Random

I got my husband to join Facebook!! Bwahahahaha! This is absolute proof that resistance is in fact futile. ;) He resisted it for a long time, but he's taken to it like a duck to water, and been posting smack talk with all The Guys.

It is still cold here, although not as cold as it's been. I could really do without seeing temperatures in the 30 degree range for a long time, though. I'm also still not enamored with waking up while it's pitch dark. I do not like Daylight Savings Time coming this early in the season. It doesn't save us any money around here, that's for sure- the heat has to go on earlier so I don't freeze my ass off when I wake up (we turn it way down at night), and I'm using lights in the morning so I don't trip over all the toys my son leaves all over the living room! I actually read an article recently about one state, I believe Indiana, that only finally began using DST about four years ago, and their usage of electricity has gone up since they began using it, not down!

I'm dying to get outside and work on my various gardens. It seems that my beds that frame the front walkway have flowers in them- it looks like tulips are coming up! I bought crocuses to plant, but now I'm glad I didn't plant them last fall, like I was planning to- I can see what flowers I have and where. I'll eventually plant them somewhere, of course, but I want to rip out a bunch of bushes and rearrange things first.

I also bought seeds for a vegetable garden. I think I want it right underneath my kitchen window; I think that'll get the best sunlight of anywhere in the backyard. I want to plant cucumbers, peppers, and of course, tomatoes. (This is Jersey, after all!!) I have no idea how to rip up the grass that's in that spot, though- do I just use a shovel on it? Then I'll have to get fencing for the entire perimeter, to keep the critters out.

Speaking of critters, the bears haven't been back yet. Not that I miss them, mind you. I just worry about them whether they're here or not. I love the idea of the swingset Frank will have out in the backyard come late spring- Mom, Aunt, Uncle, and my sister got him one for Christmas- but I worry about being outside during the day with him, when there's no one else around- what if the bears show up??

Today is a lazy Sunday. I interpreted this morning, came home, made a pizza for lunch, and we put Frank in for a nap. Darrel and I have a live draft tonight for our fanatasy baseball league we're in with my brother, among others. I have no clue what I'm doing! Should be fun.

The Amazing Race

Okay, yes, it's a "reality show", and normally I hate the whole genre. But Darrel got me hooked on this show several seasons back. We mostly giggle at the draaaamaaaa that goes on, but we really do like being able to say, "Hey, we've been there!" occasionally.

This season (number 14) is different, though: There's a deaf guy on it, with his mom. A really deaf guy, who doesn't really use speech much, unlike, say, Marlee Matlin. Whom I adore, by the way- I think she's a really good actress, and it's nice for the kids to have someone so high profile to look up to. She's quite sweet, too- we took the kids to hear her speak (okay, see her speak) a few years back, and she took plenty of time with each student, especially the deaf-blind kid, at the autograph signing afterwards. Oh, and I got my picture taken with her interpreter, Jack, who is also quite nice.

Anyway, I think it's cool that they have this guy, Luke, and his mom, Margie, on the show. They're doing very well, so far, too- they've come in first twice and fourth twice. I also like how their thing is "the deaf guy and his mom", (for those who don't watch the show, every team of two people has a thing- this time around, there's two brothers who are stuntmen, a gay man and his gay dad, former NFL cheerleaders, flight attendants, etc.) but his deafness doesn't seem to make much difference in the race.

I'm kind of surprised more of the kids aren't watching the show, though; they certainly tuned in when the deaf woman was on "Survivor"! But the interpreting staff discusses the latest episode every Monday morning. ;)

Wednesday

So, I've been pretty busy the last few weeks, as you may have guessed, since I didn't update much. The primary reason is the spring musical at school. We had three deaf kids in the cast this year, the first time I think we've ever had deaf kids in the cast, and I was doing most of the interpreting for them. For much of the rehearsal time, I was only doing two days a week, but the last two weeks, I was there EVERY DAY after school. This is because I had to learn when the kids needed to be onstage and when they needed to come off, about costume changes, etc.

I didn't need to know all that so I could tell them- they all knew what they needed to do. I needed to be there because one of them, B, has Usher Syndrome. US is a genetic disorder in which one is deaf and eventually goes blind. It's never predictable as to how much vision one will lose, either. B has lost much of his peripheral vision already, and his night vision is very poor; this means he's legally blind, and will never be permitted to get a driver's license. B wanted me with them during all performances so I could serve as his sight guide getting him on and offstage- when the house lights go down, he can't see anything.

All around, it was an incredibly positive experience for them and for me. The theater kids proved very open to the idea of having deaf kids in the cast (B even had one line- he signed it while another boy onstage voiced it.) and to the idea of learning to sign. It's one of the few times I've interpreted an activity where the deaf kids didn't cluster together in a corner- they totally integrated themselves with the hearing kids! It was wonderful.

The performances went great as well; the Sunday matinee, the final performance, was SOLD OUT. It became standing room only because more and more people just kept showing up!

In a way, I'm kind of sad it's all over, but at the same time, I'm quite happy to have my life back. Darrel was picking up Frank at daycare every day, which meant he was there until 5:30pm most nights, as opposed to when I pick him up, when he's usually out of there by around 3pm. I got home most nights well after Frank was in bed, so I saw him for maybe a half hour in the morning.

I calculated how much OT pay I'll be getting, and I'll have plenty to get the powder room redone! Yay! :)

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I'm home today because Frank gave me pink eye. I am waiting for my doctor's office to open at 9am so I can call and get an appointment. I have been sick kind of the last several days, trying to fight off a cold, and I think it's bordering on a sinus infection, so I probably would have tried to get an appointment before the end of the week, anyway, but it annoys me that I have to take a sick day for stupid pink eye.

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We have an Army base about two miles from my house. Every once in a while, we hear a BOOM from that direction; I don't know what they set off, but it's pretty loud. We also have blasting going on out on route 80, for construction. So I get the BOOMs from both directions. Anyway, I don't know which I just heard, but it scared the crap out of me, and it shook the house!

Hm, maybe it was another earthquake...some people said the first two felt simply like an explosion...

!@#$%^&*&***((!!!!

We have snow. Again.

I measured two hours ago, and it was at seven inches.

It hasn't stopped.

The wind is blowing, too, so there's really no point in shoveling- it'll al blow right back onto the driveway.

Did I mention it hasn't stopped?

Oh, and yeah, I have no school today, which means I get to go in Monday of my spring break week. Well, not just me- me and all the other students and staff in district. Yay. Seriously, though, the families in town always go away for spring break; I wonder if we'll have enough kids for it to actually count as a day.

On the plus side, the school musical I've been interpreting for is this weekend. It means a madly busy week for me, with 12+ hour workdays all week, but the OT paycheck I get next month will be NICE!!

But I frigging hate snow with the white-hot heat of a thousand suns.

Too bad that won't melt all that white shit I have out there right now.

Week off

So, we apparently had another earthquake Tuesday night.



I slept through that one, too. Of course, it was only a 2.3 or something pitiful like that.



I have this week off from school for winter break. It's been a busy week for me- I've gotten a lot accomplished, but I don't feel terribly rested. Monday, Frank had off as well, so we went to see my mother and have lunch there. Lunch was right smack in the middle of Frank's normal nap time, so he slept in the car on the way home, and, once we got home, I put him in his crib for the remainder of his nap. My mother is quite excited about her trip she leaves on next week- she's visiting one of her oldest friends in Atlanta, and then she, Friend, and Other Friend are going to Cancun! Must be nice, going somewhere warm...Seriously, I don't begrudge her- the woman has worked hard enough her entire adult life, it's about time she just kicked back and had a good time.



I started over the weeked, and finished Tuesday, painting the master bathroom. It's a dark blue color, and I love it! Darrel initally was a bit wary- he was afraid it would look too dark and gloomy, but now that it's up, he likes it, too. I have to fix the trim areas- I ran out of painter's tape, so there are some areas that need more than a little fixing up- but other than that, it looks good. :)









Wednesday I went into NYC. As I've mentioned before, I like to do this every once in a while, to check out museums and stuff. Part of the problem with living so close to a place like New York is that you fall into thinking, "It's always been there; it'll always be there", and, if there's anything that 9/11 taught us, it's that no, nothing is guaranteed to always be there, nor are we, so I want to see as much of it as possible. I never went to the top of the World Trade Center, and it's one of the bigger regrets I have.


So, yesterday, I went on the Staten Island Ferry. It's free, and I'd always been told it's a nice way to see NYC, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty from the water. I have a feeling it's much nicer when it's warmer and the windows can be opened- they were pretty dirty and hard to see much out of.
The above picture is of one of the SI ferries.



I also checked out the African Burial ground, about a block north of City Hall. Apparently, there were quite a lot of slaves in the early years of NYC, and they were buried out in the boonies at that time. The years went by, a lot of City was built over the essentially unmarked burial site, and it was forgotten, until 1991, when some excavation was done to prepare for building yet another tall building...and lots of skeletons were discovered. It is now a small site run by the Naptional Park Service, and like many of their properties, it's free, and staffed by volunteers who are quite knowledgeable about City history, so, if you're as much of a history geek as I am, I suggest you check it out, next time you're in NYC.


I also went to the New Museum of Contemporary Art. It's on Bowery, in a new building that just opened last year. I didn't spend a great deal of time there- the art was a bit weird for me! I did like the Ukranian Museum, though, and found some new artists to like. The Sports Museum of America, which is way down by Bowling Green, was really interesting. It's basically brand new, just opened last year, and is quite extensive. They have all kinds of films, all the films are captioned all the time (yes, I asked), and they even show some fencers on some of these films! :) I told Darrel that when Frank is a little bit older, the three of us have to go back there, because I think he'd really like it a lot. Oh, yeah, and they have the Heisman Trophy on display there, too, and you can actually touch it. My husband the football lover almost started drooling when I said that!


Today I basically vegged out, and tomorrow I have IVIG at noon, so it's another day of just hanging out around here. I have to finish cleaning out my desk, shred a bunch of papers, and finish a scrapbook I've had sitting on the floor here for the better part of a month.

Oh, and it snowed again yesterday and today. It didn't stick, but it still pissed me off.

Fault line

As I said, I live along the Ramapo fault line; here's a map of NJ showing where it is, exactly:

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/physiog.htm

Actually, I'm not exactly right on the fault; I think my house is somewhere between the A in "Highlands" and the line itself.

And, before you ask: no, we haven't had any aftershocks.

Earthquake!

This really should have been the subject of yesterday's entry, but whatever.

So, for background info, my house is right on top of the Ramapo fault line, which I've known for years runs right through this area of northern NJ. We occasionally will get earthquakes- the last one I lived through, well, I slept through it; I think that was about a 3.5-ish. My MIL was awakened by one a few years ago.

So, yesterday morning, in the pre-dawn darkness, I sat down to eat my Cheerios and watch the news. In one of their promos, they showed a reporter live in my town, saying something about an earthquake the night before! Obviously this caught my attention, and I thought it had to be a mistake, because I'd felt nothing the night before.

It turned out the earthquake happened at 10:34pm EST, and the epicenter was roughly five miles as the crow flies from my house. Hubby slept through it as well. It did no damage here or anywhere else, and no one wa sinjured from it.

Pretty much no one else slept through it, though. Coworkers who all live nearby, as well as most of the students at Very Wealthy High School I work at all felt it, and all had a story to tell.

There's an Army base about two miles down the road from me, and during the day, they're always setting off something, so apprently a lot of people called police and asked what the Army base was doing at 10:30pm!

I'm kind of disappointed that I slept through an earthquake...for the second time. I don't need to experience The Big One; I'm just curious as to what it feels like to be in one.

Apparently having me around guarantees a smaller earthquake, though. ;)