Last year at this time Eric was getting ready for around 6 weeks of back-to-back international travel for work, we were driving 50 miles each way to get Laini to school and back, paying her $3-5K/month tuition with money we didn’t have (I love you, Mom, more than you can ever know), we just had a terrible resolution session with the school district and we were getting geared up to go to due process. Ugh.
It’s not quite a gratitude journal, but here’s some of what’s making me smile these days despite what’s going on in the world…
- I love this house. It’s just the right amount of space for us and it has great flow. The neighbors we met have been very nice, and we’re enjoying exploring this part of New Jersey. Emily’s school is walking distance away, and she’s doing well and is happy there.
- We joined a synagogue about 10 minutes away from here that I can tell will be a big part of our lives. It’s not affiliated (conversative, orthodox, etc.). It’s traditional in most ways, which Eric likes, but it’s more spiritual. More english, more music and more heart than we ever had before. They have welcomed us with open arms. We canceled Laini’s scheduled Bat Mitzvah in March at the old synagogue (taking a hit on the deposits, but oh well) and will instead celebrate her Bat Mitzvah in our new home in May.
- We finally convinced Emily to sleep with less light on in her room, and she is sleeping much better than she had been. Helps the entire family’s mood in the morning when the young one is well rested.
- I am starting to attend Board of Education meetings again. Not going to the meetings is a mistake I made in our old town that I won’t repeat. I didn’t get involved on that level as I was in Stamford. In West Windsor, I didn’t realize that the problems in Special Education started at the top until it was way too late. I was sitting there in the audience of the Board meeting last week when the line item came up to approve Laini’s out-of-district tuition. Didn’t mention her by name, of course. The resolution passed without a word of argument or discussion. I bet the Board President was wondering why the woman sitting in the 2nd row looked like she was getting farklempt. I love being back at a place of trust with a school district again. No attorneys, no anger, no pretense. Just working together for the kid.
- I drop Emily off at school at 7:40 am (we drive in the morning since she has to cross a busy intersection), Laini’s bus picks her up 10 minutes later and by 8 am, I’m downstairs in my office starting what has been very productive work days. The other day I built a new custom object in Salesforce (complete with workflow rules, layouts, reports and custom views) to track all the data around C3’s Call-on Congress. Hours in a row of sustained, quiet focus. Will never take it for granted again.
- Tomorrow, Verizon will be out of my life once and for all. Comcast will be here to install their digital voice service. I don’t expect it to be perfect, but on most calls my cell phone (and/or Eric’s) rings at the same time anyway. I just want the satisfaction of never having to call Verizon again, and we’ll be saving around $100/month when you include the discount we’ll get on the Internet service. What happened when the 2nd line died last time? Turns out the previous Verizon technician had left the panel outside open and the wiring got water logged. I kid you not. Idiots.
- We’re finally getting a HDTV. Yes, Ms. early adopter here took a while to get there. We didn’t have the room for a larger TV in our old condo. Here, we have a media room in the basement that’s about the size of our old master bedroom. We picked up a well-reviewed 47″ 1080p HDTV at Best Buy for a decent price, and they’re coming to wall mount and set it up tomorrow.
- ClosetsByDesign is coming in 2 weeks to do the girls’ rooms, the master bedroom, the pantry and a corner of the garage. Once we have the closets organized, I just have to get some window treatments and the house will be set for a while. There’s still a few boxes in corners here and there, and a few more pictures I have to hang up, but after a month we’re just about moved in.
- The election is a month away. A year from now I hope we’re all blogging, “What ever happened to Sarah Palin?” At one point, I liked McCain and while Obama always had my vote, truth be told I wouldn’t have cried that much had McCain been elected. His selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate is unforgivable. If he is going to make cabinet and supreme court appointments like he picks Vice Presidents, I want him nowhere near the Oval Office.
- I’m going to Dreamforce!
- iPhone 2.1. Need I say more?
Judi Sohn 
7 responses to “11 reasons I'm pretty happy right now”
About the BOE, you’re right it starts at the top, but even way up from there, because the NJ Dept of Ed doesn’t make NJ Schools accountable. Glad to read that everything is going well.
I’m really glad to hear how happy you sound. It’s been a long time coming. I’m also impressed at how you kept positive even while you were going through all that crap. I hope the joy continues!
Hi Judi: I think I’ve been reading your blog for 2-3 years or so- I found it when you had blogged about your remodel and you were creating websites. It’s so interesting to see how your life has changed and how it hasn’t in a lot of ways over the last few years. Wow.
C3 is so far along, your tech skills seem to have grown exponentially, the family is doing well, all good things.
As for Verizon – wow and unbelievable are what come to mind. I hope Comcast is better, but Verizon is like Palin, the bar is so low, how much better does Comcast have to do to improve on Verizon?
A pleasure reading your blog.
Thanks
Rick
Thanks for all your support through the years, Rick!
About Comcast vs. Verizon, you’re absolutely right. As long as the Comcast modem doesn’t explode in my hands, it will be qualified to be Vice President, it will be better. 😉
Cristina, you’re absolutely right that the NJ Department of Ed is the problem. Which is even more reason to choose districts here very, very carefully because you have no recourse. I learned that the hard way. We went to a fair in our community today and members of the BOE were there. It was nice to introduce myself and Laini to them, and thank them in person. The President of the Board was very kind, and she said how important it is to them to provide the best education they can for all their students. I nearly cried again. So refreshing to hear.
Liza, I tried to be positive on the blog and in my tweets. But I gained 20 lbs. and was miserable more days than I was happy last year. Feel like I’m emerging now from a long, dark tunnel.
Hey Judi,
Love this post… so glad you’re happy. I know you’ve had a rough year.
All the best,
Adam
ps, love the new ‘do
If I were your mother, I’d cut you off. You repeatedly detail in your blog how you spend thousands of dollars on gadgets, toys, and vacations. I wonder how you could possibly accept (or ask for) money to pay for your child’s school tuition… Do you just have the credit card bills forwarded to her?
Reminds me of the blog post wherein you admitted that you were behind on your taxes, but you were at the same time supporting tax increases for everybody else.
Sheesh.
James, I’m sorry you see me that way based on my semi-infrequent blog postings. It’s simply not true. Anyone who knows me knows just how far off base you are.
Vacations?!? Ha! We went on points to a 5-day family camp for families of children with special needs. We have no vacation plans for 2009. Yup, that’s living the high life on the back of tax payers. I can see how you might think I spend a lot on technology because that’s what I often blog about, but you have no idea what I actually spend on anything, do you? You can only think you can guess, and you’re probably wrong.
As far as the tax issue, as I posted back then, I was not “behind” on my taxes. Never was. We accidentally underpaid. We were informed of the error. We paid the balance in full. Case closed.
I’m not asking for tuition. I’m asking for my child to have access to an appropriate education as is her right. I would be perfectly content if that could happen in a public school, as I am for my younger daughter. Once again, you make it sound like I am demanding a free Cadillac education for my child in private school based solely on some blog posts, and nothing could be further from the truth.