Dual homed

Now you know how much of a geek I really am. The title is a computer term meaning a computer has two network cards in it - like a server that has a network card for accessing and being accessed by the external network (internet) and one for the internal network (LAN). In this case I'm referring to the fact that I have set up a blog at MySpaces. My goal is to blog in both places each day rather than abandon this space. I like the features the MSN Spaces offer but Blogger is my original home, so I'll maintain both - mostly just copying from one to the other rather than putting anything brilliant and original on one and not the other. In case you want to visit my MSN Space, here's the link: http://spaces.msn.com/members/eclecticdefined/.

So... check it out. I'll add more photos and stuff to the MSN space, so keep checking it out.

Life is like a box of chocolates

I love Forrest Gump, both the character and the movie. I think I should watch that this weekend. I'm in the mood for that sort of movie.

It is brilliantly sunny and gorgeous outside right now. I think the entire West Coast is enjoying this same sort of weather. I think it's supposed to be in the 80's today. Brilliant!!! I will most definitely take at least a 2 mile, and maybe a 4 mile, walk at lunch today. I had planned to do that yesterday but we had a major software upgrade Tuesday night/Wednesday AM which required that I physically upgrade every computer in the library except the 22 public access computers and the 12 online catalogs. That meant I had to upgrade about 60 computers. It took all day, meaning I had no lunch break. Along with the upgrade came countless questions from the staff about the various enhancements they were seeing on their screens. And, as with almost any upgrade, there are a few bugs still to be worked out. So, I would be in the midst of an upgrade on a computer upstairs and I would get paged to go to the circulation desk downstairs to answer some question. I was all over the building all day long. It was crazy. But it's all done now so I just have to sit back and wait for the bugs to be fixed by TLC. There are some great new features that I to read up on so I can train staff. There are some features in our online catalog that I have to become familiar with as well so I can implement them. I have a lot of learning to do in the next few days.

This weekend should be great. I'm going to plant my flower pots and try to just relax, especially since it's a rare 3-day weekend for Tom and me. Saturday it's supposed to rain, but the rest of the weekend should be nice. I'm ready for some relaxation.

I bit down on this really great bread with a thick, chewy crust - an Italian bread - the other night and my jaw made an awful popping/crunching sound. Ever since, I can't put my back teeth together and my jaw hurts something fierce. I have TMJ anyway, but it's been pretty mild for a long time. Now, it's back with a vengeance and it's giving me a bad headache. I'm hoping it just subsides as the swelling goes down (I'm assuming there's swelling). It's so weird. The noise was something else! You'd have thought I'd broken a piece of my jaw joint off!

Speaking of jaws and stuff, I go in on June 16th for two gum grafts. That ought to be fun. The only positive thing I see about the experience is I should be able to eat only yogurt and popsicles for several days which should result in a loss of weight. I hope. I understand the roof of your mouth feels like it's been burned for quite a while afterward. That sounds like SO much fun - NOT!

I have a confession to make. I watch American Idol. I am SO happy Carrie Underwood won. I think she has an amazing voice, is a really sweet country girl, is gorgeous, and I think she will have the best career of any Idol yet. Go Carrie!

I have three season finales yet to watch on TiVo - House, Lost, and CSI Miami. After that, no more TV shows to watch so I can go to the gym in the AM! Yippee! I'm pathetic and I watch way too much TV. Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, 24, CSI: Miami, Amazing Race, House, American Idol, CSI: NY, Lost, CSI, Survivor, The OC, Without a Trace, Joan of Arcadia (cancelled - sniff, sniff), and Numb3rs. That's so crazy. But they are all such good shows! That's 15 hours of TV a week! Oh my gosh! I need to get a life. Okay, some, like Survivor, Amazing Race, and American Idol are not on all season long and 24 starts late in the season, so most of the time I'm only watching 11 hours a week, but still........

Okay, time for work.

Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith

Okay, I saw it - yesterday at 12:20PM at the Northtown Regal Cinemas in Spokane. It was good - far better than the previous two - but nothing like the first three. Of course, that is due, in large part, to the content. We all know this is the story of Anakin's conversion to Darth Vader - an inherently unhappy tale. We know it's dark - that's been all over the media as if to warn us "this is not going to be all laughs and chuckles... evil wins". They're right. It's dark.

So, my review - it is good, but it does have its shortcomings. Inevitably, it will be compared to the original trilogy. Heck, I find myself doing that all the time. The original was amazing, groundbreaking on so many levels, and just plain good fun. It had a great ensemble cast with fabulous chemistry. Okay, maybe they weren't the BEST actors, but they played off of each so well - something the latest trilogy sorely lacks. The original had catchy one-liners sprinkled liberally throughout all three films that found their way into common usage for years after they debuted (or was is just me who ran around saying "May the Force be with you"?) This is also lacking in the current trilogy. But I think the real root of the "problem" with the current trilogy is the tale it tells. It can't help but be bashed because it is all about evil triumphing over good and, as a people, we are never thrilled with that type of story. We like happy endings, the guy getting the girl, all that stuff. The original trilogy is all about good triumphing over evil, and the heroes of the epic struggle, hence it reverberates in the hearts and minds of us all. We get to cheer the good guys and boo the bad guys - an opportunity we don't get in the current trilogy.

I left the theater feeling a bit ambivalent. Okay, so now I know how Anakin became Darth. I know how Luke and Leia came to be separated and why they ended up on their respective planets, how and why Obi-Wan came to be on Tatooine, and why C3PO, despite having been Padme's protocol droid, didn't have a clue who anyone was when he "met" Luke and Leia. I also got to see Chewie in his native land with all his Wookie warriors (very cool)... but I didn't get to cheer anyone for their triumph over adversity and evil. The story was sad. So many times there is the chance for Anakin to go the other way, away from the Dark Side, and I found myself saying "no, Anakin, no!" knowing, of course, the path he would take. It's hard to accept a character turning from good to evil and not ending up dead or repentant. Episode VI, where Darth does finally repent in a way, is too far removed from Episode III, so you just have this nice young, but immature and selfish, boy turn into an evil monster who gets to live and wreak havoc on the world. It's just a very sad story.

As for acting, it really wasn't very good. Hayden Christensen is pretty awful. He just wears that brooding scowl throughout most of the movie to show his displeasure, dismay, anger, and regret. One face for every emotion. You get no sense of chemistry between him and Natalie Portman, and sadder yet, none between him and Ewan McGregor. There was a definite chemistry between Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, between Ford and Carrie Fisher, Fisher and Hamill, and Hamill and Alec Guiness. There was great chemistry between Han and Chewie. You knew they all cared about each other, would do anything for each other, to save each other. You get no sense of that connection between Obi-Wan and Anakin, or among any of the Jedi, for that matter. Probably more than any other aspect of the movie, I miss that and fault that for the poor reviews.

Go see it for yourself. You need to finish the story. But be prepared to be sad.

The first three movies (IV, V, VI) were a complete product in and of themselves. I, II, & III are meaningless without IV, V, & VI. There is no reason for them to exist except as prelude. I am not sure I like that aspect of the trilogy. But hey, who am I to second guess George Lucas. The guy is a creative genius who brought us the original Star Wars and changed the world of filmmaking in the process.

DA DA DA, DA-DA-DA, DA-DA-DA!

Okay, so I can't carry a tune in a bucket... that's the beginning of Darth Vader's theme... see? So.... tomorrow, May 19, 2005, two great things happen:

1. Jonathan turns 19. Yay! His car insurance rates go down next month!
2. He and I get to go see Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith!!!!!!!

I'm taking the day off work, as is Jonathan, and we're going to the 12:20 showing at Northtown Regal Cinemas in Spokane. It's our tradition. We've gone to opening day of all them since he's been alive (the last two) as well as to opening day of all the Lord of the Rings movies. The only thing missing this year is his best friend from high school, JW. JW is spending his summer interning at Mercruiser in Georgia (he goes to Georgia Tech) so he won't be accompanying us as he has every other time. Bummer. After the movie, we're going to Peking North for the best Chinese food in Spokane. Can't wait!!!

If my people, which are called by my name....

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

It seems God was trying to teach Tom a lesson in humility with the recent job problem. On D-Day - the last chance he had to file his grievance/appeal - he met with his boss to go over, in detail, the concerns she had that prompted her to write the letter of reprimand. I had just heard a great show on the local Calvary Satellite Network station by Chip Ingram wherein he discussed how, when there is a conflict, all of us usually believe we are right and the other person is wrong. He referred to Proverbs 21:2 - "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart" and went on to explain that if we really want to resolve conflict, we have to stop wanting to be right and look for the real problem, look behind the words and weigh the heart. It really struck me that this was a message I had to share with Tom. He needed to stop trying to prove he had done nothing wrong and figure out what the real problem was. I called and told him what I'd heard and then prayed all day that God would reveal the real issue to both Tom and his boss. Tom prayed all day too. I told Tom I felt a big part of the problem is that his boss really needs to be liked. He has expressed to me on several occasions that he didn't think she liked him and he didn't particularly like her. I told him he needed to be nice to her and to try to like her, otherwise she would most likely say to herself about him "you don't like me, fine! I don't like you either. The hell with you!" and that could have grave consequences.

So... with all that in mind, he met with her at the end of his day yesterday. I sat on pins and needles - sort of, but not really because I was totally trusting God in this matter - and waited for his call. He called me an hour later. She was going to rescind the letter! He had admitted that he could have done a better job of documenting the things that had delayed him during some of the times in question. She realized he was not taking too long to get to his break. He apologized to her over and over for putting her in the position of even having to write him the letter. Then he said to me "I guess she really does like me and she had a horrible weekend after she gave me the letter because she felt so awful about it." That was huge because he was convinced she did not like him and was out to get him. I know he was humbled and I know that he came to realize over the past week that he has unrealistic and unattainable expectations of people around him (especially me and Jonathan). I see a real difference in him. I just hope it sticks. This is definitely one of those times you could say "what the enemy meant for evil, God turned to good". Though it was stressful and emotional, a lot of good came out of this experience. I know I learned, yet again, to trust God with everything. I kind of have a habit of thinking I need to take back the reins now and then and God usually whaps me upside the head to remind me HE is in control. Too bad I keep forgetting that.

It is POURING outside right now. Absolutely pouring.

Hmmmmm....

Well, last Friday was a mixed bag. Tom and I got into a kind of big fight that weighed heavily on me all day. Fortunately, it got resolved - sort of. More on that later. On a more positive note, I got Jonathan all packed up and moved back home for the summer. I got to see the Harrisons - always a joy for me - although we were all so busy packing the boys up, loading our vehicles, and cleaning their room that we barely got time to enjoy each other. Oddly, I got kind of misty saying goodbye to Nathan, though I'm sure he didn't notice - or care. I sort of look on him as family I guess. After all, he was Jonathan's first roommate, which is a pretty memorable thing, and I liked him from the first email he sent Jonathan. I'll most likely always follow Nathan's blogs, especially as he spends next semester in the British Isles. He really is a wonderful young man and I love his writing style. I'm glad he was Jonathan's roommate, especially because I got to know his family as a result, and JoAnn is one of the best people I know. There is something about her.... I suspect we'd be great pals if we lived near one another. So, moving out was bittersweet for both myself and Jonathan. He already misses dorm life, although he is glad to be home. I'm happy to have him home, but it is another person to cook for, do laundry for, argue with... it should be an interesting summer.

Jonathan talked to his boss from the golf course on Saturday. He starts full time this Wednesday except he will be off Thursday the 19th, his 19th birthday and the opening day for Star Wars Episode III! Then he starts right up on his 5AM to 2PM work schedule for the summer. Thank goodness as he needs the money.

Now, about last Friday - Tom got called into his boss' office where she gave him a letter of reprimand after saying her gut told her to fire him!!! He was stunned. This is a man who has gotten nothing but 6.9 and 7.0 out of 7 on every performance review for the past 18 years, performs at over 100% of goal on a daily basis, and is one of the best couriers in the entire company! Her reason? She "claims" he is improperly coding his timecard" and that there are "inappropriate time gaps" between his last stop and his break. You see, FedEx has a policy that you must take your break within 5 minutes or 5 miles of your last stop. The last stop shown for his day is a pickup he makes at about 2:30 every day. From there, he has to drop off his outbound freight at a designated location so that another driver can take it down to the station in time to make the plane. That stop does not show up on the time card because management requested about 18 months ago that the couriers stop coding that stop and just do it, but don't enter it. From the dropoff point he drives 4.6 miles to his break, which takes 10-15 minutes. In actuality, 4 miles of that distance is actually the route he has to drive to return to the station, so technically, he is only driving .6 miles to his break location (the gym) and spending about 3 minutes doing so. The manager knows where he goes on his break, has always known, he's been doing it for 6 years, and has even been dropped off there by past managers during check rides. Why is it suddenly a problem? And how is anything he's doing "improper coding" of his timecard or taking inappropriate time gaps? He was stunned. He called the personnel rep and talked at length with him. He seemed to indicate the warning letter was totally unfounded and planned to discuss it further with his manager. I just talked to him on the phone and he is supposed to meet with his manager again tonight. Now I'll be on pins and needles waiting to hear what transpired. The thing that got him, though, was that he was basically being accused of being dishonest, lying and cheating, which is the very last thing he would ever do. Tom is one of those people you PRAY you hire. He is so honest it's hard to believe. He NEVER sandbags at work, and he has an incredible work ethic. He busts his butt to do everything he can to get the job done, even when it appears to be impossible. To be disrespected this way is just beyond comprehension. The sliver lining is, it "cured" our fight.

Time to go grocery shopping.

Unlucky day?

I just realized today is Friday the 13th. Now, I'm not superstitious but.... Tom is mad at me and that is pretty unlucky. I hope that is not a predictor of how the rest of the day will go. I'll just have to try to stay positive and pray a lot.

Today's the day

I will be heading to Spokane to move Jonathan back home in about 3 hours. Before I leave, I will meet an appraiser at my house for a quick appraisal. We're refinancing our mortgage - both first and second - for the first time ever. We've had a pretty good first mortgage for the past 20 years. It is an adjustable rate, but it had a great cap on the annual adjustments and, with the exception of a year or two early on, when interest rates were insanely high for everyone (back in the era of 11 and 12 percent mortgages), the interest rate has been lower than the going rate for the year. It was as low as 3.2% for the past two years! Alas, rates are edging up again. This year the rate went to 5.32%. Given today's prime rate, I am convinced it will be between 6 and 8% next year. My second mortgage is at 7.65% fixed with a home equity line of credit attached to it that is already over 7%, is adjustable monthly, and is surely going nowhere but up. So, time to refinance. I visited my bank, the holder of both the first and second, to discuss a new second. My banker suggested we do a new first instead. I was a bit reluctant to refinance the first - we have 11 years left on it - but he said "let's apply and see if we can get an interest rate somewhere between where the first and second are now", so I agreed.

Part of the reason I wanted a new loan was to pay off our credit cards which have, to my chagrin, gotten way out of control thanks to college expenses and the fact that I have lost about $10,000 a year in income over the past two years. I used to work one day a week for Litehouse Custom Printing as their network admin, but I got the network working so well, there's nothing for me to do on a weekly basis, so now I just work ad hoc, resulting in a huge income deficit. I was horrified when I added up the balances on my credit cards and discovered we are the average US household. Ugh.

So, I went through the slick online app in my banker's office and after just about 15 minutes, this screen came up saying "Congratulations! You have been approved for a mortgage for x amount of dollars at 5.75% fixed!" WOW!!!! I was so so so so so happy! I yelled out "thank you Lord!" and told my banker I wanted to kiss him! My second had 13 years on it and this new loan is for 15 years, so big whoop - it will take us two years longer to pay it off. We'll actually pay much less interest than had we maintained the status quo AND... my credit cards will be paid off! I am going to cut them up and never carry a balance ever again. This new loan will actually put about $8000 cash in the bank, will cost me $100 a month less than the existing first and second mortgage payments combined, and free me up from almost $1000 a month that I was paying on credit cards and the line of credit. Of that $1000, I should be able to put at least $500 a month in savings, maybe more. When I went through two months worth of bank statements to find out where my money goes, I realized we spend a fair amount on eating out and "miscellaneous" stuff we could easily do without, not to mention $1000 a month on food and sundries - for two people! That's crazy. I buy a lot of steaks and convenience foods nowadays, in other words, expensive stuff. Time to change that!

This new loan is like getting a clean start. As a result, I am going to really look at our spending habits and make some serious changes. I don't want to have to keep getting PLUS loans to pay for Jonathan's tuition so I'm going to try really hard to put away enough each month to cover at least half his tuition. After grants, scholarships, and student loans, we are usually left paying half the total cost of his tuition, room, and board. This year that amount was $14,000. Tuition, room and board are all going up next year - about $2300 - so we'll be looking at over $15,000. I don't see how we could possibly pay it all from our current resources, but we should be able to cover almost half that. It will be a lot better to borrow only $7000 a year from the feds than twice that. So... my loan interest rate hinges on the results of the appraisal. If it comes in where I think it will, we're all good. If it comes in much lower, the rate could go up a couple of tenths. I know the appraiser pretty well, so I'm hoping he appraises on the high side and gives me some idea of where he thinks it will end up before he leaves today. Once he is finished, I'm heading to Spokane in the Suburban to pack Jonathan up and move him and his junk back home. Yippeee!

Drama at work

Wow, one of my favorite coworkers narrowly escaped serious injury or even death yesterday! Her husband was driving her to work when a car crossed the center line and slammed into them head-on! Apparently, the guy in the oncoming car either suffered a heart attack or lost consciousness due to some problems with his medication; the details have not been made available yet. Fortunately, he was driving a Subaru Legacy and the car my coworker was in was a Subaru Forester so the cars were pretty evenly matched. All occupants had their seatbelts on and Rosemary's husband saw the car coming toward them, so he was braking rather than going 45MPH (the speed limit where the accident occurred). Her husband's tibia was broken and he has severe soft tissue bruising and swelling in both knees from the air bags. She has a black eye and soft tissue bruising from the air bags as well, and a cut that required stitches on her left index finger, but they're both okay. Their car is a total loss. The dash was pushed right up into them and they had to be cut from the car, but they are both going to be okay, thank God! The man who hit them is in serious condition and was heart flighted to the hospital in Coeur d'Alene. He was 79 and not in the best of health. His wife usually drives him around so everyone is curious why he was driving. I'm sure we'll learn more in the next few days as he is the mayor of a small community just 8 miles to the east of Sandpoint. The story made page 3 in the local paper (link).

I just adore Rosemary. She's a fellow Italian and we generally take our lunch breaks together and talk about growing up Italian. I'm going to miss her while she recuperates over the next two weeks, but I'm so glad she's okay. The spot where the accident occurred has been the site of a couple of fatal head-on collisions in the past, so she's really fortunate to have escaped with mostly bruises and bumps.

No one is reading this so....

I should just stop posting. I guess the masochist in me - or the eternal optimist - keeps posting "just in case" I do have a fan or two. I wouldn't blame people for not reading when I've gone weeks without updating. Not much worse, or more boring, than an un-updated blog. I should adopt the approach of Nilt, and write whatever random thoughts, no matter how nonsensical, enter my overworked little mind. At least it could provide a laugh to anyone who stumbled across this blog. I'll give that idea more consideration.

On a completely random note, I watched the finale of The Amazing Race this morning (thank you, TiVo!) Though I'm sure most people were rooting against Rob and Amber, I was rooting for them. I was bummed they didn't win, but Joyce and Uchenna are an awesome couple, they love the Lord, and they really ran the race well. They totally deserved to win, which Rob and Amber acknowledged. Most people thought Rob was underhanded and devious and didn't play the game fairly, but as he stated several times during the race, it is a race. It is a race for a million dollars! You do what you have to do, without cheating, to try to come in first. At some point in all the past races, the winners have done underhanded things to try to get an edge on the competition. I am sure the producers showed all the conniving things Rob and Amber pulled to play up that aspect of the race and of Rob's personality as we came to know it from Survivor. They probably didn't show the dirty tricks pulled by the other teams to make Rob and Amber look worse by comparison. Anyone who thinks otherwise is very naive.

Interestingly, at least to me, is how "wholesome" all the teams seemed this season. Sure, Ron and Kelly fought with each other like children, but overall, the competitors had good relationships with their partners and engaged in very few arguments. Maybe that was intentional after last season's horrible pairing known as Jonathan and Victoria. Ugh. That guy needs help! He claimed, on Dr. Phil's interview with him, that he was portrayed badly and that they actually get along swimmingly. Yeah, right. Any guy who will call his wife the awful names he called her, humiliate and ridicule her the way he did, blame her for everything that went wrong like he did, and then, shove her roughly like he did, needs some serious counseling. She needs to figure out why she stays with a guy who treats her that way! It was upsetting to watch. So, maybe to counter that season, they only showed teammates getting along, encouraging and supporting one another for the most part - or maybe they all really did get along that well. Let's hope it's the latter.

Okay, that's enough randomness for now...

Now, this is more like it

It's raining. It's been raining for days now. We've had to squeeze lawn mowing in between rainstorms, which translates into very long, very wet grass that has to be bagged instead of mulched. Ugh. Bagging makes the 3 hour job more like a 4 hour ordeal. It also usually means the lawn doesn't look so hot and has to be recut just to even up all those strands of grass that refuse to stand up and be whacked the first time around. On the up side, the lawn is incredibly green and lush, the flowers are growing like mad, and we don't have to wash the cars - my least favorite chore in the world.

Rain in May is normal for this part of the country. After an abnormally dry and hot April, the rain is welcome and much needed. It's been mostly raining at night and just sprinkling off and on during the day - about the best way for rain to happen. It does make for dark skies throughout the day, but when you're stuck inside working, that's not so bad. As long as it's sunny on the weekend.... which is rarely the case, of course, so why even hope for that? I can dream, can't I?

Friday I go to Whitworth to move Jonathan back home for the summer. As sad as it was having him gone in the fall, it's going to be so weird having him back home. Last September I couldn't go an hour without crying because I missed him so much. And contrary to what I thought back then, I did get used to him not living here eventually - about a month or so ago - just in time for him to move back home. Mind you, I wouldn't have it any other way, but it will be different to have to make dinner for him again, to have his hulking figure stretched out on the couch watching TV with us, and to have him eat us out of house and home again. On the other hand, it does mean I will have some help unloading the dishwasher and mowing the lawn again for a while. And about the time I get used to having him home, he'll be off to college again and I'll cry buckets for weeks and weeks. Weird.

Jonathan's college roommate won't be his roommate next year and that makes me sad. Nathan is going off to study in the British Isles in August and won't return to Whitworth until Jan Term. That's so awesome for Nathan, but so not awesome for Jonathan. Though they didn't exactly hang out this year, they coexisted quite peacefully as roommates. They never really fought about anything, they played a lot of World of Warcraft together, and they actually did some stuff together. I think, if they had remained roommates, they might have started doing more and more together eventually. But maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part. Nathan has been a great, calming influence on Jonathan, who has a tendency toward impulsivity at times. I think they were very compatible roommates.

Next year Jonathan will live in the basement in a huge room with two other guys. One is a pretty stable guy who goes to bed early and gets up early. The other has been Jonathan's partner in crime during most of his "escapades" this year - they are both bad influences on each other - so I'm a bit concerned about them actually living together. On the other hand, they spent all their free time in Steve's room so maybe it won't be so different. Having Nathan and his calming influence as a roommate didn't stop Jonathan from shaving his head last week on an impulse. Yeah, shaved his head! Happy Mother's Day, Mom! He looks like a cancer patient. He's always wanted to "Bic" his head, but we've managed to talk him out of it in the past. After his pal and future roommate, Steve, dumped crushed up Kix in his hair, he decided it was the perfect excuse to shave it off as opposed to just washing it. He has way too big and round a head... it does not look good. Thankfully, it grows quickly, so in a month he should look like he does most summers. That sort of impulsivity is what worries me about next year's living arrangements, though. I'm hoping both Steve and Jonathan learned their lessons when they got in trouble earlier this semester for their pranks and breaking of the rules, and will have matured a bit more by next fall. I can hope, can't I? Steve does, at least, seem to study hard and do well in his classes, so that's a plus.

Well, today is staff meeting day and I have to make a presentation for which I'm unprepared because I forgot we had this special meeting scheduled. I have to go in early to prepare for the meeting so I have to get into the shower NOW. I also am the notetaker at the meetings. After years of very poorly written notes from the meetings taken by hand by one of our staffers, I volunteered to take notes on the laptop, typing what everyone says as close to verbatim as I can. I've been doing this for the past three months or so and the staff is thrilled. I email the notes to everyone within a day. They used to have to go to the staff bulletin board and read a xeroxed copy of the handwritten notes, which were usually 1-2 pages in length. They now get the notes in their email and they are generally 6-8 pages in length - much more comprehensive. My goal is to try to capture the flavor of the discussions in our meetings by recording what each person says in detail as opposed to just summarizing the topic discussed. So far, everyone is really happy with the new approach. Thankfully, I type fast (about 100-110 wpm) but I wish I had trained as a court reporter and had one of those cool court reporter machines. Wouldn't that be amazing for taking notes verbatim? Usually I type in "shorthand" and then expand the "shorthand" later into whole words and sentences. Crazy.

I'm looking forward to Friday. I get to see the Harrisons (Nathan's folks). We're going to move our boys out and clean their room together. I really like them and will miss them at Parent's Weekend next year. I'm glad I get to see them this week. I'm hoping maybe they'll come up to Sandpoint and go camping this summer! It would be so cool!

Well, it's 7AM... shower time...So.... off I go.

Lycos did me in too!

So, what's up with Lycos anyway? First Nathan's Lycos account was closed mysteriously for no apparent reason, forcing him to develop a new site. Now mine is closed, meaning any photos I had linked to that site now show up as little red x's in my blog. Fortunately for me, I have a web server at work from which I can host my photos. The big pain is that I now have to go back and change the links on any photos that are MIA in past blog posts. Ugh. Lycos - you suck!