Lunch!

Today I am enjoying the following items from the weekly tRBC cook-off:

1. El señor B's brussel sprouts - best batch yet
2. Roomie D's roasted tomato and sausage pasta "con burn-y taste". The burn-y taste has mellowed and is quite pleasant at this point.
3. Roomie R's spinach/strawberry/bacon salad with raspberry vinaigrette (I added the bacon).
4. El señor B's roasted chicken, sausage and sweet potatoes with some pico de gallo on top.


I WIN.

A sad state of affairs

So I began the semester with 64 students. Of those, 2 are already gone three weeks in - one dropped last week and another I force-dropped after not showing for the first two weeks.

I met a senior teacher in the hall this evening and commented that I was feeling frustrated at the complete lack of effort that a disturbingly large portion of my class is displaying, even at this early date.

I was then informed that I can expect about 40 students to finish the class, 45 in a very lucky semester. A handful of those will still get a D or F, although most of the failing students drop before final grade reports, in my own experience.

40/64. That's 62.5% - a failing grade for us as educators.

As they say, you can lead a horse to water, push his nose in it, threaten him with the glue factory, and you still can't make him drink. I also know that students don't do well for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with my class in particular. But man, it's still a little depressing.

Whoda thunk?

I am currently eating Brussels sprouts and loving it. In my own defense over this serious reversal in tastes: my mom's Brussels are probably still lousy. She's a lovely woman but from the school of thought that all veggies should be chewable without your teeth.

In other news, I'm in my second week of the semester as a full-time teacher. I feel like it would be cake if I were teaching the course I've taught before, but it's a new prep for me instead. I'm enjoying it very much, working much harder (as opposed to smarter) than I should be, and am stressed out in general. Over the last ~1 week I have woken up maybe 4 times some time between 3am-4am and either spent several hours awake or never gotten back to sleep at all. Ye ol' brain just won't turn off. An interesting observation is that there is a near-constant background (in my head) of Zumba music while I can't sleep.

I feel like a zombie today. The good coffee shop on campus closes at 1:30p and I forgot to stop by when I got out of lab at 1p. Bummer.

We maded a veggie garden this weekend. Roomie D and I have been talking it up for literally years now. It finally came together thanks to pushing from F and el señor B, plus lots of sweat equity from them and roomie R. I managed to totally fuck my right thumb/wrist forearm somehow in the venture. It's slowly getting better but I can't really squeeze anything. Brushing my teeth has been hard. I tried using my left hand, which was amusing but entirely ineffectual. I'll keep icing, I guess, but probably not make it to the climbing gym this week. Luckily no gripping is involved in Zumba.

Well, must grade homework assignments and prep for Wednesday lecture. And finish my lunch.

Here's a pic of me and my sister, A, at a recent family reunion. I put in the smiley one instead of the silly face one. My immediate family painted the board. My dad must have painted the witch, as she has red hair like my mom. Likely this earned him a swat.

Oh! Procrastination!

I don't feel like going to edit video even though (1) my appointment started 48 minutes ago, and (2) I really need to do it because I only have 2.5 days left at this job. But I really don't feel like it.

Sigh, I'll suck it up and go and also hopefully get a sweet post or two written in the week I have between jobs.

I love vacation

So far today I've eaten some cereal, drank some coffee, and played 3 games of cribbage with my Papa. I won the first game and then he skunked me on the next two. Our record for the past two days is 5 to 4 (Papa to me, skunks count as 2). He can't hear a thing anymore, but that doesn't keep him from kicking my butt at cards on a regular basis. Not bad for a 93 year-old. We'll be headed to Golden Corral for lunch soon. Not my favorite restaurant, but he gets a good balanced meal and I go for the salad bar.

Yesterday my dad and I biked just a few miles down the MKT (I'd say just 5 miles total). It probably took us over 30 minutes because we were riding pretty chill, taking breaks to look at the creeks and ponds, and even though the trail is nice, my bike was meant for pavement. Then we headed to Walt's Bikes to get him a new bike seat, helmet and gloves. His old bike seat was HARD and making his bum sore. He's hoping to get back into biking for exercise and stress relief. He used to bike a bit about 10 years back. Glad we checked out the trail - it's really close to his work and he could easily pop on and off for a nice 30 min ride after work. The streets in our own neighborhood are not so bike-friendly. I like hanging out with my dad, although there are certain topics we have to steer clear of. Anything political is strictly off-limits, but (suprisingly, to me) we have no trouble talking nicely about religion/philosophical beliefs. Especially over a good stout or porter. And we can just not talk at all and that's nice too.

My mom is simpler to hang out within some ways, since we agree on a lot of things. But man can she talk - I get that from her but not nearly at the same magnitude. It's funny, because neither of us really liked the other as I was growing up, and I was definitely a daddy's girl. It's good to get along finally. The plan is for us to do some crafting/gardening stuff on Thursday and probably head downtown for lunch and maybe some light shopping. It's always a nice time.

I feel blessed to have a good relationship with both of my parents. They don't approve of all of my decisions, but they respect them anyway. They are mighty good parents, and not just to me and my sisters. They'll take in just about anybody who needs some family support. Several boyfriends, current and ex, have been enveloped into the Cadwell clan, as well as the odd friend from high school. I'm glad that they really like el senor B. As my mumsie says, "he's a keeper". They never did quite take to the last one - they tried to include him but he just never felt comfortable in our family I don't think. Oh well, his loss.

Well, time for lunch, and then I'm going to make dinner tonight. Nothing fancy, just grilled cheese and assorted veggies.

Nutz

Hmmmm...so much for the "I'm going to blog more than once in a blue moon" aspirations.

I'm just not a natural blogger. Not angsty enough, really. Or maybe I'm just good about whining to people who are physically around me. Plus I have no project or training goals to keep track of. I would, however, like to do a couple things in that realm for the summer:

1. Join the Madtown Hoopdown group. They hula hoop. I got a hula hoop for my birthday.

2. Get back to lifting. Now that I'll be down to one job for the summer, should be easier to schedule in. Plus el señor B said he'd help me devise a routine, which I'm not too good at myself.

3. Keep going to Zumba. Oh my god, have I mentioned Zumba before? You just go and shake your booty (literally, there's a lot of shimmying) for like 45 minutes behind a lady doing the same thing with tassels on her butt. AMAZING.

4. Climb consistently again. Not well, just consistently.

Also, I got a sweet job for the fall. Just the fall, and then I'll be out on my ass again, but I should be able to put enough away to not have to worry about that for a while. Until then finishing up the uni job, and I'll be glad to be done with it - just not fun any more. I had a lovely birthday party a couple weeks ago, I'll try to post some pictures up, other than those that friends have already put on various social networks.

Aaaaaaannnnnndddd...that more or less catches me up. Anybody have any good novel recommendations? Right now I'm reading "The Time-Traveler's Wife" and some non-technical book on quantum theory that just appeared in our bathroom one day. It's almost too non-technical for me, but fairly well written.

Yeah, the wind sucked.

I was sorely tempted to drop into 1st gear on the flat going past the lake, but I didn't. I probably should have. Core Crunch was good, I'm giving those 20 year-olds a run for their money. On to the pool!

Made of Pudding*

I was looking at my "Edit Posts" list and found a couple that I started but never finished. This one has my favorite series of pics of me and el señor B, from my 31st birthday party (yes, that would be about 10 months ago). I also reference when I lost my wallet, which was right after my birthday so what appears below is from late April '08.

Let's see, since I'm trying to be good about staying updated, I'll do a little bit of preemptive bitching about the wind today. I haven't been out yet but weather.gov said 10-15mph from the south which is bad news for me. Oh, the ride in is going to suck! Perhaps I'll leave a bit early and go by the lake on my way to Core Crunch and then swimming with L. If it's gonna be windy I might as well suck it up, and take the long route past the lake the wind is coming off of. I should change the title of this blog to "the lady whines about wind..."

El señor B celebrated his thesis defense in fine fashion this weekend with many a boot'o'beer. Perhaps too many a boot'o'beer. But I'll leave that story, or at least the parts he remembers, to him. I will, however, try to remember to put some pictures up. Once I get the ones that I-H took, there should be a fairly complete set. That will be my next blogging goal. B-alicious came to visit for like 24 hours total, and drove 10 hours to do it! She is a trooper and a good friend with even better cleavage which she generously showed to us all. Hee hee.

And now, I am off to battle the wind, do some exercising, and finish grading exams.

Old text:
There is a lot of stuff that I'm behind on reporting - my lost wallet prime amongst them - but for now I'll just give you some birthday highlights.

*Title stolen from Frippy. I, too, am made of pudding, apparently. Not pumpkin as some would claim.

2 months instead of 6

So yeah, I'm trying to be better about this whole blog thing and look! It only took me two months to update this time!

Pathetic, I know.

Let's do a brief rundown of recent happenings:

First and foremost, el señor B is defending his thesis this week. I know that's his news but I am SO FUCKING EXCITED. Finally it will be over for him and he'll be able to bask in the post-PhuD glow. I would also like to bask in said glow.

We've really been keeping up, as a household, with the big Sunday cook-off. This week the offerings were varied and delicious. I made my you-ain't-never-had-better egg salad, which includes ground flax seed for your gut and is to be et with crackers and cucumber slices. I also made my specialty of coconut curry with squash, kale & collards, chicken and onion served over brown basmati. Then I steamed some broccoli and asparagus. Roomie D filled the whole house with smoke making some very yummy pork chops with a sauce made from the drippings, garlic, ginger, cilantro & coconut milk. He also re-made a pilaf with roasted red peppers that I really liked from last week. El señor B rolled up later with some homemade Greek yogurt and then whipped up a tasty pico de gallo (not to onion-y), some tasty and hella-spicy chipotle-based chili, and another tasty greens dish with kale, napa, and bacon. Ooh, I just remembered I have some of that with me right now. That's just this week, y'all. We throw down.

I just gave my first exam of the semester. I think they did pretty good. I'm mentoring a new teacher this semester and I definitely appreciate how much easier it gets with a couple semesters under ye ol' belt. I applied to a physics teaching job and just got the rejection yesterday. I wasn't super-excited about it anyway. I more recently applied for a math teaching position that I really really really want to keep your fingers crossed that I at least get an interview. If they meet me in person, they'll have to hire me. Fourteen months ago I applied for a chem teaching and educational research position in Puerto Rico. They just got back with me last week asking for a phone interview. 14 months! I was really feeling it when I applied, having just returned from vacation in PR. Now I'm not feeling it so much but my co-workers have bullied me into doing the interview. It would be a good job, I think it was even tenure-track, but vacationing in PR and living in PR are two different things. Plus I'm really happy with my life here, even if I'm destined to be poor, status-less and insurance-less. I mean, I probably wouldn't even get it anyway, but it's the first bite I've gotten and I feel like a cad for not being more excited about a job prospect in this economy.

At my current full-time job I'm organizing an outreach event in two months that about 2500 people will attend over 3 days, and the ~150 volunteers I'm going to need to staff it. Crazy. All that work to get a PhuD and I'm a glorified secretary. Except with way more exo-work stress. I'd rather be a secretary, I think, but those jobs are tough to come by. I'm quitting this job one way or another at the end of the summer. It's just gotten boring and stressful, even though I like my coworkers. No real plans yet for what I'll do then. Wing it. I mean, that's pretty much worked for me thus far.

My lil' buddy Toot died about a month ago. I miss his stinky, paper-ripping little rat butt. May he rest in peace. Or really, the deep freezer until the ground thaws. I'll bury him with his brother Ollie's ashes.

I've been getting back to the group fitness classes at the gym: Core Crunch, which I LOVE even though it is painful on Tuesdays and early-morning yoga/pilates on Thursdays. I'm also trying to swim on Tuesdays but that's been hit-and-miss so far. I've been pretty good about getting out climbing once a week or so, which was a goal of mine this semester. I'd like to get it up to twice a week. I've even been riding the SDB4k fairly frequently of late in the very unseasonable warmer weather. I was hoping I'd be cross-country skiing but after this week our entire snow base is going to be gone. Stupid great north! I finally learn, after 7.5 years, to love something about the winter, and then it rips it away!

That pretty much runs the gamut: love interest, food, work, rats, exercise.

One more note: this winter the city has made $140 combined (me-1, el señor B-1, roomie J-3, roomie R-2) on our household for opposite-side parking violations. Bastards. I'm thinking my back-up plan may be as a parking officer. It's a growth economy!