Tuesday, August 22, 2006
It's insulting
If I had a quarter for every time I've been told to be open with my students about my culture and to let them be open about theirs, I would be a very rich woman. It gets increasingly harder to listen to such remarks without making any faces.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Summer vacation: By the Numbers
I started back at work today, which, of course, got me thinking back on the last 6 weeks of vacation. While I did not accomplish many of the goals I set for myself, I did manage to do quite a lot. So, in the spirit of back to school and cross-curriculum collaboration, I give you my summer vacation...by the numbers.
Number of...
Number of...
- books read: 22 (plus one on tape)
- movies seen: 3
- concerts attended: 5
- physical therapy appointments: 14
- times moved: 1
- road trips: 2
- cities visited: 5
- weddings attended: 2
- minutes on the phone: 928 (15.46 hours)
- miles added to my car: 1767
- questionable decisions: 2 (no, I won't tell you about them, so don't ask)
- tours given: 3
- museums visited: 7
- drinks consumed: countless
- naps: countless
- days at the pool: countless
- days at the gym: many less than at the pool
Mmm...vacation. I will miss it, but it was truly a good one. I have pictures to post from my trip to Chicago, but I didn't bring the CD with me to work, so it will have to wait. Until then, have a wonderful week!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Home(s)
I made it safely back to DC, for those of you concerned about such things. I left Chicago at 10:30am (Central)Monday, stopped in Breezewood, PA around 9:30pm (Eastern) and continued on to DC at 7am this morning. I am battling a very sore back and some ITCHY bug bites, as well as the exhaustion that comes with being on the road for 12 hours after a busy weekend, but am unpacked and settled.
Mostly.
Remember that we moved the day before I left for Chicago so I returned home to quite the mess. I spent five hours getting my room in order and it looks pretty good, although damn is it small! I'm now in the old place, waiting to be able to switch the laundry before going back to the new place to put the kitchen table and sofa back together and get those rooms started. Most of the kitchen will have to wait though - Elizabeth is to kitchen cabinets as I am to refrigerators. Tonight after she gets home from work, Elizabeth and I will move the last things over to the new place and do a final cleaning of the old place. Then, finally, the move will be over.
The new place is good, but very different. Soon enough, though, it will feel like home.
Mostly.
Remember that we moved the day before I left for Chicago so I returned home to quite the mess. I spent five hours getting my room in order and it looks pretty good, although damn is it small! I'm now in the old place, waiting to be able to switch the laundry before going back to the new place to put the kitchen table and sofa back together and get those rooms started. Most of the kitchen will have to wait though - Elizabeth is to kitchen cabinets as I am to refrigerators. Tonight after she gets home from work, Elizabeth and I will move the last things over to the new place and do a final cleaning of the old place. Then, finally, the move will be over.
The new place is good, but very different. Soon enough, though, it will feel like home.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Musings on a past life
Part of the motivation for this trip back to Mom and Dad's was the large pile of papers and binders and notebooks I have stacked in the alcove of what is now Lindsey's room (the large bedroom my parents apparently keep for wayward daughters left without a solid plan after college - sorry Linds, but we both know it's true (for those not in the know, it was my room before it was Lindsey's). So tonight, with Lindsey and Dad at the Sox game and Mom resting, I settled in to cull through the remnants of my former life.
We all have these boxes somewhere and if you don't, I'd be willing to bet that you once did. I have paper boxes, under the bed boxes and even an old steamer trunk packed with things I once never dreamed of parting with: lecture notes from college; cards/letters/notes given to me by friends; receipts/ticket stubs/wristbands from "that" night; old planners and id cards; my first lesson plans/semester plans/press releases; drawings given to me by students/nanny charges/interns; note taking/test taking/organizing/fundraising guides; quotes/photos/mementos I tacked to one bulletin board or another. Things that meant so much to me at the time - things that prove that I was the person I say I was.
Professional organizers (and the Miss Type A in my mind) would tell me that I don't need these things to remind me of those times and would point out that it is not like I ever sit down to go through these boxes and I know both things to be true. After all, I am nearly certain that the paper box I just went through hadn't been opened since 2003 and I painlessly threw out a number of things, but some things were much harder to part with (USSA organizing manual for welfare? Tossed. Letter from Fred Mohs comparing affirmative action to India's caste system? Tossed (with some hesitation - it was pretty funny). Contract for Austin's soul? Kept. Last Exec Committee update from UC? Kept. Letters from students from Audubon (student teaching)? Kept.) even though I know I should throw them out. I look at the trunk, the milk crate and the under-the-bed box that awaits me and I think "get it together girl - you have to PURGE," but I don't want to. Not now. Let me explain....
I keep the stuff from my first attempts at teaching (practicum, student teaching, my Northwestern gig) because it amuses me to see how ambitious and naive and almost completely unskilled I was. There are also good examples of student work and materials I wouldn't want to recreate (if, for instance, I ever found myself having to teach ancient world history or something). That stuff is pretty easy to go through. The college stuff is harder b/c the cards and the photos remind me of silly, everyday things that I do tend to forget about - an outing with my roommates or some snowball fight, but even that isn't terribly tough to toss because I have so many photos from that time (my girls are nothing if not present with the cameras). It's the student government/organizing things that I am finding hardest to part with. Those are artifacts from a whole different life and one that I continue to distance myself from as years pass. I tell people about my time at ASM or UC and they cannot even imagine it and even I am starting to wonder if I'm remembering it all correctly and it comforts me to know that somewhere are the objects that can back up my stories. Not that I would ever drag out the boxes and show someone these things, but the idea that I could is comforting. So, for now at least, the pile will probably remain pretty large.
It is hard to close the door on your past - I thought that part of my life was long since left behind, but I'm discovering that maybe I'm not quite ready to say good bye entirely yet. Who knows, tomorrow is another day.
We all have these boxes somewhere and if you don't, I'd be willing to bet that you once did. I have paper boxes, under the bed boxes and even an old steamer trunk packed with things I once never dreamed of parting with: lecture notes from college; cards/letters/notes given to me by friends; receipts/ticket stubs/wristbands from "that" night; old planners and id cards; my first lesson plans/semester plans/press releases; drawings given to me by students/nanny charges/interns; note taking/test taking/organizing/fundraising guides; quotes/photos/mementos I tacked to one bulletin board or another. Things that meant so much to me at the time - things that prove that I was the person I say I was.
Professional organizers (and the Miss Type A in my mind) would tell me that I don't need these things to remind me of those times and would point out that it is not like I ever sit down to go through these boxes and I know both things to be true. After all, I am nearly certain that the paper box I just went through hadn't been opened since 2003 and I painlessly threw out a number of things, but some things were much harder to part with (USSA organizing manual for welfare? Tossed. Letter from Fred Mohs comparing affirmative action to India's caste system? Tossed (with some hesitation - it was pretty funny). Contract for Austin's soul? Kept. Last Exec Committee update from UC? Kept. Letters from students from Audubon (student teaching)? Kept.) even though I know I should throw them out. I look at the trunk, the milk crate and the under-the-bed box that awaits me and I think "get it together girl - you have to PURGE," but I don't want to. Not now. Let me explain....
I keep the stuff from my first attempts at teaching (practicum, student teaching, my Northwestern gig) because it amuses me to see how ambitious and naive and almost completely unskilled I was. There are also good examples of student work and materials I wouldn't want to recreate (if, for instance, I ever found myself having to teach ancient world history or something). That stuff is pretty easy to go through. The college stuff is harder b/c the cards and the photos remind me of silly, everyday things that I do tend to forget about - an outing with my roommates or some snowball fight, but even that isn't terribly tough to toss because I have so many photos from that time (my girls are nothing if not present with the cameras). It's the student government/organizing things that I am finding hardest to part with. Those are artifacts from a whole different life and one that I continue to distance myself from as years pass. I tell people about my time at ASM or UC and they cannot even imagine it and even I am starting to wonder if I'm remembering it all correctly and it comforts me to know that somewhere are the objects that can back up my stories. Not that I would ever drag out the boxes and show someone these things, but the idea that I could is comforting. So, for now at least, the pile will probably remain pretty large.
It is hard to close the door on your past - I thought that part of my life was long since left behind, but I'm discovering that maybe I'm not quite ready to say good bye entirely yet. Who knows, tomorrow is another day.
Monday, August 07, 2006
In short
Words cannot explain this past weekend. Suffice it to say that we are now moved from open floorplan, modern apartment to slightly bigger, much older and cheaper apartment. We nearly killed the two guys we hired to move our stuff, but I am assured that they are fine today. None of my stuff is really unpacked, but I have six whole days to do that when I get back to DC.
Mainly I wanted to let folks know that I not only survived the weekend, but that I made it safely to Chicago. The 710 mile trip took me 13 hours, including an hour break for lunch and several breaks to stretch my back, get gas etc. I figure I was in the car for 12 hours. For the record, I officially hate Ohio. Not only does it make up the bulk of my drive, but it isn't even interesting. I felt like I wasn't making any progress because it all looks the same. On the other hand, driving GW Parkway as the sun is rising is pretty sweet, as is driving through Pennsylvania (ie: mountains) as the morning sun burns off the mist.
All in all, things are good. I got here in time to have dinner with my folks and now I'm seriously contemplating a warm shower (I am so sore...all over) and an early bedtime. Have a great week!
Mainly I wanted to let folks know that I not only survived the weekend, but that I made it safely to Chicago. The 710 mile trip took me 13 hours, including an hour break for lunch and several breaks to stretch my back, get gas etc. I figure I was in the car for 12 hours. For the record, I officially hate Ohio. Not only does it make up the bulk of my drive, but it isn't even interesting. I felt like I wasn't making any progress because it all looks the same. On the other hand, driving GW Parkway as the sun is rising is pretty sweet, as is driving through Pennsylvania (ie: mountains) as the morning sun burns off the mist.
All in all, things are good. I got here in time to have dinner with my folks and now I'm seriously contemplating a warm shower (I am so sore...all over) and an early bedtime. Have a great week!
Friday, August 04, 2006
T-minus 5 hours (about)
Hey, guess what? Moving weekend begins tonight! Yes, tonight we will walk across the playground, enter our new apartment and check to make sure it is clean and ready for move in. Provided all is in order, we'll move over plants and large, oddly shaped items (folding screen, lamps, full length mirror, etc. Saturday will be spent moving boxes and clothes and some such things. Sunday afternoon the furniture will be moved by two strong men who are charging us surprisingly little.
Are we packed, you ask? Well...mostly. When moving such a short distance it is hard to get motivated, especially when the move in date precedes the move out date by more than a week. I'm sure you understand. But really, all that is left to pack is the dishes and some random odds and ends, so I'm feeling positive.
Complicating the move, however, is the fact that my back flared up again this week (of course). I'm having trouble lifting my laundry basket, let alone actual moving boxes. Hence, the big strong men and (hopefully) the healthy backs of a few friends. I've been diligent about my exercises and talked at length with my PT yesterday b/c I want to be able to contribute to the move (the Midwestern girl in me does not want to give less than 100%), but also b/c after the move I have to drive 800 miles to Chicago and prolonged sitting does not make my back/hips happy, especially if they are already tweaked. Ugh. Thank G-d for good stretches and strong drugs.
I ran a lot of errands this afternoon (Blockbuster, bank, salon, library (yes, again), post office) and at one point a woman asked me if I was getting ready to go back to college. She looked shocked (SHOCKED) when I told her that I was 26 and had graudated college years ago. She couldn't believe it, although I don't think my ponytail, Beatles tshirt and ratty jeans helped much. It was a pretty amusing moment, especially since I spent most of my adolescence having people tell me that I looked much older than I was. Perception is a tricky thing, no?
This is probably my last post for the weekend (unless something truly noteworthy occurs) - I'll post from Chicago so y'all know I made it safely. Have a wonderful weekend and stay cool!
Are we packed, you ask? Well...mostly. When moving such a short distance it is hard to get motivated, especially when the move in date precedes the move out date by more than a week. I'm sure you understand. But really, all that is left to pack is the dishes and some random odds and ends, so I'm feeling positive.
Complicating the move, however, is the fact that my back flared up again this week (of course). I'm having trouble lifting my laundry basket, let alone actual moving boxes. Hence, the big strong men and (hopefully) the healthy backs of a few friends. I've been diligent about my exercises and talked at length with my PT yesterday b/c I want to be able to contribute to the move (the Midwestern girl in me does not want to give less than 100%), but also b/c after the move I have to drive 800 miles to Chicago and prolonged sitting does not make my back/hips happy, especially if they are already tweaked. Ugh. Thank G-d for good stretches and strong drugs.
I ran a lot of errands this afternoon (Blockbuster, bank, salon, library (yes, again), post office) and at one point a woman asked me if I was getting ready to go back to college. She looked shocked (SHOCKED) when I told her that I was 26 and had graudated college years ago. She couldn't believe it, although I don't think my ponytail, Beatles tshirt and ratty jeans helped much. It was a pretty amusing moment, especially since I spent most of my adolescence having people tell me that I looked much older than I was. Perception is a tricky thing, no?
This is probably my last post for the weekend (unless something truly noteworthy occurs) - I'll post from Chicago so y'all know I made it safely. Have a wonderful weekend and stay cool!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Mmm...books
At dinner Monday night, Sarah pointed out that I seemed to be spending most of my summer reading. I do other things too, honest. I have gone to museums and concerts and movies and spent time at the gym and the pool and just wandering the neighborhood. But, she's right, inevitably, my focus turns back to books.
The last trip to the library proved successful in that they finally had a copy of I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, which Molly had recommended when I was last in Madison. What Molly failed to mention during her enthusiastic review of the book was that it is nearly 700 pages (676 to be exact)! I read a few chapters last night and then allowed myself some packing breaks this afternoon to read a little more. I wasn't able to really settle in to read until after 9pm, but shortly after that, I was hooked. And so here I am, five hours later and the story is over. It went much like I expected it to and I did really enjoy the book (good call, Molly), but I also really enjoyed being able to commit five solid hours to getting lost in a story. That's what I love most about vacation - getting to do just that. Now...bed.
The last trip to the library proved successful in that they finally had a copy of I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, which Molly had recommended when I was last in Madison. What Molly failed to mention during her enthusiastic review of the book was that it is nearly 700 pages (676 to be exact)! I read a few chapters last night and then allowed myself some packing breaks this afternoon to read a little more. I wasn't able to really settle in to read until after 9pm, but shortly after that, I was hooked. And so here I am, five hours later and the story is over. It went much like I expected it to and I did really enjoy the book (good call, Molly), but I also really enjoyed being able to commit five solid hours to getting lost in a story. That's what I love most about vacation - getting to do just that. Now...bed.
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