Cruising Along

Another Tuesday, another chapter to read for homework!

But I have to say, I had a great time over the weekend at the Food and Culinary Symposium. I've never been around such a group of dietitians that loved to DRINK! Wow, it was like culinary school all over again. I started riding my bike today (following Travis to work) to get in some workout time. If I kept eating like that, I wouldn't fit into my clothes anymore!!!

But, now the vacation is over, and I've hit the ground running with my class at ISU and the classes I'm teaching. All I can say is, it's a good thing I got my lecture ready last week. I'll play catch up on work this week, and catch up on sleep this weekend. :) Eva is staying with us this week as she is taking a couple of real estate classes here in Scottsdale.

This Friday will officially begin this Friday, with "Darts at W's". We have the dart board up, the chiminea installed, the sink working, and the wall painted. Time to crack open a few cold ones! We're hoping to get people over as a standing event on Friday evenings. Gotta enjoy the weather while we've got it!

I'll post pictures of our latest work when I get them this week, but in the meantime, here's a few peeks at what we've done:


This is a calla lily that we've been growing on our porch. They are incredibly beautiful flowers, and it's almost crazy that you can go to Lowe's and buy one for like $7. Elaine (my mother-in-law) helped me pick it out - and she found a good one!

Here's another picture of our backyard - the walls are finally painted!








The walls look really great - we're excited that we've gotten them done!!

The next step is installing the plants, sod, brick pathway, and oh yeah, dumping all those rocks we dug out of the yard!!!

A few weeks ago, we went and saw Chris in IL. Here are a couple of photos on the UIUC campus. We didn't get a picture of Kate, but we're working on it. :)

This is the Engineering Complex at UIUC - what a gorgeous campus!!!

We had a great time in Urbana, and then we went to Chicago, which was also great. I'll post more pictures later - I gotta hit the books!!

Have a great week, everybody.

JRW

Update on the valves!

We got the leak fixed - HOORAY!!! So the irrigation system is working, and now we can start thinking about plants. SCHWEET.

JRW

On your mark, get set, eat!

Today is the start of the Food and Culinary Professionals Annual Symposium! What does that mean? Stand back, the dietitians are heading for the food!

MCC is footing the bill so that I can attend this conference, being held locally, unbelievably. I'll be going to cooking classes, tasting classes, and info sessions on trends in culinary arts. I'm also hoping to hook up with some other dietitians that are teaching in culinary and hospitality. You know, in case something actually pans out at MCC.

I am going to stay on with MCC through the summer to do some research related to the possibilities of hospitality and culinary programs, but beyond September, nothing is set.

My online classes have started, and along with my distance Master's class, I am starting to feel chained to my computer. This conference will be a good chance for me to get out and see other people. And also to look at something OTHER than a computer screen for a while. I hope to get lots of good ideas and recipes for my FON 144 (Gourmet Foods) class. I actually re-arranged my course schedule this semester to allow for a Southwest Cuisine cooking night.

Today I register and head to the Desert Botanical Garden for a session on the heritage of Southwest Cuisine (i.e., what did the Indians eat?). The conference really gets underway tomorrow, starting around 7:30 and going until 5:30. So that means I better get my Trend Analysis report done this morning for my marketing class!!

I'll write more later - and post pics, too. Have a great weekend!

Jenbo