By: Jenna

Vacation is over? Already? Sure we added an extra day, but it went by so fast!!! Caribe was Amazing!!! 3 indoor pools, 3 outdoor pools, a lazy river, 3 wonderful resorts, a snack bar (including ice-cream and icees), 7 slides (2 of which I went on), 3 tennis courts, a bocce ball court (does anyone know what that is?), a tram to the beach which was so cool (the tram was bright yellow by the way), a fishing dock,and great service. We also went para sailing (i didn't do that), went on a dolphin cruise, got hair raps, tye-dyed t-shirts, and swam every day! Some stuff wasn't as cool. Like making our own beds, making our own food, the fact that the seats were NOT attached to the chairs, we accidentally broke a glass, and Micheal Jackson died. The last one's a real downer on any ones day. My best wishes to the family. That's all I have to say. Maybe my mom will let me post for her again. Good-Bye!!!!

Balcony Cam

Well, it's not streaming video, but it's a still image that refreshes every 15 seconds. Click on the photo to access our "balcony cam". We're on the 12th floor and we've already seen a school of dolphins going by.

Pulling it all together!

The countdown is on. The last loads of laundry are waiting to be folded. The suitcases need to have their zippers zipped. Then we will be on our way. Be sure and check back next week-- Jim is going to try to figure out how to set up a web cam from our condo balcony. I'll let you know if it works.

I plan to return to my reality tan, rested and ready!!

How Lori got her Groove back...

I have found my groove. I decided to follow the old wise saying that has been quoted through the ages, well at least through the last few years. Just Do It!--Nike

One of my favorite speakers is Tony Campolo and he tells a story of how awful he was at being a marriage counselor that he really had no patience for what seemed like frivolous complaints from spouses. But in telling of his experience he reminds us that sometimes you just have to move forward. That if you are not feeling that you are in love anymore or that you have lost the loving feeling that sometimes what it takes to get it back is to respond in the way the you would if you did love that person. How would you treat them if you loved them and then do that. Eventually the feelings will follow the actions because love is as much or more about action as it is about feelings. So that's what I did about vacation this weekend.

I decided to get ready, to go through all the motions that I would normally go through to get ready for a trip. And it seemed to have worked. I'm much more excited. This trip is calling for some weird packing plans though. I have packed "activity" bags.

The "Pool and Beach" bag

the "Car" bag

The "Games and Crafts" bag

The "Kitchen and Cooking" Bag

The "Wii" bag

My "Clothes" bag--still doing laundry for this bag.

I really have my groove back...I'm ready to go, well except for the empty bag. My my spirit is back in check. So I plan to return Tan, Rested and Ready... Jim's thinking about a webcam from the balcony so all can enjoy our view of the bay --check back to see if happens.

Invaded by 12 year olds...

Some women are dripping with diamonds
Some women are dripping with pearls
Lucky me! Lucky me!
Look at what I'm dripping with
Little girls
---Miss Hannigan (from Annie)

My twitter is now being invaded by 7th grade girls. They want me to follow them (which I guess is a good thing). They want to follow me (maybe not such a great thing). They want to follow one another and tweet into the evening. I'm sure the excitement of it will die down but for now it's all the rage. I guess there are worse habits they could pick up. So for now, I will continue to tweet responsibly.

No really..come right in!

Well we are about 8 weeks into our remodel. We are surviving and I wouldn't want to be stuck in this situation with any other people but we need our space back. We have no way of stopping people from just coming right in, It is so funny.

A student walks in the door and looks dazed and confused and no matter how hard Dayna tries to stop them from just walking through the office it never fails that they just walk right by her and make themselves at home in your area.

Even the students are starting to joke about how much "lack of privacy there is." We try our best to make jokes about our "closeness" and how we want them to feel "loved" and never "overlooked." But man, it is getting old.

I took a short video this week to emphasize how students just feel like they are in a rec/multi purpose room rather than offices. I was so excited that I figured out how to post into my Blog, but then I discovered that I can't rotate the video so....This student came into the office to meet with her academic advisor and was waiting in our area for that appointment, and proceeded to take her baby by the hand and walk her all through our "offices." Francine and I got so tickled that I had to take a short video. Of course some of my co-workers have adjusted better to the set up than others--Rhonda didn't even notice that woman and her baby and never even looked up from her computer.


Here's to hoping that they are finished soon, we may have to resort to hanging sheets from the ceiling to give us the illusion of privacy.

My Inner Cheerleader must be taking Prozac...

I have never been a part of any organized cheer leading, we're talking about a girl who came home from high school gym class frustrated and in tears because I couldn't turn a somersault. I have never have been able to turn a cartwheel. I can't imagine wearing or ever having worn a short skirt. The only talent I might have had to get on a cheer squad would have been my ability to yell. I was a Show Choir geek, a church youth group activity junkie, Musical watching, certified nerd.

My adult cheer leading has been more about my ability to lead a crowd, to get the enthusiasm for an idea rolling, to keep everyone focused on the goal. I will have to tell you my inner cheerleader really seems to be taking Prozac or too many Xanax or something equally tranquilizing. I guess she was also the one who was coming up with all the ideas for blogging, because I can't seem to think of one thing to write about. This month's SPT is supposed to help us get back in touch with blogging but I'm with Kristie on her take of this challenge. It seems like adding more to my plate, not getting me redirected. So I decided to just start writing today and see what happens.

How do you get back on track when you seem off kilter? Do you ever feel like the most effort that you could possibly put forward is maybe deciding whether watch Soapnet reruns of 90210 or Gilmore Girls?

I am leaving on vacation in about 10 days and I have about five things ready of the dining room table...this is an issue for me. I am usually packing some things weeks before a trip, I normally would've have been to the Target travel aisle at least twice by now. I definitely would have had the suitcases out and ready to fill as clean clothes come out of the dryer. Even my daughter mentioned at lunch Sunday that she thought maybe it was time to start packing...even she knows things aren't quite right.

So this is my attempt to get back in the game, to find my pep rally spirit, to get my pom poms in gear... and any other cheer analogy you can think of. So...

Give me a G E T O F F T H E F R E A K I N G C O U C H A N D G E T B U S Y!!!

Yea Team!!