what do a/c, ilympics, thinglink and check engine lights have in common? me.

yesterday i went in to do paperwork and get all of the necessities taken care of...and learn about benefits. i pulled up just as the others were pulling in-they had flown or driven in and gone to lunch. i left around 1:40, and got home around 6 pm and it was super warm, making me think i'd forgotten to turn the air back on when i'd returned from mo...so i went to turn the ac on, and it made all the right noises, only there was no air coming out. this could not be good news.

so i turned up all of the fans. it was pretty bad by the time we got ready for bed! if i didn't have my bed fan, i would not have made it through last night-how did i ever make it through life in sps?? anyhoo. i was just slightly less than miserable, and the boys were panting as well-it was rough for them. this morning, when we woke up, it wasn't much better. i made a red-neck air-conditioner (bucket of ice cubes with a fan blowing into it) before i left. unfortunately, i know the boys were distressed, because when i got home, i saw they had vomited bile and almost diarrhea (don't ask, trust me on this one; i'm just glad the potty pad was down).

on a bright note, maintenance did come, and fix the air, in fact, they removed the old 80's thermostat, and replaced it with a brand new model, which i am hoping will save me money in the long run on electric! my bills have been outrageous! also, they fixed the lock to the balcony door...it may or may not have ever worked...but i'm on the third floor, so it really didn't phase me. but when all is said and done, better to get it fixed while they're here than forget and have to pay for it later. last item on the agenda-paint the ceiling. hopefully they come back to get that taken care of tomorrow, because it looks terrible!
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i arrived at the doubletree for the conference right on time, and dropped my belongings off in the main hall, before making my way up to the 21st floor-i am pretty sure i gained weight just thinking about breakfast on the way up in the elevator! yum! so i got to sit and chat it up and get to know different people on the training team. because so many were on the conference call during the first interview, they recognized me before i was able to make connections. but it will come together soon. when i got back down to the main hall, i was writing my name on a name-tag when a gal walked up and said, "go ahead and make one for me too. jane." and it wasn't the jane i know, so it was kinda' funny. she later said my writing was much better than hers, and she liked the way i did mine. she is a trainer as well (and we share a very similar humor, in fact our stories from the back of the room certainly added spice to the luncheon). a very unique and diverse group.

kinda' want to take the cutout with the istation icon home...i do NOT need any silly stuff #justsayno

assigned seating! with goodies!

had to break out the awesome wick-away/sports pull-over to stay warm (it actually looks good!)

the conference this year is ilympics-style:

we had an excellent keynote speaker, commander mark mcginnis. a navy seal with much to say about leadership and team. excellent talk, and strangely, i found myself with tears in my eyes a couple of times (and i'm pretty sure it wasn't meant to be a 'touching' talk)...i think just the overwhelming-ness of realization of how much those in uniform really do sacrifice!

i ate entirely too much.

and when we went to the various trainings, i was wishing i could bottle up the cold air to bring back to my apt. for real, though..taking a jacket tomorrow and some hand warmers, because it's winter over there! even with coffee in hand...#needmukluks

when we reached the end, it wasn't really the end-just a transition to the istation building, where they had drinks and appetizers waiting. i wasn't into the drinks being offered, so i settled for a couple bottles of water, and after participating in the chatter for a bit, i was 'summoned to the principal's office.' i'd already had a heads up. lori just wanted some assistance and feedback, because she thought it'd be cool to try the thinglink, like the one i'd used in my presentation! #proudmoment can't wait to be a participant!

really? why didn't i know about the rain?? but from 21 floors up, it looked fabulous!

and here i was worried that somehow i was going to be cast in alexander's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, as on the way to the conference, my engine light came on-ugh. is it just a coincidence that it is happening only a week after i took it in for recalls? hmm...seems so suspicious. last thing i need-especially now, as i will probably be driving quite a bit. (surely nothing a doubletree cookie won't cure, right? ok, somehow buns-o-steel seems so completely overrated this week).

please check this out to get a small taste of one of the reasons i am thrilled to be a part of istation!

thankfully when i got home, i walked into a room, much cooler than the one i left this morning! i will be sleeping comfortably tonight. #grateful  we really don't know how good we have it. think of some of the modern comforts and conveniences that you take for granted and must take a moment to be grateful!

julie

living dangerously-licking the food processor blade!

why is it that when i start to watch the foods that i put into my body, the dog food all of a sudden looks like my favorite childhood cereal-cocoa puffs? i just kinda' wanted to pour some milk in...

but, that said...the time has come. no avocado will ever go bad under my watch again! i am smitten by the 'chocolate' avocado mousse! ayayayaiiiii! (is there a good way to spell that?) so yes, i portioned it out and then licked the bowl...and brought 'licking the beaters' to a whole new level! with extreme skill and unbelievable deftness, i carefully removed all of the mousse from the food processor blade...like a ninja! (a ninja who licks blades on large kitchen utensils).

i spent a whole lot of time watching webinars on saturday, and the one i really enjoyed the most introduced this great tool called thinglink. check out the presenter's blog-susan oxnevad; solid! i've embedded a simple thinglink from the first picture i could find on my computer. it should be on the right hand side of the screen-
let's see how this works!

the other gadget that has already come in very handy for me is the camscanner app. great for scanning and straightening, flattening..it uploads really quickly to my google drive as well; love it!

i will be out at a training tomorrow for thinking maps-which is a uniform graphic organizer across the campus. we've been using them for awhile now, so it will be good for me to get a little refresher. we began using it as a campus, and this year we began diving into their writing program. basically it helps students learn to structure their thinking. and i believe that our focus on writing has gotten better. i'm so proud of the work that our teachers have put into the kids and their writing! it's great to walk down the hallway and see writing samples in different content areas!

today i went to a thinking maps training, and it was really good! i wish we were using them well. we've begun to implement usage, but i just experienced how impactful(yes, made up word, deal with it) they can be! right now we are mostly using them as graphic organizers, but not really getting the real THINKING part out of them!

my table was a pretty good group of ladies-engaged. i came back from the restroom and one of the ladies had her ipad out and was telling them about this app she found and insisted on taking a pic of the girl across the table. it was the aging app for the kids' 100 days. well, i've seen it because we have a teacher who has used it on his kiddos the past couple of years-so fun! it didn't seem as fun to me to do with adults, (i passed). this was some time just after lunch, and she had to ask the girl's name-ha! none of us had introduced ourselves early on, but we were working like pros who'd known each other forever! i don't remember any of their names. (i am convinced that i do not need to remember the names of every person i meet! #notashamed!)

p.s. we're over 100 days into school! that means we're closer to getting out!
julie