Web Robin

Congratulations Melody on your HS graduation! Happy 12th Birthday Katie!

Our Eclipse Adventure

Getting Ready

On Friday, I spotted the news item announcing that a rare annular eclipse would take place Sunday, and would be visible from northern California.  When I dug a little further, I saw that one of the best viewing sites was Mt. Lassen, a national park just 3 hours away. In fact, the rangers were offering a special presentation just prior to the eclipse.

 

Happy Mother's Day!

Mom is our best refuge. She loves us even if we don't seem to quite fit in.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there: the young moms and the not so young.

Much love to you!

[By the way -- did you know motherhood makes us smart! It's true -- read all about the latest research on the topic here.]

Happy Birthday, Patricia!

Chela, Mike and Jacob's Visit

Have to dash to work, but thought you all might enjoy some pics from Chela, Mike and Jacob's recent visit out to Nashville.

I can't say enough about how much fun we had, and will "post" more in comments later.

Enjoy,

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Art History Quiz

The painting at right was featured on the cover of the December, 2011, JAMA medical journal.

The journal features a work of art on the cover of every issue, and traditionally displays a madonna and child piece at Christmas time.

One of the first articles inside the journal is always an essay describing the artwork, the life of the artist, and the culture in which the artist worked.

The story behind the painting reproduced here is intriguing. Without looking it up, see if you can guess which of the following statements is true:

A. The owner of the painting in the 1930's was a Jew who gave the masterpiece to the Nazis in exchange for safe passage to Switzerland

B. The painter took a political risk by painting Mary without a halo.

C. The painter was a close friend of Martin Luther.

D. The painting is housed in the North Carolina Museum of Art.

E. The grapes Mary holds and the baby reaches for represent the sacrament of the crucifixion.

Highs and Lows

So after having a most excellent day at work, how could I possibly have had any low moments?

Hard to believe, but it's true.

Admittedly, they're quite trivial, but here are 3 things that bugged me today:

1. Going into the last open stall in the bathroom only to find someone had jammed a huge wad of seat covers into the toilet. (Why???)
2. Discovering, while I was doing the final review of a course transcript, that the writer used "displays" when she should have used "appears." (One of my pet peeves: Displays takes an object, as in "The manager displays her temper whenever that word is misused." Appears doesn't, as in "After you click Submit, the Home Page appears.")
3. Encountering a disgusting, slimy bit of glistening fat in the bowl of chicken and rice I grabbed for dinner.

What little things have the power to bug you, even on a great day?

Excitement at work

Today was a big day at work: I had a 15-minute one-on-one appointment with our new CEO, Jonathan Harber.

That may not sound like much, but it was! Last week I'd announced the launch by my team of a new mobile-ready model of distance learning. We'd been working on it since the beginning of the year and finally had a handful of courses and tutorials to show off. We held a party at work, complete with cake and balloons. I made a speech and gave out certificates.

My boss' boss wanted me to demo the new courses to the CEO, whose home office is in New York, but when I was there last month, he was in Arizona.

So, when I heard the CEO was going to be in our office today, I asked if I could meet with him for 30 minutes. Then I found out that he was only going to be on site for 2 hours, and was already fully booked out. I told my boss and she told her boss, and he wrote the CEO, who wrote his secretary and asked her to carve out some time for me. (cool, eh?)

Portrait of Bewilderment

Last night I participated in a service project for a woman I've been assigned to visit every month. (In the LDS church almost everyone has 2 or more families to watch over.) I'll refer to her as Jane, though that isn't her name. Over the years I've known her, she never let me come to her house. Sometimes we met at my house; sometimes at the church; sometimes we only exchanged emails.

Several months ago Jane shared the information that she had lost her job and that her husband was divorcing her. A few months later, she told me that she would have to sell her house and move -- with her adult, autistic son -- to live with her mother in Sacramento.

Every time we talked Jane said she was overwhelmed, but she would never let me or anyone else come to the house to help out.

Now I understand Bush's "Axis of Evil" comment re: N. Korea

I just finished Escape from Camp 14, about a prisoner in North Korea who escaped to China when a teenager. 

The conditions he faced were sub-human. I had no idea that North Korea could logically be compared to Nazi Germany.

Read a CNN interview with the author here.

Old beards on (relatively) new faces

Just for fun, check out a collection of photoshopped images of Obama and Romney with facial hair in the style of past presidents.

Do you like any of them? I thought the Grant and Lincoln looks weren't too bad, but the Chester A. Arthur model was outrageous! I can't believe anyone ever thought that looked good.

Just can't resist a good (bad) pun

Happy Birthday Chris!

 

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband of 3 years. Hope everything goes well on this fun filled weekend :) Love you!!! 

Happy 80th Birthday, Mom!

While your birthday bash is tomorrow, TODAY is really the big day! We all hope you have a fabulous birthday and revel in the knowledge that you are both loved and beloved.

x o x o x o x

Thinking of Remodeling?

Don't settle for a ho-hum bathroom: Try one of these!

Which one is your favorite? I like the Super Mario and World of Warcraft models.