12.19.06
By popular demand…
The eggnog cake recipe is rather simple. I like recipes that start with a box mix!
3-D paper snowflakes are also deceptively easy. Here is how to make them. They really make a classroom festive!
Have fun, DIYers!
12.14.06
Okay… now call me
Uug. Becky and I are both sick right now. I’m at the end of a 10-day cold, while she’s only 2 days into what’s probably the same thing. I think I picked it up at the office, but it seems to be pretty pervasive at the moment. But anyway, the real point of this post is to say that my phone number works again.
Yes, my 312 number - the troubles that I posted about a while ago. It’s been 14 days since anyone has been able to call me, can you believe it? I kinda write computer software for a living - so I know how complicated things can get. But Sprint’s systems right now are amazing. And by amazing I mean terribly terrible. Half the problem is their multiple account & billing systems that don’t work well together, and the other half of the problem is the lack of training that their people get. Anyway, I’m tired of telling the whole story to 15 customer service people, so I won’t recount it all. My number now works again, and Becky gets to keep the new one she was initially assigned. After one more last hour on the phone, I got roughly $140 knocked off our first $152 worth of billing. So that’s good. If they hadn’t done that, I would have switched companies again even after all that hassle (because of, really).
Tomorrow I will post a widget so you people in the know can download Becky’s new phone number.
12.07.06
rough draft EDIT: Now final!
Now that I’m sick, I have time to blog. Blessing and curse, really.
- It snowed a lot around here on December 1st. I think we got about 6 inches over night. Makes me homesick for Washington where school and just about everything else would be closed. I made it to school okay, except that Starbucks was closed due to a power outage (what Washingtonians!). Roughly 1/5 of my class didn’t come to school, so I threw my plans out the window and we read for fun, played Sudoku, and made ginormous 3-D paper snowflakes. Said snowflakes are now hanging from the lights in my classroom, so it’s very festive. I had lots of fun hanging them up, given the extremely high ceilings in the room. It involved a white board eraser, yarn, throwing stuff, and crashing sounds. Whee!
- I’ve been baking a lot recently. I made two chocolate eggnog cakes and a batch of chex mix. Yum!
- great quotes, including “i’d pictured you older” from a parent (what does one say to that?) (yeah, that will just have to stay in rough draft format… all I have is the amusing quote.)
- I’ve been two one Christmas and one “holiday” party so far–”holiday” party at school consisting of way too much yummy Italian food (catered buffet! whee!) and a spoof on the Sound of Music. Very amusing. The Christmas party was with GCF, where we had a white elephant exchange, and again my trash was someone’s treasure. I parted with the martini shaker given to me by a student (really) and came home with silly putty and silly string.
- Knitting club is going strong! Three days a week I help kids learn to knit, and get in a little project work myself. It’s a beautiful thing! I’ve finished a scarf and hat so far, now I’m working on Christmas presents.
- I wonder if my class remembers my name…I was out for most of Tuesday on a visit to another school to observe some of their programs, then I was sick Thursday and Friday with the cold Jamie mentioned above. Man, will I pay for it next week–two days with a sub, and the week before break. I might have to break my usual “one coffee a week” rule. Seriously.
12.03.06
Mud Run 2006
Today I ran 8K (5 miles) through hills and swamps with H and also K. Having done this in 2 previous years, this was the third year I’ve done it. Duh. The first year it was warm and muddy, the second it was cold and snowy. This year it was everything. It snowed a good 10 inches a few days before, and it was 16 degrees today, but it had been warm earlier in the week so the marshes weren’t frozen over completely. The three of us stuck together, pulling each other along as we ran through the snow that felt like sand, trudged up hills, and slogged through shin-deep mud and water (although in a few spots you could hop from iceberg to iceberg).
It was… not great, but satisfying to do and finish together. We did it in 1:12, which was not bad at all considering the winner ran it in 43 minutes. The winner last year only took 25 minutes, by comparison. (Last year I ran it in 44 minutes, so the ratio’s about the same.)
Ate a huge meal afterwards, took off the ice-covered blocks that were my shoes, warmed up, and vowed once again to never do it again. The shoes look decent again after a trip through the washer.
12.01.06
Happy birthday me! Don’t call me! :(
I’m not changing my number - no worries. But what happened is that they ported my number to my new phone. My new phone that is sitting in a warehouse in Dallas. Two days ago. So I’m mad at them. But I should be back in operation, with my old number, by Tuesday.
In the meantime, you can call Becky’s cell or our house phone to wish me happy birthday. I had a good day.
