Media Blitz and Calendar Watching

Over the past several weeks I have been doing media appearances on behalf of the college.  I have done a couple of radio appearances and a television appearance and with an average of one a week am definitely spending a lot of time getting free advertising for the college.  With our 40th anniversary next month, the new business building about to start construction and the fall term starting in a month there has been a lot to talk about.  It certainly has kept the weeks moving which has been a good thing.  I recently answered some emails asking me what I was up to with some combination of the following: "My life now is a calendar watch.  The questions each day seem to begin with what week are we, then quickly move to when is the next Dr. visit, how long is it to viability, how long until the lungs are developed, how many more days to November, and on and on."  The radio and TV appearances have been a good distraction from the overwhelming nature of getting ready to be parents and contemplating the calendar as it inexorably moves forward is both exciting and scary.  Katie is doing a great job of keeping the baby blog up to date so keep checking that for updates on little Baby C. 27 weeks this Thursday.

Virtual Baby Shower

This afternoon my sister Johanna threw Kathleen a virtual baby shower from her house in Naperville, Illinois. We attended via skype video link and were able to see and talk to all our relatives and friends who attended.  It was a surreal experience to attend a party from thousands of miles away, but we really felt like we were there.  The one big thing missing was not being able to eat all the great food they were having.  We hadn't seen Johanna and her kids Nicholas and Zachary in a couple of weeks and it was amazing to see how much they grow even when its only been a few weeks since we last saw them.  We also got to see our Great Aunt Mary and Uncle Hank and it was great to talk to them along with our cousins Chuck (with Twila and the kids Cory and Christie), Mary Kay, Sue and Eileen; and friends like Maryann Walsh.  The baby shower was centered around creating onesies for the baby.  We saw a longhorn onesie, a kittycat onesie, an airplane onesie, a Ms. November, a rainbow onesie and even a dinosaur one from Nicholas.  Little Zach made his presence known throughout and it was really nice to see and interact with everyone as they made the onesies. 

We want to really thank Jo and Brent for doing this and setting up such a wonderful afternoon and thanks to everyone who attended or who will be sending onesies as part of the broader baby shower in other places across America.  We wish we could be with you. 

Fifteen years ago....

It was the last week of July 1995 and on that Friday afternoon, I drove back to my Mom's house in San Antonio having completed the grueling two and a half day long Texas Bar Exam.  It would be three long months before I got my scores and found out I could practice as a lawyer.  The last Friday in July is always a reminder of that exam and the months of studying for it followed by the long months of waiting for the results.  To all the prospective lawyers in Texas heading home this afternoon I wish you good luck and a good nights sleep tonight.  I believe my first two days after the exam I woke up to eat once on the Saturday after but my first real memories aren't until the Sunday following, so sleep well. 

Cleaning out desk for Hurricane Season

Our desk is downstairs and during hurricane season, if a storm is on the way we move a lot of the electronic items and discs as well as other other materials upstairs into a plastic bin. I was going through the desk inventorying what we have in case we need to move it and came across a CD with some photographs. Upon putting it in the computer, I realized it was old photographs of the 2006 Rose Bowl National Championship game. I was having so much fun reliving the game and the festivities afterward that I figured I would post one of the shots. Here is a random Rose Bowl photo of my friend Gary and I after the game. We had gone to the game as my "bachelor party". I was five months from getting married at that point and he was not yet a Father. Here we are four plus years later and he has two kids while Katie and I are expecting our first. Wow has time flown or what?

East End Dinner

This evening we drove out to East End for a combination date night and celebratory dinner. We went to a restaurant we had not been to in a while, Portofino Wreck View, which sits on the northeast point of the Island. We were treated to a tremendous storm just as we entered East End. The wind picked up tremendously and the waves got huge crashing against the shore. We drove past the blow hole and saw a couple of very large explosions of water out of it. We are celebrating Scott's nomination to a possible government related position and if he gets it will let you know soon. It is a political position and in politics nothing is certain until the government officially announces the appointment. Still, it is quite an honor to even be nominated and so whether it happens or not, today was to celebrate that nomination. If it does happen it will not affect Scott's work or position at the college though it will mean extra work. We had to eat inside because of the wind and rain but sat next to a window and watched it all as we eat. It was a great evening and gave us a good chance to see the eastern end of the island for the first time in a couple of months.

Despicable Me and A La Kebob

This past weekend Katie and I decided to get in the car, fight through the rain and actually get out of the house. We headed over to Camana Bay which has really become a nice outdoor mall after its slow start of just having the Hollywood movie theatres and book store. Katie needed to work on some of her DU stuff so we went to Cafe Del Sol, a coffee shop, and sat in the back, me drinking a Latte and her a hot chocolate while we took advantage of their free wireless. After an hour or so of Masters work we headed over to A La Kebob and got some gyro's before heading back to Camana Bay to watch a movie. We had to choose between the new Twilight movie and Despicable Me. Katie is a huge Twilight fan and I figured we would be going to that film but surprisingly, Katie really wanted to see Despicable Me. We bought our tickets to the early afternoon showing and in addition to the movie got to experience what life will be like in a few years. The theatre was packed with parents taking their young kids to the movie. In front of us were some young girls dressed up like princesses out with their Mom and behind us a family with all three young kids seated in a row between Mom and Dad. Everywhere you looked were families. We even ran into one of our students bringing his young daughter and he said we were "too old to be at this movie" to which we replied "we were practicing for the future". The combination of rain plus it being an early showing probably played some role in the large number of young kids brought by their parents but it was still something of an eye opener to see that many youngsters with their parents.

After the movie we headed home so Katie could focus on getting her school work done. With assignments due every weekend for her classes, Saturday's and Sunday's have become class time. We are now in the fifth week of our summer quarter at ICCI. I did a radio appearance Monday on Radio Cayman talking about the 40th anniversary of the college and the changes at the institution over the past few years. We are both getting a little better at getting our morning walk in between the rain and might actually try some snorkeling if the weather allows. It is strange not having an off island trip in the works and knowing that we aren't going anywhere until we have a new family member. One thing we are working on now is making sure that as soon as our little one is born we get her properly registered and get her a US passport and social security number. She will be a dependent on my work permit so there is a ton of paperwork we have to have ready well before she comes.

Stormy weekend

While we aren't facing anything resembling a tropical storm, we are getting deluged by rain today and last night the storm knocked out our power for several hours. This morning as I look out our front window our parking lot is a lake and the waterfall off our roof is keeping Gypsy very focused. For about a year now we have kept our A/C at 82 degrees Fahrenheit so the loss of power last night and resulting heat didn't affect us that much. Interestingly enough even with the pregnancy Katie hasn't needed the A/C turned down so her body temperature doesn't seem to be fluctuating that much. We both sleep underneath covers at night and it is amazing how much our blood has thinned to where temperatures in the 70's now seem cold. The rainy season is now in full force here in the tropics and not a day goes by that we don't see some rain.

Katie in Texas

This weekend Kathleen is back in Texas to visit her family, do some maternity shopping and attend the wedding of a friend of hers. Gypsy and I are holding down the fort here in Cayman. Gypsy has to wonder what is going on as last weekend it was her and Kathleen alone in the house. She must think we are both nuts. This morning she yelled at me for an hour and I could just make out the words, "where is the girl boy, where is the girl?" While Katie has been gone we got our car window fixed so the plastic window is no more. We are into week four of our summer term and with the height of hurricane season approaching are stocking up. The baby blog is updated with all the info on our visit last week and obviously that will be our focus these next few months (and the rest of lives).

Round of 16

With the storm letting up just a bit I headed over to the sports bar yesterday and got to watch the USA-Ghana match with the ESPN feed. The USA was clearly outplayed and Ghana got a deserved goal in added extra time to win 2-1. I got to walk home in the rain and bemoan the lost opportunity. There were a ton of US fans in the bar and the atmosphere was great even in defeat. This week is week two of the summer term and on Thursday I head to Miami for the summer seminar then right after I get back Katie heads to Duncanville. In between on the sixth of July we have an appointment at which we may or may not find out the gender.

Rain and Tropical Sorm Alex

With the glass for our car window at least 5 days shipping away, now was about as in- convenient a time as possible for the first tropical storm of the season to make an appearance. While it is well to the south of us we are getting lashed by band after band of rain being sent out by TS Alex. We have a trash bag taped over the window and the tarp over the vehicle to keep out the water. At left is a photo of the driving rain and the tarp being blown around. The water runs off our roof through the drain visible on the right thus the seeming waterfall there. Unfortunately, with no driver side window, the car is undrivable as there is a huge blind spot for the driver because you cant see through the trash bag. We cant remove the bag because of the constant rain. That means we are trapped at home pending use of the college van which is having its radiator flushed or rides from co-workers.

This afternoon is the big USA-Ghana match, if the rain lets up we are going to the sportsbar to watch the US transmission and if we cant we will have to watch the Caribbean feed from FIFA at home. Either way it will be a tense afternoon of futbol as we watch the round of 16 match.

Car Window

Yesterday we learned just what happens when a weed whacker and a rock interact with a drivers side window. A lot of broken glass. We are driving around with a trash bag for a window and with rainy season in full force are holding our breath every time the rain starts. It may take a while to find the right size glass for our car and that is a concern. Fortunately the lawn service has agreed to pay for the damages so at least that is good.

USA 1 Algeria 0

The local TV stations here are apparently still back in the '50's in terms of satellite feeds. As a result they are only able to show one game at a time during the third phase of group play when two matches are played simultaneously. They have advertised for a month that we would see all 64 games live but apparently forget to notice that there are 8 games played simultaneously and if their third world set up cant get more than one satellite feed then they would have to show on tape delay one of the games even with two stations available to carry games. With so many Englanders on island there was no question which game they would carry live this morning at 9:00 a.m. local time and it wasn't the USA.

As a result, I got up early and headed over to the sportsbar that I normally find myself at on Saturdays in the fall to watch the Horns play. The bar was already open when I arrived around 8:45 and quickly filled with both American and English fans. They split the bar so on one side they had the US match playing with audio for it and on the other England with its audio. They also had the other game showing on one or two TVs on each side so you could follow your match but keep an eye on the other.

When England scored early on in their match it became clear that the US would have to win to advance. The Americans had a goal disallowed and missed a ton of chances. You could tell the mood in the bar was getting more and more depressed on the American side as the clock ticked down and chance after chance went awry. At the 90 minute mark it was still a scoreless draw and it looked like the US would crash out of the cup and we would all go home disappointed. The English fans were pretty clearly hoping for a US draw which would mean that they would top the group. So, while not exactly cheering for Algeria they were certainly not rooting on the Yanks. Then, in the 91st minute (into injury time) the Americans got a breakaway and Landon Donovan got a rebound goal and I swear you could hear the roar from the US fans in the bar throughout the island. It was incredible! The US 1-0 victory combined with England's 1 nil win over Slovenia meant both teams advance so no one left the bar sad but with the US now topping the group the American fans definitely left with a greater sense of elation not just at the last minute goal that saved them from elimination but at winning the group and hopefully avoiding Germany in the round of 16. With this win the US advance to play Saturday in the round of 16 and I will be right back at the same bar to watch the match hoping for a similar result.

World Cup 24x7

Down here it is World Cup time all the time with the international feed on both local channels and the signs everywhere with expats flying their national colors. The games are live early in the day then replayed later along with a one hour highlight show to wrap up the day. We were in Jamaica for the USA-England match but were home this morning as USA took on Slovenia. The ESPN feed is blacked out so we can only watch the Caribbean feed for the games on the local channels. After trailing 2-0 in the first half today, the Americans scored two goals in the second half and had a third potential game winning goal disallowed on an absolutely atrocious call by some America-hating-two-bit-third-world referee in over his head officiating a World Cup match (but we aren't bitter about it at all). The 2-2 draw today combined with the 1-1 draw with England mean the US is still alive to advance to the elimination rounds. The USA plays Algeria next week and must win by 2 goals to guarantee advancement to the round of 16.

Update: After Algeria and England play to an ugly nil-nil draw, all the US must do is beat Algeria by any scoreline to guarantee advancement. Good thing we don't work mornings as next Wednesday is the big match. National pride is a big deal down here for these few weeks so the US doing well is letting the Americans on the Island hold their heads high in conversation with our European co-workers.

Home from Jamaica

We are back on Cayman after a quick getaway weekend to Negril on the western coast of Jamaica. We stayed at a resort on the beach and did some snorkeling both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday evening we made a trip over to the famous Rick's Cafe to watch the cliff divers and take in a sunset. Pictured at left is us at the cafe. Pictured below is one of the cliff divers. Rick's was voted one of the top ten bars in the world and we got to see some incredibly high cliff diving. Unfortunately this is the rainy season and on the evening we went to Rick's there was a rainstorm which prevented us from seeing the spectacular sunset that the bar is famous for as well. The snorkel trips were a lot of fun as on both trips we saw new fish and reef creatures that we hadnt yet identified in our books and got to make new entries for a couple of star fish, a sea cucumber and a trumpetfish.

It is World Cup time and everywhere in Jamaica you could see evidence of the competition going on. On Saturday for the USA-England match it seemed like the whole country came to a halt to watch the match. In addition to the snorkeling we got in some quality beach time reading and swimming and generally had a very restful weekend. We had formal meals each of the three nights we were there and got to enjoy tapanaki the last night made right in front of us. Little Baby C does not like flying and Katie didn't enjoy the traveling portions of our trip on Friday and Monday. This week there are no classes at ICCI but we have evening work every day from the faculty meeting to new student orientation and then the seminar meeting. In just two weeks Scott heads to Miami for the summer seminar and meeting with two colleges about possible articulation agreements and then right after he gets back Katie is going back to Texas to do some maternity shopping and spend some family time with her parents and sisters.

Finishing out the Spring Term

This is the last week of our spring term at ICCI and we are both ready for our getaway to Jamaica. A few people have inquired whether we still planned to go over there and we keep reassuring everyone the violence you have been reading about is in Kingston which is a couple of hundred miles from Negril where we will be. It would be like not going to San Francisco because there are riots in LA. It has gotten terribly hot down here and with the El Nino effect not being as present as last year the hurricane forecast has been increased dramatically. We are getting everything in order so we are ready just in case but it really shouldn't get interesting until July and early August. We are both teaching this term so this week is being spent finishing those classes and getting ready for next term which begins on June 21. Hard to believe we have been here now for over three years. Will post pictures of our Negril trip next week when we get back.

Sunset House Snorkeling

This is Katie's last week on the job as Director of Admissions for ICCI so this morning we did the end of the month placement exams out at the college. The morning at the college used up a good part of our Saturday and Katie still needed to finish her last assignment for one of her Masters classes for the quarter. We didnt want to just hang around the house so this afternoon we decided to get out and while Katie worked on her homework sitting under a palm tree pagoda I did some snorkeling off Sunset House south of the George Town Harbor. I swam out to the mermaid to see if clearer skies would enable some better photographs of her. I was able to see her better though I had a number of issues with fogging of my goggles. The camera seemed to be getting some good shots and when I got home and put them on the computer I was very pleased to see that the shots had turned out much nicer than any others I had gotten of her previously. There was a lot of material in the water so the below shot has some particles that were like little clumps of sea dust in the water and showed up in the shot.

Yesterday was potentially the day we might have learned the gender of little Baby C. Unfortunately for us someone went into labor and the Doctor was called away causing our appointment to be reset for next Tuesday afternoon. Keep an eye on the baby blog for any updates and even if we dont learn the gender on Tuesday we should have some more ultrasound shots of the little one at 17 weeks.

A huge congratulations to our neice Kelsey who graduated from high school today. We are very proud of her and cant wait to see how she does up at Smith College in Massachusetts this fall. We also got to see some picture of our new nephew Zachary and he looks incredible. We have been keeping Jo, Brent, Nicholas and Zachary in our thoughts all week and send our love up to Naperville.

Crabbing

Last night as we drove home from the college on the bypass we constantly had to slow down or move to the right as the pickup trucks and crab hunters were out in force looking for catches. If it is late May and early June in Cayman that means one thing crab season. The crabs are everywhere and in the evening come out of their holes to find food. As you drive around at night you have to watch out for them to make sure you don't run one over and mess up a tire. It is also not at all uncommon for a car to suddenly stop in front of you, someone to jump out and grab a big one off the side of the road. Katie and I aren't in to the whole catch your food and take it home to cook thought that goes into the crabbing so we have yet to engage in this nighttime activity. With hurricane season starting in less than a week the crabbing is a reminder that the seasons down here have changed (even if the weather hasn't).

Welcome Zachary Alexander

Scott's sister Johanna gave birth last night to our newest nephew, Zachary Alexander. We are very happy for Jo, Brent and Nicholas and pass on our love and best wishes to our newest relative Zach.

Everyone back on Cayman

We are both back on Cayman after two weeks of various travels to Atlanta and the Bahamas. Katie enjoyed her sister vacation and is home now rested and relaxed. Ironically, we have three weeks of work to finish the spring term and then we head to Jamaica for our "baby moon". We have this flurry of travelling culminating in both of us going to the States in July (Scott to Miami and Katie to Duncanville) and then we are both on Island for the duration of the pregnancy.

Georgia on my mind

I am heading to Atlanta tomorrow for the spring seminar and on Monday Katie heads to Miami to get on the boat to the Bahamas with her sisters. Katie's appetite has returned somewhat and although she still faces a lot of bouts of dizziness she seems to be getting her footing back as we head into the second trimester. Between me being gone and her leaving before I return we were surprised to realize that this is the longest we will have been apart since we first started dating. thank goodness for email and skype.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to both our Mom's we love you very much. God willing this time next year will have a special meaning for us too.

Busy May and early June

In non-baby related updates, the past few weeks have been very busy at the college as we get deeper into the spring term. Scott is teaching 2 classes and Katie 1. In addition Katie is working part time as the Director of Admissions so she is back on campus in an office 20 hours a week. The arrangement is temporary and hopefully we have a new full time admissions person by the end of May but it has meant some strange work hours for us as Monday through Thursday we go in at 2 in the afternoon and work until 10:30 p.m.

The month of May is going to be a very busy one for us as we start this weekend with the annual board of trustee's meeting for the year. As this is the most important meeting of the year many of the board members from off Island fly in so we have extra work getting ready for it. Then next week Scott is in Atlanta for the spring seminar. He is flying up next Wednesday and will see his brother Kevin in the trip as Kevin is helping with the field trips. The following week Katie is in the Bahamas for her sister vacation with Mel and Stephanie and then we have the final two weeks of the spring term and getting ready for the summer quarter. We also have our "Baby moon" set for June 11-14 in Jamaica. Katie is calling it our baby moon since it is our last holiday together alone until the baby comes and that means last holiday together for a good long while (we hope). It has gotten really hot and humid down here and last week a massive infestation of mosquito's bloomed making it miserable to be outside. Most everyone is walking around with mosquito bites on their faces and arms. The news says that the rain we got a few weeks back enabled the mosquito's to lay their eggs and this is the result.

Dr. Visit today

We had our week 11 visit today and have updated the baby blog. Check it out!

Avoiding the Tax Man while ducking the rain

Sorry about the lack of updates, have been extremely busy and not much time to do them. The rainy season has come a little early this year as this week we have had rain three of the last four days and really heavy rain is scheduled for this weekend. As I write this we have had almost four hours of steady rain and these Saturday downpours have put a crimp in our plans to go baby shopping today and price various items at the two big baby stores on the Island. Thursday was tax day and as we continue to have combined income below the amount which qualifies for the foreign earned income exclusion we are avoiding the tax man altogether. The government down here is getting a lot of pressure from the UK to implement some kind of tax to pay for the budget deficit they have but the political will is strong here against direct taxes. Of course they still get their money from the bank and import duties as well as work permit fees

Katie keeps updating the baby blog so check there for updates on the pregnancy. Our next visit is this coming Friday the 23rd.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone. Unlike the secular United States, down here Easter is a two days off from work long weekend with tomorrow and Monday being National Holidays. We intend to spend some quality snorkeling time so long as Katie's nausea allows. Scott's Dad is on Island for some work at the college so it wont be all fun and games. Meanwhile, in non pregnancy related news, last Saturday/early Sunday the college got broken into and the kitchen canteen robbed. Our security alarm sounded and the police responded within a few minutes as did Scott when he got the call from the security centre. by the time everyone arrived the robbers had run off taking with them a small amount of cash and some corn nuts. It cost us more to repair the smashed window then they got so the loss was small compared to the psychological effect. There has been a string of robberies and shootings on the Island and the crime issue has gotten so big the Governor is stepping in with a special task force from the United Kingdom. Sadly ICCI is now another on the list of schools that have been broken into in the past year, fortunately for us the losses were minimal.

Katie has been struggling with all day morning sickness and has actually lost weight because she isn't eating as much with the nausea. We asked the doctor about it and he didn't seem concerned telling us it is OK so long as she continues to get the calories the baby needs first. He told us that many women lose weight the first trimester and easily gain it and more back in the second and third. It did mean the first late night run for Ginger Ale and saltines of the pregnancy.

First Ultrasound Picture

Here are the pictures from our first ultrasound.

We'll be doing updates on "Baby C" on the baby blog from here on out. You can find the link for that blog to the right of this page. It is "Baby Cummings' Journey".

Seven Weeks and One Day

Today we got confirmation of what we have suspected for two weeks, Katie is pregnant. The Doctor tells us that the baby is seven weeks and one day old based on the size etc. as calculated by the ultrasound machine. We got to listen to the heartbeat which was a strong 144 beats per minute and the baby is 10.7 mm in size. The due date is November 11. We have some ultrasound pictures but need to scan them in later and will post them later today or tomorrow. Will be a fun next seven and a half months.

Random bits and peices

The winter quarter finished yesterday and we are trying to close out all the paperwork for it while also getting all the registrations processed for the spring term that begins on March 29. We are doing well with our walking in the Grand Harbour area and are watching a bunch of houses go up in that neighborhood. The most populated part of the Island is the area know as West Bay and lately they have been having really bad gang problems with several shootings and a couple of murders. The island is not used to that kind of crime and it has everyone talking. It is also having the effect of getting people who have the ability to do so, moving to other parts of the Island and the Red Bay/Grand Harbour area that we live in is seeing that movement. This weekend Scott worked the career fair put on by the Chamber of Commerce and had a brief cameo on TV talking to people at the fair on the evening news.

As some of you already know, we are hoping that this week will bring some big news and will share that once we get confirmation from the doctor. Watch for an update next Friday.

Juvenile Hawksbill Turtle

Here is a video we took last summer of a juvenile hawksbill turtle. He was very playful and seemed to enjoy the attention.

Mastic Trail Parrot

Here is a video of one of the parrots we saw yesterday on our hike of the Mastic Trail. The load time is slow depending on your internet speed.

Mastic Trail

This morning we decided to hike the Mastic Trail which is in the center part of eastern end of Grand Cayman. The trail runs parallel to Frank Sound Road which connects the southern and northern sides of the island once you get past Breakers heading east on the main road. Last year we took Katie's sisters on a hike of the trail and started on the north end. On that occasion we had started around 9 a.m. and went about 2/3 of the way in before doubling back because it was too hot to go on. This year we decided to start on the southern end of the trail and begin early enough that we would have cool weather for the time needed to complete the 4 mile round trip hike. We took our camel backs full of water so we didn't have to carry water bottles and after applying bug spray were ready to go. We got to the southern trail head about quarter after 8 a.m. and started our journey north. While there hasn't been a lot of rain the past week, the trail was still muddy early on as the overgrowth prevented sunlight from getting to the ground and drying up the puddles that were days and possibly even weeks old. The trail itself is a combination of dirt, rocks, tree roots and limestone outcroppings. It is not an easy walk and you have to watch every step so you don't break an ankle. This causes a fairly short hike in terms of distance to be quite long in terms of time. One of the highlights of the Mastic Trail are the Cayman Parrots that are very prevalent especially in the southern part of the trail. They have a very distinctive call and you can hear them communicating with each other in very vocal tones. We also saw some ground doves and several other smaller species of birds. Katie got a heck of a shock when a snake that was sunning itself on the path got surprised by her stepping near it and slithered away angrily. We actually saw several snakes after that all of whom seemed to be out enjoying the sun. The walk north took us about an hour and a half and as we got to that end of the trail we both felt in pretty good shape. We then started our return hike at a surprisingly quick pace and though we expected to take longer going back then we did heading up, we actually got back to our car just an hour and 13 minutes after leaving the northern trail head. By about 2/3 of the way back though we both started to feel it in our legs and as we got into the car it definitely hit us. We were both very proud of ourselves though for doing the complete hike and have attached a few pictures of the parrots we took. We also have a couple of video's that we will try and post later today.

Attack of the Noreasters

Cayman has been unusually cold these past few weeks and it has led both of us to be under the weather and home sick for several days. We have been hit by several Noreasters that have brought chilly winds and colder temperatures. Of course that doesnt mean the ice and freezing weather they have been getting up in Miami but it has meant temperatures into the low 60's which is downright cold for us. Feeling better today we decided to try swimming even with the lower temperatures but the water was very cold and with all the wind way too choppy to get a good swim in. We are in the last two weeks of our Winter quarter and the big news on campus is the new accreditation cycle which has started in advance of a visit next year. That means doing a college self study, reviewing and possibly revising our mission statement and a slew of other activities that will get us prepared to have a good visit and hopefully a smooth process of getting the new grant of accreditation. It is keeping us very busy in addition to our normal duties. We have decided to go back to Jamaica in June for a couple of days and are getting excited about the prospects of seeing a different part of that Island. We are staying in Negril on the western coast and plan to explore along the south coast. Last time we were in Ocho Rios on the north Coast and did activities along the north and eastern part of the island so this will be new experiences entirely.

Scott in Miami

Scott is in Miami this week teaching the seminar that happens each quarter. In May the seminar is going to be in Atlanta and Scott's brother Kevin is going to be helping. It is the first time we will do the seminar somewhere other than Miami and we are excited about the change and possibilities for future seminars in other seminars. Not a lot has been happening in Cayman this past few weeks which explains the lack of posting. We are not experiencing the weather that everyone else is going through and while many of you will laugh at us for it, we kind of wish we could. We are really getting into the exercise and both are feeling a lot better about ourselves though last week Scott had a setback (he always does when his father is on Island and he has the chance to cheat by getting Wendy's when John does). Katie is hard at work on her Master degree and now that she isn't working full time is focusing on doing more classes quicker. She is on pace now to finish the degree early next year.

Flying Gurnard Fish

This morning we went swimming again to help Scott exercise his back in a low impact workout. We went back to Eden Rock-Devil's Grotto because it is a great place to swim laps. While swimming her first lap Katie came across a very unfamiliar species. At first we weren't sure if it was a fish or a reef creature. It appeared to be walking on the bottom but also had fins. We watched it for a while taking a bunch of pictures and a video. When we got home we pulled out our Reef Fish Identification book and were able to identify the species as a Flying Gurnard. Flying Gurnards "walk" on their ventral fins and use the spines of their pectoral fins almost like hands to turn over rocks, which you can see happening in the video below. Their pectoral fins look like wings and in the video you can see this one spread its fin out at one point though not to its full extent. The edge of those fins is rimmed in bright blue lines and dots. The book identifies them as shy but this one wasn't at all. The species is uncommon in the Caribbean and it was a rare treat to find one.

Final Table

This evening Scott stayed home from work because he foolishly decided he would try and move some fireproof filing cabinets at the college yesterday and strained his back. Since he was bored, he logged into an online poker site and played in a RAZZ tournament with 1,012 other players. RAZZ is a game where the object is to get the lowest hand instead of the highest like in regular poker. In the past the highest he's finished in any tournament has been in the teens. He had never made a final table. Tonight things broke his way and after four hours of playing, Scott made his first final table for an online card tournament.

There were 8 players who made the final table and Scott made it all the way through the final table to heads up with a player from Spain. When they began heads up play, the player from Spain had about 1.1 million chips and Scott had about 800,000 chips. They played heads up for almost 45 minutes. Scott won a big hand early and took the chip lead then slowly ground his way to about a 500,000 chip lead. Then another big hand seemed to cripple the Spaniard taking him down to under 200,000 chips. What followed was an amazing 30 minutes. Scott got the Spaniard all in no less than 11 times and for each of the first ten times the Spaniard survived, twice drawing out on seventh street to win the hand and double up. At one point Scott was only up about 400,000 chips having lost most of his 1.6M chip lead. After a lot of small hands, a couple of big hands for Scott got him in position to finally win. As they approached the five hour mark of play Scott finally got a monster hand against a very good hand for the other player and when the hand was finished the Spaniard had only 30,000 chips left. Two hands later it was all over and Scott had won. For his victory he got the satisfaction of ruling the online Razz world for a night on pokerstars.net, a big kiss from his wife and 17,000 play chips with which he can play in other tournaments.

Black Durgon Video

This morning we went over to the Eden Rock-Devil's Grotto site to do some swimming and got a great video of a Black Durgon feeding at Devil's Grotto.

2008 Turtle Video

We may have finally figured out how to get our videos onto YouTube so that we can share them with you guys. Here is a video that Scott took in 2008 of a turtle at Devil's Grotto. It may take some time to load depending in your connection speed.

Somber Saturday

Two weeks ago while Scott was in Orlando, one of our students was killed in a car wreck in Lower Valley. On the Wednesday after his death we held a memorial service at the college and yesterday was his funeral. Scott gave a brief speech at the funeral service on behalf of the college and several of the students in attendance went up with him to represent ICCI. We often jokingly complain about the stupidity of drivers in Cayman particularly the young ones who speed around in their cars like they are immortal. Yesterday was a stark reminder that no one is immortal and having such a feeling is just not reality. It was a difficult Saturday afternoon and burying a student is something we hope to never have to go through again.

Queen's Monument

We took advantage of the national holiday this afternoon and headed up to the north side of the Island to snorkel the Queen's Monument area. We had not been up to that part of the island for several months and it was great to get out there again. The tide was in so we were able to swim over many of the coral areas which were very active. Among the many new species we saw today were a Bearded Fireworm (at left), Yellow Fanworm, Flamingo Tongue (below) and a Nimble Spray Crab. We normally look for fish species but today decided to focus reef creatures since we have a book for those and haven't been able to fill in many of the varieties as having been identified. The water was fantastic and we actually spent a good hour snorkeling. We have found a very secluded entrance to the snorkeling area and once again had the beach to ourselves. The new camera worked great and fits the case perfectly.

National Heroes Day

Tomorrow is the celebration of National Heroes Day here in the Cayman Islands, a national holiday. Heroes Square in George Town will be the site of a big formal event. The crowds are usually pretty big and so of course Kathleen and I will head to the other side of the Island for a nice quiet picnic and some snorkeling. We picked up a new camera while I was in Orlando (thanks to my brother Kevin, for bringing it down to us) and plan to test it with the underwater case. We are both doing well with our exercising and Katie has celebrated the loss of ten pounds since we started (me around 4 pounds).

Local Coverage of Earthquake

Here are some articles from our local papers. We cant seem to get the link to load as a hyperlink so just cut and paste into your address bar.

http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2010/01/20/Earthquake-rattles-nerves-in-Cayman/

http://www.caymannetnews.com/breaknews-19981--1-1---.html

Earthquake in Cayman

Update at 12:45 p.m.

The Earthquake has caused a few sinkholes on South Sound and apparently the buildings in George Town swayed a bit but we have no damage to our residence or to the college. Whether or not you felt the earthquake appears to be determined by if you were inside or not. The all clear has been given on the Island and no tsunami watch or warning was ever issued. They felt it at the college when it happened but other than being scary for those who felt it, nothing bad appears to have happened.

Original post

We wanted to let everyone know that we are just fine. Apparently there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake about 30 miles off the coast of Grand Cayman this morning. We were out on our morning walk and didn't even realize it had happened. There are rampant rumors but we wanted you guys to know, since CNN just aired something, that we are just fine.

Tsunami Paranoia

Last night around 6:30 one of our students came breathlessly into my office announcing that the Cayman Islands were under a Tsunami warning because of the Haitian Earthquake. We quickly let him know that in fact there was never a tsunami warning only a tsunami watch and that it had only applied to eastern Cuba and the Island of Hispaniola (on which sit Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Further it had expired over an hour earlier. Never the less, for the rest of the night we had to assure restless students who came in after getting texts from friends, that we weren't all going to be washed away by a giant wave. It is amazing how quickly rumors fly on a small island. It was a reminder though that while tsunami's are rare in the Caribbean they are not impossible and with the Cayman Trench a mere hundred or so miles from Grand Cayman a magnitude 7 earthquake there would pretty much wipe out the Cayman Islands. We morbidly joked for the rest of the night that our tsunami evacuation plan involved two bottles of rum and kissing our rear ends goodbye as there really is no high ground on this Island (besides the trash dump). Oh well, another day in paradise.

Graduation, National Championship Game and Cold Weather

Last week was our graduation ceremony and on the same evening Texas played Alabama for the national championship. The ceremony was fantastic, the game not so much. The acting Governor, the Premier, the Minister of Education and several other Ministers and members of the Legislative Assembly were part of the crowd of close to 700 people who attended the ceremony. It went off mostly without a hitch and everyone raved about how great a job Kathleen did in coordinating the entire event. Scott made it home with about 5 minutes to go in the first quarter and agonized through the game which he is still convinced would have turned out differently if Colt McCoy hadn't been injured on Texas' opening drive of the game. This week the real story down here is how cold it is. The temperatures have been as low as 63 which is downright freezing for us. We haven't turned on our Air Conditioner this year and today actually wore sweaters outside. On Thursday Scott heads up to Orlando for a workshop on accreditation and is meeting his brother and family later in the weekend. he comes back on Monday of next week.

Happy New Year

We celebrated New Year's Eve in our normal fashion by being in bed and asleep by 10:30 p.m. This morning we did what is becoming our traditional New Year's Day bike ride out to Eden Rock. We have done a good job of keeping up our work out regimen these past couple of weeks since we got back from our cruise and are hoping that 2010 is the year we are able to keep going with the exercise and not putter out after a month or so. We wish everyone a very Happy New Year and a prosperous 2010.

Post Christmas Snorkeling

This morning we headed over to Sunset House to do some post Christmas snorkeling. We weren't able to make it out yesterday choosing instead to get in an exercise walk. For the second year in a row we are both carrying extra pounds that we need to shed so we are trying to get in a walk or an exercise ride each day. Today we got in our walk early and then got on our swim suits and pulled out our snorkel gear. We were both a little shocked to realize that neither of us had been out swimming since August so we weren't able to swim for long. We swam out to the mermaid Amphitrite and then on our way back saw an Ocean Trigger Fish for the first time. It was nesting near an outcropping and at first we thought it was a ray the way it was swimming near the sandy bottom. We both realized how much we miss snorkeling and vowed to try and get out more often. This evening we are having dinner with a friend who used to teach at ICCI and has moved back to the States but is visiting for the holidays.

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas. We are having a quiet Christmas here on the Island. Later this morning we are going to church and then we will go to a beach and snorkel which has become something of a tradition since we have been here.

Computer Issues and TV appearance

This week we have gotten to experience life without home computers. We already had one lap top stolen and this week our second one gave up the ghost with the hard drive giving out. That means having to go in to the college to check emails and the like. We should have two new lap tops to start the new year but until then postings and emails from us will be sparse. Meanwhile since we have limited access to Skype, Merry Christmas to everyone and we will try to call as possible.

Linked below is Scott's TV appearance from earlier this week announcing another recognition for ICCI.

http://www.cayman27.com.ky/news/item/3747

Bahamas Cruise

We are back in Cayman after our 5 day cruise in the Bahamas this past week. We left from the Port of Miami last Monday and stopped Tuesday at Freeport on Grand Bahama, Wednesday at Nassau on New Providence and Thursday at Great Stirrup Cay in the Berry Islands. At left is a picture of us at the lighthouse on Great Stirrup Cay that we hiked out to. The cruise had a couple of shows we were really excited to see including a salute to Broadway with songs from Wicked and a tribute to Frank Sinatra, who we consider "our singer". Scott got to play poker and made us about 100 dollars which we used to pay for all of our souvenirs in Freeport and Nassau as well as part of our day trip in Freeport to Port Lucaya. We are back in Cayman through the holidays and will enjoy some down time here as we get ready for the start of the Winter quarter and for our graduation ceremony on January 7, which Scott would like to point out is also the day Texas plays Alabama for the national championship. The ceremony starts at 6:30 and kickoff is a little after 8 p.m. so you know Scott will be headed out as soon as the last diploma is handed out.

Katie back on Island

Katie got back yesterday after being in Maryland for five days for the funeral of Nana. Unfortunately, the trip ended on an extremely sour note as the hotel room that she was staying in with her Mom at the La Quinta Baltimore Washington airport in Linthicum, got broken into and they got robbed on the last night of the trip. Fortunately, she and her Mom were not in the room when the break in occurred but whoever it was got a couple of lap tops and digital camera's. The biggest loss was all of the photo's from the funeral and all our photo's from the North Carolina trip which had only been saved onto the lap top that got stolen. We are also having to change all our bank account numbers as the robbers had access to those numbers through some documents Katie had in her bag. An all around crappy way to finish what was a difficult trip any way. Next week we are headed back to the Bahamas for our Christmas get away. We are trying to get a temporary digital camera for the trip and if we do will post some pics when we return.

RIP Nana

Katie's great grandmother Dorothy Carlyle passed away yesterday at the age of 105. She was affectionately known as Nana and will be tremendously missed. Katie and I were fortunate enough to see her before we left for the Cayman Islands and remember fondly the time we spent with her. Katie is leaving tomorrow for Maryland to be with the family and attend the funeral. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Nana's children, grand children and great grand children, she leaves quite a legacy of family.

Wright Brothers Memorial

One of the highlights of our trip to the outer banks was the day we spent at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The national park includes the original takeoff spot as well as the landing spots for the four flights flown on that famous day in December 1903. The first flight was only 12 seconds long but they were 12 seconds that changed our world. The park has a fantastic Visitor Center and the Century of Flight museum. It also includes Kill Devil Hill off which the Wright Brothers did their glider experiments and on which now stands the huge memorial column to them. We spent the morning and afternoon reading the exhibits and wandering the grounds where the first flights occurred. At left is a picture representing the first flight. Above is us by a tablet with the memorial column on the hill in the background and the Century of Flight museum to the side. Below is a picture of the original take off site and the four columns represent the landing sites for each of the first four flights. Interestingly, the park and memorial are in Kill Devil Hills not Kitty Hawk which is famous for the first flight. The only settlement in the area in 1903 was Kitty Hawk a few miles up the road so that is where the first flight is said to have occurred even though now technically the location is not a part of Kitty Hawk.

Hatteras National Sea Shore

Yesterday morning we headed south out of Kill Devil Hills down into the Hatteras National Sea Shore park. We stopped first at the Bodie Island Lighthouse getting to see our second of the four big lighthouses in the Northern Outer Banks. After a quick stop in Chicamacomico/Rodanthe to visit a life saving station we headed to the crown jewel of our day, the Cape Hatteras Light House pictured at left). We would spend most of the day at the Cape Hatteras Light House as it is Katie's Mom Gail's favorite lighthouse. At left is a shot of the two of us in front of the light. We got to see a movie on how they moved the light house 2000 feet back in 1999 to save it from falling into the ocean due to erosion. The light was closed to climbing but we did tour all the grounds and we also got to drive down to the original base of the lighthouse and compare where it is to where it was. We ended the day taking a ferry over to Ocracoke Island where we saw the Ocracoke light (pictured on right) as well as a cemetary for some British sailors killed in WWII off the Outer Banks. We have now seen all four of the lighthouses we wanted to see on this visit. It was a long day and we pulled back into Kill Devil Hills well after dark. Today is a visit to Manteo on Roanoke Island, will post more pictures later on the week.

The Outer Banks

We have arrived in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina for our week on the outer banks. Saturday we left Grand Cayman flying first to Atlanta and then on to Charlotte. We spent the night at a hotel near the airport then got our rental car and made the six hour drive across the state to our final destination the Outer Banks Beach Club on the Atlantic side of Kill Devil Hills. We are just south of Kitty Hawk and from our balcony can see the big Wright Brothers Monument. We are staying in a two bedroom condo with Katie's parents Russ and Gail and her grandparents Joyce and Chuck. We don't directly overlook the beach but are a short walk across a parking lot and through another set of condos from the dunes and the beach beyond. We got in last night around 4:30 and went for an evening walk on the beach after dinner.

Today we headed up to Currituck County for the first of four big lighthouses we will be visiting, Currituck Beach Lighthouse. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse and could see for miles down the sound on one side and the Atlantic on the other. The Outer Banks are very narrow at points and you can sometimes see both the sound and the ocean from the road. There were a couple of neat trails as well as a hunting mansion and a museum all within walking distance of the lighthouse. We ate a picnic lunch on the grounds and generally enjoyed a pleasant day out and about with family. We are both loving the fact that it is quite chilly here and we have an opportunity to use the hoodies and other "winter" clothes that never get used in Cayman. The weather today was supposed to be rainy but it held off and we had a fantastic day of lighthouse climbing and trail walking in Currituck. Tomorrow, weather permitting we are headed down to Cape Hatteras.

Fall Quarter Ends, Headed to North Carolina

Our fall quarter ended yesterday and today we are furiously trying to finish all our paperwork and grades so we can head out tomorrow for 10 days to North Carolina and a family get together with Katie's parents and maternal grand parents on the Outer Banks. We are looking forward to a week of Lighthouse hunting and Carolina Bar B Que. Will try and do an update and post pictures from our visit during the week if we have Internet access.

Miami and Orlando

By Scott: This past weekend was our fall Miami seminar and since I only had to work the seminar on Thursday, Friday and Monday, we took advantage of the free weekend to drive up to Orlando and catch up with my brother Kevin and his family. In addition, my Mom was able to fly down from Seattle for the weekend so we had a mini family reunion of the Cummings'. We hadn't seen my Mom since Christmas 2007 so it was very exciting that she was able to fly in.

I flew up to Miami Thursday morning and worked the seminar that afternoon and evening then Katie flew up Friday. We actually had to do paramedical exams Friday evening for our life insurance policies. We are adding additional coverage since we want to start a family and the exam had to be done in the United States. It was like a trip down memory lane since I worked my way through college and law school for a paramedical company. Katie and I went out to eat at Texas De Brazil afterwards, which is a Brazilian restaurant where they serve all kinds of meat on skewers which the waiters walk around with serving the various offerings.

We got up early Saturday and were on the road by 6:30 heading up to Orlando. It is about a 4 hour drive but with stops for breakfast and gas (as well as getting lost in Orlando when our google map told us to take the wrong exit), we pulled in about 11:15 at the hotel. We all went to lunch at a Chinese Buffet featuring Mongolian Bar B Que. Afterwards, my Mom, Kevin's wife Kristie and the kids headed to Sea World, Katie needed to work on her paper for her Masters so she took the early afternoon to do that while Kevin and I went to ESPN Zone to watch the Texas Longhorns football game which though it was played in Austin was ironically was against Central Florida, a University located in Orlando. After watching the Horns win 35-3 we picked up Katie and headed over to Sea World to hook up with everyone. We rode one of the big roller coasters, Katie got to walk through the Penguin experience and we saw the evening Shamu show.

Sunday was spent again at Sea World riding the other big coaster and rides. Kevin's family are theme park experts and we let them lead the way in terms of which rides to go on and what shows to see. It was great spending time with our niece Kelsey who is proving to be smarter than all of us and is headed off to college next year with some phenomenal college choices and spending time with our nephew Scott (otherwise referred to as Little Scott whenever we are together) who is growing so much every time we see him and who continues to impress us every time we see him with how mature and intelligent he is. It was great to catch up with Kevin and we engaged in our typical political debates and banter. Kevin and family had to leave around 2 to drive back to Georgia. We stuck around for another show then headed out to get some rest, do some shopping and go out to dinner with Mom. Monday we got up early to drop Mom off at the airport and then drove back to Miami to help close out the seminars. We flew back to Cayman last night for a quick eleven days of work to close out the quarter before we head to North Carolina on the 21st.

It was fantastic seeing family this weekend and a big thanks to Kevin and Kristy for setting up the hotel in Orlando for all of us and for coordinating everything. A big thanks also to Mom for doing the 7 hour flights each way to come in and see everyone.

Eastern time stinks

While the United States (except for Arizona) was setting back its clocks last night, Cayman slept through the night not even noticing the change. Except that now when we turn on our TVs everything is an hour later than it was yesterday. We are in for four plus months of Eastern time TV and until March rolls around that means 11 O'clock news instead of 10. Next week is our Miami/Orlando trip, looking forward to seeing family twice this month in Florida and then North Carolina at the end of the month.

Kiwanis Bike A Thon

This morning we got up at 4:45 a.m. and after dropping off Scott's Dad at the airport (he was on Island for some college work), headed over to Smith's Cove. We were met there by a bus that drove us out to the Blow Hole in East End some 22 miles from where we parked our car. On Friday we had dropped off our bikes with the event organizers in a trailer which met us out in East End. We were participating in the Kiwanis Bike A Thon a 22 mile bike ride from the Blow Hole near the eastern coast of the island back to Smith's Cove on the western coast of Grand Cayman. At least 50 bikers participated in the event with many of them the "super bikers" we often see out doing the East End loop on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Most of the super bikers had actually biked out to the blow hole earlier in the morning and were now biking back.

At 7:00 a.m. the organizers started the rally and we all headed out. Very quickly we moved to the rear of the pack and set our own pace much slower than the peloton well ahead of us. Biking from East to West on Cayman means you have a tailwind and is much easier than heading in the other direction. We had brought our camel backs for water and some energy bars. We stopped a couple of times to top up on food and made it to Smith's Cove around 8:45 a.m. having averaged a good 12 miles an hour. We hadn't done a ride this long since January so we are both very sore and will have some recovery time the next couple of days. Never the less we were both very proud of ourselves for getting up that early and for finishing the rally.

We are not going to be able to do the Half Marathon this year as we will be attending the Jazz Festival that weekend. It is a three day festival though right now we just plan to go on Friday and Saturday. We will be seeing among others, Peboe Bryson (he of Beauty and the Beast song fame) and Alicia Keys. We haven't been able to go to the Jazz Festival in years past because it always fell on Graduation weekend. This year our graduation ceremony is in January so there is no conflict. The Horns continue to win meaning Scott is in a good mood most Sunday's. Next week is the big game in Stillwater so cheer for Texas next week.

Wet, Cold and Dreary

Feels like Texas in March this week in Cayman. Normally we get some cloudbursts that are very localized (as in its raining here but not one block over localized), but right now we are getting sustained rain that has created low water crossings and lakes throughout the island. The temperature has dropped to the low 70's, don't laugh that's downright cold here and the days are just overall dreary. This is late for rainy season but since hurricane season still has about 45 days in it and since we are now in the part of the season where the storms form to our South and give much less warning (like Paloma last year) we are keeping a close eye on the weather.

Submarine Tour

By Scott: When we first moved down here we saw advertisements for the Atlantis submarine and as you drive along the water front in George Town it passes right in front of the storefront for the submarine operation so it isnt something that you see and then forget because you never drive by it again. But in the 2 plus years we have been here we haven't done the tour at first not wanting to spend the money to do the tour and later figuring we would do it some day just not that day. Well, today I had a chance to take the tour for free along with eight of our tourism apprenticeship training students who are doing a day time program with the college in partnership with the Department of Tourism. They are training to work in the tourism industry and this tour was set up to show them what they can talk to their customers about if they are asked about things to do on the Island. Our tour was set for 10:30 a.m. and we arrived at the dock at about 10:00 a.m. We had a chance to talk with the manager who described the history of the company and the different tours that they do.

To get to the submarine we rode a tender south out of the harbor about a mile down by the oil terminal by Sunset House. The tender pulls up next to the submarine off shore and we boarded the submarine. The submarine is assisted by a surface ship that follows it as it goes and gives it directional bearings since it doesn't have a GPS system. We went down to a depth of almost 100 feet and went out to the Cayman wall which dips almost 1500 feet. It was a pretty amazing sight looking over the wall and into the depths. We saw a number of very large fish you don't typically see on shore snorkels including a huge female hawksbill turtle, some Queen Angelfish and Blue Angelfish as well as hundreds of large black durgons and groupers. The entire trip dock to dock was about an hour and a half with almost an hour spent under the water. We did a morning trip which was amazing but were told that the evening trips are even more spectacular. Although it is a pricey trip, it is something worth the money and I definitely plan to take Katie for a trip the next time we do one of our vacation in Cayman weekends. Fortunately locals get a special rate so we just need to find a day when there aren't a bunch of cruise ships in town.

Our Cat the Huntress

The birthday box from Scott's Mom included a DVD for Gypsy called Kitty goes Hunting and Kitty goes Fishing. Gypsy at first didn't notice it but when we moved her scratch tower in front of the TV, something she was already on because of some catnip, she immediately took notice of the video and has been fascinated ever since when we put it on. She even gets angry when we turn it off and lays down in front of the TV and cries. She doesn't paw at the screen or jump at it she just lays there and watches intently so maybe calling her a huntress isn't the right term maybe its kitty couch potato. Either way she has absolutely loved her gift and we have taken some really funny pictures many of which are posted on Katie's face book page. Thanks to Maryanna for our gifts and for Gypsy's gift.

Speaking of packages to us in the mail, a lesson learned on Friday. The customs officers open all packages to residents at the post office checking for items that may be subject to an import duty. There was some very innocent catnip in our box that looked a whole lot like something else in its plastic baggie. It was a new and unique experience explaining to the very suspicious customs agent that it really was just catnip for our feline roommate and not something else. Fortunately all the other cat stuff in the box made our explanation sound very reasonable. It continues to be very hot and humid down here making our days consist of trying hard not to be outside after 8:30 a.m. and before about 6 p.m. Fortunately the storms have stayed away so it seems a fair trade off.

We are three weeks in to our fall quarter and basically settling in to our regular routine. Teaching and working during the week, watching the Horns on Saturday (64-7 over UTEP yesterday) and trying to get some exercise in. Yesterday morning we got up at 5:00 a.m. and went to the college to do a graduation banquet benefit walk of about 5 miles that raised money for the graduating seniors banquet tickets. We hadnt done a walk that long in a while and both of us were sore yesterday and are feeling the effects today. We head up to Miami and Orlando the first weekend in November so that is our next off-Island excursion.

Back from Texas

After a quick 54 hours in Texas, Scott is back on Island. The Horns won 34-24 over Texas Tech so he is in a good mood. We have a six week stretch now before we head up to Florida in early November for our fall seminar in Miami for two days and then to Orlando for a quick weekend getaway to see Scott's brother Kevin and his family along with Scott's Mom. Thanks to Gary and family for letting Scott stay with them.

Scott headed to Texas for UT-Tech game

This weekend I am headed back to Texas for my birthday present from Katie, getting to attend the Texas-Texas Tech football game Saturday night in Austin. We celebrated my birthday early here since I will be gone Saturday. Thanks to all the people who sent me cards and on line cards. We also want to thank everyone who sent us their condolences on Ginger.

Ginger RIP

Yesterday after several months of problems our cat Ginger had to be put to sleep. She had lost control of her bowels, was very sad and was just not able to control herself. After a talk with the Vet we made the decision that there wasnt any other option and went forward with the final procedure. We will miss her a lot.

Record numbers for our Fall quarter

When we first arrived at ICCI there were 92 students attending the school for the summer quarter of 2007. That fall, our first full quarter of work, we raised our enrollment to 138 students and set a goal of getting to 200 students by the fall of 2009. The fall is typically our largest quarter for the year. Each quarter for the past seven quarters we have steadily increased our enrollment seeing decreases in our overall numbers only in our summer numbers when a lot of students take a quarter off for holiday. Even in the summer quarters though we saw increases in numbers over previous summers and every quarter that we have been here since summer 2007 has seen at least a 5% increase over the same quarter the year before and in many instances 10 and even 20% increases over the previous year. Three days into the fall 2009 quarter and with late registration closing on Friday we are currently at 216 students, exceeding the goal we set two years ago and increasing our numbers over last fall when we had 162 students, by almost 30%. Of equal significance, our seat count is up dramatically. Seats are the number classes a student takes. One student may take three classes and therefore have 3 "seats". You would rather have 1 student in 3 classes than 2 student each in just one since you make money per seat not per student. So financially the important track has been on the number of seats and this fall we are looking at over 450 seats already registered for. In the fall of 2007 we had 304 seats so we have increased our seat count in two years by over 150 seats for the fall quarter. We are very proud of the increase and believe the college is on a great track as we head into the 2009-2010 calendar and as we head toward the 40th anniversary of the college next September.

Scott doing much better

After two weeks of PT, Scott is once again his old self and having no residual issues with his back. It seems now very likely it was his hip and not his back and with the hip now back in place all is right with the world.

Knock on wood but this storm season continues to be quiet.

Scott's back decides to throw a wrench in everything

By Scott: On Sunday morning I woke up and was feeling very stiff as if I had slept wrong. By Sunday evening it was a little worse and Monday it got progressively even worse until Monday evening I could barely walk. When I woke up Tuesday morning and still felt the same we decided to go to the hospital. They did a CT scan of my back and found a disc protrusion/herniation in my lower back at the base of my spine. I started Physical Therapy the same afternoon and found out that my left hip had also been knocked out of alignment. I had a biking accident about a week earlier and the physical therapist believes that when I landed on my left knee it knocked the hip out of place just slightly and over the course of the week it started impinging on the nerve. The hope is that by putting the hip back in that solves the problem. It could be that the protrusion is actually a coincidence having nothing to do with my pain. I have been off work for the last two days resting and tomorrow I see the therapist again for a follow up. I had been given a prescription for some pretty strong pain medicine and muscle relaxants but since the therapy session haven't needed them and am hoping not to have to use them at all. I will know more tomorrow and hopefully get released back to work. This was very bad timing as this week is final exams for the summer quarter. Katie has been very pleased about getting to order me around while on bed rest and not allowing me to do anything. She gets to take care of me this time.

Swimming in a warm bath

Yesterday afternoon we headed over to the far southern end of Seven Mile Beach where the Wreck of the Gamma is located. August is our hottest month of the year and we hoped that going for a swim would be a refreshing activity. With the water temperature in excess of 85 degrees though it was more like swimming in a warm bath. It is water temperatures like this that create the monster storms when they get into the Caribbean and one reason why everyone here breathed a sigh of relief when Hurricane Bill turned north and headed into the Atlantic. The Gamma is a ship that is beached in about 8-10 feet of water so a part of its structure is above the surface. It is just a few feet from shore so it is an easy swim to get to. You can actually swim into the structure of the boat and around its gutted open insides. The Sergeant major fish love to use the Gamma for laying eggs and it is not unusual at all to see the bright blue colored males swimming around a specific area protecting their eggs. Normally the Sergeant majors are yellow and black but when the males are protecting eggs they take on a blue hue. In the past we have seen several varieties of unusual fish at this location but yesterday it was mostly grunts, chubs and of course the Sergeant majors. We did see a southern ray swim past on his way into George Town but he never slowed to visit the wreck. The two pictures of the wreck are views of the front and rear of the boat. At left is one of the males protecting his eggs.

Swimming with a Turtle

With Katie in Beaumont for her Mom's graduation I went out this afternoon to do some snorkeling over at Eden Rock. As soon as I pushed away from the ladder I ran into a juvenile hawksbill turtle who was in a very playful mood. He swam very close to me and seemed to enjoy posing so I got several great shots and a neat minute and a half long video. Here are some of the shots.

Watching the Coast of Africa

Saturday the 15th is the official start of what is known as Cape Verde season. The Cape Verde Islands are located just off the coast of Africa where the monster storms tend to form from Saharan dust storms before crossing the Atlantic and hitting the warm waters of the Caribbean. Hurricane Dean two years ago was a Cape Verde storm as was Ivan in 2004. We have yet to get a named storm in the Atlantic basin this season so July and early August have been unusually quiet. As of today though we are tracking two storms that are coming off the coast of Africa. The first wave formed a tropical depression early in the week but looks like it will die in the Atlantic. The second storm is still near the Cape Verde Islands but seems likely to form the first named storm of the season later today and may have the strength to get across the Atlantic. It wont affect us for at least a week to ten days but it is definitely something everyone in the Caribbean is starting to watch closely every day.

Katie headed off for Texas today to go to her Mom's graduation and will be there through Sunday.

World War II Landing Craft

Today while Katie finished her final paper I went back to Sunset House to try and find the WWII landing craft that is submerged some 200 plus yards from shore. Today I swam with Adrienne, who is a dive master and the son of Katie's friends Thierry and Marie Claude. He had dived the wreck before and knew where to swim to get to it. We swam out past Amphitrite the mermaid and found the landing craft pretty quickly. It was about 60 feet below the surface and did not photograph well. This evening we went out to Yoshi's to celebrate Katie finishing her paper and her summer class. We used a certificate from our cousins the Spetters and want to pass on again our thanks for a great time with them and for the gift certificate. This Thursday Katie is headed back to Texas for her Mom's graduation from Lamar University in Beaumont.

Mermaid

Off the Sunset House hotel and restaurant on South Church Street is a dive spot popular for a wrecked WWII landing craft and a statue of a mermaid called Amphitrite as well as a wide variety of sea life. This afternoon was very calm so while Katie worked on her final paper for her Masters class on a deck overlooking the water I went for a swim the 200 or so yards out to see the Mermaid. On my way I passed a school of Caribbean squid in to lay their eggs and a turtle looking for lunch. Even though the mermaid is a 9 foot tall bronze statue, the shots arent that great as she is about 55 feet below the surface.

New Car

Today we picked up our new car a blue 2007 Toyota Yaris that we bought from Budget. We are still working on a name. Katie has already rejected VY, Major, Ricky and Earl so we are moving beyond the pantheon of Texas Longhorn football legends for a name. Will post pictures and the name soon.

Scott on Daybreak

Scott made an appearance on the local morning TV show, The interview was two segments and both are now up on the web and we have the links below. Just cut and paste into the address bar.

http://www.cayman27.com.ky/news/item/2138

http://www.cayman27.com.ky/news/item/2137


The Minister of Education is touring the college Thursday so we are preparing for his visit. The Spetters headed home today and we had a great time with them while they were here. Our car has finally given up the ghost so we are in a rental for a few days and should get a new (used) car by Friday.

Visit from Chicago Relatives

This week our cousins the Spetters are on island to see Grand Cayman. We met them this morning for breakfast and a quick tour to give them the lay of the land. They went on their Stingray tour this afternoon and we will be taking them to Cemetery Beach and Hell tomorrow morning. This weekend we plan to show them several sites and also go to the new Harry Potter movie which debuts here on Friday.