27 February 2008

How do you know if you're married to a geek?

First, let me say that my husband KNOWS that he's a geek.

Second, I have known that he is a geek since before we met almost 8 years ago.

This post is just REINFORCEMENT of all that knowledge.


My dear husband came home from work today, gave me a kiss and grabbed a clipboard that was in the living room. He then retreated to his "office." I called after him and asked, "What are you going to do with the clipboard?" His response, "I have to record some things."

I chuckled at his response. This is why:





Hubby had to "record" information about "his" players in his favorite video game.

Hence, my list of reasons I know that I married a geek: (Niki, an homage to the month o'lists!)
  • there is no reason to call the "Geek Squad;" you live with one
  • there is no reason to call Microsoft/other software company for technical support; you call, "Honey, @%!*$# program doesn't work! HELP!"
  • he knows way too many statistics of way too many sports, mainly baseball, football and hockey (including the minors, etc.)
  • when we moved, the DVDs and CDs went into the boxes ALPHABETIZED [fortunately, I had to look for a couple and messed them up-too much order is bad for your psyche.]
  • we now have battery back-up for our TVs and computers [I'm starting to come around on this one-when the power goes out, we still have some form of entertainment other than Sequence by candlelight]
  • when it's time to decorate the Christmas tree, there has to be a variety of Star Wars and Star Trek ornaments on the tree
I know this list is not at all complete. When another reason becomes obvious to me, I will enlighten you.

P.S. And these reasons make me love him all the more! ;-)

18 February 2008

FO!

I had some spare time today since there was no school due to it being Presidents' Day. I finished a shower gift (*not the original gift; more yarn will be shipped for original gift tomorrow!) and those pesky Jaywalkers that I've been working on. To be honest, the Jaywalkers have not been pesky. I've been lazy about working on them. Since there has been to new programming to watch lately, I've been watching movies for the second, third, etc. time and knitting like a mad woman.

For the LOVE of FAMILY

As many of you know, I am in grad school for my Masters in School Library Media. In the year and a half that I have been taking classes, one book in particular has been creating a stir. That book would be And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson (it's a children's book).

In a nutshell, this book is about two male penguins who are given an egg to hatch at the zoo. It is based on a true story. It is based on nature (male penguins do help out with hatching the egg-hasn't anyone seen March of the Penguins?)

Anyway, as I'm sure you've guessed, the problem is that many people think that this book is pushing homosexuality and just not appropriate for children.

In today's Washington Post, yet another school district took the book off the shelves and placed it with professional materials. (For those not in schools, that means that students may NOT check the book out.) All this because of ONE parents' complaint. Two different groups of school administrators, teachers and parents said the book was okay, but the district took the book off the shelf because the complaining parent was going to appeal the decision once again.

As one woman was quoted in the article as saying that we all have different families-a mom and dad, two moms, two dads, solo mom, solo dad, grandmom, etc. What does a typical family look like? What does it matter as long as there is love?

To all of my friends with children-take the time to explain to them about families (human and animal) and help them become open minded about things that are different than what they know.

14 February 2008

It's been a year

I can't believe that a year has passed since I started blogging. It's been fun and definitely interesting to review the BIG events of the past year. Surprisingly enough, the day that I started this blog was a snow/ice day and so was yesterday! (Historically, this is the week in which we have the most snow/ice in Maryland.)

Year in Review:
  • grad school
  • bought a new house
  • moved
  • sold old house
  • end of Harry Potter series
  • first visit to MD Sheep & Wool Festival
  • third wedding anniversary
  • 36th bday
  • and much more!
Here's to another interesting year!

12 February 2008

VOTE!

Today is the Maryland Primary as well as Virginia's (the media has called it the "Potomac Primary" and also the "Chesapeake Primary"). I am off to vote as soon as I complete this blog entry.

Yesterday at school, I was talking with the students who were old enough if they were going to vote in the primary. Many of them said "Why?" or "I don't think so." I know that our social studies teachers have prepared them for the whys even going as far to help the students figure out if they are a republican or a democrat. (I wish my teachers had done that!) I know the feelings that they have are many about politics from "Does my vote REALLY count?" to "Who will listen to me? I'm just a teenager." In reading others' blogs and newspapers, I have noticed that the young people (younger than me) have been taking a stand and following candidates more than ever before. I've been following the caucuses and find that process to be amazing. I wish all states did that. It feels more personal, more like you have a voice in your government.

But back to my point. We in the USA take for granted that we will always have a say in our government. We have never experienced not having a voice. We should all go out and vote. It takes a couple of minutes. If we don't, what are we teaching the young people about our system of government?

09 February 2008

Of Late...

...this is what I have been working on.

It's only about 1/4 finished and it's a surprise! I hope to have it finished by the end of the month. I've also been working on a pair of Jaywalkers (socks) for me. I'm almost finished the gusset and into working on the main part of the foot of the second sock. Maybe I'll finish it today or tomorrow!

02 February 2008

The LAKE

Yesterday was an interesting day at The LAKE, my school. We had a 2 hour delay, which was nice-I actually watched the morning news, made breakfast and got in a little knitting before it was time to go. Now, remember, it was raining. We were supposed to get an inch of rain. (We need it desperately here.) I walked into the building and there was one trashcan in the main lobby catching some rain drops coming from the ceiling (our lobby is open up to the third floor which also has sky lights). I go into the office, get my mail, make copies, etc. As I'm leaving another teacher comes in and says, have you seen the media center??? No. Let's just say that it was doing more raining INSIDE the building than outside. The custodians had just about every trashcan out on the third floor balcony (yes, my school has a balcony and even a bridge!). The water was pouring down the walls right onto the computers and tables in the media center. It was a mess.

Because of the delay, no one was at the board of education to make a decision about closing the building or not. The kids had started to show up and were herded into the cafeteria or the theater. I got to be the gate keeper in the cafeteria-allowing the students to go to the bathroom or to get a drink of water and not allowing them to go to the theater (where the better movie was being shown-Drumline. The Cafeteria got Finding Nemo.). Now that the students were in the building, we had to feed them lunch. We have 1,400 approximately (in a building meant for 1,200) when they all show up. We had three 15-minute lunch shifts that went quite smoothly. The students were dismissed at 11:45 and the teachers at noon!

What a day!

01 February 2008

FINALLY!

We have a two hour delay this morning due to...rain? Apparently there are patches of ice somewhere in Howard County. I'm just thankful that I get two hours extra to myself this morning.