Parent's Weekend

We got back from our day trip to Syracuse at about 8:15 PM and it was a wonderful day. We had an extra ticket for the football game when Corey convinced us that he wouldn't need a ticket from us because he could get a student-athlete ticket and sit with us, so, at Corey's request, Bob K. joined us for the day. Bob assumed the role of Corey's "mentor" over a year ago, and Corey felt he needed some time with his mentor!! We were glad to have Bob along with us. We walked into the Carrier Dome on the SU campus just as the National Anthem was playing and got to our seats just as the teams were taking the field. We were happy with our seats and realized that there probably isn't a bad seat in the dome. Unfortunately the SU football team is not having a good year and their bad luck continued today as they lost to the University of South Florida, 41-10. We cheered on the team and enjoyed being part of a Division I football game. At halftime, former SU football star and NFL star, Larry Czonka, was honored by having his jersey raised to the rafters.  We left the game just before the start of the 4thquarter, and neither team scored after we left, so I guess we saw all the excitement. 

We walked around the campus for a while and gave Bob a small tour. We walked through the new Newhouse III building, which is the newest facility for the Newhouse School of Communication,  where Corey will be spending more and more time in the next few years. It is state of the art and very modern. Corey showed Bob his dorm room before we all drove to Green Lakes State Park for a walk. The XC team frequently runs at Green Lakes, and I was there with the boys and the Tabers many years ago. We took a nice 40 minute walk around one of the lakes and then drove back to Syracuse for dinner.

Corey wanted us to go to a Mexican restaurant that he really liked. It was a tiny place, but we were lucky enough to get a small table and then enjoyed a good Mexican dinner. We took Corey back to his dorm and then headed home. All in all, a great day. The weather cooperated and we did a lot in our 7 hours at SU. 

Last night Jim and I went to a party at a colleague's house for the Longridge staff. It was nice to socialize with people I never have a chance to talk to during the school day. We left the party, just as the younger teachers were getting ready to play Beer Pong!

This morning on our way to the Thruway, we stopped at a Michael's Craft store in Victor to get the rest of the frames we wanted for our Iceland photos. We can now start putting photos and mats into frames and figuring out the placement of the photos on the walls. 

One of the TA's at my school was selling a rowing machine that she bought from a TV infomercial, so I bought it. This morning I used it for the first time and it worked pretty well. I will need to have Jim squirt some WD 40 into a few of the joints (the machine's, not mine) that squeak. This won't take the place of me going to the J&J gym, but it will be nice to use when I don't have the time or inclination to go to the gym. I'll post a picture at another time. 

Tomorrow Grandma and I have our the last class in our knitting class and then we can "felt" our purses and see how they turn out. I'll post photos of the purses when we have finished them.

We talked briefly to Tucker this afternoon and he was excited because he had just bought a ski pass to Telluride and some telemarking skis. 

The leaves are starting to fall so I guess we will have to start our raking routine in the near future. 

Hope all is well. 

Yak Yarn Update

I know you all have been wondering, "What happened with the yak yarn?" so here is the update with photos. Sally completed the washing and drying process and brought the yarn over this afternoon. We weighed it, swifted it, measured it, divided it, and put it through the ball winder (balled it???)  and we ended up with 4 "cakes" of yarn weighing in at a total of 1 pound and 4 ounces . Sally weighed it before we started the washing process and we figure that we lost about a quarter of a pound of dirt and other unmentionable material. The yarn is soft and clean smelling. It is a 2 ply yarn that still has some kinks or twists in it. We each have about 160 yards, give or take 20 yards. Even with all the time we put into cleaning and swifting it, the $12 Bob paid for it still seems like quite a bargain. I don't know what I will make with my yardage, I want to think about how best to use it, plus there are quite a few projects ahead of yak yarn. So here is a public thanks to Bob for getting this yarn. It is quite a story and because of its Tibetan origins, I pay more attention to the news coming from Tibet.

Pretty quiet day at school today - no police, no drug deals and only one suspension. It is report card time so all my planning time and lunch time and before and after school time is spent entering grades on the electronic report cards and then writing comments. 

I finished the second baby hat and now need to knit the cute curly-Q's that go on the top. The shower is next Friday so I should be able to have both hats completed and wrapped up for the party.

Speaking of party, tomorrow night Jim and I are going to a Fall Party with some of my colleagues from school. Jim will probably be bored out of his mind with all that "teacher talk", but I know there are other spouses going so maybe they can form some kind of support group for each other!

Saturday we are off to Syracuse for Parent's Weekend and we are going to the football game with Corey. Maybe the football team can get their act together and pull an upset win over the University of South Florida. I'll post pictures. 

I'm glad to know that I am not the only one enjoying Dancing with the Stars. I am rooting for Jennie and Derek to win. I think he is a great choreographer.

Hope all is well.

Mid-week update

Here it is a cold, dreary Tuesday. No snow here but cold rain with more on the way. I believe some areas south of here got their first snow.

Did you vote? This wasn't a major election but the number of messages on my answering machine got to an annoying level. Everyday when I got home last week, there were at least 3 long messages about how I should be voting for some amendment, followed by another message about not voting for that amendment. I hit "delete" pretty quickly. I wish political calls were covered by the National Do Not Call list. I guess the only good things about the calls being on my machine were that I was not at home to have to get up and answer the phone when it rang with these computer calls. 

At school today I found out that a drug bust was made the other day at our school. The bust was on two first graders! Yes, that is first graders. Apparently one student brought his parent's bag of pot to school to show his friends. The next day another boy brought his

parent's bag of pot to compare! The police were called and both boys were suspended. Who knows what will happen to the parents. Never a dull moment at my school. 

I went to a yoga class at the gym at Jim's work. It was pretty good and I will try to go back next Tuesday. Last year Greece Continuing Education offered a yoga class right at my school, a half hour after school ended one day a week and that was perfect. That class is not being offered anymore. This new class is free though, so it will be a fine replacement.  

Grandpa Update: Grandpa has an appointment with the cardiologist on Friday. We'll let you know the outcome of that.

The photo with this entry is from our trip to Utah this past April. It is a famous pictograph called Procession Panel and is most impressive after a spectacular hike.

I have to watch the Results Show for Dancing with the Stars. Anyone else watching that show? I started watching it about a month ago and love the dances! I knit through all the talk, and drop the needles when the dancing starts. It looks like such fun to me. 

Guess that's all for now. Leave me a comment with what is going on with you.

Hope all is well. 

Gotta Love the Weekends!

Our stay at Turning Stone Casino and Resort was very nice. This morning we got up at what we thought was 8 AM and then realized it was only 7!! So we had a leisurely breakfast at the casino and then I went back to the slot machines and made a $20 donation to the Indian nation! So I came home ahead by $53.50. 

Jim's race course was about 1 mile from the casino so it was an easy drive to get there. While Jim did his warm-up I sat in the car and read a ton of paperwork for a committee I am on at church to develop a Sexual Misconduct policy for the church. 

Jim ran a good race and his team of Veteran Men won their race. I was the race photographer and took over 100 photos. It was a good day for a race, cool and overcast. It didn't start to rain until we started to drive home, and that was just a short rain shower. 

We stopped at Eastview Mall to return a gift to Pottery  Barn. With gas over $3 a gallon, we decided this was the most efficient way to get to Pottery Barn without making a special trip.

The Buffalo Bills won today and so did the Patriots! Yipee!

Grandpa is going to the cardiologist on Monday (if he can get an appointment). He has become very short of breathe lately and had some difficulty breathing on Saturday while taking the trash outside. Maw took him to the doctor, they ran some tests and sent him to the Emergency Room. The ER ran some more tests and didn't find anything to alarm them, so they sent him home and told him to see his cardiologist. Stay tuned for that update.

We talked to Tucker today. He called while we were at Jim's race. He had been mountain biking and it sounded like great fun. The Utah weather continues to be delightful for his survey/field work. 

Hope all is well.