The Walls of St Paul

Re:

2012-01-22T13:14:00.001-06:00

. http://casadesequiade.com/work.link.php?ovesid=70f4

New Blog Location!!!

2011-06-15T10:12:00.002-05:00

I've move this blog to it's own domain! You can read me now at www.thewallsofstpaul.com. Come by for a visit!

Carol Anne

My Dogs Love Me...

2011-05-07T16:06:00.000-05:00

Aren't these lovely? I tell you, my dogs are the best!

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So, I Caved

2011-05-01T08:57:00.000-05:00

Wound up going to Game Night anyway. Bad, inconsistent mama.
However, Snookie, Sarah, and I made this awesome chair sculpture.

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Saturday Night's NOT Alright for Fighting

2011-04-30T16:56:00.000-05:00

Today is a day to recover from yesterday.

Yesterday, I bicycled to and from work for the second time this week. Eight miles, round trip. I had a stiff head wind going home, so that wasn't fun. But I did it, and I'm proud of myself.

As I noted in yesterday's post, I watched my recording of the Royal Wedding with Snookie and her oldest daughter, and Sarah. The "party" started at 8 and ended at 10:30 pm. I don't think my kids got to bed until close to midnight. Mostly because they wouldn't go to bed. Today I have cranky kids.

I'm just plain tired. I'd like to be off by myself somewhere. But the kids aren't letting me. Sarah, in particular wants to go-go-GO! I swear she's hyperactive, really I do.

John wants to go off to a music thing this evening, which would leave me with the kids. Sarah wants me to do my usual Saturday stop at the coffee shop -- of course taking her and her sister with her -- or go to Snookie's church for Game Night. I said no, because of all the crankiness and bickering. I know it will continue if I take them anywhere. Plus I'm tired.

Now Sarah's mad. Oh well.

Maybe she and her sister (who's looking at this over my shoulder right now -- Rachel, you shouldn't read over people's shoulders, it's rude!) should learn not to wear their mama out with their fighting. Oh well. Again.

It's time for me to make some supper. It's egg salad sandwiches tonight. Leftover Easter Eggs put to good use.

If anyone has tips for dealing bickering kids that DOESN'T involve large quantities of duct tape, let me know in the comments.

Yes, It's Royal Here, Too

2011-04-29T07:34:00.001-05:00

My various UK scrapping associates are all blogging about The Royal Wedding. It's fun getting the "hometown" perspective on the event.
I've been caught up in it, too. I recall Diana and Fergie's weddings, watched them with zeal. I'm not missing this one, either.
My DVR has been recording the wedding, via BBC America, since 2 am. It will stop at 2:30 pm. Tonight, Sarah and I, and possibly my friend Snookie (the original Snookie, BTW) will watch what's been recorded.
I may need to make a Trader Joe's run for snacks after work. It should be fun.

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It's the Simple Things

2011-04-23T10:17:00.002-05:00

Bought a can of Trader Joe's whipped cream yesterday. It's the only spray whipped cream I've found that doesn't have carrageenan in it -- that's the MSG derivative that gives me migraines and makes Sarah even more hyper than usual.

If there is any cream left after Easter Dinner, I will bring it home. Then Sarah and Rachel can stand in front of the open refrigerator and spray whipped cream into their mouths. It makes them happy, and makes me smile.

Weather, Wherefore Art Thou?

2011-04-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

Does this picture look like an inch of sloppy, wet snow?
I don't think so either.
It's official. I'm sick of winter. Or the threat of snow.

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A Day for Beautiful Things

2011-04-18T09:10:00.000-05:00

I was taking a quick run through my "Professional Development" folder in Google Reader, and ran across two absolutely stunning pieces of art. Do yourself a favor and view these blog posts:

CyberText Newsletter: The Power of Good Copyediting. Don't be fooled by the title. There's so much more to the video clip Rhonda has included in this post.
Wise Living Blog: The Quiet Power. An amazing piece of poetry.

_________
Note to those of you subscribed to this blog, my family blog, and my creative blog: Yes, you are seeing double. These two pieces are too good to be missed, and I wanted to make sure all my reader subscribers could experience the power of these two pieces of art.

Some Visual Enhancement

2011-04-12T17:05:00.000-05:00

I will be talking about public speaking and presentations in my class tonight. Some basic principles of organizing a good speech and using presentation materials. I'll also have some tips on overcoming jitters. So I thought I'd use this little graphic in one of my slides:

Oh, and I'm going to use the movie trailer for "The King's Speech", too.
My message for the evening: Anyone, even a King, can have problems speaking in public. With help and practice, we can all improve our public speaking skills.

Naughty Scotties

2011-04-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

Check out these cheeky pups!
-- Sydney and Macalester with evil glow eyes
-- Laddie sticks out his tongue at me

Man's best friend. Ha!!

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Carol Anne's Five "Must Read" Blogs

2011-03-25T22:21:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share with you five of my 'must read" blogs that I have set up in my Google Reader. These are blogs that aren't in my bloglist at the side of the blog -- that list is reserved for my blogging friends. These are other blogs that I enjoy.

Profgrrrrl: I started reading this blog about a year after I started teaching. At that time, ProfGrrl was getting ready for the tenure process, hanging out with her boyfriend, and writing up a storm of amusing and thoughtful posts about life and teaching. Over time, she's got tenure, married, had a baby, and still writes amusing and thoughtful posts about life and teaching. As soon as I see a new post in my reader, I pounce on it.
Baseball Nerd: Back in my childhood, I was a huge baseball nerd, thanks in part to my mom and her love of all things Minnesota Twins. Out in New York, there was another kid just two months younger than me, who was a baseball nerd, thanks in part to his mom and her love of all things New York Yankees. Through Keith Olbermann's Baseball Nerd blog, I get to revisit some of those good ol' days of baseball that were so dear to me, plus learn about the newer generation of players too.
StellaCommute: Stella writes about being a telecommuter, and occasionally about some quiz game she and her buddies play at a local bar on Tuesday (or is it Wednesday?) nights. While her posts are short, they are fun to read, with just an edge of snark.
CakeWrecks: If you can't decorate a cake to save your life, this is the blog for you. The horribly decorated cakes that are featured here six days a week will make you feel a thousand times better about your cake decorating skills. And on Sunday, they turn the blog over to photos of absolutely beautifully decorated cakes, that you can't imagine ever eating. CakeWrecks always leaves you wanting more.
Passive-Aggressive Notes: Actual notes left by real people, displaying all their passive-aggressiveness to the world. This one is always a good Friday-afternoon-at-the-office read.

I hope you have a chance to check out a couple of these blogs. If you have favorite blogs to recommend to me, leave me a note in the Comments.

One of Those Days

2011-02-17T19:33:00.002-06:00

Sigh.

Eight Years

2011-02-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

From this: to this:

in eight short years.

Happy Gotcha Day, Rachel!!

For more photos of Rachel cuteness from our first week with her, check out this retro-post from 2006: So Very Cute.

Spring's Announcement

2011-02-15T14:33:00.001-06:00

Yesterday morning, I could smell the news. Spring had sent out the advance team of aromas to announce it's upcoming arrival. The air had that moisture-heavy, earthy smell. A smell that's hard to believe when you're looking at 3 feet of snow in your yard. But it was there.

We're having an unexpected plume of warmth settling over Minnesota. As I write this, it's 45 degrees and sunny. The melted snow puddles, like the potholes, are everywhere.

The cold will be back by the end of the week. Right now, I'll enjoy what I have. When it gets cold again, I'll wait for the smell again and the next indicator of spring, a strong and warm sunbeam to sit in.

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Chinese New Year, Wall Family Style

2011-02-03T21:30:00.001-06:00

Here at the Wall compound, we practice a lot of just-in-time processes: just-in-time supper, just-in-time Halloween costumes, just-in-time get the dogs outside to pee (well, not always "in time"). Last night we added a new trick to our just-in-time portfolio: Just-in-Time Chinese New Year.

At about 7:30 last night, I realized the next day (today) would be Chinese New Year. I knew it was coming, I just didn't really get how soon it was coming.

In the course of 15 minutes, Rachel and I:

located the box of Chinese New Year decorations
colored the Kitchen God
unearthed the Fourth of July poppers
decorated the house and hung the couplets on the front door.

I almost thought to just let it all go, but I was surprised how fast it all came together. Once all the decorations were out, there were only two things to do: set off the poppers outside and sent off the Kitchen God.

For the past couple of years, we've used these benign popper things that you throw on the ground and they make noise. It passes for fireworks, and I can buy them cheap at Target before the 4th of July. I usually get a couple of boxes, the girls and I fling these poppers on the driveway, stomp on the poppers that don't explode immediately, and yell "GongXi" ("congratulations). It lasts about 5 minutes, especially if it's cold.
It was -4F at the time we were making noise outside last night, and it took about 7 minutes. Our record is -8F and 3 minutes.

John had arrived home from practice by this time, and was witness to our rituals. In previous years, he's never been around to see what we do on the eve of Chinese New Year. He had lots of questions, and most of the time looked very confused. Especially when I lit the Kitchen God on fire in the sink. But he did help air out the kitchen so our fire alarms wouldn't go off.

Today, we all wore red, and we actually ate Chinese food for supper. Usually we go get Mexican, because, well, we're weird. We eat Chinese on Cinco de Mayo. Sarah sings Christmas Carols at Easter. So we broke tradition for the first time. I think we'll all live.

So goodbye, Year of the Tiger, and hello Year of the Rabbit. May your year be as soft, fuzzy, and warm as a bunny.

Christmas Letter 2010

2010-12-24T14:56:00.000-06:00

When I was planning this letter, I was torn between two themes: The Year of the Dog vs. The Year of Big Expenses. They both pretty well describe our year. You could even meld them together to be The Year of the Big Expenses That Did and Didn't Include Dogs.

In January, this ball of cute walked into our family. His official name is Merry Macalester Tobias Wall, but we call him either Macalester T or Macalester or Mr. Woo-woo. But that's another story.

Cute, Furry, Extra Long Tongue. Macalester T.

His arrival was not planned, and is really the fault of my friend Linda M. You see, Linda had been looking to add a dog to her family, and emailed a bunch of us about one possibility. While looking at the pup on PetFinders.com, I made the mistake of typing "Scottish Terrier" into the search box. Up popped this picture of a very woolly Scottie pup that was being fostered in Zimmerman. You can guess the rest.

Macalester is a bunch of fun. He's very vocal, aarrooo-ing at everything he can. We were worried about how Sydney would handle another male dog, but she's just been thrilled with her little brother. She's been teaching him many of her naughty tricks, especially table top dancing.

Speaking of Sydney, this year has been a medical nightmare for her. She turned 12 in April, which is pretty old for a Scottie. She had plenty of attitude and spunk to go with it, but something changed in May. She had a series of bladder infections that just would not go away. Just in time for our trip to Washington D.C., Laddie got Rabbit Fever, courtesy of all the rabbits that use our yard as a toilet. So, instead of boarding the dogs at the groomer, they spent 11 days at the vet as boarders/patients.

Our vet bills kept piling up as Sydney would recover, and then get sick again. She was even screened for bladder cancer. Another Scottie owner suggested adding apple cider vinegar to her kibble. That did the trick. Like cranberry juice for humans, the apple cider vinegar makes the bladder a hostile bacteria environment. And everyone got well again.

Front: Sydney, Laddie
Back: Rachel, Sarah, and Macalester

Until Sydney got infected anal glands. That was more vet bills and surgery for Sydney. She recovered from that, and two months later, threw out her back. When the vet techs saw her, they asked, "What's wrong with her now?"

She really suffered with her back injury, lots of pain killers and steroids. Then we had a small ice storm, and she took a big fall on our deck. She got back on her feet, marched into the house, and started acting like her old self. Whatever was bothering her got put back into place with her big fall. She's done great since, and it's good to have The Squid back, bossing the household.

Sarah on the beam

Since I've done all this talking about the dogs, you might wonder what was up with the rest of the household. The girls are busy with gymnastics year round now. I spent the better part of January and February sitting on my butt for hours (and I mean HOURS) on end in bleachers, watching one or both of them compete.

It's hard for me, because I'm just not the Mom-of-Gymnasts type. I'm way too rowdy. I would have made a great Football or Basketball Mom. But no, China gave me gymnasts. I try to behave. Sometimes I embarrass Sarah, other times she likes the attention. Rachel loves it all the time. I guess that's the difference between a tween and a regular kid. Eventually, I will become an embarrassment to Rachel.

Rachel on the beam

The girls work hard on gymnastics. Sarah was promoted from the pre-team (Fireflies) to the competition team (Dragons) this year. Rachel was going to be promoted to the pre-team group until she and her group members staged a mutany over the summer. They were bound and determined to stick together and not leave anyone behind. So they all stayed pre-pre-team (Sparks), but they are practicing and performing at pre-team level. Semper Fi, Sparks.

John has been busy with various home improvement projects. This spring, John decided to install the ultimate range hood in the kitchen. While doing that, a section of our retaining wall collapsed, so we were off to get that fixed. As long as we were spending a ton of money, let's put in the second bathroom. And so, those projects got underway. The retaining wall was finished at the end of July, and the second bathroom in November.

Between those, we had to suddenly get our roof re-done when our new homeowners insurance company decided to cancel our policy in September. 15 year old roof was apparently totally trashed. It looked OK to us and wasn't causing any issues. Turns out there were problems -- or about to be problems, and there was a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer for pre-mature roof failure. So, there went another pile of money.

To tell you the truth, other than the color, the roof looks just the same to me. John says he can see the difference. Maybe if I decided to spend some time on the roof, I'd see the difference, too.

John's next home improvement projects will be to add more shelving to our bedroom and to add shelves to Sarah's room. Sarah is making that transition from kid to teen, so she's trying out a new look for her room. If she'd get rid of some of the kid stuff, she'd have room to make a transition. But that's another story.

Senator Klobuchar's Office

I suppose I should fill you in on the trip to Washington D.C. John's organist guild had their convention over the 4th of July in D.C., and we decided back in January we would go. John could go do organist stuff, the kids and I would paint D.C. red. John agreed to go by train, provided we had a sleeping car for the overnight part. He was not thrilled at the prospect, but he became an enthusiast about 24 hours into the trip.

The coach car had plenty of room to stretch out and move, he loved the lounge car for people watching, and he found it very pleasant to be in the family bedroom part of the sleeping car. It was a spendy proposition, but not really more than airfare for four and baggage fees. Oh, we could take all the baggage we wanted and it didn't matter how much each piece weighed.

Senator Franken's Office

We spent a week in D.C., and still had a huge list of things we didn't get to do. We did go to the Washington Monument, see the National Fireworks show, toured the Lincoln, Jefferson, Korean War, and World War II memorials. We hit the Metro and went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Library of Congress, Mount Vernon, and Target (yes, Target).

We toured the capital and got to sit in the House of Representatives gallery. Unfortunately, Congress was out of session. We did get to visit Senator Franken's and Senator Klobuchar's offices and visit with their staff. Both senators' staffs went out of their way to make our visits memorable. Senator Klobuchar's staff in particular went out of their way to get us into a fully booked White House tour, calling us just days before we left to tell us there was an opening.

"We're grumpy because we can't take
pictures inside tomorrow. Boo, hiss."

Touring the White House was wonderful. You only get to see the first floor, and you can't take any pictures inside, but it was wonderful. So much history, and little pieces I've seen over my lifetime and that the kids had read about. Outside, I could use my cell phone to take some pictures, but we were only allowed on the grounds for a limited amount of time. I wish I could have seen the Rose Garden, but that, and the Obama Girls' playground were not even visible from where we were.

The trip back included a long stopover in Chicago, where we took the water taxi and walked a mile or more up Michigan Avenue to the American Girl store. Everything the girls wanted was out of stock, and they really didn't want much. We left the store with very small shopping bags. Most people had huge bags full of stuff and the dads and brothers didn't look as excited as the moms and sisters.

The train ride home was just as lovely as the ride home. We were happy to be back in cooler weather -- only in the low 90's. We had been in D.C. during the East Coast heatwave, and had gotten use to living with 104 degree day and 70 degree dewpoints all the time. The summer heat waves in Minnesota felt like nothing after D.C.

After the big trip and between Sydney's afflictions and various remodeling and home repair events, I prepared to teach two new-to-me classes at Metro State for the fall and started writing for a huge compensation project at Securian. In the fall, Sarah started her final year at Randolph Heights as a 6th grader, Rachel settled into the 3rd grade routine, and John continued on with some volunteer work at the school while doing his Sunday organist job at Emerson.

At the top of Ramsey Hill - Mile 12

The girls and I participated for the first time in the St. Paul Bike Classic, riding 15 miles together through the streets of St. Paul. We had been training all summer, and it was a big deal that we did it. Next year, we're going for 24 miles.

That pretty well sums up the year for us. I'm hoping 2011 is less busy and less stressful, although I've been put on notice by the gymnastics coaches that I will be spending EVEN MORE bleacher time this year. Good thing I bought a stadium chair over the summer.

From the Walls to you, have a festive holiday season, and best wishes for a happy 2011.

Carol Anne

Downtown, Post-Storm

2010-12-13T11:01:00.000-06:00

A south-looking and north-looking shot of Robert St. at 11am.

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Lookee, Mabel! It's a real Live Blizzard!

2010-12-11T11:51:00.000-06:00

I know I'll make my Alaskan reader yawn, but it's a real storm here. Like the kind when I was a kid. The snow is already deeper than the dogs are tall.
I have Velveeta and chili dip on my mind. That's a college thing. As long as you have cheese and chips, you'll survive the storm.
I'll have to check out The Weather Channel later to see what's up -- and plan for the evening.

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Do We Have a Deal?

2010-12-10T09:00:00.000-06:00

Memorandum

December 10, 2010

To: My Family
From: Fed-Up Carol Anne/Mama
Re: Agreement

If I agree to work a full-time job plus a part-time job to keep a roof over our heads, bills paid, refrigerator stocked and some other fun stuff, plus do some laundry and cooking, can you agree to the following?

Pick up the crap you leave lying around the house.
Take out the dogs occasionally and clean up after them. Thoroughly, and not by rubbing a piece of paper towel around with your foot.
Fold and put away the laundry.
Keep the sidewalks and driveway clean.
Clean your rooms.
Take out the trash daily .
Not complain, roll your eyes, or make gestures when I point out that you haven't followed through on what you said you would do "in a minute".

If this arrangement is not suitable to you, I will have to make other arrangements. Possibilities include, but are not limited to:

Quitting all my jobs and stay home to clean up after you piggies, and letting you guys figure out how to pay the bills and keep a roof over our heads. Oh, by the way Sarah, Social Security isn't sufficient to pay all the bills.
Take the money I save for fun stuff and putting it toward a weekly cleaning service. I can't keep up with your mess.
Cutting down drastically on the number of clothes we have around here, so I have much less laundry to do each week. I get tired of washing your entire closet every week because you've decided that if you put something on and take it off immediately, it's dirty and needs to go on your bedroom floor.

Please let me know which approach you would like me to take. Letting me know anytime between now and five minutes from now will be sufficient. You know where to reach me.

What a Way to End November

2010-11-30T22:20:00.002-06:00

Got a call last night right before my class that my dad had had a stroke. Got to walk into my class and let them know I had to go, take the final online, and I gotta go. I've never made 20 people gasp and turn pale all at once.

I spent the evening in the ER.

My dad's doing pretty good neurologically -- speech is fine, no grip/movement loss. Crazy heart beat, so they kept him overnight. I think they'll be keeping him more than overnight, but we'll see what happens. I'm planning to go visit him at lunch tomorrow.

Thus ends my month of NaBloPoMo. 27 days out of 30, I blogged. I wasn't sure what I was going to write about every day for a whole month, but stuff kept coming up. Whether it was useful, or entertaining, remains to be seen. But I had fun.

On to December.

Another RBOC Night

2010-11-29T20:52:00.001-06:00

Second-to-the-last day of NaBloPoMo. Can't believe I did as well as I did -- I've only missed three days this month.
"... and then a miracle occurs ..." seems to be SOP at the day job right now. Trying to be helpful, but really not wanting to be part of the mayhem.
The Big Storm is probably going to be all rain, no snow. Goodbye for now, White Christmas.
John put up the Christmas lights outside. He just did it -- I didn't say anything about when or timing or anything. What's up with that.
Of the frivolous ballot rejections in Hennepin County (MN Gov. Race Recount), 95% of them came from the Emmer side. Can't figure out which race is crazier: MN Gov or AK Sen.
Last Business Writing class tomorrow night. Two more Web Design classes to go. Let the grading frenzy commence.
I still love my new bathroom.

Oh Christmas Tree

2010-11-28T23:07:00.000-06:00

Three hours of work, two broken ornaments, and several veiled threats to stop the kids from squabbling. The house is decorated. Amen

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$300 Furnace Lesson

2010-11-27T21:14:00.000-06:00

After a pretty good Thanksgiving, and an absolutely fabulous Black Friday, I was looking forward to a quiet Saturday. Just a few errands to run, check in on my classes, do some laundry, etc.

While doing the check in with my classes this morning, Sarah kept complaining she was cold. After a 1/2 hour of complaining and trying to walk her through adjusting the thermostat, I noticed I was getting cold. So I go downstairs to check on the thermostat and notice the house temp is a chilly 63 degrees. I play with the thermostat. I can't get the furnace to kick in.

I go to the basement, no noise from the furnace. So I call John, who is at his church job, practicing. He has me change the fuse. Still nothing. I flip the power to the furnace. Nothing. So, I call the furnace company and have a service call put in -- on the 6 year old furnace. Yell to the kids to put on warmer clothes and find the dogs sweaters, etc. I give the furnace a swift kick, and head back to the main floor.

By the time I get back to the main floor, I notice the furnace has started and is emitting a strange odor. I turn it off at the thermostat, and go back downstairs. I have Rachel start it again from the thermostat, and the furnace makes some gawd-awful noises for five minutes, and then it starts. The furnace starts a cycle of short on periods, and long off periods. After two hours, the temp has risen all of 2 degrees in the house.

Furnace guy shows up, checks the thermostat (OK), then goes to the basement. Touches a few things on the furnace and diagnoses the problem: the furnace filters are clogged. So we move some stuff around so he can get into where the filters are, and as soon as he removes the filter, the furnace goes quiet -- but is running.

The filter is CAKED with gray fuzz and stuff. Rachel and I concurred that we could make a very large dust bunny, and have enough left over to make a couple dust Scotties. The furnace guy really cleaned it out well, using our ShopVac, and happened to have some new, clean filters in his truck. I watch him very carefully, ask a bunch of questions, planning to get my money's worth out of this very simple service call. He was great, straight-forward, and didn't make me feel like an idiot. I now know how to do the monthly filter cleaning.

15 minutes later, all is replaced, cleaned, and running happily. The furnace guy leaves with $300 of our emergency fund. Thank God for emergency funds.

Two hours later, John returns home, and I inform him of the diagnosis and the bill. He says he cleaned it two months ago, but I really wonder ... the filter was caked with dust and stuff.

It's clean now, and I know what to do. It was a spendy lesson, but I guess that's what I really needed to do today. Oh, and I apologized to the furnace for kicking it. I hope it was accepted.

.

Playing Telephone Booth in the New Bathroom

2010-11-26T20:52:00.001-06:00

Twelve plus one dog. Room for at least two more humans and a couple more dogs.

Wednesday???

2010-11-25T08:45:00.000-06:00

I don't know where my Wednesday post went. Will have to look for it in the ether...

DH Breaks Toilet

2010-11-23T16:32:00.000-06:00

Film right now.
*****
The toilet is fine. It was operator error.

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It's In!!!

2010-11-22T17:16:00.000-06:00

It took over five years, but THE SECOND BATHROOM IS DONE (except for some minor finishing touches). Not since using the squatty potties in China has a flushing toilet and a sink with running water made me this happy.
I have to adjust the curtains a bit, as they're too long. But a scissors and some fusible webbing will take care of that.
I'll post pictures when I get those curtains done.

Getting Ahead

2010-11-21T22:48:00.000-06:00

I officially got caught up with all my classes on Wednesday night. All the grading was done, I just had to get ready for the finals and the grading to come. This is the first time this semester that I've been completely caught up. There's a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

So now I'm spending my time trying to get ahead. It feels weird, but it's better than procrastinating to the bitter end.

It's a RBOC Kind of Day

2010-11-20T21:50:00.000-06:00

It's been a random day. To keep up with my NaBloPoMo pledge, here's my day in bullets:

Big blow up with Sarah in the morning about using her Chinese name in public.
Spontaneous apology from Sarah after spending time in her Chinese class. Don't know what happened, but all is OK.
Rachel will now refer to Sarah as "Zombie Girl".
Bought a bunch of stuff at IKEA for the second bathroom. Surprised at how little it actually cost.
Created a quiz for one of my classes.
Pizza for supper. Love that Davanni delivers all the way over to this side of the neighborhood. Not all pizza places do that.
Spent 2.5 productive hours developing my professional web site.
Had Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee for the first time. Smooth. I like it.

Now it's time to go home and hit the hay. Housecleaning and more classroom work on the schedule for tomorrow.

The Truth Hurts

2010-11-19T15:10:00.001-06:00

To swipe a bit from Keith Olbermann, here's the Tweet of The Day
http://twitter.com/edmarsh/status/5653265844801536

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The Second Bathroom

2010-11-18T22:56:00.000-06:00

It's almost done. I can start loading things into cabinets and get them out of the bedroom.
I'm really hoping it will be done by Thanksgiving. I go shopping at IKEA for accessories this weekend!

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Ms. Doublebuns

2010-11-17T15:11:00.001-06:00

There's a rabbit in our neighborhood that has some odd protrusions on it's head. The rabbit we first noticed this rabbit the summer before last, munching on my neighbor's garden. We referred to it initially as "that funny rabbit". John was certain it has it's twin (or what was left) attached to it's head. So we started referring to it as Mr. Doublebuns.
It survived the winter, and when we saw it this spring it had grown very fat. Still enjoying the early produce of the neighborhood gardens.
A week or so later, the rabbit was suddenly thinner. That's when I realised Mr. was probably a Ms.

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Funny Poster

2010-11-16T22:30:00.001-06:00

Saw this funny "don't do that!" poster all over the campus bulletin boards. Gotta love the expression on the baby's face.

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Sparing My Readers

2010-11-15T09:34:00.000-06:00

If I would have posted yesterday, it would have looked something like this:
(obcenity) bead board (obcenity) didn't tape everything up (obcenity, obcenity) "D" doesn't stand for "dear" in DH (obcenity, obcenity, obcenity).
But, the bathroom painting is done. Two coats.

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Snow

2010-11-13T08:51:00.001-06:00

I'm at the Best Buy Campus this morning for WordCamp. And this is a picture of what we were met with this morning.

At home there's about two inches of heavy, wet snow. It's heartattack snow, the kind that is terrible to shovel.

I'm inside, drying off with a peppermint mocha in hand, exciyed about what I will learn today.

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Anticipating Snow

2010-11-12T21:08:00.001-06:00

It's coming, but there's still some question about how bad it will be. See where it says "Minneapolis"? Shift over a micron to the right, and that's St. Paul. We're on the line between Armageddon and Nuisance.

Personally, I'm hoping for Nuisance.

I have to drive in this stuff tomorrow -- in the morning and then in the evening. I'm attending the WordPress WordCamp at the Best Buy Headquarters in Richfield. It's a short drive on freeways and primary streets. And my car will be in a parking ramp and out of the actual snowfall during the day.

The first snowstorm of the year brings out the amateur driver in all of us. It's only been a few months, but every one of us will have forgotten how to drive in the snow and slippery. Another storm or two, and we'll all be back in our winter driving groove.

I Missed a NaBloPoMo Day

2010-11-12T07:10:00.002-06:00

I got home from the night job at 10 last night and settled in to watch Rachel Maddow interview Jon Stewart, planning to do a blog post during the first commercial break.

I fell asleep somewhere after they exchanged their opening niceties.

That's no reflection on Rachel and Jon, who my husband said did a terrific interview. It has more to do with my current physical state: exhaustion.

I'm disappointed that I missed a NaBloPoMo deadline, because I had done so well this year -- actually posting for 10 days straight. But I'm going to pick it back up again and see if I can finish this month off with a daily post -- without writing a bunch of them ahead of time and setting them to automatically post.

Now, back to work, me. Let's get on with it!

R.B.O.C. Post

2010-11-10T21:57:00.000-06:00

Every morning, I have a brilliant idea for a post. By the evening, it's gone.

So,now I present random bullets of crap:
-- Sydney threw out her back. Trying to keep her comfortable is hard.
-- Never again will I teach 2 new-to-me classes in a semester. Too much start-up work.
-- It's supposed to snow this weekend.
-- I'm going to a WordPress Camp this weekend. I may learn to code PHP.
-- I need a vacation.
-- I need a housekeeper. Must price a cleaning service, because I'm not getting the promised help from the family.

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Oh, Her Aching Back

2010-11-09T21:55:00.001-06:00

Sydney's not been herself for the past couple of days. Each day, she appears more miserable, and was starting to breathe funny. Plus she had a funky smell about her head that I couldn't pinpoint. I called this morning to make an appointment with the vet.

By the time I got home from work and took Sydney to the vet, she was shivering constantly and doing some heavy panting. I was wondering what kind of temperature she was running, and was she going to seize up on me on the way to vet. We made it in one piece, with nary a peep from Sydney, who is usually my backseat driver.

Got to the vet. He took one look at Sydney and said, "Oh no, not another one!" Apparently there had been three other dogs he saw today with back issues. He touched her back, and she flinched. Manipulated her stomach -- no problem. No fever, and the smell was just because she has bad breath and needs her ears cleaned.

After a set of x-rays to check for spinal issues, and to double-check her heart and lungs, Sydney was pronounced perfectly healthy, but in a world of back pain. So I went away with a prescription for some pain killers and a low dose of prednisone. (For Sydney, not for me) Also good to know there was no disk issues and her spine is essentially healthy. She's 12 1/2-years-old. You just never know..

Sydney had fallen off my bed last week, but I didn't think anything of it. I was too busy yelling at Rachel to pay attention and make room for the dogs. Sydney was slow to get back on the bed, but seemed fine. I guess now I know she was faking being fine until she couldn't fake it anymore.

She's sleeping in a slightly-stoned bliss now, and breathing much calmer. I just have to keep the kids from messing with her while she heals.

I now know shivering and heavy panting are a sign of pain in dogs. I did not know that. It's a good day -- I learned something, and Sydney's just fine. Before we left the clinic, she tried to take the face off a cock-a-poo puppy. She may be in pain, but she's always The Feisty Squid.

Apology ... Exceptional

2010-11-08T20:34:00.000-06:00

A good example of clear, concise writing, even if you don't agree with KO's politics: http://www.scribd.com/doc/41623358/A-Statement-to-the-Viewers-of-Countdown

It will fit right into the part of my class that discusses delivering difficult messages.

In the Way

2010-11-07T22:04:00.000-06:00

While trying to find out what Macalester T was barking at, I got in his way. I guess I was blocking his view of the vermin in our neighbor's yard that he was trying to bark away. He let me know I was underfoot, and gave me a good hard bite on the back of my hand.

It didn't break my skin, but it was so close, I could see the black and blue mark forming from underneath. He must have grabbed a nerve in the same area, because it felt like my hand was on fire. Being a Scottie, he was totally unrepentant of the injury he causes me -- I was in the way.

This evening, getting in the car after having pizza at a local joint, I whacked the same hand, in the same spot, on my car door frame. Yet again, in the way. You'd think I'd know where the door was on this car -- I've been driving it for 4 years now!

It will be interesting to see what it does overnight.

Documentation

2010-11-06T19:40:00.001-05:00

A document came in the mail today from the MN Historical Society. It was a copy of the death certificate for my Uncle Marvin, who had died in childhood. All I knew about him was that he was 10 when he died, he had leukemia, and had a favorite nurse at the U of M where he had had some treatment.

The one or two pictures that I have seen of him were of a blond little boy, with a big scarf wrapped around his neck to cover up a tumor on his neck, sitting next to his nurse, and he was wearing a huge sweater that looked hand knit. I have a small headshot of Uncle Marvin, probably cut from a copy of the larger picture. My brother David looked just like Marvin at that age. Probably one of the many reasons my grandparents doted on him.

That's all I know. Uncle Marvin just wasn't talked about. My dad won't say anything when asked, and my mom filled me in on the few details that I have -- it's all she knows.

When I found out I could get his birth and death certificate through the MN Historical Society, I decided to order copies. I wanted to have some documentation of this mystery family member to go with the small picture I have of him. I have no idea if there were other pictures. My Aunt Phyllis had all the family pictures, and never responded to my request to get some copies of the pictures. She died two years ago, and the pictures are long gone, I guess.

At least have something other than a small picture -- Uncle Marvin's death certificate. The death certificate revealed some new information.

Uncle Marvin was 9 years and 2 months old when he died -- right to the day. His birthday was 9/27/1932 and his death date 11/27/1941. He was buried on 12/1/1941. Lymphosarcoma has been the contributing reason for his death -- whether it was Hodgkins or Non-Hodgkins, it doesn't say. There may have not been that designation in the 1940's.

He had had lymphosarcoma for 2 1/2 years -- so he must have been diagnosed when he was 6 1/2 years old. He died in Grove City, the small town near my grandparent's farm. The actual cause of death was pressure on the neck and mediastinum. Which, according to what I've been able to figure out, means he suffocated to death, under the weight of his tumor.

What I've been able to figure out, thanks to the internet, Uncle Marvin's cancer is pretty survivable these days. One site has the survival rate at 75% with some standard treatments. Not perfect, but darn good.

All this makes me wonder what it would have been like if Uncle Marvin hadn't gotten sick, hadn't died. Would he have stayed on the farm? Would he have moved to the Cities like his big brother? Would he have been in the military and have seen action in Korea or done service in Japan or Germany? Would I have cousins and another aunt? So many questions, and absolutely no answers.

All I have is a little bit of documentation of a short life. It will have to do.

More Best Nails Ever

2010-11-05T20:12:00.000-05:00

Rachel and I got our nails done this evening. Yes, we're spoiled.

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52 Years Ago...Now

2010-11-04T21:27:00.000-05:00

I was born across the street from where I am standing right now... In my classroom at Metro State. Cool

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What I've Done Today Before 7:30 AM

2010-11-03T07:09:00.001-05:00

It's been a busy morning for me already, pre-caffeine. I've:

responded to a student and resolved a technical issue with an online exam
created a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation
scratched a dog or two or three
written a blog post (this one)

It's my day off. It might as well be productive. I'll be doing a bunch of grading and class prep for the rest of the day. Bring on the caffeine!

**** Update ****
By 7:50 am, I had redesigned the blog. What do you think?

Now I'll eat breakfast and grade some papers.

I'm Too Old for This

2010-11-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

I'm not putting up with bull shit, bullying, or any kind of crap anymore. I've officially had it up to ***here*** with people determining I'm incompetent because they don't like my .

I use to joke that when I was an old lady with a cane, I'd be using my cane to keep people in line that weren't behaving. Well, I'm not that old and I'm not planning to have a cane in the next 40 years, but I'm feeling the need to whip some assholes into shape.

My cane will be my words, until the day when I officially need a cane. And then my words and the cane will tag team.

Today I had to publicly dress-down another election judge. He was jumping into every conversation I was having with voters who had registration questions (my election job is a voter registration judge) and distracting/confusing the answers I was giving.

After about two hours of this interference and in the middle of another interfering act, I publicly dressed-down this guy clearly and concisely, and made him shut up. I then smiled at the voter, answered his questions, and made sure he had the right documentation that would allow him to register to vote and vote on the same day. AKA doing my job.

The other irritating thing was that this other judge had been trailing me and critiquing everything I did once he found out I was the registration judge. I was being bullied.

It's too bad it took me two hours to deal with it, but I needed that time to figure out how to address the situation without using a bunch of obscenities. Plus, I had a bunch of registrants that needed my help. They come first.

I don't know how the actual elections will turn out (other than how they turned out for my precinct), but I know there was one clear winner today: me.

About Those Nails...

2010-11-01T10:12:00.001-05:00

Those great nails -- totally my own, are a total PITA when typing. I think they must have hit a critical length over the weekend. I can't type without hitting other keys today.

I'll have to get them significantly shortened when I go in for my mani on Friday.

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Best. Nails. Ever.

2010-10-31T13:49:00.001-05:00

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Cooking Healthy is Dangerous

2010-10-30T19:20:00.000-05:00

In the course of making butternut squash mac and cheese, a "healthy" meal, I:
-- set a towel on fire
-- blew the top off the blender with hot liquid inside
-- burned myself on the hot, exploding blender fluid
-- dropped and broke the kitchen telephone
-- repeatedly boiled things over on the stove.

None of this would have happened if I had ordered a pizza.

Cutest. 12-Year-Old Scottie. Ever.

2010-10-29T22:10:00.001-05:00

Sydney, aka The Squid.

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Cutest. Shoes. Ever.

2010-10-29T22:07:00.000-05:00

From Zappos. I'm in love.

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The Last Thing I Expected to see in a city trash can

2010-10-04T15:03:00.000-05:00

Came out of work just now and found this at the bus stop. I wonder how/why it wound up in a trash can?

It looks like a decent stroller...

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today's quiz

2010-09-24T11:12:00.001-05:00

<a href="Oatmealhttp://theoatmeal.com">Oatmeal</a></p>

Carol Anne Wall St. Paul, MN cawall@msn.com thewallsofstpaul.blogspot.com

I.B.M.

2010-09-10T11:09:00.000-05:00

I'm using the non-traditional meaning of that abbreviation: I've Been Moved. I've been sent over to the old bldg at work, to be part of a special project.

I have a new view. Isn't it lovely? (please note excessive sarcasm) I knew my window seat wouldn't last, but I was hoping to be able to see all four seasons through that window. Oh well.

To Do List

2010-08-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

Things I need to do before school starts on Sept. 7th:
-- Set up a coffee day with Amy and Leslie
-- Set up another Trader Joe's munch-fest at the Edgcumbe Rec Center
-- Psych up for the next semester at Metro
-- Prep for job interview, if I get that far
-- Weed the backyard
-- Weed the front yard
-- Plant the stuff I bought in May that is still sitting in the backyard, if it survived the summer of neglect
-- Find more fresh basil to eat and dehydrate
-- Spend more time on the back deck
-- Get a pedicure
-- Try out that Shellac nail polish, to see if it's the real deal
-- Have another spa night with the girls. Putting cuke slices on her eyes sent Sarah into giggle mode.
-- Prepare to lose my window and view at work, and move back to the dark center of the building (boo, hiss)
-- Clean up the roses
-- Buy bulbs for the reconstructed bulb bed
-- Schedule a haircut for the dogs
-- Oh,yeah... relax. HA!

Life With The Eldest

2010-08-08T12:06:00.002-05:00

A one minute clip from this YouTube video sums up my life right now.

The whole thing is funny, but the apart most applicable to me starts at 50 second into the video.

It's safe, clean, and funny. Enjoy. Then, feel pity for me.

****Update****
Just remembered this one. Enjoy!

Latest Vet Adventures!

2010-06-29T07:27:00.002-05:00

Sydney presented with all the symptoms of a bladder infection yesterday morning. Of course, she had been to the vet Friday night, and everything was fine. It's just par for the course.

So, John takes the Squid to the vet.Of course by this time she's feeling much better as she walks in the door announcing her presence with aroos and general Squidish shrieking. It's her MO - small, loud, and proud.

Bladder infection is confirmed, antibiotics started. The Squid is already an improved woman this morning.

While at the vet, we find out the stool sample test came back on Laddie from his check up on Friday. He has some intestinal infection that is inherent in rabbit poop and will also go on meds.Our neighborhood is infested with rabbits, and this winter, our yard served as the rabbit toilet. I'm not surprised at the test outcome.

Macalester T probably also has the rabbit poop infection, but we haven't been able to get a poop sample: he still won't poop in front of us. So, since we have two dogs on meds, and a third that probably will need to go on meds, once the problem is identified.

The upside?This vet bill went on my husband's credit card.

Project One is Done

2010-06-22T09:03:00.001-05:00

The kitchen is back to semi-normal after John's two week project to install the ultimate range hood. For two weeks, the kitchen has been in various states of disrepair, but last week was pure hell. There were wood chips, plaster dust, insulation, and pieces of asphalt roofing on the kitchen countertops and floors. It only got cleaned-up when I could devote time to it, and HEAVEN FORBID if I moved anything or needed to use the kitchen to prepare a meal.

During this ordeal, there was much snipping and snarling – not coming from the dogs – but from the humans. I did my best to get the hell out of the way, plus I had all kinds of work deadlines so I wasn't around much anyway.

In retrospect, it's a wonder the dogs survived. I think they spent 18 hours of every day in their doggie condo or loose in the kitchen, licking up debris on the kitchen floor. The other 6 hours were spent sleeping with me and trying to rid themselves of the junk they ate while I wasn't at home. The end result was a periodically puking Laddie, diarrhea from Macalester T, and Sydney pooping out asphalt shingles.

The good news is that every dog is recovering, including Sydney purging the last of the asphalt from her bowels yesterday. No vets visits were needed.

The bad news is I'm exhausted from work and cleaning up after dogs and humans. At least the dogs say thank you.

The next project for John will be helping a plumber do the rough-in on the upstairs bathroom-to-be, then to do the finishing work. I'm hoping to do the tiling and painting with the girls, and keep John from turning every square inch of the bathroom into shelving. Right now, our bedroom is full of my craft supplies that were in the to-be bathroom. At least it's all in neatly stacked and/or in boxes. The dogs' bowels are safe… for now.

Carol Anne Wall St. Paul, MN cawall@msn.com thewallsofstpaul.blogspot.com

Car Living

2010-06-09T12:15:00.001-05:00

My kids always wondered how we'd power our computers if we ever had to live in our cars, under a bridge. I found this today on Amazon:

http://tinyurl.com/2bl47bc

Carol Anne Wall St. Paul, MN cawall@msn.com thewallsofstpaul.blogspot.com

Nerd Alert: NPR Does Lady Gaga's "Telephone"

2010-05-14T13:15:00.002-05:00

NPR News Fans -- check out this Lady Gaga "Telephone" spoof.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KenS0h3-Pc

Bloglines - Confusopoly Hearings

2010-04-28T12:53:00.001-05:00

Bloglines user carol_anne_t_wall@msn.com has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

Scott Adams rocks!!!

Dilbert.com Blog
Regular thoughts and updates from Dilbert.com

Confusopoly Hearings

Don't get used to it, but here's another unfinished comic that would have gone stale if I waited to publish it in newspapers.

Update

2010-04-21T19:51:00.004-05:00

It's been a busy couple of days.

We've had landscapers out to look at replacing the retaining wall in the backyard. That job will set us back $5-7K.

I met David Allen of GTD fame in the elevator at work yesterday. I have all his books, and use his techniques to keep my head above water while trying to balance two jobs, housework, kids, and everything else.

But being organized didn't keep from walking onto the wrong bus last night and taking a ride. I followed someone who usually rides my bus onto another bus. At least I knew where I was and where I could get off to meet up with John.

We were at the St. Paul school board meeting last night, and Sarah made a statement to the board. They were looking to eliminate the band program. Just before last night's meeting there was a change in plans -- move band after school. Sarah spoke against that change, and to keep band during the school day. Well, band will be after school starting next year. I'm proud of Sarah for speaking her piece in front of the school board. And we will hope like heck that band does not conflict with gymnastics.

That's enough excitement.

The dogs continue to form and mold into a pack. We celebrated Sydney's 12th birthday on Thursday and Macalester's first birthday on Friday. Laddie will have to wait until July.

Oh, and Rachel's birthday was Wednesday. She's eight now. She competed with her sister at gymnastics meet on Saturday in River Falls. Sarah got 6th place on the beam, and her team won 3rd place.

So that's what we've been up to recently. I hope all my readers have a much quieter life!

A Whine from the Cubicle

2010-04-12T13:31:00.001-05:00

Why am I working so hard on something that will go no where?? ARG!!!

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The Average IQ of Minneapolis...

2010-04-07T22:25:00.001-05:00

...dropped by about 30 points this afternoon.

Fortunately, the drop won't last too long.

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Physically Constipated

2010-04-01T17:59:00.001-05:00

I read that phrase in a book this afternoon. Made me wonder if you would use the thought of prunes or ExLax to relieve psychic constipation?

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Girls Evening Out

2010-03-26T17:45:00.001-05:00

The kids started Spring Break today. A week of wired, silly, and shrieking girls lies ahead.
To get the wildness started, I took Sarah and Rachel Shopping after I got home. We hit Erik's Bike Shop (Mama needs a basket) and Archivers (Mama needed to browse). We're at Big Bowl now (hence the photos). Next stop is the bank, then home. A full evening!

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Hangin' Out at High School

2010-02-24T17:02:00.001-06:00

Somethings never change--kids still hang out in bunches after school, being rowdy and making noise. And they keep it up until the last bus comes.
The only difference between these kids and the kids at my school is their color and their access to technology.
They're pretty funny. I'll bet my kids will be part of a group like this (and like I belonged to) once they hit senior high.

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Hello, SARS

2010-02-23T12:19:00.001-06:00

Seven years ago today, I woke up in our hotel room in Guangzhou with the sore throat from Hell. We had arrived from Nanchang the night before, on our second to last stop on our trip to adopt Rachel.

I didn't know why my throat hurt so bad, but I figured this was just one of my seasonal allergy sore throats that I get from time to time. Since we left the spring-like conditions in Nanchang and jumped straight into hot and humid summer in Guangzhou, allergies seemed to be a reasonable guess.

I was worn down from dealing with Rachel, and wanted nothing more than to relax in Guangzhou and see the sights. As each day passed, the sore throat lingered. I couldn't kill it. We were in Hong Kong a few days later, where I had a brief rally just in time to get on an airplane for home.

At home, I got worse, it moved to my chest, and all hell broke loose in my body. I went to a doctor who said "it's just a virus" and sent me to attempt to recover on my own. Then the SARS outbreak hit Canada, people were dying in China, and I started to wonder if I had SARS. I certainly had had all the symptoms.

To make a long story short, I became a SARS suspect, along with several other traveling families had hung around with in Nanchang and Guangzhou. One bunch of friends made it to the nightly news.

At this point, I was too far into recovery to test conclusively for anything. But I was still treated like Typhoid Mary by the medical community.

So the point of this post? Just to celebrate the 7^th anniversary of the day I started down the path to be a STARS All Star. I still have the newspaper clippings, somewhere. And my lungs have never been the same. ;^)

It's Hard to Type with a Dog on Your Lap

2010-02-12T21:13:00.004-06:00

Especially when the dog's tail keeps hitting keys on the keyboard.

Macalester T has become a serious lapdog -- usually when I need to be on the computer, grading papers. But he's so sweet once he's up here. If he'd just laydown, instead of trying to climb all over me, all would be wonderful.

3 1/2 weeks now. Macalester T has proven he is the loudest and chattiest Scottie we've ever been owned by. It's not like we have quiet dogs, either. But he's a noise maker, and the rest of us talk right back to him.

He's also always up for a good howl. Laddie is a howling machine, and Macalester T comes along for the ride. It's quite the chorus when the kids, dogs, and I have a howling fest. It's one of those occasions to bond.

Speaking of bonding, Sydney has really taken a shine to Macalester T. She is busy teaching him all her naughty tricks, especially how to eat paper to gain attention. They will sleep butt-to-butt which is a big deal because no dog touches Sydney unless Sydney allows it.

Laddie is getting use to having a little brother, and alternates between thinking it's the greatest thing since kibble and wishing he'd just go away. Part of Laddie's problem is that Laddie is in need of a haircut and gets overheated quickly during boy dog frap sessions. This gives Macalester T the mistaken impression that he's won, which Laddie correctly later via a nip.

All in all, the transition has been so much smoother than expected. It's really been wonderful watching the dog pack expand and redefine itself.

Just Another Sunday on the Bleachers

2010-02-07T12:34:00.001-06:00

At least this time I'll have video. Posted later...

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Butt Dialing

2010-02-04T14:43:00.001-06:00

I was grading papers last night when my cell phone went off with the "this person isn't in you address book ring". I answer and all I hear is a bunch noise in the background--like in a class working on a project.
I hung up after I didn't get a response and the classroom noise continued.
It was probably one of my former students, because they only have my cell number. I can think of a few that may have had my number on speed dial.

Scotties in Winter Garb

2010-02-01T17:02:00.001-06:00

Itls turned cold again,so it's time to breakout the sweaters for the two hair-challenged dogs: Sydney (in lavender) and Macalester (in red).
Rachel decided Laddie needed to dress up today, so he's wearing my Black Watch scarf.
I'm about to send the three of them upstairs to comfort Sarah, who has strep throat. Again.

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Happiness Maker

2010-02-01T09:10:00.001-06:00

I don't know why, but grape juice in the morning puts a little spring in my step and a smile on my face.

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3 Dog Night

2010-01-27T22:38:00.001-06:00

There's nothing like taking a snooze on a cold winter's evening with 3 Scotties snuggled in next to you.

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How I'm spending my Sunday

2010-01-24T11:14:00.001-06:00

Gymnastics meet at Park H.S. My butt may never recover from 4 hrs. In the bleechers.

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Pup Update

2010-01-23T19:54:00.012-06:00

It's Macalester T's fourth full day in the house, and things continue to go very well. There are the expected sibling squabbles, but otherwise, he's done a good job learning his order in the pack -- rock bottom.

There are a couple very amazing things about this little guy.

1) He's an amazing retriever. You throw the rubber barbell across the room, and he brings it back to you. And whines until you pick it up and throw it again.

2) He has a bladder of iron. I've never had a dog that holds it as long as he can. It's like a 12 hour bladder. He's done very little marking, and the indoor accidents are minimal.

3) He's got the best breath. No dog food breath here! I think he still has that hint of Scottie puppy breath, which usually fades at 6 months. Macalester T is about 9-10 months and smells good.

He's very sweet and we're so glad he's here with us. Even Sydney sits next to him and lets him touch her royal personal space:

Macalester T is still wearing The Collar of Shame. We took it off this morning, and within an hour he had ripped off the scab on his foot. Back in the Collar he goes:

Here's a few more pictures to enjoy.

Laddie in the Doggie Condo in the kitchen. Macalester T will move in with Laddie and Sydney once the Collar of Shame is permanently removed.

Laddie wonders why I need to take so many pictures... and when can I get the *BLEEP!* out of the way so he can wrestle with Macalester T.

Sydney has been fantastic! I really thought she'd be as mad as she was when we brought Laddie home 4 years ago. I guess that she's grown more tolerant of boy dogs over the years.

Macalester T showing off those lovely white teeth in a classic Scottie grin. He's happy to be here, and we're happy to have him here!!

Foster DogMom of the Year

2010-01-22T20:11:00.000-06:00

This is the Fabulous Terresa, Macalester T.'s wonderful foster mom. She really loves this guy, and we're grateful to her for all the love and care she and her family gave Macalester T.

"T", you rock!!

The View from My New Desk

2010-01-21T10:44:00.001-06:00

After 16 years I have a window seat at work. I love the natural light. I have my desk set up like I have it at home. It's cozy.

This is what I see from my window. Sorry about the quality, it's just a camera phone shot. I'm looking down 7th Place to East 7th. Way in the background is the Metro State Library. My work is everywhere.

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Macalester T is in the House!

2010-01-20T17:47:00.005-06:00

We picked up our new pup Tuesday night in Elk River, where his foster dogmom, Terresa, was teaching agility.

BTW, the Elk River K9 Center is really neat! They had agility, therapy dog training,and puppy kindergarten going on while we were there. The facility is HUGE and full of life.

The ride home was uneventful, other than Sarah could not figure out how to buckle her seatbelt. This is the same seatbelt she's been buckling for the last, oh, 5 years. I think there was a definite lack of concentration taking place in her 11 year old head last night.

At home, we let Macalester T explore the kitchen first, then opened the kennel to let Laddie out to meet him. Except Sydney pushed Laddie out of the way, so it was a boy meets girl situation.

At first, Sydney was all snarls and growls. Just what I expected from her, she just doesn't take to boy dogs right away. Once things calmed down, I added Laddie to the mix.

After a few polite sniffs at each other, Laddie issued the play invitation, and away they went for the next 1/2 hour, raising Scottie hell. Sydney wasn't amused and kept growling and snapping at the two of them when they happened by. I KNOW she was jealous, but there was no actual contact among the dogs, unless you count Laddie and Macalester T wrestling.

We had an early bed time, moved a kennel for Macalester T upstairs. He had torn open his wound on his paw from where the skin tumor (benign!) was removed last week. So he's in one of those Elizabethan collars, which makes for on our bed. Getting whacked by a E collar in the middle of the night is not pleasant! So he had the kennel to himself.

The only real whining occurred when Rachel came upstairs when she had a bad dream. Once she settled down, everyone fell asleep.

He tried territory marking Laddie's food dish this morning, which I promptly yelled at him for, and for which he was suitably ashamed. Everyone ate peacefully from their bowls. Sydney was growling less and went up to Macalester T for a sniff. By late this morning, it felt like everyone had found a comfort zone, and they were starting to behave more like a pack. They're really getting along well now.

He very chatty and friendly, but he keeps looking for his foster mom and his dog/cat/bird buddies. Like any adopted kid, he's got some transition to go through. On the whole, so far, it's pretty good.

I'll post some pictures in the next day or so.

When Sisters Sleep in the Same Room...

2010-01-20T16:30:00.001-06:00

...some rules must be written down.

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The Pitter-Patter of Tiny Feet

2010-01-14T21:29:00.003-06:00

We're adding on to the family. There will be another Scottie gracing our home. I think he'll be named Macalester Tobias -- using the formal version of his foster home name "Toby" as his middle name.

This dog IS a Macalester -- he acts and looks like our first big girl. At our meet and greet tonight, he was all over Sarah and John, and respectful of Rachel and me. We all love him.

John has to make a doggie condo over the weekend for the three pups, so we couldn't bring him home tonight. Plus my car wasn't clean enough to have a dog in it -- the kids have trash all over the back seat. So, we'll bring him home Tuesday.

I'll be writing more about him in the coming days, and you KNOW there will be play-by-play details of doggie interaction once Macalester T. comes home.

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T08:45:00.003-06:00

I've always loved this picture of Sarah in her scottie outfit, on the couch celebrating New Year's around the world. The crown was made by her new friend, Chloe. Sarah and I sat in the basement most of New Year's Eve Day with Macalester and Sydney, watching the 2000 coverage around the world.

I think we had been back from China about two weeks at that point. I was waiting for the big computer crash heard around the world, due to any unresolved Y2K bugs. As we know, it never came. But it was good to know we were at home with our baby girl.

We saw New Year's come in China, India, and Europe. Then the jetlag made us all crash long before any computer could here.

I hope everyone has a terrific 2010!!

Hunkering Down

2009-12-23T08:51:00.001-06:00

The NWS says we're in for a big snowstorm, starting tonight and going through Saturday morning. They say it will be on the scale of the 1991 Halloween storm, although they're only predicting 12 to 20 inches of snow. The 1991 storm landed three feet of snow in my part of town.

We have plenty of food on hand. As long as we don't lose power, we'll be OK.

I figure all holiday plans will be cancelled. Sarah is playing Mary in the Christmas pageant and Rachel has a speaking role as a shepherd, too. There are kids that have to travel 10 to 15 miles to get to our church (including Joseph). I just hope they decide to cancel the pageant with enough notice.

I know our streets won't be plowed anytime soon. We're on a street that last on the list to be plowed, but ½ block from a snow emergency route. But I can't image getting my low-hanging car through all that snow. We may be forgoing the over-the-(Mississippi) river and through-the-woods to Grandma's house on Christmas.

I guess I'll finally get that chance to clean out The Closet of Doom. And catch up on the laundry. Regardless of the weather, the girls and I are looking forward to our annual ritual: watching "A Christmas Story" as much as possible. Thank you, Ted Turner.

Fortunately, it will be fairly warm during the storm, so I can send the kids off to the backyard to make a snowman if they get too crazy. We'll probably play "drop the Scottie in the snowbank". Way back when, this was Macalester's favorite game. She loved swimming out of the snowdrift. I think Laddie will follow in his great-aunt's footsteps, and enjoy some snowbank swimming. I don't think Sydney will be as enthusiastic, but will prefer to hunt for rabbit poop snacks.

With the kids and dogs worn out from playing in the snow, and John in a turkey-induced coma, I think I can look forward to long stretches of quiet time. Just what this mama needs!

CA

Carol Anne Wall St. Paul, MN cawall@msn.com thewallsofstpaul.blogspot.com

It's Not BoingBoing, but ...

2009-12-16T12:16:00.001-06:00

...my gift suggestion for a writer make it to the first list on Inky Girl (www.inkygirl.com). It's the December 8th post.

Makeover, Scottie Style

2009-12-12T19:52:00.003-06:00

Laddie and Sydney went to the groomer's today. It's been about three months and they were shaggy. I let their coats grow out in the winter because it just gets so cold and drafty in the house.

I took two Scottish Terriers to the groomer. I came home with a Cairn Terrier and a black Westie. The groomer did a great job cleaning them up, yet keeping their coats long.

Sydney (with the Cairn look) is just darn cute, and it's clear she thinks so, too. She's preening and pussy-foot prancing around the house.

Laddie on the other hand, looks confused, like he's lost his identity. He keeps looking at me with this "what did you do to me?" look. Male ego, I guess. Either that, or he's offended that he looks like a black Westie.

Wiped Out

2009-12-02T21:36:00.003-06:00

By this time, 10 years ago, I think I was out cold on the hard hotel bed.

John and I had spent the day touring the Forbidden City, which seemed not only Forbidden but Forever (as in going on forever and ever and ever...). Chops were purchased, food was consumed, and pearls were oohed and aahed over.

We were not a major source of tourist spending on our trip. I had not learned that if you see it and love it, buy it now because you won't probably see it elsewhere. So different from the US, where many things are replicated, or you could just get another one in the next large town. Although I wonder if that has changed since our 2003 trip.

As I recall, I spent a bunch of bus time looking at Sarah's picture, and counting down the time. Deb was the official "clock" of our group, with frequent updates on our time until Gotcha Day.

I was completely exhausted when I got back from 10 hours of touring. But it was a good, happy tired. I just wished I could sleep better on those beds.

Related Links/Previous Stories:
http://thewallsofstpaul.blogspot.com/2006/12/ach-scheiss-moments-and-day-2-beijing.htm

In Beijing...

2009-12-01T07:30:00.004-06:00

By now we would have landed in Beijing, walked through the smoky, silent corridors of the new airport in Beijing. It would be 6:30 pm. Made it through incoming customs and security posts, picked up the luggage.

Oops, forgot there was a stroller with us! John & Tu race back to the luggage area to get it.
Bus ride from the airport reminds me of Chicago and trips from O'Hare into town -- including billboards in English.

Long check-in process at the hotel, set up tours, and then a surprise. Tu has an updated photo of each baby, taken in the last month. A treasure, for sure.

After gazing at the photo of the happy baby playing in her new orphanage playroom, I tuck it into my pocket journal, next to Macalester and Sydney's photos. All my babies in photos taken in the same time period -- together at last, in photographic form at least.

Check into our room, watch the WTO riots in Seattle on CNN International, eat and sleep.
I'm in China. Amazing.

Related Links/Previous Stories:
http://thewallsofstpaul.blogspot.com/2006/12/new-view-of-soon-to-be-familar-face.html

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10 years ago this minute

2009-11-30T13:48:00.001-06:00

I was sitting in a 747 in the Detroit airport, wishing I had several drinks under my belt, scared to death, waiting for take-off for Beijing.

And so, the overseas portion of our trip to Sarah began.

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Girls Shopping Trip

2009-09-18T17:13:00.002-05:00

Of course no girls trip is complete without a token male. Aren't we lucky SpongeBob was nearby?

At the MOA right now, after purchasing unmentionables. Enjoying refreshment at Starbucks. Then off to American Girl, and home. A full 2 hours. We just need to keep out of the way of scrapbookers.

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Busier

2009-09-17T15:17:00.002-05:00

Life has entered the Busier season. I use "busier" because we are always busy. Now it's back to the rutine of scholl, chior rehearsal, church services, and gymnastics. Oh and Chinese classes. Sarah's in band and the Girl Scout troop isn't dissolving after all.

Lots of schedules and calendar entries.

I'm not in a panic, but it's hard to remember to dump all the details into calendars and to do lists. I certainly can't keep it all in my head anymore. I think my head would explode.

I'm still in cooking and preserving mode, thanks to our farm share. Our fridge is overflowing, and I have to find room for more stuff tonight. But the eating is good.

Three more weeks and the share ends. Then I can enjoy the vegetables of my labor (no fruit in our share). And get ready for Christmas.

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Early Morning Results

2009-08-28T15:28:00.002-05:00

Last week, I wrote about getting up at 4 am to start my day. After two weeks I can say I have an 80% success rate getting to work at 6 am. I'm not always out of bed at 4 am, but I get myself going in time to get to work when I want.

I need to work on getting to bed earlier. That includes setting my iPod up so I can download the audio for Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.

I feel physically and mentally better leaving work at 3 pm. I gave a full day, plus some, and I don't owe anymore. It's like I have a clean slate--at least until I get off the bus. Then the evening work cycle begins.

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A Reason to Watch Football This Season

2009-08-18T12:58:00.002-05:00

Brett Favre is in training camp with the Vikings. I think my Sunday afternoon calendar this fall just filled up...

I've always liked Favre--even in his early interception throwing days. Back when I did fantasy football, I always drafted Favre, if I had the chance.

The Vikings could be interesting this year.

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Into the Ether

2009-08-17T15:14:00.002-05:00

I had an idea for a post about the dogs this morning. It's gone now, at 3pm.

A couple days ago I wrote a post about jigsaw puzzles and my grandpa. I sent that post and it never showed up on the site.

I'm having a week where I'm distracted, thoughts go flying off--with some eventually returning. I think this may be a byproduct of my schedule change. It's also the end of one semester/beginning of a new semester. I have feet in both terms. It's crazymaking. Maybe things will settle down by next week.

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Overexposure Possible

2009-08-13T15:09:00.001-05:00

Thursday must be Wear Your Pants Around Your Knees Day. One of the guys I saw at the bus stop last week is back with his low pants. He's having some issues with their position -- he keeps adjusting them. Kinda funny, actually.

New Schedule

2009-08-12T15:17:00.002-05:00

I decided I needed to put myself on a different schedule, to try to get some peace back into my life.

I'm getting up at 4 am, so I can reliably get to work at 6.
I'm also going to stop my paper grading somewhere between 8:30 and 9 pm, because I hit a wall at that time of day.
Get myself and the kids ready for bed, and hit the hay by 9:30.

I don't know how long the schedule will last, but I'm willing to give it a try.

Sarah is having a hard time not seeing me in the morning. She calls me 3 or 4 times each morning. Each call really isn't about anything. She just needs to know I'm there. On the other hand, Rachel's just happy to sleep.

I'm hoping the new schedule will give me some time to exercise and take care of me. And maybe get in a walk with a dog. Provided the dogs are ready to get out of bed.

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Confusion

2009-08-05T12:10:00.001-05:00

Can anyone tell me why I can't keep Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, and Ben Affleck straight in my mind??

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The Panic of August

2009-08-03T14:42:00.001-05:00

August is a month of panic, even more so than December. It's the end of summer, end of the summer term, State Fair time, no daycare or summer camp, the beginning of the fall term, and get the kids ready for school-gymnastics-Chinese class.
As a kid, I couldn't wait for August to end. I wanted to get back to school. Back to a schedule.
I wish I felt that way as an adult. I do have to admit the panic started when Sarah first started school. Maybe it's the byproduct of having a GoGoBaby (Sarah) that never stops.
I think it's mostly a parental stage, the length of which is determined by how far apart your kids are spread.
I feel like there is so much to do--but I want someone else to do it for me. NOW I need that robot that Rachel has promised to build me.
I need to take a deep breath, and make my lists. How does everyone else cope with end of summer/back to school time?

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Road Trip Prep

2009-07-23T10:35:00.001-05:00

Killing trees, so we don't get lost.

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Road Trip Prep

2009-07-23T10:17:00.000-05:00