Greetings from Northern Virginia...this was my hippie kids pic from xmas (they've since had hair cuts)...my big accomplishments for the week were selecting a tub and faucet fixtures for the new master bath at roger's. this was easier said than done, i must have looked at 500 tubs, all the wrong size. kids get report cards today. i have guitar lesson tonight. am learning wild horses by the stones. my kids think it's pretty, told zack this week it's about heroin addiction. he told me he learned in family living class (sex ed) that drinking mountain dew kills your sperm. savannah spends most of her spare time creating paper sculptures, go figure. i'm looking for a class in this, she's really good. also, she is very serious about cuttin her own hair, so i'm about to throw in the towel on that one, and get her a "tutor" so she'll at least know how to do it right! nice to see everyone's pictures and posts! love, judi

The "After"

Here it is! It looks a lot more cozy now and we sleep a little later with less light!

We've always been leery of hanging something heavy over the bed. Who knows what natural disaster might strike and send it descending upon our heads. I was inspired by a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a headboard constructed of 12x12 squares of several wallpaper designs mounted on foam board. The catch was that the wallpaper they selected was $150-$200/roll. I don't know how you would attain just a 12x12 square, so I was prepared to order some decorative paper from a paper store I like (www.hollanders.com). Then I was browsing at Target and found a packet of scrapbooking paper that matched the "theme." Voila!

Happy Mardi Gras Week, Rob

Hope the weather is cooperating and that you will be able to enjoy the parades. Will miss being there. What's your costume gonna be? We Want Pictures!

News from Romania

Well, not so much to write about here, we are staying in Mamaia, where almost everything is closed for the winter. There are so many stray dogs running around, the story is that after the fall of Communism, people couldn't feed their dogs so they turned them out into the streets. Doesn't seem to be any concept of fixing the dogs.

Yesterday, we went to the city of Constanza, in general everything is so bleak here - the economy is not so good. The mall has a Sephora and a Body Shop. Haven't seen a Starbucks, though!

The Black Sea is beautiful - no one here now, but it will be wall to wall people in the summer. That's me in front of a wooly mammoth tusk. There are alot of Roman ruins here.

The TV has 3 or 4 channels in English with Romanian subtitles, including HBO. I could watch the Spanish telenovelas if I wanted, with Romanian subtitles, but I don't want to strain my brain.

Anyway, I am keeping warm, the food isn't too bad, and I have adjusted well to the time zone.

Valerie

New Jersey News

Hello !! This past weekend Erica, Brian and Jeff went on a church retreat for the youth group. The theme was "Calm the Storm" referring to Mark 4:37-40. Erica is Secretary of the Methodist Youth Fellowship. Brian is a member of the Junior Youth Fellowship, and Jeff is an MYF advisor.

While they were in South Jersey, Stephanie and I flew to St Louis on Thursday evening to visit a college. We had a great time - the temp was still in the 30s on Friday so the college tour was not too cold. After that, we drove to Lafayette, Indiana to visit some friends. Lafayette is the home of Purdue University, so we caught a Big 10 basketball game - the Fighting Illini vs the Purdue Boilermakers. It was a great game !! Stephanie was very interested in the Pep Band and the halftime antics. The mascot "surfed" over a bunch of college students. Basically, they lay down on the court, and as they rolled over the surfboard progressed. It was really cool. Then it was back to Indianapolis for a Sunday night flight home.

Now that we are back at home, it's back to reality. The kids did not have school on Monday for MLK day. Stephanie & Erica have midterms this week. Brian does not have midterms, but since it is the end of the semester he has a bunch of tests anyway.

I am frantically working on getting my taxes done before the 31st. Most of you know I usually file an extension and finish it all ...later....However, for college purposes, it all has to be done by 2/1 -- this is a huge challenge ! Especially since I had a hard drive crash in July !

Budget Decor

The hushed tones of the Interior Decorator were almost reverent as she described the offerings of her shop...custom measurements and window treatments, assistance in arranging furniture if you bought from her, etc. I had wandered in idly as I thought it was a home accessory shop and I always enjoy browsing for ideas. As the saying goes, "if you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it." Sure enough, when I admired a sample of custom draperies and she quoted a price of $1000 per window, I clutched my purse even more tightly and departed hastily.

I've never spent a lot on window treatments. I've made curtains out of burlap, muslin, and even sheets. Happily, online shopping has made it easier to find great fabrics for great prices. For instance, I first saw a Waverly fabric I liked for the kitchen at $16.99/yd. After Googling the pattern, I snagged it for $7.99/yd. Another company I liked was selling its website and offered a 70% discount. There I grabbed fabric for my office and a guest room. I splurged a little on the dining room because that's my Blue Dog room and I wanted something nifty and contemporary.

Saturday I made my biggest score yet. We have a 3-windowed nook in the Master Bedroom that is perfect for Ralph's desk. There he can study his Spanish and listen to Rush and Laura out of my hearing range. I needed 13 yds. of fabric and wanted to coordinate it with lamps left over from a former life. At Hancock's I found an 8-yd Waverly remnant for $3.60/yd (formerly $13.99/yd). They also had 5 yds. left on a roll and sold it for the same price.

I'm sure it would feel luxurious if I could walk into a shop and say, "I'll take this, and this, and that," but it probably wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

I promise...if my stock-picking expertise ever matches my success in finding fabric deals, I'll send everyone a year's supply of Godiva chocolates!

(Here's the "Before"; stay tuned for the "After").

Snow Day

Um, yeah. Sure looks like a "Snow Day", doesn't it? The phone calls from the District started at 6am (!!) to tell us not to bring Lil to school today. Um, yeah, sure. She's already *at* school, thanks. Note to District: take homeschool kids off phone list! I'm sure it's snowing somewhere. Just not here.

A "Snow Day" is good, though. It clears up our day for other things. No speech therapy today. So we'll go to the library instead. What do we do there? Read books, you say? Nay, say I. This is the library of the new millennium. Where kids play computer games. Most of which don't work, because the librarians do not understand new millennium networks. (Hey, Mark, want to come fix their computers for them?) But because they're not our games, they must be better, right?

We also need to fax in a gazillion forms to...... Virtual Academy. A "cyber school". Lil is more than done with my lame attempts to explain place value and multiplication. Time for some computer-based intervention. Lil is actually really excited about it. She also did really well on the math assessment yesterday. So here's hoping they accept her for enrollment and that I'm not making a drastic mistake changing curricula mid-year.

Zack grew a mustache!

in addition to letting his hair grow long, zack has decided to sport a mustache and goatee! here he is participating in a revolt against the teachers at his school...my weekend in short: painted the dining room, cleaned the mid-level of my house (basement looking worse each time i do this), analyzed tub choices for new master bath in roger's house, delegated tub selection to contractor, got hair highlighted, toured the construction at roger's house (pics to follow), ate a lot of "fat" food, watched a lot of t.v., and slept in. bad thing -- i did not exercise once (temps were in the 20s, too cold for me!).

have a nice week, everyone!

A Debate. Who are you voting for?

This post is probably only going to be interesting to me and Grandpa....

but I wanted to know.....Who does everyone endorse for President in 08?
(Grandma is trying to sell me her Hilary shirt---that ain't gonna happen!!!!!)

I'm voting for RON PAUL....because I personally enjoy my civil liberties and I think the constitution was written for a reason...and i think we should get the heck out of Iraq as soon as possible!

as much as I would love to see a woman president, I sure as heck don't want it to be a member of the Clinton family.

Presidential primaries in all of your states are coming up soon! Alot of them are on Feb 5th ("Super Tuesday")...you all better vote!

Busy week in Mariposa

We're having a busy week this week. Lilli has joined 4-H this year, so we had our Club's business meeting, the "Cloverbud" project meeting, and Poultry project meeting all this week. 4-H is really neat - the kids are the officers of the club and run the meeting. They also practice doing presentations to groups of people, starting with their project groups and working up as they get older. Lilli has really matured in the last year in terms of her self-confidence and her ability to interact and converse with non-family members. I'm hoping that 4-H will help her to hone those public speaking skills. Our 4-H club did a fund-raiser at a local Christmas craft fair - selling mistletoe and small wire angels. I was very proud of Lilli when she was able to go with a friend around the craft fair selling these items out of a basket. She helped our club raise quite a bit of money.

Our current hot debate is over whether to continue Michael's speech therapy. Once Michael turned 3, we lost funding to cover his private ST in Fresno. He loved his ST, Maria. Whenever we go to Fresno, he asks if we can go see her. Now he has ST with the school district. I don't know who decided that schools should have the responsibility of providing therapies to special needs children. Whoever it was should have been tarred and feathered. In theory, each child should have an individualized plan, based on their needs. In reality, our school district is short on money, facilities, and staff. So each child gets a token amount of therapy. Michael's ST takes place in a room smaller than our laundry room (which is not big) that also serves as his therapist's office. The District provides no material for the therapist, so any toys or manipulatives are what she has left over from her kids or picked up at a yard sale. The therapist herself persists in presenting Michael with worksheets and flash cards. After 5 months, he still will not work with her. Just last week she gave us a 145 page workbook solely on the /k/ sound. A workbook written for grades K-3. Sigh. She just doesn't "get" preschoolers. Since the District-provided education is not appropriate for Michael, we could have him re-evaluated, initiate a hearing, and get the District to pay for private placement. Or we could pull him now and in a couple of years, if he still had speech delays, we could enroll him in the neighboring District's homeschool program and be eligible for ST in the neighboring county (which has a larger population and income base, hence, better services). Decisions, decisions.....

hey all, greetings from the east coast, south of jersey. kristin, can i borrow some dog and cat pics from you for next hunt? we only have pics of furry the gerbil, may she rest in peace. here is a picture of me at the castle we built in the backyard last spring. i have gained 10 pounds since then, all in my waist, of course, so i'm trying to lay off sweets and alcohol until "the wedding" in april (can't believe that's me that just said that) so i can lose it again and fit into the dress i bought. if this doesn't happen, i told roger i'm showing up in jeans....

this week, my life is all about: fine-tuning contract with jammin java for wedding after party, nagging zack about practicing the clarinet for his "exam" on friday (good luck, zack!), taping the dining room so roger can paint it this weekend, nagging savannah about cleaning up her room, logging in some hours at work so i can pay my mortgage, ordering savannah's dress for wedding, mailing remaining "save the date" cards so people actually get them before party invites go out, getting my hair cut and highlighted (yes, there is a reason it is a different color every time you see me), making a list of things not to forget to do for wedding, checking out progress on construction at roger's house (building a castle in his backyard).

question: how far in advance do we need to send out wedding after-party invites? A) mid-march (when judi wants to send them out), or 2) mid-february (when roger wants to send them out). anyone whose answer i like will get a box of godiva chocolates from laura! :o)

have a great week!

Chocolates for Kristin - Scavenger Hunt Champ !

Coming to you soon.....

Time zones and weather

Speaking of weather, Romania looks realllly cold. I have bought snow boots, thermal underwear and lots of gloves since I am going to lose my thumb and forefinger on the left hand if I am not careful.

Here is a website with the time zones in various places:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personalapplet.html?cities=70,58,141,49

Poland and Spain are in the same time zone, Romania is one hour ahead, or 8 hours ahead of Dallas or something like that, why isn't time on the metric system?!

The Dallas real estate market is continuing to slide, the longer I put off buying, the better.

I'm leaving Saturday around 5 pm for Romania, I'll be in Bucarest Sunday evening, then 2 hours to Constanta on the Black Sea. That's the great thing about refineries, they are always on beautiful bodies of water. Well, except my next trip, to Chicago, where the refinery is on the Des Plaines river.

Here is where I'm staying in Romania, I think it is right next to a castle. The history goes back 2500 years.
http://www.turism.ro/english/black_sea.php

I'll be traveling to Romania at least 2 weeks every other month. I have the option of flying coach and essentially the company will give me the money for an extra ticket. Anyone want to join me when it gets warmer?

Love,
Val

Mark,

Thanks for reprogramming my HDTV to eliminate the gray shoulders and replacing them with black ones. What a difference it makes.

It was great seeing you again. You've really grown into quite the mature young man. After you finish university, I hope we can see you more often.

My Turn!

Wow, I didn't look at the blog for like 2 days and I missed a whole scavenger hunt! I want a do-over!!!!!

Nothing exciting here in Texas - the real estate market is starting to pick back up again...a little bit. The problem that we are having is that all of the mortgage companies are SO strict now because of all the credit problems and foreclosures. I had 2 deals fall through the week before closing...
It seems like all of the lenders are just looking for reasons not to give people loans now, it used to be the other way around!
Aunt Laura, is the real estate market affecting your appraisal business? I know several appraisers here who keep doing appraisals, then the deal falls through, and they never get paid...same for inspectors.
Two of the big-name builders here in San Antonio had to sell most of the land they had because the market has slowed so much and they can't get rid of spec-homes that they built...but we're still the number 3 housing market in the U.S. so I can't imagine if I was in the real estate biz anywhere else....that would be horrible!


How's everyone elses real estate markets? Sorry i don't have anything more interesting to write about, but all I do is eat, sleep, real estate, repeat.

Job Application Woes

Harcourt Brace has a scoring center here similar to McGraw Hill. They've advertised on Craigs List for Readers/Scorers, so I thought that would be a neat thing to do as a means of meeting people here. The location is very close to our house. And hey, I have a resume documenting my experience at McGraw Hill. I had to go to a temp agency in downtown SA to apply and from there the circus started. I've never applied for a lot of jobs and most of them have been easy, well, relatively so. I did, initially, flunk the typing test at the Washington Post because I had never typed on an electric typewriter. (Amazing how fast that carriage dropped down as opposed to a manual typewriter. But, did any of you ever type on a typewriter)? My solution was to rent one and practice.

At McGraw Hill, I just wrote a letter and went in for an interview. They handed me an essay to score and I was in!

Yesterday, they informed me that the ad I had printed out a few weeks ago had been revised and I should have come at 1:30 instead of 10:30, but they weren't busy so agreed to go through the process anyway. I spent an hour filling out and signing forms consenting to drug testing, acknowledging that I was aware of sexual (and other forms of) discrimination, would adhere to their safety standards, verifying that I was not a recipient of any government-sponsored subsidies, etc., etc., and going through a criminal check. They were not at all interested in my resume.

However, my "original" Social Security card was crucial. I only had my MediCare card with me and that wasn't sufficient.

I also needed an original transcript. Considering that I graduated from college in 1956 as a Music major, I didn't think it was relevant, but I know they have to follow the guidelines. Today, I went back to take my SS card and I actually had found a faded, yellowed transcript. However, she could not make a copy; it has to be an original. I went online to my college website and since I am not a recent graduate and don't have a student ID, it will have to be acquired through snail mail.

I've probably been written off now as a "Klutz?" Can I claim discrimination??

Scavenged

OK, it's truly painful to upload pics via dial-up. But, here you go:

1. Our dog, Griz, taken on a family hike on New Year's Day this year.
2. Our cat, Saturn.
3. Sunset on Chincoteague.
4. Sunflowers at the pumpkin patch we go to every year.
5. Lilli in a silly hat (Thanks for the hat, Judi!)

Scavenger Hunt

How about a photo scavenger hunt - I'll mail Godiva to anybody who can manage a picture of -

1. Dog
2. Cat
3. Sunset
4. Flowers
5. Somebody from the family wearing a silly hat

This is on the honor system - it has to be a personal photograph - not something grabbed off the Internet !!

Weather

Okay, How's the weather out there ? Today in NJ, it is in the high 30s, cloudy and overcast, with minimal precipitation. We were supposed to get a winter storm on Sunday night, but instead it rained !! The kids were hoping for at least a delayed opening - no such luck !! So far - only a few inches of snow this year !!

Brian's First Fencing Medal !!

Brian has been fencing Foil for several years now. He just placed for the first time in a tournament. He was 3rd at the East Coast Challenge. (He's the one on the left)

Riding the Dog

I love sunny winter days. Our house is on a south-facing hill, so we got some beautiful sunshine and a chance to spend several hours outside. I cleaned up the yard a little - raking leaves and pruning our mulberry trees. The kids renewed their acquaintance with the sand box and Lilli's "nature trail". Toby got his first taste of dirt. Here he is, riding the dog:

Cook Book

Now that we've gotten the blog underway, don't forget my next resolution, which Kristin reminded me of today, when she forwarded several recipes. It's definitely time to do an update of the Family Cook Book, and, by the way, if there's a recipe you think we should eliminate, send in your votes. I'm sure there are some that are not still viable. Just like cleaning out your closet, if it hasn't been used in a year (or more), do we really need it?

Mariposa update

The storms last weekend were good to us. Lots of rain, but no damage of consequence in the local area. Maybe this winter we can break the drought.

Lilli and I have started up her schooling again after a much-needed holiday break. She's in first grade, and this week we're working on reading (short vowels and silent e), roman numerals, and life in the arctic.

Michael is doing well with his speech and is our little techno-whiz. We've had to password protect the computer to keep him from "exploring" too much. He is becoming more and more independent (and outspoken) these days.

Toby is a master of "oozling". He doesn't crawl, quite, but somehow he can wiggle his way across the floor, in hot pursuit of whatever enticing item Lilli or Michael may have left just out of reach. He also has cut his first tooth. Next week he has his first well-child doc appt, so we'll see what the official weigh-in is. I'm betting he's right around 23 pounds.

I'm currently trying to keep one step ahead of Lil with our curriculum planning. I have the utmost respect for PS teachers who have to keep 20+ kids all on track and behaving. It's very time consuming with just one (well, three, since the boys are here, too). I'm also decluttering our storage shed. I have a whole car load ready to leave the house tomorrow - yippee!

Amazing video - graphical analysis of data

You have to see this video - the graphics are stunning. I heard about it at work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUwS1uAdUcI

The name of the software used to create the presentation is Tableau. It was voted Application of the Year for 2007.

Welcome!

I'm excited about our HotLine. It will be a fun way to keep up with family pictures, special occasions, and upcoming events. You all know that I can never remember "to whom I have told what!" (It does not, however, take the place of phone calls and emails).

Hope that everyone (including the grandkids) will post something quickly so we can get started "keeping in touch." How about a picture from each of you?

We're still working on the page setup, so any suggestions are welcome. Thanks to Kristin who came up with this name.

Happy Birthday to the January celebrants: Mark on the 2nd, Laura on the 6th, and to Jay and Murray, who share a birthday, today, the 9th.

Looking forward to many "posts and pictures."

Love, Mom (aka Grandma Ginny)