Travel

This past week was the National CEC convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. CEC stands for the Council of Exceptional Children, a professional organization dedicated to the teaching of children having special education needs. This was the very first time I've attended a CEC National Convention, and it was a fantastic experience. I learned quite a bit, discovered what a National convention is like, networked with new people, and reconnected with past colleagues. I'm not sure which was the best part, although seeing some of my past colleagues from Montana was certainly a nice surprise.

I travelled with the sped department chair from our college, and we had a nice time. (Sr. Mary Karen and I are seated on the wall in the above picture of the Temple). Sight-seeing was minimal, but a few things were fit into our tight schedule. I walked over to the Morman Conference Center and enjoyed a rehearsal of the Tabernacle Choir on Thursday night. Then late on Friday, we visited the Temple Square and took the tour. The weather on Friday afternoon was beautiful, so wandering around the Temple Square area was pleasant. Amazingly, the gardens were filled with fragrant flowers for such an early time of year.

Our trip was quick...we flew there on Thursday and back on Saturday. The planes were full, the airports were busy. It was also good to gaze out the plane window and look down upon Western prairies and mountain vistas. For a "Westerner" like me, it was good to get my "mountain fix" (if only fleetingly) since living in Wisconsin for 3-years. (My last view of mountains was in October 2003). I have another opportunity to see Western lands again coming up in June when headed on another trip...this time a vacation with my husband.

~~S

Spring Break Visitor

A friend from my UG College years spent part of spring break with me and my husband. It was a treat for me, as I hadn't seen this friend in a few years. He has been overseas working for the UN, having quite the adventure...assisting emerging governments..through his work as a graphic artist.

Anyway....his visit was an opportunity for me to break out of my usual routines and do/see some other things. The adventure began with driving in the FOG to pick him up in the middle of the night at the Milwaukee bus depot. Getting to the depot is a bit of a challenge as the Interstate highway interchanges in the downtown area are all under construction. Luckily, I sort of know my way...sort of...and so, although there were momentsof being lost, the task was accomplished. Once we arrived in my little burb, we had breakfast at a marvelous "mom & pop" restaurant that I like to frequent. Thus the visit began.

Some of the things that we did included a very brief walk along Lake Michigan...it was too chilly for my friend, who has spent the last few years in dry middle Eastern lands. We also checked out (briefly) one of the county parks along the lake shore, before taking a jaunt up to part of Door County and down along the Green Bay. We also did some driving around exploring of the city of Green Bay, specifically downtown, where we searched for some obscure bars/taverns....


(Photo here is of the frozen Green Bay-->)
The days of the visit seemed to rush by, and although we did some more exploring of local coffee houses, and interesting things around town, soon it was time to take my friend back to Milwaukee, to catch the Greyhound bus for home, and time for me to return to work following Spring Break.

Its so good to have friends come and visit! Thanks for taking the time, my dear friend Brad. It was a terrific break!

~S

Spring Approaches!!!

Sunny days have brought brighter moments for me, and I feel the awakening of wanting to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Today was one of those days, and so I took a few hours and, with the company of my dog Zeek, we meandered along the Lake Michigan shoreline on the Mariner's Trail. It was refreshing to feel the brisk breeze off the lake, see the deep blues/greens/tans of the lake water, and enjoy the soft giving sand beneath my feet.

I'm eager for Spring....gosh, only 24-hours or so
until the equinox is here. I have baby tomato plants peeking leaves into the world, along with year-old plants awaiting the warm days of late May and the warm fertile garden soil. Its a time of anticipation, a time of thinking of summer things.

I've been pondering what to do during the summer months of 2006. I've had the bug to do some volunteer work - somewhere - but I haven't figured out where. I've had the bug to travel, but again, I haven't figured out where. I've even had the bug to take a summer job, but again...I have no idea where. What I do know is that there's about 6-weeks left in the Spring semester, and so my college teaching days are busy as the session wraps up. This week is our annual conference, and all the hustle and bustle of getting things ready, as we put that on, will fill the hours of this week.

So.....the walk along the lakeshore....what a refreshing, relaxing activity. I must add this into my routine. Zeek will love it, my body will love it, my brain will relish it. The lake feels much like the ocean....

For the past three weeks I've been working on life changes for better health...especially weight. This darned American diet fatness problem...my genes have caused it to haunt me all of my life. Every year I start again, and again, and again....to do something. Recently I've embraced what I call the "Oatmeal diet". That just means that every day I wake up and eat a big bowl of oatmeal, augmented with some dried fruit & a sprinkling of nuts. It fills me up for hours and hours..and with that I don't crave other things...well, except oranges. So...my diet is defined by oatmeal and oranges, plus a regular meal of less fattening items. Maybe I should start defining my life style by "O". If I call the lakeshore walks....Ocean.... then I'm on the Oatmeal/Oranges/Ocean health plan.

Enough for today's meanderings. Happy Spring!!
~S

Time Speeding Past

Again it has been well over a month since I've taken a moment to write in my Blog. In fact, its mid-term in the college semester, and Spring Break begins today!! Wow, time certainly flies by.

I've also been at a loss for creative writing ideas, seeing this venue as where I take time to "meander"....to dabble in my writing hobby. Even sitting here with fingers to the keyboard...I'm drawing a blank...although a nap sounds really good! I mean, its my first moments of Spring Break...having returned home from work just minutes ago.

After some rest...the next order of business will be domestic tasks of cleaning house. I do have company coming in a few days...a great inspiration for putting the house in better order. However, I'm most looking forward to taking a break and regaining energy for the coming weeks left in the Spring semester.

Til another day.
S~