nothing says september like busy!

wow...august 19th seems like an eternity ago!

since then i've been just as busy. i drove over to the east coast and got to do some pd sessions in village green and north miami beach area, palm beach and broward county, then down to naples... followed up by a trip up to buffalo, with a few days to be home before heading off to miami to work with a colleague in the greater miami area. my parents got a chance to visit-they are at my place right now, while i am up in gainesville for a quick training tomorrow and back!

so let's unpack this a little. the miami area professional developments have been fast and furious, but you know that they've been a hit when you have participants say they understand the program so much better now that they've had training! and then a couple teachers from one campus had been at our training last year just after IRMA had her way...and they said this time was even better because they had used the program for a year, and this time they were able to come into the session with a different purpose!

i didn't choose the room...the room chose me.

buffalo. oh buffalo. let me begin by saying that working with a larger group is always fun, because we do a lot of communicating prior to the sessions to get everything planned. this was a fun group; i missed one or two of the planning sessions, due to our schedules just not matching up. the theme for this group was BIRTHDAY! which is entirely appropriate, as it is istation's 20th birthday...so we wore the cutest little aprons and birthday hats and headbands. it's strange because i used to be SUPER into dressing up for parties (not fancy, 'real' parties, KAMP parties, a completely different type of dress-up, in which you go through the skit closet and find the gaudiest, silliest costume possible)... this felt somewhat similar just because i would NEVER wear an apron when baking... just not an apron girl, i guess. but the sessions were successful and the purposes were met #happyparticipants

playing our games!

love the architecture up in buffalo!

it's been so crazy go-go-going, that shea and i haven't gotten a chance to hang out, so hopefully in the next few weeks we'll be able to go do the fun things on the weekends! and if we're lucky the red-tide issues will become a non-issue!

i headed down to miami again last sunday and met up with one of my colleagues, and this was the first time that we were getting to work together. we had a fabulous dinner, and i was able to take her down and show her the wynwood walls. i was fascinated by them the first time hellen took me down to see them, so i figured i should share them! we took google's short-cut through the hood, no worries. then we were near kush, so i had to share that gem with her as well and we had mouth-watering burgers that were beyond-filling!

i do think this is such a great attraction

in the morning, we got out to the rogue-i love the keyless fob action! until i realize that the keyless fob is in my pack that i dumped into the tailgate and slammed shut. i guess when you do this, the car doors won't open, and they sure didn't! so what does one do? well, i called national and they said it would take about 90 minutes and $57. hmm. we didn't have that kind of time, so we uber-ed and of course, the handouts were in the back...so at least i had my computer! we printed off just one of the handouts that i felt would be the most beneficial, and emailed the rest to the instructional coach...i did offer for them to follow us back to the hotel to wait for the locksmith and get the handouts, but no takers.

so of course there was a problem with my usb thumb-drive, and the files were corrupted or something of that nature, and i couldn't access them, so we had to email them to the secretary to print...eeeee.

then the projector, we were afraid it wasn't going to function because it took Waaaaaayyyyy longer than necessary to boot up (time for a new bulb). anyhoo, we finally got situated and both sessions went smoothly. improvise and go-with the flow. i feel like i've gotten very good at it this year!

at least the view was nice!

only thing keeping me sane

then we got back to the hotel and the little duckies were still out and about-they came to greet us! so friendly. thankfully our locksmith guy got there in a timely fashion, and i was able to get sonya to the airport for her flight! then i made my drive home, through alligator alley.

my parents drove down to visit for a few days. the timing isn't ideal, because it's still hot down here, and it's still busy-time for me, but i'll take anything i can get! the past two days during the day i've been busy with preparing for tomorrow's training, as it is a bit different than the sessions that i've had most of august up to now. but we were able to get out to myakka yesterday afternoon, because they hadn't gone yet. we tried to go to the starfish for dinner, but it was closed for until this weekend, so we went to swordfish, but it was closed for remodeling...so we went next door to cortez kitchen and had the grouper and mahi sandwiches, as there isn't as much variety; but it was decent, and there weren't too many people there, so we had better service than the last time i'd been there!

true sports, we went all the way to the top- far above the tree tops (77 ft)

braving the swinging bridge at the tower

thursday we stopped by the river walk before dinner, and then i headed out a little later than i like, but the drive was an easy drive. it rained a little, then once it got dark, i was behind another car which swerved back into the middle lane. the next thing i saw was a huge shadow. somehow one of the orange construction barrels had gotten loose and was laying in the path...i was doing around 80, because anything less is like nails on the chalkboard of driving...anyhoo. needless to say, i killed it! and dragged it...and was able to pull off to the side. fortunately it was a plastic orange barrel, and crumpled under the car. i thought it would be in front of the car, being pushed, but no. it had to go and get itself lodged under my car. uf. so i may or may not have had to lay on my stomach to reach it and start trying to move it and un-wedge it. when i finally got it from the mid section toward the driver side near the tire, i put the car in reverse, moved a few inches, tried to pull, fwd, pull a little more, back, get out on my knees and move it around again, back in the car, repeat...i was finally able to get it out from under my car, and hopefully no damage was done, except to my pride. i threw it with disgust and disdain into the median and reprimanded it. i think it learned its lesson.

pretty sure the girl at the check-in counter probably wondered what the cat drug in...

this could have been a very bad experience. fortunately i got a good night sleep, and the session with admin and coaches went very well! i look forward to working with them again!

i got home friday night to hang out with mom and dad, and we had a great breakfast the next morning before they left to check out alabama to see about different areas where they might find a new landing spot! 

the following week was another quick drive to miami for the last scheduled bridgeprep training! it went very well, and i knew it would because the scenery on the way there was a good omen! and i finally got to meet the woman with the plan in person! it was a really great staff to work with!

oh, but this lighting!!

that almost wraps up september...next post: september 22.

until then-julie

stop thief! an electronic game of cops and robbers...and going halfway

well, yesterday i did it! i went to check out 'the dark knight rises.' i decided to drive down to springfield for it, and i'm glad i did-i went alone and watched it in the imax...PHENOMENAL! if you have not seen it, i highly recommend it! and yes, at the end i did have tears-which i tried to blow on to dry them up and since that didn't work real well, as soon as the credits began, i was the first one to the door (the advantage of going alone- no waiting on anyone else!)

i don't know if i've ever mentioned it or not, but my parents are big game people (not like safari elephant big game...more like game board and cards), so the other day we played an old family favorite (one that we played back when i was in 3rd and 4th grade)...STOP THIEF! the electronic game of cops and robbers. my students would be better off in the critical thinking realm if they had the opportunity to play games like this and have family game nights in which they were using their thinking skills. this one was especially good in helping to learn to focus and draw conclusions.

we got through one crime scene and i arrested the bad guys and got the reward money, but then when we began the next scene, the electronic gadget went berzerk on us and it wasn't the battery-just an old machine..about 30 years old...it's held up well until now.

today mom and i went on a little drive around town so that she could show me around. down in the town square (i love old towns with town squares!) there was a mural, which was pretty good-the buffalo probably could've been a little darker brown, but other than that, very nice.

everybody loves a good mural

 then, after sightings of the fire station, the clinic, the police, the water tower...we stopped at the pharmacy-where i found a great little card, and then i wanted to see halfway, the town with a population of 137...it is half way between buffalo and bolivar-creative name, i know.

i got out to take a picture of the population sign, and 3 of the cows were looking at me very curiously...there's one of them...somehow, i must have deleted the picture of the sign. boo.

 but in a town like halfway, you make up the joke...here's halfway elementary, and i think this is where they send the mediocre teachers so that they have an excuse for being mediocre...

i say that in jest, i am sure that the teachers here are probably amazing.

that is basically what i did today-and continued reading in the book that has captivated me this week-the one i mentioned yesterday: the founders on the founders...you get the most accurate portrayals of people by what their own words to others, their diaries, words by their spouses and colleagues as well as mere acquaintances from abroad and even their enemies or opposition have said. the book is interesting because it is more about their character (be it good or bad) rather than their politics...which i would have enjoyed just as much.

staying at mom and dad's is dangerous-it's impossible to say no to mom's cooking and baking, and when they want to grab ice cream..what can i say? (although, i did bring the bullet with me and have had several breakfast concoctions...but it doesn't make up for the other!)

well, i think it's time to get ready for pizza hut...
julie