In June on the longest day of the year, I'm reminded that it will be coming again as the days get shorter and the nights longer. It usually starts in September or early October and ends in March - sometimes April.

The greyness. The heaviness. The cloud. Around my head, in my eyes, on my face, in my body.

The tiredness, slowness, sadness. Even tears at times. Withdrawn. No energy.

I'm a low-key person, an introvert. I'm not usually upbeat or excitable. But, people who know me can and hear the greyness when it hits.

I remind myself that December 21 (the longest night of the year) is coming and I can look forward to gradually feeling better with more daylight.

This year was different. No grey, no tiredness, no sadness, no tears.

This is the first winter in I don't know how many years that I feel good. Clear. Rested. At peace.

Not much posting the last 4 months of 2008. On weekends, I've been wrapped up in making the Quilt Block Curtains for my craft room (photos to come!), and during evenings, I've been enjoying television sans commercials courtesy of our DVR.

I stopped crocheting at the end of July - I was bored with it and it was too hot to have yarn touching me. I've been thinking about it again though - colorful yarn is a huge draw for me!

Wardrobe Upgrade

I had been thinking about upgrading my "look" at work for about a year or more. Finding dress shoes that fit for Greg and Lauren's wedding in August was one of the triggers I needed to get started!

At the end of October, I began a hunt for shoes for work - Zappos.com is great! I ordered no less than 30 pairs of shoes from Zappos and 3 more pair from 2 other online websites. I kept 6 pair of shoes to use for work - for a total of 9 including the 3 pairs I bought in July. I also have 1 pair of Keds for home use. The remaining pairs of shoes were returned. Free shipping both ways!

The 9 pairs of shoes I have are: 2 brown (low heel, higher heel), 2 black (low heel, higher heel), 1 red (mid heel), 1 bone (mid heel), 1 taupe (low heel), 1 navy (low heel), 1 burgundy (low heel).

Since shoes for my wide feet were no longer a problem, an upgrade to my work wardrobe was in order to look a bit more professional. So, new pants were needed - pants that were not too short to wear with the new shoes! With new pants came the need for new tops. Thank goodness, JCPenney was having an excellent sale on the type of clothes I like to wear! The 2 weeks before Thanksgiving were busy, busy, busy shopping at 3 different JCPenney stores for items in my size. I even bought a $250 black, lined, long winter coat for less than $93 including tax!

I'm hot nearly all the time. Finding short-sleeved tops in my size, in colors I can wear, without frills and patterns (solid colors please!), wasn't easy. I found only a couple - one style that fit really well. So, I searched online and discovered I could order that top in other colors at JCPenney.com. So I did - along with several Pima Cotton (soft!) short-sleeve and 3/4-sleeve tops.

My wardrobe is lovely - and I feel great with my upgraded look!

I also bought new bathroom towels as well as new sheets and pillows for our bed! One set of sheets is deep purple, the other is deep red - very rich!

The Holidays

Thanksgiving was the usual quiet day. Mom and Bryan came for dinner - turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pie and ice cream. We skipped vegetables in favor of more turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing!

Christmas ended up also being quiet. Greg and Lauren were expected but their flight was canceled. Because flights were filled with other holiday travelers and passengers from flights canceled in previous days during the snow storm, alternative flights were not available. So, they stayed in Oregon this year. Hopefully, they'll come down in spring for a long weekend. Mom and Bryan came for Christmas Eve dinner - Bill's wonderful cheesy lasagna!, garlic bread, and pie. Mom came over again for dinner on Christmas Day for yummy lasagna leftovers. We again skipped veggies both days in favor of more garlic bread and lasagna!

Entertainment

DVDs

Through ebay or Amazon, I've bought Seasons 1-4 of Lost, Seasons 1-3 of Prison Break, and Seasons 1-2 of Heroes. While I've already seen these shows, I wanted something I could listen to - but not necessarily have to watch - while working on projects in my craft room. It's been great! I've caught a few things I missed the first time around in all 3 of those television series. I've also ordered the 4-disc collector's series DVD set of Gone with the Wind.

Books

I don't read novels much, but I recently decided I wanted to read some of the classic stories that I missed in high school and wasn't assigned in college - as well as books I liked and want to re-read. The idea is to have books on hand to read here and there. I will keep the books I like so I can re-read them when I want to, and will donate the books I don't want to keep to the college library.

To start with, I have recently acquired:

• Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott (3 books combined in one hardback book) - childhood favorites
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - another favorite
• The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series by J.R. Tolkien (box set of 4 books) - I generally don't like fantasy but I thought I'd give it a chance

Music

After buying Melissa Etheridge's Christmas CD A New Thought For Christmas - which is excellent! - I fell in love with bluesy Christmas music. So, I bought several blues Christmas music CDs and discovered that Charles Brown and B.B. King have great Christmas albums!

Finances

Lots of spending in the past few months. But it's over now - at least for a while. I checked my retirement account savings balance yesterday and am disappointed, but not surprised considering the market slide in the past months, to see that it's down about $80,000! Ack!

A month since my last post! I'm just not feeling bloggy. Here's an update:

My son is married! Greg and Lauren tied the knot in a simple ceremony on August 8. I flew in Thursday evening and flew back Friday evening after a nice lunch for just the 3 of us after the ceremony. They took off for the weekend on a short honeymoon to the wine country about an hour away from where they live. Then, on Monday, Greg started his new job as an attorney working for a mid-sized litigation firm. Whew - big changes!

My new shoes: The brown Ros Rhommerson Cynthia shoes I wore at my son's marriage ceremony are comfortable - as long as I don't walk in them. Ack!

The muscles in my feet, ankles, knees, and lower back just weren't up to walking in 2 1/2 inch heels! Now, the black Hugh Puppies Sara shoes with a 1 1/4 inch heel don't hurt me nearly as much!

I don't think the problem with the brown shoes is the shoes - as I said, they're comfortable. I do think the problem is that I'm so used to wearing fully-padded New Balance walking shoes with basically no heal height, that the muscles needed to walk in 2 1/2 inch heels just aren't up to snuff! Because of that, I haven't yet worn the black shoes with 2 1/2 inch heels!

Our home: We're having 5 of the windows in our house replaced on Tuesday - livingroom, kitchen (front window), craft room, bathroom, and TV room - by American Vision Windows.

After that's done, we're thinking about hiring a painter to finish painting the outside trim (a project started last summer but not finished) and paint the house (we're still not happy with the medium grey colored stucco). I'm now thinking a creamy light yellow which will work fine with the white trim.

Bryan brought a girl for dinner! My stepson brought his latest girlfriend Brit to our house for dinner last night - something neither Bill nor I can remember him ever doing before!

Together, Bill and I have joked that, since Billy got married on 7/7/2007 and Greg got married on 8/8/2008 that Bryan may get married on 9/9/2009.

In fun, we mentioned that to Bryan several weeks ago and he responded that maybe 12/12/2012 would be the date he gets married! Of course, there's no rush for him to get married! I just thought it interesting that he brought Brit over for dinner.

Crocheting: No crocheting in the past 4 weeks or so. Just not into it right now.

Quilting / sewing: I bought storage containers and many more fat quarters at JoAnn Fabrics (I couldn't resist the 99¢ sale!) to add to my fabric collection. The weather has been hot so it's taken some effort to get around to washing and ironing all the new fabric - but I just finished this afternoon.

NASCAR: Kyle Busch won his 18th race of the year last night! As I type this, he's working on his 9th Cup series win! Tony Stewart hasn't (yet!) won a race, but at this moment he's one of the 12 drivers qualifying to be in the Chase for the Cup and he still has a chance to win this year's championship!

I don't have much I can wear for a wedding. Even the light blue pants, white top, and matching floral lightweight overshirt I bought for my stepson's wedding last year in Maui didn't seem to be appropriate for my son's wedding at the courthouse.

So I tortured myself last Friday shopping for 5 hours at a local mall. I got there too early for Macy's to be open, so I spent 30 minutes in Mervyns (found nothing, not even a bra that fit), then went to Macy's (one pant suit I liked but the zipper was broken and I thought I'd be too hot wearing it - and it was difficult to find a blouse/top to wear with it), then JC Penney (nothing), and finally ended up at Sears.

I'm short and too big for most regular sizes and too small for most Women's sizes. Also, the "popular styles" (big prints in loud colors, baby doll tops, low-waisted pants) just aren't for me. So, finding clothes is difficult.

I ended up leaving Sears with a pair of chocolate brown slacks and a coordinating 2-piece top set with a brown background and small floral print pattern in pinks and creams. Not what I had in mind when I started the day (light colors, possibly lacy top), but it works for me and I can wear it to work and other events that come up. The top is a little too big and I may look into getting it altered when I have more time after the wedding.

Now, shoes are another matter altogether. Because I have lower back issues and I work at a college where the style is causal, I wear New Balance walking shoes all the time - even to work. For the wedding in Maui last year, I was able to get away with a pair of white Keds (because Hawaii is casual). Neither will work with the brown pants for my son's wedding. And none of the cheap pump-style shoes I still have in my closet from 10+ years ago are the right color - and, of course, none of them are comfortable.

Lately, I've been considering looking into buying dress shoes that actually fit my feet and are comfortable, so I can wear something besides New Balance walking shoes for those occasional meetings with administrative personnel at work and when Bill and I go out to "dress up" dinner places once or twice year.

So, I did a Google search for "women's wide width dress shoes", selected the first hit for Zappos.com since I've heard of them before. Zappos has a very nice search engine! You can search by type of shoe (dress, causual, etc.), by size, by color, by width, by heel height, and by price. Shipping to you and return shipping are free!

Last Friday night, I ordered 2 styles of brown shoes in what I hoped would be a size that fit me (the same size as my New Balance shoes - which was all I could start with since I haven't bought dress shoes in many years). They arrived Monday - quick! A little too long and a bit too tight. So, on Tuesday I ordered a smaller, wider pair of one of the brown shoe styles and 2 different styles of black shoes in the New Balance shoe size. Those 3 arrived today - and they all fit! So, the first 2 pair will be returned.

Now, I have 3 pairs of nice looking dress shoes! One in brown (Ros Hommerson Cynthia), two in black (Soft Style Sara, Ros Hommerson Ritz). I'm kinda excited by the shoes!

And, I am very excited that my son is getting married!

Well, let's see, the past 2 weeks have been a bit eventful!

My son is getting married! Yup, I'm gonna have another daughter(-in-law)! Whoop!

Last year, my stepson Billy got married on July 7, 2007 (777 or 7-7-07 or 07-07-07 or 070707) - a popular day to get married last year!

Greg proposed on July 19 in a field while they were picking raspberries and, practical people that they are, they decided to skip a big wedding ceremony (and all that goes with it) and get married right away - on Friday, August 8, 2008 (888 or 8-8-08 or 08-08-08 or 080808). Eight to the Chinese culture is a very lucky number. Neither of them is Chinese, but I'm sure their marriage will by a good one! Lauren and Greg make a great couple!

Greg asked his current boss, a judge, to marry them. The simple ceremony will be at the courthouse.

Parties (more formally known as wedding receptions) will be held at family homes in Oregon and California for family and friends local to those areas. We haven't set a date yet, but at our house, the party will be a small affair with close family and a few close neighbors.

Then, on Monday after the wedding, Greg starts his new job as an attorney for a mid-sized litigation firm. How cool is that?! Married and a new job all in the same 4 days!

On the home front: The new refrigerator fit perfectly! Whoop! We love the clear shelves and drawers - and can now see what's inside the drawers and we can stop forgetting what's in the them!

Bill and I are heading to the lake tomorrow! A whole day off together!

On the crochet front: Two more lap blankets are done (no photos for posting yet) and one more started.

On the quilting front: Yes, I said "quilting"! I began piecing blocks together on July 12 and have finished 4 since then! Also no photos yet.

22 years ago right after we met, Bill took me to New Hogan's Lake in Calaveras County to go jet skiing. He got hooked on jet skiing a few years earlier and had bought 2 used ones. Wow! They were great fun!

We were very frequent Hogan's visitors for quite a few years, until we got busy, the kids got older, the jet skis wore out, and we sold them (the jet skis, not the kids!).

We still go to Hogan's on occasion to spend a day together in the hot sun and the cool fresh water - which is what we did yesterday! We definitely didn't go last year, and I'm pretty sure we didn't go the year before either.

We were curious to see just how low the water level was since there is a drought here in California this year. One website says the water level is at 43% of capacity. As you can see, the water is low - but it isn't as low as it was for 1-2 years in the 1990s! Then, we drove quite a ways down to reach water and lots of thick mud.

We don't have the jet skis anymore, but Bill took one of his two kayaks for his entertainment. I, the less energetic one, read a book, watched Bill kayak, watched the group of jet skiers who also had a water ski boat next to us (Bill figured there was about $100,000 worth of toys in the cove!), and enjoyed the fresh air. Thank goodness for the cool water - it was hot hot hot!

Today is the first of 11 3-day weekends for the summer. I attacked my long-time running list of Things To Do - and had a peaceful day organizing and relaxing!

1. Air in tires and tires rotated at Big O Tires (finally! was on the list for a few months)
2. Clean my car windows inside to remove the blurry film of gunk that accumulates over time (finally! was on the list for a few weeks)
3. Remove the torn car seat cover from the passenger side seat (I had already removed the driver's side seat cover years ago) (finally! been meaning to remove it for months)
4. Remove every piece of clothing from my closet that doesn't fit, that has a stain, that is so outdated that I wouldn't wear it even if I could fit into it
5. Sort through all of the extra hangers I've accumulated over the years; determine which type and color of hangers to keep; in my closet, replace hangers in colors I don't like with colors I do like; group similar types and colors of hangers together and put in a box for donation
6. Remove a bunch of buttons from my jewelry box (new clothes sometimes come with extra buttons and they end up in my jewelry box)
7. Organize my sewing box while putting the buttons away and looking for a particular button
8. Sew that button on a blouse so I can wear it again
9. Watch a sappy movie while cuddling with Cleo and cry at the end
10. Finally get around to putting clothes to be donated in bags - 8 plastic food-shopping bags!
11. Go to local donation place with clothes and extra hangers, discover they had already closed, come back home, and put the to-be-donated stuff in my craft room for my next weekday day off next Friday

And, now, Round Table pizza for dinner while watching the NASCAR truck race! Go Kyle Busch!

Another month since I posted… still not much going on. Bah.

Crochet: 4 completed lap blankets for donation, as well as a round "color wheel"-style lap blanket just big enough to cover my knees (which sometimes ache from being cold when I'm otherwise comfortable or even warm!). I made the color wheel-style blanket just to see how it could be done - and then I quickly got bored with it.

Gardening: Lots of plants moved or pulled out or planted in both the front and back gardens. Photos were taken before tearing down the vines and after, but I'm too lazy right now to fix 'em up for the blog and post 'em. The gardens have lots of color and are semi-full (some brown spots where soil shows through!) and will be very full as the weeks go by!

Bay Area weather: Too freakin' hot last week, especially Thursday through Saturday. I melted several times. Gardening in the heat is best done after a thorough soaking with water from the hose from hat-covered head to shoe-covered toes - I high recommend it! Sunscreen too, of course.

New stove/range: The very old 40-inch stove with 2 not-working burners and 1 not-working smaller oven was finally replaced. After a third burner decided to stop working, Bill was left with 1 burner and just couldn't seem to get the hang of cooking with only one. We talked about getting the stove repaired but discovered it would cost almost as much as getting a new stove. So, we got a new stove! It's another white 40-inch stove with 4 burners and 2 ovens (one small, one regular-sized) - a Frigidaire 40-inch Freestanding Electric Range with Self-Cleaning Primary Oven (FEF450BW).

Our now grown children will be surprised that the stove was finally replaced! For a very long time, there were only 2 working burners! I have photos of the old stove and will get photos of the new one soon(ish).

Greg's visit in late March: My son's visit with me in late March - and Bill's visit at the same time with his son in Maui - were great! Greg and I did a Lost: Season 2 marathon during his visit! We also went to SFMOMA in San Francisco one afternoon and walked around Yerba Buena Gardens across the street. I have photos to show, but I'm too lazy right now get them posted!

Bill did get stuck in Maui when Aloha Airlines went bankrupt and stopped flying planes, but I was able to do magical things via the Web that he couldn't do via the phone or in person! I got him a flight home the same day he was supposed to return home! Whoop!

My job: I moved to a new office space in the same building I moved to last summer. I'm now in an office with 2 yellow walls and 2 white walls, a long window, a smaller window, a lovely 3-sided desk, and its own air conditioning unit and portable heater. It's in the "north wing" of the building (actually, the garage of the old house converted to office space). There's a great view of the Bay from the smaller window, but because I'm light sensitive, the blinds are always closed so I don't really have a view at all. But that's OK with me - I have quiet and personal space and am quite comfortable in my new office!

The college switches to a 4 10-hour day schedule for the summer starting next week. I'm using comp time and vacation time to do 4 8-hour days instead. Nice!

NASCAR: As I predicted, Kyle Busch is kicking butt this year! ! And, Tony Stewart is also doing well, although he hasn't gotten a win yet this season.

Gas prices: I saw regular unleaded gas at $4.01 and $4.03 at two different gas stations on my way home today. Yikes. When will it stop? Or, better yet, go back to normal?

I just realized I haven't posted in a month! Not much going on, I guess.

On the crochet front: There are 5 more lap blankets to photograph and post about. I'm currently working on 2 more. I've been adding to my pattern collection through regular hunts on eBay.

On the Bay Area weather front: There have been a few rainy days in the past few weeks, but mostly it's been sunny - and today is just beautiful! I still haven't gotten the gardening bug, but I expect I will with more sunny weekends.

On the home front: Cleo and Jasmine are healthy and loving. Bill and I are healthy, not-so-wealthy (but we're comfortable), and wise!

Bill has said he wants to take very other Friday off during the time the college where I work switches to 4 10-hour day work weeks this summer. Hmmm, we'll see if that really happens! The workaholic in him may not let him take 3-day weekends through the summer. He works most Saturdays now - which means 1-day weekends. What's he going to do with himself during regular 3-day weekends? Hmmm, let's see…I suppose he can start by finishing painting the trim on the house! Right now, we're probably not going to re-paint the house, since the medium grey color looks better with the white trim.

On the money front: Gas prices are going up. Food prices are going up. The stock market goes up, then down, then up, then down. Interest rates are down. My retirement account balances are down.

On the California state budget front: The state is cutting education budgets this year and next year. This "year" is a fiscal year that ends June 30, 2008. So, the budget cuts for this "year" need to be made out of the remaining 3 months or so of a budget that was prepared in fall 2006 and has been guiding the college since July 1, 2007.

And next year's budget (July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009) is also being cut, including that we won't be getting increases in funding that had been expected (well, as "expected" as you can get when you know the state is having budget problems). So that means another hiring freeze, increasing expenses (for utilities and supplies and equipment and computers and software and …) out of a budget that isn't increasing, and more cut backs and doing without at the college.

We haven't come back from the last big budget cuts several years ago. We still put off buying office supplies. We still have unfilled positions, with other people picking up those duties - which makes for very busy (and potentially burned-out) workers.

There are things we should or could be doing that we can't do because there aren't enough people, there isn't enough money for the people or supplies or equipment, there isn't enough time in the day to do what needs to be done.

Ack. Enough of that depressing talk.

On the family front: My son will be visiting for a few days next week! Whoop! And I'm taking 3 days vacation next week. I think a 2-day work week is just what I need - as long as the nice sunny springtime weather holds!

Bill is flying to Maui on Tuesday to visit his son for about a week. And, no, I don't mind him going to Hawaii without me. After our last trip to Maui in July last year for Billy's wedding, I'm all Maui-ed out and don't want to go back. Too windy, too crowded, incompetent airline staff, reserved seats that weren't reserved, too windy, too crowded. Did I mention too crowded and too windy? Oh, and incompetent airline staff and no seats reserved even though I reserved seats? Did I mention crying - not just a few tears, but real crying - in frustration and anger and flying-related stress after finally getting through security? No, I'm definitely not ready for another Maui trip.

Or any other trip requiring a airplane.

Even my December trip to Oregon to visit my son just about wore me out - 2 flight delays and a flight switch.

On the job front: After over 6 years at the college, I still enjoy my job. There are projects and enhancements - and a redesign - that need to happen, but I don't have the time and there doesn't seem to be money in the budget to get me a reliable, knowledgeable assistant, so those things are remaining undone. As they have for the past 3-4 years. The website design is 6 years old and needs to be changed. I'm gradually, as time permits, doing what I can behind the scenes in the XHTML markup to make it more straightforward to switch over to a new design when (if) the time comes.

I like the people. I like the higher education environment. I like the campus location, nestled in the foothills surrounded by open hillsides, trees, cows, horses, birds, and squirrels. I feel I'm appreciated, valued, and respected as a person and in my job. I'm not so keen on some things and a couple of the people can be very irritating, but the advantages and things I like far outweigh those.

On the NASCAR front: My boys Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch are doing well so far! Kyle is number 1 in points! I still say he's gonna win the Cup this year.

Imagine meeting with an IT manager who actually seemed to listen. and care. and be willing to do more than just mouth words. Wonderful! Over the next few months, I hope to feel much more secure about a few web server-related issues at work. Whew.

Hubby bought himself a new toy Monday night! Today was the first day I could see it since mornings are dark and evenings are dark!

A 2008 Chevrolet Colorado LT Crew Cab in Ruby Red. With the higher gas prices and about 9 miles per gallon, random things going wrong here and there which needed fixing on his 1997 Chevrolet Silverado Z71, and a $200+ registration fee coming due, he wanted a new, more dependable truck with better gas mileage. So, here it is!

Most of the time, his toys are more expensive than mine!

His: New truck, motorcycle, table saw, etc.

Mine: Small digital cameras, sewing machine, fabric, crochet books,… - even the Dell XPS 400 desktop computer I bought in April 2006 was only $2,245.

Like The Little Engine That Could, I must say to myself "2008 will get better, 2008 will get better, 2008 will get better!"

On Sunday night, I returned from a nice Oregon visit with my son and his girlfriend (after 2 flight delays and a flight change - bah, I hate flying!). Felt a little "chesty" on Monday. And have been sick with chest and head congestion (upper respiratory infection?) since Tuesday morning - January 1, 2008! What a way to start the new year!

Laid out sick - not just sniffly sick. Chest congestion (tight tight tight), coughing (shake, rattle, and sweat from the exertion!), hot (layers off!), cold (layers on!), wheezing from the lungs (like a teapot filled with boiling water), achy congested sinuses (stuffy stuffy stuffy), runny nose (lots of trees died to provide tissue!).

By Thursday afternoon, I had totally lost my sense of smell and taste, so I've been eating paper (or what might as well be paper!) since then. I'm concentrating on eating healthy paper - err, foods - however!

Five days have past in a fog of napping (when I can get in a few minutes of sleep between coughing attacks and blowing my nose); drinking lots of hot decaf Green Tea (good for the chest and throat); watching miscellaneous shows recorded on our DVR (daytime television sucks!), such as leftover sappy Christmas movies I didn't watch before/during Christmas, Steven Seagal movies, and a bunch of Journeyman episodes.

Hubby has been shopping three times to invest in expectorants, cough suppressants, and antihistamines. Oh, and almost daily he's been bringing me a wonderfully slushy Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino (excellent medicine for the throat even when I can't taste it!). Yesterday required a trip to the store for blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries - even though I can't taste them, they feel good to eat!

Anything requiring thinking or effort has been put on hold. I managed to crochet 2 basic solid granny squares (can't think about reading a pattern!) Wednesday night last week before the head congestion got really bad. It took me about 4 hours to balance 2 checkbooks yesterday evening (lots of resting during the process), so I could pay a few bills online this morning.

I stayed home from work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. As I type this, there are lots of typos and slow, foggy thinking, so it's obvious to me now that going to work tomorrow probably isn't going to happen.

But, as I said above… "2008 will get better, 2008 will get better, 2008 will get better!"

It took 50+ minutes of sitting upright, thinking, and typing to write this entry! I'm exhausted now - time for a nap!

I wasn't selected for a second interview. I am pleased, however, that the hiring committee found other applicants experienced and qualified for the position. Technology training is important and will become more so as the college acquires and applies more technology to teaching students and supporting faculty and staff.

I like my job, but it has gotten routine as I take on more department, program, and faculty websites and interest in keeping website updated has increased (a good thing!) over time. Making website updates each day is a full time task (although I also attend some committee meetings - but have scaled back on the number of committees). There is no time, however, to redesign and optimize the website (the current design is 5 1/2 years old), to enhance the website with better imagery and purposeful multimedia (such as a Campus Tour or enhanced Campus Maps), to integrate online forms with databases (or even flat files!), etc.

With the possibility of moving to a different job now settled, I can more strongly work on professional development in my current job!

I spent another 5 hours Tuesday evening working on the presentation for my interview Wednesday morning. I decided to remove bullets from many of the slides and replace them and the screenshot thumbnails with larger versions. It flowed a lot more smoothly and made more sense for the viewers to see the larger version instead of a squished thumbnail that links to a large version.

The interview itself was the typical stiff style that is the custom at the college - at probably all state institutions. The methodology shocked me when I was interviewed in January 2002, but I've been on about 5 hiring committees at the college since then so I knew what to expect.

A list of questions is taped to the table in front of the applicant. The questions are read aloud one-by-one by the interviewers. The questions are identical for all applicants. No additional questions may be asked unless it is to get more information in response to something the applicant says.

In making their decision to invite applicants for interview(s) and to decide who to recommend to receive the offer, the hiring committee must consider only the information presented the applicant's resume and application and in his/her interview(s). No outside knowledge is allowed - which means they must pretend they know nothing about you if you're an internal candidate. And, no "Googling" of applicants is allowed.

I was (apparently) 13 minutes into my presentation when a 2-minutes-to-go reminder came. Yikes! I thought only about 8 minutes had passed! So I moved quickly through the remaining slides and finished within 15 minutes.

I'm nervous in group situations. There were 9 people other than me in the small interview room: 8 interviewers plus an interpreter for one of them. My heart was racing, my face red, and it felt like a heavy weight was sitting on my chest so I would run out of breath. I feel I rushed many of my answers.

Once the presentation had been going for about 1-2 minutes, I felt smooth and in-the-flow. Teaching a subject I'm familiar with is easier than answering free-form questions! In a real teaching situation, there would be a flow of information and feedback and questions and answers between the "students" (which in the case of this position, are faculty or staff members). In the interview environment, there was no give and take.

The 10 (9 actually not including the presentation) questions were geared toward the applicant's experience with [fill in the blank] in supporting or teaching e-Learning / online courses. Since I have not had this direct experience - but I have extensive knowledge about online technologies used - I answered the questions from my experience as a web designer. For example, I have not assisted a faculty member with their online course; however, I have assisted faculty and staff with their faculty or department websites. I have also not used software/hardware in an e-Learning environment, but I am familiar with PCs and Macs and the software used on them to create online courses. I realized after the interview that I had missed the point of the "hardware" question - the answer should have included tools used in "smart classrooms" (such as smartboards, touch panels, audio/visual equipment, etc.). However, since I don't work with those technologies in my position as web designer, they totally slipped my mind during the interview.

I've tried not to replay the interview repeatedly in my head. After all, there are no "do overs". I see now where I could have given clearer, more informative answers.

Now I wait and see whether I'm invited for a second interview.

30 hours. 4 on Thursday. 10 Friday and 10 more Saturday. 6 today. Whew.

My interview is Wednesday morning. I expect to review the presentation again once (or twice or thrice…) before then. The interview includes a 10-15-minute presentation. I decided to create a PowerPoint presentation with embedded screenshots of the course management system (CMS) since the topic is an introduction to the CMS not a hands-on workshop.

To prepare, I reviewed 4 books, took notes, outlined in PowerPoint, created a course in the CMS complete with lectures, discussions, assignments, web links, assessments, and more. Then I made screenshots, added small versions to the presentation file, and linked most of the small images to full-screen images. I've fine-tuned slide animations for a smooth flow.

The final (at least right now) presentation has 22 slides. 22 in 15 minutes is about 41 seconds per slide, but there are a few that will be quick and at least 1 that will be longer.

Time to think about something else for a while… Maybe hang up the clothes piled 2 feet high on my dresser! (Not kidding - 2 feet!) And, as you can see by this entry's photo, we haven't yet gotten around to moving the framed picture and 4 wall candles since we rearranged our bedroom in October 2006 (yes, over a year ago!).

Yes, 10 more hours yesterday. 1 hour this morning.

My application packet for the job was turned in to Human Resources just before noon today. Whew.

I spent nearly 12 hours today preparing a resume and other application materials to apply for an open position at the college where I am currently employed. Whew. And I already had a good, updated resume on hand!

I've spent the past 3 weeks and a few sleepless nights thinking about applying, thinking about the reasons to apply (lots of good ones), thinking about the reasons to not apply (at least 2 big not-so-good ones), and on Friday morning finally decided to apply. I have reservations about the salary and about the length of employment term (currently worded as "Temp" because the department is in flux).

If I am offered the position, I have a few ideas for additional responsibilities that would increase the salary. Hopefully, the "Temp" nature of the position will hash itself out during the interview process. If the offer and conditions are not satisfactory, I will remain in my current position at the college and continue to try to enhance my responsibilities and try to get an assistant for the more mundane website updating tasks.

I now have:

• a newly updated resume (mostly new formatting, some shortening / cutting / reorganizing of info)
• the completed application form
• the completed minimum qualifications or equivalency form
• a list of professional growth activities
• a list of references
• a list of graduate level courses I've completed
• testimonials from students of web authoring classes I have taught
• an improved, reorganized portfolio website

Still need to:

• find and make copies of transcripts
• write a cover letter

If I'm chosen to be interviewed, I'll need to prepare a 10-minute sample lesson from a list of topics. Yikes!

In April, I could tell it was coming... No excuses, though. I just haven't done 30 minutes of walking every day. In fact, I managed only 2 days (non-consecutive) in the 6-week period since my last walking day: April 25. My Health Tracker hasn't gotten use lately.

I allowed myself to fall into my old habit of getting comfy, being lazy - instead of taking the time to walk. I did continue the eating part of my "Life Plan", but without much loss of inches or weight.

A week or so ago, began to feel "heavy" again, short of breath, low energy. On my way home from work today, I successfully talked myself into walking: no excuses. And I did. And I feel good, have more energy, feel awake. Good for me!

To help with incentive, I ordered a Sony DNS313F S2 Sports MP3/CD Walkman with AM/FM Tuner today! It'll be here in a few business days!

"Cats chase their tails for exercise. What do you do?" - CatAge.

We bit the bullet and bought a new bed a few weeks ago. We (I actually) decided on a Sleep Number since it allows us to individually set the firmness, and I liked the 7000 Series (well, I liked the 9000 Series too but couldn't justify spending that much more when the 7000 was very nice!). Bill didn't want to bed shop and said I should get whatever felt good to me, so I did. He was surprised (shocked actually) at the cost, but I think he's getting used to the bed and is finding it comfortable.

I, on the other hand, am beginning to love the new bed. I no longer wake up with a numb hip and shoulder in the middle of the night. I'm not stiff and sore all over anymore. Last Saturday, I slept in to 9:30am and took a 2-hour nap! My sleep number is 25. Supportive yet cuddly. Bill tried 35, 50, and seems to have settled at 40.

This photo was taken just after the delivery guys setup the bed. Bill is marveling at how much higher it is than our 17-year-old bed! Our old sheets barely fit on the bed. A set of 600-count sage green sheets were included with the new bed - they fit much better. Oh, and I also got a red insulated Sleep Train coffee mug that I now use at work.

No eating 3 hours before bedtime just doesn't work for me much of the time...

I go to bed at 10:00pm. 3 hours before that is 7:00pm. I don't finish exercising and all that entails until 6:30pm. Then, we cook and eat dinner. So, we're not done until after 7:00pm.

Take tonight for instance... I'm eating a yummy salad right now - and it's almost 8:00pm.

Blah.

I don't wanna exercise.
I don't wanna sweat.
I don't wanna breathe hard.
I just don't wanna.

I wanna lay down...
    watch mindless television...
    take a nap.
I wanna eat dinner.
I wanna rest this Monday evening.

Exercise is not on my "wanna do" list tonight.

But I did it. 30 minutes of walking, no excuses.

I don't feel better for it, but I did it.

Now I can
    take a hot shower...
    put on pajamas...
    eat dinner...
    settle down on the couch...
    watch my boyfriends...

Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller, Prison Break at 8:00pm)...

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, 24 at 9:00pm)...

[Update] Darn! Michael took the night off! But I'll see Jack for 2 hours tonight instead!

I tried something new last weekend - fish tacos! They were great! Bill doesn't care for lettuce or tomatoes and thought fish with cheese on tortillas would be too bland, so he went with steak, grilled fish, and a baked potato.

The peach slices were a last-minute addition. Years ago, we had fish tacos from a roadside stand in Maui - they were good, but also covered with Thousand Island dressing. The peaches added a bit of sweetness with much less fat.

Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos

2 mahi mahi filets
Lime juice
Sea salt (optional)
Whole wheat tortillas
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Cheddar cheese, grated
Mixed greens lettuce
Tomatoes, sliced
2 halves unsweetened canned peaches, sliced

Marinade mahi mahi filets in lime juice and top with a few granules of sea salt for about 20 minutes. Cook fish about 5 minutes on each side or until fish is done.

Break fish into bite size pieces. Serve inside warmed whole wheat tortillas with grated mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, mixed greens, sliced tomatoes, and sliced peaches.

This exercising thing has eliminated about 1.5 hours from my playtime each day!

Yes, 30 minutes of walking each day takes about 1.5 hours. Why?

1. 5 minutes: change into I-can-sweat-in-this clothes, use the bathroom
2. 30 minutes: walk on the treadmill while listening to Lionel Richie's Coming Home CD (which has quite a few good walking tracks!) - 2.25+ miles, 330+ calories, 100+ fat calories, speed 3.5-5.5, incline 5.0
3. 30 minutes: shower, sweat, blow-dry hair, sweat, get dressed, sweat...
4. for the next 20-30 minutes or so: sweat, sweat, sweat some more, re-dry hair, change into another dry shirt as dinner is decided on, made, and eaten

By 7:15-7:30pm, I can now begin what I had previously started by about 6:00pm each evening... My crochet time has decreased. My play-on-the-computer time has decreased. My relax-on-the-couch time has decreased.

I must remember, however, that I'm gonna feel better - and be healthier - and be less at risk!

Now, if I can just get rid of the stuffy nose and sore throat that started - again! - this morning. My second cold in less than 30 days. Bah!

(Images created at My Virtual Model. I'm not brave enough to post the red one-piece bathing suit model from Prevention.com's Virtual Model.)

The first photo is very close to how I look now, except my hair is a little shorter. (Greg: Is it accurate?) The second photo is how I will probably look at goal weight (there wasn't an option for waist size) - X number of inches and 26 pounds less from today. I know I feel good at this goal weight. I may need to lose more depending on what my waist measurement is at that time (needs to be 32.5 inches or less).

According to weight charts, for my body's frame (large), I should weigh 15-20 pounds less than my goal weight. In the past, I've found it hard to maintain that weight but I'll see how it goes as the waist inches move lower.

I decided to be bravely honest and post a "Taking Care and Improvement Tracker" in the sidebar (update: moved to a separate page due to its length).

Since Sunday last week, I've lost 1 inch in my waist and 2 pounds. Whoop! Down 9 pounds since January 1 (when I started 2007 Taking Care and Improvement plan!). And that's without much (any...) exercise due to avoidance and laziness and then being congested for over a week now.

This morning, I put on my gardening clothes (2 old t-shirts, ripped and sloppy green plaid flannel long-sleeve shirt, too big sloppy pants, hat with brim) and pruned the roses, cut down dying and dead plants, picked up dead leaves, pulled weeds - and got in my exercise for the day: bending, sweating, breathing hard, pulling, clipping, stretching, kneeling, crawling...

After our usual Sunday morning "breakfast by Bill" (2 whole wheat pancakes with sugar-free blackberry jam, 2 scrambled eggs, 3 slices of red potato), I took the You: On A Diet shopping list (PDF) grocery shopping, read a lot of labels, and discovered that we eat pretty well but need some adjustments. I bought more fruit and different types of vegetables than usual. And bought items we don't usually eat: walnuts, almonds, semi-sweet chocolate chips, low-fat yogurt, etc.

There are a few items on the shopping list that I didn't know what they are, such as calamata olives (also: kalamata olives) [dark eggplant-colored Greek olives, usually packed in olive oil or vinegar]. And some items were just not found (such as unsweetened canned peaches), so I substituted as close as possible (canned peaches in pear juice).

I've read the first 3 or 4 chapters of You: On a Diet and am taking care to read the sidebar items and review each figure. In a playful way, the book explains the science of how our bodies digest and use food and how different foods affect our hormones and organs.

I am excited about feeling better physically and mentally by making some key changes to the foods I eat. I'm still not keen on the exercise part of it, but think that when I begin to feel better, I'll not find exercising to be such a sweaty, miserable burden.

That was fast! The books arrived today!

You: On A Diet and You: The Owner's Manual by Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz.

Since seeing an episode of You: On A Diet Saturday afternoon, I've been reading labels and making more healthy choices than I've done in quite a while - not strictly following the advice I picked up watching the show, but definitely thinking differently. It makes so much sense to me to choose foods in their close-to-the-earth state.

How cool is it that Dr. Roizen commented on Crazy Aunt Purl's entry about her 30-minute lunchtime walks and change to healthy foods!!

My plan is to read You: On A Diet and start. Since Saturday, Bill has already voiced his support a few times toward making healthier choices with the food we eat - and since he cooks 99% of the time, this is important. Tonight, for example, he didn't put any butter (or margarine) on the asparagus! And, he said I can leave potato chips off the shopping list since he didn't need to eat them either.

On Sunday, I measured our waistlines around the belly button - just like on the You: On A Diet show. Bill's waist is 33 inches around - 2 inches less (lucky guy) than the 35 inches maximum for men. Here's a brave statement: My waist is 39 inches - 6.5 inches greater than the 32.5 inches maximum for women. My goal is to feel better so that I can enjoy life more and not be at risk (or reduce the risk I've already put myself into) of diabetes, heart disease, joint problems due to weight, etc.

For me, the most difficult part of this will be keeping a regular (even somewhat regular) schedule of walking (30 minutes a day!!! I didn't even keep up the 10 minutes a day I started on January 1!!!). The head cold of last week has moved down toward my chest and my voice has lowered a few octaves - no exercise until it's gone.

Yesterday afternoon, I watched You: On A Diet on the Discovery Health Channel and was very very inspired! I even teared up a few times - I felt Drs. Oz and Roizen were talking to me about my own health. They make so much sense with their approach to being healthy. I want to learn more and plan to order have ordered - and then read - the You: On A Diet book. Since watching the show, I have a strong urge to go through everything in the kitchen and, using their rules, get rid of the harmful food items, then eat only healthy, good-for-me foods. See the You: On A Diet shopping list (PDF).

Just a few minutes ago, I re-read an entry Crazy Aunt Purl posted a few days ago in which she mentioned thinking a different way about food. She refers to the same doctor - Dr. Oz!

It must be karma.

It will come as no surprise to those who know me: I'm a list maker.

Here's my list for 2007, inspired by Crazy Aunt Purl.

Practical Stuff - Finances:

• Review and update beneficiary designations, including life insurance, retirement, savings.
• Continue contributions to savings account.
• Increase contributions to retirement accounts.
• Review and update budget.
• Buy ground coffee I like and use the coffee maker I bought for work. Buy fat free half-n-half because coffee with cream tastes better than coffee with milk.
• Reduce the number of before-work visits to Starbucks to 1 per week, to include 1 cup of coffee and 1 pastry treat (about $3.30) - a per-week savings of about $13.20, or $53.00 per month.
• Get my 1999 car a checkup. Preventative maintenance should help me not have to buy a new car anytime soon.

Practical Stuff - Health:

• Only 1 before-work visit to Starbucks each week will reduce calorie consumption by about 2,000 calories per week (about 500 x 4 days; see Starbucks Nutrition PDF file.
• Floss more often - works better than toothpicks.
• Gotta lose weight to get blood pressure down, to feel better physically, to feel better mentally, to be a better me.
• If I really do have exercise-induced asthma, go back on the meds (been off since mid-November). Regular walking exercise for a week or so should answer this question.
• Buy a new bed. Sleep better = Feel better.

Practical Stuff - Other:

• Get my hair cut and styled before it bugs me. Go shorter. Go longer. Don't be sloppy.
• Keep a closer eye on my appearance. It's OK to wear comfortable clothes, but don't look sloppy.
• Consider finding comfortable, supportive shoes to wear at work that aren't white New Balance walking shoes.
• Replace older windows in the house.
• Find out how much it would cost to get new kitchen cabinets, counter, sink, backsplash, flooring. I hate the jade green and lime green counters.
• Fix or replace the stove. Only 2 of 4 burners and 1 of 2 ovens work in the really old stove that came with the house when we moved in during late 1987.
• Continue to be involved in the goings-on at work, but also remember I have a limit.

Everyday Things:

• Get back on track with vitamins! Women's multi-vitamin with iron, plus calcium and vitamin C tablets.
• Walk at least 10 minutes each day - whether I want to or not. I can take 10 minutes to do this for myself and my family. Use the treadmill. Walk outside. Before dinner. After dinner. During a break or lunch at work (this will also make me get away from my desk!).
• Continue drinking lots of water.
• Leave the house for work by 7:15am at the latest. Not 7:20am or 7:25am. Driving time is shorter when I leave earlier; longer if I leave later. Not stopping at Starbucks each day will help ensure getting to work on time.
• Observe and appreciate who and what is around me.

Fun Stuff:

• So sew already! And quilt. More fabric can be purchased if I really screw up. Mistakes come with learning and growth and help me gain experience. There's no such thing as perfect.
• Photography. I (used to) love it. What happened? Get a better digital camera (with macro and advanced focusing) - some great photos are being taken and displayed out there on the Web. Join the fun.
• Been thinking about learning to knit (again - my 3rd time!) so I can knit socks - although working with 4 knitting needles at a time may be more challenging than I want to get.