Overnight at Pop & Susie's House

Aunt Sarah and Meredith Play

This was a big weekend at the Smith household. Meredith came to spend the night while her parents had their first night with both of them off-duty since she was born.

We planned lots of activities to keep her busy, with the highlight being a visit to the Children's Museum. Sarah came along and we spent the afternoon exploring the Food Lion Supermarket, Krispy Kreme Donut factory, the Enchanted Forest, and the Animal Alphabet.

Meredith was a delight and didn't seem to get homesick at all. I do admit I'd forgotten the level of energy a two-year old has, but it was wonderful to have a whole day and night to be with her.

Birthday Celebrations at the Lake

Caden Performs Underwater Flips

It's great to be close by to the Coburns now, and after the triathlon, we headed for Pinehurst for the afternoon to celebrate Rick and Mary's birthdays. We all gathered at Lake Pinehurst again and spent the afternoon picnicking and swimming. Caden was particularly proud of his new ability to perform multiple underwater flips. When he found out my waterproof camera has a video function, we made this short clip of him doing TWO flips without taking a breath.

Ron continued in his athlete support role as he gave Caden a resting spot inbetween takes.

First Triathlon in a Year!

Swim Queue

After a year of trying to get my foot healed, I finally was able to enter a local mini-sprint women's only triathlon this weekend, the Ramblin' Rose. The run was only 2 miles, so I figured my foot was ready to hold out for that short distance.

I had a great time, it was good to race again, even if it was a short race. My bike segment was my best (as usual), and I managed to finish the bike portion 7th overall (out of 400) and 54th overall. I won my age group, which usually doesn't happen unless I'm the only one in it.

Now, we'll see if my foot behaves post-race.

Presentation in Minneapolis

Announcing our Session

Immediately upon finishing up at the Harvard Leadership Institute, I hopped on a plane and headed to Minneapolis to attend the Merlot International Conference. Lauren Pressley, Kevin Gilbertson and I were accepted to present on our library's campus-wide blog and wiki services that we implemented in the last academic year.

It was a whirlwind trip, but the presentation went well and Minneapolis was as nice as I remembered it from my trip there a few years ago.

Details about my trip can be found on the Library's Professional Development blog.

A Week at Harvard

View from Widener Library at Harvard

This week I am in Cambridge, MA attending the Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians. It is a joint venture between Harvard's Graduate School of Education and ACRL. I'm providing details almost daily on the ZSR Library Professional Development Blog. Of course, I'm bringing my camera along, so have plenty of pictures to share.