I signed up for an 8K Mud Run for next month!  Am I crazy?  Yes.  I’m chronicling my workout here.  I do not claim to be a runner at all.  I am probably the poster child of poor endurance.  However, I am determined to fight old age from setting in early.  They say the aging process begins at 30 and I’m definitely feeling the pangs of it.  Everyone tells me I’ll start to notice issues with my eyesight at 40.  50 is when I’ll notice everything else is breaking down.  60 is when I’ll give up trying to keep everything from falling apart.  Is this true?  Here is what I’ve noticed already:

1.  I’m getting more lethargic and my body doesn’t “bounce back” as well as it used to.  Physical activity takes a lot more out of me.

2. Motrin is my friend...and is starting to become my new daily vitamin during periods of increased physical labor!  

3.  I’m more sensitive to food.  Dairy is a hit or miss thing.  The creamier the more upsetting…yikes!  Sugary juices…ugh.  Spicy food…acid reflux.  oh the crisis situations!

4.  Buddha belly is now permanent.

5.  Sleep isn’t always satisfying.  Power naps now give me a headache.  Unfortunately, I heard this gets worse as I get older.

 

So I’m determined to better my habits in eating healthier and exercising.  I think running is jump starting my body into behaving the way it used to without effort.  I guess that’s the root of the problem…in my 20s things were effortless…in my 30s I’ve got to give a little to get some back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Belated 4th of July!  This was my best attempt at a Fourth of July dessert:  red velvet cupcakes, cream cheese icing, and blueberries.   When we were mixing the red batter, my kids said we were making “Twilight” cupcakes…heahea!

I have to say gardening is so therapeutic.   I took some shots this morning of my garden after a light morning shower.  You can see more pictures in my Flickr album =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year I’m also attempting to grow tomatoes.  I’m a proponent of sustainable living, but with children and a full time stressful job I’m working at it very slowly!  I’m growing cilantro and basil (herbs are easy), but this is my first venture into actual edible vegetables.  Cross your fingers.  Hope the rabbits don’t get to them!

If you still can’t seem to grasp what Twitter is, here is a great video.  I didn’t quite understand the power of my personal learning network until recently.  Installing Tweetdeck has made my use of Twitter more powerful because it has allowed me to search for individuals with like interests.  Be to ing able to search for “tweets” or Twitter postings by hash tags (for example, when I went to NECC 2009, I was able to keep up with everyone’s Twitter postings related to NECC by searching for #NECC09 on Tweetdeck).  Likewise, you can ensure that other people in and outside of your network may come across your posting if you know the hashtag for it.  More on Twitter later…

At the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) 2009, I attended Leslie Fisher’s gadgets session.  Leslie Fisher is the Director of Fisher Technologies Incorporated which focuses on web development for the k-12 education sector.  In the session she went over gadgets and websites to help you with your personal life and endeavors.  She’s a great speaker and I highly recommend you catching her at a conference!  Here are my notes from the session:

 

Websites to help keep you organized or make life easier:

Tripit.com-send travel itineraries from your email account 

Yelp.com-online reviews of business all over the country

 Jott.com-gives an 800 number that you dial that you can send to email to create a to do list.

Works well with rememberthemilk.com-another free site that allows you to create/edit your To Do List from anywhere

Evernote-web-based application that creates ocr text recognition

 Ustream.tv-free account allows you to broadcast a live video feed to anyone

Mozy.com-online backup for mac and pc

iStockphoto.com-anyone can submit a picture, but staff of site will evaluate if it is worthy of putting online…once it is posted, it is royalty free.

Edutecher.net-tons of web 2.0 apps for education

 Http://betaserendipity.com make your own flash games

 Smugmug.com-upload not limited like in flickr, allows you to sell photos, watermarks, order on t-shirt, etc. can use for sporting events.  Search for nonprofit and can have a FREE professional level account

 

Cool Gadgets: 

Sling Media-external box that hooks up to your home theater no matter how big or small, then uses a internet connection to broadcast the signal to CPU, phone, etc.

 Netflix roku-$99) no monthly fee if you are a netflix member with 2 + DVDs a month, allows you to instantly watch 10,000+ movies on demand

 Logitech-Harmony One-all in one remote for up to 15 devices ($249-499.00)

http://ion-audio.com ($134.00) Record player w/usb that allows you to  create an MP3 out of your old record!

I just came back from a trip to Washington D.C. for the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) 2009.  You can read about all the awesome things I learned on my educational blog.  I’ve also posted a few pics on Flickr.  I hadn’t been to D.C. since college.  So this was my first time as an adult to experience the city.  Here are some notable memories:

Peeing on concrete:  My welcome to the city was seeing a young gentleman pulled over in a very dangerous spot in I-395 to take a leak.  If you know I-395, it is predominantly concrete in that area…no grassy patches!

Dog afraid of grass:  Speaking of grassy patches, while walking on Massachusettes Avenue, I encountered a young lady taking her tiny daschund for a walk.  There were so many people on the sidewalk, so she was trying to steer her dog onto the grass.  Her dog refused!  She kept yelling at the dog telling her it was okay to be on the grass, but no budge.  Now that’s a city dog for ya!

No luck in asking anyone for directions:  Every time I go to D.C., I am convinced that not even police know where anything is.  This is the second time we asked police for directions around the Smithsonian (keep in mind we were asking for directions for buildings in the direct vicinity of where the cop was standing) and had no luck.

Beautiful people in D.C.:  There are some good looking people in D.C.  I don’t know if it is because they are wearing designer gear and can afford chic haircuts, but people look generally fit and good lookin’…any thoughts on why?

Food is awesome!:  I posted pics under Foodie Adventures, but there is so much to choose from in this melting pot of a city.  Everything tasted so good too. 

Buildings are pretty in D.C.:  All the buildings, museums, memorials, monuments are so majestically awesome.  However, I had to include a pic of this building…it’s the Hamilton Crowne Plaza.  I had to take a picture of it simply because it reminded me of the Tipton Hotel on Suite Life of Zach and Cody…I know.  I’m corny.

National conferences Rock!:  Okay, this is not a strictly D.C. thing, but I love national conferences.  Aside from all the “swag” I got from the conference, my kids were excited because I got to see the new Electric Company from PBS speak and perform.

Got to participate in a photo shoot:  Again, not a D.C. thing, but I got the opportunity to get photographed for ISTE’s marketing materials.  After the shoot, I was reminded of an episode of 30 Rock where Liz and Jenna go on a cover photo shoot and they took the “worst” shot to be the cover!  Looking at the photos below (don’t ask me why I was asked to do those poses), can you understand my concern?  heaeha! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So thats just a very brief wrap up of the more notable D.C. observations.  Off to my next adventure =)

Thought this was interesting and surprising that it didn’t happen earlier.  A Missouri family discovered that their family photo was unknowingly being used in an advertisement in Prague.  The photo had been posted by the mother on her blog and on social networking sites.

So be careful of what pics you post online because it becomes permanent and sometimes open game for anyone to keep, use, take, etc!  I think this is especially concerning for posting family photos and pics of your children.

Just because I’m so addicted to this series:

I am just starting Breaking Dawn and don’t know if I can wait for Nov 20th for the New Moon movie to come out!  I havent’ been this fanatical about anything since I was a kid…sheez!  what has come over me???  Crazy thing is after reading Eclipse, I was almost swayed to move to Team Jacob.  oh well…heard Breaking Dawn will change my mind =)

Thought this was too amusing to not share.  My little one locked everyone out of her bedroom yesterday.  She had the light on, locked the door, and pulled it shut.  No one was locked in, so I thought it was a simple fix…I tried an unwound paper clip, wire hanger, credit card, and the screw driver from my eyeglass repair kit.  Nothing worked.  So I posted on facebook and here were my friends’ suggestions:

• Take the screws out and remove the whole lockset.
• Got a really skinny flathead to pop it or turn? That’s what I used to use.
• Use the corned beef key! It’s in every filipino’s pantry!
• yeah, this is why we have a really skinny flathead. sometimes, the bathroom door has been locked accidentally. hope you guys get in soon =).
• use a butter knife at an angle hitting the strike plate
• Ha Ha…I put all the door knobs on with the locks on the outside so my kids would stop locking doors. Then I have to fight the urge to lock THEM in their rooms

Yes, so the resolution was to get a long and skinny flathead screwdriver…push and turn.  Now I know…but I think now I’ll keep the corned beef can key around =)

Just came across this picture and thought I’d proudly share.  For my daughter’s birthday a few months ago she wanted a Yo Gabba Gabba! theme.  So here is the cake we made together of DJ Lance:

The recipe is from the Nick Jr. site.  I didn’t want to spend the money on black licorice (because who actually likes black licorice?), so I just used some scrapbooking paper I had on hand.  Mostly everything else was edible except for the stars on DJ Lance’s hat. 

I also made the party favor bags as described on the site as well.  They turned out fabulous.  It was a great way to save money instead of buying all of the ready-made party goods.  Required a bit more effort, but it was worth spending the time with the kids putting it all together!