Moon over Lake Lakengren

Hadn't been out in the boat for several days....why? It is so relaxing, and as an extra special blessing this evening the full moon was rising as I was coming in. I went on past the cove and down the shore line a little further until I could just see it peeking through the trees. Patience and about three additional minutes brought the whole body into view. Glad I had my phone with me!

jeff

Been a while....

Just got home from Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. What a beautiful place. We spent the last two days at the home of the Winns. Their hospitality made it a really great time and very relaxing. We had the chance to take the kids tubing and just lazz around on the boat and soak in the sun on the water.

Yesterday we boated on down to Lee's Ford and had a late lunch at the restaurant there. Delicious!!

Seemed like a very long trip down and almost as long home...but it is great to be home on our tiny puddle... hoping for a clear morning and a chance to get out on the kayak for an hour or two.

That's all for now.

Softball update

I can't believe our first scrimmage is this Saturday! It seems like just a few days ago we were starting out on this journey together and now our first test and trial approaches in about three days. A few more things to iron out and the good news is we can pretty much get everyone in the game and see how they do all without worry of messing something up. It is just a scrimmage and the wise older coach has given much, much needed advise to this rookie.

I am extremely thankful for his advice and encouragement! Thanks Lon. His daughter the ever present Miss Janet has been an extra blessing to have helping out as she can (which is a lot!). The girls have so far been making us look really good, they have little things that they need to work on like, not complaining that they have to wear long sleeves and pants since it is still rather chilly. We don't want anyone sick right now. Can't afford to have anyone out!

It is amazing as well that we are already half way through March, which means we are almost a fourth of the way through this new year already! That means April is soon approaching and almost time to get the boat ready to launch! I am ready for spring to spring!

As always,
jj

I am in the 21st Century..!!!!!

I made it! It only took 11 years but I made it! My dear Emily and hubby Alex allowed Cindy and I to join their cell plan for a great price....

Cindy got Em's awesome lightly used Palm Centro, and I had the distinct privilege of getting a Sprint Droid HTC Hero! Wow, can I just say WOW!!! If you do not have a Droid... let's just say I think Obi wan and Luke would envy this droid! Look out R2D2, watch out c3PO! I've got Google Sky downloaded and I am watching....

I literally got goosebumps today!

Thanks Emmy, thanks Alex! Thanks lil Poss!

jj

Added note, today we took the Sci Oly kids to Cincinnati for the regional compatition of Science Olympiad. They did an awesome job and I could not have been more proud! Elaina and Hannah kicked it with the bridge, and Ethan did great on the ornithology while Kirstyn and Konner rocked the computer world and every one else did an awesome job for our school! Great work everyone!

Softball, softball who's got the softball?

Pitchers and catchers started today...me bum is draggin! I have never coached girls softball before, let alone fast pitch, but it was totally awesome spending time with young ladies I have taught in class. They wore me out with leg lifts and running the stairs! Maybe they will get this old man in shape by spring....that would be wonderful!

Any way, thankful for the start of a FULL week of school! VERY thankful to be back to work, I hate being a couch potato.

Emily and Alex close on their first house this Friday, which also happens to be the Mouse's b-day, followed by Cindy's on Saturday. Busy, busy week ahead!

j

I like Chinese foo...do you like Chinese foo.....????

My hip Chinese food song...I love to sing it when ever I have had Chinese and just had some with my sweetie tonight. So... do you need the whole song??

I like Chinese foo...do you like Chinese foo???

Sometimes Chinese foo tas'e goo...sometimes Chinese foo tas'e poo

I like the Chinese fooooo.....

My wife hates that song, but my kids at school always love it. The high school kids used to request it all the time. Ah...those where the days.......

A fast two day week at work. Good to have the brain back in gear!

j

To school,...to school!!!

Yes! Finally, we get back to work today!!! Hurray for the snow plow guys and gals!!! I didn't think mentally I was going to make it! :) Conferences tonight on top of first day back...it's gonna be a looonnnngggg day!

The doldrums....

I have been following Abby Sunderland as she sails around the world solo circumnavigating. She is currently in the doldrums near the equator. She says in her blog it is very warm there and I told her that was just not the case here in southwestern Ohio.

I am really quite tired of snow at this point. I did manage to get out of the house yesterday with a trip into town to help my dad with some computer magic. Not really of course, but installing anti-virus and other useful tools can be like magic to those who don't know how to do it. It is great fun to be able to help people like that and try not to make them feel dumb at the same time.

Well Mrs. W. is preparing to make the trek into work as she has not had the call off this morning. She I believe, is the lucky one. Although I am sure her kids will be wound for sound...so hopefully they will make the effort to be good today.

Are we ever going to go back???

Nothing like it...

The last fabulous piece of chess pie... absolutely fabulous!

mmmmmmmmm.....

SNOW again..........??????

It really doesn't seem possible that it is snowing again. Okay, granted, it is February, and it is still winter in Ohio, but we haven't been to school in a week now. I am ready to be at work, and I have kids who need to be working, learning, growing and I don't think they at this point (most likely) that they are.

Snow is beautiful I will give you that one. It is. Clean and pure wonderfully quiet as it floats downward. It leaves what ever it touches just a little more picturesque.


Check out the back...

and now out front, towards the lake...

Lookin for a place of their own...

Today we went with Emily and Alex to look at the place they are trying to get for themselves. It is an older two story home in Hamilton with loads of character. Here are a couple of pics of the place and our lunch at Bruno's afterwards.

j

Olympics!

http://www.nbcolympics.com/widgets/super.html

Day of rest...for the most part

Other than some shoveling of snow, this was a nice day to rest. I did manage to get the drive dug out in front of the garage. I am sure the dogs will appreciate not having to trudge through the snow to get off the back deck now! It's fun to watch Maya when she comes in with snow on her nose! She is just a big happy puppy!

Mouse needed this day I think to rest her yuck cough. She is still sacked out on the couch with her faithful friends keeping her warm. Cindy says she looks like a pretzel all contorted like she is.

Snow is falling again and it will be interesting to see if the wind really picks up and makes things worse. It doesn't look too bad right now. We will see what tomorrow brings. I do know that the Lord puts on a beautiful show when he sends the snow in....everything looks so peaceful, so clean...at least until the snow plow comes through.

j

Not again....

I love snow as much as the next guy, but missing school because of it isn't cool any more! I need to be in class with my kids and they need to be there with me. It's just way too tempting to relax and get lazy with the brain cells when there isn't any motivation to keep them firing! I told some of them today that they needed to spend some time when we are off testing their minds. Hopefully they took their math stuff home with them...what are the odds??? Hmmm...89 students, 4 classes, snow already on the ground...I am guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 will get the books, notes and mad minutes home and then about 5 will do something with them. I would love to be proven wrong!

Tired, it was a very long day.

j

Maya doesn't want to be famous...

Snow...snow....snow......snow......snow.......it won't be long.....

Wow, I love it when there is lots of snow! Not fun to drive in, okay yes it is if you are not potentially going to hurt anyone or anything. It is! Any way, today we are hopefully going to get to go look at the kids' house. I know they are excited to get out of their apartment and I know it is nerve racking to take on that kind of financial debt, but the long term payoff is great when you can swing it. Just excited for them and can't wait to see that!

As for the snow...wow it is really blowing out there this morning. It even feels kind of cool in the house for the first time this winter. So it has really done something out there. It is beautiful though. I love the scenery with fresh snow on it. The lake which is usually excruciatingly difficult to look at this time of the year is suddenly transformed. The trees look like they are wearing gowns of white as if waiting for a wedding to start. It just has a sense of purity about it. I can hear the wind howling out the back side of the house. The dogs have been out and had to be dried off after they got back in. Now they are snug back in the bed with Cindy huddled together staying cozy warm.

Hopefully more later after we have been to the house!
j

Back in the real world...

Well today it was back at it in the real world as the last three days at the eTech conference were filled with brain stretching information. I am excited to start putting into practice those things that I learned about during those sessions! Hopefully the things I gleaned will be beneficial to my students.

Apart from that the best part is being home...sometimes it is an easy place to take for granted, especially the people there that you care about the most. I am thankful to be home safe and sound once more.

Night all,
jef

eTech day 3

Wow, first class out of the blocks and it is a winner! Google tools and what to do with them. I am going to post a link to the site the girl used to do her presentation from. I actually has the slide show at the bottom of the main page. Have fun, hopefully more later!
jeff

http://sites.google.com/site/edtechgirl/etech-2010-google-collaboration-tools

The last class I went to was a let down. Too much all over the place, and not enough focus on any one particular item. There were some cool tools introduced to create avatars, but most were very expensive and not time efficient.

Currently waiting for a Moodle class which I am sure will not be a bust!

2:29 - wow another home run class! Now, what you have to know is that they went to a Moodle class last year that Brian did here in Columbus. Now within the year, they have over 200 courses! That is amazing! They have an amazing online staff development course that they did which we are trying to get them to send us! It is really good and could help a lot of people grow their courses!

super!
jeff

eTech day 2

Getting ready to hear Brett Gensburg do a SMART board presentation. We actually got in the room prior to the end of the session before him to get a seat.People were already in here like us getting seats for other people they know. The dude is hyper!

eTech day one

Wow...today I wasted several of my 86400 seconds this morning. I was supposed to be ready to work this morning @ 8:30. Show time was 15 mins prior (on time). Could not find the person in charge of the area we were to work in. You would think that a large state conference would be a little more well organized. Had a nice conversation with my co-volunteer Emily but other than that we were quite bored. In class now....more later.

j

Getting started

Trying to get the most out of each day without draining yourself is a challenging task for us all. I am attempting to remind myself that every second spent idle is a second lost. Gone... never recovered. I want to make them count for something. Matthew West's song "The Motions" says it best... "just okay is not enough... what if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions..."

That's what this blog is about... accountability to myself and the one who gives me each breath.

jeff

*never heard of Matthew West? Here is the song I was talking about: