Cedar Valley Blog

Here we go again...

2007-12-12T12:36:00.000-08:00

We have around four pieces of furniture left to move across to the new house, and we're hoping to figure out how to haul them using a two wheeled dolly and some dumb luck. Maybe nothing will get broken.

My 53rd Birthday came and went. Linda bought me a USB2 160GB storage drive and most of the kids called to say happy birthday. It was pretty nice. We went to dinner, saw part of a live Celtic Christmas Music Show, got some sleep. Not a bad day.

The weather is being almost typical for Oklahoma, meaning that no one knows what is going to happen next. So far we haven't been frozen or snowed in and stuck in the valley. I'm going to get groceries and supplies tonight after work as a "just in case."

That's about it, really. Linda was in and out of the hospital recently. Not sure if it was a mild heart attack or something else. She's got an appointment for a CAT scan in January to take pictures of her heart and check for damage. The doctor gave her some new prescriptions and said she could resume normal activity, whatever that means.

Let us know if you are going to be around for Christmas so we can plan on how many to expect, ok?

Newton's Laws: Bodies in Motion

2007-10-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

Tend to stay that way unless they find some place else to move to. So far we (Linda and I) have moved across the yard to a new house we had built, Bree and Matt have moved out of the mobile home they were living in out here on the river, Chris and Chaz have moved, Rick is moving back to Kansas in the near future, Josh and Sherri are talking about moving back to Oklahoma when both of them have finished advanced training, and everyone else is just standing back and waiting to see what happens next.

For me, that would be having my beloved laptop computer in the shop to have its itty bitty mind erased and reformatted. $155.00 latter it's almost like a new computer!

I forgot what a hassle it is to reinstall software, so I bought blank DVD's to make backups of the C: drive...just in case.

Still moving after all these weeks...

2007-10-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

And it seems that we'll still be moving when the snow sets in. We've got four, yes, 4 largish pieces of furniture left to move and none of the children who live in the area can be bothered to actually try to help. Yes, I realize that there is a wedding in two weeks, and another in six months. Yes, I realize that one of the kiddies is moving in with her future in-laws, but heck, we're their mom and dad..they could at least show up together on a saturday and make sure that this gets done. Guess I will have to hire someone to come and do it. Means less money to spend for the Holidays on gifts and such...

We love our new house! It's still got a bit of an echo because we don't have stuff on the walls, or the rest of the furniture, yet but it's really neat and we just love it. I'll eventually get pictures up and everyone can see what we're raving about.

Making Pictures

2007-10-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

Clearing out some images I've been working on while trying to figure out how to replace the core content of the digital comic I was working on and lost because I clicked the wrong button.

Hope you all enjoy them, I know I had a good time with them.

Queen MarVah
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1535603
There was a magazine cover competition that I put this one together for and I forgot to enter her before the deadline. Doncha hate it when that happens.

Dolly Wants to Play
http://www.runtimedna.com/mod/ophoto/index.php?photoid=19396
Much the same thing here, except I couldn't find the Halloween contests prior to some of them shutting down. I wonder if I could still enter this one someplace....suggestions?

Attack of the 250 foot Station Assistant
http://www.runtimedna.com/mod/ophoto/index.php?photoid=19397
I just HAD to do this one. As a deeply respectful fan of bad movies, when I saw Robot Monster's FX freebie I just had to...couldn't control myself... must... make... more... zombie... alien... robot... horror movies!

Upcoming Weddings, holidays, and such

2007-09-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, Tasha and Mitch are getting married October 20 in the small, new park here in Tahlequah. Bree and Mat are getting married April 20 (4/20) somewhere with someone doing something as a ceremony. More later on that.

We won't be home for Thanksgiving this year. We will either be visiting one of our children or hiding in a motel somewhere and letting someone else do the cooking. I understand that Denny's does a good turkey plate....

Christmas is still up in the air. We need to know who, if anyone, is going to be on the homestead for the holiday so we can start making preparations. We also need some basic ideas for gifts. Because of the new house payments we won't have the resources to be as open as we have in the past, but we'll do what we can.

Everyone in the family: you need to send us updated information on your address, telephone numbers, and valid email addresses so I can get the address book corrected.

Love to everyone,
Dad

It's raining again...

2007-09-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the wettest summers on record here along the river. We are over a foot above what would be a normal ground water reading currently and that is in addition to what was required to make up for the last three plus years of drought.

The pollen count is incredibly high, as is mold and other goodies, but everything is lush and green still.

Just thought everyone would like to know.

Almost totally moved in

2007-09-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

Okie dokie, here's the current update to the ongoing status of the new homestead:

1.We still don't have our screens for the windows..after three months...and as the weather cools it would be lovely to be able to open the windows and allow the fresh *cough* air flow through the house. It would also help keep the electric bill down because we're having to run the AC because there's no straight fan function. Ah, well, we'll have to see what happens.
2. We only have six major pieces of furniture to move and four of those are book cases. We have to pack and move the doll display cabinet, the armoire, book cases, and the old sewing machine that will go at the head of the hallway. Then, the books and we can start sorting from there.
3. Sadly, there were less than 15 days the entire summer we were able to use our new swimming pool, and here it is time to put it away for the year. I think I'm going to just drain it, call for a load of sand to be brought in, have someone come help me pick it up and move it to the sand pit, and level it from there. I'll put a frame around the sand to keep it in place, stack stuff in the middle of the pool, put the cover on so it peaks a bit, and call it good for the winter.
4. Soon as I find the CD I burned all the new pictures off to, I'll copy it and send out the copies rather than take up bandwidth. I think that's a better idea than having everyone try to download half a gig of pix.

That's the update for the moment. The river, like the semester, flows onward.

Love to everyone,
Dad

Mud, Glorius Mud....

2007-04-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been the source of high drama and low humor around here. The person who was doing the site preparation (dirt work) came back the next day and dug a trench that is around 130' long, 24" wide, and 24"deep so we would be able to run the water and electric lines to the building site. I just spoke with the NEW site engineer (the old one apparently quit) and found out that they can't put the water and electric in the same trench, even if they are both in separate enclosing PVC pipe channels. I wish someone had mentioned that a couple of hundred dollars ago!

The foundation was dug and the concrete poured for the foundation this afternoon. When I arrived home from work after a hard day grading freshman comp analysis, research, argument, and literary evaluations I found a cement truck stuck in my yard up to its rear axles. This was not as amusing as it sounds. I now have to go out in my yard and pick up a couple of wheelbarrows full of gravel from where they sent yet ANOTHER cement truck to drag the first one out of the hole it had created and they needed traction to do so.

The sub-lieutenant for the site supervisor showed up a few minutes ago and apparently HE will be the one actually supervising the work crews...and they're all from Arkansas, not Tulsa, where we wrote the contracts and signed the deal. The house, however, has to meet Tulsa building codes...many of which don't exist out here on the river. So, I have to have someone come in and trench twice more. Once for the water, and the other for the propane. Great jiminy jumped up jehosephats!

I'm still looking for some place to hang the website for the construction pictures, so stay posted...the best, or at least weirdest, is yet to come!

Exciting News...Exciting News...Exciting News...

2007-04-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

We have finally decided that lack of debt was making our lives miserable and that the only way to be happy was to go a quarter of a million dollars into the red. Of course, we're getting a new house out of the deal, but it's the debt that's important, isn't it?

But seriously, folks...the double-wide we have all come to know and love over the past twenty years has reached the point where it will no longer sustain Linda and I as a primary residence. It would cost more to have the old place refurbished than we could get as a loan to do the work, and what with the cost of purchasing a new mobile home being very close to the cost of having something built, we went with building.

Here is what we're starting with:
http://www.ubh.com/choose/homes/savannah.php

We adapted this to our needs and we're looking forward to being able to move in about the middle to end of July of this year.

Gone is the front fence and all the cedar trees that were there. Gone also are most of the persimmon trees that had been in the front yard. The garden area has been scraped and waits for me to get the tiller serviced and start working the new garden. The half-acre on the other side of where the front fence had been is now a huge mud slick due to the site preparation work and there is a trench that runs from the well down the driveway and out into the field. We now have a moat! At least, it seems that way.

We have been taking digital photos since the day we signed the contract and I'll be creating a website that has these photos as soon as I find someplace that will give me the space I need for them. By the end of summer the old homestead will look mostly different, and we're really excited about that.

Now, as far as the existing structure, we are going to divide it into two sections: An apartment and a workshop. We will go in and put up a wall with a door that goes across the area where we now have the wood stove and what was the little bedrooms and den will become an open-space workshop, while the other end, the end with the living room (office), the kitchen, and master suite will become the apartment. We'll be doing basic repairs as we get time and resources but that apartment will be kept ready for anyone who needs it for a visit or an "extended visit."

As of today, we're not sure what the construction schedule is. The builders tell us that the average completion time is 90-110 days after they start cutting up wood and nailing things together. But they have to show up first, and for that to happen it has to dry out enough so they can dig and pour the footing for the house.

Oops...students at the door...much like barbarians at the gate. More Later.

Semester Sizzle...Not!

2006-04-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

Once again, an academic semester is lurching and staggering to a close. I must admit that I am not certain what has happened to secondary education the past decade but when you have 125 freshman composition students and less than 20 actually did a research paper at any point in their previous academic lives, I must grieve for tomorrows leadership today.

And, to quote one of my students, "so what's with this attendance policy thing...is that bogus crap or what?" Well, I suppose it could be viewed that way. I know that, personally, I get tired of calling out the same names to the same empty desks session after session only to have the little darling show up weeks before finals with a fist-full of scrap paper that they call their assignments and want to get an "A" because they mystically appeared in the classroom.

Perhaps we, as parents, are to blame for attempting to make life too simple and easy for your children. Perhaps the lack of responsibility comes from our trying to protect them from the real world instead of letting them get the realities of life kicked into them. Perhaps I'm just getting disenchanted with the whole thing.

But at least I have a job.

A new year, a new concept, a new something or other

2006-01-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry about being lax in updating. Things have been "interesting" the past 30 or so days.

First, the holidays were great. Everyone but Chris and Chaz and Pat made it home for the main holiday and we're expecting them for the 20th anniversary rededication this year so we'll get to see them then. We miss them, wish they were closer so we could spend more time with them.

Second, more doctors appointments. I've got a tendon in my Right leg that is so damaged that its not fixable, I just have to live with it and lemme tell ya, waking up at 0200 feeling like someone has opened up the skin and poured in molten lead is not as much fun as it sounds!

Linda has bronchitis that was caught just in time to keep it from turning into pneumonia. This is a great topper for her having finished her Masters in Clinical Psychology and venturiing out into the wide world of head-shrinking. If she could sleep through the coughing she'd be fine.

Classes are, well, classes. You teach, you hope they learn. The way I teach composition its all structure anyway, so what's to go wrong?

We miss the extended family and hope everyone is well.

Oh, on the game front: discovered a new game! Munchkin!! what a wonderfully silly game! Everyone should try it.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

2005-12-09T09:46:00.000-08:00

This has been a harsh month on the river. After the joy of Thanksgiving we lost two dear friends: Willie Vann and Charles Ivey. Both passed away within a two week period so that gave us one funeral and one rememberance to attend during that time frame. Willie was buried at Long Springs, just down river from the homestead, and Charles is being taken home to Gary, Indiana by his mother after the rememberance tomorrow. Both will be missed very, very much.

On the up side of things, this is the last day of the actual academic semester here at NSU. Next week is finals and then we're out (the faculty) till the second week of January, 2006. This is good. It gives me time to work on lesson plans and get some sort of a schedule created for the next semester.

Linda finished her internship this week! Huzzahs and Kudos (both the cheer and the candy bar) to her for a long, hard, weird trip. So...watch yourselves! Mom is now a fully trained psychologist, and you know what that means! You thought you couldn't get away with anything before?

I turned 52 on Sunday. Wow...I've outlived most of my maternal bloodline now! Pretty spiffy.

Alas, I have to go now and deal with frozen water pipes and such. We are looking into purchasing a new home for the new year, and we will post more on that as we go through the painful process of procurement.

There...and back again....

2005-10-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

So, whats it gots in its pocketses, precious? It was a wedding invitation in the Quad Cities, Moline to be exact, to attend Melba's wedding to Randy. 12+ hours one way, the same coming back.

It was an interesting four days filled with fun, food, and angst.

The bride was radiently beautiful, the groom looked dapper, an interesting time was had by all.

Been to the Doctor...

2005-10-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

and boy, is it strange! The Dr. sent me for half a page of tests, which were done this morning prior to my 0930 class, and I won't know the results for a few days.

The poor lab tech who drew my multiple vials of blood didn't believe me when I warned her that my veins were difficult to find and that they would roll if not trapped in place. She believes me now. The Xray tech was a trainee so they had to shoot the films twice, and the nurse who ran the EKG/ECG/something or other had to shave little round spots on my so she could stick the receptor pads onto my skin. I look like I've been the victim of an alien abduction and examination!

Ah, well....could be worse....I could be grading research papers done by asian students...

No, that's NEXT weekend....

Going to the Doctor

2005-10-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, I can only take so many people telling me to take better care of myself....sheesh, you'd think a 40 lb weight loss would be good for a little slack, but the last couple of weeks the old chest has been hurting, had tingling pain in the left arm, the tummy's been upset so I let Linda talk me into going to the HMO doctor here in town. My appointment is in half an hour and I'll post what the results were.

I already know what he's going to say: Lose more weight, exercise more, less stress, all that stuff...I'm woikin onnit...okaY??!

Cingular Wireless

2005-10-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

I purchased a game, "Baldur's Gate," for my Samsung phone and all I get is a "network not responding" message...what the heck is this all about? I want my game! I want my butt kicked by my phone because the abuse I get on the computer version is not enough!!

International Talk Like A Pirate Day September 19, 2005

2005-09-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Ok....start by going here: http://www.talklikeapirate.com. Read, enjoy, participate! It may not be percieved as a "true holiday," but neither is "Step Parents Day" and the card companies are already trying to sell smarmy stuff for that one.

One of the things you can do is create your very own pirate personality and name...here be mine, matey!

My pirate name is:

Black William Flint

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Go...do...pillage...Aarrhrrhrrrr!!!!!!!!!

Store-bought teeth

2005-06-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Y'know, if I'd known I'd feel this much better, I'd have had these teeth yanked years ago! Dr. Matt (my dentist) removed the remaining upper teeth and fit the upper dental plate on Friday morning and I felt incredible by Saturday afternoon. I felt so good that I got up and helped out with housework and did some yardwork today. When they removed the "remaindered" tooth, the one where I had the cap, there was this huge bubble of infection attached to the root of the tooth and I'm figuring that was the reason I've been running a low grade fever for so long. It was bad enough Dr. Matt made an issue of the whole thing!

But, I've got uppers, and the worst part so far has been the residual pain from the puncture wounds where they injected the Xylocain. The extractions were relatively painless...completely unlike my last two rounds where I thought I would have to die to get better.

So...I've got uppers. I'm still, you should pardon the pun, fuzzy on when I get the partial lower bridge, but it's coming. I've got to get used to eating with this chunk of plastic crammed in my mouth for the time being...that's taking some adjustment, let me tell you! No steak for Tony for quite a while...or pizza...or nachos...oh, well...

Getting caught up but not getting things caught in my teeth...

2005-06-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Lessee...

Ok, first, Bree finally graduate high school. We're so incredibly proud of her it's almost painful. *sniff...my baby is finally a growed up person thing...* She's had a few weeks of craziness and now it's time to get down to basics. She starts college in August and she's already being feared and admired by my department...they've had to put up with her wit, charm, and intellect for several years and a couple of the senior Ph'D's have requested she take their classes. I think so they can be sure she gets the training in academic torture methodololgies she needs, but I could be worong...I'm just the dad.

Now, the teefs. I had round two of removals two weeks ago when they pulled two bottom teeth. It was surgical and, of course, more expensive, but incrediblye easier...except for the being sick for a week afterwards. I go on June 24 to get the remaining uppers remove, the upper temporary plate installed, and the lower bridge installed....then it's just weeks of pain and suffering as we refit the whole rig as the swelling goes down and I adjust to the new orthodonture.

I'm teaching Japanese kids English again this summer. I may well be teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) at the college this year as well as my usual Comp I and II load...the department chair is threatening me with it and it doesn't pay any more but hell, it's a job! I did, however, get a raise this year...three years and I got an extra 2o cents per hour...ah, well...it's all good.

OH, and I got my first Fathers Day gift! From Chris and Chaz...it's the Diskworld Role Playing Game rulebook...a GURPS system book...and just laugh out loud, fall on the floor fun! I've already got a couple of ideas for adventures.....hehehehehehe.....

"It gots teefes, don' it?"

2005-05-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

{The answer to the question: "Do it bite?"}

Presently, I am in the process of losing my teeth. In groups. Not all at the same time, darn it, but through the system of groups. Let me explain....no, no, that would take too long...let me sum up.

I have terrible teeth. Between the bar fights, the motorcycle accidents, genetics, and what not they're just crappy. Bits and pieces of them have been falling out and off for years. Because of the wonders of group insurance I can now have them removed and have store bought teeth instead. But, as with every blessing, "it don't come easy."

According to my dentist my roots are such that they not only wrap around the jaw bone but then splay out and become "fibril." That means that they develop an almost capilary root system and become a nightmare to remove. I could have told him that...heck, I DID tell him that, but I'm not qualified to have an opinion of my own teeth.

The poor guy got a full aerobic workout pulling my bottom right eye tooth. He put a foot on the side of the chair base, wrapped both hands around the extractor, and ended up picking me up off the chair itself. It took half an hour and four tries to get the silly thing out of my mouth. It's been three weeks and I'm still bruised from the ordeal.

I go in for the next round on June 2. They will remove the rest of my upper teeth as well as all but six of my bottom teeth leaving the ones in front to hold a partial bridge in place. At that time the dentist will also fit the temporary upper plate and I'll begin the almost year long process of learning to have teeth that work, just hurt like hell all the time. Ah, but, it'll be nice to have an actual smile, now won't it?

Semester is over at NSU. I'm in the cataloge for next year already so I know my contract is secure for the next season, and they're talking about what they want me to be doing several years down the line. Being a responsible adult is interesting....kinda/sorta. The money is nice, however.

Bree is gradiatin' next Friday. She's put in a request for small appliances instead of cash or other stuff because she's moving out here soon and wants to have as much of her household goods as possible. Keep that in mind.

PhD Update

2005-04-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

Or, actually, PhDon't. That's right, Univ. of Ark. turned me down. They said I didn't write well enough to be in their program. Can you believe that? 30+ first place writing awards in journalism, three different syndicated newspaper columns, books that completely sold out their printings and I don't write well enough to participate in their PhD program.

Actually, it all comes down to my age. I'm too old for their program. Oh, they won't say that...it's against the law! But they want younger folks who have never been out of college and have a long publishing career ahead of them.

So, I keep looking....

AAuugghhh!!!!!!!!

2005-04-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

I've been home from the dentists' office for about an hour and a half and let me tell you this really is not a lot of fun. The dentist only got half the work done because he spent over half an hour on just one tooth and, in my opinion, should have cut it out but spent all that time bruising my mouth and leaving the other half of my teeth in place.

So I get to go back for the second half in about a month. Rather than get my denture and bridge within weeks, it's going to be months.

And, to quite literaly add insult to injury, I went to a certain "all in one" department store where I have all my prescriptions filled and they wouldn't accept my Rx insurance because, while they DO accept the HMO, the HMO doesn't accept prescriptions from my dentist....

So I have to go back tomorrow for a follow up from the extractions and you can be sure that they're going to hear about that little surprise.

The meds are finally starting to kick in, so I'm going to go set back and wait to fall over...

...and yet we endure!

2005-04-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of weeks since the debacle over the dinosaur poo pad. We finally managed to construct one of the two storage buildings and have plans to erect the second one this weekend. In the meantime we have been busily planting apple trees and a weeping cherry tree (beautiful thing, looks like a cross between a weeping willow and a cherry tree...hence the name, I guess), putting in dozens of petunias and dianthus and creating a new "shade" bed where we will be planting elephant ears (what the hell do we do with the REST of the elephant??), and other plants of the same concept.

Next Wednesday I'm going to the dentists and having all but the front six bottom teeth removed. I'll get a full upper dental plate and a lower bridge. It'll be interesting to have teeth that don't bite the owner!

That Friday we have the practice session for a wedding I'm officiating at, and then the next day, Saturday, we have the wedding as well as Bree's Senior Prom.

Yes, Bree is "proming" and graduating. Terrifying and yet beautiful.

Whups....gotta go annoy my next class....more later.

2005-03-23T10:38:00.000-08:00

Something to think about...

The Sad Pad of Dispair..OR...Oy, My Achin' Back!

2005-03-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

We have finally begun major renovations of the homestead by arranging with one of the local concrete companies to bring us four and a half square yards of dinosaur poo from which we made a 15'x25' pad to place the "build it yourself" storage buildings that have been sitting in the front yard for the past two years upon.

I say dinosaur poo because concrete should flow like gravy, not sit in a large, damp pile looking like some huge herbivour with bad dietary habits paused in your yard. The concrete delivery person wasn't the least bit interested in the fact that it wasn't the consistency it was supposed to be...he just wanted to, you should pardon the phrase, dump his load and go.

Sooo...picture Mom, Bree, and me out with two shovels and a garden rake trying to move a ton of wet poo into a frame. Not a pretty sight! We eventually had to take the old gaming table, tie it to the garden tractor, and have Bree sit on the table as we dragged it back and forth across the concrete in an attempt to make it smooth. Didn't work.

There are huge cavetations, you can see where the original pile was at because the entire pad slopes away from that point, and it in general looks like Poo in a form. But it is done.

Next, we hired a couple of young men to construct the buildings for us. They didn't show up until late in the afternoon on the first day and puttered around doing nothing more than sorting out the parts and mis-assembling the base frame. They didn't show at all the second day. The third day Mom and I went to make our run to town and passed them in town. They waved and smiled like nothing was wrong.

When we got home we began construction on the first building ourselves and had 90% of it done in about five hours. We went out the next day and finished it up in around three hours and saved ourselves a bunch of money in the process. Now that we know how they go together, Mom is going to do pre-assembly of the base and corner sections, and the roofing struts, and we can get the rest of the building up in an afternoon.

Now, understand, you can see daylight under three of the four corners of the existing building. We are going to have to go in with a level and several bags of sacrete as well as spray foam insulation and make the buildings truly level but hey, we can start moving stuff out of the house and into the storage units as soon as it stops raining!

We hope to have the other building up and everything moved in the next couple of weeks so we can start repairs on the house. Anyone (within reason) who wants to show up and help is welcome! I'll fix lunch and we'll have a good time!!

Life is Constanlty Interesting

2005-03-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

Lessee...since last we met....

I heard back from the University of Arkansas on my application for a slot in their PhD in English program. Seems they had everything but my actual application to the College of English. I had to track down my professional portfolio (it's assessment time again) and get info from it to fill out a whole new set of forms and have them overnighted (can we actually use that as a verb??) in order to make the requirements. Of course, they called on a Monday night and the forms were due on Tuesday...they got them Friday. We shall see what we shall see, eh?

I'm actually in the NSU Fall 2005 course schedule...by NAME! I guess they're gonna keep me (insert sally fields oscar speech here..) at least for another year. I've done good by the department and they appreciate it. I'm teaching two comp I and two comp II classes with a release for the fifth class because I'm the "tech guy" for the department as well as the webmaster and main lackey. That's cool. I'll play lackey if they continue to pay. I've done worse things for less money, trust me.

Spring is attempting to rear it's head out in the valley. Between freezing mornings and warm afternoons nature is schizophrenic it seems. The pollen count is insane and we've discovered where the dividing line is between the "breathe/don't breathe" parts of NE Oklahoma: just about at the bridge at Muskogee. Soon as you hit the nurseries, the sinuses shut down.

Linda and I had three days in Tulsa last weekend. We left Friday, went to the Maul, er, Mall...and I bought her the birthday present I've wanted to get her for years: a diamond ring. Looks incredible on her tiny little hand, I must say. We went to Philbrook and viewed the Hudson River Artists show...what amazing use of light and space! I just can't rant enough about how beautiful it all was. Philbrook was nice too, but, hey, once you've seen it, it's still the same building.

This week has been Mid Term Exams and the final turn-in for research papers....guess what I get to do next week while everyone else is on spring break? I've managed to cut the work load by 2/3 by buckling down and getting the baseline grading done. If I do it right, there's about an hour a day of the other grading....I may yet get some of this legendary "free time" that the students speak of....

Well, it's time to go teach other teachers how to create online syllabi and class websites....my evening shift is about to begin, so, peace and remember: Life is Good!

Too good not to pass on...

2004-12-16T05:42:00.000-08:00

Second try...the idiot box ate the first entry apparently...

I've found the perfect "Letter from Santa" website:
http://www.lettersfrombadsanta.com/order.html

Sadly, it aint free, but if you have the time and money to spend, this would be the place to do it.

End of Semester Blues

2004-12-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

(Done in a G/G# progression)
It be de end of de semester
and de morons dey be thik
Dey be whini'n' boud dey grades
an' dey jus' bout make me sick.

If dey done de work t'begin wit
an' left de partyin' alone
Dey wouldna be a sittin'
in de "I's a moron failed Composition Class Zone!"

Perhaps I'm a bit harsh on my students...wait...no, no I'm not. When they show up with below 9th grade level research projects, empty portfolios, and hang-overs I feel fully justified to smack dey lil' haids into d' desk.

Thank goodness there are only three more days of finals to suffer through. Then on to Solstice, Christmas, the rest of Haunukah, Kwanza and the drunken debauchery that New Years has become...then back to classes with a fresh crop of sub-literates.

How the hell did this country get to be the world leader it is with these chuckle heads wanting to be in charge??

Someone has got to make them understand that Grand Theft Auto is NOT how you decide foreign policy!

Welcome to Cedar Valley

2004-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

I thought that I would create a blog for our family and extended family so we can keep up on what's going on. As has been said, we're scattered out all over the continent, and sometimes other continents, and it's tough to keep up with each other.

Winter is making an attempt at arriving out here on the river. It's gotten colder, and damper, and there's been rumors of snow flurries not too far away. We finally got the wood stove in for the season and a rick of wood so we're keeping warm. Now I've got to get busy and create more wood for the stove...I wonder if I can hire a teenager to do that for me??

Life, like our beloved river, flows onward. Help keep this blog going by adding your comments and updates, or send me anything you want included here. There's even a photo portion of the blog that I don't have figured out yet, but be warned...I will figure it out! Then I'll be asking for pix to post.

My love to everyone.