looked like a tire fire with thick black smoke that drifted across the highway. It wasn't so bad you couldn't see the cars in front of you, but the drivers all had to rubberneck and slow down to see what the problem was. Took almost twice as long, so when I got back to PetSmart, V had had a good hour nap and was ready to see the animals in the pet store.

After the pet store we drove round to see the horses in the sheds not far from V's home and then out to Barnes & Noble for strawberry lemonade and a look at a few books. Finally we got home a little after 4 p.m. M was surprised we had lasted so long and disappointed that she had tried relaxing all day and had nothing, not even a couple of good contractions, to show for it.

The 'Midlife' (midwife) is here now and they are pulling out all the items in her bag of tricks to get the baby on his way. M is finally have some contractions, but last I knew they were still only 6 minutes apart. S has V outside in the yard now, so I'm glad to be sitting writing.

Not Today..

2008-07-11T00:17:00.005-05:00

Jr. decided he likes it well enough after all in M's cozy, if cramped, uterus, and he is staying put, thank you very much. There apparently is some progress, but the 'midlifes' (V's interpretation of 'midwife') have told everyone to go to bed and get some rest. So, no bambino today.

D, my ex, left around 6 p.m. for a couple of errands and then to return his rental car. He is on his way to Pitsburgh, PA, to spend time with his mother and help with her "leave taking" from this world. (Her words according to him.) Then he is moving back to St. Pete.

I bought Wasatch Pizza for dinner. They make this wonderful pizza with all sorts of thing son it including black olives, sliced plumb tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. I try to have some on every visit. Then the 'midlifes' asked me to take V for a few hours so M & S could have a nice intimate, relaxing evening. We went to the park, Walgreen's for some bottled water, stopped by the horse stables so V could watch the horses, Circuit City, and Walmart.

At Circuit City I was ambushed by a video display at kid height right inside the door. V caught sight of The Incredibles DVD and that was it. I went there in the first place to look at the Canon SD 1100 IS. My digital camera is 10 years old and cost three times what this one with three times the pixels and features did. It's also a third the size and weight of the old one. It's perfect for putting in my pocket or purse. It has image stabilization, face recognition, video recording, and auto red eye correction built in. I did get it a 4 G card in stead of the 256 mB that comes with the camera. Can't wait to read about all the features and try it out tomorrow. I really wanted it for the baby's arrival. Now if Jr would get with the program and finally makes his debut...

Jr's Birthday Today?

2008-07-10T14:55:00.002-05:00

Looks like the day we've all been waiting for is finally here! Martha is in regular, though light, labor. Contractions are about 6 minutes apart and she is still able to talk and walk through most of them. She is uncomfortable, though, and keeps trying different things to ease her way through them and yet not slow them down. Jr is still in an awkward position and needs to be persuaded to put his rump out front (M's front, hot his front) where it belongs for a good exit. She leans over with her belly slung low, but he seems to have a mind of his own. (Oh, gee, where WOULD he get that!?! Can't imagine.)

M's dad is here (my ex). He stopped over in SLC on his way from CA to PA to visit M for her birthday Tuesday. Can't believe she's 31 already. It was 31 years and 2 days ago that I did what she's doing today. Today is G'dad's b'day, so he is hoping for a birth yet today.

I'm going back downstairs where the birthing tub is set up. It's not filled yet. M tried the hot tub outside thinking the jets would help, but was only in a few minutes when she decided it wasn't what she needed. Now she, S, & V went for walk. V fell asleep for her nap and M had pretty much one continuous contraction. She came back breathing through the contraction and couldn't talk as well, so we may be picking up speed here. Check back later for more on progress.

Still Waiting and Me & V Go Out

2008-07-07T21:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, we are getting closer. Last night's contractions were apparently just warm-ups. The little rascal is just practicing for his big arrival. Midwife was here this evening and stirred things up a bit so the contractions are back again this evening. I'm thinking that one of these evenings things will tip over into full blown labor and we will have us a new babe in the outside world, so keep checking back for more news.

In the meantime, V and I went to the playground this morning. With school out all of the playgrounds are open to the public. This one was at an elementary school across from the library. It has lots of neat climbing apparatus on a gravel bed, not sharp gravel, but the round peas sized stone kind. V had a blast. Then we went to Wendy's, her favorite place for fries. I had a frosty while she ate a small fries. Polished it off she did. we picked up a lunch for M who stayed home to get some rest. Then we stopped at Walgreens to get some items for G'ma (me). While at Walgreens V got to pick out a new nail polish. She liked the fire engine red one, not the purple one.

We had lots of fun and the only fussing was when we left the house without Mama. Once she was in her carseat, she was fine for the whole rest of the trip. Got home just in time to watch a bit of Shrek 2 and then go down for a 2 hour nap. Gave her mama a nice break.

I've done a lot more to help today. I'm getting to know the routines, so it is easier to know what needs to be done. Took down the first load of wash this afternoon and hung a second load, which I also took down. The first load was the sheets off M & S's bed, so I took those down to their room and made the be for them. V lets me hold her hand crossing the parking lot if M's hands are full. Getting to know a grandchild takes time just as nurturing any relationship needs time. Just wish my friend BSS had learned that earlier. Now the teenaged grandkids only call her for money, and that pisses her off. I really hope I can have a relationship with my grandkids, so I am devoting time to it.

Still Waiting..

2008-07-06T23:54:00.002-05:00

Still no baby. M has taken to screening phone calls 'cause she doesn't want to hear, "Didcha have the baby yet?" for the umpteenth time. She has had some contractions today, but nothing really organized. there will be one and then 25 minutes later another then 10 minutes and 30 minutes or an hour later. She called the midwife who says it's probably "pre-labor," a term none of us had heard before. But at least we're making progress.

It all reminds me of the bucket at the swim park where we went yesterday afternoon. It's HUGE, must be a couple hundred gallons in a big, made-to-look-like wood bucket about 25 feet in the air. It fills from a large pipe at the top. When it gets most of the way up, a bell starts ringing and kids line up under it. Then when it gets almost full, it tips over and dumps all 200 gallons down an elevated spillway onto the crowd below. Great fun when the temp is 95!

When we got to the pool park, the pool that was best for V was closed. It was just the right depth and had spots and spigots and showers with ramps and steps to get into the water. Seems someone had deposited some biological waste (yes, poop) into the pool. It had to be scooped out and the pool hit with extra chemicals. So we went to the indoor pool that was about the same depth. It, too, was closed for the same reason! What a bunch of inconsiderate people. Although I suppose when there are July Fourth weekend crowds of kids that's to be somewhat expected.

For the Fourth we went to E's house. He's S's boss at the eCenter. He's from Albania, I think. He and his wife C made some wonderful Albanian/Serbian food. Grilled all kinds of meat, had salad, etc. Then cake and ice cream for desert. So much wonderful food. Then the men (boys?) set off the fireworks. OMG, some of them were just gorgeous. Then there was the one with the two-liter bottle with Piccolo Pete's dumped in it, add a fuse, light it and run like heck 'cause you never know which way it will go! There there is this loud BOOM and the 2-liter bottle is melted down to a 1-liter bottle. The shot off bottle rockets, too. One of those hit the neighbor's deck and dropped to the ground by their back door where it exploded.

Last night we went to S's dad's house for barbecue. S's sister L was there with her fiance and her three daughters. The food there was acceptable. He had shrimp wrapped in wonton wrappers with peppers and seasoning, then fried. They were wonderful. There was also this frozen pineapple dish like a pineapple ice except there were chunks of pineapple in it. Again there were fireworks, but not so many or so illegal. There were these spinner things that spun very fast and kept changing colors. I really liked those and I don't think they're very expensive either. S has a friend whose parents run a fireworks stand in North Salt Lake, so they gave him a serious discount. Other wise we might not have had as many or such a variety.

Hope y'all had a great Fourth. Check back for more news on the bambino's arrival (or non-arrival).

Visiting the Midwives

2008-07-03T17:22:00.002-05:00

We're back from the visit with the midwives. They were very encouraging saying that M is more ready this week than last week. Baby is further down the birth canal and cervix is soft. Could be any time or could be a week or more. Nobody knows, so we'll just wait and see.

M is off to the pool to see if she can shrink her feet and ankles with some nice water pressure. Husband S is in the yard with V who was having a bit of a fit thinking M was leaving her with G'ma AGAIN.

So, no baby, just progress, slow thought it may be.

Waiting for Baby

2008-07-03T12:51:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm here in Salt Lake City waiting for grandbaby #4. He is due any time now; well, actually, he was due on 6/29, but still has not made his appearance. I was hoping he would hold out until I got here Sunday, but now the waiting is getting tiresome. M's friends are betting on when exactly he will make his appearance. We will all be going to an appointment with the midwives today, so I'll post more after that.

In the meantime, his big sister, V, is a precocious 2-year-old. Talks up a storm in sentences and whole paragraphs, bosses folks around, and generally is the cutest little redhead on the planet. I brought M's old Cabbage Patch doll and some videos for her. She loves 101 Dalmatians and Stuart Little. I think I will inventory their DVDs so I know what to look for on sale.

M's brother, J, my 36-year-old son, was in SLC this week chaperoning for a Yearbook Camp his wife was attending with some of her students. He got off early, picked up the two boys from Nana BJ's, and came to visit for a couple of hours until time to drive back to St. George. We all had a good time with the two rambunctious boys. It was fun to watch the three of them on the trampoline and building marble track towers in the living room.

There is one advantage to the babe waiting, M and I get more time to visit and I am able to help with some of the heavy lifting and work around the house. Takes some of the weight off S, her hard working husband. Monday he had to work out at Usana, an outdoor amphitheater for concerts, etc. Snoop Dog was in concert Monday evening, so S had to be there ALL day. Left here at 8 and didn't get back until 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. He does show setup, maintenance, etc., whatever needs done in the way of plant maintenance kinds of things for Ecenter. They are both managed by the same company, so in the summer S sometimes works at Usana when there is a concert.

I'm trying to catch up on some grading this morning. I was way behind in that part of teaching my three summer classes. Probably should look into having them rearranged a bit next year. Teaching 8 hours all at the same time is really demanding. On the other hand, it's all over at once and the rest of the summer is open for projects.

Today's Bubbles

2008-06-19T15:41:00.002-05:00

Today's science group of interest was blowing bubbles. I missed the ones where they blew the really BIG bubbles with stretched wire coat hangars for the bubble wand. I hear they were super big, but broke easily.

I got to the room just as the children were going to their desks to blow bubbles in a puddle of bubble juice on each desk. This is tricky 'cause you have to get the whole end of the straw under the top of the bubble puddle. Then you blow gently and a bubble rises up from the surface of the desk. When it pops, there is a ring left on the desk and the children can measure the diameter of their bubble. Prizes for the biggest bubble don't hurt. It's also a way to clean student desks.

The second class I visited today was investigating Flubber. Yesterday they had explored Oobleck and had so much fun with that non-Newtonian fluid, that today their science student teachers decided to do the polymer Flubber. They were having a really great time trying to figure out, "Is it a liquid or a solid?" They stretched it; they bounced it; they hit it to see if it shattered; and they poked it. Why don't you try it and see for yourself?

Pictures are in my Mac WebGallery at Science Fun.

Smashing Watermelons

2008-06-18T23:44:00.004-05:00

Today one of the groups of Elementary Science Teaching Strategies students had the coolest experiment. Their class of third graders wanted to blow up a watermelon. what they meant was to smash it. Principal J arranged for a maintenance worker to go up on the roof of the gym to drop the water melon.

When we got outside the school, there was the maintenance worker on the roof. He was demonstrating proper safety by wearing a harness hooked to a place at the top of the roof. All the other maintenance workers had quit scrubbing and waxing floors to come out and watch their colleague drop the melon.

The children had taped a big X on the playground near the wall of the building. Each child was asked to place a sticker at the spot they hypothesized would be the farthest the watermelon would go when it landed. Some of them were far out (4 meters) from ground center. I really didn't think the watermelon would go that far.

First the apple was dropped. It pretty much went "splat" right where it landed. No bounce, just flat on one side.

The watermelon was next. Man, did it fly! It hit that tarmac and went flying out in the neatest star burst pattern ever. It was hard to believe that the watermelon was all there. So many pieces spread out so far. I would estimate the total radius of the splat to be about 5 meters.

The kids were really impressed with how much of it broke up and how far it went.

All I could think of was, "What it that were a person's head?" then I wondered how you could test the smashing head thing and decided one could go to your lo]cal butcher and ask for a hog's head. Then you could drop that and see what happened. Hog is often used as a substitute for human. the pig should have a head about the size of a human head. Then I decided that maybe I watch too much MythBusters.

Pictures of today's smashing good time are at Watermelon Drop Gallery.

Summer School Starts

2008-06-03T21:49:00.004-05:00

Where did the time go? Three weeks ago we ended the spring semester and here I am starting summer classes. Yesterday was the start of three, Biology for Teachers and Computers/Technology in Education are both online and Elementary Science Teaching Strategies is face-to-face for the first four weeks and online for two weeks.

I've been super busy getting everything up ready for the classes to start. The Strategies class meets every day for 2 hours. The students were really pleased when I told them the last two weeks would be online. They are really feeling the pain of buying gas to commute to class. Two of them are carpooling from KC every day. I've heard others are carpooling from Sedalia (35 mi.) when normally they would have driven separately.

Tonight we have had a tornado watch from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. The storm finally arrived at 9:40 with lots of lightening, torrential rain, and pea sized hail. The weather reporters are having a field day. No tornados this evening, but they keep interrupting programs to tell us what it's not doing. Dog Rory is hiding somewhere.

Last night it stormed in the night. Loud boomers, but that was about all. Tonight is definitely more spectacular with lots of cloud-cloud lightening and some cloud to ground. There is flooding as well from the rain. Lightening struck a tank farm in KC and set a tank of unleaded gas afire. It's really spectacular. They plan on letting it burn out on its own. That's more than $9.2 million worth of gas.

CampOut with the MoKan LoW's

2008-05-17T23:09:00.006-05:00

This weekend was the MoKan LoW's (Missouri-Kansas Loners on Wheels) campout at Weston Bend State Park. These are mostly retired single women who travel in their own rig. There are local chapters all around the country and this MoKan group is closest to me. There are three other groups in Missouri and some of them have campouts close to Warrensburg, but this group seems to have more campouts closest to me. So far the farthest one is about 2 hours away.

I got to Weston around 9:30 in time for the chapter meeting. It's fun to watch the members interact with each other. Today there were, I think, nine women and two men. This one gentleman was a visitor from another LoW chapter. He's a "full timer" in a tear-drop trailer. I just can't believe that anyone could actually live full time in one of these, nevermind the one this guy pulls with all of his modifications. His sleeping area was once a doubles size bed, but he has eliminated one door and substituted a pullout with a 'fridge in it. Now that would be fine, but the other half of what would be the bed is fill with gear and has a hanging clothes rack over it.

The other door where he gets in and out of the bed has a custom tent that Ed has made himself. Did I mention he's a retired engineer? Then there is another Ed designed custom tent over and extending out from the back of the trailer that opens to reveal the "kitchen" area. He said he did this so that on rainy days he doesn't have to stand out in the elements to cook. He also has an LCD TV, a computer, solar panels, and I-don't-know-what-all crammed in that tiny little trailer.

I only went for the day. I don't have a rig yet, not even a tent, so Rory and I just piled in the car and rode off to Weston, a town that would like to think of itself as a destination for antique seekers. Weston Bend is a little state park on the Platte River a few miles from the town of Weston. It was a beautiful day. We have had so much rain and cool weather, but today was sunny and warm (80+). Even though I tried to stay mostly in the shade, I did get some light sunburn on the arms and neck.

Rory had a great time. His new buddy, Ed, got his "fur fix" and Rory got a great back and tummy rub. He met a couple of new friends, pets of LoW members. He also learned that being tied out is not a cause for barking. Dogs are permitted in Missouri State Parks, but they must be leashed at all times. Not everyone adheres to that rule all the time, but I wasn't taking any chances. I think when i take him with me on camping trips, I'll also take his crate. He's much more comfortable in it and I can move it out of a hot car and into the shade.

The nice thing about the MoKan LoW's trip is that this one took less than a half tank of gas. I left home at 7:30, made the meeting, stayed for the potluck lunch and "happy hour" at 3 p.m. and left there around 4 to be home by 6. (Rory has slept all evening.) I feel rejuvenated after a day out of town doing something entirely different with some really nice people, women who are quite capable of getting out on their own and traveling all over the place.

When I got home, I made a reservation for the June campout at Ruark Bluff West on Stockton Lake. It's an Army Corps of Engineers site. I'll be there Friday and Saturday nights. When I made the reservations, I found out that the National Parks and Recreation Lands senior pass/ discount card I got last summer at Grand Teton was good for a half-price discount on the campground fees at Ruark Bluff! What a nice surprise! And such a deal! It will only be $16 for two nights camping. It's two hours away, so it's a bit farther than today's trip and it will be nice to go and stay for dinners and campfires. I'll have electricity, so I could take the laptop to watch videos, but maybe I'll just do without. It'll be light until almost 9 at that point.

Tomorrow, Sunday, I plant to do some yard work after church. It's the last choir anthem for the summer. It's supposed to be a little cooler, so it will be nicer to work in the yard. Think I'll wear sunscreen.

Mother's Day & Gardening

2008-05-14T08:22:00.006-05:00

Mother's Day was quiet and restful. Church was long what with confirmations and little children's choirs singing. Sandy Bryan stepped up to have the choir party at her place. It won't be until 18 June and last week was the last choir rehearsal for the year. This coming Sunday is the last chancel choir anthem until the end of August. It's been nice not wearing robes because they are in storage while the choir room is being remodeled.

Martha called from SLC on Sunday a.m. while I was in church. Husband Shaun had left a text message wishing me a Happy Mother's Day. I called them back to wish M a Happy M Day. We had a nice chat, but since I had talked to her only the day before, it wasn't long before we both were off to do other things.

I got the nicest notes from the southern UT clan. First I got a funny singing penguins Blue Mountain Mother's Day card and then there was an iTunes Gift Card with just the nicest note from Jud & Jill. Thank you dear family. Then J called early on Sunday afternoon. They were enjoying the warmth of southern UT with temps near 90. Kids were in the giant inflatable whale pool in the yard and Ji was relaxing. I asked about the BBQ tools, but no, they didn't send them. Hmmm...must ask M.

Last evening I decided it was time to plant the hanging tomato basket. I think we are finally done with the frost. I have this hanging wire frame with a fabric liner. You plant the tomato so it comes out the bottom. there is a gallon water reservoir on the top with a wick to transfer the water DOWN to the dirt with the plants roots. I plan to hang it on the side of the garage where it's convenient to dump kitchen water on it, use water from the rain barrel, or, if all else fails, to use the hose to water it.

I couldn't get it planted last evening as it was threatening and then did rain, more thunder showers, but no tornado watches or warnings for us. I'll plant it this afternoon and post pictures as it grows.

While I was at Lowe's getting the tomato plant, I got a new bush to fill the hole in the front where a bush succumbed to severe garden neglect. I had admired the neighbor's flowering almond bush and saw one at Lowe's, so that's what will go there. It blooms in mid to late spring with the prettiest little pink pompom like flowers that are only about 1.5 cm across. Michigan bulb says it should be plated in a protected space, so the front/south side of the house with mature bushes on either side should help it survive the winter.

Naturally I can't go into Lowe's without seeing a bunch of other stuff: parts to make some garden decor, spar varnish to redo front door, etc. It was all made more bearable when I used Shaun's Christmas Gift Card. Thank you, Shaun! I will think of you when I admire the flowering almond next spring or when I eat the tomatoes this summer.

Package on the Front Porch and Odds & Ends

2008-05-08T21:11:00.008-05:00

Today when I got home there was this package on the front porch. No idea what it might be. Looked kinda like an Amazon box, but nope, it was from Shopper's Delight. Opened it up and there were these wonderful grill tools! They're just the ones I had on my Amazon wish list. Could this be a Mother's Day present?

Checked the invoice in the box, but no clue. It just had the address and item on it. I figure it's a gift invoice since there's no $$ on it. Sure enough, it's now among the purchased items from my wish list. Now I need a day that's dry enough to grill!

Update on the dog door: Rory loves it now. Goes in and out all on his own. Yesterday afternoon he was on the back steps in the light rain waiting for me to come home. This morning he let himself out when I took too much time getting dressed and he was on the back steps again this afternoon waiting for me when I got home. Pixie Kitty likes it, too. She likes to go out and just hangs around the back of the house. It would be nice if she took to using the great outdoors as a giant litter box. Less stress on the ones in the basement.

Classes are over and all finals are finished. Now all that's left of Spring semester is the grading. I'm hoping to have all the grading done by tomorrow afternoon. Then I'll post the grades on Monday. I'll have three weeks with no classes to interfere with getting ready for summer school and catching up on some projects. Happy summer, everyone!

Installing a Pet Door

2008-05-04T16:04:00.006-05:00

Here is the project for this afternoon, on the left is the outside view of our new pet door and on the right is the inside view. I ordered the aluminum PetSafe Freedom Dog Door. I wanted the metal one to better match the steel door.

I did a little research online and found out that you can mount the pet door in a metal door. All it takes is a metal blade for the jig saw. So I went to Westlake hardware and had the salesman help me get the requisite blade. I had ordered the installation kit with the dog door. Probably could have gotten away without the kit, but it included the right size bit for drilling all the holes, high density foam to fill gaps with an uneven door, and silicone sealant. It was nice to have all I needed to install. I am so proud of myself for having completed this project.

The directions always make it seem so easy, but it never works quite like they say. First of all the blade on the jig saw was not long enough to catch both sides of the door. It's a steel door with sheet steel on inside and outside with styrofoam between the layers. I had to saw the steel on the inside and then saw the steel on the outside. The outside house door is the maximum width for this dog door without ordering a framing kit for wall installation. The frame just overlapped front and back sections and I had to use the screws at their full length.

Getting the screws to line up through the door was the hardest part. You can't see where the anchors are on the outside when you try to put the screws through from the inside. You drill the holes through the door from the inside and if it were a solid door, this would probably be an easy line up, but with an essentially hollow door, it took quite a while and a lot of maneuvering, but I finally got them all connected. The pictures show how it looks.

Rory was a bit hesitant at first. I thought he would remember how it worked from his trip to Auntie M's, but he didn't. I had to persuade him with treats, but it only took a few tries until he got it. Just now he came in from sitting on the back steps. I was out cleaning the fish pond pump and when I came in, he stayed out on the steps until a few minutes ago when he came trotting in. He looked so proud of himself and made sure I saw he had come in all on his own. Now I want to see if he'll go out on his own. Won't that be nice?

The cats aren't so sure about that swinging flap. Pixie will go out if I'm holding the flap out of the way, but if the flap is in place she doesn't seem to want to go through it. I don't think Diesel has even investigated it yet.

The pet door has a nice steel flap that slides into grooves on the inside and has a locking pin to keep it secure when I want to keep the "kids" in the house or keep intruders out. With the fence around the yard, there aren't too many of the four legged intruders---coyotes, 'coons, deer---just a few stray cats and an occasional squirrel, but Rory usually dispatches them. It's the two legged intruders that I worry about. It's a long reach from the dog door to the dead bolt, but when I'm out of town and Rory is at the kennel, I will want it locked up tight. I will probably also keep it in place on blustery winter days or steamy hot summer days.

Bodies Revealed

2008-05-03T20:53:00.003-05:00

This afternoon my friend J picked me up and we went to Union Station in KC to the Bodies Revealed exhibit. Union Station all by itself is an imposing structure. Those railroad barons sure did know how to build imposing monuments. It is huge and now has been refurbed. It holds the Science City museum, a great place for kids (and adults) to explore the wonders of science.

As you go through the station, you can see parts that have been saved from the old building. One we saw today was the hydraulic pumps that were originally installed to run the elevators and moving stairs (escalators), the first in the area and the farthest west at the time. I'd like to go back and see other parts of the restored station. I found out on the website for Union Station that there is an audio tour that one can take to hear about the history of the station.

Any way, the Bodies Revealed is real bodies that have been dissected and then preserved with polymer process. Really weird to see the bodies in such real condition. J was amazed by how big the nerves were and how hard the ligaments looked as well as other aspects. It was fun to see how an adult could learn so much from the exhibit.

I see a lot of this every semester when my students do their reports in Biology for Teachers, so I was not as amazed by some of the regular information. I was really interested in some of the specimens showing aspects of disease. There were the usual tobacco blackened lungs that I had seen before, but then there were the cancerous colons, thyroids, stomach, and other organs. There was also a body with metal replacement joints (knee and hip) and plates to hold bones together.

This exhibit is a touring one, so it will be leaving KC in the fall. Right now there are also exhibits in Redding and Sacramento, CA. This one was at St. Louis before coming here, so watch for this to come to a city near you if it hasn't been there yet and go see it when opens.

Touring Whiteman AFB

2008-04-28T22:42:00.004-05:00

I've lived in Warrensburg for five years now and never had an opportunity to tour Whiteman AFB, a mere 11 miles away. When I first moved here, my brother, George, a retired Navy officer,and JoLee, his wife, came to visit. We all went over to the AFB to visit the exchange, but that was all we saw. Yesterday I got to go on a private tour arranged by a Wing Commander on the base.

First United Methodist Church of Warrensburg helps organize groups of eight who once a month share a meal. we each take a turn hosting the dinner. I knew one of the men in my group this year was an officer in the Air Force, but I didn't pay much attention to the fact that he was a colonel until the map and directions came in the mail for this month's event. We were to arrive at 5 p.m. on a Sunday evening for a tour of the flight deck and the B-2.

Turns out Tom is the Wing Commander and was the first to fly the Spirit of Florida after the crash on Guam of the Spirit of Kansas. He had arranged for the six of us civilians to all load up in a "gray steely" (looks like a paddy wagon without the bars) and drive right onto the flight deck. We had all come through security at the main gate onto the base where they live, but then there was another layer of even more aggressive security before we arrived on the concrete ramp where the planes are tested and readied for flight.

The bombers are kept in climate controlled "docks." (Looked like hangars to me, but we were told the correct term is "dock.") The airmen that helped with the tour were most happy to be tending planes in a nice heated and air conditioned dock instead of on a cold and windy air base in North Dakota or Alaska.

The plane is soooo much bigger in person on the ground than it seems when you see it in the air. It is HUGE from wing tip to wing tip. From the bottom it looks like there are no engines, no intake ports, no exhaust ports. There are no visible lights; it is perfectly smooth on the bottom side. It has special coatings and is designed to be as invisible as possible.

The support crew had pushed a huge ladder into position so we could climb up and actually see the top of the plane, the side you NEVER see from the ground. That's where you can see the intake and exhaust ports. You can also see the cockpit hood.

That was next. We each took turns going up into the cockpit. Gosh, I'd have a problem locked in that little space for up to 44 hours (the current record for a continuous flight). The two pilots take turns napping and sleeping on the plane and they refuel in midair. Other than the view out the windscreen, the cockpit looks pretty much like any other jet cockpit despite the fact that it is all designed for a plane that really shouldn't be able to fly.

Finally, after all the touring, Tom took our pictures as a group standing underneath the port wing of the plane. When I get the pictures from tom's wife, Barb, (We couldn't take any cameras and cell phones had to be left in the steely.) I'll post them here.

Talking to Grandperson

2008-04-10T23:52:00.007-05:00

Hey, I kinda like how that comes out, "Grand person." They are grand persons. I just love talking to my grandsons on the phone. JMB tuned four this week, so I sent him the Sponge Bob Square Pants Ocean Adventure cartridge for his new Smart Cycle. It was a big hit and he told me about the best part of it. I can't wait to visit and see him ride the cycle.

Now that the grand-boys are older it is interesting to hear their take on life. I just wish I could spend more time with them.

EMB is now in second grade. Jud tells me his behavior has improved as he is trying hard to be a second grader in every way. He gets a "high-five" from his teacher every day, loves the math and science part of second grade, and is challenged by the spelling assignments.

Been thinking about when/how to get to SLC for the birthing of g-babe #4 in late June/early July. I think I'll wait until it's closer to time and there is a better idea of when the little one might finally arrive. I'll get the Business Select ticket on Southwest. It's most flexible with priority boarding and you get double Rewards credit. Can't wait to meet the newest arrival and spend time with V, my favorite (only, so far) granddaughter.

I'm looking for ideas on ways to entertain V while I'm there. If any of you out there have some favorite ways to entertain a 2-year-old while her mommy deals with the new babe, send them my way or add to comments. I figure I'll need a couple of week's worth of plans otherwise I may have to watch "Signing Time" and "Simpsons" videos over and over.

Hunting the Perfect RV

2008-03-29T23:44:00.003-05:00

Getting the Hair in Shape

Went to Blue Springs today for the monthly hair appointment. Hair had grown more in 4 weeks just like it was spring for the hair. Color was faded and the gray was really showing. If I hadn't scheduled the appointment for 4 weeks from the last color and cut, I would have had to call and get it done ASAP.

Misty added highlights this month. I was getting kind of bored with the all one color, so this is a nice change. Not too drastic.

More RV Research

After I was done in BS, took a short trip to Grain Valley and Trailside RV. Some of the members at Loners on Wheels meeting last week had recommended them, so since I was out today...

I was greeted at the door by the receptionist and quickly handed over to Salesman Ken. Ken and I went to his cubicle where he asked a lot of questions about what I was looking for: Class C used motorhome or what has been known as the mini-motorhome. He said he had a few of those on the lot and recommended a length of 28-30 ft.

Next he asked if I had considered a small/shorter Class A. I really had not considered it, so he put a couple of those on our list to visit.

Well, there are some really nice vehicles out there. The first was a much older motorhome with all new tires and a rebuilt carburetor. Seems a family had started out from Pennsylvania after having had the carb rebuilt, got as far as KC when it started sputtering again, and traded it for a brand new model. It was clean and in pretty good shape, but it had a really musty smell and I knew my allergies would thrive in there. It was a 1984 and that's a bit older than I think I want. No warranty on anything, so ...

Next I saw one without sliders. That's okay, but slides are really nice and add room for kids to play on floor for rainy days, but you can still get through the unit on the road.

I looked for units that had enough room to sleep at least 5. Both J and M will have 2 kids and spouse, so if either group joined me it would be nice to have the room. I also asked about child car seat anchors so we wouldn't have to take a car just to tote the kiddos.

Data Findings:

Slides are good, but not absolutely necessary
28'-30' Class A would do the job, too.
Class A has nice panoramic view out the front and might be easier to drive.
Class A's all come with auto-leveling.
If choice between Ford 10 engine and Chevy 8 with Allison trannie, go with the Chevy for better mid-range power.
Showers in >24' are separate units, some in corner, some with glass.
At 28' get walk-around queen bed in rear.
Over-cab bed is nice for kids, but not for me. I need bed in rear.
I definitely don't like the configuration where the sofa and the dinette are both in a line on the same side of the unit.
All newer models have digital TV.

Dealer vs. Private Sale

Buying from a dealership has definite advantages over the private deal.

Even used units are inspected and detailed.
Warranties are available.
Dealerships should take care of customer after the sale.
Trailside is a "Route 66" dealer with connections across the country. Should you need service on the road you will be treated as a customer of the nearest Route 66 dealer.

So I didn't find a deal today, but I did leave my card and home phone number. Ken said this is the beginning of the busy sales season and there will be more units traded. So I'll keep watching the 'Net and looking for a private deal as well. Might take a trip to Columbia where there is another dealer even though I like how close Trailside is.

Cruise America in SLC

Talked to M later in the day and told her I had been looking at RV's. I told her about my excursion today and that I had also seen some units at the Cruise America site for a location in SLC. Told her if they got a notion to go have a look I would be interested in their take on the used units for sale. If I don't have something by July, I'll go look for myself while I'm there.

Topics: Rory, Bowling, and Darwin Award Winner

2008-03-27T23:37:00.007-05:00

Rory

Rory seems to be doing some better. He is still spending most of his time in his crate, but is back on his food. Not sure why he is so reluctant to leave his crate. It's like he's afraid of something. He's behaving much like he does when it's thundering. I'm thinking he's in pain and afraid to move because he thinks it's going to hurt. If he's still the same tomorrow, he's going back to the vet's.

Oh, wait, he's come and asked to go out on his own without urging.

Successful trip out to "do his business" and back in for a dog treat and a big drink of water. Maybe we have turned a corner.

Bowling
Tonight I was asked to bowl for a colleague who is out of town. Had a lot of fun. The opposing team included nice folks and the other sub on our team is a really nice guy, too. We poked fun at each other, cheered each other on, and were generally pretty rowdy. My first game was a bust---only a score of 80! But then I got going so the second game was 124 and the third game at 118 was close to my average. The team didn't do so well. We won the first game, but were spanked in the second, third, and overall scores. But, hey, we all had a great time.

Darwin Award Candidate

This story is the best of all and was the topic of much hilarity at bowling. It has gone 'round the world. Even got a copy from my sister-in-law in Portland. It's all over the 'Net.

The poor woman at the center of this story married a Darwin Award candidate and paid the price.

Comments heard at bowling:

"What was she doing---checking to see if it worked?"
"Why did he use a .22? That's not a big enough hole for the cable to pass through. He'd have to shoot it at least twice. I'd have used a .357 with hollow points."
"Well, now his family tree is no more than a stump!"

Rory at the Vet's

2008-03-26T23:00:00.008-05:00

Why is it kids and dogs can look like they are the sickest they've ever been until you get to the doc's/vet's office? Kinda like taking the car to the mechanic only to have it not do what it did that made you think it needed to be in the shop.

Rory has been moping around for a couple of days. Symptoms:

Awful gas with toxic farts.
Not eating
Won't leave crate/kennel.
When I finally did get him out, he plops down on patio under chair.
Had to promise a walk on leash to get him out a second time.

So, when he didn't meet me at the door after school, I decided that 3 days of this was enough. Time to haul him off to vet for clinic hours.

Now, clinic hours at the vet's require at least an hour wait if you get there first in line. I'm leaving the house half way through clinic hours, so it looked like at least an hour when I signed in.

Was actually more like 1.5 hours. Then they do the work-up: listen to chest, check ears (neg), trim nails, check temp (normal for dog), check for fecal parasites (neg), check for heart worm (neg), take blood, etc. NOTHING. And he is looking right perky by this time. Shakes like a leaf on the exam table, but that's normal.

Techs tried to catch a urine sample but he wouldn't/couldn't provide one. He comes back in and so happy to see me, he's Mister Personality. Sees the door to waiting room is open a crack and noses it all the way open so he can exit; leash stops escape. Vet comments on how smart he is. MmmHmm, so smart he's performing for you.

Diagnosis: Probably some light case of gastritis. Vet offered 2 courses of treatment, so I asked, "If he were yours?" That's really what I'm paying for, his best professional opinion.

"Try him on amoxicillin for a couple of days and see how he does. If improvement, finish amoxil. If no improvement, call Friday and bring him back."

No dog who was on death's door sill while at home and all the way into the waiting room, is now ready to go home and looks as if nothing is wrong.

We get home and he heads right for the food dish and finishes off his breakfast. Let's see how he is tomorrow morning when it's time to go out again.

Happy Easter & RVs

2008-03-23T17:13:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter, y'all!! Even though it's only 45 today, with the daffodils and crocus in full flower it really does look like Easter. Clouds look like we could have a snow shower, but then they blow over and it's sunny once again. Even saw my neighbor outside for a while yesterday afternoon. This past week we had a couple of days when it got over 60 so the trees have started budding and the pollen count is on the rise; I guess it's really spring. Finally.

Southeastern Missouri is awfully wet with lots of flooding on the Meremec River, but we missed most of it. Paper says the wet weather has delayed the start of spring planting and it is awfully "squishy" in the yard. Probably not too good to get out there and muck about in the dirt just yet. I will have to get out soon and do something about the vast quantities of algae in the little fish pond. Looks like green moss is covering one corner of it. I read, though, that one should wait until the pond temp gets up close to 70 so the fish are swimming around and you don't get them caught in the debris and fish them out, too. Would hate to loose one of those giant (6") gold fish.

Yesterday I went to a Loners on Wheels meeting in Independence. LoW is an international group of single RVers and I met with the local MoKan chapter. In the winter months (Nov - Mar) they have Camp-In meetings at a local buffet restaurant. Apr-Oct they meet at a local campgrounds. I went to gather info on getting an RV unit. The meeting itself wasn't all that exciting, but the info I gathered afterwards was pretty good. Some of them have been at this for quite a while.

Here's what I learned: fifth-wheel trailers are not for single women---takes 2 to hook them up and it's a tough job; Class B (modified van) are too expensive---even used ones go for $50,000+ and the showers in them are REALLY tiny; Class C is the one recommended by most women---can get used one for <$20,000; now is the time to look for them as folks want to sell/trade for the new season; should have gone to LoW-HI Ranch for Spring Break---lots of singles were looking to make a deal.

Advantages: Besides being able to camp in home area, how nice would it be to visit the kids and have my very own space? Park it in the drive, plug it in, and I'm good for a visit. No unpacking. No invading their space except maybe for a shower. Waste tanks get full, I can truck on out to a local dump station. I know they must have them in St. Geo. Could visit bro in OR or friend sin FL. Dog could go along instead of a week or two in the kennel.

Disadvantages: Cost of insurance, repairs, and maintenance for another vehicle. Storage, since it won't fit in my tiny garage and I don't want it blocking the drive for the Chevy or whatever that I will still need for local travel. Price of gas for the trips. Outfitting rig: I have enough stuff left from having the apartment in Tampa to pretty much furnish it, so that's not so much of an added cost. Cats would probably be left at home as space would be too small for 3 animals and a litter box. Yard care while I am off tripping around the country. Hazards of traveling alone.

So now I've got the bug---again. Been looking on line all weekend. I've seen quite a few used rental units on the Cruise America site. Wondered about the fact that they were rental units, but saw a number of comments on one of the discussion boards about CAm in particular. A number of posters wrote favorably about the experience and recommended the extra 100,000 mi warranty. CAm doesn't have a site here in MO or KS, but does have one in SLC or Vegas. I'm thinking that I will have to visit them in SLC in July.

So, I'm still thinking and dreaming...

Where does the day go?

2008-03-19T23:34:00.003-05:00

The last couple of days have been really hectic. Seems folks have been saving stuff for after Spring Break and now find they have to get it done before the semester/year ends. Wednesday is supposed to be a day without classes devoted to research and writing. MmmHmm. Well, not today. Worked on tech stuff all day.

First there was the arrival of the 10 new MacBooks. I was expecting the delivery at 9:30. At 10:15 I got a call from a young lady who wanted to know where I wanted them delivered. I had talked with the Bookstore manager yesterday and gave him all of the info and told her so. In about 15 minutes she showed up with a helper and all of the MacBooks, iLife '08 for the iBooks I already have and Leopard OS X upgrade and iLife 08 for the MacBook Pro here at home.

Then I had GA Josh work on installing the iLife '08 and updating with the Apple security update that came out yesterday. Took him most of the day to get all that done. TG for Josh or I would still have that to do.

Stopped by the Dean's office to deliver paperwork on MacBook Apple Care. while I was there I stopped to see Assoc. Dean. We talked a bit about NCATE and doing SPA evaluations (Got to get those done this weekend.) Then it dawned on me that her speciality is in Special Ed and some of my strategies students are having a problem with a student that should be on meds and is not. It is causing problems with their host teacher and they are very frustrated. Why not ask if she could come to class and talk about strategies to deal with the situation? AD agreed. I think this will be a big help meeting a just-in-time instructional need.

I had emails from university Web Editors about moving the department pages from Ingeniux to the Contribute site. Found out I need to do training on Contribute, but it comes in MAC!!! If this works like I think it should I will have even fewer reasons to fire up the Windows machine in my office. Hurray!!

There are a couple of pages that only had a list of links in the old site and now are blank pages and either need to be eliminated or have text added. I tried to find Department Chair (DC) for answer, but DC had as more meetings and was unavailable. By that time it was 3:30 and I had missed most of the Spring Faculty Meeting. Oh, well.

Got home a little after 4 p.m. to check on dog. He has been a little out of sorts and off his feed, but when I got home he had eaten the breakfast I left for him and was looking much better. Tonight he was ready to play again, so even though he is a bit farty, I know he is more like his old self.

This has also bee the week of the paid-by-the-university dinner. Last night I went to dinner with the guest speaker sponsored by the College of Science and Technology and others. The dean stopped by the restaurant to make nice and the Associate Dean kiddingly asked, "So you're paying for dinner, right?" And she answered in the AFFIRMATIVE! Wow! There were about 10 of us at the table and I was so honored to be among the group.

Yesterday, my colleague and office suite-mate, DE, asked if I wanted to go to dinner with the secondary ed position candidate, so again this evening I had a dinner paid by the university. I am marking this week on my calendar---two dinners paid for by the university and I'm not even an administrator.

Dog is on the move and looking to go out n the warmish evening. Spring is here!

Spring Break's Over?!

2008-03-16T22:34:00.003-05:00

How the heck did I manage to blow the entire week. Didn't go anywhere except Kansas City on Monday to get the iPhone. The rest of the time I stayed here in the 'Burg. Did fix a few little things around the place and caught up on a bit of grading. Saturday the day was spent with PLT. Spent a lot of time napping and just relaxing, so I guess that's what a vacation's for.

This morning I got out to church. It was Palm Sunday with choir processional and anthem and all that palm waving. I've still got that anthem running through my head. We've done the same anthem several years in a row so it's easy to remember the tune and most of the words. Probably will have it stuck until choir practice on Wednesday.

This week will be a busy one at church. Wed is dinner and choir practice and Thursday is the Maundy thursday service. Then Sunday is Easter. Lot's of music and hoopla.

Even though I've pretty much blown the week, it'll be good to get back in the routine of school again.

Bureaucratic Entanglements

2008-03-15T18:46:00.003-05:00

About six weeks ago I scheduled a Project Learning Tree workshop for today. At the time I didn't realize that it was the Saturday at the end of Spring Break, but hey, the university is open all the time, right? Not so fast.

So, anyway, on Wednesday I thought I'd better check to make sure the building was going to be open. So I checked with our department office professional (OP) who said she thought she had made arrangements, but check to be sure. I emailed the Building Manager, a clerical type. Turns out she doesn't make those arrangements any more; I should go online and submit an electronic form. So I go online, fill in the form, and submit. When it's submitted, I get a notice that if I don't have a confirmation email 48 in advance, I should call the Conference and Meetings office to confirm.

I call. Yes, they got my form. Yes, the people in charge of opening the building will be notified. Yes, the building will be open. I did get a return email confirming my reservation and indicating the building would be opened at 7:30 a.m., plenty of time before 8:30 when my folks would arrive.

Now, I do have a key for the building, but my key won't unlock the panic bars on the doors once I enter and close the door behind me, so it's really important that the doors are unlocked for the Missouri Department of Conservation facilitators and my students to get in.

I got to the building at 8:25. There were cars all over the place. Not a spot to be had in the lots adjacent to the building cuz there's a volleyball tournament in the gym next door. So I park in the lot across the street. I walk over to Lovinger and every single door is locked tight as Fort Knox and two students are already waiting to get in. Oh, yes, by this time the cold wet rain has turned to big white fluffy flakes of, you guessed it, SNOW. (At least it wasn't cold enough to stick to roads.) Fortunately, my key did work and I sent the students in two different directions to open doors for others.

Meanwhile, I call Public Safety (campus police). Nope, they have nothing on their schedule that says they need to open the building. Who was I? What meeting was I holding? Which doors do I need open? Where would I like to meet the officer? ARGHHH!!!

One good thing about all this was that I didn't have them open the back door across from the gym. That way volleyball people were discouraged from wandering aimlessly through the building.

Other than the glitch at the beginning, the workshop was great. Twelve students showed up even though it was still Spring Break and I think they really enjoyed doing the activities and getting the materials. Two of the participants were Strategies students and one was a secondary ed student. The other nine were Biology for Teachers students.

It's always good to see the MDC agents and catch up on what's going on with them. One said she had a guest in her home who is a friend of her daughter's and teaches at our university. When she mentioned my name he responded with, "She's a good teacher." That was really nice to hear. I sometimes wonder if I make a difference and if anyone notices. Apparently so.

Project Learning

2008-03-15T18:45:00.000-05:00

Thoughts on Parenting

2008-03-13T23:33:00.004-05:00

Tonight at bowling there was a new baby, looked to be maybe a month old. She was so cute and slept most of the evening. Along about the third game of three-game league play, she began to cry. Her mom went to the carrier/car seat where she was still strapped in. I thought that for the mom would pick her up, but, no, she offered her a bottle and when she was finished, mom went back to bowling. Dad went to see her a couple of times and lifted her out to burp one time and promptly put her back in the seat.

I couldn't help but think that I would have had her out of the seat and would have just passed her off to the dad when it was my time to bowl. Then I thought about what my daughter, M, would have done. She would have had her out, nursed her, held her, and cuddled her. I know this from her behavior with her daughter, V. I think that my son, J, would have picked up baby, too, and carried her around on his shoulder, showing her the world. What good parents my children have become! It makes me so proud to see them as parents trying their hardest to do what's best for their own children.

After bowling I went right home, let the dog out, put down the mail, and did a couple of other things. When I went back to check my new iPhone to see if it needed a charge, i couldn't find it! I remembered having it at the beginning of bowling and then I thought I put it in my purse, but it wasn't there. PANIC!!! I looked all over for it and just couldn't find it. I got in the car and went back to the bowling lanes. The young man who works at the bowling alley helped me look for it. He even used his cell phone to call it, but nothing rang in the alley. I called another member of the team who I thought may have seen it left behind and picked it up. No, she didn't have it and hadn't seen it after I showed it to someone from the other team.

I was now in full panic mode. I have it less than a week and manage to loose it. I just know it is lost and gone to a new home with someone else. Young man said he would notify building manager in case it turned up and I left for home. On the way home all I could think about was that the phone was gone so soon after finally getting one with my tax money and I really can't afford to replace it with another like it. What will I do for a personal phone? I don't have a landline, so I'm disconnected until I find it.

Took my bowling bag in the house to search it just in case, but I was sure it wasn't in there. I started tracing my steps back into the house, through the kitchen, and into the living room where I saw the mail and evening paper that I had put on the table next to the recliner. I lifted the paper and, lo and behold, there was the iPhone. What a relief!!! What an idiot!!! I think I need a leash for the iPhone. Maybe a lanyard?