Motivational Notecards

I was going through a clipped together bunch of notecards to pick a new face-forward one when I realized that a lot of these don't "speak" to me anymore. They were all meaningful at one point in time, so I decided to scan, blog, and recycle. (I still have a few dozen clipped together at my desk.)

One that was in pencil and wouldn't scan well says, "Goals are Dreams with Deadlines." I disliked writing "SMART" goals for professional purposes. It felt artificial. This quotation caught my attention, though. I like the concept.

Fight the Control Freak: 
Slow down
Reduce anxiety (have faith)
Delegate
Give up "if onlys"
Defer to others
Count your blessings
Value people
Be neither pushy nor pushover
Know circle of influence
Do one thing at a time
Learn to be led


Great Leaders Exhibit:
Caring
Integrity
High Expectations (no mediocrity)


PUCK:
Provide values and purpose
Unleash and develop skills
Create team power
Keep the accent on the positive


The Seattle Pike Place Fish Market!
Play
Make Their Day
Be There
Choose Your Attitude


CAVE People
You can't change C(itizens) A(gainst) V(irtually) E(verything) People!


I can.


I have many, many more, but these were quick and easy to weed out.

Literary Pet Names

When Louie and I were discussing our new little German Shepherd puppy, we had very different ideas about names! I liked another spice name, since Pepper had been such a wonderful dog. But he didn't like Basil, Coriander, Oregano, or anything else I came up with. He liked German names, but I didn't care for Franz or any of the others that I saw on lists.

Then I found this site: The Best Literary Pet Names: Canine Edition by Derek Attig. I was already a fan of the Book Riot website, so this was an easy "sell" for me. As I read through some of the names, Louie and I both liked "Titus" and so that's what we chose. It fits him well! I liked the site so much, I wanted to save it here and share it with others!

Here are some shots of Titus when he was a pup and at age 2 years old.

Student Teaching in 1989

Louie asked me what I was working on the other day. I was typing info into a GoogleDoc. It was student feedback from my student teaching experience in the spring of 1989 at Nicollet Junior High in Burnsville, MN. He thought it was crazy, naturally. I had contemplated just chucking them in the recycle bin . . . but since I have touched them a number of times and haven't been able to get rid of them, I decided to digitize. My husband's next observation was that it would be quicker to take photos of them rather than typing student input. My response is that I would do it however it worked best for me.

Now that I've finished, I scanned two to add to this blog. Some observations:

• I used a mimeograph machine in 1989! I remember the smell, the feel, the purple, but it's so weird to see that again! We didn't use Powerpoints back then. (Just Googled it. Powerpoint was released on my son Morgan's birthday!) Here's what Wikipedia has to say:
• Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc. It was released on April 20, 1987, initially for Macintosh computers only. Microsoft acquired PowerPoint for $14 million three months after it appeared.

•  I should have spent more time and energy teaching those students about to and too, alot is not a word, etc.
• I sometimes question why I became a teacher, my abilities, etc. I believe I have more positive qualities as an educator than weaknesses. I care enough to try to improve on my weaknesses.
• I'm not positive, but I think these responses were from my "gifted" class . . . I had 3 or 4 sections of regular ninth grade English and one gifted group.
• I'm so grateful to my cooperating teacher, Steve Ketcham, for all he did to support and encourage me. What a blessing! I should send him a letter of thanks.

Here are two that I scanned of the 30-ish I typed:

If anyone actually wants to read all the responses, they're here.

Seriously?

I sometimes hang on to scraps of paper even past the point of logic. Why?

I need to ask myself that question. Today, I grabbed a scrap of paper. It said "Backyardigans library episode / Zorro." I Googled it and found that season 3 episode 320 was called "The Masked Retriever." I was going to watch it online and recycle the note.

Nickelodeon wants me to pay to watch it. No thanks.

I checked two local libraries . . . Hennepin County has a Nickelodeon DVD with several shows on it, but not this episode of Backyardigans. Hmmm.

I'm definitely not going to spend money to see it. It's curiosity more than anything. I love libraries and someone commented on this to me. I've never in my life seen "Backyardigans." It's an animated kids show. I own a copy of "Channel Chasers" from the Fairly OddParents show . . . because it piqued my sense of humor.

The bottom of the note also says "Phineas and Ferb" . . . another animated show. Why?

I think I can just move on from this. Seriously. In the grand scheme of eternity (and all that is available to watch, read, do . . . ) why would I waste another second on this?

Back in the Day, Savings Accounts Earned Interest!

In part of my quest to declutter my home and my life, I got out my old savings account books that I had with the Richfield Bloomington Credit Union back in the 80s. Although there's absolutely no reason to keep these - the account was closed decades ago - I held on to them. As I flipped through them, I realized there were some observations I might want to hang onto. Here they are!

• I opened the account in 1982. At the time, I worked at McDonald's. I remember my mom had me deposit alternate paychecks into savings. (I got to cash and spend the other weeks' checks. I was and am proficient at spending, so I'm glad she "made" me save, too!)
• The interest rates were insanely good back then!!! $20.53 on a balance of $992.70 (12.31.1982) $22.99 on $1377.20 (3.31.1983) $38.23 on $2581.09 (6.30.1983) Dude! No wonder my savings account was a big deal to me back then!
• I tried so hard to keep track of "my" money and my parents' money. They deposited into that account . . . it somehow escaped my notice that it was supposed to be my college account.
• When I withdrew a bunch of my money to buy Louie a sailboat for his birthday in 1985 (we still have and use that Sunfish!), my mom was furious. Even though I used "my" money and not hers, the whole idea was to save for COLLEGE, not buy a $1,500 boat for my sweetheart.
• A lot of the deposits were loan repayments from Tom and from Louise. I'm not sure what money my parents had loaned them, but it's interesting that my parents chose to deposit the money in my account. Later, Louie and I borrowed money from my parents to have the well and septic installed at Strawberry Lake. I remember how good it felt to get that paid off!
• My parents were very generous. Besides paying for my college education (both bachelors and masters), they paid for a lot of our wedding expenses, some dental work, etc. They were amazingly generous.

I could probably make more observations, but my alarm is telling me it's time to go. I am so very blessed. Sometimes looking at and dealing with the clutter in my life is a good chance to remember and appreciate my blessings. The maximum amount in this account was $16,734.58 in January 1985. My mom deposited her unemployment check for $2,178. Wow. This brings back more memories of that time in our lives . . . for a different blog entry.

Jury Duty

I have a de-cluttering rule for myself: when I want to file a piece of paper for some reason, I remove a different piece of paper from my filing cabinet. I probably could go through each item in my filing cabinet and get rid of lots of stuff, but I don't really want to take the time to do that.

So today I filed the bulletin from church on the Sunday my grandson was baptized. I'm kind of old-school that way. Since I was starting a new file folder along with the one sheet of paper, I scanned the tabs to see what could go. "Jury duty." Really? That was *ages* ago!

I looked at the pages and did a shred/recycle. I was called for jury duty in November of 2003. I got it rescheduled for summer so I wouldn't have to miss any school days. (I'm such a conscientious nerd.) For a week, I had to be a phone call away. I was never called for any actual jury duty. I had a post-it note that said I wouldn't be called again until 2006.

I actually did serve on a jury in Hennepin County in 1984. When I got the letter, I explained that I was a senior in high school and couldn't go until the school year was over. The person on the phone was really crabby and asked when I'd be done with school. She told me to report to the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis the Monday after I graduated.

That's a whole different story! It was an interesting experience and I did get on a case. But right now, I'm just decluttering.

Here are part of the instructions for my 2003 "call" to duty:

Cell Phone Saga

Back on Sunday, January 20th (2019), I had enjoyed a quilting day at my house with my sisters. Louie had spent the weekend at Strawberry Lake with his brother Mike, our nephew Luke, and Titus. Around 5pm, I was in the kitchen and I called Louie to see when he expected to be home and if the guys would be hungry.

My sister Louise had already left when I made that call. (She had her investment club meeting.) Ann and I ate dinner. I put away some bins of fabric, helped Ann pick up her stuff from the guest room, and cut up some more veggies for dinner for the guys. I was also browning some hamburger for the next day's meal.

Around 6pm, Ann left with her dog Zurie and about six bags with her projects.

Around 6:30pm, Louie and Titus were home. I snuggled the dog a little, then went out onto the porch and tied him out. When he came back in, he puked in the entryway. (Long car rides often upset his tummy.) I cleaned that up, dumping the water in the laundry room wash tub. I went out to the garage and hugged Luke, carrying in one load of stuff. I helped put stuff away in the house, got tomato sauce from the laundry room storage, and finished making chili and taco meat for upcoming meals. Then I got my PJs on and rested on the sofa.

Around 8pm, I took a bath, did a crossword puzzle, and got my PJs back on.

Around 9:30pm, I noticed my phone wasn't plugged in the charger, figured it was upstairs, and went to bed anyhow, tired.

The notes I made the next day when I couldn't figure out where my phone was and tried to "retrace my steps" . . .

On Monday morning, I walked around the house, looking for the phone. Louie called it several times as we tried to listen for where it could be. We didn't hear it as we walked through the house, listening. I couldn't remember if I had left the volumes off after church or had turned them back up. I wasn't concerned at this point and was eager to get to work at my new job at RaDon. We looked some more that evening and wondered if it had somehow gotten into Ann's bags and gone home with her.

By Tuesday, I was getting concerned and tried using my tablet to find my phone. It located it, last connected on Monday, at 209 Robert Road. So that seemed to confirm that it was indeed in our house somewhere! I also learned that I could have used the spiffy software at my fingertips to make my phone make noise, even if the volumes were all turned down. Too late! We were confident the battery had drained since it had last been charged Sunday morning. (I love learning new things! The fact that I can use an app on my tablet to locate my phone is solidly in my brain now.)


My searching intensified. I made a list of all the rooms in our house. I worked methodically, starting with garbage cans, recycling, dirty laundry, etc. I didn't cross a room off until I had removed everything from all the drawers and cupboards and checked every possible physical space for my phone. Since I was fairly sure that the sofa was the logical culprit, we searched all the sections thoroughly, even turning the sofa upside down slowly to listen for anything shifting or bumping. We searched and searched! My master list:

On January 30th, I posted this on FaceBook: "I'm on day ten of searching for my phone . . . and I'm extremely hopeful that today is the day. After looking in all the logical places, then completely removing everything and searching every square inch of the rooms I spent the most time in on the evening of 1/20, I will find it in an illogical place. Right? Subzero outside, fire in the fireplace, content dog, . . . it's time for me to find my phone! (BTW, if you've texted or called me in the last ten days, I haven't been ignoring you intentionally . . . )"


I searched and searched. We turned the sofa upside down again (all three sections). I went through the bins in my sewing room (not just the ones I'd used on Sunday). It was frustrating! I even asked Louise to help check Ann's bags to see if it had somehow gotten into them and the technology didn't know when it had last pinged at 209 Robert Road.

People tried to be helpful. "Have you looked on top of the fridge?" "Yes." "Have you looked under the bed?" "Yes." "You should look IN the fridge / freezer!" "Done that."

Finally, Louie bought me a new phone (my 4th one since our flip phone!) while the battery on his very first smartphone was holding a charge for shorter and shorter times. I felt bad. And frustrated! How could I lose a phone in my own home?!?! My house isn't THAT messy!

We budgeted money to buy a replacement phone for Louie in May. Last week, he said that Republic had a sale and it was time to order a phone for him. I had been praying that the Moto X4 that was lost somewhere in our house would turn up. When my sister Louise asked if we had checked the sofa, I glared at her. "We've thoroughly checked the sofa! We've turned it upside down and checked all the nooks and crannies TWICE!"

I had been praying about this for over three months. On the one hand, it just wasn't that big of a deal (in terms of eternity). On the other hand, I've been trying to be more thrifty since I'm not earning much money. And it seemed silly to buy a brand new phone when we had a perfectly good (and relatively new) phone hanging out in our house somewhere.

When I woke up on Wednesday, May 15th, I had a vivid dream that I found the phone in the sofa. I walked upstairs at 5am and started searching the cushions. "What are you doing?" Louie asked. (I don't usually do ANYTHING until after I've had at least one cup of coffee.) "I had a dream that I found my phone in the sofa. I just thought I'd check."

That evening, I went to church for prayer time. I was the only one there (a different story) and was praying to have a humble heart and to submit my will to God. I've been struggling with trying to be in charge and call the shots lately. I was having a really nice time drawing near to the Lord. My phone pinged with a text and I checked it.

"I found your phone!!! Were you praying that we would?"

"What?!?!?!?! Where? Yes, I've been praying!"

Before going online to buy a new phone, Louie had decided to check the sofa again. He was struck by my odd behavior that morning and the strength of my dream. First he checked the three-seat section, which is where I usually sit. Then he checked the two-seat part. When he turned it over, the phone fell out. He figures it had been wedged somewhere during the first two times we looked there. That's where my dream showed me it was and where I had looked that very morning . . . God is so good!

I called my sister Louise and said "I have a question and a comment. Why did you ask me to check the sofa?" She said she had seen me set the phone down there earlier. "But I USED the phone in the kitchen AFTER you left!" It's like God gave her the vision, too . . . "Louie found the phone!"

So that's the saga of the missing cell phone. Louie has installed a new sim card and activated it. Now he's on his second smart phone and I'm kind of on my third instead of my fourth. :-)

Praise God for answered prayers! (Even the ones that aren't eternally significant!)

My Mother-in-Law Rocked!

My mother-in-law, Betty LaMoore, loved her family so much! And she especially loved all her grandchildren. I didn't fully appreciate all she did for us, but I hope I expressed enough thankfulness so that she knew her efforts were noticed.

One cool thing she did was sew. She sewed sleeper PJs for the kiddos. She sewed a really amazing shirt that I *think* I have a photo of somewhere . . . I'll update this entry if/when I find it. She took a basic sweatshirt, sewed fabric on it to look like a road, and then stitched some cars onto it. Here are the cars:

Yep. Actual toy cars. So very cool for my boys!

I honestly don't remember which boy was the recipient of this super-excellent sweatshirt. Offhand, I'd guess Alex. He was my biggest motorhead as a pre-teen.

In any case, the care that went into making fun things like this was typical for Betty. She loved to bring joy to her family.

I hope I can do cool grandma things for the next generation!



I found it! I was sorting through photos and found this one:

This is the sweatshirt that Grandma Betty made. So incredibly cool for my boy! (Again, I *think* it was Alex . . . he was my biggest motor head.)

And now my grandson Joshua loves cars, trucks, wheels . . . I don't think I'm ready to make him a custom sweatshirt, though.

 

Oh! (Adding this on 3.26.23 . . . after the initial post of 5.2.19) She also made a lot of Zubaz-style pants. Alex loved wearing those as a little guy! They were like sweatpants but cooler. He had a pair that was like zebra (black and white zigzaggy stripes) that he wore out!

 

She made neck gaiters out of fleece for all of us. I recently made a pattern off mine and made one for my sister-in-law Viv. I love my family!

Random Word Fun

Getting rid of a little scrap of paper . . . I sure have a lot of these in my life!
I think I got this from a student when I was student teaching (1989).

C D E D B D Dux
M R Not Dux
O S A R Dux
Y I B - M R Dux!
(Sam Howell)

Say the individual letters as words.

Translated:
See the itty bitty ducks.
Them are not ducks.
Oh yes they are ducks.
Why, I be! Them are ducks!

Applique

I'm not a huge fan of applique, but I've mostly done needle-turn (hand-stitching) so far. I'm ready to try machine applique, but have a few too many projects that are more pressing. I love this blog entry and want to return to it when I'm ready to tackle a heart project that's been brewing. Kudos to April Rosenthal for her fantastic blog!

Vestments

I'm not sure I'll ever tackle this, but I want to keep "track" of the info, since it took me a while to find it. My daughter-in-law is a Lutheran pastor. My sister, who has amazing skills, is going to make her a stole for the Lenten season. I located excellent instructions here and shared them with Ann. I've not sewed as much as I'd like lately, and still need to work on being more careful . .  .

Learning Journey - How to "Talk" to My CNC Router

The journey is not yet successful, but I want to make note of some sites I may want to return to as I continue on . . . After we (mostly Louie) got the CNC Router put together, I was eager to test it out!

First try was using Inkscape. I like the software and felt confident as I entered the size of wood, the text I wanted, etc. But then came getting the "GCode" to talk to the "Gerbil." . . . Not so intuitive and not at all successful!
Hackaday has some advice. But the "GCodeTools" for Inkscape link (available from many sources) takes you to a Russian GCodeTools forum . . . with unclear instructions. Lots of frustration ensued. No success with the GCodeTools. I was in so many menus and trying so many settings!

Then Louie suggested I try Easel. Super easy to create a free account (via Inventables) and has the necessary GCode to "talk" to the Router. Super easy to identify the project parameters and hit the "carve" button. . . only there is no 100% free version anymore. It gives you four free carves via the Pro version and then you pay for the software. Louie kept insisting I had done something wrong and told me to go back and carve using the free software. The video we watched showed how easy it was! But that video was made in 2014, as was the video actually from the founder of Easel (which shows that you just click on the "Start Cutting" button.) Oh, how things change! I really like Easel and how easy it is! Part of me is tempted to go ahead and try it anyway. But we were at an impasse and so we were on to software option #3.

When Louie showed me a video on some CAD/CAM software, the guy sounded like a teacher in a Charlie Brown video ("WahWahWah . . . "). Plus he was showing a fairly complex piece of 3D modeling. I said "I just want to make signs by carving on pieces of wood!" I had hit the wall. I was frustrated and just DONE with it all. But it has been a week and I'm ready to try again. I've had two of my engineer sons say that Fusion 360 is definitely the best option for me. They insist that I can use it successfully and start with the project I want, keep it simple, and learn more when I'm ready for more. Sigh. I'll post again later.

Here are some other sites I've left open for ages:
A Random Tree - I like how this guy explains his projects.
Another CNC Tree - I really like his stuff and his writing style . . .
Inkscape and G-Code - These Norwegians were offering hope when I was emotionally attached to using Inkscape. Louie said Inkscape is great for designing projects, but not ideal for communicating with the CNC Machine.
Totally different strategy! - I stumbled across this and I LOVE it! Nothing to do with learning how to use my CNC Machine, but I can get words onto wood with my laser printer and some Polycrylic (watch method #3 at 2:54).  (His site is Fix This Build That.)
Fusion 360 CAM Tutorial for CNC Beginners - This is where I'm at right now. Learning how to use Fusion 360 for what I want to do. So far, so good.