2-24-13

I hung 5 of my paintings in my office today and it feels so much better. I have at least 6 more to hang in here. It will be my miniature gallery.

Dan bought us an umbrella for our patio. Now for some plants and other decor...

It's a beautiful day in central Alabama.
I got a lot done. We had dinner with Mom and Squirt built the first prototype of my gravity light design.

2-23-13

 

 

This is Dan's manufacturing room. He cuts, he solders, he glues... and assembles educational kits. The bed is a Lego supply warehouse. The closets are storage units. the corner bench is built in storage.

2-22-13

This morning I had some important but difficult meetings at school with students. Dan had to pick me up because afterwards a migraine set in. Squirt cooked dinner--- delicious grilled cheese sandwiches with avocado. He is so sweet.

2-21-13

Tonight I was a guest speaker in a graduate seminar. I noticed one woman had out her iPhone, iPad with keyboard, AND MacBook. Thought that was pretty funny. The class went well. Met some new people.

I observed three students today.

2-20-13

Mom's birthday party! We had a great time. It was a potluck dinner with her friends and we really enjoyed it. I brought shrimp étouffée.

I observed a student today.

Bought Mom a book written by a local woman whom I went to high school with. It's called Crossing on the Paris.

2-19-13

I got this goat sticker and found a cool place to put it in my office. Today I taught. The class didn't go so well, in my mind. But I got interviewed for a college magazine, which was pretty cool.

2-18-13

Dan has started receiving large shipments for his huge order of teaching kits. This one looked a bit busted so I photographed it. Monday Monday. Today I started an Edmodo site for kids in a nearby school to get math help from our students. I was in bad mood all day until I did this.

2-17-13

This is a really mundane photo, but it represents a TON of work. My office is still not where I want it to be, but I dragged this old filing cabinet in from the garage, loaded it up with files that had been stacked in boxes in the room since we moved in, and sorted through piles and piles of papers I had piled around. I recycled an entire grocery bag of papers. Once I get some artwork hung up it will start to feel homey in here.

2-16-13

We left today around 2pm after giving up on the conference. Cold, spread out sessions, low attendance... it was not an ideal conference to go to. But the 5 of us had fun and it was good to bond. We'll be working on a grant together for the next 3 years so it was good to get away and talk and plan. I'm sitting in the back seat on the way back. My friends ML and GB are up front.

2-15-13

Today was the first day of conference sessions, but I had a migraine and managed to help give a talk at noon, but then spent the rest of the day in bed working on my computer. We went out for dinner to celebrate our grant--- to a Mexican place I did not like at all.

2-14-13

I'm in Huntsville at a science education conference. I rode up with a group of Auburn folks. We got to the Space and Rocket center around 6:30 or so and heard a speech given by a Rocket City Redneck Guy.

2-13-13

 
Squirt turned 22 today!
We celebrated with Mellow Mushroom pizza   (Holy Shitake) and beer and for dessert, Moosetracks ice cream in chicken cups.

Today I went to an outreach conference at the university and made a presentation which went well. But the lunch that was served gave me a migraine so I had a rough evening... and went to bed early and in pain.

2-11-13

Before I even decided whether or not at accept the job here, I was talking with people about this grant. When I got here in July we started writing it. Today we got funded. It's a three year grant and the number you see is for year 1. This is fantastic news. I'll be teaching my curriculum to teachers all over the state of Alabama.

2-10-13

This morning I worked on transcribing observation notes and got them sent out to students. Then we went to Mom's for lunch. She had leftovers from the cafe. Oh my goodness! She invited 8 of us over and then Dan and I got the leftover leftovers.

This afternoon I worked on some paperwork and put shelf paper in my bathroom closet. 

2-9-13

We went shopping in Atlanta today for living room chairs. We went to 5 furniture stores and liked a chair in each store. This is an Ethan Allen chair we liked. It takes 2-3 months to custom make each one in the fabric you choose. I don't like that.

We met up with friends for lunch in Hotlanta and even saw some other folks from home there.

2-8-13

I walked to work today and enjoyed just being in my office, having visitors and seeing people. It felt good. It made me wish I went into my office more often, but all the classroom observations really get in the way.

I started to walk home around 4pm but called Dan and he met me halfway just as it was starting to rain.

Tonight we went to hear a duet of classical guitarists. I didn't want to take their picture directly, so I took a photo of their reflection in the glass wall to my right. You can see Dan holding the program. Dinner afterwards at The Hound with mom and friends. 

2-5-13

View from my office this afternoon. The sky was stunning and the colors and light so perfect. I taught a great class, but kept my students 20 minutes late. Time just got away. We did the mystery tube act activity. I came home and got caught up on grading. I love teaching so much.

2-4-13

Today I stayed home and worked on course development, grading, and my Curriculum Vita. After dinner (PB&J sandwich) Dan and I went for a walk into town. We checked out the marble cornerstone of Samford Hall, which was laid when the former building was built on this site in the 1860s. This building was built in 1888 after the Old Main burned down the year before.

2-3-13

Super Bowl chili supper. What's wrong with this picture?
Today I worked on grading and read the book under the cornbread bowl, also I read the book Lost Auburn which was really really good. It makes me very curious about the history of this town.

2-2-13

We wor
We worked in the yard today. I pulled vines out of the azaleas and found two gardenia bushes behind them. Dan raked, and I also pulled a bunch of dead branches out of bushes and hauled them out to the curb. This yard can be stunning if we put the time into it. I can tell it used to be glorious.

Let's see, what else did I do today? Graded all my papers, typed up all my observation notes, went grocery shopping, and upacked a box of knick knacks that I'd packed up in June 2012.

2-1-13

Day long retreat for our department here. Good coffee, great cookies, sweet tea, and camaraderie all day. Lunch with Auntie Em and we parked in the wrong spot and had to pay the tow truck man to take the chains off her tires. Grrrr.... There was no sign.
Long walk with Dan into town tonight. We poked our heads in the chapel where we got married. I stood in the same spot. It felt smaller.

1-29-13

What a day. Today was a two Maxalt day. Out to Opelika twice and taught this evening.

1-28-13

It is still January. We have a blooming tulip poplar in the front yard.

I used my telephoto lens this afternoon around 4pm to capture these photos.

I have spent most of the day in bed working off my iPad and keyboard. Low grade migraine... needing sleep and quiet... and I managed to accomplish much in spite of it. Tomorrow I teach but I am supposed to observe students all day too. We shall see.

1-27-13

I let Frisbee out this afternoon and instead of just doing his business and coming right back, he enjoyed his back yard. He got in the grass in the sun and soaked it up for like 20 minutes. I got my telephoto lens and took this picture from inside my office. 

Later he crashed in his bed in the sun.
I think I want a Whippet puppy.

1-26-13

My workshop went great. I had teachers from nine counties across the state as far away as Mobile and Huntsville areas. We met from 9-3 and I think it was one of the best workshops I've done. We had plenty of time and I had SO much help from my friends and colleagues who organized it. No migraine, no exhaustion. It was perfect.

1-25-13

I walked to school today. It took 27 minutes door to door and was quite pleasant. I had a couple meetings with students and then went to help set up for my workshop which is tomorrow. Dinner was leftovers from Mom and I ate lots of those tomato sandwiches.

1-24-13

Last night I had this dream that I was a horrible teacher. I wrote it down this morning. Picture it. Here goes.

I had planned a lesson and it involved clear plastic magnetic balls with electricity in them. I came to class and passed them out. Student behavior got out of hand. I started trying to explain it on the board but nobody was listening. Realized my shirt was unbuttoned and buttoned it up a bit. Students were disrespectful and I had no control at all. One student had derived the physics behind the balls' behavior and I looked at it, and it was so complicated with concepts and symbols like momentum. I could not tell if it was correct. Finally, I got so pissed off, I yelled at the class saying, "you have paid me to teach you this stuff! And I spent an entire DAY planning for it, and this is how you behave?!"

I started to leave the room then remembered a teacher should never leave her classroom. So I went in the storage closet. There I realized I had lost my shirt. I was not wearing anything from the waist up. Someone had used the storage closet and made a big mess in it with lamps on and trash on the floor. I rummaged around and found a sweater to put on. I put it on and came out. Most of the students had left but there were a dozen remaining, quietly sitting in their desks. I just looked at them. They were sorry. They had not noticed I was naked and had not told me.

That's when  my former colleague in Kentucky came in with someone and asked what we were doing. I said nothing, just test review or some other BS I made up to hide the real story. The former colleague started drawing formulas on the board with lambda and nu symbols and it totally intimidated me. I had now lost the classroom too.

Classic teaching nightmare with college students and a nudity twist.

Today I found out I've been nominated by my department for the College of Eduction Outstanding Faculty Early Career Award. The website says it's to recognize faculty who have shown excellence in teaching, research, and outreach  above and beyond what is typically expected and demonstrate great potential for an academic career in higher education. Wow. After a dream like last night, I'm so floored. Wow.

1-23-13

 

After a month of haggling with AT&T and getting basically nowhere with no coverage in our house for our cell phones, we went to the local AT&T store and talked with the manager and got a free microcell tower. Hooked it up and got 5 bars instead of zero. The only hassle is that the microcell has to be near a window and we have such deep overhangs on our roof that it has to be on the floor near a window to "see" the satellites. Oh well.

Today I went and observed my students at two schools. They were all doing well. I had one student tell me that she had learned more in my class in the past two weeks than she has in all the classes she has taken from the ed school put together.

1-22-13

Tuesday. This morning I went to WalMart with Dan to look for some stuff for the kits he is building, and I was walking down the baby aisle when I heard my sister Sakura singing. I stopped and looked around and saw this display of children's music. Sure enough, she said she did an album for Fisher Price a few years ago. I don't know which one.

I taught tonight and it was a great class. It just feels SO good to be teaching science education.

1-21-13

This is my view out my home office window. See the blooming camellias? They bloom all winter here. Winter in Auburn is so different from winter in Kentucky or Virginia.
I worked from home today-- a holiday-- and got a lot done.

1-20-13

Long drive home.

We left in the morning after breakfast and got to Auburn and went straight to my mom's for some food. Since I am still not eating solid food (tongue ulcers) she put gumbo through the food processor for me. It was divine.

Frisbee and Squirt were glad to see us and we were happy to be home.