Today was my first “real” day of teaching as Tuesday was just introductions and syllabus review. I was nervous on the way down to class which made me have to use the restroom very badly once I got to school. This was frustrating because I followed one of my favorite MBA teachers down the hill to the building but knew that couldn't stop him to say hello because I wanted to rush in, take care of business, and get to class a few minutes early. I hope I run into him again though to catch up.
I was surprised when a guy in the class came up and asked if I would consider being the chair of the Sales Club that one of his friends is trying to start. I'm thinking to myself – “wow, this is cool and would be a good way to be a bigger part of the XU community; but what in the heck am I supposed to do for them?” as I have no experience (obviously) with this kind of thing. I feel like Karen Cruse (who got asked to moderate about 2 million things over the last 3 years). Ginger, who I'm replacing, was supposed to do this apparently, but now that I'm the new Ginger I guess that’s why he asked me. There is another sales prof. though who taught the class pre-Ginger. Perhaps they don’t know about him or I can recommend him if I don’t have time to help them out.
Anyway, class went really well. I got in the grove pretty quickly and students were thinking and participating as much as I wanted them to. I made 2 mistakes that I will work not to repeat: 1) I posted the wrong sheet online so when I went to use it in class I got screwed up and lost 10 minutes of planned activity; 2) I didn’t prepare enough material so they got out about 20 minutes early from the 75 minute class. I think part of this was the lost activity from item #1 and part was because Chapter 1 wasn’t as robust as some of the others.
So that’s that! I'm in business! More later posts if something exciting happens.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Like Mom, I Want To Be Like Mom
The other thing I liked about Spanglish is towards the end when the mother asks her daughter pointedly “Would it be such a bad thing to turn out like me?” This made me cry because of all the people in the world, turning out like my mother would be a blessing to the world. She’s a pretty awesome mom and person all the way around.
Time for the “awwww”’s…
Time for the “awwww”’s…
Monday, August 28, 2006
Long Nights, Longer Memories
Jim and I watched Spanglish (A, excellent acting) yesterday and there are three facets to the movie that struck me that I’ll post about separately.
At the height of the movie two characters spend the evening together talking and laughing. When the conversation climaxes and it gets late, the woman attempts to get up from the couch they’re sitting on. The guy she’s with touches her arm and says “Don’t. As soon as our feet touch the floor the night is over and I'm not ready for that yet.”
Have you ever been there before? Where you’re so deep talking with the person you’re with and so connected that you don’t want the night to end? I remember a night I had with an ex-boyfriend where we sat in his room watching a movie and talking and it felt like we were the only people in the entire world.
The night I met Jim we kept doing more activities (midnight dessert, pool, darts, cuddling) because we weren’t done being together yet. I kept calling home every other hour to let Mom know I was alive but needed more time with the incredible guy I met.
I had that kind of night with Sarah F. on our Senior year retreat. We sat on the bridge of that campsite with our feet dangling over the tumbling water below us and talked and talked and cried and cried. We left that bridge with such a deep understanding of each other – I’ve felt that close with only a few others my whole life.
Those kinds of nights are so huge, so important that they redirect part of us forever, I think. They take a lot out of you if you do it right, but the bonds you form during those times are nearly unbreakable. I think that’s also why when/if relationships with people you’ve had experiences like that with start to fade it’s more painful than nearly anything else- part of you is still with that person from that night and you can’t get it back.
I'm just grateful that I had the opportunity to keep part of those friends with me. Often times it’s remembering that part that gets me through tough times without them and makes me revel in our good times together even more.
At the height of the movie two characters spend the evening together talking and laughing. When the conversation climaxes and it gets late, the woman attempts to get up from the couch they’re sitting on. The guy she’s with touches her arm and says “Don’t. As soon as our feet touch the floor the night is over and I'm not ready for that yet.”
Have you ever been there before? Where you’re so deep talking with the person you’re with and so connected that you don’t want the night to end? I remember a night I had with an ex-boyfriend where we sat in his room watching a movie and talking and it felt like we were the only people in the entire world.
The night I met Jim we kept doing more activities (midnight dessert, pool, darts, cuddling) because we weren’t done being together yet. I kept calling home every other hour to let Mom know I was alive but needed more time with the incredible guy I met.
I had that kind of night with Sarah F. on our Senior year retreat. We sat on the bridge of that campsite with our feet dangling over the tumbling water below us and talked and talked and cried and cried. We left that bridge with such a deep understanding of each other – I’ve felt that close with only a few others my whole life.
Those kinds of nights are so huge, so important that they redirect part of us forever, I think. They take a lot out of you if you do it right, but the bonds you form during those times are nearly unbreakable. I think that’s also why when/if relationships with people you’ve had experiences like that with start to fade it’s more painful than nearly anything else- part of you is still with that person from that night and you can’t get it back.
I'm just grateful that I had the opportunity to keep part of those friends with me. Often times it’s remembering that part that gets me through tough times without them and makes me revel in our good times together even more.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Good Friends, Good Times
August Girls' Lunch: This shot represents 12 years of friendship for the group (20+ years in some individuals' cases)!!
Friday, August 25, 2006
New Happenings
Three shout-outs this morning:
1) To Jason and Beth who are being induced at 2:00pm this afternoon. GOOD LUCK, Ian! We wish you a very quick and painless birth!
2) To Tom for having a fun (as always) dinner with me last night. Jen, you’re quite lucky to have him
3) My brother Greg for blogging in who knows how long.
Another piece of big news that some of you might already be aware of- my brother Mike and his girlfriend are pregnant and due in April. While this was surprising to all parties involved they’re already setting plans for the future and doing all the “right” things. I'm already excited about another baby in my life (especially one that's not mine- ha!)! It’s also been a good opportunity for me to get closer to Lindsay who I hadn’t taken the time to get to know as well as I should have. I'm very happy about that too.
Watched The Devil Wears Prada on Wednesday night with Jim, Chuck & Kristi. Good movie in general, great acting overall. Gets a B.
As I think of other things I wanted to mention but keep getting too interrupted to write about so I forget them I’ll post!
1) To Jason and Beth who are being induced at 2:00pm this afternoon. GOOD LUCK, Ian! We wish you a very quick and painless birth!
2) To Tom for having a fun (as always) dinner with me last night. Jen, you’re quite lucky to have him
3) My brother Greg for blogging in who knows how long.
Another piece of big news that some of you might already be aware of- my brother Mike and his girlfriend are pregnant and due in April. While this was surprising to all parties involved they’re already setting plans for the future and doing all the “right” things. I'm already excited about another baby in my life (especially one that's not mine- ha!)! It’s also been a good opportunity for me to get closer to Lindsay who I hadn’t taken the time to get to know as well as I should have. I'm very happy about that too.
Watched The Devil Wears Prada on Wednesday night with Jim, Chuck & Kristi. Good movie in general, great acting overall. Gets a B.
As I think of other things I wanted to mention but keep getting too interrupted to write about so I forget them I’ll post!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance (or Results as the case may be)
*drumming fingers repeatedly*
My master plan is working… one by one my previously close-minded friends are realizing that all the action to be had is happening in OHIO. Sarah F. just moved in from the East, Jenny’s moving to Cincinnati from the West, and Sarah W. is looking to move even more South to be near us (okay and for other reasons too….)! If I could only con Lisa and Viki to my way of thinking, that Cincinnati is the best city on the planet, I’d be in business!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Gettin' Ready for School
I cause myself too much work but many of you can understand because I think you're the same away. I made a goal of prepping 1 chapter a night for my marketing class so that I can have all my stuff together and feel really prepared. The slides that the previous instructor gave me I thought were going to be a good start because they were made by the publisher of the book. But I can’t use them.
Why can't I save myself an hour a night?
1) they cover dumb material that isn’t interesting
2) they’re so comprehensive I'm not sure the class would be comprised of anything but lecture if I used them
3) they’re ugly
So, what I thought would be easy isn’t. I'm creating all new slides that are pretty, functional, and engaging. Why am I such a perfectionist!?
Monday, August 21, 2006
Weekend of 8/18/06
It was a full and fun weekend. Some items to share:
1. I WON THE TV!!! I got the final word on Friday that the contest is over and ended in my favor!!! Jim’s already researched what he wants to get and hopefully this week the certificate for the set will be in-hand!
2. Jason in my office invited Jim and I to a Republican event on Friday night. $500/person got us berries and cheese and about a half hour of speaking. While it was interesting to experience how political people operate, I'm darn glad I didn’t pay for it. : )
3. Joe K. I in town from California. He met Jim, Jenny, Tom, Jessy, Sean, Kelly and I up at the St. John’s festival after the republican cocktail hour. I ate a hot dog and ear of corn and felt very Midwestern. Joe was reminded how vastly different Ohioans live vs. Californians and I think he is not disappointed to go back west.
4. Saturday I went with Mom’s side of the family to Dory’s baby shower. She already had Zachary 4 months early but as he’s still in the hospital and will be through September getting bigger and better we celebrated his birth regardless. I found these really cute stuffed animals- an elephant, tiger & zebra- at Kohl’s and was especially happy because a) the shower was safari themed and b) all the net profit of the purchase went to Children’s Hospital. I was really tickled about that given Zach’s special needs in the hospital right now. Apparently last year Kohl’s raised enough money to buy the hospital an ambulance!
5. Saturday night I took my parents and Jim with me to the Reds game where we enjoyed box seats compliments of Cincinnati Bell. This was probably the most fun part of the weekend as we got to eat all kinds of food, drink unlimited amounts of beer, and watch the Reds win 14-7. There were awesome rallies and obviously tons of hits and scoring. It was great! We followed up the game by beating down my parents in Euchre too. : )
6. Sunday was also exciting because Jenny announced her big news at our monthly Girls’ Lunch- She’s ENGAGED!!!!! Another round of hearty congrats to her and Tom! She commented after lunch that she had a great time and asked if they were all like that, which they are. More incentive for her to move to Cincinnati!!
7. I also spent about 2 hours working on school stuff, 2 hours working on the shed and an hour watching most of The Man before the DVD died (too many scratches). The funniest part of last night was when Samuel L. Jackson called me to encourage me to take Viki and go watch his new fantastic movie, Snakes on a Plane. That call was hilarious. I called Viki all giggly over it and promptly sent his call out to other unknowing victims! Too cool!
So that’s it! You heard it (what I did for the last 3 days) here first!
1. I WON THE TV!!! I got the final word on Friday that the contest is over and ended in my favor!!! Jim’s already researched what he wants to get and hopefully this week the certificate for the set will be in-hand!
2. Jason in my office invited Jim and I to a Republican event on Friday night. $500/person got us berries and cheese and about a half hour of speaking. While it was interesting to experience how political people operate, I'm darn glad I didn’t pay for it. : )
3. Joe K. I in town from California. He met Jim, Jenny, Tom, Jessy, Sean, Kelly and I up at the St. John’s festival after the republican cocktail hour. I ate a hot dog and ear of corn and felt very Midwestern. Joe was reminded how vastly different Ohioans live vs. Californians and I think he is not disappointed to go back west.
4. Saturday I went with Mom’s side of the family to Dory’s baby shower. She already had Zachary 4 months early but as he’s still in the hospital and will be through September getting bigger and better we celebrated his birth regardless. I found these really cute stuffed animals- an elephant, tiger & zebra- at Kohl’s and was especially happy because a) the shower was safari themed and b) all the net profit of the purchase went to Children’s Hospital. I was really tickled about that given Zach’s special needs in the hospital right now. Apparently last year Kohl’s raised enough money to buy the hospital an ambulance!
5. Saturday night I took my parents and Jim with me to the Reds game where we enjoyed box seats compliments of Cincinnati Bell. This was probably the most fun part of the weekend as we got to eat all kinds of food, drink unlimited amounts of beer, and watch the Reds win 14-7. There were awesome rallies and obviously tons of hits and scoring. It was great! We followed up the game by beating down my parents in Euchre too. : )
6. Sunday was also exciting because Jenny announced her big news at our monthly Girls’ Lunch- She’s ENGAGED!!!!! Another round of hearty congrats to her and Tom! She commented after lunch that she had a great time and asked if they were all like that, which they are. More incentive for her to move to Cincinnati!!
7. I also spent about 2 hours working on school stuff, 2 hours working on the shed and an hour watching most of The Man before the DVD died (too many scratches). The funniest part of last night was when Samuel L. Jackson called me to encourage me to take Viki and go watch his new fantastic movie, Snakes on a Plane. That call was hilarious. I called Viki all giggly over it and promptly sent his call out to other unknowing victims! Too cool!
So that’s it! You heard it (what I did for the last 3 days) here first!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
What's been up
If the rule of six degrees of separation works for gossip as it does for just knowing someone I think that about 82% of Japan now knows that Alex was born.
Other than thinking about and doting on my Godson I have been doing other things. Nothing quite as cute, but other things.
1) I watched Mona Lisa Smile and got all happy again about being a feminist and a aspiring teacher
2) I watched Message in a Bottle (aka CryFest 2006). Holy crap is that a sappy movie. I bet that PMSing women could successfully sue the producers for emotional distress. I think I actually lost weight from how many tears I shed those two hours. Good lord.
3) I ate at Marian’s Pizza in Dayton and discovered it’s really not that good.
4) I have now spent hours preparing for this Marketing class (which starts 8/29/06). I went through and did about 90% of my syllabus, met Ginger for dinner last night for additional advice, and went to 3 hours of “training” at XU tonight with various people (how to use the library, what’s reasonable class averages for grades, what to do if a student is unruly in class…).
5) I missed my free pass to The Illusionist (sneak preview) because of the XU fair (booo!)
6) I mentally chided all of you for not blogging more often.
7) I got to have lunch with Jen & Tom (I'm trying to be fun so she moves home faster)
8) I gave up on my daisies coming back to life – a week away in Alaska with 100 degree temperatures and no water burned ‘em to a crisp.
9) I got irritated that this blog means I won’t see Alex’s face first thing when I open my webpage
Other than thinking about and doting on my Godson I have been doing other things. Nothing quite as cute, but other things.
1) I watched Mona Lisa Smile and got all happy again about being a feminist and a aspiring teacher
2) I watched Message in a Bottle (aka CryFest 2006). Holy crap is that a sappy movie. I bet that PMSing women could successfully sue the producers for emotional distress. I think I actually lost weight from how many tears I shed those two hours. Good lord.
3) I ate at Marian’s Pizza in Dayton and discovered it’s really not that good.
4) I have now spent hours preparing for this Marketing class (which starts 8/29/06). I went through and did about 90% of my syllabus, met Ginger for dinner last night for additional advice, and went to 3 hours of “training” at XU tonight with various people (how to use the library, what’s reasonable class averages for grades, what to do if a student is unruly in class…).
5) I missed my free pass to The Illusionist (sneak preview) because of the XU fair (booo!)
6) I mentally chided all of you for not blogging more often.
7) I got to have lunch with Jen & Tom (I'm trying to be fun so she moves home faster)
8) I gave up on my daisies coming back to life – a week away in Alaska with 100 degree temperatures and no water burned ‘em to a crisp.
9) I got irritated that this blog means I won’t see Alex’s face first thing when I open my webpage
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Isn't my Godson the CUTEST!?
Alexander Christian WilliamsAugust 11, 2006 at 10:30 AM
5 lbs. 9 oz. , 18 inches
Danny called me on Friday (8/11) at 9:30 to let me know Sarah was in full labor and that I was going to miss the birth because it was going so fast. Grrrr. Miss it I did. However, I did make it there by about 11:15am so I got to see my Godson when he was just 45 minutes old. Granted my sappy face is probably not what Sarah and Danny wanted to see so soon after the biggest moment in their lives, but they welcomed me and let me gush all over him.
This child is the cutest, most sweet, adorable child I've ever seen in my whole life. He's so tiny and he smells like heaven. I got to spend about 5 hours with Sarah and Danny that first day and then Jim and I went back up for another visit on Saturday night for a few hours. I just can't get enough of him!!! I’m addicted!!
This child is the cutest, most sweet, adorable child I've ever seen in my whole life. He's so tiny and he smells like heaven. I got to spend about 5 hours with Sarah and Danny that first day and then Jim and I went back up for another visit on Saturday night for a few hours. I just can't get enough of him!!! I’m addicted!!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Entertainment Review
I’ve been consumed with posting about vacation but I have done some actual living in the past two weeks too. Some comments on the things I’ve seen lately:
Mystery, Alaska- OK, I watched this with Greg on the cruise. We thought it was another documentary about Alaska that the Sturgises recommended and really it was a full feature-length movie with a plot and everything! Done some time ago but still well-acted. The plot was okay and it kept our interest enough to be late to the last formal dinner of the trip. Rating: B
The Last Sunday in June – this is a play my Grandma Templin invited me to preview at The Know theatre in Over-the-Rhine. The acting was quite good but the subject matter isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – it’s about the last Sunday in June (Gay Pride Day) and follows 6 homosexual men through a character study over 2 hours. I think tickets are $25 and it runs for the next three weeks. Rating: A-
The DaVinci Code- I’m not sure what all those haters were talking about. I really enjoyed this movie from start to finish. Lots of folks said that if you didn’t read the book it was hard to follow. I can’t comment on that because I did read the book and thought the movie was quite clear and true to Dan Brown’s original work. For $2.50 at the Danbarry cinema it’s a must-see. Rating: A-
Batman Begins- Jim and I saw this first at the “real” (aka full-price) theatre in Ft. Worth and rewatched it on DVD last week. Good the first time, just as enjoyable the second. And it’s so flowing into the rest of the series. Rating: A.
I’m re-watching The Prince and Me again. Cute the first time so it merited another round. It’s a little frustrating because it’s now taken us 3 nights of watching and we’re still not done. That’s certainly not the way a movie was meant to be taken in (in parts). I’m not sure Jim is as entertained as I am. Rating: B+
Mystery, Alaska- OK, I watched this with Greg on the cruise. We thought it was another documentary about Alaska that the Sturgises recommended and really it was a full feature-length movie with a plot and everything! Done some time ago but still well-acted. The plot was okay and it kept our interest enough to be late to the last formal dinner of the trip. Rating: B
The Last Sunday in June – this is a play my Grandma Templin invited me to preview at The Know theatre in Over-the-Rhine. The acting was quite good but the subject matter isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – it’s about the last Sunday in June (Gay Pride Day) and follows 6 homosexual men through a character study over 2 hours. I think tickets are $25 and it runs for the next three weeks. Rating: A-
The DaVinci Code- I’m not sure what all those haters were talking about. I really enjoyed this movie from start to finish. Lots of folks said that if you didn’t read the book it was hard to follow. I can’t comment on that because I did read the book and thought the movie was quite clear and true to Dan Brown’s original work. For $2.50 at the Danbarry cinema it’s a must-see. Rating: A-
Batman Begins- Jim and I saw this first at the “real” (aka full-price) theatre in Ft. Worth and rewatched it on DVD last week. Good the first time, just as enjoyable the second. And it’s so flowing into the rest of the series. Rating: A.
I’m re-watching The Prince and Me again. Cute the first time so it merited another round. It’s a little frustrating because it’s now taken us 3 nights of watching and we’re still not done. That’s certainly not the way a movie was meant to be taken in (in parts). I’m not sure Jim is as entertained as I am. Rating: B+
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Alaska - Day 7
On the last day of our cruise we stayed on the ship the whole day as we sailed from
- The Hubbard Glacier - this is (I think) the largest glacier in
- Family Miniature Golf Tournament - The golf course was 9 holes on the top deck, open air. Quite windy as the boat was cookin' that afternoon. Linda won with a 27.
- Art Auction- Karen and Tom attended but didn't buy anything
- Love & Marriage Game Show - Dad wanted to go, Mom said she was only staying if they got on the show as contestants. Guess what- they got on!! This was hysterically funny as Dad is such a ham when the center of attention. One question was "What color bra is your wife wearing today?" Dad's answer : "Definitely white. I know because I helped put it on!" A ship employee came back to where mom was in a silenced room and asked "who's husband belongs to #2?" she just groaned because she knew it wasn't good! Below is the answer part to the question: "If you took your wife to a plastic surgeon, what part would you have touched up?" See below for the response:
- The official cruise video sold by Royal Caribbean - our group is everywhere in it! I have a copy burned if anyone wants to watch!
- The night show was really entertaining too - some juggler who was funny and extremely talented. Certainly ended the cruise on a high note
We also hit
All in all I'd definitely cruise again, but not for like 5 years. I'd also go to
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Alaska- Day 6
Our last port of call was Icy Strait in the town of Hoonah. Dale, Jim, Chuck, Kristi and I all went whale watching about a half hour boat ride off the main port and we saw bunches of whales. Apparently whales are normally solitary creatures but these 50 ft. mammals were in schools of up to 6! While they were really cool to see I’ll admit, the “Ohhhh”’s when the whale breached the water and “Here it comes” when the whales dove and the ever present “Magnificent!” from the guy to my left was over the top. The boat sounded like they put that When Harry Met Sally scene on replay for an hour and a half. Really people…
After we got back to the dock Jim had had enough of being out and went back to the ship. The rest of us checked out the local shops (1 strip mall’s worth) and took a nature hike. Chuck was a brave man and checked out a suspicious hole for us, even using the proper bear precautions by announcing he was human. Very cool hike, neat trees, and a “waterfall” (at least by namesake) that got Kristi excited. We had lunch mid-afternoon and headed back. Not the most exciting port of call, but not too bad since we were tired anyway.
That evening had some fun activities though. As Greg recapped in his blog, the Quest scavenger hunt was that night. I was on a team with Sturgis’s, Sacks’s and Dale and we kicked butt! At various points in the game Dale and Dave dirty danced, Chuck strutted, Kristi acted like a dead fly, and I stripped Dale so he could change shirts with Rachel. Too funny! For more on this read Greg’s Blog.
The night ended on an (off-key) high note when Greg, Bryan, Dad and Dale got up to sing karaoke with a live band. Dale's going to help me post a video so you can enjoy for yourself!
Last night: On-board all day!
After we got back to the dock Jim had had enough of being out and went back to the ship. The rest of us checked out the local shops (1 strip mall’s worth) and took a nature hike. Chuck was a brave man and checked out a suspicious hole for us, even using the proper bear precautions by announcing he was human. Very cool hike, neat trees, and a “waterfall” (at least by namesake) that got Kristi excited. We had lunch mid-afternoon and headed back. Not the most exciting port of call, but not too bad since we were tired anyway.
That evening had some fun activities though. As Greg recapped in his blog, the Quest scavenger hunt was that night. I was on a team with Sturgis’s, Sacks’s and Dale and we kicked butt! At various points in the game Dale and Dave dirty danced, Chuck strutted, Kristi acted like a dead fly, and I stripped Dale so he could change shirts with Rachel. Too funny! For more on this read Greg’s Blog.
The night ended on an (off-key) high note when Greg, Bryan, Dad and Dale got up to sing karaoke with a live band. Dale's going to help me post a video so you can enjoy for yourself!
Last night: On-board all day!
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Alaska- Day 5
Sitka was a weird town. It was by far the most modern and probably the largest city we went to, but for those exact reasons I didn’t rank it above average. Most of the folks we were with loved it however and thought more highly of Alaska now that they saw some sign of intelligent life (read- they had a Ben Franklin).
We had no excursions in Sitka that pulled us away from general exploring of the town. Mike and Lindsay went on a kayaking adventure though and I didn’t really hear what they saw or did other than get wet.
Sitka is one mile and a half street full of shops, churches and restaurants. On the map we got from the visitors center the major highlights were the totem pole near the bay and the Pilgrams House which was really like a huge government building (strong and solid) rather than a house. You can see it in the picture above- it's that large yellow building. Mom and I took a $2 tour through the Russian Orthodox Church and that was interesting but not exciting.
Dale and I broke away from the group for lunch because we insisted on eating Sitka-local food. We met up with Tom and Mary Ann and walked with them about a mile up the hill to the rainforest and raptor park. We met Dad, Mom, Jim, Jonathan, Bryan and Greg when we got to the park and they were still laughing that strangers at lunch were verbally sympathizing that mom "bore" these 4 rowdy guys and she had to correct them. Dad suggested we catch up and go see the rain forest but Jonathan and Jim discreetly shook their heads that it wasn’t worth the effort.
We did travel as a herd another half mile to the raptor park where we were stunned to learn the admission was $12/person or $50/family. Well, most us were family though admittedly not all immediate family so we decided we’d wing it (ha ha) and head to the welcome center. Along the way we justified that Dale was in fact part of our family – he was our foreign exchange student! That joke stuck the rest of the trip. The eagles were pretty but sad – all of them were here in this park because they were injured (mostly wing injuries) and can’t support themselves in the wild. We discovered half way through our tour that we just walked in and avoided paying completely. While secretly happy we didn’t spend $12/person for a half hour viewing, we all donated to the Save the Eagles boxes on our way out to compensate.
Lastly, on our way back to the ship we stopped in for a free tour of a salmon hatchery. Basic but interesting, I’m glad we didn’t pay the $50 to go on a formal tour of the big ones.
That night we had a really funny adventure playing Family Feud. We broke into families of 4 (I was with the Sacks and Dad) and two of our three teams got called up to play! The Tom, Jim, Jonathan, Dale team didn’t do so hot and were out in one round, but we got more excited with Lindsay, Mike, Rachel & Dave made it to the stage. Lindsay beat out the Purdue chick (aka Dale’s love interest) to answer the question “What are America’s Top 5 Condiments?” Her very quick answer………. Mustard. Now Lindsay loves mustard and this made obvious sense to her, but the rest of America, including everyone present at the game, knew the correct answer was KETSHUP. This answer did net Lindsay her nickname Mustard for the rest of the trip though.
Up Next- Icy Strait!
We had no excursions in Sitka that pulled us away from general exploring of the town. Mike and Lindsay went on a kayaking adventure though and I didn’t really hear what they saw or did other than get wet.
Sitka is one mile and a half street full of shops, churches and restaurants. On the map we got from the visitors center the major highlights were the totem pole near the bay and the Pilgrams House which was really like a huge government building (strong and solid) rather than a house. You can see it in the picture above- it's that large yellow building. Mom and I took a $2 tour through the Russian Orthodox Church and that was interesting but not exciting.
Dale and I broke away from the group for lunch because we insisted on eating Sitka-local food. We met up with Tom and Mary Ann and walked with them about a mile up the hill to the rainforest and raptor park. We met Dad, Mom, Jim, Jonathan, Bryan and Greg when we got to the park and they were still laughing that strangers at lunch were verbally sympathizing that mom "bore" these 4 rowdy guys and she had to correct them. Dad suggested we catch up and go see the rain forest but Jonathan and Jim discreetly shook their heads that it wasn’t worth the effort.
We did travel as a herd another half mile to the raptor park where we were stunned to learn the admission was $12/person or $50/family. Well, most us were family though admittedly not all immediate family so we decided we’d wing it (ha ha) and head to the welcome center. Along the way we justified that Dale was in fact part of our family – he was our foreign exchange student! That joke stuck the rest of the trip. The eagles were pretty but sad – all of them were here in this park because they were injured (mostly wing injuries) and can’t support themselves in the wild. We discovered half way through our tour that we just walked in and avoided paying completely. While secretly happy we didn’t spend $12/person for a half hour viewing, we all donated to the Save the Eagles boxes on our way out to compensate.
Lastly, on our way back to the ship we stopped in for a free tour of a salmon hatchery. Basic but interesting, I’m glad we didn’t pay the $50 to go on a formal tour of the big ones.
That night we had a really funny adventure playing Family Feud. We broke into families of 4 (I was with the Sacks and Dad) and two of our three teams got called up to play! The Tom, Jim, Jonathan, Dale team didn’t do so hot and were out in one round, but we got more excited with Lindsay, Mike, Rachel & Dave made it to the stage. Lindsay beat out the Purdue chick (aka Dale’s love interest) to answer the question “What are America’s Top 5 Condiments?” Her very quick answer………. Mustard. Now Lindsay loves mustard and this made obvious sense to her, but the rest of America, including everyone present at the game, knew the correct answer was KETSHUP. This answer did net Lindsay her nickname Mustard for the rest of the trip though.
Up Next- Icy Strait!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Alaskan Bonus Edition
I’d like to spend a short time mentioning the “extras” on the boat. Pop/Soda/whatever was an extra $6/day and was sold as a weeklong package to most folks. This was a great deal for people like my brother Mike who will drink 5 glasses at one meal, and a nice optional charge for people like me who drink lemon water only and didn't want to pay more for soft drinks.
Beer was $3/glass which I didn’t think was too bad. Most mixed drinks were $6-10 because you got to keep the glass that it came in. Dale was a gentleman and bought me one when we watched the evening show on Wednesday. Tom bought his dinner table a after-dinner cordial each night and our table one twice. We got to keep those little shot glasses too- a differant color each night to promt you to collect all 7!
On the boat there were also camera/camcorder sales going on and prices were about a $40 premium versus at home. Not too bad when you have a captive and pouting audience like Jim and I whose camera broke the second day at sea. They also sold gold chains for $1-4/inch. Not too unreasonable but the clasps made up for it. Several times during dinner and at every port the on-board cameraman took pictures of individuals and groups which they sold in the photo gallery the whole week. Mike and Lindsay take particularly good pictures. My pictures reiterate that I need to work out more. Dave and Rachel’s showed time and again that they do look oddly like they’re related… Pictures were $10-20 for individual snapshots/packages.
The only thing that was unreasonable in my opinion was the $5 for hot chocolate they were peddling on the decks when we were watching the Hubbard Glacier. Mom felt like it should be free. I’ve been too engrained in business school and didn’t mind them selling it (though I thought $5 was a bit steep) because you always had the option of walking inside and getting it free.
Any other side items people want to hear about?
Beer was $3/glass which I didn’t think was too bad. Most mixed drinks were $6-10 because you got to keep the glass that it came in. Dale was a gentleman and bought me one when we watched the evening show on Wednesday. Tom bought his dinner table a after-dinner cordial each night and our table one twice. We got to keep those little shot glasses too- a differant color each night to promt you to collect all 7!
On the boat there were also camera/camcorder sales going on and prices were about a $40 premium versus at home. Not too bad when you have a captive and pouting audience like Jim and I whose camera broke the second day at sea. They also sold gold chains for $1-4/inch. Not too unreasonable but the clasps made up for it. Several times during dinner and at every port the on-board cameraman took pictures of individuals and groups which they sold in the photo gallery the whole week. Mike and Lindsay take particularly good pictures. My pictures reiterate that I need to work out more. Dave and Rachel’s showed time and again that they do look oddly like they’re related… Pictures were $10-20 for individual snapshots/packages.
The only thing that was unreasonable in my opinion was the $5 for hot chocolate they were peddling on the decks when we were watching the Hubbard Glacier. Mom felt like it should be free. I’ve been too engrained in business school and didn’t mind them selling it (though I thought $5 was a bit steep) because you always had the option of walking inside and getting it free.
Any other side items people want to hear about?
The Wave is Building
Little Brother Greg has decided to become civilized and start a blog like the rest of the intelligent human beings on the planet.
Read all his stories at http://gtemp032.blogspot.com/ , or use my quick clicks to the left for easy linking!
Side Note - Dale has a bunch of pictures up on his blog, click through and check them out!
Read all his stories at http://gtemp032.blogspot.com/ , or use my quick clicks to the left for easy linking!
Side Note - Dale has a bunch of pictures up on his blog, click through and check them out!
Alaska- Day 4
Skagway was awesome. It was so awesome I was half serious when I told Jim we should move there for a summer. This entry could be 8 paragraphs long and I’d feel I wasn’t doing the town justice in description.Why is it so cool? First off the town is still mostly in it’s original format (that is original building structure and fronts) that it had when it was established at the time of the gold rush. Second, there are about 800 full time residents and 3000 summer residents who support local tourism from May – September. Third, it gets to be about 40 below in the winter – so cold that people hardly ever leave their houses in the winter!
For reference, Skagway is at the top most spot of an inlet in Alaska; the closest point to the inside of the state which made it ideal for all the people who wanted to participate in the gold rush- all the closer to the jackpot! So, tens of thousands of men, women and families came to Skagway to settle and unload the gold that they had found back on the docks to be sent to Seattle.
When we arrived in town the Sacks, Sturgises, Ting and Jim and I all went on a brothel tour. A summer resident conducting the tour picked us up in her “madame” clothes and for 2 hours she showed us the back alleys, brothel houses and dance halls that the 300 local ladies used to service the 15,000 klondike hopefuls that flooded the town. She told us really interesting stories about the hierarchies of prostitution (alley girls being the lowest, cottage girls next, brothel dwellers next and finally the dance hall girls; above all of these levels were the French girls who commanded 5X the highest going rate for an American woman) and why so many woman chose the profession in lieu of other jobs. She gave some bios of the notable women and told of the hardships that the Asian children faced specifically. I found it really fascinating. At the end of the tour we had a champagne toast in the Brothel Museum above the Red Onion Saloon.From there Dale, Jim, my parents and I headed on a train ride through the inside of Alaska and actually crossed over into Canada. This was a neat train because it was only 1 of 2 chances we had to see the interior of the state and because we saw some really high waterfalls and the actual path that people used to get to the Klondike. The stories the tour guide told were interesting too – the path, which was only about 2 feet wide, carried well over 100,000 people, many of which crossed back and forth as many as 40X in order to get their 2 tons of supplies required by the Canadian government. Over 3000 pack animals died by being pushed off the path into the ravine below. Really really cool history.
By this time (4:00pm) most folks were tired, but Dad and I went and watched a video in the visitors center about the Klondike and the ridiculous lengths these people went to strike it rich.
Ok, so you got 6 paragraphs. If you want to hear more I’ll be happy to expand!
Up Next: Sitka!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Big News!
Please excuse the interruption of the Alaskan Vacation Recap for an important announcement....
I have been offered, and as of today have formally accepted, an adjunct teaching position at Xavier University!
Please excuse my not prompting you that this was going on, but I didn't want to announce anything until it was all finalized. This is a great opportunity that was pretty much handed to me by a former professor who is moving out of state and recommended me to the Chair of the Marketing Department to replace her. Piece by piece it came together and with the blessing of my company I'll be teaching Business to Business Marketing on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-11:15am from August 24 through the first week of December. I also have the choice to pick up more classes in the Spring semester if I'd like.
I'm so excited and can't wait to start putting the class together! Thanks to everyone for your love and support as I start this new adventure!
I have been offered, and as of today have formally accepted, an adjunct teaching position at Xavier University!
Please excuse my not prompting you that this was going on, but I didn't want to announce anything until it was all finalized. This is a great opportunity that was pretty much handed to me by a former professor who is moving out of state and recommended me to the Chair of the Marketing Department to replace her. Piece by piece it came together and with the blessing of my company I'll be teaching Business to Business Marketing on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-11:15am from August 24 through the first week of December. I also have the choice to pick up more classes in the Spring semester if I'd like.
I'm so excited and can't wait to start putting the class together! Thanks to everyone for your love and support as I start this new adventure!
Alaska- Day 3
Our third day of the cruise was our first port of call – Juneau! Juneau was an interesting town for several reasons:
1) it really consists of one primary long street that runs through town and has some bars, shops, and the tramway
2) the fact that it’s the capital of the state is really odd because it’s a) so small and b) only accessible by air or sea – there are no roads going into it!
3) These tiny little houses in town are a minimum of $250K. What do people do that earns them enough to afford this?
Several people in our group had excursions in town (the Wolf’s went rafting, the Sacks went on a gold mine tour, Mom and Greg went up the tram, Mary Ann did the trolley) so Dad, Dale, Jim and I set out on our own to make a good time. We decided on a 1.5 hour gold panning tour which didn’t allow us to do anything else but shop the strip before we had to go. I did pick up our Christmas ornament and got my free sapphire at one of the partner jewelry stores (how much am I going to spend to set this free diamond in a necklace is another question…).
Panning for gold consisted of a 20 minute trip up the mountain to the riverbed over a road that at some points had 30 degree inclines. We got a casual talking tour of the area as we drove by the bus driver who lives there year round. Maybe because he got more gold flakes than anyone else, but Jim liked panning quite a bit. We had a pan full of sand that we used to sift through the water and debris. The gold we found was about the size of a flea but there were about 2 dozen of them in my pan when I was done. It was quite tedious using an eye dropper to suck them out of the pan and put them in my plastic vile to take home. We got quite a laugh when we found bottles of really large flakes of gold (think a little larger than the eraser of a pencil) selling for $4.99 in the gift shops! Using that to compare I’d say I have about four cents worth of gold that I can claim to have found.
I think it was around this time that Dale met Allison and her family. I don’t know where she came from other than she was a woman our age and therefore was being sought out by Dale, Bryan, Greg, etc. in general. There was also another family that the group rode the bus with to the ship that kept popping up everywhere we went. They were from Texas and thought our group was a trip. By the end of the week Dad had mapped out their family tree and how the 12 of them were related. These two families popped up continuously throughout and we spent quite a bit of time with them at shows, excursions, and some meals.
Up Next – Skagway!
1) it really consists of one primary long street that runs through town and has some bars, shops, and the tramway
2) the fact that it’s the capital of the state is really odd because it’s a) so small and b) only accessible by air or sea – there are no roads going into it!
3) These tiny little houses in town are a minimum of $250K. What do people do that earns them enough to afford this?
Several people in our group had excursions in town (the Wolf’s went rafting, the Sacks went on a gold mine tour, Mom and Greg went up the tram, Mary Ann did the trolley) so Dad, Dale, Jim and I set out on our own to make a good time. We decided on a 1.5 hour gold panning tour which didn’t allow us to do anything else but shop the strip before we had to go. I did pick up our Christmas ornament and got my free sapphire at one of the partner jewelry stores (how much am I going to spend to set this free diamond in a necklace is another question…).
Panning for gold consisted of a 20 minute trip up the mountain to the riverbed over a road that at some points had 30 degree inclines. We got a casual talking tour of the area as we drove by the bus driver who lives there year round. Maybe because he got more gold flakes than anyone else, but Jim liked panning quite a bit. We had a pan full of sand that we used to sift through the water and debris. The gold we found was about the size of a flea but there were about 2 dozen of them in my pan when I was done. It was quite tedious using an eye dropper to suck them out of the pan and put them in my plastic vile to take home. We got quite a laugh when we found bottles of really large flakes of gold (think a little larger than the eraser of a pencil) selling for $4.99 in the gift shops! Using that to compare I’d say I have about four cents worth of gold that I can claim to have found.
I think it was around this time that Dale met Allison and her family. I don’t know where she came from other than she was a woman our age and therefore was being sought out by Dale, Bryan, Greg, etc. in general. There was also another family that the group rode the bus with to the ship that kept popping up everywhere we went. They were from Texas and thought our group was a trip. By the end of the week Dad had mapped out their family tree and how the 12 of them were related. These two families popped up continuously throughout and we spent quite a bit of time with them at shows, excursions, and some meals.
Up Next – Skagway!
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