Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Another Opportunity to Consider
I got a call this afternoon from Supplemental Health Care, which is the agency that employed me for my contract home health speech therapy position last summer. They have some very interesting employment opportunities, most of which I have turned down recently. The one they offered to me today is at a prison in Hoffman, NC. It's about an hour and a half away from my house. I wouldn't even consider this position if it were every day. But they only need 8 hours a week. And there could be opportunity to transfer to the Speech Therapy Services at Central Prison in Raleigh down the road. I don't know all the details yet, but I do find this intriguing. Perhaps an opportunity for ministry lies herein. Of course I've also got my new part time job at Footlights, a "Destination Store for Dancers" which is owned by a friend of mine from church. I'm helping with her bookkeeping just a little bit. And there are family obligations to consider. I don't know, but it feels good to be asked. I'll have to make a fairly quick decision on this one, I think, because there is an orientation next Tuesday I would need to attend. Just when I think things are settling in to a nice pattern, something like this comes up to switch things up a bit. My life is never boring.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Waiting for Feedback
If you didn't know this about me, I really like feedback. Two-way communication. I like to blog to get my thoughts out, but I then spend time checking back to see if anyone has left a comment. It's the same way with posting on Facebook or sending an email. I have put something out there and am hoping someone will respond. It reminds me of pre-answering machine and caller-ID days. I'd leave a message for someone to call me and then wait. I couldn't go anywhere - not even to the bathroom because I might miss that call. Those were the pre-cordless phone days too. At least now I can get away and go to the bathroom while waiting for feedback. Or eat a snack or even work on the laundry. But my unanswered half of a conversation pulls me back in - I've got to check and see if there is a comment, a response, or at minimum if someone "likes" my Facebook status. It's a catch-22. If I stay away from electronic communication, I don't have to keep checking back. The more I stay online the more I have to check. I guess it's kind of like an addiction. Perhaps I'm addicted to communication. My daughter has pointed out to me that talking is my favorite past-time. I think she's right. I'd prefer to speak to people in person. Phone calls are next best. But everyone is so busy that those options usually aren't available. So, I guess I'll have to deal with wanting to check in frequently. And to make the most of the intervals between checks.
By the way, thanks to my sis for interrupting this blogging session with a Facebook chat just now. That was fun.
By the way, thanks to my sis for interrupting this blogging session with a Facebook chat just now. That was fun.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Bouncing Ideas
So, I find myself thinking a lot of random thoughts - well maybe not so random - this morning. My two first choices for people to bounce ideas off-of are not available now. So, my wonderful blog readers get to hear me think.
What I'm mainly thinking about is adding on to our house. Or maybe not. I have such grand ideas, but although I've not actually gotten quotes on my ideas, I expect them to amount to essentially a second mortgage payment each month. I've been dreaming more about this since James' job has become stable again (well as stable as a job can be in today's environment). Of course, I know this about myself - I dream big. I have plans of adding on an addition to the back of the house which would allow space for a new family room, extended kitchen, renovated bathroom and laundry room on the main level. I also have visions of revamping the upstairs so we could renovate the kids' bathroom and add a master bath and closet. The cost of realizing these dreams, including time, money, and impact on our family (and 13 year old cat), is beginning to make me re-think how big I want to dream. I am starting to wonder what I can do with what we currently have to make it feel new and improved without any major construction involved.
One step I took recently was to ask James to list his likes and dislikes about this house and any items he would like to add or change. His list was way smaller than mine. I have to admit, I was not too happy when he shared it with me at first. I was grateful that he did take the time to make the list at my request. I was just disappointed that we didn't have more in common on our two lists. One thing that jumped out at me was that he liked our laundry being in the basement. On my wish list was a laundry room on the main level. I asked him why he liked it down there (of course I do most of the laundry) and he said he liked it in the basement in case of flooding. As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point. And, with our new front-loading washer that has a mighty spin cycle, the house definitely shakes less with the washer on the concrete basement floor than it would on the main level. Plus, if I don't move the laundry to the main level, there is more room to play with on the main level for renovated bathroom and kitchen.
I also am liking the idea of actually going ahead and redecorating rooms that with our big remodel would likely have to be put on hold. For example, I am really tired of our living room rug and furniture. We could reupholster the furniture, get a new rug and install a gas-log fireplace insert, plus update the room with some new paint for a lot less than an addition onto the back of the house. I really do want to update the kitchen at minimum. I could stand to live with it a little longer without a major remodel if it got cleaned up and updated just a little. But I hope there is no lead paint on our original kitchen cabinets that are attached to our un-insulated, plaster walls!
Well, I feel better having put some of these thoughts in writing. If nothing else, I can come back and refer to them later. I think I need some professional advice to point me in the right direction. There are a lot of things we could do with the money we could spend on a big remodel/addition. Please feel free to offer feedback or suggestions, particularly the type of professional I should seek to help me make a good plan that James and I will both like.
What I'm mainly thinking about is adding on to our house. Or maybe not. I have such grand ideas, but although I've not actually gotten quotes on my ideas, I expect them to amount to essentially a second mortgage payment each month. I've been dreaming more about this since James' job has become stable again (well as stable as a job can be in today's environment). Of course, I know this about myself - I dream big. I have plans of adding on an addition to the back of the house which would allow space for a new family room, extended kitchen, renovated bathroom and laundry room on the main level. I also have visions of revamping the upstairs so we could renovate the kids' bathroom and add a master bath and closet. The cost of realizing these dreams, including time, money, and impact on our family (and 13 year old cat), is beginning to make me re-think how big I want to dream. I am starting to wonder what I can do with what we currently have to make it feel new and improved without any major construction involved.
One step I took recently was to ask James to list his likes and dislikes about this house and any items he would like to add or change. His list was way smaller than mine. I have to admit, I was not too happy when he shared it with me at first. I was grateful that he did take the time to make the list at my request. I was just disappointed that we didn't have more in common on our two lists. One thing that jumped out at me was that he liked our laundry being in the basement. On my wish list was a laundry room on the main level. I asked him why he liked it down there (of course I do most of the laundry) and he said he liked it in the basement in case of flooding. As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point. And, with our new front-loading washer that has a mighty spin cycle, the house definitely shakes less with the washer on the concrete basement floor than it would on the main level. Plus, if I don't move the laundry to the main level, there is more room to play with on the main level for renovated bathroom and kitchen.
I also am liking the idea of actually going ahead and redecorating rooms that with our big remodel would likely have to be put on hold. For example, I am really tired of our living room rug and furniture. We could reupholster the furniture, get a new rug and install a gas-log fireplace insert, plus update the room with some new paint for a lot less than an addition onto the back of the house. I really do want to update the kitchen at minimum. I could stand to live with it a little longer without a major remodel if it got cleaned up and updated just a little. But I hope there is no lead paint on our original kitchen cabinets that are attached to our un-insulated, plaster walls!
Well, I feel better having put some of these thoughts in writing. If nothing else, I can come back and refer to them later. I think I need some professional advice to point me in the right direction. There are a lot of things we could do with the money we could spend on a big remodel/addition. Please feel free to offer feedback or suggestions, particularly the type of professional I should seek to help me make a good plan that James and I will both like.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
24 Fun Stories
Once upon a time there was a boy that was counting letters. His favorite letters were 24. And, his cat's favorite numbers were 91. And then his sister's favorite numbers were 51. And then his mom's favorite numbers were 25. And then his dad's favorite numbers were 91. And then his dog's favorite numbers were (he had two dogs): one dog's favorite numbers were 87. His other dog's favorite numbers were 95. And then his baby's favorite numbers were 56. And his other baby's favorite numbers were 99. And then his grandmother's favorite numbers were 42. And his granddaddy's favorite numbers were 21. And then they put all of their numbers into one big alphabet soup! And then they ate it all up and they forgot about one more person. Their granny.
The end.
The end.
Spanish
I'm trying to learn Spanish. It is a good time for me to do it, as I have ample opportunities to practice in this area. I feel a strong desire to learn it. I believe there are friendships I am missing out on, as well as opportunities to help and be helped by others who don't speak English.
I mentioned this to one of my priests a few months ago, and lo and behold, it turned out that a fellow parishioner has just retired as a Spanish teacher and has offered to teach a group of us at church. We're learning basic conversational Spanish, and I hope to expand on that as much as possible. I dream of being fluent.
(Just a minute while I check to see if MC is sleeping. It's eerily quiet right now.)
Okay, we need to shift gears, because I am eliciting MC's help to keep her awake. We're going to write a story together now. I'll get back to my Spanish blog later.
I mentioned this to one of my priests a few months ago, and lo and behold, it turned out that a fellow parishioner has just retired as a Spanish teacher and has offered to teach a group of us at church. We're learning basic conversational Spanish, and I hope to expand on that as much as possible. I dream of being fluent.
(Just a minute while I check to see if MC is sleeping. It's eerily quiet right now.)
Okay, we need to shift gears, because I am eliciting MC's help to keep her awake. We're going to write a story together now. I'll get back to my Spanish blog later.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Duke vs. Butler
Perhaps nothing can let you in on how my mind works better than my dilemma of if/when to root for Duke basketball. I have nothing against the school. It is a fantastic university and I would be very proud if either of my kids ever chose to attend college there. I think Coach K is an admirable man who has accomplished a lot in his position at Duke for decades now. I have respect for the athletes there who are not only gifted in playing basketball but also in academics. I think it makes a strong statement that a relatively large number of Duke basketball alumni are now coaching in the NCAA. Again, that speaks to Coach K's good coaching. I even like Duke's school colors.
So why do I have such a hard time finding an opportunity to cheer for Duke?
Well, I think a lot of it has to do with arrogance that I've experienced at an impressionable time in my life. I was living in Chapel Hill in 1991 and 1992 when Duke won back-to-back NCAA tournament championships. They were a good team in 1993 as well, and there was a lot of talk about "three-peat" NCAA titles. I heard a lot of bragging and boasting from Duke alumni my age with whom I hung out a lot. And a lot of arrogance in the Duke community as well, I perceived. Perhaps I was projecting this, but at the time it left a bitter taste in my mouth. (Now I know Carolina fans can be equally as arrogant, but I hope if you ask those close to me you would find that I do not engage of that type of boasting.)
Also over the years, as Duke has continued to have strong basketball teams, they have won a lot of ACC championships. For a while, it had become quite boring to watch - Duke would win inevitably. I didn't care necessarily who would win, just someone other than Duke! I like for things to be fairly distributed, if you didn't know that about me.
So as the time has passed, I've been in and out of vigilant basketball watching. With children, I've been even less tuned-in to the basketball seasons. Whenever I'd find myself watching a game (always on tv - I have only ever been to one live ACC basketball game when I was given free tickets), I pull for a team based on a very complicated ranking of the teams.
The order of teams from favorite to least goes something like this:
1. Carolina (this is because I grew up in Chapel Hill and attended one summer course at UNC. Also my mom attended there for her master's degree - the reason for our move to Chapel Hill)
2. Wake Forest (I only applied to two colleges, Rhodes and Wake. Got into both, but ended up choosing Rhodes. My parents met there, so I'm grateful to WFU for bringing about my existence in a round-about way.)
3. NC State (because I live in Raleigh now)
4. Duke (so I say, because it's in NC)
5. Virginia, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Clemson (rounding out the ACC teams in the conference when I first started paying attention to bball in 1982)
6. Florida State (the next team to join the ACC)
7. Virginia Tech (they may actually get moved up in the list, depending on who they are playing, because we lived in Blacksburg when my dad got his master's degree, but are down here because they were among the last three teams added to the ACC.)
8. Boston College and University of Miami (the last teams added to the ACC)
9. Teams outside of the ACC
*Note: If Rhodes College ever has an amazing basketball team that has a chance at playing any of the teams above, it would automatically trump all rules and be at the top of my list. (Just to be clear)
But here's where it gets a little tricky:
1. I usually pull for Wake Forest even over Carolina, but am usually okay with whoever wins that game.
2. I find myself pulling for the underdog most of the time (unless Carolina or Wake Forest is playing them), and this seriously messes with my ranking of the teams.
3. Since Duke is typically good, and typically seeded high in tournaments, I often find myself pulling for their opposing team as the underdog.
Now that Duke is playing Butler in the NCAA championship game tonight, I think I might pull for Duke as the ACC representative. But Butler has such a great underdog story. They've had a terrific season and are playing well. I would be so happy for them to win tonight. Duke has had a great season and is also playing well. I'd like to think I'd be equally as happy for them if they win, but we'll have to see. No matter what, I hope it's a good game. I don't like games with lop-sided scores. The nail-biters make me do just that (well not really, because that is gross), but they are so exciting and I find I can be happy for both teams more easily in those cases.
So, I think the bottom line is I will probably pull for Butler tonight. Sorry Duke. But just for the record, I do think Duke deserves to win tonight, and probably will.
So why do I have such a hard time finding an opportunity to cheer for Duke?
Well, I think a lot of it has to do with arrogance that I've experienced at an impressionable time in my life. I was living in Chapel Hill in 1991 and 1992 when Duke won back-to-back NCAA tournament championships. They were a good team in 1993 as well, and there was a lot of talk about "three-peat" NCAA titles. I heard a lot of bragging and boasting from Duke alumni my age with whom I hung out a lot. And a lot of arrogance in the Duke community as well, I perceived. Perhaps I was projecting this, but at the time it left a bitter taste in my mouth. (Now I know Carolina fans can be equally as arrogant, but I hope if you ask those close to me you would find that I do not engage of that type of boasting.)
Also over the years, as Duke has continued to have strong basketball teams, they have won a lot of ACC championships. For a while, it had become quite boring to watch - Duke would win inevitably. I didn't care necessarily who would win, just someone other than Duke! I like for things to be fairly distributed, if you didn't know that about me.
So as the time has passed, I've been in and out of vigilant basketball watching. With children, I've been even less tuned-in to the basketball seasons. Whenever I'd find myself watching a game (always on tv - I have only ever been to one live ACC basketball game when I was given free tickets), I pull for a team based on a very complicated ranking of the teams.
The order of teams from favorite to least goes something like this:
1. Carolina (this is because I grew up in Chapel Hill and attended one summer course at UNC. Also my mom attended there for her master's degree - the reason for our move to Chapel Hill)
2. Wake Forest (I only applied to two colleges, Rhodes and Wake. Got into both, but ended up choosing Rhodes. My parents met there, so I'm grateful to WFU for bringing about my existence in a round-about way.)
3. NC State (because I live in Raleigh now)
4. Duke (so I say, because it's in NC)
5. Virginia, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Clemson (rounding out the ACC teams in the conference when I first started paying attention to bball in 1982)
6. Florida State (the next team to join the ACC)
7. Virginia Tech (they may actually get moved up in the list, depending on who they are playing, because we lived in Blacksburg when my dad got his master's degree, but are down here because they were among the last three teams added to the ACC.)
8. Boston College and University of Miami (the last teams added to the ACC)
9. Teams outside of the ACC
*Note: If Rhodes College ever has an amazing basketball team that has a chance at playing any of the teams above, it would automatically trump all rules and be at the top of my list. (Just to be clear)
But here's where it gets a little tricky:
1. I usually pull for Wake Forest even over Carolina, but am usually okay with whoever wins that game.
2. I find myself pulling for the underdog most of the time (unless Carolina or Wake Forest is playing them), and this seriously messes with my ranking of the teams.
3. Since Duke is typically good, and typically seeded high in tournaments, I often find myself pulling for their opposing team as the underdog.
Now that Duke is playing Butler in the NCAA championship game tonight, I think I might pull for Duke as the ACC representative. But Butler has such a great underdog story. They've had a terrific season and are playing well. I would be so happy for them to win tonight. Duke has had a great season and is also playing well. I'd like to think I'd be equally as happy for them if they win, but we'll have to see. No matter what, I hope it's a good game. I don't like games with lop-sided scores. The nail-biters make me do just that (well not really, because that is gross), but they are so exciting and I find I can be happy for both teams more easily in those cases.
So, I think the bottom line is I will probably pull for Butler tonight. Sorry Duke. But just for the record, I do think Duke deserves to win tonight, and probably will.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
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