Month: January 2006

Sotto Voce

As happens once or twice a school year, I have lost my voice. I started getting (what I hope is) a mild cold last night, and this morning, no voice. I don’t feel bad at all, just can’t talk. Oh, I can talk a little – we’re not looking at Trina the Mute, but it ain’t pretty. One student likened it to a frog. I think that might even be an insult to frogs. Heh.

I’m hoping the voice is better tomorrow – I moved today’s Physics notes to tomorrow with that hope in mind. If not, I’ll make a game of Charades of it. I’m sure the students will enjoy guessing my mimery of Newton’s Law of Cooling & the Greenhouse Effect. Heh.

Anyhoo, as my self-prescribed medication, I’ve taken some Nyquil & I shall be quietly playing my video game for awhile. And I’ll even try to get to bed early & all that jazz.

GIP!

Sure, after nearly 2 weeks of not posting, I post only to show off my latest (silly) icon. I’ve now only gotten to 45 in my icons. I have room for 55 more icons. I need to be inspired more!

For those of you unfamiliar with The Zero Imperative, this quote comes from my favorite line in the show. Sylv is Dr. Dove, a psychiatrist whose hospital is under investigation by PROBE, run by Liz Shaw (you know, the 3rd Doctor’s companion). After Liz comes to him with some silly pseudoscience about stuff going on, he says “This is a hospital, Miss Shaw, not Scooby Doo!” And I’ve loved that quote ever since. Heh.

The Lobster Quadrille

A co-worker of mine and his wife (also a co-worker, coincidentally) went to Portland, Maine a couple years ago & fell in love with the lobster there. He decided that what we needed to do, during the gray days of January, is have a good ol’ Lobster Boil in Ohio. Last year was our first time doing it and we all had a great time. (I probably wrote about it, but couldn’t find it in my cursory glance at my calendar.) This Saturday was our Lobster Boil, and we probably topped last year with it.

Around 1pm on Saturday, the lobsters (from Maine, of course) were delivered, still alive & kicking. Well, I didn’t actually ask if they were kicking when they arrived, but they were certainly alive. The folks & I arrived at the doin’s around 6:40pm (we’d’ve been there sooner if I’d not made a wrong turn – whoops!) There was lots of stuff to eat, including one of those chocolate fondue fountains. Those are fun! And my favorite dipping item was bananas. (They also had strawberry, marshmallows, donut holes, and grapes.) There were plenty of things to eat for those who weren’t fans of lobster (dad). Mom & I, however, each had a nice BIG lobster. They were good and I did a really good job of getting the meat out. It’s all due to the fabulous tutoring that I’ve received from hergrace. 🙂

Some of the folks that judiang and I traveled to Italy with were there, and it was fun to reminisce. Lots of conversation was going on – there were probably 30 or more people there – I didn’t bother counting. The three of us had a nice time – catching up with former co-workers, talking to spouses we don’t usually get to see, and even chatting with folks we hardly ever get to see at school. It’s really nice having co-workers that know how to have a good time (and are willing to have Saturday deliveries of overnighted live lobster – heh).

In other news, earlier that day, I purchased 2 more DVD sets (both complete series, thankfully). The first was The Flash, a TV show that I loved when it was on. The folks gave me dough for my birthday, so I purchased it with that. The other series was Alien Nation, another show that I loved so it died. *sigh* I’m looking forward to watching them both and watched the pilot episode of The Flash tonight. Mucho fun!

En Enero Hace Frio?

There’s a rumor going around that it’s January, but I’m not believing it. The other day, I walked home in the rain. Yesterday, it was almost 60°F and my lawn boy got a lot of work done on the shrubs in my yard. This morning? Thunderstorms.

This is Ohio, not Florida!

The rest of the month is currently forecast for temperatures in the 40s during the day. Good grief! Where’s my cold weather? Where’s my snow? What does this foretell for February? Will we have to have snow in April to make up for the loss of snow in January? I guess time will tell!

(The title of this post, btw, is from a poem we had to memorize in Spanish when I was in school. I only remember the first stanza. “En Enero, hace frio/En Febrero, tambien.” This means, in January it’s cold, in February, likewise. Must be some new definition of cold. 🙂

Homecoming

Is “Homecoming” just a USA thing? Or do other countries do something like it? Homecoming is an event – sports related – given by a high school whereby alumni are encouraged to return to root for their alma mater & later go to a nice dance. Some towns go all out, having parades and such things. At Newton, we have a King and Queen elected by the student body out of the senior class, and there’s a band half-time show. But no parades or anything extravagant. The dance after the game is formal, so many young people will be all decked out in their nicest clothes yet. (Well, until Prom, that is.)

Those of you who know about Homecoming are most likely wondering why I’m talking about it in January. After all, it’s the big Football Season event. And Football Season for high school sports, is over. Well, when you go to a non-football school, you must plan Homecoming for some other sporting event. In our school, we do it during basketball season. And tonight is our Homecoming game & dance. I, of course, am home. Not big on crowds or basketball and especially not big on dances, Homecoming’s never been a big part of my life. But the students at school have been excited about all week. (Well, the 3 days I had ’em this week, at least.)

I do have a question for those of you who know about Homecoming – do universities do this too? In a typical maneuver, I graduated from a football-free high school and attended a football-free university (Wright State University). So no Homecoming there, should there be such a thing for universities.

Now, after I graduated uni, I ended up teaching in two football high schools. And even went to Homecoming at my first teaching position. It was so weird having Homecoming in October instead of December or January. And Eaton did have a parade and all that jazz. I was mostly there to see the band half-time show. And I really remember very little about it. I had my folks & sister come along, just for grins. Amy probably remembers more about it than I do. I think we lost, but I don’t even remember that.

You might be wondering how we do a band half-time show during a basketball game. It takes place between the Junior Varsity and Varsity games. And it’s usually pretty good. They fill up the gym pretty well. The theme this year is Grease (the musical). I’m sure it was a good show – it usually is. We might not have the winningest sports teams around (though some are pretty decent) but we do have the Best Band in the Land. Heh.

I was inspired to write this post (and it was much better written in my head) while returning from the gas station tonight. Business there was down a bit because of Homecoming. So I got to thinking about our own take on it and wondering about how “universal” such a thing it is. And wrote up an LJ post on the short walk home. Of course, it’s a couple hours later and I don’t remember most of my “In My Head” post. I’m pretty sure it was better organized that this one. Heh – ah well.

Looking Forward: Goals for 2006

I have begun 2006 with an emphasis on setting (and hopefully) meeting some goals. I’m not great at resolutions and when gregmce puts up his Uberlist, I always just read in amazement. But I think this year, I’ll see if I can do some successful goal-setting. The biggest has begun – yesterday I bought an exercise bike.

I love riding my bike, but in the winter, it just collects dust. And when I do ride, I don’t ride enough for my legs and butt to be comfortable. So I figured an exercise bike might get me up to speed (heh). And best of all, I can meet another goal and watch DVDs while I ride. Tonight, for example, I finished “Stay Tuned” (a Tara King episode of The Avengers) while I rode for 30 minutes. Let’s see if my exercise bike fares better than my treadmill. The treadmill lived the typical life of a piece of exercise equipment: 3 months of use, 3 years in the way, 3 years in the basement out of the way, sold to continue the cycle.

So, here we go, an incomplete list of goals for 2006. (I figure I’ll have more goals as the year progresses.)

  • Exercise on my exercise bike (or actual bike) daily for at least 20 minutes.

  • Catch up on watching my DVD collection (see the first point).

  • Read 30 minutes a day (not including rereads).

  • Get Jack Dodger (my CoV main) up to level 40 before Issue 7 comes out.

  • Make nice dinners for myself more frequently than before. (Let’s try for once a month.)

  • Return to my Portion Control regime (it really was good for me).

  • Lose 10 pounds and keep it off.

  • Get floor to ceiling bookshelves in my reading room.

There are other things I might add to this later, like “Get started on my Masters degree.” However, I’m not ready to commit to them yet. 🙂

Taking it Easy

I decided to return home last night rather than stay over another night with elsaf and judiang. I missed my kitty, wanted to see Granny, and had papers to grade. I’m glad I did this (though I do miss the girls, terribly) because I had a nice relaxing day today. And I got to see Leo and Granny and best of all, got the papers graded. Yay! The folks took me out to lunch, too. To Arang, the local Japanese restaurant. I had shrimp teriyaki & California rolls. Very yummy! They gave me $50, which I think I might use to buy The Flash, the Complete Series on DVD. (Yay! It comes out Jan 10!) I also opened Amy & Rachel’s gift – they gave me a log cabin toy set (like Lincoln Logs, only squarer). Fun to play with.

I had a lovely holiday this year. For my birthday, Elsa got me some Fox River Socks! (I’m wearing a pair right now. I love new socks, especially Fox Sox.) Judi got me Dangermouse seasons 1-4 – yay! We headed off to Tom & Ardath’s to meet up with them and Elsa’s parents. Lunch was dim sum at a restaurant near there. Very tasty food and very fresh. Elsa’s father even bought us lunch – yay! (I love parents who buy their daughter’s meals. Witness my parental units above.) After lunch, it was back to Tom’s for a short concert of Tom on recorder and Elsa’s mom on piano. Very nicely done.

We headed off to see Memoirs of a Geisha at a theater near Elsa’s place. The movie was very good. My neck was wet when it finished, cuz I’d been crying and the tears ran down my neck. I haven’t read the book, but Judi has and she said it was a pretty faithful rendition. She really liked the book.

Once we returned to the car, my ankle started vibrating. I had my purse between my feet & someone had called me on my cell phone. It was Amy! She & Rachel sang “Happy Birthday” to me. 🙂 We chatted for a little bit as Elsa drove us home. And once we were home, we had ice cream & geeked on our computers. During the geeking, my cell rang again, and this time it was mom & dad singing me “Happy Birthday.” Heh – I love my family.

As it neared suppertime (and, alas, time for Trina to leave the girls), we decided to go out one last time for dinner. Most places were closed for New Years, but we found the Shore Inn open. I had a fish sammich and fries, which was yummy & filling. Elsa paid the bill – yay Elsa! I love friends who buy their friend’s dinner. 🙂

We returned to Elsa’s for my last bit of packing up the car & hugs. Then I headed on home. The drive was fine & I got in around 11:30pm. Leo was happy to see me (and had eaten all his food already). We stayed up for an hour or so, then headed off to bed.

This morning was my parade. I hate when they air it on the second – it’s for my birthday, you know! Alas, there was much rain, but the floats were still beautiful to see. I graded catapult reports while watching. And Leo decided he wanted to sit on the board I was grading on. No surprise. But it was as I had hoped – good kitty time and good grading time. I headed next door after the parade for lunch with the parentals.

When we visited Granny at her new room in a nearby nursing home, she complained that people weren’t visiting. Well, dad’s been going every day – and yesterday she was so sound asleep he couldn’t wake her. But today, she didn’t have to worry about lack of visitors. While we were there, Aunt Becky & Deanna arrived with a couple of Xmas presents & a new wheelchair. Then Mick (Becky’s oldest son), his fiancée, and two daughters (9 and 6) arrived. We couldn’t all squeeze into the room, so we sat in the lobby (looking at the live birds they have there) chatting. Granny was lucid the entire time and was looking better than she had when I saw her last. She’s still weak, but here’s hoping they can strengthen her up at the home. She’s eating (not a lot, but at least some!) and will be going to physical therapy. So I have high hopes for her.

I have tomorrow off as well, so I’ll have some relaxation times tomorrow as well. I hope to visit Granny again, as well as exchange some slacks I got at Xmas for a longer style. And who knows what else I’ll do. (Hopefully read some of the cool books I got this holiday!)

Merry New Year! Beef Jerky Time!

Happy New Year to all of you playing at home! Can’t believe it’s 2006 already. Can’t believe I’m 35 already! Sheesh, I’m old enough to be president now! (elsaf assures me that I’m too honest for the role, thankfully. Just as well – I certainly wouldn’t vote for me!)

I’ve been thinking about doing a post looking back at 2005 and perhaps I’ll do it later in the day. And I might even try a looking forward post as well. I’m not a resolution kind of person, but a few goals wouldn’t hurt. (I don’t do resolutions mostly because I hate breaking promises – even if they’re to myself. But a goal isn’t a promise, it’s just something you hope to accomplish.)

Our method of ringing in the new year was heading off to Elsa’s parents, watching movies, and eating foodstuffs. It was a lot of fun and there were plenty of snacks. Elsa made seasame balls, pork pearl balls, and sticky rice in lotus leaves. (She enlisted me to help but I was having an off night and did more to hinder her than help. Whoops! She should have gotten judiang to help instead. Thankfully, I only permanently ruined one dish (and that wasn’t my fault! The bowl just broke on me!)

The movies that we watched were Quigley, March of the Penguins, and The Polar Express. Quigley was a silly little movie about a mean SOB who dies & is sent back to Earth as a pomeranian. We had a ball MST3King it and watching the cute pom. Judi will probably be adding it to her collection. (Everyone should have a Three Kinds of Heat in their video collection, I feel.) I’d seen Penguins on Christmas day with the family and enjoyed it then and tonight as well. (I was more awake on tonight’s showing.) Polar was interesting, but I don’t think it’ll join my collection of Holiday Must Sees.

We toasted the new year with champagne and fizzy cider (I went with the apples rather than the grapes), then packed up (dogs & all) and returned to Elsa’s. And here we all sit, writing and reading our journals. Yup, even in 2006 we’re still geeks.

So, once again, Happy New Year to you all! And Happy Birthday to those of you who, like me, are New Years Babies! 🙂