Because I haven't posted a baby picture yet

~ The world's cutest baby (tm) at five months

Where I had breakfast this morning

I guess I was wrong

~when I said that there was no way McCain could top what the Democrats did this week. Well, maybe he didn't top it, but he certainly tried his best to steal their thunder when he announced Sarah Palin as his choice for VP today.

~If I thought she was qualified, I think I would say "Good for you, McCain," but this choice (and the timing in announcing it) is so clearly manipulative and intended for political advantage, intended to overshadow the positive energy generated in Denver this week that it just makes me feel sick.

~Does he really think that women will vote for him just because he selected a woman? That he will win over the disgruntled Hillary supporters? She is antithetical to everything Hillary Clinton stands for. Does he really think Gov. Palin is qualified to become president if anything should happen to him? She's only been governor for two years.

~I'll admit that I never heard of Sarah Palin before today. But the more I read about her, the more scary she seems.

Vacation Part Deux

~After working pretty much non-stop since we came home from Maine, I'm taking this weekend off. The Kid finished his first two days of school and has a long weekend, so (almost) as soon as the Kid got off the bus today we loaded up the car and headed to Vermont. I think this must be my summer to get caught in traffic, though, because between traffic slow downs for no discernible reason and road construction, it took us at least an hour longer to get here than it should.

~We arrived just in time to hear Obama's acceptance speech. Not his most inspiring speech, imho, but good. I think the Republican convention is going to be a real anti-climax. How can McCain possibly match what the democrats did this week?

~The Kid now officially towers over both his sisters. It's kind of funny to see.

~Baby J was already asleep when we arrived :( but I look forward to holding the world's cutest baby tomorrow.

Thank you, Hillary

~I'm not watching the convention (no TV) but from all the snippets I've heard on this morning's news, I'm liking what Hilary said last night. Especially where she emphasized that "It's not about me," and "I've worked too hard for the last 35 years to entrust [women's rights and health care among other things] to another Republican president." I hope her die-hard hold-out supporters were listening.

~I'm also touched by Sen. Kennedy getting out of his hospital bed to make his speech Monday night. Despite his flaws, I'm an admirer; he is as close to an "elder statesman" as we have right now, and his whole-hearted support of Obama is important.

~And could Michelle Obama be more awesome? I really don't think the candidate's spouse should matter in the grand scheme of things; nonetheless given the role that person will inevitably play, it nice to have someone so very inspiring.

~I'll be at NSLS's house Thursday night if all goes according to plan, so I will get to see Obama's acceptance speech.

~I haven't felt this hopeful about an election in decades. Of course, all my hopes may come to naught, but I'll hold onto the hope for now.

Random bits of another day

~Today was a better day, a much better day. But it feels like it must be at least Thursday already.

~More unbloggable craziness at work (not directly involving me this time) with potentially huge consequences.

~Long meeting in which I tried to untangle some of what was done last week while I was gone.

~And the Kid starts his senior year tomorrow.

Maybe I need a do-over

~So I got up bright and early, greeted the painters at the door, had breakfast and arrived at the office ready to get to work on the newsletter. Then I totally overreacted to something that had been done in my absence. Overreaction or not, it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back for me and I had a little melt-down in my office. I think it's been coming for a while (because the underlying issues are real even if today's issue was blown out of proportion), and maybe it's just as well I got it over with. But not how I wanted to start the week.

Back in the saddle again

~So I got my sermon done yesterday at the very last possible moment and arrived at church feeling frazzled. But then, when I stood on the step and began the opening acclamation, I was flooded with joy. I am so lucky to be able to do what I do.

~I am grateful for moments of grace like that--they are what carry me through all the aggravations and frustrations that seem to plague me these days. I am again invoking my mantra, "Let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go; whispering words of wisdom--let it go, let it go."

~This afternoon I really needed a clergy nap--I did take one but it was cut short by the concert at church that I had to get up to attend. But why am I so tired when I just got back from vacation?

Owwwie

~A couple of weeks before my vacation, my left shoulder and arm started hurting. I thought it might be some sort of repetitive stress because it was definitely worse when I used my computer, but a nurse at my parish, when I described the symptoms to her, said it sounded like a pinched nerve. Dr. Google informed me that 'rest' was about all that could be done, and I found that if I sat with my laptop actually in my lap, it was better. The week my vacation started, my shoulder began to feel much better, and it continued to improve while I was in Maine. I had one day when it hurt badly for a while, but the rest of the time it was almost back to normal.

~Last night when I got home I sat down in my favorite place--the table in front of the bay window in the kitchen--and caught up on some blogs. And this morning I sat down there to get a start on my sermon--and owwie! My shoulder was hurting again. Maybe it's the height of the table relative to the chair, but my shoulder and arm definitely react to me using the computer there. So I'm relegated to the living room couch again. Which doesn't matter so much in the evening, but in the morning I love to sit by the window. It's the sunniest place in the house and I can watch the birds and spread my books out on the table--it's really my favorite spot.

~I'm also wondering if this shoulder thing is exacerbated by stress. The one day it hurt worse in Maine followed an episode of me being significantly stressed about a work situation that was unfolding. And today, when it starts hurting again, I have to go back to work. Gah.

~But now I MUST write a sermon.

Random bits of coming back home

~Vacation is over (cosmic sigh) and we are back home again. Actually we arrived less than an hour ago, after getting stuck in horrendous traffic that crawled along about 10 mph for close two hours. Gah. Other than that the drive was uneventful, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

~And we did wait until after lunch time to leave...because the Kid had to get in one last round of golf. After loading the car we stopped at the little store at the end of the road to get petrol ($3.65 /gal. ! and yes, that's a very good thing) and sandwiches. The gas pump is one of the old fashioned ones with the little numbers that click around, and apparently there is some piece about getting the gas to stop that I don't remember because I managed to get gas all over my hand and arm when I took the nozzle out of the car. The very nice man in the little store (with no public rest rooms) let me wash up though, so I didn't have to turn around and go back to my friends' house. Although perhaps I should have because it turns out I left my mouse there. As you may have noticed, we had lots of identical computers sitting around and I was very careful to pack up the right one, but somehow I missed the mouse, which my friend D very kindly already put in the mail to me.

~Just like last summer, D and J's niece j was visiting from England while we were there, and this morning j's parents popped in unexpectedly. Well, j didn't expect them, but the rest of us knew they were coming. j was very excited to say the least.

~After an email outlining the work that had been done on the house in my absence, I had certain, shall we say, expectations. Turns out they were too high. Still no plumbing fixtures in the hall bathroom (which actually isn't a big deal) but the carpentry work repairing what was torn up to access the plumbing has been done. The not-so-good thing is that the washer and dryer have been unhooked at their current location but not moved to their new location. Glad I did most of the laundry in Maine. Hope I have clean work clothes.

~Vacation was great. We always have a wonderful time when we visit D and J. We do lots of fun things (and we never get to all the things we talk about doing) and we just hang out and talk and relax. And we eat lots of yummy food, including home made ice cream (yum) and fresh corn on the cob (just to name two of this year's highlights).

~ It's a bit hard to come back to the "real world", but reality is, I have work tomorrow--sermon to write! Service to preside at! The Kid has to work this weekend and starts school Wednesday, and still has summer homework to finish. I may still have more vacation pictures and posts to come, however.

~The Kid pointed out to me that I misspelled "today" in yesterday's post--sort of embarrassing that I didn't notice that and I should fix it. And in response to comments about the s'mores--the marshmallows didn't make a mes on the stove, thanks to J's expert handling (with some help from the Kid) and yes, I did explain the "proper" way to make them--we just didn't have a time or place to make a fire.

Today's vacation snippets

Computing on the deck...
and indoor s'mores for my Brit friends who'd never had them (they were a hit).

Whines and anti-whines

~It's Wednesday and by tradition, it's a day to whine--and to anti-whine. And I have both:

~Anti-whine: Not going home until Friday--yay! One more day in Maine is always a good thing.

~Whine: For the first time ever, I haven't been able to leave all my work stuff at work during my vacation. And for the first time, I feel stressed out about going back to work. Not because of the work per se, because I love my work. But I'm feeling increasingly dissatisfied about some aspects of my work situation, and a couple of these things have been exacerbated in my absence, apparently. Gah.

~Anti-whine: I'm taking a long weekend for Labor Day, so I have a bit more time off to look forward, too. And we're going to Vermont where we'll get to see the world's cutest baby.

~Anti-whine: The weather was gorgeous today, and promises to be that way for the rest of the week. Hooray!

~Whine: The Kid's allergies have been acting up really badly for the first time in a couple of years. We're in a household full of cats but we've been here before and he hasn't been this bad. Not sure why this year is worse--maybe more ragweed in addition to cats?

~Whine/anti-whine (depending on one's perspective): School starts a week from today, and it's the Kid's senior year!

Random bits of vacation

~Vacation is almost over...it always goes by too fast. Thursday we'll head home and Saturday I'm back at work.

~The weather has been off and on...patches of beautiful blue skies and balmy breezes sandwiched by rainy spells. Tonight it's getting cold! In this part of New England, fall is not far off.

~We've tried to take full advantage of the good weather days--golf, swimming, tennis, badminton, and Frisbee have all been on the agenda (and I take pix of all the activities!) We went to the fair one day, and the Kid and I went shopping in the state capital another. Tonight we went bowling--something I haven't done in at least 25 years. It was fun!

~During the rainy spells we've played games, watched movies, done craft projects and played on the internet.

~And I've taken LOTS of pictures, some of which I've posted already, with plenty more to come.

Full moon over Maine

I futzed and futzed with the manual settings on the camera last night and tonight to get a good moon shot; I finally got this one using the 'shutter priority' setting rather than full manual. Also used my friend's tripod--that is my next photography purchase.

Zinnias

Rainbow

Transformations

I'm on vacation, or as my Brit friends would say, holiday (which actually sounds better to me) and I've quite lost track of the days. But clicking over to the RevGalPals reminds me that it's Friday and time for the Friday Five. Being on holiday, I'm in denial that summer is almost over but this Friday 5 is a stark reminder with the challenge to share "five transformations that the fall will bring your way."

1. The Kid will begin his senior year in high school. As I've blogged before, when he graduates next June it will mark the end of a very long period of me having at least on child in K-12--28 years if I count correctly. Over half my life. So his senior year seems like a big milestone to me, bigger even than senior years always are. And we need to do the college visits and applications as so forth as well.

2. I will begin in earnest to search for my next position. I've been sort of looking on and off, but the serious searching and applying will be underway as soon as my holiday ends. It's time, and I think I'm ready.

3. We are beginning two new services at church. It has been Interesting Times at my parish for a while, and I'll be interested in seeing how these two efforts go over. More about them later perhaps.

4. I've been growing my hair a bit, and by fall I may have a whole new look. (This seems a bit trivial, but I'm feeling somewhat stumped--aren't three transformations enough for any one time?)

5. It will be time to break out the sweaters again. Although I love wearing sandals in summer and hate to give that up, I also like to wear sweaters in fall and winter. (Another trivial one, I'm afraid...)

Bonus: a favorite fall activity. Fall has long been my favorite season, and ever since I was a kid I've loved to watch the leaves fall and to walk through them, crunching them and ruffling through them. And if I were still in Vermont, it would be time for apple picking. (No apples where I currently live, alas).

On the midway

Mixed messages

~Checked my work email today in part because I haven't been getting any email on my Crackberry like I usually do (not sure what that problem is...). And I had not one, but two emails that start, "Hope you're enjoying your vacation--you really deserve it!" and then go on to say, "Can you do X for me?" or "When can you get y done?" Sheesh.

Rose breasted grosbeak

~This is a bird I don't have at home, so I was thrilled to see it here at my friends' house.

One of the kitties

In the garden

No words necessary

Vacation!

I've been off work since last Friday, but my vacation started in earnest today! After a week of errands (new tires and brakes, ac charged, oil change and cleaning and state inspection for the car, picking up some odds and ends, last loads of laundry, hair cut for the Kid, and the like) and then packing last night, we left bright and early this morning and headed north.

Our first stop was for a blogger meet-up lunch with the fabulous Songbird, Ruby and Mary Beth (the latter two who happened to be in town to visit Songbird). We had great food and great conversation--I only wish we'd had more time to spend there. After lunch the Kid and I continued north to our friends D and J where we'll spend the next two weeks.

I'm sorry to say that I left the camera in the car during lunch and it was raining when we were ready to leave so I didn't retrieve it. I don't know why I didn't at least take a picture with my phone, but alas, there is no photographic record of the blogger lunch today --I'll have to do better next time!

My point exactly

Amen

I saw this link over at Timna's place; she posted one of the winners, which I also love, but there are lots of good ones.

House full of plumbers

Really, I've never seen so many plumbers in one place. In the basement. Upstairs. Outside. In the hall bathroom. But the work is being done, and they are unfailingly polite. The only real downside for me (besides having to share my bathroom with the Kid because his is out of commission) is how early I have to get up and get showered and dressed to let the plumbers in on days that (it being my vacation) I could otherwise sleep in.

Tomorrow it's on to car repairs...

Extricated myself...

~from the project I was going to work on today. Long story, but the upshot is that I put it off until I get back, and smoothed the feathers of the person who "wasn't sleeping" because it wasn't done yet. I may regret it when it is still hanging over my head in a few weeks, but part of the reason is out of my control anyway.

~Meanwhile I hear through the grapevine that other crises are brewing at work...it's a real roller coaster there these days. I am glad I am leaving town!

~I now have big holes in the bathroom wall and ceiling, and in one closet upstairs to give the plumbers access to the pipes. I have plaster walls, not drywall, and they did quite a bit of (controlled) damage. Should be interesting to see how this all turns out...

~I have a free day now. Hmmm, maybe I'll take a nap. Or watch a movie. Ah...., vacation!

Vacation Sunday

~It was an unusual Sunday from the get-go, starting with me sleeping in. After the Kid worked on some summer homework with a friend, we went for a late brunch at at fantastic place where I had raspberry pancakes--delicious! This place is frequented by many church folks, and I ran into a bunch of them who kindly told me that they missed me this morning.

~This afternoon I went to buy birdseed, and since that takes me to the more touristy part of town the Kid and I hung out a bit; bought some salt water taffy and had an ice cream soda. We made a short sojourn to the main drag and decided it wasn't worth it, not being tourists ourselves.

~Much of yesterday and today has been occupied with sorting through pictures. I've taken lots of pictures of church events and I need to use them for the church directory. But since my hard drive crashed, they are scattered between two external drives. On one I had backed up all my pictures through 2006; they were organized and it was just a matter of picking out the ones I wanted. But the others--oy. They are the ones that were lost and then found and recovered with the fancy software. But when you recover data that way it comes back all jumbled up. I have thousands of pictures just thrown all together--just like that suitcase full of photos lurking in the upstairs closet. It will take m weeks, weeks to go through all of them. I worked a few hours on it this evening and got through about 1200 pictures. Only a few of them the church pix I was looking for...

~Tomorrow I must spend trying to assemble a church directory. I volunteered to help do this months ago--before I knew we'd be short staffed this summer, before I knew I'd have a bunch of extra stuff on my plate, before my hard drive crashed and my pictures got all jumbled up, before I found out that I was the only one who had saved pictures of events. But promise I did, and I can't put it off any longer. The person overseeing the project (well the part where everyone comes and gets their pictures taken by well-known but annoying photographers anyway) has been sending me emails at all hours of the day and night to see if I've done it yet. Here's hoping I can finish it all in one day, because that is all I am willing to give it this week. Not my idea of vacation fun.

Little bit of this, little bit of that

~That pretty much describes my day. Laundry, paying bills, sorting through pictures for the church directory (that's my big project for Monday), a bit of shopping, some on-line and some local.

~I'm not much of a list person; more likely I will have random post-its stuck up around the computer in my office and a running list for the grocery store on the refrigerator (which I rarely actually remember to take to the store with me). But around vacation time I start keeping lists--written and mental--of everything that needs to get done so I can actually HAVE a vacation. As I noted earlier, the work list didn't get finished. And today, in my head, I've been adding the home list. Gah. Must get the car worked on. Must buy bird seed. Must finish laundry. Etc.

~It turns out the plumbers are coming in this week to set the bathrooms in order; I'd thought that they weren't coming for another week, when we'd be away. I'm glad to get the work done, but I could do without the disruption this week. But I'm excited, too, because at the end of all this they are going to move the washer and dryer from the back hall right by the back door into the center hall bathroom. It is much more centrally located, and has plenty of room, and I'm getting new cabinets installed in there--it will be great.

~The Kid is lamenting the passing of summer. Friday we leave for Maine for two weeks, and five days after we come home, he starts school. Summer does seem short, even to me.

~And he'll be starting his senior year. Wasn't he just starting kindergarten like yesterday?

Friday Five~Roadblocks and hurdles

As always, from the RGBPs

1) How do you amuse yourself when road construction blocks your travel?

I don't have any particular strategy. Unless I am in a huge hurry I can be fairly patient, listen to NPR and muse about things. Of course if I'm trying to get somewhere on time, then I fidget and fume.

2) Have you ever locked yourself out of your house? (And do you keep an extra key somewhere, just in case?)

More times than I care to remember, though not here (yet, knock wood). In NYC where I had keys for EVERYTHING it was a real sinking feeling to get out of the apt. and realize I didn't have my keys. Fortunately, I could get a spare key from the seminary reception desk, but it could still be a hassle. Maybe because of that I am super paranoid about making sure my keys are in my pocket when I leave the house. I could get a house key from the church where there is a spare--but only if the church office is open, and wisely or not, all my keys are on one ring, so if I'm locked out one place, I'm locked out everywhere.

3) Have you ever cleared a hurdle? (And if you haven't flown over a material hurdle, feel free to take this one metaphorically.)

Certainly not a physical one as in running hurdles--um, no, there'd be no chance. Metaphorically speaking, I've managed to clear a number of hurdles in my life, I think--single parenthood, going back to school, making it through the ordination process to name a few.

4) What's your approach to a mental block?

Back off, and try to let go of it for a while. If I can do that, solutions tend to come unexpectedly. But it's not alwasy so easy to let go of it and not worry and obsess about whatever it is.

5) Suggest a caption for the picture above; there will be a prize for the funniest answer!

I'm so bad at this...and it's the kind of thing that I get mental blocks about :) so I'll pass.