I'm swamped

therefore, I'm not posting.


Eat your heart out Descartes!

Teaching, research, service

Hello midnight! I am here at work. Nice to see ya. See, I have to excel in teaching, research, service. So since arriving here at about 8:30 (skipped out a little before Offspring's bed time, sticking Spouse with the privilege) I have prepped my class for tomorrow, done the analysis for an article that's due Wednesday, written the department final for the undergrad class I coordinate. Left to do: Make changes to another paper that's due Wednesday (I'm working with others on all, but taking the lead on four papers to submit. Clearly, I am insane), grade two stacks of papers, work on graduate program policy statement that is also due guess when? Did you guess Wednesday? You're so smart!

Where's the service? Oh, yeah. It's that big project I do each year for free for this international consortium thingie that I had to do work and revisions on Friday night and Saturday. You've been served.

Today we taught Offspring the meaning of the word "slammed" as we explained we would require a lot of help and good attitude from her the first part of this week. Did I mention that Spouse also has a paper due on Wednesday, as well as a graduate policy statement? Oh, and we have evening obligations this week, let's see, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Maybe tomorrow we'll teach her the meaning of "suck it up."

They finished

Sorry for the proud Mama post, but she did it - half marathon in a bit over 2 hours, which I think is pretty good for a 9 year old. It was in the 30s this morning, but they ran in long-sleeved T-shirts and shorts and said they were pretty comfortable after the first two miles. It had warmed into the 40s by the end, but that was still pretty chilly with the high winds. Bun and I waited for them in a nearby Coffeebux.

Offspring doesn't seem fazed about it at all this afternoon - she wanted a snack, which is unusual for her, but otherwise she's acting pretty normal.

Cold

Spouse and Offspring are running in a very long (like more than 10 miles) race tomorrow. Ordinarily, they'd be fine. They've run close to the distance several times and are pretty comfortable with it. But we are having freaky Spring weather here in Central State, such that what should be the sunny 50s will, instead, be the sunny 30s, with 30 mile per hour winds. So I'm worried about them, especially Offspring, who has pretty much no body fat at all.

Thoughts

Still thinking about pictures - esp. which bookshelf won't be too revealing...

Thinking about the octuplet mom. I am sure the image we get is skewed because this is an already messed up life being lived in the public eye. Still, thinking those babies would be better off with different families.

Thinking about the phone interview I had Monday, the one I have tomorrow and my conversation with the state AAUP President I had this week.

Thinking about how I have finished 1 1/2 papers out of the four I want to submit by April 1.

Thinking about how nice it would be to just go back to bed...

Picture post 1

Well, it's a little early for wildflowers, but here are some signs of spring here

First, of course, is a shot of the wild undergraduate, wearing flip flops. Note the long pants and jacket, illustrating that the flip flop is truly one of the first signs of spring. Next, um, Central State isn't exactly known for its winsome avian life. These birds, which Offspring calls static birds, are here all winter...But I did grab a quick shot of this guy, making an early Spring appearance. Not many flowers around on PrettyGood's campus, but I did find these hardy ones on a bush. Finally, the trees are just starting to leaf out, suggesting that winter will, in fact, end.















Keep 'em coming.

Bleh

I can't go into details, but we are experiencing much discouragement recently, with news from a variety of sources.

So, let's think about something else.

I think I'll do a picture post. Leave a comment about something you'd like to see from here in Mid-Sized City, Central State or here at Chez Prof and I'll try to put them up in the next week or so.

Don't add to the discouragement by no one commenting, s'il vous plait.

Mommyprof's helpful homemaking hints

Busy evening? Save time by not dropping a glass canister full of 5 pounds of sugar onto your tile floor. Do even better by not doing it with a toddler in your arms.

Sign that today's class has jumped the shark

When the videos from the Internet that I planned to show take more than 2 seconds to cue, the students start reaching for their mouses and moving to Facebook, ESPN, etc.

I compensate by talking faster.

Class ends 5 mins early.

Clearly trying to keep the most ADD kid in the class engaged may not be the best teaching strategy.

Egos and the maniacs who have them

I know a few people in my life who are very "confident" individuals. Some are quite open about it, and that's great because you just carry around the mental "total tool" watermark, and then project it over them whenever you see them.

Then there are the closet tools. Generally, their "confidence" comes in part from their well-recognized sensitivity and caring towards others. And sometimes they are so good at that, that when their caring shows up in something like a forgotten name, you feel stupid for letting the tooliness get by you.

Like when someone I asked to be a reference for a job applied for the same job, having forgotten so completely about my request a few weeks ago that she put ME down as a reference for her. Then later she spends 10 minutes in my office telling me about how that job would be so great for her. It is hard to not want to stamp the "total tool" watermark directly on someone's forehead so silly MommyProf doesn't forget again.

So now that employer now thinks we are both insane.

Vacations

Something I have never understood:

Both my parents and Spouse's have this thing about taking vacation. They both get vacation to take, but never want to take it. They are really afraid that if they commit to taking a vacation for this purpose, they will later miss out on something they really want to do.

It's not just that they don't come to see us (my parent's do occasionally, Spouse's have made it to Central State exactly once in 11 years), but they don't even do stuff they want to do.

My Dad was laid off a couple of years ago, worked part time for a year and started a full-time job right about a year ago. The change of jobs meant that he started over again on his vacation, only getting one week in a full calendar year. That vacation expires on June 1 and he has yet to take a single day of it. He hasn't been to see us, but he also hasn't been to see his 90-year-old father whom he hasn't seen in 2 years. In my mind, those seem like good things to take vacation for, and kind of time limited - you know, people die, kids grow up, etc., etc.

I know that we get a lot of time "off" as academics and so I don't really sweat about hoarding my precious time (although I pay at this time of year when I am trying to think about how we will keep Bun and Offspring occupied this weekend while we do the at least 10 hours of work that need doing). But still, it seems like there ought to be some effort to enjoy the time that you do have.

Girl's night

So I did something last night that I haven't done in about 10 years - went out someplace with a friend. We went to a traveling cooking show that was at the local fairgrounds.

Why don't I do this more often? It's because I just don't have a lot of time for friends in my life. Between my job and my husband's job, and my kids, it's not a lot of time. Add in the fact that many of the people in my life are 18-22, and the others tend to either be in different life situations or have awkward social skills (ifyaknowwhatimeanandithinkyoudo). But I do have someone I got to know through Offspring's scout troop, and that worked ok.

So it was fun, mostly. It turned out to sell out with 800 people, so it was a little crowded and slow. Plus Offspring's school scheduled an open house last night that they didn't notify parents about until Tuesday, so I missed it.

But it's progress.

Signs I am becoming a cranky old lady

1. When some pre-teen boys were amusing themselves by running down the stairs on the ship and pushing the call button at each elevator landing, I told them to stop.

2. In class on Monday, a line from my lecture will be "If you want to succeed as an educated person, you have to read. Real books and news, not just what Jimmy's newest Facebook status is."

3. We were discussing the budget at church last night, which is not looking great, and I said "Well, we could save some money if we didn't run AC in March and keep it so cold in here."

A little more

So in addition to the not wanting to do "hard" work, not wanting to come to class, etc. that makes the Spring Fever months so fun, I got what I thought was a real shocker yesterday.

We were spending a few minutes before class started talking about some items in the news, and were talking about the announced build-up of the Russian army and the relationship to NATO. And I realized that not one of my students knew what NATO is.

In fairness, it doesn't relate to the subject matter of my class and it's not in the news a whole lot, but, come on...

Do they not teach this kind of thing in high school any more? The history and polisci classes I know they have to take at my own school?

Most of them had heard of World War II, which I guess is a plus, since I was able to start there.

College students. A PrettyGood U.

It was such a short time

for my students to be back on my nerves. Oh, Spring Semester, how I hate thee!

Groceries

When to shop. It is always a conundrum for me. I'd like to be at home while the kids are awake, and I hate dragging them to the store with me. I can go when they are in bed, but then it gets into the depressing hours when you see poor working families who are dragging their toddlers around SuperMegaLoMart at 10 p.m. after the second shift ends. I know people have worse problems, but I am low on bloggy creativity today.

Waiting for me in my inbox

Dear Dr. MommyProf,

I hope you had a good Spring Break. I have decided to not come back until Wednesday. Please tell me if I will miss anything in your class.

Suzie

But we are home. We got off the ship this morning and had a lengthy drive back to Mid-Sized City, which has apparently been very cold and precipitation filled since we left.

We had an awesome time. Bun loved her first lengthy visit to a beach, Offspring got much better at snorkeling (and we saw a bunch of parrot fish) and Bun only fell out of bed twice (we have her partially switched to the "big bed" at home, and decided to not take a pack and play on the ship).

I am suffering worst case of ocean motion dizziness that have had in many years, so it will be a non-productive evening and early bed time for me. Not looking forward to going back to work (non-majors class : ( ) tomorrow.

Spring has broken

Finally! I leave at noon today to drive to StateNorthOfUs with some grad students. We give, between us, 5 papers tomorrow at a conference. We drive back tomorrow night. Get in about Midnight. The Prof. family heads out Sunday morning and we're having dinner on the ocean, as we will be gone on a cruise (we have a housesitter, you would-be thieves out there).

I have about 4,000 things to do before we sail, but I can't wait.

Peace out, y'all.

Someday I will post without whining

But not, I think, today.

Ugh

I hate the Spring semester. It goes from the big "mandatory Greek activities" campus-wide event that is held in Mid-February to the week of sickness/midterms/it's almost Spring Break, what do you mean I have to go to class?!?!/I'm too tired from all my mandatory Greek activities to Spring Break to hungover and sleep deprived to Easter! to holy cow! I have to DO all those projects.

We are at week of sickness/midterms/it's almost Spring Break, what do you mean I have to go to class?!?!/I'm too tired from all my mandatory Greek activities.

My students were so distracted in class that I couldn't hold my planned discussion intended to help get them ready for the department final. So we finished 20 minutes early, but I am hiding in my office with the door closed so as to not look like a slacker.

I am so ready for a vacation!

Dear non-major class

I think I hate you, baby.

I don't want to. I came into this relationship expecting the best from us both. Here was my chance to introduce you to some of my field. Not the hard stuff. The fun stuff. And the friend who set us up told me such good things about you. You were cute. Hard-working. Eager to succeed.

But after the first day, it has all been downhill. I don't know why. I put on my best face and come every time we are supposed to get together. You stand me up a lot. It's not my fault that we have to get together late on Friday afternoons, and you know that. You picked that time.

I plan interesting topics for us to talk about. But you look at me, slack-jawed, as if there's nothing I could say that is of relevance to you. The only time you talk to me is as you are walking out, mumbling about points. That's the best you can do, sweetness?

Thoughts on a Sunday night of grading

a) I need to stop assigning so much work.

b) Students who pay attention in class really do, do better.

c) So, you're in a professional field and you will have to educate yourself after college in order to stay current. My making you read and write about a book in the field is a chance for you to learn how to do this. You had seven weeks. And you didn't read the book. And yes, I can tell.

d) Commas. They're crazy stuff.