Royalty

Wills and Kate - married !!!

And they are now...

Princess William of Wales and Princess William of Wales

His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge

Earl of Strathearn and Countess of Strathearn

Baron Carrickfergus and Baroness Carrickfergus 

but as reported... it is likely that in the eyes of the media and public, she could always be known as Princess Catherine or Princess Kate.

I just need to remember

When things seem so overwhelming and I'm feeling really frazzed...
I just need to remember...

to put on my Happy Hat!

Life is just too short - so we need to find joy in every moment :)

Amazing 2011

We had a quiet, regular Sunday for Easter... how about you? We went to church, remembered what Jesus did for us, and that "He is Risen!", Amen!, watched the little kids hunt for eggs, came home and were too hungry to wait for the ham to cook so we had a pizza we had in the freezer. We remembered that last year, the three of us went to the Mexican restaurant, and besides us, only one other couple was there, someone from our church :) Guess we aren't all that traditional for this holiday.

However, we did carry out the Amazing tradition. When he first got up, son found a carrot shaped plastic "egg" sitting on top of the TV and I said, "Happy Easter! Better get out there before any other little bunnies find all the carrots!" Inside was a GPS coordinate to lead him to another clue...

Well, I'll let him tell you all about it!


[insert son's youtube here]
(he journaled his adventures on his Droid and said he was going to put it together for a video)

Hope you made some special memories also :) GBY!

Shift

Count me crazy, but I have a theory. A theory about the weather patterns.

People have been commenting for years about how the expected weather is not appearing, but instead, strange and unusual things are happening. True? Now everywhere I have ever lived, people will tell you, “oh, if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes and it will change.” I finally did actually experience that in Oregon a few years back. I think it was sunny one minute, and literally five minutes later it was all dark and raining like crazy (or was it the other way around? I’m not sure, but it definitely was weird.)

Back to my theory - Remember the earthquake in the Indian Ocean and the resulting tsunami in December of, what, 2004, or was it 2005? I recall hearing that the event was large enough to throw the earth’s axis off by, I thought they said, “a quarter of an inch.” I know that doesn’t sound like much, but I started to think that it was enough to shift things a bit. I am not a weather person, and I think that some weather is created by topography, but that the majority is created way high in the sky. I’m being real technical here, aren’t I?

Now the earthquake in New Zealand in February, and the one in Japan in March, supposedly together threw the earth’s axis off by 18cm… that’s around 7 inches! Goodness gracious, the island of Japan moved a purported 8 feet!

So is anyone else noticing that the tornadoes that usually occur in Oklahoma and Texas, ended up in Virginia and the Carolinas last weekend? And the dry weather that turned Arizona and New Mexico into deserts over time now seems to be the cause of the huge wildfires in Texas for the past two weeks?*

We had the most beautiful spring day yesterday… sunny, cool air, slight breeze… and today it is snowing like a son-of-gun! Are we getting the moisture that usually falls on the west side of the Cascades? Hmmm

At least one of my fellow workers is happy… he is like way into cross-country skiing :)

* from a CNN article today:
Fire-friendly conditions are expected to return Thursday in various parts of the state, the National Weather Service said.

"Even if we get two inches of rain the ground's going to eat it up," said David Hennig, a Weather Service meteorologist in Midland, Texas. "We need a pattern shift." (bold mine - interesting comment and use of words)

West Texas averages nearly 15 inches of rain a year, according to Hennig. In the past six months, only 13-hundredths of an inch of rain has been recorded in that part of the state. While October through March is typically the dry season, that amount of rainfall is far below what it should be, Hennig said.

He said weather models show the possibility of more storms this weekend and perhaps next week. While the rain is needed, storms accompanied by lightning pose a fire risk, he said.

Where ever

you are, Happy Birthday B.D. !! :)

Stealth R Us

OK, hands down, Philip has been the strangest contestant on Survivor in all their seasons. And you can believe that from me because I have watched all 21 seasons since the "first ever reality show" aired in 2000.

But we saw a part of Philip tonight that I'm not sure many people realized we saw. He had one interview where he was very much different than we've seen him before... his voice was steady and he even looked different. Could it be?

Can we maybe conceive the possibility that this guy could actually be playing Boston Rob, and he is totally together and just acting crazy? Would that be the best play ever if he could make it to the end (because Rob thinks he can win against him if he takes him to the final three or final two where the voting happens) then prove himself sane... Wouldn't everyone vote for him for his great performance?

Now, I kinda like Boston Rob, but my son thinks that would be hysterical if Rob would lose, again, his fourth season. We actually were on his side until he voted out Matty for no real reason and then sent him back to Redemption Island again!

So, is Philip, the "Federal Agent", playing us all? Even Jeff Probst, who blogged "[Phillip] is everything and I mean everything you could ever ask for from a Survivor contestant. He is so damn sincere, so earnest. I truly can't get enough. I know a lot of you already hate him, save it for the comment section. I'm in Camp Phillip." I guess only time will tell... until we hear that "the tribe has spoken."

:)

Brave New World

I was reading a CNN article today about a children's book, "And Tango Makes Three" that has again topped the American Libriaries Association's list of Challanged Books. It's about two male penguins hatching a baby penguin in the Central Point Zoo in New York. I'm not making any comment on that here, but I clicked over the ALA's website to read more on the subject and found their Top Ten list of Frequently Challenged Books for 2010:

1.“And Tango Makes Three” –– Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
2.“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” –– Sherman Alexie.
3.“Brave New World” –– Aldous Huxley.
4.“Crank” –– Ellen Hopkins.
5.“The Hunger Games” –– Suzanne Collins.
6.“Lush “–– Natasha Friend.
7.“What My Mother Doesn’t Know” –– Sonya Sones.
8.“Nickel and Dimed” –– Barbara Ehrenreich.
9.“Revolutionary Voices” –– edited by Amy Sonnie.
10.“Twilight” –– Stephenie Meyer

And I'm not going to comment about this list either, but hasn't every American teenaged girl read "Twilight"?

ANYWAY, I was considering "Brave New World", wondering if I had read it. I don't recall. I do remember there being controversy about it "way, back when" so then I checked Wikipedia to see if they could enlighten me as to the reason for upset and what the hoopla is about. You can look that up if the question plagues you.

I DID, however, find this on the Wiki site:

Social critic Neil Postman contrasts the worlds of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World in the foreword of his 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He writes:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Orwell added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that our desire will ruin us.


THIS, I find extemely interesting. So, according to where we are now, today, 25 years later... whose point of view of the future was more correct? Comments?

Hmmm... :)

Snow

Woke up to snow this morning, and it's still coming down. Roads are slick. Yeah, I'm excited I had to get my snow tires off on Tuesday because of the legal deadline!!

Thank goodness my regular tires still have good tread left on them.

Treehouse Confirmed !!

So exciting! Sent in the deposit for the Kihei Treehouse Cottage in Maui!

It's not exactly a treehouse, but a small upper rental with a king size bed. We chose it for the fact it was in a neighborhood - not the "touristy" feel of a vacation condo, the hosts are on the property so we have local input if we want it, we can walk to the beach, and it was fairly inexpensive. No pool, but hey, we are in Hawaii, we'll be at the beaches! (looking for those guys with the 'Brella Drinks... lol!) Comments from previous guests spoke highly of the hosts, that they enjoyed the birds while sitting on the lanai for coffee in the mornings, and liked the breeze that flowed through the treehouse.

We are happy with our choice :) Now onto making reservations for the adventures, and a car.

:)

CIS 225 End User Support - Windows 7

OK, from what I can tell so far, this class is going to be the death of me this quarter. I believe I have a handle on my other two classes, but this one has required so much set-up that I feel I am behind already, but the teacher is telling me not to stress. He's seems fairly easy going and willing to work with his students - glory! - cause I need a lot of work!

I will breath in. I will breath out.

I had to set up a new Google site to display my classwork for this class. The site is http://sites.google.com/site/susanstvcc

Here are the instructions:

1) You will create a webpage using resources available to you.
A) The web page will be used to host all CIS final projects.
B) Must have a home page with links to other pages representing other classes and projects. The home page must include an introductory paragraph describing the main purpose of your webpage including the following.
i.A picture of you
ii.A description of your dream job
iii.Your personal interests
iv.Your major accomplishments or something you are proud of.

And here's what I wrote on my Home page:

I hope over time, this website will reflect the journey I have taken in learning about computer information systems at Treasure Valley Community College.

Although I began my relationship with computers in the early 80's, booting up that Apple II with a 5 1/2" disc to do basic secretarial work and accounting, and later discovered the Internet in 1997, I have a lot to learn about the inside workings of a computer, networking, and types of systems and software in general. It already appears the path will be an exciting one from here.

I have had many occupations throughout my working career and then was able to home school my sons for seven years. After that, while they chose to attend public high school, I have worked varied positions (basically whatever was available in our small town) but have planned for some time to attend college for a career that would help me put both of them through college. This career would help me out as well as I don't expect Social Security to do much for me, and I really don't believe I'll ever get the chance to retire.

After a home school field trip to a St. Anthony's Hospital in Pendleton, I decided that Radiology would be my endeavor. Where I currently live, I have been limited to online classes as the only opportunity for the higher education prerequisite classes I need. I have not been able to move my family because I must stay here for my youngest son to obtain a substantial scholarship from the high school for going all four years and maintaining his 4.0 GPA. Meanwhile, I became discouraged by the fierce competitiveness of the Radiologic Technology field, finding out that I MIGHT be able to start those classes in 2014.

Our TVCC counselor asked me what interested me in Radiology and I had to admit it was working with the computers. Since then I've found out about digital imagery and am thrilled about how it combines my two interests, so my sights are now set on a CIS degree to work within a hospital environment.

My dream job would entail becoming a PACs Administrator for a medical missionary organization like YWAM's (Youth with a Mission) Medical Ships or something like Doctors Without Borders. Of course, this would be after I've sent my sons through college and am assured they will take care of me in my old age when I return home... lol.

I have a lot of interests: geocaching, scrapbooking, fly fishing, leather work, collecting squished pennies, biking, hiking and camping. I love to travel and see new things. I've recently renewed my adventures into genealogy and have just traced one pedigree back to the 1630's in France!

I have to admit that my two sons are the biggest part of my life, as I believe they should well be at this time, and my ongoing greatest accomplishment. Teenagers! they can drive me crazy but I love them to bits and wouldn't trade them for "all the tea in China." I am most proud of the open relationships I have with each of them and the fact that we talk a lot, and about everything... and not that we agree on much, but at least we can talk about it. I am both proud of the young men they are and at the same time worry about them and some of the choices they make. I pray we'll all survive these teen years and I'll live long enough to truly be proud of the grown men I hope they will become. As you can see on my sidebar, my youngest is currently in Sweden as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. I expect him home mid-July and he'll go on to experience his Senior year of high school. I miss him terribly, but Skype is great, and I know he is learning life lessons as he is growing up on the other side of the world. I am happy to have my oldest still at home, completing high school and planning to head toward a career in welding.

I look forward to my sons spreading their own wings, heading off to college and other new horizons in the next couple of years, while for myself, I am looking ahead to other adventures like school and moving somewhere new to pursue my classes and a career... and hopefully, finding more time to catch up on all my hobbies!

Sue :)

I sure like to talk, don't I? I really think I need to try my hand at writing a novel or something! haha :)

Said Ted

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." - Theodore Rubin