I have great friends.

A long, long time ago, my friend Rick had graduated from college and was job-hunting. I accompanied him to a job fair in Syracuse, and fell asleep in the car (as usual). (As a side bonus, because he knows me so well, nothing I say will surprise him.) I woke up, and immediately asked him, "How fast can cars go in reverse?" I really wanted to know, but he appeared to begin choking, so I decided not to press the issue.

After reading Ian's stream of consciousness blog entry(http://serenaserenity.blogspot.com/2007/02/stream-of-consciousness.html), you quickly realize the apple did not fall far from the tree.

A package arrived in the mail today with a note from Rick. It said, "I happened to be walking through a bookstore one day, saw this book, and immediately thought of you and Ian. Happy Holidays!"

It's perfect! This Bill McLain guy has all the answers!

And I have such wonderful friends. Even from a great distance (he's in Texas), Rick can make me laugh hysterically.

Thank you, Rick!

Merry Christmas!

I've got to get the paper off!

Just what I always wanted!

(It will hold his martial arts belts.)

Ian tells me it just doesn't get any better than this. Life is good! I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours was.

Peace!

JT said...
Wait a minute!! I thought that was supposed to say "Calvin"? :)

Serena said...

You know, I thought of that about two days after I ordered it. {heavy sigh!} :D

Christmas Eve

He came to work with me Monday morning. On the corner of my desk, I have a little 12" tinsel tree with little green and red ornaments that light up. He asked to turn off the light so we could see the tree better, which was fine with me. And then he curled up and went to sleep.

The flash makes it look like the light was on. I've got to experiment more with my camera to figure out how to use it in darker lighting. Anyway, sleep does make the time go faster!

Anticipation...

Ian's eyes and his mouth open at the same time every morning. So, this morning,

"Mommy, Is it Christmas Eve yet?"

"No, honey, it's only the 21st."

"Oh, come ON!"

The Semester is Finally Over!

I can return to the land of the living - at least until January 22nd. I earned a 101 on my Trig final (must have gotten bonus points) and a 96 on my Business Systems final. I'm not sure about Literature or Law yet, but I feel pretty good about those.

Next semester I am taking Business Law II (more informational than fun), Statistics (sounds like fun), Survey Calculus I (definitely sounds like fun), and Microeconomics (YAWN).

My Business Systems professor, Dr. George Kelley, was the most fun this semester. He responds to emails within 24 hours (which is imperative if you are having a problem!) and runs the course very efficiently and with humor. He expects you to work, but gives you help if you need it.

My Business Law professor, Remy Orffeo, is also great - he really has a handle on efficiently running the on-line courses. This will be the third course I've taken from him, so it is quite a relief to know exactly what to expect in the upcoming semester.

My Math professors also have a great handle on the on-line courses, answering emails within 24 hours (even on weekends), and they are very skilled at the html editing required to accurately display solutions. The more I think about it, the more I want to be a Math teacher when I grow up. (So what if I'm already 43.)

I noticed the English professors aren't so on-line savvy. Hopefully that improves as adjustments to the technology are made.

I am looking forward to the month off! So is Ian, actually. He is sick and tired of Mommy having Homework!

My Christmas Cactus

A friend of mine gave this plant to me a couple years ago. Her cat had chewed on it, and she said she just couldn't get it to bloom. Well, I cut off most of the damaged areas, left it alone, put fertilizer in it about six months ago (?), consistently forgot to water it, and Look! Isn't it gorgeous?

Another Great Idea...

Stolen from my nephew, Jeff!

Check out the visitors map! How cool is that?

It Finally Stopped Snowing!

It's a blurry picture - I'm not too camera savvy yet when trying to take

pictures in poor lighting conditions - but you get the idea.

"No, you may NOT hang from the gutters."

We only got about 12" in our yard. My Dad got about 18" in Lockport.

Here is another pic - he's having a blast!

Merry Christmas to ME!

Chris got us two tickets to see Springsteen when he comes to Buffalo in March! I am Completely Happy.

A Cheap Gift

One of the girls at work gave me a big empty box for Ian to play with. He did not even remove his coat and snowpants before crawling into it! He has so much fun with empty boxes. I think all kids do. My toy of choice, other than a stuffed rabbit named Samantha, was a round, red laundry basket.

Advent Wreath

For a Cub Scout project, Ian made an Advent Wreath for his Gramma. She loved it! (As far as I know, it is a Catholic thing.)

Cold!

We went to Coldstone Creamery, where you can pick your ice cream and pick your add-ins, and they mix your ice cream to order on a cold stone. His Highness is eating cotton candy ice cream with Reese's Pieces. And he's complaining he's cold.

Never a dull moment!

Johnny 99

My brother and I were speaking recently about a connection between guns and poverty. It reminded me of an old Springsteen tune, Johnny 99, and Mike said he's never heard it. Never heard it! It's a classic!



Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month
Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun shot a night clerk now they call 'm Johnny 99

Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light you don't stop
Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatenin' to blow his top
When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind
Out in front of the Club Tip Top they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99

Well the city supplied a public defender but the judge was Mean John Brown
He came into the courtroom and stared young Johnny down
Well the evidence is clear gonna let the sentence son fit the crime
Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it even Johnny 99

A fist fight broke out in the courtroom they had to drag Johnny's girl away
His mama stood up and shouted "Judge don't take my boy this way"
Well son you got a statement you'd like to make
Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away

Now judge I had debts no honest man could pay
The bank was holdin' my mortgage and they were gonna take my house away
Now I ain't sayin' that makes me an innocent man
But it was more 'n all this that put that gun in my hand

Well your honor I do believe I'd be better off dead
So if you can take a man's life for the thoughts that's in his head
Then sit back in that chair and think it over judge one more time
And let 'em shave off my hair and put me on that killin' line

Klutz in Action

Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed...

The screws for my curtain rods in my living room are not into the wood, but into the plaster beside the wood window frame, so I have to be really careful when I open and close the curtains or they will come down.

Sooo, Thursday morning, down they came. I stood on my coffee table to get them back up, successfully, and knocked over the Christmas tree. I grabbed the Christmas tree, stood it back up on the coffee table, and as I was getting down from the coffee table the stand of the Christmas tree knocked against Ian's heavy metal stocking holder, which fell right on top of my foot.

I may have broken something. I'll know as soon as my primary care physician calls me on Monday. There's another story there, but I'll save it for another time. :-)