Day Two

I kind of fell off the posting about the 3-Day thing, and it's surprisingly hard to get back into it. To even recall details.

On Saturday, Jen woke up around 4:30am to go to the bathroom. I lay there in my sleeping bag pretending I didn't have to go as well. But by 4:45 when she'd returned, I'd given up. One quick trip to the portapotty later (through a very dense fog, I must say), we both admitted we weren't likely to go back to sleep. We also commented on how refreshed we felt. I honestly attribute most of my stiffness that morning to sleeping on the ground.

So we had a nice hot breakfast, spent a good 20 minutes prepping our feet and got in line to start (and to stretch while we waited). The route opened at 7am. The bicycle and biker safety were all lined up at the start whooping and hollering as we set off. Becca and M'Risa joined us while we waited.

We meandered a bit through Fairmount Park and then M'Risa started lagging behind. Since her inseam must be a good 6 inches longer than mine, this was definitely odd. She seemed a bit pale and shaky, so we encouraged her to sit at the curb. She ate two granola bars I had in my fanny pack and started to pink up a bit. I'd sat down beside her so she'd be a bit less conspicuous sitting there alone. By this point three more team members (Angel, Robin and Megan) had caught up to us. Robin reported that they'd elbowed their way through the crowd in line so the "could catch up to their team." Hmmm. Anyway, once M'Risa had recovered we all started out again. And pretty soon, Jen and I were left in the dust. The others all seemed in such a rush, and really ... we didn't see the point. It wasn't so much their pace that bothered me (I mean, you can't comfortably adjust your pace for 60 miles of walking. You really have to go your own speed.), but their attitude was all kind of "we're going to get there first, what's wrong with you that you're walking like *that*?"

Whatever.

So, down past the Philadelphia Zoo, through Penn (where Jen went to vet school), through West Philly (shout out to Will Smith), right past Joe's and my first apartment (1022 S 47th Street). Anyway, I posted the rough route a few days ago. We walked right through the middle of Pat's and Gino's steaks in South Philly and stopped at a park for lunch. Then we headed up through South Street and the Historic District.

There were some truly awful right-to-life people hanging out on Independence Mall. They had giant (like 6x8') plywood signs with bloody fetus photos on them. It was positively dreadful. Some of them even made comments about how we're all on the "same side" since abortion causes breast cancer. Wha??? Causes??? (incidentally, recent giant studies don't indicate a link)

So, we averted our eyes and continued. I couldn't really come up with anything to say or do, so we just went uncomfortably on.

Through Elfreth's Alley (which I didn't even know existed). Past several Ducky Tour groups (the team right ahead of me got ducky quacker thingies, but they'd stopped handing them out by the time I got there). Through Chinatown. Past City Hall. To the Art Museum.

Yup! I jogged up the steps. Jen opted to stay at the bottom to take my picture. It was actually pretty easy going up. It was nice to stretch out my stride a bit taking the steps two at a time. Coming back down was harder. The motion hurt more and I was just wobbly and tired enough to feel a bit leery about going down.

Then there was a looong stretch on West River Drive. We had a nice view of Boathouse Row and there was some sort of rowing regatta going on further upstream. Most mostly, honestly ... it was kind of boring. Just more walking and walking and walking. Jen and I were both too tired to really chat much, and we were both pretty worn out. And ... there was something draining about knowing that all that walking was just leading us back to camp. Where we'd started the day in the first place.

(They used to run the routed in long stretches, all strung out, one day after the other. But it costs the 3-Day $100,000 per event to move the camp to a new location. So, by making the second day a loop, they save $1.2 million annually.)

We wound up back at camp eventually, had a nice dinner and I finally ran into my just-about-best-friend, Dana. We'd ridden up to Willow Grove together and I hadn't seen her since we parted ways with our separate teams at the mall. Jen and I ate dinner with Dana and her team and we had a nice time.

There was dancing in the big tent that night. I know ... what???? I hiked up the big hill to get a night shot of the city. The air had cleared up a lot and there were buildings with pink lights on them in honor of the 3-Day. Pretty cool.

Then, off to bed by 8:30pm.

--End--

Shift Happens

We had a Back to School Night for Millville's Gifted and Talented (GT) program last night. Part of the presentation included this brief video. I found it fascinating. In the scope of the GT scene, it seemed particularly relevant.

How do we prepare our students for a world we can't even imagine? I've been reading a bit on the Accelerating Change idea. The principle that not only is the world changing rapidly, but that those changes are occuring at an increasingly rapid pace.

I mean, take a look .... granted, from an evolutionary standpoint ....

Anyway, enjoy the video and take some time to just think about the incomprehensibly different-from-now world our own children will take for granted soon enough.

--End--

Day One

We woke up dark and early to load onto the shuttle bus from the hotel to the Willow Grove Mall. Things over there were a general state of organized chaos. We loaded our luggage onto bus B (the row of our tent assignment) and headed over to get a good spot near the stage before the Opening Ceremonies.

The sun slowly brightened the sky as we waited. There was a group stretching session led by some blond Surfer Dude type guy and then the actual event got rolling. There were upswelling strings behind a carefully scripted to make us all cry speaker. Breast cancer survivors came in carrying flags with life moments and inspirational words (Hope, Discoveries, Birthdays, Optimism, etc). These were planted in the center of a small circular stage, and everyone basically wept.

Then the peppy music started (U2's Beautiful Day, The Theme from Friends...) and we started creeping toward a cattle chute opening that led out to the walk. Our credentials were barcode scanned by crew members and more crew members and safety patrol people and friends and family whooped and hollered and sent us on our way.

I don't remember too many specifics about the walk. We mostly didn't stay with our team (we didn't all walk at the same pace, for one thing ... and some of them really seemed to have an agenda, which really wasn't my mindset for the event). Jen and I stuck together and we were sort of with five others of our team for most of the day. We first saw the Odd Couple and the Yellow Car Lady early this morning, and they became total highlights throughout the weekend.

Every 2-3 miles were Pit Stops (snacky food, water & Gatorade, port-a-potties and a medical tent) or Grab-n-Go's (same thing but no medical tent). There was a designated cheering station each morning and efternoon. Lunch was a bag lunch style in a park. First step after getting food -- take off your shoes and socks! Then eat, re-prep your feet, potty and head back out. Informal.

We passed through some gorgeous neighborhoods and some absolutely enormous homes. We trailed on along the Wissahickon Creek and meandered for 22 miles to Fairmount Park. Our first glimpse of camp was fabulously rewarding.

And, when Jen and I got to camp, they barcode scanned us again. We found our tent spot assignment (B68 for anyone keeping score at home) and LO AND BEHOLD! Our tent was already set up and decorated for us. Jen's mom was a crew volunteer at camp and she'd done it all for us. It was like Scarlett O'Hara coming home to Tara. Never was any home dearer to us than that pink dome tent at that moment. While others were struggling with their set-up, we strolled over and had our spaghetti dinner.

After that it was time to shower, ready our gear for the rest of the weekend, lay out our sleeping mats and sleeping bags, meet and greet a bit, and then collapse to sleep (around 8:30pm).

The day (like all 3-Day days) consisted of walking, eating, peeing, drinking, talking and sleeping. Very simple.

--End--

Local News Coverage

The networks and various other local media outlets all had cameras and reporters all over the place throughout the walk. We saw them everywhere.

Anyway, here's a clip from CBS Philly. I'm not pictured in it, but when you see my partner Jen waving (the back of her shirt has our PAWS for the Cure logo), you can hear me saying "Thank you SO much!" And, my friend Dana's team is the second group pictured with Elvis. They're in there walking also.

--End--

Thursday Night, Day Zero

The day started on a rocky note when both Emily and Joe woke up with fevers. She stayed home from school with him, but he had a 12:30 class -- a good two hours before I'd be home. Joe called his mom to come down even earlier than she'd already planned. And she did, so things worked out there.

I left school at 2pm and drove home to load my van. Picked up my friend, Dana, around 3pm and we headed up to Sewell, NJ to meet up with some of our team, and our team captain's husband Tom. Met up with SK and M'Risa (and Tom) and headed up to Willow Grove to our hotel.

Got there safe and sound (sadly we weren't able to get the Woodchuck Cider truck to pull over and offer us free samples). Met up with our other overnighting teammates and divvied up the two hotel rooms. As we were all starving, we headed on over to Carrabba's for some serious Carb Loading.

Our waiter, Jason, announced it was only his 2nd day flying solo as soon as he came up to our table. He was very nice, but obviously nervous and inexperienced. We ordered some wine and lots of glasses of ice water (this is an important detail). We wanted to pre-hydrate as much as possible. There were eight of us somewhat smooshed around two small tables pushed together. I saw Jason to my right trying to find an open spot in front of M'Risa to put her water down. So, I tried to help him out by picking up my menu and holding very still. This is where the obviously inexperienced part came in. Rather than pulling a glass from the center of the tray, he picked up the one closest to him. SPLOOOOSH!!! CRASH!!!! EEEK! Six very cold (!!!), very full glasses of water crashed into my back, completely soaking me from neck to bottom. I let out a tiny squeal and held very still, trying to keep my shirt from touching my back anywhere I could. (then "helpful" folks started trying to dab the water up and pressed the freezing fabric into me)

By this time, we had the attention of Jason's trainer, the restaurant manager and ... well, Jason looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. The manager gave me a free Carrabba's polo shirt (score!) and I went into the bathroom to change. I reassured everyone that I wasn't going to call corporate or scream at anyone. These things happen. And, we tipped him well, anyway.

After dinner, we went back to the Hampton Inn and sort of settled in for some TV and sleep. SK proceeded to customize her team shirts by cutting off the sleeves and making a V-neckline. She was doing a nice tidy job of it, until she gashed her finger. She did the automatically-stick-it-in-your-mouth thing and then pulled it out saying, "Doesn't seem too bad!." Then Dana cried, "Um, SK! You're dripping onto the bed!" And she was. Yikes! She went into the bathroom to clean up and the water splashed blood kind of everywhere. Looked like a grisly scene from CSI (which we were watching at the time, coincidentally).

After she bandaged herself up, the excitment was over and we pretty much all went to sleep. Alarm for Day One was set for 4:30am.

--End--

3-Day Pictures Posted

OK, there's not exactly a narrative or anything. I promise to post actual anecdotes soon, when I've had some time to absorb and process all of this. It's pretty huge and I'm not sure I can ever adequately describe it.

But, I do have all my pictures posted and captioned on Picasa Web. Hop on over there and take a look.

--End--

WOOOOOOO!!!!!

I did it! I walked it. The whole thing. 60 miles around and through Philadelphia.

I'll have tons of pictures, comments and details eventually. It's a little weird coming back to real life. I heard a quote on NPR about troops returning from Iraq and it totally applies to how I feel right now. "Being there was hard, but very simple. You did what you were told -- what you had to do. Life at home is easy, but very complicated." I feel kind of overwhelmed, to say the least.

Anyway, sneak preview... stay tuned for stories about Yellow Car Lady, The Odd Couple, swamp ass (sorry mom, but that's what everyone called it), 3-Day Rash, PB&J graham crackers, Crazy Flag Guy, the wonderful support of families along our route, the bizarre natural phenomenon of walking 20 miles in and around Philadelphia ALL uphill, the bliss of a lawn sprinkler across a sidewalk, and naturally ... lots of pictures.

Finally, this was (roughly) our route on Day Two. I can't do the same for days one and three, because I'm just not as familiar with the Philly suburbs as I am with the City, itself. This is from memory and is bound to be inaccurate in places. But it's darn close. And the mileage came out right, so I'm going to go with it. Click in to zoom around and see more detail. We hit a lot of Philly's highlights all in one day.

--End--

ps. Thinking of doing the Washington DC walk next year. Depends on what my friends and I work out for teams and scheduling. Not going to join the same team as last year, except maybe for my friend Jen, with whom I did pretty much the whole walk.

Packed and Ready

My walking training peaked a few weeks ago before school started. I frankly haven't had enough time to get in a lot of miles recently.

But, ready or not ... here comes the 3-Day!

Last night I packed. I have 5 gallon-sized Ziplock bags labelled Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Evening Misc, Cold/Wet. And some smaller bags with toiletries, etc. My fanny pack is stocked with sunblock, my camera, Bodyglide, lip SPF stick, my credentials lanyard. My clothes to wear up tomorrow night are laid out on my dresser.

I crammed my sleeping bag, pillow, clothes, spare shoes, etc. all into a duffel bag and strapped (not bungeed! My goodness, the safety warnings against bungee cords were everywhere in the paperwork I've received!) to the top of the duffel.

And, it's all under the 35 lb proscribed weight limit.

Still, I can't help feeling more than moderately unprepared for this. I can't help thinking I've forgotten something crucial. Granted, I get that feeling before every trip I take. But, this is unlike any other trip I've ever taken.

Tomorrow I load my bag in the van, pick up my friend Dana and head up to meet up with 2 of my teammates. We'll continue up to Willow Grove, PA to stay overnight. We leave the hotel by 5:30am to head over for Opening Ceremonies on Friday. After walking 22+ miles on Friday, we camp (I'm thinking it's in Fairmount Park. They don't announce the route ahead of time, but mention neighborhoods we'll pass through, and I can't think of anyplace else big enough in that area.). Saturday we walk all through Philadelphia proper, about 21 miles, returning to the same camp site. On Sunday, we head south, down the Main Line west of the city. The Closing Ceremonies start at 5pm in Ellis Preserve in Newtown Square.

Joe can reach me via cell in case of emergency, so don't think I'm unreachable if anything happens. Pray for cool dry weather (so far the forecast looks promising, if even a bit warm). Pray for my feet.

Thanks for your support! (for further "Supporter" info, look here)

--End--

Nifty New Show

Last night, Joe and I watched Chuck, a slightly goofball but novel new show on NBC.

We initially gave it a try because we love Adam Baldwin (of Firefly and Serenity).

The premise is that Chuck, the head of the "Nerd Herd" at the local "Buy More" store (which sits next to the "Large Mart" ... yeah, I know) receives a message from ex-Stanford roommate Bryce, super rogue spy guy. By solving a riddle, the e-mail activities a sort of brain download/upload thing that basically puts all of the government's (read "CIA" and "NSA") most secret secrets into his brain. The original computer housing this info is destroyed, as is Chuck's computer, itself. So ... he's now the repository for everything the government might want to know about clandestine operations pretty much everywhere.

In steps a hottie CIA agent and a grim-looking NSA agent (Adam Baldwin, yeah!) to "take care of it." Mayhem ensues, naturally. The supporting work done by Chuck's Buy More sidekick, Morgan, is pretty funny in a Warren Cheswick-ish sort of way.

Anyway, we weren't sure how it would be, but it was pretty good. The camera work feel somehow different from the pack of shows out there, the casting is nice, since it's not full of giving airtime to a particular big star, and the humor is nicely paced. Hope they can keep it up.

--End--

Gosh, I Love My Husband

I just checked the voicemail and Joe left the most endearing message, which is impressive all by itself. He calls me from work maybe, *maybe* once every other month or so, usually to say he's running late.

But this one was just to be sweet, just because he couldn't be here for us tonight -- about how he knows I've been running around a lot today [to wit: work, Cub Scout store, 4-mile walk, football pictures, football game, Pack Meeting] and that he loves me.

But, that's not the best part.

He also left a message for Matthew saying, "I'm very proud of all you're doing and hope you had a good time in the game tonight. I can't wait to hear all about it tomorrow. I love you, son."

Awwww.....

Love that guy.

--End--

'Bout Time I Actually Write Something

Get a drink and settle in ... I haven't written for awhile, so it's a long 'un.


My job is odd.

I don't mean that in the "my boss is nuts" sort of way (That was back at Kröme Communications in Pittsburgh. Bob was the young, hyper, anal, blame the worker for faults, but take all the credit for victories, having an affair with the blonde sales rep temper-tantrum guy. And Alan was the Colonel Sanders goatee dyed black, drives a Porsche, picky but obtuse about expressing what he wants, kooky old guy.). And, I don't mean that in the "my actual job description is interesting and unusual" sort of way.

No, this is more a "somewhat undefined with tenuous objectives and limited funds working with a bizarre existing setup I can't really do anything about" sort of way.

Let me explain ...

I work two jobs at the same school. I'm a half-day reading teacher and I'm a one-day (7-hr) technology teacher.

The school is small ... about 120 students K-8, one classroom of each grade. The classes vary in size from 10 to 20 students.

For the reading job, I pull out two groups of third graders and one group of second graders. We go through the school's reading curriculum together. They're my students, as far as reading goes. But, I don't have a classroom, I don't plan lessons (I just do whatever's next in the book). I meet with each group about 30-40 minutes per day. It's relatively brainless as the text is very scripted, but by having different groups I actually get a moment here and there to take a breath or a pee-break.

Then, on the technology side, I work with each class of students (weekly with grades 3-8, as needed for K-2) to teach them keyboarding, computer terminology, MS Office type stuff. Basically working to meet the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards for Technology Literacy. This is the first time there's been any formal technology instruction at this school. So I spent my first week designing and writing a curriculum guide for myself to use.

This week I actually started teaching the students, but not in our computer lab, such as it is (more on that in a minute). Just vocab and terminology stuff in their classrooms. Got mostly questions on whether we'll have Internet access (answer: yes, the school has a T1 line, just set-up this past summer...the whole surrounding area is dial-up for miles), and whether we'll be playing games (answer: no) or using Myspace (answer: definitely not).

Now, for the computer lab situation. The school has 6 reasonably up-to-date (three years old) in the library/resource room/Basic Skills Instruction room, along with a flatbed scanner and inkjet printer. I've purchased USB extension cables so the few tech-oriented teachers in the building can plug in their flash drives without physically climbing over the monitors (and knocking several important cables loose) in the process. These run XP. The classrooms each have a few dinosaur computers running 98 (eek!) or ME (EEK!). Most rooms also have an inkjet printer. These machines are all working on a wireless network and are broadband capable (though we have it turned off everywhere but the main office and the library, as there's not content filtering yet). Finally, the 5th grade classroom has 12 dummy boxes running off a Linux server in the cafeteria's pantry. Yeah, I know. So the largest lab in the building is in a classroom, whose students have to swap rooms with whichever class I'm bringing in to work on the computers. That poor teacher. I feel like such an interloper.

The Linux network doesn't talk to the Windows network. At all. The Internet runs separately to each network at the moment. The filtering problem is taking a long time to be solved due to the two separate networks running.

So, why don't we just get everything going nicely? Well ... the Three Bs are my problem. Ben is a parent and is also related to a couple of the teachers. He hosts the school's website and e-mail, but neither are live yet. Bud set up and handles the Windows network (not sure if we pay him for that, or if he's another volunteer). And Barry. Barry convinced the principal a few years back that a Linux network was the best thing for schools being 1) cheap-as-free, and 2) relatively unaffected by viruses, trojans, etc. (and he's probably right) He provided as essentially no cost the boxes, monitors and server we're currently running, so that he could have the chance to monkey around with a Linux network whenever he wanted to. We're committed to a certain number of years in exchange for his "generosity" (read: you get what you pay for)

They're all good at what they do and not bad to work with. When they're available. They all have other jobs and handle stuff for the school "when they can."

And finally, the School Board. We could have the whole school running seamlessly on Linux for very little cost, using smaller dummy boxes than we currently have (mid-sized towers), flat screen monitors. Little space, little cost, little security worries. Albeit with the slight weirdness that is Linux. But. They don't really "get it." They're not computer-saavy to say the least. And the concept of "free" and "open source" is considerably too out-there-touchy-feely-New-Agey to them. They want their kids to know Windows and Office and to learn the familiar world of Microsoft. Which is fine with me. I'm good either way. But ... if the Board prefers Windows, and that's where they're going to agree to spend time and money. Well, then ... we need to do it.

I'm working with the principal toward a mobile laptop lab. There is absolutely no space in the building for a dedicated computer lab. I want 20 laptops for students, plus one for me, an LCD projector, a sweet laptop storage cart with built-in power strips, a wirelessly networked printer on the cart, and either eBeam or Mimio interactive whiteboard units. She's going to talk to Dell and see what kind of NJ Dept of Ed deals they have going at the moment (there's always something). She has about $30,000 since she's saved a bundle somehow on busing, and also on my salary (I had been a grant position last year, and this year they fit me into the budget, so they have the whole grant to spend.).

So. My job is odd. It has the potential to be cool, and it's neat to be in on the ground-level of a program. But, sometimes I wish I had a few more years working with these people and this system before I'd be in a position to make suggestions of this magnitude. I guess I'm still a bit shell-shocked by my horrendous principal at my first teaching job. Not used to having my opinion requested and my input seriously considered. It's a bit heady and I'm constantly aware of trying not to step on anyone's toes or overstep my bounds.

Thanks for listening.

--End--

It's Finally Here!

Yes, that's right ... it's
International Talk Like a Pirate Day

So, by Neptune's beard, don't be a bloody landlubber, matey.

That's right ... throw out your native vernacular in favor of Avast! Ahoy! Arrrrghhh! Drink your grog, eat your hardtack and amaze your friends with your nerve and wit. (positive I can't get away with this at work, and sadly not even going to try)

Shiver me timbers!

--End--

A Passing to Note

Robert Jordan
(née James Oliver Rigney, Jr.)
October 17, 1948 - September 16, 2007

--End--

ps. Now we may never know how it all ends.

As Promised

Well, Ulead still isn't capturing audio, which I don't fathom as it's always worked before. But, I used Windows Movie Maker (ugh!) and then converted into Divx, but then it didn't work right again, so I'm back to a WMV file, which I hope works here. *whew*

To preface, we arrived at 12:30pm which we thought was 1/2-hr early for a 1pm game. Well, we had our weeks wrong. The game actually started at 11am, and we barely made it in time. Matthew got to play for about 10 game minutes of the 4th quarter (He's a B-teamer, so he probably would only have played that much even had we been there the whole time. His team lost 20-0. Ouch.). Still Matthew had some good action, making some nice blocks and getting a kickoff "return."

He's #54 in the orange jersey. I have trouble finding him in some of the plays, so don't feel bad if you have no idea where he is. I think the highlight is the post-game interview. ;)



Hope this works.

--End--

Coming Soon...

I'm going to post a bunch of new pictures as soon as I have a few minutes to minimally PhotoShop them (you know, cropping and brightening).

And ... dun-dun-duuunnnnn ... video, too!

I am working on capturing all the video currently on my camcorder. I've actually done it three times, now, but for some reason the playback has no audio. It's time-consuming and frustrating, and I'm rapidly running out of troubleshooting ideas.

So, hopefully when I get home today I can quickly get some photos posted and then work on editing down some quickie video clips (some of this stuff dates back a couple of years as I don't use my camcorder all that often. I mostly forget it exists. What I really want is to show the last-weekend footage of Matthew playing football).

So, wait thee with breath bated for the upcoming multimedia bonanza.

--End--

First Full Week

*whew* I'm tired already (and I don't think it's from the walking).

Mondays -- I work 8:30-noon, Joe from 10am-9:30pm. Plus I run a Cub Scout Den (about a dozen first-grade boys) from 7-8pm.

Tuesdays -- I work from 8:30am-2pm, Joe from 10am-5pm. Then Matthew has football practice from 6-8pm.

Wednesdays -- I work from 8:30am-2:30pm, Joe from 10am-9:30pm. Matthew has football practice from 6-8pm and Emily has Brownies every other week from 6:30-8pm.

Thursdays -- I work from 8:30am-2pm, Joe from 10am-5pm. Then he has a class at Drexel from 6-9pm. Matthew has football practice from 6-8pm. Emily has a piano lesson from 4:45-5:15pm, and then choir practice from 6:30-7pm. I have choir practice from 7-8pm. And if I talk Matthew into it after football ends, his choir practice is from 6:30-7:15pm. (and I'm told Brownies is moving to Thursday nights after the first meeting)

Fridays -- I work from 8:30-noon, Joe is off but usually goes to the office through the morning. If Matthew has a Saturday football game, he has a "walk-through" from 6-8pm, otherwise for Sunday games the walk-through is Saturday morning from 9-11am.

Weekends -- Matthew has a football game, which lasts about 2 hours, with usually 40-50 minutes of travel before and after. Emily has Kid's Club at church every other Sunday from 6-7pm.

And I'm hoping to keep up with my training and then switch over to jogging/running after October 7. While hopefully losing 5-10 more lbs toward my Weight Watchers goal.

--End--

Tired and Sore

6:30 a.m. -- alarm went off, got up, got dressed, drank a SlimFast shake, filled water bottles, applied BodyGlide, filled fanny pack with various paraphernalia.

7:00 a.m. -- began this walk, with Sasha.


9:30 a.m. -- returned home, took bathroom break, dropped off Sasha, refilled one water bottle, left fanny pack, mixed new iPod 4mph playlist, reapplied BodyGlide, changed socks.

10:00 a.m. -- began this route, just me and my iPod


12:10 p.m. -- returned home, collapsed on the floor, Emily removed my shoes, stretched for about ten minutes, blogged it

--End--

ps. 15 miles more tomorrow.

Brainstorming Challenge #1

OK, put on your thinking caps for this one and really ... if you're a lurker or a seldom responder or whatever, please post some ideas for me. :)

Due to a shipping error at a famous Mouse-iconed company yesterday, we received this wig despite not ordering it. (We also received this bizarre-looking costume, but that's another ball of wax.) I called and explained their error, and they ultimately told me to keep them or donate them.

So ... we're looking for Halloween costume ideas for Emily involving a red wig. Thoughts? Ideas? Inspirations?

Thanks!

--End--

New Nathan

Hey, I just have to say for the record that I have the Cutest Darn Nephew, ever. And I just have to share him with my readership (if by "readership" one means the coupla people who straggle through my blog who don't already happen to straggle through Chris' blog and have already seen all the Nathan updates as they've come down the pike).

--End--

You Did It!

Your generosity has just amazed me! Through the donations of friends, family and outright strangers, my required $2,200 donation toward the Breast Cancer 3-Day has been met! I'm going to be allowed to walk in the event in October (yikes!).

I was lucky. I didn't have to host any giant mega-fundraising events or sell half my attic on eBay to come up with the money.

No, it was thanks to you (and many other people who never come to this blog)! I appreciate it an awful lot.

Now, it's just up to me to complete my training miles, continue to prepare my gear and strengthen my body for the challenge of the event, itself.

Woooo!

--End--

ps. I raised my "goal" to $2,500 in case anyone stumbles upon my site. Don't want anyone to feel that their contribution toward eradicating breast cancer was unnecessary or unappreciated. But, $2,200 is my required donation commitment.

For the Record

I just love my husband. I mean it. He's a really truly great guy.

Yesterday at Lori & Travis' wedding, I sat there holding his hand (while he fanned both of us ... it was a muggy hot day in a non-climate-controlled chapel), and realized again that I would absolutely marry him all over again.

Then later at the reception, he danced all over the dance floor with me (he's a fantastic dancer, by the way). He's funny, attractive, so stinkin' brilliant, a wonderful dad.

I'm lucky to have him and want everyone to know it.

--End--

Mouth of Matthew

Matthew: Mommy, why did you paint your nails?
Myself: For decoration.
Matthew: Oh. You mean, for that ol' wedding? [Joe's cousin is getting married tomorrow. Matthew is obviously continuing his affectation 'that ol' preceding nearly everything.]
Myself: [taking the teachable-moment opportunity] Matthew, what is a wedding?
pause
Matthew: It's when you find a husband or a wife and you get married.
Myself: Is that all? What else?
Matthew: Well ... when you're gonna be with someone a long time and live with them and get babies.
Myself: Anything else?
pause
Matthew: It's when you're never gonna have to be alone.

Even if he never learns another thing about making relationships work, I think he's going to be just fine. Thus endeth your Warm Fuzzy™ for today.

--End--

Cat Haiku

Stumbled upon these, here, among others. Enjoy!

You never feed me.
Perhaps I'll sleep on your face.
That will sure show you.

You must scratch me there!
Yes, above my tail!
Behold, elevator butt.

The rule for today:
Touch my tail, I shred your hand.
New rule tomorrow.

In deep sleep hear sound
cat vomit hairball somewhere
will find in morning.

Grace personified.
I leap into the window.
I meant to do that.

The mighty hunter
Returns with gifts of plump birds --
your foot just squashed one.

You're always typing.
Well, let's see you ignore my
sitting on your hands.

My small cardboard box.
You cannot see me if I
can just hide my head.

Humans are so strange.
Mine lies still in bed, then screams;
My claws are not that sharp.

--End--

Recent Outings

So, in the last week, Joe and I met his Mom and her boyfriend, Pete, here to see these guys. They stomped all over these guys. Awwww, too bad, so sad.

I can't say I'm enormously "into" football. But free tickets to a professional sporting event are always well-received around here. We had a blast. It was so much fun. There was an interception run in for a touchdown, a nice long field goal, a seriously long punt by one of my favorite new players (what can I say ... I have a major soft spot for kickers and punters (and hockey goalies and baseball catchers).). But all in all, I don't remember much of the game. I think I'm a touch too ADD or emotionally empathic or something. Because when I'm in a big crowded stadium and there's that rumble of voices, the flash of the Fan-O-Vision/JumboTron, the smell of popcorn and just the general energy of tens of thousands of people ... well, I just have trouble keeping more than 10% of my brain on the game. I do much better with my pause-live-tv to ingest it situation at home.

So, don't ever expect deep sideline insights or play-by-play recaps from me. But, we did have an absolute blast (no pun intended regarding lightning-induced evacuation of the stands which added a pretty exciting touch to the evening).

A couple of days later, we took the kids (along with Joe's mom again, but this time also with Mom's cousin Pauline, who's the best) to this very awesome show at the Spectrum. They did a very nice job bringing in the science while still allowing time for oohing and aahing over extremely impressive and life-like (as far as I'd know) full-size dinosaurs. The climactic appearance of the Tyrannosaurus Rex mama near the end is totally worth the wait. (although I couldn't help chuckling at her puny little forearms, a la Meet the Robinsons). I'm also impressed by the narrator/paleontologist. He does basically a 2-hour monologue. No mean feat, that.

This week it's back to just chilling out at home (particularly in the wet and clammy weather we've been having, I actually made chili and homemade bread yesterday and it was goooood!). Posh family wedding this weekend to look forward to.

--End--

Animated Knots

Since I know several Scouts, climbers, sailors ... I present a very handy website.

Animated Knots by Grog™.

I've made a Turk's Head bracelet myself in my day (under "Decorative").

--End--

Public Service / New Blog Feature

AKA ... when I feel like posting, but I'm not sure I have anything worth saying. Slightly editorialized versions of recipes I like.

French Onion Soup Gratinée
aka ... Joe's favorite cold-weather food, ever

1. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium-high heat (don't be skimpy, live a little ... the butter helps the onions do their thing). Stir in one teaspoon salt, two large thinly-sliced red onions and two large thinly-sliced sweet onions. Cook 35 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and almost syrupy. (I sometimes let the onions just barely start to stick to the bottom of the pan a bit, and then scrape them off ... the brown goodness scraped up from the bottom helps them caramelize beautifully.)
   
   
2. Mix one 48-oz can chicken broth, one 14-oz can beef broth (fat-free and low sodium are good for the broths), ½ cup red wine red wine and one tablespoon Worcestershire sauce into pot. Bundle the two sprigs fresh parsley, one sprig fresh thyme, and one bay leaf with twine and place in pot. (or just sprinkle in lame-o dried herbs, like I do) Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, mix in one tablespoon balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.
   
   
3. Preheat oven broiler. Arrange four thick French or Italian bread slices (slightly stale and very crusty is good) on a baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, turning once, until well toasted on both sides. Remove from heat; do not turn off broiler. (Quickie "cheat" is to just use large croutons, especially if the idea of cutting into a giant cheese-covered slice of bread doesn't appeal to you.)
   
   
4. Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet (so you don't wind up with the abundant aroma of blackened sloshed-over-the-sides onion soup, mixed with the gloppy mess of drippy melted cheeses draping your oven elements). Fill each bowl 2/3 (why isn't there a pretty html code for "2/3"?) full with hot soup. Top each bowl with one slice toasted bread, two slices Gruyere (or Swiss) cheese and ¼ of shredded Asiago (or mozzarella) cheese. Sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top of each one. (the cheese works best at room temperature, so get them out on the counter when you start working the onions, if not sooner)
   
   
5. Broil 5 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. As it softens, the cheese will cascade over the sides of the crock and form a beautifully melted crusty seal. Serve immediately!

et .... voila!--End--

Dugan Diversity

Visited the pediatrician today. Nothing extraordinary, just Matthew's annual check-up. Of course, Emily wanted to be involved in the goings-on, as well.

In any case, Dr. Patel is happy with their development. Mackie passed his vision and hearing tests just fine and is in the glow of health.

But, a visit to the doctor's office is never complete without checking the kids' heights and weights. My kids are sometimes two of kind, my eyes, Joe's build ... no one would ever not recognize their family resemblance. But, when it comes to the growth charts ... the differences are readily apparent.

Emily: 48" (8th percentile), and 44 lbs (>3rd percentile)
Matthew: 50.25" (97th percentile) and 57 lbs (90th percentile)

Oof.

Emily did have a bit of a break-down about it at the very end of the appointment, and it's my fault. When Dr. Patel was running down some basic health questions, he asked about booster seats. The kids both confirmed that they always buckle up and always use a booster. Then I blew it by joking that Em will likely be in a booster seat until she's 12 (they recommend at least 8 years of age and 80 lbs). She pretty much fell apart.

Any tips from anyone about how to help her be comfortable with her diminutive size? This isn't the first time recently she's commented on how she "hates to be short."

--End--

Winding Down

Summer is starting to wind down here at Dugan Manor.

The leaves on the trees are still completely green, but have started to take on that dusty, tired shade. And the yard has definitely browned quite a bit.

Joe has begun planning his fall semester classes and preparing for the busyness that goes along with all that. One of his colleagues has accepted a 5-year grant administration position, so there will be a new math professor filling in. Plus, the math and computer sciences Division Chair has resigned and moved away. So they've shuffled all the departments around. Math is now in the Humanities Division. Yeah, that makes so much sense. So, rather than being directly connected to the engineering or physics departments (the major subjects for most of Joe's students), he has to coordinate course scheduling outside his division so that his students don't have to be in two classes simultaneously. And, the outgoing Division Chair (who was pushing the envelope for incompetency and inappropriateness) managed to bungle some course scheduling and classroom assignments which directly affect Joe. *sigh*

The good news is, he managed to get his hands on one of the college's few Tablet PCs. He's been in need of a new laptop and really hoping to get/try out/permanently borrow a Tablet. Yay!

The kids have just about finished their summer-keep-them-vaguely-thinking-academically-workbooks that their elementary school teacher/nerd mom makes them do every day. Matthew's reading is approaching smooth fluency, and Emily is beginning to multiply quickly in her head. Woo!

And, last Friday evening we actually put on jackets and long pants to watch Matthew's football practice. Really started to feel like football weather. And for one my poor son wasn't completely plastered with sweat from head to toe.

As for me, I'm finally at the point where I can no longer pretend I have weeks and weeks to pull together and create an elementary technology curriculum. I'll be teaching touch-typing to the primary grades and MS Office, etc to the upper elementary and middle school students. I've never been trained in how to do any of this, but am expected to develop an appropriate curriculum and lesson plans, while spending no money on new software or equipment.

We just spent last weekend in the Poconos and had a marvelous time. It's just so dang relaxing up there. I could stay a week and just breathe the fresh air and marvel at just how many freaking stars are apparent when you get away from the haze and glare of South Jersey.

No big plans for the rest of summer until Labor Day weekend. Mom and Dad are coming down and we'll attend the Navy-Temple football game together on the 31st. Should be fun.

--End--

Christmas Plans

For a couple of years we've talked about taking a vacation for Christmas, rather than the usual traditional family visits. Being academics, we get a lot of time off work, but we have to take it when our various institutions "say" we can take it (Christmas, Spring Break, summer). And, since summer vacation not only means time off, but also No paychecks for me ... well, it's not the best time to throw money at a vacation trip.

So, Christmas it is. December 22 - 29, to be exact.

Yesterday I booked a week-long stay for us at Colonial Williamsburg. I've been there once, some years ago and even then we didn't pay to actually go into the buildings, etc. We're looking forward to giant 18th Century style tavern Christmas dinners, letting the kids experience some hands-on, up-close-and-personal-like American history. We'll visit Williamsburg, itself, of course, and also makes jaunts to Jamestown (this is its 400th Anniversary year), and Yorktown. And, Richmond and Norfolk are each about an hour away.

Likely I'll go into more detail as it draws near, but for now ... I'm just in the excited early planning stages.

--End--

Summer Pictures

Just realized I have a few pictures I'd meant to upload.

This set is from the month of June -- Matthew's birthday, a trip to McKean, Sasha 5 months old...


And these are from our latest endeavor ... the Holly City Midget Football League. Matthew is enthusiastic, if relatively unskilled. He has improved immensely in just one week of "Training Camp." Looks like he's going to be on the defensive line. Goooo, Thunder!


--End--

A Mother's Right

Pardon me a minute or two while I shamelessly brag about my first-born. Joe and I met today with the Supervisor of Millville's Gifted and Talented program. We reviewed Emily's WISC IQ test for purposes of placing her into the district's GT program (like we really had any doubt!).

Without going into specifics, suffice it to say that Em scored very highly. Like, 99.8th percentile high.

Anyway, we always knew how smart she is, but it's nice to know it's definitely not all in our heads.

--End--

The Duuuuugaaaaannssss......

[cue music]

Da-dum-dum-da-daaa Dum-dum-dum-da-da-da-DA .....

OK, Chris did it first. I thought I'd seen some reference to this on TV, but as we don't watch commercials anymore, I hadn't really caught the jist of the promotion. Anyway, Simpsonize Me! is pretty nifty. It took some tweaking of each character. Dark objects in the background were frequently misinterpreted as very long hair. Joe's initial Simpsonization was by far the closest of the four of us. I let the kids pick their own outfits.

And ... although my cat is scrawny enough to work as a re-colored Snowball, it didn't seem fair to put Dottie in and leave Sasha out. Because, frankly, my hairball-spitz of a dog could hardly look less like Santa's Little Helper.

--End--

Bloxorz

Wow! A clever and completely addictive game. Check out Bloxorz.

--End--

Done!

Wow.

Now it's all over. Have to say I'm kind of sad. Not because of what's in the book, but because it's all over.

Extremely vague spoilers to follow ...
















OK ... on one big point, I'm feeling a big I-Told-You-So, which makes me so happy for one of my favorite actors.

The epilogue was a bit meh, but I kind of get it.

Overall well done with a good amount of references to the past six books, generally solid pacing. But a few chapters where the back of my mind was wondering when JK was just going to get on with it, already.

And, finally ... way to be, Neville!

--End--

Gone Fishin'

Well, not really ... but Joe has left for work and I've picked up Sasha from the vet ... fulfilling my only real obligations for the day (well, I mean, other than parenting the kids). So ... for the indefinite near future, I'll be reading (and probably crying) and reading some more.

Back in a couple of days.

--End--

Furthest Yet

13 (!!!) miles this morning. In about 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Now I'm going to hop over to MapMyRun and figure out where I'm going to walk 7 miles in Cazenovia tomorrow morning.

--End--

ps. Our copy of Deathly Hallows is, according to the UPS site, "In transit to final destination." Woo!

"Ooh Shiny"

This website is just chock-full of nifty merchandise, gadgets, clothing available on the 'Net. Some of my favorites, below:

	Yes, it's a Darth Vader Popcorn Maker.
	This RedShirt pretty much says it all.
	Clocky: the alarm clock you can't lie in bed and ignore.
	I really wish this weren't so expensive. Design your own monster!
	And this is for the Truly Spoiled Wanna-Be Fashion Designer.

--End--

(and, no, I don't know why this is formatted so strangely and haven't been able to fix it)

Breaks My Heart

Emily and Matthew are supposed to go home with my dad today for a week of "Gramma Camp." They and Joe have been up in the Poconos since Friday. I just happened to call this morning to see when they thought they'd all be heading out, and got to talk to Emily. She was crying her eyes out, begging to come home. I know she'll have a fantastic time at my folks' house, but hearing her like that nearly broke me down, too. It doesn't help that I called up there to talk to the kids. I am missing them this morning. And to hear her just so upset and pleading with me ... I'm pretty broken up about it right now.

--End--

Something Completely Different

File this under: Things Not Seen Everyday ...

Thanks to Lisa for calling my attention to this story. Seems a wrecking ball broke loose during some work at our alma mater. Bizarre!

--End--

Support the "Cause"

When we were last up at Chris & Kristin's house, they were watching DVDs of Firefly. Joe and I watched a couple of episodes with them and asked them about the show. It seems it had been broadcast on Fox for not even one full season and network execs had been more than a bit unkind with scheduling decisions, fating the show to an early cancellation. Joss Whedon, the series creator, did his best to resurrect the show, finally resulting in a full-length feature, Serenity released in 2005.

Anyway, long story short, Firefly/Serenity fans (typically called "Browncoats") have been working to get the show reinstated somewhere, anywhere. And I have to say I'm inclined to agree with them. The show is smart, funny, clever, well-thought-out won an Emmy for effects. Definitely done before its time.

Recently I've been browsing around various Browncoat websites and getting some background info on the show and its fanbase. They're reasonably active (particularly for a show which only had eleven of its fourteen episodes broadcast.

I read today that the SciFi channel is going to broadcast a "Firefly Marathon" on August 10. Set your DVRs, please. Who knows? Maybe this is SciFi's way of feeling out the actual viewership for the show. Maybe if they feel there's enough interest ... well, maybe something might happen.

If you're interested in the sci-fi genre AT ALL, give the show a try. I really do recommend it. And ... even if you don't intend to watch it, record it anyway. Or tell a friend who likes that sort of thing. Maybe the SciFi execs will actually notice.

--End--

I Did It!

(rather ... we did it ... Sasha stayed alongside the whole time)

10 miles in 3 hours. Woooo!

--End--

More Than Meets the Eye

Yeah, just saw the movie. The effects were very cool (but frequently too fast to follow). They had at least a couple of examples of the old "transforming" sound effect I always liked. There were gratuitous American car company logo placements. The plot had a few holes. And while this guy always kind of bugs me (granted, that is his role in the film), Jon Voight rocks as always. But, man! It rocked to hear the old names thrown around.

Jazz, Starscream, Bumblebee (to this day I still want to have a yellow VW Bug, though now he's a yellow Camaro), Bonecrusher, Ratchet, et al. And of course ... Optimus Prime and Megatron. Yeah!

For the record, Chris and I once catalogued nearly all the Autobots and Decepticons (and Dinobots, Constructicons, Insecticons, etc) on a journal we kept at our sides while watching the show. Yes, we actually are that geeky. Wonder how many of these we missed. Heh.

--End--

Picnic Planning

We're having some friends over tomorrow for some grilling joy. We're going to eat, hang out, maybe play some bocce. The kids will spend half the afternoon in the pool, I'm sure. And Sasha will just be beside herself. As for me, I'll be cooking and then trying hard not to eat too much of the more fattening selections.

On the menu:

• Scott Hibb's Amazing Whisky Grilled Barbecued Baby Back Ribs (except I'm using regular ribs, rather than baby back, and I don't have any whisky)
• Marinated Grilled Shrimp
• Beer-boiled grilled bratwurst
• Bodacious Broccoli Salad
• Potato salad
• Baked beans
• Deviled eggs
• Fruit salad
• Carrots & celery sticks
  
• Fresh Jersey corn on the cob
• Beverages (Coke, Sam Adams summer assortment, and Killian's)
  
• Dessert (I don't know what Jen's bringing for the main dessert, but I also have ice cream sandwiches because they just say "summer" to me)

The weather's supposed to be fine, so we should have a great day. I'm not even sure if we're going to leave to try to catch any fireworks anywhere. It depends on how long folks want to hang out in my backyard.

--End--

Well ... woke up to a steady rain. It stopped around 9am, so things were mostly dry enough to at least occasionally be outside during the party. The food turned out fantastic, and I stayed on my diet (I plan to try the brats and ribs tomorrow after my morning weigh-in). Jen brought a delicious ricotta-creamy-vanilla-y mixture topped with fresh blueberries and strawberries. YUM! Altogether ... a great day! Not planning to go to any fireworks tonight.

The Mind is Willing

I'm SO ticked off right now. Today I was all psyched for my first 10-mile walk. My previous longest distance is about 6.5 miles. I've done that a handful of times over the past few weeks. But, today it was supposed to ramp up to 10 miles.

Supposed to.

My feet have failed me. Or maybe it's my sneakers which have. I had previously developed a rather large blister on my right heel, and a smaller one on my left pinky toe. They both had seemed healed and weren't the least bit tender anymore.

Well, evidently whatever caused the blisters in the first place hasn't been remedied. Because they're both back. With a vengeance. Twinges faded into nothing as I eased into my walk, after about half a mile I felt great. Then, around the 3.5 mile mark some discomfort kicked in. Around mile 4 it was more like pain and I was compensating in my stride.

I called Joe (it was our plan all along that he'd be coming to pick up Sasha around the 4-5 mile mark and I'd continue without her, she's still shy of her 6-month birthday, after all). He met me about a mile later. Although I was feeling kind of better, I decided to check out my feet while he was there with the van. Good thing I did.

My feet are kind of a mess. New blisters have formed under the old mostly-healed ones, and I have two new small ones forming on my right pinky toe and left heel. I think they're compensatory since I was adjusting my stride to alleviate the discomfort.

Anyway, a trip to Dick's is in order today so I can get new shoes. I'm not sure how long I really ought to stay off my feet. And, I'm not sure what I ought to do to recover quickest from this.

I'm SO ticked off at not completing my walk. I have never been any sort of even vague athlete, and I actually am now at the point where I really love my walks and I really feel good getting the exercise, and covering the miles. But this pain sucks. A lot.

--End--

Another Winner

Go see this movie. You'll be glad you did. I can't believe Pixar keeps making excellent movies.

--End--

Milestones!

Completed 100+ miles of training walking today for the 3-Day in October

Exceeded 30 lbs of weight loss at my Weight Watchers weigh-in

(yay, me!)

--End--

Jerky Delights

I just have to take a moment this morning to send you on a mission. If you like beef jerky (and, really, who doesn't?) ... get thee to your local Target store.

We're big fans of dried meat products here at Chez Dugan. Truly. I've even been known to splurge on more exotic turkey jerky and buffalo jerky as Christmas stocking stuffers for Joe. Sadly, beef jerky itself is a splurge. I don't know why a packet weighing under 4 ounces has to cost five or six bucks.

So imagine my delight when I ventured down the snackfoods aisle of my local Target store and discovered their own "Market Pantry" brand of beef jerky for less than $3 a packet! "You get what you pay for," I thought, but bought some anyway to try it out. And, it's quite good. Some bits are the more traditional leathery tough jerky, but some are moister, thicker strips. Quite wonderful.

It's now one of our weekly Doctor-Who-watching-with-Seth staple snacks. Yum!

--End--

McKean Visit, II

Today we started packing to go home tomorrow. I'm ready. The kids would stay another month, I think. But, they don't realize a month-long visit wouldn't be as jam-packed with meals out and activities as a week-long visit is.

Where'd I leave off?

Well, I forgot to mention one of the "highlights" of the earlier part of the trip. Namely, Emily threw up a few times the first night we got here. Then the next morning as we ran our errands, we noticed the Krispy Kreme light was on. Free doughnuts! Well, Mom and Matthew got free doughnuts. About 5 seconds after we walked in, Emily spewed breakfast (and grape juice ... eeew!) all over the floor and entry-way rug. I don't think they want us to return any time soon.

Monday we putzed around in the garden and then ran over to Home Depot for some things Dad needed. We hit a matinee of Surf's Up! And it was quite funny. I think the mockumentary style made it. Otherwise, it would've been just another goofy penguin movie.

We'd been looking forward to Tuesday ... a SeaWolves double-header. And family Buck Night. 75-cent hotdogs, etc. Nice! Well, except for the weather. We spent an hour in the car waiting for the rain to stop, so they'd maybe start the game. When it fizzled out, we headed over to the stadium. We got some ballpark-style dinner, and then they announced they were cancelling both games. Bummer! Worked with Dad (watched, really) on our picnic table he's making for us. Dad and I saw the dual passage of the ISS and STS-117. They were very bright (at least as bright as Jupiter, at the moment) and about two finger-widths apart. Very nice display. I like this site for checking on when you can see satellites pass overhead.

So, we went back to the ballpark last night for a new double-header. And it was Baseball BINGO night. Each time the SeaWolves were batting, there was a code for each possible outcome. Right fielder flies out -- B9, Catcher singles -- G53, etc. I was playing 9 cards, and got exactly 0 BINGOs, even between two games! Matthew did get a nice shot on the "Jumbotron" screen, boogying to some song between innings. :) The SeaWolves and the Altoona Curve split the double-header.

Today we're already mostly packed up. I think we're going to take the kids for a round of mini-golf. Mom and Dad have a high school reunion planning meeting tonight. Other than that, I think it's a good day to veg. Long drive tomorrow.

--End--

McKean Visit, I

Well, Thursday was a long day. Such a long drive to make with no one to talk to. The kids watched a couple of movies, and helped out with digging food and munchies from the cooler, and napped. But mostly they were quiet. And I was bored. They got whiny/picky/grumpy/irritable coming up I-79, by which point I was equally, if not more so, whiny/picky/grumpy/irritable. So I sort of melted down on them. Fortunately we all got it together before we got here.

Friday we ran a bunch of errands. Forgot my toothbrush, broke my sunglasses somewhere around Altoona, needed bigger life jackets for the kids, etc. Nothing too exciting. Although, found a great Father's Day gift for Joe. For only $6.50. :) It'll dress-up (fill to the gills) his office at the college. He has a bunch of cool stuff in there, already (including this, this, and this). Dad has just given me his old slide rule from the Academy to add to Joe's nifty math/toys collection.

And then, after Dad got home from work, we all went out on the boat. Matthew caught a sheepshead, and Emily caught a small white bass (big enough to keep).

Saturday we went to the funeral home for my mom's Aunt Arlene. The kids had their first experience with the whole funereal situation. They handled it perfectly. I figured I should expose them to that sort of thing before it's someone they actually know and love. And, I think it was a good choice. We had Aunt Deb with us for this, and then she went with us to the Erie Zoo Member Day celebration. Free food, drinks, carousel and train ride can't be beat! It was a warm, sunny day and we had a ball. I'll post the pictures of the Lorikeets climbing all over Dad when I get them off his camera.

Oh, and Dad & I saw the ISS/STS-117 flyover on Saturday night. The earlier one (roughly 9:30pm) was impossible, too low and lost in all the light. Sunset is pretty late here. But, the later one (around 11pm) was gorgeous. Bright, long-lasting, arcing WAY up through Polaris. Even got a good flare out of it, making it about as bright as Venus. It was well brighter than Jupiter through most of the crossing. This site is a good one for knowing when to look.

Yesterday was church and Father's Day, of course. We went out on the boat again. Em and Matthew did most of the fishing. Em even caught a couple of fish entirely on her own. All-in-all we wound up with 3 small gobies, 3 nice perch, a zebra mussel, and ...

this thing. We really weren't sure what on earth it was. It was about 10-11" long. After we figured it out, and the fish commission Penn State intern chick confirmed it's native and has a substantial natural range, we released it back into the lake. (Dad had even pulled over to another fisherman, "What big, black, has four legs and lives on the bottom of the lake?" Sounded like he was waiting for a punch line. But, the guy said, "Might be a water dog." Guess that's the large lake-version of a mud puppy.)

Saw the space station fly-over again last night. Along with some nice views (using Dad's spotting scope) of Jupiter and four moons, the unlit portion of the currently crescent moon, and Saturn. Wish I were with Chris and his telescope for all that.

No idea what's on tap for today. Right now Mom and Em are working in the garden. And, I suspect I've procrastinated about as long as I can get away with.

--End--

It's a Good Thing, Right?

Well, since I didn't get a call today, it seems I didn't get the last teaching job I had a shot at. I sent out about 15 resumes, got 3 interviews, 1 second interview. But, apparently, no job out of it.

I'm actually kind of pleased about it. More than I thought I'd be. I really like where I am, and who I'm currently working with. I even like that it's part-time. My principal is fair and decent and has gone out of her way for me (getting my formerly grant-based-therefore-ephemeral position into the actual budget and even expanding it by 175%). It's just not the same kind of money as full-time, obviously. Want to do more to help us get ahead.

Likely there will be another round of job openings in early August (the ads have dwindled away to nothing over the past couple of weeks). So, it's not a sure thing, yet.

But I'm actually relieved. I was really not looking forward to making the decision between a decent-paying part-time job with colleagues and administration I like at a school I know to a crummy-paying but full-time job at an unknown school with unknown people (plus the new school is beginning a "looping" program this year ... the 1st grade teachers will move up through 3rd or 4th grade with their cohort of students then loop back down to 1st grade for a new batch ... neat idea, but means learning a whole new curriculum each year until the loop repeats). So, it seems it's out of my hands for the time being.

--End--

Elsewhere on the Web

'Nuff said.

--End--

Ask a Ninja

If you haven't dredged through the archives over at Ask a Ninja. Well, you ought to.



--End--

Definitely Worth It

It was a pain in the neck. The cake crumbled uncontrollably. It had to be frozen twice to try to make it solid enough to frost ... in stages. I ran out of frosting halfway through. My hands are stained a nice Smurf blue under the nails. But when Matthew said, "Mom! That's the best cake EVER!" I decided it was all more than worth it.

--End--

Nice Agenda

The plan for the day:

6am - workout on the stationary bike while watching a back episode of Lost
6:45am - prep for work, drink SlimFast shake, prod kids
7:55am - leave for work
8:30-11:30am - work (if you can call it that at this point in the year)
noon - arrive home, have lunch, walk Sasha
1pm - see Ocean's Thirteen (pretty good! Complex enough to see again)
3:45pm - meet schoolbus
4:15pm - swimming pool!
5:30pm - hotdogs on the grill (Matthew's birthday dinner selection)
6:30pm - walk to the corner ice cream joint
7:30pm - ready the kids for reading time
8pm - Joe begins SupCom fest
8:30pm - lights out, time for me to watch whatever I want on TV. Woo!

--End--

Zoo of Untrue

Quick link I Stumbled upon. One example to whet your appetite:


--End--

Life Update

Things are rolling right into summer-mode at Chez Dugan (inside joke from the Reunion ... when someone asked me how "Dugan" could possibly be mispronounced, I filled them in. Most commonly, there's "Duggan," but far more interesting is the French-accented method, rhyming roughly with Rodin.)

• Joe is partway into his first Summer Term (more than halfway actually). He teaches Mondays and Wednesdays 8am-3pm. He'll have a week off for 4th of July then start up again Mondays and Wednesdays 11am-7pm.


• He's also beginning rehearsals for a local community theatre production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. He's in the chorus, one of "Gaston's Cronies." Should be fun!


• The kids last day of school is next Wednesday, but they already have well more than one foot out the door. I have to go to work one more day after that, but pretty much stop teaching tomorrow.


• The pool is open, a relatively civilized temperature (71-72*), and sparkling clean.


• Matthew turns 6 tomorrow. 6! My baby boy. He's into airplanes (the Millville Airshow was a big hit this year with him), trains (still), pretty much anything with an engine that moves. We're going kind of Blue Angels-themed with our gifts and cake this year, but he's not having an official kids-from-school sort of birthday party. We're having family over for cake and ice cream, and then heading to the Ocean City Boardwalk for Mack & Manco pizza and rides.


• Our yard actually looks green and lush right now (the dry late-summer browning is coming starting in July). We've had flowers blooming straight through since late February/early March. In order ... crocus, mini daffodils, regular daffodils, tulips, double tulips, pussy willows, forsythia, pieris, weeping cherry, ornamental pear, crabapple, violets, vinca, lilacs, ornamental almond, azaleas, dame's rocket, rhododendrons, antique-style bush roses, spirea ... soon to come are the day lilies and butterfly bushes ... then after that not much. Guess I need to get some late summer/early fall flowers that like shade and drought. (yeah, good luck!)

Guess that's it for now. Back to clearing out my shelves and filing cabinets for the summer break.

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Reunion Pictures

Looking back at the weekend, there are a bunch of pictures I wish I'd taken. Like, a few with me in them, for example. Joe & I at the class dinner. Me with professors Jim Bulman and Beth Watkins. Me with fellow reunion co-chair Darrell Park. Yeah, 20/20 hindsight is a beautiful thing. Hopefully I can get a few pictures to fill in a few blanks from some fellow alums (although those particular posed shots didn't happen, so they simply don't exist).

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edit: added some pictures from Alysa Alderman McCormick to my web album.

My "Type"

Inspired by a conversation this past Reunion Weekend. In no particular order ...

John Cusack
Zach Braff
Ewan McGregor
David Tennant
Joe Flanigan

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Reunion Weekend

Signing in from Allegheny College. It's been 14 years since we graduated. Can't believe how much I've missed this place. LOTS of memories. Only run into a couple of people we know so far. :)

Later!

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Three-Day Weekend

One thing I just LOVE about being a teacher is getting all the federal-type holidays off. I mean, I think just about everyone gets this one off, but I also get MLK Day, President's Day, etc.

In any case, think of a veteran (calling one up and saying "thank you" is even better). Share some good times with friends and family. Grill some meat (or veggies, if that's your preference). Let the kiddos run through the sprinkler for awhile. Dig into some watermelon. Call it a day.

Those are pretty much our plans for the holiday.

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Worth 1,000 Words

Nathan Christopher Schierer
May 25, 2007

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