So this was a hectic weekend.

On Friday I was contemplating joining mom and dad at the German American Club, for dinner. They were going to pick up three musicians who would be staying at our house for the weekend. It makes it easier on the club then finding hotel rooms for the entire german band. However, Amy called and asked me to watch her kids and since watching her kids meant having access to her laptop, I agreed. (That is not the only reason I agreed. It was a big factor though. Come on..I'm going through laptop withdrawl.) It also gave me a head start on the stuff I needed to get done for Rally Day.

Amy and I are co-leaders for the women's group and as such had to come up with a table full of information for Rally Day at church. Most of it was not a problem, but I had decided that I wanted to make a brochure, with all of the information that people could take with them when they left. Not a big deal for me...until you factor in that my computer is gone...along with all of my programs. And my parents computer my be newer, but it does not have the same programs.
So Friday night was a pretty productive night. By the time I had gotten home, the German visitors were already asleep so I didn't meet them until the breakfast the next morning.

On Saturday I was watching my parents friends dog, Schnitzel. (When the doggy frustrates me I tend to call her chicken cutlet.) When I woke up Schnitzel was in the house already and the two younger german girls were playing non-stop with her. We had three girls with us. A 26 year old teacher and two younger girls, 13 and 14. After a quick "german" breakfast (wurst, kase and brot) I had to disappear to Amy's to finish up working on our Rally Day table.

I almost finished the brochure before I left and we printed out everything Amy would need to be creative with on our display board. ( She is a wiz at scrapbooking. She does with real materials, what I do on the computer)

By the time I got home it was after noon and I had once again missed spending time with the German girls. But that was OK as I still had work to do. Including making a sign up sheet for the choir table as well as two informational sheets about choir, finishing the brochure for women's group making a sign up sheet for our first activity, getting the brochures printed and figuring out what to do with my sunday school class when I couldn't hold class ...in a classroom.

So, I have to get to staples by 8:30 in order for them to have time to print my copies, but as I use my parents computer at 7:30 to finish the brochure I discover that they don't have the right programs. Their computer wont open my files. So after a frantic 20 minutes of trying to find a compatable program, I run down to Amy's finish it there, print it out, and, as it was too late to go to staples, decided to run them off in black and white at church the next morning.

It was a stressfull day, but Sunday went smoothly. I set up at 9, from 9:30 to 11 I convinced people to sign up for Women's group, I registered my students for my class and when Scott, the choir director, harassed me, I went for a quick choir rehersal. After church we had a picnic. I had two sno cones and some cotton candy. I was planning on going to the Oktoberfest right from church, but my students decided to show their appreciation for having me as a teacher by giving me a group hug...after they had gone down the giant slip and slide that ending in a muddy pit. So, I had to go home and shower first to get rid of the grass stains.

The Oktoberfest was wonderful, as usual. And Katrina had a tent for her German class set up. That night, Mom and I sat up with our visitors and talked for a few hours. They left early on Monday to catch a bus to Niagra Falls and then it was on to Toronto for their next "gig".

I had the rest of my classes this week. So far so good. On Monday night after my class I ran to church for a Parent meeting for youth group. I'm a chaparone for the camping trip this weekend, as well as a sunday school teacher for some of them, and a discussion group leader for the junior youth group and assigned to help out with whatever else Katrina needs me for. I'm not quite sure when I started to become so active. Do we think it's left over from chemo? It's kind of creepy being this social and nice.
Anyway...I don't think I have anything more right now. So I'll post this and hope it tides you over for a few days. - Elizabeth

First day of class.

The class is actually in a computer lab, so I'm updating from class. Don't worry class hasn't started yet. So. Back to school. Finally. Let you know how it goes. - Elizabeth

OK. So I lied. I’m going to continue to update on occasion from class. There is a lot of syllabus discussion going on and since this is one of the classes that I had to drop before starting my chemo, this is all stuff that I have heard before. So, I’ll probably keep this up through class depending on my level of …not paying attention.

Although, now that I am looking through this syllabus, I have to teach someone how to use various programs (ie: word, excel…) I’m thinking mom. Lord knows she could use the help. In fact, I might even throw in a bonus lesson on changing the ink cartridge in the printer.

Thinking about this now, I might be on to something. This could free up a lot of my time. Especially around Christmas when mom starts in on her Bauerlein Family Newsletter. If she could do it herself, and I mean the whole thing, that’s hours of my time that would be freed up.

Don’t get me wrong. She is a great writer. But formatting, font, margins and indentation to fit it onto whatever cutesy piece of paper she has picked out…she does none of that. She is so going to have to learn. Oh. I may even have her learn how to start her own blog. Then we eliminate the need for a newsletter all together.

(snickers…no wait …make that laughter. Make that roaring laughter)

The more I thought about it, the weirder that idea seemed. Mom having a blog is just …wrong. ( I am really trying hard not to make a scene in class. If anyone were to look at me right now, I probably looked constipated I’m trying so hard not to laugh.)

Don’t give me those looks, I’m not being mean. Can you honestly think about my mother having her own blog and not laughing? See. You can’t help it either.

I'm not the only one. Someone else just suggested that he would teach his father. The prof. has informed us this is a good idea, but we can't force our parents. Hmmm. I could tie mom to a chair in front of the computer. I don't see a problem with that.

So. On the final note, as class appears to be ending early. This is a technology in education course and as such the prof. explained why the class is important to her and how she came to be involved. Her son was diagnosed with leukemia in fourth grade and he was unable to attend class because of his chemo. She and her son's teacher ended up setting up a web video allowing him to "attend" class from home. How's that for coincidence. Leukemia is also a blood borne cancer, like lymphoma. Irony huh?

Ok. I’ll be heading to choir shortly. I expect lots of comments to bolster me after my first day of class. Okay. I think I’m really done this time. -Elizabeth

aarrrrrrrrggggggggg!!!!!

No, I am not lost somewhere in the middle of Boston. The trip was fine and I had a great time wiht Paul.
I am currently updating from my parent's computer, as my computer, just recently...ate itself. That's right. It's dead. That is my latest excuse for a lack of update. (You try kicking my parents off the computer when they are in the middle of a game of solitare.) I have ordered a new computer but it won't be in for a week or so. So, before my parents get back and try and take over the computer again, here is a quick run down.
Monday and Tuesday was recouping from the weekend. Wednesday was something, but I really don't remember what...I think I went for a walk. Oh, and I sent out another resume for a job. On thursday I ran down to Amy's house and watched the kids while she and her cousin ran to the US Open. This morning, I went for a job interview, stopped by Mercy to do some paperwork, stopped by Church to talk to Mrs. Hinz, stopped by the bank so the could remove a fee the charged for an overdrawn check, and now I am waiting for Amy to call because she is taking her cousin into the city again and I'm going to watch the kiddies. This is an excellent thing as it will get me out of packing up Erica's stuff. The rest of the family is taking Erica's stuff up to Boston this weekend. I wont be going...I might sleep. Anyway, I have to go because someone keeps pacing outside the door mumbling "freecell" under their breath. I'm afraid if I don't let them get back to their games they might go through withdrawl.
Later - Elizabeth