B-day planning

It's time to plan the annual B-day celebration for our daughter, Xandie. Our school district's spring break usually butts up, one side or the other, to Easter weekend and so it's always a hard choice to decide which day her party should actually be. We've bitten the bullet and reserved a date along with 2 hours at one of her favorite pottery places. Naturally this meant we spent a good part of the weekend designing an invitation,  deciding on a "theme" and buying party favors / bags. I think we'll be ready...

We have a  little saying, "you were born on Passover and came home on Easter", to remember which day of the week she was born;  as far as the better known saying, "Saturday's child works hard for a living" ~ we'll have to see about that one.

Music filing

I spent a few hours last night trying to re-file stacks of sheet music pulled from my private collection last semester. In addition to two levels of string classes (select 6-8 pieces and use 3-4) and my private students,  I also often fish-out requests for other teachers and friends. Then everything gets thrown in the "re-file box" until nothing more will fit. Now have two boxes worth and need to find a quiet day when I can work uninterrupted to put my music library back in order... until the end of the school year anyway.

NIMBY fight ... a chance at winning!

Seems the 7-11 corner store controversy is at a stalemate momentarily.

NEWS UPDATE: The Claremont Courier
"There will be no 7-Eleven at the corner of Mills Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. The business applicant withdrew their appeal on an earlier Planning Commission decision to deny them a conditional use permit. By withdrawing the appeal, the commission decision now stands. The city council was scheduled to hear the appeal at tonight's city council meeting. Dozens of residents were planning to attend the meeting to voice their opposition to the proposed business. The item has now been pulled from the agenda."


Now we're back to square one; who and what new businesses will move in and will they have a good chance to "make a go" at it?

First monday of spring

It's Monday and as usual I've got my to-do list of tasks to start, continue and complete today. First off was getting the bass to the jr. high with a wheel in its pocket (field trip to orchestra festival this week and Xandie has to transport "Count Bassie" on her own). Then over to the D.O. to finish up the second semester copying spree for afterschool string classes and then get music delivered to the other instructors (along with field trip packets to see the LA Phil next month). Now that I'm back I need to sort through all the other pending business on my desk (which is actually a seldom used DX7) and then grab some lunch.
After lunch is a series of elementary string classes and then orchetsra rehearsal at Garrison Theatre tonight. Whew!

I think Mondays are a little too frantic for me; maybe Mondays on sabbatical will slow down a bit...

Financial planning

I guess "it takes money to make money" is true, or you need to be willing to lose some of what you've got big-time... Having done our 2009 taxes we're now filling out forms before talking to a financial/retirement planner tomorrow. After the big stock bust last year (or Dec. 2008 anyway) we lost total faith in the stock market and plopped everything in "high interest" bank accounts. Seems the best we can do is maybe 2% and so now we're lookin' to "bite the bullet" and investigate investment options. While we don't expect big gains, it would be nice to look at semi-retirement (for both of us) when Xandie finishes her first 4 years of college. We've talked to "portfolio managers" and they take a very big chunk out of your gains and so now we're looking into "fee-only planners". Don't have any answers at this point, but I sure hope we can protect what we have and at the minimum keep up with inflation...sigh!

Spring forward

(last spring at the Claremont Depot)

The clocks have been set forward (I can't even tell you how many that would be for this household) and Spring officiallly begins this Saturday. Geoff is on his break from the colleges this week, but X's and mine is not until April and so I have a severe case of spring fever at the moment. Unlike last year, I'm not planting so much as I'm tending to what's there and trying to see where I can minimalize watering and maintanence. I'm especially enjoying the morning birdsong and observing new plant growth; a time of renewal for all.

A "normal weekend"

We seem to be having a  "normal weekend" at last; no concerts or overwhelming workloads carrying over into our days of catch up/rest. 

Today we're off to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to meet up with a prof. and her grandaughter from Christchurch, New Zealand. She has previously assisted other HMC profs on sabbatical there and we are hoping that she'll be helpful in our case with both info and connections. I'm especially interested in the school system for Xandie's sake and opportunities for me to study/teach on a visitor's visa. Geoff shouldn't have problems as he'll be the invited guest lecturer/researcher.

French music

My ex-next door neighbor is the high school choral director. He had a problem finding cellists to play in his chamber singers concert and asked if I would help out, so of course I said, "yes". Turned out it was the Faure Requium ...a gorgeous, lush French piece which requires solo violin, 4 violas, 1 bass, 2 horns, harp, organ, timpani and  2 cellos. It also turned out that I was going to be the only, lonely cello player. Taking both parts home (one rehearsal/play concert situation) I determined which cello part was more prominent and alternated parts depending on the movement. In the end it went well for the choir, the director, soloists, and the chamber orchestra, but I sure wish the other cello was there.

Spring cleaning?

Looking ahead to daylight savings and the official start of Spring! 

Boy, do I have spring cleaning and clearing-out projects on my mental "to do" list; especially with a sabbatical around the corner. My personal favorite is permission to rent a dumpster. It's the only time (once every 6-7 years) I can get my family to throw anything away. Then there is the spring yard sale when the neighbors always seem to be inspired by my "urge to purge" myself of extra junk and so it becomes a block sale.  Xandie usually decides to sell 1 or 2 of her books and a few toys to generate some personal income and Geoff usually says "whatever" allowing me to rid ourselves of a reseasonable amount of stuff without too much resistance (I live with two major pack-rats). The beauty of it all is that because we're packing everything up for a year there's no incentive to go out and buy any new stuff until we return!

Looking up and on

OK, life is looking up and better today! 

The air is especially clear after an overnight rain shower, my grades have been sent/received and ready for distribution and now I can move on to the next round of stuff to do. 

Music, for one, is definitely in the air: coaching jr. high strings this a.m., then adult cello lesson 'til lunch, LA Phil field trip letter to finanlize, Faure Requium part to look over before tomorrow night and then teach two string classes this afternoon before picking up X-girl after her art class, after which a make-up cello lesson is coming at 6:45 pm.

e-grading

Well so far, not so good ! I think using LINUX on a mac using open office trying to talk to microsoft word is not gonna be a go.... I can input everything but don't seem to be able to export in any way or fashion. Grrrr!!!  I'll guess I have to wait for my personal computer doctor to get home or print out all my progress reports at the house and then try to figure out how to get an efile to the district office..... glad I have until Friday.

I hate this stuff when it doesn't go smoothly :~(

Life off-line

Our server has been repaired after 2 weeks of "life off-line" on the house machine. Funny how quickly one becomes dependent on technology and how panic sets in when it suddenly disappears on you. Of course "it" just happened to die when Geoff was out of town, I had close to 100 progress reports to submit and it's the first time music grades have gone "electronic" to boot. (Good pun, there!)  So now, cross fingers/knock on wood/make a sign of the cross, things are back to normal on the home front and life can continue as I currently know it.

No place like home... (birthplace, anyway)

San Francisco (view from Alcatraz)

What a great reunion we had to celebrate the anniversary of my mom's 100th birthday! My sister and I cooked up a plan based on the premise that had Mom made it to 100, we would have planned a worthy celebration. And so, our families met up for a long weekend and celebrated in "Crandall-style" (a little quirky and lots of fun). Here are a few pieces of evidence:

Havin' a few in North Beach 

                      Looking a little "jet-lagged" at  The Tonga Room

Ta da :~)

Charlotte, Pat, Suzanne and Brandon

The happy (and relieved) music teachers

(photo: Xandie)

"All's well that ends well"; and actually, the beginning and middle went very well, too. The kids did a terrific job (as usual), most of the details were worked out ahead of time, and I felt that everything was under control and a good representation of what a successful string program should look and sound like. 

For the record:

Elementary Beginning Strings

French Folk Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Traditional

Old MacDonald Had a Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.S. Folk Song

Mozart Melody and Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Traditional

Elementary String Orchestra

English Morris Dance . . . . . . . . . . . Traditional/arr. Noah Klauss

La Rejouissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.F. Handel/arr. Richard Meyer

Sneakin’Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charlotte Van Ryswyk

Dragon Slayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rob Grice

El Roble String Orchestra

Overture to William Tell . . . . . . .G. Rossini, arr. Sandra Dackow

Emperor Waltz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. Strauss, arr. Merle J. Isaac

Dance of the Tumblers . . . . . .  . . . . . . N. Rimsky-Korsakoff,arr. Sandra Dackow

The winter spectacle (concerts, that is)

Today is the first of two district-wide elementary winter music concerts; strings tonight, band tomorrow. This year we have about 175 strings and well over 200 band students.  The enrolment numbers continue to grow and even with budget concerns we have somehow been able to not only survive, but thrive!

Concerts are always free and open to the public; Feb. 16 and 17 at 7 pm in the El Roble Intermediate School Gym, Claremont, CA.

Valentines pie party

Well, it was a beautiful day and we did make it to the bird fest this morning (at least 2 out of 3 of us anyway). After lunch we went to a pie party at a dear violinist neighbor's home. It seems her renter (a college student) has a friend who is a pie baker and he wanted to present a pie-tasting event. Boy, was it ever yummy and what a "sweet idea" to hold it on Valentine's Day. 

2 out of 3 (birdwatching for Cornell)

Mornings are certainly a more active time for bird-watching. I didn't see/hear many more species but I did see greater numbers! Our most prolific visitors from the Cornell lab "urban bird list" are: house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, and American crow. There was also a western scrub jay sighting during the 10-minute observation window but they are not on the list. The local botanic garden is hosting a birdwatch on Valentine's Day. Maybe I'll get in on that bird count too.

Migrate to the Garden

Sunday, February 14

10 am - 3pm

• Count our bird citizens - participate in a nationwide bird count
• Bird I.D. - Hoot's Who?
• Games, Crafts & Activities

Get on the wire (909) 625-8767, ext 224

Admission fees apply:
$8 - adults
$6 - seniors/students
$4 - fledglings aged 3-12
Free - RSABG Members

It really does take a village

 We have a wonderful community of 'music in our schools' supporters. Both music vendors who handle instrument rentals locally, J. Brown Violin Shop and Styles Music, donated gift certificates for our winter concert raffles next week. Then when I went to pick up two soft cello cases from the village shoe repair he knocked $10 off the cost for me. These are just a few of the reasons why I love our Village!

Facebook frustration!

I guess the news of the week is the tweaking of Facebook and how many people are reaching the boiling point of frustration while trying to understand why it's "better".  Just when I thought I had things pretty much figured out they had to go and change it!

(Im going back to the Lite version)

One week 'til winter concerts

The countdown has begun and I've been lying awake 'til the wee hours of the a.m. running the too-many-details through my poor little over-saturated brain. You'd think after all the years and hundreds of kids I've taught that it would be a piece of cake but it seems that every year we do things a little differently and so those are the things I worry about.

Frontyard birding

(house finch)

Just finished my first of three bird surveys for the Cornell University urban bird count. The idea is to choose a random 10-minute period and observe if any urban birds from their list visit your location. Today I only spotted finch, sparrow  and crow. (Though I put down red-tailed hawk as the most interesting bird spotted that was not on the list.) The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers a lot of great programs for schools and community members to participate in that assists in the lab's ongoing research of our fine feathered friends.

Rainy daze

(LA weather)

Having quite the series of rain storms today. Right now it's coming down in serious buckets. I'm glad we didn't have much planned and can simply enjoy watching it happen from inside our warm and cozy house.

Pony trekking (not this weekend)

Looking at a wet weekend but that's fine by me. Not so fine for Xandie if she misses out on riding this weekend. Since the stables have no covered arenas, winter is a tough time for equestrians in our area and unlike places such as Seattle, people don't seem to go for trail rides in the rain much here.

(ridin' the Montana trails)

Colors

So I'm playing with the color palette each month; February feels blue and brown to me.

On another blue note:

I love this art sound piece and wanted to remember where and when I found it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpwBbm22_y0

I've been thinking about a better use for our hot tub on return from sabbatical.
This just might be the perfect solution!

Botanicals

~ February ~

 

( from Twelve Months of Flowers ; Robert Furber )

Seem to remember having a copy of a print like this "somewhere in the garage". Picked it up sometime along the way, had no idea where the original came from; just knew that I liked it and maybe I could use it for something someday. Now I'll have to dig it out to find out what "some month" I have.

Groundhogs

from Wiki:

The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck or whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but the woodchuck is a lowland creature. It is widely distributed in North America and common in the northeastern and central United States. Groundhogs are found as far north as Alaska, with their habitat extending southeast to Alabama.

Seems that Punx. Phil saw his shadow this a.m. and we're in for 6 more weeks of winter. And I was looking for signs of spring...

Between seasons

Seems that we're right between the seasons; a sort of solstice of solstices. In many ancient cultures Feb.1 was a time of celebration that had to do with the ending of winter and promise of the coming spring. The Romans and Celts recognized this time of year as the start of spring; celebrating the days getting longer, the sheep lambing in the fields and the grass starting to grow. Apparently, legend held that if the weather was bad at this time, then spring would be here soon and if the day was fair, we'd be in for a long winter (the logic here?). I think the eternal optomists would like to think of being closer to spring than winter at this point; at least I certainly do.

California gold

I've had a bougainvillea in a large clay pot for over a year now that I've been wanting to plant in the ground. The past week of rains provided a good opportunity to quit procrastinating and "just do it". If all goes well it should take to its new home next to the east wall running along our property line and, come spring, provide "bowers of flowers" just as the song "CA Here I Come" promises.

Winter thoughts

To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June. 
~ Jean-Paul Sartre

Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. 
~ Victor Hugo


One kind word can warm three winter months. 
~ Japanese proverb


If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. 
~ Anne Bradstreet


Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me. 
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Grace

Grace called with a simple request. Could I help her with a cello piece she'd like to play at her church. For a few years we would meet together to go over fingerings, bowings, and most of all, counting for her chosen pieces. I introduced her to Dotzauer and Bach Suites. Grace was not youthful but open to my suggestions and I think I gave her renewed confidence in her playing. It became difficult for her to drive and so I would go to her lovely old house in the village. As the years went by she had a few medical problems and the lesson times became fewer and further apart. One day a for sale sign went out in front of the 100 year old house. I left a message and never heard back and so I was not sure what had happened. Lo and behold I received a Christmas letter this year explaining her move to a retirement community and the difficult process of selling her home and moving. She has kept her cello though, and so today I'm off to visit and maybe we'll plan some duets in the future.

Old car, new car; no car, zip car

  (next car?)

The prospect of an impending sabbatical gives one time to think about their "car situation". First we get rid of the old one before we leave, then we make-do with public transpo/bikes/walking/zip cars, or whatever, when we get to where we're going for a year (New Zealand looks probable). On return we buy a replacement late model vehicle that minimally holds two people and a string bass. (Or three people and a cello.) For larger hauls we'll use the Zip-van from the colleges or rent one for the occasion. The problem is that Mini has just released a maxi-mini (the Countryman)! Now, I have a year and a half to work on my husband to see the beauty of buying a crossover mini; a small (but not too small), fuel-efficient, safe (all wheel drive), cute car that offers our exact capacity requirements :~).

Monday, monday...

(wasn't that an old 60's tune?)

Always so much to think about at the beginning of the work week (and so many other things I'd rather be doing). The college orchestra resumes tonight (yippee to regular rehearsals again), it's a busy week for Xandie (after-school art class, playing incidental music for a drama production, and an out-of-town school friend staying overnight), the elementary strings district concert letter has to get out, there are not 1 but 2 minimum days this week at the jr. high (one reverse and one normal) to figure out rides for and, of course, cello lessons to schedule around all of this stuff.

Clean air and little damage

(photo info)

Seems we've escaped major storm damage here in the LA area and the air is beautifully crisp and clean. The surrounding mountains are gorgeous with their new blanket of snow covered tops but don't even think of going up this weekend; total gridlock, unless you're a local or start driving up in the early hours of the morning.

Sticky keys and other musical maladies

(this is an actual piano)

If you are a piano-nut you have to check out this site!

 About a month ago our piano started to have a "sticky" d and e below middle C. After a call to our beloved piano technician, the problem was swiftly solved. Just as I have seen our recent wintery weather affect the hundreds of string instruments I tune on a weekly basis (Claremont's elementary school string students), the panel under the keyboard had slightly warped and was preventing the keys from returning back into position. Now I can get the "tonic" back in my playing, especially whenever I accompany my students in the key of D!

Rain drops keep falling on my head...

(Pierre Auguste Renoir ~ Umbrellas)

We are in for a serious series of storms this week in So. Cal. People living in burn areas from last summer are sandbagging and/or evacuating. Luckily, we are in the "flats" and only have to worry about hydro-planing and speeding drivers. After experiencing a few downpours this afternoon, I can easily understand the dangers of flash flood warnings in effect. The tornado watch announced earlier today seems to have fizzled out though, thank goodness. I guess we'll only have thunder storms, high winds and water damage to worry about now.

Winter has finally come

(Morph the Dwarf in winter)

We are finally into our rainy season and boy do we need it. This is when all the native flora turns green and starts to bud out. I read in the paper this weekend about not trimming trees after Feb. 1 because of the earlier and prolonged nest-building habits of our native birds, particularly hummingbirds who position their tiny nests at the very end of branches. As we Claremonters know (in the land of trees and PHDs), we have many prune-happy tree trimming companies around our town that don't really know how, when, or what to trim when it comes to our beautiful shade-giving, sound-muffling, oxygen-producing trees.

Comfort food

Something comforting about a casserole in the oven on a rainy evening. Experimenting with a lambless moussaka sort of dish, using chopped turkey meatballs and artichoke pasta sauce. At the momemt it smells pretty good  (a nutmeg, garlic, cinnamon and wine enhanced tomato sauce over a noodle kugel base) and with luck the family will enjoy it....about a 1/2 hour more and time will tell.
p.s. It was very tastey!

San diego safari

Time to visit the animals again. Like Dizzyland we do this park about every 5 years. I'm not crazy about zoos but in this case it's nice to see "wild" animals in a place they can roam. G. got new camera equipt. and X. a new camera for Xmas and so they had conspired to arrange a trip to San Diego to "shoot the animals" this weekend. I have to admit that I did enjoy the tethered balloon ride 400 ft. above the park and the famous "African Adventure" tram ride. As theme parks/zoos go, it's a pretty good one.

Meeting, prepping, reporting, performing

Our music program is nearing the time for the first round of elementary string (and band) concerts. There is much planning and coordinating to do in the next few weeks in addition to the newly resurrected progress reports due at month's end. Today our instrumental music staff will meet over lunch to work out all the minute details, of which there are many! I think it's going to be a l-o-n-g meeting.

Music in the schools

Quartet Euphoria

We have such a wonderful community of artists, musicians and teachers in Claremont. I'd recently asked a Scripps music professor if her faculty string quartet might have time to visit and play for the jr. high school orchestra class this year. Lo and behold they offered to come this week during their winter break at the colleges. What a treat for the kids to get to hear a string quartet perform "up close and personal" and have the opporunity to talk to them afterwards. Truly an inspirational morning for both teachers and students!

Wonder if it's snowin' up on Baldy?

(mt. baldy cam)

Whenever it rains down here I wonder what it's doing up on "Baldy". Often we have to wait awhile for the clouds to clear before we know if there's snow at the top. I've discovered there's a webcam up there and often visibility is good. One can even ski if so inclined after a good snowfall.

Time to transplant

Time to transplant before the rain on Wednesday, or at least the predicted rain. I have a few succulents that I've been wanting to group together for awhile now. The idea of trying to create little colonies that live in low-water zones is becoming more and more appealing as the years of drought go by.

Strange sounds

(Ladder-backed Woodpecker)

It was the sound that first caught my attention; it was unusually loud and not one I recognized. I've learned that your ear draws you to the location of many birds before you actually see them and in this case I heard it from the back door of my kitchen. I've also learned to grab the binocs fast or you might miss a good sighting. It was a male/female pair of Laddder-backed woodpeckers (our usual visitors are of the acorn woodpecker variety) and they were hopping and pecking about in our neighbor's unknown deciduous tree. They didn't stay for long but it was a nice little early-morning treat watching them in their search of "bugs for breakfast".

Sun days

Sunday is the day I try to catch up from the week before, however I'm still catching up from winter break two weeks ago. I willl be getting Monday mornings off for the rest of the school year now, so perhaps that will help with my catch-up back log. It's such a gorgeous day today (sunny and in the 70's) that I need to go outside and soak up a few rays before I return to all my mundane chores.

*  *  *

Airshow time of year

(Cable Airport)

It's that time of year again. When we first moved here 11 years ago I heard the roar of what sounded like a war plane or an airplane-crash-waiting-to-happen above our house one January morning. I ran outside and saw what I thought was some foolish dare-devil pilot flying his small plane in loop-de-loops over my head. Then came one after another and I eventually realized this must be an organized effort. We've now come to look forward to this aerial treat; some years we drive on over to Cable to watch and other years we sit in the front yard and marvel at those fearless flyers and surprises in the sky.

New year's resolution

A good dentist is hard to find and I am glad we found ours:~) One of my 30+ year old fillings has finally given up and needs a crown now. I love a dentist who sees you on time, gets you in and out quickly and with minimal discomfort. It's always good to start the year with those medical/dental appts. and annually restored co-pays. My new year's resolution will be to make (and keep) those appointments.

Planning for 100 years

 

One of our last visits together in San Francisco

(Grandma-mom, Mom-daughter, Daughter-grandchild)

Next month my mom would have been 100 years old; she actually lived to be 97. My sister (5 years older and wiser) and I thought it would be only fitting to celebrate this anniversary in style by meeting in San Fransico, where we were both born, for a post-humous  birthday of sorts. We've begun to make our reservations and "tribute lists" and it's interesting to see which memories (both poignant and humorous) are surfacing. We plan to go to as many places as time and memory allow that will bring back those days when we were "Peggy's girls" and share them with my daughter and both our husbands.

       Margaret "Peggy" Florence Crandall Born February 20, 1910 Stafford, England. Died April 14, 2007 South San Francisco, CA. Born to William and Margaret Wise, Peggy lived a life of service to others. She met her husband, Eugene "Gene" Crandall, while he was serving as an American civilian with the Royal Air Force in England during World War II. They were married in San Francisco on June 15, 1946. Peggy was the loving mother of Carolyn (Alan) Butler and Patricia (Geoffrey) Kuenning; proud grandmother of Alexandra Kuenning and Christopher and the late Angela Butler; dear great-grandmother of Tyler Butler. Family and friends will remember Peggy as a devoted homemaker and dedicated Volunteer. During World War II, British citizens not serving in the armed forces were required to support their country through community service. This ethic became deeply ingrained in Peggy's character, and she continued to serve others for the rest of her life. In 2005, at the age of 95, she was recognized for over thirty years of volunteer service to Seton Hospital. Fiercely proud of her British heritage, Peggy also wanted an active voice in the affairs of her adopted country. Following an intensive course of study on United States history and civics, she took her Oath of Citizenship on August 19, 1958 and never missed voting in an election. Peggy enjoyed gardening, crocheting and knitting, reading, attending theater and opera, baking her famous sausage rolls, hosting family gatherings, and playing a good game of Scrabble. Her home was a virtual Bed & Breakfast for many English friends and family visitors stopping in San Francisco on their trips to the U.S. Peggy touched many lives, and her memory will be honored by all who knew her. 

What I really want to do is ...

(The sound of strings is truly music to my ears)

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest person alive. I can remember years ago saying to Geoff, "I'd be so happy if I were just teaching strings." Going back to work this week made me realize how truly fortunate I am to do what I love for a living, that I work with such dedicated colleagues, and how wonderful the kids are that I teach (including my own).

*  *  *

Speaking of sabbaticals

(next sabbatical?)

One of my Xmas gifts was a handy-sized travel book on New Zealand. So far, this location is one of the "up and running" candidates for our next sabbatical. Professors have this amazing opportunity every 7 years (except for some fluke of luck we were asked to take ours one year early due to too many profs going in 2011-12). Unfortunately, I've just realized that means we have to be packed and ready to go somewhere in only six months time!!!

Sleep deprivation

(~|~)

All three of us experienced the effect of serious sleep deprivation this a.m. I'm hoping that the sunny weather and returning to our normal time zone (plus getting to bed at a reasonable hour) will help remedy the problem. The house is almost stripped of holiday trimmings and the third load of laundry is about to go in. Why do I always feel I need a vacation after the vacation to recuperate?

Up in big sky country and home again

Just flew in from the great northern plains after we spent 5 days in Great Falls to visit Geoff's mom and take care of much business in order to put her house up for sale. It was cold (down to 10 F.) and dry (no snow falling from the sky to speak of) but the couple inches of snow on the ground looked pretty to Xandie and me as long as we stayed inside. During the day we were busy filling a dumpster with trash and old food, surface cleaning the floors, furniture and kitchen so that the realtor and estate sale lady could help us plan the eventual sale. At night there is not much to do; we ate at all 3 of Geoff's favorite restaurants, listened to public radio (the T.V.'s aren't connected), watched DVD's on G.'s laptop, read books by the gas fire, and played cards. Oh, we did have our version of a New Year's Eve celebration with hats, hooters and a bottle of champagne...  We made it home this morning after rising shortly after 4 a.m. (ouch!) and arriving back to sunny So. Calif. by 10:30 a.m.

It's sure good to be home!

Wishing all a Happy New Year