Greetings!
I should be waist deep in grading tasks but my motivation is lacking. I graded for most of today at work and I will be doing the same tomorrow. Wahoo. I didn't get as much done as I wanted over the weekend. Apparently Internet isn't free in fancy hotels which I think is a huge hypocrisy. Oh well. I'll catch up, I always do.
My trip to St. Louis was less than stellar. My anxiety about flying was ramped up more than usual. I was fine the last two times I went to Michigan. I don't know if the work association was connected to my worry but the days before I flew out were not pleasant. I had a weird flight arrangement. I had to fly to St. Louis through Minneapolis. Weird but not as bad as my coworker as she had to fly through Atlanta. I arrived early to the Des Moines airport but our plane was late arriving at our gate. We had further delays when we were on the plane and waiting for take-off. I was supposed to have a suitable layover when I arrived at Minneapolis so I could walk to my next gate with ease. Nope. I arrived with four minutes before my next flight. They were making announcements when I got off the plane that gate doors were shutting for my next flight. I had to sprint with carry-on luggage. I had to be quite the sight. I've seen people sprinting in an airport before and never thought much about it. They all have my sympathy now as the process sucks.
The irony is the delay I had when I was on the plane for St. Louis. They held our take-off because the plane had to be de-iced. It was snowing heavily. Luckily they hosed down our plane and we headed south. Missouri was dealing with very severe weather and we landed during a tornado warning (supposedly). Most of the trip down was plagued with turbulence. It wasn't pleasant. At first I thought I would be fine but the last half an hour was rough. I am shocked I didn't throw up. A few people did and they ended food/drink service early because the flight crew couldn't handle the bouncing on the plane. I was grateful to get off the plane, find a cab, and get to my hotel room.
The conference was OK. I'm glad I attended in the sense I will have proof of professional development and may earn a raise in the next year. I did a few new things with some workshops and sessions. A couple sessions I really wanted to attend were canceled. Murphy's Law. My colleague and I went on a very long walk around the arch and through downtown St. Louis. At first it was for exercise and eventually we were looking for a specific Italian restaurant. It was in a high rise so we were walking by it during our search. We got to the restaurant and it was incredibly fancy. I was sweaty and in jeans. A basic meal was about $55.00. We went back to the hotel restaurant.
I left the next day around 6am so I could get to the airport and through security quickly. I thought the airport would be more busy but it was a quick process. My cab driver was quite the weirdo. He was foreign and kept talking and humming to himself the entire ride. He acted like he was speaking to the road and it was bizarre to say the least. I have never been so uncomfortable in a taxi. The flights back home were decent. I sat next to a naughty kid on my way to Minneapolis. She wasn't really naughty. She was antsy and bored. Her mom instantly fell asleep after boarding. She kept yanking on the seat in front of her and pulling a stranger's hair in the process. The flight did bum me out because I couldn't get the seat belt to fit. All of my other flights were fine seat belt-wise. I had no luck on this flight and for the first time EVER, had to ask for a seat belt extender. Sadness.
During the past couple weeks I read Jane Eyre and enjoyed it for the most part. I am fairly sure I read it years ago in middle school or high school. I didn't remember a thing about it. My recent Kindle purchase is Wuthering Heights. I need to read some tangible books after this as I have a stack to get through.
I am making progress with hiring folks for my summer program. One issue: hardly any females have applied. I prefer to have a male leader and female leader for each group. I think it makes parents feel better knowing that each sex is represented by a leadership position. I have a couple assistants that are female but they cannot be leaders. I am hoping a few more apply in the next weeks so I can adequately prepare for June. My payroll for May is odd so I had a meeting with a secretary today to plan for the process. Turns out I've been paid inappropriately in past years and we don't want to repeat history this year. Pay day in May might be a little scary. (Faculty can only make a percentage of their standard pay in the summer. I've been paid too much in past years between May-July.) I refuse to work for free in May and the work has to be done before June. Quite the predicament.
I think that's enough of an update! I feel better now that our garage sale has a set date. Summer can hurry up and approach!
