My work has informed me that the carrier DHL is ceasing domestic operations here in the USA, so now we have to turn to other options. Namely, FedEx.
And we all know how I feel about FedEx.
And no, no part 3 to that story yet because I still haven't done anything about it.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Cool School
I spoke with Susun Weed on the phone today!
No joke. Urban Shaman and I have signed up for a herbal correspondence course with her, to learn about how to make our own infusions, tinctures, vinegars, soaps, etc. using simple herbs. It is a course that you do at your own pace, and using your own learning style(s). The fastest student took 6 months to complete it, the slowest 10 years. We hope it will only take a couple years!
Susun herself was so sweet and uplifting. I believe this will be a fun process.
Urban Shaman and I are very excited to do this as a team. We're sharing all the materials and will learn together yet still read different things. It should work out really well because Urban Shaman really loves learning about plants and plant knowledge, and I love to be in the kitchen and cook/follow recipes. We've always wanted to have some practical skills, things that we can do with our own hands.
**
Speaking of practical skills and working with your hands... today I visited school #5 in my search for where I will send Il Tonino in the fall. The schools are all soooo different. The two that I like the most, so far, really do emphasize practical, hands-on learning. As I am looking at them I keep trying to think back on my schooling experience and figure out what hands-on knowledge, if any, I learned. Honestly almost nothing. All of the hands-on stuff was extracurricular. Thus I would really like it to be a bit different for Il Tonino. Here Urban Shaman and I are, 20 years later, trying to school ourselves again so we can have that.
Of the schools I am looking at, one school is a K-8th grade only so that is not in consideration right now. Another school I have struck off my list -- it is a very good school but I just don't feel that *I* would fit in very well there. Il Tonino would do fine, but it is a little too mainstream for me. That's kind of funny considering I am looking at Montessori and Waldorf schools, which are about as away from the mainstream as you can get. (And yes, I like those schools.) I have an appointment to visit one more school this coming Tuesday, and after that I will work on making a decision (and I'll post about it).
No joke. Urban Shaman and I have signed up for a herbal correspondence course with her, to learn about how to make our own infusions, tinctures, vinegars, soaps, etc. using simple herbs. It is a course that you do at your own pace, and using your own learning style(s). The fastest student took 6 months to complete it, the slowest 10 years. We hope it will only take a couple years!
Susun herself was so sweet and uplifting. I believe this will be a fun process.
Urban Shaman and I are very excited to do this as a team. We're sharing all the materials and will learn together yet still read different things. It should work out really well because Urban Shaman really loves learning about plants and plant knowledge, and I love to be in the kitchen and cook/follow recipes. We've always wanted to have some practical skills, things that we can do with our own hands.
**
Speaking of practical skills and working with your hands... today I visited school #5 in my search for where I will send Il Tonino in the fall. The schools are all soooo different. The two that I like the most, so far, really do emphasize practical, hands-on learning. As I am looking at them I keep trying to think back on my schooling experience and figure out what hands-on knowledge, if any, I learned. Honestly almost nothing. All of the hands-on stuff was extracurricular. Thus I would really like it to be a bit different for Il Tonino. Here Urban Shaman and I are, 20 years later, trying to school ourselves again so we can have that.
Of the schools I am looking at, one school is a K-8th grade only so that is not in consideration right now. Another school I have struck off my list -- it is a very good school but I just don't feel that *I* would fit in very well there. Il Tonino would do fine, but it is a little too mainstream for me. That's kind of funny considering I am looking at Montessori and Waldorf schools, which are about as away from the mainstream as you can get. (And yes, I like those schools.) I have an appointment to visit one more school this coming Tuesday, and after that I will work on making a decision (and I'll post about it).
Monday, November 10, 2008
THE OLD MAN AND THE MARINE
(My mom sent me this one!)
One sunny day in January, 2009 an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench.
He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'
The Marine looked at the man and said, 'Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.'
The old man said, 'Okay' and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'
The Marine again told the man, 'Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.'
The man thanked him and, again, just walked away. The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U.S. Marine, saying 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, 'Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?'
The old man looked at the Marine and said, 'Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.'
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, 'See you tomorrow, Sir.'
One sunny day in January, 2009 an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench.
He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'
The Marine looked at the man and said, 'Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.'
The old man said, 'Okay' and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'
The Marine again told the man, 'Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.'
The man thanked him and, again, just walked away. The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U.S. Marine, saying 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, 'Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?'
The old man looked at the Marine and said, 'Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.'
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, 'See you tomorrow, Sir.'
Sunday, November 9, 2008
More than you wanted to know
Poor, neglected blog. Doing NaBloPoMo on my other blog, so this one is getting the short end of the stick. Plus today, when I FINALLY am able to rest, rather than run around and do 234,232,380 things, I am sick. But not with a cold. Actually, a cold would be nice at this point -- much better than having a nauseous and queasy stomach all day. Thank goodness I work from home all this week so I can recover from this and my emotional coaster week last week.
Want to hear about it? Yes, I thought so.
So last week was the election (duh). Election night I was alone in a hotel room. I was awake when they announced that Obama was president-elect, but went to sleep before seeing McCain's concession speech and Obama's acceptance speech. So, when I went to sleep I wasn't yet feeling 100% sure about the results, and was actually really nervous that I was going to wake up in the morning and find them saying, "oh, we don't actually know -- (insert state name here) had problems at the polls" etc. So when I did wake up, I decided to shower first before turning on the TV. When I finally did allow myself to peak at the TV, I started to cry (in happiness). It was a good thing I hadn't put on my makeup yet.
It was also my first night away from Il Tonino. I did really well, being so busy and so tired and having the election to take things off my mind. I did, however, cry when I called my Mom (who had Il Tonino with her at that time). Il Tonino had a much harder time with me being gone and we had a rough adjustment once I was back home.
The day after I got back from my trip, I took both my cats to the vet for dental cleaning. They both have horrible tartar on their teeth, and since they are 6 years old, it was time to get it taken care of before it caused worse problems (and a bigger hole in my wallet). Even though it was not a big deal, they still got the whole anethesia thing and they were on my mind. Once they were home, though, it was fun to watch dopey, wobbly cats walking around in a drug-influenced daze. They are fine now.
While away, I got notification that my checking account was $0 and they had to use my overdraft protection. WTF!?! I had PLENTY of money in there. The day was spent beating myself up for being so careless with my fiances and not paying greater attention. It was a huge relief when the Urban Shaman figured out that the bank had withdrawn $4070 on a check that was written for $1420. Dude! That is a HUGE difference. $2650 to be exact. I had to call them and they told me they saw the error and it would go to the research department and take up to 5 (yes, FIVE) business days to resolve this. Uh, no. Give me my money back NOW! Luckily, I got it back the next day, in time to pay a credit card bill that was due. Man.
My brother and sister in-law showed up the day after I got back from my trip to stay at my house for awhile. It is a good thing I love being with them. (Actually, it is awesome to have relatives that I adore that are not actually related by blood.)
Now, who wants to come over and rake the leaves off my lawn?
Want to hear about it? Yes, I thought so.
So last week was the election (duh). Election night I was alone in a hotel room. I was awake when they announced that Obama was president-elect, but went to sleep before seeing McCain's concession speech and Obama's acceptance speech. So, when I went to sleep I wasn't yet feeling 100% sure about the results, and was actually really nervous that I was going to wake up in the morning and find them saying, "oh, we don't actually know -- (insert state name here) had problems at the polls" etc. So when I did wake up, I decided to shower first before turning on the TV. When I finally did allow myself to peak at the TV, I started to cry (in happiness). It was a good thing I hadn't put on my makeup yet.
It was also my first night away from Il Tonino. I did really well, being so busy and so tired and having the election to take things off my mind. I did, however, cry when I called my Mom (who had Il Tonino with her at that time). Il Tonino had a much harder time with me being gone and we had a rough adjustment once I was back home.
The day after I got back from my trip, I took both my cats to the vet for dental cleaning. They both have horrible tartar on their teeth, and since they are 6 years old, it was time to get it taken care of before it caused worse problems (and a bigger hole in my wallet). Even though it was not a big deal, they still got the whole anethesia thing and they were on my mind. Once they were home, though, it was fun to watch dopey, wobbly cats walking around in a drug-influenced daze. They are fine now.
While away, I got notification that my checking account was $0 and they had to use my overdraft protection. WTF!?! I had PLENTY of money in there. The day was spent beating myself up for being so careless with my fiances and not paying greater attention. It was a huge relief when the Urban Shaman figured out that the bank had withdrawn $4070 on a check that was written for $1420. Dude! That is a HUGE difference. $2650 to be exact. I had to call them and they told me they saw the error and it would go to the research department and take up to 5 (yes, FIVE) business days to resolve this. Uh, no. Give me my money back NOW! Luckily, I got it back the next day, in time to pay a credit card bill that was due. Man.
My brother and sister in-law showed up the day after I got back from my trip to stay at my house for awhile. It is a good thing I love being with them. (Actually, it is awesome to have relatives that I adore that are not actually related by blood.)
Now, who wants to come over and rake the leaves off my lawn?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Six Boring, Quirky Things
I was tagged by Lennon!
The Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
4. Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
5. Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.
my six boring things:
1. I cannot sleep with socks on.
2. I love turbulence on airplanes.
3. I cannot sleep if someone is breathing on my skin, or if I am breathing on my own skin.
4. I ate Fruit Loops for dinner as a frosh in college. A lot.
5. I have a picture of the Swedish Royal Family children on my bulletin board.
6. I smashed two of my fingers and it has taken 2 years for the nails to grow back normally.
I'm not going to tag anyone as my time is limited right now, but if you want to do this on your blog, go for it! :)
Monday, November 3, 2008
Be My Friend!!!
Il Tonino and I attend a Music Together class -- we did it all last year (fall, winter, and spring) and are in it again this fall. We had the same teacher and the same class last year, but this year is totally different, with a different teacher, different mom/kid pairs, and even a different classroom.
The first day of this new class for this semester I met a mom who has twins -- a boy and a girl. We hit it off talking while our kids played on the playground after the class. She is extremely friendly and immediately invited us over for a playdate. Uhh, okay! I am usually a bit more reserved and like to develop my relationships slowly. So I told her we'd exchange emails at the next class.
Well things have just been really busy and either she hasn't been to class, or we haven't. Today we had class together again today and she was totally enthusiastic about seeing me and Il Tonino. She's the type who will totally tickle and hug your child, even when your child really doesn't know who this person is. Is a little much for both of us, but she is still nice.
Anyway, I am trying to figure out if she just has a really, really OVER-enthusiastic personality, as evidenced by her saying and waving "good-bye!" to us at least 10 times between leaving the classroom and us driving past her as she was still buckling her children into the car, OR if she is some kind of weird stalker-leach mom and I'd totally be falling into a trap by befriending her and going over to her house.
Really, I think it is the first guess, but it is just bordering on my comfort zone. I do like her, and we have a lot in common, but the over-eagerness is just making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up a little bit. So I'm proceeding cautiously...
The first day of this new class for this semester I met a mom who has twins -- a boy and a girl. We hit it off talking while our kids played on the playground after the class. She is extremely friendly and immediately invited us over for a playdate. Uhh, okay! I am usually a bit more reserved and like to develop my relationships slowly. So I told her we'd exchange emails at the next class.
Well things have just been really busy and either she hasn't been to class, or we haven't. Today we had class together again today and she was totally enthusiastic about seeing me and Il Tonino. She's the type who will totally tickle and hug your child, even when your child really doesn't know who this person is. Is a little much for both of us, but she is still nice.
Anyway, I am trying to figure out if she just has a really, really OVER-enthusiastic personality, as evidenced by her saying and waving "good-bye!" to us at least 10 times between leaving the classroom and us driving past her as she was still buckling her children into the car, OR if she is some kind of weird stalker-leach mom and I'd totally be falling into a trap by befriending her and going over to her house.
Really, I think it is the first guess, but it is just bordering on my comfort zone. I do like her, and we have a lot in common, but the over-eagerness is just making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up a little bit. So I'm proceeding cautiously...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Plugs
Happy November!
We went to Nomad today and the Urban Shaman got some new holes. Looks really good. They are a gauge 2. After a few weeks, he looks forward to getting some other nice plugs to put in.
We went to Nomad today and the Urban Shaman got some new holes. Looks really good. They are a gauge 2. After a few weeks, he looks forward to getting some other nice plugs to put in.
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