Updating the Blog

Life has been way too busy the past month. I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last did a blog post! Here's a brief recap of life over the past month.

• We spent a good portion of the summer thinking Bo would get put on unpaid leave, along with 1000+ Jefferson County employees. Luckily he didn't but we certainly feel bad for the others who did get put on leave. We hope Jefferson County will bring them back ASAP now that the politicians have passed a new occupational tax.
• We did a family trip to Atlanta. We went to the Georgia Aquarium. It was nice but I think the Baltimore and Chattanooga ones are better. As we were getting out of the car at Ikea, Callen smashed a finger in the door! Not a fun time! Nothing broken but lots of tears. Sunday we went to Stone Mtn and did a few things there. Pretty state park.
• We went to a birthday party for a friend of Callen's. His mother is so creative! I wish I had a third of the creativity genes that she does! Yes, I'm talking about you Renee : ).
• My NSF grant I submitted in January got funded! Our media office did a press release on Wed. of this week and it has been picked up by various media outlets around the country. The project involves helping develop STEM curriculum using XO laptops, and working with teachers and students to enhance integration of the XOs and the new curriculum modules.
• We started training our first older adults in our first assisted living facility to use computers and the Internet (for my NIA grant). They're doing so great! The class is smaller than we'd hoped but this is our pilot facility and we're learning a lot that will enhance the future trainings. My graduate research assistants are doing a great job with the training!
• The cleaning of the data from my other NSF grant is almost complete. We should be able to start crunching some numbers soon to indicate how students' technology usage, attitudes towards technology, educational aspirations, etc. changed with the introduction of the XO laptops in Birmingham City schools.
• I went to San Francisco a couple of weeks ago for our national conference. It was fun to see old friends and to meet some new ones. The presentations I was involved with went well. One was even written up in a San Fran. blog. I flew home on a 7:30 AM flight so that I could attend the open house at Callen's school. It made for a long, long day but I'm glad I could get back in time for it!
• Our classes started this week (where did the summer go????). I'm teaching on Tues/Thurs at 8 AM (ouch!) but better than a MWF in the afternoon (which was the other option). It looks like a pretty good group of students or at least the best I can tell after 2 classes : ).

I'm sure I've left lots out of what we did over the past month, but this will have to suffice for now : ). I hope everyone had a good summer!

My New NSF Grant - Integrating Computing Across the Curriculum (ICAC) Using XO Laptops

I received notice last week that the NSF grant I submitted in January was funded. The goal of this grant is to enhance STEM education in Birmingham City schools using XO laptops. The study builds off my current NSF grant investigating the educational, career, and social impacts of the XO laptops in Birmingham City schools.

Here's a link to the abstract of the new grant: ICAC

Eating Out and Saving Money

As many of you know, Bo's work situation (and all the employees of Jefferson County for that matter) is very precarious at this time. We've been trying to eat out less frequently and when we do eat out we try to do it less expensively.

There are good 'buy one get one free' coupons in the paper/mail every so often for Ruby Tuesdays. And, we've noticed places like Logan's and Applebees have started doing 2 meals for a certain price (usually smaller portions but still plenty for dinner).

Last night we went to Johnny Carino's. They have these family dinners that you can get where they bring out a big bowl of a selected item. This will easily feed 3-4 people. You also get salads with it. We noticed last night that on Monday nights, these family dinners are HALF PRICE! This is a great deal. A family of 3-4 could eat for under $20 (unless you buy expensive beverages, appetizers, etc.).

Just wanted to pass along this info!

Downturn and Dating

I was interviewed last week for a story on how the economic downturn may be impacting dating. As usual, only a few seconds of me show, but much of what is said is from other material I noted during the interview.

Here's the clip: Downturn Dating

Beach Trip Summer 2009

We spent the week leading up to July 4th at our condo in Atlantic Beach, NC. We had a lot of fun as we invited cousins and friends down to visit with us at various points in the week. Below, you see Callen, Emily, and Luke (two of Callen's cousins). They were so great with Callen!
Callen at Fort Macon: Mom do I really have to smile again?

Bo and cousin Betty

How to think like a sociologist

I know you've all been wondering -- how does a sociologist think? Now you can know!

How To Think Like a Sociologist

Trip Travails

We started our trek to NC last Friday. Before we left town Friday, a parent at Callen's school misjudged his turning radius and plowed into the back and rear driver's side of my car that morning. A good amount of damage but drivable thank goodness as we were taking it to NC.

We get to the beach Saturday early evening. After unpacking our car and playing with Callen some, we go out for a late dinner. We're crossing the bridge to the mainland when we hit something in the road. It was some type of strap with a big hook in it. Well, the hook punctured the rear driver's side tire! So, we put on the temporary spare as it begins to rain, thunder, and lightening. The tire that was damaged was a brand new tire! Less than 2 months old. Ugh.

Sunday we went to the beach and had a good time in the sun, sand, and surf. Some of my cousins came in around dinner time that day. Callen had a blast playing with her cousins Luke and Emily from Sunday night through Wed. afternoon! They were such great kids - never appearing to tire of playing with her!

Monday morning I start the dishwasher. A few minutes later my cousin walks in the kitchen and notices the floor is COVERED in water! The guys were out on their way to play golf and happened to call about this time. They didn't bother to come back and investigate what was wrong! We also had an issue with our disposal not working. Our local repair guy got it working but suggested replacing it soon. Then, last night I was washing shrimp to cook for dinner when I noticed water was pouring out on my feet. Oh yea, another plumbing issue! We have a plumber coming out in the AM to check out the dishwasher, disposal, etc. Yeah, more money, more money, more money!

Even with all these trip travails, we've had a great time thus far at the beach! The cousins left this afternoon and some friends come in this evening. Hopefully more good memories to come!

Here's to no more plumbing issues at our condo!