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Lloyd's Life 2006 |
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Today's Date: Tuesday, 10/3/06 The Time: 8:15 a.m. Looking Forward To: Lisa's birthday in one week (and I even have her gift already)!
I miss Honey Garlic Chicken. My family and I have been to numerous Asian restaurants in and around the Gainesville area and we have only found one restaurant that serves it; and they almost lost my debit card when I paid the bill, not to mention that they moved us to a different table after we had been seated for about 15 minutes (No, we haven't been back to that one). We have found some restaurants that serve Garlic Chicken; and we have found some restaurants that serve Honey Chicken. But we just can't find one that combines the flavors in the same dish (maybe I should get both the Garlic Chicken and the Honey Chicken and mix them myself - on second thought, that probably isn't a wise idea). The last time I had Honey Garlic Chicken was when we were visiting my parents in Ft. Pierce about a year ago. There is a small Asian restaurant on North U.S. 1 near the Indian Hills Golf Course that serves, not only Honey Garlic Chicken, but the best Asian cuisine I have ever tasted - period. When we lived in that area before moving to Alachua, we would frequent that restaurant at least once a month. Now I'm not sure I'll ever get to go back since my parents have moved to Ohio. Since we can't find my Honey Garlic Chicken anywhere, we now patronize a couple of Asian Buffets and a couple of small carry-out stores to fill our appetites. By now, you are probably wondering why I am pandering on about Asian eating establishments. Well, Lisa, the boys, and I went to one of our spots to get our fix of Asian food the other night and, at the end of the meal (as I'm sure you know) we had to open our fortune cookies. After everyone else had opened theirs, I opened mine and immediately knew that it applied, not only to my job as Florida HOSA State Advisor, but to all our HOSA members across the nation - "Teamwork makes the dream work." Chew on that one!
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Today's Date: Tuesday, 9/26/06 The Time: 8:48 a.m. Looking Forward To: The Gator Homecoming Parade next week!
(For larger view, click on pictures; Pic #1 - Lloyd, Julie Stuart - Senator Bill Nelson's Legislative Correspondent, and Kim Smith from National HOSA; Pic #2 - Lloyd, Representative Paul Gillmor, and Debbie Neal - Ohio HOSA State Advisor; Pic #3 - view of the West Wing of the White House from the Executive Office Building)
What a fantastic conference the National HOSA Office put together for the HOSA State Advisors! Last week, all the State Advisors met in Washington D.C. where we were presented with new and informative materials pertaining to our organization, along with a speaker from our new National Service Project - Autism Speaks, and many partnership updates. In addition, we were addressed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary - Alex Michael Azar, the Special Assistant to the President for Healthcare Policy - Julie Goon, the Executive Director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness - Melissa Johnson, and several U.S. Senators and Representatives. Last Wednesday morning, each of the State Advisors went to meet with their state's Representatives and Senators. It is very difficult to meet face to face with these people so most of the meetings were conducted with the assistants and aids in each office, which we were told was just as good as talking to the Representatives or Senators themselves. I met with staffers from Congressman Clay Shaw's office, Congressman Connie Mack's office, Senator Mel Martinez's office, and Senator Bill Nelson's office. Each of these meetings was very beneficial in letting them know about HOSA, our mission, and how we are working to avert the healthcare crisis; each office was very supportive of our goals. As I mentioned, it is very difficult to arrange a face to face meeting with these public servants at this level of government; however, I was able to actually meet with Representative Paul Gillmor from Ohio's 5th Congressional District. This was a special meeting for me because Congressman Gillmor graduated from the same high school I did, Old Fort High School. That may not seem significant to you, but if you were familiar with Old Fort, you would realize that it is a very small school in the middle of Ohio's agricultural region (now you can probably understand why I joined FFA when I was in school!), and in 1982 I received my high school diploma along with all 42 of my classmates. While Ohio has not requested a State Charter from National HOSA yet (possibly at the next NLC in Orlando!), two brand new HOSA chapters have organized in the state this year and I was privileged enough to have the chapter advisor (and acting Ohio HOSA State Advisor) accompany me to Congressman Gillmor's office to meet with him. After the Congressman and I shared our memories of Old Fort, Debbie Neal (Ohio HOSA State Advisor) and I introduced Representative Gillmor to HOSA and he expressed much interest in our organization. He went on to state that he would also support our organization. While in Washington D.C., National HOSA and Axela Government Relations (National HOSA partner) arranged a lunch in the Capitol Building after our meetings with the Senators and Representatives. They also coordinated a meeting with the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in the Executive Office Building right next to the White House, and a tour of the White House which was amazing! I think I mentioned last year that the SAM Conference in San Francisco was the best to date; however, this one seems to have eclipsed that one. It was a tremendously productive week, not only for the State Advisors, but for our entire organization as we shared with our nation's leaders the significance, the value, and the impact of HOSA on our nation!
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Today's Date: Thursday, 9/7/06 The Time: 8:22 a.m. Looking Forward To: The Health Occupations Teachers (H.O.T.s) Forum tomorrow and driving my mom to her new home in Ohio where I'll be with some family members that I haven't seen for a while!
Immediately after the meeting, Mom and I will be off to Ohio. Hopefully there will be enough room in her car for my suitcase; it seems to be pretty full already with items that she has packed to take to the new house. We should be able to get there by Saturday afternoon and my role will shift from chauffer to moving man. Even though there will be much to do, it will still be fun because I can catch up with my cousin and his family with whom I haven't been able to spend much time. I'll be getting up early Tuesday morning to have Dad take me over to Pittsburgh so I can pick up a rental car to drive back to Florida. I should be back in the office Wednesday morning, if all goes as planned. And one final note; Christian gets to meet Lee Humphrey tonight at his youth group meeting. If you don't know who Lee Humphrey is, shame on you. He is a member of the 2006 Men's Basketball National Championship team - the Florida Gators!
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Today's Date: Friday, 9/1/06 The Time: 10:16 a.m. Looking Forward To: The Buckeyes and Gators Football Teams starting the season tomorrow with their first wins (of many!)!
My Top 9 List (I don't want to get in trouble with David Letterman's lawyers!) of summer activities between Memorial Day and Labor Day:
# 9. Mowing the grass (I really do enjoy it...but I wouldn't put it at the top of my list!) # 8. State Officer LDC Planning Meeting # 7. Reading Death Valley in '49: The Autobiography of a Pioneer (I wish I had read this before our California trip) # 6. Watching the Fourth of July Fireworks from our back porch # 5. Birthday Dinner at Cedar River Seafood # 4. NLC 2006 # 3. Watching Cars with Jordan/Geocaching with Christian # 2. Lisa's Family Reunion in West Palm Beach/visiting my parents in Ft. Pierce and # 1. Family trip in California (did you expect something else?)
(For those purists out there; # 10 would be Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Dead Man's Chest - not as good as I had hoped, but still enjoyable.)
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Today's Date: Tuesday, 8/29/06 The Time: 8:34 a.m. Looking Forward To: Labor Day Weekend!
The State Officers were working hard this past weekend as we began making plans for the Leadership Development Conference. I'll tell you what, you have a fantastically creative bunch of leaders serving you this year! My co-workers here at SRAHEC were asking me how the weekend went and if we got much accomplished, and I told them the truth...the State Officers were on fire and playing their "A" Game! I can't wait to get together with them again at our next Planning Meeting to finalize everything for the LDC and then, three weeks after that, to see the expressions on our members' faces when you finally get to appreciate what the State Officers put together. Start making plans now to attend the LDC at Camp K, November 17-19; you won't want to miss this one!
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Today's Date: Thursday, 8/17/06 The Time: 10:12 a.m. Looking Forward To: Football season!
If you haven't downloaded it yet, I would urge you to do so. Google Earth is an amazing tool! It makes the world seem very small, yet at the same time, you can see how big things really are. It is free to register, but you can upgrade for a price. I have mapped out my family's tour of California for those of you that are interested. To download Google Earth go to http://earth.google.com/. Our trip is listed as "Lloyd's Life 2006 California Trip" and the link to the Posting Page is: http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/559766/an/0/page/0#559766. You can click on individual stops that we made, or play the tour which automatically takes you place to place. I hope you enjoy it!
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Today's Date: Friday, 7/28/06 The Time: 8:09 a.m. Looking Forward To: Getting back to The Farm!
Uncle Jot, Aunt Lois, and Maude (yes, we had a Maude, too!) did many things the old-fashioned way like making their own butter, preparing huge family dinners on Sunday after church, and bailing their own hay for the cattle and stacking it in the barn across the road using what I thought at the time to be a turn of the century tractor (I don't think it was, but when you are as young as I was at that time, even things that are only 20 years old look ancient!). Uncle Jot's barn was featured in a magazine years ago as one of the last barns to be painted with the Mail Pouch advertisement which some of you might remember. The barn was torn down a few years ago and a house has been built in its place, but the surrounding pasture land is still in the De Vault family, and that's where Dad and Uncle Neil (short for Cornelius - told you) plan on raising their Devonshire cattle. By the way, I call him Uncle Neil and his wife Aunt Pat, but they are not my real aunt and uncle; Dad spent so much time down on The Farm that he and Neil were practically raised together as brothers. When my brother and I came along, Neil was already married so we just started referring to Neil and Pat as our uncle and aunt; Neil is actually my Dad's first cousin. By this time you are probably thoroughly confused by my family history; but that's okay, because I am still trying to get it straight myself 40 years later. What I am sure of is this: I know Dad, Mom, Uncle Neil, and Aunt Pat will have a great time living so close together there on The Farm. And as for me and my family, it will be nice to get to The Farm more often where Christian and Jordan can chase fireflies in the twilight, slide down the same hill I did (a very interesting story - and lesson - for another entry!), and maybe even have a chance to play in the snow. Even though Uncle Jot passed away last March and he is sorely missed, he had a full life; and everyone - family and friends - knew how greatly blessed he had been. The memories of Uncle Jot and The Farm will be with me until I'm gone, and hopefully I can pass a little bit of that heritage on to my children.
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Today's Date: Monday, 7/24/06 The Time: 2:39 p.m. Looking Forward To: Moroccan Cornish Game Hen for dinner tonight!
I'm baaack! I had to catch up on quite a few things here in the office as you can imagine. My family and I had a FANTASTIC time in CA; I think the trip is one of the best I have ever taken! Lisa and the boys seemed to be quite excited about it also. We only took about 700 pictures; I'll share just a few here so that the server doesn't crash (click on each picture for a larger view). Christian is now 12!! We celebrated his birthday last week on July 18th. His theme was Pirates of the Caribbean so he got the video game for his present and we went to see the movie (even if it wasn't his birthday, I would have dragged him to see it - I was just using his birthday as an excuse). Not a bad sequel; I still like the first one better, though. Of course, Jen, your Florida HOSA State President, likes PC 2 better just because I had her watch a scene from the first one about a hundred times as she practiced her voice-over for the 2005 LDC. I'll be working on updating the Florida HOSA website this week so be watching for your new State Officers' profiles and be sure to contact them and let them know how excited you are getting about the new year. Great job at the National Conference, Florida HOSA!
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Today's Date: Friday, 6/16/06 The Time: 9:17 a.m. Looking Forward To: California!
I had an interesting comment on my last entry of 6/8/06; Matthew, a former Texas HOSA President wrote,
"Are you trying to write something in Greek at the beginning of each section? It looks like "Loent's bios." I happen to know some Greek, so please tell me what you are trying to write. In any event, the sigma at the end of "bios" should be an ultima sigma, which looks different from the sigma shown."
You are very observant,
Matthew; great job! I was wondering if anyone would catch on to my entry
dividers. Here's the story: I was an exchange student to Greece back in
1981 and lived with a family in Patras for a little while; not enough time to
become really fluent in Greek, though. However, my host brother showed me
how to write my name, Lloyd, phonetically in Greek - lambda, omicron, eta, nu,
tau. The nu, tau are because there is no "d" in the Greek alphabet -
what we have labled in America as "delta" is actually "thelta" with a hard "th"
sound as in then. If you try to pronounce the sounds for nu and tau
at the same time, it comes out as a "d" sound. Omicron, eta are placed
together for the diphthong "oy" as in oil. Bios is Greek for life; so I
put the two together for "Lloyd's Bios" or Lloyd's Life." I'm not sure
about the ultima sigma, Matthew, so if you could fill me in, I would sure
appreciate it! Right now, though, my family is getting ready to go to California. Christian and I have to get up at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning to make it to the Tampa airport for check-in and our flight. Lisa and Jordan will be flying out after the conference is over and we will tour California from San Diego to San Francisco. I'll be back in the office July 5th and I will post some pictures here on the blog. Aγαθό αντίο!
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Today's Date: Thursday, 6/8/06 The Time: 3:12 p.m. Looking Forward To: Jordan's 3rd birthday on Sunday (I can't believe he's 3 already)!
That's another reason I love HOSA, because we encourage one another to do our best. Our advisors aspire each and everyday to inspire their students to reach further and higher; to make them better than they were before they entered their classroom - and that doesn't just happen by chance. That kind of caring is what separates an ordinary teacher from an extraordinary teacher; the kind of teacher you will be talking about warmheartedly at your 25th high school reunion. If you haven't done so yet, you might want to let your HOSA advisor know how much you appreciate all they do for you. Members and advisors - thank you for supporting Florida HOSA!
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Today's Date: Friday, 5/19/06 The Time: 9:46 a.m. Looking Forward To: NLC 2006!
Okay, I have no excuse other than it gets busier than usual here in the State Office from a couple of months before the State Conference to about a month after. Even now, I am still working on getting things ready for the National Conference and putting together the Perkins Grant Report for the Department of Education. However, I thought I should take the time to blog this morning since it has been a while and my faithful readers (all two of them) are probably wondering if I fell off the face of the earth. My life for the past few months has been SLC, NOC, and NLC. SLC was great! Daytona Beach lived up to it's billing as I have heard consistent reports about how much our members enjoyed it there. We'll have another go around in Daytona Beach next year before heading back to Orlando in 2008. Your newly elected State Officers are going to be awesome! At the New Officer's Conference (NOC) a few weeks ago, they came together as a team and worked on strengthening their leadership skills to better serve the members of Florida HOSA. They have already started working on their workshops for LDC, so I hope you are making your plans to attend November 17-19. California, here we come! It's just a month away and I can feel the excitement! We have 284 members registered in the Florida HOSA delegation for the NLC in Anaheim. They will be competing against the best in the nation, and I know our members will represent our organization well as they have always done in the past!! My oldest son, Christian, will be flying with me to Anaheim for the conference. Even though he is a Florida HOSA Career Health Division member, he will be assisting in the Conference HQ during the convention. On the last day of the conference, my wife, Lisa, and my youngest son, Jordan, will be joining us in California. We will spend the next week traveling and exploring the Golden State from San Diego all the way up to San Francisco. My family has had a difficult time narrowing down all the places we want to see and things we want to do, but rest assured, we'll figure it out! I hope to see you in Anaheim; and, if not, have a great summer!
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Today's Date: Wednesday, 2/8/06 The Time: 12:32 p.m. Looking Forward To: Attending Region X's Conference this weekend!
I just finished reading another great book; 1776 by David McCullough. It's amazing that I'm not sitting here sipping my tea and eating crumpets with the almost insurmountable obstacles that General George Washington and the Continental Army overcame to make us an independent nation. There were so many times that the rebellious colonists could have easily been annihilated by the vastly superior British Armed Forces, that it boggles the mind as to why the United States of America even exists. Many of the colonists that served in the Continental Army wrote in their journals about how they believed it was Providence that was leading them; and when you read this book, it is very easy to see how they could think that. If you like history and think you know what happened during the first years of the Revolutionary War, you might want to take a look at this book to see how much you didn't know, like me! I can't wait to see the members of Florida HOSA Region X on Saturday; hopefully you all are practicing your competitive events!
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Today's Date: Friday, 2/3/06 The Time: 1:14 p.m. Looking Forward To: The Seattle Seahawks trouncing the Steelers in Super Bowl XL!
Just to give a little background: I have been waiting 30 years for the Seattle Seahawks to make it to the Super Bowl. When I first became interested in football in the 7th grade, two new teams had just joined the NFL - the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks. I'm not sure what drew me to the Seahawks, all I know is that I tried to watch them as often as I could on our TV (no cable - we lived way out in the country and had to use an antenna, this was also before satellite reception was available!). My so called friends at school often made fun of me for rooting for such underdogs, but I steadfastly remained loyal to my chosen team. Some of you Buccaneer fans are probably able to identify with this; watching and waiting all those years for that golden season when your team finally makes it to the big game and becomes a World Champion. In any case, my friends and I would get together every once in a while during football season to watch a game and I would almost ruthlessly be razzed about my Seahawks; but I did not cave in to peer pressure, they all knew where I stood and I was not budging. And here I am, 30 years later, having gone through thick and thin, enduring heartache and despair, yet never giving up, about to see my team play in the Super Bowl. My dedication has paid off. Maybe next season my other favorite team, the Detroit Lions, will make it to the Super Bowl...on the other hand, that might be a little too much to ask for in such a short time, so let's just savor this moment of greatness with the Seahawks.
Diamonds for De Vault: Are you able to withstand peer pressure?
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Today's Date: Friday, 1/20/06 The Time: 4:31 p.m. Looking Forward To: Meeting with the State Officers this weekend for an SLC Planning Meeting!
I know many of you have already competed in your Regional Conferences and I hope you did as well as you had expected. Region 2 began the season with their conference last weekend and it was terrific!! Regions 1 and 3 had their conferences today, so I'm sure there are more excited members out there just waiting to come to the SLC and display their skills!! The State Officers and I will be meeting at the Daytona Beach Hilton Ocean Walk Village to plan some of the activities for the State Conference; I know they are anxiously waiting for conference time to get here, also. They'll be passing along the information we discuss at this meeting in the Florida HOSA Newsletter due out at the end of February. Until then, congratulations to those of you that have had your conferences, and good luck to those of you that will be having their Regional Conference in the near future!!!
Diamonds for De Vault: How did you do in your competitive event?
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Today's Date: Thursday, 1/12/06 The Time: 2:53 a.m. Looking Forward To: Florida HOSA Region 2's Conference this weekend!
Do you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia or triskaidekaphobia? If you do, you just might want to stay in bed under the covers tomorrow. Yes, that's right; tomorrow is Friday the 13th - the first of two this year (the next one will be October 13 if you want to start making preparations now). The British Medical Journal published a study in 1993 entitled "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?" where they compared the number of traffic accidents on two different days, Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, over several years. They found that, even though the traffic was lighter on Friday the 13th because fewer people chose to drive on that day, the number of accidents was significantly higher than on "normal" Fridays. Their conclusion: "Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended." Being the sound healthcare professionals, and future healthcare professionals, that we are, we would not presume to rely on only one scientific study to form our opinion, right? Could it be that these statistics more accurately reflect the psychology of our society than they do a specific ill-fated date? If you are one of those that is contemplating staying under the covers tomorrow, let me regale you with some practical "cures" that have been developed over the years. First, and foremost, redirect your thoughts; your attitude and outlook can affect how you feel and what you do (Hmmm...maybe we should try that everyday instead of just Friday the 13th). Another folklore remedy (disclaimer: I make no claim that the following is anywhere near factual or that it should actually be attempted - only passing on what I have found) is to climb to the top of a mountain (and if no mountain is available, they suggest a skyscraper) and burn all the socks you have with holes in them (that would practically clean out my sock drawer!). And if that doesn't do the trick, their last suggestion is to stand on your head and eat a piece of gristle (I think I could recommend a few restaurants to fulfill this last one). I hope you are brave enough to face tomorrow head-on with a great outlook.....if not, I'll see you Saturday the 14th!
Diamonds for De Vault: Has anything unusual ever happened to you on Friday the 13th?
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Today's Date: Tuesday, 1/3/06 The Time: 8:13 a.m. Looking Forward To: Traveling to Dallas for the National HOSA Competitive Events Committee Meeting!
Happy New Year!!! I know you are excited to be back in school, forsaking the memories of sleeping in (until who knows what hour!) during your Winter Break so you could stay up late into the night - right, advisors!?! I'm sure your students feel the same way. So, did you make a New Year's Resolution? Did you know the tradition of the New Year's Resolution goes all the way back to 153 B.C.? It seems there was a mythical king of early Rome named Janus and he was depicted as having two faces. Because of this, as you can imagine, he was able to look back on past events and forward to the future at the same time; Janus soon became the ancient symbol for resolutions. Later, wanting to emulate their great king Janus, the Romans would seek forgiveness from their enemies of the past year and also exchange gifts before the beginning of the new year. In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar developed a calendar (called the Julian Calendar, interestingly enough!) that more accurately reflected the change of seasons than previous calendars had. The name given to the first month on this new calendar was "January" after Janus, who had turned into the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. As before, Janus was represented with two faces; one on the front of his head and one on the back - continuing to look backward and forward at the same time. With Julius Caesar proclaiming January 1 as the official beginning of the New Year on his new calendar, each December 31 the Romans would imagine Janus looking back at the old year reflecting on what he could have done to make his life and his country better, yet looking forward simultaneously into the new year, with hope, to the many opportunities he would have in achieving the noble and admirable ideals he had resolved to attain. This custom transformed into the tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the faces of Janus became more common New Year's gifts. As you look back on 2005, are there any changes you would make? As you look forward to 2006, what aspirations do you have? I hope each of you has a happy and prosperous new year!!! Diamonds for De Vault:
What is your New Year's Resolution? |
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επίσκεψη -
9/9/05 |
The
Vault
I'll be out at Camp Kulaqua tomorrow for
the H.O.T.s Forum and the Health Careers Exploration Day sponsored by Suwannee
River AHEC. This is the day when students from the 12 surrounding counties
come to see, hear, and experience various health careers first hand. They
rotate through several workshops led by health care professionals and
participate in hands-on activities to gain a better understanding of that health
career. Meanwhile, their teachers and guidance counselors are
attending their own conference designed to deliver key information to enhance
their classrooms and schools. I am looking forward to a fun and exciting
day tomorrow at Camp K!
I just found out my parents are moving back to Ohio right after Labor Day.
They moved to Ft. Pierce from Tiffin, Ohio when I started college at Wright
State University in Dayton, Ohio in 1982. They will be moving to
southeastern Ohio to restart the family cattle farm just outside of Belmont
which is about 20 miles west of Wheeling, West Virginia just off of Interstate
70. The De Vault family has strong roots in that area; in fact, Dad will
be moving to his uncle's farm. I remember going down to Uncle Jot's (I
know - we have interesting names in our family) farm every couple of months to
visit when I was growing up; it was known in our family as going to "The Farm."
Our trips there were like stepping back in time. Of course, to get to The
Farm from our house in Tiffin we had to travel through the Amish countryside
with horses and buggies (not us, we were in a car. I was referring to some
of the residents of the area around Apple Creek, Fredericksberg, and Strasburg,
Ohio). That automatically sent my mind back a hundred years so that by the
time we got to The Farm it seemed like yesteryear.
Well, the Seahawks couldn't
get it done, but as the saying goes, there's always next year!
