Check out my friend's blog on podcasts. Being as I am still trying to figure out all I can do with my IPAD, I thought she had some great suggestions.
I {heart} podcasts.
http://thatslife-kjha.blogspot.com/
Monday, September 26, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
And None Were Maimed
We went to the condo this morning to get the boat - so it can be winterized. When we got to the condo, we were disappointed because the tree limb (which had fallen in a micro burst) STILL hadn't been taken care of. (The building behind the tree is not our condo. It came within feet of hitting our condo.) The yard care people had been mowing around it for over six weeks. We were also disappointed that the rain gutters had not been taken care of, like we had requested. I had cleaned what I could from a short ladder, but I couldn't get on the roof. ARRGGG!
We intended to go for a walk, but ran into a fellow condo owner that we really didn't know well - Rudy Deiterich. Rudy was doing similar tasks around his condo. We talked about the broken tree. He said he had tried to get it down, but didn't have a chain saw. I asked if he had a ladder I could borrow. When I told him I wanted to clean the rain gutter, he said, "You can borrow it, but I have to tell you a short story first. A lady in our neighborhood was on her roof. She fell and died. If you fall off, I don't want you to blame Rudy's ladder." I told it had been a good life. I would just ask that he speak at my funeral. He said he didn't like to speak, so he wouldn't. :-)
Anyway, he helped us take the ladder over to our condo. I climbed on the roof with a trowel, and went to work. Twenty minutes later Rudy came back to see how we were doing. We had the crud removed, but the downspout (which was crimped to go around the roof and deck bumps) was hopelessly plugged. We tried forcing a hose up. We tried forcing a hose down. Finally, we took the downspout apart. Rudy is a mechanic and had a variety of tools in his truck.
As we were cleaning up all the crud we got out of the raingutter, Rudy started on the tree. He had a pruner and a small hack saw. He would cut and Dad and I would haul the limbs off. I found a better pruner in the garage. I was amazed at how well it did on those mammoth limbs.
We worked on the tree for over an hour. I'm amazed someone didn't get severely injured. The limbs of the tree were wedged in the grass. As we sawed through a branch, the the top of the broken segment would shift. We would grab the branches and twist it around, trying to get the top to break free. At one point, I went sailing as the limb catapulted me across the grass. Just when we were ready to give up, we found a larger saw somebody had left in the grass at the neighboring hotel. Dad and Rudy took turns sawing and jumping out of the way of flying tree trunks. Finally, we got it all down and pushed over the edge of the neighboring hill.
While we were working, Steve kept getting phone calls and texts about his conducting tomorrow. Last week he had too many speakers (as he had forgotten a speaker whom the bishop has asked), and had to tell one to wait a month to give his talk. Today, he got a call saying the high counselor was coming and bringing a partner to speak with him. That was news to Steve. Steve had three speakers already, so there were a lot of calls/texts to sort that out. [I'm not sure why this hast to be so complicated. Steve's poor memory doesn't help. The person getting prayers last week didn't do it, and Steve didn't realize it until he had started the meeting. Songs were different than he had been told. New announcement were flung at him minutes before the meeting. I hoping the next month he conducts will be smoother.]
Anyway, Rudy and he started comparing notes. Rudy is ward clerk in a YSA ward in SLC. He said it is the HARDEST calling he's ever had - 150 new members this year all with records to transfer, names to enter in the ward lists, and so on.
Steve has been stressed with all the new names and challenges of making callings and figuring out who does what to make the ward click. Last week, these were his YSA responsibilities:
a. Four hour training meeting on Saturday
b. Sunday: bishop's meetings, church, and a 90 minute financial training in the evening
c. Monday: FHE (We watched 17 Miracles)
d. Tuesday: 2.5 hours of stake bishops training
e. Wednesday: Stake Opening Social (at the stake president's house) [We had a conflict, so we didn't go to this.]
Crazy!
We intended to go for a walk, but ran into a fellow condo owner that we really didn't know well - Rudy Deiterich. Rudy was doing similar tasks around his condo. We talked about the broken tree. He said he had tried to get it down, but didn't have a chain saw. I asked if he had a ladder I could borrow. When I told him I wanted to clean the rain gutter, he said, "You can borrow it, but I have to tell you a short story first. A lady in our neighborhood was on her roof. She fell and died. If you fall off, I don't want you to blame Rudy's ladder." I told it had been a good life. I would just ask that he speak at my funeral. He said he didn't like to speak, so he wouldn't. :-)
Anyway, he helped us take the ladder over to our condo. I climbed on the roof with a trowel, and went to work. Twenty minutes later Rudy came back to see how we were doing. We had the crud removed, but the downspout (which was crimped to go around the roof and deck bumps) was hopelessly plugged. We tried forcing a hose up. We tried forcing a hose down. Finally, we took the downspout apart. Rudy is a mechanic and had a variety of tools in his truck.
As we were cleaning up all the crud we got out of the raingutter, Rudy started on the tree. He had a pruner and a small hack saw. He would cut and Dad and I would haul the limbs off. I found a better pruner in the garage. I was amazed at how well it did on those mammoth limbs.
We worked on the tree for over an hour. I'm amazed someone didn't get severely injured. The limbs of the tree were wedged in the grass. As we sawed through a branch, the the top of the broken segment would shift. We would grab the branches and twist it around, trying to get the top to break free. At one point, I went sailing as the limb catapulted me across the grass. Just when we were ready to give up, we found a larger saw somebody had left in the grass at the neighboring hotel. Dad and Rudy took turns sawing and jumping out of the way of flying tree trunks. Finally, we got it all down and pushed over the edge of the neighboring hill.
While we were working, Steve kept getting phone calls and texts about his conducting tomorrow. Last week he had too many speakers (as he had forgotten a speaker whom the bishop has asked), and had to tell one to wait a month to give his talk. Today, he got a call saying the high counselor was coming and bringing a partner to speak with him. That was news to Steve. Steve had three speakers already, so there were a lot of calls/texts to sort that out. [I'm not sure why this hast to be so complicated. Steve's poor memory doesn't help. The person getting prayers last week didn't do it, and Steve didn't realize it until he had started the meeting. Songs were different than he had been told. New announcement were flung at him minutes before the meeting. I hoping the next month he conducts will be smoother.]
Anyway, Rudy and he started comparing notes. Rudy is ward clerk in a YSA ward in SLC. He said it is the HARDEST calling he's ever had - 150 new members this year all with records to transfer, names to enter in the ward lists, and so on.
Steve has been stressed with all the new names and challenges of making callings and figuring out who does what to make the ward click. Last week, these were his YSA responsibilities:
a. Four hour training meeting on Saturday
b. Sunday: bishop's meetings, church, and a 90 minute financial training in the evening
c. Monday: FHE (We watched 17 Miracles)
d. Tuesday: 2.5 hours of stake bishops training
e. Wednesday: Stake Opening Social (at the stake president's house) [We had a conflict, so we didn't go to this.]
Crazy!
The Relief Society Broadcast
The YSA stake was meeting together to watch the Relief Society broadcast. Each was encouraged to bring their mother. I had no mother, daughter, or granddaughter to go with me. Plus, we were just getting back from the condo. Anyway, I'm listening to the broadcast while thinking about my granddaughters.
Brooke is going to be a great mother. She is fascinated with the twins. She has asked her mom for a little sister. Drew wants a little brother, but they have it all worked out. Lori can have TWINS - like Aunt Michelle.
I can't believe how quickly the twins are changing. This morning, after sleeping eight hours, Savannah was more interested in "talking" than in eating. She is becoming much more social. Both Eve and Savannah will goo and coo. Eve loves her feet. She isn't very stable, but that doesn't stop her. Savannah loves to watch the toys in her bouncer. It won't be long before she is reaching for them. What cute girls.
I got to see Halle and Zach (before Zach and parents went to the circus). After Halle's nap, we watched Tangled. Then, she wanted to play an "Ariel" game. We found an Ariel coloring game. We would select a color with the paint brush and then click on an area of the picture. It would suddenly fill with color. I don't know how many times I heard the same response, "I did it! I want to do that again." It was pretty cute.
Brooke is going to be a great mother. She is fascinated with the twins. She has asked her mom for a little sister. Drew wants a little brother, but they have it all worked out. Lori can have TWINS - like Aunt Michelle.
I can't believe how quickly the twins are changing. This morning, after sleeping eight hours, Savannah was more interested in "talking" than in eating. She is becoming much more social. Both Eve and Savannah will goo and coo. Eve loves her feet. She isn't very stable, but that doesn't stop her. Savannah loves to watch the toys in her bouncer. It won't be long before she is reaching for them. What cute girls.
I got to see Halle and Zach (before Zach and parents went to the circus). After Halle's nap, we watched Tangled. Then, she wanted to play an "Ariel" game. We found an Ariel coloring game. We would select a color with the paint brush and then click on an area of the picture. It would suddenly fill with color. I don't know how many times I heard the same response, "I did it! I want to do that again." It was pretty cute.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
China
I finally made contact with Greg again. It had been over a week. They will start teaching (officially) this week but have been teaching privately to fill the time. It sounds like he is happy. These are pictures I pulled from the China Horizon (the company that places these young adults as English teachers) newsletter.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
FHE
With Steve's new calling, we end up being involved in family home evening groups.
Organization of the FHE activities is seriously lacking.
The first Monday it was decided to have a "meet the bishopric" activity where we came to the church. By the time we hit Relief Society, they had decided there would be dinner. The activity was fun except that they had forgotten the ketchup and mustard for the hamburgers, so I ran home to get it.
The next activity was ice blocking. The park was hard to find, and no directions had been given. By the time we started, there were about 25 kids, but they had ice blocks for six. I ran to buy more ice, but by the time I returned, half of the group had gone.
The next activity (last night) was to be had at the bishopric's houses. When I got to church on Sunday, I was told we were having FHE at our home and were in charge of a game, a spiritual thought, and treats - YUP basically everything. But they had no flier to give addresses to anyone. The groups (instead of being organized by apartments) were organized by birthdays. Then, to make matters worse, they sent out text messages to various people telling them where to go - but sent them to people not in the ward any longer and sent messages telling people to go to a different house not related to their birthday. Like I said, the organization is sad.
Sundays are wild days for me anyway. I go to Steve's ward for three hours and then attend Relief Society in our ward (as I haven't been released yet). Then I come home at 5:45 and have to get dinner on the table. Sundays are also the night we call the kids. I found time to make treats on Sunday, and woke up Monday morning at 5:30 to start cleaning (as cleaning has NOT been a priority for months). We got home at 5 and continued the cleaning and setup for home evening.
When our group came, several said they received text messages to go elsewhere. By ten after, one person had shown up. Several drove by looking for a bunch of cars and didn't stop as they figured they were at the wrong place. We went outside to flag them down. A whole car of guys who shouldn't have been here (and were looking for THEIR ward FHE) showed up (and soon left) when they realized they had gotten a text message based on where they lived LAST YEAR. We had about seven who stayed. We decided to crash the other counselor's group. It was a good thing we did. They only had four people and one was just leaving as we arrived (a half hour late). Thus, no one ate my treats or saw my clean house. [But who can complain about having a clean house, right? I had considered making cinnamon rolls after work, but was so glad I opted for Scotcher-roos, which were little work and could be given to my students the next day.]
ANYWAY, after a rough beginning, we had so much fun. The kids were hilarious. We played some "minute to win it" games that Ashley Fowles brought. (I had asked her to help me.) We played a get acquainted game where we pulled questions out of the jar and everybody answered. The first question was: "What instruments do you play? What is your favorite kind of music? What is your favorite hymn?" The second question was, "What was your worst date and what advice would you give your daughter about dating?" The answers to the second were hilarious.
Organization of the FHE activities is seriously lacking.
The first Monday it was decided to have a "meet the bishopric" activity where we came to the church. By the time we hit Relief Society, they had decided there would be dinner. The activity was fun except that they had forgotten the ketchup and mustard for the hamburgers, so I ran home to get it.
The next activity was ice blocking. The park was hard to find, and no directions had been given. By the time we started, there were about 25 kids, but they had ice blocks for six. I ran to buy more ice, but by the time I returned, half of the group had gone.
The next activity (last night) was to be had at the bishopric's houses. When I got to church on Sunday, I was told we were having FHE at our home and were in charge of a game, a spiritual thought, and treats - YUP basically everything. But they had no flier to give addresses to anyone. The groups (instead of being organized by apartments) were organized by birthdays. Then, to make matters worse, they sent out text messages to various people telling them where to go - but sent them to people not in the ward any longer and sent messages telling people to go to a different house not related to their birthday. Like I said, the organization is sad.
Sundays are wild days for me anyway. I go to Steve's ward for three hours and then attend Relief Society in our ward (as I haven't been released yet). Then I come home at 5:45 and have to get dinner on the table. Sundays are also the night we call the kids. I found time to make treats on Sunday, and woke up Monday morning at 5:30 to start cleaning (as cleaning has NOT been a priority for months). We got home at 5 and continued the cleaning and setup for home evening.
When our group came, several said they received text messages to go elsewhere. By ten after, one person had shown up. Several drove by looking for a bunch of cars and didn't stop as they figured they were at the wrong place. We went outside to flag them down. A whole car of guys who shouldn't have been here (and were looking for THEIR ward FHE) showed up (and soon left) when they realized they had gotten a text message based on where they lived LAST YEAR. We had about seven who stayed. We decided to crash the other counselor's group. It was a good thing we did. They only had four people and one was just leaving as we arrived (a half hour late). Thus, no one ate my treats or saw my clean house. [But who can complain about having a clean house, right? I had considered making cinnamon rolls after work, but was so glad I opted for Scotcher-roos, which were little work and could be given to my students the next day.]
ANYWAY, after a rough beginning, we had so much fun. The kids were hilarious. We played some "minute to win it" games that Ashley Fowles brought. (I had asked her to help me.) We played a get acquainted game where we pulled questions out of the jar and everybody answered. The first question was: "What instruments do you play? What is your favorite kind of music? What is your favorite hymn?" The second question was, "What was your worst date and what advice would you give your daughter about dating?" The answers to the second were hilarious.
Monday, September 12, 2011
A little healthy competition
Chelle and the girls have been here for the weekend as Ben is in Texas to a football game. The girls are now almost four months old (two months adjusted age).
Ever since we read about (second) cousin Roxie (who is two months old) sleeping 10-12 hours at night and trying to laugh, we have been talking to the girls about it. There is nothing like a little healthy competition. The last two nights they slept almost ten hours!!! Here you can see Eve trying to talk to grandpa.
Roxie is 13 pounds 10 ounces, which we just can't compete with. The girls are 10 pounds 4 ounces and 10 pounds 8 ounces.
Ever since we read about (second) cousin Roxie (who is two months old) sleeping 10-12 hours at night and trying to laugh, we have been talking to the girls about it. There is nothing like a little healthy competition. The last two nights they slept almost ten hours!!! Here you can see Eve trying to talk to grandpa.
Roxie is 13 pounds 10 ounces, which we just can't compete with. The girls are 10 pounds 4 ounces and 10 pounds 8 ounces.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Laugh Out Loud Funny
I have been struggling with technology this semester.
I record my PhD class lecture for a student who is on an internship, but with my new computer, when I try to transform the format, I can't get any sound. All the tech people are so busy with the start of the semester, I'm finding no one that can tell me why. My work around is to use my old computer to change video formats (to a more condensed one), but I'm not thrilled with having to use my old machine.
Well, today I decided I wanted to create Jing videos (which are voice over video captures of your screen) for my sophomore level course. These are the kind of "how to" videos you see on You Tube all the time.
I read about how to do it, bought a headphone/microphone from Best Buy, and started recording. The first video I created... (wait for it)- had no sound. I remade it, fiddled with it, and finally got it to work. Then, in creating the second video, I transferred it to my webpage and COULDN'T HEAR IT. I was getting so frustrated, because every video takes fifteen minutes to create (even longer if you flub up). Then I realized that the reason I couldn't hear it was because I had taken the head phones off.
Laugh out loud funny.
I record my PhD class lecture for a student who is on an internship, but with my new computer, when I try to transform the format, I can't get any sound. All the tech people are so busy with the start of the semester, I'm finding no one that can tell me why. My work around is to use my old computer to change video formats (to a more condensed one), but I'm not thrilled with having to use my old machine.
Well, today I decided I wanted to create Jing videos (which are voice over video captures of your screen) for my sophomore level course. These are the kind of "how to" videos you see on You Tube all the time.
I read about how to do it, bought a headphone/microphone from Best Buy, and started recording. The first video I created... (wait for it)- had no sound. I remade it, fiddled with it, and finally got it to work. Then, in creating the second video, I transferred it to my webpage and COULDN'T HEAR IT. I was getting so frustrated, because every video takes fifteen minutes to create (even longer if you flub up). Then I realized that the reason I couldn't hear it was because I had taken the head phones off.
Laugh out loud funny.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)