According to Facebook, TT & hubby have welcomed Andrew David into the world "born 12:06pm PDT Dec. 16, 6 lbs 12 ounces. Everyone's doing well, although barely getting by on little sleep."
Woohoo
Congrats to TT!
Ever since Irene posted on my blog about her missed calling (or in another life followed her calling) as a literature prof. "writing treatises on the foundations of modern fantasy literature" I've been contemplating alternative fantasy careers (What were you meant to do?).
Then a job posting came across ecolog to teach writing here. And I so wanted to apply. I'm not sure why-- sure, the job pays as much as my current job, but, instead of teaching 3 different lectures and three different labs each semester, I'd be teaching 5 sections (with twelve or fewer students each) of what would likely be the same or similar classes each year. But it wasn't that. Somehow I want to teach science through writing and writing through science. I feel I was meant to be someone who excites students about links between nutrition, ecology, plants, cooking, community and social wellness and writing through food.
And I was going to post about it and ask you if I should apply and what alternative careers you are missing.
Then the replacement ecology prof. brought his labs to my garden for a ecological garden lab and about half of the students loved it. Then I guest lectured on stats to the "Techniques of Science" class and am still thinking of better ways to introduce biostats. Then I started (gulp!) finding papers on harvest and matrix models that were published since my dissertation so that I can (gulp!) actually submit pieces of the darned thing and I found I was fascinated by the process (gulp! gulp!).
Crazy as it seems, maybe this is the job I was meant to be doing.
What fits you about your current position?
In case any of you happen to be in town, please join us on Saturday Mar. 28 at 6pm for a KNITTING GROUP REUNION at Sally's Sister's with co-hosts Sparkling Squirrel, Jenny, and Jennifer. We'll make gourmet pizza. Here is a list of food requests. Let me know what you would like to bring.
· Everyone bring your favorite pizza and salad toppings to share
· Anyone have a good pizza sauce?
· Appetizers
· Dessert
· Wine
· Jennifer = brownies, salad greens, wine
· Sally's Sister = pizza dough and cheeses
RSVP to Sally's Sister
Yes, its test time again in my world. I had two versions of the above as a response to the difference between monotremes and placental mammals, which made me giggle, well actually guffaw.
One of my seniors brought us cupcakes for Mole Day. Apparently chemists always celebrate it on 10/23 (at 6:02, officially). It makes me happy that there are at least a few real geeks around, although she hadn't heard of pi day (March 14), so I volunteered that she should come back with some pie in a few months.
It's been a year since we started the afternoon gratitude box, and it occurs to me that its time to resurrect it. I know everyone is busy. I know many of us have nothing really eventful in our lives. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, I particularly like keeping in touch via little bits on news or non-news.
My joy of the day: a beaver apparently built a dam across the river in town over the weekend. Amazing how quickly it went up. But my real joy is that there is a football built into it. I don't know why, but it really makes me giggle.
So my Dad found Rowan under a shedd in the yard of a neighbor two lots down (it's the next house down but there's a wooded lot between them). I guess she was hiding underneath and it took about an hour to coax her out even with treats. But when I talked to them last, Rowan was fast asleep on my Dad's lap while they were watching SNL. phew. They've been taking down/apart a downed tree in the wooded lot so I'm guessing that it was just too far and too scary for her to get back to the house. Now, to convince them to put a bell on her....
:-)
Irene did a great job on her talk and of course passed! Here she is talking to Beth. And eating dessert.
Plus they have a computer! So I thought I could relaxingly post a blog while I sip my morning coffee with a parrot on my shoulder, like those yuppies out there (minus the bird), rather than sneaking it in at work, I mean my lunch break. I broke through to the technological side and got a ... drum roll... cell phone! But I'm doing the pay $15 every 3 months plan, which equals just enough minutes for when I'm out and about and trying to meet up with someone, or if my car goes into the ditch. Does the phone have to be ON for them to track it? So if I'm ever trying to catch up with any of you in a busy airport in Australia, I'll make sure you have my number. PS - the Kenya trip was cancelled - the violence keeps escalating.
I've been taking Sally to visit a couple homes for the developmentally challenged community. We go on Tuesday nights. There's a couple people that I didn't think cared either way about Sally, but Tuesday night we had one guy laughing his head off when I feed her treats right next to him. I ran into the home coach yesterday and she said the guy was asking about Sally! He talks nonstop, but it's all incoherent. I haven't heard him say anything that made sense, but I guess he does a bit. Also, the home coach said she was impressed that the blind woman there even reached out to touch Sally (she then ignores us both). So that's a big motivator that we're actually making a difference in their lives. Good luck with the giant blanket Lisa! Sounds like a great blanket to wrap up in!
I am seething over departmental politics at the moment, but I'm choosing not to write about them because 1) it wouldn't make sense without a huge backstory, 2) it would just make me angrier and 3) posting personal work junk is a bad idea, not to mention that you don't care about the tenure-track status of other professors in my department.
Instead, I am going to focus on what is great about my department. I work with a fabulous secretary who fills lots of roles. Besides doing secretarial stuff, she serves as intitutional memory, constantly rescues professors in jams, can be reliably counted on to notice new outfits or hairstyles, helps students willingly and always tells me that it looks like I'm loosing weight with sincerity.
Our department chair is sympathetic, practical, funny and very much available.
It's great to have two such women to work with. Who do you have a mutualistic work relationship with?
I learned this from a quiz on which a student was asked to list a similarity and a difference between members of Kingdom Animalia and other groups. Difference for Kingdom Fungi "Kingdom Fungi includes mold. Kingdom Animalia is 97% animals." It happened on Monday and it is still making my week.
Making my day is that I am wearing new skinny pants. They are not, in fact, the skinny jeans that were in last year which would look horrible on my curvy body, but rather a pair of nice deep brown brushed cotton bootcut pants that are long enough and look good on me. I consider them skinny pants because I purchased them on sale last year when I was at my fattest for a future skinny me. I forgot about them for 11 months and put them on this morning and they fit well. Hooray!
What's giving you joy today?
If you haven't visited in a while don't let my long rant in the post below keep you from scrolling down and reading Irene's and Cheryl's good news.
Today's gratitude box in the comments.
. . . and its not until tomorrow!
So, its homecoming week at the place where I work. The theme this year is "The Year of The Greek Games", so today, "Luau Day," there are going to be chariot races in the tennis courts (No, I can't explain the connection, I do not get it at all). Tomorrow is "Mossy Oak Cammo Day". Where else could you show your school spirit by wearing a specific type of cammo for homecoming?
My list of joys also includes a new routine of the Mister's. While hiking with the Mister in the mountains this weekend, he started bopping me over the head (officially clubbing me) every time he sees a club moss. While it has the potential of great annoyance (like poking me every time we see a poke plant), it makes me so very very happy to have a goofy person to spend time with who notices things like the club moss. And there was lots and lots of club moss (locally "ground pine") which makes me happy even if I didn't have someone cool to share it with.
Is there a Mossy Oak Cammo Day where you are at?
Having noticed several things recently:
Having made these observations, I am going to make a gratitude box. Feel free to stop by any or every afternoon (or morning or evening) and write something that gives you joy. Even when you don't feel joyful.
