Fall Colors

Well, it's that time of year again. The pumpkins are turning a nice shade of orange, we get a little afternoon rain followed by bright sun, and I get out my fall outfit. Don't I brighten up a fall day? 

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Here's a picture (with an interesting story) for you to use in remembering to pray for our military people. Love, Jo

Life at the Light Factory

Well, I guess I have to tell you all about my new job. I am the IT Manager for Litetronics International. We manufacture and distribute long life light bulbs. We make the home ones that are twisted tubes that fit in your regular light fixture, but so does Sylvania and General Electric. We also make a lot of special bulbs for hard to reach and difficult to maintain situations. Our stuff lasts longer and stays brighter than theirs, I am told. We also private label them so if you wanted to sell the Lambert brand of lightbulbs at your Lambert store, we can do that.

I am the IT Manager, heck, I am the entire IT staff. We are a small firm and the equipment is a hodge podge of stuff, old and new, homebuilt and left over, good and; well; not so good. It looks like I will have a lot to do. The network seems to run pretty well but is poorly organized and a crash or a virus could make a mess of this place real fast. I got grief from the head of the sales department because I wanted to have him change his password. I was able to get logged on to the main server and change things on it within two hours of walking in the door. Not too secure as I spent the first 45 minutes walking around and meeting people. It looks like I have plenty to do.

I was given the job of negotiating a new phone and internet contract, as the other ones expired a month ago. No time to shop like I would prefer because we are being charged the no-contract price this month which is twice what I could get it for. Trial by fire. But that is why they need an IT professional. In the two days I have been there I solved a number of little problems for the workers, they think I am great. I told them the difference is that I can read the book.

I start at 7:30 AM and it takes 45-50 minutes to get there, what with the construction, and a full hour to get home. I am still teaching two nights a week and staying sharp in front of a class till 11:00 PM tomorrow night will be a challenge. Friday night is only till 9:45 so that will not be so bad. But Valerie has us going to one of the elders for dinner on Thursday so I guess I will be sleeping late on Saturday.

Well, I have to get to my class prep for Wednesday and Friday. I will be busy Thursday and Friday I am being observed by the department head. Fun!

How is it on the Inside?

My single friend sent me pictures of her brother's new triplets. I thought about how she must feel, looking into the faces of three bitty babies struggling for their survival in the NICU, and wondering if she'll ever marry and have a family.

Before I had children, I was faced with attending so many baby showers and wishing my life was different than it was. Outwardly, I was happy for the new mother. Inwardly, I had to figure out if the lack of children made me any different than I felt about myself.

Because of the fact that I concluded that my life couldn't be judged by what was happening to everyone else, I learned to love myself, no matter what my family ended up looking like. I gained self-confidence, contentment with who I was at the time, and hope for the future.

And, in the end, when we adopted two girls, I found that who I am on the inside is what I wish to replicate in my children. Often what comes from outside pressures is not the way I want to be remembered, but what comes from inside is the real me. I feel we should be constantly improving who we think we are on the inside, always updating, gaining new insights to others around us, accepting loving advice for ways to improve, so that, on the outside we're more acceptable to the people we cross paths with.

And how old will Joanne be this October?

The voice of the Oldest speaks from the depths. Yes, I finally remembered where to look for my password, and I'm back in business. Getting a different computer means one loses all sense of where one had organized things.

And now for the update: I feel like I change jobs as one changes underwear. Thankfully, my brother, Bill, is quicker on the underwear, and now has tried out changing the job part. I'm grateful for you, Bill, and I only hope I can follow in your footsteps! I'll be praying for you tomorrow, as I think that's your first day on the job. I hate the feeling of all the details you have to stuff into your head. You'll do fine, though, since computers r u.

In the interlude between paychecks, Grandma and I have ordered new blinds for her porch, swam, exercized, cooked, shopped, visited Daytona Beach, broken her typewriter, and been to the Friday coffee at the park, where we have updated ourselves on all the news of where we live in TrailerLand. The pool has been painted, and the streets will be paved sometime next March. How wonderful.

George is continuing to Mediate as a vocation. He also preaches on Sunday mornings as an avocation. I have been drafted to step in at the piano for the worship service, as the resident pianist at the village has moved on up to playing for the Lord on some kinda "Grande" piano in heaven! George prepares much better for his sermon than I do for the music, as I don't seem to have a piano in TrailerLand. These older people are so loving, and so appreciative, and we do feel it's a privilege to serve them. About 25-30 people attend every week. Sometimes Mom accompanies us, and she always has a nice time. She actually has a friend who moved from TrailerLand to this place, around the corner and down the street, and she waits to see if the lady will be sitting outside of a Sunday morning, so she can say Hello to her. She wonders if the lady will remember her, as she's out of context, not being a resident of the present place, but remembering their friendship from TrailerLand. Verily, today, the lady was, in fact, outside, taking in the sun, and, when Mom called to her, the lady was so surprised. But, the lady is sitting proudly on a wicker lawn chair, waiting for someone to pick her up for an outing, and she starts to cry when she sees Mom, thinking poor Mom is wheelchair-bound. Now the moral of this story is, "don't imagine you know all the facts about a situation." And now, seeing that this paragraph is more about others than George, I'll add in that he is a happy reader, spending most of his time in pursuit of one more history book. He has been "living" with Peter the Great, the Russian Czar, for several weeks, and I was afraid we were going to have to endure some quasi-funeral service when the poor old ruler finally ceased his colorful life. But, now that read is over, the late-night light burns for Catherine de Medici, of 17th C. fame. She is far less interesing, though, and I notice we're ending the read time much more quickly of late....

Carrie is still working at the hospital out-patient facility, but she's on call. This is good when you work but not that wonderful when you don't. She's been spending her days chasing after two kids, one dog, and one horse. Lately she has supervised the home improvements which have been needed, and I must say she's doing a great job of it, saving money every possible way, and learning some new fixer-upper methods in the process. She has lined up renters where once her parents slept, and this means the mortgage gets paid much faster. This I like. The down side is, how do I get to see my grandchildren if there's nowhere to sleep? Her interests are always changing, and lately she has enrolled in a certification process for aestheticians. She was offered by a dermatologist to start at his office in December, when certification is complete, combining medical assisting, surgical assisting, and aesthetician-ing on different days. She'd have to spend money and time re-upping the surgical part, as she let this drop when Christian was born. This is a wonderful offer, but it doesn't pay as much as going for FT work in the new field. Her friends own a salon and are building out a room in their place to Carrie's specifications. She and the husband go to Home Depot and buy a week's worth of equipment, or paint, etc., and he installs it. So far it's decorated in palest peach and green, I understand. This will be a big step for Carrie, starting her own business, actually. Wish we were nearer in order to help.

Bekki is enjoying the new school, even though her roommate moved out this weekend in favor of living in the newer dorm. Bekki wasted no time in enlisting her Dad's help in rearranging the beds to fit together, adding a bunch of black and white pictures all around the bare walls, and spreading her pink and black theme over the whole place. She just hopes the college doesn't find some other girl who needs a place to live! We enjoyed a bbq at Parent Weekend to feel a little like we're a part of the whole process. We just pray Bekki can find some solid friends there who think like she does. She has been surprised to find that she's one of the more mature Christians in this "Christian" college, a position she was pressed into by about the second weekend, when friends all tried out their new freedom on the local bars downtown. My prayer is for her to remain steadfast in Who she believes in, and to act accordingly. It's always nice to have a slice of maturity showing through....

I miss my grandchildren b/c of just these types of issues: you know they need to find out things, and you're sure no one else is as willing to share with them. The miles in between us and them makes George go to tears more often than not, and he just dropped into the bed behind me, saying precisely that he misses his babies, and they won't even know who we are before long.

Now, I must go quickly, since my husband appears to be in bed with another woman==Catherine di Medici. He reports that the reason Michaelangelo's statue of David is missing part of its arm is because in some hostility with the Medici family (Italians who are living as royalty in France) somebody threw a stone and hit the left arm. Now this fact alone was reward enough for having read through all this dribble about the Polaceks and their people. How else would you know these important historical facts? And where else could you get such intimate bedroom conversation? Stayed tuned....

So, Grandma will be, what, 89 this month?

Best Sailing in 5 years

No Grandma was 89 , 4 months ago
I'm home from work after "casing and go" for today as I have to go to the dentist.Yes, I went to Jennell's Dr and ended up gettting a woman Dr. instead. Jean said smaller hands... whtevr.
so last long ago I went to Jacksonville and got a new, old sailboat. Sunday I hooked it up and while putting up on it's side had to run up to house to get a part. Well it fell down and when lifting it back up I felt a crack in hull. So I got my chain saw and ripped it in five. Then got tractor and pull another pontoon from side of house and bolt it on. Jean happy to see eyesore gone from house!What was I saving that ting for anayway? Well It got dark just as I was trying my new sail Jean bought for me on ee-Bay so on with the rudder and no sailing Sunday. Tuesday I had annual and called Mom but no answer. Then Jason stop by and well about three the wind starts to pick-up- I sniff the air and zoom off i go to hoist the sail attach the main sheet and find it's to windy to shove the boat so I must get the beach wheels and spalash the maiden voyage is on. Well let me just tell you It floats ontop of the water not down low like the other cat I have and the new sail is tight and Jean had sewed the rip in the jib so it too is right. Now the main sheet (rope to the sail) has both pullys working (the one that runs along the back is broken other boat). Nice, the rudders have the rubber part still on so they lock up or down where you want them, cool. Up it goes on one pontoon before I'm across the lake and so the day went best sail I'v had in 5 years! a couple of 0 times Up so high and riding on top just an inch from going over but holding. another time Just up a foot and crusing over the weed area. Other times haveng a wake from weeds stuck on the rudder, and still ripping along. This boat alwo has harness and handel ropes on both sides! Yippie-ki-yo

Ok then Josh comes home and we go over Edline and he disappears. Then a phone call from Cole..... Josh wants to talk to you... Hello Dad? Um I kinda just got stabbed.......over at joey's....... It was an accident. Well I say I just washed my truck and you better not bleed all over it. Jean is at wall mart after work and forgot her cell today. So I say Joe's is first block? ber right there. Well stop where I think Joe's house is but not sure so I beep and nothing. go up and down block and nothing for over 10 min. finally Joe appears back at the first house where I was beeping and 12 or 13 kids pour out of house and none of them could post as a century. off to delray hosp and git 5 stiches in wrist just 2 to 3 inches up from death wound spot!
he and another hooodlum were wreseling and joe was clearing another bed. just as joe tossed the knife onto the bed Josh fell on it prob before it landed flat and in it went. Back home by 10:45. oop gotta go to dentist-
Hows that for blogging?
can u beat that....

Congratulations are in order!

Rumor has it Bill is a full-time employee with another part time job. Boy, sometimes it's scarce and sometimes it's too much! Congrats! I'm glad the hunt is over.

Guilty as charged!

Yep...I'm checking. Nope...I'm not doing anything exciting either. In the midst of trying to get started teaching 6th grade math, I am also working as on of the Continuous School Improvement Co-chairs in charge of our accreditation this year. Long process and lots of work to do. I was also elected to be on the School Advisory Council...dunno what they do, but I have to miss tomorrow morning to be trained. I was NOT happy to hear that as my students are very sweet, but very mathematically challenged. Last week I was out for a full day to do the CSI Status Report and apparently my sub couldn't read because she didn't do anything I had in my plans! UGH! AND I have to miss another half day at the end of next week when CSI meets with our principal and the head of the accreditation team to prepare for the accreditation visit in February. I'm starting to realize that when I agreed to do CSI I should have kept teaching Social Studies because it is MUCH easier to come up with a sub plan that doesn't waste the kid's time for SS than for math. The down-side of that would have been staying on the same team. The upside is that I LOVE my new team. The other teachers on it are so awesome and we are having a great time!

Teaching 6th grade is very different from 7th grade. I forgot how scared they are at the beginning of the year. It was even hard to start explaining things to them. I would start saying something about getting math help during Seminar and hands would go up. "What is Seminar?" I would try to explain that Seminar is on B days...more hands. "What are B days?" And so on and so forth. I went on three tours with kids who had also been on three tours, and they still couldn't figure out how to get to the cafeteria. And then came locker opening time! These guys don't know clockwise and counterclockwise, so it was quite an adventure trying to teach 17 of them how to do the locker at the same time. A few ended up in tears... Ya gotta love sixth graders!

In other news...there is a pottery class at the community center that I am going to go to on Wednesday. Of course I said that last week and then totally forgot to go! After waiting a whole year for them to get one started there, I forgot to go! UGH! I was so aggravated!

Evelyn and I are thinking about some travel plans. We are looking into going to Hong Kong over Thanksgiving and Australia over Christmas (anyone wanna meet me there?). I figure that if I can afford both I should do it because on the ultra slim chance that I get transferred this summer, I really wouldn't want to miss Australia. Don't know about Hong Kong, but she says it is neat and others agree, so why not!

Okay...gotta get back to writing my sub plan for tomorrow! Sayonara!

Alex and his Dad

 
Alex and I got together for a chat the other day. I had my camera with on that windy day. I thought you might like to see how is looking these days. 

Hello, is there anybody there?

Well, I know that you come here to look or you would not be seeing this. But the we have not seen too many new posts here lately. I guess we each think that what is happening in our lives is not interesting to each other, that we are all too boring. I think that is not true. I love to read a quick note about what each of you is doing in your life. I do not get to see the rest of you much so please, just leave a quick note to keep me in your life.

Now, I realize that I have been just as guilty as anyone on this regard. I have not had much to say because I was slowed down by my recovery from the knee replacement. And then when that was over I got reduced at work from full time to adjunct instructor. I do not feel good about myself when I am out of work. I am sure that some of you can relate to that. Or at least appreciate it.

So, I will post about each of those subjects. I have been on the mend regarding the knee. I have to give it a good workout each day to keep the adhesions from forming. They tell me that the fact that I am relatively young for this procedure and fairly muscular means that I expect to have a harder time with this than an older fellow. So (almost) every day I go for a bike ride or exercise it. I have ridden up to twenty miles on my bike. I broke the frame on my blue (fast) bike. I was trying to jump on it at the bottom of a hill to catch another bicycles and the frame cracked at the rear dropout (where the rear wheel sits). I guess I am too strong and too heavy. So now I have to ride my brown touring bike, which is much slower.

When I got released from physical therapy they gave me a one month free pass to the Omni gym, which is in the same building as the therapy place and also owned by St. Mary's hospital. I activated it last week and have been there every day but one (Sunday) since. I realized two thing: (1) that I really miss working out on a regular basis. (2) that I have not been working out and have lost a lot of muscle tone. So I have been a little sore the last few days, but it is the good kind of sore. I wish I could afford to join at the end of the month, but they get $55/month there. Nice place; good machines, two pools, sauna, whirlpool, steam room. But it is nine miles from here in the wrong direction.

I have been trying to find a job that works for me. I have been looking online but not getting much response. Yesterday I found one I really liked, submitted my resume and cover letter and have an interview at 8:30 tomorrow morning. It is with a manufacturing firm in Alsip that makes long-life lighting systems. Litetronics makes those circular bulbs that you can use to replace your cheaper bulbs that burn out quickly. The big part of their business is for signs and hard to get at bulbs. They are looking for an IT Manager, but that I would be the entire department. That is what I did at AIT for several years till the place grew and we needed more staff.

Valerie is feeling better since her surgery. She often feels REAL good then does too much and gets knocked back down. This has been happening less and less so she is looking for the next step.

Jennell, Jay, Joanne, John and all you non-J people who stop here; post a little bit about your lives, we love to read it.

Drinking Buddies!

Boppa and Jeremy at the beach on Labor day weekend while watching the Gary Air Show.

 

So,Who wants to tell Mom,

So, Who is going to tell ma?


Carson Pirie Scott to Close Its Doors (AP) CHICAGO
The owner of the Carson Pirie Scott department store announced Friday that it is closing the historic store because of a drop in sales and rise in operating costs.
The store is located in a building designated a National Historic Landmark and designed by famed architect Louis H. Sullivan in the late 19th century.
In a news release, York, Pa.-based Bon-Ton Stores Inc. said that the store would close in March of next year.
"We are very proud of Carson Pirie Scott's rich tradition in Chicago - a tradition that has prospered for more than 150 years ..." Bud Bergren, Bon-Ton's president and CEO said in a statement. "Unfortunately, this facility is more than 100 years old and no longer supports our efforts to provide quality customer service by giving our customers a modern, fresh shopping experience."
The store was originally built in 1898-1899. There have been additions over the years, including a 12-story south addition in 1905-1906. According to the city's department of planning and development Web site, the store is "one of the most important structures in early modern architecture, famed for its influential modular construction and design."
The 1 million square foot building is owned by Joseph Freed and Associates, which has been renovating it in recent years, including extensive work on the terra cotta facades and the ornate cornice at the corner of State Street and Madison Avenue.
The company said in a news release that after Carson vacates the structure, it plans to convert 250,000 square feet to new retail space on the lower level, first and second floors. The third through seventh floors will offer 350,000 square feet of office, school and entertainment space.
"National and international tenants have expressed interest in leasing this historic property, and now we can pursue these opportunities," said Paul Fitzpatrick, the company's managing director.