June 30, 2010
Day 181 - Blue Bear, looking in
Today is the last day of the ISTE Conference. I've had a wonderful time presenting, learning, and visiting with the great members of my PLN! I spent a little while this afternoon taking a few photos of the awesome sites in and around the Colorado Conference Center. This giant Blue Bear is a permanent voyeur, always keeping an eye on the activities within the CCC. I love how ISTE carried out the Blue Bear theme throughout the conference.
June 29, 2010
Day 180 - Old and new
As we walked to the YoLink reception in downtown Denver tonight, this example of old and new architecture caught my eye. I always love when old buildings are preserved even as skyscrapers are built.
June 28, 2010
Day 179 - Edu-Plurkers at Earl's
A few weeks before ISTE, I set up a Google Spreadsheet to start collecting names of Plurk friends who would be attending and then Mari helped choose a place for our 'official Edu-Plurker Meet-up'. We ended up with a great group of friends at Earl's late this afternoon. For many people, it was the first time they met face-to-face with members of their PLN.
Mari and Kevin, two of my favorite Plurk friends!
Mari and Kevin, two of my favorite Plurk friends!
June 27, 2010
Day 178 - Opening Keynote
Today has been a very long, but rewarding day at ISTE. I presented a 6-hour workshop today. That was very tiring, but I think many of the participants learned a lot. Later in the afternoon was the opening Keynote address. In this photo, the Executive Director of ISTE, Leslie Conery, was giving her remarks and honoring ISTE award winners prior to introducing the Keynote speaker. After the Keynote, there was the opening reception with food & drinks and a time for ISTE friends new & old to socialize. I'm looking forward to the next 3 days!
June 26, 2010
Day 177 - Blue Bear
This afternoon I headed over to the Colorado Convention Center to pick up my registration materials and check out the room where I will be presenting tomorrow. The Convention Center is decorated with the Blue Bear as the theme. This sign is outside the room where I'll be presenting on Sunday. The lab has thirty 24" iMacs!
Back at the hotel, we were treated to a Denver rainbow.
Back at the hotel, we were treated to a Denver rainbow.
June 25, 2010
Day 176 - Denver Hotel
Here is our home away from home for the next week while we are at the ISTE Conference in Denver. We're staying at the Burnsley All Suite Hotel. It's about 16 blocks from the Colorado Conference Center, but there is a free shuttle I can take to get there each day. Plus, it is only about a mile from Kristin's house. I think I made a good choice!
Day 176 - Denver Hotel
Originally uploaded by Karin Bei
Below is the view from our balcony. We are on the 15th floor.
Day 176 - Denver Hotel
Originally uploaded by Karin Bei
Below is the view from our balcony. We are on the 15th floor.
June 24, 2010
Day 175 - Working!
Today I'm scrambling to get everything done that needs doing before I leave for Denver tomorrow. I'm working at cleaning up my laptop (saving, viewing, or closing the 20+ tabs I have open in Firefox). I know I won't have the bandwidth in Denver to keep that many tabs open!
One of my favorite places to sit is at the kitchen table. Generally I watch the birds & squirrels that visit our many feeders. Today I'm enjoying the flowers I cut from our garden.
I guess I should be packing and not 'working'! :-)
One of my favorite places to sit is at the kitchen table. Generally I watch the birds & squirrels that visit our many feeders. Today I'm enjoying the flowers I cut from our garden.
I guess I should be packing and not 'working'! :-)
June 23, 2010
Day 174 - Sundrops
Here is another plant that we saw used a lot in the gardens that we toured on Friday. They are called Sundrop Flowers. They are perennials that grow in both sun and shade. I'm definitely going to look into finding some to put into my gardens!
June 22, 2010
Day 173 - Colorful blooms
I didn't get out to take any new photos today, but I did spend time on the computer today working on my presentation for the ISTE Conference.
These are some of the flowers I photographed while at The Hands of Hope Garden Faire last Friday. I'm inspired to put more plants in my garden that would be great for a 'cutting garden' since I love to bring the flowers indoors to enjoy.
These are some of the flowers I photographed while at The Hands of Hope Garden Faire last Friday. I'm inspired to put more plants in my garden that would be great for a 'cutting garden' since I love to bring the flowers indoors to enjoy.
June 21, 2010
Day 172 - Clouds
This shot was taken through the sun roof of the car on our way home this afternoon. The clouds seemed to have an odd 'texture' to them. Even though rain had been predicted for today, we haven't had any yet.
June 20, 2010
Day 171 - Water volleyball
Our Father's Day tradition for many years has been to spend the afternoon at my Father-in-Law's house. Their small townhouse complex has a pool and we always get in a few games of water volleyball. Such an enjoyable day with family!
June 19, 2010
Day 170 - Blue sky
After the huge rainstorms yesterday afternoon and overnight, it was glorious to see this blue sky today! This is the tip top of a tall pine tree in our yard.
June 18, 2010
Day 169 - Croton
I went to the Hands of Hope Garden Faire with two friends today. We got to visit three houses with incredible gardens. They asked for no photography, but I did sneak a few pictures, including this one of my friends Patty and Sue standing behind the big croton plant!
June 17, 2010
Day 168 - Rat
I subbed in an Early Childhood summer school class today and was greeted by this rat! He's a class pet and the kids love watching him and talking to him.
June 16, 2010
Day 167 - Summer day
After several cool, gray, and rainy days, we were treated to a perfect summer day today. I took advantage of my free time this afternoon to take Lucy on a nice long walk. This is one of her favorite spots to explore. It is a restored prairie wetlands area. The plants are growing well thanks to early spring warmth & plenty of rain.
June 15, 2010
Day 166 - Car ride
We took Lucy for a car ride this morning to visit the Doggy Playhouse where she will be vacationing while we are in Denver for the ISTE Conference. This will be the first time she will be boarded since we adopted her a little over a year ago. So, as can be expected, we are nervous parents!
June 14, 2010
Day 165 - Raindrops
It was a very rainy day today. I dashed out into the yard for some quick photos. The Day Lilies are now in full bloom and seem to be enjoying the rain.
June 13, 2010
Day 164 - Chandelier
We attended a very funny play at the Lincolnshire Marriott Theatre this afternoon. It was called The Drowsy Chaperone. They don't allow photos to be taken inside the theatre, so I took this shot of the chandelier while standing on the main staircase during the intermission.
June 12, 2010
Day 163 - Winner's circle
It was a gray and dreary day today, but the rain held off this afternoon. We went to Arlington Park Racetrack and had an enjoyable time with friends. I even won enough bets to win a *little* money! We had a nice view of the winner's circle when we stood by the railing near our table.
June 11, 2010
Day 162 - Blackhawk Parade
This is a shot of our TV as we were watching the Blackhawks Victory Parade this morning. It would have been fun to be their in person, but I'm not sure I would want to be in the center of that crowd!
June 10, 2010
Day 161 - Purple blooms
These blooms are on one of our Alpine Spirea bushes. They add some pretty color to the garden this time of year.
June 9, 2010
Day 160 - Bowling buddies
This is me with my bowling team. It is a school district league and it is over for the season. We met for dinner tonight to spend the money that was in our 'kitty'. All season we put a quarter in the kitty if we got a gutter ball or bowled a game under our average. We had quite a bit of money to spend on dinner tonight! We had the waiter take this photo before we headed home to watch the final Blackhawks game.
June 8, 2010
Day 159 - Organized!
I should have taken a before and after shot of this cupboard! It was one of those kitchen cupboards where you take your life into your own hands when opening the door. Today is the day it finally got organized! I still have more cookbooks than I need, but at least now they only take up the top shelf. The bottom shelf has no doors and now has a basket for cell phone chargers, keys, etc.
June 7, 2010
Day 158 - Just the girls
All the girls in the family spent the day together today. First we shopped at the Little City used book sale (it was huge). Next we had lunch at a cute little 50s diner. Then we spent the afternoon by the pool. What a wonderful day!
In this photo, L to R, are: my sister-in-law Marcia, mother-in-law Donna, daughter Kristin (standing), me, daughter Cheryl (behind), niece Jill, niece Bekka, and sister-in-law Carol. Niece Sarah joined us later in the day.
In this photo, L to R, are: my sister-in-law Marcia, mother-in-law Donna, daughter Kristin (standing), me, daughter Cheryl (behind), niece Jill, niece Bekka, and sister-in-law Carol. Niece Sarah joined us later in the day.
June 6, 2010
Day 157 - Quilt
Today we threw a baby shower for my daughter, Cheryl. She loved this awesome gift from my Aunt Gloria who made this quilt for the baby. The shower was so much fun and she received so many wonderful gifts. Our baby boy (my grandson) will be here in about eight weeks!
June 5, 2010
Day 156 - Yellow bloom
The native plant that I photographed and asked about out May 28th is now blooming. Several people have now identified it as a variety of coriopsis. The flowers are very delicate and it looks like it will continue to bloom for quite awhile.
June 4, 2010
Day 155 - Diner
We picked Kristin up from the airport this morning and then went out for breakfast with her grandparents. We went to a cute 50s diner in Park Ridge. Here Kristin and Grandpa are sharing a chocolate shake (which is actually fake!).
June 3, 2010
Day 154 - Buttons
A friend of mine asked for buttons to use for a craft project with women in Kosovo. She is going there to do some missionary work. I had this coffee can filled with buttons. I used them for projects at school. When I retired, I brought the can home. I wasn't really sure why, but I'm now glad I did!
June 2, 2010
Day 153 - Roses
It's been a beautiful spring! This rose bush has been blooming for a couple of weeks already. I've been cutting some and bringing them inside to enjoy as well.
June 1, 2010
Day 152 - Bathtime
Lucy found something very smelly to roll around in this morning. She had to have an emergency bath before we could let her back into the house! Thank goodness it was a nice warm day and she could have her bath outside in her pool.
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