Today at work we had our monthly professional staff meeting... it was supposed to have guest speakers, but they had to cancel due to one of them being ill -- and she was the one who was going to do the driving! Anyhow, I thought it would make for a rather shorter meeting... but yet again our meeting took up all of 3 hours! Amazing.
Anyhoo-- it was my turn to take the minutes down (it's done on a rotation, alphabetical by last names...) ... what a stinker -- my last prof. staff meeting in the UK and they make me take the minutes -- I've only taken minutes once before in my whole life and it was about seven months ago at our prof. staff mtg. -- I didn't think I did all that well at it, but there you go.
So I started taking notes etc.... and by the time we'd finished... my hand was about to fall off.
Then I had to go upstairs to cover the desk while Mark had his lunch. When he came back, I had mine and after that, I began to type the minutes out.
You see, I only work on Mondays (and three Saturdays out of six) so if I didn't get them done today, they'd either have to pay me to do them at home, or wait until I had time to finish them next monday! So they opted for the "let's make Kristen type them all up today!!"
So all afternoon (apart from about an hour and a half when I had to scan in photos for Mr. Gibson from WW2 and listen to all his stories!!) I typed and typed and typed -- they were 12 pages hand written.... and turned into 8 full pages typed!!
Towards the end I got a bit slap-happy and put in a couple of funny comments... showed my boss after I printed them and she died laughing at the one and she'll love the other when she comes across it...
the one she really died laughing about was a comment I put in Mark's briefing... when he weeds the book stock, he pulls off about 70 percent of the books and puts them on a trolley -- then some poor muggins (like MYSELF) has to go through the whole trolley and decide which ones to put back, which ones to send to another library, and which ones to put in the booksale. Mark never ever does this part himself-- he's too busy moving onto the next section filling another trolley!!!! Anyhow, his entire briefing consisted of "carrying on with the weeding" (and something else that I can't remember but that was really unimportant).... and when he said it out loud in the meeting I had to stifle a really huge GROAN -- my boss caught me rolling my eyes big time and she laughed at me behind her hand. So when I typed up the minutes... in the Briefings section... under Mark... it says "carrying on with the weeding (Lord, save us all!) ... and then the other unimportant thing....
I even showed it to him because I didn't want him to think I was stabbing him in the back through the minutes -- I explained why it was funny and that it was only a little joke... and then I showed my boss and she fell over laughing.
The other thing is much longer to explain, but suffice it to say I made a joke the other day when my boss was demonstrating the automatic doors -- on the keypad there are several buttons to indicate hold-open, hold-closed, winter (a snowflake) which only opens the door halfway, and then there's a moon. My boss couldn't think of what the moon button did, and I was tired and slap-happy and made a joke about mooning someone... and she died laughing then.... so in her briefing she wanted me to put a note that anyone who hasn't had a demo ont he automatic doors keypad please speak to her.... and I added that they especially need to ask about what the moon button is for!!!
hee hee!
well hey -- it's only fair, really -- if they're going to torture me and make me do the flippin' minutes... spend ALL DAY on them... I might as well throw a lil Kristen-flavour in too!!
How could I not??
indeed.
Can't those stupid people come up with a decent name the poor child isn't going to HATE for the rest of his pathetic life??!!??
and I quote:
" Former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and her husband David Beckham are "delighted" after she gave birth to a boy called Cruz this morning. The healthy baby was delivered at 10:40am in Madrid, Spain - where soccer ace David plays for Real Madrid - and weighs seven pounds. A statement released on behalf of the Beckhams says: "David and Victoria Beckham are delighted to announce the birth of their baby boy Cruz Beckham, born today at the Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid. Mother and child are in perfect health. Medical intervention lasted 30 minutes with no complications whatsoever." Cruz is the Beckhams' third child and joins their two other sons, Brooklyn, five, and Romeo, two."
from IMDb
Honestly!! I think someone ought to go out and buy the daft cow a 5,000 baby names book -- enough is enough!!
a pastor in Oklahoma, after preaching about the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-28, handed out red and green envelopes to his congregation...
the red for the adults and the green for the children... inside were $100 bills for adults and $50 for children!
The congregation was given instructions on taking the money and investing it into something -- with the resulting profits being put towards supporting the church's missionaries. There was only one stipulation they must obey -- they are not allowed to spend the money gambling or on the lottery!
The whole story can be found here...
I think this is pretty interesting, really, because of how the Pastor responded to the question what if people don't return the money or the profit etc. -- he said it was between them and God.
This amazes me. I hope they'll do a follow up story on what happens and how much God turns their "talents" into at the end of the seven weeks!!
apparently in this story I found on Google News, ASDA has created a replica of Camilla Parker Bowles' engagement ring from Prince Charles... and made it of sterling silver and cubic zirconia.... so you too can feel like a royal wannabe!
well I was wondering that after Pastor Danny used it in his sermon on Sunday -- just checking up on him to make sure he's not used any phrases with dodgy background!!
Anyhow I was greatly relieved to find out the history is perfectly innocent! You can find it here on Dictionary.com (whohoo Dictionary.com!!) -- look at the third part of the definition which begins with "Will I Nill I" ... very interesting!!
courtesy of The History Channel.com ...
The History of Valentine's Day
Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial -- which probably occurred around 270 A.D -- others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.
The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February -- Valentine's Day -- should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.
According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)
Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".
I love my friend Anna.
I call her Crazy Lady 2. (apparently I'm crazy lady 1)
Last night we had a brilliant evening round her & her hubby's home -- they were married last August and we've not been round to their place since they've decorated and got all their new furniture!
They were talking about their honeymoon and we were saying how lucky they were to avoid the food poisoning from their wedding reception (21 people were ill with it) and they were saying that most people presented with symptoms in the morning they were scheduled to fly out... so they would have ended up being "bog-bound".... (for my lovely american friends, bog is another word for the toilet, so bog-bound would mean not being able to get off the toilet for being so ill)...
After a while we finally decided what to order for dinner -- Domino's Pizza!
Yummmmmmmy.
Anna was reading off the menu asking if we wanted starters -- wanting to know our opinions on potato wedges, chicken strips, and chicken wings.... we picked the strips and wedges.... then she wanted to know if we wanted chocolate mousse for dessert... we did... so the order went something like this....
"Hiya -- we'd like to place an order for delivery please... yes, we'd like Strippers, Dippers, 2 large Texas BBQs and 4 Hanky Pankies"...
at which point I collapsed in laughter. Strippers were the name for the chicken strips, and Dippers for the potato wedges.... hilarious!
The other great quote of the evening... she was talking about the problems they've been having trying to put up some curtain rods in the bedroom... they'd originally put up some curtain material with some masking tape as a temporary measure.... and she said... "the scariest sound we've ever heard in the bedroom...." and I died laughing because she was pulling some major cheeky monkey faces at the time.
The other funny things about the evening was going through their honeymoon photos -- they'd been to Madeira and went to "Nun's Valley" and had their photos taken as nuns (standing behind a lifesize nun body cutout with their heads through the holes)... Paul made a scary-good looking nun!!!!!
it was just announced yesterday...
it will be interesting to see the public's reaction over the next few days to this... a bit of a hot topic.
They were talking about it last night at Sewing Club and there were some interesting things brought up. One person felt angry with Charles for the way she said he'd used Diana to produce children and then abandoned her. She thinks he never loved her -- that he needed a young pretty thing the public would love who would bear him heirs to the throne -- but his heart has always belonged to Camilla.
interesting.
if you're an ebayer, you need to listen (and hopefully laugh!) at this song on this website...
while Andy sorts out my style sheets....
he created the brilliant new logo for me last night -- and put it on, but we're still have a few bugs in the system.... the logo appears 100% there in some browsers, but only 75% in others... so we'll have the problems fixed today I hope!
Mia loves to stand up now... and she noticed a baby in the entertainment unit, so she decided to give that cute baby a lil kiss... how sweet!!
Last weekend, she started to do the rock back and forth thing, and then all of a sudden.... she was off! Now poor Ali has to be on high mommy alert every second!
found this article on Yahoo-- missing nickels found....
all i can do is shake my head in disbelief...
found this article on IMDb website today...
Japanese Viewers Refuse To Pay Official TV Subscription Fee
Japanese television viewers appear to have launched a full-scale revolt against the publicly supported NHK network, with at least 397,000 people refusing to pay their required subscription fee, the Tokyo daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported today (Friday). The viewer revolt was touched off by several embezzlement scandals involving NHK employees that eventually led to the resignation of NHK President Katsuji Ebisawa. Nevertheless, word that Ebisawa had subsequently been rehired as an adviser to NHK touched off further public revolt. His successor as president, Genichi Hashimoto said Thursday, "The [financial] situation is serious. I can only say we must do something to gain viewers' understanding."
now THAT'S how you get things changed!
I'll type in later the funny-ish longer story of how I learned how to use eyelets... but here's a fantastic scrapbook website with loads of tips and how-tos.
The viewer really liked the house apparently, but has found one of a similar size in Macclesfield for a cheaper price. So no offer... :(
