Overdue Update

Greetings:

Never good when you check your blog and you see that you haven't written since July.   Whoops.

I'll keep the past events concise and maybe in chronological order.   

End of July:  the summer camp ends and ends on a great note.   I made a lot of notes about the program so I can change some parts of the Parent Handbook and better prepare my staff in 2015 for participant behavior issues.   The amount of issues we had related to bullying was ridiculous.   It is pathetic that in 2014, children cannot be kind to each other and have to act like little jerks.

Beginning of August:  finally, a vacation!   I was enthused to escape Central Iowa for awhile and spend time at home.    And yes for some reason I have been dying to wander the House on the Rock for years.   Not completely sure why I like that attraction so much but I do.   I am pretty sure that everyone that reads this blog is already aware that our simple canoe trip didn't end up so simple.   I am pleased that I have a mildly sore foot at this point and numbness.   It could have been a lot worse. I had thought about blogging about the event in more detail but I don't like thinking about it anymore. I tend to think about "what if" when I play through the afternoon in my head too much.   It still scares me that I could have been in bigger trouble if the water had been deeper when I tripped and got caught under the canoe.   I'm holding off on another doctor's visit because I know it just takes time for nerves to "wake up" and function correctly.   I am a little surprised that I cannot feel more of my leg at this point.  

End of August (work):  my meetings and orientation process at the beginning of the semester went well for the new graduate students.   I am pleased with our new TAs.    I teach my ISU classes on MWF and have the after school program on Tues/Thurs.   I had hoped for more prep time on Tues/Thurs but those days have been filled in with walk-in appointments, scheduled appointments, etc.  I already feel like I'm scrambling to complete tasks each day.   I am teaching the Monday night class for DMACC again as well as the online class.   I am already less than impressed with some of my DMACC students due to their communication and ability to come to class or participate in class.   Sigh...I keep reminding myself I need the money to pay off more debt.

End of August (personal):  it was nice to visit NE Iowa for Czech Days and see some family before diving into a hectic semester of work.   I had high hopes for harvesting a lot from the garden but the garden did suffer from weather earlier in the summer.   We've had a small collection of tomatoes but most are still in the garden and green.   The cucumber plants produced a little but it was nothing compared to last year.   The only veggies that are doing well are the green pepper plants.   It doesn't look like I get to use my canning system this year.   

September:  it's been fun watching Gavin play football.   His team is doing OK.  I am happy that I can view quite a few games this season.   It helps that 9th grade plays on both Thursday and Fridays, depending on the week.   In 8th grade, he only played on Thursdays and that constantly conflicted with the after school program.  

And not to sound like a broken record, a big goal is to boost my physical activity levels.   We are eating out more often again too which is a bummer.   I feel drained when I get home and making a meal is typically not appealing.  Thankfully we are entering crock pot season again so I'm hoping to use that to crank out more home-based meals.   

Here's hoping to another blog entry in September!

The Holiday Weekend Passed Too Quickly...

I have to admit that I was very bummed that today was Monday and another week was set to begin.   It was lovely to have down time and take it easy this weekend.   I was unhappy that I needed to work Thursday night as it would have been fun to view the annual fireworks in Ames.   I wish they would have fired them on July 4th rather than July 3rd. 

We attended the Fourth of July parade on Friday.   Shrug, it was OK.   I'm just happy I didn't get completely fried.   I only sunburned part of my leg and my neck.   We went back to Ankeny later in the day and played some tennis.   I've missed tennis.   It was a fun time and a good work out.   I earned 14 activity points on that date due to all the walking and my activity levels in the afternoon/evening.

The weather didn't really motivate us to do anything great on Saturday so LeAnn headed north in the middle of the day.   We ran errands in Des Moines.   Sunday was low key too.

Our garden is officially toast I believe.   It's been too wet and flooded too often.   The tomato plants are dying.   The pepper plants may have some hope as well as cucumber but everything else is looking pretty sad.   Makes me mad as I put a lot of time and $$ into the venture.   We'll need to do raised beds next year because our garden simply lies too low.   We could add more dirt too but that could be expensive.   It's supposed to rain and storm this week too so the hope of anything drying out well is diminishing.

I will be moving my office this week.   I am dependent on an employee in the department to help with it.   He better honor our appointment tomorrow because I need to get started ASAP if they want my office ready for a new faculty member.   I am sad to lose my office as in a way it's a status symbol.   I was important enough to have an office with professors.   I will be located in a lab now that isn't visible.   The secretaries will actually be irritated because most people cannot find the lab.   They'll probably have to help people locate me in future semesters.   It's supposed to be temporary and I'll likely have a new office by 2016.   Our building simply does not have enough room for the necessary amount of employees.   The renovations cannot start soon enough. 

The summer camp will be wrapping up shortly so I need to start walking around the building and locking up areas.   I am eager to go home, eat a good meal, and relax.   The second part of a nifty documentary airs tonight on National Geographic.   (It's about the 1990s and all the historical events that affected our country.)   It doesn't seem like that long ago but we're talking 20 or so years.  

Human Beings Perplex Me

Greetings:

I'll start off with a positive...I am six pounds lighter.   We went to Weight Watchers tonight and the scale was kind to me.  I've been super active at work in the past weeks so it's nice to see that all my activity is paying off.  I could still be eating better though...always something to work on.

Onto the reasoning behind my entry title.   I am really sick of there being rules and procedures at my work place and people choosing when to follow those rules and regulations.   My summer program is not the only program that uses the pool in our building.  Another popular program uses the pool in the mornings and evenings.   A couple of the life guards for my program also work for that program.  

Earlier tonight, a life guard called me because a child had thrown up in the pool.   The program's head life guard (not affiliated with SYF) decided to try and take care of it himself.   Apparently the unsaid rule for that program is the pool cannot close.   They'll lose too much money.   Luckily the life guards that work with my program have a conscience hence their phone call.  They asked me to contact maintenance so the pool could be treated.   I contacted the pool people on campus.  

My decision to help out (and do the right thing) is going to cause a shit-storm in the morning.  I know the director of that program is going to have a fit because the pool may need to close for a bit or even be drained.   Then again if they had called the right people from the get-go, the issue may not need such a major fix.   I am dreading work tomorrow.   The director is so mean and gets angry when anything negative happens with his program.  I'm confident that he may even deny someone threw up because it wasn't the head life guard that initiated the maintenance request. 

I emailed my boss about the situation tonight so I'm hoping that helps him understand my involvement.   I am confident he's going to have a voicemail waiting for him or the director will show up in the morning in a rage.

End of rant!

And Now Things Start to Get Hectic!

My busy season is officially upon me as the summer program started at ISU this week.   In total, the program has been running for 29 years now.   It is my fourth year as acting director.   I am proud to announce that I have figured out how to kick start things appropriately so necessary trainings, hiring practices, etc. take place with less issues.   We've had a couple issues in the last days but nothing major.    Right now we are dealing with a kid that peed their pants.   And a language barrier exists between the parents and myself so it's been fun figuring out a solution. 

We had our garage sale this past weekend.   Mother Nature didn't help much with the torrential downpours and opening it again on Sunday didn't fair well.    It was nice to get rid of stuff from the basement though.   I still need to run boxes and items to Good Will or Salvation Army at some point.   I thoroughly enjoyed the Japanese Steakhouse meal as well as the trip to the local casino.  

My ISU summer course starts on Monday so I should be working on my prep for that....I'll likely put some hours in on Friday so I'm good-to-go for the week of lectures.   I'm glad I checked in with a secretary today because I thought my class ran til July 31.   It's actually done on July 24th.  

DMACC is going slow and steady.   Midterm takes place already next week.

Due to the increase in work this week, I am kicking butt with my activity levels.   My activity monitor is lighting up nicely by the end of the day.    My eating isn't as great though.   It's irritating because in the beginning of the day I think "I need to lose weight and be better about my choices today."   By the end of the day I easily give in to my cravings and don't think much about the nutritional value of my choices.   I wish my morning frame of mind would stick all day.    My clothes aren't fitting as nicely either which worrisome and it makes sense based on my weight.   It's gone up.  

I wish I could put the same passion I put into my job into my weight loss desire.   I don't understand why this has been a difficulty for about 15 or so years.   Grr.

Time to walk around and check on 110 children.  

Tis Planting Season

I've been excited to plant things in the past week so our flowers get a good start in addition to the garden.   The flowers were the first to go in and have survived a major thunderstorm.

We have planted about 75% of the garden at this point.    We've decided to plant the following this year:

• pickling cucumbers
• normal burpless cucumbers
• roma tomatoes
• big beef tomatoes
• jet tomatoes (not familiar with variety, going on a whim)
• beets
• carrots
• kohlrabi
• chives
• dill
• sunflowers
• zucchini
• parsley

We haven't planted the cucumbers or zucchini yet as we I'm trying to grow some seeds inside and transplant them later.    I am hoping to can tomatoes, beets, and carrots.   I'm also going to try and make pickles.   I got a canning set for my birthday last year so I better start watching some YouTube videos to learn the skill.

We still need to add dirt to our raised beds.   I am using one to grow the herbs and sunflowers.   I am using a second to grow more carrots and beets.   I'm curious to see how they do in a raised bed versus the actual garden.   The third raised bed (primarily in shade) is for rhubarb.

I spent some time today painting one of new rain barrels.   We plan to have four on the back of the garage (in the garden).   We have two large barrels and two medium barrels.   One of each will be on each side of the garden and will be connected to the gutter system.   It was nice not using the hose much last year and having more barrels may prevent us from having to use the hose at all.

That's the basic update about the spring changes in our household.   I'll do another update soon about work and such.   

New Goal....How Long Can I Avoid an Airplane?

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!

Slow, Boring Weekends are Fantastic

Greetings:

I am currently participating in a "catch-up" session of Netflix viewing.   We've had a couple DVDs laying around for weeks so I watched "Beaches" earlier and am currently watching "Dead Poets Society".   Years ago I saw most of "Beaches" on cable and realized it was one of the lead chick-flicks of our era.   And after watching it in its entirety I can confirm it is quite the chick-flick.   But it was a decent chick-flick.    Too early to comment on "Dead Poets Society" but apparently I'm an oddball for never have seen the movie.

I've been able to read on a regular basis at night so I did complete Little Women and I had forgotten much of the story.    It was pretty decent even though it's "old school" and sometimes difficult to read due to the vocabulary.    I finished reading Madame Bovary a couple nights ago.    I read this book in my advanced English course in high school and got extra credit for an exam.    I did not remember the story line at all so it felt like a new read.   The main character makes the story difficult to read because her decision making is stupid and it's impossible for me to feel sympathetic.    Her suicide at the end doesn't even make me feel bad for her.    Ironically one of the discussion questions at the end of the book asks "Do you feel empathy for Madame Bovary throughout her struggle with marriage and monogamy?"   

The Health Fair my health studies students provided went very well last week.    I had one group of students go way over and beyond with their preparation.   They spent hours making 380 "mind jars" for students.    (Small water bottles, syrup, and glitter that creates a snow globe effect so a student can relax and calm him or herself with a visual.)     The school was very pleased with the event and do to the set-up of the district, we may go back to the district in the fall and present the next Health Fair at the other elementary school.   I worry too much about the health fair event each semester because I'm worried the lack of work ethic I'm seeing in most classes will weasel its way into that major outreach project.   

The financial class I'm taking is going very well and I spent part of day restocking my cash envelopes for the month of April.   Gavin and I made a major shopping trip to Target too and he was surprisingly patient as he helped me organize my coupons.    Kohl's had a nice sale on running shoes and athletic shorts so he's set for clothes too.    I'm grateful we didn't need to run down to Des Moines.

I'm halfway excited and halfway dreading my trip to St. Louis next week.    Due to a change to the PE program catalog (helps students plan out their four years), quite a few students dropped my aquatics course.     They didn't drop it because they should....they dropped it because they could and it was convenient.    Sigh.   Anyway, I wish I would have known about this because I could have extended my trip to St. Louis.   I could have left on Wednesday and attended an extra day of the conference.   Sigh...again.    I feel silly for only attending the conference for one day but some professional development is better than no professional development.   I'm also not thrilled about sharing a hotel room with a colleague and like usual, I'm not thrilled about flying.  

Time to write Grandma a letter!