Feeling Human Again

As one of those "lucky" people to have naturally curly hair, I find that without the assistance of a professional to tame the curly locks I have persistent "vacation hair". It's amazIng how a brief trip to get my hair cut makes me feel like a whole new person. I'm fortunate that I have a neighbor who has opened up shop close by and spoils me rotten. Unlike most places that I've gone in the past, she takes the time to blow my hair dry. With her magic touch I have straight hair for a few days, until it's time to wash it, or I get caught in the rain. I can't do what she does for myself, so I enjoy the special treatment.

This is the first post from my new laptop, a MacBook Pro. The backlit keyboard is particularly handy and has a nice touch. I'm looking forward to using GarageBand to produce my podcasts. iMovie and iPhotos have a lot of potential for preparing presentations of many kinds. Having just taken many hours and days to rebuild my home computer, I just haven't had the time to spend a lot of time on this new computer. I'm planning to set up and transfer datafiles a little at a time.

One other new toy is a PDA phone. I'm learning it a little at a time, too. It'll sync to my Outlook to keep track of e-mail and many other things. I've never been particularly phone savvy, but perhaps using a pocket PC will help.

Getting Organized!?

For the last two years I have cleaned out, cleaned up, painted and generally fixed things up. So now that things are together, like with like, it's time to get them organized. One of the first things that I have started, is to get all of the digital pictures in one place--on one harddrive. I've used an external drive to collect them from various places. I'll probably even copy those that are on CD. There's even a plan to start to scan our non-digital photos, but that is getting ahead of myself.

In this process I've also been sorting other digital files. I'm not known for my wonderful filing system, except for my research, although I am trying. Time is always on our side with this one. If you wait long enough, it doesn't need to be kept anymore!

Enjoying Cub Scouts Again

Tonight I had the priviledge of being pinned by my youngest son with a mother's Webelos Scout pin. When they get into Webelos you lose track of what they are doing because they work on their requirements with their den, not so much with the family as they did when they were Wolves and Bears. But for some reason I still got credit for helping him with the accomplishment. Hardest thing is to actually get him to the den meetings since they are at the same time as so many other activities and too far away for him to walk. It's so different from when my oldest boys were in Cub Scouting and so was I.

I started out as a Bear Den Leader for my oldest son's Bear Den. Our next son was close in age, so I contined as the Bear Den Leader for him too, as well as serving as the Cubmaster. Our youngest son was born while I was Cubmaster. I loved being with the Cubs. For five years I served as a Cub Leader in some capacity, until I graduated to Scouts where I served for eleven years.

Tonight was a fun pack meeting. The boys received their awards...quite a few of them. They talked a bit about important things like citizenship and caring for others. Families came together. And my son was glad I was there. He thinks I'm a great Mom. And frankly, I really don't care about any other opinion.

Loved This One!

I love the idea of a blog...hoping that I might refine my writing to something that others would want to read. Sometimes I think just a journal would be best, then I don't have to worry about anyone else reading it. I could write without too much worry. There are many times that I would like to write, but just don't have the time to polish it to feel that it is Internet ready or even worthy to be written. This cartoon made me realize that perhaps no one is reading it anyway, so why worry? You can find this and other Savage Chicken post its at: http://www.savagechickens.com/blog/2005/12/read-my-blog.html. Love the chickens!

May I introduce Mr & Mrs....

Today my oldest son was married to his lovely sweetheart. It was a gorgeous day for this outdoor wedding. It's amazing how all of the planning and preparation turned out to be beautiful, and yet having all of the wedding party coordinate and remember their part in the ceremony isn't what will be remembered in the many years to come. What will be remembered is that on this day two people pledged their love and commitment to one another to become a family. We've already seen a strong couple work and plan toward their future together. I'm looking forward to seeing what the two of them will complete as a couple...it'll be awesome. So even though today was full of working out the details, the big picture is that this is just the beginning of a long and beautiful journey.

How welcome the rain

It has been very hot this summer. According to the news reports, this is not a local phenomena, but it's been hot all over the U.S. So today's heavy rainstorm is very welcome. I don't think I've ever seen rain like this...the wind was blowing the pouring rain so that we could barely see our neighbor's house. That didn't last too long. Now it's a gentle, constant rain. It's the kind of rain that I love to listen to from inside a tent. Actually it's quite lovely to listen to from the comfort of the recliner in the bay window in my bedroom. Just perfect for a restful summer's nap.

What I Learned Painting Today

Today I learned many things while painting. Here's the list:

1. Painting with two is much faster than one.
2. Willing assistants to retrieve various odds and ends keeps the process going.
3. Assistants are much more willing when there is hope of a movie when the painting is done.
4. No matter how light the blue paint, it always takes at least two coats to cover.
5. Taking the time to tape things that aren't to be painted is worth every second.
6. No matter how carefully you place the tape, there is always some paint that gets on things that it shouldn't.
7. Be sure to remove the tape before the paint dries.
8. Cleaning up right away is much easier than waiting until later.
9. Painting with two is much more fun than painting alone.
10. My children and I like the same music.
11. Dancing while painting makes it go even faster.
12. Painting works out more muscles than an hour with a professional trainer.
13. Painting a room is a sure way for a recovering perfectionist to fall "off the wagon."
14. A freshly painted room is immensely satisfying.
15. It takes longer to clean and replace the stuff removed to paint in a bathroom than it takes to actually paint the bathroom.
16. A putty knife cleans fresh paint off a tile floor.
17. A paint tray liner is worth the money.
18. No one cleans a bathroom as well as Mom.
19. One bathroom plus two teenage daughters with long hair equals a clogged sink.
20. Teenagers do not seem to understand how to put an empty shampoo bottle in the trash can. Perhaps they miss their tub toys.
21. Tub and tile cleaner does a great job getting rid of tough toliet stains.
22. Clean bathrooms attract less spiders. (Well, that's what I'm telling my children--then maybe they'll try harder to keep their bathroom clean).
23. Painting is a great time to listen to songs for use in multimedia productions.
24. It's a good idea to write down the titles of the good songs that you hear.

A few other things I'd really like to know. Am I the only person who uses a toothbrush to clean the dirt out of the outlets and off the switches? Do other people replace the face plate screws?

Coming soon...the end of the painting saga!

Success

I have always loved my beautiful front room window with its large picture window topped by a lovely arch. I can now say that it has once more been successfully covered. A quick internet search and I found instructions on how to create my own arch window "rod" from a clear plastic tube and 1" cup hooks. It worked beautifully, even though I had to go up on the fourth step on the ladder! Determination overcame my fear of heights and I got the project done. I even found out that I can drill and such with my left hand. Afternoons will be a little cooler with the harsh west sun filtered. Now off to paint a few more things....

The End of Summer Vacation

I don't usually relate much about my career in this particular blog, but today my work life and personal life were at the summer crossroads.

I've learned that many teachers spend their summer vacations doing many of the same things that I have done...home improvement, professional development and serious family time. My children tease that as we visit the local home improvement store that I'll run into one of my teacher friends and we always do. Sometimes we see more than one!

We all set some summer time goals, so that the time didn't slip away. We planted a garden that's doing pretty well. I finished a few major projects. There are more to go, but I'm happy that many were accomplished. Life is much more peaceful with the day to day household things more organized and under control. I'm not sure if I'll ever have every drawer organized and labelled like Sheila, but it's much better than a year ago.

Today was the official end of my summer vacation. I spent the morning with a team helping to put a computer lab back together after recarpeting. (We think the carpet was original to the 1977 building, so it was long overdue.) The carpeting is so beautiful, that after the machines were set up and ready to go, I spent the rest of the day making sure that everything in the lab was in tip top shape. I cleaned out the closet. Sorted through the miscellaneous tech stuff that gathers in the corners and under the tables and put aside the stuff that needs to be surplused to the district. All in all things got done to help get the new school year started off on the right foot. Of course there are always those projects that are important, yet never quite urgent enough to get done when school is in session, so I'd better find a few more hours before the faculty returns and get things all done up right. For instance updating the machine images, reimaging the lab computers, and reimaging the computers for the new teachers. Of course I'm sure that the first few weeks will be spent helping to get all of the equipment set up properly after the new carpet install.

It's been a shorter summer than usual for me this year, but I feel excited to get to work with students again. I've been taking an online basic PowerPoint course through the Utah Education Network this summer and it's sparked some ideas of things I'm looking forward to doing.

Tomorrow morning is an opening faculty meeting and I have the new school year excitement butterflies! I always try to find a way to support my schools goals and hope that this year I might actually do it.

And as I've finally learned to do, when I leave school tomorrow afternoon, I leave teacher at school and return home as Mom.

Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow)

is the name for a condition in which the bony bump at the outer side of the elbow is painful and tender.

I don't even play tennis, but that's what I have. So now I have a lovely black arm band to help keep the stress off the tendon. It helps, but it itches. Basically my right arm has become useless, so hopefully the treatment will get things right again in four to six weeks. Yep, that's right...four to six weeks doing things with just my other arm.

Fortunately I have wonderful children willing and able to take up the slack.

Paint Under My Nails

Not sure why it hasn't bothered me enough to finish painting the kitchen. Since Thanksgiving weekend the kitchen has only been partially painted. I stopped somewhere about the kitchen sink and have ignored it for too long. I thought I'd get after it right after school got out, but no matter how many times I thought I'd do it, I just didn't feel like it. So, after psyching myself up for a couple of weeks, I finally decided that it was time. I had a brief stall--a few hours clearing up ideas stuck in my head that I just had to research, but then I dove into the project.

Fresh paint looks great! The walls look fresh and new. There is great satisfaction when a room has been freshly painted.

The kitchen is the last major room to be done. In the last year or so I've repainted, fixed, and uncluttered every room in the house. In the other rooms I painted the ceiling and walls first, then I'd do the windows and trim. This time I did it differently. I painted the windows first. Not sure why, but they seemed to be the part that I left for last before (in fact, I should check them all and make sure that I went back and did them.) It was great to have the windows completed when I rolled the wall color on...then it was done! Fortunately the kitchen ceiling was painted last time and didn't need a redo. Ceiling paint makes such a mess!

Everything is very neutral now. The next challenge is decorating. I'm not very good at that and tend to just leave things rather blank.

We Did It! (finally)

It's been six months now that the drapes have been laughing at me since I first hung them up. You can see my original post here. After considering many ideas, we finally went to the home store and got a rod worthy of the drapes. It took some wandering through the store, but my dear hub'n also came up with a perfect solution for the sheers since the cafe rod was bending across the large span. He found an 8 foot aluminum U channel and it fit in the fixture perfectly. I painted it white, so it wouldn't leave black marks on the sheers. Now things are hanging straight! The drapes can also be opened without having to tug against the bump in the rod.

Not only did we hang the drapes properly, I took the time to clean the window and the track the windows open in. These window tracks collect the most disgusting dirt, bugs and whatever in the track. It makes me wonder how much other stuff gets in the house and goes beyond the window tracks.

It was quite a process getting the sheers and drapes rehung. Since the sheers still had the folds from the original packaging, I decided to wash them. I thought a trip through the washer and dryer would get rid of the folds, but it didn't. So, I had to iron them, too. Not only are they hanging straight, they also are clean and wrinkle free. Grandma would be so proud!

Congratulations to Our New Graduate!

"I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail."

Congratulations to the Class of 2006! We have a new graduate at our house, well, for a little while until she moves in a few weeks to begin the summer term at the University. For some reason, for a Mom, the commencement exercises feel just about like giving birth...the end of some difficult "labor" of the senior year, the joy of a new beginning and some sadness that a wonderful time in life is now over, yet a new time is life is just getting started. Seems that just a few moments have passed since she was our new bundle of joy and here she is, all grown up, ready to step out into the world.

Have I done what I needed to do as a Mom? That's a tough question. At this age children have many reasons to answer, "NO!" This is the time of life that it's tough to be a Mom. Seems I'm always in the line of fire.

Have I done anything right? Hopefully so, since she graduated with a diploma of merit and sang a final solo in the closing number of the Madrigals. Of course, I know that any accomplishments that she has earned have been of her own doing. Although I do hope that I provided some support and encouragement along the way, but truth be told she has become so much more than I could have ever dreamed. What a beautiful, talented, intelligent young woman she is.

I'm so excited to see what her new steps in life will bring. She will blaze a wonderful trail.

Congratulations, graduate. We love you!

Confessions of a Soccer Mom

Although life is so busy now that the thought of adding one more activity to the family calendar made me wonder if I would need to get out a magnifying glass to read the fine print, but I just couldn't turn down the pleas from the youngest son to sign him up for soccer. The teams usually practice at the large county park within walking distance from our home, so the oldest son at home agreed to accompany the youngest son to soccer practice, but that was before we were assigned a team that practices a few miles away. That's okay...practice is in the evening when I should be available to attend. Games are on Saturdays and Tuesdays, both of which are generally free on the calendar, well, there's actually white space to write the event on the calendar. As long as I didn't have to coach.

So last Monday, we went for the big, Soccer Meet Your Coach and Team Night at the park. The youngest son got to meet his coach, a few team mates, picked up his new, enormous purple uniform shirt, black socks and black shorts. Is there a soccer tradition that says that county teams have to play in jerseys that are ten times too big so the sponsors have more room for advertising? Just better watch out on windy days...the team might take flight! But the grin on every player's face was great...they were getting ready to play soccer!

Wednesday was the first practice. I still haven't gotten my soccer Mom chair in the back of the minivan, so I stayed in the comfort of my minivan and watched the practice. I also don't have my soccer Mom blanket handy either, so I also needed the warmth of the minivan to protect me from the spring breeze, too. This first practice was at the nearby park, where the parking lot overlooked the practice field. It was brimming over with a multitude of little soccer players. Fortunately no other purple teams were in sight, and the coach was able to keep track of his team. He's a great coach. He got in there and played with them and showed them how things were done, then encouraged them all to give it a try. The whole time he was laughing and having a great time...just what kids need these days. It also happened to be youngest son's birthday, a big 1-0, so we brought treats...seemed fitting.

Fortunately Saturday was a perfect day for the first game. We got out the chairs, camera, and a blanket, although it wasn't needed, to watch the purple play the blue team. Both teams lined up and at the whistle they were off. First one team then the other dribbled the ball down the field, then youngest son and another purple player started passing to one another. It took a few tries, but with some team work, they scored a goal! The rest of the team got in on it and soon they dominated control of the ball. I was snapping some photos, knowing that if I didn't take a lot, seems that I don't get many good ones. It's hard to take actions shots. But just as I snapped what I thought was a good photo, I looked up and the ball was in the net...youngest son, made a goal! We had a great time watching the action. After half time the other team seemed to catch on and scored a few goals, too. Youngest son, with back up of his awesome purple team, scored another goal. So by the end of the game there were goals scored by both teams and all of the kids left the field just as the county sports director requested, "with a smile on their face and a cookie in their hand." What a great way to start the season!

At practice this week the team was anxious to learn from their coach so they could prepare for the next game. The new practice location left more room for running laps and drills without running into other soccer players. While watching the purple team work hard to the encouragement of their coach, I kept myself busy finishing some paperwork on my laptop. No parking lot nearby, so sat in the shade of the elementary school. Still need to get that folding chair in the back of the minivan...

I Know This Expert!

Recently my graduating class of South Garland High School has been e-planning a reunion. Although I don't think I'll make the two day drive to Texas, I've read the e-mails as they've circulated and last night took a look through the e-mail addresses to see if there were any folks that were in my small group of friends. One I noticed had a URL with her own name: askandrea.com, so I decided to check it out. Andrea and I took almost every class together during four years at SGHS. She was the team trainer when I played soccer our freshman year. We were on the Math Team with Mrs. Shoemaker together. Andrea's the one who found the special kitten for my Mom our senior year. She graduated early the end of first term and I graduated the end of second term. When I've visited Texas, she's the one I would try to see or talk to. Needless to say, I haven't been to Texas lately. Her radio show is all over the Internet and so are her TV appearances. No matter what the topic, when Andrea was interested she become the expert. So it was no surprise to find this quote: "Andrea Ridout is considered to be one of the hottest home improvement experts today." She's an awesome lady and a friend that I wish I would have kept in contact with. It's really cool to hear her voice again. All the best!

I have missed every reunion of my class from SGHS. The fifth I had planned to attend and even put in my two cents with the planning group, but I was busy that weekend. It was the weekend that one of my sons was born. Bad timing, lack of funding, or the curse of having to cross a vast desert in the heat of August has kept me away every time. No wonder folks gave up on me. I have however kept up with a few of my graduating class via the Internet. I learned that one of our Math Team died very young. He was a quiet guy, but must admit when I see his picture on the cover of the yearbook I miss him. He was always willing to help me understand math. Can't recall if I ever needed to assist him. We had this awesome group of students who pulled together to learn the stuff, because it was fun!

One of my classmates, also a neighbor who happened to share a love of the skies, has travelled the world. Another has visited Utah as an actor at the Shakespearean Festival. (Mrs. C would be so proud!) Those that I knew best have all found that they have had to follow their passion, even if it didn't (or did) make business sense. If you aren't excited to get out of bed each morning, then life needs a few changes. Although I'm excited for the new day and hate each day to end, I still have a few passions to follow. I think I'll follow Andrea's example and the others, too and do what I love...I find that when I do, each day is a wonderful adventure!

And maybe there is some tie we all have to our alma mater...all hail to thee!

Guess the Kids Can't Be Too Embarrassed

My friend, Rachel had this link on her blog, so instead of going to bed and sleeping as I should, I decided to take the test. I'm only lightly nerdy..."Somewhat nerdy. I mean face it, you are nerdier than about half the test takers." That's less nerdy than Rachel, but I suppose I could hide it if need be. I actually prefer geek girl myself, although that avatar is taken. I'm highly motivated by a great technical conversation or success over a difficult problem. I enjoy science, web coding, online learning, digital video editing, digital scrapbooking, podcasting, and communicating with the world via the Internet. Fortunately though, when necessary I can dress up and hide the geekiness, so I won't embarrass my children.

Or maybe I might:




What does this mean? Your computer geekiness is:

Low Ranking Computer Geek. Definitely a Computer Geek, but low in the computer geek social structure.

Podcasts!

A few months ago I learned about a fairly new medium called podcasts. They're like radio shows, but instead of the content disappearing into the atmosphere, they are preserved to be listened to at any time. Some can be subscribed to through RSS feeds, or through iTunes. I even took two days at UEN to learn how to create my own...it's fun. The West Kearns Growl can be found at http://westkearns.blogspot.com and the Bennion CyberCorps can be found at http://bennioncybercorps.blogspot.com. A professional development site is also in the works. We've created a family podcast, too, but that's only been distributed via e-mail so far, although there have been requests for additional episodes, so guess we'd better create another!

I've enjoyed listening to Dan Schmidt who produces KidCast and David Warlick who produces Connect Learning. Being a rather social person I really appreciate having something to listen to while I work in a lonely computer lab. The other morning I actually found myself disappointed that my workout on the treadmill was over...I wanted to listen to one more podcast! (I did have a treadmill incident when I first got my iPod. When reaching to turn down the volume on a podcast that had suddenly become too loud, I accidently hit the STOP button.) The ideas I've listened to in these and other podcasts have been quite thought provoking, but I haven't quite been able to pull all of my sparks and flashes into anything succinct.

I've also learned about new music called podsafe. Musicians post their music on the Internet for use on podcasts. It's a way that artists share their works and podcast listeners get to hear some great stuff. One place to find this music is at the Podsafe Network. I particularly enjoy Geoff Smith's Not on the Radio. His wife made an awesome music video to go along with it. Thanks!

Now that I have an iPod I can organize what little music I actually own, along with my podcasts and photos. Last time I even uploaded my calendar. Just wish that it wasn't so difficult to keep charged. I had to choose which computer to use with it and chose my laptop, but I don't always have the laptop out, so it's currently dead...better get it charging so it'll be ready for tomorrow's workout!

Wonderings...

Have you ever peeked at what people around you are purchasing? A late night trip to one of the few stores opened and having what we needed got me wondering. It was obvious to anyone who saw my selection why I was at the store at that late hour, but I was curious why a twenty something married man would be purchasing plastic containers. Perhaps he has a wife who's right in the middle of that big cleaning the kitchen project and needs just a few more organizing boxes, so he rushed to the store to support her efforts. Was she cleaning the kitchen at this late hour because, like me not too many years ago, it was the only sane hour of the day to do anything without being interrupted? Or maybe he's the one trying to find order to life.

Funny, seems I've been inspired. After a very long quest for an important piece paper, I decided that I'd spend some of our lovely spring break getting a little more organized. I stopped and picked up some plastic containers to finish an organizing project I started when the snow just kept coming down.

Who knows...perhaps the Christmas lights will be retrieved from the roof this lovely spring weekend? Not by me though, I'm too chicken to go on the roof!

Spring Flowers!

Finally after weeks and weeks of winter, then lots of spring snow and rain, the flowers have come out!

Grassroots Politics in the Neighborhood

Seventeen neighbors came to our precinct caucus this evening. What a great way to meet and discuss what the issues are and what we as voting citizens can do about it! First we read a summary of the party platform. I was surprised by some of the stands, but does everyone agree 100%? Not likely in America! The most valuable time was listening to what others thought about the issues and clarity from others point of view. We disagreed without being too disagreeable. Two of those attending were elected to attend the county convention and another to attend the state convention. Those would be interesting gatherings to see.

Life's Adventures

These are my adventurous toes. Although my sweet daughters thought I would like a more neutral color of polish, I wanted them to match my swimsuit. They were there at the end of my Tevas to remind me that I would not likely pass this way again and I needed to seize the chance to live the real experience.
Even though I'm desperately afraid of heights, I soared on a zipline through a rainforest canopy, at times above the monkeys.



How hard it is to sometimes live in the moment...we fly through our days missing the sloths in the trees right within our reach. Fortunately we have friends in life who remind us to "look around!"



How many sunsets do we take in, each moment different from the last? As we watch do we remember those who are sharing the same sunset who we cannot see or touch?
















I don't ever want to miss life's adventures!

It's March?!

Just as I have done a Clean Sweep of my Clean House to reach my Mission: Organization, I'm also trying to pare down my day to day schedule, too.

The first thing to do (of all things!) was to add more intensive workouts to my schedule. I'm amazed at how working out my body clears my mind and gives me more energy. I loved my walks with my hub'n, although we found it difficult to do with bad weather (ice is dangerous and so is bad air!). Now we workout at a club and take fitness to a whole new level. I tried some flexibility exercises this morning and found whole sets of muscles that have somehow missed the new routine. I was certain that the first few weeks or even months of such workouts would make me want to climb into bed as soon as I got home from work, but I was wrong. I actually have more energy to do things when I get home now, even though my day starts hours earlier. I also sleep better...what a relief!

Another thing I've been reminded of is how taking care of myself helps me to care for others better. Guess it fills some basic internal need that in turn allows me to give more.

Next step: becoming more productive at work, so I can finish and go home before the light of day is over. Perhaps the more intensive exercise will clear my mind, so I can complete tasks more efficiently.

The Tree is Down

Yes, the tree is down. We are now getting the largest snowfall of the season. It started out as a windstorm the last two days, then silently, while we were in church this morning, it began to fall. At first it didn't really stick, but now we have a few inches and the snow continues to fall. It's supposed to snow on and off all week. I'm glad that I have no place to be early in the morning.

Yes, It's Still Christmas to Me

I admit it. I still have a Christmas tree (with the lights on) in my living room. I was all ready to take it down before returning to school, but had other things a little more urgent to do, so thought I'd do it Monday,.....then Tuesday. Here it is Wednesday and I'm finally taking a little time to enjoy the peace the quite glow brings on a cold winter night. Perhaps I'll take it down tomorrow...or not.

A New Year!

It's been a good year:

1. I officially lost 24.8 pounds and 26.0 inches.
2. Completed most major repairs and renovation of our home.
3. Have found numerous ancestors, both of my own and for others.
4. I have laughed, lived, and loved.

So what do I want to accomplish in the New Year?

1. Lose 26.2 more pounds and the accompanying inches.
2. Finish painting and repairs of our home.
3. Pay off all debts except the mortgage.
4. Find more ancestors, both my own and for others.
5. Laugh, live, and love a whole lot more.

Here's to 2006!