Saturday, September 29, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Five Most Regrettable Acts of Last Week
1. I called one of my new Sunday School co-teachers "Melody." Her name is "Harmony."
2. Melody, I mean Harmony led an activity whereby the adults folded a piece of paper in half, traced the childrens' right hands with their thumb touching the crease of the fold, and then cut the hands out with thumbs in tact on the fold so that when you opened the paper, there was a set of joined praying hands. It took me four tries to get it right to where the hands were actually joined and not two separate pieces.
3. I have this pesky skin problem that I'm self-conscious about. So I use all manners of cover up and concealer on my face when I'm applying make-up in the mornings. The other day, on the way to take Grace to school, I dotted my red spots with concealer (noticably darker than my skin tone) and was going to let it set for a few minutes before I blended it. I walked Grace in, had a serious quick chat with Grace's teacher about some of her issues, and was horrified to get back to my car and look in the mirror to discover that I had forgotten to blend.
4. Browsing around on MySpace I found the site of a guy that I recognized from Grace's school. He looked very familiar at the Open House and I was pretty sure I knew him or of him in undergrad and I was pretty sure he was in a band. I recognized his face and his last name and identified him as the father of a little girl in Grace's class. So I sent him this random MySpace message entitled, "I thought you looked familiar"and proceeded to identify myself as Grace's mom and that we were at Carolina at the same time in the early nineties and how does your daughter like school and hopefully I'll see you at drop-off sometime, blah, blah, blah. I got a very nice message back saying, "Hi, Sarah, that is my twin brother M..."
5. Getting out the door in the mornings is always a struggle. The other day as I shuffled Grace into her car seat and all of my stuff up front, my arthritic thumb gave way and my coffee spilled all over the front passenger seat and all over Grace's sweater that I was going to put on her on the walk up to school. We were both near tears, but by the grace of God, the coffee didn't get on me, and by the grace of Grace, she was fine with wearing her brown hoodie.
2. Melody, I mean Harmony led an activity whereby the adults folded a piece of paper in half, traced the childrens' right hands with their thumb touching the crease of the fold, and then cut the hands out with thumbs in tact on the fold so that when you opened the paper, there was a set of joined praying hands. It took me four tries to get it right to where the hands were actually joined and not two separate pieces.
3. I have this pesky skin problem that I'm self-conscious about. So I use all manners of cover up and concealer on my face when I'm applying make-up in the mornings. The other day, on the way to take Grace to school, I dotted my red spots with concealer (noticably darker than my skin tone) and was going to let it set for a few minutes before I blended it. I walked Grace in, had a serious quick chat with Grace's teacher about some of her issues, and was horrified to get back to my car and look in the mirror to discover that I had forgotten to blend.
4. Browsing around on MySpace I found the site of a guy that I recognized from Grace's school. He looked very familiar at the Open House and I was pretty sure I knew him or of him in undergrad and I was pretty sure he was in a band. I recognized his face and his last name and identified him as the father of a little girl in Grace's class. So I sent him this random MySpace message entitled, "I thought you looked familiar"and proceeded to identify myself as Grace's mom and that we were at Carolina at the same time in the early nineties and how does your daughter like school and hopefully I'll see you at drop-off sometime, blah, blah, blah. I got a very nice message back saying, "Hi, Sarah, that is my twin brother M..."
5. Getting out the door in the mornings is always a struggle. The other day as I shuffled Grace into her car seat and all of my stuff up front, my arthritic thumb gave way and my coffee spilled all over the front passenger seat and all over Grace's sweater that I was going to put on her on the walk up to school. We were both near tears, but by the grace of God, the coffee didn't get on me, and by the grace of Grace, she was fine with wearing her brown hoodie.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Years Go By
David and I celebrated our 9th Wedding Anniversary yesterday. (Yes, marriage has turned him gray!) I've been going through old pictures of just the two of us (dating back to 1994) and it's fun--and weird--remembering that we had a life together, just the two of us, before the kids came along. You know how anniversary years have specific gift-themes, like the 1st Anniversary is paper, the 5th Anniversary is wood? Well the 9th Anniversary is pottery and willow. A contemporary theme of the 9th Anniversary is leather. Looks like we'll go with that one this year, because we're celebrating big this year...at Van Halen next weekend!!!
How do 9 years of married life look on us?
1 year of wondering together whether Grace will be ready for traditional Kindergarten.
2 years of having fun with this blog.
3 years of my never-ending health issues. The latest is I think I have arthritis in my left thumb.
4 years of diapering, dressing, feeding, bathing, brushing, reading to, hugging, kissing, teaching, singing, buying for, nagging, playing, adoring...times two.
5 years of trying to stick to a set household budget but breaking it everytime if there's book you want to order, a CD you want to download, a pair of J. Crew pants you just have to have or a pizza that I can't live without.
6 years of loving every episode of the Sopranos together.
7 years of thinking our house is too small/too cluttered/too run down in places, and then after one evening of sitting outside our big, private yard, realizing that we love it here.
8 years of daydreaming about going back to Greece someday.
...AND...
9 years of living with, laughing with, and loving your best friend.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
This-N-That
Wow, where to begin? First of all, I can breathe again. The summer heat was oppressive, but with the break in humidity, being outdoors is once again enjoyable.
Goodness of Fit
I really, really, really, really, really like the MSW program. I'm taking a History of Social Welfare class and an Individual and Family Development class. I like them both. The difference in undergraduate and graduate school is that as an undergrad, I figured out ways to skip out on my readings so I could have more time for going out; as a grad student, I'm trying to figure out how to find more time in every day so I can do all the reading. Because I want to do all the reading--it's interesting. I love that the field of social work is so interdisciplinary and that already we're incorporating history, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, etc. into class discussions. The Wilmington Massacre of 1898--fascinating! The resiliency of families for individual and group therapy--totally captivating. I entered the program feeling sure I'd go the "Macro-Broad-Based Human Services" route. It took me two weeks to realize that the path I want to take in this program is the "Direct Service-Children and Families" route. Yes I have an interest in macro social work practice and I could see myself as the director of a non-profit social service agency one day. But I'm already the top staff person at a private Foundation, so I know I could get a job in human service administration in the future. What I don't have is the clinical experience and that's what I'm going to take advantage of at Carolina. This program is a perfect fit for me.
Grace
David's observation on Grace and Kindergarten sums it up pretty well. Over the weekend he said to me, "When you were little you liked to play school. Grace is school." Her life revolves around it. She's consumed with it: her teachers, her friends, her activities, her homework, lunch, recess, art, music, PE, being a helping hand, getting a green at the end of the day. She assigns us all different school personnel, and so far I've gotten to be the lead teacher, the assistant, and the art teacher. David got to be the PE teacher and Johnny got to be the lunch lady. She's rockin the sight words and is excelling in Spanish class. (I hope she gets extra credit in Spanish!) She gets Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Resource assistance in and outside of the main class. In a recent IEP meeting, the EC coordinator asked whether Grace would feel awkward carrying around a special picture schedule just for her. Her teacher already has Grace figured out. She said, "Well, I don't think Grace would mind...it might be an issue for the other kids, but not for Grace."
In other exciting Grace news, she got her first paper cut last night and we all celebrated accordingly.
Johnny
Johnny (and Grace) got new shoes yesterday and he loves them so much that he asked me if he could sleep in them. I said he could. Flash forward to the difficult teen years--I can picture saying, "Don't talk to me like that, young man, I let you sleep in your new shoes when you were 4."
On the way to a kids' birthday party on Saturday, after a long traffic jam due to the football game, I announced that we were almost there. Johnny said, "I just got a feeling in my tummy like when we go over a tickle bump." I love that he could articulate that sensation. I get the same feeling in my tummy every time I think about the upcoming Van Halen concert.
David
David's the strong and steacy force behind our family that keeps it all together. In the name of recycling, on Sunday he spent a great deal of time disassembling on old futon frame and refurnishing the wood into a structure for the kids. Maybe it's a stage--maybe it's a table without legs, maybe it's a platform that will go in the Tee-Pee he's making. Our maybe it's a skateboard ramp--right in our own backyard.
Goodness of Fit
I really, really, really, really, really like the MSW program. I'm taking a History of Social Welfare class and an Individual and Family Development class. I like them both. The difference in undergraduate and graduate school is that as an undergrad, I figured out ways to skip out on my readings so I could have more time for going out; as a grad student, I'm trying to figure out how to find more time in every day so I can do all the reading. Because I want to do all the reading--it's interesting. I love that the field of social work is so interdisciplinary and that already we're incorporating history, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, etc. into class discussions. The Wilmington Massacre of 1898--fascinating! The resiliency of families for individual and group therapy--totally captivating. I entered the program feeling sure I'd go the "Macro-Broad-Based Human Services" route. It took me two weeks to realize that the path I want to take in this program is the "Direct Service-Children and Families" route. Yes I have an interest in macro social work practice and I could see myself as the director of a non-profit social service agency one day. But I'm already the top staff person at a private Foundation, so I know I could get a job in human service administration in the future. What I don't have is the clinical experience and that's what I'm going to take advantage of at Carolina. This program is a perfect fit for me.
Grace
David's observation on Grace and Kindergarten sums it up pretty well. Over the weekend he said to me, "When you were little you liked to play school. Grace is school." Her life revolves around it. She's consumed with it: her teachers, her friends, her activities, her homework, lunch, recess, art, music, PE, being a helping hand, getting a green at the end of the day. She assigns us all different school personnel, and so far I've gotten to be the lead teacher, the assistant, and the art teacher. David got to be the PE teacher and Johnny got to be the lunch lady. She's rockin the sight words and is excelling in Spanish class. (I hope she gets extra credit in Spanish!) She gets Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Resource assistance in and outside of the main class. In a recent IEP meeting, the EC coordinator asked whether Grace would feel awkward carrying around a special picture schedule just for her. Her teacher already has Grace figured out. She said, "Well, I don't think Grace would mind...it might be an issue for the other kids, but not for Grace."
In other exciting Grace news, she got her first paper cut last night and we all celebrated accordingly.
Johnny
Johnny (and Grace) got new shoes yesterday and he loves them so much that he asked me if he could sleep in them. I said he could. Flash forward to the difficult teen years--I can picture saying, "Don't talk to me like that, young man, I let you sleep in your new shoes when you were 4."
On the way to a kids' birthday party on Saturday, after a long traffic jam due to the football game, I announced that we were almost there. Johnny said, "I just got a feeling in my tummy like when we go over a tickle bump." I love that he could articulate that sensation. I get the same feeling in my tummy every time I think about the upcoming Van Halen concert.
David
David's the strong and steacy force behind our family that keeps it all together. In the name of recycling, on Sunday he spent a great deal of time disassembling on old futon frame and refurnishing the wood into a structure for the kids. Maybe it's a stage--maybe it's a table without legs, maybe it's a platform that will go in the Tee-Pee he's making. Our maybe it's a skateboard ramp--right in our own backyard.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Another Reason It's Not a Great Idea to Mix Your Personal and Professional Lives
At work when I send out large group e-mails, with the help of our IT guys as the middlemen, I use a company called Constant Contact that sets up professional looking "email campaigns" and keeps up with who's read the email, who didn't get it, who says they didn't get it but really did, etc. So, when people get group e-mails from me when I'm announcing our program calendar or an upcoming lecture or other event, their e-mail message appears in the same format as our company's homepage. It's pretty snazzy.
If email recipients only have "text-only" capability, they won't see the web-page images, but they can still read the text of my message.
So, I recently sent out an "email campaign" and have gotten a few replies that have been truly baffling. A couple have been RSVP responses to an invitation that went out in April, for an event held in April, where people actually replied, "I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it." That little snafu was our IT guys' fault--they didn't clear out the last campaign or something of that nature. They assured me that ONLY people that opened the email with "text-only" capability saw the former invitation and out of 350 + people it was sent to, it's probably not that many.
So, yesterday I get a reply from someone (who's replying to the correct, recent email) and it's all good, but in her reply to me, I notice she has picture attachments, 2 gifs and 1 jpeg. I was curious why she'd attach a picture file to an email reply to me, so I opened the attachments.
One of the attachments was of several images and I only discovered this by scrolling my mouse roller up and down. One was our website heading, one was a spacer, but then--sit down for this--one was of JOHNNY! As a BABY!
It totally freaked me out so I immediately forwarded that message to our IT guys and got the director on the phone and said, "Open the attachments! Are you looking at a PICTURE OF MY SON??" He insisted that no, he saw the webpage header and the spacer and all business-related images, but none of a fresh-faced baby. Without a satisfactory answer from our IT guy as to why this happened, I hung up and immediately deleted all personal photo files I could find on my computer at work. Because, God forbid, what if people accidentally pulled this up?
Or this one?
Or even this?
Or what about this?
Well, that would actually be funny.
If email recipients only have "text-only" capability, they won't see the web-page images, but they can still read the text of my message.
So, I recently sent out an "email campaign" and have gotten a few replies that have been truly baffling. A couple have been RSVP responses to an invitation that went out in April, for an event held in April, where people actually replied, "I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it." That little snafu was our IT guys' fault--they didn't clear out the last campaign or something of that nature. They assured me that ONLY people that opened the email with "text-only" capability saw the former invitation and out of 350 + people it was sent to, it's probably not that many.
So, yesterday I get a reply from someone (who's replying to the correct, recent email) and it's all good, but in her reply to me, I notice she has picture attachments, 2 gifs and 1 jpeg. I was curious why she'd attach a picture file to an email reply to me, so I opened the attachments.
One of the attachments was of several images and I only discovered this by scrolling my mouse roller up and down. One was our website heading, one was a spacer, but then--sit down for this--one was of JOHNNY! As a BABY!
It totally freaked me out so I immediately forwarded that message to our IT guys and got the director on the phone and said, "Open the attachments! Are you looking at a PICTURE OF MY SON??" He insisted that no, he saw the webpage header and the spacer and all business-related images, but none of a fresh-faced baby. Without a satisfactory answer from our IT guy as to why this happened, I hung up and immediately deleted all personal photo files I could find on my computer at work. Because, God forbid, what if people accidentally pulled this up?
Or this one?
Or even this?
Or what about this?
Well, that would actually be funny.
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