presentation went well

All of my presentations are over. I had one this morning at 7 am, and I got a good response, and lots of questions to the presentation. I was pretty happy with the way it went. I can't wait to officially be on vacation tomorrow and not have to worry about when I need to be at the conference.

safe in hawaii

today we saw the USS Arizona monument, the USS Missouri Battleship, tried to hike the Diamond Head crater (they closed before we got there), and had dinner with a woman we met while waiting in line at the USS Arizona line to get tickets. it was a good day, but I still need to do some work tonight to prepare for my presentation tomorrow at 7am.

thus, short post tonight.

a few of my favorite people

I didn't post any pictures from my florida trip because I wasn't able to download them until today. So, here are a few pictures of my favorite people (and canines). It was great to spend time with grandma and grandpa and mom. And I even got to see Jodi for about 5 hours! Of course Jazzy is always a ball of (fur) fun.

Inspired

Today I went to a mentoring for leadership luncheon where women from across campus come together to hear from a woman in leadership about her career path, difficulties and tips and tricks for succeeding along the way. The woman today was especially inspiring. She gave a quote which I just loved and had to steal a piece of paper from the person next to me to write it down. I believe it is something to live by, and I wish more people did! I had never heard it before, but some of you may have. It is:

People will forget what you say

They may remember what you show them to do

But they will never forget how you make them feel.

getting ready

I have been so busy at work and at home getting ready to go on this trip to Hawaii, that I have been neglecting to update everyone on the blog. So sorry about that.

At home, we have made some progress. You all knew we had a toilet, but we also have a shower and a sink in the bathroom now. The electrical is finished in the kitchen, and the walls have been painted in "French Canvas", and 3 of the upper cabinets have been hung. Now we have to fur out the wall so that we can have 30" deep countertops, and install the lower cabinets. The Slide-in range and dishwasher have arrived, but unfortunately our refrigerator is back-ordered. They haven't gotten back to us yet on when we might get the refrigerator, but it certainly won't be before our company comes the first week in July. It looks like we will still be using the utility tub downstairs as our primary sink for washing dishes, etc.

Good news is that every single tarp has been removed from the floors, and now we have our beautiful hardwoods back. I have swept and mopped, but given the amount of dirt and grime all the construction caused, I'll probably need to mop another time or two to make them like new.

So, it looks like with all this travel there will be another week or so of little updating of the blog. Just wanted to warn you all, and remind you to make sure you come back and check in July. I should have pictures to post by then.

hot and muggy

Down here in muggy Florida. I am at a conference called WEPAN Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network. Today was the first day of real sessions, and the paper I co-authored was presented today by BB. She did a great job, and got lots of questions, especially compared to other presenters, and especially since she was the first to go, and usually the last to go gets the questions because they are the most recent in people's mind.

Somehow, i think I re-injured by back. I keep hoping that I am just dealing with a pulled muscle, but it doesn't feel like that to me. Maybe I should do some research online to try and self-diagnose. For sure, my lower back is inflamed and it makes it painful to sit, stand, walk. the pain is not yet going down my leg, but it is headed toward my hip for sure. I'm going to take it easy for a couple of days (if I can since I'm on travel), and see if it gets better. I'm trying to ice it, but finding a plastic bag here that doesn't leak can be difficult.

Tonight is a reception at EPCOT where we will get to see the fireworks. there is only 1 bus to get there and back, so I won't be able to leave early if I want to. We all have to go together at the same time. But I think it should be fun--and they better feed us!

a little eye candy before I leave

I just knew I couldn't leave without posting some pictures of our working toilet (and other bathroom features) before I leave for a work trip to Florida. The Bathroom is not yet finished, but it is getting there. We already painted the walls...and can you believe it, but we got the color right on the first try!

Here are the soap niches which we used glass tiles for. The shower tiles have a slight pattern to them, but you can only see it close up. It is like a little surprise for anyone who takes the time to look at them closely.

The toilet and sink are installed and working, although David noticed a leak in the sink this morning :-( We moved the sink up a bit higher than where it was originally. It is much more ergonomic this way. The color is kind of a grey green-- very hard to see the real color in these pictures.

The new faucet works wonderfully.

And here are tub fixtures. I can't wait to show all our guests how to operate our german shower fixtures!

We've got a toilet!!!!!

I can't tell you how excited I am. We finally have a toilet with running water. Tomorrow we can call Honey Bucket to come get the porta-potty. We also have a sink in the bathroom with running water. We still need to seal the grout on the shower- so we can't use that yet, but I can live with that for now....because I have a toilet!