Had a meeting last week and as we headed home, the CEO of the company said, "This is my 4th meeting this week. Hope I still have a wife when I get home..."
I thought to myself, "Only 4 meetings and he's a CEO. I've had 7 and I don't even have a job."
The school board has redistricted our neighborhood so that our kids will attend their 3rd school in as many years, next year.
We are fighting to retain the Residential zoning at a site owned by the nearby Doc-in-a-Box.
Auction. (ABC License, donations, tax papers, event insurance, capacity license, invitations, caterer, gift certificates.)
Park. (Pavers, forms at printer, sponsorships, benches, clearing, clean up for Egg Hunt, plan gardens.)
Grants. (Last one due end of month, but it's a whopper.)
Centennial Celebration (Find a breakdown stage, musicians, printing, artist for commissioned poster, permits, trolley sponsors.)
5k Run. (Find a sponsor. Figure out a way to have buffs rather than Tshirts. Plan route. Get permits. Obtain clock and equipment. Advertise.)
Fortunately, I am not involved in the school redistricting thing. It does not affect Little One; she goes to an out-of-district school and heads to middle school next year, anyway. The moms in the neighborhood have organized this one and are running with it.
All the other stuff is about too much.
Tuesday, March 14
Wednesday, March 8
Good News
Last night, I got the BEST news in a long, long while. DS1 and his wife and baby girl are MOVING to nearby Largetown, USA.........Yea!!
DIL1 is expecting another baby; although they don't know how long they will live down here, it is likely the new little one will be born here. The town is only 30-40 minutes away. Their children will KNOW ME!! I can see them!!
As SOON as we finished on the phone, I called DH at work, (seldom call at work) to tell him. We laughed til we cried. It was totally out of the blue, we did not have a hint that the kids were thinking of moving to the state.
Yea!
DIL1 is expecting another baby; although they don't know how long they will live down here, it is likely the new little one will be born here. The town is only 30-40 minutes away. Their children will KNOW ME!! I can see them!!
As SOON as we finished on the phone, I called DH at work, (seldom call at work) to tell him. We laughed til we cried. It was totally out of the blue, we did not have a hint that the kids were thinking of moving to the state.
Yea!
Tuesday, March 7
Trying to be Wise
Last night I met with the owners of the doc-in-a-box down the street; VP also attended. They currently have a 20,000 sf building on one lot and own 2 adjacent lots. Their vision is for a total of 55,000 sf medical park focusing on musculoskeletal medicine. A hospital in Charlotte has just filed a proposal with the State to locate a same-day-surgery facility in this Smalltown, in a bldg on this campus, leased from the doc-in-a-box ppl.
Our neighborhood has a long and bitter history with this business. Some of the primaries at the business hate our neighborhood. Some of our neighbors hate the business.
I see my accountability as protecting the fringes of the neighborhood from encroachment; and preserving the R8 (single family residential) zoning that was won by the blood, sweat and tears of our neighbors who founded our neighborhood association almost 20 yrs ago. Without that zoning overlay, there's no way we'd be on the National Register today; no way our property values would be where they are today; no way we would've even found the neighborhood an attractive place to buy a house. I have to preserve that overlay to preserve the life of the neighborhood.
One of the three parcels owned by the d-i-a-box folks is currently R8. It used to be a farmhouse built in 1900. The diab folks bought it, did not maintain it, and when it fell into ruin, demolished it on Christmas Day in 2004. Now they want to rezone it to LOI, which is the zoning their other 2 properties have.
The hospital in Charlotte who applied for the bid to develop the same-day-surgery are in competition with the local hospital. The folks at the local hospital say, "we serve indigents and no-pays and the profit from the same-day-surgery will supplant the large writeoffs we have to make for them..." They say, "if we get the bid, the money goes back into the local community; if the other hosp gets it, it does not."
All this is true.
The doc-in-a-box folks say, "We pay property taxes. The local hosp does not." They say, "Forty-seven percent of the ppl in Smalltown, USA go out of town for their surgery. They do not trust the local hosp. We are looking to capture some of those folks at this facility run by the out of town hosp."
All this is true.
The State determines who wins the bid. We have the opportunity in 2 weeks to appear at a State hearing and voice our opinions. We have the opportunity to influence the State decision. To what degree our appearance matters, I am not sure. I am sure that if we don't go, we don't influence it at all.
I was talking with a gf the other day about our political aspirations. I confessed to her that one of my biggest flaws is my open-mindedness. Today I am really wrestling with that.
As I wrote above, I do know that my commitments are to protect the neighborhood from commercialism, and to preserve the R8 zoning, and I will do so. Meanwhile, I'm aware that our neighborhood may not be totally fair to the guys down the street.
Our neighborhood has a long and bitter history with this business. Some of the primaries at the business hate our neighborhood. Some of our neighbors hate the business.
I see my accountability as protecting the fringes of the neighborhood from encroachment; and preserving the R8 (single family residential) zoning that was won by the blood, sweat and tears of our neighbors who founded our neighborhood association almost 20 yrs ago. Without that zoning overlay, there's no way we'd be on the National Register today; no way our property values would be where they are today; no way we would've even found the neighborhood an attractive place to buy a house. I have to preserve that overlay to preserve the life of the neighborhood.
One of the three parcels owned by the d-i-a-box folks is currently R8. It used to be a farmhouse built in 1900. The diab folks bought it, did not maintain it, and when it fell into ruin, demolished it on Christmas Day in 2004. Now they want to rezone it to LOI, which is the zoning their other 2 properties have.
The hospital in Charlotte who applied for the bid to develop the same-day-surgery are in competition with the local hospital. The folks at the local hospital say, "we serve indigents and no-pays and the profit from the same-day-surgery will supplant the large writeoffs we have to make for them..." They say, "if we get the bid, the money goes back into the local community; if the other hosp gets it, it does not."
All this is true.
The doc-in-a-box folks say, "We pay property taxes. The local hosp does not." They say, "Forty-seven percent of the ppl in Smalltown, USA go out of town for their surgery. They do not trust the local hosp. We are looking to capture some of those folks at this facility run by the out of town hosp."
All this is true.
The State determines who wins the bid. We have the opportunity in 2 weeks to appear at a State hearing and voice our opinions. We have the opportunity to influence the State decision. To what degree our appearance matters, I am not sure. I am sure that if we don't go, we don't influence it at all.
I was talking with a gf the other day about our political aspirations. I confessed to her that one of my biggest flaws is my open-mindedness. Today I am really wrestling with that.
As I wrote above, I do know that my commitments are to protect the neighborhood from commercialism, and to preserve the R8 zoning, and I will do so. Meanwhile, I'm aware that our neighborhood may not be totally fair to the guys down the street.
Sunday, March 5
Swimming through the Tweenage Years
Little One at ten is an absolute joy. She is experimenting with Who she is -- and "who" is capitalized for a reason. One day she establishes that she is a true tom-boy. She daringly rides her trail bike down the sledding hill and back up again, hooping and hollering. The next day she is drawing Anime' -style girls with one-shouldered tops and mini-skirts. She will pick up snakes at a moment's notice yet screams across the room from a spider.
As I drive her to school in the mornings, she tells me her favorite subjects. They vary from day to day. I hate social studies. Social studies is my favorite subject. The PE teacher is so mean. Tomorrow's the PE teacher's birthday; will you make her a cake? Living with a tweenager is a lot like living with a schizophrenic. (I think.)
Her enthusiasm for swimming has grown gradually over the months since she began. She has begun practicing even on the days that she has piano and other commitments, going from 2 days a week to 4. She rarely complains anymore -- in fact, rarely mentions it at all, which I have taken as a good sign.
The final meet of the short-course season was this weekend. It's like a regional meet and the teams all vie for the most points as a team. It's the culmination of a long, hard season. The meet was held in a beautiful facility where the pool is 50 meters long; they have a motorized catwalk that can be moved to divide the pool into 2 separate bodies of water.
Her times yesterday were not her best times; she is still afraid to flip-turn and that tends to slow her down. I made a huge mistake in writing her events on her arm yesterday, and wrote "50 fly" for her 100-yard butterfly. After 2 laps, she stopped, and the judges leaned down and said, "It's a 100!" So off she went for 2 more laps, but by that time, she had already fallen way behind. Nana would be the one crying up in the stands. Not often a child's failure is clearly your own fault. In writing. She generously laughed and hugged me when she returned to the stands. I ruminated for hours.
Today was a better day. Her times all improved. She was DQ'ed on her 100-back due to a faulty flip turn (that's why she is afraid to do 'em, folks! They're hard!) but her times overall were outstanding. On her 50-fly, she had had no recorded time on the books, and today, just missed her B time by a half-second. Came in first in her heat.
Emotionally, it was rougher sailing. Her stomach hurt. She asked, "Do I have to swim next year?" Twice, up in the line area behind the blocks, she cried and asked me to come hold her.
Knowing how her opinion of social studies (and language and math) have gone up and down in hours' time, I chose to stay neutral on whether she swims next year. "We'll see..." I replied. Inside, I was thinking, "Please change your mind...please change your mind..." The teammates and swim parents championed her butterfly so well that she seemed to take some of the praise to heart, and began to hold her head up again. Maybe by tomorrow, she will truly love swimming. We can only hope..
As I drive her to school in the mornings, she tells me her favorite subjects. They vary from day to day. I hate social studies. Social studies is my favorite subject. The PE teacher is so mean. Tomorrow's the PE teacher's birthday; will you make her a cake? Living with a tweenager is a lot like living with a schizophrenic. (I think.)
Her enthusiasm for swimming has grown gradually over the months since she began. She has begun practicing even on the days that she has piano and other commitments, going from 2 days a week to 4. She rarely complains anymore -- in fact, rarely mentions it at all, which I have taken as a good sign.
The final meet of the short-course season was this weekend. It's like a regional meet and the teams all vie for the most points as a team. It's the culmination of a long, hard season. The meet was held in a beautiful facility where the pool is 50 meters long; they have a motorized catwalk that can be moved to divide the pool into 2 separate bodies of water.
Her times yesterday were not her best times; she is still afraid to flip-turn and that tends to slow her down. I made a huge mistake in writing her events on her arm yesterday, and wrote "50 fly" for her 100-yard butterfly. After 2 laps, she stopped, and the judges leaned down and said, "It's a 100!" So off she went for 2 more laps, but by that time, she had already fallen way behind. Nana would be the one crying up in the stands. Not often a child's failure is clearly your own fault. In writing. She generously laughed and hugged me when she returned to the stands. I ruminated for hours.
Today was a better day. Her times all improved. She was DQ'ed on her 100-back due to a faulty flip turn (that's why she is afraid to do 'em, folks! They're hard!) but her times overall were outstanding. On her 50-fly, she had had no recorded time on the books, and today, just missed her B time by a half-second. Came in first in her heat.
Emotionally, it was rougher sailing. Her stomach hurt. She asked, "Do I have to swim next year?" Twice, up in the line area behind the blocks, she cried and asked me to come hold her.
Knowing how her opinion of social studies (and language and math) have gone up and down in hours' time, I chose to stay neutral on whether she swims next year. "We'll see..." I replied. Inside, I was thinking, "Please change your mind...please change your mind..." The teammates and swim parents championed her butterfly so well that she seemed to take some of the praise to heart, and began to hold her head up again. Maybe by tomorrow, she will truly love swimming. We can only hope..
Sunday, February 26
Potty Party
Whatta day! Drove 5 hrs total to attend a Potty Party in honor of DS2's 2nd son, who just conquered the Potty. Here is a pic of him holding his Certificate of Merit. 
Had a very nice time talking to Other Nana, Other Grandpa, DIL and DS2, as well as the kids. Also saw DIL's brother and his wife, altho we did not get to chat. Kids were precious, particularly the Honoree. Interested to find that GS-Ch is reading chapter books. He shared one with me and I was so surprised to find big words like, "identity," "thought," and "leopard." Not too shabby for a 5-yr-old.
Did not get to kiss the Man of the Hour goodbye as he was in the RR with his Mom resolving a little poopy problem. Well, it was a big day. I'm sure it was the final slip.
Had a very nice time talking to Other Nana, Other Grandpa, DIL and DS2, as well as the kids. Also saw DIL's brother and his wife, altho we did not get to chat. Kids were precious, particularly the Honoree. Interested to find that GS-Ch is reading chapter books. He shared one with me and I was so surprised to find big words like, "identity," "thought," and "leopard." Not too shabby for a 5-yr-old.
Did not get to kiss the Man of the Hour goodbye as he was in the RR with his Mom resolving a little poopy problem. Well, it was a big day. I'm sure it was the final slip.
Going to a Potty Party
And the race continues. This morning we have church, then head out to Raleigh to celebrate the (finally) potty-training of our dear grandson. His heart is so big and he just didn't seem to embrace change. He is three now and has taken to the potty in a grand way.
Upon returning, I have to re, re, re proofread the grant that is due on Tuesday, and continue to work on the last one. The good news is that we have sponsorships from the community for TWO benches ($500 each). This is our first tangible item, and they both happened on the same day.
Monday morning before Girls' Coffee (10am every Monday), I am dressing up and going out to solicit donations to the auction. Trying to figure out if I should ask car dealers to donate a car, by myself, or if I should poll the neighborhood for someone who knows them personally, may be more likely to succeed. Have to think on that one. At 10 it's coffee with the girls, 2:20 pick up Little One, 2:30 piano lesson, 3pm meet with Parks director, home for supper. 6pm Little One to swim and 6:30 Auction meeting. Whew. It's like this every day lately.
Must dress now for church.....
Upon returning, I have to re, re, re proofread the grant that is due on Tuesday, and continue to work on the last one. The good news is that we have sponsorships from the community for TWO benches ($500 each). This is our first tangible item, and they both happened on the same day.
Monday morning before Girls' Coffee (10am every Monday), I am dressing up and going out to solicit donations to the auction. Trying to figure out if I should ask car dealers to donate a car, by myself, or if I should poll the neighborhood for someone who knows them personally, may be more likely to succeed. Have to think on that one. At 10 it's coffee with the girls, 2:20 pick up Little One, 2:30 piano lesson, 3pm meet with Parks director, home for supper. 6pm Little One to swim and 6:30 Auction meeting. Whew. It's like this every day lately.
Must dress now for church.....
Friday, February 24
Feeling Better
Okay, things are easing up a hair. I have been so overwhelmed with all there is to do, I was sort of frozen in place. Like when you dream a tiger/monster/bad guy is chasing you and you can't run? Or you try to scream and no sound comes out?
I made a detailed todo list and began knocking items off one by one today. Missed my workout, but I finished one grant (only one left), paid a visit to someone in the neighborhood who has been on my list too long, returned calls, made more calls, organized my dayplanner, and made a huge dent in the laundry. Bit by bit I am beginning to feel better and actually might reinstate my faith in myself as someone who can get things DONE.
The visit I made today was so cool. There was an elementary school in the neighborhood, and at some point in the past it was closed. I am pretty sure it was already closed when I moved here 15 years ago. About 12 years ago, someone bought it and renovated it into apartments. It has 14' ceilings and huge windows, but it backs up to our worst avenue, right on the edge of our neighborhood -- slumlords and crack houses and gangs, yup, all here in Smalltown, USA, and all concentrated on this one street. The apartments are nice, the building is nice, and the tenants are nice upper-middle-class older people. The problem is that it's not 100% safe outside their gates.
I made an appointment with the resident manager, a lady about 58 yrs old who is tiny, feisty, and fiercely loyal to her job and to our neighborhood. We formed a partnership: we are both going to contact the City about cleaning the area. We are going to increase our loudness bit by bit until something is done.
All the older folks from the neighborhood went to this school. She held an Open House 2 years ago and many of them visited, including the lady who grew up in my house. She collected copies of student photos, yearbooks, class pictures, and news articles, and compiled quite a scrapbook all about the school.
As I was getting ready to leave, she said, "If there's anything you need, please let us know. Our residents would love to volunteer for the neighborhood." BINGO. "Well.........we'd love it if you could compile ANOTHER scrapbook about the school. You see, we're having this charity auction on April 1 to raise funds for the park and I think it would draw quite a bit of money...." Of course she agreed, and now we will have this charming and unique item to auction off.
It was a better day.
I made a detailed todo list and began knocking items off one by one today. Missed my workout, but I finished one grant (only one left), paid a visit to someone in the neighborhood who has been on my list too long, returned calls, made more calls, organized my dayplanner, and made a huge dent in the laundry. Bit by bit I am beginning to feel better and actually might reinstate my faith in myself as someone who can get things DONE.
The visit I made today was so cool. There was an elementary school in the neighborhood, and at some point in the past it was closed. I am pretty sure it was already closed when I moved here 15 years ago. About 12 years ago, someone bought it and renovated it into apartments. It has 14' ceilings and huge windows, but it backs up to our worst avenue, right on the edge of our neighborhood -- slumlords and crack houses and gangs, yup, all here in Smalltown, USA, and all concentrated on this one street. The apartments are nice, the building is nice, and the tenants are nice upper-middle-class older people. The problem is that it's not 100% safe outside their gates.
I made an appointment with the resident manager, a lady about 58 yrs old who is tiny, feisty, and fiercely loyal to her job and to our neighborhood. We formed a partnership: we are both going to contact the City about cleaning the area. We are going to increase our loudness bit by bit until something is done.
All the older folks from the neighborhood went to this school. She held an Open House 2 years ago and many of them visited, including the lady who grew up in my house. She collected copies of student photos, yearbooks, class pictures, and news articles, and compiled quite a scrapbook all about the school.
As I was getting ready to leave, she said, "If there's anything you need, please let us know. Our residents would love to volunteer for the neighborhood." BINGO. "Well.........we'd love it if you could compile ANOTHER scrapbook about the school. You see, we're having this charity auction on April 1 to raise funds for the park and I think it would draw quite a bit of money...." Of course she agreed, and now we will have this charming and unique item to auction off.
It was a better day.
Wednesday, February 22
Catching Up
I have not blogged in such a long while. I am really a little overwhelmed with all that is going on, and am struggling to accomplish all we have before us.
The neighborhood is so busy with many plans -- Egg Hunt on April 2, charity auction to raise money for the park on April 1, Centennial Celebration on June 10, with the groundbreaking ceremony that same day, grants due end of February and end of March. The one that is due next week is quite a bit more complex that the one I recently completed; the March one is more complex than that.
Two weeks ago, I learned that there really are two crack houses in the neighborhood. As I was starting to contact authorities and organize neighborhood efforts, we learned that our no-so-amicable neighbor, Doc-in-a-Box, is trying to add a same day surgery facility to their campus, and they are competing with our local hospital for the contract to do so. Our neighborhood traditionally fights anything that will increase traffic and this facility is actually on our street, down at the end. We met Monday night for 2.5 hours to get all the information and plan our strategy. The deadlines are tight: Letters to the State are due by 03.March; the State hearing is 21.March.
Good news from my editor yesterday that I have been approved for an article, just about overfilled my cup. I feel paralyzed and the house is messier than it has ever been. I feel like all I do is go to meetings, run home and cook, clean up a little, and drive Traci.
It seems I need to find an actual paying job, and soon, and have worked off and on, on my resume. How will I get everything done?
Good news is that I have been eating a strict veggie diet for 16 days now, and working out every day. Yesterday my old gf and I played racquetball for an hour. Sweated, laughed till we cried, hit air balls. hit the wall, and had such a blast we are going back tomorrow for another round. Who knows? One day, we might get pretty good. We couldn't help notice the little man who drives the floor polisher, standing in the same place for 20 minutes, laughing at us. GF remarked he was going to rub a hole in the floor. I replied that he was going to disappear. They'd find him in China, still holding the floor machine, and still laughing.
For today, I am leaving in a sec for the church to make the slideshow for church. This has been a regular Wed morning thing. I enjoy doing this and the woman who does it with me is great. We have a good creative energy together and enjoy each other's company. I leave at noon to get have my hair done, then off to pick up Traci. Run by market for a few things, then actually home for two hours before taking her to children's choir and dashing to the Y for today's workout. At 8 it's home again to watch American Idol.
In light of all of this, blogging has taken a real back seat. I miss it and hope to pick back up on it soon.
The neighborhood is so busy with many plans -- Egg Hunt on April 2, charity auction to raise money for the park on April 1, Centennial Celebration on June 10, with the groundbreaking ceremony that same day, grants due end of February and end of March. The one that is due next week is quite a bit more complex that the one I recently completed; the March one is more complex than that.
Two weeks ago, I learned that there really are two crack houses in the neighborhood. As I was starting to contact authorities and organize neighborhood efforts, we learned that our no-so-amicable neighbor, Doc-in-a-Box, is trying to add a same day surgery facility to their campus, and they are competing with our local hospital for the contract to do so. Our neighborhood traditionally fights anything that will increase traffic and this facility is actually on our street, down at the end. We met Monday night for 2.5 hours to get all the information and plan our strategy. The deadlines are tight: Letters to the State are due by 03.March; the State hearing is 21.March.
Good news from my editor yesterday that I have been approved for an article, just about overfilled my cup. I feel paralyzed and the house is messier than it has ever been. I feel like all I do is go to meetings, run home and cook, clean up a little, and drive Traci.
It seems I need to find an actual paying job, and soon, and have worked off and on, on my resume. How will I get everything done?
Good news is that I have been eating a strict veggie diet for 16 days now, and working out every day. Yesterday my old gf and I played racquetball for an hour. Sweated, laughed till we cried, hit air balls. hit the wall, and had such a blast we are going back tomorrow for another round. Who knows? One day, we might get pretty good. We couldn't help notice the little man who drives the floor polisher, standing in the same place for 20 minutes, laughing at us. GF remarked he was going to rub a hole in the floor. I replied that he was going to disappear. They'd find him in China, still holding the floor machine, and still laughing.
For today, I am leaving in a sec for the church to make the slideshow for church. This has been a regular Wed morning thing. I enjoy doing this and the woman who does it with me is great. We have a good creative energy together and enjoy each other's company. I leave at noon to get have my hair done, then off to pick up Traci. Run by market for a few things, then actually home for two hours before taking her to children's choir and dashing to the Y for today's workout. At 8 it's home again to watch American Idol.
In light of all of this, blogging has taken a real back seat. I miss it and hope to pick back up on it soon.
Thursday, February 16
The Veg Thing
I shared with some of you in the fall my intentions to stop being a vegetarian after some twelve years of practicing vegetarianism. Your reactions were surprising. I had felt somewhat outcast even by my own extended family for years as you conspired on visits to run to McDonald's, and of course at the family gatherings when the ever popular "What will we feed her?" came up. Yet when we "announced" the change, most reactions were of shock and dismay. "It's such a part of you!" was the most popular response.
I had made the decision due to what I felt was an addiction to carbohydrates. I felt that introducing more protein into my diet would make meals filling and reduce my dependency on carbohydrates.
Well, after a 5-month struggle with being a carnivore, I am once again a firm vegetarian. I will spare you the glamorous details, but suffice it to say, my system did not care for the change. I've been veggie once again for two weeks and my body is finally beginning to heal.
I am glad that I gave it a try; it proved to me that this is where I need to be. I am once again a pretty strict veggie, foregoing broth and so on, and mostly eating vegetables with some tofu and beans for protein. I once again feel energetic and have been working out daily. We'll see how it goes.........
I had made the decision due to what I felt was an addiction to carbohydrates. I felt that introducing more protein into my diet would make meals filling and reduce my dependency on carbohydrates.
Well, after a 5-month struggle with being a carnivore, I am once again a firm vegetarian. I will spare you the glamorous details, but suffice it to say, my system did not care for the change. I've been veggie once again for two weeks and my body is finally beginning to heal.
I am glad that I gave it a try; it proved to me that this is where I need to be. I am once again a pretty strict veggie, foregoing broth and so on, and mostly eating vegetables with some tofu and beans for protein. I once again feel energetic and have been working out daily. We'll see how it goes.........
Wednesday, February 1
"W"
I realized how inappropriate I have been when our 10-year-old granddaughter began saying disrespectful things about the President of the United States.
"Little One," I began. "It's no secret that I don't like the man. I believe I have been too vocal in my feelings. He's still OUR President and he is due our respect."
"I can respect him, Nana," she replied, "but I don't have to like him, do I?"
Anyone who knows me may have turned here today to see me spew forth bilious responses to his oratory last night.
We are working on self-restraint here. You'll have to find someone else's blog today.
"Little One," I began. "It's no secret that I don't like the man. I believe I have been too vocal in my feelings. He's still OUR President and he is due our respect."
"I can respect him, Nana," she replied, "but I don't have to like him, do I?"
Anyone who knows me may have turned here today to see me spew forth bilious responses to his oratory last night.
We are working on self-restraint here. You'll have to find someone else's blog today.
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