No rest for the weary

Here is my little study buddy, Maggie. She is helping me with Cognitive Psyche. (We are snuggling with the wonderfully warm afghan that my talented mother made for me.) The only way I can get a photo of her is with Photo Booth. She hates the camera. She shies away and won't come near me when it is out. It doesn't seem to matter if I don't use the flash, either. Poor shy Maggie. She ought to be in pictures. Better ones at that!

I have been deep in study with both classes and although I have time to check blogs, I don't have too much time to add to mine or anyone else's.

My energy level is nil. I don't know if this is because of the weather, or the overwhelming sense of being so behind in other commitments. I still have Christmas gifts that need to be mailed, but I need to make my famous caramel corn to send with them. It really doesn't take that long, but starting it is the key.

I have no desire to make supper, breakfast, lunch, anything. I forced myself to clean the house a bit tonight. It still isn't where I would like it. I have clothes to take to the cleaners, clothes that need to be hand washed, shoes that need to be found in the attic (I packed them when we had the house up for sale), pictures that I need to get developed. I need to start on my paper and presentation for psyche - it needs to be a power point presentation. I have never done one of those before so that should be interesting.

I need to call my brother and see if he can come over and help with some networking issues, and take down the outside Christmas stuff.

I need to vent about "The Gift" that we keep hearing about before I retire for the evening. "The Gift" refers to Mr. Sanford's gift to Sioux Valley, the community, etc. I think it is really great that he did this. Really, he could have just bought a bunch of outlandish things or left more to his children. It is wonderful that he is investing this much money in research. Fine. However, since this announcement, Sioux Falls has been inundated with massive amounts of advertising from Sanford Health Systems. The last straw for me was yesterday. I opened the paper and there was a thick glossy card stock advertisement of "The Gift". WHY? I am sure that anyone receiving the paper is well aware of what is going on. Why spend all the money on the advertising for this gift. Why not include all the money for the promotional literature and prime time tv commercials in "The Gift". This gift is one that keeps on giving. If someone gave me a gift, would they expect me to go on and on about it publicly? Should I take a full page ad in the Argus and primetime spots on local t.v.? The press conference, I thought, was enough. Then changing the name to Sanford Health Systems...now the relentless advertising? When is it going to end?

Also of interest is the fact that apparently they didn't do any consulting before deciding on the design of the new campus. Apparently the dome that was planned would take a good chunk of "The Gift". Architects have stated that it would be possible, but any similar domes constructed in such a manner have cost hundreds of millions to billions to create. Also, the fact that Sioux Valley DOES NOT own all the property that they said that did to build the campus in such a manner. For one, they don't yet have the cities approval to take over streets. Hy-Vee on Minnesota Avenue tried for years to get ownership of the street between the store and the parking lot across the street. The city declined over and over again. For another, there are still homeowners that have not okay'd the takeover of their properties. There are still a couple of islands where the homeowners have put their foot down and refused. Another thing that wasn't taken care of prior to this announcement was the work that the city would have to do to accommodate "the gift". I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch - Mom always said not to - so what can you count on when all the dreams of Sioux Valley - er Sanford - and Mr. Sanford are at this point just that?

Comments anyone?