Saturday Living

I woke up this morning wanting very desperately to swim. So, for the first time in months, I got into the pool at 7 and swam for an hour. I must say that I am forever grateful to my Total Immersion coach because no matter how long I am out of the pool, I can get back in and still maintain my stride. Nice:) 

My dissertation is coming along and by the end of the week, I should be able to give the entire proposal to my mentor. I found some new articles today and now I have to read and synthesize. I am happy because this additional information will make my proposal stronger. If you are wondering, my dissertation focus is on creating a set of KSAs to be used with rapid prototyping in instructional design. Basically, what foundational knowledge, skills, and attitudes do instructional designers need when they have never worked in a rapid prototyping environment.

The remainder of my day from 3pm on has been spent on my 2nd job. Yep, I do have a 2nd job but since I said I would never talk about work here, that is all that I will say.

It may sound like I have had a very boring day but productivity makes me very happy and today has been exceptionally productive. If I can get another unit done for the other thing that I am doing I will be ecstatic.

My plan for tomorrow is to swim in the morning, get some more work done, go to Aquatica for a while, then get some more work done. It was supposed to rain ALL weekend but so far, that has proven to NOT be true.

I have reinstalled Dragon Naturally Speaking on my computer and the touchpad seems to still be working, but then again, it worked for a day or so the last time and then stopped. Hopefully, it was just a fluke occurrence because I really do like using Dragon. What a great way to take notes, I do not have to read and type at the same time, I can just read the note that I want to take out loud and there it is in the document. Cuts note taking in half.

Alright, I must get back to work –now that I am back to swimming and working on my dissertation, I cannot waste a minute if I intend to accomplish it all:)

Hope yall are having an excellent weekend.  Later!

My Vacation

I spent all day thinking about what I would write here tonight, pathetic I know. I can think all day about a blog and actually come home and write but I cannot come home and work on my dissertation. I am making a promise to myself right now that as soon as I finish writing here, I am going to at least print my draft proposal. Ha Ha - this will be the third time in as many months that I have printed it -ah well, who knows, maybe this time will be different.

Speaking of school, I got an email today indicating the emailed copy of my driver’s license is "perfect." Go figure, it is a good thing I decided I was not going to continue the whole fax fiasco and I asked a few more questions. So, I guess I forge ahead with another quarter of school.

I promised discussion regarding my vacation so here goes. I am off to Ecuador from December 20 -Jan 5th. I found out the other day that I somehow added an extra day to my vacation request and I am not going to change it. This way, I will go back to work on the 7th and not the 6th. This will give me one day to regain my sense of reality after spending time in the jungle and sleeping in a hammock. When I get back, I will not know who I am or what it is that I do for a living. I admit, this should not be a bad thing.

I booked this trip through Gap Adventures because they are one of the few that books individuals without charging a single supplement and their prices are incredible as well as the selection. They put a group together so I will not be traveling alone. I have never used them before but the reviews for trips that they offer as well as the one that I am taking are very positive. I will try most anything once so I am hardly able to contain the anticipation. I know to some, Ecuador probably is not the most exciting adventure but I have always wanted to hike in the Amazon Rainforest and I like rugged adventures (yes they offer totally luxury trips too but that is not my style).

I am making every effort to travel light (memories of too much luggage in Russia still haunt me and that trip was 11 years ago) and plan to take only two bags, to include a carry-on and a moderately small checked bag. If the TSA did not have all the rules about what you can/cannot bring on the plane, I would take them both onboard because the carry-on will not be much bigger than a purse. I hear you laughing, I do, but it will be fine and I will have everything that I need.

The greatest travel items that I have discovered thus far are, a backpack that opens from the portion against my back to stop thieves, disposable panties (laugh if you want), and a toothbrush with a 30 day supply of toothpaste in the handle. Yes, I have turned the internet upside down looking for disposable, lightweight stuff, and speaking of lightweight, take a look at Scottevest.com. I bought the coolest jacket there with 12 interior pockets and sleeves that zip off. I also, finally, bought a waterproof cover for my camera on Ebay. Now, I anxiously await the arrival of everything.

I have figured out how I am going to transfer my pictures from my memory card to my external drive -yippee for my Asus computer. This tiny little computer will also allow me to keep all of you updated while I am in Ecuador. I have also decided to take my tiny little camera because it will do video and it will fit in my pocket for those evening events where the SLR is just overkill.

If anyone has any useful travel tips for me regarding lightweight clothing or travel accessories, I am all ears. It is my mission to leave 1/2 of what I take in the hotel room in Ecuador when I come home:)