14 Days Above 90 Degrees

I heard on the radio that Denver has had 14 consecutive days above 90 degrees. It must be unusual because everyone is talking about it. From the weather reports it looks like we are in for more.

Okay, not that I would know the outside temperature since the only time I'm outside is the crack of dawn when I walk into the office and later in the evening when I walk out of it. The good news is my election judge training program is going so well. People are happy and even though I'm getting tired of listening to my own jokes, I love training people. The election is in 2 weeks and so far I've only had one major meltdown at work. Let's hope we can keep it to just one!

And the big news is that my capstone paper and project were cleared with minor changes and I am going to graduate on August 15. I really thought it would never happen but everything came together. Mom and grandma are coming to cheer me on and I will be so excited to see them. I love having house guests. I am trying to figure out what I'm going to worry about next and what I'll do with all my free time.

Travel + Leisure???

Does anyone subscribe to this magazine? I do, but really I don't. I got a free subscription when I renewed my subscription to the Denver Post. It was either this, Golf Digest or Food and Wine so I thought Travel + Leisure might be a magazine that I could actually read. What this magazine does is remind me of trips I will never take, luxury airliners I'll never fly, and five star hotels I'll never stay in.

Their August 2008 issue included a list of the top 10 best cities in Europe to visit. Those of you who know me know that I have been to Europe many, many times. I just go to the weird places that no one has ever heard of. Here are T+L's top 10 European cities (and we might as well call this list "cities that Amy will never go to.")

1. Florence
2. Rome
3. Istanbul
4. Paris
5. Krakow
6. Prague
7. Venice
8. Barcelona
9. Vienna (I stand corrected--I did have a layover in the airport here once.)
10. Salzburg

I decided to put together my top 10 European cities. I wouldn't necessarily recommend them as tourist destinations, but hey, I like them for sentimental reasons.

1. Riga, Latvia. Okay I WOULD recommend this as a tourist destination.
2. Kukes, Albania. Stayed for 3 months and froze my butt off but it was very quaint and I enjoyed studying the behavior of many farm animals.
3. Kiev, Ukraine. Yeah, I would recommend Kiev too.
4. Prizren, Kosovo. The fully-stocked grocery stores and bakeries saved me while I lived in Albania. Charming little city.
5. Stip, Macedonia. Centuries old Turkish and Roman ruins in the most random places.
6. Odessa, Ukraine. I have no idea what it is like now but 20 years ago I thought the beach on the Black Sea was cool.
7. Novosibirsk, Russia. Well, it's more Asia geographically but it's a fascinating Soviet city (and it's NOT Moscow).
8. Kutaisi, Georgia. Breathtaking mountains, monasteries aplenty, fabulous people.
9. Shkodra, Albania. Best pizza I've ever had!
10. Skopje, Macedonia. Loved the Turkish caravan stops, Albanian bazaar and Macedonian Orthodox churches. Fascinating cultural mix.

I would like to know from anyone out there, do you have a favorite European city that did not make the T+L list? If so please post the city and tell me why.

Kate is here!

I'm a bit late on the post but my niece Kate arrived on Tuesday, July 15. She came a few days past her due date but we are glad she is healthy and well (and that Melissa is too.) That makes 5 nephews and two nieces for proud Aunt Amy. It will be a few weeks until I can meet her.

The Sweet Rewards of Work

I have complained once or twice or twenty times on this blog about how NOT fun it has been to do this Masters project. I have been working on a model election judge training program for a year. It's interesting and it's what I love but it has been grueling. I have read dozens of books on training theory, I have done more research than I ever care to do again, and I have agonized over how to do this right.

Today I actually got to see the fruits of my labors. I started training election judges today with my model program and by all accounts, it seemed to be a hit. My bosses were happy, the judges were happy and I was surprisingly happy. It felt good to actually do it and know that this was the program I designed, developed and now implemented. Several of us at the county will now train so I passed off all the scripts to the trainers and they are all now trained to take it and run with it. It's hard to turn over my baby to others because it's been mine for so long. I think the sign of a good program is that the program is good enough that it can be turned over to anyone to present. Hopefully it will stand through all 55 classes or so that we have to teach.

I am collecting some data through post-class evaluations and I will continue to collect data on election day and after. The next hurdle in the training process is finding out if people actually learned something and if they can implement what they learned on election day. We will soon find out...For right now, I am going to breathe a sigh of relief that my strategies actually worked in a real, live classroom situation.

What I did today...in case anyone cares

I feel the need to justify the fact that I am overwhelmed just a tad. Here is a typical Saturday:

6:30 a.m. got up and got on my work email. Must clean it out when it's quiet. Also had employees working overtime today who needed questions answered.

7:50 a.m. off to Target for weekly grocery shopping. Must be there when it opens at 8:00 a.m. Stopped at the library to return books.

9:00 a.m. start cleaning the house and cooking dinner. The missionaries are coming at 5:00! Thank goodness for the Crockpot.

10:10 a.m. off to the gym for cardio and weights.

11:50 a.m. home to shower and get ready for the day

12:45 p.m. off to the salon to get a manicure and pedicure. Must keep toes looking fab for my hot dancing shoes. The color I picked looks like I spilled cranberry juice on my feet.

2:15 p.m. nap time! I deserved it after the week of 12 hour work days, one service project, 2 dance lessons, and two seminary meetings.

3:50 p.m. get up and finish cooking and cleaning before the missionaries arrive.

5:00 p.m. dinner with 4 elders. Think I convinced all of them to register to vote in their home states and vote absentee by citing 12th Article of Faith coupled with a guilt trip.

6:00 p.m. Elders leave and I clean up the mess. Dad called right after they left. Nice conversation was had.

7:00 p.m. work on Masters project (I have to start really training election judges on Monday with this project!) same as I do every Saturday night. In other words, NO SOCIAL LIFE FOR ME 'TIL THIS IS DONE. Had to turn down two offers from friends tonight and be disciplined.

11:20 p.m. I'm sick of working so I am blogging and going to bed (after brushing, flossing and scriptures).

July 4, 2008

So here we are, 20 years later after my reminiscing celebrating the 4th of July. I took a nice 3 day weekend trip home to Salt Lake to see the family. Melissa and Tony were (and as of this writing ARE still) expecting a baby. She is due today but I was hoping she'd come early so Aunt Amy could meet her but no such luck.

This is me and my Star Wars obsessed niece and nephews. I love these kids so much. I got to play with Mason, Ethan and Sagan on Saturday. We played Star Wars, of course. I was Princess Leia and Ethan pretended to do the Darth Vader choke on me so I fell down on the floor as if I had fainted. They continued to play with their light sabers (aka light SAVERS--we're working on that!) and after a few minutes of them ignoring me I asked, "What am I supposed to do now." Mason replied, "Why don't you stand up and shoot someone." Duh, Aunt Amy. Apparently I'm not very good at playing Star Wars.

I also played with Megan, Logan and Kimball. We played chase in their backyard but it was so hot we couldn't stand it for long. So we ended up inside playing Legos, which is what I used to do with my brother when he was little. Now I play Legos with his kids with his old Legos.

I also got to spend some time with Joel, Katy, Dave and Grandma Macey. I think I have the coolest family ever! As always it was a fast and fun weekend and I look forward to the next trip!

July 4, 1988

Here is an excerpt from my journal from 20 years ago. This was written in Moscow, Russia which was then the USSR.

"After lunch we went to this little tiny park which was about the size of our front yard. We lit sparklers, waved our flags, popped balloons, ate our melons and sang 'God Bless America' and 'The Star Spangled Banner.' It was a little celebration like this that made me appreciate something important like freedom."

Later that night we "waved our flags out the window and sang." We were probably on the 20th floor of the hotel and I remember leaning out the window and throwing candy up to the guys from our group who were on the floor above us. The stupid things you do when you are young...By acting so silly we caught the attention of 5 Bulgarian boys who were in the room next to us. I remember going over to their room and trying to communicate with them. We exchanged addresses and when I got home I wrote to all of them. Only one wrote me back--Ivan.

Ivan and I have kept in touch ever since. We have not met face-to-face since meeting 20 years ago in Moscow. We wrote letters, then emails, then instant messages. Ivan got married a year ago to his beautiful wife Nadya and they have a brand new daughter named Sofia (see photo).

Meeting Ivan and keeping in touch with him over the years has certainly been a great experience. We made an interesting cross-culture, long distance friendship. I got to hear about the fall of communism in Bulgaria, the building of democracy and ultimately EU membership through his eyes.

So happy anniversary Ivan! I hope we are still in touch 20 years from today!