Persis's Random Musings

So, the other day, I did not get out to be social with a whole bunch of people because I had had a week... part of which involved being transferred from one supervisor to another on one project, then not hearing from that new supervisor... plus very long intense interviews for the other project; all compounding into a weekend where I was just not coping with having to go OUT.

So, I did the first pass on the 20 or so boxes of cookbook from Mum's collection.

I have at least 5 bankers boxes, overflowing, so make that 6 or 7 bankers boxes, of cookbooks to catalog and give away. These are either duplicates of books I already have (Mum gave me a lot of cookbooks) or ones I am not interested in keeping, for one reason or another.

Tonight, instead of doing cataloging books, or doing two debriefs for SCF cases, I spent about 2 hours on a report call with the new supervisor (she's in California and just got 12 new field interviewers (FIs) and a whole bunch of new-to-her cases, all over the country), looked at fb, lj, and e-mail, and calculated how much mileage I spent on each project today.

I should go to bed now, as tomorrow is a farm day, and it is supposed to be hot and humid again, in the mid-80's.

Cookbook lists should be coming soon. Anyone who will be at OVFF should tell me if there is anything they want from these book lists, soon, so I can pack them into whatever car Spencer is driving out. sanyone else, either come for food at the Big Blue House, or we'll make other arrangements.

Anyone here have today's Globe?

I am currently away in LA on job training, but was told that there was a front page story on TIMMS and Massachusetts.

I am interested in copies of this story, especially since MA 8th graders have performed so well, 2nd only to 8th grade students in Singapore, but also because I worked on the data collection end of this project and it would be nice to have records of the fruits of my labors.

I'll be home on Thursday, and could come collect said pages, or you could mail them to me at the Big Blue House, 11 Wayne Road, Milford, MA 01757.

Many thanks! in advance.

So, I tried, just for grins, changing the e-dress used for FB to my lovesong dot com e-dress, and what do you know? I got an e-mail *immediately* and now have to wait 23 hours and 59 minutes before I can put my new password to the test. Maybe FB just can't cope with dot name e-dresses. Grump.

I wrote a post several days ago about my upcoming work trip to Chicago, and noticed that is did not cross-post to LJ. So, here goes again.

I am heading to Chicago next Monday, March 12, for a Tues-Fri week of job training for another NORC project. They seem to like my ability to get people to talk to me, so I will be working 3 projects for the first weeks of April, then after Long Term Trends of NAEP ends, it will be back to just the two NORC projects, which will keep me employed until sometime in August. Then all I need to do is find something between August and December, when it is time again for the usual NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress).

I will be at the Marriott Oak Brook Hills Resort in Oak Brook, Illinois, will not have a car, and should be available evenings. I would love to see any Chicago area friends who have the time to come to me, as I will not have a car.

Other than this, I have been extremely busy, running Front of the House for Sudbury Savoyards, running NEFFA dance performances (which I will have to catch up on this week), picking up Guest Liaison tasks for ConCertino, as well as Bee Classes (Tuesdays with Talis)... and being in one of the sub-choruses for Flying High, this years North Cambridge Family Opera production.

The entire household is involved. I have the smallest part, as I am chorus (but I get to spend lots of time with moira923 as she is also in my cast and chorus); Talis and Spencer have leads (Talis is also doing make-up for both casts, Spencer is in charge of body mics for the opposite cast), and David is designing the lights. I will be helping out in the Lobby with concessions and other sales for the shows I am not performing in, and may be contributing costuming construction experience, so I guess I don't have that small a part in the whole production.

Performance dates are March 24, 25, 31 and April 1. The Big Blue House residents can be seen March 24, 3 pm, and March 25, 1 pm and March 31, 7 pm, and April 1, 5 pm. Admission is by suggested donation of $5/child $10/adult, but if you want guaranteed seating, you should order tickets, either form me, or thru the web site at the link above. We are having a blast with this, and you should all come see us! :-)

Friday, I got a text from my friend Suli, who said that our friend Badger was in MGH and it did not sound good. She broke her left femur on November 15, had surgery on it November 18, was recovering (Suli and daughter went to visit on the 19th) and was in ICU as of the 20th. I went with Suli yesterday, Sunday, to visit. I hate when awful stuff is happening to my friends.

This was posted this morning on the Updates page: Badger's sister spoke with the nurse at MGH. The nurse explained that when Alice broke her leg, it most likely released fat from the bone marrow into her bloodstream and caused her to go into lung failure. There is not much they can do except keep her body supported while her lungs repair themselves, a process that is likely to take weeks. She is in a medical coma now, and is on the maximum amount of machine-supported breathing assistance. She's also fighting infection and they're keeping an eye out for blood clots.

This is pretty serious stuff and I'm sure her partner Jeremy would appreciate the support of friends now. Her sister is keeping in touch with the medical folk at the hospital, but I know Badger needs as much positive energy and prayers as we can all spare. This is going to be a long haul.

On other fronts, I have two contractors coming in to look and give estimates, and the insurance adjuster comes in tomorrow at 8 am. I am slowly getting a handle on cleaning up and out.

Someone at HarperCollins sent me a copy of Gregory MaGuire's Out of Oz. Thank you, annonymous gift giver!

It was great to see my step-mother while in SF visiting Mum and my sister. What a nice bonus. Talis loved seeing her too.

On Saturday, while waiting around for Spencer at Home Despot, I found out that Marty Gear had surgery on Friday, to replace his defibrillator (aka hockey puck). Having spoken to him yesterday, he sounds great and seems to be doing better than ever.

And this morning, I got a call and two e-mails about my next NORC project. I should be hearing more later today; training starts next week, the project begins in January.

So, this month has certainly had its ups and downs. December has got to be better.

Let's try this again, originally posted to DW at 7:47pm.

OK, It's now time to stop reading FB and LJ, and make dinner of Hen in the Woods mushroom (yes, I did get another one from Kray the Mushroom Guy... they are addicting), and something else for more protein...

I had a pretty OK interview with Wegman's earlier, after I cleaned up from the farm; they say they will get back to me in a timely manner. We shall see.

Yesterday, L and I finished up building the new raised bed for herbs that we started Friday. It's 3+'x 5', and looks lovely, right next to the strawberry bed in front. Now, to populate it with some perennials, and think about annuals for the spring. :-) Pictures later.