July 2012 Blog Posts (363)

Today I gave a presentation for some of the other professors in the department, showing them some stuff about the "clickers," the electronic response system we're starting to use in lectures. Each "clicker" that the students rent has an ID number that the presentation software can record. I was showing folks how to set up a class list that will associate student names with clicker numbers for in-class graded clicker quizzes and other assignments.

Hubby is eyeing a different…

Oh my!!  Day 20!  This is coming to an end too soon!  I feel I need to be more into it... Today I gave a dear friend of mine some of the best tips I could give on finding love.  She also has been on her own for a long time now and it is not good for her.  She really feels it.  So I thought about the things I work on when I want to meet someone special and shared them with her.  I planned her day for tomorrow, based on this idea and I also told her to take notes on my tips and internalize…

Day 1, July 30, 2012

You read a book like this....and, you become inspired!! Now, initially I thought I would wait to start this project as I am home recouperating from surgery. But, out of the blue I have my first gift to give...so today I start!

My husband's cousin was downsized at her school some three years agos...as I spoke to a close friend who visited me as I recover from surgery I asked her if they were hiring with my cousin in the back of my mind. And, sure enough I…

This morning, I took all the weekend's muffins and scones to the soup kitchen. I swear, they seem heavier after they've been in the freezer. I don't remember much about grade-school science, but is ice heavier than water? Maybe the moisture molecules freeze... or maybe it was just early morning and my arms were tired.

Then I went to the coffee shop, which was packed. I ordered an iced coffee and breakfast bagel, and I paid ahead for a random stranger's coffee. The cashier - a…

frenetic pace continues.  i sound like a broken record (how obsolete is that!).  anyway, my gift for the day was one of time again.  got an update on the visiting relative from @#$%^# and really commiserated!  enjoying my quiet time with the olympics on the tv (and no relatives from out of state in sight!).

Day 1: I went to this specialty chocolate shop down the street from my work and picked Raymond up two splendid fancy pieces of chocolate. He loved them! I had to carry them around with me all day because it was over 100degrees Fareinheit... had to keep them cool!

Day 2: set up a budget for myself. I have been having so many financial difficulties.... its been an awful month. Planning a wedding has been taking a lot of extra income... So I forced myself to sit down and write…

Last week I took a friend to the podiatrist and found a wonderful thimbleberry patch in the redwoods behind the office. Have you ever had a thimbleberry before? They are found mostly in the Pacific Northwest at the edge of redwood forests. They look sort of like a raspberry, and taste like a combination of…

My nephew is nearing the end of his visit with us.  He has been perfectly content to play with the boys all week, but I haven't spent a ton of time with him, so today I put off the bills and dinner and sat down and played some games with all of them.  It was fun.

Ended the work day by inviting a colleague out to lunch.  He suggested the place (new to me) and I paid.  It was nice to catch up with him about what's going on in his non-work life.

D4 My original gift plan was taking my in-laws visiting out to dim sum but it felt more like my gift was calling out my brother-in-law very gently with compassion about a xenophobic joke http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia 

D5 My gift was making a spectacular meal for my in-laws for the first time in ten years they've all been in the same place at the same time. There was several minor moments of frustration as I was…

Yesterday my sisters and I drove 2 hours to attend the viewing of my cousin's son.  He was 29 and died in a car crash.

Day 18 (Monday 7/31/12):

* Months ago (at the end of Round 1, I think), I ordered Cami's book from this site boutique, along with some buttons & bookmarks.  Well, I found the bag of buttons the other day that I bought to give away & never did.  So I put 2 of them in the bulletin board by my front door ("Every day is a gift"/"You are a gift').  And today I took 4 of them with me when I walked the dog & stuck…

I browsed through finished projects on Ravelry, and left complimentary comments on the ones that I really liked. Always fun to get comments on your hard work.

I also noticed, while making copies of this week's quizzes, that one paper drawer in the copy machine was empty and the other was low. I took the time to fill the machine completely, and tore the Box Tops for Education coupons from the back of the wrappers and put them in the collection envelope.

Dear Friends, Just finished the book...I am on day 3 of 29 Gifts... and look at this wonderful email I received...Take care all...JAB

Hello my friends,

I wanted you all to know that right about now, Monday evening, July 30th, my sister Gail is carrying your names to the summit of Mt. Washington. I am including an article about one of her friends who has joined her. My sister, Gail Novaco (name not…

This morning, I gave myself the gift of sleeping in. Being a freelancer, I can make my own schedule, but I usually take stuff to the soup kitchen on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Because it's only open in the morning, I have to get up early (by my definition) to get ready and get there before it closes. I know from experience that whatever I take in won't be used on the same day, so I didn't feel like I was depriving anyone of breakfast, and my body was telling me it needed the rest. So…

Yesterday I gave my dad an Atari. We both had work today and when he came home the second thing he did was run upstairs and get out his Atari and hook it up to our TV. 

My gift today was to play some extremely retro games with my dad...though I didn't let him win :)

today was a day of very small gifts at my day job - took more pens to the copy room, brought coupons from target and food lion, re-filled my chocolate bowl with a mix of reese's cups, heath bars, hershey's choc square, twix bars, and rolos (instead of my usual hershey's kisses), and listened to a coworker who has a distant relative visiting (as a friend would say, this guy "has no home training").