Suzanne Calling

Vacation is over. It was a nice week, mostly spent relaxing, but it's back to the grind tomorrow. We spent today vegging and recovering from yesterday's jaunt through Epcot. I'd planned on writing about the trip, but I'm fading, so I'll leave you with a segment from my favorite WDW event:

Yep, I'm at it again. This time, Daytona's neon. I could probably spend a week taking pictures and not hit it all, but here are a few:

Well, something like that, anyway. When we ventured out to California five years ago, Ed and I made a deal that we'd only dine at places we couldn't find on the East Coast. We got the In and Out Burger, Marie Callender's and a bunch of local mom and pop places that were, without fail, good eats. Ever since, we've subscribed to that philosophy. Yes, we do eat at chain places when we're back on LI, but other vacations, we've unwittingly followed the same rule: avoid the chains, eat at the independent restaurants and get recommendations from locals. In Daytona, there are places we know. For instance, every trip, since Ed's first stay in this town twenty-some years ago, we *will* at at the Ocean Deck . We enjoyed a meal here on our honeymoon, the open air bar and reggae band hooked me on this favorite, too. We've been with the kids a few times, too. There are no overnight stays in this town without a meal here. A couple of months ago, Ed and Chef spent...

This is the first birthday that I've been on vacation. I could get used to the idea. We relaxed near the ocean and waded in the surf, got hotdogs from a truck on the beach (breakfast!), spent another hour or so by the hotel pool. Ventured out for lunch and a skim board for Chef, then free drinks from the hotel bar and dinner at the world famous Ocean Deck. Along the way, Ed managed to get me a pound of gourmet chocolates and a HUGE drink at the Ocean Deck. It was nice, quiet and low pressure. Perfect, even. The cherry on top was the dozens of birthday wishes on Facebook. Sometimes, the quirks of FB tick me off, but today, it brought many, many smiles from friends I've had forever or just a short time, nearby and half a world away. I may not be Rockefeller or Warren Buffett, but I'm definitely rich when it comes to the people in my life and today reminded me of that.

My boss asked everyone to take their vacations before August began. When I broached the subject to Ed, he said he'd rather wait until fall. Then, a couple of weeks ago, he changed his mind and wanted to go. After running around and handling other people's things for so long, he wanted a week to relax and not do very much. So here we are: Before he and I were a couple, he'd vacationed here several times. We stayed here on our honeymoon and after our first Disney vacation after a sleepless night with a not-quite two year old with a double ear infection. It's probably one of the few towns he's never lived in that he knows very, very, well. Relaxation is very easy for him to accomplish here. And the rest of us are only too happy to comply. Good thing I'm loaded up with sunscreen!

The semester is over and this song sums up our plans for the week: Pictures of our adventures will give you an idea of our 'Fun in the Sun.'

Due to the needs of work, I canceled my Thursday nail appointment. Down three nails since. Bummer. Oh well, we'll start back with it soon enough. In the meantime, I'm taking the suggested biotin and using OPI's Nail Envy.

FaceTime. When the commercials came on last year for the iPhone 4 and the 'cool new app,' I wanted to gag. The wife, obviously in the bathroom, Face timing her husband about that 'project we've been working on' and getting this goofy look on her face? She does all but show him the HPT in the commercial. We had some fun around here picking on the cheesiness of the commercial. Apparently, we weren't alone in thinking they were lame, because You Tube is filled with parodies that are a little more risqué than I'd prefer to post. I didn't realize it at the time, but MacBook 1.0 (a/k/a Mi Manzana) was outfitted with the program, as was MacBook 2.0. At work, many of the staffers were given iPads a few weeks ago. As a contractor, I didn't get one, but I have Apple savvy that my coworkers have called upon a lot since the devices were distributed. A few days ago, my boss calls me and asked if I had my laptop with me, then if it had the app. Yes to on...

Doesn't want to load! I'll add it back in tomorrow. In the meantime, Hibachi style! Some pictures of the food. I probably ate a pound of zucchini, because I love it grilled or sauteed and the menfolk don't. So good!

When you have kids, it seems like time passes so fast. For instance, it was just yesterday that I was holding this little guy: To this not-so-little guy, who actually is the same height as his older brother: Happy Birthday, Chef!

As an empathetic sort, I've traveled through life putting myself in the other person's shoes. It is a trait that was especially prevalent when talking with teachers, whether they were educating my own, friends or employees. To me, these are the people who have one of the most important jobs there is-preparing the young for their futures. It's part of the reason why, when asked what my major is, I say "Hero Support." Those familiar with the movie "Sky High" will get the reference, but to others, I explain that those in my intended field lasso technology and bring it into the classroom for the teachers in whatever way works best. For some schools, it's extensive, in that whatever you experience in the classroom is readily available online. In others, it's supplemental material that there isn't time to cover in class. No matter what, the Instructional Technologist is well versed in the programming languages used in education (PLE for short...

Another semester, that is. I turned in a 19 page research proposal and took a final this evening. Other than some mini quizzes in one class and a discussion board post in the other, I am done. I learned: 1. That three classes and a part time job is a recipe for disaster. 2. That in one year, there has been no more empirical research in the topic that is the closest to my planned research, which means that I can argue that I need to do this research. 3. That reading all ten research studies again puts me in a good position to do the literature review legwork now will make it easier to just refine things when the time comes. 4. That I need a vacation. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, because I don't need to be to work until the afternoon. Yay!