Curtin Call

Today is my first day back at work after having six days off. Although this included the weekend, I feel like I was on a mini-vacation. Some much needed time off!

I took Friday as a personal day as my brother and SIL adopted the little foster boy that’s been living with them for the past 1-1/2 years. WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY, CHRISTOPHER! It was an amazing experience to watch the process behind this. The “ceremony” happened at a family court in NH. The judge was wonderful! He brought Christopher up into the chambers with him and went through a whole array of questions including who everyone was in the court room and what they meant to him, what the real meaning of Christmas is, etc. He really put this little guy in a tough spot a few times but he was quite a trooper through it all! I understand that usually, a child under 14 would not have to formally sign the papers (the courts would do that for him) and many judges just do the signing as a formality but this judge really put time into it which is something that, I’m sure, will stay with all of us forever. He also gave Christopher a teddy bear and the pen they used to sign as keepsakes. It was truly special.

Saturday morning, we had the memorial mass for my father in law. He died exactly 10 years to the day that Christopher was adopted. How ironic is that?

The holiday itself was pretty low key. Spent time with some of Brian’s family then cooked a nice meal at home. Our new fireplace doors had arrived on Saturday so we picked those up and installed them on Monday so we could have our first fire in the new house Christmas day. It was great!

We are having a few people over for New Year’s so we got a bunch of little cleany-uppy stuff done that we’ve been wanting to knock off. Yesterday, I adjusted the length on ten mini blinds. Four of these were there when we moved in and it was obvious that the old owners attempted to adjust the height on one and gave up and left them for us. This has got to be just about the most tedious job out there. Why, I ask, would they not make these in lengths shorter than 64 inches? Four of the six new ones required removing more slats than were left. Ugh. Now I understand why so many people just leave all those extra slats piled up on the window sill! It does look so much better this way, though!

The other thing we finished up was staining and urethaning the louver doors. Two coats of stain then three coats of polyurethane. That must be just about the most tedious job out there. (Oops! I said that already, didn’t I?!?!?!?!) Well, needless to say, those are two jobs I’m happy I can say are complete and behind us!

So its back to work today. I must say that I’ve accomplished a lot with so little interruption. Get through this last hour and then tomorrow’s Friday already then four more days off! I could easily get used to this!

I hope that you all enjoyed your holiday, whichever one you celebrate! I wish all of you a happy and safe New Year!

http://www.apple.com/

LOL

Geez, am I glad I left at 12:20 yesterday even at the grumblings and rumblings from the boss about why I should not. I wasn’t even off campus and the flakes started to come. By the time I got home (the highway was already very slow going) we were in the midst of a full blown winter wonderland.

I have heard horror story after horror story today of people’s commutes home. It took some people up to 1-1/2 hours JUST TO GET OUT OF THE GARAGE ON CAMPUS. So,while they sat in traffic hour after hour after hour, I was at home being quite productive. Next time this happens, I will look at the boss and say “Remember what happened the last time you told me I was leaving too early? Yeah, the time it took you FIVE HOURS to go across the city to pick up your son? Yeah, I’m leaving now. I’ll catch you online in a little bit.”

Awhile back, the boss commented on what a great thing telecommuting is. No dealing with the stress of traffic, getting lots of work done without interruptions, etc. Do you think he’s going to still feel this way when I propose leaving campus at noon and working from home this afternoon, to avoid the snow storm that’s heading our way?

…at a reception with President Hockfield and Dr. Byrne.

Yes, I got one of those. Me. Piddly ol’ me! Our President spent Thanksgiving week in India, the first President to visit there while in office. Prior to her visit, many important folks from India visited MIT and I had the pleasure of coordinating that. It was a lot of work but it earned me an invitation to the President’s house.

Of course, all who know me know… I declined. Coordinate, I do. Schmooze with mucky-mucks, I don’t. Still. It was neat. I was invited to the President’s house!