Ready to Head Home

Our Christmas will be officially over tonight at 7. That's when we'll be leaving Jen's house for Raleigh. We decided to travel at night so the Beast will sleep! (-: It will be a long night, but I'll be chock full of Sheetz tea. Mmmmm...
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Going to the Canes game tomorrow night. Meeting Robin, Kapp, and some others. Let's go Canes!!!

Merry Holidays To All

Heehee! That should make the conservatives angry! It is Christmas day, and I'm here sucking off someone's wireless network here in Vienna, VA at Kerry's folks. It's 36 and raining here. Had a great 5 miler this morning--in a downpour with some ice pelting down. I've put together a string of 3 good runs, so the OBX Marathon is looking possible--we'll see.
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Lucy made out with toys this morning! Her Grammie and Grandpa got her a huge kitchen, with plates and utensils. She loves it! Watch out Emeril!! I made out as well. I'm getting ready to rip my new 3 Doors Down cd to my laptop. Good tunage! Plus we'll be listening to that on the way to PA tomorrow. Christmas, Round II! I guess we'll be renting a U-Haul for the way home!

WHY IS HE ON INSTEAD OF CHEVY CHASE?

How does this man sleep? He spies on us? He has ties to oil rich countries who kill. Grrrrrr!

Have A Holly Jolly...

Well, it's the last week of school. It has been a busy time, with our 'World in Every Classroom,' all the typical holiday-type things, then everything else. We've seen some funky weather too, so that makes for even more interesting circumstances. But we're on the homeward stretch toward Christmas vacation. The family will make our annual pilgrimmage over the river and through the woods to Grammie and Nana's house. It will be a fun Christmas though--LUCY IS WALKING!
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The World In Every Classroom went well. We did a lot of neat, creative technology integration activities. A third grade teacher adapted Hansel and Gretel into a play starring our PE, Art, and other special teachers. I aided two of her students completing the audio using Audacity. I recorded a fifth grade class singing 'Deep in the Tomb of Egypt' and turned it into an mp3 for them to access. Teachers used digital microscopes, music, and a lot of other creative things. Lots 'o experience for Chris!! Each day secures me more and more of an authority, as we're even beginning a weekly podcast on writing, with more planned.
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Lucy does not pause very often these days. The weekend after Thanksgiving is when she took her first steps. I guess she waited until Daddy came home from his conference. She definitely wanted to wait until she had it mastered. Now she tears around the house, neighborhood, and pretty much Raleigh, uncontrollable. We took her to the NC Museum of Science, and it was so awesome to see her tearing around. It is still hard to believe it's our little girl walking! Where does the time go?
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Well...time for Nat'l Lampoons Christmas Vacation--heehee!

Lucy and Jarrod

 

Lucy had a great time playing with Jarrod at our 'Pre-Christmas' shindig with the neighbors last week.
 

Let this speak for itself...

Cha Ching...

Taken from the 3 Dec 2005 News and Observer:

Closing a 'casino'

I'm sitting here at the N.C. Education Technology Conference in Greensboro. This conference is a great way for teachers and administrators from all over the state to share ideas, learn new technologies and find better ways to use current technology. The conference lasts all week, and seemed to be calm; it's a conference full of educators after all.

Apparently not. For years, the NCECT people have hosted a Casino Night for teachers to unwind and play some games and mingle with each other. Instead of money, tickets are won to put into raffles for prizes. Earlier this week, state Alcohol Law Enforcement officials came, trying to shut the Casino Night down.

They returned the next day, threatening to arrest the coordinator and cite each person (over 1,000 at my estimate). Instead of Casino Night, the organizer scrambled to put on Activity Night. It was a success, but had many people scratching their heads.

As a busy educator, I scratch mine as well. We know there are numerous underground casinos and raffles going on in our state. Instead of going after these real gamblers, ALE officials go for educators. In a state that just passed a lottery and is contemplating allowing another tribe to run a real casino, our tax dollars go toward shutting down an innocent night of fun for our teachers.

I think I'll cash in my chips now.