The Last Days of School

We are in the last days of school - and because students are taking finals and I don't work at a "high school." The hallways are very empty. In fact only 1 out of the 5 school districts that my building serves is still sending students. Which means, I only have two students, yes, there is a two teachers and two students left in the classroom. It's kind of crazy.

Tonight I met my two students who will be heading to Kansas City with me at the end of the month for the SkillsUSA competition. We recorded the Adult Education Graduation - it was a fundraiser for our trip. Bruce helped - because well this is more his thing than mine. So since I helped him on Sunday - he helped me today.

However, I should be doing laundry for my trip on Saturday - but I am frankly too exhausted - plus what is Friday night for anyway. However, I am looking for suggested reading while I am there. Remember, I will be in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic - so if yo have a book set there that would be fabulous.

The last books that I have read - well are the Twilight series. Yes, I fell into the trap - everytime I mention them, watch the movie or say anything remotely linked - Bruce mutters under his breath - 12 year-old girl. And to be honest - I am thinking about rereading them. I don't know if it's because the transition from one school to another mid-year has been so hard and there is something comforting in the teenage angst. I am nto sure if I am in a midlife crisis - or if like any women Edward is just too hard to resist. But it could be that I am fanscinated with vampires - I remember that I nearly wore out the VHS tape of Lost Boys. And no it wasn't because of the "two Coreys." I am not sure if there is some freudian fascination with the "never dead" but whatever it is - I am hooked. And when one of my students told me that she was going to publish another book in the series after all (despite it being leaked to the press before it was finished) I immediately got excited. However, I have been googling that tonight and don't see where she is finding this information - maybe its from MySpace.

DMT PM

DMT AM

So I changed jobs in March. It was bittersweet. Bitter because it was mid-year and I had to leave my classroom and students. Sweet because now instead of commuting 42 miles each way to work, I commute 1.5 miles.

I left St. Clair TEC after nearly 4 years there. I must admit, it was a great job. I had great students who I had come to know and love. The funny thing about teaching is you really do invest a lot of your heart into it. Maybe because I am blue (for my True Colors people) but it's really a job that you become emotionally invested in. At least I do. I really do everything I can to help my students. Some days they hate it, but in the end, we end up with a mutual respect and affection. I know I will have the same in Lapeer but it just takes time to develop. Most of my students in St. Clair were 2nd year students, which meant I had them for 2.5 hours each day, every school day.

So needless to say leaving my kids was really hard. I will admit, some tears where shed. They are still popping up in my dreams. On my last day, we celebrated our time together. One of my students designed a t-shirt and we got them printed. And we all wore them. I gave them mock awards, like I usually do in the spring. It was a very emotional good bye. While I really do enjoy my new job and I am getting to know a bunch of new kids, who are getting to know me - I thought I would share some of the photos.

Yes, everyone loves Alex's hat.

It's our best attempt at the Myspace photo.

Nate and I.

That's my Martha!

She made me cry.

Me & Kate the Rock Star!

Britney and I.

He's a trouble maker, but I miss him.

Proud Moment

So I had two groups of students (at St. Clair TEC) who where honored by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for their Public Service Announcements. I am so proud of them. It was nice because my last week at St. Clair TEC, I got to take them to the awards ceremony in Grand Rapids.  Here are some pictures from the trip. Also one of my students posted their video on youtube so you can watch it.

From DMT to DMA

So, it's been official for a while but it has been a slow release of information (hence silence on the TiVo Changed My Life Blog), but I have a new job. Yes, I am moving from DMT to DMA. What does that mean? It means that I am leaving the Digital Media Technology class at St. Clair TEC (where I have been teaching for the past 3.67 years) and moving to the Digital Media Arts class at Lapeer County Ed-Tech.

Why move in the middle of the year? Well to be honest it isn't ideal (especially for my students - who I will miss a lot) but that's sometimes how this work out and in the end it's really Bruce's fault. I am sure you are asking - what does Bruce have to do with this and frankly, everything.

See he got me into this whole teaching thing and well for those of you that don't know - I will be taking over his job in Lapeer, just like I took over his job in St. Clair. What?

Well it all started one day with a woman who was looking for the quilt exhibit at Henry Ford Museum. Yes, I was working in the Public Relations office and I was standing around watching a film crew to make sure they didn't jump the barriers. A woman came up to me and asked me were the quilt exhibit was - I told her it wasn't anymore - but then because well I was bored out of my skull - I asked her were she was from. She said, "Port Huron." I said, oh my husband teaches up in Marysville - she said where - I said St. Clair TEC. She said, I used to teach there, I said wow, she said what class does your husband teach, I said Digital Media Technology (DMT.)

That's when she told me that here school was hiring someone for a new position that was very much digital media. She said that it was less days and more money - I said, well I will tell Bruce. I did - he claims that he heard about it before - but I like my version better. So he applies and low and behold he is hired. In his last days at St. Clair TEC he comes home and says to me - I think you should apply for my job at St. Clair TEC. I said, really, he said yes and I said ok. I applied, they took a chance on me and I was hired.

I must admit that I love teaching at St. Clair TEC. There is only one thing I don't like about my drive and it's my 45 minute commute. Now don't get me wrong - it is my fault - because I had to fall in love with a house in Lapeer County. And every morning when I wake up early to get ready and get to work - I am jealous of my husband who can sleep just a little longer and his drive to work is 1.5 miles.

Then in November - a job at Oxford High School (Oxford, Michigan) came up and Bruce was offered the job - he accepted and it seemed like a no brainer - I would apply for his job. I did and I got it. So on March 13th - I will say goodbye to my colleagues and students at St. Clair TEC. And then that following Monday - I will start in Lapeer.

I am not going to lie - I may have teared up a little when telling my students - but hey what can I say - that's me - "captain emotional." But for the most part everyone has been very understanding - not exactly happy - but very understanding.

But in the meantime - check out the awesome work my students have been doing - they produced and directed their very first TEC News. I am very proud of them. They are currently in the process of working on the second edition. There has been a great response at school - so I am really happy for them.

So this picture - well I should probably explain. This is Courtny, one of my students, at LTU (Lawrence Technological University.) I am teaching an advanced writing class on Thursday nights - which ironically is one of the reasons I have not had time to blog. Well the other week - I was going to start teaching class when Courtney saw the skeleton in the corner and asked if we could turn him around because well he was creeping her out. Well it turns out turning it around doesn't really help - so I used it to hold my coat. He actually looked kind of cute.

As for teaching a college class - right now I am trying to figure out where assignments go to die on blackboard. Blackboard is the online delivery system to most college courses. I consider myself pretty web savvy - for the love of God - my Masters is in Technology in Education. However, I can't seem to figure this thing out. I emailed one of my former professors for help. When I got her response - I felt much better. Because to be honest - I haven't even been able to finish the email with the directions to where it may possibly be living - because there are so many places. So here's hoping I find them before Thursday.

Anyways, I promise a great blog tomorrow - or at least a more thoughtful one. So loyal readers stick in there - once we get through this semester - I will be back to spreading my witty words to the TiVo Changed my Life Community.

Quick Blog/First Real blog for 2009

It's been a while since I had the chance to update the TiVo Changed my Life blog. I have some blogs - that need a little more time than I have right now - so stayed tuned for titles which include:

2008 - Where did you go now?
Cruising in Paradise
30 going on 13

But right now I will write about grading. I was up late last night grading and tonight I have just finished. I am not certain - why it takes me so freaking long - but it does. And to top it off (because most of my students had a "cold day" on Friday) I didn't even include one assignment that I would have liked to. However, it's 11 pm right now and it took me all evening to grade another assignment - so if I start with this one I won't be done until maybe next week. So since my grades are due at 8 am tomorrow - I will look forward to adding this grade to the fourth marking period.

I was set back a little tonight - by the turmoils of commuting. I got a flat tire on I-69. I would like to personally thank all the 18 wheelers who moved over into the left lane to give me some room - while I put on my spare in the bitter cold. I hope you can hear the sarcasm in that - because by thanking them I am probably thanking 3 out of the 950 that flew by me at 80+ miles an hour. I have had two flat tires in my life and neither of which happened in June. Yes, 60+ and sunny - easy breezy. 14 degrees in twilight (I mean seconds of light left in the day) = flat tire. Well it's late and I swore I was going to go to bed early - ha ha ha. Well there is always tomorrow.

I had to Laugh

This is a funny email that I got from one of my students - that I had to post.

Here's the background. And I will keep it short. I have a tough policy about naming your assignments correctly - if you don't put your name on it - it's a ZERO - yes I am pretty sure it's every teacher's policy. Yes, I am sure you have all heard the same thing - no matter how long you have been out of school, "no name, no credit."

So here's the email from one of my morning students - I see it as a Public Service Announcement for other students.

Subject: Re-submitting of nameless assignments

I have resubmitted all of the nameless illustrator files that have been rendered useless without a name or social security number.

Society has rejected these files because they had nothing to call them. The files were alone. They all lived in an abandoned warehouse together. None of them could directly address another because they had no names. They could not communicate with each other unless they tapped another file on the shoulder. Soon enough, all of these files had bruised shoulders from all of the tapping that was taking place. They would cry that their little nameless shoulders hurt so much. In time, their shoulders fell off. Once again, they could not be spoken to. These files are still alive today, hiding in the darkest of alleyways, and the coldest of caves. They prefer not to be seen because of the humiliation of not having a name.

So please, name your files, and save a life from facing rejection from society. A few clicks of your keyboard could define eternity for a PSD.

My Trip to
Lansing Community College

I'm Proud


This is the trailer for my students short film - Another Customer. They completed it for their capstone project in my class. I hope you can see the hard work they put into it. I am such a proud teacher.

The Best High School Production

(I've Ever Seen)

So I am going to level with you, when my students asked me to go see the play they were in this weekend at their "home school," I said yes. (My rule is if they ask, and I am not busy I will make an effort to go, that goes with plays, band concerts, sporting events and graduations.) But despite saying yes, I wasn't what you would call excited at the prospect of sitting through a high school production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.

Bruce is working tonight. So I got myself ready and drove the hour to the East China PAC (Performing Arts Center) to see Marine City's High School's Production. I arrived at the PAC - just in time. I paid my $8 admission and got my seat "just in time" to listen to the director give his thank yous before the play started.

Then it started with a very long intro song. At that moment, I was like ok this is good, but what did I get myself into - let's get this party started, I have a long drive home. But then it started and turns out these kids can sing. I have never seen this production before - though I am a big fan of most musicals - I wasn't sure what to expect. I was able to pick out my student right away - yeah go Matt. Then I heard my other students - she was rockin' the drums in the pit band. Yeah go Kate. I have included a picture of us above after the show.( which I will post tomorrow 5/4) Please enjoy Matt's stage make-up, don't worry, I gave him a hard time.

Overall I had a very nice time. And I am not going to lie, I do like it when my students ask me to come to things. I think that means they like me a little, even though I am their teacher - and I have my moments as Mean Mrs. Holladay. Just ask them.

The early part of my day was spent at Karyn's school running the First Annual Nellie Reed 5k. (Her school is called Nellie Reed.) I ran this race as a run, not a race. And it turns out that I was the only one in our group that did not get a medal. Karyn - the speed demon - was first in our age group, her boyfriend Rodney was first in his - her mom was first in hers and Bruce was third in his. Had I been 30 today - I too would have been first. Oh well, it was fun. We got to see Karyn's school and her room. It was nice event. So way to go Nellie Reed Elementary school in Vernon, Michigan.

I guess you could say it was a public school day for me. I woke up this morning to support a elementary school and finished my day supporting a high school. Yes, I support public education in Michigan. Tomorrow, I will be enjoying a day of laundry which give me many hours to watch TiVo - I've got a lot to catch up on. Hopefully - I am not too far behind and all my shows are still there for me to enjoy - like the new Grey's Anatomy, the Hills, and ANTM.

Kansas City Here We Come!!!

So I got a call yesterday, well a message, I don't get calls during class. I checked the message and it was Tammy Brown, the Michigan state SkillsUSA director. She called to let me know that my second place audio production team was going to nationals in Kansas City. The first place team opted out and then that opens it up to the second place team. I would like to say that my students really deserve this opportunity because well they only lost first place by one point.

I am so excited for my students - who by the way are thrilled. Which is really cool, they are both seniors and they are great kids, who I enjoy. I am not going to lie, I had already talked myself into being excited for Bruce but excited for me to have a week to myself to clean my house and relax. I also had retired from my position as SkillsUSA coordinator after lots of work for the state competition. However, that was just a momentary thing, I am now just as excited as my students. Plus I get to hang out with Bruce in my favorite city: Kansas City! And this year the Michigan group gets to say in a nice hotel near all the coolest places.

The Illustrator Icon Project

So this week in my classroom we are working with Adobe Illustrator. It is probably the most challenging program for most of my students to learn.

When they are finished with the book, I have them create an icon from themselves, by tracing a picture. This being the first year I did the project I had no examples, so I had to attempt to create one myself. The problem is that I am not an artist (I avoided art at high school because well lets just say the teacher was known for rescuing road kill and bringing it in to class - mainly possums which are not my cup of tea.)

So here's the what I created.... first here is the photo that I used to trace. This is actually my favorite photo of me that Bruce took while we were in Arkansas for a week long training. This night we went to the President Clinton Library to take some photos.


Now here is my illustrated version of it. I am not claiming it's great, but to be honest it was my second attempt. I am honest with my students that I am not an artist. So frankly, I don't think it's that bad... hence it's my new profile picture.

Christian Wins!!!

I was at the MACUL conference the last two days so I was not able to watch the finale of Project Runway on Wednesday. However, when I got home today, I quickly plopped down in front of TiVo and pulled up Project Runway. The very fierce Christian Siriano won. He is a 21 year-old designer and I loved, loved, loved him this season. Why? Well he was very cocky and arrogant but in the most lovable way. How can someone be cocky in a lovable way - well he is very talented so he was cocky but his stuff totally stood out. And lovable in the way that anyone could be that describe every major aspect of life as fierce.

As for the finale - they did play out this model snafu in the previews a lot, but it really didn't seem like a huge ordeal in the show. I must admit despite the fashion show and the last five minutes of the show - it wasn't really that exciting of a finale. But I'm not the producer. The other contestants had very nice collections - I didn't hate any of them, but Christian just stands out as a designer.

I actually really enjoyed this season of PR. To me it was the friendliest season by far, despite Christian's sassy quips - there really was no blood shed. And I think the group was a very talented bunch. And the challenges were fun and amusing - especially the prom challenge. Where it looked like Christian might have faced an early demise because he had the diva high school designer - that wanted the ugliest dress known to man. I questioned the judges thinking a little on the order the designers were eliminated. Like why was Kevin eliminated for having one bad design (and yes it was bad) but Ricky's was just as bad and he had had weeks of bad designs prior to this challenge. But I am no Michael Kors or Nina Garcia - so I can complain but I have no say.

On another note - I was gone for two days from my classroom and my afternoon students reminded me why I love teaching. Here are two emails I received:

Email #1
Oh I miss you! it's gonna be a long weekend, by Monday it will be like 4 days since we've seen you! Hope you are having fun!

Email #2
where have you been??????? I miss you tons. you only said that you were going to be gone for one day how could you just forget to let us know that you had to go out of town lol???????

Now I did tell them I was going to be gone for two days - but remember these are high schoolers and on a good day they catch about 85% of what I have to say. You might say they are trying to suck up - well it worked - I guess. Because it made me smile. It makes me look forward to Monday.

Snow Day #2

Ok, so I must say that I love teaching and it's not all about making a difference with kids, because don't get me wrong that is great, but there is also a secret benefit that only mother nature can provide: the SNOW DAY.

This morning my phone rang at 5:40 am and it was my boss - saying, "Good morning, Jennie, there is no school today." I do my best to try not to sound too happy, because it is my boss on the phone, but hey who in the working world, regardless about how they feel about their job, doesn't want a free day off once and a while.

So my day so far has consisted of sleeping in, eating at Arby's, enjoying Tim Horton's coffee, a trip to Home Depot with Bruce, shoveling the driveway and watching Eli Stone on the internet, because I missed it last night and forgot to set my TiVo because I was busy finishing a paper on propaganda. I chose to write about President Bush and the "Axis of Evil." I am not how well I did, but I can say now that it is done.

MACUL 2007 is Complete

We are back from MACUL 2007, well we were back, Bruce went back down to Detroit to work at Local 4 tonight, but I am currently vegged out in front of TiVo with Tyra & ANTM & Grey's (More on that later.) This morning we woke up nice and early, got some breakfast and headed to Cobo. We had a pretty good group in our session, we talked about producing video on the cheap with free or low cost solutions. We included some sample work and I did a little video from the conference with my Kodak v550 camera and edited with iMovie which you can watch above. (It's nothing earth shattering, trust me.) The only thing, I wish is that we were the second session in the morning, because well I am not a morning person no matter how much coffee I force down, there is a reason I don't talk until I get to school. Bruce and I make a good team. Maybe someday we will become wealthy consultants, we could be good at that, from my experience with consulting its lots of talking, not so much working, its no wonder that everyone doesn't consult. Well maybe nothing will get done. I think the first thing a consulting firm needs is a catchy name. Suggestions welcome.

I am getting excited with our upcoming trip this summer. At MACUL there was a University of Michigan - Flint booth where they were talking up the Technology in Education Global Program. It made me even more excited about the trip! To recap we will be spending three weeks in Geneva and then we will be going to Scandinavia: Sweden & Norway. We are flying out of Olso, Norway. I borrowed the picture from the visit Norway website. Everyone looks kind of surprise when we say Sweden & Norway. I am just getting back to the roots... I am sure you are thinking what? Sweden. But believe it or not, Jennie Sahakian Holladay is Swedish, I get it from my blonde-hair, blue-eyed mother. Yes, I am 1/8 Swedish, 1/8 French Canadian, 1/4 Slovenian, 1/4 Italian & 1/4 Armenian. Ok, I am a true American. You can clearly see it in my parents, pictured here with my sweet adorable nephew Max. Back to Scandinavia... I am excited. I have to do some more research right when I think Sweden I think (besides my heritage), I think Ikea, Swedish Meatballs, Saab (Bruce's Ebay Car - our Saab story) & Volvo (my sister's station wagon.) We have a lonely planet book and now that these conferences are over, I just may have some time to read it.

As for television tonight.. I should probably make this a separate post, but I am going for a potpourri post tonight. ANTM was the makeover drama, no one was that upset over their new look, however, some of the girls had a painful 8 hour fiasco that involved weaves. Jael (the Detroiter) had one put in only to have it taken out. She cried, but frankly, I think I would have too, eight hours of hairdos is a hair don't if you ask me. I included a before and after photo, but I had these kinds of things, because how do you compare a Polaroid photo to one that has been taken under soft lighting and retouched with every girls friend: Photoshop. Renee is coming out as the cynical back stabber of the bunch, which means I will hate her but lover her all at the same time. I like Sarah & Whitney, so far I am not sure who's my front runner. There is a red head who I forget her name but always seems to be crying. Save the tears for real drama, which I think is on the way next week.

Grey's Anatomy was new this week, which I was surprised because I thought we were in reruns until May for some reason, but I am totally ok with not being in reruns. This week, Meredith has dinner with her dad, who is a weak character if you ask me, I too don't want to see him because well he annoys me. Other than that George & Izzy end up in a drunken affair because rich Callie throws George out. Blah Blah Blah, that's getting old. Overall there wasn't much earth shattering, but I did enjoy it.

Right now I am getting ready to do another load of laundry and pop in Arrested Development. Which I almost forgot about, please make sure you TiVo Andy Barker PI on NBC Thursday nights, it's against Grey's Anatomy so you need the help of your dual tuner TiVo, but it has Buster from Arrested Development.

Let the Presenting Begin

Bruce & I are in Detroit for the Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning Conference. It is my favorite teacher conference because it's all technology. This year Bruce and I are presenting. We are the first session tomorrow morning. Our session is called: "News, Documentaries and Movies, Oh My." Yes, it all starts with a catchy title. We talk about cheap and free solutions to producing videos in your classroom. However if my administration is reading this, these solutions are meant for other classes NOT MINE. We are finishing up last minute details tonight, after attending the Apple Computer get together, where Apple gave away ipods (none that we won) and free food and drinks (that we did win.) Now we are off to bed (in our hotel room at the Ren Cen) so that we can be prepared to wow our crowd. I will post an update.

The Gift of Fish

It's been a busy week around here, which means I will spend tonight catching up with TiVo. Tuesday night was the big Open House night at St. Clair TEC. It's the night when prospective students come and visit our programs with their parents. I try to have my students their to show them what we do and show off some of their work. The Open House doesn't start until 5:00 pm, so my students had time after school to get something to eat and well buy me a present. They came back to TEC with 4 goldfish for me. It was a present. These fish were the 12 cent variety from Meijer, more on that later. I had mixed emotions, I didn't really want fish, however I had never gotten a present just from my students, so I was touched. As a teacher, I have found that one of the things I enjoy the most is the relationships I form with my students. I like them, that doesn't mean they get away with murder, well sometimes I am sure they do, but sometimes I break out "Mean Mrs. Holladay" (I don't like it but it's something I have to do.)

But back to the fish, they named them: J. Tuck (after one of the students that gifted them), Nemo (because he had a deformed fin), Colby ( he was orange and white like Colby Jack cheese), and a fourth that I really don't remember his name. Now if you are looking at the picture you will see that there are three fish swimming in the bowl that Bruce went and found at his parent's house. Why three, well again these are 12 cent fish, and one didn't make it 24 hours. He died in class the next day. Then I came into work the next morning to find that Colby had past away overnight. Then during the morning class (remember we haven't hit 48 hours yet) Nemo died. By 3pm Thursday, J. Tuck was the only fish that was still kickin'. I don't know if any are left today because I was out at a conference, however I did write on the notes that I left for the sub if the fish was dead to not be surprised.

I also want to make one thing clear, that just because I didn't exactly want these fish, I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR DEATHS. Someone that night said, just flush them, but I couldn't. Little did I know it would only be a matter of days before they would go, and I am a little sad.

But back to Open House, it was a great day, I mainly enjoy it because I get to brag about the program and my students. I feel like a proud mother, when I over hear them say that it's their favorite class and they really like their teacher.

Belgian Feather Bowling...
Who Knew?

So Friday night, I know I already talked about the weekend so this is not in chronological order. But by the time I got home last night, I didn't have the energy to blog in order. So this is what you get. Anyways back to the bowling, a group from work went feather bowling in Mt. Clemens (the black hole of Macomb County... it's like Pontiac when you drive in you may never drive out.) Some of the cools girls at work came up with the idea I had never heard of bowling with feathers, so it sounded like a good time so I said sure, why not. Well feather bowling isn't exactly bowling with feathers, I feel that it's a mix of shuffle board, bowling and curling. You roll these large wooden discs down the lane and the goal is to get closest to the feather. I got to the party late, due to being completely lost in the black hole that is Mt. Clemens and my inability to drive there without getting lost. By the time I got there they were at the end of the first game. I had the chance to bowl once, but the team had already lost. See the photos. Then the second game started, I was immediately shifted to the other team, in favor of a boy, who had apparently bowled before. Hey, I went with the flow, because well at that time they were charging my drinks to Dave so anything goes.

Well I was put on to the competitive team, who were very nice to this not so competitive girl (the same girl that would sit down during t-ball games to pick flowers, yes that girl, some 20 years later.) There was times when I was asked why I wasn't closer cheering on the team, my reply was I would be if the food and drink were closer. Priorities people, priorities. My team managed a win, and I must admit that I didn't suck that bad, I even scored a point or two. Hence me strutting my stuff in the picture.

The beads are how we kept track of who was winning, as you can see they were pretty heavy around my teams next, because we had so many... ha ha, no thanks to me, but I can pretend. The key to our teams success wasn't the fact it was stacked with guys, it was the cute girl in the green coat, don't let her fool you, Marcie is a feather bowling ringer. The last game was girls against boys. I am proud to say the ladies won, in my opinion it was 9 to 4, the winner only has to score 10 points, when we were kicked out of the lane. So hat's off to the organizers, it was a great time. And if you know anything about schools, organizing teachers is difficult, I think I heard "never again." But I hope that they will reconsider, because I am up for another game of feather bowling, but I call Marcie for my team.

Snow Day #4

Ok, I must admit this one I wasn't expecting at all. I thought for sure we would have school, I even set my alarm early so I would be up to make the drive if it was longer than normal. But at 5:30 am the phone rang and it was my boss. I must admit being gone already for a conference this week I really wanted and needed to get into the classroom, but what am I going to do. Bruce had the day off too. So it was a nice Valentine's Day surprise. We began the day with sleeping in, Bruce and I slept until well I think it could have been close to noon. Hey what can I say, we enjoy sleep. This afternoon we also ran some errands: banking, mailing packages and renewing my passport. We had a romantic Valentine's lunch at Taco Bell. Mmmmmmm my favorite.

I got my passport (mugshot) pictures taken at CVS (picture on the left) and if you get them there don't believe them, they lie, she told me I COULD NOT SMILE. Well my picture is a half smile which is well not attractive, it almost looks like a smirk. (I am literally saying, sure let me into your country if you DARE.) But at least it is better than the last one, which I believe was not a picture of my face as much as a blown up microscopic view of every blemish I had on my face at the time. (God Bless Accutane.) So though this picture is bad it is much better than the previous If you think about it your passport is the government's cruel joke. You have a picture that is taken in the most unflattering way: you centered on a white wall ala your state's driver's license, but the kick for this beautiful photo is you get to keep it for 10 years. So when you walk off the hell that is any international flight on coach looking like the walking dead, you then hand this passport with the picture of yourself that looks like you are being booked at the police station for some kind of crime. It's your first impression into a new country which you have to love. For those of us who live here in Michigan, we used to enjoy not having to carry our passports over to Canada, but now that is changing, so I have to suck it up, because the next picture I will take for my passport is when I am 38 and I wonder if I will feel the same way about this picture as I feel about the one that I took at 18.

In other news: just TWO days until I am googling over G. Love and Special Sauce, but mainly G. Love at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit. YEAH! Hopefully it will be warm enough for Olive, Angie and I to brave the temperatures to wait to get a front row spot. The big decision is what to wear, I want to look cool, but I need to be warm, oh the woes of being a fan.

Let the Meetings Begin

Bruce and I are staying at the Marriott Ren-Cen for Michigan Conference on Career and Technical Education. We have a really cool view of the River and the Ambassador Bridge. (The picture is courtesy of the Bruce 2 Go Blog.) We will have a full day of meetings tomorrow, it may sound boring however these conferences are usually fun and I go home full of inspiration that usually dies off a couple days later, but I am trully inspired when I get home.

Also please note we are just five days from G. Love and Special Sauce gracing the stage in Detroit. I am so excited. Part of me is thinking wow I have Friday off, maybe I can go to Chicago and see him there too and then I could follow him to Ohio and see him there. I know is sounds like a slight obsession and I am not going to lie it is.