Yes, I'm alive.
I keep on intending to post an update, but procrastination always gets the best of me.
Been very busy the last few months, between work, Natalie and other stuff that comes up.
Basically, I didn't get the promotion. I found that out at a meeting when my temp boss indicated to everyone that they "haven't found the candidate best serving the needs of our department." That was back in September. Since then, they have identified a potential person, offered the position, but since we're on that need-to-know basis, we don't know what the response was. Next week marks one year from when my boss gave notice. Don't ya just love it when things progress at glacial speed?
Meanwhile, they've researched alternate means at obtaining a similar database to the one I redesigned the previous two years. Interestingly enough, there isn't any product out there they could buy, and they decided that having a system built by someone else would be better. So far, they researched a system but I haven't heard an outcome on that.
Lots of busy work requiring more research than actual development have come across my desk the last few months.
Sheryl recently started working as the Second Cook at a local nursing home and was signed on as an adjunct prof at the community college in their Hospitality Dept. (teaching a Special Event Planning course, something we all feel she's great at since we do random gatherings like Mardi Gras and Cinco de Mayo, and hope to do a Miss Congeniality evening April 25th).
Natalie is adorable. There's not much more I can say about that... She's putting words together to form mini sentences ("No Daddy", "Daddy Have Some", "Milk in here", etc.). I will have to post pics soon...
Lately, I've focused my attention towards Facebook over LJ. I've reconnected with a whole bunch of people from my past, which is really cool.
I know some of you have Facebook accounts, but hesitate crossing a boundary between professional/author and personal. If it is ok for me to "Friend" you, let me know. I have some Natalie Pictures there :)
A few months ago I started reading books on my Blackberry, so between my old fashioned book reading, audio in the car, and now on my cell, I'm devouring books at a faster pace. I will post my 2008 reading list soon as well. (Yes, beckycochrane , I did keep with tradition by rereading A Coventry Christmas over New Year's before reading A Coventry Wedding - loved A Coventry Christmas the second time around and loved A Coventry Wedding! Can't wait to read more about Coventry and the colorful characters!).
I've also been working on rejuvenating my archival juices...Since I haven't been back at the archives for over a year, I have started my own little hunt to discover who owned my work property originally. Rumor had it that it was Fanny Brice's summer home, but no one was able to confirm or deny. After attending the annual archives conference in October, I was introduced to one of the speakers who is a Long Island estate historian. I asked him if he knew anything about the property. He asked around since he was just as unfamiliar, and two weeks ago took a look at the actual house for "clues". What we found was that the property belonged to Ray Austin Graham, Jr., son of Ray Austin Graham of Graham-Paige Motors. What I was able to obtain from basic google searching was that Ray Austin Graham, Jr. married a Firestone (of the tire-fame). It is fun piecing together a little bit of history... now if only I had the same interest with my own family. ;)
Meanwhile, it is snowing out and I decided to work from home (something I haven't done in months, under the new workplace mentality). After two black-ice incidents, I am not the most comfortable at driving in this weather. I have two VBA projects on my plate (and procrastinating) so if anyone out there knows VBA, please speak up! I could use some help...
That's it for now...
Been very busy the last few months, between work, Natalie and other stuff that comes up.
Basically, I didn't get the promotion. I found that out at a meeting when my temp boss indicated to everyone that they "haven't found the candidate best serving the needs of our department." That was back in September. Since then, they have identified a potential person, offered the position, but since we're on that need-to-know basis, we don't know what the response was. Next week marks one year from when my boss gave notice. Don't ya just love it when things progress at glacial speed?
Meanwhile, they've researched alternate means at obtaining a similar database to the one I redesigned the previous two years. Interestingly enough, there isn't any product out there they could buy, and they decided that having a system built by someone else would be better. So far, they researched a system but I haven't heard an outcome on that.
Lots of busy work requiring more research than actual development have come across my desk the last few months.
Sheryl recently started working as the Second Cook at a local nursing home and was signed on as an adjunct prof at the community college in their Hospitality Dept. (teaching a Special Event Planning course, something we all feel she's great at since we do random gatherings like Mardi Gras and Cinco de Mayo, and hope to do a Miss Congeniality evening April 25th).
Natalie is adorable. There's not much more I can say about that... She's putting words together to form mini sentences ("No Daddy", "Daddy Have Some", "Milk in here", etc.). I will have to post pics soon...
Lately, I've focused my attention towards Facebook over LJ. I've reconnected with a whole bunch of people from my past, which is really cool.
I know some of you have Facebook accounts, but hesitate crossing a boundary between professional/author and personal. If it is ok for me to "Friend" you, let me know. I have some Natalie Pictures there :)
A few months ago I started reading books on my Blackberry, so between my old fashioned book reading, audio in the car, and now on my cell, I'm devouring books at a faster pace. I will post my 2008 reading list soon as well. (Yes, beckycochrane , I did keep with tradition by rereading A Coventry Christmas over New Year's before reading A Coventry Wedding - loved A Coventry Christmas the second time around and loved A Coventry Wedding! Can't wait to read more about Coventry and the colorful characters!).
I've also been working on rejuvenating my archival juices...Since I haven't been back at the archives for over a year, I have started my own little hunt to discover who owned my work property originally. Rumor had it that it was Fanny Brice's summer home, but no one was able to confirm or deny. After attending the annual archives conference in October, I was introduced to one of the speakers who is a Long Island estate historian. I asked him if he knew anything about the property. He asked around since he was just as unfamiliar, and two weeks ago took a look at the actual house for "clues". What we found was that the property belonged to Ray Austin Graham, Jr., son of Ray Austin Graham of Graham-Paige Motors. What I was able to obtain from basic google searching was that Ray Austin Graham, Jr. married a Firestone (of the tire-fame). It is fun piecing together a little bit of history... now if only I had the same interest with my own family. ;)
Meanwhile, it is snowing out and I decided to work from home (something I haven't done in months, under the new workplace mentality). After two black-ice incidents, I am not the most comfortable at driving in this weather. I have two VBA projects on my plate (and procrastinating) so if anyone out there knows VBA, please speak up! I could use some help...
That's it for now...