New Hobby, New School Year, New Clothing

Greetings:

I should be sleeping as it's 12:32am but I'm rather wired.    I should be relaxed and sleepy as I did some excellent yoga tonight but oh well.   I can go into work a little bit later in the morning so that should help.   I went to a Restorative Yoga class tonight.   It was my first time going to that style of yoga.    It focused on relaxation and reduction of tension in the body.   It doesn't make you contort or work on crazy flexibility so that was nice.    I would certainly go again and in fact, I may go on Wednesday after work.

Today was the first day of the orientation process for new graduate students.    It went fairly well with a few hiccups.    We have a much smaller group this time around so that makes things a bit easier.    I made an extra effort last week to meet with a restaurant in person to place a catering order for today's lunch.   They were to deliver at 10:40am so it could be set up and we could eat at 11am.    Well 11am rolls around and no food.    I call the restaurant and the manager eventually fesses up that the order was overlooked and they were currently cooking the food.    Sigh.   Thankfully I plan for a long lunch on the first day so the late arrival of food worked.   But they didn't bring all the food we ordered.    I get to call  them tomorrow to talk to the owner to see how the situation will be handled.    I personally think we shouldn't be charged.    I also had some major Internet problems for an afternoon meeting but just ended up moving to another location.    I probably saved another instructor a major headache by discovering the problem this week rather than on the first day of class next week.

I decided to be snazzy today and wore a dress to work for the first time ever.   I wanted to make a good impression on the new grad students.   I'm getting more self-conscious about my loose skin so I bought some undergarments that help keep things close to my body.     They aren't the most comfortable but I feel much more comfortable wearing dresses and formal clothing with their help.   But I won't lie,  it was nice to get home and get those things off.     I don't know how women wore corsets back in the day.

I went to the State Fair last week.     I volunteered for DMACC on Thursday and it was OK.    I just came to the fairgrounds to work for them and didn't wander before or after working for the booth.   I felt ill-prepared to help since no one answered my emails.    I apparently fell through the cracks because I never ended up on the volunteer list hence not receiving informative emails.    They did send my free ticket though so figure that out.  One plus was that I was able to snag some materials for Gavin about the building trades and HVAC careers.   I went on Friday with Alissa and it was fun to explore.   As dorky as it is, going on the "Ye Olde Mill" ride was a highlight.    It's a dark boat ride that highlights the fair's history.    Think the Underground ride at Adventureland but in a boat and it's not designed to be scary.    It was nice to see the animals too.     And yes, I ate some junk food but we were both good about moderation.

We're excited to go to Czech Days and "get away" for part of the weekend.    I'll need a little break between this orientation and the start of the semester.     I still need to complete syllabi for both ISU and DMACC.    I'm glad I didn't finish them early because I was already notified of extra information I have to include on teacher education syllabi.    I'm holding off on one of my DMACC syllabi too because my class enrollment is small (4 students) so I'm expecting it to get cancelled.

I am still putting my office together at ISU.   I've gotten things up on the walls.    I posted a framed collection of pictures of Gavin.   I made it years ago and never had a  place to hang it.   I also got frames for my degrees and posted those along with the award I received in the spring.    I requested a white board so I'll get one of those at some point.   Still have boxes to sort through and I need to reorganize a file cabinet.    Bleh.   It'll get done at some point.

I'm getting very excited for Gavin's football season.    We went to the annual hog roast last night and the players were introduced.   We also received the senior posters (hung one in my office) and had the chance to buy t-shirts.    I also had time to sign up for making desserts for after game meals.   I have to make a lot of brownies in the future on a date in October.   They also let parents sign up for concession work this year rather than randomly assigning us shifts.     I was able to pick a date/time that actually works for me and my Swim & Gym schedule.    The coaches have had good things to say about Gavin.   He gets a lot of credit for his great attendance to activities this summer and his commitment in the weight room.    I'm hoping he makes a lot of good memories in his last year playing the sport.    I also hope he doesn't get hurt.

I guess that's enough of an update for now.     Wish I was tired but alas, I am not.