Framily Thanksgiving!

While technically I hosted Thanksgiving last year, my mom was in town so a lot of the burden was taken on by her (basically, I did some of the cooking but didn’t quite tackle the turkey).  So, I decided that it was important, in my ongoing quest to become a ‘real’ adult, to give it another try.  So a couple weeks ago I announced to the framily that I would be hosting a Framily Thanksgiving, the Sunday before actual Thanksgiving.

THE TURKEY: 8

Luckily, I remembered to buy the turkey in time so it could defrost, and only had to use cold water to finish it off for about an hour on Sunday.  Following a lot of advice received from seasoned experts, I removed the giblets, washed it out, buttered it up and popped it in the oven.

5 hours later, out came a pretty beautiful turkey (if I do say so myself).  Overall I’d rate it an 8.  Lots of leftovers (mostly dark meat too, which is my fave), pretty moist and tasty, and timed perfectly.

-1 for the stuffing (despite everyone’s offers of homemade recipes, I decided to go with the box stuff).  Pretty tasty, but I couldn’t manage to find enough holes in the turkey to actually fit most of it.

-1 for the neck.  The directions clearly instruct you to remove the neck after the giblets, but if you don’t know a whole lot about the anatomy of a turkey, how the heck am I supposed to figure out what the neck is?  Scott found it as he was carving and was a bit confused.  Oops…  Always make new mistakes   I’ll be sure to get it out next time.

THE SPREAD: 9!

We sure do know how to pull out all the stops when it comes to framily dinners.  The spread last night included (but is not limited to), mini-queche appetizers, cheese, Krab and tuna dips, hummus, crackers of all kinds, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, a gravy mix (onion, mushroom and turkey gravy), stuffing, turkey, fresh vegetable soup and some delicious $.50 rolls from Kroger. For dessert we had incredible pumpkin brownie type treats, as well as homemade pumpkin cake from Laura.  Perfect amounts of everything to create that stuffed, miserable Thanksgiving feeling.

-1 because there was nothing with sweet potato in it- my all time favorite fall food!

THE COMPANY: 10!  Not only was the whole framily in attendance, but we also had some new guests.  Katie and Liz were awesome additions, plus the famous Will Bradley.  I’ve been working for him for a couple months now, and in addition to the work I’ve developed a new friend who I’ve been trying to convince to join us for some time now.  Despite my reminder call 5-minutes before dinner, he still found his way over to join us, which was enjoyed by everyone!

AFTER DINNER EUCHRE: 7

It should be a surprise to no one that dinner was followed by some incredible euchre.  And by incredible, I mean mediocre, ultimately non-victorious euchre.  Snooky and I kicked some butt during game 1, but unfortunately lost our lead there.  However, two folks “learned” how to play (hopefully providing us with more players in the future), and the deal was only stolen from my team once (and it wasn’t even from me!).

My game face:

Paul’s game face:

Jay and Scott ‘learning’ how to play euchre…

PAUL’S PHOTO SHOOT: 8

At one point the two dogs started cuddling and Jay reached for my camera.  I looked around to try and find it, and spotted Paul on the couch, pouting his lips, and posing for self-portraits 12-year-old girl style.  Apparently he forgot how dangerous it is to play around with the iPhone of someone who has a blog.  Results of the photo shoot: 8.  Poses 1 and 2 are awfully similar, and there’s no blue steel, but overall pretty entertaining.

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART: 9!

Snooky and I have long been in love with Total Eclipse of the Heart, by Bonnie Tyler.  We talk about it, we sing it, we theorize about the meaning of the video, and we seriously know how to rock out to it.  So when it came on the stereo last night you could say we were a bit excited.  This moment would have been a 10 were it not for my laryngitis, seriously preventing my best performance.  However, loving the photos Jay snapped.  Especially Paul’s face in the second one (click on it to enlarge for an even better view).  I’m a bit curious about what’s going on in the third…

Overall an incredible night.  So much so, I’d like to offer to cook the family turkey on Thursday.  Considering I am experienced and all…  until then, just living for the tens

Awesome Climbing Quotes

Thanks to Claud, I’ve been pretty distracted the past day reading through a website full of awesome quotes about climbing.  Lucky for you, I’ve weeded out the best

“What an odd sport we inhabit, where bits of obscure rock in remote locations are recognizeable.”    — Richard Pawlowicz.

“Getting out of this required a 5.11 Beached Whale move combined with a Bloody Scream, something they never teach in the gym.”    — Lord Slime.

“That was amazing ! Five lead changes to climb 40 feet of rock ! How can they say this route doesn’t look good ? This was MORE than a route — this was an EXPERIENCE !”    — Larry D.

“The best climber in the world is the one who’s having the most fun.”    — Alex Lowe.

“I’ve climbed with some of the best climbers in the world, more importantly, to me, they are some of the best people in the world. That’s another reason why I climb.”    — Jim Wickwire.

“Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.”    — Doug Lawson.

“Yoga is a system, scientifically proven to boost your climbing ability significantly. Why do you think you always see that Guru figure sitting on the top of the mountain? You think he/she got there by enlightenment ?”    — Lg.

“How do you distinguish between being off-route and putting up a first ascent ?”    — Bruce Bindner.

“I climb as hard as anyone on earth. I just do it on easier routes.”    — Mad Dog.

“In fact, I think you should add your body fat to the rating of the climb, to get a true measure of your inner climber. So climbing a 5.7 with 22% body fat is way harder than climbing a 5.14 with 3% body fat.”    — Mike Yukish.

“In fact, I think you should add your body fat to the rating of the climb, to get a true measure of your inner climber. So climbing a 5.7 with 22% body fat is way harder than climbing a 5.14 with 3% body fat.”    — Mike Yukish.

Check ‘em out for yourself here.

Organizing my Gmail…

GMAIL’S TAG FUNCTION: 9

I’m LOVING this new part of my gmail.  Basically, gmail allows you to create a variety of different tags that you can then apply to each individual email (and color-code them!).  It’s similar to the idea of folders (as a copy of the emails are then stored under that tag), EXCEPT that you can tag emails with more than one tag.  BRILLIANT!  Sometimes you have an email that you could possibly store in two folders, and have to make the hard decision of where it goes, but now that problem is solved!

You also can create filters (similar to ‘rules’ on Outlook) to proactively tag any emails from certain people, with a certain subject line, or just containing certain words.  I went through and created a bunch of rules for friends, family, climbing and most importantly, junk e-mail.  When I went and applied them to all my emails it quickly cleaned up my inbox, now down to only 3,032 (not quite as lucky).

And from now on, any emails coming from my classic junk mail providers will automatically be archived and I’ll never have to look at them again.

I may have gone overboard out of excitement (we’ll see if there’s a need to narrow down later on), but some of my tags include:

-1 because it was a bit difficult to figure out at first, which is why I’ve gone three years without doing any sort of organizing.  Once you get the hang though, it’s awesome!  I can’t wait to figure out what else gmail has to offer…

Framily Vacation to the Mountains

What started as a trip out west (western North Carolina that is) for a climbing comp, quickly became a framily birthday celebration when Laura suggested renting a cabin and bringing the whole framily.  I’d say the vacation really began Thursday night with some Bub’s karaoke…

REDISCOVERING THE RATING CARDS: 10!  When Rate Your World first began, I made my very own, color coded, rating cards that were conveniently clipped on a ring for easy transport.  Almost all my ratings involved them, and the colors prevented any sort of skewing of ratings later.  I whipped out an old purse on Thursday night, and what did I find inside but the original rating cards.  THANK GOD!  I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them until I rediscovered them.

SUMMER NIGHTS: 8.  While Snooky rated Paul and my duet a 10 (both for performance and vocals), I had to average that out to get an 8 (cause let’s be honest, Paul didn’t hit the high note at the end and I didn’t hit a lot of notes).  But I will say, we knew almost all the words by heart so there was little use of the monitor and a whole lot of stage presence.  Well done us.

The next day we all packed up the cars and headed up to Black Mountain, an old favorite of mine from high school days of Youth & Government and the Conference on National Affairs, and one of Laura and Snooky’s favorite places.  We lucked out with a pretty incredible cabin.

OUR LOG CABIN: 9.  Set up with three bedrooms (two with big beds and one with bunk beds), a sweet kitchen with everything you need to cook/eat, a beautiful living room, game room downstairs (with foosball and air hockey), a hot tub and outdoor fire pit.  It is virtually brand new, beautiful and very ‘log cabiny’.  I’d say we lucked out.

-.5 for the hardwood floors.  It’s only .5 because I actually award .5 for the entertainment of chasing Murphy and watching him slide everywhere.  However, when Dakota got worked up by a dog he saw out the window, he started to rush down the stairs, quickly slipped (they were hardwood after all), and slid the entire way down the stairs, then faceplanted right into the wall.  I was super worried, and he looked scared out of his mind, but eventually got up and walked away with little damage (we found half of a toenail later which couldn’t have felt too good).  I tried to keep him on the rug in the living room the rest of the time.

LAURA’S PINK SNUGGIE: 7.  Warm and cozy, and pink, however I just can’t get over the fact that they’re basically just backwards robes.

LAURA’S PINK SNUGGIE ON JAY: 10.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

MY SICKNESS: 2

Doesn’t it always seem that the body allows you to get sick at the time when it knows you can most afford it?  I don’t find myself sick very often, but sure enough I woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat.  This quickly turned into a really sore throat, some serious stabbing headaches, and a fever.  Not ideal considering I’ve been looking forward to this vacation for awhile, but I did have some homemade soup, a hot tub, a snuggie and a comfy bed to help me heal.  Woke up the next day feeling 10 times better.

HOT TUB: 9.

I must say, while hot tubs sound good in theory, they’re INCREDIBLE in actuality.  Everything I imagined was true, and it was brilliant to arrive Friday night only to immediately all jump in the tub.  The next day after the comp, while suffering from some pretty serious headaches, it felt even better.  Right on the large porch of the cabin, it almost fit everyone (minus 1 since it was only a 4 seater technically, but we managed to get 6 in), and you could even see some stars.  If we were there in the winter and could play snow games like when I was a kid (who can jump out and run around the house the most times, or lay in the snow the longest) it might have been even more fun   There’s always next time!

LAURA’S BIRTHDAY CAKE: 7.

You can hardly go wrong with a funfetti cake topped with funfetti icing, however my decorations were somehow wrecked along the way.  The taste was delish (I’m not biased at all), but I wish the appearance were a little more beautiful.  However the ‘Birthday’ on the cake led to a pretty interesting singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ later that day…

REUNION WITH THE BLUE RIDGE CONFERENCE CENTER: 8

When I was in high school I was involved with a pretty awesome program called Youth & Government.  Similiar to Model UN, but simulating state governments instead, we convened once a year at the state capitol for a conference with students from all over Pennsylvania.  At the state conference, you then had an opportunity to apply to attend the National conference, where each state sends a select delegation.  That conference is called the Conference on National Affairs, and is held at an incredible conference center in the mountains of North Carolina.  I attended CONA my junior and senior years, and found it to be a truly incredible, life-changing experience for me as I was figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.  In fact, when I applied to Teach For America, a large reason I chose the Eastern North Carolina region was due to my fond memories of North Carolina at that conference.

So when I realized the conference center was about 10 minutes from where we were staying, I had to check it out.  The framily headed over on Sunday morning before rolling out, and I’m so glad I got a chance to see it again.  While not quite the same as while I was there before, the view was still beautiful, and it was great to share it with important people in my life.

The famous green rocking chairs.

MAGGIE THE MAGNET: 9.

During our stay in Asheville we happened to discover the strongest little magnet of all time, under Jay’s chair at the Woolworth’s diner counter.  Way too much fun was had with a magnet… that is until Jay started cutting her off from the camera (-1).

Where we found Maggie…

Jay using Maggie to hold his keys…

Maggie at Lee Hall…

Getting creative with Maggie…

Maggie slowing it down a little…

From there we hit the road home, stopping at Cracker Barrel for a delicious dinner on the way.

DINNER AT CRACKER BARREL: 9.

While never the healthiest option, there’s something about the incredible rocking chairs, the oversized meals, and the plethora of comfort foods that keep you coming back.  I enjoyed grilled chicken with mac ‘n cheese, mashed potatoes and corn.  Exactly what I was hoping for!

After we arrived back home, we ate some of the delicious leftovers (we came back with a cooler of food remaining) and enjoyed the Amazing Race as we began backwards planning our application video.  Stay tuned for the team of Laura and Janice taking on the race…

Until then, just living for the tens

Fall Flash Fest, Asheville Climbing Comp

So those who know me, and hopefully those who read this blog, know, I am most definitely an optimist.  I don’t like to rate things low, but I also have to be realistic.  So please keep that in mind as I review this past weekend’s climbing competition at ClimbMax Climbing Gym in Asheville, NC.

MORNING REGISTRATION: 2

So according to the directions if we had registered early (online) we should arrive at 10, and if not at 9.  I registered early while Paul and Ben hadn’t, so we figured 9:30 was a safe compromise.  When we showed up, there were only about 3 people in line, so we figured we were right on.  I got in line, only needing to pick up my t-shirt and scorecard, and waited literally for about 35-45 minutes.  It was so ridiculous you could only laugh at the absurdity.

There was only one girl working the table and she was incredibly slow.  When I finally got to pick up my things, Ben offered to help her out because the line was now about 15-20 people deep (one can only imagine how long this would take).  She looked confused, and gave him a ‘why would I need help look?’ and turned down his offer.  Oh well.  We did what we could.  Not a great start to they day considering I was already feeling sick and it was cold outside at that point.

We were then told to meet at 10:45 for an information meeting, so we headed to a coffee place down the street (a very cute Asheville street I might add) and got some caffeine in our systems before heading back.  Once there, we waited about another 30 minutes or so for them to actually get started.

When they did, it involved a man with a handlebar mustache (the owner), who Scott affectionately referred to as ‘Funsucker’, talking to us for about 45 minutes about all the rules.  I completely understand there are rules in a climbing comp, but at every other comp I’ve been to they’ve managed to go through them in about 10 minutes.  I’m not entirely sure why it took 45 here.

From there he finally allowed us in the gym (yes, all this was outside) to get our stuff settled, put our shoes on, etc. before beginning speech number two.  I skipped out on this one as the gym was incredibly crowded, and that combined with my headache and approaching fever was not good.

FINALLY we were allowed to begin climbing.

GYM/CROWDS: 4.

The first hour of the comp was craziness.  The gym is tiny, at some spots with about 8-10 feet between two walls that people are climbing on, and the number of climbers plus spectators made it virtually impossible to move from route to route to check them out, and incredibly difficult to spot.  Imagine this picture below with about 5 times as many people.  That was the first hour of the comp.

BAREFOOT WALK AROUND DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE: 10!

I got so frustrated with the crowds and my climbing that eventually Ben suggested we talk a walk around downtown to escape, and I rate this decision a 10.  I was feeling pretty crappy at this point (everything above my collarbone was in pretty intense amounts of pain), climbing only easy routes, and the barefoot walk around on a beautiful day was exactly what I needed.

Luckily the spectators got bored and died off, and when we returned we had a lot more room and got in some solid climbing.

ROUTES: 4.

That’s the number of good routes I found.  At the end of the day I didn’t feel pumped or tired at all, and it wasn’t because I didn’t climb hard.  I got every route that I think I could have gotten, they just weren’t that long or super challenging at all.  Plus, the walls are plywood as opposed to the nice textured ones at TRC, and compared to the awesome routes we found there a couple weeks ago I was super disappointed.  Plus, there were spinning holds EVERYWHERE.  In the first 15 minutes of the comp I saw them fixing at least three, and I encountered my own shortly after (see below).

INJURIES: 8

Overall we did great on the injuries front, and we all made it out ready to climb again.  However, at the top of one of the hardest routes I got, I had grabbed the top and was preparing to downclimb when all of a sudden the foot hold with all my weight on it spun.  I was pretty high up so immediately clung to the top for dear life, and the texturing on the top scraped up the inside of my right arm, my left forearm and my left shin.  I also bruised my knee and hip in the process.  I totally survived, and am thankful I didn’t fall and hurt something worse, but still frustrating when it comes from something that could have been avoided if their holds were tighter.

TEAM PERFORMANCE: 9

Overall I think we all climbed hard, and worked through some hard routes which is always exciting.  Results haven’t been posted yet so we don’t know team success, but I did place 4th in the Intermediate division, which was a bump up from Rec. in the last two.  I’ll have to take at least one point off because fourth came with no prizes   Only one spot away…

I hate to rate something this low, but honestly there was a ton of room for improvement in this comp.  Makes me even more appreciative for the quality of the comps our local gym, Triangle Rock Club, puts on (see previous ratings).  Their gym is nice, their routes awesome, and the folks who run it are friendly, organized and efficient.  They come HIGHLY recommended, and I now appreciate them even more

A Day Full of Excitement

After a productive morning of work with Lauren, from my grad program, I headed over to campus to meet up with the Pride of 2016 from KIPP: Gaston College Preparatory, the school I used to teach at.  A big part of the school is preparing the students for college (hence the name), and that involves a lot of college visits.  One of the 6th grade trips is to NC State, so I was more than excited to hop along and help with a ‘tour’ (in quotations solely because of my insane lack of knowledge of my campus.  Case in point.)

TECHNOLOGICALLY UPDATED PARKING GARAGES: 8

While Lauren (a climbing friend who went to State for undergrad, and agreed to help out with the tours as well) and I were waiting for parking on campus, I discovered a brilliant system for pay-as-you-go parking garages.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Once the garage is full, it actually refuses to open the gate at the entrance until it registers that a car has left the other side.  That way, once you enter, you’re guaranteed a spot.  It’s just a matter of finding it.  I love this use of technology and think it makes a ton of sense.

-2 for the long lines created at the entrance when the gates aren’t opening.  Once you’re in, it’s impossible to get out, so if you’re running late there’s no way out to find a better solution.

Luckily we eventually found parking and quickly met up with our group of students.

PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT WITH THE PRIDE OF 2016: 9!

I have to say, it’s always super exciting to be around kids again.  It’s not that I forget how much I love being around them, but I’m still reminded every time I get to spend some time with them.  My group was incredible, well-behaved, excited by what we were seeing, and inquisitive.  Plus, incredibly photogenic (see below).

-1 because we were running late at the end and missed one of the photos on the scavenger hunt list   And then, after getting back on time, we waited on the wrong side of the building so ended up late anyways.

MY FIRST GCP SOCCER T-SHIRT: 10!

Afterwards, before heading to the library to knock out some more work, Wu gave me the best thank-you gift EVER.  A GCP soccer t-shirt!

Let me explain.  During my second year a good friend of mine, and the 8th grade science teacher and soccer coach, created a new soccer shirt with an awesome/clever quote (?) on the back.  Everyone wanted one, but he kept them very exclusive.  You had to earn them either by playing on the team, coaching the team, or showing up as a fan for at least three games (I think that was the magic number).  I never managed to earn one during my time there, but was surprised with one today after the tour!

As you can imagine, I wore it proudly the rest of the day and received many compliments.  Heck yeah!

Murph's a bit upset it doesn't fit him...

Following the tour I diligently hit up the library to knock out one of my two final papers this semester, and then decided to take a study break at the local mall.  It’s Christmas time, and in my opinion, nothing beats malls at Christmas.  While there I discovered several fabulous things.

COOKIES & CREAM MILKSHAKE WITH ANY COOKIES YOU WANT: 8.

I never realized until I saw this sign that while Cookies & Cream flavor is called ‘cookies’ & cream, it always comes with the same kind of cookies (Oreos).  What if I like cookies, but not Oreos?  I no longer get to enjoy the cookies & cream flavor?  Not anymore!  Mrs. Fields is now making Cookies & Cream milkshakes with any of their cookies you choose.  BRILLIANT!

-2 because I didn’t actually try it so I can’t vouch for the flavor, but I’m totally digging the idea.  You can get one at the food court in the Crabtree Valley Mall (and I’m guessing other Mrs. Field’s locations).

MALL CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS: 8

I may be one of few, but I love how early they put up decorations.  If I’m beginning my Christmas shopping, you better believe I want to be surrounded by Santa, wreaths, lights and Christmas music.  Luckily the malls are on the same page as me.  Crabtree was looking pretty good In fact, I’ve pretty much decided my dream part-time job would be working as one of Santa’s elves during the holiday season.  What could be better than getting to spend several hours a week at the mall, all Christmasy and decorated, spreading Christmas cheer?

-1 for the lack of Christmas music at the mall.

THIS PHOTO: 9.  It doesn’t showcase my true photographic talent when it comes to taking pictures of myself with the iPhone, but you can see the decorations in the background and it makes me laugh.

All in all I’d say today was a pretty fabulous day.  And I’m almost done with all my big projects for this semester!  Until then, just living for the tens

Kreativ Blogger Award!

Heck yeah!  Thanks to Jaci, of Everyday Sassypants, I’ve been awarded a Kreativ Blogger Award!  When you receive the Kreative Blogger Award you must do the following:

1. List 7 things that your audience doesn’t already know about you.
2. Name 7 other blogs to receive this award.
3. Leave a comment on each of the blogs you nominate.
4. Thank the person who gave you the award.

What makes it even more special is that after listing the 7 blogs she was awarding it to she wrote, “I don’t read many personal non-affiliated with a brand blogs. Just not my thing. I kind of put this off for a while because I don’t know how well the bigger brand (Glamour) bloggers will respond to this kind of thing. I have hopes though that they’ll reciprocate!“

I can’t speak for the large, brand-affiliated blogs, but this personal non-affiliated with a brand blog is responding well, and about to reciprocate!  So here we go…

7 Things You Don’t Know About Me:

1. While I write with my left hand, I do almost everything else with my right hand.  When I say ‘almost’, I mean I’m never really quite sure which hand I’ll use.  I remember elementary school gym class clearly when they’d introduce a new sport with directions for right handers, and then tell us if we were left-handed just to switch it up.  The problem was, I didn’t know what I was, so I spent forever trying both ways before I would just go with whichever I thought was right.
2. I have a secret belief that I’m meant to be on Broadway.  While I don’t have the voice, I feel like we may be soulmates.
3. My biggest fear is settling.
4. My happy wagon is almost completely full, and I’m kind of wondering what happens if I use up all the rocks…
5. I’ve recently begun a venture into barefoot running, thanks to the inspiration of an incredible book called ‘Born to Run‘.
6. I think four kids is the perfect number, as you then have a complete volleyball team when they get older.  It would also be good to marry someone taller so hopefully they’ll range in height, filling all positions.
7. My cousin is an incredible photographer and my aunt makes beautiful jewelry.  I dream of spending a summer traveling around the country and selling their stuff at local art festivals.  I think I’d meet some really cool people, get to travel to new places, and I truly believe a lot of people around the country could really benefit from their talent.

7 Other Blogs to Receive This Award

In giving out this award I’m also adding an 8th thing to the previous list.  I have two major blog addictions:

1. Healthy Eating Blogs
2. Education Blogs

I love reading about cool things happening in the education world, whether it’s education technology, math teaching, or students who blog together, I like staying in the loop   I also love learning new healthy recipes, and quickly got sucked in.  I don’t even remember how I found the first one, but once I did she was constantly linking to others, and before you know it I added a new tab to my Netvibes titled ‘Healthy Eating’.  There’s a ton, and a lot of great stuff on them, so I recommend you all check them out.  Here we go!

1. Kath Eats Real Food- This is the original healthy eating blog I discovered, and it’s written by Kath, who conveniently lives not too far away in Charlotte.  She’s going to school to become a Registered Dietitian, so I’m definitely getting tips from a legit place
2. Relentless Pursuit of Acronyms- I’m so excited to award this one to Matt Brown, who I met many years ago at good old American University.  I was an Orientation Leader there where I also got to lead ‘Discover DC’ groups around the city during Welcome Week.  I’ll never forget this one group in particular, as we had the most fun EVER.  Seriously, greatest group of incoming freshman, and made my job such a blast.  He later went on to transfer (so maybe I wasn’t that great as an Orientation Leader) and ended up as a 2009 Teach For America corps member in New Orleans.  He’s now blogging about the experience, and I love both the writing and the subject.
3. 2cents Worth- David Warlick, my education hero, was presenting at a tech conference in Greensboro two years ago.  I was lucky enough to attend one of his sessions that literally changed my life.  I was so inspired by what he had to say about technology integration in our classrooms, that I returned to my school with a whole new passion.  I began blogging for my kids, I created a unit that got them blogging (and good at it!), and after the NC Computer Skills Test we tackled a unit entirely on developing our Personal Learning Networks (an idea that I believe was created by Warlick) using Web 2.0 tools.  His blog, and the many comments from educators, continues to push my thought on a daily basis.
4. Weblogg-ed- Along the same lines, I was introduced to Will Richardson, another educator interested in technology integration, through David Warlick’s blog. Similar content, and equally brilliant ideas.  I read them both regularly, and find myself more and more obsessed with technology and our schools each time.
5. 1,000 Awesome Things- For any eternal optimist, this site is a must.  They began the blog at 1,000, and each day count down the 1,000 most awesome things.  From little (the moment on a roller coaster after you get to the top of the first big hill and before you go down it) to littler (when the amount of toilet paper left on the roll is the exact amount you need), it makes us all stop and recognize the small 10′s.  How can I not love it???
6. PostSecret- I’ve been a fan of this blog since college, own one of the books, and even met the original creator.  The premise is this: the creator began handing out postcards all over the city that asked people to write their secrets on them and send them back.  People did, in many super creative ways, and each Sunday he publishes new secrets on the blog.  Some are funny, some sad, some happy, some scary, but all real, and all anonymous.  It’s powerful, and definitely makes you feel the connection between people, regardless of if you will ever meet them.
7. Meds and Maggie- When my mom began fighting breast cancer earlier this year she found it draining, and often overwhelming, to respond to the many people calling, writing, and reaching out to see how she was doing.  Repeating the same stories over and over again was exhausting, so I encouraged her to start a blog.  Combine that with the second cutest puppy of all time, and I’ve become a pretty big fan

I’m rating my receipt of the Kreative Blogger Award a 9.  Clearly exciting to be recognized by such an incredible blogger, but it has distracted me from my important Multicultual Education final exam for a good 45 minutes, so I must take off one point.  Might make it back up if any of the larger blogs I recognized actually respond!  I couldn’t help but nominate them since I’m such an avid reader, but I also know they have pretty large audiences and my Kreativ Blogger might not be a 9 in their day as it is in mine.

Overall a highlight of my otherwise book bogged down day. Huge thanks to Jaci, whose blog has kept me entertained (and updated on the latest TV/fashion) for many years now.  With her consistent posts she’s a highlight of almost every day

Lucky 11,111

While a complete update on the framily vacation to the Mountains is on its way, in the meantime I couldn’t resist rating this.

I’ve always found the time 11:11 to be lucky, and make a wish everytime I catch it on a clock.  SO, when I logged onto G-mail today and saw my inbox had hit 11,111 I got super excited (yes, I know my inbox is out of control, but I also have thoughts about the need to organize a Gmail inbox when their effective search functions make it completely unnecessary).

I rate this a 10, and have made my wish

Sakura Express!

Every week when I drive to campus I pass by this pink and yellow Japanese restaurant called ‘Sakura Express’.  It catches my eye because on the window it advertises some difficult-to-find Japanese dishes like yakisoba and udon.  I’ve been meaning to try it out and finally gave it a go this Tuesday before a meeting on campus.

CASH REGISTER TREATS: 10!  When I ordered at the cash register I looked to the right and was surprised with the most incredible basket of treats ever.  HAICHU!  My all time favorite Japanese candy!  Back when I moved back to the states from Japan, I would always harass my dad to pick up tons of Haichu when he went back for business, and was thrilled when I went to Epcot years ago and found some.  A couple of months ago I found some in a 7-Eleven in DC, so I wasn’t completed shocked, but definitely pleased   They also had Pocky, and appropriate babies dressed up as peacocks.  CLASSIC!

FOOD OPTIONS: 9.  When it comes to Japanese food there are some definite staples in the states, but not all of my favorite Japanese dishes.  This place does a great job of covering more ground.  The classic sushi, hibachi and tempura were all available, PLUS udon and yakisoba.  There was no tankatsu or curry, so I have to take off 2 points, but I was still definitely pleased.

FOOD SWAP: So we decided that rather than commit to only one dish, we’d get one yakisoba and one hibachi and share.  So I went to the counter and ordered a chicken hibachi and a chicken/shrimp yakisoba.  I’m almost 90% positive that’s what I ordered (I’ll allow for a 10% chance of error, although I think that’s an overestimate), however when she brought out the food they were both hibachi.  So she said I must have ordered wrong, while I’m pretty sure she heard wrong (no way to know for sure).  I felt really bad asking for her to replace it, knowing it might have been my mistake, BUT we did go for the yakisoba in the first place.  So we asked really nicely for her to switch it out.

I’m pretty sure she now hates us, spit in our food, and immediately called someone and started complaining about us in Chinese (yup, not even Japanese).  Still enjoyed the soba though

FOOD: 7.  The food definitely wasn’t super authentic Japanese hibachi or yakisoba, but it was still pretty good for pretty reasonable prices.  It seems anytime you want authentic Japanese food you have to get sushi or hibachi at a fancy Japanese place, neither of which are cheap.  This place is more along the lines of a cheap Chinese restaurant, but with Japanese cuisine.

Plus, they had the delicious ‘shrimp sauce’ that I loved at Kanki.  Definite bonus points.

SIGNS ALL OVER THE RESTAURANT: At first I didn’t think twice about them until Scott pointed them out.  All over the restaurant were handmade signs clearly giving directions to obnoxious college students who must consistently cause them problems.  Warnings of putting soda into water cups (watch out, you’ll have to pay full price!), throwing out the trays (apparently that’s a no go) and where and when to order your sauces, there were a total of about 5-7.  I wish I had some pictures…

Next time we visit I’m fully expecting a sign at the register, “Please pronounce all orders clearly and correctly the first time.  We will not replace any misordered items.”

Considering it’s close proximity to campus, and my love for Japanese food, it’s a pretty safe bet I’ll be returning.  That is, if the woman working there doesn’t throw me out…

Dog Escapers and Rainy Days

DAKOTA RUNNING OUT MY APARTMENT DOOR (WHICH ACCIDENTALLY BLEW OPEN IN THE HURRICANE) RIGHT AS MY TWO NEIGHBOR DOGS WERE IN THE HALLWAY: 0.

It’s one thing if he hurts a dog when he’s on leash and they come up to him, but a whole nother story when he escapes from my apartment and runs straight for the two small dogs out for a walk.  Then I’d be in big trouble.  Thank god we stopped him before any damage was done (other than my neighbor who will continue to hate me and the panic attack I’m still in the process of recovering from).  Currently serving time out on the porch and learning from his mistakes.

HURRICANE IDA: 2.  I’ll give it two points.  1) Since we’re always in a drought here in North Carolina, I’m sure the rains good for us, and 2) it was a great reminder of how lucky I am with my flexible part time work.  Got to sit around all day in my sweats and hide away from the gross weather.

Until class that is.

-points for dogs with too much energy (multiple rainy days in a row, with no walks, will do that), soaking wet clothes while sitting in an already cold classroom, no rollerblading, raincoats that don’t work, not owning an umbrella, and an ever growing pool of water collecting in the ceiling of my apartment…

DRIVERS IN THE RAIN: So I’m standing at a crosswalk trying to cross Hillsborough on my way back from class, in the pouring rain, with no umbrella, getting wetter and colder by the second.  Many people, at the same time, are driving their cars down Hillsborough, dry, warm and sitting in their comfy seats, probably listening to some nice music.  Why is it that they can’t stop for 10 seconds and wave me on so I can escape the Hurricane?  I rate their common sense a 2.  I’ll give them 2 points for the fact that they might actually realize it and be too self-centered to care.

Note to self.  ALWAYS LET WALKERS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY IN THE RAIN.

COOL NEW WEB 2.0 TOOLS: 9.  I spent two years in my classroom getting super excited about new technology that would get my kids pumped about class.  And then I left the classroom.  Still equally excited by these things, I just haven’t been given as many opportunities to work with them, or write about them, until recently.  In the past week I’ve created my own online class using blogs, wikis and screen recorded lectures, and watched a lecture that introduced me to about 15 new INCREDIBLE web 2.0 tools in about 20 minutes.  PLUS, I got asked to present a workshop up in New York City to new teachers about all the incredibly technology I love thinking about, learning about, talking about, and most importantly sharing with other teachers.

It’s been a good week in the world of technology