It's a girl!

Because I'm a conservative, I've not been particularly keen on John McCain. His positions on the border, global warming, and no drilling for oil in Alaska really rub me the wrong way. However, what has made it possible to still consider voting for him is his strong stance on the war and dealing with fundamentalist, extremist Islamists. Quite frankly, he drips Washington Establishment and I'm sick to death of politicians in general and their tendency to place their desire to be re-elected over facing and solving the pressing problems of this country. That being said, I was gob-smacked, in a good way, when he chose Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, for his VP pick. I had heard of her before. About a month ago I learned about her taking on of the corrupt Republican establishment in her state. She really cleaned house and that impressed me. I remember thinking at the time that I wished we had more elected officials like her. I realize that she is short on experience, not unlike the top of the Democratic ticket, but I'm thinking that might be a good thing. What's important to me is that those who choose to represent me hold onto core values and principles that guide their decision-making process. I want my elected officials to make their decisions based upon right and wrong instead of bowing to the interests of their largest donors, or giving into pressure from special interest groups. Sarah Palin seems to at least to have a moral compass and she's not afraid to stand up to those who have held, for far too long, positions of power. So, the Democratic Party and the liberal media will take their cheap shots at her; NBC was the first to have as a banner under her picture as she spoke this morning that stated something along the lines of, How may more houses will be on the Republican ticket? What a disrespectful and horrid thing to put on a breaking news story. NBC would never, I repeat never, treat a woman Democratic nominee that way. Instead they would be heralding the historic import of such a nomination. But, I guess it is too much to ask for objectivity and fairness from the clearly biased mainstream media.

Busy, busy, busy, happy

You can guess that I've been busy. Most of my students are freshman and there's a unique kind of panic, mixed with excitement, mixed with overwhelm that emanates from a freshman's eyes and those eyes often are looking at me, asking me to "do something." Whatever that "something" is takes time and so much of my week has been herding and training freshmen in the ways of being a college student. I'm not complaining. I actually enjoy bringing some calmness to all this chaos. I feel useful, which makes me happy. Because I have an additional section, more grading also adds to the busyness. But, the good news is I'm keeping up thus far. I'm also feeling rather good because this semester I decided to really come out of the closet as a conservative professor. I share with the students my personal experiences in the university system as a person who holds conservative beliefs. Without going into great detail, the sum of my experience has been, be quiet, give them what they want, and you get to pass and get the degree. Speak up, challenge, question, means trouble, which of course is the antithesis of what education should be. So, when I introduce the core theme of critical thinking to my students I tell them how important discourse of all views is to educational process. I also share that it is imperative that we treat all people, regardless of their views, with respect and that my classroom is a safe place for challenging and questioning. In the past I have hinted that my beliefs differ from most in my department, but this time I just came out with it. It felt very good and the students were very receptive...lots of head nodding as I shared my personal experience and expectations regarding classroom discourse. All and all this has been a very busy and satisfying week.

Back in the saddle again

What a hectic and busy day. It was the first day of classes. I had four today, beginning at 10 am, followed by an hour break and then one class after the next for the next 3 hours. My throat began to be horse after the second class...too much talking! The class that I was so worried about, abnormal psychology, ended up being a rather popular class. I had 16 students show up wanting to be added. I had 4 "no shows" and was able to add 9 students, but had to wait list the remaining 7. Of course there is absolutely no hope for them being added, but I thought "waiting listing" them would soften the blow. Each of the four sections seem to be fairly engaged and well mannered. I usually develop an instant dislike for one section, but thus far no visceral reaction. I realize this sounds rather cold and harsh, but what brings about such a negative reaction to a section is usually because they are disrespectful (talking to others and not paying attention) and/or generally disengaged from the process. I may be speaking too soon as I still have to meet my final section tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have my first semester where I like all 5 sections.

Cody missed two days of class last week because he got sick. Today he returned to school and was rather overwhelmed by how much work he has to make up. But he's been working steadily since he arrived home this afternoon. Hopefully, he'll catch up soon and won't feel any further negative effects from missing school.

Dan finally opened up his Christmas present from me...a camera. He uploaded the software, learned how to operate all the buttons, and charged his battery, all without any help from me. This is a truly amazing accomplishment and he deserves mega recognition for stepping out on his own. The final step is actually taking pictures and uploading them to his computer, but I have total faith that he'll figure that one out on his own as well. I am so proud of you honey!

Waiting

After all the hussle and bussle of getting everything ready for my classes, I've finally prepared all that I can before classes start next Monday. It has been such an intensely focused endeavor week after week since the beginning of July, that it's unnerving having nothing left to do, except wait to see whether my mounainous efforts in remaking my Abnormal Psychology is a spectacular success or spectacular failure. There are so many variables that I just can't control and it is up to me to be adaptable enough to deal with whatever unexpected events may come my way. If you know anything about me, it is this...I like to be in control. So, this uncertain outcome is making me feel quite unnerved. The busyness of preparation served to keep my mind occupied so that I couldn't dwell on my lack of control, so I miss the busyness.

Chelsea and Cody are still adjusting well to being back in school. They both have quite a bit of homework and have been diligently working every afternoon after school. They are both taking a 7th class on line, which makes their load a little more heavy than usual. It is such a relief, however, to see that Cody is doing fine thus far being a freshman in high school. Nothing untoward has happened to him, unless he isn't telling me, but I think I would notice a change in his demeanor if anything was wrong.

I'm teaching 5 classes this semester, with a total of 299 students (that's if I don't add any students above the scheduled enrollment, which by the way I always end up doing). That's a lot of students and a lot of grading. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep up with all the grading. Yet another thing to worry about. So it's now a waiting game until Monday. Maybe I'll get a pedicure tomorrow to keep my mind off things.

I can't believe my good luck

Do you remember these pictures of my messy office mate? My OCD tendencied self has had to live with this mess and it has really gotten to me. So I wasn't exactly thrilled when I found out that not only would I continue to have him has my office mate, that yet another person was going to be added to our office. The Messy One was ordered to clean up his mess in order to accommodate the new office mate. I wasn't very hopeful. Here's a series of pictures to remind you how bad the mess was.


I went to my office today to print up my syllabi and when I opened the door I was shocked. I couldn't believe my eyes!
I realize it still looks a bit messy, but it is really an improved mess. The boxes that are to the left of his desk and under the bookcases on the right are all labeled to be taken somewhere else, so they won't be there much longer, leaving even more space.
While he still has messy piles on the desk in the corner, you can see that he emptied out an entire bookshelf and most of the mess is up off the floor. There are still a couple of boxes under the corner desk, but he has names on them, which indicate that eventually the named people will be the recipients of the boxes.
The desk against the window was set up very nicely, so I assumed that these were the belongings of our new officemate. I was surprised that he and the Messy One would be basically sharing the same half of the office, leaving me with the remaining half all to myself. But I soon found out from my boss, that when the new officemate saw the state of things, even though the messiness is much improved. He asked to be placed in someone elses office.....and my boss agreed. So even though I still have to share the office with the Messy One, I'm going to have a lot more space, so much so that I'm thinking of buying a small rug to put on my side of the office to warm things up a bit. What more could a girl want, a little clean space where she can put a rug. I'm feeling very lucky today; maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.

First Day of School and First Days of Life

Today was the first day of school for Chelsea and Cody. For Chelsea, this is old hat as last year she was a freshman and as a returning sophomore, she's got it all figured out. Cody, however, is a freshman and feeling a bit nervous this morning. The high school is a much bigger school, with numerous buildings and his schedule is quite spread out. His primary concern was finding his classes and getting to class on time. He attended freshman orientation yesterday, which he later decribed as an all morning pep rally. He didn't really feel like there was much orienting going on. This is also his first experience of attending a school with an "open campus." He's looking forward to getting his lunch at Subway. He recently discovered Subway and is mildly obsessed with trying all the items on the menu. Chelsea was excited because her best friend Katelyn, who recently moved to Paradise, will be riding to school with us everyday. Unaware of this fact, Dan came downstairs this morning fully dressed and announced that he was going to ride with us to take the kids to school this morning. I told him that he couldn't because there wouldn't be room in the car because we'd be taking Katelyn, so he offered to drive Cody to school, while I would drive the girls. No concern in this household about conserving gas. As we left for school, we were a little concerned about possible traffic delays as they have been advising an alternative route from now until Dec. 22, 2008. Our usual route to school is undergoing a major overhaul, but we decided to take that route anyway, because quite frankly, regardless of which route you take, it's going to be congested...or so we thought. Long story short, traffic was a friggin' nightmare. I've got to say that there are a lot of drivers out there who have their heads inserted into a very dark location. We got the kids to school 3 minutes before the first bell, stress that Cody could have done without. He tends to be a clock watcher like me and as the chances of being late increases, so does his anxiety level. Now I'm left to wonder how their first day of school is going. I hope it goes well.

Now, from first days of school, to first days of life. My neice and nephew in law had their baby boy, Nolan, on Aug. 3. Last weekend Dan and I rode our bikes over to their house to finally meet this latest addition to the family. Jenessa looked wonderful and relaxed. She has wanted to be a mom since she took her first breath and now that this dream has been realized, you can see the contentment all over her face. No stress and anxiety over being a first time mom. She's already a pro.

Here's the proud mom and her precious 6 lb., 19 in. boy, Nolan. He's a very sweet baby. I never heard him cry, he squirmed occasionally, would make interesting faces, and then fall back to sleep.
I got to hold him for a long time. Here he is on my lap. This picture makes his nose look big, but it really is very tiny, with the tiniest of nostrils.
There's nothing quite like holding a newborn. They still strunch up their legs as if they are still in mom's belly. They smell good too and their heads are so soft. I think if you rub a baby's head it brings good luck. If that isn't true, it certainly is a good de-stressor. I really am looking forward to seeing this little one grow up. I'm amazed how quickly my boy went from being a little baby like Nolan....well not as little as Nolan; Cody weighted 9lb. 3 oz....but you know what I mean. From a newborn to a freshman in high school. It went by in a flash

I do not have a fetish!

I'm posting a picture of my toes again and for fear of giving the impression that I have a toe fetish I thought I'd post a picture of Bella saying "good morning" that I took this morning. She's really growing quickly as I feed her about every 3-4 hours. She was very underweight when we got her. She visited the vet on Monday and was given a clean bill of health, but she did not pass the "free of fleas" test. We remedied that immediately!
On Saturday I decided to use the gift certificate that Bruce and Sarah gave me to say thanks for taking Bruce's parents in during the fires. This gesture was, of course, totally unnecessary, but I've got to tell you I really enjoyed cashing it in. They gave me a $40 gift certificate to my nail salon. So I went in there and asked for the works. Not only did I get my usual pedicure, but I also had them do a manicure. Now I work on the computer most of the day so I can't do the whole long nail acrylics, so I just had them clean up my cuticles and put clear polish on. But my toes are something different; this is where my creative self can be expressed.

It's hard to tell in this photo but there are small rhinstones placed at the center of the flowers and she did this neat technique where she made the actual nail polish color appear as if it is part of the flower. She only used white paint, but when you see them in "real life" the flowers look like they go from dark to light pink to white. Unfortunately I don't have the best camera and the effect is lost in this picture. It was truly a lovely morning. They massaged my hands, which I really needed considering how much typing I've been doing lately. I promise that this will be the last pictures of my rather unattractive toes.

I've really accomplished a lot of work and I have to give a shout out to my little sister Lynnie, because I simply could not have put together this awesome curriculum without her enthusiastic and supportive guidance. You're tops Lynnie, thanks tons. I guess if you're falling apart some day psychologically, I can return the favor, but I'm not holding my breathe.

He got a big one

Cody and Dan left a week ago today for Brookings, Oregon to go deep sea fishing with Dan's Uncle Arthur, an avid fisherman. Their trip up was uneventful and since I wasn't there I don't have any idea what they talked about or what scenary they saw. All I cared about was that they arrived safely at their destination. This home was their destination. Uncle Arthur and Aunt Shirley's home.
I've never been there, but it certainly looks lovely.
I'm not sure if this is a view of the neighbor's back deck or if they walked away from the house and took a picture of Uncle Arthur's deck. Either way it looks like they live in a rather picturesque spot.
Their house is situationed on a cliff that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

This is Uncle Arthur saying "cheese" for the camera with Cody. Tomorrow's a big day and it looks like Uncle Arthur is already ready to go to bed.
Uncle Arthur is clearly an active guy. I think he might have bent his knee a little more in this picture with Dan....or maybe not.
Cody was the first one to get something on his line, you can see the splashing of water as the fish fights Cody's line.
Cody hangs in there and keeps on reeling his conquest in.

I think the fish finally gave up here, or maybe he's waiting for his second wind.
Cody finally got the fish up close to the boat where they were able to bring the fish on in. They were able to keep this one because it was tagged. The tagged ones are bred to be fished whereas they like to keep the wild ones alive so that they can spawn, which of course means this is a salmon.

Thumbs up Cody. Job well done.
Here's the proud fisherman showing off his hard won prey. Looks like a pretty good one to me. Overall, it was reported to me that the trip was highly successful. They headed home the next day and I was so glad to see them. The house was so quiet without Cody's constant banter.