Long time posting. Just finished Christmas celebrations #1 with mom and Nick who were in town for about a week. We're about to sit down for lunch and then off to the airport to drop mom off. Then Nick and I head up to VT for round #2 with dad and Barbro. My step-sister and her husband and son are coming for the weekend along with my cousins from CT. So it will be a busy few days.
Now there were a few flurries the other week, but nothing that stayed on the ground. And yet every where else there was snow. I was bummed. But yesterday it started snowing a little bit - not the big fluffy flakes but the small dusting that appeared like it would disappear in no time. Yet this morning I woke up and there was enough snow for shoveling - the first real snow fall of the year!
We were considering (not really) of waking up in the middle of the night to see the lunar eclipse but it was just as well we stayed snug in the beds as I assume the snow clouds (snow comes from clouds, right) would have blocked the viewing.
Now the problem is I have these wooden white snowflakes I hang on the windows each year. And this year I was about to put them up and realized I should wait until the first snow fall. So I tucked them away, but where, I cannot remember for the life of me (and it was just a week ago I did it). I've looked everywhere and I need to get them up today or the tradition is ruined (this is the first year I've decided to do this, that's why it's important, or inversely, doesn't really matter). Fingers crossed they turn up by days end.
One last round of wrapping presents. Then packing and squeezing in all the last minute stuff. I've had to scrap a knitting Christmas gift as my idea of using scrap yarn didn't really work out - not enough. The problem with scrap yarn. And yet, it does not prevent me from casting on in another attempt to use the scrap yarn for another project. Another fingers crossed moment, that this one will work out.
Merry Christmas to everyone and may you have a holly jolly time and safe travels be it cross country or around the block to grandmother's house!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thankful Friday
Well I have to say I wish there was more time in the day but in a way that is something to be thankful for right? I’ve got a nice vibrant packed schedule doing fun things. Here’s my wonderful three day forecast:
1. Tonight. Meeting a boy for drinks, maybe dinner, depending how it goes. Met online and I took a stab at his name and I can’t tell if he’s just going with it or I guessed correctly. Need to figure out a way to confirm through ID. I’m super gullible.
2. Later tonight. Heading over to one of my favorite pubs (it has a wonderful woody atmosphere and a roaring fireplace) to meet up with friends and celebrate a birthday (not mine).
3. Late, late tonight. Seeing a friends gig performing at another cool place in town. They just released a new album and this one has words – yay! They really like to riff.
4. Saturday morning. Time to chop down a Christmas tree. I’m joining the Braun gang at a tree farm up north. The holidays are upon us!
5. Saturday afternoon. Fun time playing with my favorite (and only) god-son and his little sister. Their smiles are absolutely contagious. How can you not have a smile on your face around such cutie-pies.
6. Saturday night. Go see music with a friend (one of the boys mentioned in the previous post). We’re plutonic friends. Can’t remember what music and still need to confirm we’re still on.
7. Sunday morning. Sleeping in. I like me some sleep.
8. Sunday lunch. With another boy – met online. Finally checking out this Greek place I’ve been meaning to check out for years.
9. Sunday afternoon. Head over to Colleen’s and help them pack and hang out – they’re heading to Chile next month. Although to be honest, I may be suckered into playing with Liam (her 1 year old). Although I do love to organize. We’ll see how the dust settles on this one.
10. Sunday night. Dinner with another boy – met online. My only concern is that I may be wiped out by this time but I shall rally!
And then only a few days before the Christmas celebrations begin, starting with family descending upon me to share in the festivities. I really need to do some shopping, maybe I’ll squeeze that in Sunday morning. But really, I’m a Twainian at heart and practice the old adage: Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?
1. Tonight. Meeting a boy for drinks, maybe dinner, depending how it goes. Met online and I took a stab at his name and I can’t tell if he’s just going with it or I guessed correctly. Need to figure out a way to confirm through ID. I’m super gullible.
2. Later tonight. Heading over to one of my favorite pubs (it has a wonderful woody atmosphere and a roaring fireplace) to meet up with friends and celebrate a birthday (not mine).
3. Late, late tonight. Seeing a friends gig performing at another cool place in town. They just released a new album and this one has words – yay! They really like to riff.
4. Saturday morning. Time to chop down a Christmas tree. I’m joining the Braun gang at a tree farm up north. The holidays are upon us!
5. Saturday afternoon. Fun time playing with my favorite (and only) god-son and his little sister. Their smiles are absolutely contagious. How can you not have a smile on your face around such cutie-pies.
6. Saturday night. Go see music with a friend (one of the boys mentioned in the previous post). We’re plutonic friends. Can’t remember what music and still need to confirm we’re still on.
7. Sunday morning. Sleeping in. I like me some sleep.
8. Sunday lunch. With another boy – met online. Finally checking out this Greek place I’ve been meaning to check out for years.
9. Sunday afternoon. Head over to Colleen’s and help them pack and hang out – they’re heading to Chile next month. Although to be honest, I may be suckered into playing with Liam (her 1 year old). Although I do love to organize. We’ll see how the dust settles on this one.
10. Sunday night. Dinner with another boy – met online. My only concern is that I may be wiped out by this time but I shall rally!
And then only a few days before the Christmas celebrations begin, starting with family descending upon me to share in the festivities. I really need to do some shopping, maybe I’ll squeeze that in Sunday morning. But really, I’m a Twainian at heart and practice the old adage: Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Happy December 1st!
Why is it I can never get out the door on time when trying to leave work? Last night I found myself caught up in wrapping up some projects that took a tad longer than expected. This translated into me having to go directly to my building committee meeting after work. No time to swing by home and grab a bite to eat for dinner. No time to pick up the car. And no time to take a breather.
Speaking of which, running late and rushing up the flights of stairs at the school I realized how out of shape I was. I really need to work on that – but will save that for the new year. Luckily the meeting was shorter than usual, I found a banana in my bag to stave off the hunger, and a colleague gave me a ride home afterwards so I didn’t have to walk in the pouring down rain. The meeting was interesting as I found myself the lone ‘nay’ on the one motion passed. But I won’t get into that here.
What I wanted to post about was what I found at home. Earlier this week I had received a nice package from my mum that I’ve been enjoying the bounties of this week. And there, waiting for me last night, was another package in the same week from my dad and step-mum. I open it up and find an advent calendar. And not just any old advent calendar but a chocolate one. FYI, it’s not made of chocolate but has chocolate treats behind the doors – just to be clear. And VT chocolate to boot.
It brought back fond memories of childhood. One of my favorite holiday traditions was the advent calendars we would have. Sometimes we would have a new one, but generally we would reuse them from year to year. Even with the old ones, there was something magical and exciting about looking for today’s door and opening it up to reveal whatever was hidden behind it – be it a little robin redbreast or angel – depending on the theme of the calendar.
The only thing missing these days is sharing it. I think there might have been one year where Nick and I each got our own but generally we’d share. I’d get the even numbers and he’d get the odds - his December birthday being on an odd day, it seemed only right.
So there’s the quandary. Nick’s visiting in two weeks. Do I share and save some of the days for him? Or do I finally cut him out of the picture like my childhood dreams and go all in, enjoying each day’s hunt? Writing this, I realize I’ve made up my mind – and it’s a compromise which was another thing besides sharing our parents instilled in us (such good parents).
First, I already opened #1, so that would make me odds - opps. I couldn’t believe the timing of the arrival so jumped right in not thinking. Second, the true joy of the advent calendar is the hunt each day, spread over the month. Hunting for all the odds in one go just takes the fun out of it. So here’s my solution – I get to enjoy my advent calendar each day this month. However, when Nick’s in town visiting, we’ll revert back to our old system of sharing – odds and evens. How’s that sound? Such a good big sister I am. The funny thing is I can see Nick not really caring. But I’ll twist his arm into enjoying this holiday tradition, darn it.
Gotta love good mail and when it rains it pours, right? In other raining news, the boys seem to be knocking. I’m closing down my match subscription at the end of this month when it finally expires so hopped on for one last hoorah. So there are two boys from there. Then there are the two boys from out of town. And just recently two more have popped up from my past. Very strange they come in pairs. Of course looking at my December schedule I’m booked solid between now and Christmas – weekends and every single evening pretty much. I think Monday the 13th is my one night I’m not doing anything. The crazy thing is I still have half my Christmas shopping to do. Elusive time. At least I get a piece of chocolate each day now!
Speaking of which, running late and rushing up the flights of stairs at the school I realized how out of shape I was. I really need to work on that – but will save that for the new year. Luckily the meeting was shorter than usual, I found a banana in my bag to stave off the hunger, and a colleague gave me a ride home afterwards so I didn’t have to walk in the pouring down rain. The meeting was interesting as I found myself the lone ‘nay’ on the one motion passed. But I won’t get into that here.
What I wanted to post about was what I found at home. Earlier this week I had received a nice package from my mum that I’ve been enjoying the bounties of this week. And there, waiting for me last night, was another package in the same week from my dad and step-mum. I open it up and find an advent calendar. And not just any old advent calendar but a chocolate one. FYI, it’s not made of chocolate but has chocolate treats behind the doors – just to be clear. And VT chocolate to boot.
It brought back fond memories of childhood. One of my favorite holiday traditions was the advent calendars we would have. Sometimes we would have a new one, but generally we would reuse them from year to year. Even with the old ones, there was something magical and exciting about looking for today’s door and opening it up to reveal whatever was hidden behind it – be it a little robin redbreast or angel – depending on the theme of the calendar.
The only thing missing these days is sharing it. I think there might have been one year where Nick and I each got our own but generally we’d share. I’d get the even numbers and he’d get the odds - his December birthday being on an odd day, it seemed only right.
So there’s the quandary. Nick’s visiting in two weeks. Do I share and save some of the days for him? Or do I finally cut him out of the picture like my childhood dreams and go all in, enjoying each day’s hunt? Writing this, I realize I’ve made up my mind – and it’s a compromise which was another thing besides sharing our parents instilled in us (such good parents).
First, I already opened #1, so that would make me odds - opps. I couldn’t believe the timing of the arrival so jumped right in not thinking. Second, the true joy of the advent calendar is the hunt each day, spread over the month. Hunting for all the odds in one go just takes the fun out of it. So here’s my solution – I get to enjoy my advent calendar each day this month. However, when Nick’s in town visiting, we’ll revert back to our old system of sharing – odds and evens. How’s that sound? Such a good big sister I am. The funny thing is I can see Nick not really caring. But I’ll twist his arm into enjoying this holiday tradition, darn it.
Gotta love good mail and when it rains it pours, right? In other raining news, the boys seem to be knocking. I’m closing down my match subscription at the end of this month when it finally expires so hopped on for one last hoorah. So there are two boys from there. Then there are the two boys from out of town. And just recently two more have popped up from my past. Very strange they come in pairs. Of course looking at my December schedule I’m booked solid between now and Christmas – weekends and every single evening pretty much. I think Monday the 13th is my one night I’m not doing anything. The crazy thing is I still have half my Christmas shopping to do. Elusive time. At least I get a piece of chocolate each day now!
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Pet Project
Do you ever find you stall on something? For me, I often think there is a certain order or certain way that something should be done. Like I shouldn't clean out the fridge until after I've done the dishes (to make more room on the counter). But is this really a show stopper? Other times I want things to be perfect the first go around which translates to there never being a first go around (and many almost finished sweaters). Usually I notice this snag in the mind and sometimes I'm able to address it and move on at getting something done. Sometimes. Not always.
Well, there is this pet project I've been wanting to work on. It's a knowledge management website for the stuff I've been working on for the past five years. Except it would be a big time sink, so I haven't done anything. And yet I keep thinking of the project- always a good sign. I'd think about it at work, on the bus, in the shower. I'd think about what content to include, and how the content should be organized and how it can be accessed. How people could use the site actively not just passively. I came up with some grandiose ideas. The thing is the content portion I can get up and running, it was the website development I was a bit stumped on. I even got Dreamweaver but found it daunting to go from knowing nothing to having the skillset to develop my grandiose idea. And I stalled.
I'm happy to report I got over the first hump. I'm not going to learn Dreamweaver overnight. And I'm starting to realize I need some other programs in addition (not quite sure what). Figuring out every little detail up front is impossible. I got frustrated with it all and decided to just move forward with what I know - blogs. Blog's are pretty much the extent of my knowledge and even though I particularly didn't want this to be another blog I found blogger seems to be far enough along that I can morph it into a pseudo website that will work for now. I need to build up content anyways, so this is a good place to park the information and figure things out as I go along.
Example being that I really wish I could upload documents (something you can't do on blogger) as I hate visiting websites and finding the links are broken. And there's no way I'm policing all the potential links. Quick search and a few minutes later I found a work around - using google docs as a parking place for the documents you want to link to. How cool is that?!
Well, if you want to see my latest endeavor, check it out, it's LEED Corner. Unless you're in my field, I doubt you'll add it as one of your regular reads. I sometimes try to keep tabs on my brothers blog he has with friends but Indian law is not really my go-to place for a break and something easy to read. The project is in it's infancy but my plan is to add a little content each week and before you know it I'll have a mountain of information. It feels good to be moving again on the project.
Well, there is this pet project I've been wanting to work on. It's a knowledge management website for the stuff I've been working on for the past five years. Except it would be a big time sink, so I haven't done anything. And yet I keep thinking of the project- always a good sign. I'd think about it at work, on the bus, in the shower. I'd think about what content to include, and how the content should be organized and how it can be accessed. How people could use the site actively not just passively. I came up with some grandiose ideas. The thing is the content portion I can get up and running, it was the website development I was a bit stumped on. I even got Dreamweaver but found it daunting to go from knowing nothing to having the skillset to develop my grandiose idea. And I stalled.
I'm happy to report I got over the first hump. I'm not going to learn Dreamweaver overnight. And I'm starting to realize I need some other programs in addition (not quite sure what). Figuring out every little detail up front is impossible. I got frustrated with it all and decided to just move forward with what I know - blogs. Blog's are pretty much the extent of my knowledge and even though I particularly didn't want this to be another blog I found blogger seems to be far enough along that I can morph it into a pseudo website that will work for now. I need to build up content anyways, so this is a good place to park the information and figure things out as I go along.
Example being that I really wish I could upload documents (something you can't do on blogger) as I hate visiting websites and finding the links are broken. And there's no way I'm policing all the potential links. Quick search and a few minutes later I found a work around - using google docs as a parking place for the documents you want to link to. How cool is that?!
Well, if you want to see my latest endeavor, check it out, it's LEED Corner. Unless you're in my field, I doubt you'll add it as one of your regular reads. I sometimes try to keep tabs on my brothers blog he has with friends but Indian law is not really my go-to place for a break and something easy to read. The project is in it's infancy but my plan is to add a little content each week and before you know it I'll have a mountain of information. It feels good to be moving again on the project.
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