Happy Birthday Kristin !!

April 3

Shawn in the paper

Shawn got his picture in the local paper last week!

This week is a slow week for us. We're back from camping, so now the sorting out and washing of clothes and dishes begins. The schools are on spring break, so our schedule is empty. Yay! Now that we're back I can get back to my other current project: the bookshelves.

Camping was fun. Lilli was out running around with her friends most of the weekend. Michael doesn't remember camping two summers ago, but quickly warmed up to our friends. Both of them got a pile of eggs in the Easter Egg hunt that was held on site. The weather was nice - very warm and pleasant for so early in the summer. Toby was fussy - he had two (!) teeth come in over the weekend. He was also very tired by the time we got home - it's hard to nap when there's so much going on around you.

Carnegie Hall

***************Although the city was under seige by giant M&M's, we had a successful journey into New York. Jeff, as a chaperone, left early with Stephanie and Erica to make the trek in by bus. Laura, Brian, and I followed by train later.

There were only five High School Wind Ensembles invited from across the US...Allentown, PA; Missoula, MT; Brooklyn, NY; San Jose, CA; and Bridgewater-Raritan, NJ plus the Bridgewater-Raritan HS Symphony Orchestra. Erica plays clarinet in the Wind Ensemble and Stephanie is 1st Chair in the Bass section of the orchestra. Selection for participation in these are through auditions.

The only downer was that we could not take pictures or record. We had heard the orchestra the night before in the school gym. Needless to say, hearing them and seeing them on stage in the Hall was thrilling. Bridgewater-Raritan came home with two gold medals and Brooklyn with one.

And, as a bonus tonight, as part of the Spring Music Festival, I also got to hear Brian play the baritone horn with the 8th grade band.

I have always been impressed with the quality of the music program in this school district. Over the past three years, the wind ensemble has sent 17 music majors out into the collegiate ranks. They graduate from Bridgewater-Raritan sounding like professional musicians. No squeaky clarinets here. Congratulations to you all!

Books, Books, Books !!

Hey,

Does any gal out there want a box of random romances ?? Let me know....

Happy Birthday Diane & Brian !!

Brian - March 17

Diane - March 20

Rabies in Romania

Last weekend I got bit by a wild dog near the hotel - When Ceauçescu became the communist dictator here, he destroyed all of the townhomes and built apartments and he made the people turn their dogs out on the street. There are crazy dogs everywhere, some quite agressive. Anyway, the bite was small, and I cleaned it well but to make a long story short, the company doctor here in Romania insisted that I must have the rabies series, so I had to go to a hospital today where they gave me a shot and I have to go back for 4 more shots.

I asked if I could just be bit many times once I've had the shots but it doesn't work that way. The first time, 5 shots - after that, for the second bite, 3 shots.

The worst thing is that they told me no caffeine - coca cola, coffee or chocolate for the whole 28 days I have to have the shots - I find that hard to believe, so I will have to Google it. Over here, all there is to eat is pui, piept de pui, şi mai pui (chicken, chicken breast, and more chicken.) Therefore I eat a lot of bread and cheese and chocolate.

Other than that, everything is great! I am learning to speak a lot of Romanian and I bought some tight Romanian jeans and some bottles of Romanian wine. For me, it is more fun to see a grocery store in a foreign country than to see a museum!!!

Val

PS: Here are the things I have read that people have been told not to do while having the vaccine: no caffeine, no alcohol, no garlic or spicy food, no exercise, no sex for 4 months, no lying in the sun, no swimming. Actually, the first two appear to be true.

magic underwear

hi all...guess what, zack has taken up lacrosse. this is a "contact sport." he has spent the first few practices learning where he is allowed to whack someone. zack is a lot shorter than half the team, so keeps getting hit in the face -- he thinks they're trying to hit him in the chest. i had to buy him sports underwear for the first time, you know, it has a "cup" in it. we call it "magic underwear." first game is on march 29. i hope he doesn't get his teeth knocked out, or his, you know.

as for me, i gave up and ordered the next size up dress for The Big Day. having an issue with the side zipper, which keeps bunching up. backup plan is to wear jeans.....

i love reading everyone's blogs, sorry to not comment, barely have my head on straight. am getting ready to list house, am sure it will go like a hotcake in this market! (that was a joke!)

hope all is well with everyone! love, judi

Conversations in Russian

Some guy from Kazakhstan IMed me on Skype - I read that there are a lot of Germans that live there since WW II. He saw my last name and thought I was Kazakhi! I had a whole conversation with him using freetranslation.com.

Whenever I fly Luftansa, they also speak to me in German. Too bad I do not understand a word!!!

Да (Da) means yes
Нет (Nyet) means no
Валерия is Valery in Russian

Вячеслав says: привет!
Valerie Schafer says: Поздравления! Я - 48-летняя женщина. Прямо сейчас я работаю в Румынии над очистительным заводом, который принадлежит Kazakhstanis. Сколько вам лет?
Вячеслав says: Мне 34
Вячеслав says: Я тлько что с Вами разговаривал. Но вы говорили по Английски... Да
Valerie Schafer says: Да http://www.freetranslation.com/
Вячеслав says: Что это за сылка. У нас уже ночь а у вас???
Valerie Schafer says: да, мы говорили
Вячеслав says: Вам наверно тяжело со мной разговаривать? Вы по русски не говорите? Valerie Schafer says: Я нахожусь в Румынии, это - ночь
Вячеслав says: Вы через переводчик меня понимаите? да?
Valerie Schafer says: Нет, я не говорю на русском языке. Вы говорите на любом другом языке?
Вячеслав says: Нет...
Valerie Schafer says: Да, я могу понять Вас
Вячеслав says: Как вы меня нашли? У вас наверно очень много работы на сегодня и вы очень устали ?
Valerie Schafer says: Я не находил Вас. Вы нашли меня

I wouldn't normally ask this....

But please check out this page at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and click on the red box to sign their petition. The courts in Los Angeles have rendered a ruling that finds homeschooling to be illegal (there is a link to the court opinion at the bottom of the page above if you want to read it yourself). Currently homeschoolers in California can either register with the state as a private school or can enroll in a public charter school. This ruling finds that these families are violating the law if the child is not being taught by a credentialed tutor. If this ruling stands, California will have the most regressive laws in the nation vis a vis homeschooling.

Slight Correction....

Well, the democrats had a caucus after voting on Tuesday and the Republicans had a "Convention"...I'm not sure what the exact differences are but it was really cool. I was the youngest one there. The precinct President was an old Texan man wearing a Texas-flag vest that said "Don't Mess With Texas" so I was sure I wouldn't like him, but to my surprise, He's a RON PAUL fan too!

Anyways, I talked to alot of people there and they couldn't believe a 22 year old was at the convention. So they called the meeting to order and the first order of business was nominating and voting for a permanent Precinct Secretary for the Repub. Committee. They unanimously nominated me and I won the vote!

The next order of business was nominating delegates to go to the national republican conventions on March 29 and some other one in Minneapolis or something...all I know is, its a pretty important thing and guess what? THEY VOTED ME AS A DELEGATE! There were only 7 chosen for my precinct!

So I'm Secretary of my precinct and Delegate of the GOP. (i think) I kind of don't know what I got myself into, but hey - it seemed like a good idea and a cool experience. Perhaps you will all see me on Fox News battling it out with Bill O'Reilly!

All of that stuff was cool but the real victory...Grandpa voted for Ron Paul! That was a mission I have been on for months! Oh, and I voted for RP too. And there were a heck of alot of Obamacrats at the polling place...they are RUDE and UNHELPFUL. just wanted to put that on the record. Every Obama supporter in Precinct 3099 and 3101 can kiss my Republican Elephant!! HAAA!

Oh..and for the record...I am a Constitutionalist and a Libertarian, but that wasn't an option on voting day. haha.

p.s. looks like Brian and I have birthdays coming up *wink wink*

Happy Republican Mom

Well, Diane participated in the Republican caucus in Texas and was selected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention!!! She's a Ron Paul supporter. I'm just excited I raised a Republican!!!

Busy week ahead

We finally have a DSL line. Wahoo! I was beginning to think we'd be the last people in California to get one ;) Lilli has been enthralled by the Sir David Attenborough clips on YouTube. Me, I'm just loving how quickly pages load now. Hmmmm, I bet photos will upload better now, too. Here are some obligatory cute kids shots just to check. Yep, pretty quick. Wahoo!

We have a busy week ahead of us. Luckily the kids are now well again. Just when I had been getting smug about us having missed getting the nasty flu that was going around, whammo! Lilli got it first, then Michael, then Toby. Now, God willin' and the crick don't rise, we're on the way to snot-free living.

Tomorrow we have grocery shopping to do. A major event that takes most of the day. Half-an-hour drive, big store, three kids. Joy joy fun fun. There's a reason I only do this once a month ;) On the plus side, while we're in Oakhurst, we can stop by the consignment store for the $1 sale to stock up on winter clothes for the kids, and maybe stop at the park for a while. Then back to town for a 4-H meeting (Poultry). Tuesday brings another 4-H meeting (Vegetable Gardening). Thursday I'm babysitting a friend's two kids at her house. Friday is School Day at the Sonora Celtic Faire. That will make a good start to our SCA camping season. On Sunday, the Sierra Foothill Conservancy is hosting an Open House at one of their properties, so a friend and I are going to try and go hike with the kids. Should be interesting ;)

In the meantime.... I'm sorting through our camping gear and SCA clothes. So a bunch of it that had been moved down to the shed last summer is now back in the house. That wouldn't be so bad, except that the space that this stuff could live in (my closet) is currently over-run by our books, which got ousted out of the spare room when Lilli moved into it. So I'm building some bookshelves to go in the dining room, and working on making more SCA garb. Can we say over-scheduled!?

Events of the Week

 
 

This "Charlie Brown" tree in my Zen garden is actually a Desert Willow, species name "Bubba." It is supposed to produce orchid-type flowers in the spring. The lady who sold it to us last fall instructed us to water it when we planted it and then never water it again. Rainfall was scarce in the fall, and I watched mournfully as leaf after leaf turned brown, but I steadfastly keep my hand off the nozzle. (I remember the sad effects of over-watering plants in Sacramento). I was almost resigned to replacing it, but hope springs eternal, and after a week of 80-ish temps, the first new leaves have sprouted. Bubba lives!

That's my exciting "event of the week." Ralph is looking forward to the important Texas primary on March 4 when he plans to vote for Ron Paul. Diane, you will be proud!

Back in Romania

Well if anyone thinks travel is glamorous, this sucks. I was up half of last night due to jet lag, I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

I toured Bucharest today with Andreea, the daughter of one of my friends from the refinery. She is a college student there. She talked non-stop in perfect english that she said she learned from Cartoon Network. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, which she was very excited about. We saw the Parliament Building, which was built by Ceaucescu and is about the size of the Pentagon. Strangely, even though Ceaucescu was a horrible person and was overthrown by the people, you can still buy buttons that have his picture.

March 8 is International Women's Day, a very big day here. During March 1-8, women are given flowers and they sell many charms. Andreea gave me a chimney sweep, it looks like a snow man with a ladder, but it is a very big good luck charm here.

In the summer here where I am staying, in Mamaia, the parking lots are full of Ferraris, Jaguars, Bentleys, and Rolls Royces. Even in Bucharest, you see many fancy cars. That is probably the leftovers of Communism, where there was a rich elite.

Tomorrow, I start a 3-week meeting, we have a lot of pressure to solve a big problem for the refinery. The president of my company is coming tomorrow.