New Jobs

Hello blog-readers:

I am now an ex-Internet Specialist as I left January 12. I move on to other things:

1. Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library

I'm now back in the trenches as a part-time Interpreter. No, I don't translate things into another language, but translate my environment for visitors. (It is a fancy term for tour guide.) I really enjoyed my work at the James Garfield Home in Mentor, so I thought I would give the 28th President a try and so far so good. My first tours will be February 10. The house in Staunton, just west of us is his birthplace and he lived there for a year. There is a nice museum and they have plans to build a Presidential Library one day, as well. (See link on right side of our blog for more information on the museum).

2. Monticello

I'm baaaaack. Yeah, was there any doubt? I'm working a couple of days a week for th next 4 months to develop a Jefferson Wiki. What is a Wiki you might ask? If you know theWikipedia, it is very similar. The main difference is that those who write entries are staff or scholars, so the site will be authoritative. Also, I hope to introduce people at Monticello to the idea of public blogs.

--Bryan

New Arrangement

Well, we decided to mix it up a little, taking a cue from my dad who likes to move furniture around in his spare time! Myla was not productive upstairs in our joint study/office. So, we moved her desk to the library. It actually works out great as it opened up the room a bit better. We also got a good deal on some CD cases so that pushed the music to the side of the room. I am still upstairs and I spread things out a little but I will consolidate when we change the upstairs when our family grows one day.

I know this is "big" news, but I also switched wireless routers because the Internet was slow. We went from Wireless B to G and it has made a big difference in speed. All of you Internet "surfers" can understand. You know who you are out there...

--Bryan

Holidays 2006

Hello everyone:

This is just a quick update on our wonderful holiday season:

Thanksgiving

We stayed in town for Thanksgiving and our friends, Kathleen and Michael, were nice enough to invite us over to their house in Charlottesville. We brought the turkey and potatoes. Kathleen did a first rate job in preparing the turkey (and she doesn't eat meat) and Myla's sweet potatoes were a hit!

Christmas

We were off to Wisconsin via Chicago. We got to O'Hare then drove up to Whitewater, WI to Mom and Larry Benz at their Lake House. They were excellent hosts as we relaxed by the lake. The lake had a layer of thin ice but we missed the big snow. Whew. Some nice goodies: DVD movies, watch, clothes, and a nice stand for firewood. It was great to see Amie and David and little Lucie, who is not so little these days. The only bad part of the trip was that Myla lost her luggage along with just about the entire flight and 50 other flights! It was crazy. She got the luggage on Christmas Day.

Then we went to Lake in the Hills to see Dad and Joyce Goldman, Whitney, and Jordana. We heard all about Whitney's trip to Ghana and saw lots of pictures. We introduced the family to Rummikub, a new board game and it was a big hit.

New Years

We stayed in a cabin with our Cleveland friends: Melinda & Will and Nat & Amanda near the Hocking Hills. This is the old stompin' ground for me since it was close to Athens, thus Ohio University. I saw Athens through the darkness and could see many changes. We had a lovely time ringing in the New Year.

--Bryan