InAdWriMo...who's in?

Me, but I don't think I can count words. I have 4 nearly complete, or in need of revision, manuscripts, and I pledge to get 3 of them out the door before the end of the month.

Thanks for the inspiration TiredProf.

Nightmares

I was up a lot of last night worrying about the chair evaluation. So silly.

On the positive side,
a) It's Friday
b) We are taking the girls to a really, really fun kid's concert tomorrow
c) It's Halloween, so little people are very excited
d) I finally found some real apple cider, which is hard to come by here in Central State
e) I also found decent plane tickets for our Christmas trip yesterday. One more to scratch off the list.

How nice to see you again.

I'm sure you don't remember me because:

a) You are a busy and important person and can't keep up with the little people like me
b) You think you are a busy and important person and don't bother to learn about the little people like me
c) All of the above


*Answer: b

This and that

Last night was PrettyGood's annual treat night, where the Freshman women's dorms have contests to decorate the floors, and then invite faculty and staff to bring their kids to trick or treat at the rooms. It is a lot of fun, safe for the kids, I think the PrettyGood students enjoy it - many of them wear costumes themselves, and since PrettyGood is a more *hem* affluent school, the candy haul is more peanut butter cups and less Mary Janes, if you know what I mean.

I asked some of the senior faculty what they were going to do about the chair evals, and I think there's going to be an informal meeting today.

Coming around, or is it

A little surprise in my mailbox today...it is time for chair evaluations. I don't know what I should do. On the one hand, I think anything I say will be highly suspect and, given my current position, I could get fired at any time. On the other hand, I really believe that the chair hasn't done a great job, botching things like faculty hires and communication with the faculty. We are a pretty small department, and it really didn't used to be this way. We lost 25% of our majors this year, in a year when PrettyGood saw record enrollment, and I think that says a lot.

Gak

Cold and rainy today. I guess that's good, since I really don't want to go outside, and since I have 11 things on my "really, must, must, must do today!" list. Some of them are holdovers from the "Must do this weekend" that I didn't do.

Why is it that I spent about 4 hours this weekend working on stuff for my job, but I still feel really guilty that I am not working hard enough...

Coming home

Today was PrettyGood's homecoming which features a festive parade, a round butt kicking of (not by, mind you) the football team and Dr. MommyProf dragging her sorry butt out of bed at 6 this morning to go greet our graduates at our department reception. We had to move the reception up, you see, because our football team had the opportunity to get its butt kicked on national television today, so all the homecoming festivities were moved up such that our reception had to start at 7:30. In the morning. On Saturday.

I had several former students come, and it was good to see many of them. But highlight was one student who graduated about 3 years ago, is doing fabulously in the field in a major city/company/firm and had her Mom with her. Her Mom was from another country and did not speak English. But fortunately, I studied the language of that land from Jr. High through college, so when she introduced me to her Mom in another language as "This is Dr. MommyProf. She was my favorite professor," the message came through loud and clear.

Although I am still super bitter towards my employer, there are moments like this that remind me that, day to day, I do still like my job.

Oh where, oh where has my little brain gone...

I'd love to have something coherent and meaningful to post today, but I just don't. These October blahs are killing me, such that I am wondering if I'm actually having a mid-life crisis. How do you know when you are having a mid-life crisis? People in my family generally live well into their '90s, so I'm kind of early.

Random bullets of Thursday

I have been sneezing all dam day.

Our secretary's grown, registered sex offender son was in a car accident yesterday. He called her first, before the cops. Then she spent most of today talking to insurance, etc. I wore headphones a lot today.

I advised my favorite grad student today (not that I play favorites, of course).

Offspring neglected to finish her homework last night, so she went without breakfast this morning so that she could finish it before school. Because I am a mean mommy.

Homecoming is this weekend. Although I have great difficulty mustering any kind of enthusiasm for things dealing with PrettyGood at this point, I have to be there at 7:30 on Saturday to make coffee for the alumni.

Bun is watching the They Might Be Giants DVD Here Come the 123s. The current song is "Triops has three eyes." If you have anklebiters, I highly recommend this album and the companion "Here Come the ABCs"

Our kitchen counter was covered with ants when we got home. Yuck.

And may I just say

The job market is pretty lousy in my field this year. In all fields, really. I think there are about as many jobs posted as there were people graduating in my class at Prestige U. when I finished.

Also, I am bored. I have nearly caught up on all the super urgent stuff, and the other stuff I am just not finding fascinating. I think it is the October slump. I also think I need to make the time to read a goodntrashy novel to break myself out of this funk.

I will now take suggestions for said goodntrashy novel. I am thinking Lost Symbol?

Priorities

I am at home at 4:36 a.m. I got up early to finish yesterday's to do list. What am I doing? Blogging.

This is the week that starts the period that pushes the semester up to the end. My midterm in my second graduate class is tomorrow night (and oh, some of you sucked on the first) and the departmental final on my undergrad class (which I need to write!) is in two weeks. So it's up the hill for two weeks, and then the rapid slide to the end of the semester.

So I'd better get to it.

Family

So I am newly back from the funeral in Rural Flyover. One of the things that is both great and terrible about events on that side of the family is that I get to see cousins and aunt and uncles that I saw a few times when growing up and hardly ever since. it struck me that my Dad's side of the family is a really accomplished bunch, especially considering their humble beginnings. My grandfather grew up on a subsistence farm in Rural Flyover and my grandmother grew up an orphan, raised by her sister from the age of 7 after their parents both died of some sort of infectious disease (no one really knows what). Their kids are a farmer, a research biochemist, a chemical engineer and an in-house auditor for one of the largest chemical companies in the U.S. (notice a theme here?). Their grandkids include the owner of a software company, a wildlife biologist, a regional director of finance for an insurance company, a college teacher (that's me) and a dental surgeon.

You meet lots of more distant relatives at these things, and I can tell you that Grandma and Grandpa's branch of the family has flourished in many ways that would be dreams for the good folks still trying to get by Rural Flyover, hoping that some big plant will open nearby and bring some much-needed jobs.

Grandma and Grandpa's great respect for education (they both went to college and Grandpa went on to earn a MS in agriculture back in the '30s) is largely responsible. It is a great heritage for me to remember and to share with my own children.

The terrible part is that I don't know when or if I'll see all these neat folks again.

This is science

I remember when I was in grad school, there was a story kicking around that the NSF was going to fund an entertainment program to glamorize science - something like Numb3rs, which the agency did give an award (and which I can't stand to watch, since it is such a ridiculous dramatization of the university combined with that amazingly annoying "let's present science as a plot element by using extremely wooden dialogue" technique combined with the mandatory cool detective station with lighting that is so low that I think all the detectives must be suffering from extreme eyestrain). I thought the idea was silly at the time, mostly because the process of doing science is, you know, all slow and incremental, like, and anything realistic about it would be astounding dull.

I will


now eat my words.


I *heart* Big Bang Theory.

Teach your children well

This blog post in the New York Times got me thinking about how kids are learning to cook and other self-care skills today. I grew up in a family where neither of my parents particularly liked cooking, but we also didn't have a lot of money, so they did it regularly. We very, very rarely ate out for anything. I think I may have had 5 fast food cheeseburgers before high school, when I made friends with people who could drive and got my own job.

But my parents were always encouraging of efforts to cook, perhaps because they didn't like doing it themselves. When I was Offspring's age, I made some astounding abominations in the food department (apple cake with no leavening and a full stick of butter, anyone? How about a tasty beverage of orange juice with a splash of Good Seasons Italian Dressing?), and my parents were ok with sacrificing some of the week's groceries in case I made something edible. I made a lot of messes, but I also learned a whole lot about what did and didn't work in the kitchen.

Then, for the first two years of junior high, we had a required rotation for one class that included two quarters of art (2-D and 3-D); a quarter of industrial arts (plastics in 7th grade, wood in 8th grade, metal in 9th grade); and one quarter of home ec (5 weeks of cooking, which included a week of nutrition, and 4 weeks of sewing). The fact that I can sew on a button, plan a decent meal, and use most power tools safely are completely due to these classes.

Sadly, there is no longer any time for these classes for college-bound kids. I think this must have been the case for quite a while, since I know that at PrettyGood, if you want to be an RA, you have to have instruction in how to do laundry so you can teach your residents how to do it, and we have a very popular pick up and delivery service for clean clothes (which still astounds me every time I see it).

Being the parent of one of these academically oriented, involved students, I can say that it's hard to have time to teach this stuff at home, either. I can get a meal on the table a lot quicker without "assistance," but I know that if I ever want Offspring and Bun to be able to crack an egg or cut vegetables with a sharp knife or sew on a button or mend a hole in clothing, I need make the time to show them how to do it and build in opportunities to practice.

Death, by the numbers

Hours spent trying to get plane reservations: 6
Times a parent has been crying on the phone: 3
Number of tests Offspring has to take tomorrow: 7
Music rehearsals Offspring is missing: 4
Classes I am missing: 1
Lectures I gave in one period today: 2
Skeevy-ness of hotel that is still available (scale of 10): 8
Time until which I have class tomorrow night: 9
Time we leave Thursday morning: 5:30
Cost of "free" frequent flier tickets: $215
Number of hours that Bun has watched TV while I am a crappy Mom making travel reservations and Offspring is studying for tests: 2
Number of cousins I haven't seen since the last funeral: 8
Number of cousins I have seen since the last funeral: 0
Predicted temperature in rural state while we are there: 45
Number of coats my girls have that fit: 0
Vanities I have thought about: 3 (hair cut, cover gray, does anyone know about the tenure deal?)
Vanities I have dismissed: 1 (the tenure deal. Honestly, I doubt anyone cares)

Sorry if I insulted you, there, buddy

So my Grandfather died this morning. My parents didn't call me until tonight, and my Dad was very upset.

Airfares are sky high for this weekend, but it is a 15-hour, each way, trip in the car, which I would not be excited about with a recently potty-trained toddler for the weekend.

So we looked into frequent flier miles, which we have enough of and can do. Since the trip is so last minute, we incur a pretty good financial penalty for booking now, and I read on some travel web sites that many airlines will forgive those fees if you can prove that it is for a death in the family, which I can.

Keeping in mind that I do realize that nobody owes me anything for free, I don't think I needed the attitude I just got from the American Airlines representative I talked with on the phone. It's not my fault that I couldn't plan for his death a few months in advance, and I don't think it's wrong of me to ask. Especially since we have been good customers for American for 10 years to amass enough miles for these 4 last-minute tickets. Boo!

Still waiting

So my grandfather is holding on, although I think everyone thinks the end is inevitable. It did allow enough time for my Dad to get there and see him, although he had to be talked into it. I don't really get it when people do this "should I spend the time/money to go see so and so." I guess it's because I have a semi-flexible schedule and can afford a plane ticket in the U.S. when needed. But it doesn't seem to be time/money issue at heart. It's more of being stoic or something. But I don't think that is a time to be stoic. And it's not like you get another chance.

But the big issue for my Dad, who was going through the "But he's unconscious most of the time, so he wouldn't even know I was there," phase was mentioning his one brother who lives locally, and has been having to handle all of this by himself. And doesn't that brother need a little support?

But I don't know why people can't say they'll go just because they want to. When did caring for your family become uncool?

Bad news

My grandfather is back in the hospital and not expected to survive the night.

My Mom called so I can make plans to attend a funeral, and that will probably be the last time that I see most of my cousins or visit the family farm in rural flyover state.

Maybe I need to crank the evil down a notch

So usually at this point in the semester, I have some students who are stressed out and start crying in my office. It's awkward and embarrassing for both of us, and in my best Judith Martin impression, I later pretend that it never actually happened. But I do keep Kleenex handy, just in case.

But today, around mid day I had a graduate student from a different department write to me to tell me that one of the students in my program has been acting all strange and depressed, and has now dropped off the face of the Earth for several days. So, can I please go and check on her.

Then, I had another come in for a paper conference, on a paper that's actually going pretty well, and start hyperventilating and having a full-blown panic attack.

So I mentioned to the second that "Hey, we do have psych services, and the first 10 visits are free! And here's the number! And why don't you call them right now! And you can use the phone in my office! And Here, I'll close the door so you can have some privacy!"

Wasn't sure what to do about the first, since she's not answering e-mails or the phone, and going to her apartment seems like a major crossing of the faculty-student line. She's taking all her classes outside the department this semester. So I write to her boss at her assistantship, and she's been showing up to work regularly, so she's not dead, which is good. I asked the boss to have her call me, so we'll see.

Midterm time

I am having a lazy teaching week this week, inspired in part by the fact that I have been sick for 9 days now and my voice keeps coming and going, and by the fact that my grad students are coming up on two weeks of midterms, and my undergrads just came off of a major project.

But it is also the time of year when outside service obligations start being a real PITA. Since last Friday I have cooked for meals on wheels, worked parents' night out at our church, kept the nursery on Sunday morning, worked on the website for this big international contest thingie I'm involved with, done the PTA newsletter, and worked on a project for this other committee I'm on. All this service stuff, when you have these perfect storm weeks, means that the teaching kind of stinks and the research is non-existent.

I also have to get all the ancillary stuff together for jobs for which I am applying (It irritates me to no end that some jobs want you to send official transcripts, "Evidence of teaching excellence " and "Evidence of promising research" for the round where we all know good and well that you are just looking at the vitas to see if the experience matches. I am doing a limited search, so I don't have too many to send, but I don't know how those folks just finishing grad school in those overcrowded fields, who have to apply to 50 or more jobs, get it done without going insane or bankrupt.

On the good side, I heard from the dean of basketweaving at a school that hasn't even posted their ads yet who heard I was on the market. That can't be bad.

That's what it was

Remember how Offspring's school didn't show Obama's speech to children because they didn't want to take time from the instructional program? And they had to use the emergency call system to tell us that?

Well, apparently, pep rallies are very educational, since all of the children at her school will be going to the high school for the homecoming pep rally. I am SO tempted to write and say that I don't give them permission to take her off campus, and that I demand that they teach her something.

Today's conversation with Spouse involved what it must be like to be Offspring in school. She was telling me about how they take tests every week in every subject, and not everyone does well, so they spend time early the next week going over 5 tests for like 40 minutes per test. Offspring very rarely gets low grades, and when she does, it is for things like not putting her name on her paper or writing an answer on the wrong line. We never study. We did for a while, but it was kind of pointless, since she gets the same grades either way.

But the whole class is going over the test, which apparently involves her teachers saying Charlie, what did you put for number 2? And why is that the right answer. Louise, tell me why Minnesota is not the correct answer here? Ok, Helen, what did you put for number 3? So Offspring has to pay attention to the review of the test, since she will get dinged if she gets called on and can't answer correctly. I think this is like when I have to go to a meeting where Dr. Blowhard, who has to hear himself speak at least 4 times every hour, is holding forth on something so bleedingly obvious that I have to play buzzword bingo or look like I'm taking notes while I work on another project or make silly faces at my colleagues in order to not start yelling at him. It's torture, and it's not like I have to be especially mature about it.

Also, Spouse is going to have to end a class early in a few weeks, because there is an evening assembly for parents for Red Ribbon Week, and Offspring gets academic credit for my attending, but I can't take Bun. At least we can be a little flexible. I wonder what other families are doing?

Book

Sitting on my desk are a pile of book order forms for NEXT SEMESTER that are due Wednesday. Apparently, there is a new, not uniformly announced, policy at PrettyGood that all books must be chosen before advising for the subsequent semester begins.

I know it's not uniformly announced, since Spouse knew about it, but no one with whom I work does.

I have a new prep for the Spring in an area where the textbooks are changing rapidly, as it deals with newer technologies. I found out about this Friday, and can't even get exam copies in time to meet the deadline.

Plus, I'm not entirely sure letting student choose classes that have the least expensive textbooks is going to be the best option, academically. Don't get me wrong - I try hard to keep book costs low and even e-mail the materials list to the next semester's students a month in advance of that semester so they have a fighting chance of locating it in Amazon Marketplace or on Half.com

Perhaps I really am evil...

I put on the Prospectus for my Methods in Research midterm that students could use a calculator. There really won't be any questions where it might be useful. But they can use one, if they want.

I have the attitude that tests represent not so much an opportunity for the students to demonstrate to me what they have learned, but the forced opportunity to integrate the knowledge learned so far in a way that would allow them to apply it to new domains. I think this is a higher-order learning, but one that it is tough to get students to engage in. They'd much rather memorize stuff. So I am hoping that thinking about how a calculator could be useful at this point in the semester will help them with this knowledge integration.

Or maybe I'm just evil.

Halloween

Lab coat, shirt, pants and two stuffed animals at the Goodwill store: $10
Gloves from Walmart $.99
Test tube with candy eyeballs $Free (in the goody bag at a birthday party Offspring went to today)
Needles, thread, yarn, fabric paint $Free (from stuff we already had at home)
Goggles $3

Mad scientist costume for Offspring and Igor costume for Bun: Priceless

Thing you don't want to be asked in a teacher conference

Well Offspring has these behaviors that are vexing me. I don't have ideas. What do you suggest?

Also known as "when your kid is the outlier in the gifted class, I don't know where you go from here..."

Quality time

So I am meeting with Offspring's homeroom/math/social studies teacher after school today. I am always kind of nervous about these meetings, mostly because I always feel like my abilities as a parent are being judged. But that's my own paranoia, and I try to not let it be a problem.

Anyway, her school has some kind of organization system that involves folders of different colors, etc., but I don't really know what it is. That's why I'm having the meeting. I assume when you send a notice home that the kid is not meeting expectations, you are doing so because you want the parent to reinforce whatever it is that you are trying to do, which I can't do until I know what to reinforce.

Moving on...quality time. As the semester gets going, Spouse and I end up having less and less free time in the evenings/after school. This week, Spouse had a class until 6:30, then I had a dinner/speech on campus I had to go to from 7-9:30 on Monday. Last night, I had class until 9. Tonight I have to participate in this after-work focus group until 7:30. You get the idea.

So one thing that sometimes works for us is quality time in the morning. Offspring takes piano lessons, and we have found that she is much better and has a much better attitude about practicing in the morning (if only her teacher gave lessons at 6:30 a.m.!). I spend some time with her on that, and I also usually am able to sit down to breakfast with the girls. Spouse gives Bun a bath in the mornings, so he gets to spend some time with her. When we work it right, we get 30-40 minutes of good time with our kids by doing it in the a.m. and, especially in the middle of the semester, that's a good thing.