Monday, September 21, 2009
Well, here it is Monday morning, and I'm just now getting my readings printed out for the week. I have to get a handle on how to get these things done more efficiently. This past week has been a challenge. Jayden isn't adjusting well to the transitions in our lives. I really anticipated that he wouldn't have a problem, but I realize now that change is a bit of a struggle for him. He likes things to remain as they are. Plus me not being home all the time is a bit tough on him.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A Long Day
It's 11:20 PM. I slept in until 7 this morning, but we still managed to get Jayden to school on time. Kate fought me tooth and nail on her hair, though, so she went out with it in a big tangle. (I'm paying for all the times I wished I had curly hair. It's tough to care for!) Still I managed to get the kitchen cleaned up and the living room looking better. Jayden & Kate had a confetti party in the living room yesterday while I was cutting coupons.
Unfortunately I had to try to write reading responses while they were in crazy-play moods. They moved their ball pit from the dining room to their bedroom, which involved lots of tossing the balls at each other and some screaming.
Brian took them to the game farm for a church potluck, and unfortunately for him, he had 3 other things to handle there. He was supposed to harass people into signing up to bring dishes for a dinner for the residents of the women's shelter. Then he had to get together with others to set up a training time for women's shelter volunteers, and he had to discuss a church directory (which I'm organizing) with our board president. When I talked to him around 9, he said that he felt he came home to a zoo today.
Apparently Jayden & Kate were "washing dishes" when he came out of the bathroom. Jayden actually does a little washing, but Kate mostly fills up a cup and then pours it out - sometimes on the floor. Then they decided to eat some leftover doughnuts, which apparently caused a big mess. And there were lots of sweets at the potluck. Overall, he was wiped out.
I sat in traffic for about 45 minutes with the car turned off, listening to some guy playing his guitar and singing. Damn the stimulus package. They're doing roadwork everywhere here. Next week I'm bringing readings with me so that I can get something done in my nightly traffic jam.
Brian stayed up long enough to tell me good-night and rub my feet. (Don't think he's too sweet. He's really apologizing for letting someone borrow our heating pad when I needed it. Who loans out heating pads? They're something you *only* need if you're in pain!)
I'm exhausted but enjoying the sounds. The house is silent. We have the windows open, so I can hear the sounds of nighttime outdoors and feel a cool breeze. It's wonderful. These moments are the ones that make life beautiful.
Unfortunately I had to try to write reading responses while they were in crazy-play moods. They moved their ball pit from the dining room to their bedroom, which involved lots of tossing the balls at each other and some screaming.
Brian took them to the game farm for a church potluck, and unfortunately for him, he had 3 other things to handle there. He was supposed to harass people into signing up to bring dishes for a dinner for the residents of the women's shelter. Then he had to get together with others to set up a training time for women's shelter volunteers, and he had to discuss a church directory (which I'm organizing) with our board president. When I talked to him around 9, he said that he felt he came home to a zoo today.
Apparently Jayden & Kate were "washing dishes" when he came out of the bathroom. Jayden actually does a little washing, but Kate mostly fills up a cup and then pours it out - sometimes on the floor. Then they decided to eat some leftover doughnuts, which apparently caused a big mess. And there were lots of sweets at the potluck. Overall, he was wiped out.
I sat in traffic for about 45 minutes with the car turned off, listening to some guy playing his guitar and singing. Damn the stimulus package. They're doing roadwork everywhere here. Next week I'm bringing readings with me so that I can get something done in my nightly traffic jam.
Brian stayed up long enough to tell me good-night and rub my feet. (Don't think he's too sweet. He's really apologizing for letting someone borrow our heating pad when I needed it. Who loans out heating pads? They're something you *only* need if you're in pain!)
I'm exhausted but enjoying the sounds. The house is silent. We have the windows open, so I can hear the sounds of nighttime outdoors and feel a cool breeze. It's wonderful. These moments are the ones that make life beautiful.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
365 Steps of Life
I'm signing the family up for a new project. Heh, I'll share it with them at breakfast tomorrow. We're going to make one small change for 365 days and see if we can make some our lives run better and more efficiently that way. The first change for today is that I *will* set the timer on the coffee pot before I go to bed tonight.
On the absent-minded (wannabe) professor front, I've lost my car keys. This set is only about the 313th set I've ever lost in my life. I've retraced my steps from Friday, but there's a huge blank spot in the 5-minute interval when I know I put down my keys! Where are they???
Monday morning went okay. It definitely wasn't the way I wanted it to go, but we had less crying. We actually got out of the door by 7:35 (goal is 7:30). Then I searched for my damned keys for 10 minutes before texting Brian with a hysterical message about the insanity of being expected to read Judith Butler one day and keep up with my keys the next. Ridiculous, I'll tell you.
Brian did what he always does - said he'd come rescue me from the driveway where the kids were popping the trunk repeatedly and resetting the trip meter on the car. He stopped by, barely concealed his smirk, and gave me the key from his keychain.
Jayden has this obsession with Brian's car being faster than mine because it's louder (read: needs cold weld on muffler). When Brian meets us after work, the kids always want to ride home with him because of his "super-fast car." Super-adjective, for those who don't know, is four-year-old for "freakin' awesome, couldn't be better." I always pull away first (no kids to get into carseats), and then at some point, I let Brian pass me. The kids wave and yell and then generally trash talk me when I get home seconds after them.
This morning, we hopped in the car and followed Brian out after he gave me the keys. In an effort to salvage my morning, I floored it and zoomed past Brian. (Jayden tends to sob hysterically if he loses at anything, and I didn't have the time or patience for a "sometimes in life..." lesson.) As we passed, the kids waved and shouted. Then I said, "oh, yeah, Mama's car's faster."
Jayden says completely stone-faced, "Mama, no it's not. You just passed Daddy because he had to slow down to turn at that light for work." *grr* What's with this kid? Who made him the world's cynic? Oh, yeah, his wonderfully cynical mom.
On the absent-minded (wannabe) professor front, I've lost my car keys. This set is only about the 313th set I've ever lost in my life. I've retraced my steps from Friday, but there's a huge blank spot in the 5-minute interval when I know I put down my keys! Where are they???
Monday morning went okay. It definitely wasn't the way I wanted it to go, but we had less crying. We actually got out of the door by 7:35 (goal is 7:30). Then I searched for my damned keys for 10 minutes before texting Brian with a hysterical message about the insanity of being expected to read Judith Butler one day and keep up with my keys the next. Ridiculous, I'll tell you.
Brian did what he always does - said he'd come rescue me from the driveway where the kids were popping the trunk repeatedly and resetting the trip meter on the car. He stopped by, barely concealed his smirk, and gave me the key from his keychain.
Jayden has this obsession with Brian's car being faster than mine because it's louder (read: needs cold weld on muffler). When Brian meets us after work, the kids always want to ride home with him because of his "super-fast car." Super-adjective, for those who don't know, is four-year-old for "freakin' awesome, couldn't be better." I always pull away first (no kids to get into carseats), and then at some point, I let Brian pass me. The kids wave and yell and then generally trash talk me when I get home seconds after them.
This morning, we hopped in the car and followed Brian out after he gave me the keys. In an effort to salvage my morning, I floored it and zoomed past Brian. (Jayden tends to sob hysterically if he loses at anything, and I didn't have the time or patience for a "sometimes in life..." lesson.) As we passed, the kids waved and shouted. Then I said, "oh, yeah, Mama's car's faster."
Jayden says completely stone-faced, "Mama, no it's not. You just passed Daddy because he had to slow down to turn at that light for work." *grr* What's with this kid? Who made him the world's cynic? Oh, yeah, his wonderfully cynical mom.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
How Does Survival Look?
For all intents and purposes, we have survived the first 3 weeks of my return to graduate school. Whew. Now only 13 semesters, 12 weeks to go! This week went better than the first two. Week One was simple as far as classes went. I had to do nothing except show up. The kids took it hard, though, despite our working on preparing them for the transition. And Brian had some struggles. Being with the kids and wholly responsible for their supper/evening play/bedtime routine was a bit tough on him.
The second week was a bit more difficult. I wasn't able to get all of my reading and written responses done, which wasn't the way I wanted to start. I actually told Brian at one point that I'm not sure this is a good idea, though we both agree that it is. I know that it's the best choice, but convincing myself of that can be difficult.
Week 3 was better - not stellar, but better. There are a few issues still to work out. First, the University of Louisville uses a system called blackboard, that I'm assuming most schools probably use in one form or another now. Professors can post readings there, rather than requiring texts. I don't like it. For starters, if I'm going to read 5 chapters of a book, I'd rather just buy the book. (I suppose one way to solve this problem is to ask professors about it at the beginning of class, since the readings aren't really marked on the syllabus to say the source.) Plus, some of the readings are images scanned, which is horrible for trying to print at home on an ink jet printer, which means I need to go to the library and pay to make copies. I'm back to wanting just to buy the book - easier, and in all cases, not more expensive.
Second is that Brian and I have to get things together more when it comes to week night meals. This isn't all a school issue. Kate has gymnastics on Monday; both have dance on Tuesday; Jayden has soccer on Friday. We're just really, freakin' busy. We've been eating out too much, which we can't afford now that I'm in school, and we've been eating too many convenience foods.
The third problem I want to work on this week is making sure I have a clear plan for each day, especially when it comes to the kids' activities. We're having too much downtime, which for Jayden translates into meltdowns. For Kate it means messes. I mean, if there's nothing to do, why not fill the bathroom sink with water and make an ocean?
The second week was a bit more difficult. I wasn't able to get all of my reading and written responses done, which wasn't the way I wanted to start. I actually told Brian at one point that I'm not sure this is a good idea, though we both agree that it is. I know that it's the best choice, but convincing myself of that can be difficult.
Week 3 was better - not stellar, but better. There are a few issues still to work out. First, the University of Louisville uses a system called blackboard, that I'm assuming most schools probably use in one form or another now. Professors can post readings there, rather than requiring texts. I don't like it. For starters, if I'm going to read 5 chapters of a book, I'd rather just buy the book. (I suppose one way to solve this problem is to ask professors about it at the beginning of class, since the readings aren't really marked on the syllabus to say the source.) Plus, some of the readings are images scanned, which is horrible for trying to print at home on an ink jet printer, which means I need to go to the library and pay to make copies. I'm back to wanting just to buy the book - easier, and in all cases, not more expensive.
Second is that Brian and I have to get things together more when it comes to week night meals. This isn't all a school issue. Kate has gymnastics on Monday; both have dance on Tuesday; Jayden has soccer on Friday. We're just really, freakin' busy. We've been eating out too much, which we can't afford now that I'm in school, and we've been eating too many convenience foods.
The third problem I want to work on this week is making sure I have a clear plan for each day, especially when it comes to the kids' activities. We're having too much downtime, which for Jayden translates into meltdowns. For Kate it means messes. I mean, if there's nothing to do, why not fill the bathroom sink with water and make an ocean?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Welcome to the World of Graduate School, Mama!
I'm in Week 3 of what's likely to be a 7-year journey. I'm getting a master's degree at the University of Louisville in gender studies. After that I intend to go somewhere for a PhD in history with a focus on history of the family and sexualities. Why, you may ask, am I doing it this way? Well, I'd love to teach/research in gender studies full-time, but I'm just not sure that's likely given the current climate for cultural studies programs. Since I need to get a job at the end of this road, I'm taking the (more circuitous but also) more dependable path.
In addition to being a full-time student again, I have a 4-year-old son, Jayden, and a 2-year-old daughter, Kate. I'm married to my computer nerd, applications developer husband Brian. Jayden and Kate are (because of their ages) in separate preschool programs with different hours. Both take dance. Jayden has soccer, and Kate has gymnastics. I volunteer at the local women's shelter and chair the social justice committee at our UU church. I'm going to a fundraising committee meeting Sunday where I know I'm going to volunteer to spearhead a Halloween fundraiser for the women's shelter.
I'm trying to revive the runner spirit in me for a race in October, and I still do freelance work to help with the bills. So, yeah, my life's crazy right now. I'm hoping I get the hang of this, or the next 7 years will be hectic.
In addition to being a full-time student again, I have a 4-year-old son, Jayden, and a 2-year-old daughter, Kate. I'm married to my computer nerd, applications developer husband Brian. Jayden and Kate are (because of their ages) in separate preschool programs with different hours. Both take dance. Jayden has soccer, and Kate has gymnastics. I volunteer at the local women's shelter and chair the social justice committee at our UU church. I'm going to a fundraising committee meeting Sunday where I know I'm going to volunteer to spearhead a Halloween fundraiser for the women's shelter.
I'm trying to revive the runner spirit in me for a race in October, and I still do freelance work to help with the bills. So, yeah, my life's crazy right now. I'm hoping I get the hang of this, or the next 7 years will be hectic.
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