CCCC 2006: Day Minus One and Counting

So I managed to get to the Palmer House after a minor driving error that took me through downtown Chicago at 5 PM. Note to self: do not arrive in Chicago at 5 PM again. Second note to self: Pay more attention to road signs.

Saw Susan Lang and Janice Walker in the lounge early then met Will and Michelle for drinks at the Exchequer. There’s been no end of trouble with the Internet connection in the room and the ice machine on this floor doesn’t work; but it’s been nice to see people whom I haven’t seen in 3 or 4 years.

Travel: Burdens of the Modern Beast

I saved Burdens of the Modern Beast on March 4; but I didn’t get around to writing the entry. I never seem to get around to the things I’m supposed to these days. Yesterday, while I was at Saturn waiting for the oil change, etc., I reread the article and mused on how I had spent most of the last 24 hours trying to figure out how to cram my belongings into their various suitcases for the trip. I never seem able to pare things down enough. I’m not sure why I always have too much with me. When I look at it all, it seems perfectly normal, though I know that I have a tendency to pack for emergencies and other anxieties. Oh well, time to get the packing finished and get on the road.

Daily Work: Prepping for the Trip

So here I sit at the Saturn dealer with the huginormous laptop on my lap. Fortunately
Saturn now has wifi. Unfortunately, my mac’s battery died last night. Or at least
I discovered it last night. I noticed that it was unplugged on Sunday when it
went black screen on me. I’m not sure who twiddled the power cable. Since then,
the battery holds only 3%. It shutsdown and loses all sense within 5 minutes
of having been turned on. I’m less than pleased, but it is a very old laptop.
I think that I’ve had it for 5 or 6 years, well beyond the usable life of the
thing. I guess I really am going to have to find teh money to buy a new mac now.

While I’m sitting here, my car is receiving updates so that I can drive to Chicago
in a bit for CCCC. It needs an oil change, traansmission service, and brake fluid
flush (and presumably replace). $221. After this, I’m going to Target to see
if I can find a more usable bag. I can never manage to pack properly. I’m going
to have to rethink everything again : ( But regardless, since it would make no
sense to bring the mac, I have to take a rolling bag for this win machine. That
puts my stuff in really inconvenient places, so I need to find a purse or tote
or something so that I don’t have to get down on the floor every time I want
a pen.

After that little trip, it’s home to finish packing and off to Chicago. We have
a snow day today, so I don’t have to go to the office (woohoo!). According to
my NPR meteorologist, the weather north of here is fine, just blowing a bit;
so the drive should be okay. Possibly a little slow. Regardless I"m bound to
get out of here sooner than I originally thought since I don’t have to go in
to the office at all. I thought I’d have to work today and then leave after work.
It will be nice to get a head start on the trip during the daylight hours.

I must have a million partially done entries for this blog. Maybe I’ll have some time this evening to catch up once I’m in Chicago.

Daily Work: A Million Things to Do

Okay, maybe not really a million, but it feels like a million. I went by the post office to stop my mail before going to work—one to do done. Did a ton of little things for work: edited a professional development newsletter, did the Inbox for tomorrow (on composition for CCCC), did preliminary work on the June calendar revisions, reviewed a lesson, and wrote notes for another lesson author. Plus I managed to go to Target for things I needed for the trip, got gas, and got money at the bank. Now I just have to figure out how to smash the right things into the right suitcase.

Daily Work: TV and Chinese

Holli, Kelli, and I spent the day just hanging out at the house. Watched the rest of the Wallace and Grommit movie then watched Elizabethtown. Went out and fetched Sesame Chicken, eggrolls, and crab rangoon for dinner. I also did more blogging on the basketball teams—too many basketball teams.

It’s going to be very sad tomorrow when Holli and Kelli have to leave :(

Daily Work: St. Patrick’s Day Fun

Celebrated St. Pat’s Day by chunking up a big ol’ slab of corned beef and plopping it in the crock pot for the day.

Took Holli and Kelli for a partial tour of the office, since we needed to go pick up some Girl Scout cookies for them to take back to Virginia. I provided an intriguing tour of campus, marked mainly by my lack of knowledge on what any of the buildings were. I did manage to show them the farms. You gotta see the cows if you’re gonna come to town. Then we concluded this fun with a trip to the grocery store. We’re such wild women.

I made cabbage and mashed potatoes with green onions to go with the corned beef (and chicken breasts for Kelli). The potatoes were the big hit. Who knew I was so good at potatoes? All I did was saute the onions on a stick of butter, but somehow the onions spread a sweet carmelized taste through the entire pan. Very yummy. Kelli proclaimed them the best mashed potatoes she’d ever had (and that’s no easy accomplishment).

Then it was movie time. We watched the Spongebob Squarepants Movie, because I enjoy torturing them. Also A Lot Like Love, a movie that Kelli wanted to see. I TiVoed and and made her a DVD to take home. Then we started watching Wallace and Grommit, but Holli got tired so we saved that for tomorrow. Kelli and I were compelled to watch favorite South Parks: Underpants Gnomes and Sexual Harrassment Panda.

In the News: BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Poet seeks English lesson renewal

BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Poet seeks English lesson renewal—the UK poet laureate Andrew Motion calls for more reading of a wider range of texts in UK schools: “We need to ask how we can reflect the diversity of the society we live in with reference to the authors we use.”

Daily Work: Blogging and Conference Call

Even though I’m at home with Kelli and Holli while they’re here, I had to participate in a conference call for ReadWriteThink, on an evaluation of the various partner sites for attention to issues of multicultural, mulitlingual representation. Most of the phone call consisted of the presenter reading over the chunky report that we had been presented with. Unfortunately, she spoke very softly, so I couldn’t hear her on the speaker phone. I ended up having to tie the phone to my head with a bandana, since it wouldn’t take a headphone and I surely couldn’t hold it to my ear that long. Only 3 hours with a phone tied to my head. What I don’t give for NCTE. (and sorry. there are no pictures)

Other that than, I just spent time with Holli and Kelli, watched and blogged about basketball for GIC, cooked, and fiddled about. Kelli and I had a marvelous day.

Daily Work: Vacation with Holli and Kelli!

My sister Holli and my niece arrived this evening for a short visit. My sister has to go to a funeral tomorrow, and my niece will stay with me. They’ll leave on Sunday morning. I’ve spent much of my time today trying to get things a bit cleaner for their arrival this evening. Baked Chicken Lasagna for them, and have plans for many lovely meals during their stay. It’s nice to have them around, especially since they can carry the heavy things that I can’t. Time to get that box of old dishes down in the basement where it belongs.