5-8-11

This Mothers Day, I went out to brunch with Dan and 2/3 of my children. Jes arrives this week, so it will really feel like Mothers Weekend then! We went to Doodles and I had the Sweet Strawberry Wine French Toast with coffee and beignets. Mmmmmm....

This day on 5-8
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5-7-11

 

Perfect little Lex, baby daughter of my friend Mags-- just four days old. The first time I met this little peanut, she was only 20 weeks along and I made a video of her ultrasound with my iPhone. I've been waiting to see her in person ever since!

This day on 5-7
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5-6-11

 

I went to my new favorite store today, Super Walmart. Once again, this store had everything I was looking for- even the Fisher Price puppy, which has the voice of my sister Sakura who is a voice actress. This puppy will be a gift for my friend Mags's new baby Lex whom I hope to meet tomorrow.

Today I visited a teacher and principal of a local private school because they wanted advice on integrating STEM better. It felt good to be an expert on something and share that with a school.

This day on 5-6
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5-5-11

My first large batch of Kombucha ready for bottling after 8 days of fermentation. It should be ready to drink in a few days. Stop on by this weekend if you want to sample some non-alcoholic home-brewed booch!

This day on 5-5
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5-4-11

May the 4th be with you! Today was a special day because my friend Mags's baby girl was born this morning. I can't wait to see them. Perhaps I'll have some new baby pictures in a day or two.

Another photo of my garden- irises, columbine, and peonies in bloom. It was cold today. It was hard to be motivated. All my joints hurt, I think, from all the lifting yesterday.

This day on 5-4
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5-3-11

 

 

 

Got to school early to give an exam, stayed for a meeting at which I was supposed to present but we ran out of time, then rushed off to help load supplies being collected for the Alabama tornado survivors. It was the most rewarding two hours I've spent in a very long time. I was so touched and humbled and amazed at the generosity of people coming by with hundreds of dollars worth of things to donate. One man came with entire SUV full of brand new supplies. The main things people brought were diapers, toilet paper, paper towels, clothes, and food. We filled one POD with clothes (there I am inside that POD trying to organize things so we could get more room), one with paper products, and one with food. It's one small gesture of many around the country. Shipments going to Alabama from all over the country. Really truly amazing. And to think that just one county west of where my mom lives, devastation. I can't imagine if it were my home town in addition to my home state. My adopted home state.

After that I met up with some students heading up the student chapter of NSTA and treated one of them (the secretary) to dinner. OK, Aza is the secretary!

This day on 5-3
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5-2-11

 

 

Monday, Monday.
Started on a book chapter. Turned in grades for one class. Wrote an exam.
Obsessed about the tornado survivors in Alabama.
Was very pleased to see the final product of Squirt's hard work on a video:Click HERE to see it.

This day on 5-2
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5-1-11

 

This is an unusual photograph for me. I got the idea from a friend who knows someone in the art department here who does work like this. It's scanned with the top removed. So the background is black. This is an image of a dried daffodil. I'd picked some in April and they preserved really nicely. I suppose it can symbolize something, as all art does, but it hasn't come to me yet.

May Day
Sunday
I was deliberately lazy today just to see if I could be.
I watched the Andy Griffith Show and two episodes of House. Oh my... what indulgence!

Seven years ago today I lost my little Lily and I remember her with gratitude. Perhaps that's what the image is all about. She is preserved in my memory and heart forever.

This day on 5-1
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4-30-11

 

The garden in the back yard.

 

A beautiful garlic bloom.

 

Lots of columbine in bloom too.

 

Plus lots of these small irises.

Lazy Saturday. I did a little gardening and took some photos of the back yard... nice things blooming back there. Dan and I went to dinner at a Cuban restaurant we've never been to. Old San Juan, it's called. Home cooked goodness.

The devastation in the South is really upsetting. I'm so glad it didn't affect my home town, but I feel just terrible for all the lives lost and houses destroyed and people traumatized.

This day on 4-30

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4-29-11

Today was the STEM Symposium. I was at the student center for 10 hours and it was a great success. I met some fascinating people, gave a paper, participated in a round table discussion, ate three meals of university catered food, didn't get a migraine, milled around the poster session where five of my students were presenting research, and then came home and crawled into bed to recover for two hours. Here is one well done poster. This evening Dan and Squirt and I watched The King's Speech. Good movie.

This day on 4-29

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4-28-11

 

Last day of class! I taught a great class this morning- a "make and take" workshop for my students. They took home four items for their classrooms. Meetings all afternoon, and then Aza came over for dinner. We each had work to do, so we worked until 9, watched Gray's Anatomy together, then worked again until 11. I don't want to tell her this, because it might scare her off, or make her think I want something for her life that she doesn't want, but I can really truly see her as a college professor like me one day. It's creepy but I can actually see her working on her dissertation, the whole 9 yards. Not now, years down the road. But I can see it. Maybe I'm just looking in a mirror. But when I was her age I couldn't imagine that I'd one day be where I am.

Full day tomorrow. Must get some rest. This weekend I'd like to do some gardening!

This day on 4-28

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4-27-11

Third tornado warning in a two weeks- I'm tired of this weather. (Later I will regret whining about this considering what was happening in Alabama.)
Today I worked on an annual report most of the day, then ventured out for some supplies for my last day of class tomorrow. I discovered Super Wal-Mart. OK, this may surprise my readers, but I fell in love with Super Wal-Mart. I've never shopped in one before. Holy Cow! That place has everything! And the one I went to was so clean and bright and well organized, and they even had organic foods I like. I got a big glass jug for brewing kombucha and started my biggest batch today. Hopefully my days of buying the stuff will soon be over. Oh, and I got 14 Lays Snax for $1.00 each. I dumped out the potato chips because all I really wanted was the cans for a project. Tomorrow, my last day teaching, should be fun.

This day on 4-27

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4-26-11

Miss March beat me again in scrabble. I gave an exam this morning, taught my last night class for the semester, and graded papers until late in the evening. Oh oh. I hear the alarm in the arboretum. Better check the weather.

Tornado watch until 6am. Big nasty storm approaching. I'm sick and tired of this weather.

This day on 4-26

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4-25-11

Today I recovered from my travels. We had Mom's chicken enchilladas for dinner then went for a nice walk in the arboretum.

This day on 4-25

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4-24-11

Dinner on mom's back deck with friends this evening. The owner of Country's BBQ made us the best steaks ever. We have eaten like kings this weekend in beautiful Auburn.

This day on 4-24

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4-23-11

Today we met up with some high school friends for lunch then got ready for the big event at the museum. Beautiful ceremony, great food and music, fabulous people, very touching. Here is a photo of the grooms with their cake.

This day on 4-23

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4-22-11

Got to mom's house around 3 today. Party at 6pm for our friends B and M. This is a photo of me and my dad in front of a mirror where the desserts were. It was a nice party. Senator Phil from Texas was here plus just about every economist I've ever met. Aza was a hit at the party- the prettiest girl in attendance and heads were turned. Several people thought she was my sister Sta, which we found amusing.

This day on 4-22

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4-21-11

 

 

 

 

Today I woke up happy and excited to start my day. It's a rare thing, and I should dissect the reasons behind it. But I had a great day and now I'm exhausted. I taught a fun class, got a lot of work done in the afternoon, took the bus to school and back, visited with a student from last semester who stopped by for a visit, cooked a good dinner, saw Aza when she stopped by, and cleaned the kitchen. Now I'm ready for bed.

I just want to get in bed and read John Krakauer's Three Cups of Deceit about Greg Mortenson's lies.

This day on 4-21

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4-20-11

 

 

 

My students presented their interdisciplinary units today. They were so good!

This day on 4-20

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4-19-11

Class this morning- taught astronomy and Skyped with a children's science book author. Faculty meeting in the afternoon. Migraine in office for two hours. Taught evening class from 6-8:30 where each student presented their culminating design curriculum idea. Here are two students testing their water wheel.
Exhausted.
Dan got Jes a plane ticket home! She's coming home in May!

This day on 4-19

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4-18-11

This morning was interesting. Our new department had a meeting with the president of the APLU and two deans, an assistant provost, and an associate provost. It felt very special, and someone even came to take a photo!

I prepared for my class tomorrow, then came home and worked with a landscape architect in the garden for FOUR hours. Boy, am I ever sore. We moved things, gave things away, weeded, and really did a number on the back garden area.

Graded papers this evening.


This day on 4-18

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4-17-11

Sunday.
I graded papers.
I gardened. For four hours. In the sunshine!

I dug up a million weeds and Dan made me little cages for all my peonies. I have about 7 plants that get very top heavy with beautiful flowers, so now they will be more protected.

I will have beautiful white and pink peonies.

I hope that in 50 years after I'm gone, my grown grandchildren find this blog and feel like they are visiting with me through it.

This day on 4-17

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4-16-11

Saturday.
I spent the morning in bed with a migraine.
then...
I graded papers.
I talked with my Grandma.
I made an educational video for my students.

I cooked an awesome lasagna and a spinach salad.
I vacuumed the first floor of the house.
Tired, I went to bed early and dreamed of my Nana and Grandaddy.

Here is the dream: I haven't seen them in many years (in fact, it has been ~23 years since they died) and I go to visit. I see my Nana sitting in front of her house from my vantage point near my friend Lizanne's house; I see her face and her white hair, and I start to run to her. I'm SO happy to see her after so many years, I try to run fast, but I cannot run fast enough so I actually fly to her as if I'm swimming through water. We embrace and I feel so happy. So very very happy. We go inside and my Grandaddy is bent over the green chair with chest pains. I rub his back and tell him everything is going to be OK. Dan is with me too. The four of us decide to go to the store. We all drive there, and then when it is time to go back to their house Dan and my Grandaddy drive but my Nana decides to walk with me. It's about a 4 mile walk. She is wearing nice shoes and a dress, and she just walks and walks with me as we talk and talk. I ask her if she is tired or in any pain, and she says her feet hurt a little, but that's all. We get back to the house and my Grandaddy talks about how hard it is for him to get up the stairs to the bathroom to take a shower. We talk about adding on a full bathroom to the first floor of their house where the screened in porch is. I decide to buy them a new comforter for their bed. Then it is time to go, and I'm so so sad to leave. It's very painful to leave them but I have to.

I wake up glad that I had a little time to visit with them once again. I hope I can visit them in my dreams again soon.

This day on 4-16

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4-15-11

Today I rested. After a week and a half of running around and working like crazy, I took TWO naps today, did a little work, but mainly just chilled. It was gloomy and rainy outside so I stayed home and chilled. Squirt saw this bird in the bird bath actually taking a bath, and my camera was nearby, so I snapped its picture quickly.

This day on 4-15

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4-14-11

Today was almost magical and I'll tell you why. See this dogwood flower? The perfect symbol of spring? Well, today felt like re-birth to me.

Like a fern opening, I felt a breath of life this morning. I didn't want to get out of bed, so to prolong the eventual start to the day I watched some videos on my iPhone. I saw this one: 2000 Voices
I cried. I felt a sense of heaviness in my chest that could have been joy, but was most likely longing. So, I got up and I went downstairs and played my piano. How many years ago was it that I wrote that piece with 12 movements that I performed at church on Good Friday? I think it was 1995. I played one of the sections and it felt so beautiful. I was in my element.

I went to school and taught my favorite lesson of the semester to my students. I looked out over their faces, like these beautiful primroses, and said to them, "I am so happy to be here with you all this morning. There is no place I'd rather be. OK, maybe home in bed. OK, maybe with my three kids, but except for those two places there is no place I'd rather be. I love teaching you." It was a fantastic class. I was in my element.

I took the bus home (I love the bus) and walked into my yard and saw all sorts of flowers in bloom. Aza came over for dinner, which we went to the store to purchase, and I got myself some kombucha, and sat at the kitchen table with Squirt and Aza eating dinner and drinking kombucha. I was in my element.

Plus, I finally got the results back from my MRI today. I am still cancer free after 6 years. Perhaps I'm turning a corner. Or perhaps I just had a very good day. But my Dan is home safely from his trip, Aza cleaned my kitchen, Jes is coming to visit next month, and all feels right with the world.

This day on 4-14

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4-13-11

I felt overwhelmed today. An intense meeting to prepare for, a stack of papers to grade, and my husband out of town on a business trip. No food in the house, a dirty kitchen, just overwhelmed.

This day on 4-13

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4-12-11

We got home late last night, and when I woke up this morning I looked outside and the first thing I saw was dogwoods in bloom and redbuds. It felt like home. The trees were greening up and the air was cool and moist. Ahhh!

Plus, my lilacs are in bloom.

I had to teach today, and class went well. I love teaching electric circuits.

This day on 4-12

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4-11-11

Presented my poster this morning. Then packed up and took Dan to an urgent care center for some help with his back. Drove to Baton Rouge and endured a day of flying. Home at 11pm exhausted but excited to be back in the classroom tomorrow!

This day on 4-11

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4-10-11

This day did not turn out as expected. Dan and I were going to spend the day exploring New Orleans and have a nice dinner date with some friends. Instead, Dan threw his back out and spent the day trying to recover. I attended some AERA sessions, met a colleague for coffee and beignets, and attended the Virginia universities reception at my hotel. This hotel, by the way, is stunning. These are flowers in the lobby.

This day on 4-10

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4-9-11

This is our hotel on Bourbon Street. Luckily we got a room overlooking the inner garden courtyard, so it's quiet.

Bourbon Street, on the other hand is a complete and utter zoo. Noisy, crowded, chaotic, and overwhelming. The whole French Quarter is that way. I loved the French Quarter this morning at 7am on my way to breakfast- cool, freshly washed streets, few people... but now it's overwhelming.

I conferenced for 9.5 hours today and came back to my hotel room completely exhausted.

This day on 4-9

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