Adteacher

I didn't intend for so much time to pass between posts, but lots has been going on during this particular "spring break". As soon as school was out on the 12th of March, we went after it very hard to finish our remodeling and getting ready for a house full of wedding guests. It was in the nick of time that we finished, but the MOST important thing is that there is a new Mrs. Harman in the world now! Hailey and DJ got married on the 19th, and I can easily say that it was the most wonderful event of my recent life. They love each other so much, and it was wonderful to finally see their day arrive. So many people were at the wedding, and it was really a fabulous one. The Piazza in the Village was a perfect venue for a wedding of that size and stature, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait for the photos to come back from the photographer. There were two of them, and they took over 5000 pictures. Ka-ching! They will be banking on the sales of their work that day. ...

The studio was very full and very active today. No one was absent this afternoon, and only one was missing out of the morning class, so it was surprisingly well attended for a few days before spring break. I know that both Marcus and The Colony HS have teams in the State Basketball tournament and that the students from those two schools have been excused to go to Austin for those big games, so I expect that those games in combination with spring break starting next week will make attendance more sparse tomorrow. Today was Mark's workday on the house, and it was quite quiet over in the Animation studio today in comparison with when Mark is there. The sub is a very nice lady, but it just isn't the same without Mark next door. It is so difficult to imagine that we are really already to the point that spring break has arrived! I know that Hailey and DJ must just be reeling with anticipation. They will be husband and wife within days! I am getting another girl in the family - hur...

Sometimes one of the best things about teaching is how silly and fun teenagers can be. Today a couple of girls in my afternoon told me about this little video and I couldn't watch it without a smile. First of all, it is a trailer for a documentary movie about Babies that comedian Nate Dern has made a crazy little voice over for... not that it isn't fun enough just to see the cute babies, but to hear his version of what they might be saying to each other is just... well, quirky and weird. But fun on a Wednesday! Enjoy!

I was off school today to do some guest speaker duties for Texas Education Agency. Months ago I was invited to Austin to participate in a "Train the Trainers" session where we went over all of the changes coming in Texas education and Career and Technical Education specifically. Today I was asked to speak with Lynne Cox (and Mr. Mark Harman!) at the Region XI education service center - it was pretty easy really. Instead of going all morning and then taking a break for lunch and then coming back, we decided to plow through until the end and take a late lunch. So it was a little shorter day than expected! That was a good thing, because it gave Mark a little extra time to do some work on the house late in the afternoon. We were home by around 4:30 this afternoon. The presentation went well, in fact the guy in charge said that our presentation was the best that they had ever had on this topic. So good for us! It is very busy for us, and right in the middle of all of this we hav...

OK. There may still  be some people out there that empathetically say... "no, no, really - I know much bigger nerds than you." However, I am not really sure about that. I fell in love the minute I saw this commercial, and really, it is ok. You can call me a technology nerd and I am fine with that. Will I purchase an iPad? I am hoping to. I think it looks like a great little gadget. Part of it depends on how much it will cost per month. Right now I keep hearing it will be an unlimited plan for $29.99 a month contract-free. That sounds rational, but if it is more than that, I don't know. They need to keep it affordable. I just think that as much as I am on the move and as much as I like to do the stuff that is currently on my iPhone, I will really enjoy the iPad. I think that just storing and retrieving music and photos on it would be fantastic. I guess I won't really know until I get one in my hands though. I feel sure that the iPad will speak to me... Like I said, ...

Every single minute that he isn't asleep these days, this man is racing the clock working on our house. We have lots of home improvement projects that we need to wrap up in the next week before DJ and Hailey's wedding, which unbelieveably is two weeks from yesterday! He is taking a personal day off on Thursday of this upcoming week to work hard on getting the house whipped into shape once and for all, but every evening and all weekend he is doing projects. This day he is sawing trimboards. He is replacing all the trim around the doors and also putting down new baseboards. It has become apparent that not everything will be complete, but we are doing the best we can. If we had some help from our kids, things would of course be easier - but DJ can't help until tomorrow because his bachelor party stuff is this weekend and he is in Austin until tomorrow, and Tim has a recording session today and had one last night too. Andi is swamped with work at UNT and can barely find a few h...

There has been some very encouraging news this week. I have been on a special new way of eating for the past 7 weeks. During that time, I have essentially cut sugar from my diet. That and concentrating on balancing proteins and low carb choices in my meals has caused several things to happen. Firstly, I have lost about 4" from my waistline. This may not seem apparent to people who know me, but I notice it in the way my clothes fit. I have lost approximately 18 pounds. That is starting to show up enough that I am noticing it. I still have a long way to go, but I suspect that I will be able to get there now. This is the least that I have weighed since having my last baby over 19 years ago. It has been such a struggle for me to lose weight, and now I have found a way of eating that allows me to actually lose weight. It is almost a miracle to me! Not only that, but I went to the doctor the other day to have my blood tested as I do about every 3 or 4 months, and another miraculous seri...