Greetings:
It's been a fun couple of weeks in terms of concert attendance. Last week Dan and I attended the Theory of a Deadman concert. It was at the Seven Flags Event Center which means no seating and standing on concrete. My ankle and hip have been funny so it was a little tough to stand for so long. The concert was actually a little short in length but I was OK with that with how worn out I felt. They sounded great though and played a lot of their older songs so I was happy. We recently saw Local H and The Toadies at Wooly's in Des Moines. It was my first concert in that venue and it was really decent. Both bands sounded great and played their hits. I didn't feel so worn out afterwards either which was nice. Our next concert is in December at Seven Flags Center and Gavin will attend it with Dan and me. The band is Seether.
Speaking of my ankle and hip, I am getting really sick of how they are affecting me on a daily basis. Back in September my ankle started acting up with sharp pains. If I sit for a long time and stand up, it would give out so I'm paranoid with standing now. The ankle issues subsided a bit but still pop up. Most of the pain moved into my hip so that feels like it gives out when I stand up. It feels awful in the morning when I wake up and start walking around. I had upped my physical activity so I wonder if that triggered something. It's also my "bad" ankle and leg since it's the one that endured my canoe incident. No I haven't gone to the doctor about it. I keep thinking if I keep moving and working through it, the pain will subside. I also wonder if the change of weather is affecting things too which also makes me feel old.
Since I'm whining about body issues, I'm going to whine about my period too. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older but the first days of my period are wiping me out so badly. I could barely function on Sunday because I was so fatigued and lethargic. Today was tough for me too, I did consider calling in sick. I only was scheduled for a half day though so it seemed ridiculous to take a sick day. I pushed through and taught my two classes. I noticed how tired I feel over the summer each month when it was starting. I also wonder if my calorie intake is affecting it too but you think that would have showed up soon after I had my surgery last year.
I worked a half day today because we had a college visit scheduled for Gavin. We spent some time at the Ankeny DMACC in the afternoon. We met the lead person for the Building Trades program. He seems like the kind of teacher Gavin would enjoy. We saw the main lab used for construction classes and the guy explained how the class flows. Yes he's taken many construction classes but it sounds like they would want him to take some again and Gavin agreed he would likely need a refresher in some aspects. As part of the class, they build 5 houses in the local area and also go out to do remodels and fix-it jobs for local people too. Gavin still wants to apply to ISU...just in case but it was nice to see the DMACC visit go so well too. I get the feeling DMACC is the preferred choice right now. No plan to visit ISU yet because he has no clue what he'd go there for or study.
Work is super busy for ISU at least. I am holding a meeting for my TAs tomorrow and prepping the lunch that goes with it. I went with soup choices, salad, and rolls. It's supposed to be a rainy cold day so I'm hoping the soup hits the spot. It's getting harder and harder to feed them. So many preferences and some just come by and don't eat. Bleh. Next week we have our Health Fair event at a local elementary school. It's coming together nicely but always a lot of work to put together. For once I really don't have to haul a million things to the school for students. I also have to present at a faculty meeting on Friday which is a little nerve wracking but should only require one slide of information to share with my colleagues. I'm on an outcomes assessment committee (not thrilling) and need to share the next research our committee is doing in the college. I'm also behind in grading and with my low energy levels, it's been tough to work on that growing pile.
Dan and I also made the realization that I likely cannot join him with Jude for Halloween this year. Newton is celebrating it on the 31st and that is a Tuesday. I couldn't get to Newton in time because I work late in Ames for Swim & Gym. Ankeny has it on Monday but Dan couldn't get Jude here in time on that day. The company that owns my apartment building is having a Trunk or Treat on October 26 but that doesn't work out with scheduling either. Sadness.
Guess that's enough of an update for now!
Monday, October 9, 2017
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
October Updates
Warning....broken record...I've been meaning to blog for days. I probably won't be as thorough as I prefer but hey, it's a blog entry.
Gavin recently had Homecoming and it was a great game. My friend Tiffany joined me for the game along with her 5-year-old daughter. I went to grad school with Tiffany and stayed close to her for awhile after as she lived in Ames for a bit. She then moved to Maryland with her husband, back to Iowa but was hours away and now they live in Huxley. I still haven't met their 3-year-old yet. Gavin had a touchdown in the game which was fantastic to see. They let him play more for once and it paid off. He went to the dance with a lady friend on Saturday night and had a decent time.
I got brave last Friday and had my hair cut short. It was time. I had been wanting it for years but finally felt my face was thin enough to pull off my look. People seem to like it and it's been easy to style in the morning. She thought I'd have to flat iron it often but I haven't had to do that yet. My hair just lays the right way. I may even go shorter some day but I'm content with this look for now.
Found out today that the ex's father passed way on Sunday. I'll admit I have wondered about him and his wife for years. He was never in great health so I actually was surprised he was still alive. Sadly I doubt his quality of life had been great this year.
I bit the bullet and bought an annual membership to the yoga studio I had been trying in Ankeny. I am 90% pleased with the purchase and was happy to sign up for some upcoming classes. I also have some regret as this membership lasts until next October 2018. Yea, I won't be living in Ankeny then but I am willing to drive down here to participate. Sigh.
Works going well but is no longer low key. Monday was quite the day of teaching in the morning and meeting after meeting in the afternoon. I hadn't had a day like that in awhile. A staff member actually questioned if I worked much that day because she couldn't find me in the building. Umm...I was busting my butt all over campus attending meetings lady. I am now officially buried in grading too. The time has come. I'll crank some out on Friday and Saturday. It will take motivation but I'll make a good dent.
I guess that's all I have for an update right now. Here are some pics from Gavin's Homecoming Dance venture:
Gavin recently had Homecoming and it was a great game. My friend Tiffany joined me for the game along with her 5-year-old daughter. I went to grad school with Tiffany and stayed close to her for awhile after as she lived in Ames for a bit. She then moved to Maryland with her husband, back to Iowa but was hours away and now they live in Huxley. I still haven't met their 3-year-old yet. Gavin had a touchdown in the game which was fantastic to see. They let him play more for once and it paid off. He went to the dance with a lady friend on Saturday night and had a decent time.
I got brave last Friday and had my hair cut short. It was time. I had been wanting it for years but finally felt my face was thin enough to pull off my look. People seem to like it and it's been easy to style in the morning. She thought I'd have to flat iron it often but I haven't had to do that yet. My hair just lays the right way. I may even go shorter some day but I'm content with this look for now.
Found out today that the ex's father passed way on Sunday. I'll admit I have wondered about him and his wife for years. He was never in great health so I actually was surprised he was still alive. Sadly I doubt his quality of life had been great this year.
I bit the bullet and bought an annual membership to the yoga studio I had been trying in Ankeny. I am 90% pleased with the purchase and was happy to sign up for some upcoming classes. I also have some regret as this membership lasts until next October 2018. Yea, I won't be living in Ankeny then but I am willing to drive down here to participate. Sigh.
Works going well but is no longer low key. Monday was quite the day of teaching in the morning and meeting after meeting in the afternoon. I hadn't had a day like that in awhile. A staff member actually questioned if I worked much that day because she couldn't find me in the building. Umm...I was busting my butt all over campus attending meetings lady. I am now officially buried in grading too. The time has come. I'll crank some out on Friday and Saturday. It will take motivation but I'll make a good dent.
I guess that's all I have for an update right now. Here are some pics from Gavin's Homecoming Dance venture:
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Bored but Making Money
I'm currently "working" for DMACC at the moment. When our coaching classes are large (40+ students), there has to be two instructors present. I am not the lead instructor at all today. It's been kind of nice as I'm sitting in the back and I've done some work for ISU and DMACC already this morning. I'm not the lead teacher until next Saturday morning. But hey, it is easy money. I wish I had more to grade to better use my time. I don't have a lot being turned in for grading until the end of the month. It's a little funny this morning as one of my grad students is taking this course. He is much more of an expert in some of the topics this morning than the current instructor so he's gotta be even more bored than me.
Work has been going very well in terms of my teaching and activities I've been doing with my students. I get nice comments about my classes being more interesting and engaging than other education classes. Makes me sad that other people on campus with an emphasis in pedagogy don't try harder to put engaging practices into place so we set a good example for pre-service teachers. I've had a lot of energy at work and have gotten a lot of extra tasks done. We are in the process of converting the PE lab back into a lab and storage space. It is the room that used to be my office. We also ordered about 3K worth of new equipment so I've taken it upon myself to be sure it's labeled correctly, inflated, stored well, etc. I'm going to try and make people help me with it this week so it's not a solo endeavor. I usually let tasks like this sit on a list for a little too long and then need to mad scramble to make progress. It's nice to have not much of anything on that "to do" list at work.
I am also trying to get some things done at home too. I have bags for donation again from both my closet as well as Gavin's closet. A fair chunk of Gavin's clothes will actually go to Dan's house for his 15-year-old because we think they may fit him and he rarely has clothes at Dan's. And yes, he's supposed to spend more time at Dan's now....supposedly things are going OK so far this weekend. I have another collection of clothes that aren't fitting me right so I want to get them out of the apartment so I don't feel I can return to them if weight gain ever comes back into the picture. I will admit I need to bump up my physical activity. I had some motivation do some running last week but I let the heat change my mind. I kept saying I'd go run after the sun went down but it still felt icky down here and my motivation seems to diminish greatly when the sun sets. My 30 day yoga experience ended so I need to pay regular price from now on. I can't afford to buy a pass until I get paid again so no more yoga until October. Thankfully with the amount of manual labor and running around at ISU, I get plenty of movement in general.
Swim & Gym started this past week. I let too many kids enroll this semester. I should have known better. Tuesday, quite frankly, was like herding cats. Many things went well though. My paperwork was correct so that's always nice on the first day. I usually leave 1-2 poor kids off the attendance sheet for some stupid reason but everything was accurate. I have a lot of new kids in the program too and the new parents are very cool. The craziest part of the program is when we transition from PE time to our swimming lessons. On Tuesday, I had a little girl decide to take a bandaid off in the locker room and proceed to bleed badly and walk around while bleeding. Add to the situation that my cleaner for blood borne pathogen spills was missing. Thankfully I have a TA with me in the program that I can help but it was rough as I needed to place 50+ kids in their correct swimming groups. Thursday was better. Much better.
Now that school has started and the fall is upon us I don't see Dan as often. Depending on when he has Jude (and Taylor now) he has to go to Newton more often after work and doesn't come to Ankeny. It doesn't make sense to come to Ankeny on Tuesdays or Thursdays anyway because I'm usually tired and coming home late anyway. I'm a weird woman and like my alone time though so I don't mind the time apart. It will be a major change for me when I live with him. Or I'll need an escape place in the house that is my own room. Or you'll find me in a hammock in the backyard.
I guess that's enough of an update for now!
Work has been going very well in terms of my teaching and activities I've been doing with my students. I get nice comments about my classes being more interesting and engaging than other education classes. Makes me sad that other people on campus with an emphasis in pedagogy don't try harder to put engaging practices into place so we set a good example for pre-service teachers. I've had a lot of energy at work and have gotten a lot of extra tasks done. We are in the process of converting the PE lab back into a lab and storage space. It is the room that used to be my office. We also ordered about 3K worth of new equipment so I've taken it upon myself to be sure it's labeled correctly, inflated, stored well, etc. I'm going to try and make people help me with it this week so it's not a solo endeavor. I usually let tasks like this sit on a list for a little too long and then need to mad scramble to make progress. It's nice to have not much of anything on that "to do" list at work.
I am also trying to get some things done at home too. I have bags for donation again from both my closet as well as Gavin's closet. A fair chunk of Gavin's clothes will actually go to Dan's house for his 15-year-old because we think they may fit him and he rarely has clothes at Dan's. And yes, he's supposed to spend more time at Dan's now....supposedly things are going OK so far this weekend. I have another collection of clothes that aren't fitting me right so I want to get them out of the apartment so I don't feel I can return to them if weight gain ever comes back into the picture. I will admit I need to bump up my physical activity. I had some motivation do some running last week but I let the heat change my mind. I kept saying I'd go run after the sun went down but it still felt icky down here and my motivation seems to diminish greatly when the sun sets. My 30 day yoga experience ended so I need to pay regular price from now on. I can't afford to buy a pass until I get paid again so no more yoga until October. Thankfully with the amount of manual labor and running around at ISU, I get plenty of movement in general.
Swim & Gym started this past week. I let too many kids enroll this semester. I should have known better. Tuesday, quite frankly, was like herding cats. Many things went well though. My paperwork was correct so that's always nice on the first day. I usually leave 1-2 poor kids off the attendance sheet for some stupid reason but everything was accurate. I have a lot of new kids in the program too and the new parents are very cool. The craziest part of the program is when we transition from PE time to our swimming lessons. On Tuesday, I had a little girl decide to take a bandaid off in the locker room and proceed to bleed badly and walk around while bleeding. Add to the situation that my cleaner for blood borne pathogen spills was missing. Thankfully I have a TA with me in the program that I can help but it was rough as I needed to place 50+ kids in their correct swimming groups. Thursday was better. Much better.
Now that school has started and the fall is upon us I don't see Dan as often. Depending on when he has Jude (and Taylor now) he has to go to Newton more often after work and doesn't come to Ankeny. It doesn't make sense to come to Ankeny on Tuesdays or Thursdays anyway because I'm usually tired and coming home late anyway. I'm a weird woman and like my alone time though so I don't mind the time apart. It will be a major change for me when I live with him. Or I'll need an escape place in the house that is my own room. Or you'll find me in a hammock in the backyard.
I guess that's enough of an update for now!
Monday, August 28, 2017
Start of the Semester....Not too Shabby
ISU has one week under its belt and DMACC has a couple days under its belt. Things started off well and I'm hoping I'm not jinxing that by making that statement.
I am teaching four classes for ISU this semester and NOT supervising any student teachers. You wouldn't think that student teachers were a big deal but they suck up a lot of time when it comes to scheduling visits and factoring in travel time. I usually was assigned teachers in the Des Moines area due to where I live which was somewhat handy. We have so many teachers that went outside Iowa or outside the country to student teach that I wasn't needed. I'm really not teaching any PE classes either. I have three Health Study classes and Swim & Gym is now a class too. Technically Swim & Gym is a PE class but it basically runs itself.
I have two sections of HS 275 (elementary ed majors that need a methods class so they can teach health education) and with two sections I have 90 students. I'll have plenty of lesson plans and unit plans to grade at certain points in the semester. I have one section of HS 375 with 21 students I believe. They are FCS and PE teachers that want their endorsement to also teach health.
At DMACC I only have two online classes as my one web-enhanced class was cancelled due to low enrollment. I'm sad about the loss of money but not sad to have my Monday evenings free. My online classes are smaller than usual too so the grading should be manageable. I will still have a couple extra days/evenings to work for DMACC too as we'll offer a coaching authorization course twice this semester.
Yoga has been going well. I've mainly been going to a Restorative Yoga class that does some basic stretching and works on breathing so you can chill out. I tried a new one last night called Sound Mediation. Seems a bit corny maybe but you basically make yourself comfortable on your yoga mat and can use any props to help with comfort (e.g. pillows, bolsters, etc.). The lady that teaches basically plays music with singing bowls and other sound creators so you can just relax and clear your head. It was tough for me the first time as my mind kept wandering to what I still need to do after yoga and for a bit I was paranoid I would fall asleep. My 30 day pass is almost done which makes me sad as it was the most affordable way to try yoga. I'll have buy single class passes or a bulk option and the prices go up after the "new participant" 30 day pass. There are a couple other yoga classes I want to try but they haven't worked out with my schedule yet. I never plan to do the hot yoga or the advanced classes because I already know my flexibility will be a limitation and I don't want to pay to stretch in a room and sweat to death.
Dan's mom recently dropped off a basket of apples so I was in apple pie mode this weekend. I made a pie for her since she gave me the apples. Dan took one to work yesterday. I brought two to work today (which has really confused people). Just eat the pie people. We have one at home that we are munching on and I'll make one more tonight to use up the apples. Probably send it with Dan to share with people at his work again. I'm assuming I'm using a recipe that Mom gave me....it was in my recipe book that allows you to collect recipes and put them in a binder.
Dan and I had a date night this weekend which was nice. We went to the Miller High Life Lounge for dinner and OMG the broasted chicken was amazing. Irritated me that I couldn't eat much but I tried. His mom's husband gave us free I-Cubs tickets for the evening and we watched a decent baseball game. It was in walking distance from the restaurant/bar and I said no to cotton candy when at the game. Very tempting but I think I was pulling in enough calories thanks to the hard cider I was drinking.
Gavin had his first football game on Friday night and as predicted, Dowling kicked Ankeny's butt. Both he and I were confused as to why he didn't play much. He had hoped to learn more about that on Saturday morning when the team watched the film but nope. Most of the plays that can be called on offense (for running the ball) have him in the game as the primary running back. On Friday, he said they kept calling the handful of plays that do not include him but the second-string running back. He also said the usual coach that calls plays was not calling plays...it was a different coach. I think they needed the larger running back as the opponents were big. We'll see what happens on Friday when they play the other Ankeny team.
Alissa and I were able to bop down to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning which led to some nice wandering a few good purchases. I'm already buying some Christmas presents and actually got one on Saturday for someone. Was nice to get some produce too since we cruised through the stuff that Mom gave us recently. I may want to go back again next weekend if Alissa and LeAnn are interested.
I guess that's enough of an updated. I teach in 20 minutes so I should probably get into instructor mode and prep for that.
Adios!
I am teaching four classes for ISU this semester and NOT supervising any student teachers. You wouldn't think that student teachers were a big deal but they suck up a lot of time when it comes to scheduling visits and factoring in travel time. I usually was assigned teachers in the Des Moines area due to where I live which was somewhat handy. We have so many teachers that went outside Iowa or outside the country to student teach that I wasn't needed. I'm really not teaching any PE classes either. I have three Health Study classes and Swim & Gym is now a class too. Technically Swim & Gym is a PE class but it basically runs itself.
I have two sections of HS 275 (elementary ed majors that need a methods class so they can teach health education) and with two sections I have 90 students. I'll have plenty of lesson plans and unit plans to grade at certain points in the semester. I have one section of HS 375 with 21 students I believe. They are FCS and PE teachers that want their endorsement to also teach health.
At DMACC I only have two online classes as my one web-enhanced class was cancelled due to low enrollment. I'm sad about the loss of money but not sad to have my Monday evenings free. My online classes are smaller than usual too so the grading should be manageable. I will still have a couple extra days/evenings to work for DMACC too as we'll offer a coaching authorization course twice this semester.
Yoga has been going well. I've mainly been going to a Restorative Yoga class that does some basic stretching and works on breathing so you can chill out. I tried a new one last night called Sound Mediation. Seems a bit corny maybe but you basically make yourself comfortable on your yoga mat and can use any props to help with comfort (e.g. pillows, bolsters, etc.). The lady that teaches basically plays music with singing bowls and other sound creators so you can just relax and clear your head. It was tough for me the first time as my mind kept wandering to what I still need to do after yoga and for a bit I was paranoid I would fall asleep. My 30 day pass is almost done which makes me sad as it was the most affordable way to try yoga. I'll have buy single class passes or a bulk option and the prices go up after the "new participant" 30 day pass. There are a couple other yoga classes I want to try but they haven't worked out with my schedule yet. I never plan to do the hot yoga or the advanced classes because I already know my flexibility will be a limitation and I don't want to pay to stretch in a room and sweat to death.
Dan's mom recently dropped off a basket of apples so I was in apple pie mode this weekend. I made a pie for her since she gave me the apples. Dan took one to work yesterday. I brought two to work today (which has really confused people). Just eat the pie people. We have one at home that we are munching on and I'll make one more tonight to use up the apples. Probably send it with Dan to share with people at his work again. I'm assuming I'm using a recipe that Mom gave me....it was in my recipe book that allows you to collect recipes and put them in a binder.
Dan and I had a date night this weekend which was nice. We went to the Miller High Life Lounge for dinner and OMG the broasted chicken was amazing. Irritated me that I couldn't eat much but I tried. His mom's husband gave us free I-Cubs tickets for the evening and we watched a decent baseball game. It was in walking distance from the restaurant/bar and I said no to cotton candy when at the game. Very tempting but I think I was pulling in enough calories thanks to the hard cider I was drinking.
Gavin had his first football game on Friday night and as predicted, Dowling kicked Ankeny's butt. Both he and I were confused as to why he didn't play much. He had hoped to learn more about that on Saturday morning when the team watched the film but nope. Most of the plays that can be called on offense (for running the ball) have him in the game as the primary running back. On Friday, he said they kept calling the handful of plays that do not include him but the second-string running back. He also said the usual coach that calls plays was not calling plays...it was a different coach. I think they needed the larger running back as the opponents were big. We'll see what happens on Friday when they play the other Ankeny team.
Alissa and I were able to bop down to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning which led to some nice wandering a few good purchases. I'm already buying some Christmas presents and actually got one on Saturday for someone. Was nice to get some produce too since we cruised through the stuff that Mom gave us recently. I may want to go back again next weekend if Alissa and LeAnn are interested.
I guess that's enough of an updated. I teach in 20 minutes so I should probably get into instructor mode and prep for that.
Adios!
Monday, August 14, 2017
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.
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.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Depression, Time Off, and a New Hobby
Life has not been super eventual lately. Summer Youth Fitness ended last week. I don't have complaints other than low enrollment. The children behaved well, much better than last year. The employees were decent too. My main issue was with grad students that worked hourly for me. I expected the issues to come from undergrads but nope....grad students. I still need to write a closing/thank-you email to the participating families. I also want to create a survey for families so I can get some data about some future ideas. I'll do some work on the program tomorrow when I need to kill some time at ISU before my eye appointment.
I had a really rough weekend in terms of mental health. I couldn't get out of bed and was in a really bad funk. Dan had me get up and go out to eat with him so that helped a bit. I felt bad paying to go out to eat because I'm not able to eat much lately either. I have no appetite. Yes, I know...time to schedule a doctor visit. My friend Mike reminded me of something that plagues me from time-to-time. I thrive when I'm busy and structured. When I have downtime I struggle. He reminded me that I need to do things for myself and I need hobbies. And my hobbies need to not be related to working. Seems pretty sad that I only get enjoyment from work at times. I've had a growing interest in yoga as I need to find ways to relax. I am trying some yoga classes this week. The studio is here in Ankeny. There are several in Ankeny but one stood out to me because of its well-designed website and nice variety of classes. I need to start out simple since flexibility isn't my forte.
Time for some honesty:
I had a really rough weekend in terms of mental health. I couldn't get out of bed and was in a really bad funk. Dan had me get up and go out to eat with him so that helped a bit. I felt bad paying to go out to eat because I'm not able to eat much lately either. I have no appetite. Yes, I know...time to schedule a doctor visit. My friend Mike reminded me of something that plagues me from time-to-time. I thrive when I'm busy and structured. When I have downtime I struggle. He reminded me that I need to do things for myself and I need hobbies. And my hobbies need to not be related to working. Seems pretty sad that I only get enjoyment from work at times. I've had a growing interest in yoga as I need to find ways to relax. I am trying some yoga classes this week. The studio is here in Ankeny. There are several in Ankeny but one stood out to me because of its well-designed website and nice variety of classes. I need to start out simple since flexibility isn't my forte.
Time for some honesty:
- I didn't enjoy my time with Jude as much as I thought I would. The step-parent experience frustrates me more than anything. I keep comparing him to Gavin and I shouldn't be doing that. Jude has had a different upbringing and that upbringing is what is causing some issues. Don't get me wrong, Gavin's upbringing wasn't always sunshine and rainbows but I think he had more stability when he was younger. And I cannot stand how dependent Jude is on technology. It drives me crazy.
- For awhile, Dan has been wanting to speak to my parents about marriage. He wanted to be traditional and make sure they are on board and I can appreciate that. He has been wanting to bop up to Waukon on occasion and I've told him to calm down about it. It finally seemed logical to go up recently since LeAnn was having her garage sale and I wanted to see Grandma Stika. I know it would be tricky to get both Mom and Dad in the same place at the same time. He did speak to them about it and I don't feel it went as well as it should have....sigh. Go figure. Combine with me feeling rather down lately, things haven't been great with he and I as he doesn't feel it went super well either.
So I plan to do some yoga this week, minimal work, and attend some appointments. I paid a buttload of bills yesterday and everything is ready for Gavin and his school year. He had his physical on Friday along with a second meningitis shot. His registration fees are paid except I still need to buy his athletic pass but that will be a bigger deal in the winter when he goes to basketball games. He bought his own stuff for football so I don't have to bop out and accompany him to stores. I need to schedule some senior picture shots. I do want him to have some taken in NE Iowa too in the fall (ahem Alissa).
That's enough for now!
Monday, July 17, 2017
Milwaukee: Land of Beer and German Stuff
Greetings:
Back to the grind today. The remaining two weeks of summer camp at ISU should be fairly easy and I don't have anything on my schedule in the mornings and only need to work in the afternoons. I do need to start packing up my office to move to my new location in the building. It's not really a new location as it's my previous office. They are currently painting it and waxing the floor. Hope to start moving by the end of the week so I don't have to deal with the move when I'm off in August.
Dan and I took an excursion to Milwaukee the past weekend. It was a quick trip but organized well so we balanced our time with sightseeing and resting. We departed on Thursday morning and took our time since we didn't need to be at our first planned event until 8pm. I used some of those travel sites to book our hotels and our first hotel was a Ramada. The one in Des Moines is decent and the one I used in Sioux Falls was really nice too. The one in downtown Milwaukee? Not so nice. You could tell it had been smoked in and seemed a bit musty too. It served it's purpose though and it was a place to lay our head for one night.
We took some time to walk around the downtown to find a place to eat. I decided on The Safe House which is a spy-themed restaurant. It took a little bit to find because it was hidden in an alley. I should have figured they would make it difficult to find. It was confusing at first because you enter a small room and a guy simply asks you for the password. We both guessed a password but were wrong. We then had to perform a challenge to prove we were worthy to enter the establishment and weren't enemy spies. At this point I was like "what the hell did I get us into?" We were to act like monkeys at the zoo and fling poo at each other. Dan did this very well and I was like I said....confused. We were then granted access and one of the walls opened and we walked into the restaurant. We then realized that TVs are positioned all over the restaurant and people can see you performing your challenges. Embarrassing at first and you get over it as you start watching other people act like fools too. Decent food. Interesting establishment.
We then literally went across the street for the concert. Dan's favorite band is Toad the Wet Sprocket and they were playing at the Pabst Theater. It was the first day of their new tour. It was a very good concert. The venue was awesome too as it is a very old theater. They sound just like they did back in the 90s. I feel their most popular song was the one in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12bM1CqHoBY
I remember the song playing when we would swim at Lonning's or the pool when I was kid.
On Friday we slept in and found a local place to eat lunch. It has the longest bar in the USA. If I remember correctly, it was called Buck Bradley's. Milwaukee is all about fish fries on Fridays so Dan ordered that for his lunch. I got a basic salad because I couldn't carry leftovers with me all afternoon. The fish (cod) looked amazing though. We then took a river cruise down the Milwaukee River during the afternoon. It was focused on history so we learned a lot about the turmoil in the area and various immigrants that settled in the region. The cruise took us out on Lake Michigan too. The only bummer was that it was cloudy and rather gloomy. I gracefully cut my hand on one of the doors too when going back and forth from inside to outside the boat too. I had been wanting to try some German food so we did that for supper. It turned out to be our pricey meal of the trip but it was worth it. I got a meal that included a flattened, breaded chicken breast on top of spatzle with a mushroom gravy. So good. Dan got a platter of various meats including brats, sausages, etc.
Our second hotel was a bit better as it was more modern and smelled a lot better. It wasn't in a great neighborhood though but we didn't die and my vehicle wasn't broken into. I thought it was further from downtown but we were still really close so that was nice.
We left on Saturday morning. Originally we were going to visit Cave of the Mounds for a cave tour but changed our minds and went to House on the Rock instead. Dan had never been there and I was in the mood to go again. We spent a couple hours there and drove into Iowa. We took a pause in Cedar Rapids, ate at Red Lobster, and then continued to Newton.
Overall it was a good trip. Thankfully Milwaukee was semi-easy to navigate. It was actually rather cool there so I was glad I brought a hoodie. Gavin survived my absence and didn't burn down the apartment building.
Here are some pictures from the experience:
Back to the grind today. The remaining two weeks of summer camp at ISU should be fairly easy and I don't have anything on my schedule in the mornings and only need to work in the afternoons. I do need to start packing up my office to move to my new location in the building. It's not really a new location as it's my previous office. They are currently painting it and waxing the floor. Hope to start moving by the end of the week so I don't have to deal with the move when I'm off in August.
Dan and I took an excursion to Milwaukee the past weekend. It was a quick trip but organized well so we balanced our time with sightseeing and resting. We departed on Thursday morning and took our time since we didn't need to be at our first planned event until 8pm. I used some of those travel sites to book our hotels and our first hotel was a Ramada. The one in Des Moines is decent and the one I used in Sioux Falls was really nice too. The one in downtown Milwaukee? Not so nice. You could tell it had been smoked in and seemed a bit musty too. It served it's purpose though and it was a place to lay our head for one night.
We took some time to walk around the downtown to find a place to eat. I decided on The Safe House which is a spy-themed restaurant. It took a little bit to find because it was hidden in an alley. I should have figured they would make it difficult to find. It was confusing at first because you enter a small room and a guy simply asks you for the password. We both guessed a password but were wrong. We then had to perform a challenge to prove we were worthy to enter the establishment and weren't enemy spies. At this point I was like "what the hell did I get us into?" We were to act like monkeys at the zoo and fling poo at each other. Dan did this very well and I was like I said....confused. We were then granted access and one of the walls opened and we walked into the restaurant. We then realized that TVs are positioned all over the restaurant and people can see you performing your challenges. Embarrassing at first and you get over it as you start watching other people act like fools too. Decent food. Interesting establishment.
We then literally went across the street for the concert. Dan's favorite band is Toad the Wet Sprocket and they were playing at the Pabst Theater. It was the first day of their new tour. It was a very good concert. The venue was awesome too as it is a very old theater. They sound just like they did back in the 90s. I feel their most popular song was the one in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12bM1CqHoBY
I remember the song playing when we would swim at Lonning's or the pool when I was kid.
On Friday we slept in and found a local place to eat lunch. It has the longest bar in the USA. If I remember correctly, it was called Buck Bradley's. Milwaukee is all about fish fries on Fridays so Dan ordered that for his lunch. I got a basic salad because I couldn't carry leftovers with me all afternoon. The fish (cod) looked amazing though. We then took a river cruise down the Milwaukee River during the afternoon. It was focused on history so we learned a lot about the turmoil in the area and various immigrants that settled in the region. The cruise took us out on Lake Michigan too. The only bummer was that it was cloudy and rather gloomy. I gracefully cut my hand on one of the doors too when going back and forth from inside to outside the boat too. I had been wanting to try some German food so we did that for supper. It turned out to be our pricey meal of the trip but it was worth it. I got a meal that included a flattened, breaded chicken breast on top of spatzle with a mushroom gravy. So good. Dan got a platter of various meats including brats, sausages, etc.
Our second hotel was a bit better as it was more modern and smelled a lot better. It wasn't in a great neighborhood though but we didn't die and my vehicle wasn't broken into. I thought it was further from downtown but we were still really close so that was nice.
We left on Saturday morning. Originally we were going to visit Cave of the Mounds for a cave tour but changed our minds and went to House on the Rock instead. Dan had never been there and I was in the mood to go again. We spent a couple hours there and drove into Iowa. We took a pause in Cedar Rapids, ate at Red Lobster, and then continued to Newton.
Overall it was a good trip. Thankfully Milwaukee was semi-easy to navigate. It was actually rather cool there so I was glad I brought a hoodie. Gavin survived my absence and didn't burn down the apartment building.
Here are some pictures from the experience:
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