Today’s guest post comes from Nora of Walking Through the Rain. Nora is one of the many lovely bloggers I met on my all too short trip to Vegas.  Enjoy!

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I have a rather sad confession: I have never been camping. You know, the real camping where you have to pitch your own tent after you decipher the directions on how to use the 50 poles that are in the box, start a fire from random twigs and sticks, roast marshmallows and talk until the fire dissipates, wake up at dawn and start your day feeling refreshed.

No, I’ve never done that.

I have, however, gone camping in a rather extravagant way. You see, when my family lived in Florida I was a Girl Scout and like any good Girl Scout troop we needed to earn a camping badge. Rather than making a trip out to the marshlands of Florida or one of the many gorgeous State Parks, my troop made reservations at Fort Wilderness, a Disney property.

Fort Wildnerness employees set-up the tents for you, there were little mini cots that raised your sleeping bag up off the ground, there was a huge pool that you could float in while watching a movie on a big screen tv.

Bathrooms? They were indoors.
Food? Supplied for us by the Fort Wildnerness gang.
Tents? They were in a faux woodsy area with the next tent a whole two feet away from you.
Wildnerness and wildlife? The closet we came to seeing an animal in it’s habitat was after bedtime at which point an armadillo scampered in between our tents.
Fire? Nah, we didn’t need to start it ourselves. They were already going when it was “dinner,” time.

If you’ve ever seen Troop Beverly Hills, that’s a lot like what my troop was like. If someone had suggested it I’m sure the camping trip would have turned into a stay at a hotel!

So I’m 25 and I’ve never been camping the “authentic,” way. I’m kind of ashamed of it. I definitely didn’t earn that silly outdoor camping badge although it is sewn on my Girl Scout sash.

I spilled something I’m ashamed of so it’s your turn…. spill it!

This post is part of 20SB’s Looking Back Blog Carnival, and Ben & Jerry’s is awarding free ice cream to lucky bloggers and readers.  You can find out more about it here, but the idea is to show you a post from when I first began blogging.  I began blogging in graduate school, but that blog is long gone, so this post is from the first month of this particular blog’s incarnation.  When I first started this blog, I wrote a lot about teaching.  I spent a good deal of time reflecting on teaching, and I really viewed my blog as an education blog.  Nowadays, teaching is still part of my blog, but it doesn’t dominate it.  I hope you’ll enjoy this little trip to the early days of my blog!

Consistency vs. Chaos — November 28, 2005

This post is written by my dear friend Heather, who I have know since grade school.  She has a wonderful design site called Tres Hermanas that she runs with her two sisters.  Definitely check her out…and enjoy some very old pictures of me in this guest post!

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Hello! As Erin and I go way back, I thought it might be fun to share a few photos from our childhood. Thanks to a little help from my mom, finding said photos actually happened in under an hour today. (Shocking!) First off is one from our days at FVMS (THE Montessori of all Montessori schools):

Lovely Erin, with her long princess hair, is all the way over to the left in the second row from the back. (Not counting the crazy guy in the plaid shirt that just happened to be our principal.) I’m second from the left (also with long princess hair — it was all the rage) in the second row from the front. I don’t know about Erin, but I’ve just discovered that I can name all but about ten of the people pictured here. Not bad considering the fact that this was taken over twenty years ago! (Holy crap! Are we really that old?!?!)

And now, before the other picture, I’ll tell you my first memory of Erin! I had just moved from Texas back up to the Chicagoland area and thus didn’t have a lot of friends my age. So it was an especially big deal to be starting at a brand new school at the ripe old age of five. My first memory of her is also one of my first memories of the school. I recall walking into the classroom and looking around to see all the kids playing and exploring and learning. Almost immediately, I settled on two girls washing dishes, one of which had long hair just like me. I remember deciding right then and there that I wanted to be friends with that girl (and was quite disappointed to think that she already had a friend in her fellow dishwasher and perhaps didn’t need another one!). Luckily, we clicked as friends right off the bat and have had a wonderful friendship ever since. (One that I appreciate very much!)

Last, but not least, I found some old pictures from our girl scout days, one of which actually has both of us in it! Here it is, for your viewing pleasure:

From left to right: Sharon, Samantha, Jorie, Me (Heather), Katy (my little sister), and Erin!

I’m guessing that we were doing the motions to some kind of song here. Please feel free to laugh at our clothes (thank goodness styles change and we change with them!) and our facial expressions, and then post memories of your own elementary school days!

With the exception of participating in a blog swap once last year, I’ve never done a guest blog post. So when Erin said she needed guest bloggers for while she was away in Houston, I jumped at the chance to try my hand at it. Plus, I got to meet Erin in person in Las Vegas this month so that pretty much tripled my reasons for doing so. Consider this a long-form way of introducing myself… Now for the short form:

Hi. I’m Phil. I blog over at Rocky Time Warp.

I have to file a complaint. I’ve been harboring it for some time, but I don’t know, a part of me must have been holding out hope that they would get better. That they would return to their roots and deliver something really good this next time. It was while I was running errands during the week, though, that I knew all hope was lost. Lost thanks to an advertisement featuring gun-wielding guinea pigs.

It’s become quite clear to me, now, exactly why Disney ended up buying Pixar once their initial contract with Disney was up: without Pixar, Disney would likely be a thing of the past. And given their newest attempt at a feature-length half CGI, half regular film, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. While it wasn’t an easy task trying to force myself to watch the wretched preview, I think I have a vague idea of how this movie came to be: some drunk guy thought it would be hilarious to have a movie where they could turn a hamster ball into a high-powered car, of sorts. Then he had to go get someone else drunk and ask what they thought, and on and on until everyone agreed that a movie about guinea pigs working for the government would be a blockbuster hit.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer brings his first 3D film to the big screen with G-FORCE, a comedy adventure about the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in espionage. Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws.

While Pixar has taken us to new heights with Up, made us adore two robots who fall in love, had us cheering on a couple of fish as a father searches for his missing son, thrilled us with the tale of a culinarily inclined rat, fascinated us with the world of monsters under our beds, and more, Disney is piggy-backing on their brilliance and simultaneously churning out movies that serve only to make us question how much we actually like guinea pigs.

I miss the days when Disney made movies that, despite destroying classic literature and stories of old, had some level of inspiration in the end instead of simply “proving once and for all that the world needs bigger heroes.” What we need, Disney, is something to challenge us. Until you can deliver to us something of better quality, get off the damn stage.

This weekend, one of my friend’s from work got married.  I love weddings, generally, and I especially love weddings that I can just show up at and have a good time.  Here’s some highlights from the evening…

I thought we were going to be late for the wedding because traffic was stopped to allow hundreds of these old military vehicles to pass by.  Apparently, they are crossing the country.  People were lining the streets to take pictures and watch the convoy.

At my wedding, my step-sister pretended to eat my cake.  Now, I do it at everyone else’s weddings.  Yes, those are Little People on top of the cake.

Since I had just gotten the news that I would be drinking at the wedding (not pregnant again), Stephanie made sure we had plenty of wine!

All the lovely girls from school.

Stephanie was determined that I should drink a lot.  I’m writing a tweet about singing Journey, and she’s literally pouring wine down my throat.

By the end of the night, we had given up on glasses….largely because the glasses had been taken away.

Overall, it was a very beautiful wedding that was tons of fun!  Congrats to Mikee and Dusty!

So, now about this panic attack I’m having.  I don’t know if you know this, but I’m leaving for Houston tomorrow, and I’ll be gone for 10 days.  It’s just me that’s leaving.  I’m leaving my Ted and my pups behind, and I am freaking out!  I’m going to Houston because I’m entering training to become an RDI consultant for children with autism.  It’s an amazing opportunity, and I’m really excited about it.  BUT, I am also terrified about flying alone, leaving my family, and spending 10 days in a city I’ve never been to with people I’ve never met.  YIKES!

Don’t you worry, though.  I have some wonderful guest posters lined up for you while I’m gone.  If you’d like to guest post, let me know!  I’ll probably throw in a post or two while I’m there, but I really have no idea what my time will be like.  Miss me and wish me luck!

What is the plural of bluetooth?  Bluetooths?  Blueteeth?

Why does the bathroom at Panera smell like Flinstones Vitamins?

Who invented humidity and what is being done to punish him?

What am I going to do in Houston for 10 days by myself?  Why don’t I know any Houston bloggers?

What should I give my friend for a wedding gift?

Am I addicted to the internet?

I do things on my phone in a specific order — mail, twitter, facebook, fertility calendar.  Do other people do this too?

What is up with those crazy New Jersey Housewives?

Are Jon and Kate getting divorced?  Is it sad that I kind of hope they are?

Why have I read so few books this year?

Should I open an Etsy shop?

Why am I suddenly addicted to Dairy Queen?

What are you wondering today?

Please not that the following was not written by me, it was written by the director of the program I work for.  However, I felt it already said what I needed to say, so why reinvent the wheel?  If you live in Illinois, please take action on this today! If you are not an Illinois resident, get this information out to people who do live in Illinois.  Thank you!

Illinois is in grave danger of losing services on July 1 for our most vulnerable citizens: our children.  The effect of Senate House bill 1197 places the burden of Illinois’ budget problems on the backs of children and families, eliminating services for children living in poverty and those with disabilities by cutting intervention services, preschool, and child care to balance the budget.

Become informed and be an advocate for the children and families that can’t advocate for themselves.  The educational, social and economic systems of Illinois will be negatively affected for years to come if we don’t pass a state income tax increase to balance the budget, instead of cutting human service and educational programs.

FACT: Prekindergarten Programs Positively Impact K-12 schools

It is a research-based, documented fact that high-quality early childhood programs help children succeed.  Four landmark studies began in the 1960s, 70s and 80s provide ongoing evidence: High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, Abecedarian Project, Chicago Child-Parent Centers Project and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study.  All four projects were well-designed, methodologically sound, and longitudinal.  All four studies found the same results.  Children from poverty who receive a high-quality early childhood program:

• • Show more self-discipline in kindergarten
  • Exhibit fewer behavioral problems throughout elementary school
  • Score higher on standardized reading and math tests causing overall school scores to improve
  • Are less likely to repeat a grade
  • Are less likely to need special education
  • Have less absenteeism
  • Are less likely to engage in risky behavior: alcohol, drugs, gangs
  • Are more likely to perform at a level considered “high-achieving” in high school than a no-early learning-group: early learning group 49%, no early learning group 15%.  (High/Scope study, cited in Cunha & Heckman, 2007)
  • More likely to graduate from high school

FACT: Early Childhood Education is a Sound Investment in Society

• • Preschool alumni are less likely to engage in criminal behavior, less frequently on welfare, more likely to own their own home and earn higher wages
  • Reducing the number of people on welfare and lowering the crime rate represents a substantial savings to taxpayers

The effects of high-quality preschool for disadvantaged children have been studied extensively.  The programs improve student outcomes, increasing their educational attainment, decreasing their criminal activity, and improving their employment and earnings as adults.  These changes in behavior reduce the burden on public resources by decreasing special education, incarcerations, and public assistance; and by increasing future tax revenue.  Such changes produce a substantial return on investment.  Studies have estimated that these programs produce as much as $17 in social benefits for every dollar invested. (James Heckman, Nobel Laureate in economics, from Heckman & Masterov, 2007, p. 1)

Just as public and private entities take an active interest in the construction and maintenance of road, public transportation, utilities, housing and educational facilities to support economic development, quality early childhood education should be considered essential to the [nation’s] economic health. (Gruendel, 2004)

WHAT TO DO: Contact Governor Quinn (1-217-782-0244)  and your legislators to veto  SB1197 and call the legislators back to session to work out a budget that doesn’t try to solve Illinois’ money problems on the by cutting services to disadvantaged children and families.

Ted and I had a lovely, productive weekend!  Ted had worked overnight shifts at the beginning of the week, so it worked out that we had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off together.  This never happens.  We rarely have more than one day off together in a week, so it was great to have some time to spend together and get things done.

Friday we slept in a bit, and then jumped right in to my least favorite thing in the world — yard work.  Of course, this yard work was actually fun, because instead of pulling weeds, we actually did something to make the house look better.

Ted getting ready to build the wall.  This is a giant mound of dirt in front of our house that used to be full of nasty, ugly plants.  It took us two years to successfully kill those plants.

After a busy morning of work, we now had a lovely wall surrounding our mountain of dirt.

Friday night, we got to go to a surprise engagement party for my friends Stephanie and Adam.  I love surprises!  Plus, there were tons of snacks and Costco cake!

On Saturday, we slept in until about 10:30!  It was glorious.  After waking up, we treated ourselves to breakfast at Panera and then grocery shopped.  I lamented the rain, because I wanted to plant my plants, but the sun eventually came out for me!

Here are my pretty new plants.  You can see that there is still some work to do over on the side of the house, but at least I have some legitimate plants now!  I have no idea why this picture is so crooked.

Saturday night, my in-laws came to visit and took us out to dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant.  Yummy!

Sunday, Ted and I work up early, hit the Starbucks, and then headed down to Ottawa to spend the day on my dad’s boat.

On the drive down, we saw this great license plate.  IPOOD.  It was the highlight of my weekend.  Yes, I am twelve.

I enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine safely from behind my SPF 70.

There’s my daddy, Cap’n Arn!  Isn’t he cute?

Ted napped too!

So, that was our lovely weekend.  What were you up to this weekend?

It’s no secret that I’ve had a crap year.  Strokes and cancer, lawsuits and child abuse allegations.  Let’s not forget being conceptionally challenged.  It’s crap.  So, it should be no surprise that my mood generally oscillates between the blues and the mean reds.  (If you don’t know what the mean reds are, well, shame on you.  Stop reading right now and go watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  I’ll wait here.)  Obviously, my blog has been reflective of my crazy moods.  So, I wanted to share with you some things that fill me with glee instead of the blues or the mean reds…

• Glee — I have watched the pilot for this show more times than I care to admit.  It is seriously wonderful and completely puts a song in my heart.  Observe:

How can you not feel happy after watching that?

• Singing that very song with so many fabulous bloggers in Vegas!  Seriously, just thinking about that night puts a great big smile on my face.  Aren’t we so lovely?

Singing Journey with Erin, Renee, Phil, Nora, Alyssa, and Stephanie

• My pups.  I have the two cutest, sweetest, funniest, craziest dogs in the world, and I love them to pieces!  There are very few things that can’t be cured with puppy love.  Look at my little babies (sorry for the scary Kaya eyes, Jess)…

• Harry Potter — It’s time to start reading all my HP books again in preparation for the big movie release this summer.  I’m just dying of excitement.  There will be homemade t-shirts for the midnight release party.
• My friends — blog friends, work friends, old friends, new friends.  I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing, lovely people who put up with my frequent blubbering.  I promise to hold all your hands when you blubber.
• My Ted — I couldn’t ask for a better husband.  He makes me laugh every day, watches Gilmore Girls with me, packs my lunch, and cooks my dinner.  Plus, we are a really cute couple…

What fills your life with glee?

I was all settled in on the plane with Renee on our way to Vegas when it started.  There, on page 5 of the book I’d picked specifically for to keep my mind off of thing, was the dreaded word — pregnant.  It should have been a sign.

Still, I managed to keep my emotions in check, and we landed, albeit roughly, in Vegas.  When we finally made it to the hotel, I just had one little thing to take care of before the real fun could begin.  Yes, I brought ovulation tests to Vegas.  I wasn’t due to ovulate for another 5-7 days, but I was in Vegas during the testing phase of my cycle, and I had to test.  So, before getting ready for dinner, I peed on the stick.

It was positive.

I stood in the bathroom swearing in disbelief.  How could this be?  It was only day 15 of my cycle!  I haven’t had a regular 28 day cycle in over 6 months.  What were the chances that it would be this cycle?

Of course, then the waterworks began, and I was really glad that it was just Renee and I in our hotel room.  Still, I thought I could pull it together.  I tried to rationalize with myself that there was still a chance.  The test means that ovulation is likely to occur with in 24-48 hours.  I could still have my weekend and a baby too.

We headed downstairs and met up with more lovely and fabulous bloggers than I could ever have hoped to meet.  I had a wonderful time at dinner and at the piano bar several of us made it to later that night.  All in all, my Friday night in Vegas was a blast.

Still, despite being exhausted, I barely slept.  My overactive mind couldn’t stop playing through all the what-if scenarios.  By 7 a.m. I was on the phone with Ted in tears.  I wanted to come home.  Even though it made me feel stupid and ridiculous, I knew it was the right choice.  I was such a blubbering mess that I knew no amount of fun and alcohol could soothe me.  So, I tearily told Renee the news and changed my flight.

I still had time for breakfast and a trip to the pool before I had to leave, and I was glad to visit with some of the girls again.  Still, I was also glad that I could wear my sunglasses at the pool, because I kept tearing up.  I really was jut counting the minutes until my flight home.

I went upstairs, packed my bags, and caught a cab to the airport.  I ended up not being able to say goodbye to so many wonderful people, but I probably would have cried all over them.  I sat in the airport for almost 4 hours feeling more lame than I’ve ever felt in my life.  Of course, my flight was delayed, and I didn’t make it home until close to midnight.  I have never been so happy to see my husband or my dogs in all my life.

Still, despite all the tears and my ridiculousness, I really did have a wonderful time.  I also know that despite the extra $200 I had to fork out to fly home early, I made the right choice for me.

And that, my friends, is what happened in Vegas.