Hobbies

The other day it was announced in a group online that my daughter, K, and I have been nominated and accepted to run as Baronesses of our local SCA group.  If all of this sounds foreign to you, there is a link to the right that might help.  A good part of today was spent organizing some of our thoughts concerning this.  Not that we haven't had many discussions, but the discussions weren't in writing.  So we have many of our thoughts and ideas about the Barony written down and the next step will be to organize them.  The last time the office was in transition I was nominated but declined because I was still very much involved with being the local treasurer (Exchequer) and really wanted a partner to work with.  This time Gideon is no longer a toddler so K and I will be partners.  I have had around 5 years with this in the back of my head and I look forward to working on it.

Tonight I went to a class about preparing to hike the AT.  For now I intend to section hike.  There are so many things that are important to me that I want to do.  This one will have to be separated out for now to times when I am on vacations from work and won't need to be at an SCA event.  A bunch more training is necessary, hopefully I will finally get a routine going. 

The gentleman who sat in front of me in class is starting the trail in about 2 weeks.  So exciting!  He was wearing a shirt for Hadrian's Wall Path.  I was going to ask him about the shirt after the class but he left right away so I missed that opportunity.  Learning that there is a hiking path that is along Hadrian's Wall is my happy for today.  This joins two things that I enjoy together in a tangible way that I like. 

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When my daughter spoke about vacation last week I thought every day I would be busy.  That has not turned out to be the case.  Today was mostly a down day.  I spent part of it working on treasurer things and part playing on the computer.  Gideon and I went for a walk to Staples so I could mail out the package of equipment to the job I quit back in December.  He got a ride back home with his mom and I walked home.  I took a longer way and crossed the river.  It was a gorgeous day and I wanted to enjoy a bit of it.  I walked through EMS and stopped off at a bead shop.  Played some Pokemon Go on my walk too. 

In the evening, K went to a craft night and Z, Gideon and I went to see Poor Howard play the Blues at a local restaurant.  He recently purchased a new guitar and it sounded just lovely.  Gideon ended up falling asleep!  We were kind of surprised because the day was mellow and he usually goes to bed about 1.5-2 hours later than when he started to sleep in a not-comfortable-for-sleeping chair.  The waitress was great and pulled some chairs up for him to stretch across and sleep.  I walked home from the restaurant too.  Getting out to watch a friend play the Blues is my happy for today.  Is that an oxymoron?  😉

 The moon

Sun setting over the river. 

Poor Howard

Gideon drawing with both hands before falling asleep.

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MOS

First official day of school vacation we spent learning things at the Museum of Science.  K, Z, Gideon and myself all got to go.  It has been quite a few years since I have been there and so much has changed!  Some things have just moved, others are the same as when I was a kid and other things are new.  It was a lot of fun.  We ended the day with watching the IMAX film Dream Big: Engineering Our World.  There is an exhibit there now about math and patterns that was interesting and had a mirror maze.  For some reason learning about the Voronoi pattern was very intriguing to me.  I also really liked going through some of the drawers in the natural world area-partially because some of that was relevant to what we have been doing in science class at work.  That was K's favorite part.  Gideon's favorite part was the mirror maze and Z really liked the IMAX movie.  Z and I also really enjoyed the exhibit about the space program.

K and I being silly.

Sillier.

Roar!

Cladogram! 

Bird beaks.  The long one on the far right is a pelican. 

Amethyst Geode

Tourmaline

 A bunch of pretty rocks.

BIG chunk of malachite.

Fossil 

A building that I saw from the parking lot.

Gnomes 

Viking Ship

Apollo 11 crew

Sunset

In other news, it has been announced that my daughter, K, and I are candidates along with one other pair for the baronial seats with our local SCA group.  If chosen we will become Baroness and Baroness for the next 3-6 years.

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Just a Happy and some drawn embroidery

Gideon spent the day with his other grandparents.  This left K, Z and I to ourselves.  We ran some errands in the morning and K & Z made the rest of the day into a date day and went to the movies and dinner.  That left this grandmother with the rest of the day to herself.  I had hoped to go to a show this afternoon but the weather and my waking up at 5 AM this morning changed my mind.  Instead I relaxed in between dishes and laundry.  Clean dishes and laundry are my happy things for today. 

One other thing I did was to take a couple minutes and work on the sampler that I started yesterday of drawn embroidery.  I took a couple pictures:

The top 2 pictures are what I did in class yesterday.  The zigzag stitch is the serpent and the other is the ladder.  The top pic is the backside and the other is the front.

The mouse teeth stitch forms the base for the other stitches.  I used green thread to see how it would look with the contrasting colors.  Again, the top pic is the backside and the other is the front.  The ladder stitches are the first I did and that last picture really shows how I messed up in the beginning.

 Whether I ever do this stitch again I don't know. It is pretty.  I think I like the way the serpent stitch looks best.

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Embroidery

Well, it has been a long day that was supposed to be longer.  I had a party that I could have gone to tonight but I am just not feeling it after being out most of the day.  My daughter, K, Gideon and I as well as a friend all headed to an event themed around embroidery.  We ran a little late and didn't get into all the classes that we had hoped.  I took a class on mouse teeth, ladder and serpent.  I wish I could describe what that means.  Basically some thread is pulled out just up from where a hem meets and that place is where the stitching can start within that pulled section.  None of this sounds right and I forgot to take pictures and left my bag in the car.  Google search has finally produced this link on Drawn Thead Work which shows what I tried to accomplish. 

It was a good day visiting with friends and embroidering.  I got to hold a baby and a toddler and these things are my happy things for today.  I took a nap in the car on the way to the event and on the way home and I am still too tired to go out again.  So sleep is what I hope to do instead.  Maybe if I get sleep and many things accomplished in the morning I will head out to see i Sebastiani in the afternoon tomorrow.

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Games Day

This morning's ride into work was very pretty.  Just enough snow fell last night to make everything look clean and white.  The school day went better than yesterday.  They split up the grade and about half the students worked on their Social Studies/Language Arts project and the other half started watching Hidden Figures.  After about an hour they switched.   Then after break the whole group got together and finished watching the movie.  There was a set of questions to go along with the movie.  There were still the regular classes in the middle of the day, one that Friday is game day.  To finish up this last day before break they split the class into 4 groups and each group did an activity to determine who would compete in a pretend Olympic biathlon.  This ended up the day.  Then I sprayed all the tables in the science room down with a spray bleach cleaner so things would be clean when we come back.  😝

Since I was trying to be available for students who needed to finish their work or do make up work I missed large portions of the movie.  This is a movie that I had wanted to see before it came out and never did.  It has now been added and moved to the top of my Netflix queue so I can finally see it.  When my kids were younger we used to be movie goers.   Not at the movies all the time or anything but we enjoyed going out from time to time and seeing a show at the theater.  They still are. There was quite a gap where I never got out to the movies though and occasionally I fee I should catch up.  Like when I hadn't seen some of the Star Wars movies and another came out last year so I had to watch the ones I missed.  Last night we watched the 3rd Thor movie but I still haven't seen the 2nd one.  Ah, well, I guess I have had other things to do.

It is Friday, it was the last day of work prior to vacation.  For this first evening of vacation I relaxed mostly.  Dishes got done, food was eaten and a movie was watched.  My happy for today is vacation.

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Just a happy--short

Today at work started out well but did not end so good.  That and my being tired clouded most of my afternoon.  I am going to put my mind back in time to this morning when the teacher and I were following the call of upraised hands around the classroom answering questions and being useful.  There are parts of my job that I love, being able to reword a question so that a student understands it is one part of that.  The most rewarding is when they 'get it'.  When whatever is being learned starts to make sense.  Those moments are my happy for today.

I just signed up for a free travel writing class starting in March...

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10,000 days ago

My morning started with a bad dream.  My mom, who passed away in 2002, was upset with me over something at the house.  The house that I am hoping to sell.  The house that I don't want to hold on to just for sentimental reasons.  Perhaps I was more anxious about being observed in class today than I thought.  The dream either revealed that I was stressed a bit or created stress for the morning.  Thankfully I was able to put that aside when I had to.  There were a few times that I almost started crying and didn't.  A wise woman once told me that girls always miss their moms.  Any way, the observation time went well.  There will still need to be a sit down time to discuss it, but she implied to me that it was all good.

After work I went to the chiropractor and my neck was starting to feel better.  I plan to take care with sleeping and work on being more relaxed.  

K, my daughter, turned 10,000 days old today.  She decided a few years ago that it was a landmark birthday and wanted to do something special.  The planning part of that never really happened the way she had hoped. There is a new place in town though and some friends were able to come by and help her celebrate.  Z and I took turns watching Gideon so we each were able to go.  The place is themed around a speak easy from the 20's.  There is a code to get in.  It was kind of cool.  We are talking about making some clothes to go with the decor a bit and going back another time.  Getting to do this was fun and is my happy for today.

The 10000 day and 19423 day young people.

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Tuesday Afternoon--

The time before vacations at school tends to be, um, more active?  The right words are escaping me.  More intense?  Less concentration and focus seems to take place.  I am probably feeling very similar as I have less concentration and focus too.  I really need to find some for tomorrow morning, I am being observed.  Hopefully it will all go well. 

The weather today was lovely.  It warmed up to springtime temperatures.  The fresh white snow from Saturday night is gone, leaving behind what were once deep piles that have now become smaller and are covered with a winter time of dirt.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be about 70 degrees, perhaps all the dirty snow will melt away into memory.  Walking around the city after dark, the air was cooling down and it had a bit of a melting snow moisture smell.  That is the best I can do to describe it... except that this is a city.  The smell I try to write of is so much more powerful and cleaner seeming in the woods than in the city. 

Walking seems to be much better for my mood than the gym.  My neck has been bothering me since I started going to the gym and I think it is because of the anxiety I had in the beginning with using the machines.  Just being on the tread mill I held onto it so tight and I think that tension ended up in my neck.  Tomorrow I see my chiropractor and hopefully there will be improvement.  As I become more comfortable with the equipment the anxiety is going away. 

One of the nice things about the after school class I have been taking is that I met more coworkers.  Meeting more people and getting time to spend with some of the others I have met this school year is good.  These are things that I have always struggled with.  Even though I know how good it feels to have friends and meet new ones I tend to shy away from situations that promote it.  My happy for today is for the new positive people and experiences in life.

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-A snippet:
Gideon brings his plate with pizza crusts on it and says "I'm done with my food, what do I need to do with it now?" 
Z responds, "Well, next you digest it and poop it out!"  😂
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It is a crescent moon, really.

Tuesday Afternoon

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Short Monday Post for a Long Day

For whatever reason I feel that my muse has been failing me lately.  It may just be that I have been so tired by the time I get to write, not sure.   Any how, I feel that I have been unable to give the writing of this blog as much attention as I would like. 


Happy /funny thing today...

Z: Do you want to try some mead?
Me: *gives quizzical look*
Z:  It was made in a basement.
Me:  *Almost snorts my dinner laughing because why would that be a selling point?* 

Z:  Look at the nice coloring.
Me: Smells almost like whiskey.  *Tries some*
Z:  What do you think.
Me:  *Remains silent*
Z: *has some from my glass and begins talking about the flavor.*
Me:  Hey!  I thought that was for me!

There is laughter and giggling where I live and it is good.

 

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Weaving Circle Day

For Sunday morning sleeping in was a thing that I tried to do.  Since I got home this morning around 1 AM and probably not to sleep until close to 2, I probably should have tried harder.  There was very little in the way of being productive this morning.  I did work more on the treasurer stuff.  K and I went to weaving circle in the afternoon where I again, worked on treasurer stuff.  I don't feel that I have gotten very far with everything that needs to be done.  At the same time, it has been a vacant office for almost a year so I have a bunch of catching up to do.  

Things I am happy about today:

-Although I can't even remember what was said, I laughed hard enough to snort today.

-Getting together with friends, even though I didn't weave.

-Playing with Gideon as he counted to 119.  I have no idea why 119.

-That the car that zoomed past us, on the right hand side, on the highway, most likely going over 100 MPH, didn't hit us.  I felt the vibration that was caused as the car sped by in my body for over 30 minutes.

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Saturday--Just a happy for the day

Most of today was spent learning different things for my position as regional treasurer.  Rules, policies, spreadsheets and the such.  Tedious or boring for many people but it turns on the problem solving part of my brain in a good way and tends to keep me engaged.  A couple I've known for many years hosted the training (one of them also needed the training) and it was so wonderful to see them again.  We were able to only catch up a little bit because of so many things to absorb.  Being trained together with someone who I have known for a while made the whole experience more comfortable.  Her husband did his best, when we weren't learning stuff, to get me to smile and laugh and lift my serious treasurer face up.  The people involved in training us were pretty awesome too.  Friends are such a wonderful thing, I am very thankful for them and these friends are my happy for today.

https://www.pinmart.com/assets/1/19/DimRegular/2401.jpg?9484

FRIDAY!!!!!!!!! short post

It has been a very long week and I am relieved that it is a thing of the past.  I went out with a friend from work to go to bead shops and out to dinner.  It was a good time, even though I didn't find any beads like what I imagine.  What I want is too specific, I should just wing it.   We had dinner and I met her daughter and granddaughter, it was nice. 

During school everyone is getting to make a clay tile as part of the guest artist program that is happening.  Today I made mine.   It was fun and is my happy for today.  We should be getting them back sometime before the school year ends.  They need to be dried and fired first. 

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Thursday with Chaos

School today had an assembly called Chaos and Kindness.  Two people of the group Recycled Percussion came and talked about how important it is to be kind and not to bully--they performed some percussion too.  It was a fun break from the normalcy of school.

Tonight Z, Gideon and I went for a walk so they could see the lit up icicles.  There is one building that Gideon likes to go up the ramp.  There are walls on either side of the ramp and it used to be that we couldn't see Gideon while he was on there.  Tonight he appeared almost a full head over the walls!  He has grown so these last few months.  Gideon is my happy for today.

Looking down at the icicles from above.

Myself Gideon and Z

Looking up

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Happy Valentine's Day!

It was a rough day at school for me today.  Pretty sure everyone had too much sugar, me included.  Holidays seem to be like that I guess.  Every day I am that much closer to vacation week.  I am surprising myself by looking forward so much to the time off.  I didn't think that would happen so much.  I've been looking forward to summer break, it is all the little ones in the middle I didn't expect to anticipate. 

Coming home and being able to go through Gideon's box of Valentine's with him helped to alleviate some of the day's frustrations.  It seems that kids these days don't just send cards, but cards with candy attached.  Candy that tends to contain red food dye, (because-Valentine's Day) which Gideon is sensitive to.  I may buy a box of chocolates or something for him tomorrow and trade out all the colored stuff for him. 

Many years ago I had a cassette from a group called Mannheim Steamroller.  I was just researching Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) and according to Wikipedia they did an entire concept album based on his book, Somnium.  I don't remember the concept album but I had to find online the one I used to listen to all the time:  Fresh Aire III.  They had a Christmas album back in the day too.  That is such a blast from the past.  Listening to that now on YouTube has just earned the spot for my happy for today.  If you have the time, give it a listen. 

Morning sky to go with the song Morning.

💗☮💟

Fat Tuesday

School today went fine, although I was more tired than usual.  The 7th grade staff have been watching small bits of the Olympics during lunch break.  Today there was a little bit of snowboarding and some speed skating.  I wonder where my ice skates are.  It seems that the school can't let the students watch the Olympics because of the commercials, at least that is what some of the teachers were saying.  I stayed late again for more training.  

When I got home it was suggested that I play Minecraft because a surprise was being planned and a distraction was necessary.  I played until dinner but I had the time wrong so stopped when dinner was ready.  I hope I get to find out about the surprise later.  

The gym has its perks, but I took a walk tonight, outside, in the cold and it was lovely.  When I walked by the capitol building I noticed the stained glass window over the door.  I know I have seen it before, I must have, but all lit up tonight it looked new to me.

I didn't get too close so the pictures aren't the best quality.  

After the capitol I remembered the walkway that had loads of umbrellas hanging over it during the summer.  There are icicles hanging for the winter and this is the first time walking at night that I have had the opportunity to see them lit up.  Here is a still shot:

And a video.  The effect is much nicer with the video.  It would be better still if there wasn't so much white noise.  I recommend turning down the volume prior to watching.

Since I went upstairs for pictures of the umbrellas from above it seemed only fitting to do the same with the icicles.  Here, from the top of the parking garage looking down and zoomed a little:

A video, also from the top of the garage.  This also has too much background noise.

The capital dome all lit up.

Which makes tonight's walk my happy for today.

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