2021, A New Hope

  The 304th day of 2021 is Halloween.  10/31/2021 was an excellent day.  I handed out almost all of my candy (surprised how many Snickers are leftover, but I like Snickers :-) ) and I saw a lot of happy kids and their parents.  I hope the kids enjoy the spoils of their travels, I hope their parents help them ration their candy and I hope that teachers, tomorrow, can handle the sugared up kids!  I have Halloween hopes that this year went well for all, and goes just as well in future Halloweens as well!

The palindromic 303rd day of 2021 was awesome and memorable.  For the first time, we were in Franklin Field (a familiar place) for Family Weekend, as parents!  As I stood there, on 10/30/21, and watched the families on the field, I understood better the happy faces of the parents, siblings, etc.  I have had the privilege of being at and on Franklin Field so many times, but it's just different when you are enjoying it as your kid is enjoying it too.  It was also fun to sit and talk with classmates and fellow Glee Clubbers, all who now have kids at Penn.  Tonight I go to bed with Franklin Field Hopes.  I hope that the other families at the game today enjoyed themselves as much as I did.  I hope that things continue to improve so we can continue to gather at FF (and the Palestra!)  And I hope that I continue to appreciate the stadium, and its je ne sais quoi!  Go Quakers!

The 302nd day of 2021 was a chilly, raw day.  I mean, I still worked from home in shorts on 10/29/21 (wore a shirt and tie for my presentation, though!)  I was not cold, but I did feel the cool and, heard the rain outside and it made me think of those who do not have consistent shelter.  For them, I have warming hopes.  Our Church's Shelter opens on Monday, for its last season.   I hope those waiting for shelters to open and those who have inadequate housing situations can find places to be warm as Winter approaches and the daylight hours wane.  I have warming hopes for them.

  On the 301st day of 2021 I found myself on the outside looking in on some situations where I felt the needs to be supportive, but I am not sure how to be so.  So, on 10/28/2021, I have supportive hopes.  I hope I can find a way to show support without being intrusive or rubbing people the wrong way.  I hope that, even if I cannot show it outwardly, that the folks I want to support know that I am there for them, if and when they need me.  And I hope that I can find ways to be supportive, even if behind the scenes.  And I hope things get better.

  Wednesdays in the Fall are long, especially when Penn Band Field Rehearsal is involved.  And, on 10/27/2021, I am again feeling, on a Wed PM, a little spent.  Last Wednesday I skipped my nightly post, but on the 300th day of 2021, I want to make sure I have one.  Tonight I have hopes for rejuvenation.  On Monday, this was another long week, by tonight I am exhausted.  Hoping for a "second win" if you will this week and then hoping I spend some time, this weekend, getting the sleep I need so I can be steeled for the week(s) to come!

  Sigh, I am really bad at paperwork.  Always have been.  Well, more like bad at getting it completed because, when it is completed, it is not poor quality.  And, on the 299th day of 2021, I found myself embroiled in paperwork of multiple kinds.  Timesheets, Project Docs, PTA Financial Filings, all issues with which I had to deal on 10/26/2021.  So, I have paperwork hopes.  I hope I get all that I need to get done, and I do it well.  And I hope to have less of it in the future!

Ahhh, technology.  It is both amazing and infuriating at the same time.  I spent much of the 298th day of 2021 dealing with technological issues.  First, last night, Alexa's laptop stopped taking a charge.  So, battery dead on 10/25/2021, I took it to a local PC Fix-it shop.  She got a loaner from her College House and I bought a used laptop as a backup.  Also, in the afternoon, got trained on a new technology on campus that we will use for Identity Management.  And, lastly, of course, I thought and worried about the project on which I am working (even if today was a Day Off for me).  Yes, I have many technological hopes.  But, mainly, I am hoping that the good parts of technology continue to over-shadow the bad.  And I hope that technological issues can be solved quickly!  They were today, hoping this continues.

  The 297th day finds me deep in the throes of Academic Advising.  Advance Registration opens for the Spring 2022 Semester on Monday, 11/1, so on 10/24/2021 I am conducting advising sessions, yes on Zoom again - but some, later, will be in person, every hour on the hour.  I love speaking with students and providing insight and advice but I cannot help but worry a bit and I am hoping my advice is good.  Maybe I should not say good, but I hope that it is right for the student with whom I am speaking and right for the situation(s) in which they find themselves.  I always ask my advisees to let me know if advice I give ends up being the wrong advice.  I hope, if this happens, they tell me.  And I hope that I am providing them with the information and words they need to succeed.  I really hope this!

  We love being involved in community events.  And, on the 296th day of 2021, we were involved in a doozy!  On 10/23/21, as you can see in the picture, the CHS and CMS PTAs partnered to hold a fundraising Hay Ride.  1,317 tickets were sold.  1,299 votes were case for favorite scenes so that is a pretty reliable number!  It was both exhilarating and exhausting!  And now I am filled with Haunted Hayride Hopes.  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.  And I hope that we can plan for another great one next year!

Y'all know I love numbers.  So here are some numbers on the 295th day of 2021. 623 - days between 2/7/2020 and 10/22/2021.  2/7/2020 was our last OMAYSC Gym Night until today.  One of the first events that was cancelled was Celebrity Gym Night on 3/20/20.  I cancelled it the prior week due to fears about this thing we heard was coming (you might have heard of it, Covid).  And tonight, we FINALLY got back into the Gym for an evening of sporty fun for the kids of Oaklyn 14 - years.  It was Fall of 2007 and Sarah, at a PTA Meeting, heard that OMAYSC needed help.  So she sent me to the next meeting and I came home the President.  14 years!  And we're still at it with Gym Nights 7 - chaperones.  I was worried, now that I and most of my parent colleagues have kids in college, not in OPS, that I would have a hard time finding chaperones.  But I put out a call and I got SEVEN.  Made life a lot easier tonight. 21 - days until the next G...

  After taking last night off in the Daily Post (it's a rare miss for me) because I really had no inspiration, I did not have to look far for something to inspire my hopes for the 294th day of 2021.  On 10/21/2021, I have hopes for the Class of 2022.  So much has been taken from them during Covid.  They lost the end of the Sophomore Year, their whole Junior Year, and now they return to School for their Senior Year having first to learn how to be back in School.  But it's moments like this one pictured here that makes me hopeful that their Senior Year will be great!  I have known many of the kids in this picture since they were in PRE-K with Anna, and some of these kids I have just gotten to know in the last 3-4 years.  But my hopes overflow for them all for a wonderful 2021-22 year.  For an amazing Homecoming next month, followed by Reindeer Games, and Winter Sports, and into the Spring with trips and Prom, and Graduation.  Mainly, I hope tha...

 

  There are many ways to volunteer and serve in one's community and I have done many of them.  But, on the 292nd day of 2021, I want to focus on a way I have never served.  I attended the Oaklyn BOE meeting on 10/19/2021.  I try to attend as many as I can but, during this crazy pandemic, it's been a while since I attended.  But I did tonight.  I had an agenda. as did many of the other people who attended and also spoke at the Public portion of the meeting.  I was impressed, though, many different opinions were expressed and the meeting never got to the point of raucous or out of control.  Tonight I have School Board Hopes.  I hope that the Oaklyn BOE continues to serve the district as well as it as.  I hope that things never get to the point of what I have seen on You Tube, or the News, or a parody on SNL.  And I hope the members of the BOE realize how grateful many of us are for their service.  Being on the BOE does not come w...

The 291st day of 2021 was a cool, crisp, Autumn Day.  And, on 10/18/2021, from the morning and evening commutes with the windows down to walking to and from the garage to the Band Board meeting outside on Hamilton Walk, I thoroughly enjoyed the weather today.  Yes, when the breezes blew, it got a little cool, but my hands stayed warm and I did not sweat, which is always a plus.  Today, I have Autumnal Hopes.  I hope that we continue to have nice Fall weather, not hot, but not TOO cold.  I hope that I can continue to walk across campus and enjoy the Fall foliage.  And I hope that I remember to stop, relax, and sit on a bench and enjoy.... so time does not pass me by.

  Now, Alexa is at College but she is not very far at all.  So, we have gotten to see her a lot (we cheer at her Club FH games) and she even has attended some family events with us this semester.  Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed having her around this whole weekend!  We had family TV time, we had family meals,. we saw Michael Bublé, and we all four went to in person (outside, masked) church together for the first time since March 2020!  Yes, as we took her back to campus on 10/17/2021, the 290th day of 2021, I was a little melancholy, but also filled with Fall Break Hopes.  I hope that the weekend was as fun for Alexa as it was for me.  I hope that it provided a relaxing time to recharge (even though she did do homework for some of the time!)  I hope the time flies until our next Break when we'll have her home again (Thanksgiving), but I also hope she continues to do well on campus, and enjoys her time.  Fall Break is over, but we had a g...

  On the 289th day of 2021, the Sherr Family did something we have been waiting 574 extra days to do!  10/16/2021 was the night of the four-time postponed Michael Bublé concert!  Now, that is SO close to having been 289 x 2 but I'll take the numerology within a standard deviation!  Eighteen months and 25 days and it was WORTH THE WAIT!  Wow do I love his sound and the THIRTY-TWO piece orchestra behind him just made the music that much better.  Tonight I thus have Big Band Hopes.  It was great that Alexa and Anna wanted to come to this concert with us (first time in a LONG time just the four of us have all been out together) and even better that they were singing along and enjoying it.  I hope that Big Band and the Bublé/Connick, Jr. (etc) sound can persevere.  It's not the modern day musical tastes of today's youth, but it is too amazing of a genre to die off.  Classical music continues to go on strong with symphonies and other ensembles...

For the first 14 years of my time on Penn's Campus (started my 36th year on campus in September), I worked for Dining Services.  What always impressed me about Dining was the dedication of its workers to come to work, no matter what, to serve the Penn Students.  It did not matter if it was snowing, icy, torrential rain, freezing cold, boiling hot, Dining was always open and serving.  Now it was not home cooking in the dining halls, but there sure was a taste of home!  And that usually came from the workers who always had a smile, always had a kind word.  In the vernacular, they'd be called the "lunch ladies" but they were more than that.  There were caring, kind, concerned, always had a "hey baby" greeting as they swiped your PennCard for the meal.  Two of these women were celebrated on the 288th day of 2021.  Ada Lawry, the famous "Mom" of Training House and then Hill Dining and Anne Morrison Muldrow, the leader of the staff at 1920 Commons....

We had a surprise visit from my in-laws this week.  Sarah's parents came to help us rebuild our grill.  It is 15+ years old but is now refurbished and as good as new!  We had amazing turkey burgers yesterday off of the "new" grill but on 10/14/2021 it was Jackie's turn to grill.  And we had a nice time, a great meal, and enjoyed the Walters' deck with their fire pits going strong as well.  It was just so relaxing after a long 287th day of 2021 and it gave me grilled hope.  I hope we can cook some really good meals on our refurbished grill.  And I hope that we can continue to have family get togethers and relax.  After this long week (it was a long week on Monday!) this was a great weekend-eve time!

The irony is not lost on me that the tradition that I eschewed as as a student (I was nervous around a large crowd of very inebriated classmates) is now one of my (if not my absolute) favorite traditions at Penn.  As far as ceremonies go, I love Commencement first and then Convocation.  But, Hey Day has grown on me (like a fungus?) and, ignoring the inebriated and the years where it was "OK" to throw condiments, this march and gathering in front of College Hall is one of my favorite days on campus.  And, on the 286th day of 2021, the Class of 2022 finally got their Hey Day.  And, on 10/13/2021, the Band was there, the students marched over the Bridge (love this picture and love the shot from the crest of the Bridge, looking back to 40th street), the new VPUL participated in her first Hey Day and Dr. Gutmann presided over one of her last (if not the last, depends on her confirmation as Ambassador due soon).  And me, I was stuck in my office with my Hey Day Hopes....

It was Senior Day at CHS Field Hockey today on the 285th day of 2021.  So, on 10/12/2021, Sarah took the day off, I took a 1/2 day, and even Alexa, after her exam and classes were over, came back over the Bridge with me!  We were all there to support Anna, our HS Senior who, as a 4-year manager (the last two years solo) of the team was honored right alongside of the Senior players!  And I only choked up with tears once (and it was a speech about a kid that was not even Anna!)  I have Senior Day Hopes today.  I hope that Anna has great memories of her time with the CHS Field Hockey Team.  I hope that she continues to be a dependable force in all she does (the refs, today, trusted her with keeping the time for the whole game on her own, when the scoreboard failed to turn on (lack of charge)).  I hope that I keep it together for the remaining Senior Days....And I hope the situation remains stable enough for Anna and the Class of 2022 can continue to have ...

  On my project, at work, I have had the pleasure of working with a lot of consultants.  And a bunch of them are from Canada.  So I have learned about the timing of Canadian Thanksgiving and knew that the 284th day of 2021 is, indeed, Canadian Thanksgiving 2021.  Thanksgiving is #3 on the list of my favorite holidays (after Christmas and Halloween).  So, on 10/11/21, during the Canadian holiday, I have Thanksgiving Hopes.  First, I hope that all of my Canadian colleagues have had a wonderful time with their families and friends.  But I also look forward to next month and I hope that, this year, I can see my extended family.  That it is safe for us to gather, to hug, to dine, to watch football.  I love my family and cherish all of the moments we have together.  Hope that, this Thanksgiving, we can have more of these moments and memories.

  The 283rd day of 2021, 10/10/2021, is World Mental Health Day.  So, let's all share our Mental Health Hopes.  I hope that I can show empathy to others, hope to care about and for others, and hope to listen to others, when they need me to listen.  By doing these small things, I hope that I can be an agent of positive change in their improved mental health, but also hope that I, too, can improve my own mental health as well!

  Physical Fitness has never been my strong suit.  But, as we have come out of the pandemic, I have realized that all this sitting at home, even with the more frequent trips to the pool, has deconditioned me.  But getting back in to the swing of things on campus is making me walk a lot more and, although I am not getting much faster, I do feel less pain with each passing day.  On 10/9/2021, Penn played Lehigh at Franklin Field and I made the long walk (again) behind the Palestra up to the South East Gate where the Band enters.  The 282nd day brought a lot of walking, but the walking seemed a bit easier and less painful today.  So I have pain free hopes for tomorrow (a lot of walking to get to the FH Field for Alexa's Club Games) and for the future, short-term and long.  I hope that the pains in my back, my knees, and my ankle subside a little more each tome and, soon, I am better conditioned which will lead to more walking which will lead to better con...

  I have been known to be too hard on myself.  And I had the opportunity to be upset with myself on the 281st day of 2021.  I had ONE JOB before the Sprint Football Game on 10/8/2021 and that was to get pizza for 35-40 people to Shoemaker Green by 6:30PM.  But, sadly, I waited too long and had to scramble and ended up not being able to get it delivered, had to pick it up and drive it over to Penn and I was sooooo late.  But, as someone said to me, the Band had a good time at the game, enjoyed the pizza, and did not miss any of the Penn TDs (there were SEVEN!)  So, tonight, I have gracious hopes.  I hope that I can continue to be gracious to others but also to myself.  Sometimes that is easier said that done.  But I hope I can focus on the good and get over (and past) the mistakes and the missteps.

  It may have been the fact that I went to bed at 1:30AM last night, or maybe it was the flu shot I received, or maybe it's the cumulative effects of some crazy busy weeks, but as the workday finished on the 280th day of 2021, I was EXHAUSTED.  So I took a nap on 10/7/2021 and then I woke up and realized it was time to go to the gym to swim.  I almost cancelled, given how tired I was, but I am so glad I did not!  And, after my swim, I felt SO much better!  So, although I was not down on life today (just real tired), I still hope that I can just keep swimming.  I know there are hurdles I will face, especially as our Go-Live gets closer and closer, but I hope I can channel Dorie and everything will be AOK!

I volunteered at the Penn Cares Flu Shot Clinic on the 279th day of 2021.  And, yep, that means on 10/6/2021 I got MY flu shot AND I have flu shot hopes!  I hope that people take advantage of this free clinic on campus.  I hope that the shot helps me and the other members of the Penn Community have a much healthier winter season.  I hope that people get their Covid boosters (can't wait to get mine!) and their flu shots and wear their masks.  Basically, I have hopes for the health of myself, my family, the Penn Community, and the whole world.  We have seen what happens when public health is not at the forefront.  I hope people do their part.  Today, I tried to do mine!  Stay healthy, friends!

  It's World Teachers' Day on 10/5/2021.  So my hopes for the 278th day of 2021 are Hopes for Teachers.  During the pandemic, we've expressed a lot of gratitude for the front-line healthcare workers and I would like to take this time to extend that thanks to the front-line teachers.  Especially those who have young children at home, ineligible for the vaccine and those teaching young children who cannot be vaxxed (yet!)  I hope that our schools can remain in person, and I hope that teachers feel the support they need and that they experience no Covid spread, not in their classrooms OR their homes.  Teachers in non-pandemic times have my immense gratitude and appreciation.  I hope that they feel it even more so these days!

  The 277th day of 2021 is World Habitat Day.  So I have Habitat Hopes for 10/4/2021.  Fitting that it was a humid, 81 degree October (Fall?) day.  Not that 81 is that high, but it'll likely be warm for a while.  And the West has been on fire all Summer, and the floods and storms and melting polar ice caps.  And the oil slick off the CA coast and the regulations that have been rolled back so much in the past years.  As people are saying, "there is no Planet B" (no matter what the billionaires (Branson, Bezos, etc) think).  I hope that this gridlock in DC can end so that advances can be made to save this planet.  We need them to speak loudly AND carry a big stick, right Teddy??

  The 276th day of 2021 brought the Sherrs another "First in a long time" events.  In the morning of 10/3/2021, Anna, Sarah, and I got up earlier than usual and attended services in-person at Old First Reformed UCC for the first time since 3/7/2021 (and I just calculated that 82 weeks,!!!!)  More than a year and a half went by between then and now.  Since then, Alexa turned 18 (and 19) and started college and is now in her 2nd year there.  Anna had her Sweet 16 (well not the party) and also turned 17 and is now driving.  Alexa voted in her first election, Anna has started her Senior Year of HS.  Wow, so many things changed, but it was nice that the feel of the service today was similar to what I remember.  Sure, it was outside, and the music was a little different (but still amazing), but it was good to see my church family and GREAT to be back!  Tonight I have hopes for my Church.  I hope things continue in a way that we can continue to...

Another "first in a long time" event occurred for us on the 275th day of 2021.  Well, it occurred for Sarah two weeks ago, but 10/2/2021 was the first day where Anna, Uncle Chris, Aunt Jackie, and I were able to watch Alexa in action on the Field Hockey field.  And, in this morning's games, Penn Club Field Hockey beat Drexel (2-1) and St. Joe's (9-0).  I have to admit, after all of these years, I still do not FULLY understand the rules.  But I know that I saw some really good play today and I know I saw a lot of joy.  The joy of athletes (on all three teams) able to get out there and play.  And the joy of those of us who got to watch them.  So I have field hockey hopes.  I hope that Alexa and her teammates continue to get the opportunity to play, I hope that they continue to have success, and I hope I get to watch as many games as I can!  GO QUAKERS!

Someone told me that I am always optimistic today, the 274th day of 2021.  And a lot of good things DID happen on 10/1/2021.  My presentation (which, as you can tell by my posts this week) went about as well as could be expected!  Penn Football returned to Franklin Field and so did the Penn Band and my wife, younger daughter, and I in the stands and my older daughter as a full Penn Band participant.  The Phillies, heartbreakers that they have been this week, won tonight and have their first winning season since 2011 (when they won a franchise record 102 games!).  So, tonight, I am hopefully optimistic.  I am going to lean into optimism and hope that the good demo means that the rest of the project will go well as well.  Hope that the return of the Penn Band and Football in Franklin Field is another step towards more "normal" operations on campus.  And hope that a > .500 season is a harbinger of good things to come for Philly sports.  Well ...