OK, I do not believe that the world will end in 2012, but you can't ignore the irony of how many get caught up in the speculation. My Christian upbringing teaches that we must be prepared at all times, but it also states very clearly in the scriptures that "no man knoweth..." the time, not even Christ Himself. To me, this simply means it WON'T happen on 12/21/12. Maybe earlier? Maybe later! Life goes on until the time comes, right?
I figured I may not get into much better practice to post even short ones, if I don't start early in the year. I will be taking 6 credit hours again this term, as well as continuing my efforts to keep Conway HS German program growing. The farm will continue to be the farm, but my Church calling has changed, somewhat. I was released as the Branch President back in November, but called the same morning to be the Elder's Quorum president.
For any of my readers who are not familiar with our Church organization, Branch President is essentially the same as "minister" in a baptist congregation. He is the spiritual leader for that congregation ("branch" is smaller than a "ward", whose leader is called a "bishop"). Elder's Qurorum refers to a group of men who hold the office of "elder" in the Priesthood organization. The president is largely responsible to assist the Branch president or Bishop take care of the material needs of the congregation, by organizing home visits, teaching and training the men in priesthood responsibilities, and organizing service and welfare projects as needed. So I am still very involved in the "inner workings" of the Branch, just no longer responsible for the specific spiritual needs and struggles of the members.
A few updates:
Justin is now home from his mission. His original call to Guadalajara, Mexico was great for him, but not for his diabetes. The 15-20 miles a day, and a different diet led to health problems. He came home for a week, and then was able to serve temporarily in our own mission. He was then re-assigned to Tempe AZ. He served faithfully over 26 months, in 3 missions, with 4 mission presidents, 2 countries, 6 states, had 23 missionary companions, and was blessed to be involved in baptisms for 20 converts.
It is wonderful to have him back home.
Liz is doing well at BYU. She came home for Christmas, and we were so glad to have all of the family home, that we completely forgot to get a picture together. Liz went back yesterday, sad face/happy for her. She is enjoying her time at the university.
School starts in earnest tomorrow, (sad face?) and I will feel ready sometime in March. New semester, projects, AP audit, AP practice tests, and the AP German test, to see what changes I need to make to my program. Never a dull moment.
Gotta go. Time to "put chickens to bed", and then get in bed myself, so that my 5 am start won't seem too terribly harsh.
Again, Happy New Year! Hope it is a blessed year for all of you!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Another 2011 make up post, just in case you thought my life got boring.
Update January 4, 2011
Wow! Time sure flies by when you need 36 hours in a day! I think I survived my classes. I am not sure yet. I had some severe tech issues since the last post. OK, since I wrote the last post, even though they are probably showing up together.
As we were winding down the semester with major written assignments and research projects, I was having issues. The day after I submitted a “major” paper, the laptop I was using crashed. I should back up slightly......... This little netbook, that has saved my life in so many ways, has one significant drawback. It does not have Microsoft Office installed. Powerpoint and Microsoft word are heavy needs for my online class. And for some reason, the major paper (sent earlier), didn't go through correctly. (probably because it is not WORD). OK, I had been using my school laptop to re-write that paper and make up powerpoint presentations. So the major paper was on my school laptop, pretty well done, and so I just finished it on a weekend. Failed to bring home the flashdrive, but figured it would be OK until Monday. Wrong!!
I sent it, planning on backing it up to flash drive the next morning at school. Something about the best laid plans.........
At school the next morning, I didn't have time to back up the paper before my classes started, and I was using the computer for class. As I'm sitting there at my school desktop doing grades (during my 2nd period planning), the laptop starts making weird sounds, and when I went over to check it, it was showing a black screen with the line “checking for hard-drive....hard-drive not found”
I would have screamed, but I think it might have disturbed my classroom neighbors.
A couple of days later, I got an email from that professor, that they could see I had resubmitted something, but it still wasn't coming through, would I please send it as an email attachment?
By the time I got that re-done, I have typed that paper 3 times. During the time that laptop was down, I still had powerpoint and written docs to deal with, so I had borrowed the FL dept. laptop for the Microsoft office.
I was in the middle of the biggest presentation I had to produce this year, had only saved about three pages of the 15 as a draft, but had not backed up all my notes, outlines, bibliographies, etc., and that computer went into a fatal loop error. (trying for days to “configure [the last] update”). I even pulled the battery, because it would restart itself back into that loop in the carry case. Startled me out of my sleep one night. After 2 days without power it started right back into that loop. Had to be wiped, and have everything re-installed. Again, I wanted to scream. Got to start that project over as well.
I think I have turned in all the critical stuff, but I have yet to hear back from the professors in question, because the next term doesn't start until the 18th of January, and I am sure they are not back “in school”, yet. At this point, I can only hope that everything went through OK, and try to keep Michelle at ease until we actually know what grade I have for the online class. (while that class shows an incomplete, I am on grade probation, and Michelle is really on edge.) I got a “B” in the other class, so I need at least a “B” for the online class as well. Crossing my fingers.
Next issue: Things on the farm are likely to get interesting. We are raising one house using methods that were in practice over 30 years ago. Not quite “organic”, but “natural”. Natural lights, as close to natural ventilation as can be had, and still keep chickens alive, no medications, smaller flock sizes for more space/bird, etc. People on the Coasts want to believe their chicken had a happy life before it was butchered and sent to their table. It is almost laughable. All a chicken cares about is food, water, lack of predators, and a temperature that is “comfortable”. The company (companies?) involved have actually talked about putting “toys” in the houses. ??!!?? But hey, word has it people on the coasts are paying $9 + per pound for “happy chicken”. YIKES!! We'll call ALL our chickens “happy” if the pay goes to that level!
The big plus for us is that for now, Townsend will pay us by the day, not by the pound. It should mean a higher pay-out for the flock, regardless of mortality, weight, etc. More to come as that develops.
Late (make-up) post from 2011, sorry!
I don't know yet if I am going to post this, but I am sitting in the downstairs hallway, monitoring doors at school, killing time, so I figure it gives me something to do.
We have just come off a 3 day weekend, coming off a 3 day school week. Last Sunday/Monday we got snow. The storm was somewhat odd, in that it hammered to the South. Places like Atlanta, and even down into Florida had snow and icy conditions that are rare. We, on the other hand, got a measly 3 inches. It was super fine, soft powder, what I call “powdered sugar snow”. Conway and Little Rock ranged between 4 and 7 inches. The southern/central part of the state got the worst of it, but it was enough trouble on the highways that nearly every school in the state shut down Monday, and many stayed closed on Tuesday. Conway closed both days, but I was already in Heber Springs before they called it in on Tuesday. I was still glad to turn around and go get some more sleep.
I used the day to help with laundry, we baked large amounts of bread, and I was able to get some firewood cut. We have used most of the pile I had cut a few years back, and the thought of a major snow or ice storm leaves me anxious. I have lots of downed trees, from the ice storm(s) of the last few years, I just need to tromp out into the woods and actually cut it up. Fortunately, the weather on Tuesday was great for outdoor activities.
This weekend (Martin Luther King jr.), I am getting ready to sell chickens. They go out today from one house, and the other three go tomorrow. I am taking a personal day to be around to help. Bob does not do well in the chicken houses anymore, and he really doesn't like Michelle to have to run the show on a catch. The water lines and doors are a big enough job, he will try to help if I am not there, and his breathing can not handle that. I should add that he also has concerns about Michelle being the only one up there with the catching crews. All men, most not english speakers, some a bit “rough around the edges”. I actually agree with him on that reason.
I'll update this one, rather than starting a new one. I am having trouble cutting/pasting these word documents into my blog, so I will try to add just a few things, and hope I can post it without having to rewrite the whole thing.
We had some great weather at the end of January. Last weekend was up in the low 70's, so I spent a good amount of time cutting trees. I am feeling it now (one week later), because my back has not worked like that for awhile. I cut some trees that were nearly 18 inches across when they fell. Mostly Oak and hickory, so it will be great for fires.
Then, just to make me feel better about the back pains, this week started with the potential for a massive storm across more than half the country. The one that was all over the news, arctic blast, record snowfalls, ice and sleet, etc. Well, it missed us. We got just the edge of the snow here in our region. Northwest Arkansas got slammed, but we got a lot of rain, followed by just enough sunshine and wind to dry the roads before the temperature bottomed out. Snow flurries did happen, but they left less than an inch of really fine dry stuff on the ground, and cars moving were enough to blow that off the roads. Nuts, isn't it?! We went from 70's on the weekend to 50's on Monday, rain and low 50's again on Tuesday, to a Tuesday afternoon that dropped below freezing! Thankfully, the roads had been mostly dry before the temp hit 32. It was 19 in Greer's Ferry the next morning going to work. It stayed cold, and today the temp read 11 as I came through GF. BTW, “today” is Thursday, February 3rd (2011). The weather is supposed to get “iffy” again tomorrow, I guess.
(Friday morning update) The roads were clear, dry and beautiful today, but apparently this new wave is supposed to drop anywhere from 1-5 inches of snow and/or sleet, some possible ice, depending on your location in the state. Concord called off school, rather than risk the bussing issues later, as have all of the Little Rock area schools, and many others around the state. Conway, of course, is always a hold out when it comes to school closures. Hopefully I will be able to make the drive home when that time comes. I would hate to get stuck here on a weekend. If it's going to be nasty, and driving is impossible, I would much rather be stuck at home.
If I could stay home and read or work around the house, or even “fight” computer issues for my classes, Fun! Otherwise, I am ready to be done with the cold weather. Conway called off school, and ran busses at 12 noon. I “raced” home on slushy but usable roads.
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