Last week, I went up to PVM to help out … and discovered that Dale, their media specialist, had just become really sick. I decided to step in and help with the photos, video, and DVD … something I used to do back in the day.

Here are some of the photos I took … and the video is above. Putting it together was quite a challenge … in one day, I had to sort through previously taken footage, fill in the gaps (half of the footage in this video was taken in about 2 hours), and stay up all night assembling the pieces.

Thankfully, I think it turned out pretty well!

There’s nothing on TV, I’m tired of working on the house/yard, it’s hot and balmy out, and my favorite person in the world is gone all week … so now’s as good a time as any to post an update on my life. Yep, that’s right … blogging is pretty much my last priority nowadays.

Sorry.

With summer this year has come something new in my life … more work. Yep … for the first time ever, I’m on the clock for both June and August, so I’ve been going in to school every weekday to work on lots of projects and preparation for next year. Here’s the to-do list:

1. Publish a website of resources for our Advisory program
2. Create a student lounge for our kids to hang out and have fun
3. Revamp our Behavioral Rubric to clarify how we do discipline
4. Reorganize my office and all of the junk that’s accumulated there
5. Take over our school socials, a monumental task
6. Consolidate all of my digital information
7. Redesign how our weekly chapels are put together
8. Run a one week Tech Camp in August for about 20 students

It’s weird, really … even after a couple of weeks of summer work, I can’t quite seem to get adjusted. My mind and body just want to check out … so I’ve been filling June up with lots of gruntwork. Hopefully I’ll be able to hit the ground running in August!

The homefront has shifted a bit lately … two tenants moved out in the past month while another moved in about two weeks ago. The changes seem good … and thankfully I should still be able to pay the bills and enjoy living where I do. Little by little, the house is getting organized … and along with it, so am I.

In News That Makes Me Smile, life with my lovely has been absolutely wonderful! Perhaps I should post more about her here, so y’all aren’t so surprised when I suddenly start gushing about how fantastic she is and how dramatically different my life has become. Then again, perhaps I should just leave it a mystery …

The next month should be pretty fun … weddings, a family vacation, some Cedar Point action, ultimate frisbee, a road trip, a conference in Atlanta, and a whole lotta summer. Sure, I might only get 1/3 of the time off than I’m used to … but I’m still gonna make the most of it!

Want to save some money on your water bill?

1. Wash out an empty bottle … two liters or milk jugs work well
2. Put a few rocks in it then fill the rest up with water
3. Replace the cap and place it in your toilet tank

If there’s a significant difference in your toilet’s water pressure, just adjust the size of the bottle. Once you find the right balance, you’ll start using less water each time you flush … and you can repeat the process for each of your potties.

So what are you waiting for? Do a number (#2?) on that monthly bill!

Facebook just announced that they’re going to be opening up a new can of worms in a couple of days, allowing each person to claim a username. It’s kind of a big deal, a potential game-changer for Facebook, as they’ve always resisted the username trend to ground their user base in actual identities, in real names. I’m quite interested to see how else they choose to use these usernames down the road.

It got me thinking, though … starting nine years ago, when I first registered http://webel.net, I’ve tried to keep things simple by going with the username “webel” on various services (i.e. Twitter, Flickr, etc). Short and sweet, you know? But now I’m starting to wonder if that’s really the best strategy.

If I changed my username to “lancewebel” on all of these services, for example, it would do a couple of things … first, it’d allow me to have a standard name that’s always available (so I wouldn’t have to fight with my own relatives). Second, it’d be much more search-friendly … anyone entering my first and last name would be more likely to find me if both of those were in my URL/information.

But it wouldn’t be all short-and-sweet anymore.

Hmm. I guess I have a couple of days to decide how to handle this from here on out, ’cause once I choose a Facebook username, it’s permanent. What do you think … should I go with “webel” or “lancewebel”?

A few days ago, Kristen and I came across the following note while rummaging through some of my old school papers. It’s from my first grade teacher, written at the end of the school year:

“I would like to mention again how strongly I feel about involving Lance in some kind of team soccer. In twelve years, I have never suggested to a parent any outside activity that I felt their child could have benefited from. However, it appears to me that Lance needs that extra release I feel he would receive from competitive sports. Lance is a superior student but he also shows talent athletically. Please call if you have questions. Good luck!”

– Mary Kase

Soccer, it seems, was the Ritalin of the 80’s … and I was a prime candidate. We laughed so hard … I guess that explains some things!