Random Ramblings

Wow! It’s been over a month since I’ve blogged (thanks to Kim C for reminding me ). I have 100′s of excuses, but I’ll share the 2 most relevant – NC Wise training and Wii.

Yep, hubby got a Wii for Christmas and we haven’t stopped playing since he opened the box. Guitar Hero is GREAT! Before we got it, I thought, what a dumb idea. Well, let me tell you – it’s fun! Hubby also likes his Godfather game. Can’t say I enjoy that too much.

The other time consumer has been NC Wise. Boy oh boy, have the ITF’s in my county spent a ton of time preparing and training the teachers. If you aren’t from North Carolina, NC Wise is an on-line attendance, record keeper, grade book, and endless other programs. It’s going to be great, but you know how teachers don’t like change. So far, the schools I have trained have been positive except for a couple of exceptions. One teacher slammed her mouse down and exclaimed she was more frustrated than I could ever imagine. Another just completed ignored me and talked during the entire training. But, you have to smile and be patient.

I know I only gave 2 excuses reasons for not blogging, but there is one more small reason. Chloe, our 4 month old Great Dane puppy, has been, well a handful. She’s doing very well on her housetraining, but she’s all puppy. She gained 16 pounds in 4 weeks! She was 51 lbs at her last check up on January 4th. We have enrolled her in puppy obedience class at Petsmart. We’re in a class with a 4 lb yorkshire terrier. It is for lack of better words, interesting.

I’m leaving on Wednesday morning to fly to Florida to attend the FETC. I am so excited! I hope that Edublogs will stay up so I can live blog. Everytime I’ve tried that though, Edublogs went down on me. I might have to add it to my wiki first, then upload it to my blog. Stay tuned – I hope to have some great info to share!

Until next time ~ Danita

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Somebody wake me and tell me what month it is. December? Okay. But, wait it’s 80 degrees outside! Instead of putting up Christmas lights, hubby should be filling the pool. I can’t believe it’s this warm in North Carolina in December.  Of course, I am nowhere near ready for Christmas.  Heck, I haven’t even started shopping yet!  The nephews and niece wouldn’t have anything if I hadn’t bought it last year or after Thanksgiving.  I swear the holidays come faster every year.

On another note, Chloe, our Great Dane puppy is doing well. I have her trained to sleep at last 4 hours a night. Whew! That’s much better than the 2 we started with a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe by the first of the year, she’ll be sleeping 6 hours, then those bags under my eyes might go down a bit! She’s doing great on her house-training, but still has those nervous puddles.  Note to self, teach hubby how to talk baby talk so she won’t be scared of him.

I pray everyone has a blessed and safe Christmas.

Until next time ~ Danita

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Yes, you read that correctly. I have already found my one and only item I want to put on my Christmas list. Vicki Davis blogged about it (between loads of laundry) today and I immediately told hubby that is what I want. It’s called a FlipStart.

According to Vicki:

This little device has a 5 hour battery life and wifi access built in along with a regular keyboard (albeit a little smaller than regular). You can really do just about anything on this little gizmo, write, research, surf.

The drawbacks according to the podcast: the Windows interface design isn’t great for anything smaller than a 12″ display — this one has a 5 1/2 inch display however using the zoom feature with web pages seems to be quite nice.

In terms of category, this device sits somewhere in between the Smart Phone and the Laptop Computer.

I think the future will rest in the hand of our students!

The price is a bit steep at $2000 without battery. But, wow – under 2 pounds and look how portable. This is definitely one I will have my eye on between now and December 25th. I’m going to have to be really good this year!

Until next time ~
Danita

Flickr: 2006 Christmas tree