Weekend Recap

The conference was great and I'm really glad I went. I hate the term "network" but I know that's what I was doing--catching up with people I know and like, getting fantastic new ideas to try in my library, and generally walking away from the conference feeling with a good feeling about my job and how I hope to improve it. The keynote speaker for Friday wasn't able to make it because of the American Airlines debacle. Fortunately, he's technologically inclined and was able to do a podcast for the group on the pros and cons of Wikipedia. I would love to have heard him speak as just the podcast was pretty dynamic. It was also nice to know that I've been teaching the use of Wikipedia correctly (as a good site to use as a starting point for information and for the external links but definitely not as the expert site).

During the morning on Friday, I was manning the ASL-SIG booth and flipping through a catalog for a book vendor. I started chatting with the book rep at the booth, explaining that I do use them every year and really like my rep and the company. Another book rep came over and started chatting with us. He lives in Rio Rancho and through the course of conversation, I mentioned the church we attend and my inlaws' names. Come to find out, that rep went to school with my MIL in Louisville and Wamego. Reva was his 4-H leader. He asked about Paul's aunt and uncle. He and my inlaws have been in and out of touch over the years but he gave me his card with his phone number to pass along. Small world.

I got home on Friday evening after a horrible drive home. I managed to drive both to and from Cruces with a headwind and Friday's was especially rotten. One of those ones where you have to hang on the entire time and I held my breath any time I drove over a bridge. Not because I thought I'd go over the edge but all those "gusty winds" signs and the flapping wind socks did nothing to deter that thought. I promise the best thing about the drive was stopping at the Border Patrol check-point outside of Las Cruces and being asked if I was a U.S. citizen. Because I look so foreign. I'm sure it's just a standard question asked of all drivers but really. I wanted to ask if it was a trick question but simply replied "Yes." (Paul said I should have answered "Si") and headed back into the nasty gusty wind. 230 miles and 3/4 of a tank later (I'm not going figure out that gas mileage), I finally made it home.

Happily, all the inside construction was finished on Friday. I spent most of the day yesterday doing all kinds of cleaning--getting all the construction gunk out of every nook and cranny of the house. I could probably call in Merry Maids to get the gunk I missed--I gave up out before cleaning out the inside of cabinets and drawers that probably need to be cleaned. But I LOVE the new countertops and tile. Alan did a fantastic job with the tile work. I wrote him a nice thank you before I left and Paul bought a gift card to a local restaurant to put in it. Alan will be back at some point in time because the stucco still isn't finished. We haven't had rain in two months then we scheduled outdoor work. Oh well--as I said before, that doesn't bother me much because I don't see it. Pictures are forthcoming. It seems that the camera is never on the same floor as I am and as Paul is currently vacuuming the stairs, I don't want to interrupt his work.

Today has been a lazy day for both of us. Finishing up the laundry and that sort of thing. We finally finished and e-filed our taxes. We knew we'd owe money so we weren't in a hurry to get that done any earlier than need be. Paul leaves tomorrow for a week-long conference near L.A. and I've got a few little things going on during the week to keep me busy. A good weekend followed by a hopefully good week.