So, it is raining today. I tell Noah, “I think we will skip Story Time at the library today since it is raining.” His reply, “Isabella is at school. In the rain.” Can’t argue with that. We headed off to Story Time. I did, however, illegally park in the upper lot. That lot is a joke, but on the same level as the library entrance. Two handicapped spots, and four regular spots in the upper lot. That’s it. I do not care. I will make my own spot. I was not up to walking up two levels of steps to get to the library. Dang place is built on a hill, and the only spots available were in the lowest of the lower lot. That would have added another level of steps to go. Walking in the rain; with Sawyer in the sling and Noah stopping for each and every puddle. No way. Noah used logic and reason to get us there, I will use logic and reason to get a good parking space.

You would think I have all the time in the world. But, for some reason, I just have ignored my blog. Time for a new direction. Hey, at least I lost 30 pounds since I started this blog!

Finished ’23 Things Kansas”, and got my CEU credits! Now I guess I am tech-savvy! But now my life is in Georgia, and spending lazy days in the pool with the grandkids. I’m loving my life right now. Just trying to find the direction I want to go. Trying to figure out my strengths, and what God has planned for me.

definitely the way to go for training. How nice to ‘chat’ and offer input. All while sitting back and enjoying your nice day at home. No phones, no patrons to help, no interruptions. And, best of all, if you need to refresh what you learned you can review the webinar on the archives. This is the future of training. When I taught Head Start in Ohio, I can recall sitting back and just listening to a speaker. The room was too hot, made me sleepy! Or, worse. The training is GREAT, and I look in the back. Co-workers sleeping. How embarrassing! Webinars. Attend what you want, when you want, where you want. Thank you “23 Things Kansas” for bringing these to the program! I not only wrapped up the training with a webinar, I also used many tools like (You Tube videos, screencasts, and the such) too all increase my tech knowledge! I know when I got my new sewing machine, the box lacked set-up directions! I used a You Tube video (obviously a 4H teen) on how to set the machine up! So much is out on the net, so much learning is now at our fingertips. One thing “23 Things Kansas” missed, was mentioning podcasts. These are great for learning, too. iTunes U even has college classes online! Or just listening to a missed church sermon. So much out there!

June 1st. A new summer! what plans are ahead? who knows! life is a journey! enjoy the ride!

(week 12) posted a screencast tab to my blog (15) Finished wikis. (14) Discovered Shelfari. Thought Shelfari would be useless. Using Shelfari. And what’s that? Social bookmarking? That site called ‘delicious’ that I thought was clutter? Using that too, now! Google Docs, used that this week to create a site, post in Google Sites, all advertising my yard sale and items for sale. got over 60 hits! and, I am adding tags to my blog posts! Now, you ask: “What was your motivation to stick with this for so long?” The opportunity to learn new technologies. that, and the opportunity to win a flip camera. Wrapped up ’23 Things’ with a webinar, and shared my experiences. Thank you to all that contributed!
and now, my 23 Things Kansas Addiction: (13) ANIMOTO !!! check out these quick clips!

This is KANSAS.

Kansas Girl.

Kansas Boy.

Baby Boy.

Storms.

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

Storms.
Here is a slideshow for my 23 Things Kansas project. And …….. i am not done! Plan to have some more fun with my photos!

I have been very neglectful of keeping up my blog! Well, I AM keeping up with 23 Things Kansas. Just not my blog! Here are my rambling thoughts about ’23 Things’  to catch everyone up to date:

(6) Tagging and Social Bookmarking: One word review —- CLUTTER !!  —– , or two words —- JUST GOOGLE !! —-I’ll pass on this. I bookmark my pages in ‘My Yahoo’, easy to retrieve by subject. I can see how ‘sharing’ your bookmarks would be beneficial, but this is just one more sight to maintain. I like my web experience to be tied up in one neat little package. ‘My Yahoo’ fits me perfectly.

(7) Microblogging (Twitter, etc): I don’t know one person who tweets. Reminds me of the net equivalent of those darned text messages my kids always send me. Do we really need to be connected 24/7 with friends/co-workers/strangers? Anyway, tried twitter. I can send the tweets to my son’s Facebook account. That way, I can get him back for all those text messages. Tweet: Mom is making cookies. Tweet: mom sad Josh is out of state, no cookies for him. Tweet: Mom enjoying cookies. OK. I had fun tweeting. He told to stop. “MOM. Just send  a text. If it isn’t important enough to text, then it isn’t important enough for a tweet!!”

(8) Cloud Computing: Two words —– GOOGLE DOCS —– Where was life before this? I make custom photo albums. Problem is, adding captions w/o the customer hijacking the book and printing this themselves. Google Docs allows me to post a ‘beta album’ with really bad resolution pix, and a caption. I can allow others to edit the captions. Works great. I also am using Google Docs to write up workflow charts. New thing to me! I can go back to edit, and never worry about a computer crash and losing all the information.

(9) Instant Messaging and text chat: I ‘chat’ on FaceBook. The one rule in the house is NO CHAT ROOMS. I know four couple whose lives were shattered by ‘chatting’ online. It is far easier to talk to a complete stranger online, than to face the ills in your world and confront those ills. Chat rooms are filled with spammers and predators. And for some, temptation. “”The grass is always greener on the other side. Till you are on the other side.”"

(10) Video Sharing: I love YouTube! Great tool for schools and 4-H. I learned how to use my sewing machine watching a 4-H YouTube video, and the girl probably was in junior high. I created a screencasting Jing video to demonstrate how to access your library account. I don’t know, I might just create one for YouTube. See what works!

I am amazed at all that ’23 Things Kansas’ has offered. I wonder, how many are still  following the activities?

Week 1, created my 1st blog / Week 2, Facebook, made a library fan page! / Week 3 Online meetings, been there done that / Week 4, FLICKR!, and I love using Picnik and Photobucket / Week 5 RSS feeds conquered! /

And I did even more. I use My Yahoo for my homepage. I cleaned up the site. Added new tabs. Added one tab just  for some random RSS feeds too. I know on Windows too many bookmarks can slow down your internet experience. I use Apple, and I haven’t had that problem. Using My Yahoo has cleaned up my bookmark bar on my screen. Now, I find everything I need when I log on, and no waiting forever for the pages to download. I feared those mysterious RSS feeds. 23 Things Kansas got me ‘out of the box’ and actually simplified my internet experience!  I used the YouTube video “”RSS in Plain English”"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU   This video made RSS easy as copy & paste!  You can subscribe to my blog by clicking on the link to the right. A simple click, and you (hopefully) should be done!