Friday, October 31, 2008

Accounting Program

It seems like it's taking much longer than it should to get this accounting program going! I'm in the process of entering information into the program, and learning about the program as I do. I think (hope, and pray!) that it will turn out to be fairly easy to use. It's time to do billing again, so I can pay MY bills, so I better get it learned!

I was hoping to get more done today, but so far other things . . . parent-teacher conferences . . . taking advantage of the 70 degree, sunny, calm day, to take a walk . . . cleaning the pile of "putting together the newspaper" debris off my desk so I could get to the computer . . . feeding the sheep . . . I wish I could stay awake for the next two days to get everything done, but the older I get the harder it is to do that, haha!

Thankfully tomorrow is another day . . . and I plan to be well-rested and ready to go!

Family Happenings

Tim, Cody, and Morgan are now in Kansas City at the American Royal Livestock Show. They're excited about being there but we've only communicated through brief text messages, so I don't know much about what's going on, but I know they're keeping busy. Some of their out-of-state friends are there also.

The kids do miss some days of school for cattle shows and FFA events, but they're keeping up with their classes and getting excellent grades, so their teachers understand (most of them anyway!). I know that they are learning many "life lessons" when they are responsible for caring for their cattle, getting them ready for shows, and so on. Most days their day starts well before 6:00 AM so it's not like they're on vacation!

Parent-Teacher Conferences were today, and I spent several hours this morning meeting with the teachers. I had crib notes--the kids told me a little bit about each class and teacher. One teacher goes to our church, one teacher is in charge of the Mock Trial team (which Morgan is a part of), and so on.

I really enjoyed meeting all of the teachers (since this is just the second year the kids have gone to school at Lakeview, most of the teachers are new to me), and they're very happy with the kids' grades and behaviors. I learned more about the trip to National FFA Convention from their FFA advisor than I did from Cody and Morgan!

I had some errands to do after conferences, so didn't get home until later than I'd planned . . . putting me behind in completing items on my to-do list. Oh well, to-do lists are just a suggestion, right???

November Issue

The November issue is done! I did it all myself this issue . . . with a little bit of advice from Vyckie on the front page articles. She liked my ideas and I really value her opinion, and I felt good that she liked the articles I picked.

The process goes like this. I pick out and write articles that I want in the paper, and post them to an e-mail account. Jennifer, the lady who does the layout, then puts the articles and ads in "newspaper" format, fitting everything in, getting graphics and pictures, etc. When she's done with that, she (somehow!) e-mails a file that includes the paper, to me.

I then look it over, proofread it, and e-mail any corrections back to Jennifer. I can also see if there are any spaces for which I need to find more articles. Last night I e-mailed Jennifer just a few corrections, and then looked for a several more short articles, which I found very quickly.

By the time I e-mailed Jennifer the articles, she'd already made the corrections! It's neat to get that "sneak peek" of the paper on the computer screen, although there's nothing like holding the "real" paper in my hands. One of the articles in the paper is about a newspaper that is no longer going to be published in print form, only on the Internet. While it's nice to be able to do research and read papers online, I still enjoy reading a "paper" copy of the local newspapers!

I'm very happy with the November issue; I think it contains a nice mix of articles that will inform, educate, and entertain readers. (My mom and dad, grandpa, and sister don't know it, but there are photos of them from last Thanksgiving with the Editor's letter!)

Jennifer e-mailed/uploaded/downloaded (I'm not sure quite which one, but somehow the paper got there!) to the place where it's printed. The actual printing will take place in Wayne, NE, on Monday. Monday afternoon it will be delivered to Norfolk, where I will pick it up on Tuesday!

It will be mailed out/delivered to sponsors next week. And then we'll start all over again!

If you would like a sample copy of the paper, or would like one sent to someone, please e-mail me at shelly@shellyburke.net.

As always, if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please e-mail me at shelly@shellyburke.net. I love hearing from you!