The next generation of architects?

Today John and I were out running errands and decided to pop by the office to take a look at the project that is going out the door on Monday. John is very curious about architecture and knows that I help design buildings for contractors to build and so I thought it would be interesting for him to see the drawings. He also wanted to know what the materials were going to be for the exterior so I pull out an elevation sheet and our samples and pointed it all out to him. He was good for a while and even wanted to help pick out the siding and roof colors then he went into cheese mode. I told him that I would like to get a picture of him looking at the drawings so that if he became and architect later on it would be cool to have a photo showing his early interest. Yes, he has said many time that he wants to be an architect and work with me. Don't worry, by the time I fill him in on what architects really do on a daily basis he will pick some other less stressful profession.

Anyway, he cheesed it up for the camera and insisted that as he "drew" his tongue would need to be sticking out. I am not sure why he thinks architects need to draw with a hard hat either. That's my boy!

Jacene

Thackston School Branch update

This week they ruled the Thackston School Branch fire was arson. There are no specifics yet but I will stay informed. Oh, John starts Thackston School down the road from the branch on Monday. I have enough uniform clothes now that he can make it through the week. I put the outfits all on one hanger so you just have to know what the weather is like and grab the appropriate one. It is a no brainer.

In his class are some kids he went to class with at the branch a couple of years ago and one of them is the girl he was planning on marrying so it will be good to have them reunited. The long distance thing wasn't working well, we couldn't even get her to his birthday party. She is excited about seeing John again too. Her mom and I talked on Friday about it.

I think he will assimilate well and have my fingers crossed to boot.

Jacene

Thackston School Branch Fire

This morning I was getting ready and tidying up the house and I heard a snip it on the news about Thackston school having a fire and as I tried to figure out which Thackston it was (there is the branch where John goes and Thackston school down the road) the news mentioned the school mascot, Elliot the bearded lizard perished in the fire...that is John's school.

I hopped in the shower and went to the school with camera in tow and John not in tow. I spent 2 hours on the scene and took pictures, talked to teachers, tv reporters and UT police and staff briefly. UT bought the property last fall and was allowing the school to remain as long as it wanted. I over heard some of the firemen and they are going to figure out if the State Fire Marshall will be involved but won't know anything until Monday. They are still looking at arson and not ruling anything out at this time.

When I got to the school only one teacher was there, Ms. Angie and I didn't see her until I had been around most of the school. We hugged and cried together. I couldn't help but cry as I took the pictures. I had 3 distinct sets of memories of TSB. I went there as a student from when I was 2 through 1st grade. I then came back around 6 years later and helped whenever I was out of school with my sister's class. I made a lot of little friends in those years and some became the base of my babysitting empire (maybe not an empire, really).

The last set of memories was of course with John. He started going there when he was 15 months old and is Kindergarten now. I had just dropped him off yesterday. He LOVES his teacher, Mrs. Donna. Just last week he said he loved us the same. I would like to believe that if there was a contest I could edge her out but who knows. When I went to tell him we both got emotional. He wanted to see the pictures and we cried. Clay and I have explained that only Elliot got hurt and how things were going to be alright. John kept crying and fretting throughout the day. I can't blame him, it was his second home. I cried off and on throughout the day too.

The school is meeting at 9:00am Monday at the Unitarian Church on Kingston Pike. I will be out of town and Clay needs to be at work so we will miss this. John will stay with Clay's Mom until I get back in town on Tuesday afternoon. I am going to call the "big" Thackston on Monday and get details about transfering him. This has sort of made the decision of when and where to transfer him a little clearer.

Here are some photos of the school. Notice the Sheriff's helicopter in one of them, it was circling slowly overhead when I got there. Forgive the picture placement. It is late and I am running out of patience on where frames are snapping... if you are reading this and know me then you will understand and read through the random picture placement.

Jacene

...add chap stick to the list of things that disappear

We all know socks disappear out of the laundry but I can't figure out the mystery behind tubes of chap stick disappearing. How can I have 5 of them one day and none the next? My lips are chapped and I am scouring the house for relief. It is funny in a way because I had looked in my purse last night and found nothing to help and as a last resort (I looked lots of other places tonight) looked there again tonight and ta da, vanilla mint chap stick. It is like a magic hat except in purse form...it appears empty and then...

Jacene

Boss' Day - from www.jacene.org

I didn't realize what a super cool team I had until I returned from talking with various engineers to find Boss' Day gifts at my desk. If you look closely you will recognize outlines of most of the items. All were things around my desk or things I had brought from home to give the company.

Items included: Stapler, staple remover, tape dispenser, Goody's headache power (cool orange), a monitor rear view mirror, scale, and a Kleenex box.

I love my team!

Jacene

You never realize how important something is until it is gone...

The title sounds more ominous than the post. I was giddy to have power again in the house today. Storms blew through the area Wednesday late afternoon and knocked the power out all over town. I found out that my house was affected at around 9:30pm Wednesday and decided to just hang out since it was a warm night and I figured things would be up and running shortly...wrong. I set an alarm and figured I would just shower and get ready at the office if need be. I knew it had power since I left there after the storms had passed.

I did have to get ready there. I got home after dark and left before daylight Thursday morning so I wasn't sure if there was a tree down or anything but it didn't seem that there was too much debris around. I also had tried all the breakers except for the main the night before but that didn't do anything. I started to get worried when I left for the office at 5:45am and a neighbor's light was on. Did I do something wrong that could have restored power? The short answer was...no.

I did stash some groceries from the fridge at the office. I also stashed some frozen food at my parent's house Thursday night when we stayed over there. I kept calling KUB and eventually started getting the message that "one" customer was affected. That "one" customer was me. It is amazing how many people questioned my ability of paying utility bills at this point. I assured them that wasn't the problem.

Anyway, this morning after spending another night at the parental unit's house I called KUB to see what the message said and there was not the part about the "one" customer. I was so happy that I had the potential to have power. I ate breakfast and then went to check things out. The house was warm, the fridge was cold, and I went on a whirl wind tour of food roundup. I brought everything back threw in a load of laundry and was a happy camper. I literally hopped around a little while, I was so happy.

Again, it is amazing what you take for granted. I love power and sleeping at my house...no offense Mom and Dad. :)

Team Bowling - from www.jacene.org

Even though they leave nasty messages on my desk and wrap random objects up to regift to me for boss's day, I do love my team. We all went bowling today. Well first we went to Senor Taco on Broadway for some tasty mexican food and alcohol. It was 2 for 1 margaritas! I had the special and some tasty enchiladas. We then walked across the parking lot to Fountain Lanes to bowl.

I have included the video clip Jeremy took without my knowledge. It is the "gutter ball" link. It was dangerous for them to let me have the camera back after that. I used the team camera from work and had no idea that it would blur anything that moved faster than a turtle so the photos weren't the best.

I think everyone had fun. I know I did. David and Jeremy beat their personal best scores which was great! I didn't lose every game but I think I did lose 3 out of 4. I wasn't really paying attention to the scores.

It was a great day.

Jacene