UCET Conference

I attended the UCET (Utah Coalition for Educational Technology) Conference at Murray High School today. Murray is my old stomping ground when I attended court reporting school and not far from the high school. It's also not far from one of my favorite parks. I attended sessions on photography, the Web 2.0 classroom (google docs, blogs, paperless classroom) and Twitter tools for teachers. Amazing how exhausted I am from using my brain today -  in a different way.

I was delighted to find my friend, Pat O'Connor in the vendor area. He was here from Colorado with Lightspeed and the Redcat portable audio system. He is a walking miracle and has an incredible survival story which touches anyone who hears it. Recently his story was told on a Denver TV station commemorating the one-year anniversary of the accident and can be viewed here. (They don't talk about the mystery man who showed up out of nowhere and provided a lighter to keep him warm, but can be read off the site.) http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=62379621001

I really liked  UCET's clever poster this year, advertising the conference.

Storm Clouds and Rays

An interesting sky on my way home from work on SR193.

Jelly Beans at Work

Having this bubble gum machine house jelly beans instead of gum just makes kids and their parents happy when teachers drop in to register or to ask a question. No sticky gum...whiney, tired kids smile when they can pick a penny from the bucket, put it in the slot and get some jelly beans:)

The Dreaded Mammo

"Why yes, I did have a mammogram this morning...Why do you ask?"

I went first thing this morning for my annual mammogram.  I really don't dread it - in fact, it's a good thing to do every year, just like donating the three vials of blood for a myriad of standard testing, which I also did this morning.  About six months ago Ogden Regional Women's Center installed a new digital imaging machine. This is a much improved method and the radiologist can see pixel by pixel. They even invited me to check out the images on the computer monitor. No more sitting afterward in the waiting room in a skimpy top, feeling vulnerable while waiting for the cumbersome x-rays to be processed, which didn't always show everything anyway. In 1995 I had a biopsy, which was negative, so I'm very thankful for tests that help us keep healthy.

It's Good to Feel Wanted!

This picture sits next to me at work. Cathy created it a couple of years ago and gave it to me for my birthday. It IS good to feel wanted!

Tending Weston and Lacie

Jared and Carrie had a very dear friend pass away suddenly. He was only 31. Aaron and his wife attended every birthday and other event gatherings of Jared's family. He worked as a heating contractor and fixed our furnace last year. I tended Weston and Lacie while they attended the viewing Sunday night.

Lacie woke up very sad to find her parents gone. Weston tried to comfort her - so sweet.

Weston and I played with his set of Magformers - 3d magnetic pieces which we gave the grandkids for Christmas a year ago. He built a submarine. He said, "Grandma! Take a picture!" (Just what I LOVE to hear!) It's nice to find a toy that kids will play with for long periods of time.

When Weston asked me if I wanted to play "dress-up" (and I said,

sure...") I didn't expect to be crawling into a child's fireman costume. He was very patient while we tried over and over to get a decent photo on remote.

David's Birthday and the Antique Show

Today is David's 31st birthday. Hard to believe Dave's the third child I have who is over 30!! We had a little celebration get-together in the afternoon. Dave and I share a love of reading and trade books with each other.

Wendy and I always attend the antique show, held at the Weber County Fairgrounds twice a year. As always, we had great fun. She doesn't like her picture taken, so she took mine (I don't like my picture taken either:)

I did purchase the watering can. It's very unusual to still find the spouts attached on these old cans.

 I do believe I should have waited until the antique show to purchase my new eyeglass frames. Don't these retro frames look FABULOUS??? (I live just to embarrass my children.)