Snow. Okay, so they're calling it a blizzard. It's still just snow.

Okay, so we have snow. We still have a travel ban as well. It’s so dangerous out, you know, with blizzard conditions, you know, lots of snow and gusty wind up to 50 miles per hour. Quite frankly, this isn't any worse than anything I remember growing up. The snow is dry (which is unusual for here I guess) and drifting up a storm but it’s snow and it’s dry. Come on, people.

This was yesterday afternoon shortly after 3:00.

This was about an hour later.

I will have some pictures, it’s about time I added some anyway but I just want to show all of you what Massachusetts is so excited about and I think you’ll agree with me that it’s not really that terrible. It is kind of funny that they’re making such a big deal about the travel ban; there hasn't been one since the big blizzard they had in 1978. They close roads in CA all the time. Because of, get this, SNOW!!!

This was taken at the same time as the second one--a little after 4:00.

Anyway, in spite of the fact that I haven’t been in here since Tuesday, not a whole lot has been going on. There wasn’t any school yesterday because of the impending storm and this travel ban began at 4:00 yesterday afternoon. Quite frankly, it was ridiculous. We got maybe an inch or two by the time the kids would have gotten home. Joanna went to work but due to the ban, they closed early and she was home by 4:17. Anyone caught out driving could be fined $500 or jailed for up to 1 year. How about anyone driving is an idiot and deserves to run into a tree.

This morning about 7:33. Scooter didn't know what to do with herself.

Wednesday I had Economics. The boys, as in the Cedric and Seth, had grief group at the Carriage House. There were no scouts for them so Laura and Amena went to church and hopefully cleaned the kitchen. Joanna wasn’t feeling well so she stayed home.

Also this morning.,

Thursday I had Strategic Management. We worked together as a group. That consisted of one girl working on the spreadsheet, the group leader and I looking in the book and at the power point we need to put our information in, and the other team members sitting and looking totally enthused. There really wasn’t anything for them to do so there wasn’t really anything else they could have done. About the only thing that was accomplished is that it was decided the spread sheet would be ready for people to transfer information from by Friday, that I would do the SPACE Matrix, that the team leader would do the first three pages of introductory material. The rest of it, who knows. We’re supposed to present Thursday and I don’t think it is going to be ready. If it was me, it would be done.

Yesterday I did the SPACE Matrix and worked on my accounting homework. I also finished up my part of our Economics presentation and posted it on Blackboard. The boys and Amena played with Daniel’s Legos all afternoon.

Today Cedric and Seth are outside as are the dogs. Trista doesn’t want to go do her thing in the snow even though there is a space for her to do it in because Cedric and Seth did a little shoveling. Earlier, I shoveled part of the steps and a small space in front because Scooter wanted to go. She ended up pooping on a step so I scooped it up with a shovel and flung it away.

Now I will be off. Have a wonderful day!

Good afternoon!

Good afternoon! It is a beautiful sunny day out with a lovely temperature of 25°. Not bad. Not bad at all. I am ready for a nap in spite of the loveliness of the day and would like nothing better than to take one right now.

Our weekend was rather weekendish. Saturday there was some housecleaning and such. Paul took the Jetta to Worcester so it can be fixed. Jonathan sold the Mercedes. Sunday was Sunday. We went to church and had burritos for lunch.

Monday was just yesterday. Holy crud. It seems like much longer ago than that. Funny thing the way time works.

After class yesterday I spoke with the teacher, Dr. Greenwood, about my honors component. He said that I could do a spreadsheet analysis such as we are working on in Strategic Management. That sounds cool to me. Today in class he said that I could do the spreadsheet and then transfer all the information to a power point such as we are going to do for class. Fine. That sounds like fun.

It turns out that Economics is much like Algebra for me. I hated it in high school. I didn’t like spending the first ¾’s of class talking about whatever sport was in season so I didn’t pay attention. I would write poems or essays or short stories because they were far more interesting than football or baseball or track or whatever. I didn’t do well. In college, I did well when I had a teacher who was willing to take the time to explain what was happening and why.

Economics online was not much good. The book was a book. Nothing out of the ordinary other than it was only half of another book. I was taking the Macro-Economics part and Micro-Economics was not being covered. I am pretty sure that even though I was taking only part of the larger book, there was more of the half in the larger book than in the smaller part I had. The book wasn’t much good at explaining to me what was happening or why and much of what I did was guesswork. I managed to get okay grades but had to rely on an extra credit paper in order to get an A. This time around, the book explains things much more clearly and the teacher is dynamic.

In this Micro-Economics, we have groups. I have done almost no group work for any in class classes. About the only one was last spring for the Honors Colloquium course I took and it almost doesn’t count because we really were just doing our own part and then combining it into a group presentation. For Economics, there are five of us in the group and so far it seems pretty good. We’ve divided up our first group assignment up and each of us has something to do by a certain time at which time it must be submitted to the person who is putting together the power point. At that point, we’ll each review and then go over it Monday in order to be ready to present Wednesday. I think this is terrific.

In Strategic Management, although I love the content, I do not love my group. There are five of us. The group leader (I am not sure who the group leader is for my Economics group, by the way) and one other girl are both high maintenance. The other girl is a follower and would like to complete the whole thing working solely as a group. The one guy, I think, is a latent leader; he seems like he would be good as a leader if put in that position but he is content to just sit back and do whatever is assigned to him. What annoys me is that if I were doing the spreadsheet on my own, it would have been done by the middle of last week. If I were transferring the information to the power point, it would be done by the end of this week. As it is, I volunteered to begin the transferal of information and was pretty effectively blown off. The leader said, “What are you all doing tomorrow at this time?” Well, I’m in class every day from 11:00 to 12:15. I could go early but she’s in class then. I said that I do school work while my kids are in school. “What about Wednesday night?” Wednesday’s are my most chaotic days.

What I do not understand is why we can’t have certain things assigned for each of us to have done by a certain time. For goodness sake, I am willing to do the whole transferal of information from the spreadsheet to the power point. Dr. Greenwood said that would take four to five hours. I’m willing! Good. Grief. I don’t know what else to say other than this is absolutely ridiculous. I don’t think this is really a good part to do ‘as a group.’ Only one person can transfer the information, it doesn’t take a committee to do it.

Everyone is home now. Seth took Ryan out to the trampoline. I haven’t mentioned Ryan yet. He is over because Meredith had an appointment and didn’t have time to take him over to Adam whose car is not running. I guess we are a viable option; we certainly don’t mind if he comes over. Anyway, he’s been playing with marbles and having fun and then the kids got home and Seth took him out to the trampoline. Meredith called a few minutes ago and said she’s on her way over to get Ryan so it’s good that he’s having fun with Seth since he had to be alone with just me and Laura (which isn’t a bad thing but we’re not much fun, I think).

I believe I will be going for now. We have missionaries coming over this evening and that means I have things to do. Not that I ever don’t.

Have a wonderful rest of the day!

Only in MA

Only in Massachusetts! I tell ya, these people need a good dose of living in the WEST!!! Or at least a little bit of mind-your-own-business.

So, Paul and I went this morning to tow the Jetta home because it’s been at someone’s house in Gardner for more than a week and they typically have a big get-together every Friday so the poor Jetta was in the way last week and would have been this week as well (except that the husband is on vacation so they aren’t having their thing). Anyway, Paul was going to do the pulling and I was going to do the steering and breaking. No problem. Paul got it all hooked up and we took off. It was fun because we were on the other side of the haunted house (for those of you who have been here and remember where it is). Right in front of the haunted house we have to turn left and almost immediately right. Fun times. That went well and we did fine at the next stop sign. Then we were about half-way to the turn onto Pitcherville and what do I see behind me but flashing blue lights. Oh. My. Gosh. Seriously?

As it turns out, it was a Gardner police officer who stopped us and the only reason he did is because some called it in and when someone calls in, they have to check it out. Then, because he had us pulled over and his lights were on, a passing Hubbardston police officer had to turn on his lights as well. It all turned out alright and the Hubbardston officer escorted us home. Paul said that a state police officer passed going the other way (I didn’t notice as I was keeping an eye on the ‘rope’ and steering) and he could have stopped up because his authority supersedes that of Gardner or Hubbardston. He did not and we made it home without further incident. So, all’s well that ends well.

I am happy to note that not all police officers are idiots. If you are one or know one, I am sorry, I just happen to believe that most people are idiots or at least have idiotic tendencies and police officers are no more exempt than anyone.

Brief time lapse here. Joanna wanted me to drive her Jeep and I was happy to oblige. It isn’t bad. The seat is more comfortable than I was led to believe but it is a very bouncy ride. Especially on Pitcherville Road and the part of Shady Lane that is in Hubbardston.

I was going to go to kindergarten today but the idiot who had to call the police kind of thwarted that plan. Other than that, I am going to work on school stuff and whatever I happen to get around to.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

 

Joanna's Jeep

 

Wet Windy Day

Good windy, wet morning! The wind blew all night and the rain has been pouring off and on. When I told Joseph it was time to get up he said, “But it’s too dark.” Only due to the clouds and rain. It is currently 55° which beats out even Dublin at 46°. It’s too warm, in my opinion, but I’ll have to wear a jacket anyway because of the rain.

What an interesting day yesterday. When I got home from class, there were two sets of papers on my laptop. Paul and I have each been summoned because of the accident in Worcester on December 13, 2011. The passenger is suing. Not the operator of the other vehicle but the passenger. The wording is ridiculous. It’s almost laughable. I am not sure if we can countersue because we would need to be suing the operator of the other vehicle but I’m sure we’ll be finding out. Just for mental stress and anguish of not only the accident but for reason why we were in Worcester at that time in the first place and for this new issue I would be more than happy to sue for $500,000. Would it solve anything? No. Would it make me feel better? No. Will it happen? I don’t know. The whole thing is annoying.

Laura wasn’t home when I got home and didn’t get home until 7:00. She’d gone to the Armstrong’s and forgot to turn off the headlights so the battery was drained. It wouldn’t jump so they used a charger and it took forever. Joseph and I needed to leave at 4:00 to go to the Carriage House and we ended up not going because I wasn’t going either leave Cedric and Seth home alone or take them with us. Amena wasn’t home and her being home would have made no difference in my choices or decision.

Laura was supposed to pick Amena up on her way home since she was so late but she missed the turn because it was so foggy so she picked up Cedric and Seth and they helped her find the Hobby’s house which is where Amena was. They go right by every day on the bus so they knew how to get there. Then they went to church. Paul picked Joanna up and brought her home and Joseph and I stayed home. He watched one of The Land Before Time movies while I talked to Diane on the phone and read Economics.

Right now Joanna and Laura are getting ready to drive to the Cape so that Joanna can get a Jeep. She’s pretty excited. I wish I could go because neither of them has much experience and getting through Worcester is going to be a pain unless they do it early enough to miss all the traffic. If all goes well, they should be. Once they’re home again and I can breathe, I will be happy.

Now I’m going to be off. There is much to do and never enough time. Have a wonderful day!

Drippy Day

Well, a good morning to you! It is foggy and drippy (what’s happening outside can’t be considered rain but it is definitely drippy—kind of like the gathering of condensation [fog] on the roof until it’s heavy enough to fall off)  here in Hubbardston and a nice relatively warm 36°. We are supposed to get up to the low 50s today; we’ll see how that goes. It looks like we are warmer than both Bonners Ferry (standing at 32° currently) and Yreka (26°? Keep warm, Grandma!). However, Dublin, Ireland, where it is illegal to own a gun, is a sultry 42° and looks like rain. To be as green as it is there, they must get a lot of rain. More than I would care to live in.

Yesterday and the day before were pretty okay days. I lived through  my first Economics class and then my first Strategic Management class. Wow. Same professor, completely different classes. Already I want to go through the marketing plan I did for my marketing plan last semester and rework it. At least the SWOT analysis—there is so much more to that than listing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Wow.

It is really cool, I think, that not only is there someone I know in my Economics class (two actually), but one of them is in my group (lots of group projects in both classes). The other person I know in Economics is in my SM class and she and I are in the same group. So, pretty cool.

Today I have Economics and there is a paper due. I need to go print it out but thought I’d check in here first since I neglected to do so yesterday. I was working on the paper instead of writing here so I think my absence is excusable. Today I need to finish up an accounting assignment and start on another. And do some reading. A LOT of reading.

AD, it is nice to hear that you are involved in music. One of the things I often think of in conjunction with you is music. Speaking of such things, Cedric has decided that he wants to play the saxophone in band. I may have found someone who has one we can use, if not, I’ll have to rent one for him. I hope he keeps with the violin as well because I think they are incredibly versatile and beautiful.

Joseph gets to go to the Carriage House this afternoon/evening for the first time this school year. He’s had some behavioral issues this year and although they seem to be dissipating for the most part, I hope that returning to the Carriage House might fix the residual issues.

Currently, I am ready to be off to do other things so I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Another Short

Good morning!

Seth had a good birthday yesterday. I don’t think I’ll get pictures downloaded in order to post them with this but I will in the next day or so. He got some kind of cool things such as a General Grievous mask and a Darth Maul transformer. He wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice-cream so that’s what he got.

Because it was stake conference and the drive to Ludlow is not really one I want to make, we went to church in Worcester yesterday. Other than the fact that the girls were not ready in time, it was pretty okay. Since we usually do this, some people are beginning to recognize us (Paul many of them already knew).

Due to how my back feels this morning (annoyed but not downright angry), I am really glad we did not go to Ludlow. Worcester is 30 minutes of driving, three hours of sitting (with time to walk for a couple of minutes between each hour), and 30 more minutes of driving. Ludlow would have about 90 minutes of driving, an hour of waiting, two hours of sitting, 90 minutes of driving.

This morning I need to read another economics chapter before class at 11:00 so this post will be rather short.

In fact, I think it’s over. Have a WONderful day!

Short and Sweet

Good morning! Tomorrow is Seth’s ninth birthday. Time surely does fly.

Yesterday I did a lot of reading. Today I need to do a lot of reading.

Yesterday morning I took the ham off the hambones and put the bones on to boil. Kiddos had ham and mashed potatoes for supper. We’ll have the ham broth for something but I’m not sure what yet—soup, beans, something.

Yesterday evening Paul and I went to Jim and Karen Dusty’s for supper. We hadn’t been to their new house yet so it was a choice of going to their house or meeting them at Spencer to go to the Mexicali Grill. Next time we’ll go to the Mexicali because, you know, the food is so awful, the service stinks, and the Dusty’s go there just about every week.

Currently, Joanna is still abed, Paul is reading in bed. Laura is wandering around. Seth had green eggs and ham for breakfast, Joseph had yellow eggs and ham. Cedric and his brothers had yogurt. Amena had a potato fried with onion and jalapeño and salt and oregano. Most of us who are awake had hot chocolate.

It is 10° here, 32° in Bonners Ferry, 39° in Yreka, and 48° in Dublin, Ireland. If you want to know why that is on my computer, ask Laura.

I hope you all have a splendid day and I’ll talk (or write) at you later.