- Business Trip 1: Our London / Paris program has gotten popular, like super popular--25 students enrolled, popular. Since the program only has one faculty member it was decided an administrative assistant needs to go with. Since the advisor in charge of the program can't go, I was recruited. So I'll be flying to London in early May (5/5/10) to visit partners in Nottingham and London and then picking the group up at the airport on Saturday. I'm with them through May 15 and leave them at the airport in Paris. I then take a train up to Caen to visit our partners in Normandy. I should be back from Europe around May 19 or 20. On a plus side, I should have a free day between dropping the students off and meeting our partners on Sunday May 16... I may try to venture to Mont St. Michel which I've always heard was amazing.
Mont St. Michel: The Island City - Business Trip 2: Word came to us that the director for USF Polytechnic's Service Learning Program this spring break to El Salvador had to drop out of the program. I'm a potential candidate to take over and lead the trip. I doubt I'm going (because I haven't heard and they leave on Saturday) but we'll see. I'm sort of hoping I don't have to.<
- Business Trip 3: Last October I presented at my professional organization's regional conference in Knoxville. Our session was voted best of conference and so now we're taking it to nationals. I'll be in Kansas City, Missouri June 1 - 4. Right after my 29th birthday (Eeek!).
- Personal Drama: That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We'll call it all a learning experience and move on from there. :-)
- PhD Discoveries: I don't want a PhD in Educational Leadership. It's far too meta for me and while I enjoy the topic I'm just not excited about the research like I was with Human-Computer Interaction. At least I know this now.
- House Fire: I came home after class last Thursday to find out that my neighbors' house caught fire. Only 2 rooms seemed to really be bad. At about 4am we awoke the the entire house ablaze. It seems the fire department couldn't get to the smoldering insulation the night before and the house reignited! Friday and Saturday I was off having a different sort of adventure and heard that the firefighter made a THIRD trip to the house to drench it after one of the walls started smoking. Crazy. Everyone is ok, their stuff is gone, but they're alive. Pictures of the 4am blaze and aftermath below.
About 4am when we were evacuated. Yes, that's my driveway next door!
This was about 5am when the 4th fire truck showed up.
By 7am the house was almost out but gutted by the fire the night before. You can still see parts of it smoking. Those embers would die down but later reignite and cause more smoke.
That about wraps my life up to this point. How are you?
