Grenada: Lori and Kelly's Big Adventure

Captain's Log: Day 1 - August 12, 2010
Going to Tulsa to catch a flight to Grenada. Using the most direct route - Tulsa -Chicago - Miami-Grenda. I mean right? through Chicago first? geez,..........anyway.......it will get us there.

Found out there is a summer travel embargo and Grenada is on the list. What this means is that each passenger is only allowed two checked bags. The bags are to be 50 lbs and if can be up to 70 but you have to pay extra. The bags also must be suitcases, no boxes or crates.

We both have a ton of school supplies donated by very generous friends and knew we were going to encounter problems......we weighed the bags......the school supply bags - both over......hoping for the best.......ready to pay.


Captain's Log Day 2: August 13, 2010 (Friday the 13th)
Prepared for a long and grueling day, very nervous about checking these bags.

Arrive at the Tulsa airport, out of no where a guy working for American Airlines (which I love now, btw) shows up at the curb. Finds us a cart and loads all of our bags and takes them inside. No big deal, right? BUT, then he wheels them to the side and starts weighing them for us. By the time we get up to the kiosk to check in, he is standing beside us, taking our passports and we just answer questions. He even punched it all in for us! He talks to the agent and informs them two of the bags are overweight. She talks with the agent next to her and voilå, waives charges.....

We get to security and loooong line, we get to the guy checking tickets and he says, if you would like to step to that far end, you will not have any problems and will be alot quicker. And you know what? he was right, it took longer for me to empty the 3 computers out of my bag then it did to get through.

Checked in and at the gate for an international flight, in less than 30 minutes. WOW.

Flight to Chicago uneventful, then to Miami.

Flight from Miami was a hoot. Evidently there is a big vet school here in Grenada and it starts on Monday, so probably 2/3 of the plane was students. Many of these students have working dogs or cats (therapy pets) so there was probably 20-30 different pets on the plane with us.....some in carriers, some not........there was a cat behind us, and everything ranging from german shepherds to labs, to goldens, to malteses. And you know what never heard a peep out of any of them, more well behaved than the children on the flight. : )

When we arrived in Grenada the students were trying to help us by telling us what to expect at customs. When we found out that they would most likely check our bags and charge us for every piece of electronics, I was very nervous, but they said just take one computer out of the bag and show them. I did and the agent asked what we had and we told her, pencils and school supplies and she never asked another question, just smiled and waved us on. Everyone almost cheered and were amazed there were big smiles all around.

I was worried about the food......we stopped at a little place and there were lots of guys with grills cooking things.......one was a big pot of "waters" which is soup. however the soup contains everything....more like stew.......and be a variety of meats veggies,............WHATEVER. I chose the chicken on the grill with garlic bread.........It was a leg and thigh......but it was very yummy a very mild bbq sauce on top.

We slept with two fans blowing directly on us all night and life was good.

Correction..........Life IS good. : )

GOING TO GRENADA!

I am sooo excited! I leave THIS week for Grenada. My niece is in the Peace Corps (check out her blog, My Life in the Peace Corps) and my sister and I are going to visit. We will spend the first few days with her seeing the projects she is involved with and then go to the resort side of the island for a few days of r&r.

Grenada is an island country and sovereign state consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Grenada is also known as the "Island of Spice" due to the production of nutmeg and mace crops of which Grenada is one of the world's largest exporters.

I am also excited to take with me a suitcase full of school supplies. One of the jobs she is doing there is teaching in a 1st grade classroom. Supplies are limited to say the least so my office, along with others, have gotten together and were so generous in their donations! My sister and I both are dedicated one suitcase to the transportation of the supplies. We were quite surprised to find out that Grenada is one of the destinations affected by the summer embargo and we could not take under any circumstances more than 2 suitcases per person (along with our carryons) and it HAD to be suitcases, not boxes or crates or anything else and each was NOT to exceed 50 lbs each. We couldn't even pay extra to take something. So we had to get really creative. I even came up with 3 used laptops!

I'm not gonna lie, I am a little concerned with the food situation but have packed some granola bars and cup of soup. They eat alot of fruit and fish (the two f words I really don't like) but there are plenty of vegetables so it'll be fine......... I hope.

The heat and humidity are going to be a challenge as well. I am used to heat here in Kansas but I am also very accustomed to being able to into the air conditioning. And you walk ALOT, so hopefully I have good comfortable shoes and am prepared to sweat. I'm sure I will return home with a greater appreciation of the creature comforts I take for granted.

Hey Man, it's Podstock time again.......

What is Podstock 2010?

It’s a conference. It’s a conversation. It’s family.

It's for educators who want to share technology integration strategies, explore social media tools and strengthen established learning networks. We're going into our second year and growing fast.

But we don’t want Podstock to be just about the latest gadget or the coolest software. We want it to be about creativity, about inspiration, about what’s good for kids. Our formal and informal conversations, both face to face and virtually, will help change how we do school.

I have been working on the materials for the conference. Last year I had such a blast and got so many compliments, I knew to even come close to that success was going to be a challenge. I have been thinking on the concept for this year, well, as soon as last year wrapped up. The theme of Podstock came last year, since it was the anniversary of woodstock, we kind of modeled after that. And with the boom of podcasting and technology, Podstock seemed a natural fit for the name. 


Last year was classic Podstock, 60's themed, alot of Peace signs, hippie motif, and of course the VW Hippie van. Our conference folder was crafted to look like an old time album.....(kids ask your parents - think of a vinyl CD).....ahhh, hint of nostalgia.........but anyway...the cover was printed to look well worn, because seriously, what record album in this day and age doesn't look worn? Pull out that old Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix album and check it out yourself. The "album" opened up and on the inside was the listing of the presentations and inside the "sleeve" had the lyrics or presenter bios. The record itself had a listing of web 2.0 resources. All very fun.

This year I decided to go more of an electric guitar, 70's feel. So the folder will be a guitar case, - ala, classic Fender case. It has velcro fasteners for the latches and inside a guitar with the 2.0 resources printed on the back. Inside the "satin" lined case pocket is the "song book" with the presentation description listed.
Although it doesn't quite trip my trigger as much as last year's, I am still very excited about the whole thing.

I am very excited for this year's event, which will be held at the Hotel at Old Town in Wichita, KS. Always a good time, including our vendor showcase reception with lots of cold beverages and snacks and a Second Life Dance Party. We've had many conferences throughout the years and we always have a blast at these things. The presentation line up is going to be great as always. For a full schedule and further information go to the Podstock website. So, don't be a drag man, join us for a groovy time, July 16 & 17, 2010.

Embrace Life

Seat belts. Still people do not get the importance. Last week a very dear friend of my niece's was in a car wreck. No extinuating circumstances, no drugs, no alcohol, seasoned driver but a wet road a chain of events proved to be a dire combination. Four college age girls one minute out for an innocent drive, the next two girls ejected and one with so many broken bones and injuries she needed cpr from her friend to keep her life. Upon hearing this my college age son, who is about to embark on medical school to be a physical therapist rattled off the amount of recuperation time and therapy those injuries would require. This particular girl we were discussing had just graduated college and was about to start Pharmacy school and now will spend the next year learning to do the things she probably took for granted the day before.

Now you would think this would be a good lesson to the importance of seat belts and how in just the blink of an eye your whole world could change. I took that opportunity to reinforce my feelings and how fortunate this girls parents are that she is still alive. I felt good that at least this horrible tragedy was at least providing me with a teachable moment, that is until the following week when that very same son came home carrying a crumpled license plate. He then began to explain the crew he was working with was coming home on the highway pulling a trailer full of equipment when the tire blew. The steering locked up and the truck trailer proceeded across a lane of traffic and into the ditch where it hit two signs before stopping. Now, there were several variables that could have made this another tragic scenario, such as neither the truck nor trailer rolled, there was no opposing traffic and the signs glanced off the truck and went over it instead of through it. Instead the driver and all passengers were safe. After hearing of his harrowing ordeal, I said, "so you did have on your seat belt, right?" and to my dismay and chagrine, the reply, "no, I was in the backseat."

We can preach and teach but ultimately those we love have to come to their own conclusion that seat belts are important and save lives. Please pass this video on to those you love and maybe, just maybe it will make a difference and slowly we can saves lives, one seat belt at a time.

Buckle up. Embrace Life.

Murphy's Law

"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". - Murphy's Law

I have a dog. I have a dog I got for free. I have a dog I got for free because obviously the people knew she was retarded.

We named this dog, Murphy, and little did we know just how appropriate that name would be. Over the years she has numerous trips to the vet (not for free, mind you) to stitch, sedate, medicate, clean up, monitor and just general maintenance. She is the absolute sweetest dog, I sometimes wonder if she thinks she is a lap dog, which would be ok if you had enough lap to accommodate a 68 pound greyhound. Murphy does not get to leave the backyard without a leash because she cannot be trusted........she does not look both ways before crossing the street and she thinks she can run up to people full force and leap into their loving arms.......which is not really what a small child or an elderly person want.

Last week, Murphy and her compadre, Austi, made a break through a gate that was not fully latched and went on a big adventure. Although they were wrangled and put back in the corral within an hour, Murphy managed to find a way to injure herself. We don't know how but received a pretty major laceration to her upper rear hip. Well, seeing it was not going to heal itself, Murphy went to see the best vets in the world.......Apple Lane Animal Hospital.

She got to spend the night and I am sure she is just silly enough to think it was some sort of camp out and she made lots of new friends. I picked her up this morning to see her shaved and stitched. She did not have on the cone of shame when I picked her up, because she had ripped it off her head and eaten it sometime this morning. So they sent another one with a pat on the back for good luck.

So, now I have not only a beloved, mentally special needs dog but one that is spatially challenged and running into everything she encounters.......I just have to sigh and think, ya gotta love her.

Best Job In The World- Sorry, it's taken

So, I know I've mentioned that I think I have the best job in the world, but I'm going to say it again, I love my job. I work with some really awesome people that are doing some really awesome things in the world of education. I usually get to be involved on some level or another, and most often it means helping out on the creative end.......whether it be with a graphic or photograph or just picking my brain for some out-of-the-box thinking. For the last few months we have collaboratively been working on a collection of podcasts and resources targeted to teachers, parents and grandparents. My job has been to go take still photos of the process to be used for the websites, blogs and various projects. I have had such fun doing it and the last one I did was for Bentley Richert and his podcast "Labz for Kidz." You should definitely check out the site, My Kids Turn, it has some awesome ideas that will assist you as an adult to give a little added help to the kiddos as they learn. To date there are over 70 videos on the site. Some of the categories are Math, Science, Language Arts, Early Education, Art, Gaming......... and more are being added all the time.

And of course I have to have a picture of an animal of some sort.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk - Graduate KU!

Well, this weekend was another milestone in the life of my family. My first born, my sweet little cherub graduated from college. Technically he still has his internship to finish up but classes and grades are finished. I watched with pride as he put on his cap and gown and walked down the hill and through the campanile which at University of Kansas is a tradition. He got this checked off his list but his scholastic journey doesn't end here.....after the internship - 3 more years of med school then we'll do this graduation thing again for Aaron Fast, Doctor of Physical Therapy. It just dawned on me that theoretically both my sons could graduate the same year, same time, same school next time.......Aaron and Brett with his degree in architecture. Wow, wouldn't that be something. I'd be a bawling mess, to be sure. But today I'm just beaming, ear to ear and dealing tear to tear as I recall the sometimes rocky road we've traveled to this point so far. You know when they are just babies and you are so proud when they do all those things.......learning to walk, to talk, to ride a bike........those are proud moments and then they move on to elementary and high school and they win an award, make top grades or just do something as a nice human being.......and you think to yourself, I just couldn't be any more proud of them and then they achieve some other accomplishment such as this and somehow, someway, they manage to squeeze just a little more pride out of you. Aaron Gregory Fast - your momma loves you and is proud of you.

The Campanile myth.

The myth around campus is that if you walk through the Campanile before graduation, you won’t graduate at all. This only applies to walking in one door and out the other, so if you want to see the inside but you aren’t interested in risking your degree, walking out the door you came in is a safe bet. If you follow this advice, it naturally leads to the next item on the list.

You don’t graduate at KU. You “walk down the Hill.”

At KU, we don’t call it “graduating.” It’s called “walking down the Hill” and it’s definitely unique to KU. All graduates from all schools line up at the top of the hill and process through the Campanile into Memorial Stadium.

Cinco de Mayo- Chicken Enchiladas and Guacomole - Olé

Cinco de Mayo can be celebrated in more ways than beer this year. Recipes, tradition and Cinco de Mayo's history are all aspects that can make May 5 different and not a holiday that is a common misconception. Cinco de Mayo is not an American or Mexican independence day. Viva Cinco de Mayo online explains Mexico's real independence day is September 15, 1810 when they declared their independence from Spain at midnight. May 5 is still a historical day that does involve Mexican heritage. Cinco de Mayo, 1862 was the day 4,000 Mexican soldiers fought French and a traitor Mexican army outside of Mexico city. The French were apparently coming to a collect a debt then were supposed to leave.

French Emperor Napoleon III planned on staying in Mexico however. The brought a Hapsburg prince with their fleet to rule in Mexico. This was during the American civil war, meaning Mexico was on its own.

The French Army eventually lost because of overconfidence. They chased Colonel Diaz and his cavalry but were stuck in muddy terrain, storms and stampeding cattle. America later became involved by helping with men, materials and weapons to fight off the French together.


Source: Viva Cinco De Mayo
 

Guacomole

Ingredients

• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno (seeded for less heat, if desired), finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 ripe avocados, diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the onion, jalapeño, cilantro, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using the back of a fork, mash the vegetables until they begin to release their juices.
2. Add the avocados and lime juice and stir to combine.
   
   
   
   

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 pound tomatillos (papery skins removed), chopped
• 1 onion (preferably white), chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 2- to 2 1/2-pound rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 1/4 cups grated Monterey Jack (5 ounces)
• 8 6-inch corn tortillas
• Pico de Gallo or salsa

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatillos, onion, poblano, garlic, cumin, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, add the cream, and puree.
2. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, tomatoes, 1 cup of the cheese, ½ cup of the tomatillo sauce, and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
3. Warm the tortillas according to the package directions. Spread 1 cup of the remaining sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Roll the chicken mixture in the tortillas and place them in the dish, seam-side down.
4. Top with the remaining sauce and cheese. Bake until beginning to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with Pico de Gallo

Weird And Wonderful Hangover Cures

Different hangover cures can be found in different countries and here are some of the strange and curious ways to cure hangovers in different parts of the world.

The following are strictly to be taken tongue-in-cheek and you are solely responsible for the outcome of the following methods of hangover cures.

1. Australia
   A big T-bone steak. If that fails then a chocolate milk shake.
2. France
   Drink thick, hot onion soup the next morning.
3. Germany
   Downing a sour herring with a beer chaser.
4. Haiti
   Stick 13 black-headed pins in the cork of the bottle that gave you the hangover.
5. Norway
   A heavy glass of cream
6. Outer Mongolia
   Eat a pickled sheep's eye in a glass of tomato juice.
7. Puerto Rico
   Rub a lemon under your drinking arm.
8. Russia
   Heavily salted cucumber juice or black bread soaked in water.
9. Switzerland
   A sip of brandy with a dash of peppermint.
10. And my personal favorite..........don't drink too much in the first place.

I abso-stinkin-lutely LOVE my job

I know I have mentioned it before but I will say it again.......I LOVE MY JOB! Graphic manipulation is fun but taking pictures of something as fun as baby ducks -words cannot describe that. Now you might be wondering why on earth I would need to take pictures of ducklings ...........and even if you are not......(in her best Italian accent says) I'ma gonna tell you.....

A bazillion years ago (approximately) someone made the mistake of calling ESSDACK (the place I work) ESSDUCK, and since then our little mascot has been the rubber ducky. Now I happen to be in the farm store a week ago (no, I do not live on a farm, or near a farm) and they had gotten some of the cutest little baby ducks in, they had chickens too, but they are gross. I happen to know a big wig there and asked if I could rent the ducks for an afternoon. He told that wouldn't be necessary and I could borrow them. So this morning I made the trek back to the farm store to borrow some ducks. I brought them back and of course most people oooo'd and ahhhhh'd because let's face it baby anythings are cute -except chickens, like I said, they are gross.

I took pictures of the ducks by themselves, in groups, sitting, standing, running toward me at break neck speed, with Starbuck the cyber-safety pup, with Kevin Honeycutt and his ipad. (He made a video). We had a fun time with the little critters.

I learned that although cute as can be, baby ducks poop alot and then they stink.....because their food is probably made of ground up bugs so duh? why wouldn't their poop stink? Anyway, I digress.....had a great time of taking pics of the babies. So now I have roughly 250 pics of baby ducks that I can use for something, sometime, in some way...  Just gotta figure that out.

Plight of the Creative Bone

Heavy sigh, ahhhhh, the plight of the creative bone.....   I don't know why it is that sometimes, certain people just get the urge...I liken it to spring fever and cleaning. Spring comes and you just want to clean stuff out. That is what the creative urge is.....for some it might be learning to knit, then knitting a scarf for everyone you know (even if it is mid August) then putting the needles away never to be used again. For some people it is some sort of class, or purchasing some sort of equipment or being inspired by HGTV (the H standing for Heaven or Hell, depending on whether you are the husband or the wife). For me it can be sitting and playing at my computer for hours.......yes, my husband has informed me, HOURS.

Sometimes you just want to be creative. No particular reason, you just feel the "need." OK, so maybe not ALL people feel that way, some just want to get through whatever task is at hand. Yesterday was a little of the creative day for me......I was going to shoot photos for background for a podcast and was waiting at home for "the call." I was checking out the cameras, (I use a Nikon D50 and a little pocket for candids - Panasonic Lumix), gathering lens, making sure sufficient battery and card space and all that jazz and starting goofing taking pics of myself. Now some might consider this weird, and it is........but I use those to play with and I don't feel bad when I chop my own head off or make it look really weird.....but feel kinda guilty doing it to others, so I like to keep a variety of pics in my "bank". Also I like to change and it is probably time to change the banner on this page in fact.........

So I started going through Stumble upon......I love that, if you don't have it, it's great, check it out. And saw a picture of a woman looking through the blinds.....I thought......hmmmm I can do that. So if I would have been really industrious, I could have just taken the stupid picture of me looking through blinds, but never one to take the easy route, I set off to "create" the illusion. Now the initial thought was me looking out the blinds but after several tries and not finding the right starting pic, I decided what the heck and went the other route. Someone looking through to me. Now I didn't have alot of time, but in the end I was quite satisfied with the outcome.

Of course as you can guess, I used my very favorite filter in the whole wide world......Topaz Adjust. I see in my email this morning they have some upgrades out so I'm excited to check that out. So with that filter and with a little cleaning up of the photo and a few tweaks here and there, creativity addiction successfully quashed, at least until the monster rears it's head again... : )

Little Cabin in the Woods

This past weekend I went to a little cabin in the woods in Missouri. It is located on Table Rock Lake and is in a beautiful area. Now I must admit the very thought of spending time in place with no internet access, felt like my umbilical cord would be severed. My communication with the entire free world, coming to a complete stop, all the necessary social networks halted, I could not even fathom how I would survive. But I went, and after the initial withdrawal period, I must will say, had a wonderful time of relaxation. I read an entire James Patterson novel in one day, sat on the deck watched birds and wildlife, took a few pictures.......was nice. Now, granted it was only for 2.5 days and I could not wait to get back and get plugged in, but for that brief moment of disconnect, I think I actually breathed.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

 and here is a little poem I wrote about it........
Sitting in the shade,eyes closed in quiet contemplation,
Aluminum frame chair, plastic webbed seat,
T-shirt and sunglasses, and old blue jeans,
lazily dangling flip flopped feet.

Cool breeze, slowly moving the leafy canopy overhead
Causing soft tendrils to cascade gently around my face,
Blowing and tangling my carmel colored hair without regard
I tuck a curl haphazardly behind my ear, interlaced.

Sounds drifing from the  brush and trees,
Birds wing softly flapping in flight above
Calling to one another in playful banter
Melodious sounds and cooing of doves.

Beaks noisily pecking on the bark of the trees
Hungry bellies looking for tasty morsels to eat
Males with bright plummage, females nearby
Lighting on moving branches, clutching tightly with feet.

The sun starts to peek from behind the clouds in the sky
Random beams, gleaming down on my skin
warming my shoulders like a comfortable sweater.
Tilting my face to welcome the warmth from within.

The smell of the foliage, earthy and sweet
soft musky smells drifting with the breeze
The wildflowers interuupting the browns and greens
with color that pops, releasing their perfume with ease.

Curling up with a book, in the serene location
Nature giving me beauty and peace as a backdrop
Rest and renewal coming to fill my tired body
all interruptions and stress coming to a well deserved stop.

iPad: The Latest Gadget/ Kevin Honeycutt: The Ultimate Geekster

OK, so Kevin, one of the educational technology specialists in our office got an iPad. When I was naming this entry I wanted to call Kevin a geekoid, but when looking up that word, it was defined as a person that was socially inept......Kevin is far from socially inept so, I chose the word geekster. I couldn't really find a definition for geekster.....but in LoriLand that is a word, and if there was a picture of it in the dictionary, it would be Kevin Honeycutt.

Now I frequently take pictures of our people doing their podcasts so they have stills to use and today I took pics of him and his iPad while he was filming an episode for our parent resource site, My Kids Turn. He has posted them for people to use in presentations on Kevinhoneycutt.org and on Flickr. You can see the podcast episode, Raising Digital Kids: iPad- The Latest Gadget,  for Raising Digital Kids that he made for MyKidsTurn.com, it is also on you tube.

Before the filming started, we were goofing around with lighting,  I'd like to do new staff pictures with some black and whites so I used Jerry Butler, one of our tech gods, as my model. Afterwards I used the Topaz filter (have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE, LOVE that filter?) and I smile every time I look at it. We voted and can't decide if he looks like a poet or a serial killer..... anyway I will share that also.


More of the ipad photos can be seen on my flickr page.

Don't be offended...........

 

I am sorry, I know there will be some that will be offended, but I just couldn't resist. This just makes me laugh, having dogs of my own, I could just see one of them being so proud to bring me this as a little token of their love. But never-the-less, I hope your easter basket contains a special gift for you.