Ceramics

I made a total of 57 pieces. I showed my first two bowls and I'm saving some for presents for Mom and Dad - will post pics of them afterwards.

Below are a bunch of pictures of my stuff... I tried to lump them together in a way that makes sense... at least it makes sense to me!

Raku pots. It's a different style of firing.




Plates.


Less-than-gorgeous plates.



Bowls.





Lidded forms.


Pinch pots - hand made by pinching (not wheel thrown).



Cylindrical forms.



Mugs.



Two tiny bowls. People teased me saying I made a Saki bowl and a shot glass. *shrug*


A bottle and pitcher forms.


A four-piece set of bottle/bowls.


Slam pots. Slabs of clay thrown on different surfaces, hollowed out and in one case carved out. The rectangular one I carved out NZ symbols and it was Soda fired.



And my slab constructed, stylized fish hook. It's like my necklace I got in NZ. It was 23.5" high I first assembled it. The final size is just shy of 21".

Christmas Time

Borrowed this from Amber.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I usually use bags, but for Christmas I go Old School = Wrapping paper.
2. Tree--Real or Artificial? When I was growing up we always had a real tree. Then I developed allergies to them - itchy skin. They always made Mom sneeze, so we went artificial.
3. When do you put the Christmas tree up? My little tree in my apt went up Nov. 18th and I put my parents tree up as soon as I go home. This year was the day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? When my Mom tells me I have to :(
5. Like egg nog? Yuck... no thank you.
6. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope.
7. Favorite gift received as a child? Oh man... That's an impossible question. I remember the feeling when I got my electronic piano/keyboard and a stable for My Little Ponies.
8. Hardest person to buy for? My parents. They want something - they buy it.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Aya.
10. Worst Christmas present? Can't think of any.
11. Mail or email a Christmas Card? In person or mail. Don't send a lot of cards.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? White Christmas.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? *cough* I'm a last-minute shopper.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.
15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Mom's mashed potatoes.
16. Clear or colored tree lights? Clear.
17. Favorite Christmas Songs? "White Christmas"
18. Travel during Christmas or Stay home? Travel. I live in MN and my family lives in TX. I go to them.
19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Wow... Yeah I can.
20. Angel or Star on Tree top? Angel.
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve.

Last Class

I had my last class today... last class with Dr. Morgan and last class at BSU.

Next semester I'm writing my Research Paper and doing my Written Exam. No classes.

A little annoyed...

Yeah...

So I paid my December rent and left a post-dated check for January's rent that they were going to hold (like they did last year). My rental agency deposited both checks at the same time. This resulted in an overdraft from my credit card (what with me being broke and all). I've been dealing with this for a week and the end result is this: The bank didn't charge me an overdraft fee bc I have overdraft protection. The rental agency couldn't get the check returned bc it didn't "bounce." So I'm left paying interest on this amount for one month - until I have money to pay it off. Not a horrible result, but I'm annoyed non-the-less.

It can all be summed up in one word: Hassle.

Oh for cute!

Chewy!

Found it at Think Geek.com

If only I were say... nine years old again :)

New Family Member

So my parents just called me.
My Mom was giddy.
They had me on speaker phone because they "had some news they wanted to tell me together."

This is extremely rare and made me go... "Uhhhh.... ok."

I thought maybe they'd decided to adopt the Great Pyrenees puppy they've been helping to watch. Some friends of theirs found it and they're trying to turn it over to the GP rescue, but they have to hold it for 30 days. These friends already have two huge dogs, so the GP has been spending it's days in my parent's back yard.

I was wrong.

Dad - "We got a Bengal!"

Me - "You got a WHAT?" - I thought he was joking... that they got another cat, maybe a bigg-ish one.

I was half right...

They went to the place where they got Luxor (who passed away this past summer) and when they walked in the owner said, "I've got your cat in the back." They were like, "Yeah. Right."

She brought out a Bengal Cat and apparently it was love at first sight.

Her name is Sarabi (interestingly... that's the name of Simba's mother in the Lion King) and she weighs about 15 lbs.

She's still in quarantine, so they can't pick her up until tomorrow... I get home Thursday so I'll meet her soon.

A freaking tiger cat...

*boggle*

A Good Visit

Went to see Sharon today. I haven't seen her since May. Been missing her quite a bit. She's had one heck of a week, so I think she enjoyed our visit even more. Hopefully we'll be able to get together again before another 7 months go by!

Have you ever...

Have you ever been walking along when you heard something that made you stop in your tracks, blink, shake your head, stifle a giggle and take a deep breath before moving on?

How about two guys walking out of the Men's Room as one says to the other, "I’ve had them all my life and you know what, they didn’t get any bigger as I got older."

You know you live in Nrthn. MN when...

When they bring in dump trucks to remove the snow from parking lots.

True story: I was looking around at the huge piles of snow (smiling inwardly) and contemplating a post about dump trucks and snow... when a dump truck with snow remnants drove right by me.

Then I listened to my voice mail with my Mom was complaining about 79 degrees today, 80 degrees tomorrow and would I please bring some snow home to them?

Sparks & Fire

Did some more Raku last night and stopped by to see how it turned out this morning... Interesting...

Had to grind down two of my high-fire pieces. First time I've had to do that, but the glazes ran a bit and the pieces stuck to the kiln shelf. When this happens they have to pry it off the shelf - sometimes taking a bit of the shelf with it. Luckily you can grind it off.

I was getting ready to use the grinder and the Professor asked me if I'd used that grinder before and I said, "I've used 'A' grinder before." And he said, "Good."
I (practically) grew up in a locksmith shop... Key machines and grinders are like home to me.

iPod Touch

Trying something new. Got an iPod as a gift, but seeing as I already have one... I traded it in for an iPod Touch. Pretty nifty. Takes a bit longer to type, but will come in handy when I'm at home for Christmas.

Picturessss

The back of our Bowling Shirts:


Today's snow:


My own computer help:

Two Lumps

So THAT'S why Rascal climbed our Christmas tree ten minutes before family was due to arrive, bringing it crashing down onto the newly set table. There were ornaments (only 2 broke) and pine needles everywhere and he went into hiding for the rest of the day.

In the past...

I'm not sure if my references are totally obscure or antiquated... Maybe both.

In the past couple of days I've made references to a "push-me-pull-you" and "No Name City" and the people around me looked at me like I was crazy.

In other news...

I got to do some Raku firing today in Ceramics. Basically you fire your pots in a kiln, slowly raising the temperature and then when they're super hot (glowing red) you remove them from the kiln and put them in a container with some highly flammable material (in this case shredded paper). The special glazes for Raku firing give you some interesting colors and you get a crackled surface. It's a bit dangerous - what with the flames and such... plus it has a 50/50 chance of cracking your pots... and they're not food-safe. Two out of the three pots I did today cracked.

Medieval Tech Support

Dr. A just shared this with me.

Holiday Travel & The Guilt Trip

So.... Flew home last Tuesday night. Had Thanksgiving lunch with Mom, Dad and Aunt M.

Went to church and had lunch with Aunt N, Uncle G, Cousins D & L and their three kids who have grown so much in the last year and a half... Unbelievable.

Got a new winter jacket (needed desperately).

Loved a puppy dog and a kitty cat.

Visited with parents and helped them plan a holiday party. This will be the first party they've hosted since about 1976. They're really excited.

I decorated their/our Christmas tree.

Got up at 3am on Monday morning to catch my 6am flight back here... got to the airport and right before my plane was to board they asked for volunteers to take a later flight. I volunteered and got a free round trip ticket and upgraded to first class on the flight from DFW to MSP. As it turns out someone on the plane got sick... or something... two EMT's rolled their gurney onto the plane and there was quite a delay. The plane didn't leave the gate until 20 minutes after it was supposed to take off so I most likely would have missed my very close connecting flight.

My poor Dad had been home 15 minutes when I called and he very kindly came back to get me. I went back home for a nap, lunch with Mom and then hung out at their shop for a while. At 3:00pm my Dad took me back to the airport for my 5:30pm flight.

I got to MSP around 8:30pm-ish. I booked-it to the other side of the airport and waited for my flight home. Right when they were starting to board the plane they announced that they were skipping my town and going straight to the last stop (north of here). Apparently the weather here was too nasty. They told us that we could fly on up to Thief River Falls and find our own way home or they could try to rebook us but it might be up to two days. Aaaah!

I wound up getting on the 9:10am flight Tuesday and spending the night in a hotel right next to the airport (read: loud planes flying over me all night long).

Arrived at 10:30am, came home, changed clothes, grabbed a snack and made it to my 12:00pm class.

Weeee!

Now comes the guilt trip.

When I came home the first time kitty wouldn't be quiet. She squawks instead of meowing. She followed me around the apartment going "Yeow! Yeow! Yeow! Yeow! Yeow!" And I was only able to love her for 10 minutes before I had to leave for class.

I got back around 5pm and I could hear her crying at the door when I was walking down the hallway. Very unusual. She followed me around again... squawking. I held her in my lap for quite a while and she kept climbing up and head-butting me in the face. If I left the room she would start squawking. And the saddest thing ever... she fell asleep, sitting on the couch (next to me) and woke up crying and looking around for me. Like a baby. Seriously.

Last night I barely got any sleep because she kept head-butting me and crawling on top of me (when a 15lb cat crawls on top of you - you know it).

I had Aya stop by every other day to check on her, feed her, pet her... but even today she is following me around squawking. She was truly traumatized by my leaving her alone for 6 days.

I'm a baaaaad mommy.

Thanksgiving '07

Back in Texas, but no big plans. Just sitting at home with the puppy and kitty trying to keep myself entertained while the parents are at work.

Having Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow with my parents and aunt.

Hopefully I will get to see my Dad's family while I'm here.

Birthday

Had a guest over the weekend. Doug took his Praxis II test on Saturday morning and needed a place to stay.

I got some work done in the Ceramics studio on Saturday - time is almost up for wet clay work.

Yesterday morning Doug woke me up singing Happy Birthday and dancing on my bed. LOL
Dork.

Bowling was fun last night (even though my scores were terrible) and a few of us went out to Applebee's afterwards.

It was an ok birthday. Most of the day I sat at home working on school stuff.

Neighbors

When I moved into this apartment building there was a dentist office here. Now they've added a retirement/assisted living facility for the elderly.

If I stay here long enough I'll have great teeth and a place to retire.

Subbing 10.0

High School Choir... The Student Teacher took over all the instruction, bless her. It was her first week of student teaching, so I helped her a bit with discipline. Overall, it was a good day.

Black Magic!

A quick giggle, courtesy of Get Fuzzy.

Rant-ish

I don't like rude people. There's really no excuse for it.

I don't like bullies. They're really just terribly insecure.

It's kind of sad.

I do like supportive friends who "have your back" and bosses who stand up for you.
They're pretty much awesome.

What will $20 get you?

1. A sharp poke in the arm
2. A day-long pain in the arm
3. "Protection" from the flu
4. A sucker for not crying :)

LoL

I missed a phone call last night, resulting in a humorous voice mail from a friend of mine. He started out by singing, "Happy Belated Birthday to You..." and went on (rambling) about how he and his wife were sorry they'd missed my birthday. He also wished me happy birthday over 20 times...

So I called him (and his wife) back and in between fits of laughter I managed to say, "I don't know what's funnier... your message or the fact that my birthday isn't until November 18th."

Sensory Experience

Last night Aya and I went to see 30 Days of Night.

1. The movie takes place in northern Alaska - in the cold. The theater was freezing. I had on my jacket, hat, scarf and gloves.

2. At one point in the movie there's a bag of pot-marijuana-hashish. Someone in the theater reeked of pot.

3. The Kiwi guy in the movie had a terrible accent. Uhm... My Kiwi accent is terrible?

Ok, maybe I should have stopped with one and two.

Future Plans

I spoke to my adviser this morning regarding my future plans. I told her I was planning on attending the big education job fair in the cities this April and she said I should also look into jobs at community colleges. There's a thought...

*ponder*

It opens up more job opportunities for me and helps me in my long-term goal of teaching in higher ed.

I'll have to think about that...

Free Rice

Heard about this on the radio... Free Rice. For every word you get right they "donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger."

Or so they say... but I like word games and it's a nice thought...

Plus when I went to Dictionary.com to look up inveigle, I saw their word of the day is woolgathering and I had no idea it could also mean "indulgence in idle fancies and in daydreaming; absentmindedness." So it's educational.

Who done it?

So much fun!

Last night was my Murder Mystery Dinner Party. I had 6 other people over and we all dressed up and did our best imitations of French and Italian accents (meaning we massacred them). Lots of laughter, finger pointing and drama.

Good times.

The Haunted House was lots of fun too, but I was so tired by then end of it. 4pm until after midnight running around and giving tours. Half an hour before it was to start, the fire alarm went off because of the fog machine and they couldn't shut it off. It kept blaring for an hour or so, when it miraculously shut off on its own.

I'm looking forward to a nice quiet week this week.

Happy Halloween!

And that figures...

Two years ago I dressed up for Halloween, as did many faculty/staff from the Ed Dept. Last year I didn't and again many faculty/staff did and they all asked me where my costume was. So... I dressed up again this year and no one else did. There are rumors that one faculty member was going to, but no one's seen her yet.

Ah well. I'm all flowy and angel-like... and I'm in the mood for the Monster Mash.

And tonight I'll be emo/goth girl with my black clothes and super dark make-up. I'm a tour guide again for the Oak Haunted House.

Saturday night is my big Murder Mystery Dinner. I'm super excited about it and I've already started decorating and moving the furniture around. I have my outfit ready and I know what I'm doing with my hair and make-up. My character's name is Moma Rosa and I'm an Italian widow, my husband is the murder victim. Poor Pepi.

Eee! Fun, fun, fun!

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is looking for a teacher to travel around with them, to be housed on their own private train.

If I was licensed for 1-12 (instead of K-8), I might consider applying. That would be an adventure of a lifetime and a great way to see all 48 continental states.

The hang of it

Thanks largely to an Intermediate Ceramics Student who spent over half an hour walking me through different techniques last Friday... I've finally got the hang of this ceramics thing. And it's about time... over halfway through the semester... geeze! I've made a plate and three cups and three bowls with a bit of flare.

Yay!

Saturday I get to go to a baby shower. Haven't been to one of those in.... years.

Also planning a Murder Mystery Dinner Party for a few friends.

Watching

Ok... so it's a little creepy to open my web browser and be confronted with my own eyeball staring back.

So... time for a new post.

I checked out a 2 bedroom in my apt. I was thinking if I gave up my garage it would only be $40 more than I'm paying now. However, the floor plan was completely whack and my apt is actually much nicer. So that's a BIG NO.

I spent a couple of hours in the ceramics studio yesterday and managed to make a couple of cups (my first). A guy from the intermediate/advanced class helped me out quite a bit - showed me some new centering and opening techniques which made everything so much easier! Yay!

Dog-sitting tonight for Aya's mom. Aya's cousin is getting married.... right about now, and they all went down for that.

Open

My brain is open for business.

Extinction

Aya and I just watched Resident Evil: Extinction. She jumps SO BAD at scary scenes. I might flinch or cringe a bit but she'll jump out of her skin and her jumping scares/startles me more than the movie so that I jump - belatedly. I'm sure we're entertaining to the rest of the theater audience.

On the way home I was trying to remember the first two movies, but I was getting scenes from the two movies all mixed together. Good thing Aya's going to let me borrow her movies.

And no new job for me. At least... not yet.

Getting Better

YAY! I finally had a couple of things come out of the high-fire kiln that don't suck terribly!

My first bowl has a crack in the bottom that goes all the way through, which is sad. I'll have to find something to use it for that doesn't involve liquids of any sort.
From the top:


Pretty color variations... From the side:


My second bowl is purrrrty. It has some minor imperfections in the glaze that you can see up-close. But still... I'm definitely improving.


I love purple and this is kind of a purply-blue with turquoise and black spots. Kinda nifty.

Sweeny Todd

Call me crazy but I'm actually so excited at the prospect of another musical that I don't mind it being about a murderous, demon barber.

I've heard the name Sweeny Todd before, but I never knew who or what it was. Tim Burton is pairing his wife with Johnny Depp again (plus Alan Rickman) in this film version of a musical.

Interesting.

Wedding 2.0

D's brother and sister-in-law took lots of pictures and Aya loaned me the CD's.

Aya's new family:


Wedding ceremony:


The car:


The head table at the reception/dance hall:


Aya and D at the reception/dance hall:


Aya and D's first dance:


Me dancing with a baby:


The garter:

The Wedding

We decorated and had the rehearsal on Friday. This took from 9am - 10:30pm, but the end result was well worth the effort.

I spent almost an hour scrubbing pumpkins/gords:


The church sanctuary:


The center piece on the punch table at the dining hall:


Unfortunately, I misplaced my camera before we decorated the dance hall, so I don't have pictures of those decorations or of the wedding day.

I'm emailing people asking them to send me pics.

I found my camera when I got home from the wedding and took a couple of pics of my hair because it was soooo purty!

From the back (I got to have flowers in my hair!):


From the side:


I'll post more pics as I get them. The actual wedding day lasted from 8am - 2am. But it was SOOO much fun. And I actually did a lot better with my toast than I was expecting. I was terrified to give a speech actually. There were about 200 people there. I've put in a copy of my speech at the end of this post if you're interested in reading it.

I didn't sleep well for a week before the wedding and then worked my bum off for two days. But it was beautiful and fun and I danced and hung out with friends I hadn't seen for quite a while. Aya was a gorgeous bride. The decorations were perfect. It went off without a hitch... well except for the one that was supposed to happen :)

Sunday morning I had brunch with some Res-Life friends and then around noon I dropped off the last of the decorations to Aya. I came home with every intention of taking a well-deserved nap, but I noticed my landlords next door and I brought them over to my apt to see if they could figure out why it's always so hot (between 80-85 degrees on average with the heat turned off). After climbing around in the basement we came back up and my landlord started feeling around for sources of heat. The culprit? My retro-avacado-green fridge. So sad. I fell in love with that thing when I first walked into the apt. Ah well. I now have a newer, white fridge and my apt is already much cooler. Apparently the green beast was running constantly, pumping out all kinds of heat.

I still couldn't sleep Sunday night - was up until 4am. Just couldn't turn off my brain. Finally, last night I took a sleeping pill and got my first good night's sleep in over a week.

And... I woke up to SNOW!


All in all - I had a blast this weekend. I saw old friends, got a new fridge and married off my best bud.

Here's my speech:

Hello there.

Who here remembers the dept store Montgomery Wards? (raising of hands)

Well I'll never forget that store. My first job was working there in the draperies dept. I remember on June 10, 1997 my boss introduced me to a new employee, this mousey, little, blond-headed girl. Yes she's naturally blond. (indignant "Hey!" from Aya)

Now, the draperies dept isn't exactly a hip and happening joint. We were kind of tucked away in this darkened corner of the store. It was actually quite boring., but those of you who know Aya, know how creative she is.

Well, somewhere we both had found these little beanie baby-type toys – hers was a lizard and mine was a turtle. We always left them at the cash register. Well… one day I came in and my turtle was missing. In its place was a hand-written note. This note, in a suspiciously familiar handwriting, (look at Aya) gave me cryptic clues as to where my little turtle was to be found. I spent the first ten minutes of my shift hunting for my turtle. After I found him I decided to return the favor with her lizard. And that was our beginning.

Aya moved up here to MN and less than two years later I followed her. She graduated from college, and a year later I graduated. Aya was the first to get her masters, and in May I'll have mine. She was the first to be employed in career-type job. I'll be seeking permanent employment in May. And now she’s the first to be married. I'm single. If any guys out there are interested - I'll be here all night. (whistles and woots from the audience - *grin*)

Over the last ten years we’ve had quite a few adventures. Some wilder than others. If you're interested in hearing about those come find me.

We’ve helped each other through lots of ups and downs and survived multiple road trips together - which wasn't always easy.

Aya’s more than my best friend. She’s my sister.

Please join me in wishing both Aya and Daryk a life filled with laughter and love.

Cheers!

Out of state

Mom called me yesterday afternoon to let me know that she and Dad made it to Clayton, NM. They were going to try and visit a friend who lives nearby and then head out to Taos. I'm kind of jealous, but not terribly. I have plenty to keep me here busy, but I miss the mountains.

Sharon's knee surgery is today, so my thoughts are with her.

Aya and I start primping this afternoon (she has a manicure scheduled). Decorating the church, dinner hall and reception/dance hall tomorrow. Wedding Saturday. And then....

Sleep.

How do teachers use blogs in their classrooms?

That's the question... That's MY question.

I finally narrowed down my Research Paper topic... thanks to my advisor. I was really struggling with it and I asked her if I could use actual classroom blogs as examples and she said why don't I just interview them and make that the focus of my paper? Well geeeeee that's pretty much awesome. So I get to use real-life/practical applications and mix it in with what the journals and books say should be done. I'm so excited! Woot!

Counting Down

3 days left.

An example of why Get Fuzzy is my #1 comic:



I don't think this one is appropriate for my office door... too bad.

Bustle

Yesterday we ran around like crazy running wedding-errands.

Somehow I was talked into (by 5 other women) trying on a wedding dress. It was gorgeous and it had a train and a bit of a bustle. It was fun to try on, but geeze those things are hot.

Working now, then class then I'm free this afternoon to run MY errands.

Pre-Wedding Pictures

As promised:

Aya trying on her dress one last time:


Today we had our pre-hair appointments, where we went to the salon and figured out what we wanted them to do for the wedding.

Aya's test-hair-do:




My test-hair-do:


Also, last night... was a BLAST. I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. Loved it. It took us four hours to finish one game of Trivial Pursuit 90's Edition because we were too busy laughing and talking. Definitely need to do that more often.

And I promised a picture of the fall colors:

So Long Accreditation

I've been working on accreditation paperwork for the Ed Dept since last April and after today I *think* I am FINALLY done. The guy who is in charge of it now has a long weekend ahead of him though. I went in today (no subbing positions) and finished up my part. It feels good to be done... I'm still half-expecting to get a phone call or email asking me a question about it... But for the most part I should be done.

It's a relief.

Have a few friends coming over soon and we're going to play some games = woot!

I picked up my dress for the wedding today and Aya and I are going tomorrow for our pre-hair-appointments.

Just a week left!

This actually made me want to cry...

The pilot who survived the boat tipping just passed away of natural causes.

Home Stretch

A couple of people saw my clip on the news. And I've had two requests for autographs ;)

The last couple of weeks have been full of accreditation and other work. Winding down with now... feels good to be in the home stretch.

I've also been going to the ceramics lab a couple of hours a day. It's sad but true - nothing I've made so far turned out very well. I know I just need to practice more, but it's hard not to get discouraged at times.

Aya's wedding is a week from this Saturday, but it seems like most everything is done. We've just got to decorate the church, dinner hall and dance hall. That can't be done until the morning of (and possibly day before). Mother Nature is contributing her own bit to it - all the leaves are changing and that fits in perfectly with the fall decorations. I'll try to take some pictures and post them if they turn out.

On the news...

Thanks to Sharon for pointing WCCO (TV station) towards my last blog post. I got an email from them asking for permission to use my video and pictures. I gave it to them and they gave me credit, both on the screen "Video by" and a verbal "Thank you to" via the newscaster.

Sweet!

Once in a lifetime...

I hope...

I was sitting in the Jeff Oestreich pottery class this afternoon when two guys came in and told us there was a plane - upside down - in the lake. The session ended at about 4:20 pm and since the plane was by the park two blocks from my apt (on the way home from school) I drove past. Sure enough all you could see were the pontoons:


I was standing in front of one of four sea-planes that were on (or in) the lake. When I walked down to this red plane I asked the lady (about my age) who was standing by it if everyone was ok and she said yes. Obviously I was relieved. I took some pictures and talked with this woman, an older man and a younger guy. After I'd been there for about five minutes or so I heard her say to someone "Yeah my Dad..." Then I realized it was HER father who had been in the plane and I got the entire story from her while we were watching the rescue/workers.


Apparently they (the four planes) were filled with friends and family all headed up from southern MN to northern MN to go fishing. They saw a storm headed this way so they turned back around and landed on our lake to wait it out. The storm passed and they took off one by one. When three planes were in the air, and the dad was getting ready to take off a huge gust of wind came and tipped over his plane. These things are really hard to tip over so this was a crazy-fluke accident. Once in a lifetime. Luckily the water was only around chin level in this part of the lake and the dad was able to get out and walk back to the shore. One of the ladies in another plane called 911 right away and all three planes landed.

Rescue showed up in the form of suited water rescue guys and the sheriffs department.
A couple of sheriffs boats/pontoons:


Two guys in Yellow Suits - that were in the water:


They had been trying for some time to turn the plane over, but the ropes kept breaking and it would only get to a certain point and the weight of the wings (water and fuel) would drag it back under. Shortly after I got there the boats came back and someone went to get some stronger ropes.


Then they headed back out (dad included) to try and right the plane. You can hear his daughter in the background as it started to climb out of the water. You can hear the wind - and see the camera shake from it. Sorry about that. (50 sec video)



But then it was stuck in the upright position. Here you might be able to see the yellow dots in front of the wings, the two guys in the water had to cut slits in the wings to let the water (and fuel - ugh) drain out into the lake so they could get it light enough for the boats to finish righting it.


In these videos they they're hauling the plane around in circles to get it upright. I had to split it up so Photobucket would take it.







Once they got it close enough to land they hauled it in by hand (dad was right there with them).



Other than where they had to slit the wings, the only damage to the plane was a little scraping on the cone.


Then they got this weird drill-pump thing that sucked the water out of the pontoons.


In the end his daughter (who'd acquired a vehicle from somewhere) asked me how to find a local hardware store so she could get some things they needed. She'd never been here before and while the place was very easy to find I didn't want her to get lost on top of everything else, so I had her follow me there and then I headed for home.

They're going to take the wings off the plane and haul it back in pieces.

The funny thing... according to the daughter the dad was still bound and determined to get some fishing in this weekend.

That's SOOO Minnesotan.

The man had built the plane by hand, so it was his baby. He's so unbelievably fortunate and I'm glad to say this was an adventure with a happy ending instead of some tragic tale.

Starry eyed

There's a guest potter at school this week. Last night I went to his speech/slide show. Today I sat in for a few hours of his talk in the ceramics studio. His name is Jeff Oestreich and he's traveled all over the world. He'd mentioned spending 4 months in New Zealand and after his talk today I went up to him and asked him if he wanted to go back to NZ and we got to talking about how wonderful the people are, how beautiful the country is and how we both wish we could move there. We both had this dreamy look in our eyes and the same tone in our voices. I could tell we both feel the same way about NZ.

He told me it felt like home to him. I understand completely as I've been homesick for the past three years.

The difference... he gets to go back almost every year.

Holy wind & rain Batman!

Just as I was getting ready to leave my apt this morning the rain and wind kicked up considerably. I ran to my car - drove to school - found a parking space close by - and walked to the Ed Arts building (my second home). In the two minutes it took me to get inside the building I was splashed, buffeted and poured on. The wind was blowing the rain straight into my face, requiring me to squint. At the crosswalk four cars blew past without stopping to let a drenched pedestrian cross. Shame on them.

And the one day I decide to wear mascara - I wound up with some serious raccoon eyes. Waterproof my foot!

hehehehe ah well

Kind of reminded me of the rain storms back in Texas - except the wind is never THAT cold and TX has thunder and lightening that set off car alarms.

It was cold and wet - and I'm definitely awake! No coffee needed.

Stardust

Awesome!
Loved it!
Laughed for over half the movie.

Comedy, romance, adventure, suspense, drama, fantasy... A bit of everything.
What more could you want?
I'm SOOO buying it.

Subbing 9.0

Last Friday I subbed at HM as Librarian. I read books to kids, helped them find books to read, stacked books. It brought be back to my junior high years when I volunteered on Saturdays at the public library.

F
U
N
!

Sunday night was our second week of bowling. We won two and lost two. Not bad considering the team we were playing.

I've been so swamped with accreditation stuff that I've been working more hours than I should. They can't pay me more for my extra hours, so I'll just have to take some time off later.

Ceramics is going ok. I've got 4 things being fired as I type and if all goes well that will mean two projects done. The professor says I'm ahead of everyone else in my class. I go to the lab almost everyday. I love it. As for my bowls... well those first two I threw disappeared. I threw four more and the trashed one and another disappeared. /sigh If I find out who's taking my stuff I'm gonna.... uhm.... give them a really dirty look? I've only trimmed one of my bowls and I need to make a minimum of 6, so still lots to do.

If you're curious here's a basic run-down of the steps.
1. Make/mix the clay - we're fortunate because the advanced students make it for us, but the professor made sure we all know how to make it just in case.
2. Throw a piece on the wheel (or like my slam pots - by hand)
3. Let it dry for a couple of days
4. Trim it up a bit - hollow it out (slam pots) - finishing touches
5. Let it dry to "Greenware" stage where it can be fired
6. Fire piece
7. Piece comes out as Bisque fired - time to put on the glaze(s)
8. Fire piece again

The entire process takes about a week - or more, depending on when your stuff makes it into the kiln.

This stuff really doesn't come naturally for me, but like I told the professor, I'm having so much fun that I don't have to make myself come to the studio. I wake up and say - ooo I get to go make some more bowls today or I get to trim my bowl or it's glaze time!

Maybe I'll do another slam pot - or two. That's more sculpture than thrown and I have a couple of ideas.

It fits...

Tried on my bridesmaids dress (for Aya's wedding) today and it fits like a glove. It's all swirly and stuff. I'll have to post a pic after the wedding.

Aya tried on her dress and got all pinned-up. Once they make the needed alterations she'll have to go in one more time before the wedding to make sure her dress fits her like a glove. It's reallllly pretty. I'll see if she'll let me put a pic of her up after the wedding.

Still have a cold.

Still haven't found my bowls.

/sigh

I should be in the studio now making more, but I feel crummy and I've been working on other homework (Tech Writing).

Oh and let's see if you can follow this one. Aya's fiance D - his sister is the one I said was having twins. She had them yesterday and they're both girls. Aya and I were wrong, we thought two boys. All three are doing well. I really want to see them, but I can't go as long as I'm sick, so will have to wait.

Yay for babies!

Grumbling...

You've been warned.

I have a cold and as I'm sure you'll all agree it sucks to be sick.

My fishy died.

I finally managed to make two bowls in ceramics and someone moved them/threw them out or something - and I can't find them.

On the plus side Fall is HERE early this year. It's cold and windy and the leaves are changing.

My work load has been doubled this semester from previous years, but everyone is concerned about it and they keep asking me: Are you doing ok? Is there anything we can do to help? etc.
So that's a good feeling.

Prediction

I've never been able to do this before, but now I know somebody who is having twins (in the next month) and they don't want to know the sex of the babies. So I'm gonna guess what they'll be. I've got a 1 in 3 chance right?

My guess is two boys.

Though the mom was kind of hoping for a boy and a girl. Hmm... I'll probably be totally wrong, but it's fun to speculate.

5 years

Wow.

I was so crazy-busy this summer I forgot my blog anniversary on July 26th.

5 years! Geeze, that's just crazy!

Welp... happy be-lated birthday Aspen E Tall As A Tree!

Dear Minnesota 2.0,

Thank you so much for your prompt response.

Last night/this morning's thunderstorm was wonderful and I know the grass, trees and other assorted plants are very thankful for the rain.

You rock.

Love,

Aspen E

Dear Minnesota,

You may or may not have noticed my arrival back in August of 2001. I have, for the most part, resided within your lovely borders ever since this time. I am extremely grateful for all the fall colors, snowstorms and chilly summer nights you have provided in this time.

However, your recent bout of humidity + warm weather is very disconcerting. I actually left Texas to get away from such weather.

Please do not think me ungrateful; I heartily appreciate your by-and-large cooler temperatures. If you could possibly drop the humidity a good 30-40% I would be forever in your debt.

Love,

Aspen E

Back into the swing of things...

I'm excited that I actually have more free time now than I did this summer. I really need to work on that "No" word so I don't wind up with four jobs at the same time (again). Not that I'm sorry I was so busy this summer or that I would have given up any of the jobs I took on... Well now I'm just contradicting myself.

I guess what I mean to say is I had some awesome job-related experiences this summer and if I had said no to even one of the job opportunities - I would have missed out on some great stuff.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Now that school is back in session and my friends are back I'll probably be going out more. This means I'll most likely have more to blog about.

Friday morning I ran around campus taking care of paperwork-type stuff, had lunch with Aya and Jer then spent the first part of the afternoon helping Aya with some of her errands. The rest of the afternoon until 8pm I spent hanging out with a new friend, took a walk in the woods, petted a horse and watched the first three episodes of Firefly. At 9pm the university showed Spiderman 3 on the lawn and I bundled up and hunkered down in my reclining-foldy-chair. Almost froze my tushy off, but it was worth it.

Saturday was Aya's bridal shower. Had a good turn out, yummy food, fun games... a good time.

Sunday I lounged about my apt, being a lazy bum, but went bowling for an hour with some friends.

Today I purchased tickets to go home for Thanksgiving. Dad told me the other day that my cousin & his family who live in Nevada are moving back to Texas = YAY! This means I can see them whenever I go home instead of every other Christmas!

Rest of today will be spent doing homework and finishing up The High King, the last of the Prydain Chronicles.

And tomorrow - back to school and work!

Luxor

Poor baby. He'd been sick for quite a while and he passed away last night.

My parents got him after I moved up here to go to school, but he was still part of our family and he was sweet and loving and I'm very sad he's gone.

Throwing Clay

How exciting!?

I had my first ceramics class this morning. The instructor gave an introduction to the course and we talked about clay and the steps in the process. He gave us our first two assignments and most of the class left. The three of us that stayed went straight to work on the wheels. I got 3/4's of the way through making a cylinder before I needed some help. The instructor walked me through the last step, but I think it's going to require a lot of practice.

Fun stuff! Messy... but fun!

Confusing ya

You know how you think you know something, but you don't really want to know it. And it's not really your business to know in the first place? But it seems pretty obvious and maybe you're in denial because you care about the people involved, though you're not in a position to do or say anything about it?

Yeah?

It sucks.

And then you find out not only were you right, but there's worse.

Sucks to the power of 10.

And if you followed that I'm amazed. So kudos.

Back to Nature

Usually I spend a good bit of time outside during the summer. However, with 3 and 4 jobs this summer I haven't spent any time outside.

So I found it absolutely wonderful when I was able to go for a nice walk in the woods with a friend yesterday. I went out to visit this friend, who has 40 acres in the woods. She cooked an amazing dinner and then we went on our tramp, where we saw a couple of fairly young deer bouncing through the trees. Afterwards we sat and spun on our wheels for over an hour. Good times. It was just the sort of relaxing evening I needed to get my mind off of things.

Vampires, past & future

Well apparently the people in charge of Moonlight realized that the public realized it was a total rip-off of Forever Knight. Seems they're making some changes... and swearing they're not ripping off Angel, while failing to acknowledge FK ever existed. The article mentions they've made quite a few changes... The love interest is now a reporter instead of working at a morgue, etc.

*chuckle*

Renovations

My *CLANG* landlords are doing some *THUMP* renovating *BUMP* in the apartment next to mine. *CRASH* They were nice enough to warn me about it yesterday... but wowsers I had no idea they'd be that loud.

Oh and apparently I'm not done with Concordia yet. Just got the schedule for this weekend and I'm working 5am-5pm on Sunday.

Ah well.

Once more with feeling...

It's that time of the year again...

Professors are slowly trickling back to prepare for their fall courses. I'm making up the fall lab schedule and looking forward to my last semester of classes... Possibly forever... though surely not. If I'm addicted to anything other than tea and chicken fajitas, surely it is education! I love learning.

There's a certain Feeling in the air that's hard to explain... it's just the Feeling that comes at this time of the year.

And it's also a bit different this year, because I know this is the last time I'll be helping professors get their computers up and running after a three month break, looking forward to old friends (and potential new ones) coming back after the summer and looking forward to classes.

Odd. To be looking forward to something and at the same time sad because it's the last time you can look forward to it...

Follow your heart...

This Watch can help...

*chuckle*

A Canadian friend of mine shared this link with me.

If you're bored and want a little chuckle you should watch the entire thing.

Apparently the USB is English...

/ponder

Instead of dreaming...

I've been reading... well scanning... too tired to focus on anything for too long, but this stuff looks promising. Will read more when the sun is up.

Government Grant to Preserve Virtual Worlds (Second Life)

Instructional Scaffolding

The Year 3000

Classroom Practices

EduBlogger World

There seem to be a lot of kid-adventure-fantasy-books-made-into-movies... movies coming out these days...

The Golden Compass
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

And there's a.. uhm... an Interesting version of Beowulf coming out.

*flip*

*flop*

*blink*

*stare*

*sigh*

It's 4am and I shouldn't be doing any of these things... but that's exactly what I have been doing since around 2:30am.

Bah.

Up in the air

Everything is... up in the air.

One job prospect turned out not to be a prospect. "They" (the higher ups) decided to cancel the position, nobody knows who is going to be doing the work... It still has to be done...

My other job prospect is still out there. I'm waiting to hear something... anything...

As for what I'm doing now... Well, I'm still working for the Ed Dept. I'm in charge of the lab, making up the Fall lab schedule, helping professors with various technology needs and working (alone) on the accreditation stuff.

I *think* I'm done working for Concordia. I'm not on the schedule for this weekend (and that's the last weekend for this summer). So... unless an emergency pops up I'll have my Sundays back! Woot!

This has been a lonely summer. That's the problem with living in a College society, everyone goes home for the summer. Except that THIS year everyone has moved on/moved off... Several went back home to the cities, others moved to South Dakota and Arizona. I only have two friends left here. I have lunch once a week with one of them and the other... well things aren't so good there.

Bah.

Dreaming of NZ...

Last night I dreamed I was back in NZ, this time with my parents. I was showing them the sights, visiting with old friends...

It could be because I know two people who are there now... because the last thing I watched before I went to sleep was Flight of the Conchords... or because three years ago tomorrow I boarded a plane for the biggest adventure of my life...

In any case... I haven't decided if it was a good dream or not... because I woke up missing NZ more than normal.

I will say it's gotten better as time has passed, but there's still a deep longing to return.

One day...

Near misses...

I finished picking-up and dropping off campers, climbed back in my Element and headed for home. I'd barely started out when something came falling from the sky, hitting the street a few feet in front of my car.... a baseball from the baseball fields.

A block from my house something came flying across the road a few feet in front of my car... a golf ball from the putt-putt golf place.

I was very relieved when no bowling balls came at me as I passed the bowling alley.

Flight of the Conchords

If you've never seen/heard of these kiwis you really should look them up. Now they have a show on HBO on Sunday nights.

I've only caught one episode, but it was hilarious... and of course I love their live shows.

You can find some clips of them on YouTube if you're curious...

I posted about them last year... but I want to post about them again... cuz they're pretty much awesome.

Harry Potter

I finally know the rest of the story...

Hairspray

Loved it.

The Game of Life

There are all sorts of changes afoot... "That's life" you say? Yes, but there are even more changes lately than usual.

There are a couple of job options that have popped up... POTENTIAL job options I should say.

I'm excited and terrified and anxious and uncertain and all those other lovely emotions that come with this sort of life change. I've been in the same place (in one job form or another) for five years now. It feels safe and comfortable and I'd be quite happy to stay here for another year, but while I've climbed the ladder a rung or two in the last couple of years there are no more rungs. I've reached to top. I can only keep this job for one more year and then I'll have to jump to another ladder. The question is do I go now or this time next year? I'm choosing now, but it really depends on these other potential job options.

I have a great deal of support from my current employers; they understand that I can't go on being a Graduate Assistant. They're encouraging me to find something else and offering good wishes and letters of recommendation, all while assuring me I'm making the right choice and I shouldn't feel like I'm abandoning this department. My boss even promised to hold my current position for me in case the other possibilities don't work out.

I'm a very, very lucky woman.

Stabbed in the back...

At least that's what it feels like... like some little gremlin snuck into my bedroom with a super-sharp little dagger and stabbed me in the back... it went just past my heart and came out through my chest.

Ow.

Maybe I slept wrong... but it's been hurting since Saturday. I'm sure loading and unloading luggage for the villagers on Sunday didn't help... one girl... under 5 foot, had a bag that weighed over 75 lbs. *boggle*

In any case... I can't take a deep breath or move certain ways without triggering that stabbing feeling.

Bleh.

In other news...

I've had lots of bad news roll my way over the last two weeks (starting on the 4th of July). It's frustrating and in some ways painful.
I've been trying to focus on the positive.
You know how that goes.

Happy Friday the 13th

I've always rather liked Friday the 13th...

Only worked for two hours this morning as there was nothing else for me to do - and I can't in good-conscience get paid for sitting there reading Harry Potter... I left to run errands. Dropped of my grades and keys for Upward Bound - saw my first chipmunk of the year (love them!) - had lunch with a friend who made me feel better about some stuff that's been bothering me - spent the afternoon snuggled with my kitty reading HP - got a msg from my Brit friend - and now a thunderstorm.

Things are improving.

Last night at the UB end-of-the-year Banquet/Awards Dinner I had two students (out of 9) come up to me and thank me, tell me what a good teacher I was and say they hope I come back next year. That helped too :)

*edit* P.S. If you didn't watch tonight's episode of Psych... shame on you... two words: Tim Curry... Genius!

P.P.S. And if you didn't watch Dr. Who... double shame! Dr. Who, William Shakespeare and HP references... good times. *edit*

Upward Bound is Over

Or at least my role in it is... I taught my last class today. I must say I really did enjoy it! Despite a few students with a bit of attitude (aren't there always). Looking at the Pre-test and the Post-test they ALL learned so much. Some of them came in there knowing very little or no ASL and they left able to carry on a basic conversation. That's awesome for seventeen 50 minute class periods. I'm so proud!

Tonight is the dinner/awards banquet and I'm definitely going to that.

Yay... I survived and I had fun!

Eye to eye...

Transformers kinda rocked.

The 4th... not-so-much...

Better

I figured my UB students would be stir-crazy today - with it being the last day of class before a very long weekend... They were certainly hyper, but they did remarkably well. They all presented for 2-3 minutes about their families and they were very patient and attentive to their fellow students. Afterwards, I went over a list of new signs: Activities (baseball, work, soccer, play, cheerleading, etc) and they loved it.
Just one week left...

I've been working in the Ed Lab since 11am - JUST had my first person show up at 1:30pm. Out of here at 3 - to run a few errands and start clearing out my storage unit.

Tomorrow is a late lunch/dinner with Aya's family and then Aya and D and some other friends are going to the top of Tamarack to watch the fireworks.

Happy 4th of July to everyone.

Oh, saw Ratatouille last night with Aya and D - it's cute :)

Movies, Carnivals, Weddings, Work and the Fourth

Last Wednesday Aya, D, his friend and I went to see Live Free or Die Hard – Aya LOVES... love love love love LOVES - Bruce Willis and all the Die Hard movies. This was no exception. I kept hearing giddy-giggles and gasps to my left as we watched the movie. It was a good movie, but Aya was almost more entertaining...

Friday night Aya, D and I went to the carnival by the lake. It was the first time (in the 6 years I’ve lived here) that I have been to the carnival. I bought a funnel cake (nummy) and threw some darts at balloons and won a stuffed dog.

Saturday (as I previously mentioned) was Chris & Ashley’s wedding. I videotaped – though there were some technical difficulties. I got to see quite a few people I hadn’t seen in a long time = Yay! At the dinner/dance I danced myself silly – after being drug out the first time. I then drug Aya and D out and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was so much fun… and I don’t dance… ever… I think I danced more in those 5 hours than I have in my entire life all combined… I only sat out 6 songs or so… My feet hurt yesterday, but it was SO worth it! I think I should dance more... maybe I should practice in the privacy of my own apt though... kitty won't laugh at me... at least not to my face... and thankfully none of my friends laughed at me - to my face - at the wedding. But yeah... I should definitely practice for Aya's wedding.

Today was back to work – starting out with a meeting – then teaching ASL. Those kids were CRAZY hyper! We have class today and tomorrow and then they’re off for the Fourth. I’m sure it doesn’t help that next week is their last week of class. I’m taking Weds-Friday off this week – from all my assorted jobs. And of course I have Saturday off, but then I work for Concordia on Sunday. I’m not sure what I’ll do with 4 days off… love my kitty… watch TV… relax... hang out with Aya and D... finish reading Slaughterhouse-Five (which came highly recommended by a couple of people)... I so look forward to having time off... but then I never know what to do with myself... /sigh... vicious-vicious cycle.

Chris and Ash's Wedding Day!

It's finally here!
Got my outfit picked out... my cat is laying on it though *ponder* gray hair on cream clothes... *sigh* ah well... it's the price I pay for having my snuggly wuggly kitty with me! (and it's SO worth it).

Very exciting day... *sniffle* I promise not to cry!
I'm videotaping their wedding... kind of a big responsibility. They have a professional photographer, but they asked if I'd video it just for kicks...

I just woke up at 10am and I'm not fully awake yet. I was just SO tired... working lots... though I have both today and tomorrow off = exciting.

Yesterday I got some potentially good news... I'll share when it's for sure.

Uhmm.... yeah... gonna go read a book until it's time to go.

(Aya is getting married in Oct.)

Working 5:30am - 11:30pm

That's a long day...

/sigh

So tired...

I had to get a girl from the dorms and take her to the airport at 5:30am yesterday. I continued to transport people off and on all day long... I was already in my pj's and reading my book when I got a call asking me to pick someone up at the airport at 10:30pm... and of course the plane was late. It was 11:30pm by the time I was done.

I was going to come in to work at 8am today... but I decided to sleep in so I wouldn't be a zombie. Got to work at 9am, but still look and feel exhausted.

In other news... teaching is going well. I struggled with a couple of students during the second week, but things went better after I told them they couldn't sit with each other (though they were thoroughly ticked about it - I'm soooo mean). Overall the students seem interested (some more than others of course). I gave them their first quiz last week and they all did reallllly well. I'm so proud.

Working in the lab and for the Ed Dept is same as always... slow periods and insanely busy periods...

And this weekend two of my best friends are getting married... He got a job down by the cities, which means they'll both be leaving right after they get married. This makes me sad... :( I'm happy for them, but sad to see them go.

Been reading whenever I can. Finished His Dark Materials, re-read the first four Artemis Fowls and now I'm reading the newest one, next on my list is Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom... then the last two HP's in preparation for the next (and final) in the series. After that... I dunno... Something new? I have a big stack of books I want to go through this summer, I just started with my YA series because I had two new books to read and wanted to refresh my memory on the rest...

Mama Mia

If you want to live to be insanely old... you should move to the island
of Kyushu in Japan...

In other news...

I'm really enjoying teaching for Upward Bound. Most of my students seem to be really excited about learning the language and it's something that I really enjoy doing. I have had some complaints that I don't speak while signing... *blink*....

Nope... I don't use my voice when using American Sign Language. ASL is a separate language, not just signed English, so it wouldn't be terribly accurate if I did say everything I was signing. Besides, immersion is a common way to teach languages. It's the way I was taught ASL... and I do use my voice for clarifications or first-time instructions.

So grumble all you want. My class. My rules. No talkie talkie!

Push-E

Holy freaking cow!

I just got a call from my Mom saying I got a new credit card in the mail (in Texas)... it's a card I forgot I even had... not good... but in any case she gave me the info and I called to cancel it. I was the epitome of patience, but good grief... PUSHY...

The automated thing notified me that my call would be recorded...

Account guy: Oh please don't say that... Please... We can... blah blah blah

Me: No - no - no - no - no - no - no thank you - no - nope - nopers - nosky - N O

Account guy: But we can......

Me: No - no - no - no - no - no - no thank you - no - nope - nopers - nosky - N O

Finally...

Account guy: Ok well I will close your account, blah blah blah Was your call courteous and helpful today?

Me: Yes. Just way too much pushing me to keep a card that I've already decided I wanted to cancel.

Account guy: I'm sorry, but I really hate to lose you as a customer blah blah blah...

The end.

If I ever thought I might want to re-open an account with that company in the future... This has convinced me otherwise.

Geeze.

Humidity...

TX = 69%
MN = 78%

It's raining in both places... though TX seems to be getting drenched and we have scattered rain.

But UGH!

I moved away from TX because I hated the hot weather, the humidity... and the first few years I lived here in MN we had dry summers... I loved it. Now I'm about to melt.

*whimper*

Reason 274.3b

There are many reasons I love Get Fuzzy...

The magic's in the music...

and the music's in me...

do be do be do

I found 98.7 KLUV online! Yay! I can listen to my oldies again!
/cheer

That certainly makes my workday more enjoyable!

Board of Teaching stuff is taking up most of my work time... I even work through lunch - sandwich in one hand and clicking away on the mouse/keyboard with the other hand.

Another Rummage Sale tomorrow... sposed to be much nicer weather, so hopefully we'll get rid of all that STUFF!

Start teaching next week... eeeee! Need to make up a test to see what they already know.

Almost done with His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman (halfway through the last book). Started the series last summer, but never had time to finish it.

Survived the busy weekend

Working full-time from now on.

Lots of paperwork - checking bookmarks and hyperlinks - staring at a computer screen.
Good thing I like that sort of thing.
Sometimes I get to work with people too - I enjoy that as well.

Hope all is well with you.