Time to get out and start pruning some of those deciduous shrubs and bushes. Blueberries were at the top of my list last week. If you aren’t sure how to go about it, take a look at my eHow article, How to Prune Blueberry Bushes and get those clippers moving.
You know photography has become a passionate hobby when you start fretting over the backgrounds, the angles and overall composition of your photos. Composition is often what makes the difference between a decent photo and an eye-catching-wow photo. Luckily, good composition is something that comes naturally to a lot of us if we just take a moment to really size up a photo and think before we click.
Visit my eHow article, How to Take Great Photos – Composition, for a collection of steps for setting up your next shot.
I just spent a full day volunteering at Junior Achievement’s Biz Town in Portland. Our Edy Ridge fifth graders prepped for this day for multiple weeks, teachers attended a 3 hour training and about 30 parent volunteers (I’m guessing) attended a 1 1/2 hour training to get ready for this special day. We had over 15 businesses open this morning with kids in the roles for worker bees, CFO’s, CEO’s and even a Mayor. Each business had the goal of repaying the loan they had acquired for payroll and operating expenses.
It was so detailed. The kids had a day full of tasks and also had breaks in which to manage their own accounts and make purchases. We had TV interviews of various company representatives broadcast to each business, web advertising, phones being hooked up, meters being read, remodeling consultants making plans in various businesses, an extremely busy cafe, an animal shelter, medical check ups provided by employers, lawyers, insurance claims, retail outlets, etc.
Overwhelming at first? Oh yeah. Did we get the hang of it? Pretty much. A few issues here and there. A few grumpy staff faces that should have had more patience. But, boy, the kids had fun. They were jazzed when they came in and jazzed when they left. They worked together in teams and just had fantastic attitudes all day long.
If your school hasn’t done this…check it out. If you aren’t sure you want to volunteer, just do it. Biz Town is well worth your time.
The Lit Ladies Book Club picked a murder mystery for January and I loved it. Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was an extremely fun read filled with juicy characters, family drama, corporate corruption and, of course, the mysterious disappearance of Harriet Vanger, a 16-year-old corporate heiress that disappeared 40 years ago. Was she murdered, was it an accident, was it suicide or is she even really dead?
Our flawed heroes in the story are Mikael Blomkvist, a dashing journalist trying to recover from a story that blew up and landed him with a libel conviction, and Lisbeth Salander, a very dysfunctional, hard-edged young woman with a sharp brain and even sharper attitude. Funded by the patriarch of the Vanger clan, they join forces to solve the mystery of Harriet Vanger and get a whole lot more than they bargained for. The story is almost entirely set in Sweden, as that is the origin of the author. Some of the Swedish names and phrases can slow the pace at first, but you get used to it fairly quickly.
Should be a great discussion at Book Club tonight. I’ll be very surprised if The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo failed to hook anyone in the group. This is the first book in the Millennium trilogy. Brian is reading #3 and has enjoyed them all. Guess I know what I want to read next 🙂
I’ll be sure to also discuss tonight that the author has his own interesting story. Larsson was himself a journalist like the main character and many say these are kind of like fantasy novels for him. Sadly, Larsson died just two months before the first book of the trilogy was released to the public. We’ll never get to dig further into the author’s mind.
And, for a bit of intrigue, you can visit the Steig Larsson website and dig into the controversy surrounding a potential fourth book in the series. It’s also interesting to read about his background which explains the anti-fascism and Nazi elements to the story.
I’ve decided to share my awesome wing and bleu cheese dip recipe just in time for the Super Bowl. Sooo good! How to Make Angie’s Amazing Wings | eHow.com.
We took Joe and Sam up skiing for the first time this past weekend. It was an awesome experience. Bachelor is a great place to learn. And, we learned a few things as well!
1. Friday is a great day to go. Crowds were small. No lines. Room in the lodge. Parking right by the lodge so no need for lockers. Only Joe and Sam were in their lesson so they got lots of attention.
2. A 2-hour lesson is plenty to get the kids ready for the lift and a long afternoon of fun.
3. The Sunrise Lodge is all you need for beginners. The lift is slow and the hill is gentle.
4. DO NOT have newbies get on a faster, more challenging lift the first day. It’s not worth the pain and they’ll have more fun on the bunny hill. Just say “no” even if they beg.
5. The rental process is pretty smooth, but still a lot of work to get the right sizes and all of that. Be sure you arrive a good 45 minutes before your planned lesson. There is really no point in getting there earlier. The kids need the lesson first and will only get frustrated if they play around ahead of time.
Free and safe sledding locations are often hard to find. We’re not fans of the crazy busy tubing sites where you are required to rent their equipment. So, on Mt. Hood we go to White River. It’s fantastic. Lots of space to spread out and you can use whatever you choose to make your way down the hill. We’ve been going their for years.
Last weekend we ventured to new territory at Mt. Bachelor. The Wanoga Sno-park was an excellent, designated tubing and sledding hill developed by the community and the forest service. It had some super fast, sweet sledding. The kids loved it.
Some words of caution: helmets are a necessity even on safe sledding hills like White River and Wanoga. Accidents happen. Kids aren’t always looking out for each other and snow is not as soft as it looks!
Ben was inducted into the Laurel Ridge National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) last night. It was a very impressive group of 7th and 8th graders and a very well-done ceremony. To be eligible, Ben had to have a 3.65 GPA or higher (he has a 4.0 right now!), get 4 recommendations from teachers at Laurel Ridge and commit to performing 5 hours of community service/leadership every trimester (he already serves on the Sherwood K-12 District Math Committee). Needless to say, I am so proud of Ben. And, I love that he is being acknowledged for his academics and service. It’s also such a great thing to have the kids truly own their success now. They are striving to achieve the good grades for themselves, because it means something to them, not just to their parents.
The ceremony was done really well. I liked that both current NJHS members and our Sherwood NHS vice president all had chances to speak and congratulate the new members. And, of course, our principal Steve Emmert gave the ceremony that emotional touch that he’s so good at.
I’m hoping to see great things from these kids. Congrats to them all!
I’ve made this yummy salad my own with a few improvements and tweaks. Go check it out at How to Make Angie’s Amazing Thai Noodle Salad | eHow.com. Let me know if it’s a winner for your dinner 🙂
via How to Make Angie’s Amazing Thai Wraps | eHow.com. Hope you like ’em 🙂
