A Wrinkle in Time

I suppose a couple of you might have noticed my conspicuous absence the last couple of days. Well, Monday was a holiday and I don't usually publish on those days. However, even if I did, I would not have written a post. MBH and I both caught something and were pretty sick. However, yesterday, every other member of my team was out of the office and we had an intern starting, so I had to come in and bring over to our work area and help him get set up. Yeah, it was a challenge, but I was already on the mend and am even better today. Not good, but better.

Since two of us were sick, it was up to the third household member to do laundry. Laundry is never a fun job. And you have to keep pulling things out of the dryer as you go to minimize wrinkles (in the clothes, I mean. I still have my own wrinkles). It is a mind-numbing task...and never-ending. Right? "Hey, didn't I just do all the laundry yesterday and there is already a new stack?"



Did any of you read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle? I read it years ago and then read it to my kids when they were old enough. Since I mentioned wrinkles in the post, I decided to make this the title of today's blog entry.

No photo since I am writing this Wednesday morning. And I have to teach at our certification prep class today, so I need to finalize my presentation.

Hey, I am on vacation the rest of this week and Monday, so don't look for an update. I should be back on Tuesday with a new photo and a new CoV. Have a great weekend.

Remember our Veterans on Monday

And remember that we have several in the family,so thank you to each of you. Thanks to your service, I have the freedom to write silly things every morning.

Remember that Dad went to the ENT doctor this morning? It sounds like she might not be the appropriate person to treat a real inner ear problem. We'll all have to see where this ends up.

So, remember that black room earlier this week? Well, it's no longer black. Check it out.



Remember that photo of the buildings in Edinburgh the other day? Well, here is a cool photo montage from one of our hotel rooms in London. I thought it looked pretty cool, and that I might try to do one myself. Yeah, I didn't do that, but I can share the inspiration photo with you.



Remember that I usually tell you what I am watching as I write the post each evening? Tonight, I am watching Mindy. I think that is a funny show. She has a unique sense of humor that is unlike most other sitcoms.

Remember what we haven't done that we were planning to do? That's correct. We haven't gotten around to juicing (except for that one time I did it to use up the rest of some fruit and broccoli from the fridge. Ali reminded me, so maybe we can pick up some fixings this weekend.

Remember that we have a team event Friday afternoon. We are going to paint a sunset kind of scene. Here, I'll just show you.

Remember now? I hope we have a good time. There will be ten of us working on the same image.

OK, it is bedtime. Y'all have a good extra-long weekend. I'll be back on Tuesday. Remember to read it then.

Fiery and Chilly

We hit Chili's for dinner tonight. I have not been there in a while and from the menu, it looked like everything on it is spicy. That doesn't work well for me at night, so I stuck with a grilled chicken sandwich. It was good, but the service there has always been slow (well, except when our D-I-L worked there).

Speaking of fiery things...


Here is the first ever photo I played with in Photoshop back in the day. I made a shot of calla lilies into a painting.



How many of y'all are Friends fans? A certain Teacher Daughter of ours who shall remain nameless certainly is. We enjoyed it when we watched it, but I would not know what happens in an episode just from the name. Well, you should watch this mini-reunion from the Ellen show.

Dad shared this link with a few of us, and I wanted to pass it on to the rest of you. Some of these photos are amazing, and the rest are gorgeous. Check them out here. Speaking of Dad, he is doing very well, and has an appointment on Thursday with an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist. He and Mom even went with us to Chili's.

The Soup is on TV right now. Sometimes it is clever. Sometimes profane. Tonight's episode (from last Wed) is just OK.

I saw this link for a 2 day diet at work, but I cannot access Facebook at work. So, why didn't I check it out right now before posting it? I just thought we could all investigate it at the same time. How about Thursday?

[Thursday's thoughts] Today is the day Bonnie and Clyde were shot to death in Louisiana back in the 30s. Isn't it amazing that we popularize people like that, even today? I wonder what quality it is that society sees when this collective decision is made? Look at how popular the media circus is right now around the Jodi Arias trial in PHX.

Dad's OK, PTL

Did you miss me yesterday? I was busy with family matters. All is well for now, but Dad had better go see an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor about his ear. Don't make me come over there, Dad.

Right now, we are watching the season finale of Revenge. This second season has been a little less gripping than the first. It doesn't have a great bad guy like J.R. on Dallas, though. However, we are invested in it enough to see it through to the end.

[Wednesday's Wisdom] Speaking of TV, today, 21 years ago, was Johnny Carson's final show as host of The Tonight Show. Did you see any of them? You should see something on youtube of his shows. All of today's late night talk shows simply mirror his proven format, and I don't think any of them do it better or even nearly as good.

If I say Spiderman, does any famous quote come to mind? If not, go look on Google and see what quotes the web says are noteworthy. Here is one of them.



Here is a stairwell in some castle in Scotland. I cannot remember which castle right now. Are the stairs really multi-colored?



I saw this cool video of Picasso from a long time ago. In it, he creates paintings for the video that were destroyed immediately after. Anyway, it is pretty cool to see them being created right in front of you. He's never been my favorite, but I like him a bit more now.

Let's close this out with another funny video. You should watch it. It could be a great party game if you let people know in advance and choose a song that we can cover during the party. Well, I thought it was really clever.

FroYo, Doncha Know

I had a hankering for frozen yogurt Sunday night. I had oatmeal cookie yogurt with strawberries, kiwi, and mango. It was quite tasty. I did not take any photos of this.

I changed a wall color from red to beige this weekend. It is a nice change. MBH and Teacher Daughter were out of town and I wanted to have it finished before they returned. I finished the painting, but was still rehanging the curtains when they got back. I took photos, but I have not uploaded them yet. I just needed about ten more minutes. Anyway, that means it is time for today's CoV.



We are watching SNL as I type this on Sunday night. Earlier, we finished up the last episodes of the season for Once Upon a Time. I did not take any photos.

The GRANDS came over on Saturday and we had a little swim party, including Dominos Pizza. We had a good time. I took photos, but I have not uploaded them yet.

[Monday memory] Saturday afternoon took me back 20+ years. The GRANDS were all cold when we came back in the house after swimming. They went and grabbed blankets to wrap up in. When my kids were young and we would swim at the folks' house, they would get cold and wrap up, too. Isn't it funny how those types of memories sometimes surface?

Did you watch the finale of The Office last week? I loved seeing Michael again. Did you hear one of his closing comments? Looking at happy couples Dwight and Angela and Jim and Pam, Michael (now married with children, whose pictures fill two smartphones) reflects on how far they've all come. "I feel like all my kids grew up and then they married each other," he says, his voice breaking. "It's every parent's dream."

I found this group on youtube. Watch the lead guitarist. He is going crazy in the middle dancing. The group's name is The National. I had never heard of them before.

Do the Chicken Polka

Yes, there is a chicken dance polka. No, you do not have to do it right now. You can finish reading this post if you want. Did I do it this morning? No, I thought of it because of the next two paragraphs.

We went to Panda Express for dinner and I saw Dad's preacher there. It seems Dad is doing well, although it's been a few days since I talked to him. That's good news. BTW, I had chicken with green beans and teriyaki chicken. Both were yummy.

Why are they called polka dots anyway? Is it because of the dance? Why did I even think of them? I don't know and I don't know and I don't know.



Another post at work day, another day with no personal photograph. Sorry. I did some test studying until family got home and then forgot to do anything on the computer. We were watching something on TV, but what it was escapes my right now. After all, it was almost twelve hours ago.

Swimming with the GRANDS tomorrow. This will be my first time of the season. I suppose I should vacuum the pool before they arrive.

Have an unboring weekend, OK?

Things are Heating Up

Is the McRib back at McDonald's yet? No, but Burger King is launching their own version, so that's why I thought of it. Even if it is not, saying the name made be play with the syllables, and this is the result.



The weather around here is starting the steady climb towards Too Stinking Hot. That makes me long for a nice cool place in the summer...maybe like Scotland?

Doesn't this look like a good place for a castle? This is Dunottar Castle near Aberdeen. I've been here several times and it is fascinating every time. Maybe you can go with me next time?


Again, I am already at work, so no TV. Somehow, I got distracted last night and did not do the CoV or blog post on Wednesday night. Maybe I am going through Survivor withdrawal? However, I think I can survive it. We did watch some Game of Thrones, though. I know it is HBO, but the nudity does not advance the story line. I guess it is just for ratings?

Is it your Friday yet? Maybe in NZ, but not yet for me. I still have another day of work tomorrow. Why is my internal calendar askew, I ask you? (clever little play on sounds again there). Possibly because we had a Chorale concert Tuesday night, so they feels like it was a Sunday?

Since we do still have another day this week, let's cut today's post off right h

A Really Fun Concert

Our local chorale sang with the women's choir from California Baptist University last night. It was really fun having them join us in some songs, but even more fun was having their conductor lead us. It was a challenge to change the way we normally sing a song to match her directions and expectations. She even made us do some movement as we sang. While it is true that both groups have seniors in them, our seniors have a bit more challenge with movement than theirs.

Preacher Bro, tell your youngest that I talked to the lady with whom she is staying this summer. I really liked her and would certainly be OK if she moved here and conducted our group all the time.

No, I keep my watching TV addiction in check. But can we talk about this later? I'm watching Person of Interest.



No photos today since I am actually writing this on Wednesday morning. So, all my words are Wednesday's Words instead of Tuesday's typings.

Remember that I have to teach our PMP Study Group next Wednesday? Well, I am pretty much finished with the presentation itself, but I had not chosen the game to use. I have now. It will be Pimmy Pong (based on a Minute to Win It game where you have to bounce a ping pong ball into a cup). They must bounce it into the A, B, C, or D cup, depending on which answer they believe is right. Here is one of the questions:

You are the PM of the 128A Project. You have completed the project according to the design documents and have met the project scope. The customer agrees that the design document requirements have been met; however, the customer is not pleased with the project deliverables and is demanding additional adjustments be made to complete the project. What is the best way to continue?


A.Complete the work as the customer has requested

B.Complete the work at 1.5 the billable rate

C.Do nothing. The project scope is completed

D.Do nothing. Management from the performing organization and the customer’s organization will need to determine why the project failed before adding work

Which one do you think? They are the customer. Do we make the changes they actually want? Do they need to make a decision before we actually finish? No, it is C. The agreed-to scope is done, so we are finished.

OK, I need to get the day started. Thanks for taking the test.

University Days are Over..Again

I called my academic advisor Monday morning and said I did not want to continue with the PMP Test Program. I kept good notes and documented my reasoning so that they can maybe fix this class before offering it again. As I told my dude, I spent 9-10 hours on this class over the past week. Of that, about 3 hours was possible assistance for the test, but the rest was more about employing the information than knowing stuff for the test. So, I will finish my Study Group and then, I am on my own for preparing.

I am watching Elementary as I write tonight's post. I haven't been watching that closely, though, because I need to prepare a lesson for the Study Group session next week. The manager wants to review it Thursday, so I've got to knock it out in the next couple of days. I just checked and we have 12 programs recording tonight. How can we ever keep up?

Which ones of you readers have a smartphone? I suspect more of you have iPhones than Android models, but only one of those could use the Ice Cream OS.



Here is a little Photoshop playing I did a few years ago of Tolquhon Castle in Scotland. How do you pronounce that? Check the link to see. I drew the lower left of the photo in and then faded between the drawing and the photo.



Did I tell y'all about this? My notes do not show that I used this idea for the blog yet, so if you have already seen it, ignore this paragraph. Anyway, I wonder if Dad and I would have done something differently with the laundry room if we had seen this first? It's just a new way to frame.

Oh yeah, I feel much better now that the class if not hanging over me. Blast, I was hoping it would really help me prepare. I know of two others that are dropping it, also. We all shared our reasoning with our advisors.

Happy Belated Mommy's Day

Well, I did wish all of you a Happy Day last Friday, but maybe some of you missed that post. Now, we've been through it and I want to help you remember what a good time you had. I know we did. We started by keeping JV Saturday night. He was in a good mood and we had a great time. Then, after church, D-I-L had a brunch for family that included chicken and beef and salad and mashed 'taters and gravy, and something else but my mind is gone. I ate too much...and then it was time for dessert. Homemade blueberry cobbler and a brownie trifle or something like that. I ate even more on top of my way too much. I even skipped dinner last night.

Afterward, we swung by and visited with my mom for a bit to wish her a Happy Mom's Day and give her a couple of small gifts. She is doing well and we had a nice visit. Dad is doing very well too, by the way, but it wasn't his day, so that's all the press he gets.

Before Mommy's Day, though, we attended the funeral of D-I-L's grandmother on Saturday. It was a wonderful service and so uplifting. I'd like some of those things done at my funeral someday. By noting it here, maybe I'll come back and see this and make some notes.

Speaking of liking something, did it sound as if I pronounced 'like' correctly?



No photo because I am doing my blogging at the office. I was too busy doing classwork last night. Today, though, I need to make a decision if I want to continue with the course I just started last Tuesday. I will explain a bit more tomorrow.

Did you watch the finale of Survivor? We liked who won. We will watch the after-show interview another night. It was too late to stay up last night.

Are any of y'all juicers? We are thinking of doing it, at least on a trial basis. Teacher Daughter has a fellow teacher who will loan us her juicer to see if it works for us. So, if you do it, do you make up your own juice blends or is there a website you frequent?

Listen, I have to go post my final classwork and then make my decision about the future. Stay tuned.