- Turkey
- Corn bread stuffing
- corn bread
- green bean casserole
- wheat-free pecan pie
- cranberry relish
Them:
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thanksgiving Dinner
Us:
Monday, November 10, 2008
Christmas Visit
Things To Do:
Visit Mickie
DC:
- White House - 10 Nov 2008, sent Mikulski email requesting tour
- National Christmas Tree
- American History Museum
- Udar-Hazy Center A&S Extension Museum
- Luce Center - Heaton bowl
- National Building Museum
- Mount Vernon?
- Naval Observatory?
Baltimore:
- Baltimore Museum of Industry
- National Aquarium
- Port Discovery
- Walters Museum
Other:
- Annapolis
- Downtown Ellicott City
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Stupid
This is just plain stupid.
Vanessa and I both forgot this morning that she needed to take a note to school, so that she could attend the Geography Bee practice after school today.
Pure forgot.
We have remembered every other time so far. This time, we forgot.
Around 9 AM this morning, I received an email from her teacher that we had forgot a note for the Geo Bee practice. The teacher suggested contacting someone in the office (did not provide a specific contact person), in order to provide permission, if I so wished.
I immediately responded to the teacher thanking her for letting me know. I also said that yes, I wanted Vanessa to go to the Geo Bee practice and that I would contact the office. I asked the teacher if there is anyone in particular that I should contact.
I know that the teachers are unable to read and respond to email in any timely fashion during the school day, so I went ahead and looked up the school web site and found the office administrators' email addresses. I wrote an email providing permission for Vanessa to attend the practice today and sent it to three of what appeared to be the most appropriate office administrators.
Three of them.
At 1:30 this afternoon, I still had not gotten a response from anyone. Not the teacher. Not any of the three administrators.
So, I called the school office. The person who answered was none of the three that I had sent the email to. I explained everything to this individual and then she asked me to hold. When she came back on the line, she said that yes, the email had been received (by at least one of the intended recipients), but that in the future, Suzy Que (named changed) should be emailed.
The correct person to direct my email to, Miss Susy Que, was, in fact, on the list of three that I did email this morning.
And then the individual on the phone with me said, "Oh, but she's not in 95% of the time."
Why, please tell me, would ANYONE instruct me to email someone who is, 95% of the time, NOT IN THE OFFICE?????
Give me a break, people.
V Birthday
Last Minute
- balloons - pick up - PAID
- donut holes - pick up and pay for
- Goodie bags
- keychain
- tatoo
- pencil
- candy - pixie, tootsie, air
RSVPs
- Vanessa
- Jeremy
- Gwynn
- Arman
- Hannah
- Matthew
- Danny
- Alexis
- Brandon
- Christina
- Domonique
- Kali
- Tyler
- Christian
- Talia
- Courtney
Negative RSVPs
- Sarah Colbert
- Sadie Bowers
Thank Yous
- Grandma & Grandpa - Lego House
- Manhas - art set
- Hannah -
- Matthew -
- Arman -
- Danny -
- Tyler & Christian -
- Scotts -
- Talia & Courtney - Indy Jones Legos
- Kali & Ivan - TV microscope
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Secretary
Missy wants to be Secretary for the school student council. She turned in the paperwork and insisted on making a poster.
I stopped by the store on the way home from work and bought a poster board. When I got home with it, I instructed Missy to lay out how she wanted her poster on a plain sheet of paper first. Once she knew what she was going to do, then she could use a pencil and draw it out on the poster board.
She did lay out the design on the plain paper, but not very tidily. Then she started on the poster with the pencil. As she was doing this, I saw that she had misspelled the word 'Secretary'. I told her to check it and she insisted that it was right.
"No, it's not. Check again."
"Yes it is!"
"No, you are missing the first 'r'. You have the information sheet right there, use it to get the spelling correct."
Then in a small voice,
".... Oh ...."
Right. She then corrected 'secretary'. I told her that was the reason for doing it in pencil first and to make sure to check over everything very carefully. Then I left to do other things.
When she announced that she was done with the pencil and was ready to move on to the markers, I came in to look it over.
Instead of drawing the words exactly as she would trace them with the markers, she had done the second half (her motto) very quickly and it was rather sloppy. It definitely should not be traced. So, I told her she needed to clean it up, erase the messy parts and get it looking just the way she wanted before starting with the markers.
She went back to work and fixed it up a bit. Then she started with the markers.
It was getting close to bedtime, so I began helping her by coloring with another colored marker on other words. She finished her name and wanted to add some glitter highlighting to her name, so she did that. Unfortunately, she is too quick about doing each step, and the highlighting didn't look fantastic.
It was getting late, we were too far behind, and she needed to get to bed. So, I told her I would finish up the rest for her, which was just coloring in letters with the marker.
I sent her off to bed.
Later, I returned to the poster and finished the coloring. I worked at tidying up the edges of the letters, filling in thin spots, and generally doing what I could make it look the best I could.
After declaring it complete, I got my camera to take a picture. I placed the poster in the middle of the table, stood up on a chair and aimed to take the picture.
As I was centering the poster in the camera display, I froze.
She was not going to be able to take this poster to school the next day.
I was so disappointed and frustrated.
When she got up the next morning, I told her she wasn't going to be able to take it to school.
"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy???"
"Go look at it."
(long pause while studying the poster)
"What? I don't see anything."
"Look again."
(pause)
"I still don't see what's wrong."
"Check your name."
In the tiniest of voices,
"Oh."
After a bit, she said she could squeeze it in. I told her, no, she couldn't. It was too obvious.
I bought another poster board later that afternoon.
When running for an office that involves note taking, typing, and the like, one should not hang a poster with a misspelled name that has been unmistakeably corrected.
Here is the second poster. Much better, Missy!
I stopped by the store on the way home from work and bought a poster board. When I got home with it, I instructed Missy to lay out how she wanted her poster on a plain sheet of paper first. Once she knew what she was going to do, then she could use a pencil and draw it out on the poster board.
She did lay out the design on the plain paper, but not very tidily. Then she started on the poster with the pencil. As she was doing this, I saw that she had misspelled the word 'Secretary'. I told her to check it and she insisted that it was right.
"No, it's not. Check again."
"Yes it is!"
"No, you are missing the first 'r'. You have the information sheet right there, use it to get the spelling correct."
Then in a small voice,
".... Oh ...."
Right. She then corrected 'secretary'. I told her that was the reason for doing it in pencil first and to make sure to check over everything very carefully. Then I left to do other things.
When she announced that she was done with the pencil and was ready to move on to the markers, I came in to look it over.
Instead of drawing the words exactly as she would trace them with the markers, she had done the second half (her motto) very quickly and it was rather sloppy. It definitely should not be traced. So, I told her she needed to clean it up, erase the messy parts and get it looking just the way she wanted before starting with the markers.
She went back to work and fixed it up a bit. Then she started with the markers.
It was getting close to bedtime, so I began helping her by coloring with another colored marker on other words. She finished her name and wanted to add some glitter highlighting to her name, so she did that. Unfortunately, she is too quick about doing each step, and the highlighting didn't look fantastic.
It was getting late, we were too far behind, and she needed to get to bed. So, I told her I would finish up the rest for her, which was just coloring in letters with the marker.
I sent her off to bed.
Later, I returned to the poster and finished the coloring. I worked at tidying up the edges of the letters, filling in thin spots, and generally doing what I could make it look the best I could.
After declaring it complete, I got my camera to take a picture. I placed the poster in the middle of the table, stood up on a chair and aimed to take the picture.
As I was centering the poster in the camera display, I froze.
She was not going to be able to take this poster to school the next day.
I was so disappointed and frustrated.
When she got up the next morning, I told her she wasn't going to be able to take it to school.
"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy???"
(long pause while studying the poster)
"What? I don't see anything."
"Look again."
(pause)
"I still don't see what's wrong."
"Check your name."
In the tiniest of voices,
"Oh."
After a bit, she said she could squeeze it in. I told her, no, she couldn't. It was too obvious.
I bought another poster board later that afternoon.
When running for an office that involves note taking, typing, and the like, one should not hang a poster with a misspelled name that has been unmistakeably corrected.
Here is the second poster. Much better, Missy!
