Viva Las Vegas...

Let's just say that your a relatively new teacher...maybe your finishing your second full year of teaching. Then let's say that a group was willing to scholarship you to go to a teacher's conference over the summer for a topic you weren't very familiar with...something like differentiation. Would you go? Maybe you would and maybe you wouldn't.

What if I told you the conference was in Las Vegas, NV?

I'm going to assume that you're reaction was the same as mine when I found out. I filled out and submitted the paperwork as soon as humanly possible. I kept telling myself "there's no way you're going to get this, but who can pass up a free trip to Vegas?". Oddly enough I did get the scholarship to the National Differentiation Conference, and I came back with some hot sports opinions about everything Las Vegas:

• First and foremost, when people gave Vegas the name "Sin City" they were not making anything up.  Literally within ten steps in any direction from the hotel elevator I could have gambled, smoked, womanized, lusted, drank, or committed gluttony.  And if I continue that to the nearest street corner I could have had all kinds of awful pornographic material handed out by any number of people.  At first I just ignored all this and was fine, but as the week wore on this stuff got under my skin more and more.
• We stayed at Harrah's Casino and it was everything I need in a hotel room for a few days.  The conference was at the Venetian Casino and it was on a higher level.  The casino was more spread out, cleaner, and attracted a younger crowd.  I thought this was my favorite casino until we stepped foot inside of The Bellagio one night.  This was the hotel featured in the movie Ocean's 11 and it was awesome.  Between the decorations, artwork, and the crowd it attracts it is definitely my favorite casino we went in and it's not even close.  (To be fair we didn't stray far from Harrah's this trip, so I haven't even come close to seeing every casino in Vegas)
• Eating on vacation is expensive.  I felt like Vegas was more expensive than any place I've been, but the more I think about it the more I realize that's the price for good food.  Haley and I's top places we ate in Vegas were Mon Ami Gabi (Paris), Kokomo (Mirage), and KGB (Harrah's).  One full day we tried out the Buffet of Buffets which gave us the ability, no the privilege of eating as many times at a number of buffets for a 24 hour period.  By no means were these fine dining, but they were pretty good...which is better than I can say about the Golden Corral.
• My feet hurt.  More than any other trip I've recently taken in the lower 48, Las Vegas is a walking town.  We walked all over the place visiting different events and casinos and then had to walk all the way back to our hotel dodging porn advertisements and street performers the whole way.  After a few days of this we really didn't walk as much, but we enjoyed it while our dogs would last.
• Oh yeah...I learned a lot at the conference too...no, really I did!

It was Haley and I's first time in Vegas so we didn't get off the beaten path much.  We didn't gamble much and we for sure didn't bet more than we could afford to lose (which wasn't much at all).  It was a great trip for someone to scholarship me to go to, but by the time we boarded the plane to head back to DFW we were exhausted and ready to be home.  Now, only one more week until San Diego with my family and then football and school start up quick.  Summer, where have you gone?

Too much time?

I've lived in the Dallas area for the vast majority of my life and never have I seen so much snow and ice in my life.  This is the third day in a row that most of the school districts in the area are completely closed for the day.  Because Coppell ISD is one of these, I've had a lot of time to sit on the couch and think about the world for way too long, and here are some thoughts, ideas, and things I've gotten done these past few days:

1. Time off shows how much you love something.  When you read any number of social networking sites, you can see which teachers and students really do love school.  I can't count how many people keep talking about how much they miss school and really wish the weather would clear up quicker.  There are also a fair number of people spouting how much they are happy there isn't any school and how they wish the snow and ice would stay for a long time.  It's just funny to me how an abundance of time will show you people's true feelings about life.
2. The irony of this blog.  This blog, in case you haven't noticed already, is called "The Horner House".  If you don't know Haley and me, we don't currently own a "home"...we rent an apartment. We took steps during the break to move from apartment to home living.  We've been waiting for approval from the seller's bank to move forward and that came during the past couple of days.  Hopefully the rest of the home buying process will move along as quickly.
3. Bills, bills, bills.  I hate paying the bills.  I really hate the fact that after a long day at work I have to come home and calculate out how much I owe some company for the amenities of living.  We've done a good job of limiting our spending, but it's a pain that will never really go away.  I've taken a little bit of time to get current on some of our bigger bills and make sure we're budgeting for them.  The best part is that there's no headache!
4. I'm not a tech-savvy as I like to think I am.  One of the major uses of my time this week has been discovering new websites and new blogs to read about.  There are some people on this earth that are way more knowledgeable about technology and the internet.  I've sat at their feet the past few days and have come up with a few minor changes that I'm making to make my life a little bit easier on the whole.  

That's how I've spent my last few days at home, trapped by the snow.  It may sound boring, but this list combined with good programming on cable TV has made this enjoyable as can be.

2 Days...No School!

Today has been a lot of firsts for the Horners.  We both were notified at 4:45 AM that we didn't have school today.  That was a blessing, since we have both been feeling somewhat overworked the past weeks (since we got back from Christmas break).  We slept in, watched endless weather reports, and cleaned up the apartment in the morning and then my dad came and picked us up and took us back to their house.  We would have driven ourselves except neither Haley or I have a four wheel drive car and the roads were solid ice.  The rest of the day was spent lounging, watching TV, and cooking.  Haley and I baked a cake we saw made on TV actually, so it was a lot of fun.  The best part of it all is that at about 5:30 PM we were told that school was cancelled for tomorrow as well!  I know I'm going to hate giving up future snow days, but I'm glad right now.