Bloggin' on a Sunday

I am alive! I didn't pass out or throw up on anyone Friday. Actually, it went well. Luckily my advisor was there and she is a projector expert. Aside from her, I had three captive audience members, and they were great. They all contributed a lot, and I was counting on that! I had said that if I had to shut them up because we were going past our 45-minute time slot that I'd consider it a success, and that's what happened. So, it was a success!


Mine was in the first group of breakout sessions on Friday morning, so I got to relax and enjoy the rest of the conference. We had a nice luncheon with prime rib that day, and I had a good talk with my advisor. I'm going to stick with her and work with the other professor as well. They both seem OK with that. I think my main project (of the moment) will be with the other professor, and my old advisor is just gonna put me on some of her papers.

I learned something I never would've guessed by reading the literature. No Child Left Behind isn't a dirty word to all educators. I'd heard all the bad things about it, but here, for the most part, they support it. Granted, this was a special education conference, and NCLB is great for special ed. But still, at the AERA conference in NYC this March, it's all professors & researchers. Actual teachers are few and far between. So it was nice to be at this conference with real teachers who work "in the trenches" as they say.

Yesterday, the conference wrapped up at noon, so I headed home and was in the mood for a tasty steak. I must say, I have mastered the steak. I have always overcooked the steaks, and, get this, I remedied the problem by cooking them for a shorter amount of time!!! Can you believe it?? Then let em rest under some foil so they aren't mooing at us when we cut into them. I cook them for 2-3 minutes on each side at high grill heat. Mmmmmm!

Lots of good movies coming out in the coming week, so I'm about to summarize those in another blog. Today, I'm chillin' for now, then meeting up with Amanda to go to that True Colors tour with Cyndi Lauper. Tomorrow it's back to the grind at work/school.

But most importantly, it's 2 weeks til our river trip! Please pray for a couple of good rains in the hill country in the meantime so we aren't tubing in stale beer and pee. Right now, it's flowing but not that fast.