Sometimes with the every

​​A video of all 50 (+ the district) states license plates on Hilton Head Island. After moving to the island from the midwest I started realizing how many people came to vacation on this tiny (14 x 7 mile) barrier island nestled in the southern tip of South Carolina. In the midwest you might occasionally see a license plate from a  neighboring state, and in a good week you might see 2 or 3 different states. I quickly noticed that many states were represented here on HHI. After a few months I started to keep track in my head of all the different states- which quickly turned into a contest. Could I document all 50 states and the District of Columbia on our small island. YES! (Hawaii was a struggle but not as much as South Dakota. I snapped the shot fo SD while getting my oil changed. I guess if you drive from South Dakota or further- you are probably due for an oil change.  Anyways it was fun, and obsessive, I hope you enjoy. Now on to some other obsession. But if you are every in the area- stop on over to our wonderful little slice of paradise on Hilton Head Island, SC :)

It seems that no matter what we call it, one will have to continue to learn new skills, ideas or concepts in order to be relevant in their field. One thing that I love about my wife is she is always taking classes, attending PD, researching new concepts in her field so that she can be relevant in her field. She recently shared with me that when she was pregnant with our twins she "missed" the ombre craze and by default missed training on it. Later after the initial craze passed she still had the desire to go back and learn it so that any customer who came to her requesting an ombre, she would be able to accommodate. She said it would have been better to learn it earlier as the better teachers/presenters had presented it a few years earlier and she was stuck learning it from, well less than the best stylist.  
When I think of myself as a learner I want to learn everything almost to a fault. I often find myself learning just enough about something to talk about it but not enough to become an expert in that field. (A.K.A. start my own consulting firm on that topic) Although I will say with a few exceptions Google Apps for Education, itunes, podcasting and that collection of skills related to Apple, and of course the Safe Schools Training classes. But today I am jumping back into the online learning by signing up for a class on edx. They have a course on Active Directory and although I think I understand forests and trees and so on I feel taht I can pick up something from the course. Strike that I KNOW I will because being a life long learner I have realized that I can always pick up new information. 
I also signed up for a Blackbaud Foundations course. Our school has the learn everything package that is set to expire at the end of our contract with Blackbaud sometime in June. Therefore if I am going to learn this beast of a software I had better get on it. I am really excited about learning BB - specifically Education Edge (EE) as it seems everyone here assumes that I know what I am doing with EE so I figure I had mise well learn it. 
Plus they tout the fact that your certification never expires but they recommned you update your skill set on a regular basis. Oh and the fact they send you a BB logo to add to your business cards upon successful completion of the course and exam. Any one who knows me can attest to the fact that I will do just about any training for a certificate but some little logo I can add to my business card well now we are cooking with fire.

So I am three months, almost 4 months into my new position as director of tech at HHPrep and still no post. I had originally planned on blogging my adventures of leaving the classroom and entering the world of Director-ship each and everyday. You know so one day I can reflect back onto the silly issues/problems that consumed my day but... As anyone who has started a new job that might be a bit above their ability can attest to- everyday is a struggle to stay ahead (or in my case to keep from drowning in the unknown.)
Maybe more about my first 3 months later as for now I will begin documenting this adventure starting today!