Trains

Tonight on my way home, I had to wait for a train. Nothing unusual in this town. I was at the crossing with the gates down and no train. The gates go up after a minute or two and just as traffic begins to proceed across the track, you hear this loud Blare! The train was right there and was right there. Fortunately, the guy hightailed it in reverse and avoided a collision. Heart stopping. Then to further irritate everyone in line, the train kept the crossing tied up for 45 minutes. This kept me from getting home at a decent time which meant hurry and make dinner so Randy could have dinner before his weekly conference call. Because of all this rushing around, dinner was not to Randy's liking and he stormed out to get mcdonald's. He came home and ranted and raved and then joined the conference call. I went back into work. 3 deadlines looming. Lovely evening.

Hairspray

This movie was outstanding. Zac Efron was better in this than High School Musical. I hope the outtakes are on the dvd. It is worth the admission price to see John Travolta and Christopher Walken dance together. Fun times!

New pictures on Flickr

I uploaded the Jackson Lake pictures to Flickr. Take a peek. It is quiet here. I should be taking the time to get some work done, but not motivated in the least. So Matt and Kris, relax-your rooms are safe for another day. Sabrina does not know what to do with herself. She has been stalking a few flies. Freaked out when she saw a long haired black kitty-cat in the next yard. The cat taunted her by strolling across our yard before crossing the street and watching her freak. Major storm here last night. Glad to have the rain, but it is hard on the doggie.

Their bags are packed, they are ready to go

They are leaving on a jet plane! Everything is looking good for their trip tomorrow. Zack is excited to play video games with the gaming master. Kristen is looking forward to beating Heidi and Nana at SPIT(insert maniacal laugh). The computer is going to go through withdrawal without Kristen's constant attention as will Sabrina. Sabrina may have a chance to catch up on sleep. Going to bed soon. 4:30 is going to come mighty early.

My favorite things by Sabrina

1. Riding in the car with the window down going 42 mph so my ears look like the flying nun.

2. Sleeping on furniture(preferably Mommy's bed)

3. Sauerkraut

4. Kristen

5. Central Air

The end of another week

Well another work week is over. Not nearly enough done. Working 10 hours plus another 2 or 3 at home. Randy's Singapore counterparts feel he should be accessible 24/7 which is why he desperately needs to get away. Hopefully the temps will not be as high as predicted. We are camping here:

http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/JacksonLake/

It looks beautiful, hopefully it will be.

Matt applied at Snow Mountain Creamery last night. He would be starting sometime in August if he gets the job. Evenings and weekends. Of course we had to get some icecream then. Kris got chocolate, Matt espresso choc chip and I got Peanut butter fudge. Then we played a game of Pennstateopoly. Very entertaining when you are bone tired and one teenager is laughing at the other one. Kris won. I am sure there is more going on, but can not think of anything.

Law and Order:SVU

What an unexpected surprise to find a TV show teach a very important lesson. The episode on last night focused on teen age drinking. It incorporated elements of social networking as well as some of the harmful effects of alcohol-not just drinking and driving, but the effects on your brain and liver. It also focused on the repercussions for breaking the law in this manner. We watched it with both kids. I hope more parents did the same.

Headed to Reno in October

My director approved Norm and I going to the American Association of School Librarians conference in Reno, NV in Oct. Tremendous speakers and workshops. We are staying at the Circus, Circus casino/hotel. Hopefully Norm and I will be going to the CODI conference in Pittsburgh in November. This is about the library automation system that we have.

Walgreens is taking over my city

Currently we have three and now they are building a 4th. The good news is they are tearing down a strip club to build the 4th one, but how many Walgreens can one medium sized city support? I would much rather have other retail go in there. Maybe a CVS or Medicine Shoppe? Other than grocery store pharmacies, Walgreens is it in this city.

Movies, 42mph,volunteering,

We recently saw Ratatouille(wait for the dvd) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(race to your closest theater and see this one-it is that good!)

The dog likes to ride in the truck-with the window open-going 42mph, Any slower and it gets ugly.

Matt helped out at the St. Vrain State Park this morning. He and Randy volunteer there once a month. Apparently the moose is still hanging out there.

Really, I can not think of anything else to say. It is warm again here, but then again it is summer. Off to play with some more Web 2.0 tools.Stay tuned.

OK, i have updated a few things

On the right side of the the blog is a flicker thingy where I have some random pictures loaded. 12 I think. I will try to update more later. I also have something called twitter there also. I can type in comments as to what I am doing and you can follow my comments by clicking on it. These are both considered Web 2.0 tools and I am dabbling a little bit. Flickr is not new but twitter is.(relatively).

Happy Independence Day

It is hard to believe it is the 4th of July already. Sabrina is so ready for it to be over. The nightly fireworks have her nerves rather frazzled. The big show is tonight. We usually can see them from Kristen's window, but I am thinking Randy and I might actually venture a little closer tonight. He is fishing this morning and the kids and I will be venturing to the pool by 1pm. It is slightly cooler today but still has a forecast of 90 degrees. Thanks to Dad for the reminder about 1776! I purchased it last night at Borders as well as several items. Upon walking in that store I immediately see about 200.00 worth of books I want, yet my son can not find a single book that peaks his interest. He can not be my child. He eventually did settle for some viking warrior tale but not before the mandatory argument of why I won't buy Manga books. While I totally understand the genre of graphic novels, I want him to be reading traditional novels as well. After the pool we will grill hamburger and hotdogs and hopefully have a relaxing evening. It all hinges on the camper repair and the everchanging mood of the teenagers.

Camping at North Michigan Lake

This past weekend we camped at No Michigan Lake. This is located near Chambers lake for lack of a better point of reference. It is in the middle of prime moose country thus Randy's attraction to the area. We had been there previously but obviously not in the throes of bug season. Randy had literally been travelling up until we left for camping. Things don't tend to go as smoothly when this happens. This time was no exception. We got to a KOA store near the turn off and got out to purchase some things we forgot. When we opened the camper door a screw or something fell out. Got to the site and the kids basically sat back to watch Randy set up. I got a key stuck in a lock. Finally we were set up and had dinner.
Randy went down to the lake to fish while I did the dishes and listened to the whine begin. It was extremely buggy. Despite spraying repeatedly with off, the kids got bitten in excess of 13 times each. Not happy campers-literally. They both discovered the joy(?) of chopping wood over the course of the weekend. Went to dump the tank and the valve on the blackwater tank(the one for the toilet) stuck. Randy has decided to try and replace the valve on the 4th of July. Great. I will not be celebrating the holiday in the same manner.