TIE in Conway - October 8-10

I am spending the better part of 3 days in Conway at a TIE (Technology Infused Education) workshop. I have already learned so much. When I do things like this, I just want to find a place with a great connection and play with what I have learned. There are so many possibilities for using this with students to get them - and keep them - connected to learning. Both of the presenters are very good and have a wealth of information to share. WOW - what a day!

I'm getting married!

Just typing the words for the title makes me smile. In July 0f 2008, I started riding my bike with a man that I had known for years - John King. We met in the mid 90's when the technology coordinators from the 15 coops and the "3 ladies from Pulaski County" began meeting monthly for sharing and training. John and I got to know each other and over time became friends. I changed jobs in 2001 and didn't see him again until August of 2007 when we crossed paths at another state-level meeting - this one dealing with testing. We caught up with where we were in our lives, went out to dinner and a movie, went to a concert, and exchanged brief emails and phone calls. Without knowing it, we both bought bicycles and began to ride. When we found out that the other one had started riding a bicycle, John asked if I wanted to ride the Big Dam Bridge ride with him in September. We started riding together then and over the course of the next weeks or few months we fell in love. Neither of us knows for sure when it happened. On August 16, 2009 - while riding our bicycles at the river - John proposed and I accepted. He gave me a beautiful engagement ring on September 4 and we are discussing March 20 as a possible wedding date. I am getting married to my best friend and it makes me smile.

Vacation 2009 - Traveling West

On July 10, John and I left on our first vacation together. (DC didn't really count because work had to come first.) I took off at noon on Friday, July 10, to finish getting my stuff ready for our trip. By 5:00, the car was loaded with all the important stuff (including bicycles), an early supper had been eaten, and we were ready to go. On Friday night we drove until we were about an hour west of Oklahoma City, spending the night in Clinton.
John at the Oklahoma Welcome Center on Friday night.

We were on the road fairly early on Saturday, but had a long day ahead of us - goal - Holbrook, AZ, by bedtime. We took lots of photos as we traveled across the rest of Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, all of New Mexico and into eastern Arizona. There was so much to see and we really didn't have time to make all the stops that we encountered along the way - like just what is "Roman Nose State Park" and why are those cars buried in the ground like that? Temps varied back and forth from over 100 to the low 70's as elevation changed and we drove in and out of rain.
The Texas Panhandle is the perfect place for a wind farm (look closely in the distance.)

And then there are rocks - lots of rocks...

New Mexico along I-40 West

A rainy sunset in Arizona

Trip to DC

John and I were very blessed to have the opportunity to attend the same conference in Washington DC - the National Education Computing Conference. We left town on Saturday, June 27, after having to be at the airport at 4:15 AM. We had separate flights going and coming but the arrival and departure times meshed really well. We were at our hotel in DC by lunchtime on Saturday and didn't have to leave until Thursday afternoon. We had a crazy busy week - doing all of the conference sessions, visiting many vendor booths, and then sightseeing every other possible moment. Being a history buff, it is impossible to choose one favorite part but certainly, the Lincoln Memorial and the National Archives with the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were pretty awesome. Between the 2 of us, there are literally hundreds of photos, but here are a few of my favorites.

John - outside our hotel on Saturday


Library of Congress on Tuesday evening Lincoln Memorial at night

Time to Ride

The rain that has been so persistent during the month of May finally stopped last week and that meant that I finally got to log some miles on my bicycle. This month I was only able to ride 102.18 miles and 64.5 of them have been in the last 7 days. My muscles are weary but it is pretty motivating to see the miles add up. Of course - John rode more miles - as he has almost every month that we have been riding together. He encourages me with the words, "you do other things too - I ride a bike." That is true and I am not sorry that I do other things. I just wish I had time to do it all. (Maybe that's called retirement.) Our goal is still 50-62 miles in the Tour de Rock in 2 weeks. That's a long shot but I'm going to do my best.

Mother's Day Weekend

With Mother's Day at hand, visiting Jenn in Columbia was just the thing to do. Mother's Day happened to coincide with Art Night at the Vet School. John and I left after work on Thursday and were 2 weary pups when we got to Columbia at 2:00 on Friday morning. We had a great weekend visiting with Jenn and Michael, going to Art Night on Friday night, visiting bike shops on Friday and
Saturday, and riding with Jenn on the Columbia spur off of the Katy Trail - which is a "Rails to Trails" multi-use trail that spans most of the width of Missouri. As for details - Art Night was Jenn's funding-raising brainstorm last year and it was so successful that she had to spearhead it again. Quite a few of the students in Jenn's class and the one below her participated in one or more of 3 areas - visual arts, performing arts, and culinary arts. Jenn had some of her paintings and photography on display, made a couple of dishes for the Culinary Arts portion and performed in the closing act of the night. We ate all kinds of food, placed bids in the silent auction and enjoyed the art and performances. Columbia has several great bike shops and we both found cold weather cycling jackets for 50% off. The bike trail that we rode on Saturday was not paved, so the going was slow but the area around the trail was beautiful. Jenn rode my Trek and enjoyed it so much that I left it there for her to ride since so many of her friends also ride. As is so often the case, we delayed the return trip too long. John didn't get back to Hope until midnight Sunday night.

It's Almost Thursday!

It is Wednesday night. Tomorrow - right after work - I get to leave for Columbia, MO is visit Jenn. We talk often, but that isn't the same as seeing her. I'm taking my last vacation day for this school year on Friday so I can have an extra day. John is leaving Hope shortly after lunch so he will be here when I get off work. Everything will be packed when I leave for work tomorrow so we should be able to get out of town pretty quickly. It will be a long drive and we won't arrive until after midnight BUT I will be in Columbia when I wake up Friday morning. It's hard to wait...

Mt. Pleasant, TX

Saturday morning in Mt Pleasant was sunny and warm - just what John and I wanted for the first organized ride of the year. About 100 riders gathered for a "Ride with the Eagles" - a fund raiser for the arts department of the North Texas Community College. We signed up to ride 43 miles. The route was beautiful - all rural, lots of farms and fields and wildflowers. One hill after another, major wind,and washboard roads changed my mind about the 43 miles. John rode the entire route which was actually just over 45 miles. I, however, turned off onto another route and was just PROUD to finish with 36 miles. Back in Hope - we rode again on Sunday. I finished the weekend with just over 50 miles and John had a metric 100 - just over 62 miles. I know for sure that I need to figure out the "numb feet" problem that bothers me after about 15 miles AND I have to learn how to ride up hills.

What the heck is a Grancy Greybeard?

John first told me about this tree last fall when it just had ordinary green leaves on it. He said his Mom called it a Grancy Greybeard. I thought she was just using an old common name for something else. I mean - come on - I'm pretty up on trees and I had never even heard of such a thing. It's real - it's incredible - and it's scientific name is Chionanthus virginicus. It's great to learn something new!

John's Azaleas

John has the most amazing Azalea's by his back door. This bush is at least a foot taller than me. Each flower is almost as wide as the palm of my hand.

First Entry

This is my very experience writing a blog. I have had a Facebook account for several months and I decided to branch out and try something new. Blogs and personal websites have never appealed to me so I'm not sure why I am doing this. I guess it is curiousity more than anything else. I might post some cycling stuff and some quilting stuff and just play around with it. I guess I'll just see what happens.