On the Road Again

Hello from the road! I'm in Boston for work. I came out on Saturday to see my sister - we had a good time! Today, in discussing tomorrow's schedule, we realized I didn't allow myself enough time to fininsh my training session and get to the airport. The training sessions here are going really well, and we don't want to reschedule the last session and lose momentum. It's been a while since I traveled through an airport of any real size, so, on the advice of my team, I changed my flight home. Since I haven't blogged since the last time I was on the road, I figured it was probably time to check in!

Steph and I ran through Target on Sunday, picking up a few things for my stay in town, and some stuff for Steph's house. I ended up at a different Target last night with some of the team from work, picking up a couple more things for the trip (and a book to read on the plane home). Good Old Target!

Other Boston Observations:

• The local newscasters don't have the local accent!
• The 99 Restaurant has pretty good food!
• There are more hills here than I expected (not sure why...)

That's it for now!

The Midwest Hurricane

This past Sunday, the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through our area. Between about noon and 3pm, the wind was whipping around like crazy - 70+ mph...it was still a Tropical Storm! But by 3:30, the wind died down, the leaves settled, and we came out to assess the damage.

We never lost power at the house, but my inlaws did, and are still out of power. Most of the rest of the city is also out of power, so school is cancelled, street lights are out, stores aren't open...

And I'm getting this all second hand. I'm out of town!

When I left for the airport on Sunday, I got an idea of how much of a mess Ike left behind - a HUGE tree had fallen across a road outside our neighborhood, all the traffic lights were out on the way to the interstate, leaves and limbs all over. I believe some areas are getting their power back, but the schools have been closed all week. I was at the airport when I saw the message from school that said they didn't have any power. As it turns out, this may actually be working out better for my husband, in that his sister is also out of school, and has been watching our girls at her house all this week. So, he doesn't have to drive all the way through town to drop off and pick up the girls.

Having deserted my husband and children at home in this mess, I'm anxious to see what state everything is in when I get home. I'm thankful that we have power at the house, and that everyone is safe and sound, even if they are having to hang out in the dark. ;-)

Fall is on the way

You would think I could tell this just by looking at the calendar. Well, yes, the calendar is a helpful indicator, but being that the weather is what we normally associate with Fall, the weather lately is also indicating that Fall is coming. And in my area, Fall is marked with rain just as much as cool, crisp air, the need for long sleeves in the evenings, and earlier sunsets. We were out at a friends' house last night, and sat on the porch after dinner, enjoying the lack of humidity, and after about an hour, I realized I needed some sleeves. Aah, Fall.



So, anyway, back to our First Fall-ish Friday. The morning was foggy, but warm (so Summer isn't giving up the ghost just yet!). The whole day was gray and drizzly, but not enough to warrant an umbrella, just like you were walking through a mister. All day. Not the formula for a Good Hair Day.

As I drove to work, the fog had settled in just at the tops of the buildings downtown. Since I've been carrying my new pocket-sized camera just about everywhere, I thought I'd try to capture the fog. Don't tell Mom...I was driving while I was taking these pictures. Isn't that the point of a point-and-shoot camera? It only takes one hand? Well, anyway, I'm sure if I'd pulled over and stood at the side of the road, these pictures would've turned out better (and the camera wouldn't be focused on the raindrops on the windshield). But, I didn't sit and review all the pictures while I was snapping away. I was totally focused on the traffic. Totally.

At some point, I guess I realized my camera was focusing on the raindrops on the windshield. I hit a traffic backup, and tried to capitalize on the artsiness while crawling along at 10 mph. Kinda cool.




For someone that's used to taking pictures of kids and people and using them to tell a story, I'm not sure what I'll do with these rainy pictures of my commute. Other than to share them on my blog! ;-)

From Behind the Camera

I found out at work today that our newest customer has requested bios and pictures of the project team. "Well, bummer," I thought, because we'd just had family pictures taken the night before for the church photo directory, and the photographer asked if we wanted individual photos of all of us, or just group shots. I thought, "school pictures are just around the corner, and I don't need a new picture of my husband for my desk..."

"Oh, we don't need any individual pictures," I said. "Not even of you and your husband?" asked the Helpful Photographer-slash-Sales Guy. "Oh, no. We'll be OK," I said, trying to be a little price-conscious. And self-conscious. Whoops. Is it a coincidence that the offer of a photo of myself and the need for a photo of myself are a day apart? I really need to start paying better attention to these signals.

Back at work, mulling over the idea of a head shot that's appropriate to share with a business prospect (even a customer!), I realized, I don't have any! At my first "real" job, the company put together a Who's Who book for employees - you received a book on your first day, with photos and trivial information about the other employees. New employees showed up at the photo studio a couple weeks after they started work, posed for a headshot, and a half-sheet photo/bio page was handed out to everyone about every quarter. A sizable expense, I'm sure, but a real nicety, especially for a new employee. I believe we'd talked about updating that photo book at some point during my tenure at that job, and even thought about putting it on the company Intranet. I believe we were hard-up for some content.

So, my last (first, and only) head shots are from 1994. It's one of my favorite pictures of me, but I don't match it anymore. Probably not a real option.

Back at my desk, I mentally flipped through recent pictures we'd taken - our trip to the Kennedy Space Center, the beach, DisneyWorld...what kind of impression would that give to this customer? I take a lot of vacations? I did toy with the idea of cropping the rest of the crew out of this picture and submitting this version of me. "I am out of this world!!" ;-)

But, this is also probably not appropriate for the customer. Other photos are of me making silly faces (those always seem to turn out better), or wearing silly hats. Again, probably not the right message to send to a business prospect. And really, to tell the truth, because I'm always behind the camera taking pictures of everyone else, there aren't that many pictures of me to pick from. Sigh.

So, this photo thing needs to go on my to-do list for the weekend. I'd do it tomorrow at work, but it's Wear Your Colors Day, so I'll be sporting my new UW shirt (a souvenir from the trip to Racine). I'll take in my camera. Maybe I can make it work. Go Big Red!

I'll keep you all posted with my progress.

Saturday Spring Cleaning

Well, I guess I can't call it Spring cleaning, because it's August. But, "August Cleaning" just doesn't roll off the tounge. ;-)

Today's cleaning was inspired by a) the fact that the house needs it and b) the impending visit from my parents and sister over Labor Day weekend. Plus, Kim's been asking if she can use the mop. This, mind you, is not a real mop she's interested in, but the Pledge floor care system - bottle of solution, absorbant scrubby pad that attaches to the bottom of their stick mop. Kind of the disposable razor version of a mop. So, she was asking about it, and I figured I'd let her try it out.

First off, of course, was all the pre-mopping stuff - sweeping, moving chairs, and so on. And while I was doing that, Kim was out investigating the mop and all its parts, chomping at the bit to start mopping. I finally swept up as much cat hair and cereal crumbles as I could, and got Kim set up to start mopping. Her favorite thing, the trigger on the mop handle that sprays the cleaning solution onto the floor. I've never had enough solution on the floor to make suds, but Kim got us there! Kate evidently got wind of the cleaning frenzy going on downstairs, and came down to check it out - she got a turn with the mop as well.

Here's the Bad Mommy part: I figured the kids had the mopping under control, and didn't want to stand over them making sure they got the whole floor. I figured I'd have to re-mop some parts anyway, especially after I saw Kim and the mop and the suds. So, I snuck off to work on the computer. (As part of last week's software search, I found my camera utilities, so I wanted to install them and fiddle. More on that in a minute...)

Next thing I know, Kim's in asking if we have any more stuff for the mop. "No," I said, "today we'll just mop the kitchen and back hall."

"No, Mom," she says. "We need more of the spray."

Yeah, that bottle was about half full, and the two girls managed to mop with all of it. I knew it would end this way. I was just hoping to get another 10 minutes out of it. Sigh.

Now, as promised, some of the results of my Bad Mommy Moments on the computer. On our trip to the Kennedy Space Center in May, I fiddled with the panorama setting on my camera. I couldn't ever put the panoramas together, because the software got eaten the last time we overhauled my computer. But, after finding the software CD, this is what I was able to put together:


Launch pad with Shuttle on the left, Vehicle Assembly Building on the right. And trees.




This shot shows both launch pads. And the tour bus. And Paul. Hi, Paul!

20 years plus one week

Well, it's been a little more than a week since my 20-year high school reunion. I'm glad I made the trip - it was great to catch up with my high school friends, and really interesting to go back to my hometown for the first time in almost 20 years. So much has changed, but so much has stayed the same - that applies to the people and the places, I think!

What was even more interesting, was sitting at our friends' dining room table last night, going through the list of must-haves for their high school senior! I knew Senior pictures had to be done early, but they also had the order form for the graduation announcements, party invitations, senior memory book and the cap and gown. Seems a little early for those things... oh, but the Senior Key and extra tassles, and engraved photo frames? Anybody still have theirs?

Side note - I don't think I had to purchase the gown - I think it was a rental? We did buy the cap and tassle - mine is still is in my cedar chest (which, after going through the archival material stashed in my yearbooks shouldn't surprise anyone), but I know if I'd had to buy the gown, I'd still have it. Case in point - my sister's graduation gown is still hanging in a closet at my parents' house (not quite 20 years later, but several moves later!! And it's a lovely shade of electric blue. Yikes!!).

Ok, for those that are curious - here's what I had stashed in my yearbooks: Graduation announcement, program from the graduation ceremony, my public library card, my permanent hall pass (bonus!!), all four years' worth of class schedules... Yeah. You'd be afraid to see what my house looks like. Where's that blog for living simply??

Sir Nils Olav the Penguin

Ok, this is funny!