Quito, Part Deux

We toured the Museo de la Ciudad - Museum of the City -
and learned all about the history of Quito. Travis and Hilary took turns beating each other with the free posters we received with our tickets.

We ate unique and tasty fruit in Ecuador - a fresh fruit lover's paradise. Travis thought this fruit tasted like slime, but I really liked it.

After Quito, we headed to Lago Agrio for our jungle tour. Here is a view of the city of Quito as we were leaving. Definitely looks different than home!

Professor Watson...

So my first day at MCC (Mesa Comm College) was yesterday, and so far so good. I've met my department, who all seem like they're a great bunch of ladies (no male professors in DFCS). We had a breakfast with all the faculty, then a couple of department meetings, and I got my office into rough shape to start the semester. I'm just happy to have an office - it took an act of congress just to get it!

I don't have a phone or computer yet - I hope to get those today. I'll be teaching 3 sections of FON 241, Principles of Human Nutrition, 1 section of Food for Fun and Fitness (healthy cooking) and 1 section of FON 144 - Gourmet Cooking. I am really looking forward to classes, though I know it will be a challenging semester as a new teacher.

In the meantime, we've been working on the house - Travis and I finished up the patio roof this weekend, and the entire thing is clear coated. We still need to find some kind of lattice or shade cloth for the end, paint the exterior wall, and acid wash the floor, but we're definitely making progress! We'll also be putting in a new sprinkler system and turf once the weather cools off a bit.

Hope everyone's doing well - have a good semester!

JRW

Si! Si me gusta!

OK, so I think I'm finally home. We made it back from Peru last Sunday, arriving sometime around 10:30 AM. Four days later I was back on a plane to KC - I flew back so I could drive with Betsy to Phoenix. So that was all day Friday and Saturday. Sunday? Um, I'm not quite sure what happened to Sunday.

But... I HAVE A JOB!!!!!! I took a full time position with Mesa Community College! It's only a one year appointment, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be Nutrition Faculty. THANK YOU LORI! This will help me decide if I really want to teach someday. For now, I'm hoping to teach 3 sections of Principles of Human Nutrition, Gourmet Foods, and Food for Fun & Fitness. 15 hours- whew! I'm really excited, though. :) My first day is August 15th, so I have a few days to catch up and work on projects around the house.

I'm going to get our film developed tomorrow, so I'll have fun pictures to post. For now, here's a few to sample... I've got to get myself back on track.

Jennyany

This is Quito - where we spent our first couple of days. We stayed with a friend of Hilary's.

Our second day there, we went to Otavalo - a village about 2 hours away by bus, where you can find artesianas - handicrafts made my the locals. Beautiful textiles.

We also visited Peguche falls - near Otavalo - only an 18 cent bus ride away...

Cuidado! Gringos!

Our lovely group - Travis, Me, Hilary & Kerry. What a bunch of gringos!

Hiking to Humphrey's Peak

So we started the "Trail to Humphrey's Peak" back in March or so - training up for South America with the culmination being a hike to the top of Humphrey's. So we arrived in Flagstaff last Friday night - eyeballing the mountain and saying, "yeah, it's high, but we'll make it! Yes, I'm AWESOME!"

So we hit the trail around 10 AM on Saturday morning, gasping in the thin air, but ready to climb, climb, and climb some more. We went through a few patches of snow, but thought we should be all right since the trail goes up the Southwest face of the mountain. Ummm, yeah, right. That didn't happen.

After getting caught in a Thundersleet storm, digging our way through non-existant paths in the woods, we gave up after 2 miles or so. (About halfway, we think, but there was no way to tell. Even the two other groups with GPS didn't have any waypoints marked on the trail - they didn't know). With no crampons or hiking poles, we thought this would be the smartest thing to do. We decided to try again in July or August, when the snow should be gone - most likely.

So we climbed back down the mountain, had a nice chat with a KSU grad from 1984 (he noticed the powercat on my hiking hat!), and then proceeding to cook dinner in a downpour back at camp. We stayed dry in our tent, though, and many thanks to Ed for hosting us that evening. We won't have a chance to hike anymore before our trip, but I think with acclimatization in Puno and Cusco we should do OK on the trail.

I plan to post a few pictures of our new roof, but after that you won't hear much until we get back from South America. Then hopefully I'll have LOTS of pics and stories to post.... and lots of time, too, since I won't have a job. Oh well.

Take care and stay cool everybody!

Silent J

This is the start of Humphrey's peak trail, which crosses this meadow and then goes up, and up, and up - to the peak you see in the distance. We didn't make it because of the snow...

This is the highest we got on Humphrey's - somewhere around 10,800 feet. Well below treeline, but we are planning to go back and try again. Here's the question - can YOU find the trail in this picture? We couldn't!

The thunderstorms on Saturday night added a few inches of snow to the tops of the San Francisco mountains. Unusual weather for June in Flagstaff!

Fossil Springs - Our first Backpacking trip!

Our first trip was a success! What better place to spend a hot memorial day weekend than next to a natural spring gushing 1 million gallons of water per hour? I can't think of a better place to go - though the biting bugs and the scorpions were kind of freaking me out.

The trail is 4 miles one way - down into a canyon. Which means you have to hike it right back out when you're done camping. We did really well - 2 hours each way. We hiked down on Saturday, hiked up a side canyon on Sunday, then hiked out on Monday. I was pretty tired after that, but all in all, we felt good about it. Hopefully we do this well on the Inca Trail in July!

Check out the photos below - the whole place was gorgeous, and the cool water felt great in the afternoon. I'll be posting pics from our failed attempt to scale Humphrey's peak in Flagstaff next.

JRW

Travis at our campsite near fossil springs. We were about 100 feet from the stream, but the canyon walls behind us gave us the place to ourselves!

This is at the top of the falls leading to the swimming hole at Fossil Springs. Ah, gorgeous!

Our friend Ed swinging off the rope at the swimming hole - whew that's cold!

Ed living the good life.

This is a shot of fossil creek on our Sunday hike. Everything was so lush and green!

Fossil Creek

A very cool tree along the way - perfect for framing a photo op!

Flashback to Sedona...

Here is a snapshot from our recent hike in Oak Creek Canyon - West Fork trail. It's pretty hard to take a bad photo in Sedona - even when we're in it!

The West Fork of Oak Creek

We did a great hike a few weeks ago in Sedona - the West Fork of Oak Creek. The total hike is 7 miles, out and back, or if you want to swim, I believe you can go 12 miles total (one-way). Billie and Adam joined us on the hike, and were willing to get their feet wet - thanks for being such good sports! It was a great weekend to go camping, and we're looking forward to backpacking to Fossil Springs this weekend. Anything's better than 110 in an urban heat island!

I'll post more photos next week after our trip. It should be fun!

Jenny

A gorgeous view of the creek and canyon- you can't take a bad photo in Sedona!

A picturesque waterfall on the creek - the water was really high, thanks to a 2" rain a couple of days prior...

Our group at the halfway point - 3.5 miles into the West Fork of Oak Creek.

The end of our hike - you have to swim from this point!

The most beautiful rock in Oak Creek canyon

Job search... installment #1

So I went on my first interview last Friday... overall the situation was pretty good. The only bad this was that sticky question about why my contract wasn't being renewed. "Because my boss doesn't like me" didn't sound that keen, so I went with the re-organization angle. I said she's a new director and is dissolving my position - farming out my schools to another manager, commodity processing to a classified employee, and going with Assisted NuMenus (meaning an outside company plans them.) The Child Nutrition director made the comment, "That seems really odd that they would get rid of YOUR position..." Gee, because I'm the only registered dietitian in the district and we have to have a Wellness Program for next year? Hmmmm, could be!

I'm sending out emails left and right, and contacting everyone I know in school foodservice. I don't want to go to food sales or anything, so I guess I'm pretty picky at the moment. If something doesn't materialize soon, I may put off the full-scale job seeking efforts until after I get back from South America.

Well, it's hot here - 105 today - and we're all trying not to melt. I'm gonna post some pics and catch y'all later.

Peace out,
J

Home improvements...

Greetings from HOT Arizona! It's supposed to be 107 today, and needless to say, we've got the A/C on and we're hunkering down for a LONG summer! We've got most of the patio done - just need to do some more sanding before we use a clear wood protectant to seal it up. The roof is done, and it looks good, though the company was something of a pain to deal with. They didn't really feel it necessary to call us when they weren't going to get things done on time, or the roll roofing wasn't available, or the plastic needed to be re-done to protect the house...Oh well. They gave us $100 off, so that's something, but not much.

In the meantime, I gave my final last week - the class was a success, I thought. Or everyone lied to me about enjoying it, which is fine. :) I'm looking for a new job, and I've been called for one interview - that's today - at the AZ Dept of Ed in the School Nutrition. I think that could be a good position - I'd be helping schools in the National School Lunch Program - with applications, meal regulations, etc. It's close to my house, which would be good, and I would stay in the state retirement program, which is good, too.

I've almost completed my community college class that I'm taking - just 3 more assignments (I'm doing homework next), and we're still training up for our trek on the Inca trail. We're supposed to do a 10 mile hike this weekend at Horton Springs north of Payson, but Travis may have to work this weekend. We'll see. Next weekend we're heading to Fossil Springs for our first backpacking trip.

Hope everyone's doing well! I'm going to post pictures from our last camping trip - we went to Sedona in April, and though it was cold at night, it was perfect weather for camping! I'll put up more pics once I get them developed - the age-old excuse!

-J-

Here our tribe set up camp in the picturesque surroundings of Oak Creek Canyon. Our new backpacking tent (only 4 lbs!) is in the foreground.

Look up!

Completed decking on the roof of the patio.

Up she goes!

We've almost completed putting up our patio roof - and she looks awesome! Here are a few pictures from the construction effort last weekend. Many thanks to Dad, Brian, Curtis, and Ed for braving the heat! This weekend we plan to put up the soffits and the roofers should be here tomorrow to do the roll roofing. We'll have the whole roof re-done starting next Wednesday... pretty exciting!

Life otherwise is OK... I've started looking for a new job. I'm following leads at the Arizona Dept. of Education, Mesa Public Schools, and also the possibility of increasing the number of classes I am teaching at MCC. I appreciate everyone's good wishes and prayers. I think that is helping me get through. :)

This weekend we're taking a break from the training, but we start again next weekend. We plan to camp at Wet Beaver Creek near Sedona, and start taking longer hikes after that. Well, I'm off to do some laundry - the excitement never stops!

-JW

Day One - Operation Lures and Jigs

Before...

Check out that jig! Travis and Dad worked on drilling holes in the posts to hold the 15" all-thread. These were epoxy-ed into the holes in the cement pad.

How many engineers does it take...?

This is the end of the first day's work - the guys put up the posts, the beams, and the rafters you see here. What a job!

Day Two - Check out those Rafters!

Here's the results after two LOOOOOOOONNNNG days of hard work. We've got the decking put on now... I'll send pictures of the whole thing when we get them developed!

And then there were none...

Listen to that - it's quiet! Nothing but the sound of the dryer and dishwasher cleaning up. The company has gone, and according to flytecomm.com, Betsy's flight is scheduled to take off in like 20 minutes...

I haven't written in months, and now all of a sudden I've posted 12 times in the same day. Weird. Must be the Zinfandel (on the beach). I thought I should preface this fine photo gallery that I've posted below. This was the first full week of our trip to Europe...Brugge, then back to Stuttgart for Christmas Day. We had a blast, as you can see below.

I'd better go rustle up some fresh photos for the next installment. After Stuttgart we headed to Interlaken, then Vienna, then Czech Republic, and Berlin before heading back to STR and home. We got some great photos, I have to admit. It was a great trip - I'd do it again in a minute!

I hope everyone has a happy Easter. Take it easy and enjoy the weather.

Behold the Döner KING! (Courtesy of the Köln Hauptbanhof)

After visiting Köln, we took the train to Brugge (Bruges) in Belgium. After a quick turnaround (30 seconds to spare in Brussels!) we headed to this romantic little city full of churches, museums, canals and cobblestones. Oh yeah, and chocolate, and lace, and beer!

The famous European UGLY fish, at the Groeninge Museum.

Touring the beautiful canals of Brugge. The weather that afternoon was perfect - what luck!

The romantic streets of Brugge, during high Christmas shopping season!

The city hall in Brugge, on the same square as the Beltor (Bell Tower).

Brugge's famous bell tower, with an open air skating rink in front. This was part of a Christmas market in the town square.

300 beers, and Travis couldn't find a single one he liked! Père Noël at T' Brugge Beertje wasn't too bad, I thought.

Mmmmmmm.... Beer.

After Brugge, we headed back to Stuttgart by way of Düsseldorf. On Christmas Day, Betsy arrived from the states, and Bobby and I headed to the kitchen to prep dinner. Travis decided to taste the local brew.

Someone's in the kitchen with Jenny... it's BOBBY!

Glorious German Bier. Hefeweisen from Paulaner, complete with glass (a Christmas gift from Bobby)

The Christmas Feast - Complete with Duck A L'Orange. The wine we bought in the Rhine Valley came in handy... a little for the duck, a little for me...

Winding down...

Spring break has come and gone, and the last of the company leaves tonight. It's been a quick two weeks, that's for sure! Betsy and her roommate Sheila leave tonight, after touring a resort and having dinner here. The job interviews weren't a total bust - though the screening interview left something to be desired. Betsy is talking to the music director in Mesa Public Schools today - I hope it goes well.

In the meantime, my job still leaves a lot to be desired. I don't think May 25th can get here fast enough! I don't know why I think things will improve when school ends... maybe things will change sooner.

We got some great pics of wildflowers while the folks were here... butterfly pictures, too. I'll post them tomorrow - I'm off for Good Friday. In the meantime, I'm gonna go fix dinner. Everybody have a good night!

Spring Break!

So I'm a little bit behind in getting the blog updated... you all knew I really meant next month, not next week, right?

So we've got the "seniors" in town right now - Travis' grandparents, his cousin Eva and her parents, and it's kind of like a week-long slumber party. Lots of card playing going on, and more chatter than teeny boppers at a skating rink! Oh well, they're all having a good time, and we are, too. Nothing like a big group of people at your house as an excuse to grill out and drink a few bottles of wine, eh?

I've got more pictures from Europe scanned in, and I plan to post them tomorrow. I've got the rest of this week off from work, so I am going to catch up on things at home. I also have to work on my Mesa Comm College grading... but that's fun work. No class at Mesa this week, either.

So next week Bob & Vi and Nanny & Grandpa go home, and Betsy shows up with her friend Sheila. And somewhere in there Travis' Uncle Wayne and Aunt Donna will have come and gone.
It's a houseful, but that's what I get for living in vacationland!

Photo Shoot!

So I've managed to scan a few pictures from our first few days in Europe... see the captions below for explanations of each photo. We had an awesome time on the trip...stay tuned for next week's edition!

Jenny

So we got on the train with a Schönes Wöchenende ticket, and then they wouldn't let us off at St Goar! So we ended up in Boppard, hoping for another train...

We finally made it back to St Goar, a lovely little town on the Romantic Rhine... Our hotel is the tan building on the right - the Hotel Hauser.

This is a view of Burg Katz across the Rhine... we were the only people in the hotel!

After Burg Rheinfels, we went on to Bacharach, where we stayed in Burg Stahleck, an AWESOME hostel at the top of a pretty steep climb. The view wasn't bad, but I imagine it is more beautiful in the summer!

Down the hill from Burg Stahleck are the remains of a red sandstone chapel - it was destroyed in the 17th Century during the wars of Succession, I believe (I'll have to look that one up...)

This is the inside of the Dom, the largest cathedral in Europe. The stained glass dates from the 1300s, right after the Dom was first constructed.

This is the Dom in Köln, with the Weinnachtsmarkt out front. Credit to Travis for the awesome photo - I took the picture, he reminded me to overexpose!

Cooking for a grade?? What a concept!

Well, I've had my first class at MCC. I think it was successful - nobody got hurt, and everyone seemed mildly interested at least. I bored everyone with the syllabus (of course), then we had an oil and salt tasting. The Himalayan salt was a highlight - mostly because it was pink and came with a cool wooden scoop - and the olive oil infused with blood oranges was the winner in that category. The cabernet vinegar was tasty as well - I had one student ask me if there was alcohol in it, since it tasted just like a cabernet!

I am a little worried about the workload (especially since I still have to keep up on my normal job at SUSD) but I figure I'll work ahead on a few weekends here and there. Lori Z, my boss, told me that it's not unusual to be working out the lesson the night before!

Next week we'll have our first full-length cooking class. We're studying stocks and sauces. It should be cool - we'll make hollandaise, and sauce bordelaise, and pesto, and I don't know what else. Then we'll grill off some chicken, steam or sauté some veg, and have supper. HOORAY!

On a different note, we picked up our pictures from CostCo, and aside from a few technical blunders on the developers part, they look pretty good. I've got 3 more rolls waiting at the developers, so I will scan and distribute photos this weekend, I hope. Nanny & Grandpa (Travis' Grandparents) plan to come see us on March 11th. I hope to have the scrapbook done by then.

Well, I better sign off and start working on grading papers - ACK!

So until next time - Guten Appetit!

We're Baaaaaaaccckk....

Only 24 hours from Stuttgart to here? What a deal! Too bad the luggage didn't make it!

Well, we're back. And getting used to the time change. And missing our cheap fizzy water already. Our bags haven't made it back yet, but they are on their way from London right now. So we hope to see them tonight. And we also hope they don't break all our souvenirs. At least they won't get thrown on another airplane after customs is done searching them.

On a high note, our trip was AWESOME. We had a great time - and it was hard to come back!

Here are the highlights, sans pictures:

Week 1:
St Goar, castles on the Rhein, Koeln Christmas shopping in Brugge, Belgium, Christmas Dinner with Bobby and his Exchange Student friends at the Dorm in Stuttgart

Week 2:
Snowshoeing in the Alps, Vienna museums, Hiking in the Bekydy mountains, visiting Ales and Jitka at the cottage, New Year's Eve at a Czech pub and the power goes out...

Week 3:
Standing Room Only train to Praha, Praha pubs with Ales Pelikan, Prague Castle at Night to ourselves, Mucha Museum, Zuzana and the boys in Litomerice, Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, East Side Gallery, Pergamon Museum, Glass Dome at Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate

Last day in Germany:
Currywurst und Pommes, Sausage, Beans and Chips, Invader Zim (Hello Floor! Make me a samich!)

We got home last night at 10:30, so we don't have any photos yet, but we hope to have some to post soon. Thanks to everyone who watched our house - everything was fine when we got home. We even had a new hall tree waiting for us in the living room!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tchuss!

The Candy's for the birdie...

Happy St. Nicholas Day to one and all! Did you get any candy in your shoes today? Or did St. Nicholas forget you this year?

It's rainy and cold here in Arizona... mid 50s for the high. Sometimes I think this isn't Arizona, just a microcosm of Kansas weather here for the day... with mountains.

I have been a total slacker writing here on the Blog... Let's see... We had a great Thanksgiving, Hilary, Kerry, Curtis and Glena were here, along with Eva Searcy and Brian "Natureboy" Connor. The turkey was a hit, but the risotto was a little TOO plentiful. But to tell the truth, a good meal was had by all. The wine was good, too!

Kerry, Hilary, Travis and I went camping outside of Tucson on Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend. We did a great hike to 7 Falls in Sabino Canyon - I'll post pics when I get them developed. Looks like we missed the mountain lion, too. Apparently hikers were being stalked the next day - the rangers went out and shot the animal later that day. YIKES!

Work... is the biggest professional challenge I've ever had. Next subject.

Work, part deux. I'm going to fill out my paperwork for Mesa Community College today... I'm excited about teaching my class, though I am a bit nervous. If I can get through one semester, the following semesters should be gravy. Or Beurre Blanc. :)

Our Europe trip is approaching fast! We're headed out on the 16th of December, for three weeks of unabashed touring. I can't wait - 3 weeks without work! Wooohooo! I'll try to post while we're on the road, but no promises. I have a feeling there will be an online photo album after the trip is over.

I hope everyone is doing OK- I'm very disappointed that I will be missing CRAPTACULAR again this year. :-( Save a place at the Go Girl Goddess game table next year for me!

Peace out, as my brother, the earthquake survivor, would say!

Jen-nay

CHEF!

CHEF!

So you're wondering what the heck I've been doing... I haven't written in a while, and laundry doesn't take THAT much time...

I'm going to be a chef! Can you dig it? I am going to start teaching a gourmet foods course at Mesa Community College in the spring. I'm way excited, but kind of nervous, too. What do I say to 30 people slavering for butter, heavy cream, and truffles? TO YOUR KITCHENS! That's right - they get to cook these great foods. I am hoping to cover all sorts of cuisines and culinary techniques, but I only get 4 hours per class. That's not much time. I hope I can keep them entertained.

Thanks to Lori Zienkowicz, KSU grad and program director, for giving me the job. I really think I want to teach college someday, so this is a step in the right direction.

I've also been arranging our Europe trip this winter, and that's been taking some time. I was starting to get worried when the first six reservation requests were turned down in Vienna. But now we've got a room at the Pension Hargita - you can check out the website at http://www.hargita.at/de/home/index.asp.

More good news is the fact that the weather is absolutely gorgeous now - so we've started hiking again, much to the chagrin of my muscles. We hiked South Mountain on Saturday, and aside from a sunburn, everything was great. The highlight of the trip was seeing the crew of American Chopper at the top. Weird. Mikey was there, but Paulie and Senior were not. We didn't know what to do, so we ignored them. I even had my camera with me and wussed out! Oh well. I'm sure they get tired of the Paparazzi.

Thanksgiving is just a few short weeks away - I know Travis and I are looking forward to the long weekend. Then it's just a few short weeks and we're off to the continent!

Cheerio!

Dr. Watson

Culture Shock!

So we have made quite the culture circuit this week! Our weekend started with a concert at Gammage Auditorium on the ASU campus... Travis' work buddy Ed is in the choral ensemble, and they were performing with the orchestra in a concert about Life and Death. A little Shostakovich No. 2, Les Preludes by Liszt, and finally a Requiem by Fauré. Great performances - and free! Afterwards we found Four Peaks for reverse happy hour, and hung out with the work crowd for a while. Ed even brought a girl he met in choir. We were all so proud.

Tonight we went to an art showing for Jeff Lyon, a mechanical engineer that works with Travis. His art is really cool - he originally started with really concrete, almost photo-like paintings, but now he's branching out into more abstract drawings and prints - which are posted in this blog. I thought this would be at a gallery, but no, it's a loft of one of Jeff's clients. Whoa. I didn't feel like I was in a house - I felt like I was in an Ikea catalog or something. Everything was very minimalist and modern, complete with old episodes of Flash Gordon on the Flat Screen TV hung on the wall.

The food was awesome (half a globe grape with goat cheese and chopped pistachios!) - the wine was good, and all the beautiful people were there. I felt very special.

So now I am just basking in the culture, feeling very sophisticated. Almost makes me forget that I had to replace the gasket on my toilet today. Oh well- I'm off to the hot tub!

Hope everyone else is having a fabulous weekend!

Jenny

This is one of Jeff's earlier works. It looks so much like a photo - totally awesome.

This is a color field photo by Jeff - he got the idea from trying to take a photo from a speeding train in Italy.

Finally, some cooler weather!

I can't believe it - the temperature was only like 81 degrees today! What a nice change after the 90s last week. Oh wait, I was in KS where it was only like 62 or so. I had a great visit at home - too short, especially since I had the worst flu ever all week!

I flew out to KC on Wednesday, did some shopping at Galyan's, and took lots of cold medicine. I headed out to KSU on Thursday - campus was gorgeous, and luckily everyone was happy to see me in my department! The department head, Dr. Canter, has asked if I will help teach a summer institute for high school students interested in culinary arts. How cool is that?? Then I went and got free lunch out of the deal (Thank you Mr. Pence), and Call Hall ice cream to boot! That was truly awesome. Nothing like a GIGANTIC brownie sundae to top off your afternoon! Dad, Mom and Grandma came with me - I think the ice cream was the best part of their day, too.

I managed to get some BBQ and Boulevard Beers on Friday night, and I hooked up with the old college gang (Josh, Molly, Heather, Jason, Donner, and even Chris and Betsy!) at a pub in KC. Not bad, not bad at all. It was hard to come home on Saturday - but I had to get ready for the week. I plan to tackle some serious housecleaning, grocery shopping, and finally SHAKING THIS STUPID COLD!

On a lighter note, Travis and I are getting totally psyched about our trip to Europe. We're trying to get hold of our friends in the Czech republic so we can visit them (they know the BEST places to buy beer and Svickova), and we are trying to decide which cities and countries to visit. Hmmm, do we spend New Year's in Vienna or Zurich?? The decisions we have to make! These are the kind of problems you WANT to have...

Well, I'm off to cook dinner... for all my friends that read this- it was GREAT seeing you all last week! Keep warm!

LL Cool J

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig...

Well I made it back to Arizona. The ADA convention was awesome - I had a great time with my old boss and learned a lot of great things about what's going on in the world of nutrition. The weather was fabulous, but boy things got expensive fast! Thank goodness the district was paying for that one...

I am home sick today (too much happiness in the Magic Kingdom). I will probably go into work tomorrow, then leave for KC for the rest of the week. Gosh I love working for the school district. The kiddos are off this week, so I don't have to worry about taking a sick day.

I'm looking forward to seeing KC in fall- rumor has it the leaves are changing and everything is beautiful. I can't wait - I'm getting sick and tired of these mid-90s through the month of October.

I'll talk to you all later - my medicine is really kicking in, and I might type something I'll regret later!

Jenny

Greetings from the Happiest Place on Earth!

Apparently somebody else saw my doppelganger blog post - I hadn't been in the airport 10 minutes before someone came up to me and asked, Do you watch Sex and the City? Ummm, I am going to have to watch that show and find out about the gorgeous woman with red hair...

I am here in Anaheim, California, waiting for the ADA Convention to begin. So what do I do? Head straight for the free email! (well, of course I found food and a bottle of water first, but that goes without saying) Since I am here without anybody else, I get to go and find new dietitian buddies (or old ones, possibly from KS). And if all else fails, I am going to the Disneyland hotel for breakast with the characters! They won't let me down...

The weather here is gorgeous (except for the smog), and the amount of GREEN is amazing! Birds of Paradise EVERYWHERE... thank you, Disney dollars. I am staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel, and I even get the Disney Cartoon Channel - SWEET.

Big time classes start tomorrow - tonight is the opening session. In the meantime I am going to soak up some sunshine and steal a pen - I forgot mine. :)

Talk to y'all later -

Sunny D