Windows Are Your Eyes to the World

New Window
Old Window

In Loving Memory

Look Pa, no cavities. . .

just necrosis. .. Well, I had my yearly checkup at the dentist today (more than once a year is just pretentious, unless you have genetically rotten teeth, don't you think?) Anyway, he said things were just fine and asked me if I had any concerns. I told him about a dreadful toothache I had last winter. I mentioned that the same tooth had given me grief a few years ago and my former dentist hadn't found the cause so I didn't bother calling this dentist. He poked around and asked a few questions and said it might be "necrotic." Whatever, as long as it doesn't hurt more than every couple of years,I won't loose any sleep.


Before the dentist visit I had luch with some friends who live in the area. We keep in touch via email, but nothing can beat a lunch and a gab with your friends. I sure do value their friendship and miss the daily lunches we had together when we all worked together at the same school. That daily contact kept me grounded and sane. Thanks!

Google the Earth

We were planning on taking a trip up to Bozeman to visit our son some time this summer and this weekend turned out to be the time. He recently moved,however, and we needed to find his new address before we left home. It wouldn't be a problem he assured us, as he could find it easily on Google Earth, a free downloadable program which displays maps of the entire earth with a wealth of information, more than some of us actually want displayed; our house shows up quite clearly on the maps! Anyway, in preparation to go to Bozeman, I tried to find his address and failed miserably. I checked Google Maps, Google Earth, Microsoft Streets & Tips, Mapquest and even an old-fashioned fold up and stick in your glovebox map we picked up on our last trip to Bozeman. NO LUCK! My husband went into search mode and checked out realors on the Internet and finally found a lead on the location. Later, our son called and he and his dad both got on the Google Earth map and zeroed in on the location using longitude and latitude. After taking road construction projects into consideration, they mapped out a route and we got to his house with no problems at all. It turns out that he lives in a brand new subdivision that shows up on the Google map, but only as building foundations. None of the street names were in the database so we couldn't search the names, but our son could find it because he knew right where to look, now we do too.

Later, my husband was able to locate the ship he served on while in the Navy. It has been turned into a Museum at the Naval Museum in Buffalo, NY.

Google On!

Sorted - Hufflepuff

Loyal. Dependable. True. Just.
What an honor to be sorted into Hufflepuff! The house based on values and virtues over simply deeds. Not that the Hufflepuffs don't do anything worthwhile, it's just that here importance is based more on who you are, not what you do. Hufflepuff is all about acceptance. Since when is that a bad thing?

Could Be Worse.

In case that's too blurry for you, it was 91.2 degrees in the house and 113.7 degrees outside today. But it really could be worse. Last time we were in Billings we got lucky and picked up one of the few remaining air conditioners in town. It's just a small one, but we put it in the bedroom's east window and when the temp inside gets close to 90, we turn it on, grab our books and camp out in there until it cools down some. The cat finds it comfortable too.

I'll Take Temps for 100, Alex

What is, "Yes it is hot enough for me."?

Family Weekend

I just got back from a family weekend in Billings to help my dad and youngest brother paint the basement bedroom. It had been many, many years since it had been painted and was looking rather dingy and very pink. It now looks clean and minty fresh. They decided to paint it green with white trim and my brother had definite rathers for a green that wasn't olive or too yellow-green, so a light minty green was chosen. We all agreed that we wanted a light color as the room has small windows, being in a basement and all and we didn't want dark and dreary effect. I think the color may have been called "Wintergreen." You know how paint stores and makeup companies like to make up names. Anyway, by the time I got there on Friday the room had been cleared and ready to paint. So we got started and by late Saturday afternoon, with everyone's help, everything was painted and the bed was moved back in so dad could get a good night's sleep again.

My oldest brother showed up Friday on his way to a jazz fest in Wyoming and Friday night we had a nice dinner out and got a ride in his "new" car. Nice ride.

Sunday morning, after church, we went to the Summer Fair at North Park and looked at all the goodies for sale and had Gyros for lunch. I was the only one tempted to buy anything and I bought a pair of "fresh water" pearl earrings. I hung out at the air-conditioned mall for a little while before heading home again.

I didn't bring my camera, but pictures were taken and may show up on another family blog, so keep in touch.

LakeFront Property

While fixing pictures of the tree cutting day I found a bunch of pictures I took during our flood last month.

Cutting Down Trees

Here are a few more pictures of the tree cutting day.

All Done!

Red Letter Day

I had a very eventful day today. First I went over to Lame Deer to turn in my signed contract for next year and visit with a few friends about their summers. When I got home, Bill told me that the tree service had called and they would be there after lunch. So from about 1:30 to 7:00 the guys were nonstop cutting down trees, cutting them up and trimming the dead wood off the standing trees. It looks quite different to us, although most would not notice the difference except for the piles of cut logs. All in all, three trees were downed and 7-10 trees were trimmed of dead wood. It looks quite nice, although the impetuous was to "fireproof" the area and make it safer from falling trees not just improve the appearance of the yard.

There was a breeze blowing which kept the heat down and consequently I got a little more sun than I should have while standing outside watching and taking pictures.

Just Chillin'

In spite of the 104 degrees we reached today, it was a happy day. Our new refrigerator came today and as I write, it is chilling down, waiting for the shopping spree I'm going on tomorrow. At the top of my list is ICE CREAM !

The delivery guy had to take the doors off the new fridge to get it through the door, but it did fit, we measured before we bought it. And he had to take the doors off the old one to get it out the door, but it's gone. It will take a little getting used to as we lived with the old one for 25 years and it had a split door, with the freezer on one side and the fridge on the other. Our new one has the freezer on the bottom and the fridge on the top. I like it better already and it isn't even 1 day old.

I Am A Prophet?

I took the same test as David, and these are my results. I have a hard time picturing Lucy as a prophet. I might believe Linus, but not Lucy.

You are a Prophet, a crusader with a kingdom spirituality. You experience God best through serving others. You value competence and knowledge, and are good at leading and influencing others. Prophets are devoted to their causes, often becoming assertive and aggressive as you implement a vision of the world as God's kingdom on earth. You are our heroic change agents and we admire you for that. Single-minded and deeply focused, you aren't content until society has been transformed.
Prophets are the least represented spiritual type in the general population. You also are the hardest spiritual type to be around, mainly because you make the rest of us feel guilty for not having the same zeal for change that you do. We admire you for sacrificing your personal life for your hope of the kingdom realized on earth, but we are uncomfortable around martyrs.
You have a courageous and sturdy idealism that takes responsibility for change. But, your passion for transforming society can lead you to become impatient with congregations and their perceived lack of concern. You fit best in a hospitable, like-minded community that shares your vision.
Nevertheless, be careful not to become so involved in your cause that you neglect your inner life. Attend as much to your inner life as outer life. One will nourish the other.

Famous Prophets:
Mother Teresa, Ralph Nader, John Calvin, Lucy (Peanuts), Rosa Parks, Dorothy Day, Joan of Arc, Monica Geller, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jeremiah, Malcolm X, Ghandi, Indigo Girls, Gandalf, Oprah Winfrey.
Read about some Saints who were Prophets

Lucky 7.7.07

Happy 25th !

Mom's Recipes

This is a copy of a recipe I found in one of mom's homemade cookbooks. A few months after she died I brought the cookbooks home with me, planning to look through them and copy them for every one. They are a series of small photo albums that have clear plastic pockets in which you can insert a photo, or in this case a recipe card. I'm not sure if any of the recipes were used at work or just for home. Along with her handwritten cards are many, many recipes cut out from magazines. I think I'll just copy the handwritten ones. If you click on the picture, you should get a larger image that you can more easily read. This one appears to be for Orzo. I'm not even sure what Orzo is or if mom ever made it, but the card caught my eye. Anyone who knew her could imagine her noticing the little girl in the picture, and admiring it wanting to use it for something. This one made it to the recipe book. Other pictures would decorate small boxes or even get framed.

Some of the recipes are copied onto "recipe cards" and many others are copied onto the back of an envelope or a scrap of paper that has other notations made. This one is on the back of a postcard. I couldn't make out who the card was from as that part had been trimmed off.

I've copied them as both jpgs and PDFs because I wasn't sure which format would be best for sharing. If you have any ideas about that let me know. The project will take a while, but when I finished, I can burn them to a CD for anyone who would like them.

Did someone ask about our weekend?

So last week was a lazy week. It is vacation after all. I played my video game, A Bard's Tale; read my book, The Yiddish Policeman's Union; exercised, not enough; did a few spring cleaning chores, weeded my bookcase; and took a few naps that I really needed since our cat is on sidereal time, he wakes us up at sunrise no matter the season.

On Sunday night I got ready to make some sugar free Jello for desert. We're both trying to lose weight this summer by changing what, how and when we eat. Jello isn't ice cream, but we can pretend it's desert. Anyway, to get to the point, I was getting some ice out of the freezer to speed up the jelling process and I noticed that the ice was melting! Then I noticed that all the meat in the freezer was thawed out! I turned up the thermostat for the freezer, made sure the door was closed all the way and hoped for the best. The food was still cold, but not frozen, and the food in the fridge side didn't seem as cold as usual. We dusted under fridge and hoped, not really, the we would wake up to frozen food in the freezer.

We have a dentist appointment in Billings tomorrow that can't be rescheduled, so today we drove to Miles City and bought a new refrigerator/freezer. We've gotten appliances there before and know that they deliver and it's cheaper than delivery charges from Billings. I'd read that replacing a fridge made before 1990 is a real energy saver, so we're not as upset by that as we are by the timing. The salesman said, " You're in luck. We can deliver it tomorrow."

Since we won't be home tomorrow, dentist appointment, it will be at least a week before it will be delivered, and next week is the week of July 4th, so who knows?

Right now, we've got the meat in coolers and packed with plenty of ice. The fridge is still cool, not cold, just cool so we'll keep an eye and a nose out to be careful of spoilage. The meat is packed in the coolers with plenty of ice.

Could be worse.

That was our weekend; aren't you glad you asked?

What Punctuation Mark I Am

I am a SEMICOLON

You scored 15% Sociability and 76% Sophistication!
Congratulations! You are the semicolon! You are the highest expression of punctuation; no one has more of a right to be proud. In the hands of a master, you will purr, sneering at commas, dismissing periods as beneath your contempt. You separate and connect at the same time, and no one does it better. The novice will find you difficult to come to terms with, but you need no one. You are secure in your elegance, knowing that you, and only you, have the power to mark the skill or incompetence of the craftsman. You have no natural enemies; all fear you. And never, NEVER let anyone tell you that you cannot appear in dialogue!

It's called Yucca

Kitchen Fini !

Last summer I finished painting the kitchen and yesterday I finished painting the hallway where the washer/dryer are, so now it's FINI !

Happy Father's Day

Oyate

I just returned from a trip to Billings to visit family and attend a conference hosted by our Montana Office of Public Instruction and OYATE. The Office of Public Instruction has finally received funding to implement the Constitutional mandate to educate every student in Montana about the history and culture of its first residents, the Native Americans. Hopefully we can educate a generation of children away from the prejudice and ignorance that many residents have about Native Americans.

The conference I attended was for school librarians and was directed towards criteria for selecting quality children's literature that will accurately portray the past and present lives of Native Americans. In the process, we learned of many things we ourselves were ignorant of and at times it was intense as our favorite books were exposed as frauds and the actions of our country against the Native Nations was exposed. As an example, use Google to find out about the Osage Reign of Terror.

http://www.aspalta.cbc.ca/deaddog_asp/aininfo.asp One of the things we were cautioned against was any use of make believe Indian names or Indians getting names in phony ways. This website is so blatantly random and goofy that everyone was laughing and having more fun with each name. I think the winner of bad "Indian Names" was Evangeline Exotic Biscuit. Mine's Eileen Crinkly Aracnid.

You can link to the title of this post to see their website if you're interested in more info. If you look on the left hand side, click on RESOURCES and read about the Myth of Thanksgiving.

After the Rain

Soggy Drought

The forecast called for rain yesterday so Bill went out early and mowed the yard. It hasn't mowed for several weeks now but it has been too wet out to mow until yesterday. So about an hour or so after he finished it started raining. If he hadn't mowed yesterday it would be another couple of weeks before he could because it rain 3 inches in less than 12 hours. A few weeks ago, when it was warm and dry, we took the storm door off leaving just the

screen. That way when we leave the door open we get a beautiful breeze and lots of fresh air. But because the storm door is not there, the rain beats against closed door and leaks under the door puddles and soaks the carpet. So I stick heavey towels under the door to prevent flooding the entire hallway. I've had to replace the towels and dry them out to reuse.

The sun is starting to come out now, but the forecast is for more rain. We may be in a drought, but it is the muddiest, soggiest, puddliest drought I can remember. This field below our house is flooded this morning, after the rain stopped. The two pictures were taken less than 2 hours apart and it still hasn't started raining again. This is just water that is flowing down from the surrounding hills.


PS I've looked over my previous posts and realize how many times I've posted about weather. I need to get a good hobby.

High School Graduates

When I got Larry's graduation picture, I remembered a project I had planned. I was going to try the "Scrapblog" program I had seen a few months ago and create a scrapbook of all the graduation pictures I've recieved from nephews and nieces. After several frustrating hours I gave up and went back to Picassa. So here they all are, with plenty of room for future graduates.

I realize that it doesn't seem like a big deal that we have all graduated from high school, but I work in a school where it is a big deal. Some of the graduates are first generation graduates and some have taken a lot of trouble to make it to graduation when it would have been easier to just quit, so I know that it is a big deal. Parents who get you to school and encourage you are the most important thing of all, so thanks to all you parents, including mine, for "making" us go to school.

SCHOOL'S OUT!

. . . but not forever.

I checked out and picked up my final check for the year. Our union is still in negotiations for next year's contract and I hope they settle soon. There's no reason not to settle soon, no big issues or anything.

Addictionary

In case you haven't seen this website yet I thought I'd post the link here. It's called the Addictionary, for people who are addicted to words. Here's a couple of examples. Just click on the title of this post to find more of the same.

Carcophony
the din of arguing or playing children in the back of the car
Flapjackulous
Of or related to the sensual deliciosity of the pancake eating experience

bAnAnAs Anyone?

So a few of us staff members were sitting around the teachers'
"lounge" this afternoon. I had a rare break from my library since the library was full of juniors having a "skip day." They were in there playing video games or watching movies. I called it the official skip day, sanctioned and in the library, since most days they just hang out in the hall when skipping class. "It's a tradition," they told me when they asked if they could use the library. I was wary about it since I didn't want to clean up after them, but I thought I'd better give them a chance so I could refuse next year's juniors when this year's left a mess. But they surprised me. When they left, it looked exactly like it had when I walked in the door this morning, so I guess it's a go for next year too.

Anyway, we were sitting around yakking about what went wrong this year and who was coming back next year and the little 7th grade girl who sneaked into the office of the suspended jr. high principal and used a phone to call her mother in South Dakota to come and get her and "take her home because she hated it here with her dad and step sisters, and the principal who was suspended and the new superintendent who was already demanding more in benefits than the CEO of Microsoft; when the cook walked into the lounge and left a small bunch of bananas on the table and said, "Help yourselves." A little while later the counselor walked into the room and asked, " Whose bananas?" I couldn't help myself, it's been a long, rough year. So I said, " Who's NOT?"

We all chuckled and went back to work.

Lame Deer/Ashland Divide

If you live in Ashland you call it the Lame Deer Divide. If you live in Lame Deer you call it the Ashland Divide, but where ever you live, there was snow this morning, May 23, 2007, the latest I've ever personally seen snow without being in the mountains.

Do I Hear $4.00 ?

This is what we're paying for gas on May 23, 2007. I'm betting the price will go up this weekend as it always goes up on Memorial Day. Anyway I'd thought I'd post it so you all could say, "At least we don't have to pay what she pays." Consider it a public service. If anyone is paying more, let me know so I can say, "At least I don't have to pay THAT much!" . . . yet.

Graduation Time

Well we've got one graduation down and one to go when the 8th graders graduate next week. 8th grade graduation used to be quite a big event in Lame Deer before a public high school was built. It was the last time the kids would be in a Lame Deer school since they would have to be bussed to a nearby high school. Now that they have their own high school, the 8th grade graduation has been scaled back a bit, but I think it serves a useful purpose to mark the end of childhood and the beginning of "young" adulthood.

The high school ceremony had just started when the thunderstorm that had been building outside finally broke loose. We were in the gym, which was quite full, when all the lights went out. The emergency lights went on immediatly and we watched the seniors get their scholarships in the soft glow of what could have been candle light. The main lights came on again eventully and the rest of the ceremony went off just fine, except for the valedictorian's speech. The valedictorian was the shyest girl in the school. We were all waiting to see if she would be able to give her speech, actually we were wondering if she would be able to make it to the stage to recieve her diploma. She did get her diploma, but the crowd just overwhelmed her and they just skipped over her speech. Really, she is so shy that it was painful to watch her answer the roll call when attendance was taken. She was a library assistant 1st semester and it would have taken me another couple of months to reorganize the library without her.

The ceremony began and ended with a short prayer in Cheyenne, offered to the creator. I think I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. Cheyenne prayers are so quiet that only the Creator can hear them. They are not the loud prayers spoken so loudly that the person in last row can hear. As long as the Creator can hear them, what does it matter who else does? And they are offered in Cheyenne, a language that few Cheyenne speak anymore, but what does that matter if the Creator can speak Cheyenne?

New Blog

Well we finally got our Internet back just in time for me to get an email from Andrew and the address for his new blog. I've added the link to my family blog list. He's in the same blogsphere as Russ, so if you signed up to read Russ's blog you can just use the same signin for Andrew's.

Internet Upset

Our internet connection has been very unreliable lately. I'm trying to read all the emails, blogs, etc, but if I don't respond right away, it's not you . . . really. Just the Internet Upset.

Happy Mother's Day

According to the back of the photo, this was taken in 1964, back when the world was analog B&W.

Win/Lose?

Well, my opponent got 4 more votes than I did ! So I don't have to sit on the school board this year. Maybe next time!

Montana Monsoon?

It's been a gray, dreary weekend. It started raining yesterday around noon and today, around noon, it's finally stopped. The wind is gusting now and will help dry things out, so hopefully, going to work tomorrow won't be like jet-skiing down the road. The yard is looking as green as I've ever seen it and I'm not sure, but I think I saw some moss growing in some spots. I guess a dreary weekend is the price we pay for a green spring.

This has been one of the longest school years I can remember. I was thinking about last fall when I was reorganizing the library and it seems like it happened a decade ago instead of a year ago. All the crisises at work, big and little have just sort of blurred together and we just get through one day at a time. We do have a new superintendent and probably 2 new principals next year and I know that it will make a difference; I just hope it is for the better, because if it's not better, I may be looking for a new job next spring.

Rereading this makes me think the dreary weather is getting me more morose than I thought, so I checked the weather forecast for tomorrow: Sunny. Now would be the time for everyone to break out into a rousing chourus of "Tomorrow." I know that you all know the words, don't be shy. "The sun'll come out tomorrow...."

Campaign Ad

This ad appeared in yesterday's Powder River Examiner, a weekly paper. According to dad, it's a loose / loose situation, so by Wednesday morning I should know how badly I lost.

Grackels in the grass, alas!

We came home the other day and there was a horrendous sound coming from the trees around our house, a truly awful sound and the trees were full of birds that looked like this, we got out the binocs and looked. I didn't take this picture, though, I found it on the web. Anyway, we got out the trusty field guide and looked it up. As soon as we saw the name we knew what it was, it sounds just like the name GRACKEL!

Springtime in the rockies

Hopefully in a few weeks that dead tree will be gone. It looks picturesque and all, but mostly it looks like a matchstick to me.

Candidate for School Board

I decided a while ago that I should put my name on the ballot for the next school board election at Ashland Public School. We live in the district and for the first time in a while neither one of us is employed there. Since the election is coming up soon, on May 8th, I put a few flyers up around town announcing that I was in the running, and I just finished sending off some emails to the local newspapers to place an ad in the two newspapers that serve the two counties that make up our elementary school district. I think that there is someone else running for the one open seat, so I'll let you know on May 9th how things turned out.

55!

I finally got to open my birthday presents from my husband when we got back from a visit in Billings. Dad cooked us a great birthday dinner and we had Birthday Blackberry Pie and sang "Happy Birthday to Me!" Anyway, when I opened my presents, I knew immediatly why he picked them out for me. This is one of a pair of shiny aluminium bookends with my name all over it, my initials at any rate. I just was wondering though, how many people are there with my initials?

Spring Spruce Up

We wandered into Miles City yesterday to get some information about what we can do to "upgrade" our house. First we stopped by the local heating place to find out if we can put in a new heater and central air conditioner. The guy who does the work was out on call yesterday, so he's going to call this morning to get some information from us so he can make an estimate. Then we went to a couple of lumber stores to price new windows, no point in getting a new heater/cooler if we're going to loose all the inside air to the great outdoors, right? Then if we can afford it, we might improve the roof, maybe just an inspection and repairs if needed.
Retirement is closer with every year, so we're thinking to get the house in shape while we still have paychecks coming in.

Speaking of retirement, we're taking off for Billings today to visit and to celebrate my 55th birthday tomorrow. What does that have to do with retirement? Well, now that I am getting closer to retirement, the next time things at work get too stressed out. . . I may be able to relax and tell myself, "I don't have to do this! I could retire!"

D'oh a deer

This is the same deer pictured in an earlier post. She was attracted to the grass in the paths that had been shoveled. She's been grazing here most of the afternoon.

Weekend Update

30 March 2007

It snowed heavily this morning, but when it stopped, the sun came out and the temperature climbed and snow melted. Bill got out the shovel and cleared some of it away so the sun would dry out the ground. We decided to try to bring my car in from town where it had spent the night. Late yesterday afternoon, a neighbor had plowed our road, so it might work. Of course it snowed all night and half the day. Since we wouldn't know until we tried we took the Jeep into town to retrive my car. My little Honda is a great road car as long as the road is paved and plowed. I figured that if we didn't bring it home soon, we'd be churning up mud instead of snow. I asked Bill if he wanted to tow me out of the mud or out of the snow. My car got stuck and the first turn, but I was pointed downhill, having missed the turn, so Bill gave me a push and I drove around to try it again. Again I got stuck, so this time after a push downhill I kept going back to town.
We've done it before and we'll do it again. We leave my car in town and Bill drives me down in the morning and I drive to work. After work he comes back to get me. This continues until the ground dries up.
Sometimes it's good to have two cars; a road car and an off-road car.

The March Wind Doth Blow. . .

. . . and we shall have snow, and what will the robin do then? Poor thing.

The winter storm warning was out (why they don't call it a spring storm warning is beyond me) so all morning at work people were quoting weather reports from the radio, news programs and www.weather.com . But mostly I ignored them. These are the people who are routinely absent and look for any excuse to miss work.

I was pleasantly surprised when the announcement came from the lady in the ceiling at 1:30 that the busses were waiting and we should dismiss our students. I shut down my computers, stacked my chairs, took one last visit to the restroom and headed out the door. Every one who saw me told me to drive carefully. They always do that, one flake of snow and it's, "Drive careful Ms. Taylor. Take it slow and careful." "It'll be fine," I said. "I'll be right behind the bus."

So I drove out of town thinking that the roads in town are always worse than the highway. They weren't. It wasn't that the roads were particularly icy. It was the combination of wind and snow that made it hard to see where the road was, come to think of it, maybe it was icy. I couldn't really see it. I made it to the top of the divide that separates where I live and where I work. Just at the top was the bus!!! It was turning around and heading back to Lame Deer and and the highway patrol guys told me I would have to do the same. The road was closed. So I turned and drove back on the nasty roads. At the intersection in Lame Deer they were turning traffic back BEFORE they made it to the top. Since they couldn't go east everyone was turning north on Hwy 39 towards Colstrip so I followed the crowd.

I ended up staying the night in Colstrip until the road opened agian this morning. I got to Ashland around 11:oo and stopped for mail. The post office lady said that our neighbor had stopped in and said that he "had no road to his house." I had suspected as much and had already called Bill. (I never used my cell phone except to call home, so glad I have one) He drove his Jeep to town and told me that he thought my car would be stuck if I tried to drive my car up the hill. So we just put all my stuff in his car and came home. It's been snowing off and on all day, but who cares? I'm home.

What Me Worry?

You Are 74% Non Conformist

You are a pretty serious non conformist. You live a life hardly anyone understands. And while some may call you a freak, you're happy with who you are.

Are You a Nonconformist?

Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month ! Celebrate poetry by clicking on the title of the post above and find the Magnetic Poetry page. Select one of the magnet sets and play around with the words a little and write your poem as a comment to this post.Here's mine.

I used the Shakespeare set. Can you tell?

Methinks perchance
Bawdy discontent shall
Wanton art speak. .


PS. Just write your favorite poem, whether you wrote it or not.

Read Across America

Our school library recently recieved a very generous gift of books from a school in New Jersey that was participating in the program called READ ACROSS AMERICA. The kids in New Jersey did a lot of fund raising and bought books for their library and then shared some with kids "Across America." The books were chosen with jr. high kids in mind and they were perfect choices for our students.

PS. I picked up the paperwork to declare as a candidate for the Ashland Public School Board. I just need 5 signatures. I can probably do that on a quick run to town for mail and groceries.

I AM A DUCK

I like to hang out in libraries and when I get a little "peckish" I like to nibble on some shamrocks.

Guess???

I recieved this in the mail as a gift from one of my brothers. A friend of his wife's makes them herself. Can you guess what it is? You might try clicking on the picture to get a larger image, but it's not the best picture so that might not help a lot.

In other news, I've been working on a federal grant at work. So far it adds up to $190,000.00. I'm not holding my breath or any thing, federal grants have a lot of federalise I don't speak, so I'm sure to forget to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is, but if I do get it , it will be almost as good as winning the lottery, and I'll get to spend it all in MY LIBRARY!

Pony Express?

I just realized that the email I sent to everyone to tell them about my new email program didn't get sent!! I get an error message that says something about needing authentication. I had to get a new email program because the Microsoft Outlook trial subscription ran out. I got one cheap called Eudora. I'll call the Eudora helpline and see what's up. But for now just know that I seem to be recieving email, I just don't seem to be able to send it, and I did try to keep in touch this weekend, mostly to tell you all what a pain it was to get the new email program.

I titled this post Pony Express because I was thinking that sometimes the convience of email and all things computer seems very frustrating. But now that I think of it, it would be a great name for an email program, wouldn't it? So I looked it up . . . and it is!

Bill's Deer

This deer has been a frequent visitor to our yard this winter. In fact it has been here so often that Bill says, "My deer is back." It does come closer to the house, but not today. This week has been colder than it has been, almost like a real winter. But the snow has stayed to a minimum so I've made it to work every day this week.

OFFLINE

Finally, we're back online. We lost our DSL connection about 5:00 Friday afternoon and we didn't get it back until midafternoon today. I talked to the support line off and on for at least an hour before they said that they couldn't help us. We were snowed/iced in and I didn't go to work again on Friday because of the forecast. I was listening on the radio for cancelled school or bus routes and never heard any, but I still made the call to stay home because of the dangerous weather that was forecast. I found out today that the out of town school buses weren't running and attendance was way down. The announcement wasn't made on the radios until almost time for school to start. Not a good thing. Anyway, I don't feel guilty about staying home anymore.

Needless to say, I was starting to get some cabin fever, especially with no Internet or email. I started to get carpal tunnel pains from playing my Playstation and I finished one or two books. I'd run out of flour last week and never got a chance to buy any, so there was no baking of any kind. I did listen to our basketball games on the radio. Our girls lost their second game and were out of the tournement but our boys won all of theirs and are district champs again. GO STARS ! Anyway, it's great to get back ONLINE.

Ultimate Bible Quiz

I got an 87% , which isn't bad consdering its been a long time since I've read the Bible. Click on the words Ultimate Bible Quiz if you want to best my score.

Snow Day

I tried to go to work today, honest I did. I got up and showered, dressed for work, started the car and got all the way to town and a little beyond before turning back. I made it OK through the drifts on our road down to the highway and stopped at the highway to call Bill and tell him that I'd made it that far when I realized I had forgotten my glasses. I couldn't see the phone display very well. But I kept going. I drove through Ashland and it didn't seem too bad. Then I got past Ashland and the highway itself was drifted badly on the shoulder and somewhat drifted on the driving lane itself. Then I saw the hill leading out of town and lost my nerve. I probably could have made it to work, but the forecast was for continued snow and blow and I wasn't so sure about the way home. Our road was already pretty bad and another day of snow would not make it better, so I turned around and drove home, only the second time in my life that I've ever done that.

I'd already scheduled to take tomorrow off. I had delusions of taking a trip to Miles City or even Billings and just shopping around for a new spring outfit or something. So I guess tomorrow is as good a time as any to fire up Turbo Tax and get started on the taxes.

ps. It is a pretty view from inside at least.

DareDevils of Niagra Falls

October 24th 1901
Annie Taylor was the first person to conquer the falls in a barrel. After climbing inside her airtight wooden barrel, the air pressure was compressed to 30 p.s.i. with a bicycle pump.


ps for more on the story and pictures, click on the title.

T.G.I.N.F.

Thank Goodness It's Not Friday. . . it's Saturday and the sun is shinning for the first time all week. Friday started out to be a good day. I'd gotten up early enough to play my video game for a little while and time to throw some leftovers in the bag for lunch. My car started without any trouble and then I looked at the gag gauge and remembered that I was supposed to get gas before going to work. I'd been avoiding stopping for gas because the weather had been so nasty. I decided that I'd better get gas in Ashland rather than wait until I got to Lame Deer even though the price is $.12 more. So I pull into the gas station and pull the lever to open the door to the gas cap. It didn't open. I got out to examine it and it was frozen over and sealed shut. I called work and told the secretary that I would be late and went home to get my hair dryer and melt the ice. It didn't take to long, but I haven't used my hair dryer to dry my hair yet, I hope it still works. I filled up with gas and made it to work only 45 minutes late. Then I was getting ready to leave at the end of an otherwise uneventful day and I was called into an administrative meeting where a colleague was getting suspended for a week. I was just a witness, but it wasn't a good way to start the weekend. But the sun is shining today and maybe we'll just get out and enjoy it a little bit.

Shhhh!

This little action figure sits on my workdesk just above my keyboard. She's Nancy Pearl a famous librarian. She's the one who said that after you turn 50 you're no longer obligated to finish a book you don't like, even if some one you do like gave it to you.

PS Click on the title to learn more about Ms. Pearl

Condiment? or Veg?

I'm referring of course to ketchup. I used to have one day at the end of the quarter that I called condiment day, to give the students a day to "catchup." I doubt that any of them understood the weak pun, but I enjoyed it. It has been a while since I've blogged, mostly because there's nothing very much to say. The big news from my library is the "genrefication" of the fiction section. My student assistants and I separated the fiction into general fiction, mystery, sci/fi-fantasy, and horror-suspense. I decided to give it a try since that's how most students ask for books. "Where are all of your scary books?" is what they ask. Usually by the time I would dig out a few from the stacks, the students were saying, "Never mind." I hope it makes it easier for the patrons to find what they want. I'll let you know.

We had a nice visit with David, Ken, Pete and of course Dad. David was in town for a family visit and Ken came down from Helena and Bill and I drove in on Saturday. Of course I forgot my camera, but the guys had theirs, so I'm counting on them for pictures. It was the end of the coldest week all winter, so I wasn't sure of the travel conditions, but they turned out to be really good, for any season. One day this week it was down to -22 and today it was +43.

The begining of February brings fresh memories of Jimmy, since it is his birthday Saturday. I remember his boundless energy at family gatherings and how he always made time to play with the kids when they were little. I miss him.

Ouch!

So some juniors came into the library the other day looking for materials for their history class. "What do you need I asked?" "Stuff about the 60s they replied." Ouch! My childhood is now history. Does that mean I have to grow up now?

A Rose by any other name?

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Countess-Palatine Ann the Essential of Helions Bumpstead Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Farmer's Almanac? or Catomac

A lot of people supposedly depend on the Farmer's Almanac to tell what the weather will be like. I don't. I have a cat. A cat will tell you what the weather is like if you just know how to "read" it. If the cat is curled up on the bed with his entire face hidden in his paws and tail - turn up the thermostat. If the cat is stretched out on the bed with his feet in the air and his tail stretched out - turn up the air conditioner. If the cat waits patiently by the door for it to open and then runs down the hall to his litter box instead - plug in the car. If the cat mopes around the house because it's too cold to go out - either bundle up twice or go back to bed with a good book. It's Saturday - I'm going back to bed.

RSS

Does anyone use an RSS feed? If so, which one and do you recommend it?

Final Fantasy XII

WARNING!!! THIS POSTING CONTAINS A RANT!

I was reading the paper yesterday and someone was badmouthing video games and said that they were mindless and stupid and kids were better off not playing them at all. I agree that kids need balance of social play, physical play with lots of work thrown in, but really I couldn't help but think that the person making the comment had never played a video game, or had played and lost badly! I've been playing video games off and on for about 7 or 8 years and I really enjoy it. Right now I'm playing FF XII and it is anything but mindless. It has a very complicated battle system that takes a lot of strategy and you really need patience and perseverence to win even one battle. I've joined an online forum of other people who play the game to ask for advice and even given some advice if I could. It is a social community, based on only one thing, but it does use my communication skills. I've seen people be very kind to others they don't even know and to offer advice on writing skills if the question wasn't clearly stated. It is a moderated forum and very civil in content.

I'm not saying that all video games are created equal or that all games are for kids. I am going to say that people who are writing laws and giving opinions should specify which game they find stupid and mindless and they should speak with some personal experience if they are going to offer opinions. {end of rant}