Day by Day

Sunday. This week started in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Dave and Rachel volunteered to help us move Ashley’s and Heather’s stuff home from college. So, a little before 6 AM, I rang their doorbell, ready for the drive to Walla Walla. Better yet, I was ready for the ride to Walla Walla, because Dave was driving and pulling the trailer we picked up from Art the afternoon before. After a short stop at Starbucks, we drove to Walla Walla, loaded the trailer, the back of Dave’s truck, and Suzi’s van with boxes that Suzi and the girls had already packed. We celebrated our quick progress at Worm Ranch (don’t ask — you either know and approve, or don’t and maybe wouldn’t understand), drove back home, unpacked, returned the trailer, and went home to collapse. It was a long day!

Clearly, we have the best friends. Thank you, Art, Dave, and Rachel! :-)

Monday. Busy, busy morning and a frustrating afternoon. I finally got something to work by going home and accessing the site using my home computer. There’s more than one way to skin a cat (do people really skin cats?). Next time I have to access this business web app, I’ll know what to do.

At least we accomplished something at home. Suzi rented a carpet cleaner and I vacuumed and cleaned the downstairs carpets and the stairs. Jamison mowed the lawn. I love that boy. :-)

Tuesday. This was my last Tuesday teaching math to an awesome group of 6th graders (plus one 5th grader). It’s a sad day because these kids are going to different schools next year. I will miss them. (How do teachers handle losing a class of students each year?) I’m also going to miss teaching math over the summer. I’ve volunteered to do the same next year and am looking forward to meeting a new class.

Tuesday evening, we attended Melissa’s senior dinner. I love hearing the parents talk about how wonderful their kids are. Suzi and I joined in the fun. And it was all true!

Wednesday. Wednesday was a travel day. I took the Intel shuttle north to spend the day in DuPont, Washington.

Thursday. I started the day by setting up a tent for Jamison at school and getting Starbucks with Suzi for some very deserving teachers.

Once at work, I set up my new 28-inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel monitor. Wow, I like it! I’m discovering that some applications and web sites are not designed for wide screens (e.g., non-fixed width web sites). Others could use even more (Excel, Seesmic web).

Friday. I had graduation practice in the morning. Once again, our school board chair was unavailable, so I was able to fill in for him, reading all the graduates’ names. Friday morning, I made sure I could pronounce all the names — correctly.

Melissa graduated Friday evening. We’re so proud of her.

Saturday. Church and family. Like always. :-)

We also visited some graduates’ open houses and practiced with Jamison for VBS.

We can’t review this week without mentioning the amazing weather we had on Saturday. I believe it was our first 80-degree day this year.

Sunday. Yeah, I know. It’s part of WW26, not WW25. But it’s my excuse for the delay in getting this posted. Details next week. :-)

Books

I’m currently reading:

• Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples

I finished reading:

• Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition
• The Next Level: A Parable of Finding Your Place in Life

I discovered:

• The Tudors: The Complete Story of England’s Most Notorious Dynasty. Reading Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples has piqued my interest in English history. This would seem to be a good book to read next. Now to see if my library has it.
• It’s Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian. Peter recommended this book to me at Melissa’s graduation reception.
• The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: “On Robustness and Fragility”. Another book recommendation from Peter.
• Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time. Yet two more book recommendations from Peter. Clearly, if I spend much time with Peter, I’m going to be doing a lot of reading. ;-)
• The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama.

My books page provides more information on the books I’ve read or discovered this year.

Blogs and Other RSS Feeds

I started reading:

• Sherman’s Lagoon: “Sherman’s Lagoon is an undersea cartoon featuring a dimwitted shark named Sherman, his sea turtle sidekick, and an assortment of other coral reef critters who team up to battle the encroachment of civilization on their remote tropical paradise.” Don’t forget the polar bear.
• Sarcasymptote: “An acerbic misanthrope teaches squirrely kids math in Brooklyn. Hilarity ensues.” @sarcasymptote is also on Twitter.

As always, my blogroll lists the blogs I read.