Going Commercial!

So, as I am blogging away, I thinks to myself, "Just how many people read this?" I send the link to friends and family, I post it on Facebook to my 400+ nearest and dearest, but I can't tell if anyone is paying any attention. I start looking around in my account and elsewhere and there is nothing to tell me how many 'hits' I have. I want to be like Julie as she blogs away about Julia Childs and her readership goes up. No counter. And then I see the offer to put ads onto my website. And if I put ads on my website, they will pay me on occasion (ha, ha) depending on how many hits I get. And once I sign up for allowing ads on my website, I can sign up for the free analytics program from Google to count the number of hits I get.

Hooray! Soooo, we'll see how this small experiment works out. Hard telling what kinds of spam it sets me up for. We'll see how long it takes me to disengage if I need to. And I sincerely hope they put the right kinds of ads up. That too remains to be seen.

BUT you know I love to experiment, so here goes. At least I won't have to eat it..... I hope.

Six Word Memoir and Meetings

Recently NPR ran a story about writing your six word memoir. What a great idea! And the question was not "Would I write one?" But "What would I write?"

Now you should know that I wrote my epitaph a number of years ago. I have been carrying it around in my calendar or wallet just to remind my husband and son of what I requested. Likewise, my husband has informed me to forget it! He didn't want it on the headstone we may share. But here, for your information, is what I requested! And who knows, perhaps one of them will pay to put it in my newspaper obituary:

Here lies Ida Baumgarth Swenson.
Her hands are folded and her eyes are shut.
It hasn't been often she's stayed put,
But if she now could send you greeting,
She'd say, "I'm only asleep at another meeting!"

I thought it was really appropriate and I think I wrote it way back when I was on the Greene School Board... even though I only slept at ONE board meeting... and several outside meetings as Mike D'Angelo will tell you. And they were brief nods with no snoring... more than I can say for Bible study now on occasion. HEY! I have an excuse!! I have sleep apnea. I do remember once telling friends visiting at my apartment in 1972 to turn out the lights and lock up as they left. lol. They were great sports about it. All I'm saying is, if the meeting is after 7 PM, don't turn down the lights our I'm gone. Some people think I'm very constructive doing my embroidery during the local Board of Directors' meetings, but that's the best way to avoid snoring during them. All I'm saying is that it's a good thing I'm retired now and many of my meetings are in the daytime.

Now that we establish that I still go to a lot of meetings, back to the memoir. Hmmm. Of course my memoir will include teaching! That's the love of my life (along with Jesus and my family). Are you ready?

STILL TEACHING WITH JESUS' LOVE

Apologies to all for only using five words. I have often told my students/friends/acquaintances that the day I stop teaching or making mistakes, you should be watching the papers for my obituary. If you are wondering about the strange picture that came with this, it is me teaching pre-schoolers at the discovery center here before Christmas.

WINTER WEATHER 2010 “ONCE IN A LIFETIME?”

>This has been such an auspicious fall and winter for meteorological mayhem, I thought I would record some of the goings on. And where better to get a snapshot of how things have been going, than to go on facebook and see what I have put on my wall there. As I type this, we are bracing for another 1-6 inches of snow tomorrow that just might put the Charlottesville area over the all time record snowfall for a winter. As I remember, mid fall seems to be the place to start. I have put the dates after each entry and most are quoted from facebook. They are the ones in italics. And with at least a few months of ‘winter’ left, who knows what I’ll be writing? All I know is that the azaleas, dogwoods and rhododendrons may be very sparse this spring. Here are my “El Nina” recollections. Enjoy.

After Hurricane Ida went through in November, I wrote “SUNSHINE!! Did you like my storm?? Still folks with no power near coast. We're supposed to have great weater for next few days, no rain all week. “ 2009-11-14

"outside the snow is falling and friends are calling, 'yoo, hoo'..... Rare for here. Snow supper tonight. 2009-12-05

Bracing for tonight's whatever! Forecast goes back and forth. John getting better after Dr and two prescriptions. I'm still dizzy, but that's nothing new. 2009-12-08

In a fog - inside and outside. Great time yesterday! Sunday School party, delicious dinner with international friends, then Lessons and Carols at church... beautiful music. Looking for my house today ... somewhere under the mess. 2009-12-14

Still snowing like crazy - my homemade ruler on the back porch is over 17 inches. Made it home from delivering Angel Tree 6:30 last evening- three inches. Ten at bedtime. All time records going down in drifts here. 2009-12-19

Gorgeous sunny morning - 21 inches total, and won't be above freezing much for the next week, so Virginians will have some white for Christmas. Praising the Lord we have heat! 2009-12-20

Brrrr. Baby, it's cold outside! Won't be much melting before the Christmas day rain. Roads look almost clear to Lynchburg, so off to love on some grandkids today. Cookies even got baked this year. Some sewing done, too. Cards after we get good pics of the babies! 2009-12-22

Ahh. Friday night. Even retired people can be thankful for Friday. Wish it were warmer... Brrr. No azaleas this year at this rate. 2010-01-08

Enjoying sunshine! Wishing it were warm. Even the computer is cold - - typing very slow. Reminded in church about the importance of honesty so I won't lie... sometimes I wish I were teaching full time again... and then I'm glad I'm not! 2010-01-10

My thermometer said 8 when I got up. Maybe no azaleas this year and dogwoods are shivering, too. John to doctor today. Has to get over this so he can go to NC this weekend to catch something else from grandkids. :) 2010-01-11

Woke up to a stunning orange glow in the sky. A brief glimpse of heaven's glory. How kind of God to share it! 2010-01-19

Just a note about the above… I had friends who thought it was the second coming or the end of the world as we know it. They were really freaked out!

Flooding in Charlottesville. Hope we can still go to the movies today! 2010-01-25

The above entry was after an inch or more of rain that melted much of the remaining snow pack from before Christmas.

Sunny but cold, but this is the day the LORD has made. Good time last night eating fondue with friends. 2010-01-27

Snow coming - around 6 inches. Weatherman said "moderate" last night, but last year it would have been a "five alarm fire" snow..... difference a 22" snowfall a month ago makes. 2010-01-29

Beautiful day... snow gently falling, quiet, nothing planned but dinner with the neighbor. Let's hope I get something done today! 2010-01-30

Just under a foot of snow yesterday, temps in single digits, and of course the power went off from 11 AM to 6 PM. Lots of solar gain, gas fireplace and gas stove so we really didn't suffer. And of course the sweat worked up shoveling! 2010-02-01

Busy day. Snow tonight... 'only 2-4 inches'. But this weekend's forecast if for maybe more snow than the 22" we had December 20. Aaaaaacccckkkkk! 2010-02-02

An inch of snow with ice on top. Brrr. Bracing for the weekend. Grocery store, here I come. 2010-02-03

Braced for the storm. May set the all time winter recorded snowfall record with this one- and then another Tuesday. Plans for the house guest and snow shovel!! Gotta love the Covenant Players!! 2010-02-05

Woo Hoo!! Power back on... and off.. and on... and off.. at least 6 times since 7:50 AM. Off over 11 hours. Freezing rain and sleet from 6PM last night to 7 AM. 2 inches worth. Have 2 more inches of snow since and going up. 9 inches of snow/ice/etc so far. Charging up everything I can in the house to save propane. 2010-02-06

Snow has stopped at 13 inches of accumulation... not counting the freezing rain that soaked into the rest of it. Power off again this afternoon for a couple hours. Fought the chill by shoveling. 2010-02-06

Brrr. Really cold (10) when I got up. High will be 35 today. Makes it hard to remove more ice. Happy folks here at the lake who had no power got it last night around 11 PM. More snow - 1-6 inches - tomorrow. Maybe we'll get our record broken yet! 2010-02-08

If you are wondering why I didn’t put anything up on Sunday the seventh, when we got done with the morning shoveling ALL the phones and cell phones AND internet went down for about nine hours. We were among the fortunate to have power and cable TV, so we could cook, watch the super bowl and be warm (but I can’t even imagine the electric bill this month!!) But we were into face to face communication.. No choice! This has certainly brought neighbors closer together. We went around in the afternoon to check on elderly friends who did not have power. Neighbors were together, some had fled to family homes, others were camping out in front of their propane fireplaces and no one wanted to move in with us. We Americans are not altogether the wimps we are cracked up to be. There were those who welcomed the adventure, and I do confess to enjoying a spurt of creativity trying to figure out what had to be done first, second and third to keep us warm and do any necessary cooking. When the power went back on Saturday morning, there was a scurry of plugging in chargers again, starting the crockpot, revving up the electric griddle all to be prepared and spare the propane tank just in case. John assures me we have plenty, but our last delivery was in June and I did the thanksgiving and Christmas baking since then as well as run the propane fireplace when we lost power in December. Hopefully the tank will be topped off by the end of the week.

For now, this is the ‘friz’ signing off to plug the chargers in again, and be sure we are still ready for the snow coming tomorrow!! Hope our rescheduled meetings are rescheduled far enough in advance!

SAVING WATER

The story is told of the woman visiting in Las Vegas who gushed to her hostess that she couldn’t wait to fill the tub and just soak. Aghast, her hostess exclaimed, “Oh, no, my dear!! Out here you can’t spend water like money!!”

My students might remember learning ways to save water when we studied conservation of the environment. Now I teach a Master Gardener class on Water and Soil Conservation. And then, this winter, they raised our local water rates AGAIN! Today in our Lake Health Education meeting, we decided it was a relevant topic to communicate to our residents. So… to remind those who have heard this before and educate those who have not, here are some tips!

Being an RV camper, saving water (and sewer) has become an art. We have all heard that we should get low flow toilets and water saving showerheads and faucet aerators. Here are some more water saving tips to go with them:

* Put a clean bucket in the shower to collect the initial wait for hot water as well as happenstance water that goes in it. I put it in the washer for the next load. (Or use it for a flush! It works at the kitchen sink, too.)

* Get a rain barrel or cistern hooked up to your gutters. We've had several workshops here at the lake to build and install them for use watering plants and washing cars. My husband got an inexpensive pump to put into ours (2 hooked together) for better pressure.

* Use a dishpan when washing fruits and vegetables and use that water to water plants (or to flush).

* Wash the "by hand" dishes first starting with just a little water and soap on a rag or sponge. Rinse them over that same sink adding to the wash water. THEN put the dishwasher dishes in that water instead of rinsing them in running water. It will save a lot of water (and in winter, that heat stays in the house longer instead of running down the drain).

* Don't forget, when buying plants look for varieties that are
drought resistant so you don't HAVE to water them. Plants native to Virginia typically require less watering and tend to be more deer resistant.

* Only wash full loads in the dishwasher or washing machine. It takes the same amount of water, but you get more done.

*When buying plants look for varieties that are
drought resistant so you don't HAVE to water them. Plants native to Virinia
typically require less watering and tend to be more deer resistant.

For more ideas, these websites might be helpful:
"Simple Steps for Saving Water" from the EPA http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/simplesteps.ht

Many useful water saving tips for indoor and outdoor from the city of
Charlottesville.
http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=640


Every drop counts!!!

MORTALITY

A dear friend is dying. It is sudden. One minute she's playing golf as she did 95% of the year, and the next she is dizzy, confused, and very ill. Too quick. Another friend dies after two days of illness. And Dad wakes up with a cold, coughs hard, says "That feels better." and is gone. I know with my family history I am a cardiovascular incident waiting to happen. This brings real urgency to bear on a number of things.

Today I made a new album on facebook - - "Nieces and Nephews". It revved up more communications with them, and I realized that there is a lot about family history they may not know. Someday I want them to share in the family treasures (Paul and Kaylene really don't want all of them), but those treasures need to be identified for them, and the memories associated with them recorded. So, another big item on my "to do" list. I am glad that I made hand embroidered (by me) pillowcases for each of them a goal, and I have 13 of the 18 finished. And it is a highlight of my life to communicate with them. I confess to having favorites... in fact my favorites happen to be whichever ones have communicated most recently. I hope they will always know and remember that I love them.

All of this comes back to the New Year Resolutions. Now if I could just do the blogging, and recording the memories instead of playing those dumb computer games!

New Year's Resolutions

Once again, we look at ourselves as the old year passes and new year begins. "How fat am I?" "How lazy" "Where is God in my life?" And so, as it is my habit, I made my New Year's Resolutions. I have copied them below and you will notice that one of them is to write more on my blog. I began it thinking that it would be a good way to leave some of me for my grandchildren and hopefully great-grandchildren (Hello to you! I hope I had a chance to meet you.) And I realize that one of God's good gifts to me is my writing ability. It may not be much, but as His gift, I know that I should use it and I have neglected it. So, later into the year than I had planned, but here nevertheless, is my first of the New Year blogs: My New Year Resolutions. Enjoy.

Oh- - - and feel free to ask me on occasion how my resolutions are going this year.

IDA

PS. #1 is going great!
#2 was delayed by the vertigo treatment I had last week, but is okay otherwise.
#3 the kiss is out - John is sick - so I am substituting good hugs.
#4 It's Jan. 11 and this is my first entry.. you judge.
#5 I am doing really crummy on this one.


NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS 2009

1. For spiritual health, I will read the Bible through this year.
2. For physical health, I will go to the gym or walk at least 3 times a week.
3. For emotional health, I will kiss and hug John every day.
4. For mental health, I will write in my blog at least once a week.
5. Because it is a complete waste of time, I will avoid playing computer games.

Reflections on Retirement

Well, I finally am back. I started this with great intentions, but the frustrations of trying to upload pictures wore me out. And the press of life didn't help a bit!! A lot has gone on in the past few months - - a new grandbaby on the way, vacation Bible School, lots of local politics, a successful campaign to get a dues increase passed here, company, trips to North Carolina, and lots of time on facebook. To say nothing of the active social life here at the lake. What do you think of our kind of party?? Six to twelve boats lashed together in the middle of the lake with everyone bringing food and drinks - and stories- to share. And none of that accomplishing my original goal of leaving a trace of what I've been up to since retirement.

It's interesting about retirement. We retired folks never seem to get a vacation. Things like stock market crashes suddenly become much more important. And it makes it a lot more difficult to say no to good things that need to be done. There does not seem to be a good excuse to ignore the lawn anymore. And inertia can take over and keep us stuck in a rut of staying home, avoiding new acquaintances and adventures, and losing the luster of creativity. Sure we can take the occasional snow day ("The roads are too bad, I can't drive into Charlottesville for the meeting." "If the school is closed, the clubhouse is closed. Stay home and sew instead of going to quilters.") There are times I miss teaching a GREAT deal. Mostly I miss the interactions with the kids and the creativity of planning cool things to do. And of course, there are always the experiments. They kept life in the classroom very interesting. The students never seemed to catch on that a lot of the things we were doing to enhance their learning were experiments on my part. I was always experimenting to see what would work best, what would crash and burn (sometimes literally), and how to manipulate my students.

Manipulate my students? Shock!! Horror!! And not just manipulate the students, but also the other teacher, the student teachers and the administrators. SAY WHAT?!?! Yep! I admit it. I have been manipulating all kinds of people in my adult life. I was not very good at it in elementary and high school, but now I realize that I am excellent at doing it in adulthood. For example, did you know you can make someone else smile 85% of the time by giving them a big, sincere smile? Yessiree. And if someone is grouchy, a little knee jerk gushy kindness is enough to turn them around. If you ask a student what college they are planning to attend, suddenly something they may never have thought about before becomes part of their thought process. And if you tell them kindly they need to be respectful, it is taken far more seriously than yelling at them. My favorite is asking a disruptive student to see me after class ("No stealing class time discussing it now, see me later.") and then when we are alone, asking the student what I am doing wrong. "You aren't doing anything wrong!" "Well, I must be doing something wrong because you are giving me a hard time. Maybe the lesson is too boring?" "No." (usually reluctantly). "Hmm. If I'm not doing anything wrong, maybe you are having a bad day. Will tomorrow be better? I'll try to do better, too." And usually that was all it took. I guess they didn't have to be in my classroom for very long to know that I loved them just the way they were and wanted ALL of my students to enjoy science class. I sure miss those mind games in retirement.

And I SO miss the creativity. I was at the all day quilt in today working on a patchwork skirt made out of fabric from my trip to Africa. I have the idea in my head - - but not a clue if it will work or look anything but 'doofy' when I am finished. And it involves a bunch of patches sewn together - not usually my best thing - the intersections are the pits! But I have a lot of pieces and I want to put them together in a way to show the variety of fabrics I got - - without putting the lime green and red together. Eeeeuw. It's the creativity thing. When I was teaching, I was always inventing a new lab, or game or song. Some of my favorites were the spit lab (enzyme action - a great invention!), the garbage lab (brings reduce/reuse/recycle to a whole new level), and of course every year a new crime scene (microscopes) involving all the teachers in our team. It all was high drama. There were the clothes and jewelry that earned me the nickname of "the Friz". Every day was something that had to do with the lesson - microscope earrings, a protist sweater, the periodic table T-shirt, etc., etc. And the classroom had to be covered with posters, specimens, etc, that all taught in their own way. If you daydreamed in my class, it always took you back to biology in some way. And of course, there were the magic school bus rides around the world. We loved the unit on biomes, because we went all around the world and looked at plants, animals and climate in the different places. And no lumping prairie grasslands in with African grasslands, either. It was wonderful! Now I teach Sunday School most Sundays and I use the creativity with that somewhat. But an hour a week is limiting, and there is a curriculum which must be obeyed. However, they never reviewed the Bible playing Cranium before. I'll do another blog on Vacation Bible Schools past and present.

I've been blessed in the past few years being able to teach watershed issues in some of the schools. Probably not as much as I would like. I help at a day camp for the Albemarle County and Charlottesville City School fourth graders. When I am really fortunate, I get to do the class in the stream where we net bugs and learn how to assess stream quality. Sometimes I teach the class on the effects of man on our water or lead a nature hike. And sometimes we just play games from Project Wet - - with a Swenson twist, of course. This spring I was thrilled to be asked to visit a sixth grade classroom in the city to play "Macroinvertebrate Mayhem" with a friend's classes. And I enjoyed teaching a class for the local HS and governor's school last fall. In the spring, I taught a 15 minute class on caring for the watershed at Fluvanna County Fourth Graders' "Farm Day". Now I figured that since my competition was sheep, goats, rabbits, a pony, etc, that the kids would never take back much from my little class. So that week I went to get a manicure, and the manicurist mentioned that her daughter had been there and all she talked about was the class about the watershed. In fact, the Mom didn't even know that there had been animals there. Humph! Never in a million years......

Retirement. Hours and hours to.... play Spider Solitaire, or read a book, or sew, or watch TV. Good thing I have occasional trips, sewing projects, teaching gigs, and of course keeping up with everyone on facebook to let get me out. And another time, I'll blog on politics and life as a committee junkee. Meanwhile, I hope you are having a great day, and that you are looking for your own ways to express your creativity - retired or not.