Cool Birdhouse

Alicia and I have been busy with a fun project. My father made me this birdhouse last summer. I thought it would look cool with a piece of tin nailed to the roof. I wasn't sure where I'd get a piece of tin...but then found a piece on Saturday while walking the dog along the railroad bed near our house. When I used the tin snips from my grandpa's old tool box (he passed away 10 years ago and we inherited some tools), I found the little wrench. My husband said he didn't care about it, so I glued it on the front of the birdhouse.
Alicia and I thought it needed more stuff on it. We walked to two nearby antique shops and bought some other items for pretty cheap. We arranged and glued them today.
While we were at the shops we started planning our next birdhouse. We'd like to make a kitchen tool one, and a chunky jewelry one too.

Back to the Books!

Tonight I start another grad class. Back to the books!

Isn't my niece's daughter cute? In January she is going to be a big sister!

More Sonnenberg

More fun pictures from Wednesday. This one reminds me of Mr Tumnus from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Here is a picture of Tracy and Denis. They are wonderful people and I feel privileged to have met them personally.
And last, Alicia in the perfect climbing tree.

Sonnenberg Gardens

It is our turn to meet Tracy and Denis. Yesterday we had a good time exploring Sonnenberg Gardens. We also went to lunch at the Rheinblick. (Don't forget to send a picture of that, Rachel) Tomorrow night we will have a barbecue at Rach's house.

Partway through the day, I went home to get Alicia off of the bus. She joined us for the rest of the visit to Sonnenberg. When she and I visited the Japanese garden, she amused us by placing her juice bottle in Buddha's hands. I guess he looked thirsty.

More pictures to come!

Ahhhhhhh....springtime in upstate NY!

I love the springtime! I wouldn't mind if it stayed like this for a long time! Everything is so green...and the temperature has been quite comfortable. I just planted this myrtle (pictured above) in my front garden. I have started my practicum at the public library...but tomorrow I have some time to play in the dirt some more!

"His name is Houdini!"

That is how I feel like answering when someone asks the question, "What's your dog's name?" We have been having dog problems if you will. Sherman is an escape artist lately and I haven't been terribly pleased with him. He will be contentedly laying in the sun, fastened to his chain and the next thing you know...he is gone. Sometimes I notice that he is gone and other times I get a phone call from someone who has intercepted him and read his tag that has his name and our number. Such was the case yesterday. I went outside to look at the perennials I had planted. Sherman was on his chain and sleeping on the porch. Ten minutes later I get a phone call from someone at the hot dog stand downtown telling me that he is there standing in line. (I guess he was hungry) The hot dog stand is three blocks away and across 4 lanes of busy traffic!!
I was horrified by this and went down to retrieve him. (He's the retriever, so why am I doing all the work?!???) There was a lady down there who proceeded to bawl me out for being an irresponsible dog owner....and if I didn't want to take better care of my dog she'd be glad to give him a home. When I told her that I didn't know how he was getting off of his chain, that set her off again. "Dogs should never be chained up! They hate being chained up and that is why he's escaping. They should be in a fenced in back yard....blah blah blah!!!" I was totally humiliated and angry at this woman. I honestly felt like punching her! (So much for being Christ-like) Luckily I had the sense to stop answering her and just take the dog and leave. I tell you though, I was so upset by the encounter!
So today after CBS, I took a ride down to the hardware store to take a look at the hooks available. I bought a hook that closes using a built in hexagon shaped bolt that you must turn several time around in order to close. I bought two of these hooks. One to hook the chain onto his collar and the other to hook the chain to the wrought iron fence. (notice in closeup-the useless spring style hook that is now dangling) So now it takes 2 minutes to put him on the chain, but at least he won't be escaping (at least I hope not).
I should also mention that when we first got this dog, we installed electric invisible fencing to contain him. Houdini figured out that if he made a run for it, he could endure the pain of being zapped...and run free!

Cooperstown

I mentioned that I took Allen last week to Cooperstown, NY for a History Day competition. He and three other boys created a documentary on General Patton and they were chosen to compete in states! I am very proud of the boys. They did a great job...and they are just really good kids! Here is a view of the lake in Cooperstown at a 100 year old hotel that their presentation was held at.Here are the boys in front of the hotel. I told them to pose as if they were on the cover of an album. From left to right: Sam, Jared, Allen, Eric.
One of the cool thins of the day was that we all got free passes to all 3 museums in town. we spent a fair amount of time at the Farmer's Museum. I wanted to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame just to say I had gone there...but we were not able to. I had ridden along with Sam and his mother and they needed to get back home.
Cooperstown is a wonderful town to visit. I suggest you go there if you get a chance.

Hope Springs

Do you remember this post? Mr. and Mrs. F.F. Thompson and the children look a little more comfortable now that it is spring, don't you think? Especially with their tree full of beautiful blossoms. Mary is still tirelessly holding the tiny hospital in front of which they stand today (it is now offices and some senior apartments).

There was a terrible tragedy in our town yesterday. I do not wish to go into details. Please keep our community and schools in prayer and especially the family of a 17 year old boy. I wanted to post this picture on this day since it symbolizes to me how God brings hope in the midst of a cold dark season. Spring will always come again and with it the beautiful blossoms.

Alicia's 10th birthday party!

So you'd think that now that school is done for me that I would have time to relax a little, right? Nope! Not a chance! Busy busy busy!!! Crazy crazy crazy!

Last week I traveled to Cooperstown with my son and some of his classmates for the NY state history competition. We stayed over night and toured the Farmer's Museum. I traveled 3 hours home on Friday and immediately began cleaning the house preparing for Alicia's birthday party. It started at Michael's craft store with 9 girls (including two of my own) working on a craft. That was followed by pizza and presents. One little girl then went home since she was not feeling well. The remaining 8 came back to our house. On the way home, Audra was dropped off at a friend's house...leaving 7 little girls. At our house, they ran around outside playing tag and building up an appetite for brownie sundaes.I just love this interesting shot that Allen took from his upstairs bedroom window!
Most of the girls brought along an American Girl doll. One girl did not, but we had an extra for her. They spent quite a bit of time trashing my living room with doll clothes and such! Another little girl went home, leaving 6 to stay over night. Thanks to my husband, who has a voice of authority, all girls settled down nicely and were fairly rested the next morning so I could take them all to church! Two little girls were delivered back to their own families at our church. I delivered 2 more to their homes after church. The last little girl came home and waited for her parents to come and get her after they got out of their own church service.

Phew! It was really a lot of fun, but I feel like I deserve a medal for doing this! LOL!

2 out of 3 done

I have completed 2 out of 3 classes this semester. My cataloging class will be done on May 5th. The other day I went and had a cup of coffee with a friend. It felt so good to sit and visit without some nagging feeling that I was getting behind on school work. I feel like the world has been lifted from my shoulders! I got great grades in both of the classes I finished! I'm getting closer to that degree!

On May 18th, I start my first practicum at a public library.

Allen says he does not like my new blog look. I am going to continue playing with it until I get it just right.

Who Likes an Old Re-Run?

I thought it might be fun to do a couple of re-runs of old posts. Here is one of my favorites from 2005.

Do you have a cat?

And here's another from 2006.

Back to basics

Hope you enjoy it.

Read Aloud

Every year I put books in the kids' Easter baskets. This year I put The Secret Garden in Alicia's basket. I am reading it out loud to her since the language is a little old fashioned and sometimes difficult for her to grasp. We are on chapter 6! I just love this book. A wonderful story!

Sweet Success!

Things are looking good now! The Paris Webquest went really well yesterday. I was very pleased and more importantly, the teacher was pleased!
Most of my BIG projects are done! I think I'm actually going to survive this after all.

The end to sticky is near

It pays to have a friend who makes maple syrup. Allen stayed over night at a friend's house (Jacob), who's parents are Robin and Kieth. I mentioned them a couple of posts ago. On Saturday morning, they gathered up the sap and went and had it made into syrup. Allen went along to take part in the whole process and came home later with a jug of maple syrup. Yum! Nothing beats the real thing! Thanks, Robin and Kieth!

Things are looking better concerning school. I have gotten a lot of major projects completed and handed in. The load on my shoulders is lighter! However...the trip to Paris is still on my shoulders and that is the biggest one! In two days, I present the lesson. I'm really nervous about how it will turn out. I don't feel ready! On a positive note...I managed to complete my cataloging homework this morning without feeling completely confused! Yeah!

I am looking so forward to being done with all of this! Just a few more weeks and I can take a little break before starting up again.

Stressed out in Paris

Well...things have gotten really ugly around here for my grad work. I was so stressed out yesterday that I actually cried. I was so overwhelmed! I thought that there was no possible way of getting the work accomplished. But...I managed to complete one of the things that was giving me great grief.

However...the biggest project is the webquest I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Please pray that I can take a classroom of 10th grade French students on a virtual tour of Paris and have it be a smashing success!

I really need to get a good grade on this!

(image source: DiscoverFance.net)

Sticky Stuff!

As I drove by my friend, Robin's house the other day, I noticed that she and Kieth had tapped the sugar maples that line their driveway. Unfortunately I did not get a picture since I did not have my camera. I'm going to try to get one and replace this one (which I borrowed off the internet).

I have finished a paper which was worth a quarter of my grade in one of my classes. I hope I did well on it! It can be so agonizing to hand things in and wait. I want to know how I did...but I'm afraid to know! So far I have done very well on everything. I have another paper that is due on Wednesday by midnight! I'm having difficulty getting going on this one since I pretty much spent the entire day Saturday writing the other one.

I have so much work to do that it is getting rather sticky! I really am not enjoying my cataloging class. I just find it to be such tedious and boring work. I will never be a cataloger and praise the Lord that most publishers will do this for librarians. If they don't, then there is always the Library of Congress which allows libraries to download cataloging info for free. So...why do I have to be bothered by a class?

Good news is that I am going to be doing a practicum at M Public Library for the months of May and June. I'm really looking forward to this! I need to keep a diary of what goes on daily and what I am learning. It might be fun to do this in blog form.

Getting unstuck!

I have been working hard on a research paper. It is coming along very well. It is due on Tuesday by midnight. I'm sure it will be done before then. I'm learning a lot and enjoying it!

I'm also doing a collaboration project with a teacher at a high school nearby. Basically what that means is that I take on the role of a librarian and work with a teacher to help her complete a lesson objective. In this case, a French teacher wants to teach her students about the basic layout of Paris and the sightseeing monuments, museums, etc. I'm creating a webquest for her to use as a tool to do this.

Good news! I think I have a short internship lined up for myself at a public library in a town nearby. I'm pretty excited about it! (More on this in a later post)

Here's the plan. After this semester, I take 2 summer courses (including the internship I just mentioned). In the fall I take 2 courses. In the spring I do my practicum (a librarian's equivalent to student teaching) and then I'm done! I will have a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science and I can get a real job!

Stuck Update

So here is my update on various tidbits of my life:
I found an incredible dresser for Audra on Craigslist. It cost only $30! I'm just so excited about it! I took her out sneaker shopping...but she is difficult to please on my budget. The only ones she liked were $70...but I wouldn't even let her try them on. I wrote the paper and I think I did a good job. I even handed it in one day early! I found someone to interview for another paper I am going to start writing soon. Next week I am going to a high school to discuss a collaborative lesson with a French teacher. (more elephant!) I am officially on break...but that just means that I won't be handing in any assignments next week or going to a class. I will still be doing school work. But...to celebrate: I will be indulging in some reading for recreation. A welcome change from reading textbooks. Alicia is playing a 12 inch viola and will soon move up to the 13 inch. I made pizza for dinner and discovered I had no sauce...so we had garlic pizza. Allen's 14th birthday is Sunday and he's having a bunch of hungry teenage boys over this weekend. And....my dog still adores me even though I haven't taken him for a walk since the other day.

Stuck

I have been stuck for awhile now. I just can't think of a single interesting thing to blog about. I have come here and come here time and time again...trying to come up with something.

I'm just stuck. I'm so stuck that no one even visits my blog anymore.

If you are here, then you are reading this. Thank you. Please leave a comment just to make my day.

Various tidbits of my life: I have gone to two funerals this week, one of which was a double funeral for a man and wife who died the same day...so there was a joint service. The elephant is getting smaller on my plate. It has been 40 degrees for two days in a row. My daughter, Alicia is very upset with her new viola because she says it is too big. I haven't played the piano in a while. haven't painted in a while. I do laundry constantly. I took the dog for a 4 mile walk yesterday. I'm somehow managing to keep my head above water in my school work. Audra needs a new pair of sneakers. I've been checking craigslist every day for a new dresser for Audra. No luck yet. I need to write a paper this week. I need to find someone to interview about at-risk students. My dog still follows me from room to room because he thinks I'm the best.

Happy Carefree Days

Two different people on my Facebook mentioned on status updates that they were taking their kids to the Rochester Museum and Science Center. I'm jealous! I want to go. Here's a picture of Alicia in first grade during a field trip there with her friend Kaylee. How I miss those days!