that darn Facebook

I've been bitten by Facebook and have sadly neglected this blog. Ahhh.

Updates - a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Wedding plans going full steam ahead. Maia found her beautiful gown. She tried on two and was done. What an easy decision, the first fitting is in April.

She also picked the invitations, they are simply elegant. We worked on the wording yesterday, hope that when the proofs arrive they are just wonderful. Again, Maia looked through the book and the second one that she had marked was the one she picked! Noticing a pattern here...

Today, besides waiting for the Jets and Vikings to advance to the Superbowl, I'm waiting for Best Buy to call and say my new laptop is ready!

My new years resolution is to keep up with this blog (didn't I make that resolution a few times already?)

Here is a picture of my lovely nieces, my sister's girls, aren't they adorable?

Knitting

It's been a little while, once again!

Since this started as a knitting blog, here is the sweater I just finished. It was a blast to knit and easy as pie, too. I ran out of the main color yarn, Encore, and thanks to the friendly ladies at Wooly Lamb put together a complimentary plum i-cord edging. The buttons make a nice statement, putting a little fun into the whole thing. The pattern, Garter Play Cardigan, is from Top Down Sweaters, by Doreen L. Marquart. A pattern book that I'll no doubt use again.

An update

My cousin Brenda's wedding last week was awesome! Pictures are up on my Facebook.

Since we were in Boston and WEBS, America's Yarn Store is only an hour or so out of the way, we stopped in. Love Dave for not complaining and for leaving me there for an hour while he went for lunch. I had one pattern with me and found the yarn, but while walking through the warehouse, found some to die for yarn and a pattern and have a new vest on the needles as we speak.

My top down jacket, except for the i-cord binding all around, is finished and I'm out of yarn. Hopefully the Wooly Lamb (their link is wonky, visit the store, not the website) will have something that will blend nicely.

That's all for now, I'm glad to know that I can access this page from school, it will give me something to look forward to doing during lunch!

A quick post

No, I haven't fallen off the end of the earth, just been busy and lazy at the same time.

My cousin and his family visited from California last week, what a treat to meet our newest baby! Grant is 7 months of adorable baby! Pictures to follow.

Next week we are off to Boston for another cousin's wedding. My mom was the oldest and there is a 16 year difference in her siblings ages so I have cousins who are younger than my kids. I have an aunt that is the same age as my husband. Makes for fun introductions.

School is fine, we are in the midst of testing testing testing and more testing. Last week were the state tests, today was PSAT's and tomorrow and Friday are benchmark testing for core subjects. Not bad except the library has been used as a testing site and we are informed of the schedules the day before, makes for some upset teachers and frustrated librarians. :) I've spent most of the time proctoring out of the library and got to meet lots of new kids.

Been sewing and knitting ~ finished some cute purses and have a dress in progress in the sewing department, a sweater down to its last sleeve and socks that are about done in the knitting lanes. Getting antsy to finish so I can start something else! The predicted storms for the weekend assure a good bit will be accomplished.

Until later...

Dolly

AKC - Lot's of Dollars

Dolly

8/1997 ~ 9/2009

Miss you

OOPS, a stumble

All good things... today we were assigned lunch duty which essentially shuts down the library for the kids who were coming in to us instead of going to the cafeteria. I'm torn in two by this, I love seeing the kids in a non-threatening way and joking around but at the same time, we now are limited to only three blocks of time per day to have kids in the library.

Greg, my partner and I have not taken a full lunch or a prep period in the two years I've been there, and now with the duty we cannot fit in our contractual lunch or prep times and keep the library open since we are gone part of the day. Argh. Repeat slowly.. 'we're all about the children' (a previous administrative saying)

Today there was a fight in the library during one of the scheduled classes, while the teacher tried to break it up, I went out in the hall to get security and one of the vice principals was half way down the hall, I called out to him and tried to let him know quietly that there was a fight going on...he hollers back 'did you say a fight? in the library?' a few times. I was looking for the candid camera since the word fight is like a magnet to get the kids running to the event Gotta love it :)
A few books tossed and tables upset but no major damage that I could see. Hopefully the kids involved are not too banged up, another day in paradise!

New addition

Just for fun ~

Jigsaw puzzle of the day can now be found on the bottom of this page.

Enjoy, it changes daily.

Back in the saddle again

School is settling into a nice routine. Our principal is still on fire and I hope she can keep it up!

Every morning I go to the entrance nearest to the library to greet the kids. the procedure is to put your bag on a table and walk through a metal detector. The detector goes off for almost every kid so the girls have a female officer to pat them down and the boys have a male officer. Its a sight to see them come through so matter of factly with their arms and legs outspread to be patted down on a daily basis. While its second nature for the kids, its still something to see.

On a library note, next week is Banned Book Week, we are making posters to put up in conjunction with Back to School Night. Hoping to have some good dialog with parents/kids. We happen to have nine of the top ten on this year's list, we are only missing the children's book and that's because we're high school.

Lastly, this weekend is Knitter's Day Out. Can't wait, I'm leaving right after school on Friday with my friend and school nurse. We'll sleep in Harrisburg and be in class bright and early Saturday. This is her first time, I've been going for 24 years, every year I learn something new, buy too much yarn and come home recharged for another year. Part of admission is making caps for kids - I've made two, I should be able to get a few more done before Saturday. I'll try to get pictures to show how many caps are donated for children. It's awesome!

In the swing again

Today the whole staff reported for work, we had meetings until noon then were in the library trying to get organized for who knows what who knows when. Tomorrow will be the same with the kids coming on Thursday.

As of now the kids are not going to be allowed in the building before 8 am. They also are not allowed to leave lunch to come to the library on their own until we have a card reader ~ and they all have id badges ~ so they can scan themselves into the library. We were promised to have new security in place by mid-October. Hoping to find a way to get our 'regulars' in before then!

We also have our final 2009-2010 budget spent - love the way you have to use your budget before the beginning of school. As of now we are not getting full use of our computer system since the district hasn't yet paid the bill but we have heard that most of our requisitions were fulfilled.

Anyway we were allotted a little less than 20 per kid, since the superintendent promised we'd get 25 per two years ago we figure we're in the right ballpark, just on the walkway, not in the bleachers yet. In the past five years my particular library has gone from 3 full time employees (2 librarians and an aide) and over 125K budget to 2 librarians and less than 40K to spend - which is twice what we had last year so we're headed in the right direction, baby steps but going the right way finally. Five years ago the budget was so big in order to bring computers to the library, this year we won't make it through the first marking period with those and are hoping against hope that they'll be replaced soon. Fingers, toes and eyes crossed.

Sometimes my heart ...

Yesterday my sister and I had a yard sale of my mom's things, the purpose being to give the nine grand~kids the money we earned. All nine live within two or three miles of her house.

Procrastinators that we are, it has taken us more than a year to get our act together to finally get most of her things out of her house ~ I think that it makes it so much more final when we do make a move. Anyway, getting organized took us a few weekends/nights. Terry, my sister, Kerry, her daughter, and I were the ones who got it together,

By 7:30 yesterday morning Alan was mowing the grass at my mom's so we could drive up to the kitchen door without making a mess of the yard, Eric stopped by just to sell, hang out, and give encouragement early in the day.

All told, 7 of the 9 grand~kids came out and helped, only two didn't make it. Kerry, put in the most time and effort so we gave her a little more and split the remainder equally between the other six. When I tried to give my boys their share, they both refused and wanted Kerry to have it all. They said it was because they work and Kerry, who also works, is putting herself through college.

There are times my boys make my heart hurt in a good way. To start, this week Alan worked two jobs, like he's been doing since he got engaged. Besides his tree work, every evening he's been helping out a farmer and this week they are baling hay, Friday alone, after work he baled until after 10 pm. Eric's week with UPS was a bear, too, he had more than 20 hours of overtime. That being said, both would have like more than anything to sleep in on Saturday morning. Some days I just wonder how we could be so blessed ....

Julie & Julia

Went to see Julie & Julia last night, I hadn't heard of it before, since I really don't follow the new movies, I count on my friend's blog to let me know what to see. But what a good movie! The switch between decades and lives was seamless and the storyline was pleasant. I recommend this one to those who want a nice, not in your face kind of film. In my estimation, which counts for nothing, I think Meryl Streep deserves an Oscar nomination/award for this role.

Get your galoshes

I hear that we are in for a nice rainy Saturday. Not something new. My plans to take Maryann from Featherbed Nursing Home to get her hair cut may be put on hold, its hard enough for her to navigate in good weather. Oh Well.

It's Official

Another school year has started, last week there was a workshop, this week an in service and two days of workshops, tomorrow back to the library. Monday we're in for the long haul.

Believe it or not, I can't wait!

The 'girls' don't look too excited...

what the heck is wrong with this picture, a perfectly good big girl doggie bed sitting empty while they pile into the smallest one, go figure.

Dog days of August

Lexie doesn't have a care in the world

And the winner is...

Alan and a hive had a run in, as you can see, the bees won! Thank goodness he is fine, went to the doctors and is now back at work. Poor baby!

August!

Today was going to be a nice quiet day, yesterday I started to sew a fleece jacket for myself and was planning to finish today. WomenSpace was very busy, three calls during the day. A new record! Hopefully things will quiet down for the ladies and gents, too.

Just wanted to give a big shout out to Staples, yesterday I took my ink cartridges in and they handed me a set ~ off I went, this morning when I tried to put them in the printer there was no way I could get them in, long story short, I had the wrong cartridges - opened. After leaving the police station tonight I went over to Staples in Langhorne ~ they didn't care that the package was open, they didn't even care that I had tried to put them into the printer, the clerk went and got the right cartridges and the cashier and manager were very apologetic. What a nice bit of service! To add to the transaction, the right cartridges were $13 less than the wrong ones! Thanks Staples!

Tomorrow my knitting club comes for dinner ~ I'm thinking of a zucchini quiche and salad. So, first thing in the morning, its off to the grocery store.

Summer is half over :(

Can't believe the summer is half over already. I go back to work in only 25 days. Not that I'm counting.

Tomorrow is Brenda's (my cousin) shower. Should be fun to see the family. We are officially in wedding mode now. Brenda is getting married in October in Boston, another cousin, Christy, is getting married in May also in Boston, Eric is getting married, here, in July and Alan is getting married the following June. So for the next almost 2 years, weddings on the horizon. How fun.

Speaking of weddings, Eric and Maia saw a photographer Thursday night. She seems to be very thorough and although it was eye opening to see how much it costs for the pics, oh well, its only once in a lifetime. So with 11 months to go, we have the minister, caterer, the tent and the photographer. Still to go ~ disc jockey, bathrooms, clothes, favors, flowers, decorations and the shower. Marlene and I were going over the budget, right now we have none, but need to rein in our spending or we'll be in hot water too soon. Although its their only wedding...

Alan and Melissa are invited to lunch with her grandparents in honor of their engagement. Hope they have fun.

Met the new principal this week, things look real good for the fall considering how tight the budgets will be and how far behind our kids are in relation to the rest of the state. It's funny that our kids have so many different experiences in life compared to those of their contemporaries but it doesn't seem to count when they take standardized tests. If there was only a way to measure their knowledge a different way. Sigh. Back to the principal, she is very enthusiastic and open to change. It promises to be a positive year. Maybe we can begin to turn the corner and make so real improvements. Also, she said the plan to build a new high school has been approved and we should see something happening soon.

Just heard that my cousin Bryan and his new baby Grant will be on the East Coast later this month, can't wait to meet Grant, he was born in Feb and lives in San Fransisco so we've only seen pictures. They are taking a trip to Dubai among other places and will be stopping in NYC on the way.

Back in good old NJ

Had a GREAT time in California with my west coast family. My Uncle Stas and Aunt Holly and their daughter and her family are out there. I went with my Uncle Joe. We fished in the Pacific, went to the casinos, house parties, Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, the Hollywood sign, and the Nixon Library among lots of sight seeing both on land and water.

Uncle Joe, Uncle Stas, Holly and me.

Darcy, my cousin, and Rubin, her husband have the cutest little girl, Marley, she is a pleasure to be around and so even tempered. Rubin also has a daughter, Jordin, who is a great kid, getting ready for high school. Marley was still a happy kid after midnight as you can see in this picture of our "Polish Night' where we made home made perogies, platskies and even had Polish beer!.

Here we are at the local music night at the park, they had a free drawing and Uncle Joe won!

Mother in Law!

Great news! I'm going to be a mother in law, twice now!!! Last night Alan asked Melissa the big question. He did the one knee thing and she said yes, my baby aslo went to her parents over the weekend and asked permission, they obviously said yes, too.

Now both my boys are engaged to wonderful young ladies.

I'm so happy!

Rain Rain Go AWAY for Today

Today we are celebrating my niece, Kerry's upcoming high school graduation. Right now we are having our second downpour of the afternoon. I hope this is the last for today.

We are having a new patio put in the backyard, it is a mud hole. Today the guys came to lay out the circle of bricks and frame the steps, of course the rains came so they left. At this rate we will have use of the back door in September. the dogs have learned to cross their paws and wait to be let out.

On the vacation front, my Uncle Joe is going to visit my Uncle Stas in California in July, I'm tagging along, Can't wait! The last time I was out there was in 2004 when my cousin got married and that was only for three days, this time its a nice 10 day trip. We are going to spend part of the time on the Pacific, U. Stas has a boat that sleeps four so it should be fun.

Sixteen days until school is done, not that I'm counting. Sadly, the whole Medical Arts library is now in boxes all over the place at Main Campus. We are doing an inventory, after one week of scanning books, we have hit the 35% mark. Hopefully we'll be done by the end of the month. The Main/Medical Arts collection has more than 30,000 books plus videos, all the computers are tagged, vcrs, and teaching kits to name just some of the stuff that has to be scanned. Thank goodness for laptops and handheld scanners.

We have found some interesting stuff while doing the inventory (last time it was done was more than five years ago ~ that's when my partner started to work there) our books range in ages from the 1920's to the present. Friday I opened a geography book and the last time it was checked out was 1943! How cool and how diverting is it to find treasures like that? We have decided to save one set of general geography books from the 1910's but due to lack of space and a way to keep the stuff we have to get rid of the outdated materials. We are keeping the old yearbooks, school newspapers, trophies and of course pictures. We have some of the writings of Ernie Kovacs an alumni of the High. Hopefully someone will think they were worth keeping when the next inventory comes around.

I ordered acid free folders and envelopes to put the pictures we have from the late 1800's to now in better order - presently they are piled in a box that was wet (It was kept on the sink go figure) ~ unfortunately due to the budget situation, the last two times I ordered the folders they have been denied without explanation. My principal has no idea how purchasing makes its decisions on what gets ordered and what doesn't. Oh well, mine is not to question why....