9-7-10

 

 

So today I taught in the morning then Miss March and I had to go give a presentation for about 50 school superindendents in the state. It went really well and we were a great team. The supers were really nice and not as intimidating as I thought they'd be. They had really good ideas and it's the first thing that makes me thing this P20 Lab thing is really something, not just a pipe dream.

Squirt REALLY needed his passport photo done so he can get his passport before our trip to Costa Rica. Yes, we are going to Costa Rica. Here's his picture. I think that if I don't get tenure I'll become a passport photographer.

9-6-10

 

Dan hung more pictures today- and the upstairs looks pretty much done. Of course, we could always use more original artwork! Today I worked some, but it was a pretty laid back day. Nice to have a holiday this time of year.

9-5-10

 

Today Dan hung pictures in our room. It looks so much nicer now- but it sure took a while to figure out which pictures and where. One is going to get a new painting in it, but I like the frame.

9-3-10

 

Finally, you say- a post about something other than worms. But potatoes? Is that a potato? No...... it's not. And I ate it. And it was good. And I want another one. It tasted like ice cream. Any guesses?

I'm still sick. Had a headache all day, felt tired and coughed up lots of things. No fever so not to worry. I hope to be over this thing by Monday.

9-2-10

 

 

Don't you love these photos?! No wonder I used to go by the name, Professor Wormwood. I love worms. Since I couldn't find any in my compost bin, my colleague had to buy some from Wal Mart for us to use in our classes today. In my first class, students created little worm habitats. They planted seeds and made a cozy environment for their wormy friends. In my second class, students created their own worm experiments. Do worms prefer light paper to dark paper? Do worms prefer to crawl under dirt or under a leaf? Can I see worm bristles under the microscope? Afterwards, my students decided to start a worm compost bin in the classroom with the left-over wormies. It was a fun, long, tiring, successful day. I'm still sick though.

9-1-10

Five months later, the SunChips bag is finally starting to break down- into chunks, not necessarily microscopic pieces. I found the bag today because I was digging for worms. When I was a little kid, if I didn't eat my dinner my dad would send me outside to "dig for worms" in his words. But today I was digging for them by my own choice so that I could do a worm activity with my students. I want them to build worm habitats tomorrow in class. However, after digging and digging (with my bare hands) into the warm damp compost, all I found were grubs, nematodes, and lots of mosquitoes biting my arms and face. I still feel really sick and it's hard to prep for a class feeling like this.
Did I mention that I really like Sun Chips?

8-31-10

 

The Bill Baggett painting my mother gave me, now hanging over my bed. Isn't it lovely? I grew up with this painting in our house, and it's really nice to have it in mine now. Makes me think of myself on the Oregon Coast looking out to sea. Seaside.

8-30-10

 

Sophie and Nala. xxxooo
Aza is in Va Beach today with Dan to give the kitties to Tom and retrieve all of Aza's stuff and bring it home.
I will miss the kitties.

8-29-10

Yes, this is my son vacuuming my bedroom floor while I lay sick in bed. I got me some good kids.

8-28-10

 

 

I felt SO sick today. Head colds are just the worst! Today Aza repaired the barn-look (if you look carefully you can see the rough looking sections she's painting over)by painting a solid color over the glaze. I love it! Dan and I hung a painting this evening over our bed and it looks so nice now. I tried to work on getting ready for my classes this week but I just feel so crummy. Off to bed now.

8-27-10

 

 

Friday. Busy day, at work until 6:30 with a graduate student-meets-faculty thing. Started getting a cold. Aza and I worked on "glazing" one wall of my bedroom tonight with Rembrant Ruby. Except that it didn't look good. Looked like an old barn by the time we were done. Plus the paint smelled, even with my cold. Up half the night. Getting sicker.

8-26-10

 

I taught my first classes of the semester today: a section of elementary science methods and a section of middle school science methods. Both classes went really well, the only problem is that I'm at school ALL day long. The first class is in the morning and the second class is from 4-7pm. I'm exhausted. This is a photo I took today of a demonstration I do. This photo is going into an article I wrote that is being published in the November issue of "Science Scope."

8-25-10

 

Aza surprised me after a very hard day of work- she is painting my bedroom! She is such a sweetie. And the wooden wall you see here is going to be painted with a ruby glaze. Photos to follow once it's done.

8-24-10

 

Squirt and Nala chillin' together...
Photo credit: Aza

8-21-10

 

 

 

Sophie and Nala, photo credits: Aza

8-20-10

 

 

Horses in town, Dominoes this evening.

8-18-10

 

What a way to welcome me back to work!

8-14-10

 

Mt. St. Helens... view from the air

 

Mt. Hood... view from the air

A morning spent dealing with a bike in a box, and then a long day of traveling home. Aza left very early and our flights were later. Squirt is staying in Portland for a few extra days, as is Jes.

8-13-10

 

View of the ocean from our hotel.

 

This is the boardwalk in Seaside. Our hotel is on the right.

 

The kids all together after dinner in Portland. Guess who got a haircut?!

 

Jes setting up her camera to take a whole-family photo.

Last day all together in Seaside. My conference lasted all morning then we hit the road for Portland. Had dinner all together at the Red Fig on Fremont St.

8-12-10

Spent all day inside. Skipped a session so I could actually SEE Seaside. Beautiful! I walked south along the boardwalk. Dinner tonight was a beach BBQ and we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows and made S'mores. Good times. I enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones. I like these small conferences. Tomorrow it ends and we depart for Portland. Aza and the Squirt will come back to Kentucky but Jes will continue her summer voyage and I don't know when I'll see her again. That makes me sad.

8-11-10

We packed up and cleaned up and left Yachats today around noon. Stopped at the Oregon State marine science center for a couple hours on our trip up the coast. Also HAD to stop for cheese curds at the Tillamook cheese factory. See, I can eat cheese curds 'cause they are not aged. They squeak! I ate nearly a half pound on our drive to Seaside for my conference. Arrived at 6pm just in time for the opening reception.

8-10-10 evening

Jes is such an amazing cook. She offered to cook dinner and insisted on making two quiches - one cheeseless for me. This is it- tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and spinach. It was fantastic. I can eat some cheese- but not if it's aged, like cheddar.

Last night in the house on the ocean. I will miss this place.

8-10-10 morning

 

 

 

 

A view of our house- the brown one next to the amazing garden...

We got up at sunrise to go see the tide pools at VERY low tide this morning. So many exposed sea creatures! It was simply amazing. Afterwards Aza and I cooked a big breakfast of waffles, pecan waffles, blueberry pancakes, blueberry and banana pancakes, snausages, and hot tea. Mmmm... then back to bed for nap.

8-9-10 afternoon

 

 

 

 

We took a ride up the coast to see a few things- the Sea Lion Caves (which contained four sea lions) and a few other interesting things like Devil's Churn. For dinner we went out to dinner at The Drift Inn. We had to wait a long time for a table but it was worth it. It's funny- they call shrimp "prawns" here.

8-9-10 morning

 

 

 

Aza and I went for a walk along the beach together this morning. We discovered some tide pools and saw sea stars, sea anenomes, and had a great time climbing on the rocks and exploring.

8-8-10 evening

 

 

This evening the sunset was beautiful. We cooked dinner at the house- grilled out- and then played a hilarious game of Apples to Apples all together.

8-8-10 afternoon

View from our beach house in Yachats, Oregon!

8-8-10 morning

All my children! In one place! This taken just after a trip to Powell Bookstore.

8-7-10

We went to the Japanese garden in Portland today. Everything was so pretty and refined.

8-6-10

Turbulent flight into Salt Lake City, so much so that I cried when we landed. This is the sky. Oh, and I'm not in the south anymore. Instant ice tea at the airport restaurant we had dinner at. Can't wait to see Jes and Squirt tonight in Oregon!