15 April 2010

Yesterday afternoon I was again very tired, but I knew that we would have to work on and finish taxes.  The first question was whether or not Chris had had a chance to work on tabulating any of the receipts and such that I had laid out for him the night before.  He said he had totaled the childcare.  That was good.  He didn't know what to do about the medical.  It is more complicated than most parts.  I asked if he had entered any of the 1099s or anything.  He said he didn't enter anything into the program, just totaled things otherwise.

I finally forced myself downstairs to start working on it all.  I first entered the childcare, since that is one of the first things in the forms.  Then I did the 1099s, which weren't obvious, since some of them were new.  These things went in smoothly and quickly.  Then it was dinner time and a good time for a break.

After dinner, I dragged myself downstairs again.  The medical was still waiting.  I needed Chris's help to do the subtotaling.  So, I put that off until after the kids were in bed.  I finished up everything else I could do.  We put the kids to bed and then tackled the medical expenses.  Everything needed to be subtotaled, and then mileage needed to be calculated.  This is always a royal pain, and there is no guarantee that all your effort will result in any deduction whatsoever.  We slogged through it and I was getting more and more tired.  I started snapping and Chris complained and snapped back that discussing it was delaying our completion even further.  We went back and forth a couple of times and then refocused on the real task at hand.  We finally got through it and called my mom.  I asked for her to run me through her usual list of questions to be sure that we got all of them.  We did.  We had to figure out how to correct the childcare issue that the IRS complained about for 2008.  We rummaged around and finally found it in the worksheet where the W-2 information is entered.  Oddly enough, I specifically remember entering the correct numbers there for the dependent care FSA, but when I looked again, the appropriate line was empty.  Now, I suspect that the software yanked it off the line.  I remember being very careful when I entered all the W-2 information, because of our previous problems with this.  Now the line was blank.  I now have to make a mental note to enter it on this worksheet when entering the W-2 information ***and*** again after everything else is entered!  This really is unacceptable.  The software should be smarter than this.  We still have to straighten out the 2008 childcare issue, which entails giving the IRS more money, plus interest.  

Finally, we paid with Chris's debit card and we were printing.  I begged off and headed for bed.  Chris stayed behind and babysat the printer.  When I got up this morning, the printouts were lying very tidy on his desk.  W-2's were not attached, but everything was neat and tidy.  No extraneous papers, failed printouts, receipts, reports, or anything.  Nice.  I signed both the federal and the state forms after I ate breakfast.  Chris would still have to attach the W-2s from STScI and Hargrove and do the mailing, but I figured he could handle that without me telling him what to do.  He did call me at work during the morning, to ask if we had any 5x7 envelopes.  No.  We've never had a bunch of those.  We've only ever had the standard number 10 business envelopes and the large 10x12 manilla envelopes.  Clearly, he was getting ready to pack up the forms and mail them.  Hurray!

13 April 2010

Last night as Vanessa was getting ready to take a shower, she happened to look in the mirror and saw something on her back.  She called to me to look at it while she was standing in her robe in her room.  I glanced down and spotted something dark in the middle of her back and asked her to turn more towards the light so that I could see better.

There, in the middle of her back was a tick.  I told her to lie face down on her bed and called in Chris.  I had him look at it too.  Then I told him to bring the olive oil and asked Jeremy to get a paper towel.  We started to drip oil onto the tick, drop by drop, to try and get it to back out.  Chris eventually took the oil, put some into a small cup and brought a spoon.  Then I was able to dribble the oil onto the tick easily, using the paper towel to catch what ran off to the side.  We did this for some time, maybe 20 minutes.  The tick alternated between wiggling its legs and moving so that its entire body was sticking straight up out of the skin.  Vanessa was alternating between crying, sobbing, and screaming.  I asked if it was real pain or if she was just freaked out.  She squeaked that it was both.  

I thought it would eventually back itself out of her skin.  When this still didn't happen, I told Chris to go read the medical encyclopedia.  He came back with rubbing alcohol and tweezers.  The encyclopedia instructed to pull the tick out by the head, as close to the skin as possible.  So, Chris rubbed the tweezers down with alcohol, and then he reached over and got the tick by the head and pulled.  And pulled.  And pulled!  Vanessa was screaming by now.  Her skin stretched and stretched and still that tick held on!  Snap.  Finally the tick let go.  Vanessa cried.  I looked carefully at her back.  All that was left was a tiny pink dot.  I looked for, but couldn't see, any parts of the tick remaining in her skin.  Chris said that he could see the tick's mandibles still on it, so that was a very good sign that we didn't leave any parts in Vanessa.  I cleaned her skin with rubbing alcohol.  After she calmed down, she went in and we both combed through her hair very carefully and completely.  No additional ticks.  Then she took a shower.

Wanting to be cautious, we emailed the school nurses and informed them of the tick bite.  We also called the pediatrician's office, after hours.  We quickly got a call back from the pediatrician's nurse.  She asked if we knew how long the tick had been biting her.  We had no idea.  She told us to watch for a red, bulls eye rash, minimum of two inches in diameter, that could appear anywhere between 3 and 30 days after the bite.  The rash could last for 2 months.  We should also watch for flu like symptoms over the same time.  If either happens, we are to take her in to the pediatrician's office and they will do blood work.  If it is positive for Lyme disease, they will start an extensive round of antibiotics.  I have heard of other cases of Lyme disease that is treated with six weeks of antibiotics.  No fun, but better than ignoring it and having worse problems later.

We don't know where she picked up the tick and will likely never know.  Sunday, she was playing outside at both the Tralka's house and next door at the Hanson's.  Yesterday she was also running around the middle school field and woods.  It could have been any of those places.

12 April 2010

I arrived back in Baltimore and Chris and the kids picked me up outside baggage claim.  It was so good to see them!  This really was a long time to be away.  They had just left Hannah's 12th birthday party and were eager to show me everything the make and got while there.  It was a bit overwhelming at first, but I was patient.  I knew they were excited.  After driving a bit, they were able to get the most urgent matters out and they settled down a bit.  I was exhausted, so settling down was a good thing.  

As we drove in the driveway, I got my first glimpse of the kids' "fort".  It was a large piece of leftover bamboo fencing between some trees and held up by wires and string.  It wasn't the prettiest of things, but I was sure not to say anything, at least not right away.  I knew that they had been having fun in it with the Hanson kids, and I didn't want to deflate that.  I figured I could be patient and over time, gently make suggestions that it should come down.  We unloaded my luggage from the car and headed inside.  The kids were ready to disappear over to the Hanson's, but they were eating dinner out back and we still had to make our own dinner.  So, playing was nixed.  I was exhausted enough to want to lie down for a bit.  My back side was sore and sitting wasn't so good.   Finally, I felt like getting up and getting unpacked.  The kids were down on the computer and Chris was barbecuing chicken for chicken caesar salad for dinner.  I wanted to have my suitcases unpacked and laundry started before going to bed.  At least I was successful in that.

11 April 2010

Kailash called me about 15 minutes before I was ready to leave my room this morning.  He left the disk at the front desk for me.  When I got down to the front desk, the office was locked up.  I rang the service bell and waited.  The night attendant waved me around to the little window.  I said I needed to checkout, but that I also thought I would be able to come in and print.  She seemed to hesitate.  I also mentioned that I was to pickup the disk that Kailash had left for me.  She pointed, "This?" I guess so.  I think I was expecting a different disk box, but this was the same box that had been sitting on our table during testing.  She printed out my statement, I printed my email with my itinerary on it, took the disk and headed to my car.  I put the disk in my carryon bag, which was in the trunk.  Then I got in and started for the airport.

Of course there was no traffic.  No cars.  No one on the roads.  It would have been too easy to speed down the empty streets, but I checked myself.  Good thing.  There was a police car driving slowly and pulling around in a parking lot.  I figured he was watching to see if I would speed off once the light turned green.  I didn't and he didn't follow me.  I found 237 fine, but then I saw the north bound exit for 101, but no south bound exit.  I assumed that the instructions Kailash had were wrong and took the next exit.  As I was driving off the exit, thinking I was going to turn around and retrace, I saw a sign off to the left indicating south 101.  So, instead of turning around, I drove straight and parallel to 237 and within a couple of blocks, I found the south 101 exit.  I lost a minute or two, but I didn't have to retrace any of my path.  I found the Chevron gas station near the airport without a problem, but there were very few lights on.  I wasn't convinced that the pumps would work, even though I called the station yesterday to verify that they were open 24 hours.  The pump worked fine and I was on my way quickly.

I pulled into the Enterprise car rental return lane and stopped the car.  There was no one to be seen anywhere.  No signs providing instructions, nothing.  I left the car unlocked, but took the keys.  Looking around and seeing no instructions, I headed to the bus pick up area.  Another car renter described where the Enterprise key return box was.  I headed off with all my baggage to find it.  It was nearly invisible.  Without such specific directions on where it was, I might never have found it, and then I wouldn't have known what to do with the keys.  I put the keys in the box and then waited for the bus.  My flight was out of terminal C, the old one.  Things are completely different at the San Jose Airport now, with all the construction added to the new security regulations.  It was a maze.

When I boarded the plane, I had to exit the building on the ground floor, walk through a secured "tunnel" and then up a ramp to the front of the plane.  It's a good thing I didn't dillydally at the gate when they started boarding everyone.  The plane was full and the last several people had to check their bags through to their final destination, since there was no space left in the overheads.  I knew this could be an issue and that is why I was quick to move when they announced general boarding.  It happened again in Minneapolis.  A full flight with too much carryon baggage.  Again, I was quick and easily found a spot for my bag.

While in the Minneapolis airport, I stopped in a restaurant close to my gate to get a salad that I could take on board the plane.  I asked about wheat in the dressings.  I wasn't convinced that I was getting reliable information, so I suggested just oil and vinegar.  Balsalmic vinegar would be fine.  I was dealing with the bar tender and when she heard me say balsalmic, she asked if there was any wheat in that.  I had to restate several times that I was interested in balsalmic *vinegar*, not *vinegrette*.  She just looked at me.  Then she deferred to the waitresses and asked them.  They didn't know and they asked me a couple of times if I just wanted to read the label.  No, I figure someone back there can read the label for me.  I waited patiently and when the bar tender finally came out with the box, she opened it for me to see.  Right there in the corner was a fluffy white dinner roll.  She was saying there was no wheat in the dressing, and I pointed.  She took the roll out and I insisted that I couldn't eat that.  She took the cup of dressing out, left it on the bar and took the box away.  I finally got what appeared to be a new salad, but my confidence in it being GF was shaken.

10 April 2010

Yesterday, I was able to leave the testing around 3:40 or so.  I dropped off my things at my hotel room, freshened up a bit and then called Rosie to let her know that I was just leaving.  She had just gotten out of the shower and was worried that she wouldn't have enough time to get ready before I arrived.  When I got to Scotts Valley, I got off at Granite Creek and drove down Scotts Valley Drive.  The Denny's is not the Scotts Valley Diner and Zanotto's is now the Scotts Valley Market.  Otherwise, things looked pretty much the same, but with different businesses in the buildings I remember.  I drove across Mt. Hermon Road, up Whispering Pines to Estrella.  I drove to our old house and parked just down the street.  I walked back with my camera and took several pictures.  They put up a white picket fence around the front yard, which now had nice, clean cement steps going up to the front door.  They also put two pillars in front of the front door, supporting a small extension of the roof.  They changed the front door and added shutters to the new windows.  It looked like they kept the interior wood blinds in the living room.  They put  a free-standing, Victorian-styled mailbox at the bottom of the concrete steps.  The driveway was very pitted and buckled, with a few asphalt patches and was in desperate need of a complete reworking.  In general, the house looked fine, but with a very different facade, given the white picket fence.

I then drove out to Lockwood Lane, back to Mt. Hermon Road, to Kings Village Drive.  The shopping centers along Mt. Hermon had been updated and painted and they looked nice.  The bus depot, with its turquoise and pick decor looked out of place among the green and sage and browns of the California styled shopping centers.  Bean Creek was getting a new sidewalk, as evidenced by the open trench along the edge of the street.  Oak Lane hasn't changed.  Teenagers stared at me as I drove by the driveway off to the left of the lower part of the street.  Both Rosie's place and our old place looked pretty much the same.  McDermott's old house still has purple trim.

Rosie greeted me warmly at the door.  Her face seemed fuller than I remember.  I think that is a good sign that she is eating better than she once did.  I met her cats, one of her housemates, looked at and discussed her plants and just generally caught up for a few minutes.  Then we headed to the Santa Cruz Wharf.  She wanted to eat Carniglias, but they had redecorated.  Rosie asked about it and they said that the restaurant had just changed owners about two months ago.  Their menu was much smaller than I seem to recall and it seemed the clientele was more casual than I remember.  The prices certainly seemed cheaper, as well.  We had a very nice chat.  Rosie told me all about her communications with the Domains and the falling out with the McDermotts.  She also filled me in on her right ankle, which is something that has been going on for about two years now.  It sounds like her orthopedic surgeon for the ankle is not the right doctor for her.  He keeps insisting on surgery after surgery.  Apparently he comes highly recommended from many different people, all of whom seem to be in Santa Cruz.  I think they are all just passing the business around to each other.  Someone told her that this guy is "the best in town."  Precisely.  "In town."  I told her that she needs to find someone over the hill that is better in line with her own philosophies.  She seemed to hear me.

She asked me about Vanessa and how her calcium issue came about.  I told her the highlights.  She was mild in asking about the Tums.  I told her that it has only been three weeks ago now that Vanessa's calcium level and medication is finally stable.  Now that it is, we can finally start asking the questions about alternatives to Tums.  We did, in fact, ask at our appointment in March.  The doctors need to look into it.  I think they prescribe Tums simply because they know it  and it is widely available.  They are not nutritionists, after all.  They aren't necessarily knowledgeable about health food stores and alternative supplements.  So, we need to keep pursuing this with them and get the exact specification of what it is that Vanessa' needs.  Then we can do some research ourselves to find good supplements that meet those needs.

09 April 2010

Yesterday I left testing around 4:15 PM and headed to the drug store.  I bought a couple of things and then headed for my room.  Unfortunately, my keycard didn't let me into the 4th floor hall, after I had climbed three flights of stairs, of course.  Hauling all of my bags and stuff, I went to the front desk and they said that the cards stop working sometimes for unknown reasons.  The clerk offered me a wine ticket to be used in the restaurant and setup a wake up call for me.  I went to my room, dropped my stuff and called and talked to Chris and the kids.  They were watching a movie, so we didn't talk long. Then I went down to the bar.  Almost no one was there.  The bartender asked if I wanted to take my wine back to my room.  I hadn't thought that was an option, but it sounded better than sitting in a bar by myself, writing in my daybook.  On my way back to my room, I stopped in the market and bought a small carton of milk to have with my dinner.

I had leftovers from the previous night's dinner at the Faultline Brewery.  It was a salad with blackened salmon, so I figured it would be just fine straight from my refrigerator.  And it was.  Salad, wine, smoked gouda, crackers, strawberries, and then milk and a bit of chocolate.  Very nice.  I talked with Rosie and made plans to pick her up for dinner in Santa Cruz tonight.  She was happy and excited.  I'm sure it will be nice.  I will leave testing as soon as I can get out, maybe as early as 3:30.  This will help me minimize traffic getting to Santa Cruz on a Friday afternoon.  Minimize, but not avoid.

After that, I poked around on the internet for awhile and stumbled upon the MIRA newsletters.  One of them had brief bios for Russ, Martin, Sumita, and I.  I sent it to Scott Friedman and he found it interesting.  Time flies when you aren't paying attention.

When I got into testing this morning, Chad had already made a backup of yesterday's data and moved it to the networked terminal.  He copied it from the external disk to the internal disk.  Then I connected my laptop to the network and our external drive and started an rsync of yesterday's backup.  It finished without incident.  By midmorning, Chad asked if I wanted to take a turn doing the processing.  

08 April 2010

Yesterday, Kailash came in with the second disk and admin privileges for his laptop so that writing to the disk will work fine.  Then Scott of the WFS group discovered that pixels with values of 20000 were being marked as saturated.  After a bit of investigation, it was found that a gain level of 4 was hard coded into the DHAS.  It was fixed and all subsequent data was processed properly.  This left all the previous data to be reprocessed with the proper gain.  We created a list of the zip files and I edited it to give the exposure number of the first exposure in the series of three.  The first is supposed to be the background and it should be subtracted from the second and third exposures.  John wrote a wrapper to read this list file and process the data according to the "first" exposure I identified in the list file.  I handed off the list to John and then left for dinner with Karl and Chad.

Karl wanted to go to the Faultline Brewery in Sunnyvale.  Chad and I were game, since we both wanted to leave for the day and those that were staying to work had ordered in Thai food.  We convinced Karl to disassemble his bicycle and drive, since both Chad and I have dinky little Hyundai Accent rental cars.  Karl was accommodating.  It took probably 20 minutes or more to get there at 7 PM, since traffic on the 101 was not moving very quickly.  When we arrived, we had a wait of 45 minutes for a table, so we decided to sit in the bar.   It turned out to be ladies' night and my margarita was only $3.  The bar was slow in making our drinks and apparently Karl was given the wrong beer.  We got called to a table in what seemed more like 20 minutes.  We ordered and Karl's and my dinners came in a reasonable time, but Chad's dinner got forgotten.  Karl and I waited for Chad to get his food, even though he had said we could start.  It took all three of us to stare down the waitress to get her attention.  She finally showed up with Chad's food, after some time.  We must have waited 15 minutes after Karl's and my food arrived.  The place was busy, but this was a bit much.  When we got the check, we noticed that Karl's incorrect beer was charged and my second margarita was $7.  Apparently, Ladies' Night is only available in the bar.  If she would have told me that, I would have gotten up and walked the 20 feet to the bar area to get my second one.  Karl drove us back to Lockheed, since our rental cars were there.  I headed straight back to my hotel.

When I got to the hotel, I noticed a lot of noise in the street.  It sounded like jack hammering.  I put things away and went right to bed.  The noise continued.  I must have dosed off, but at 11:25 I woke up to continued noise.  I got up and called the front desk.  I asked if the city of Palo Alto had a curfew for noise.  The desk clerk said yes, it did.  I complained about the noise and the clerk apologized and offered to have me switch rooms to one further away from the street.  Not at that hour!  He continued to tell me that the city was fixing a broken water pipe, since half of the city didn't have water.  I thanked him for the information and he apologized again for the disruption.  I went back to bed.  It seemed not too long after that that the noise stopped.  I wonder if the hotel called the city or the police to complain or if they just finished their work.  When I got up this morning, I noticed the faucet sputtered several times.  I was happy to see that the water was at least clear and not muddy or dirty.

When I came in this morning, John said that it had run fine, but we needed to edit a few lines.  Some of the images identified weren't actually the best choices for processing.  Christopher and John had marked up a printed copy of the list.  John packed up to leave and Christopher made the necessary changes to the list file.  We started it running.  When it was done, we copied the data to Scott's bigger disk and gave them the data.  After that was complete, Chad and I used the backup instructions that I copied into my notebook to make a copy of all of yesterday's data on the external disk.  That backup directory was copied to the external drive, the drive moved to the networked terminal, the backup directory copied to the networked terminal's internal drive, and then copied across the network to our own external drive connected to my laptop.

07 April 2010

Yesterday morning, I met Kailash for coffee in the hotel lobby and he took me to the airport to get me a rental car. Thrifty, which is preferred by the Institute, only had vans and SUVs, so I went to the Enterprise counter. They had a compact car available, so I got it. Now, we were enabled to take shifts in supporting the data collection. I immediately headed to Whole Foods and bought a bunch of GF non-perishable and a few GF perishable foods. My hotel room has a refrigerator, but no microwave. So I bought some fresh fruit, breakfast bars, cheese, hummus, sparkling water, and crackers. I really tried not to buy too much, knowing that I didn't want to waste food or carry the non-perishables home. I did go overboard on the GF snack bars. They had several flavors of Lara Bars that I had never seen before, so I wanted to try them. And since they won't go bad anytime soon, I bought one of each of the ones I was interested in. Those and a few other brands, like Bumble Bee Bar. Some of these seem easier to find in California. I had first tried the Bumble Bee Bar in Downey last summer, when staying with Grandma. Her Ralph's store had them and I liked them.

After putting away the food in my room, I collected my laundry and headed to the hotel laundry room. I also need quarters, but right next to the laundry room is a market. I got quarters there. In the laundry room, I put quarters in for the laundry detergent, but the machine ate my quarters and didn't produce any detergent. I asked at the front desk and they sold me the single size boxes of detergent. Finally, I was able to start the washing. I waited outside at the tables provided for diners at the market/grill. I moved my clothes to the dryer and headed back up to my room. I talked to Chris, but the kids were out playing with the Hansons, while Chris was talking to John next door. Then I folded my clothes and put them away just in time to get into the testing to relieve Kailash. He didn't leave right away. Testing continued, with sporadic training sessions and updates on the latest scripts and wrapper scripts. He finally did leave, and came back in time for a late dinner at Rice Thai Restaurant. It was good. Kailash and I agreed that I would come in for the morning shift today, arriving around 8 AM.

I did my usual morning routine and was out of my room by 7:30 AM. I wanted to find a drug store to get toiletries and a coffee shop for a large coffee I could take into testing with me. Every drug store or grocery store was still closed. Nothing opens before 8 AM. I knew there was a Peet's down on El Camino, but I missed it in my haste looking for a drug store. I never saw a Starbucks, despite knowing that there was one somewhere. I finally found a little cafe and got my coffee. On the way back up El Camino, I finally spotted the Starbucks, right next to the Tofu House. Now I know. I still have to get to the drug store later. Kailash is supposed to be coming in sometime between 2 and 3 PM. Today for lunch we walked to the larger cafeteria, which has many more choices and a great salad bar. It is in a separate building, but still on the Lockheed campus. It was nice, the weather was nice, and we sat outside to eat. Very nice.

Posted to Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef

I became a fan of the Pioneer Woman after just one recipe on Christmas morning. I became curious about the Pioneer Woman many, many months earlier.

My sister-in-law (aka sister) has been a non-food blogger for years and maintains a long list of blogs she reads. I've been curious, but have never had time to investigate many of the blogs listed. The Pioneer Woman is on her list.

Then some time last year I think, my sister blogged about Monkey Bread. I had never heard of such a thing. I have since come to find out that I might be the only person in this country who hasn't heard of and had Monkey Bread. I grew up on the west coast. Apparently, people here on the east coast and those from the midwest know of it. How did I miss this?

In any case, my sister made some Monkey Bread using the Pioneer Woman's recipe and she posted pictures. It sounded and looked so good! My mouth started watering. Drooling really. But by that time I was already gluten-free. The Pioneer Woman's recipe called for cans of ready-to-bake biscuits. I have yet to find any such thing in the Land of Gluten Freeness.

I used to love baking. And I used to believe I was a good baker. Not only did my taste buds tell me that, but others told me. I believed them. Then, a few years ago, I was forced to become gluten-free. I was devastated. I put all of my effort and energy into things that came out of the oven tasting less than yummy. I even whined to a friend, "I used to be a good baker!"

I do miss the ease of just following a shared recipe and basking in the joy of warm, yummy goods straight from the oven. I have since learned to substitute with a wide variety of gluten-free flours. Texture still challenges me, but I'm working on that. And I have started to gather gluten-free baking cookbooks. And I began reading your blog. Your willingness to try and adjust and tweak the recipes has inspired me to keep my hopes up for my baking.

This is how I found your Buttermilk Biscuits. That was it. I could now try the Pioneer Woman's Monkey Bread for the first time.

It looked so good.

So, with the Pioneer Woman's Monkey Bread recipe and your Buttermilk Biscuit recipe to substitute for the cans of the ready-made variety, I was all set. I decided I would take the plunge on Christmas morning. Somehow, it didn't occur to me that this might be a bit ambitious for such a high-profile day. I had complete confidence that the biscuits would be yummy and the Monkey Bread delectable. I knew it. I just knew it.

My daughter worked with me make three batches of your buttermilk biscuit recipe on Christmas morning. She even delayed opening her gifts, because she wanted to help make something yummy that I could enjoy too. I stirred the sugar and butter on the stove. We tossed the biscuit balls around in the cinnamon and sugar and then into the tube pan. It took awhile, but every minute was full of anticipation and fun. It was Christmas morning after all! Finally it was ready for the oven. We slid it in and then we opened some gifts. We were there in front of the oven when the timer beeped. That Monkey Bread filled the house with the best smell for a holiday morning. It was the smell of love and family and happiness and warmth. And it was the smell of something incredibly tasty!

And it was! Absolutely delicious! We huffed and puffed on those gooey, sugary balls to get them cool enough to eat. My husband is a man of few words, but I've never seen him go back for so many seconds! And he is not gluten-free. That was the best endorsement I could have had, outside of my very happy and satisfied belly!

My belief in my baking was renewed. I am a good baker. And it just so happens that I am a good gluten-free baker! I still face challenges with texture and balance, but I know many good things will come of my attempts. Many, many thanks to you and the Pioneer Woman for making it possible and renewing that belief!

Gem from the Dinner Table

Last night at the dinner table, Dude was trying to ask me something. Finally, he got it out.

"Mom, were you born before or after the Civil War?"

Oh, I feel so young....

I stifled my laughter and said, "After. And after World War I and after World War II and after the Korean War and after the Vietnam War (mostly). But I was in college during the first Iraqi war."

Is this why we have kids? To help us feel young?

Maybe I felt that way this time. But I am not completely delusional.

I know all too well that, right around the corner, there will be something coming our of their mouths to make me feel old.

I guess that's better than not feeling at all. And I'm sure I'll manage to laugh with them about it then too.

And just remember that you, too, were born after the Civil War. Feeling better already, right?!

Obstacle Course

We are still digging out from record-breaking snowfalls. Government offices, schools, and many businesses have been closed for the better part of a week (or more) due to the snow.

Today is President's Day and I have to work. No liberal leave or administrative leave has been declared, so I will be driving into the city for my meetings.

I had been out on the streets around our house a couple of times in the last few days. Even as late as Friday, most areas were plowed, but that does not indicate to what level of safety they had. In numerous places, the banks of snow (and ice) were higher than my line of sight while driving in my four-wheel-drive vehicle. With the added wind, several places had blowing snow over the road and in the shade, leaving patches of snowy and icy roadway. Driving around was possible, but I wouldn't have recommended it if avoidable.

And I *love* my four-wheel drive vehicle.

By Sunday evening, more had been done to clear the tall piles of snow blocking visibility. At a traffic circle near our house, the road crews had managed to clear the center of the circle and reduce the height of the side snow banks down to two feet tall or so. This was a vast improvement. Things are getting safer on the roads, but that's no reason not to continue to be careful.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my 4W drive vehicle?!!

This morning, as I headed to work, I paid attention to the condition of the roads as I approached the city.

As soon as I crossed the city line, the roads got worse. No exaggerating. As. soon. as. I. crossed. the. city. line.

Normally an undivided, four lane street was suddenly a two and a half lane street, with tall snow banks in the lane I typically use. Snow banks higher than my vehicle roof were everywhere. Normal right turn lanes were not cleared, backing up traffic worse that usual. Divided streets with two lanes in each direction *and* on-street parking were suddenly transformed into one lane of traffic, with cars buried in normal parking spots covered with snow, cars stopped or parked in the right most traffic lane, and chairs in the street. The chairs, of every type imaginable, were there to save parking spots in shoveled areas of the right most traffic lane. Plastic deck chairs. Wood dining chairs. Vinyl kitchen chairs.

There is never any warning when coming around a curve, you find the lane you are in is filled with snow and/or stranded/parked cars!

When in doubt, stay to the left.

Talk about needed to pay attention while driving! This is no joke of an obstacle course! This is dangerous!

Too bad the drivers don't seem to know how to drive cautiously.

I arrived at work safely and not too much later than usual. I'm sure the speed of my arrival had less to do with the condition of the roads, and more to do with the fact that today is a holiday. For some.

And as of 1pm today, more snow is expected. That's in 7 minutes....

If I had wanted a multi-faceted obstacle course, I would have signed up for boot camp.

Be safe.

Not Welcome

I offered to proofread his KSA, Knowledge and Skills Assessment for an application.

He sounded reluctant.

I offered again and left it alone.

Later I asked if it was done. He said yes.

"Oh, I guess you don't need it proofread then."

"Well, I still have until midnight tonight to make changes."

"Oh, okay. Well, then I'll look at it if you want."

He starts one paragraph by talking about a class he took in high school. He then progressing forward in time. Reviewers don't want to start at the beginning. They want reverse chronological! Ugh.

He is just shooting himself in the foot and is insistent in wanting to do it this way. Why doesn't he want to make it the best for THE REVIEWERS? Why doesn't he pay attention to any of the information given to him by the unemployment people??!!! They know what they are talking about.

I guess I can understand if he doesn't want to take my word for it. I'm a wife.

But follow the guidelines and suggestions given out by the job search people!

Stubbornness is not called for here. Give up on what YOU want and do it they way THEY want it.

UGH!

change of regime

I can't believe there was no communication. As of October 1, in just 9 days, the NICMOS team will be absorbed into the WFC3 team and Anton will go to WIT.

When did the NICMOS team get notified??? Did I miss a team meeting? If so, why wasn't it emailed around to the team???

This IMPOSES a change in the boss I report to for NICMOS. It affects me!

Management has got some serious communication problems. Do they think so little of the remaining members of the NICMOS team to completely neglect to notify them of this change???

Get a grip. Don't cuss. Don't fume. Just ask and listen. THEN DIGEST.

Remain non-committal.

Bury it.

Just like you bury everything else.

At least for this afternoon.

Don't pull a Cherry.

50 Things

...I want to do before I die....

1. Go to Space (preferrably do an untethered space walk, in which I am my own satellite orbiting the Earth)
2. Learn to speak, read, and write "fluent" French
3. Learn to play the piano proficiently
4. Read the Bible from cover to cover
5. Fly on the flying trapese
6. Visit the Galapogos Islands
7. Snorkel/dive the Great Barrier Reef
8. See molten lava flow into the ocean and sizzle
9. See the aurora
10. Hold and kiss a grandchild of mine
11. Drive an NSX at high speed, preferrably on an open road
12. Visit New York City
13. Personally see all the known surviving Clement Heaton windows and artwork (at least in the US, if not the world)
14. Visit the Taj Mahal
15. Stand on the Great Wall of China
16. Visit Bodio, Switzerland
17. Ride the train across America
18. Camp in the Banff National Forest
19. Crochet myself a nice afghan
20. Write a biography (maybe even autobiography)
21. Put my children's baby books together beautifully
22. Visit the Keck telescopes
23. Take voice lessons
24. Tour New Zealand
25. Visit the natural wonders of Alaska
26. Ride the Orient Express
27. Eat a fresh lobster dinner in Boston
28. Take swing (dance) lessons, preferrably with my significant other
29. Visit Paris and the Eiffel Tower
30. Send parents to see the Paris Air Show and family in France
31. Have a pedicure with no pressure to return to normal life immediately
32. Visit Niagra Falls
33. Witness a launch of the Space Shuttle
34. Read all of "War and Peace"
35. Go up into the Statue of Liberty

Activities for DC Area

DC

• National Fireworks on the Mall


• American History Museum (closing Fall 2006 for 2 years)


• Air & Space Museum


• Air & Space Museum Extension


• Mars IMAX Movie


• American Art Museum


• Hirschorn Modern Art Museum


• Spy Museum


• National Zoo


• Washington Monument - go up


• Natural History Museum(23 Apr 2009)


• Heaton window in DC church


• Cherry Blossoms


• Mount Vernon Estate (Virginia)

Baltimore

• Walters Museum


• Baltimore Zoo


• National Aquarium


• Port Discovery


• Fireworks at the Inner Harbor


• Maryland Science Center

Annapolis

• Downtown Annapolis


• Woodwind Cruise on the Chesapeake Bay


• Bay Bridge Walk

Ellicott City

• Walk downtown E.C.


• B & O Railroad Museum

Coming to Dinner

Look who's coming to dinner tonight!

This evening we arrived home pretty much as usual.  After decompressing for a bit, Chris happened to look out of our kitchen window.  Without warning, he shouts, "Come outside!"

"What?  Why?"

"Who?"

"All of you!"

"What's going on?  What's wrong?!"

"Just come outside!  Now!"

Let me just say that I really do prefer to have guests provide us with a bit of notice before arriving.

This one didn't bother.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Common Snapping Turtle.  Or maybe the Alligator Snapping Turtle.  I don't know which it is, but we do know for a fact that it snaps!

It was right in the middle of the street, at the height of "rush hour traffic" arriving home.  We did not want the turtle to get hit by a car.

Really.  We do not want to have the remnants being picked over by the resident, neighborhood turkey vultures.

We really, really did not want the turtle to get hit.  Not right in front of our house or anywhere else.

That is why Chris picked it up.

And got snapped at!

Wow, let me tell you that those turtles have necks that can extend out nearly as far back as to their tails!

And quick!  I didn't think a turtle could move that quickly!  Okay, so they can't run, but they can snap fast!

It scared us all!  The kids freaked out and Chris dropped it.  Luckily, it was only an inch or two off the ground when he snapped.

Apparently, they have an affinity for the ground.

Chris tried to coerce the turtle to the side of road with gentle prodding with a stick, but when it got really mad...

it hopped!

I'm not kidding.

It hopped and snapped angrily at the same time.  And fast!

Who would have thought a turtle can hop?  Certainly not the hare.

After getting the turtle only slightly closer to the side of our street to avoid disaster, Chris finally got our big push broom and "swept" or "pushed" or "prodded" it over into the grass lining the street.

I'm not thrilled with a snapper in our yard, but it is better than in the street.

This is not my average snapper for dinner!  I prefer the fishy kind.

Progress Log

I am just starting a progress log, at the suggestion of Henriette Anne Klauser in her book, Writing on Both Sides of the Brain.

I want to write fiction, and a memoir of David's cancer. I already have opportunities to write non-fiction, technical and scientific articles at work. I want to expand on that. I want to have a voice and share it. I want to think creatively and let the words flow.

This is the beginning of monitoring my progress. The next exercise I am tasked with is freewriting or rapidwriting.

14.02.2009 photo book

Fifes and Drums 

Henry James by Jacques-Emile Blanche

Walt Whitman by John White Alexander

Automatic Telegraph Reciever, Samuel Finley Breese Morse 

Men of Progress by Christian Schussele

The South Ledges, Appledore by Childe Hassam

The Victorian Chair by Childe Hassam

Obama by Shepard Fairey

Peacocks and Peonies II by John La Farge

Night in Bologna by Paul Cadmus

Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol

Maya Angelou

La Barba???

Luce Foundation Center, Presidential Cupcakes

Untitled (blue bowl) by Mauice Heaton

Best Intentions

Try using NovaMind or the free software options of FreeMind, Pimki, WikkaWiki, VUE, XMIND to develop plot diagram.

Write Away by Elizabeth George

Characters

1. Real people have flaws.
2. We all doubt ourselves over something.
3. We grow and change through events.
4. We all live with conflicts.